BusinessDay 01 Nov 2019

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news you can trust I **FRIDAY 01 NOVEMBER 2019 I vol. 19, no 426

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L-R: Tolu Osinibi, MD, FCMB Capital Markets; Titi Odunfa, CEO, Sankore Investors; Muhammad Suleman, head strategy, AMCON; Haruna Jalo-Waziri, CEO, CSCS; Mary Uduk, acting director general, SEC; Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance; Oscar Onyema, CEO, NSE; Frank Aigbogun, publisher/CEO, BusinessDay Media Limited, and Bayo Olugbemi, 1st vice president, CIBN, after a panel discussion on ‘Localising golobal innovations for the Nigeria capital markets: case studies’, during the BusinessDay Investment and Capital Markets conference themed ‘Market Recovery, Innovation and Regulation in Nigeria’ held in Abuja, yesterday.

Pic by Tunde Adeniyi.

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Nigeria’s healthcare faces bleak future as external funding recedes ...experts urge government to look inwards for alternative sources

FG mulls tax incentives for capital D markets, infrastructure investing – Ahmed

TEMITAYO AYETOTO

Jollof bonds road show set for Jan 2020 NSE CEO seeks floor for PFA equities exposure

Tony Ailemen, Innocent Odoh, Stella Enenche, Cynthia Egboboh and Godsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja

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he Federal Government on Thursday hinted of more tax incentives for infrastructure and capital markets investors.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national plan-

ning, while delivering her keynote address at the 2019 BusinessDay Investing and Capital Markets Conference in Abuja, said the strategic policy is to help strengthen and complement the crucial relationship between fiscal policy, the regulatory environment and the capital markets in Nigeria.

The minister, at the conference themed ‘Market recovery, innova-

tion and regulation in Nigeria’, also hinted of plans aimed at integrating annual budgets and medium-term fiscal strategies into rolling medium and long-term national plans.

“With discussions between the executive and the National Assembly currently ongoing regarding the 2020 budget proposal, we are well on our way to ensuring a stable January to December budget

cycle,” Ahmed said.

She said the Federal Government would come up with a new long-term development plan for Nigeria.

The plan, which would be developed in this fourth quarter of 2019, would replace the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), and the vision 2020 which will ex-

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onor funding, a philanthropic charity that ha s k e p t Ni g e r i a’s healthcare afloat for decades, has been receding but the government still slumbers on, failing to build its own shock absorber against epidemic outbreak in the least.

The goal of most international donor organisations is equipping

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Inside BUA’s Obu Cement, CCNN to merge as BUA Group consolidates entire cement business P. 2

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news

BUA’s Obu Cement, CCNN to merge as BUA MTN makes U-turn on divestment Group consolidates entire Cement business in Botswana’s Mascom Wireless …announces completion date for $450million Kalambaina II Plant bringing total capacity to 11million mtpa BALA AUGIE

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n its bid to deepen the Nigerian capital market and enhance the growth of the cement industry, BUA Group, one of Africa’s largest conglomerates, has announced the consolidation of its cement business comprising the publicly listed 2million Mtpa Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc (CCNN) and 6million mtpa Obu Cement Company Plc. This disclosure was made in a filing to regulators. BUA also announced that its newest 3million metric tonnes cement plant which it started constructing in 2018 – the $450million dollars Sokoto Kalambaina II plant, is scheduled for completion in H2, 2020. With the consolidation and addition of the Sokoto Kalambaina II plant, this will bring BUA Cement’s total installed capacity across all its cement holdings to 11 million MTPA. Commenting, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Founder & Executive Chairman of BUA Group, said that this consolidation marks the culmination of the first phase of the BUA mid-term strategic plan for its cement businesses, which currently include four cement plants spread across Obu Cement Company and the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria. A new $450million Sokoto Kalambaina II Plant is scheduled to come on stream in the sec-

Tony Elumelu, group chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) plc, and Bruno Lemaire, French minister for cconomy and finance, at the Ambition Africa Summit in Paris on Wednesday, where Elumelu delivered the keynote address.

ond half of 2020 alongside another 48MW power plant to complement the existing assets and take advantage of a growing cement market in Northern Nigeria and the West African region, Rabiu added.

“This consolidation will cement BUA’s position as the second largest cement producer in Nigeria whilst also positioning it to take

advantage of the combined synergies to effectively serve Northern and Southern Nigeria based on the strategic locations of these plants – as well as a sizeable export market. “We intend to continue creating value for the benefit of shareholders of the consolidated company by maintaining our focus on outperforming the Nigerian cement industry across key

indices through a laserlike commitment to excellent products and service delivery, operational efficiency as well as maintaining our leadership positon in our home markets,” Rabiu said.

Analysts predict that this will put BUA Cement in a stronger position to compete even better and explore export opportunities in neighboring countries.

10 years on, Lagos light rail bears diminishing hope for 22m residents JOSHUA BASSEY

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en years after the Lagos State government set out in 2009 to build a light rail system as an urgent necessity to move its burgeoning population, the Blue Line rail, which initial cost was put at $1.2 billion, seems to bear no hope.

It was planned as 27km line, with 13 stations from Okokomaiko to Marina. The phase 1 and 2 of this rail line would cover a distance of 12km which will include a 4km (2.5-mile) viaduct and have five stations.

The Blue Line rail was conceived to address mobility challenges, stimulate economic growth and job creation while improving the environment and air quality of the city. It was to carry 400,000 passengers with capacity increased to 700,000 passengers daily at completion.

One decade after, these anticipated gains from the

rail project have continued to elude the estimated 22 million residents of the state and its economy, as precious manhour and billions of naira are daily and annually lost in gridlock.

Funding for the rail system, according to officials, has been more from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). But a document seen

by BusinessDay also shows that a chunk of the development loans obtained from the World Bank between 2011 and 2016, to the tune of about $593.3 million, also went into the light rail. But it remains at the construction stage since 2009 when the civil works began, as the elevated section crossing the lagoon from Iganmu to Marina continues to crawl, although the rail track and stations from Orile to Mile 2, being the first phase, had been completed.

According to a source, about N75 billion was invested in the light rail as at 2015 when Babatunde Fashola, a www.businessday.ng

former governor and initiator of the project, left office, while under Akinwunmi Ambode, his successor in office, N19 billion was injected. By 2019 when Ambode left office, the contractor handling the project, CCECC, was said to be owed about N45 billion, forcing it to move its personnel and equipment from the site.

When compared with the Addis Ababa light rail in Ethiopia, the Lagos light rail speaks to how Nigeria and its sub-nationals continue to lag behind peers.

The light rail system in Addis Ababa, a 17km (11 mi) line, which runs from the city centre to industrial areas in the south of the city, opened in September 2015 after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, and began service on November 9, 2015 for the second line (west-east). The total length of both lines is 31.6 kilometres (19.6 mi), with 39 stations. The railway was contracted to the China Railway Group Limited

and the Ethiopian Railways Corporation and began construction of the double track electrified light rail transit project in December 2011, after securing funds from the Export-Import Bank of China.

The Blue Line rail, some analysts say, signifies wasted economic opportunities.

Timothy Olawale, directorgeneral, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), said the fact that the light rail has not translated to a reality after a decade defines the daily losses in gridlock being experienced on the Badagry axis.

“It is unfortunate that the situation that the light rail system was conceived to salvage has become worse today compared to 10 years ago,” said Olawale.

The implication of this, he said, is that neither the economy nor the mass of the population that the project targeted to relief from their

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SEGUN ADAMS

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he parent company of Nigeria’s biggest Telco, MTN Group, would no longer be proceeding with plans to sell its stake in Bostwana’s Mascom Wireless after certain conditions to the transaction were not met, the company said Thursday.

MTN ended talks with joint venture partner Econet Wireless to sell its stake in the Botswana mobile phone service provider, but opened possibility of a future deal.

“In the longer term, if somebody came with a very attractive offer for the business, we’ll apply our minds then,” said Ralph Mupita, MTN Group’s chief financial officer.

MTN had announced that it was divesting from the Bostwana mobile phone service provider, where it has a 53 percent stake valued at $300 million, in the second half of 2019.

The proposed sale of interest was part of a threeyear 15 billion rand ($1.00 billion) divestment plan by MTN to prune its operations and focus on high growth markets.

The plan kicked off in

March this year and has seen MTN rake in $140 million from asset sales in the first half of 2019, some which include a sell-down its interest in Jumia Technologies to 18.9 percent from 29.7 percent through an IPO of the e-commerce business in London.

With respect to its ongoing divestment plans, Mupita said MTN is in advanced discussions to dispose of its 49 percent stake in ATC Ghana and ATC Uganda which amounts to around 7 billion rand and 8 billion rand, respectively.

The Telco is also awaiting regulatory processes for the redemption of MTN Nigeria preference shares that have a value of $315 million for MTN Group.

MTN Nigeria in nine months of 2019 grew profit by about 18 percent to N148.32 billion after it grew revenue by almost 12 percent to N854.48 billion.

On the other hand, the South African Group on Thursday said its service revenue rose 9.6 percent from last year in the nine months of 2019 on the back of strong results from its businesses in Nigeria and Ghana.

77% of Nigerians not willing to pay for national ID renewal – NOIPolls …as 8 in 10 persons say document shouldn’t have expiry date ENDURANCE OKAFOR

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new public opinion survey released by NOIPolls, a countryspecific polling service, has revealed that 77 percent of Nigerians interviewed are not willing to pay N3,000 for renewal of the national identity card mainly because it is too expensive.

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) through its official twitter handle on Monday, October 14, 2019, announced that the renewal of the National Identity Card would cost N3,000 while card replacement would cost N5,000.

But 80 percent of Nigerians are of the view that the national identity card should not have an expiration date, and they believe the card should be free of charge, according to the report released Thursday.

“Nonetheless, 96 percent of Nigerians mentioned that they acknowledged the need and importance of having a national identity and this assertion cuts across gender, geo-political zones and agegroup,” NOIPolls said.

Findings from the poll revealed that 78 percent of the respondents (18 years and above) said that they have applied to obtain the national

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identity card. 65 percent of the number claimed to have a temporary card, while 26 percent specified that they have obtained the permanent card, though most of the respondents in this category had to wait for a long time before getting the permanent version, sometimes above one year.

Nigeria’s current population is estimated by the United Nations (UN) to be around 201 million people, and checks

by BusinessDay revealed that Africa’s most populous nation has about 164 million of its citizens without any formal means of identification.

Lanre Osibona, senior special adviser to the president on information, communication, and technology, said over 37 million Nigerians have been registered under the National Identity Number (NIN).

Commenting on the issues of identification, Uzoma Dozie, the last group managing director of Diamond Bank and founder/CEO of Sparkle, a mobile-first platform, said the lack of identity resulting from the low collaboration between various institutions in Nigeria is the reason for country’s high financial exclusion rate.

“To spur financial inclusion, one of the major re-

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news New survey raises alarm of flood danger in Lagos ENDURANCE OKAFOR

… suggests possible solution

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Dwellers of the megacity are forced to grapple with the horrendous effects of floods with human and vehicular activities paralysed.

On the reason the company decided to do a critical survey to know the reasons for the periodic flood, Karameh says in 2019 alone, the company gave loans to about 300 of its staff to relocate from their place of residence due to floods.

“You will be shocked by the amount of housing loan I have given to my staff this year. I live in Lagos and about 1,500 of my staff live in Lagos and that is just one company,” the chairman says.

With a population of over 21 million people living and working in Lagos, the city experiences a steady influx of people from neighbouring states, in search of greener pastures. The city’s population is projected to double in size by 2050.

According to sources familiar with the state of flood in Lagos and its environs, about 50 deaths were reported as a result of the incident in 2018. “About 30 people have been reported to have died due to flooding and just last week six people also died,”

esults of a recent survey by Mikano International, on the cause of the periodic flooding in Lagos State and its environs, show there is no relief in sight for Nigeria’s business hub as it signals more danger ahead.

A document seen by BusinessDay on Wednesday from the Lagos-based assembler of power generating sets reveals that there has been serious upsurge in the water level in Lagos Lagoon.

According to the findings, several spots on the Lagos Lagoon have risen by 60-70cm (in Victoria Island, Lekki and Ikoyi) and some others rose by as much as 1.5metre in Agaga Island in Badagry.

“This matter is putting all lands and lives around the Lagoon at risk of the flood which can seriously affect the communities, especially in the areas where the level of the ground is either below or at the seawater level,”Mofid Karameh, chairman/CEO of Mikano Intl Limited states.

Lagos, the commercial hub of the most populous African black nation, is exposed to untold economic and environmental hazards every time it rains heavily.

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the source said on the condition of anonymity.

Checks by BusienssDay reveal that after a few hours of rainfall in the early hours of Saturday, an ugly memento of dead person were reported, two collapsed buildings and other sorrowful tales from the residents were left behind.

The Centre of Excellence, which has earned the status of the largest city in Africa, has a high proportion of residents living in flood-prone areas.

Many of these people are actively employed and vital to the economy; nevertheless, they are forced to settle in these areas due to affordability and other socio-economic reasons.

According to the findings from the survey, the flooding in Lagos is as a result of the recent real estate developments in the city. This is coupled with the fact that the canal in which the water in the state can flow through into the ocean has become smaller.

The chief executive therefore recommends the opening of two or three canals in areas close to the ocean, where there are not many economic activities to allow easy passage of the water into the sea.

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From Russia with love THE NEW WEALTH OF NATIONS

OBADIAH MAILAFIA

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he Russia-Africa Summit which took place in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi recently has come and gone. And from all I gather, it was a successful event, aided no doubt by the sumptuous signature caviar, washed down with the best of vintage from the Crimea.

But to be transparently honest, I had my doubts. Not about Russia itself, but about the method. I am not comfortable with the idea of our African Union Heads of State and Government being, as it were, ritually “summoned” by world leaders to their capital for the sole purpose of being wooed as suitable brides.

It leaves a sour taste.

At the same time, I have never for once been taken in by the Anti-Russia propaganda of the EU, NATO and the West. Perhaps I have read too much Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn. Or it may be the fault of the religious thinkers Vladimir Soloviev and Vladimir Nikolayevich Lossky whose works I devoured as a teenager in the library of the missionary and theologian Rev. Dr. Johann Boer in Jos. Or perhaps it’s because of my patron Saint Seraphim of Sarov. And my love for the poets Pasternak, Gumilev, Akhmatova and the immortal Mandelstam.

Russia is not only a nation; it is a civilisation. It is the largest country on earth, with a sprawling landmass of 17 million sq. km. It has a population of 146 million and a GDP of $1.283 trillion and a per capita income of $12,000. It is a middle-ranking economic power; but she is also a nuclear power with a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. It has the world’s largest gas reserves, in addition to humongous deposits of petroleum. Russia indeed

possesses 20 percent of the world’s total natural resources, including iron, copper, aluminium, gold, chromium and silver, phosphates, diamonds, coal, and amber. Despite Chernobyl, the country is a world leader in nuclear science. Russian scientists and mathematicians are among the greatest in the world.

Russia and Africa go back a long way.

Few among us know, for example, that the country’s national poet-laureate is of African origin. Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was the great grandson of an Eritrean former slave who served in the royal courts of Emperor Peter the Great.

Pushkin was a genius – the Shakespeare and Baudelaire of the Russian language.

Russia was never a part of the infamous nineteenth century European Scramble for Africa. Philosophers of history will continue to debate the spiritual meaning and legacy of Soviet communism from 1917 to 1989. One thing history testifies is that without the support of the defunct Soviet Union and their Cuban allies, the liberation of Southern Africa would have been so much more difficult. The Soviets also trained thousands of African doctors, engineers and scientists. They also stood by us during our tragic civil war. Despite opposition from Western powers and their development finance institutions, the Soviets took up the gauntlet with regards to development of Ajaokuta Steel.

Russia is not exactly a democracy as understood in the classic liberal tradition. From Catherine the Great to Tsar Nicholas II, Stalin and Andropov, there has never been such a thing as a liberalminded Russian democratic leader. One of the few who reinvented himself as a liberal reformer – Mikhail Gorbachev – was brought down speedily. The country is much too vast and its social structure much too complex to allow for liberal traditions of governance and leadership.

Indeed, providing security and defence against covetous neighbours in an openplan, almost landlocked country with vast natural resources, has always been a nightmare for generations of Russia’s leaders. This explains their instinctive paranoia. It also partly explains why Russian citizens seem to have a collective preference for Alpha Men as leaders.

Any display of weakness and you are out!

To all intents and purposes, Vladimir Putin fits the bill. A former KGB operative, he is a man of action rather than words. The few he spits out are terse and guarded. A deep thinker, who understands the world and Russia’s place in it.

He has dealt brutally with the Islamists.

He does not take prisoners and certainly does not negotiate with terrorists.

A recent convert to the Orthodox faith, his reign has been marked by a renaissance of spirituality throughout the villages and towns of this incredible country. A few years ago, he made the pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Greece, indisputably the holiest sanctuary of Christianity in the world. Vladimir Putin has taken a firm moral stand against same-sex marriage. A classical scholar recently remarked that even among the Greeks and Romans where homosexuality was widely practised, they were wise enough not to legitimize same-sex marriage. Putin would insist that allowing people of the same-sex to marry and extending that privilege to the right to marry one’s dog and cat is to spell doom for civilization as we have always known it.

But there are several daunting challenges. Africans and Russians virtually parted ways since the disintegration of the Soviet Empire in 1989. We would have to relearn each other’s ways all over again. It is in the nature of human friendships that they atrophy and die if not watered continually by gestures of love and affection. Some of the most virulent forms of anti-black racism are, sadly, prevalent in the New Russia. It is an irony of history that millions of Russians died defending their country from Adolf Hitler and the Nazi fascists, only to find themselves today surrounded by home-grown neo-Nazi skinheads.

Russia is also sitting on a demographic time-bomb. The family institution is in crisis while the population is aging and rapidly shrinking. Millions of blue-eyed Siberian blondes are living lives of quiet desperation because there are no men to marry them. The population is forecast to decline from 146 million to 111 million by 2050. Perhaps it was for this reason that the government recently granted asylum to 15,000 South African Boer farmers that are being re-

‘

I have always been a strong advocate of nuclear energy for our country.

The nuclear option seems to me the most viable for ensuring Electricity for All in our country, especially as our population is forecast to reach 410 million by 2050

settled in the agricultural farmlands of the South. Over-dependence on fossil fuels has weakened Russia’s economic position to a status that is only marginally better than a third world country.

The biggest challenge by far is translating human capital and innovation into diversified products and services for world markets.

We warmly welcome Russia’s efforts to reintegrate herself into the ranks of civilised nations, even if this means courting Africa as the most suitable bride. Having suitors ranging from the EU to China and Japan strengthens our collective diplomatic bargaining position. We understand that the Nigerian delegation, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, has struck some important business deals from road construction to technical cooperation in agriculture and education; resuscitation of our defunct aluminium plant; investments in the oil and gas sector; rebuilding of Ajaokuta Steel; and, most importantly, development of nuclear energy for electricity.

I have always been a strong advocate of nuclear energy for our country. The nuclear option seems to me the most viable for ensuring Electricity for All in our country, especially as our population is forecast to reach 410 million by 2050. We have enough uranium in our country and in neighbouring Niger Republic to successfully accomplish this ambitious project. We could also make them an offer for subsidised uranium in exchange for free electricity. It will also require us setting up an elite National Institute of Technology to train at least 10,000 nuclear scientists and engineers. We should model it as the pre-eminent university of science and technology in our country at par with the Indian Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. If Muhammadu Buhari could solve this one challenge alone, Nigerians might forgive him the sheer agony of his disastrous misrule.

Dr. Mailafia is a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a development economist and public finance expert with a DPhil from Oxford obmailafia@gmail.com; 08036590990 (text messages only)

On-boarding (2)

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am sure two weeks ago you read the first part of onboarding article. In this second part, I found the report of a survey on onboarding and re-boarding that has really compressed effective best practice in one document. If you follow the advice below, it is imminent that you will keep your staff for a long while. This was a survey done in America so I have tweaked it somewhat to suit us here in Nigeria.

Design and strategy Include all important stakeholders for onboarding design and implementation especially taking into consideration the levels of staff to be on-boarded. For example, if an executive director is being on-boarded, the board should be involved, whereas if it is a manager, the board should not necessarily be involved.

When manager, team, and HR are all involved in onboarding, over a period of 6-12 months, the company will be able to implement, sustain, and measure effectiveness.

It is best to Implement a written onboarding matrix for each department/team by role. This includes: levels of proficiency, time frames for completion, and current status on all tasks, duties, responsibilities, systems, etc.

This gives feedback at a glance and does not lead time wastage for parties concerned.

You must strive for involvement from not only the hiring manager, but also all members of the team. With joint effort, everyone has a role to play in getting the new hire up to speed. The new hire not only learns their own role, but also how their role fits into the rest of the team.

Make onboarding an extension of a positive candidate experience that extends past the first week We must realise that onboarding begins when we “brand” our organisations in the marketplace and we must understand that orientation begins with the application at first communication. For example, one of my pet peeves is inviting a candidate for an interview at a particular time and then keeping them waiting for hours before they are seen.

Like I said before when I was talking about the recruitment process, a realistic job preview before an employee starts can greatly reduce introductory period turnover. This really should be done before the letter of offer.

On-boarding as a formal structured process helps employees navigate the system within their first year at a company. They need a full year plan that includes clear expectations and has on-the-job training, classroom training, and even some technology courses if necessary. They need feedback and one-

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on-one meetings provided by managers and mentors. They also need a support system that allows them to feel like they are a part of the company and team very quickly.

Pre-boarding Get a head start to prevent an overwhelming first day.

Utilise pre-boarding by preparing in advance new hire checklists, orientation schedules, training curricula, and timelines.

Also, small gestures make a big difference.

For example, introductions to everyone in the office, warm welcomes, nameplate at their workspace, etc. Sincere interest in the individual leads to increased employee satisfaction and retention.

Ensure the new hire received “a new hire binder”, complete with to-do checklist. This makes the whole process feel personalised and also provides a framework for selforientation.

Communication prior to day one and throughout the process is key Keep in touch between offer acceptance and first day, and check in every 30-60 days for the first 6 months. You should ask openended questions, make orientation personal and share stories with them. This shouldn’t be the HR’s responsibility alone.

Have the recruiting team conduct monthly

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OLAMIDE BALOGUN check-ins with the new hire and manager over the first 90 days. Also, informal check-ins with the new hire 1-2 times per year.

Onboarding people and culture Set up an exceptional first-day welcome with interactive and group onboarding practices, planned social integration, and engagement activities. Companies usually try to batch new recruit first days when possible so as to give a wow effect.

Make the employee feel proud to join the company by providing information on the company’s history and give them a company logo item to make them feel welcome.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng Balogun is the founder of Box & Cedar Ltd a boutique Recruitment and HR Consulting firm Www.boxandcedar.com

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Talking suicide HUMANANGLE

FEMI OLUGBILE

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he title of the event was “The first national conference on suicide prevention”.

The crowd gathered at the Ade Ajayi auditorium of the University of Lagos on Saturday, the 26th of October was a potpourri of mental health professionals, politicians, government officials, civil society organisations, students in school uniform and members of the public.

It might have struck an observer as curious that such a crowd could be assembled in Lagos for discussion of such a morbid subject on a Saturday, a day normally dedicated to weddings and other jolly events.

Suicide is a taboo topic in Nigerian culture. Traditionally, in some parts of the country, if a person takes his own life, he is deemed to have brought shame on himself and his family, and to have forfeited even the right to be buried where other family members are buried.

Nowadays, people read sensational stories in the newspapers and on social media about the Third Mainland Bridge and how it is beginning to acquire notoriety as a favourite launchpad for “suicide divers”. Only recently NAFDAC – the food and drug regulatory agency, came up with a regulation banning the

sale of the small bottle of “Sniper”, the weed killer that has become a quick and convenient – if extremely painful – tool for people wanting to die by poison.

The posture of local officialdom to citizens who are desperate enough to want to take their lives ranges from the unsympathetic to the frankly bizarre.

It is a criminal offence, in Nigeria, to attempt suicide. If a person attempts suicide and does not die, he is liable to be hauled off to jail and not to hospital.

Every year, one million people all over the world “successfully” kill themselves. Many more than that number “attempt” suicide and do not “succeed”, either because some other event supervenes, or the attempt was really a “cry for help”. A survey carried out in Lagos in 2015 showed that 7.3 percent of adult Lagosians had thought, at least fleetingly, about death in the one-month prior to the survey.

Most – but not all, people who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental health condition, usually depression.

The Nous Foundation, you would learn as you arrived at the venue, was an organisation founded by some Nigerians, some of whom were based in the diaspora. They were keen to raise public awareness on Mental Health issues in the country. They organised the Saturday event, in collaboration with SURPIN (a Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative based in Lagos) and Sparkle Foundation. Their plan was to have an audience of all arms of government and all stakeholders in Mental Health, including young people, sit to dialogue.

They wanted to provoke a national debate, push for the decriminalisation of suicide, emphasise the importance of early recognition and intervention in emotional problems, reduce stigma towards mental illness, and demand a

national suicide prevention strategy.

Mental Health is in a parlous state in Nigeria. An extreme paucity in the numbers of Specialists at the top is complemented with a crass failure to implement a common-sense reengineering of the grassroots primary healthcare system to enable it to serve as the first line of entry for provision of basic mental health care to the people. As a result, at least 70 percent of Nigerians with any mental illness get no treatment at all.

The overwhelming majority of the untreated mentally ill Nigerians are people with depression and anxiety in offices, factories, schools and board rooms all over the country, living unsatisfactory and unproductive lives as the “walking wounded” victims of treatable illness.

On top of this, the Mental Health Law of the country is an antiquated colonial inheritance designed for the last century when there was limited knowledge and little by way of effective treatment for the different varieties of illness.

The brightly coloured hair of Lade, CEO of Nous Foundation, bobbed up and down as she moved around to keep the proceedings flowing.

A representative of the Chairman of NAFDAC, the Mental Health Desk officer of Lagos State Ministry of Health, the Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba and various other persons got up to address the eager audience. They plugged for suicide prevention services and a change in the approach to mental illness in the country.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Oloriegbe, promised not only to champion a quick passage of a new Mental Health Law but also a general revamp of mental health services. A psychiatrist from SURPIN

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At least 70 percent of Nigerians with any mental illness get no treatment at all. The overwhelming majority of the untreated mentally ill Nigerians are people with depression and anxiety in offices, factories, schools and board rooms all over the country, living unsatisfactory and unproductive lives as the walking wounded victims of treatable illness

reeled out 24- hour Suicide telephone helplines, run by the organisation, that could be reached from all across the country, and from which help could be immediately deployed.

You were called to spend a few minutes on the podium too. You focussed on the need for government to be an enabler and facilitator, and for all activists and stakeholders working in the field to break down their siloes and integrate their efforts and resources to maximise the benefit to Nigerians. You gave specific recognition to “Joy Incorporated”, a body of young Nigerians who not only ran a suicide telephone hotline, but also a manned walk-in hub for emotionally distressed citizens in Lagos.

Shade, a UK based Forensic Psychiatrist, talked about the necessity for positive change.

The President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria made an impassioned plea for a quick passage of a fit-for-purpose law.

Someone in the audience wanted Mental Health service, which was conspicuously missing from the Basic Health Insurance schemes that had been rolled out, to be mandatorily included in all Health Insurance coverage in the country.

A representative of the students admitted they had gained immensely from what they had heard so far.

Sunmi Smart-Cole, veteran journalist and photographer, presented copies of his prized new photo- book, to some of the participants.

Very useful, as Saturdays went, you remarked to yourself as you made for the exit, at the end.

Olugbile is a writer and psychiatrist. synthesiz@gmail.com

Businesses and the advantages of disadvantages

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he bull as an animal is strangely hardwired in its brain to not attack, react or recognise anything below a certain height as an enemy. So, to illustrate this, when a group of people walks uprights towards it, it is provoked to attack. But if they all suddenly duck down around an equal low height; it also suddenly stays still. In metaphor, this is analogy of how big companies fail. Big business finds it hard to react, as they usually do not see these smaller businesses coming. In essence don’t be a bull, learn to adapt and take shape according to the type of competition.

This article is about giants and underdogs; it describes big businesses as giants and small businesses as the underdogs. Giants are not known to have the best eyesight, plus they move too slowly. SMEs are faster, we should learn to leverage on the speed that comes with being small sized.

When you sit at presentations by reps representing bigger firms, you often hear “It’s against our policy” or at most, “let me confirm with my boss and I’d get back to you”. Clients don’t want to hear that. But it’s inevitable if that rep is from a bigger business. This is where smaller businesses can leverage to knock them out. Speed. Most big businesses fail for reacting too slowly to market dynamics. Blame it on their size, larger organograms and policies. They fall from not thinking like small businesses with speed. On the other hand, when you are a small business, don’t be a small business with big business problems.

Inversely speaking also, small businesses also fail for not thinking like big businesses in its vision. Small business should master how to be guerrillas. Guerrilla strategy is about taking pride in your seemingly disadvantage position, enjoying your small size and leveraging on it. A razor blade is very sharp but it can’t cut a tree the same way an axe can’t cut your

hair. Everything and everyone have their own role so never look down on anyone except off course you admire their shoes!

Dear start up, never be ashamed of your small position or to despise your small beginnings. People that mind don’t matter, and people that matter don’t mind. It’s okay to work from home, it’s okay to share an office, it’s okay to market one on one, to nicely ask for testimonials and referrals. It’s okay to say that you have a lean team. Take pride in your efficiency. As long as you deliver on what is expected with a warm disposition, clients won’t mind, especially if you at least project that you’re growing. If you’re big, try to not act like you’re too big for a client, or that you have overgrown your clients. I mean consciously avoid bureaucracy by size; try to sometime create smaller units to retain intimacy. In business, when you are a small business and don’t seem to have the capacity to go head to head with the big firms, what do you do?

As the underdog firm in your industry with a lean budget, Disruptive Innovation, Flank Attack, Segmentation and Guerrilla Marketing Warfare are your best bets. Market Segmentation simply means picking a sub-set of the entire marketplace that you can organize your sales efforts around. As a small business stop trying to cover the whole market, stop trying to be in front of bigger businesses. As an SME, you don’t go head to head with a bigger brand, instead you take advantage of their size, which makes them slow and uneasy to focus deeply and uneasy to respond swiftly. Be the opposite of all of these. Another thing to do is to look at their entire market scope and then take a smaller but uncontested market size of that large space. And then you concentrate your forces there. In other words, map the entire market and then take only a small section of the market, and own it. Concentrate all your

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forces on it till you own that small portion totally, and then gradually expand that section.

Guerrilla Marketing is sort of like a game of hide and seeks. Guerrilla strategy is how terrorists attack their nations (they take a smaller part of the map and then concentrate on that space e.g. Boko Haram, really is not going head to head with the Nigerian Army. Rather, they keep hiding in a small neglected part of the north, around the Sambisa forest while from their hideouts, they are attacking consistently and very passionately to the point of paying with their lives). There are many good examples we can get from bad deeds, even Boko Haram. One of them is to not oversell a product, instead sell an ideology. Also, don’t sell a product, sell the benefits; just like the saying goes, don’t sell the insecticides; sell the idea of creating dead mosquitoes.

The guerrilla strategy has always been a game changer for upcoming business. In other words, do a SWOT analysis of your competitor and then capitalize on their W (Weakness).

Guerrilla strategy is about taking advantage of what bigger firms are not doing well. This is usually most time around the areas of client service relationship, speed and intimacy.

For example, in Nigeria, a small departmental store brand can decide to build small supermarkets around every big Shoprite but with better convenience in check out (bearing in mind that parking space and check out time from the counters of Shoprite is irritatingly slow). Another case study is what the Chinese phones with two SIM cards did over the bigger known brands with one SIM card slot for their phones in Nigeria (they provided convenience since with it, you may not need to carry two phones which is convenient and also cheaper). Guerrilla Marketing must focus on low-cost and unconventional marketing tactics that delivers convenience with maxi-

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EIZU UWAOMA mum results.

A personal example is when we started at Hexavia (Which is a business and management consulting firm), my dream was to consult for big firms, But the reality check is that bigger firms have bureaucracy that won’t even let your proposal get to the top. Really, we wanted to be the foremost management consultants in Nigeria, but the fact is we had no chance with the likes of McKinsey, PWC, KPMG, Ernst and Young and Deloitte to contend with. Looking at that, we knew we didn’t stand a good chance. So, what we did was to not venture in that same market place (that is, consulting for big firms), instead we went for those that couldn’t afford those big consultancy firms and those that needed to deal more up close with their lead consultants, in other words the neglected, which was the small businesses. We started up from there and today’s we consulted for loads of big businesses including multinationals like Lufthansa, National brands like the Central Bank of Nigeria and big Nigerian Businesses too. We worked out way up using Guerrilla Strategy.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng Uwaoma is a start-up, corporate restructuring and strategy consultant. contacteizu@gmail.com

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

EDITORIAL PUBLISHER/CEO

Frank Aigbogun EDITOR Patrick Atuanya DEPUTY EDITOR John Osadolor, Abuja NEWS EDITOR Chuks Oluigbo EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STRATEGY, INNOVATION & PARTNERSHIPS Oghenevwoke Ighure ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude FINANCE MANAGER Emeka Ifeanyi MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

Endangered voices and profession

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ata from a research by global watchdog, Amnesty International shows that just within the first nine months of 2019, nineteen journalists in Nigeria have suffered various forms of attacks from agents of the states for publishing or expressing critical views. These attacks were in form of verbal and physical assaults, arrests, torture and prosecution for a cocktail of offenses such as defamation, terrorism, cyberstalking, kidnapping, treason, criminal trespass and theft of state documents. And often, the fundamental human rights of these journalists are not respected. Even when these persecuted journalists seek legal redress, the government fails to obey court orders and does all it could to frustrate the course of justice. It is safe to say the Nigerian government has repudiated its obligation under international law to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the right to freedom of expression and media freedom.

Since the inception of the current administration in 2015, the civic space has continued to shrink with consistent at-

tacks on freedom of information and expression as well as media freedom. The plot began surreptitiously in 2015 with an anti-social media bill sponsored by Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (APC Kebbi South), to “to criminalise anyone disseminating via text message, Twitter, WhatsApp, or any other form of social media an “abusive statement” intending to “set the public against any person and group of persons, an institution of government or such other bodies established by law”.

When that bid failed, another phony bill seeking to regulate Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) came up. The bill, sponsored by Umar Buba Jibril, (APC Kogi West), sought for the establishment of yet another federal agency to supervise, coordinate and monitor NGOs with sweeping powers to regulate their conduct and grant a license for operation renewable every two years. Without such license, no NGO can operate and the agency could refuse renewal for no reason. What is more, only the license of the agency (not registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission) confers legal personality and perpetual succession on NGOs. When these efforts failed, the government, in 2017, started rail-

ing against what they call “hate speech”, with the Vice President, Yemi Osinjabo, likening it to terrorism and vowing the government will no longer tolerate it.

Although Osinbajo never defined what exactly he or the government meant by hate speech, the army provided a precise definition when it announced through its director of defence information, that it was creating “strategic media centres to monitor social media in order to sieve and react to all anti-government, anti-military, and anti-security propaganda.”

With this, the government could conveniently lump any statement or criticism by group or persons which caused it consternation, into its amorphous definition of hate speech and promptly clamp down on such groups or persons.

Away from the centre, many state governors, most prominently Kaduna and Cross River governors, have been vigorously clamping down on free speech by journalists and on social media.

As we write, many Nigerians are in jail undergoing phony trials – some for treason, terrorism and kidnapping) and some have simply disappeared without trace for criticising public officials.

The desire to circumscribe free speech, media freedom and freedom of information is a feature of any government headed by Muhammadu Buhari. We recall that in 1984, at the height of the economic malaise, scarcity of essential commodities and hunger pervading the country, the military regime of General Buhari rolled out a series of decrees and laws to curtail the freedom of expression and media freedom in Nigeria. The infamous decree 4 prohibited journalists from reporting anything that could embarrass the regime, even if it was true.

Although the president promised to govern, this time, in accordance to the rule of law, his appetite for suppressing the freedom of Nigerians and the media has not waned.

Nigerians must not allow the government to turn the country into a police state. If there is one thing history has taught us in Nigeria, it is that we must never allow the government to draw the borders of free speech. Nigeria is a democracy and not a theocracy or monarchy. Criticisms, dissent and free speech comes with it. If, as Harry S Truman will say, you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Imo Itsueli Mohammed Hayatudeen Afolabi Oladele Vincent Maduka Opeyemi Agbaje Amina Oyagbola Bolanle Onagoruwa Fola Laoye Chuka Mordi Mezuo Nwuneli Charles Anudu Tunji Adegbesan Eyo Ekpo Wiebe Boer Paul Arinze Boye Olusanya Ayo Gbeleyi

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On being 57 and owning your destinations TALES FROM THE MAIN ROAD

EUGENIA ABU

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wo weeks ago, I turned 57 and I look back and I am so thankful. This is no mean feat. Younger people have been known to suddenly slump and then we ponder, but he was so young. Being alive is a great reason to be thankful to God. In good health and still active requires an amplification of that praise. I am thankful indeed for life’s journeys and I am thankful for even the ones I did not understand. Grateful for the fact that some of the battles were not mine and when the Lord lifted me across danger and fires, I was not even aware. Grateful for my children, my spouse, my parents, my siblings, friends and all.

I have never been one for birthday things, I mean all those mushy things that sometimes can break a marriage but I like to be appreciated. I will not be too angry if you do not buy me red roses on my birthday or a bottle of wine but I will be happy to go to dinner. Over the years my kids and spouse have bought me gifts, but for me the heart that shows love is more important to me than all the red roses in the world.

I love to be spoilt but I do not like pretence so if you were to buy me a thousand roses and sing for me on the main road, it would be nice but it will mean very little to me if after that you are a mean son of a gun, call me names or say nasty things to me in front of your friends. I am a slave to respect and I thank my spouse for giving me that and more.

I believe a woman should be respected, given her due, loved and pampered. If a man sends 1,000 roses and turns the woman into a punching bag, the roses are pretty much from the sewer, meaningless and smelly.

Let me live without roses if I am going to get it with a broken nose and therein lies the challenge of today’s modern couples. They revel in the wedding photos, the DJ, the dance.

They are all for the wedding and miss out on the marriage. The ladies are interested in surface things, roses, Instagram etcetera, the men are interested in themselves, grooming, rolling with their friends and the marriage is left far behind long after the wedding fizzle is gone.

I was in my early twenties when I married. My spouse is my friend so I am always happy when he takes me to dinner and wishes me Happy birthday, same as when he showers me with gifts. We are now extensions of each other. But this column is not a marriage counselling session, it’s really about turning 57 and owning your destination.

By now you have settled into a comfortable fashion style and no one can stampede you. Now your voice is strong and determined and sure and it’s difficult for anyone to bamboozle you or take you for granted. Now you can travel to far flung places

alone and be happy with your own company. See the world, watch a blue butterfly rise in Mauritius from an unusual rose-coloured petal and inhale the crisp air in Malta’s many islands.

This is your life. It’s time to live it.

This is when you do not need anyone’s permission to be happy, garrulous, glamorous or walk barefoot on the sands of the beaches of Israel watching malachite waters or dip yourself in the dead sea, emerging happily from that amazing spectacle of nature. This is when you can take that PhD and do it for yourself, invite yourself to dinner and be happy in spite of whatever life has thrown at you.

This is when to be authentic, throw pretence out of the window and begin to live your life. Truly this is when you can choose where you want to go, your choice of office hours and no one and I mean no one can ask you why you had three ice-cream scoops and another and another. Because if you feel like it, you have your own permission to have it. Perspectives shift at 57, you are more tolerant, less judgmental and less angry.

And so, it was on the 19th of October 2019, when I turned 57 years old, I was on board a domestic airline at 5.30 am in Lagos heading home to Abuja. To travel on one’s birthday is pretty surreal, but I was up for it having had an event in Lagos that lasted into the night the day before. At the Lagos airport, the captain announced that due to weather he had been advised not to take off. I looked out of the window and Lagos seemed to be covered in white cotton candy. And we sat on board for two and a half hours while waiting for the weather to lift. Plane doors were flung open.

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This is when to be authentic, throw pretence out of the window and begin to live your life. Truly this is when you can choose where you want to go, your choice of office hours and no one and I mean no one can ask you why you had three ice-cream scoops and another and another

My 28-year-old self would have gotten angry or become a nervous wreck but I sat there calmly and made new friends and chatted about nothing and everything.

We finally made it to Abuja and I headed home. Wearing an old Kaftan that is easy on the body, I fell in and out of sleep across the furniture architecture of my house, from my bed to the couch in the living room to a wing chair. I had dropped off and caught my forty winks wherever my body said. One of my kids sent a message from school to say “mummy what are you doing for your birthday” and I told her “To sleep, a great plan”.

But she responded,” That’s no great plan”. But seriously, it was and I did sleep, and was pretty refreshed after that. After all, I had woken up at 2am so the driver could pick me at 4.30 am, to catch a flight for 6am which did not leave till 8.20 am.

So, there is life. I can sleep on my birthday. I have earned my place in the world and I can pick and own my destination. I am truly blessed. Time to do whatever I want, to float, to watch the sun go down in Morocco, to enjoy white nights in St Petersburg, to be kind but still be no-nonsense, to drink water not a beverage because you can, to laugh heartily and run with sand in your toes with your childhood friends in Cape town and still hop unto the train to Kaduna, ride a camel in Dubai, go to Okpo and Ankpa and Okene and be community inspired and still take a Marwa in Lagos. I am 57 years old; I can choose my destination.

Abu is a broadcaster, writer, trainer, brand and multimedia strategy expert and media consultant. abu_eugenia@yahoo.com

Can we rationalise failures in our organisations?

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ost times, the easiest thing we have conditioned our minds to do when we face unfavourable situations in our organisations is to give excuses or rationalise our failures. Interestingly, as individuals or organisations sources of excuses will abound in all we do, but one thing everyone should know – like Dave Del Dotto said: “No one ever excused his or her way to success” – and no organisation is at exception, no matter how nice the excuses sounded.

Proactive organisations desire to have excellent results in all areas of their business operations. In reality, desiring or wishing to achieve excellent results is not enough.

Achieving excellent results will require every workforce to decide and give his/her best regardless of any circumstance. This means that every employee should be productive on a daily basis without any rationalisation for failure. Unfortunately, in the last few years organisations have suffered a great deal because of people who have what I call “good reasons” for poor performance. This group of people will always have reasons or justifications to defend their poor performance. They forgot that organisations thrive when the results are excellent and not when reasons for non-performance abound.

The truth of the matter is that no organisation in the world that can provide all the required resources, man power, tools, expertise, and platform that would be needed to run effectively. That means there might be something to blame the organisation for – if

that is necessary. But then, it is not in our best interest to keep blaming the organisations for our failures. The reason is because even in our individual families we encourage our children to make the most out of what is available. That should be the same mindset we ought to have with our organisations – to make the most out of what is available. The focus should be to give our best regardless of any circumstance.

I am not advocating that organisations should not provide necessities for effective running of the business. I am trying to say that in a situation where all that are required are not available for one reason or the other, every member of the staff should make the most out of what is available and simply have the mind of delivering results.

Most people in the organisation are used to giving various “good reasons” for their poor performances. For a marketer, a perceived good reason for not meeting up with an appointment could be non-availability of an official car. For a customer service officer, his or her reason for let’s say talking back to an irate customer could be because the customer called her names in the presence of everybody. Really, having “good reasons” to justify our actions or poor performance will neither give the individual nor the organisation a competitive edge.

Imagine an MD of an airline or the staff members saying they have “a good justification” as to why their airline crashed. You will agree with me that no reason or justification www.businessday.ng

given would ever make people to patronise that particular airline or take them seriously.

As employees, we do not have any justification, reason or rationalisation for poor performance if we decide to achieve the best regardless of any circumstance.

Then, again, like I said earlier - resources, tools and the things required to carry out one’s duty in the organisation might not be adequate (which is usually the case) – you just have to make the most out of what is in your hand. The question everyone should ask is - why is it that in the same situation, some employees are making a difference in the organisation or in the customer’s life while others are performing poorly? I think making the right decision makes the difference. We must decide to be the best for our organisation regardless of any circumstance.

Without this mindset of being or doing your best regardless of the present circumstance, one will end up performing sub-optimally most of the times. And, remember, no stakeholder or shareholder will absolve your poor performance because you have justifiable reasons to give.

Trying to excuse one’s way to success will be akin to one deliberately stopping his wristwatch or time piece and expecting to have accuracy of time, or worst still believing that other people’s time piece would stop all because he chose to stop his. The game changer for us will be to drop our proverbial “excuse” cap at home and put on our “will do my best” cap to the office. When everyone – from the

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UJU ONWUZULIKE CEO to the entry level person begin to internalise and understand that excuses will not take them to the promise land, they will rise above excuse giving – to seeking solution(s).

In conclusion, like Florence Nightingale said, I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse. That should be our guiding principle, never to give or take excuses. The truth is that 90 percent of the time, people will like to give reasons for failure, but when they know there is no room for excuses, they tend to do things differently. In 1997, I had a great lesson from my eldest brother – to always have it at the back of my mind “to deliver results” whenever I am asked to do something. Reasons for failure are likely to abound if we allow them to foster, but our goal should be to deliver results regardless of any situation.

Always remember, we are always faced with two choices, either to give reasons and justify our failures or to seek for solution(s) regardless of the circumstance.

Onwuzulike is Nigeria’s leading authority on Systems Thinking and Strategic Management.

He can be reached on 09091142093 or uju.onwuzulike@ mclgroup.net.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

cityfile NGO to build life-afterstroke centre in Aba

Student Dentists of University of Ibadan, attending to some beneficiaries of Free Medical Screening organised

by Colgate Dental Outreach in collaboration with Dental Students Association, University of Ibadan branch at Ojo Market in Ibadan

GODFREY OFURUM, Aba

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Why states should join forces against tankers’ menace on roads- Official JOSHUA BASSEY

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igeria’s 36 federating states need to encourage their respective traffic management agencies to check the activities of petroleum tankers and other articulated trucks to avert loss of lives property arising from frequent and avoidable accidents involving these trucks.

This was the submission of Frederic Oladeinde, the Lagos State commissioner for transportation, at the 2019 national conference of directors/chief road traffic officers of the federation, which opened in Lagos on Wednesday.

Oladeinde lamented the rate of accidents involving the trucks in Lagos and other parts of the country, saying it was time to jointly tackle the menace.

The commissioner in his

address told the capacity audience that Lagos State government would want to see debates on what could be done to salvage the situation.

According to him, there is an urgent need to restore sanity, security and standards to on the roads, and to achieve this, all the states must swim and think together.

He said: “It is imperative that everyone tow the path of honour by doing what is right while making use of the road.”

Oladeinde noted that the theme of the conference“employing technology to enhance compliance and safety on our road,” was strategic in the implementation of relevant technology to mitigate risks, increase the rate of traffic law compliance and reduce hazards on our roads to the barest minimum. “ The deployment of smart, connected sensors, combined with machine-

learning-powered analytics tools, enable us gather information, make predictions and reach decisions that will enhance safer roads. It is important to state clearly that human elements are considered the major contributing factor to road fatalities/accidents as a result of reckless driving habits that negate the principles of defensive/safe driving,” he said.

Paul Bepeh, national chairman of conference of directors/chief road traffic officers (VIOs), on his part, said that traffic officers in Nigeria would not be left behind in a world driven by technology in Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA).

“It is high time we began to explore technology for effective performance of our schedules for better service delivery. While we cannot really say that MVA and road traffic safety have received the desired attention across

the federation, we are bold to say that through this body’s annual conferences and other activities, we have been able to make some noticeable changes.”

Director, Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS), Lagos State, Akin-George Fashola, said the body had a strategic framework which had enabled it move from manual operation to computer-based operation, saying that the framework was to improve on its four cardinal ‘S’, which included safety, standard, sanity and security.

Lagos State sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, (FRSC) Hyginus Omeje, said the conference should go beyond talk-shop and ensure that traffic personnel were trained in the use of technology, adding that the conference should look into the issue of road worthiness by ensuring that it was not issued arbitrarily.

ealth Development Initiative (HDI), an Aba based non-governmental organisation (NGO), has announced plans to set up a “Life-after -stroke Centre” in Aba, to increase awareness on stroke, strengthen services for stroke prevention, control, and ensure that survivors are up again after a stroke.

Nancy Onwueyi, coordinator, Health Development Initiative, disclosed this to Cityfile in Aba, during a 3-day stroke awareness campaign, organised by her NGO to mark this year’s world stroke day.

She advised Nigerians to eat healthy, check their blood pressure and sugar level, avoid stress and exercise regularly for at-least 30 minutes, daily, to avoid stroke.

Health Development Initiative, kicked- off her maiden world stroke campaign event on Thursday, October 24, 2019 at Abayi Boys Secondary School, Aba with a “Walk and Run”, against stroke, in which they educated the public on world stroke day, basic facts on stroke, stroke prevention awareness, stroke risk factor assessment, lecture on prevention and management of stroke, lifestyle goal and self-management advice.

Ogun moves to curb waste dumping RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta

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s part of efforts to achieve improved public hygiene in Ogun, the state government is to provide efficient waste management with the launch of “Cleanup exercise” across the state.

Speaking in Abeokuta at a stakeholders meeting with members of the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAN), Olatokunbo Talabi, the secretary to the state government, described the existing waste collection and management process in the state as unacceptable and capable of endangering people’s lives.

Talabi said that effort was ongoing to put in place, a viable reform process that would further address the anomalies before it turns to an epidemic in the state.

“When we came in as a government, Governor Dapo Abiodun observed that the mode of waste col-

lection, as well as its management was totally not acceptable to the government and its people. We took time to study and observe the existing process of waste management in the State and came to the realisation that the process needed to be overhauled.

“Clearly we need to reform this part of our lives, our well-being and should also be thinking of turning waste into wealth”, he added.

The state secretary, who also revealed that government has appointed a waste management expert with proven track record to manage, supervise and direct the collection and management of waste generated in the state, adding that, there was urgent need to explore the sustainability of the process.

Chairman, AWAN, Jolaoluwa Emmanuel promised his association’s willingness to support the state government in achieving a cleaner and healthier state.

Lagos unveils e-platform to curb real estate fraud JOSHUA BASSEY

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agos State government has launched a real estate transaction portal to curb fraudulent practices in the real estate business.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu unveiled the portal at a stakeholders’ meeting held at Eko Hotel & Suites in Victoria Island.

The portal, the governor said, will secure investments in property market by checkmating unscrupulous

dealings in transactional process. It will also afford property owners and tenants to register and transact genuinely with one another without interference of third parties.

Sanwo-Olu, who was accompanied to the event by his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, said that the launching of the portal became imperative to find lasting solution to incidences of fraudulent and unprofessional practices observed in the real estate www.businessday.ng

sector. The initiative, he said, would promote transparency and best practice in the business.

“Apart from facilitating smooth business relationships between people selling or buying landed property, the portal will also be useful to those in leasing or renting of properties across the State. Removing fraud and doubts from their transactional activities will, in no small measure, contribute to the State’s GDP. “The data collected from

the portal will help the government to formulate policies and programmes to regulate, control and professionalise the real estate sector, which is one of the extremely important needs of mankind.”

According to SanwoOlu, the state had initially introduced Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department (LASRETRAD) in its civil service in 2012 to regulate, monitor and develop the institutional framework that would enhance the in-

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tegrity of the property market. The electronic platform, he said, was introduced to consolidate the activities of the department.

The special adviser to the governor on housing, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, said that Lagos had more innovative and sustainable plans to improve the fortunes of the real estate sector and promote the State as first destination for property business in the country.

She said the smart city aspiration of Lagos made @Businessdayng

it necessary for the government to track all real estate transactions and capture them electronically with access to data.

The minister for works and housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, represented by the Federal Controller for Works and Housing, Lagos State Field Office, Sarah Alawode, urged stakeholders to embrace the new initiative, stressing that the platform remained critical in strengthening ease of doing business in the country.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

MONEYINSIGHT

15

Credit Bureau group makes play for literacy on access to finance for SMEs FRANK ELEANYA

T

he Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria (CBAN) said it plans to improve the state of education on access to credit for small and medium scale businesses in Nigeria at its conference on 1 November.

Established in 2012, CBAN comprises of three licensed Credit Bureaus in Nigeria, namely CreditRegistry Plc; FirstCentral Credit Bureau; and CRC Credit Bureau. The entity promotes the development and use of credit reporting in Nigeria.

Access to credit is one of the major problems that threaten the growth of businesses, especially over 37 million SMEs in the country. Data from the Bank of Industry (BoI) shows that there are over 17 million small businesses not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and less than 7 percent of those registered have access to credit facilities.

A World Bank study also stated that while formal SMEs contribute up to 60 percent of employment opportunities and 40 percent of the national income or GDP, without access to capital, many of them would collapse within one year of take-off.

It is in line with the improving access to businesses and financial inclusion that the Central Bank of Nigeria set up the vision 2020 agenda of including more than 80 million Nigerian into the financial system, recently compelled banks to lend 60 percent of their deposits to small businesses and licensed credit bu-

reau to ease the process of lending.

A credit bureau, to be sure, refers to an entity that collects and shares information about the creditworthiness of individuals and businesses. Credit bureaus have been in existence for over a century in many countries around the world.

In Nigeria, credit bureaus started operations in 2003. Currently, the three members of CBAN are the only national credit bureaus licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Credit bureaus help bridge the information gap between lenders and borrowers, thereby assisting lenders to make informed lending decisions as opposed to lending in the dark. Credit bureaus are also an accountability mechanism that influences behaviour that stimulates honouring business agreements and obligations, in other words, they champion a high level of financial responsibility of the public. They also make possible the processing of millions of loan decisions every day and in an automated fashion. They maintain a database of borrowers for lenders, thereby giving them a reliable way of identifying borrowers.

According to Jameelah Sharrieff-Ayedun, chairman, CBAN and managing director and CEO of CreditRegistry, credit bureaus made it possible for banks in Nigeria to voluntarily share credit information with all bureaus which have enhanced transparency in the financial system. Banks now offer new credit products to their customers such as consumer loans,

Axion Tuffcrete, Bitumen Booster seen lowering construction costs, boosting quality in Nigeria CALEB OJEWALE

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he use of Tuffcrete and Bitumen Booster to permanently address road and building construction challenges in Nigeria, has been described as a solution towards delivering quality construction in the country.

This is according to David Wilson, managing director of Axion Global Engineering Limited, a subsidiary of Axion Canada, who in a statement, said Tuffcrete is revolutionizing the world of construction, saving time and effort, labour, raw materials and cost.

These products, coupled with soil based stabilizer for road construction and the innovative uses of tuffcrete in the building industry with plaster and screeding, improves the durability of road pavements as well as reducing cost of road constructions.

Advantages of the products were enumerated by WIlson, highlighting general engineering infrastructure costs are significantly lowered and specifically, the following construction challenges are resolved easily.

These include Land reclamation, Concrete dead weight leading to high reinforcement cost, dampness occasioned by capillary action, peeling of walls, low bearing capacity.

In addition, steel rebars are said to be protected from corrosion and erosion because Axion Tuffcrete is

waterproof and it can be used for erosion control and filling of potholes during road maintenance.

He added that the Axion Bitumen Booster (ABB) interacts with the natural molecular structure of bitumen used in asphalt batching to substantially increase its strength while adding higher resistance to the sun’s UV rays which deteriorates the strength of bitumen over time.

According to him, the ABB increases the volume of the bitumen by more than 30 percent, thereby increasing the contractor’s profitability, further asserting it is the only binder in the world that makes the bitumen water proof and chemical resistant.

“The ABB is effective in a 100°c temperature range and can be adjusted as required. In lower temperature, the bitumen’s elasticity is increased preventing it from cracking. In high temperatures, it is stiffer; not allowing it to melt to the sides exposing the aggregate,” he said.

Wilson added that the ABB does not require special equipment or specialized technicians to apply it. It is added directly to the bitumen as soon as it reaches its melting point.

Tomorrow, November 2, the company is inviting stakeholders in the built industry, state ministries of works and the public to come and witness the practical use of these products in Lagos at Orchid Hotel

by Eleganza bus top. www.businessday.ng

vehicle loans, loans to SMEs, etc.

“This year we are dedicating this conference to the people that keep us in business - the small and medium-size business owner, the

regular Joe on the streets of the country who needs the much-required but somewhat elusive credit to either start a business or improve their quality of life,” she said.

The conference which is in its 6th edition is themed ‘Deepening Financial Inclusion Credit Opportunities for MSMEs and Consumers.’

Graduates of the Nestlé Sales Academy in a group photograph with Mauricio Alarcon, MD/CEO, Nestlé Nigeria, 6th from right (sitting); Chandana Fernando, commercial manager, Nestlé Nigeria, 4th from right (sitting); and Ogechi Adeola, associate professor and academic director, Sales and Marketing Academy, Lagos Business School, 3rd from right (sitting) at the recent graduation event in Lagos.

Men-focused social, political values limit women’s access to economic opportunities … as new study explores how to advance women’s leadership, empowerment, accountability STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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omen’s contribution to making public institutions work more efficiently and effectively is no longer in doubt in Nigeria, when given the opportunity.

But women have continued to fail at being able to compete favourable against men at local, state, and federal government elections. This has significant economic implications.

Of Nigeria’s 36 states, 20 have at least one woman in the House of Assembly. This means 16 states have no single woman in their Houses of Assembly. For the 20 states, women occupy 39 (7.2%) out of 540 seats.

This is despite that fact that women entrepreneurs in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) supply chain

are surmounting the tough business environment in Nigeria and creating enterprises where women are making profitable business decisions.

“Women need to learn how men in politics operate. If politics is a dirty game, women should find out how it is played because men continuously take advantage of this gap and pit women against themselves sometimes,” Mufuliat Fijabi, chief executive officer, the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund said.

The Partnership for African Social and Governance Research, and the Institute of Development Studies in partnership with Leadership Effectiveness, Accountability and Professionalism (LEAP) Africa have initiated a new study that seeks to explore the conditions needed to enable women to break through the

L-R: Damilola Agbalajobi, political scientist and gender specialist, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife; Emmanuel Aiyede, Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan; Mufuliat Fijabi, CEO the Nigerian Women Trust Fund; Tade Aina, ED, PASGR; Modupe Bewaji, Planning and Budget, Ikeja LGA; Akin Akingbulu, ED, Institute for Media and Society Lagos; Taibat Lawanson, University of Lagos; Wole Oladapo, University of Ibadan at the Launch of “Gendered contentions In Fragile, Conflict and Violence Affected Settings: Unpacking Women’s Leadership, Empowerment and Accountability” in Lagos.

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@Businessdayng

obstacles stopping them in politics.

The study focuses on Lagos due to the city’s social, religious and ethnic diversity as well as its economic progress.

Put differently, the study explores the conditions and processes that lead to empowerment and accountability for women in Fragile, Conflict, Violence Affected Settings (FCVAS).

The study will also expose the strategy women use, how, when and what factors enable women’s ability to be active and effective in politics in Mozambique, Nigeria and Pakistan seen as fragile with records of conflicts and in some cases armed conflicts.

“At the recent review of the Sustainable Development Goals, one of the areas that caught the attention of stakeholders was how women navigate social and political issues to gain access to opportunities,” Femi Taiwo, executive director, LEAD Africa said during the Utafiti Sera stakeholder engagement and launch workshop brief in Lagos.

The study will show what factors at household and community levels enable women to counter gender biased social norms to participate in political processes as citizens or representatives. It will analyse when and how women take part in collective action processes at the community level and exercise leadership and will illustrate what strategies women use to promote their group interests within male-dominated formal political and community level institutions.

“Policies are not neutral and politics play a critical role in determining public policies. The Partnership for African Social and Government Research (PASGR) was founded to ensure public policymakers take advantage of social science researches so that research outcomes become transformative and engaging,” Tade Aina, executive director, PASGR said.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

FINTECH News

Products Review

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POS transaction failures head north as N50 stamp duty compliance begins ...Value of transactions in 2019 struggles to meet 2018 peak for goods and services. The average processing time in Nigeria often depends on the quality of the network available.

FRANK ELEANYA

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s merchants and organisations rush to ensure compliance of the directive given by the Central Bank of Nigeria for banks to charge N50 on every Point of Sale (PoS) service from N1,000 and above, the volume of transactions that fail is increasing A three days data monitoring by BusinessDay, from Monday 28, 2019, on the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Service System (NIBSS) showed that failure rate ranged between 19 percent to 20 percent of total transaction volume.

Rates didn’t change any on Tuesday, it remained locked within 19 to 20 percent ranges. However, Wednesday saw a spike to 20.230ⁿ percent in failed transactions.

We also noticed that the number of PoS transactions carried out in the evening was less than 2,000 compared to over 11,000 in done transacted in the day.

This is aside from the value of transaction which is struggling to reach the December peak. In June, the total value of PoS transactions lost nearly N12 billion from the previous month.

“Banks shall unbundle merchant settlement amounts and charge applicable taxes and duties on individual transactions as stipulated by regulations,” the CBN had said in a circular released in September.

Soon after the circular was released, banks quickly

sent out notices to customers. From October, customers began to report they were being asked to pay extra N50 at petrol filling stations, shopping malls on their PoS transactions.

Etuwewe Prince, narrated his experience ongoing to buy petrol, “@Oando_PLC now charges N50 for any PoS transaction at their filling station. I just got the shock of my life now. The station attendant says it’s an official company policy.”

Several Nigerians who had similar experiences at different filling stations and malls said they were considering using cash henceforth to make their purchases.

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Also, in a bid to encourage more patronage some businesses are finding a way around PoS. “Tried fuelling at five filling stations and four (including three mega marketers) told me outrightly they hadn’t POS. Got lucky at the fifth,” tweeted Solomon Apenja.

“CBN is disincentivising its cashless economy system.”

The federal government expects to raise about N2.2 trillion annually from Stamp Duty collection.

Data from NIBSS showed that total volumes of PoS transactions for 2017 stood at 146.3 million worth N1.4 trillion; 285.9 million transactions in 2018 worth N2.3

trillion; and 187.7 million at N1.4 trillion in the first six months of 2019.

How does a PoS system work?

There are multiple points required to complete a PoS transaction.

In Nigeria, these points could include the banks issuing the PoS; NIBSS is supposed to provide reliable data channel as well as services on terminal certification; Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSA) which deploys, carry out maintenance and support of PoS terminals on behalf of the acquiring banks; and there is an internet provider.

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Most PoS terminals are provided with connectivity via a GSM subscriber identity module (SIM). MTN carries most of the PoS transactions in Nigeria.

Usually, once a card is used at any POS in any business, the payment is then authorised through the acquiring bank. The acquiring bank refers to the bank where the merchant has an account. The acquiring bank will then issue an authorization request to the card-issuing bank. Once authorization is confirmed, the approval code is sent back to the POS. In many cases, this should take mere seconds so the payment can be taken

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Any one of the points can fail at any time.

The decline in the volume and value of transactions on PoS recorded in February and March is largely due to an increase in decline incidences. The failure rate in 2019 has gone from 14 and 15 percent to over 20 percent as earlier shown. The implication is that today, for every 100 attempts to process card payment on PoS terminals, 19 to 20 are likely to fail.

Increasing the failure rate shapes the attitude of merchants and affects the adoption of the technology.

It is then compounded with the N50 Stamp duty charge on transactions. This informs why many merchants would encourage customers to pay with cash rather than PoS which moves the cashless drive backward.

To address the failure rate, it is suggested that the CBN licenses more aggregators and force the PoS to be able to talk to more than one aggregator depending on availability. Since PoS terminals in Nigeria are usually dual SIM, why should the aggregators not be load balanced as well? Aggregators should be forced to have similar prices so that competition can only be by performance and reliability.

Banks that own these terminals, will then be at liberty to switch between aggregators based on performance.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES & MARKETS

17

COMPANY NEWS ANALYSIS INSIGHT

Banking

Access, Sterling, Union outperform banking peers despite stock market rout OLUWASEGUN OLAKOYENIKAN & IFEANYI JOHN

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he past year has been terrible for banking stocks as continued selloffs have caused the banking index to be among the worst performing sectors in the market.

However, Access, Sterling and Union Banks managed to stand out among banking peers by shrugging off the weak investor sentiment bedevilling the Nigerian market to increase their shareholders’ wealth so far this year.

Out of thirteen commercial banks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), only the three lenders have produced positive returns for investors in a market that has lost as much as 16.14 percent of its market value since the start of the year.

While the banking index, which gauges the performance of the most capitalized and liquid lenders, is down 20.96 percent so far in 2019, shares of Union Bank recorded the biggest gain of 25.89 percent yearto-date (YTD) to N7.05. Access and Sterling Banks have returned 10.29 percent and 5.26 percent of value to investors YTD, bringing their share prices as at the close of trading Wednesday to N7.50 and N2, respectively.

O n the other hand, shares of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) fell -49.29 percent year-todate to N7.10; Unity Bank,

-44.86 percent to 59 kobo; First Bank of Nigeria Holdings (FBNH), -33.33 percent to N5.30; Zenith Bank, -26.46 percent to N16.95; Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), -25.98 percent to N25.50; while United Bank for Africa (UBA) shed -25.32 percent to N5.75.

Stanbic IBTC plunged -22.84 percent to N37 from the beginning of 2019; Fidelity Bank declined by -16.75 percent to N1.69; First City Monument Bank lost 14.81 percent to N1.61; while Wema Bank dropped 11.11 percent to 56 kobo.

Nigerian tier-one banks

posted a combined profit of N521.92 billion in the first nine months of 2019 from N455.96 billion garnered in the same period last year, this is the first double-digit growth recorded by the lenders since Nigeria exited recession two years ago. But in spite of this, investors are apathetic towards most of the bank stocks, leading to negative year-to-date returns for their shareholders.

“The decline is largely reflective of Nigeria’s macro because many of the results released have been good,” said Aderonke Akinsola, banking analyst at Lagos-

based Chapel Hill Denham.

“In as much as we are in this kind of macro-environment, investors will be cautious regardless of how good companies’ results are.”

Nigerian banks were faced with several regulations aimed at refocusing the banks to their core duty of lending which would support credit flows to the real sector of the Nigerian economy. Among the recent policies is a directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria mandating the banks to maintain a minimum loanto-deposit ratio (LDR) of 65 percent by December 2019

– an upward revision from the initial 60 percent to be maintained by September 2019.

Some analysts have argued that the move could reduce the banks’ exposure to high-yielding low-risk Federal Government securities such as bonds and treasury bills, thereby reducing their earnings from investing activities – their major source of income – and dampening the already weak investor sentiment in the market.

Besides the challenging broader economy which grew at a slower pace of 1.94

percent in the second quarter of 2019, recent regulations by the CBN could also be weighing on bank stocks, according to Fola Abimbola, equity research analyst at a Lagos-based FBNQuest, the research arm of FBNH. Meanwhile, analysts at CSL Stockbrokers maintained a “BUY” rating on Sterling, UBA , Fidelity, FCMB and Stanbic IBTC Banks, Meristem rated GTB a “BUY”, while those at United Capital had a “BUY” rating on FBNH as at when their respective nine-month financial results were released on the NSE.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Eyowo’s digital bank leverages phone numbers to revolutionize financial services SEGUN ADAMS

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new fintech platform, Eyowo, allows customers send, spend, save, receive and borrow money at zero interest, bringing banking solutions to users through mobile devices including nonsmartphones.

Eyowo is a revolutionary peer-to-peer payment system that allows people exchange value seamlessly using their phone numbers, said Tomi Amao, Chief Ex-

ecutive Officer, Eyowo.

“We want to use mobile phones to drive financial inclusion and Eyowo is fundamentally a bank on your phone number,” he said.

According to the fintech, Eyowo allows its users to make or receive payments for goods and services both online and offline, including payment of bills and buying airtime on various phone networks.

Eyowo offers dollar virtual card for international transactions, card-less ATM withdrawal.

In addition, people not on the platform would be notified whenever money is sent to them, the digital bank said.

Asides personal banking, Eyowo also services retail and business customers.

Eyowo Retail allows small and medium business integrate payment on all types of platform and ensures instant settlement of all transactions.

The platform helps the businesses accept and track all payments, manage orders and inventories, know

their customers, meet new customers, generate transaction reports and make informed decisions.

Eyow o f o r Bu s i n e ss which addresses a lot of the financial problems that SMEs and businesses have, for instance, can handle business payroll and service the need of businesses which require services of a tax consultant who understands the tax system to help with the payroll system.

Eyowo for Business already has the formula built

into it that is in line with the Nigerian tax code so that users only have to log into the platform, and put in the gross annual salary of its employees.

“The system does the rest, it calculates monthly pensions and taxes and all other deductibles,” Amao said. “It also remits these payments automatically without the SME having to employ extra hands. These are some of the services that we’ve layered on top of the Eyowo platform.”

The fintech said its prod-

ucts have been engineered to be accessible to everyone regardless of the social status they belong to.

“Eyowo is available on Android, iOS, USSD, Voice, SMS and on the web,” Eyowo Product and Partnerships Lead, Ope Adeyemi, told media at the product launch in October.

The digital bank says it is also offering credit at zero cost to customers with high credit rating. The interestfree loan is expected to be paid within a month or it would attract interest.

Editor: LOLADE AKINMURELE (lolade.akinmurele@businessdayonline.com) Graphics: Samuel Iduh

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nt e ai of

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES&MARKETS

Business Event

FINANCIAL SERVICES

CBAN rings closing bell as it announces credit conference TEMITAYO AYETOTO

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he Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria (CBAN) on Monday rang the closing bell on the trading floor of theNigeriaStockExchange(NSE), announcing its 6th credit reporting conference bill for Friday.

Je m e e l a h S h a r r i e f f Ayedun, managing director and chief executive of CBAN, alongside heads of member bodies were received by Jude Chukwuemeka, the NSE divisional head, trading business as the market wrapped up with a marginal gain of 0.14 percent.

He said the exchange would be ready for further collaborations with the Bureau in furtherance of strengthening Nigeria’s financial environment.

The conference will bother on deepening financial inclusion and creating credit opportunities for small and medium enterprises and consumers, Sharrieff-Ayedun said.

Sessions will provide direct interactions with the credit

bureaus in Nigeria’s financial ecosystem, an online master class with online lenders and exhibition room opens up signing up for loans.

“We realise that consumers and small businesses are unaware of them. So we want to demystify the system and be able to bring awareness and show how they can benefit from the credit system. Now that in Nigeria, access to credit seems to be much easier, people want to understand how they can get that access,” she said.

“We encourage every small business or consumer that wants access to credit to come.

We are going to be giving out loans that day, and for those who are coming, we can prequalify them immediately, we have lenders who are ready to access and give loans that day.”

CBAN has since 2013 focused on informing lender’s decision on who to give loan by providing historical information about borrower’s credit worthiness, showing a record of credit experience and performance.

Sharrieff-Ayedun said the association has seen some growth in transparency and de-risking in the investment cycle, with about 2000 financial and non-financial institutions such as the telecommunication players and manufacturers registering with the three member bodies to report credit data. The three licensed bureaus are CRC Credit Bureau Ltd., Credit Registry Nigeria and XDS Credit Bureau Ltd. “We want to make sure there is no hiding place in Nigeria’s financial economy because it makes our economy stronger. The funds that are being used to give these loans, either depositors fund or investor’s; we have an obligation to make sure that money is given out without risk. By reporting credit information to the bureau, you minimise risk of someone not paying,” she explained

L-R: Patricia Ifewulu, company secretary/legal adviser, Continental Reinsurance Plc; Paul Kokoricha, director, and Femi Oyetunji, GMD/CEO, during the court ordered meeting of the company in Lagos, yesterday. Pic by Olawale Amoo

Continues online @www. businessday.ng

TECHNOLOGY

New “konnect” solutions to enhance communication between businesses, customers, says Kirusa CEO MICHAEL ANI

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new service developed

by Kirusa, a global leading company that engages in providing messaging and voice solutions over data networks, would help in fostering better communication between businesses and their customers.

Known as “Kirusa konnect”, the solution is expected to further increase companies’ engagements with customers beyond the traditional SMS, to include other channels like voice messaging and data messaging, Inderpal Mumick, CEO of the value-added service providing firm said.

“We saw a need from both

consumers and business perspectives that they would also want to communicate over the voice channel by making phone calls and data messaging channel hence, the need for development of Kirusa konnect to help in bridging this communication gap,” Mumick said at a news parley in the firm’s office in Lagos.

Kirusa konnect which has recently been launched in Nigeria—its biggest market where over half of its calls and messaging transactions happen—offers a comprehensive suite of inbound and outbound communication tools, which enable users to connect with their target audience via mobile phones.

With the firm’s inbound tools, businesses are open to various services including SnapCall, a platform that allows customers to reach out simply by giving a missed call with acknowledgement SMS sent immediately with the requested information; IVR, a customized solutions that allow their customers to dial-in and listen to information about their business, products and services at the same time, allow them to leave a feedback; and lastly, the Inbound SMS which enables customers to send SMS to request information, register a vote or receive a call back.

L-R: Adaorah Momodu, chief operating officer/co-founder, Oncopadi.com; Abisola Ajayi, president, Association of Medical Students University of Lagos; Peju Adenusi, general manager, Lagos State Health Management Agency; Bunmi Oke, chief executive officer, Ladybird Limited, and Kunle AdeyemiDoro, CEO, Medflyers Africa, at the Association of Medical students University of Lagos[AMSUL] Academic Symposium held at Lagos University Teaching hospital (LUTH) Idiaraba Lagos.

Continues online @www. businessday.ng

COMPANY RELEASE

Gemona West Interior Design set to revolutionize industry with innovative designs

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he Commercial Director of Gemona West Interior Designs, Naomi Smith has said that the firm is determined to revolutionize the interior designs industry in Nigeria by delivering ground breaking designs that compares with best practice around the world.

Smith made the comment at the recently concluded Made by Design Exhibition held recently at the Balmoral Event Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, which is one of the largest gatherings for Interior designs players and vendors in Nigeria. According to her, following its successful outing at the exhibition, the firm is now better positioned to produce exciting projects never before seen in Nigeria.

Speaking on the exhibition, Smith said. “For the first time

we are showcasing our designs at a major exhibition and we are excited about the responses we are getting from guests. We are here to demonstrate that the design industry is improving and to show that Nigerians can trust us to deliver the best designs comparable to any company in the world.”

In a bid to offer visitors at the exhibition the best of experience, Gemona West partnered with other leading vendors and manufacturers to build an experience center that offered first hand feeling of the company’s contemporary interior design concepts. The booth was made up of three compartments- bedroom, kitchen and office, all bearing the hallmarks and elegance of the award winning design company.

The partners who came to-

gether to create the experience center are Woodstyles, JCI, ProBlind, Evi Vernice Paints and Coating Solution, Jobaco and Brecolights.

According to Smith, the decision to collaborate is a reflection of the evolution in the industry as many more consumers are demanding a onestop solution from design firms instead of silo offering which is often cumbersome.

“The focus now is how do we make sure that all professionals within our industry are all working as a team so that the clients gets best results.

Our belief is - when the client is happy, all the professionals involved within that project are happy,” She said.

Continues online @www. businessday.ng

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Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker, House of Representatives, (r) in a chat with his Egyptian Counterpart Ali Abdel Aal (l), during a courtesy visit to the Speaker at the National Assembly.

L-R: Bello Maccido, chairman, FBNQuest Merchant Bank; Adam Nuru, managing director/CEO, First City Merchant Bank; Bola Oyebamiji, commissioner for finance, Osun State, and Benedict Oramah, president, African ExportImport Bank, during the 2019 Investiture of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, in Lagos.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

19

AGRIBUSINESSINSIGHT Market Insights

Analysis

Commentaries

Experts/Industry Views

Commodities watch

Policy Reviews

Send in Commentaries to caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com

RSPO offers Nigerian smallholder palm oil producers path to free certification, access to int’l markets Stories by CALEB OJEWALE Twiiter: @calebtinolu

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mallholder palm oil producers in Nigeria will soon be able to get certified according to RSPO standards, which till date appeared to be an exclusive reserve of multinationals and conglomerates in the palm oil production value chain.

In Africa, smallholders account for up to 70 percent of the palm oil output, just like almost every other commodity, and with the RSPO certification, will soon have access to better pricing for their commodities and international markets.

Elikplim Dziwornu Agbitor, technical manager - Africa, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), in a Skype interview with Agribusiness Insight from his Accra base, said, “The vision of RSPO is to transform markets so that sustainable palm oil becomes the norm. Therefore, we cannot be concentrating on the big guys, who are just about 30 percent, and ignoring the smallholders who are at least 70 percent.

“We (now) have a standard that is specifically tailored for certifying smallholders. Before now, the smallholder just mirrored what was applicable to the big growers.

And, of course, we know that the dynamics are very different,” he said. Since it is not expected that smallholders get certified to the same standards as the big-holders because the dynamics are different, RSPO has developed specific standards for certifying independent smallholders.

As Agbitor explained, this new process does not certify smallholders as individuals; rather, it certifies them as a group. The cooperative or the group would have one certificate that covers all

the members in the group.

RSPO, as he says, also recognized that smallholders are at a disadvantage on many levels financially. They may not have the financial wherewithal to get certified because the certification could be quite expensive and also, they may not have the technical know-how to be able to implement the standards.

“Some smallholders may not be very literate to be able to read, interpret and implement (specifics of the RSPO standards),” said Agbitor, so RSPO decided to provide a support mechanism tailored for small holders.

The organisation came up with what it calls the RSPO smallholder support fund (RSSF). It has been using this fund to support smallholder groups to become certified.

The fear he explains was, “with the way things are going, in a few years time, companies who even buy from smallholders may not want to buy from them anymore because the smallholders are not certified.

And we don’t want smallholders excluded from the supply chain because for them, it is a matter of livelihood and so we cannot afford to have that.”

Presently, the RSPO support fund has been used to support five projects in Africa, one of which is in Cross River State, Nigeria. The funding was channelled through Solidaridad West Africa, which used it to support the smallholder groups there to get certified.

Apart from the RSPO smallholder support fund as a strategy being utilised to drive certification of smallholder producers, there is also an ongoing process of simplifying the standard for smallholder certification.

However, Agbitor explains that for smallholders, the most urgent need is not certification. They have other more pressing needs of income and yields because a lot of them use planting materials of very poor quality. Invariably, their yields are low, they are not able to afford the inputs that they require

and also do not fully understand the best agronomic practices to get the most yields they could get.

To address all of these, there is now the RSPO smallholder strategy, which is seeking to holistically address the challenges that small holders face. That strategy has three main objectives.

The first objective is to improve smallholder livelihoods. It has nothing to do with certification at all. The strategy aims to improve smallholder livelihood and this is to be achieved by improving the yields and also diversification of income source.

The second objective of the smallholder strategy is to have a more simplified approach towards smallholder certification. This is to be achieved through the simplified smallholder standard earlier mentioned, which is expected to be endorsed by the general assembly of RSPO on the 6th of November in Thailand.

To help smallholders achieve

this, RSPO is providing access to simplified assessment tools.

For instance, to get certified, a smallholder producer needs to do a number of assessments such as environmental impact, social impact assessment, and land use change analysis. All these cost a lot of money that smallholders cannot afford.

According to Agbitor, what RSPO has done is to develop very simplified apps that a smallholder group manager could easily use to conduct these assessments.

For something like the land use change for instance, RSPO only requires the group manager to send it the GPS files for the smallholder farmers and the RSPO secretariat would do the assessments and generate the reports for them at no cost.

Whereas big companies pay tens of thousands of dollars just to get these assessments done, for smallholders, RSPO says it is doing it for them at no cost.

The third objective is to make a stronger business case for smallholder certification. The organisation is examining financial incentives that can be provided for smallholders to be certified and to remain certified.

While big players like Okomu, Presco, SNL are either certified or not certified, RSPO is offering smallholders a stepwise approach to certification. Once they commit to certification and they can prove their eligibility, the proposition at the moment is that they can begin to sell 50 percent of what they are producing as certified, even though they have not yet attained full certification. RSPO, he says, is still working on getting other incentives to make a strong financial case for smallholder certification.

Next week, benefits of getting certified will be discussed.

Agric investment opportunities on Nigerian Agritech platforms (November 2019)

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or the month of November 2019, Agribusiness Insight surfed through three digital agriculture platforms in Nigeria; Thrive Agric, Agrorite, and Farmcrowdy, for any open investment opportunities at the time of going to press.

Please note that this is not a recommendation to invest, rather, for information purpose

and individuals should carry out independent due diligence.

All that is reproduced below has been extracted from information gleaned from each platform.

Farmcrowdy - Beef Processing in Lagos State Units left (at publication): 504 Cost per unit: N60,000 Returns: 12 percent after 6 Months Insured by: AXA www.businessday.ng

Agrorite - Poultry Farms in Ekiti and Oyo states Units left (at publication): 353 Cost per unit: N60,000 Returns: 16.5 percent after 6 Months Insured by: Leadway Thrive Agric had no open investments at the time of publication

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L-R: Seye Oyeleye, director general, DAWN Commission; Taiwo Obe, founder, The Journalism Clinic; and Kanayo Nwannze, Keynote Speaker and former President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) during the International Conference and Expo on Research and Innovations in Agriculture (ICERIA) 2019 recently held in Lagos @Businessdayng

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

INTERVIEW

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‘Nigeria needs to coordinate tax payments better in order not to distract entrepreneurs’ The co-working space market in Nigeria is increasingly gaining traction driven chiefly by millennial demographics and growing tech start-up community in the country. AYO AKINMADE, executive vice-chairman of Regus Nigeria, a major co-working space supplier operating under the franchise of International Workspace Group (IWG), in this interview with CHUKA UROKO and KELECHI EWUZIE, speaks on the co-working space in Nigeria. Akinmade, a trained economist and chartered accountant with over three decades of investment experience in West African markets, also shares the five-year plan of the company, as well as challenges and opportunities of doing business in Nigeria. Excerpts:

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statement every month from Manila; somebody sends them a reminder, if they have not paid, and tells them we are going to lock up the office; all these are because of technology.

When you go on Facebook or LinkedIn, if you are to type in office space, our search results will come out. That is technology. If you click the website, within the next two days, you will start getting images following you. Any time you go online, it will be popping up, that’s technology that we have. If you go on and click on our website, it will ask you, ‘where do you want an office?’

We have a building in Barcelona that houses 3,000 people. It is a call center. The people take information, call the person to ask whether he is in Lagos or Japan, and also what type of space he wants.

As the people talk, they have a map of the city on their computer.

So, there is a dot of where all the locations are, and with this, they are showing clients these locations and asking them if they have preferences.

When they are done and they key all the information in, the technology that we have behind will take all that information and determine the person that should get the email.

On my own dashboard, I have something that is showing me that from the first day of the month till today, as at yesterday, we had 197 enquires for office space. There is a pie chart that breaks it down to which locations. I can double-click on it and see the names of the people – who they are, what their phone number is, and what they want.

You are reputed to be the largest provider of flexible offices in the world. What are the things you do that make you the largest space provider?

It is in basic statistics, the number of locations that we are in. When I say number of locations, I mean countries. We are in over 130 countries. In those countries, we have over 5,000 offices in 5,000 locations. It is about the square meters that those 5,000 offices cover. The nearest company to us called WeWork has 582 locations worldwide now but they are in fewer countries.

A couple of years ago, we opened 260 new locations. Regus pioneered co-working space, having started

over 30-40 years ago and we have not stopped. So, everybody else is just coming behind. It is one of the advantages of being first to an idea.

Early mover has its advantages but you should continue because, if you don’t push on, others will come and overtake you.

The Nigerian economy is slowing and that impacts negatively on the country’s real estate market.

Is this in any way affecting your operations in the country?

With every economic slowdown, there is hardly any part of the society that doesn’t feel impact of the slowdown. Activities are generally lower; we expect it to go much slower. But generally when there is economic slowdown, that is when we tend to see a bit more activity.

This is because, those people that did not consider a serviced office before, when the economy slows down and funds are scarce, they will have a rethink. But in cases where one has signed a 5-year lease, and he has paid the lease; except he finds someone to sublease to, he will have to keep it.

I have told you that we only ask people to pay for one month at a time So, at the end of the month, you just think about it; you see that times are hard; you just give notice, after one month you go. But at the same time, we are losing people, those that are going from other businesses. They are thinking about it and saying, look at all our furniture and office inventories; we are not going to renew our rent because the landlord wants to collect one-year house rent, and we don’t even have it. These other guys here are asking for only one-month payment; we can pay a fraction of what it will cost us to do our work and, by the time we work, the money we make, we can pay the next rent.

Regus is known to have some successful entrepreneurs as customers; how do you manage those people? Because you said you enable them to work wherever and whenever they want to.

There are largely two types of customers that we have—the big multi-nationals from the big technology firms, payment processing firms and the likes, they tend not to need our help in running their business, people already know them and

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There is no regret at all for coming to Nigeria because without coming to Nigeria, we will probably be poorer. And for me, coming to Nigeria means coming home www.businessday.ng

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To many people out there, Regus is just another company in Nigeria. But beyond that name, what else would you like people to know about the company? he brand, Regus, is actually an enabler. We are an interface that enables people with a business idea to be able to function in a professional space in a co-working environment where they have like-minded people in the same space doing what they are doing.

We enable people to do that work in a professional and safe environment at a fraction of what they would need to be in that space, if they were doing it themselves.

But I can be in this one office, it has light, water, internet, tea, coffee, all of the likes but we say to you, just pay monthly versus a landlord that would ask for one or two years’ rent upfront, after you scale that hurdle, you have to buy your partition, furniture, get the internet working, and anytime something goes wrong, you either have to stop what you are doing to get involved or have an admin person or an office manager to do those things.

This is what REGUS does for you.

Beyond doing it in one location, we’re also a network. We are not a local network; we are an international network. So, taking an office that could be a third of this place gives you access to the shared spaces in Dubai, Hong Kong, Japan, etc. We are a natural habitat to incubate people, give them succour in a professional environment. Secondly, we are a global network; so signing up with us simply means you have become a member of a global club, and you have access across the world.

You talk about REGUS being global, and we are in an era of technology. Do you see technology standing in the way of your operations?

No. In fact, it’s the opposite. Technology is what enables our operations. If you go to London, nobody is going to ask you, they won’t even call Nigeria from London. Once you get to the reception, from your phone, you would have a tag which you would or show it to the reception. They would go and type in the number and it would show all the information.

The technology knows that in this office I have used this device or these two devices; they plug in the network. If I go to Lisbon in Portugal, Pakistan or India, once I enter the reception, all these devices will automatically be online, that’s technology.

For our own work, we have in Nigeria about 300 customers across all our locations. All of these customers are invoiced from one location in Philistines. We do invoicing in Nigeria. Somebody sends them a

Ayo Akinmade

going to them, In fact the problem they have is to fence off people from coming to them.

Then we have, increasingly, a group of people that are smaller companies looking for access to those bigger companies. So we become the intermediaries. They talk to one another asking, ‘do you need this? Let me help you get it’. I am an ambassador; my staff run the operation; my job is to do the social mixing. So, each month or in two months, I talk to the heads of all the companies; what are you into? You are trying to get this license? I know the minister who can do that. These are some of their conversation.

We believe that if we help our customers business to grow, they will take more space with us, so we like them and want to help but it will also benefit us if we help them.

So, we are constantly asking, tell us what you want to achieve? This is because we may know somebody or some process that can help you.

If we can link to these and you grow more, it’s to our advantage because you will take more space with us. But if you decide to get the space from somewhere else, that’s fine.

The space you leave behind for another space will open up for another person. In life, we must be open to regeneration; we have a huge @Businessdayng

multinational that has been with us since 2008 that will be leaving in December. We will miss them but somebody else will come.

WeWork, your closest rival, has opened for business in Nigeria. How prepared are you for the expected competition? Do you see them as a threat?

Yes, WeWork is here in the country. They have a little space in Ikeja. A few years ago, when Landmark virtual office was in operation, I called a number of virtual office operators and suggested that we should form an association to define standards, code of conduct and the likes.

There is no successful business that will be worried about competition because it will spur you to improve. If you don’t have competition, you are going to become complacent and you won’t do things right. So, for us, we welcome their entrance.

One of the advantages of the new entrants is that they publicize the sector. So, you are saying, lots of people don’t know about it, every new person that comes in has to make noise and this is what we do here.

We are happy for them to take that burden and even make noise. While we ride on their making noise, we wish them every success.

New entrants don’t have first-mover advantage and the structures that we have, they are not be able to benefit from the. Apart from WeWork, there are many other smaller companies. We have a database and there is a dedicated officer whose job is to track other operators. That’s why we know where people are, we visit the locations, see what they are

doing and confirm that they are copying what we are doing.

Every time a fresh person comes in, they bring a fresh perspective and they help us look back and decide if they are doing something that we have tried and it didn’t work. We leave them to try it and learn. We don’t view any specific company as a strong competitor; we just view all competitors together as a strong threat to our business.

We don’t isolate and pick on any company.

Remember that we have been around for decades, we have seen people come and go, and try all kinds of model and also do all kinds of things.

So, if we focus on one particular company, we miss the threat of somebody else. So, all of them together are almost like collaborators to us in the sense that they help us introspect better; they help us actually to think about what we are doing and how we are doing it.

They help evaluate whether we are doing the best possible thing that we can do and then we use all that learning to improve.

We certainly talk to all our competitors regularly, cause I have interpersonal relationships. I make sure I find somebody, we go and visit them, we invite them, we show them what we are doing, we even tell them our plans. If I tell you my plans, you cannot stop it.

Let us take a look at the co-working spaces that everybody is doing now; how do you do it so differently that you stand out from the crowd?

The concept of co-working just means putting people in the same space. So, the

label is over-used. The concept itself is different people doing different things in one space. So there is not many different ways of doing it. What we have is the style.

Regus the brand is more conservative in outlook, International Workspace Group (IWG) is the company that owns all the companies of which Regus is just one. We have another brand called Spaces, which we will be introducing into Nigeria in the second quarter of next year.

This looks almost like WeWork. We have open spaces and many different brands that are all over the world but in Nigeria we have been pushing Regus. Next year, we intend to push more of the space brands.

Collaboration is constant; it is to make sure that in the same space, people can be interacting and sharing ideas, so that the person sitting next to you is from a different company; the one sitting opposite is from a different company; the person sitting by your left is your colleague but in accounts department.

Sometimes, because you are together, the guy opposite you may be talking about what they need to do this, or what their company does. If you have not been in the same space, you might not have the opportunity to collaborate and then form a have a partnership. That’s the whole idea.

Most of the time, the basic concept is to have less formal offices.

Once people are in a formal office and the door is shut, you can’t collaborate with them. So, in co-working, we have less of those offices. In fact, they only have meeting rooms where they discuss confidential issues in an hour and come back. Most of the other spaces are all open. There you work and are effectively collaborate.

Your professional life has taken you across IT, oil and gas, etc. How has that experience shaped what you are doing now?

I worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers for a couple of years in Nigeria, and then moved abroad and worked in audit. I came back and got involved in oil & gas procurement and the likes. One of the advantages that I see is that having experienced more than a decade of working in the UK, you will understand standard and how things should work. That helps a lot in this particular business where some of the customers we have are coming from abroad where their standard is the same, and especially when standard is the same and the brand that they see is the same brand as it is abroad.

In my years working abroad, I learnt that there is power in a successful brand and also learnt that if a brand is successful and known for a particular standard, customers associate the standard across the world and they don’t give allowance. So, we have adopted that standard because the people that are using the service say if I can www.businessday.ng

stand up and go to London, if they are doing it like this in London, why are you not doing it like that here?

What all that does for us is to reinforce all the things we need to do to ensure we replicate what is naturally associated with the Regus brand.

Looking at the growth of this space and the growing challenges, what could be the future of your company considering the challenges in the economy of this country?

We have a five-year plan 20182023. At the end of 2023, we expect to be in 25 locations in Nigeria. Out of those 25 locations, 12 will be in Lagos because 80 percent of economic activities in Nigeria happens in Lagos; 3 will be in Abuja, 2 will be in PortHarcourt, and then we have Calabar, Ibadan, Kano, and Katsina. These secondary cities we are targeting.

The primary cities are the first three.

We have a second five-year plan (2023-2028). We have an ambition that every state capital in Nigeria will have a Regus. In the second half, Lagos and the other cities would have been covered and every state capital should have one. Our initial focus is to make sure that we are not in Surulere, Festac, Ilupeju, etc. But there are three locations in Ikeja that we think we need to be in. We still have not covered those areas; we have now covered Lekki Phase 1.

In 2020, every quarter we intend to open one location; that is every 90 days. In 2021, we intend to do six locations. That will be every two months. We expect to have a Banana Island location very soon.

Nigeria is a difficult business environment. What is your assessment of ease of doing business in the country?

We are not directly impacted, because business is already up. My

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understanding of the ease of doing business is in the area of helping businesses to start up. The greatest challenge here is multiple taxations that we see in different levels which both the company and the individuals are subjected to.

If you have three or four companies, for example, the tax office will not take you as an individual, put you in a one tax office, and you deal with all your affairs in one tax office.

Instead, you will receive four or five different letters from different tax offices, each of them making serious demands. They just ascribe a tax charge to you and ask you to prove

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why it is not the case.

Even when you have filed your tax returns and consolidated everything into one office, you have a myriad of people still making demands from you and saying that’s what they have decided. Nigeria needs to be better at coordinating tax payment in order not to distract entrepreneurs from dealing with multiple demands.

From a company’s perspective, if you have three or four different companies in your group, you should also have a system where you can have a group taxation arrangement, so you can have these four or five companies in one tax office and deal with them together.

What we see now is every two or three months, one tax office is with you auditing you, another one is writing again asking for a different kind of thing. Your resources are stressed with people trying to come to you at different times. So that’s an area we think that government will get better and we hope they get better faster because it’s very distractive.

As a businessman, you have seen the highs and lows of this economy. What will you say is your regrets, if any, for coming to Nigeria?

There is no regret at all for coming to Nigeria because without coming to Nigeria, we will probably be poorer. And for me, coming to Nigeria means coming home. The challenges in Nigeria make you so much more ingenious; you are constantly thinking of solutions since we have challenges all the time in the country. One needs to be smart and fast about thinking out solutions.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

HEALTH BUSINESS&LIFE How to provide universal health coverage for Nigeria’s 200m ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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ess than 10 million Nigerians have access to a health insurance product, the rest have to always make cash payments each time they visit a hospital, in a country that has half of its population living below the poverty line.

Universal health coverage (UHC) then entails providing the remaining 190 million Nigerians with access to a set of comprehensive quality health services driven by a health insurance policy that enables access to healthcare without causing financial hardships the majority living below $1.90 (N684) per pay.

A government report has identified that service coverage and affordability are important, but not sufficient, to ensure the achievement of UHC. As such, it is important to improve the quality of care at the entry point into the health

care system which is the Primary Health Care system.

The National Health Act 2014 set aside 1 percent consolidated revenue for the health sector and consequently laid the foundation for Nigeria towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the Universal Health Coverage is a political choice for countries themselves to make. A study released recently by WHO showed that 85 percent of the funding gap to achieve universal health coverage could be met by countries themselves, although up to 32 of the poorest countries will require development assistance.

Nigeria’s primary, secondary and tertiary institutes are beset by challenges, although PHC facilities are the people’s first point of contact with the health system, insufficient service delivery, overburdened clinics with long queues, and poor quality of services have resulted in many people avoiding

PHC facilities and going straight to hospital outpatient departments where services are perceived to be better.

Industry watchers say for Nigeria to achieve universal health coverage, deliver substantial health, economic and political benefits across populations, healthcare provision should be considered as a human right and no one should be denied access to healthcare due to financial reasons, gender reasons, issues related to geographical barriers or any other issues which might create a barrier to healthcare access.

They further say Nigeria can improve quality at the heart of universal health coverage, through by the National Health Insurance coverage, implementing the national policy and having an ideal clinic with good infrastructure spaces. This also requires equipment, information and communication technology, adequate staff numbers, adequate medicines

and supplies, good administrative processes, guidelines, and collaborative support to ensure the provision of quality health services to the public.

They added that government needs to encourage activities through non-governmental agency to promote advocacy and nationwide screening programmes in order to enhance early detection and control. This will in turn reduce the mortality rate for people living with non- communicable diseases.

Chibuzo Opara, Co-CEO DrugStoc Nigeria, said approaching the issues of universal healthcare is about elaborating equitable and affordable healthcare at the end of the day, adding that there should be an agreement and a commitment between citizens and decision makers on where the country places universal healthcare among other important priorities.

“In order to create a catalytic process within the system, we need to focus on tackling the issue

of financial access to healthcare, holding individuals and entities accountable and measuring the impact of interventions and activities in the healthcare sector. Infrastructure challenges are still a key issue and the need to sensitise and make people aware of the inherent advantages in a healthy population, especially now that we are still a young aged country,” said Opara As part of efforts to achieve UHC, the country has set guidelines defining the basis for Administration, Disbursement, Monitoring and Financial Management (ADMFM) through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF, “The Fund”) The guidelines address urgent interventions put in place to tackle persistent and emerging causes of population mortality in Nigeria including Maternal Mortality, Perinatal Mortality and Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs)

Continue online @www.businessday.ng

Cobalt Partners to supply drugs in Oyo ...as Govt, OAU Alumni, offer free medical services REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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L-R: Executive Director, ASG Solutions, Aaron Idonije; Founder and Chief Executive of JSK Etiquette Consortium Jenet Adetu; Music Artist and Dentist, Sidney Esiri; Project Smile Founder and Chief Executive Smile 360 Dental Specialists, Dr. Amy Traore; Chief Operating Officer Smile 360Dental Specialist, Uday Naik and Project Smile Director and Dentist, Akinsanmi Apara during the press conference on 7th edition of project Smile in Nigeria held in Lagos recently

‘Nigerian youths have suffered lost opportunities, stigma due to cases of flawed dentition’ ...as project smile continues to change lives ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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few celebs teamed up with dentists, consultant orthodontists and other professionals in the marketing communications to put smiles on the faces of some under privileged Nigerians with flawed dentition who can’t afford a smile makeover.

Project Smile, is a complimentary smile makeover initiative founded

by Amy Traore-Shumbusho, CEO, Smile360 for Nigerian youths who have suffered lost opportunities and stigmatised due to cases of flawed dentition; the celebs showed up at the dental practice to support the Project Smile cause of ‘giving great smile’ by serving as panellists in the assessment process to adjudge winners in the smile makeover contest.

Traore-Shumbusho said that its goal is to remind people that they have access to world-class dental care, right in their backyard. There is no purpose in flying to Turkey, India or other places to your dental work when you can do it locally.

“You will also be reducing the stress of going to a place you are unsure with all the risk factor. The technological advances in the oral industry and skilled dental practitioners make it possible for you to have the smile you’ve always dreamed of no matter, how much or little work needs to get done,” she said.

Meanwhile, the initiative is in its 7th season, Project Smile 7.0, kicked off September 16th 2019 with a call for entry which lasted for eight weeks. During this period, 226 candidates, each with a narrative of how a costly dental flaw that has deprived them of opportunities, entered for a chance to win the prize of a smile makeover in the bid to transform their dental configuration and realise the dream of a great smile. Out of this number 12 candidates were nominated out of which only one lucky winner would emerge.

It is pertinent to mention that project smile started about 8 years ago and a total of about 24 (Twentyfour) young men and women spread across the country have become www.businessday.ng

beneficiaries since we started the initiative comprising of 7 seasons.

About 90 percent of them have completed their smile makeover treatment.

According to Traore-Shumbusho, virtually all candidates who entered for the contest deserve a great smile.

Nevertheless, the programme is designed to accommodate only one beneficiary.

She explained that the determination of this one beneficiary is a result of long and rigorous screening of entries that lasted for weeks, selection of nominees, clinical evaluation of each nominee and panel assessment of the entries and clinical evaluation report.

“We would love to accommodate more beneficiaries but due to limited funding at the moment we are only able to help a few people. Our vision is to have at least 20 beneficiaries each year. This is possible if we able to get partnerships and support from other organisations, prominent individuals who would be willing to adopt a smile,” said Traore-Shumbusho.

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yo State government has commenced negotiation with a global drug manufacturer, Cobalt Partners to start the supply of drugs and medical equipment to the State soon.

Cobalt Partners supply drugs to over eight States in Nigeria as a leading manufacturer with reputation for the supply of genuine drugs.

Bashir Bello, State Commissioner for Health, said to the journalists in Ibadan on Wednesday that the move to work with the drug company was hinged on the need to have only genuine drugs which would be supplied to all health institutions in the State and cut off the risk of unreliable drugs that might worsen people’s health conditions.

“We are in talk with Cobalt Partners because of their reputation as supplier of genuine drugs globally, in Nigeria alone, the company supplies to over eight States who have reported the high standard and reliability of their products.

“The present administration

would not just buy and distribute drugs, we will make sure that the drugs procured are genuine and will not compound the health conditions of the people that need the drugs,” he said.

The State also revealed its plan to partner with the Association of Nigerian Professionals in the United States, under the umbrella of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Alumni to offer free medical services to the people of the State.

The free health mission which would involve general medical services, eye operations, minor surgeries among others, would be done in various medical institutions within the State.

Bello, a medical doctor said further that the government was fully prepared to play its parts in the arrangement to ensure the number of people who would benefit exceed that of her neighbouring States where the free healthcare service by the alumni has taken place.

“We hope that our people will benefit from the free medical services, in the previous years, the As-

Small pox ravages communities in A/Ibom ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

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n outbreak of small pox, a virus infection transmitted from animals to humans has ravaged communities in Akwa Ibom state with 18 suspected cases reported. Experts warn that the number of those infected might be on the increase.

The worst hit communities are Ikot Akpaden, where Akwa Ibom State University has its main campus, Ikot Enin and Ndon, all in Mkpat Enin local government area of the state.

In 2018, similar cases of small pox were recorded in the same community, according to findings.

Dominic Ukpong, commissioner for health who confirmed the outbreak did not say whether the state government would seek the assistance of federal authorities to contain the disease which is fatal among infants.

He said the state government has ac@Businessdayng

tivated its infectious control procedure to check the epidemic adding that it has been confined to the affected communities in the local government area.

According to him, since the disease is present in neighbouring states, Akwa Ibom is still at risk of recording new cases.

“In Nigeria, as at October 24, 93 suspected cases have been reported, 43 cases were confirmed. Only one death was reported and that was in Lagos state. Although, ten states were affected , Lagos, Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River , Akwa Ibom, Rivers , Imo, Enugu and Anambra states with a total number of 93 cases in the country, 59 percent were from two states: Delta , 28 percent and Lagos, 26 percent,’’ he said.

Experts recommend hand washing with soap after contact with infected animals as well as a thorough cooking of all animal products before eating and avoiding contact with any material that has been in contact with a sick animal.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

23

HEALTH BUSINESS&LIFE

Sanitation crisis deepens in Nigeria - WaterAid GODSGIFT ONYEDINEFU, Abuja

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espite Nigeria’s target to end open defecation by 2030, WaterAid Nigeria says the number of people living without access to basic Water Sanitation and Hygiene Services (WASH) is on the rise.

While describing WASH as a core in making Nigeria Open defecation free, WaterAid noted that sanitation crisis has deepened over the years especially as the country is witnessing rapid population growth and rapidly growing urban centres.

Chichi Anuagolu-Okoye, country director, WateAid speaking at a dissemination workshop on Wednesday described the sanitation situation in Nigeria as dire, critical and urgent.

“Poor sanitation is one of the glaring indicators of urban poverty, epidemics and poor health.

About 116 million Nigerians still lack decent toilets while some over 40 million other practices open defecation,” she said.

Anuagolu-Okoye stated that 50 percent of health facilities lack clean water and 50 percent of basic schools in Nigeria do not have access to basic Water and sanitation service.

“Nigeria is also experiencing rapid urbanisation which is putting further strain on an already inadequate WASH infrastructure.

Poor access has significant implications in education, health and developmental outcomes”, she said.

Anuagolu-Okoye however expressed hope that open defecation can be tackled with the right political will at all levels, continuous funding, systematic programming, partnerships and collaboration between sector stakeholders.

The country director said that sanitation value chain also has huge potentials for job and wealth creation with the right policy

framework to enable participation of private sector and civil societies.

Suleiman Adamu, minister of water resources also speaking at the workshop said Nigeria has not performed well on the 6th sustainable development goal to end open defecation by 2030.

Adamu who was represented

by Emmanuel Awe, director, water and sanitation noted that the available statistics on access to WASH services by Nigerians indicates that the country still have a long way to go on the target.

Adamu also expressed concern that the sanitation crisis is worsening saying the country is currently experiencing a rapid population growth from 2.8 to 3 percent annual growth rate.

He therefore stressed the need for government and all relevant stakeholders in the WASH sector to intensify efforts and collaborate more to curb the problem. According to him, “there is still much to be done.”

WateAid, in collaboration with

Mangrove and partners presented a report on context analysis of urban sanitation in Enugu, Kano and Warri during the workshop which had the theme “Exploring frameworks and partnerships for Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) in Nigeria.

According to the report, over 503,206 litres of faecal sludge is produced in Kano with only 17 percent safely disposed, while in Enugu, over 127,550 litres of faecal sludge is produced in Enugu and only about 25 percent safely disposed.

The report also found that Warri produces over 96,127 litres of faecal waste is produced with only 25 percent safely disposed.

The report is aimed at developing a sanitation value chain strategy that promotes investment in wastewater and faecal sludge management including recycling treated faecal sludge and wastewater into economically-viable by-products.

Kwara begins training, distribution of 40m malaria prevention items across 16 LGA SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

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he Kwara State Government says it has commenced training of malaria case management and distribution of over 40 million commodities across the 16 local government areas of the state.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, on the side lines of the training on Tuesday, Abdullahi Nageri, programme manager, State Malaria Elimination Programme, says the training for the first phase will include healthcare workers across the five public health facilities and six medical centres of tertiary institutions in Kwara State.

Nageri, explained that the training is geared towards improving the capacity of managers and other health professionals on malaria control programmes as well as understanding the key determinants of malaria epidemiology.

“The government had earlier released N82 million for MalariaFree Kwara Initiative (MFKI), adding that already, free testing and treatment of Malaria for pregnant women and children under five years of age across the 16 LGAs are available,” he said.

The programme manager said that malaria has become so endemic, especially in the rural areas of the state, which calls for the initiative to ensure Malariafree Kwara.

He says some of the tertiary medical institutions for first phase of the training included,

HBL TEAM

Kwara State University, College of Nursing and Midwifery, Kwara Polytechnic, University of Ilorin, College of Education technical Lafiagi and College of Health Technology Offa.

Nageri, further said that the training will cover 56 unsupported Public Primary Health facilities including General Hospital Ilorin, General Hospital Okuta and Cottage Hospital ILesha Baruba among others.

Also speaking, Oluwatosin Fakayode, medical doctor and director public Health, Kwara State Ministry of Health posited that malaria remains public health concern in the state. “There are highest cases of the disease at the local government level, and that six percent of outpatient are people down with the disease.”

“One in every three people taking sick absence from work is as a result of malaria,” he said.

Fakayode, equally said that the training will afford participants the knowledge of proper diagnosing, investigating and treatment of malaria.

According to him, the state government under the leadership of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has ensured malaria testing and treatment for free.

Some of the malaria commodities distributed includes; surphurdoxine pyratamine(SP) for prevention of Malarial in pregnancy, Surgical Glove, Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets and Artesunate Injection for Severe Malaria.

FRSC partners with HealthPlus pharmacy for ember months health and safety campaign ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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he Ikeja Unit Command of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in partnership with HealthPlus Pharmacy, recently offered sensitisation and free health check to road users and motorists within the Ikeja jurisdiction and promised to hold four more programmes in different locations before the end of the year 2019.

This year’s theme is titled Road safety is a state of mind, road traffic crash is an absence of mind….stay alert, stay safe and is scheduled to take place in five different locations.

The first event was on Thursday 24th of October 2019 at Computer village, Ikeja, Lagos with over 160 road users and motorists. The second event is scheduled to take place at Iyana Ipaja, Lagos on Wednesday 6th of November 2019.

Speaking at the sensitisation programme, Emma E. Fekoya, Unit Commander RS2.16 said that the programme was aimed at improving safety on the roads because safety starts with our health. Without a healthy life you cannot operate on the roads.

“The human factor amongst others

is responsible for about 90% of crashes.

The ability to use the road starts from your state of health. Most road users and motorists have no knowledge of their health status, thus we have people collapsing on the steering causing road accidents,” she said.

She commended HealthPlus Pharmacy for their partnership offer.

Also, she commended the management of Eko Exclusive, who allowed us to use their premises to conduct the Free Health Check. In the same vein, Emma E. Fekoya called on the general public to take advantage of this opportunity during the ember months and urged the participants to inform their loved ones to do the same.

In addition, Moses Mogbolu, head of marketing and communications, HealthPlus Limited said in Nigeria, the ember months is known for high traffic on the roads with people travelling for business and to visit loved ones living far away.

“An increase in road users is a more likelihood for road accidents.

That is why as a community-centric business, we accepted to partner with the FRSC to help people achieve optimum health and vitality as they go about their daily lives.

ANTHONIA OBOKOH / Reporters. Email: obokoh.anthonia@businessdayonline.com

Alpha Specialties innovates to improve healthcare provision ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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s part of efforts to improve health care delivery, Alpha Specialties is providing quality medical equipment to health facilities across the country.

At the recent premier healthcare trade platform, Medic West Africa brought together over 200 exhibitors from more than 32 countries to showcase the latest technologies across the medical, pharmaceutical and laboratory industries.

Chimezie Obiwulu, a pharmacist and team lead of Alpha Specialties said the organisation’s mission is to ensure good healthcare gets to the grassroots.

“We are changing the narrative by providing healthcare facilities with localised and standard technology at affordable rates. We have also realised equipment maintenance is a challenge for most facilities hence we provide end-users with maintenance and training,” he said.

Alpha Specialties, a sub-set of Alpha Pharmacy and a leading provider of medical equipment in Nigeria was in attendance to showcase its best products and services.

Alpha Pharmacy has been in existence for over 33years and now runs a three-prong business; retail pharmacy, pharmaceutical distribution and more recently, Alpha Specialties, in partnership with GE Healthcare and Tuttnauer.

Speaking on challenges in the healthcare sector, Chimezie said that “Counterfeit drugs are a scourge in Nigeria. This can be attributed to laws that are not being enforced in addition to other factors. To curb this menace, the mass orientation of the general public on where to purchase quality medications is essential.

“Nigerians must be educated on how to identify accredited pharmacies and should be encouraged to purchase drugs from licensed pharmacists only,” he said.

Chimezie further said that technology should also be leveraged to address this problem stating that the mobile authentication service (MAS) used to verify the authenticity of some drugs should extend to all drugs. Furthermore, laws guiding drug distribution should be strictly enforced and adhered to by all parties involved.

“Self-medication, another prevalent issue among Nigerians needs to be addressed urgently. People need to be educated on the dangers of self-medication. Self-medication can cause drug resistance which can potentially lead to death.

“Stakeholders including pharmaceutical bodies, regulatory bodies, government, and pharmacists are required to come together to educate the general populace on this issue,” he said.

Alpha Pharmacy is the foremost supplier of anaesthesia agents, fertility hormones and rare ethical products for each medical subspecialty. The goal is to impact the lives of every Nigerian by providing quality solutions across healthcare.

I Samuel Iduh, Graphics

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

CONVERSATIONS with ADE ADEFEKO

Nigeria-South Africa: Strengthening Relations between two regional powerhouses

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istorically, Nigeria and the republic of South Africa have so much in common. The two countries are former British colonies and they both belong to same Commonwealth of Nations family. The two are also the most influential members of the African Union as the biggest economies on the continent.

Nigeria as a frontline state, though not geographically contiguous to South Africa, played very significant role in the global and continental push against the pernicious minority white domination in South Africa against the majority blacks through the de-humanising apartheid regime that lasted for almost a century. Together with other African countries, Nigeria led a strong campaign against the evil of apartheid until the system was dismantled in 1990 and the subsequent emergence of President Nelson Mandela in 1994 as the first elected black President. In the 1970s, in the heat of the anti-apartheid struggles, Nigeria opened her heart and arms to receive scores of the African National Congress leaders like Thabo Mbeki who made Lagos home.

Mbeki succeeded Mandela as second elected black President. They all lived at the expense of the Nigerian government and many went to school here before they joined their comrades in Zambia and other locations around the world.

Nigeria kept the flames of struggle against apartheid. Nigerians, including school children and civil servants were mobilized to campaign against apartheid system as a crime against humanity. School children, civil servants, market women and ordinary citizens contributed money to the fight against the oppressive system.

With this historical relationship between the two countries and their preeminence as the leading economies in Africa, it is expected that Nigeria and South Africa’s special friendship will catalyze and galvanize the rest of the continent to deal with many of the developmental challenges still confronting us with a missionary zeal.

While it cannot be said that there is any dispute between Nigeria and South Africa at government to government level, the people to people relationship between the two countries has/have been strained in the last decade as a result of recurring xenophobic attacks targeted at Nigerians living in South Africa and other Africans due to the misguided behaviour of some criminal elements among the young South Africans who see other Africans as the reason for their lack of economic mobility.

Nigerians love South Africa. We love to visit the rainbow nation for holidays, business travels and conferences. To encourage more visits to South Africa, South Africa Tourism opened office in Nigeria over a decade ago because of the amount of Nigerians that visit the country for leisure annually This . Until the last 3 years where there was upsurge in xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa, Nigerians have very positive view of South Africa

and her influence on the continent and the world. According to a 2013 BBC World Service Poll, 63% of Nigerians view South Africa’s influence positively, with 24% expressing a negative view.

Some reasons have been adduced for the series of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa since 2017. The alleged involvement of Nigerians in drug trafficking, prostitution and human trafficking were some of the reasons adduced.

Without doubt, these attacks against Nigerians have put domestic pressure on the government to act to protect Nigerians living in South Africa. This invariably cast a pall on relationships between the two countries. The September 2019 attacks resumed with the destruction of properties of Nigerian in Johannesburg. An estimated 120 Africans were reportedly attacked in the last xenophobic uprising. 1,000 business were touched and 12 people reportedly killed. The Nigerian government worked to safely evacuate 600 citizens back home. Sadly, there was reprisal attacks reported in Lagos and Abuja against Shoprite, a major South African retail behemoth.

The recent attacks should not define the relationship between the two regional powerhouses. South Africa and Nigeria have much to give to lead Africa into the emerging new world where Africa has been designated as the new frontier for global investments and geo-political scramble. There is a new scramble for Africa by global powers. The fight for territorial influence among major powers like China, France, Russia, United States among others demand that Nigeria and South Africa must unite to provide the required leadership that prepares the continent to maximally benefit from this new global push. If the 20th century was period of colonialism with the attendant exploitation and plundering of our resources, this 21st century must represent a new paradigm shift.

Following the end of apartheid in 1994, South African businesses sought for professionals to immigrate and a large number of Nigerians responded. It is estimated that there are over 50,000 Nigerians currently living in South Africa. The number was put at about 25,000 in 2011. In a way, the fortunes of these two great countries are already intertwined.

In seeking solution to the xenophobic attacks with South African government, Nigerian authorities should not ignore that much of South African’s good will towards Nigerians for supporting the ANC

during apartheid regime has disappeared due to the activities of Nigerian organized crime. Nigerian organised crime groups, mostly involved in illegal drug trafficking, in South Africa grew rapidly between 1994 and 1998. It has now become a menace according to reports.

Another factor that possibly stressed the relationship between the two countries at some point was the increasing competition between the two countries for positions at multilateral organizations. Nigeria reportedly acted against South Africa in the race for African Union Commission Chairmanship position when the then South African Home Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma vied for the powerful position against the then incumbent Jean Ping from Gabon. Relations further deteriorated when South Africa appeared to have backed former president Laurent Gbagbo for control of Côte d’Ivoire in 2011 against the interest of Nigeria and the whole of the ECOWAS that supported incumbent President Alassane Ouattara.

However, after Dlamini-Zuma won the election, the then Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru stated that although Nigeria supported Jean Ping for the position of AU chairperson in “a position which was principled along with our ECOWAS members and we stood by it. But as usual, people can insinuate that once Nigeria was not in the camp of South Africa, it means that Nigeria is against South Africa. We are not against South Africa”.

In a move that showed Nigeria and South Africa have moved past whatever animus the AU Commission Chairmanship position might have caused, South Africa stepped down from the contest for the Presidency of the African Development Bank in 2015 and supported Nigeria’s candidate, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina who has served meritoriously and now running for a second term in office.

What should be the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa in a continent that looks up to the two continental giants is the focus of the book with the title Nigeria-South Africa Relations and Hegemonic Competence edited by Oluwaseun Tella .

The book x-rays the current relations between Nigeria and South Africa and their implications for regional influence across the African continent. While Nigeria leads the 16-member nations ECOWAS regional bloc the same can be said of the Southern African Development Community, (SADC) where South

Africa leads the pack. As the largest and second largest economies in the region and a historical status as the major peacemakers on the continent, it is mainly argued that Africa’s fate is directly linked to the success or failure of these regional powers. While there is widespread reference to each state’s capabilities and regional influence in the extant literature, little analysis is offered on relations between Nigeria and South Africa and their impact on regional governance and provision of public goods on the continent.

Nigeria-South Africa Relations and Hegemonic Competence attempts to fill the gap by engaging issues such as the regional leadership of the two states, their credentials for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, the moves towards continental integration, and their quest towards combating the dark side of globalization including climate change, drug trafficking and xenophobia.

Africans and friends of Africa want to see to what extent Nigeria can and South Africa working with other members of the continent’s Big 5 like Egypt, Algeria and Ethiopia mobilise other African states to achieve sustainable development on the continent? The Big 5 are the top five leading economies in Africa with population of over 50million people. What should be the areas of cooperation and competition since all countries of the world, regardless of areas of mutual cooperation, still seek to defend personal interests?

The argument is that Africa’s interest should be more important to Nigeria and South Africa than other interests.

Whichever way anyone sees it, the relationship between the two countries has been beneficial and catalytic for socio-economic development. The two countries are the largest trading partners on the continent. South African businesses like MTN, Stanbic bank, DSTV among others are thriving in Nigeria. Beyond their commercial success, these companies have also become good corporate citizens, employing thousands of Nigerians, paying taxes and investing in communities through Corporate Social Responsibility. MTN in its recent sustainability report said it has paid N2trillion in taxes, import duties and other fees since 2002 when it started business in Nigeria. While South African businesses have been very successful in Nigeria, there is also the thinking that South African government has not provided same level of protection and conducive environment for Nigerian businesses to flourish in South Africa.

Nobody in Nigeria can argue against the positive impact of DSTV in content creation and boost to the local entertainment industry by working with local talents and other professionals. The company created Nigerian millionaires who are dealers and resellers with thousands of technicians who earn their living daily as installers. The Africa Magic Channels popularised Nigeria’s Nollywood movie industry across Africa.

Nigerian actors such as Rita Dominic, Patience Ozokwor, Geneveve Nnaji, Joke Jacobs, Stephanie Oker-

eke, Kanayo O Kanayo, Olu Jacobs, Osita Iheme, Chinedu Ikedieze (Aki and Paw Paw), Pete Edochie among others have larger than life image. These movie stars are mobbed by crowd each time they get into countries like Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Namibia.

Because of Kanayo, Olu Jacobs and Pete Edochie, a typical Nigeria big man is regarded as an Igwe in these countries. That is how well DSTV has done in promoting our movie and entertainment industry- a sector that has become our biggest cultural export in the last 20 years.

It is important to note that President Muhammadu Buhari played the role of an African statesman with his recent state visit to South Africa in the heat of the anger at home on the back of the recent xenophobic attacks on a number of Africans including Nigerians in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Despite Nigerians’ calls for retaliatory actions by our government against South Africans’ interests and push for severance of diplomatic ties, President Buhari showed courage under domestic pressure and braced the odds to personally visit South Africa to honour the invitation of President Cyril Ramaphosa to smoothen a convulsed relationship.

Nigeria and South Africa have a manifest destiny to lead the Africa renaissance. With a bulging youth demographics and the demand by the population for better standard of living, the imperatives to expand opportunities through investment in education, healthcare, free trade, infrastructure and inclusive growth is more urgent than before. The two leading nations must unite to drive the African Union agenda 2063 in one accord.

The AU agenda 2063 is both a vision and an action plan that calls for action on all segments of African society- governments, private sector and the civil society- to work together to build a prosperous and united Africa based on shared values and a common destiny. To achieve this ambitious agenda in the next 40 years, Nigeria and South Africa must reject mutual distrust and lead from the front.

Adefeko, is Vice President Corporate and Government Relations, Olam International and a former Director Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Multi-choice Nigeria.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Advertise Here Delegate responsibilities, don’t act like a super human – Ibukun Awosika 26

Lead in our paints is serious health hazard – Prof Babajide Alo

How to develop your potential

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Sad story of Nigeria’s neglected treasure The treasure is solid mineral. It is a sad story; an unpalatable one. You probably must have read or heard the story before. But it is not an overkill to tell it over and over again. Siaka MOMOH brings you a detailed account of a tragic tale, an upsetting one.

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he Taraba example E . D . O r u o n y e / Y, M.Ahmed’s research article titled ‘Challenges and prospects of mining of solid mineral resources in Taraba State, Nigeria’ is a clear representation of the state of health of the solid mineral industry in Nigeria. These academics are of the Department of Geography, Taraba State University, Jalingo,Taraba State.

They stated in their abstract to the research: “Taraba state is one of the states in Nigeria that is well endowed with different kinds of solid mineral resources that is untouched and yet to be prospected.

Some of these mineral resources have been explored and worked on in the past decades. Mining in Taraba state is dominated by artisanal and small scale miners…

The findings of the study show that large quantities of this mineral ore deposits have been mined out in the state resulting in large numbers of abandoned mine sites as a result of past mineral exploration / exploitation in the form of test pits, lotos and open ponds.

According to these dons, the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development reported 192 titles issued out from Taraba state in 2012 and 77 in 2015. Some of the challenges, they said, include the fact that most of the mineral occurrences were just reported and that the real evaluation of the grade of mineral ore or the reserve estimates were never carried out.

They further stated that most of the mining operations were illegal and not known to government officials. For them, “This makes it difficult for the government to monitor their operations and also to enforce environmental

regulations on them.” Other challenges, according to the abstract, include lack of mining equipment, predominance of artisanal and small scale miners, poor technical capacity, lack of capital, poor database, poor infrastructures and accessibility among others.

Lastly, the academics said “The Federal government is working hard to simplify the process of acquiring mining licence by creating an online web portal to facilitate the application and payment process. It is expected that with improvement in the mining policy in the country, more companies and individuals would apply for mining licence in the state. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made; provision of capital by way of soft loan, tax holidays for mining firm and synergy between Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel and the State Bureau of Solid Mineral Resources.”

Why monoculture?

It is a sad story; a very sad one. The Nigerian economy is monoculture, one that is largely dependent on revenue earned from the oil sector. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the sector accounts for over 95 percent of export earnings and about 40 percent of government revenues.

The tag ‘major exporter of oil’ placed on Nigeria, one that is making us giddy and which has given rise to corrupt government officials and business barons, amounts to nothing since Nigeria produces only about 2.7 percent of the world’s supply. Though ranked as 15th in production at 2.2 million barrels per day (mbpd), the

Advertise here

top three producers Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States produce 10.7 mbpd (11.8 percent), 9.8 mbpd (12.0 percent), and 8.5 mbpd (11.1 percent )respectively, collectively accounting for 63.6 mbpd (44 percent ) of the world’s total production. These are 2013 figures. Latest figures have not changed significantly. Currently, these three produce 12.0, 15.0 and 10.8 mbpd respectively (US is now leading producer) whilst Nigeria’s is 1.9 mbpd, down from 2.2 mbpd.

In total, oil revenues, put at an estimated export rate of 1.9, with a projected sales price of $65 per barrel in 2011, Nigeria’s antici-

Continues on page 28

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Business Chief

Delegate responsibilities, don’t act like a super human – Ibukun Awosika The 13th SME EDC Conference this year has come and gone. IBUKUN AWOSIKA, multiple award winning entrepreneur and chairman, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited, was chosen CEO for the Conference’s ‘Conversation with the CEO’ plenary 3. Awosika displayed the stuff she is made of, responding frankly and diligently to questions raised by the programme’s anchor, erudite Peter Bamkole, EDC Director, and the largely entrepreneurial audience. SIAKA MOMOH was there. His report:

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Seizing opportunity his was one lesson that the thirsty-forentrepreneurshipknowledge youthful audience that gathered mid-September, at Enterprise Development Centre’s this year’s SME Conference, Ajah Lekki, Lagos had to take home. It was Awosika’s personal testimony, reeled out to the delight of the young entrepreneurs.

Ibukun Awosika had applied for a furnishing job – furnishing of Leadway Assurance Company’s corporate office. This was a young girl of 25 years who had sent in a proposal for a big job, a job that was meant for the big ones in the industry. She met the boss in charge. To the CEO, she was an errand person and not the one running the company that applied for the job. That was a deadlock.

She had to think fast. In the course of their argument, she noticed the CEO’s name tag on his desk and found it was a familiar name. The CEO’s daughter happened to have been Ibukun’s friend at the high school. She asked to confirm, and he did. That changed the conversation in Ibukun’s favour; and she got the job in spite of her being a rookie in the furnishing business space. She knew she had to deliver that job. And she did.

According to her, “To cut the long story short, that was our first big opportunity. To think of opportunity like this, when you use it well, you could tell anybody you executed it well. So every other big company that would not have considered us, would have to consider us.”

This became a high portfolio for her company, a track record they could now compete with the big companies.

She explained: “To get that job I worked tooth and nail for it, locked myself up for three days, looking for the furniture ideas they were looking for. We were competing with bigger companies who had better networks to get the job. I worked it out. It was our desire to solve a problem for the customer that led us to discovering some components that we could put together and get a solution that was not readily available for the customer. We got the components, put them together and created a solution for the customer.

I furnished the entire building complex which they were happy with. Even more important was that they had a huge opening ceremony. They brought the entire corporate world to see their office opened.”

Young Ibukun was part of the august ceremony and the chairman of the company then, a

Northern gentleman, was amazed that such a youth could accomplish such a feat. The occasion was good leverage for her company.

Opportunity, swimming in the opportunity of her chance meeting with her high school friend’s father. “Never allow anyone despise you. It has nothing to do with what you could do. And when you get an opportunity, die with the opportunity. That opportunity gave us an advantage of one year production,” Ibukun said.

Strategic thinking For her, “You must be observant about the market. Nigerians don’t plan. That became a strategic business tool for us. People build ten story buildings, at two weeks to the opening, they remember they have to furnish.

What will happen? They have to go everywhere to look for furniture. Whoever has what they want, even if it is not the perfect finishing, they would buy it because they want the building furnished for the opening.

Having realised that, for a whole year manufacturing, we often had components stocked up in the company. And our in-house architect would do the space planning to the extent that in a week, we could install a thousand furniture for you because of the way we were producing.

That is part of our story.”

Parents’ reaction to choice of career Ibukun Awosika is eternally

grateful to her parents. “My dad in particular, had an attitude in terms of raising his girls. We had three boys and lost one; so we had two brothers. He brought us up in a way that I always think he forgot to tell us what we could do. When I decided I wanted to do this, I did it the normal way. My father gave me the trust of judgment. As a matter of fact, I think I got a lot of support and encouragement.

I remember the date when I tried to meet an order. Then my workshop was in Papa Ajao. We would work through the night.

And if my workers were working through the night, there would be no food. Everybody around us would have shut down their business. My dad would bring food for me and my staff and then wait to take me home around 12 midnight, so that I could get back to the factory around 7 am.”

Another opportunity The real support from his father came in 1993 when she was at the point of frustration. She explained, “There were many opportunities that we could see but we didn’t have the structure of business that fitted it. Things were too slow for me; I didn’t have the right machineries; we would work throughout the night.

In the morning you would hope the furniture would dry so that we could deliver in time. And then it would rain. If it rained, e everything would go white. It was really a very frustrating period.

Ibukun was pregnant with her second child, and went to a client’s office. The man and his wife had taken to her. He called her his daughter. She told the man, the MD of an oil company about her frustration – not getting money to keep her business running well.

The kind ma made N1 million available to her through a finance company.

Said she: “I had to believe in myself and have the audacity of taking that loan. I decided my business was worth fighting for. So I took the one million naira, signed all the papers and went to look for bigger facilities, moved out of Papa Ajao, took over this building that Chief Aboderin was building and didn’t complete before he died, completed it, moved my factory in there, went around Nigeria (a million naira then was like 100 million naira), bought machines from furniture companies that were closing down, went to England to buy refurbished machines from companies.

“Ventures and Trusts was the biggest finance outside of the banks then. I got a job from Ventures Trust – to furnish a big hotel that they were building. I did everything to make sure we delivered on time, and we delivered well. And we leveraged on the elaborate opening ceremony that took place. Every job you do is a referral for you. It is better than advertisement.”

Ibukun Awosika is one person who believes strongly in her ability to make things happen. This is one driving forced that has propelled her to the level she has attained today. One can say without any equivocation that that is why she is a multiple award winner.

Said she: “When I took that one million naira from that man, my dad, for one second didn’t tell me anything. It took me 15 months to pay that money back. When I took the money, finance houses’ interest was between 50 and 72%.

It was a mad time in Nigeria – between 1993 and 1995. I took it but I had faith in myself that whatever happened I would pay them back.

My margins might be small, but the opportunities that the margins were opening for me would make up for it. So when I finished this job – guess how much was left, 15 months after? – N942, 000!

Because of interests. It was when my dad found out that I had paid back that he hugged me. He said when he heard that I took the one million naira loan; he said “This girl has killed”. He said he was however on standby that if I failed, he would sell his house to offset the loan. So parental support or marital support is key.”

Managing challenges She advised: “Stay focused, Ask for help. You must have your support system, people who share the same value with you. Do not act like a super human. Challenges will always come up. Find a way to deal with them. You will surely survive. Every time, it may look like the heavens is about to fall.

Deal with it.

Artisans have values. When people work for you, the biggest example of what you do is to do what you say to them. You cannot say one thing and do another. They are all going to come to you with different value systems based on where they are coming from – what they are exposed to and all of that.

Ibukun Awosika will not do deals, will not cut corners, will not bribe. She argued: “To most people, I was an idealistic young woman, and I was not going to go far. But my workers had to watch me everyday fight for these principles. They know the day I will allow the job to work away.

Initially they thought I was insane.

They would argue “All these things we do are we going to make profit in this place”? I told them we would. But they found out once we stayed together in faith, things worked out and they found out we were not insane after all. So when you are building corporate culture, leadership is key. It cannot be a matter of do as I say and not as I do. You just have to decide what your value system is and you have to fight for it.”

Coping She trusts her staff and so loves delegation of responsibilities. She would tell you with all sincerity, “I have the peace and grace to trust people. I delegate. I do not behave like a super human. When I started my business, I decided to earn my life. By the time I was 30/31 I was already having my second child. I decided that every year I would go for summer holidays, no matter what happens. Why? We all think we are indispensible. We can die any time. If we do not have the grace to entrust to others, you cannot scale up. Your business will remain small and will remain all about you. My people know that at a certain time of the year if you are looking for me you cannot see me - from the close of July to part of September. I take over from where they are when I am around.

I always tell them if I am around, I will look for a solution, but when I am not around you look for the solution. That is my way of training my people. I empower them to take charge. Yes, some people will mess you up, but you have to give trust to get trust. I have the CEO title, but I do not do the CEO job.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

27

Editor’s Note

Business Funding

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Mismatching business and finance option is death trap, says Ibukun Awosika ‘A lot of people are excited when the bank offers them money or when they have a chance to take a loan. They don’t consider the pitfalls of the issue. So it doesn’t matter who is giving it to you, if it doesn’t match your business, do not take it.’

SIAKA MOMOH

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hairman, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited, Ibukun Awosika told a large gathering of entrepreneurs at the LBS 13th EDC SME Conference 2019 in Ajah Lekki recently that mismatching business and financial option is a death trap and should never been done for any reason.

The multiple award winning star entrepreneurs, who was responding to a question raised by an agric entrepreneur at the event, said “What you must know about your business and financing is that you must not mismatch your business and financing option. If you have a long term product line, you can’t take short term money. That is a death trap. It doesn’t matter who is offering it to you, you have to say ‘No’ because it is not good; you are not going to survive. You are going to run into debt not because you do not have a good business, or you do not know what you are doing, but you have mismatched.

She explained: “It is like going to take overdraft to buy a machine. You are insane if you do this. You are going to run into trouble. Overdraft is 90 days – at the most 90 days. And if you buy a machine – most of my machines are 10 to 20 years lifespan – it is either I fund a machine from equity or I lease the machine from a company.

Or I go after a fund that will take me 7 to 10 years to pay. If you are a trader, you can take 30 days money. But even a trader who is importing from China cannot.

Why? What is your circle? When

your banker is trying to sell you a fund proposal, you must know your business circle. It is your business circle that you must use to negotiate.”

Awosika explained further: “When your banker says you must start paying in 90 days, you must say ‘no, my business circle is 120 days. When I order my product, it will take me six weeks for them to finish production. Another week, I am waiting for arrangement and shipment.

Then it is six weeks from China to get to Nigeria. Here at the port, it

‘

Some people tell me it takes too long. But it will come one day. It may take a year, but it is worth waiting for. To build a business, you must exercise patience, you must have have tenacity

is x+x. So when you do that, you must calculate the nearest date plus x. And so the financing that you are arranging must cover that, otherwise, you have already set yourself up for the grave.”

She argued a lot of people are excited when the bank offers them money or when they have a chance to take a loan. “They don’t consider the pitfalls of the issue. So it doesn’t matter who is giving it to you, if it doesn’t match your business, do not take it.”

She drew the attention of the largely young entrepreneurs, a number of them rookies, to the opportunities for funding in the Bank of Industry (BOI). Said she: “There are lots of offerings on the BOI internet platform for small businesses. Some people tell me it takes too long. But it will come one day. It may take a year, but it is worth waiting for. To build a business, you must exercise patience, you must have have tenacity.”

She emphasised the need for discipline in business: “The other thing is, learn the discipline of not consuming your capital, or your profit. People spend the profit before it comes in. They buy a car, travel to places they do not need to travel to go to. I did not buy a car for 12 years. When I started my business, I bought a used car. When I bought my second car, I bought a used car.

By the time I bought my third car, a new car, I had already built a house and my turnover was over N150 million. I am in a strictly capital-intensive business. Instead of buying a car, I buy a machine. I used to charter taxis and drivers per hour. That means I am going for a meeting.

You take me there and park outside and wait. My machine was more important to me than a car.

The car will not earn me money; my machine generates money for me from day one.”

t is another month. We have a sweet package for you as usual. On our cover, we bring you the sad state of our solid minerals industry. Solid mineral is the nation’s buried wealth crying for exploitation.

The little we are doing is being done through crude method.

Most of the money coming in from the industry goes into private pockets.

And there is also the serious health issues associated with illegal mining. Siaka Momoh brings you the full gist in our cover.

Ibukun Awosika is our guest this month on our BusinessChief platform. She gave a stout and interesting tale of how she started off on the entrepreneurship turf and rose to prominence, riding on opportunities that came her way. She advised budding entrepreneurs to stay focused, ask for help, and have

Siaka Momoh support system; that is no acting like a super human.

You are welcome on board.

For advert placements, call Siaka: 08061396410 or email siakamomoh@yahoo.com.

Capacity Building

How to develop your potential

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o achieve excellence, you must work to fulfil your own potential. Learn to build on your strengths and to develop the personal qualities that are the keys to performing well.

Human beings have many talents that can be turned into engines of success. Yet the best performance requires more than mere talent: it involves developing a number of important personal strengths, including determination, vision and confidence.

Do the following: • Identify your weaknesses as the first step to rectify them.

• Do things the easy way – play

your strengths.

• Accept critical comments and act to remedy faults.

Source: Managing Management By: Moi Ali, Steven Brookson, Andy Bruce, John Eaton, Robert Heller, Roy Johnson, Ken Langdon, and Steve Sleight.

Lead in our paints is serious health hazard – Prof Babajide Alo SIAKA MOMOH

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aints manufactured in Nigeria, paints that we coat our buildings with and paints that we use for decorating many other things such as automobiles, vessels, domestic utensils etc. contain lead which is a serious health hazard.

Babajide Alo, professor of chemistry, University of Lagos, who delivered the key paper at this year’s Paints Manufacturers of Nigeria 2019 Coating Show, which held in Lagos Monday, said Nigeria paints manufacturers must reformulate its mix for paint manufacturing in line with the drive for lead-free coatings that is on now globally.

Said he: “Consumption of

chemicals (which paint is) is an index of development of a nation, but they pose risks if not properly managed.”

He said lead in paints affects IQ, causes cancer and it is responsible for irrational behaviour of Nigerians on roads.

The good news however, is that the process to phase out lead in coatings by 2020 is on. It is a global drive backed by agreements which Nigeria has keyed into. “Standard Organisation of Nigeria is involved in the regulatory process and has a laboratory in place already as tool for the exercise,” he said.

PMA chairman, A.S Babatunde, welcomed the drive but regretted that government did not take stakeholders along from the beginning.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Sad story of Nigeria’s neglected...

Continued from page 25 pated revenue from petroleum was about $52.2 billion. This accounted for less than 14 percent of official GDP figures (and dropped to 10 percent when the informal economy is included in these calculations). What this means in effect is that though the petroleum sector is important, it is an infinitesimal part of the country’s economy whose other constituents are agriculture, solid minerals, services (the nonoil sector).

Non-Oil sector This is the crust of the story here.

The Non-oil sector is suffering neglect. In 2009 for instance, the sector was hit by setback as the total income generated from its export from January to September stood at US$900 million (N140.3 billion) while total amount that accrued to the country in 2008 was US$1.9 billion (N296.1 billion) amounting to a drop of 138 per cent in non-export earnings. In the same vein, according to Central Bank of Nigeria’s Q2 Economic Report, the total non-oil export earnings by Nigerian exporters in the second quarter of 2010 fell by 56.4 percent to US$297.2 million (N46.3 billion) from the level in the preceding quarter.

According to Peter Onwualu, director-general/chief executive officer, Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Nigeria enjoys comparative advantage to produce and supply a myriad of non-oil products to other African countries, including ECOWAS countries, USA and other developed countries. Apparently explaining why Nigeria is not doing well with non-oil exports, he said “Nigeria is yet to exploit this comparative advantage to a meaningful non-oil economic growth”.

Neglected treasure The non-oil product in question in our story here is solid minerals. The problem in the sector is of public knowledge. Small scale artisanal miners dominate solid mineral mining. They account for between 90 and 95 percent of the output of the Nigerian solid minerals sector. They are often unlicensed, illegal operators. In other words, they are informal operators.

Independent research puts Nigeria’s informal economy at between 65 and 70 percent of GNP or GNI. Nigerian labour source says 90 percent of new jobs are accounted for by the informal sector and that the sector is responsible for 80 percent of all non-agriculture employment and 60 percent of urban jobs. The solid mineral sector belongs here.

Crude operation method It is no news that it is tough capturing data of activities in the informal sector. What this means is loss of vital revenue to government. When the number of miners are not known, it is difficult to plan the sector, it is difficult to organise the sector, it is difficult to successfully introduce modern mining technology into the sector

Nigeria’s hidden wealth in a capsule

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that will make miners operate in a safe environment. It was the crude method of operation, unregulated bunch of mining operatives, that was responsible for the calamity experienced and perhaps still being experienced in Zamfara State to date. The case in point is the death of about 200 people in Zamfara from lead poisoning, arising from unregulated artisanal mining. Recall the academics’ findings cited earlier, the corroboration is clear.

Lead poisonings According to reports, lead poisonings in Zamfara State, led to the deaths of at least 163 people between March and June 2010, including 111 children. Health ministry figures state the discovery of 355 cases, with 46 percent proving fatal. An annual immunization programme in northern part of Nigeria led to the discovery of a high number of child deaths in the area. An investigation showed that they had been digging for gold at the times of their deaths, in an area where lead is prevalent. It was thought by the villagers that all the children had contracted malaria but Médecins Sans Frontières found unusually high levels of lead in the blood during tests. The BBC suggested the contamination of water may have contributed to the high mortality rate. Blacksmith Institute was called in by the Nigerian authorities to assist in the removal of toxic lead.

It is believed that the poisonings are caused by the illegal extraction of ore by villagers, who take crushed rock home with them to extract. This results in the soil being contaminated from lead which then poisons people through hand-to-mouth contamination. Others have been contaminated by contact with contaminated tools and water.

In an effort to halt the epidemic the authorities are clamping down on illegal mining and carrying out a clean-up of the area. The number of cases dropped when illegal mining in the area was halted and some of the residents were evacuated. Education on health and the dangers of lead mining is also being given to local people. Those who died came from several villages.

Five villages in the Local Govern-

ment Areas of Anka and Bungudu were affected. All five villages were evacuated by the Nigerian health authorities.

Two treatment camps were established by health authorities to deal with the crisis. The World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières and Blacksmith Institute assisted with the epidemic.

Need for support One thing is clear here, artisanal miners need support, organisation and regulation, not just cash handouts from the ministry. They must be empowered and incorporated into the value chain of mineral production and marketing. The World Bank granted a credit of $120 million for the sustainable development of our mining sector. What has happened to the fund, nobody knows. Government responsibility must not stop at licensing private sector participants but must also include provision of more accurate geological information about our mineral resources.

There have been reports in the media of unwholesome activities by the Chinese engaged in solid minerals mining in Nigeria. One will want to believe that the Ministry of Solid Minerals is listening and addressing the issue.

Oby Ezekwesili/Fayemi It would be recalled that the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development under Oby Ezekwesili, accelerated its Geological Survey Agency to invest more in this area. There is urgent need to strengthen the Mining Cadastre Office and its freedom from ministerial and political interference is necessary if confidence must be given to investors on the security of their licences and the policy environment. Government must ease the acquisition of titles to land for mining licences. Kayode Fayemi, Buhari’s erstwhile Minister of Solid Minerals Development, came up with an agenda whose main focus was to re-position mining activities in the country and ensure that the sector contributed a double digit growth to the economy within a decade. He didn’t wait to execute his ambitious agenda because he had his eyes on the chief executive seat in Ekiti State where he currently calls the shot.

he following are the highpoints of solid mineral mining in Nigeria. Government may find the list a useful working paper: • Mining is therefore one of the oldest economic activities in Nigeria, with evidence of iron-working civilisation around the Nok area in Kaduna State from 340BC. Around 704AD bronze works civilisation around Igbo Ukwu reached its peak. Some 1,000 years ago, the “Golden lands of Wangara” in the Hausa Kingdoms were famous for their gold. Ife and Benin bronze works flourished in the 13th and 17th centuries respectively.

• Organised mining in Nigeria started in 1903 and reached its peak after the Second World War with exports of coal, columbite, tin and lead.

At a point, Nigeria was the leading producer and exporter of tin.

• Ihe now troubled city of Jos was born and flourished largely due to the influx of people and resources in search of economic opportunities of the mining boom. Enugu was for a while the capital of the Southern Protectorate because of the coal mining that started around there in 1916.

• Today, mining offers Nigeria potentials for job creation, foreign exchange earnings, domestic production and consumption, tax revenue and diversification of our economy from dependence on oil.

It can contribute up to 3 per cent of GDP and employ at least a million people, moving most of them to middle-class status.

• The contribution of the solid minerals sector to the Nigerian economy has collapsed from about one per cent at independence to about 0.3 per cent of GDP in 2010, and it employs only a few thousand people.

• The industry is grossly underdeveloped leading to a situation where we import minerals that we could produce domestically such as Barites, salt and iron ore.

• Compare this with South Africa where in 2009, mining directly accounted for about 9 per cent of GDP, one-third of the total capitalisation of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and employed 500,000 people, or with the US where mining provides about 670,000 direct jobs.

• In Australia, about 320,000 direct jobs are attributable to the mining sector. In Canada, mining provides employment for about 200,000 people. In South Africa, mining contributes another half a million indirect jobs in addition to direct jobs, focused on only a handful of minerals! Nigeria has huge reserves of 34 solid minerals and virtually no jobs!

• Globally the mining industry has enjoyed strong economic growth for the past decade. Demand for solid mineral resources from rapidly growing nations like China and India is on the rise, while Canada supplied minerals with a total estimated value of $45.3 billion in 2008.

• Today, mining accounts for 3.5 per cent of Canada’s GDP. Nigeria is losing huge amounts of

foreign exchange that it could have earned considering the tremendous growth in the demand for minerals in the global market.

• Nigeria’s coal was highly valued for its low levels of sulphur and impurities. There are 22 coalfields spread across 13 states with proven reserve of 639 million tonnes, and inferred reserves of 2,750 million tonnes.

• Up till the late 1960s, coal was the source of the entire energy requirement for the country’s industrial sector, which included Nigeria Railways, National Electric Power Authority and Nigeria Cement Corporation (NCC), Nkalagu.

• According to the Ministry of Mines, Coal export or usage for electricity generation is capable of earning or saving Nigeria up to $6 billion per annum. Applying our coal to generate electricity would yield 7,000mw which can be the national base load, supplemented by other sources for the next 30 years.

• The NCC was a state-owned monopoly established in 1950 to engage in the exploration, production and marketing of our coal. It was successful until the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war. It never recovered from the years of mine closure and was privatised via liquidation by the BPE in 2007. None of the resulting investors has started production since then.

• Gold is another mineral we have in commercial quantities in Osun, Oyo, Kwara, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna States. Between 1933 and 1943 when production peaked, Nigeria exported some 3.2 million ounces of gold! With the privatisation via liquidation of the Nigerian Mining Corporation (NMC) in 2007, it is gratifying that some domestic and multinational companies that acquired some of its mining leases are pursuing gold mining opportunities, supplementing the efforts of our indigenous small scale, artisanal miners.

• Tantalite is a rare metal needed by high technology and aerospace industries. Nigeria has the second largest reserves of tantalite in the world, occurring as TantalumNiobium, and available in a belt stretching from Nassarawa State and FCT across to Ilesa in Osun State.

• We have huge deposits of Lead and Zinc in Benue, Kogi, Ebonyi and Nassarawa States among others.

Large deposits of iron ore, reputed to be the largest in Africa have been found in Zamfara State as well.

• We have bitumen and tar sands equivalent to 13 billion barrels of oil in a belt stretching from Lagos and Edo to Ogun and Ondo States.

Each of these minerals is worth billions of dollars in revenue annually and hundreds of thousands of jobs.

We are also endowed with large deposits of Limestone, Kaolin and Gypsum that can be processed to meet the cement requirement of the African continent for the next two decades. There are large deposits of talc spread across the country that have the potential to earn about $3 billion annually.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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LEADINGWOMAN For Rashidat, hope rises again

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ercy Corps is a global team of humanitarians who partner with communities, corporations and governments to transform lives around the world.

Their mission is to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.

They believe in investing in young women like Rashidat.

They help them gain skills, build livelihoods and reach their goals, unleashing their potential to improve their lives and become leaders for their families and the world.

Rashidat was forced to drop out when she was just 7 years old.

“I lost my parents,” she explains. “That is when I stopped schooling.” She moved in with her aunt and uncle, but wasn’t able to return to her education.

As she grew older she faced more obstacles: access to job training and banking services is limited for girls, too. But even when her options to succeed were bleak, she never lost hope.

“I always believed I would be great,” she says.

Her life took a turn when she got involved in Mercy Corps job training program, made possible with support from The Coca-Cola Company, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and the UK Department for International Development.

The program provides in-and out-of-school girls in Nigeria with life skills, business training and financial education, so they are better equipped to support themselves and their families.

“My favorite topic is how to start a business with small capital and loan taking,” Rashidat says, “... because I never knew about it before. When I learned that, I saw a way forward.”

Empowered with knowledge and inspired by her love of fashion, she started putting small amounts of money away whenever she could, eventually saving enough to buy tools and beads to start a small jewellery-

making business.

Already, her handmade accessories include necklaces, bracelets, belts, purses are in high demand. “I’m always happy when I see people wearing my beads,” she says. “I will look at them and say ‘I am the one who did this.’ I feel proud of myself.”

Now, Rashidat has plans to expand. “I want to have a shop.

I want to have a business card. I want to be great,” she says. Her business is so successful she’s even hired several other young women and taught them how to bead, though she hopes they eventually leave to start their own ventures, too.

“There are so many things girls can become in the future,” she says. “Girls are talented.

There is nothing you give a girl that she cannot do.”

Photo: Corinna Robbins/Mercy Corps

Women laud Kwara State governor over nomination of 9 women for cabinet DESMOND OKON

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igerian women, under the umbrella of the More Women Campaign Group, have applauded Kwara State governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for nominating 9 women out of his 16-persons cabinet.

The nomination of nine women, represents 56.25 percent as commissioner-designates. The group consists of 169 women bodies of Nigerian women, professionals and experts; and represents different regions,

ethnicities, economic, social and political allegiances as well as organizations for youths and persons with disabilities.

The group issued a statement, hailing AbdulRazaq for breaking the yoke of poor representation of women and youths in governance.

According to a statement signed by signed by Abiola Akiyode Afolabi and Felicia Onibon on behalf of the amalgam, this gesture will be recorded in history as the first of its kind in Nigeria.

“This step by the governor www.businessday.ng

resounds the yearning of wellmeaning Nigerians, home and abroad. The appointment demonstrates his support for women voices and serves as a recognition of their relevance in the society.

“We believe that this form of democracy provides the opportunity for open, responsible and accountable system of governance that thrives on the principle that power belongs to the people and that every strata of the society is represented. We have noted with gladness the representation of young people

https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

and minority groups within the appointment.”

They said modelling a best practice of this nature was important for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“We therefore applaud His Excellency for breaking the cycle of women’s exclusion in Nigeria.

We applaud the All Progressive Congress (APC) for supporting this development in the state and call on all other state governors, to imbibe the culture of equitable representation for better and prosperous governance.” @Businessdayng

They called on the women appointed to embrace the culture of inclusion, transparency and accountability, to demonstrate the importance of women contributions to good governance.

Also, in a personal letter addressed to the governor at the weekend, Taibat Hussain Aduragba a London-based development advocate and first class graduate of Economics, hailed AbdulRazaq for making Kwara the first in practical commitment to include women in decision-making process in the country.

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Friday 01 November 2019

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ENTERTAINMENT

‘I directed, shot and financed my movie to show my capabilities’ The movie, Farming has been trending globally and recently in Nigeria. Its authentic story on the untold British struggle has won it two awards at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this year alone. In this interview, ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE, British-Nigerian actor, and director of the movie, who was in Lagos recently for the Nigerian premiere of the movie, speaks to OBINNA EMELIKE on his debut movie and other related issues.

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arming has been part of the British culture for so long, why do you think it has not been explored in film or any sort of narrative before now?

You know for various reasons, when some Nigerian parents came to Britain they would target working class families and force their children out to them. This is the reason working class families would be the rider.

Other reason is that the practice of farming is imposed because there was not the checks and balance; that was why the practice and parents neglected their children.

Perhaps it was the practice that indicted the system, but it was not something the past governments wanted to expose.

What do you have in mind when you set out to make the film?

Growing up as a young Nigerian in Britain was very difficult in the 80s. So, I just want to tell a true story about my parents, and growing up as a young Nigerian child in the 80s in London. The movie shows an authentic perspective of a black person living in the United Kingdom then. Very few people were aware of the African journey, the contributions of the African struggle there, as well as, the tradition of the British society.

I am sharing my experience with the British society, especially growing up as a black person and also the experience of thousands of black children who went through this practice.

The movie gives me a platform to acknowledge the farming practice and also a history of the British society. It is the voice of a forgotten generation of thousands of Nigerians who went through the practice of farming. It gives a footnote for a British culture as a headline. In so doing, it gives some palliative therapy to those who went through practice.

Also, it was my intention as a Nigerian to create a dialogue and for us as Nigerian community to re-evaluate our children and ways.

When did you start working on

The Edinburgh International Film Festival is a great festival.

At the festival this year, Farming won the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film and Best Performance in the British film. It was hugely gratifying. It creatively validates me as a filmmaker to be reckoned with and the audience resonates with the material that they connected to through the Farming process. I was very gratified, and also as a first-time filmmaker to winning awards, I feel great.

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the movie and how long did it take to finish?

I started writing the movie in 2003 and it took me 15 years to finish and make the film. As an actor and director, it took me that long because I have to learn the skills of writing and adapting screen play to my acting career. I have to direct, shoot and finance my film myself to prove to people that I have such capacities.

I think also that I was bringing awareness on a serious subject matter about Britain at a time in the industry when it was necessarily challenging to hear about those things. All these made it a challenge for me to tell my story.

Also, considering the budget for a first-time filmmaker, it took time.

It is quite expensive and a very ambitious project. You know it is a film of three decades. So, it took a lot to achieve that.

In the modern day UK, does the culture of farming still exist?

No. There was a case in the year 2000 involving a victim of farming, where a Nigerian died in her

first appearance. There was an investigation into the prevalence and checks and balance to be put in place. If the government did something and if checks and balances were in place, it would have effectively stopped it.

How did you get an assemblage of world class cast, and which of them impressed you most?

Yes, because it is about my life story and so I looked out for individual cast that would portray my story.

The person who played the role of a Netherlands teacher played the role for my transformation.

What helped my casting process is that I played people that I knew.

Secondly, as an actor, I listened to what I was looking from my cast.

I looked for charisma and some other things.

How do you feel with your nominations and winning two festival awards with the movie?

You know it is hugely rewarding.

You know it was such a long struggling and arduous to get the film produced.

Why did you cast Genevieve Nnaji in the movie?

It has always been my ambition to marry Hollywood/Nollywood to bridge experience in the movie industry. I wanted a platform that will give opportunity for some of our talented actors on the big stage.

I grew up watching Genevieve as a great actress. I wanted a Nigerian to play an authentic mother to me in the movie. I felt Genevieve was a perfect person to play the role and I am glad to feature her.

But it is fantastic that Hollywood embraced Genevieve. I tried to marry Hollywood/Nollywood to bring in one of our stars. I was happy I was able to marry the two film industries.

Also, as a Nigerian star actress, Genevieve fitted in to be incorporated into the big stage.

What are the lessons to learn in the film?

The lessons to be learnt here are many. The first is that as parents, if you are going to engage into festering and adoption of a child, you should do the research and homework about the culture of that child because of issues in latter life like racism. If they do not educate themselves on the culture of the child, there will be a problem as the child grows up in the foreign land, the child will need to know his/her root.

The other lesson is that the Nigerian community needs to reevaluate the value of child rearing process because the question that begs is; what are giving to a child?

What we should give to a child in

practice is love. There are so many Nigerian parents that festered children in the UK for adoption but they never returned to get them back. They abandoned their children as if they did not exist.

For me, the Nigerian community needs to give education, care and bond to their children.

They need to show compassion and love to their children because when you have love you conquer everything.

On a broader note, Britain as a nation needs to re-evaluate her relationship with the migrant population so as to address racial discrimination and appreciate the contributions of the migrants.

So, the lesson is all about love, maternal and paternal care.

What is your experience as the director of film?

That was probably the most real experience throughout the whole movie because it was not my intention to play the role I played.

Perhaps we were looking for an actor to play my part but my producers suggested that I play the part and for some reasons that my experience would contribute to the movie. It was the first time in the movie that I stepped into my father’s shoes and I was looking at myself from that perspective.

So, I took on the role I played and it was real.

It was mind-blowing because there were things I saw about me and my father that I could play in that role and I realized how important I am to him. But it was pretty challenge to feature actors like Genevieve and still able to direct those emotions.

So, it was a lot to take on and I enjoyed it that I directed the movie where I multitasked.

What was the most challenging experience in the movie production?

Oh no. The whole process of the movie was emotional. I remembered my production designer; she recreated the house we grew up into perfection and I remember I woke up on the stage before we showed up.

Chocolate City hosts round table discussion on good governance

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n a bid to push for good governance and encourage civic participation in governance, renowned record label, Chocolate City in partnership with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) held a round table discussion on October 24, 2019 at the CCX Lounge in Victoria Island Lagos The event witnessed the presence of many celebrities who converged to discuss salient issues eating deep into the nerve of the Nigerian society, which includes corruption, human

trafficking, areas of failure of the government, stigmatisation of people living with disabilities, increased and perpetual suffering of the masses, gender-based abuse and violence against women among others.

Going forward, the role of influencers in pushing for change, social activism, celebrities’ area of interests and linkage with relevant CSOs were also not left out of the discussion as music was considered a tool for electoral reform and drive for ensuring and enhancing good governance. www.businessday.ng

Nikki Laoye, Falz the Bahd Guy, Segun ‘Segalink’ Awosanya, Ushbebe, Waje Uruobe, Williams

https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

Uchemba, Ruggedman, Kelechi Amadi-Obi and, Kate Henshaw had the floor at different points to air their opinions on these critical issues.

Hosted by superstar rapper, MI Abaga, other celebrities present include; Do2dtun, Seun Kuti, Ibrahim Suleiman, Joey Akan, VJ Adams, Akah Nani, Temi Solomon, Bez, Johnny Drille, Nosa, Folu Storms, Gbenga Adeyinka, Tee-A, Illbliss, Ruby Gyang, Ikhane Akhigbe, Ferdinand Ademife, DJ Lambo, Blaqbonez, Jefferey (BBNaija) and Candy @Businessdayng

Bleakz.

Guests present were tasked with taking immediate actions to ensure that the next generation of Nigerian leaders is trustworthy, accountable and competent.

They were also encouraged to use their voices in their various capacities to speak against the ills of the society and the negligence of the government, which will in no distant future, spur the relevant quarters of government parastatals into action and will positively affect the wellbeing of every Nigerian.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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ENTERTAINMENT

A business edge with Instagram

BUSINESS ETIQUETTE

JANET ADETU

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e have been hit by a social media bomb, just as one is getting used to the workings of one platform a new one is launched. It was a long while all about Facebook and Twitter, today new media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and many more are the favoured.

During a brief survey I recently conducted, I discovered that many of the participants preferred to use Instagram regularly. When I asked informative, engaging and helped advance their businesses. The good thing about Instagram is that just as it is a social means of communicating, lots of companies have seen the opportunity to use these mass of people to their business offerings so of course have latched onto Instagram to promote both their products and services.

Every relevant business today has some means of connection to social media, many of which have already signed up to having an Instagram page. However, like many of us it takes a short while to adjust to the new wave of communication, and now suddenly use it to build your business. Others during the survey felt a little overwhelmed by the whole social media saga, simply saying they had no time at all to engage and get hooked on to their technical devices all day long.

Essentiallysocial media can be very time consuming, at times distrac-

tive withoutdiscipline and can lure you off track onto other unnecessary sites. However either way there is certainly an edge in business when you use Instagram.

Instagram is very pictorial so catches the eye quickly, it is not bombarded with too much information to bore the reader. The short videosare a plus they capture your attention and leave you with wanting to see more. All these features and more if used appropriately will give your business the added edge it deserves.

It will create awareness, build your business reputation and help you become a breast of what is the latest now. Trust me I am stilltrying to get the nitty gritty of using instagram so everyday is a learning curve, be open to new knowledge and use as best you can where required to your advantage.

Instagram savvy Be in the know I am quick to say that I am still learning when it comes to social media, be ready and keen on knowing what Instagram is all about. The added knowledge is ome step further to your business advancement. Do not just go on Instagram for the sake of ot it, or just like everyone says because it is the new craze, and you do not want the world to leave you behind. Know the purpose for which you intend using the platform.

Check out how others are using it to give you some perspective as to whether it is relevant to your business or not. I suggest you get a little tutorial from someone who can put uou through the basics. Not everyone has

the patience to read the instructions or guidelines as well has give any meaning to what they have just read.

Be in the know before you venture on to Instagram.

Picture perfect Instagram is everything about pictures and words alike but fewer words is the recommendation. No doubt the pictures should be relevant to your business, remember the quality of the pictures too. Use a standard format of pictures. Blurry pictures can tarnish your imageas well as be a distraction to your page.The posts you send out should be attractive and leading to pertinent aspects of a business. A Chef may not release his recipes, however by posting delicious looking gourmet dishes in Instagram, he will be enticing Instagram users to find him and book for his services. The expectation is that people will like what they see and indicate this by pressing the like button by this you may capture how many have engaged on your page.

Do not be discouraged if you do not get likes to start with, begin to establish and build connection with your audience.

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AFRIMA will be donating educational materials and musical instruments to a public school in Lagos. The visit also creates opportunities for motivational conversations between the pupils and the delegation consisting of various African music super stars, Nigerian government officials, African Union officials, AFRIMA executives, among other guests.

Setting the stage for the entertainment value the awards brings with each edition, is the AFRIMA Music Village at the Agege Stadium, Agege Lagos on November 21. The music village is a 12-hour concertstyle music festival, which starts at 6.00p.m. with live performances from A-list and upcoming artistes, AFwww.businessday.ng

Do not be discouraged if you do not get likes to start with, begin to establish and build connection with your audience

Humour, flavour In identifying the kind of post you should release everything does not need to be too serious, meaning you will need to spice it up a bit to be able to engage the new millennial. Add flavor to your post with a little humour, either in the chosen pictures, jokes,quizzes, quotes and lots of colour.

RIMA nominees and past AFRIMA winners. This year, the African Union, AU and International Committee of AFRIMA have decided to take the music village to the community where the people reside. For gate entry to the music concert, get a branded AFRIMA T-shirt at just N2,000 = (USD5.5) on the AFRIMA website www.afrima.org or at the concert venue. Event will be broadcast live on DSTV channel 198, GOTV channel 29, Africa Independent Television (AIT), Raypower FM Network, Kennis FM, Silverbird Television (STV), HIP TV, among over 84 stations across the world.

Following on November 22 at the Grand Ballroom, Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, is the Africa Music Business Summit (AMBS) an annual summit of networking and interaction among music professionals, music executives, government officials and other stakeholders in the music, media and financial sectors of Africa. It sets an atmosphere for discussions on the potentials present in the African music industry and ways to harness its socioeconomic gains. Attendance registration for AMBS is now open on the AFRIMA web-

site, www.afrima.org.

Later in the evening of Friday, the 6th AFRIMA Nominees party will hold.

Tagged ‘Fire and Ice’, the exclusive party for this year’s nominees has a few surprises in store for the guests and it promises to be a night of extreme fun and social interactions.

November 23 ushers in the main awards event at Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, which commences at 4.00 p.m. with the live Red Carpet where African music stars and other guests display their glamour and impeccable African fashion sense for the audience watching around the world while being interviewed by the 6th AFRIMA celebrity red carpet hosts. The live broadcast main awards ceremony following at 7.30 p.m. is conceptualised to celebrate African creativity and culture in all its splendour and reward African artistes who emerge winners in the 36 AFRIMA continental and regional categories ranging from the classic, contemporary to traditional genres of music.

The awards ceremony programme will also specially recognise African music veterans with the 2019 AFRIMA Legend Award.

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Hashtag it Hashtags are new but have great purpose. The essence is so that many can see your post beyond just that day. The hashtag relates to any information that speaks to tht particular topic, event or business. The hashtag collates relevant information for many to see and relate to. In choosing a hashtag or two try not let it be too abstract. It should speak to what you are promoting with maximum relevance. Try not bombard your post with too many hashtags not to be too distractive.

Get an expert Finally as a business owner you cannot claim you know it all. At times time is not on your side especially when it involves constant engagement and staying current. The services of a young technical guru or a social media organization may just do the trick, at least you are comfortable enough to pass onto a member of your staff. Always ask first who is social media savvy from within, you may just have the person in house already.

Goodluck!Janet.adetu@gmail.com Janet.adetu@gmail,com quetteconsortium.com @janetadetu

Follow and be followed Instagram is also about building on your followership. You will need to

AFRMA unveils events for 2019 show ll road leads to Lagos as music lovers, cultural enthusiast and African stars in Africa and Diaspora gear up towards the upcoming 6th edition of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), the continent’s biggest music event with the theme ‘Feel Africa’ is set to hold from November 20-23, 2019.

The awards show will feature four days of thrilling and innovative programme of activities set to cater to a wide range of audiences from entertainment, music business to tourism and destination marketing.

Kicking off the 6th AFRIMA events is the AFRIMA Welcome Soiree on Wednesday, November 20 at the poolside of Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos; a reception in honour of arriving AFRIMA nominees and delegates, African Union officials, members of the International Committee of AFRIMA, international and local media as well as other invited guests.

As part of its Social Responsibility Initiative, AFRIMA will visit a primary school situated in Lagos on November 21 to raise consciousness for the African child’s education and literacy on the continent.

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direct other users to follow your page, at times create competition where the terms require page following and liking. In the same light it is expected that you also follow other instagram pages and be seen to be active too. As you also follow and like other people’s pages you will get return responses and build up organically.

janet.adetu@jsketi-

Happy Reading!

Budweiser creates fun at viewing parties

S

ince July, when Budweiser announced the signing of a multi-year deal with both English Premier League and LaLiga, the King of Beers has continued to be one of the most visible brands in sports sponsorship. The brand has showcased its uniqueness at creating relevant, grand and memorable experiences with exciting, fun packed viewing parties that not only bring fans of the sport together but also provides an avenue for them to watch these matches with their favourite celebrities.

The viewing parties take place when there are major EPL and LaLiga matches. Budweiser invades selected recreational facilities across Lagos by mounting what they refer to as a ‘Victory Fridge’ which means free drinks, pride and bragging rights for the team that wins the match. It is quite interesting to see football lovers watch the different matches with an intensity that could potentially power several light bulbs.

The selected venues for the viewing parties were packed full with people who were in search of an exciting place to watch the match with friends, family and other football lovers. Celebrities like Teni The Entertainer, Skales, DJ Dayzee, DJ Crowd Kontroller, DJ Babus, L.A.X, Hy@Businessdayng

peman Best, DJ Consequence and many others visited these venues to watch the matches and party with fans of the winning teams.

Now, Budweiser has concluded plans to enhance the experience and engagement at the viewing parties with the inclusion of some innovative activities. The Budweiser viewing party is one you do not want to miss as the brand is set to ensure that fans have a pleasurable experience while watching the match in a premium environment.

Tolulope Adedeji, marketing director, International Breweries, said, “We have had so much fun connecting with fans of the brand as well as football lovers at our viewing parties. We are excited to provide opportunities for consumers to bond in a unique and exciting way, not only with the Budweiser brand but also with fellow football lovers. Lovers of Budweiser should watch this space”.

Budweiser Viewing Parties is an initiative of the King of Beers to celebrate the global multi-year sponsorships with two of the top international football leagues, the English Premier League and Spanish La Liga. Fans can easily check out the weekend viewing party venues from the social media handles of Budweiser.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

FEATURE

Obaseki’s huge strides and Edo’s journey to the Next Level GBEMI FAMINU

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do State has become an investors’ delight in the last three years with reforms being spearheaded by Governor Godwin Obaseki. From November 8 to 12, Nigeria’s business community will converge on Benin City, for the third edition of the Alaghodaro Summit, which showcases the landmark achievements in education, primary healthcare, business and other sectors, being recorded in the state.

When Governor Godwin Obaseki, during his inauguration on November, 12, 2016 identified agriculture, education and industrialisation as strong pillars on which the Edo State’s economic revolution would stand, many believed it was one of the plausible and chimerical chants sung by politicians, with little or no intention of fulfilling them.

Justifiably, the belief may have held some water because since the advent of Nigeria’s democracy in 1999, most governors have been widely adjudged to have performed poorly, despite uninterruptedly completing their two-terms of eight years in office. While some were found to be somewhat power drunk, corrupt and without a strategy of implementation of policies, others chiefly think more about self, family and loyalists than the populace. But in barely three years, the governor is already rewriting history, bringing governance and its dividends to the doorsteps of Edo people.

Unlike what was attained in the past, there is an exciting breath of fresh air in various sectors of the state including education; economy; infrastructural, human capacity and industrial development; agriculture and rural development.

The governor has touched almost every nook and cranny in the state in terms of developmental projects that are visible for ‘any doubting Thomas’ to see.

More so, apart from bringing panache and dignity to governance, Obaseki through his populist and people-oriented reforms has elevated the face of leadership and redefined politics to be able to make government respond to the yearnings of the suffering masses, which ordinarily should be the penchant of any government in power.

A visitor in the state will be astounded by the rate of massive industrial and infrastructural developments, as well as the strategic execution of laudable policies and reforms, which prescient observers say have repositioned the state to investor’s destination, tourism hub and construction site. With a pellucid vision, the Obaseki-led administration is pulling every string available to attract investors, build local capacity and create wealth for Edo State and its people.

Alaghodaro: The Summit Right from the electioneering seasons, the governor has remained resilient and focused on his visions and aspirations to transform Edo

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki (right, on a tractor), addressing farmers during the flag off of land preparation for the cultivation of a 725-hectare maize farm project in Sobe, Owan West Local Government Area, Edo State.

State to a business destination haven. Almost on a daily basis, the ‘wake and see’ governor, unveils policies and strategies to break the ground in fast-tracking the state’s industrialisation and economic diversification.

This is one of the reasons for the birth of the Alaghodaro Summit.

With the theme, “Delivering to Our People, The Next Level”, the 2019 edition will create an avenue to evaluate how the Obaseki-led administration’s policies, programmes and initiatives have been able to transform the lives of ordinary Edo people and articulate aspirations for further achievements.

Alaghodaro, meaning progress, started in 2017, bringing big ticket investors from all parts of the world, thereby exposing the state to more investors and expanding its economic space. Last year, it was a “People’s Summit” that brought all Edo people and residents together in one place, face-to-face with their governor to discuss on challenges confronting the state and identify peculiar and innovative ways to tackling them.

But the 2019 edition of the summit will enable the government to assess the impact of the people-centred policies, programmes and projects of the governor on job creation, youth empowerment, basic and technical education, healthcare, food security, among others.

Agriculture revolution Already, impacts of the governor’s effort to unlock the state’s potentials are eminently felt in all sectors. One of Obaseki’s blueprints for development in the state is the harnessing of agriculture’s immense capacity to accommodate more hands. With a vision to create over 200,000 jobs after his first tenure at the helm of affairs of the state, he has gone all out to craft policies and initiatives to get more youths into agriculture through a value-chain driven agricultural development model designed to ensure smooth commodity-to-market flow.

In Edo, the government is building a strong nexus linking youths, agriculture and jobs. The state www.businessday.ng

government believes that tapping opportunities from its vast arable, loamy land to provide jobs for teeming youths would quell job crisis.

The idea is hinged on the thinking that agriculture has a huge potential for job creation, which affords the people better life.

Already, the farmers in Agenebode axis of the state have started reaping from the bouquet of policies of the Obaseki-led administration, harvesting several metric tons of rice in farms cultivated in partnership with the state government, who provided inputs and technical support for the farming season.

The farms were captured under the state’s Agriprenuer programme, which prioritises the cultivation of a number of crops, including maize, cassava and rice. Over 10,000 hectares of land in various locations across the state are being cultivated under the agripreneur programme.

The state government intends to harvest 17,000 metric tons of rice by cultivating 4,000 hectares of land at the end of the planting season in 2019.

The state also boasts a Fertilizer Plant. Governor Obaseki said during the opening ceremony of the Edo Fertilizer Plant, that the plant was a key peg for engaging youths in the state, especially as it provided needed input to fast-track agricultural development. According to him, “This achievement is an open call to other investors to bring in new technology, create more jobs and expand our economic opportunities.

Also, the industrialisation plan pursued by the Obaseki-led state is quite grand and encompasses a wide range of strategically connected projects which does not only targets to see the rise of the state as an economic hub, but as a cynosure of all those seeking to make an industrial city from a lowly civil-service state.

The government has been committed to its grand plan to reincarnate the state as an industrial city serviced by gas-powered power plants, housing refineries, seaports,

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industrial clusters, innovation hubs, smart neighbourhoods and a number of other investments.

Revamping technical education As Obaseki goes around courting investors, an extensive overhaul of the Government Science and Technical College, formerly Benin Technical College, is still ongoing.

The revamp is in order to train a new breed of technicians and scientists that will be absorbed by investors in the new companies expected to sprout from the Industrial Park and other projects that will be requiring technical manpower. The government has, in the same vein, been training youths in enterprise development and other critical skills required in the 21st century workplace through its EdoJobs platform.

A critical sector that the state government has beamed light is the education sector, which is expected to supply the needed manpower for the lofty ideas of the government.

Reforms in basic and technical education are ushering in a new breed of human resources to drive the state’s development efforts.

Re-enacting basic education with Edo-BEST One specific reform in the sector that has continued to earn the governor accolades and recognitions is the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EDOBEST) programme spearheaded by the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

Aimed at transforming the basic education sub-sector and consequently improving learning outcomes in schools, the project recently earned the governor a national honour by the Nigeria union of Teachers (NUT). The feat has attracted the international community as the governments of Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania have sent representatives at different times to Edo State to understudy the EdoBEST initiative. Just recently, Lagos State Government adopted the Edo State Basic Education model after officials of the state came to learn how the programme works.

So far, the program has impacted @Businessdayng

11,300 government teachers, reaching 918 schools and around 300,000 children. A recent study conducted in the state showed higher academic attainment among children in the project. Governor Godwin Obaseki, said the programme will, “develop a highly-skilled teaching workforce by training, supporting and motivating Edo State teachers to succeed in the classroom of tomorrow, empowering our children to compete effectively in the world of work. The programme will leapfrog the basic education delivery systems by leveraging technology to gather and utilise accurate and timely data to drive policy and planning decisions.”

Guests on parade for Alaghodaro 2019 All these and many more are part of the reasons the Alaghodaro Summit was put up, examine the success of the three years of project execution of the Obaseki-led administration and identify new paths to be explored in improving the lives of the Edo people. The events will bring together all Edo sons and daughters, home and abroad, as well as businessmen, investors across the globe.

Some of prominent guests expected at this year’s Alaghodaro Summit are the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria, Osagie Osunbor; executive director, Dangote Group, Halima Dangote; chairman, Nosak Group, Toni Ogunbor; Toni Adepoju of KPMG Nigeria, among many others.

According to Crusoe Osagie, special adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, “In the last three years, Edo people have witnessed an incursion of businesses into the state to take advantage of the reforms being implemented by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led government. One of the iconic things we have done for the business community is to ensure that that we respect the sanctity of contracts and also make doing business in the state seamless.”

“The people know what this administration has done with the fight against human trafficking, through which our children are now free from the grip of human traffickers.

Investors are coming to the state to harness prospects in projects such as the Benin River Port, the Edo Modular Refinery, Edo Innovation Hub, Edo Production Center, and the Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park.”

Osagie said, “The governor has continued to receive commendations on job creation with the opening of the Edo Production Centre, skills acquisition training programmes for youths which have benefitted over 150,000 persons, support to farmers to boost food security and other laudable initiatives to drive industrialisation, economic expansion and create wealth for Edo people.”

“The interesting thing about the 2019 Alaghodaro Summit is the focus on how the Obaseki-led administration has continued to deliver dividends of democracy to Edo people and residents,” he said.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Hotels

Caleb Anis, youthful Nigerian demi chef, gives back at Transcorp Hilton

Top BusinessDay Partner Hotels Four Points by Sheraton Hotel (Oniru Chiefatancy Estate,Lekki) Tel: +234 1 448 9444

OBINNA EMELIKE

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n 2016, Caleb Anis was among the many aspiring chefs at an apprenticeship programme organised by the Hilton Group at Transcorp Hilton Abuja.

Then as a trainee, his commitment on the job was noticed by the hotel as he went ahead to finish top of his set.

Today, the youthful Anis works as assistant supervisor at Hilton Jumeirah, a five-star hotel in Dubai.

With his current position, which is popularly known as ‘demi chef’ in the culinary parlance, Anis is already living out his dream of building a career in hospitality and ultimately becoming an executive chef in the future.

Instead of banking, telecom and oil and gas sectors where his folks dream to be, Demi Chef Anis says being a chef is career and lifestyle for him. He recognizes the fact that building reputable career in the culinary profession is very tasking and competitive, but he is committed to going the extra mile to make his mark in the sector.

Of course, as he celebrates any success in his work in the kitchen at Hilton Jumeirah in Dubai, Demi Chef Anis remembers his days of little beginning and appreciates Transcorp Hilton Abuja for offering him opportunity through the 2016 apprenticeship programme.

“I came top of my class in the apprenticeship programme in 2016 and I was given opportunity at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja afterwards. Hilton Group gave me the foundation, that is why I am here today and without Hilton I would not have been where I am in Dubai or in the hospitality sector today”, he explains.

However, in apprecia-

Transcorp Hilton Abuja 1 Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, Abuja Tel: +234-708-060-3000

The Wheatbaker #4 Onitolo(Lawrence Road), Ikoyi, Lagos.

Tel: 01 277 3560

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Abuja 1 Uke St, Garki, Abuja.

Tel: +234 9 4603900, +234 805 7522500

L-R: Christian Obi, 1st runner-up, David Hassan, Grace Amaka Ugwueke, Godwin Chinedum, team coach, Caleb Anis, sponsor, Elijah Abraham, the winner, Bose Sarah Uwem, Onoabu Iredia Stephen, and Pelumi Omoniyi, 2nd runner-up, at the presentation of prizes to contestant at the Zuma Grill.

tion of the good gestures of Hilton, Demi Chef Anis recently returned to Nigeria to boost the culinary expertise at Transcorp Hilton Abuja. While on vacation, the young chef initiated and hosted a culinary competition, which he called ‘Anis Cooking Competition’.

The competition, which held on October 17, 2019 at the Zuma Grill, Transcorp Hilton Abuja, witnessed seven contestants who explored new menus with ingredients provided by the hotel.

“The contestants cooked one dish in two plates. It is a mix of local and continental offerings, like a fusion menu”, he says.

For five hours, the seven ambitious young chefs tasked their creative ingenuity and came up with exciting new menus, tasted and approved by a panel of judges comprising three directors of the hotel, the head of training and Shola Adeyemo, public relations/marketing manager of the hotel.

At the end, a winner emerged. Elijah Abraham

Caleb Anis www.businessday.ng

beat other contestants to emerge the overall winner of the maiden edition of the competition. He impressed the judges with his menu made from beef with yam puree, cherry tomatoes among other ingredients.

Other contestants include; Christian Obi, 1st runner up, Pelumi Omoniyi, 2nd runner up, Onuabu Iredia Stephen, 3rd runner up, David Hassan, 5th position, Bose Sarah Uwem, 6th position and Grace Amaka Ugwueke, 7th position.

Elijah Abraham, the winner, appreciates the hotel for offering him opportunity to follow his passion and Anis for boosting his career and the morale of his colleagues with the competition.

“For the winner, the judges checked the presentation, the taste, cleanliness and the creativity put in to make the dish distinctive”, he Anis says.

The overall winner went home with a big trophy, certificate of participation and a set of kitchen accessory.

As well, the first and second runner ups went home with smaller trophies, certificate of participation and kitchen accessory.

Moreover, all the seven contestants got Hilton customized aprons.

“I came up with the scoring. The winner had good points, the taste was fantastic, presentation was unique, and he was very creative. He had a combination of something local like yam and then cooking it in the continental way. The technique was high level”, he explains further.

Speaking on reason for

the competition during the presentation of the prizes to the winners, Anis says the competition is a giveback initiative for him. “I organised the competition to give back to my folks at the hotel being that I have worked at Transcorp Hilton Abuja before. Again, that day was my birthday and I was looking for a way to make it unique, so the cooking competition was a perfect idea”, he explains.

He appreciates the hotel for the support, especially for approving his idea, providing ingredients, venue and allowing staff to participate in the competition. He hopes to make the competition an annual event.

Both staff and management of Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja appreciate Demi Chef Anis for initiating healthy rivalry in the kitchen, boosting culinary expertise and also recognizing the early support from the hotel and appreciating it through giving back to the staff.

Shola Adeyemo, public relations/marketing manager, Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja, says, “The competition is a welcome development and interesting as a former apprentice who passed through the hotel could come back to show appreciation and motivate those who are coming behind to excel”.

Commenting on Anis swift rise in his career, Adeyemo says that the success within a short period is a testimony to the quality of training the enterprising chef received while at Transcorp Hotel Abuja.

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Lagos Continental Hotel Plot 52, Kofo Abayomi St, Lagos Tel: 01 236 6666

Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja #38/40 Isaac John St, Ikeja GRA100271, Ikeja Tel: +234-908-780 5555

206 Exclusive Hotel Plot 206 Oladipo Diya Road Opposite Olympia Estate

By Games Village Second Gate Durumi2 Abuja

Novotel Port Harcourt Address: 3 Stadium Road Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt Rivers State, Tel: 0809 713 5734

Radisson Lagos Ikeja #42-44 Isaac John Street, GRA Ikeja, Lagos

Southern Sun IkoyI Hotel Address: 47 Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, Lagos Tel: +234 1 280 5200 / +234 1 280 0630 Email: ssikoyi.reservations@ tsogosun.com

Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel 1A,Ozumba Mbadiwe,Victoria Island.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

35

Sports EPL: Exciting stats, talking points for matchday 11 fixtures score in his last three Premier league games.

Anthony Nlebem

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iverpool needed two second-half goals to come from behind to beat Tottenham at Anfield and restore their six-point lead at the top of the table.

Manchester United won their first Premier League away game since February against Norwich.

The Blues made it seven consecutive wins in all competitions thanks to Pulisic’s treble.

Cr ystal Palace came from two goals down to earn a point in an ill-tempered atmosphere at Emirates Stadium.

Football fans will gear up for another thrilling week of football action as Premier League matches continue.

Here, are some of the stats and betting tips for Premier League matchday 11 for Saturday games.

Aston Villa vs Liverpool (Stats) Villa have won just 4 of their last 29 Premier League games against Liverpool (D8 L17), with 3 of those wins coming at Anfield.

Liverpool have lost just 1 of their last 18 away league games against Aston Villa

(W12 D5), winning the last 5 by an aggregate score of 13-1.

Liverpool have won 13 Premier League away games against Aston Villa, more than they have beaten any other side.

Arsenal vs Wolves (Stats) After winning their first

6 Premier League games against Wolves, Arsenal have won just one of their last 4 against Wolves in the competition (D2 L1).

Wolves are unbeaten in their last 7 Premier League games in London (W3 D4) since their 0-5 loss at Fulham in March 2012.

Arsenal have scored in

each of their last 23 home league games since a 0-2 loss to Man City in August 2018 (W17 D5 L1).

Wo l ve s have s c o re d 85% of their Premier League goals in the second half of games this season (11/13).

Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has failed to

Stanbic IBTC commends 2019 HiFL success, as Unical lifts trophy Anthony Nlebem

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tanbic IBTC, member of the Standard Bank Group, has expressed its satisfaction with the organisation and conduct of the 2019 Higher Institutions Football League (HiFL), which it partners as a major sponsor.

Giving this verdict was Head, Global Markets, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Sam Ocheho, who represented Stanbic IBTC at the finals of the collegiate football league, which held on Saturday at the Agege Township Stadium in Lagos. Ocheho said Stanbic IBTC is very pleased to have been part of the success.

The 2019 finals saw a repeat of 2018 matchup both for the third-place match and for the trophy. The University of Calabar, Malabites, avenged its 2018 loss to defending champions, the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, UAM Tillers, 5-4 on penalties after a score draw in regulation time to emerge champions of the league’s second edition.

UNILORIN Warriors equally exerted their pound of flesh on OAU Giants in a thrilling third-place playoff encounter, which also ended in a draw

before the Warriors emerged as winners following a penalty shootout win.

Ocheho thus commended the promoters of the competition, PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing, for once again successfully prosecuting the league virtually hitch free, starting from the preliminary stage down to the finals. This year’s competition has seen an expanded field, with 32 universities featured in over 66 matches to decide the winner.

“Stanbic IBTC is very pleased with the successful

prosecution of the second edition of the HiFL. The organisers have managed to build on the success recorded in 2018 to put on a wonderful competition,” Ocheho said.

“As an organisation, we are known for delivering quality products and services to our customers and for our excellent people-oriented initiatives. So, we are always careful to work with partners who share our culture of excellence and adept management,” he added.

Stanbic IBTC said its spon-

L-R: Head, Global Markets, Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, Sam Ocheho; Team Captain, UNICAL Malabites, Ikponwosa Osarumen; and CEO, Higher Institutions Sports League (HiSL), Sola Fijabi, during the trophy presentation at finals of the Stanbic IBTC sponsored 2019 Higher Institutions Football League held at the Agege Stadium Lagos www.businessday.ng

sorship of the league is in line with its objective to provide genuine platforms of engagement for Nigerian youths, where they can showcase their talents and more importantly foster unity among them and contribute to youth development. The sponsorship is in tandem with the company’s determination to help grow and develop a vibrant and productive youth population.

Ocheho reiterated Stanbic IBTC’s expectation that its involvement will also help in talent-moulding and character-building.

Earlier in the year, Stanbic IBTC Group had announced the renewal of its sponsorship of the HiFL following what it called “great promise” in the competition.

Speaking after the final match, President, Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA), one of the league partners, Prof Stephen Hamafyelto, said: “This edition has really proven that we are here for the long term. We have once again delivered on the promises we made regarding standards, discipline even fairplay, especially as it concerns delivering a bigger and better league season.”

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Man City vs Southampton (Stats) Manchester City have won each of their last 5 Premier League meetings with Southampton.

City (32) are the highest scorers in the Premier League this season, while Southampton (25) have conceded the most in the competition so far, with the Citizens registering the biggest home win this season (8-0) and Saints suffering the biggest defeat (0-9).

City have not lost a home league game against a side starting the day in the relegation zone since November 2008 (1-2 vs Tottenham), winning 24 and drawing 3 since.

Just one of Man City’s last 40 Premier League games has finished in a draw (W33 D1 L6).

Pep Guardiola’s have seen the lowest ratio finish level (12.9% - 16/124).

Watford vs Chelsea (Stats) Watford have won just one of their last 11 Premier League meetings with Chelsea (D2 L8).

Watford are winless in their 10 Premier League games this season (D5 L5),

scoring fewer goals than any other side (5).

Chelsea have won their last 4 away Premier League games, netting at least three goals each time.

Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham has scored six goals and assisted one more in his last four away Premier League games.

Chelsea have won 16 of their last 20 Premier League games against sides starting the day bottom of the table.

Bournemouth vs Manchester United (Stats) After winning their first ever Premier League game against Man Utd (2-1 in December 2015), Bournemouth are winless in their last 7 against the Red Devils (D1 L6).

United have only failed to score in one of their 16 meetings with Bournemouth in all competitions.

Bournemouth have failed to score in their last three Premier League games (D2 L1).

United’s 3-1 victory at Norwich last time out ended a run of eight away league games without a win (D3 L5).

Red Devils have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 10 Premier League away games.

Integral secures Premier League rights package Anthony Nlebem

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igeria’s leading sports marketing Company, Integral Sponsorship and Experiential Marketing Limited has secured the media rights to broadcast a Live English Premier League match per week on FreeTo-Air television over the course of the 2019/2022 rights cycle.

The Sub-license deal from Infront, a Wanda Sports Group company and current rights holder for FreeTo-Air distribution rights in Sub-Saharan Africa, allows one live match per matchweek. Integral has therefore consequentially secured the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), the national terrestrial broadcaster in Nigeria, as the broadcaster of choice for the matches. The media rights package also includes the Premier League-produced magazine show, which will be aired weekly, thus delivering this most loved football tournament in the world to Nigerians. @Businessdayng

Jean-François Jeanne, Infront France Managing Director said: “Nigeria is a key market for the English Premier League. Together with Integral we hope to maximize its media exposure in the country and provide an opportunity for passionate Nigerian fans to follow the action on Free-To-Air TV.” The Director General of the NTA, Yakubu Ibn Mohammed stated that, “In terms of excitement, the Premier League is at a pedestal higher than that offered by any other league in the world. NTA is proud to partner with Integral to bring the excitement to the living rooms and viewing centres of Nigerians” Speaking on the deal, the Managing Director of Integral Abimbola Ilo said: “Given the huge popularity of the Premier League in Nigeria, Integral is pleased to partner with Infront to bring Nigerians the excitement of the Premier League weekly on the country’s national television station, the NTA Network.

With this deal, we bring the Premier League closer to its fans in Nigeria.

36 BUSINESS DAY

Friday 01 November 2019

news

Vitamin D deficiency increases breast, prostate cancer – expert ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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lufemi Oladeinde, a medical practitioner and nutritional consultant at Rencare Limited, says simply because of lack of vitamin D, black men and women are more prone to breast and prostate cancers.

Oladeinde explains that even though we stand in the sun we are not going to get enough because the skin is going to filter the rays of the sun that is supposed to generate the vitamin D. “Regardless of whatever we think, as unfortunate as that puts on the disadvantage,” he states at the Health Talk on malnutrition and nutrients deficiencies ‘Doctors on Air’ on Classic 97.3FM on Wednesday.

According to Oladeinde, vitamin D, which is sometime called the sunshine vitamin, is supposed to be what you get when standing in the sun.

He explains further that Caucasians make more vitamin D than Negroes, stating that if a Caucasian woman stood under the sun, she will make enough in one hour and it will take a black woman three and half hours of the same age, size and density

to make.

“60 – 70 percent of the body surface is expected to be exposed to sun, but more blacks expose just 3-4 percent of their body to sun and we just cannot make enough of it,” he says.

However, the health talk also explains some impacts of malnutrition to the body and health generally.

He says that about 70 – 80 percent problems of health related diseases that Nigerians face depends on the food that we eat and the food that we fail to eat, questioning what has happened to the food between the farm and table.

“Our traditional food are energy dense because our grandparents learnt how to deal with them by introducing a lot of green vegetables into the combine, and that brings in all the nutrients that you will otherwise be lacking.

“Junks have become the order of the day in our modern time. We are increasing eating a particular food group. We are likely to get more health related disease and get into deeper troubles if we do not change the patterns of the way we are eating,” he states.

CBN licenses 299 BDCs, 3 MFBs, 4 finance companies in four months HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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entral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has licensed 299 more Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in the country within four months, as indicated in the updated list published on its website.

Consequently, the number of licensed BDCs has risen by 6.23 percent to 5,097 operators as of September 30,2019 from 4,798 in June 30, 2019.

The CBN in November 2015, released the revised guidelines for the operation of BDC in the country, which put the minimum capital requirement at N35 million.

Also, within the same period, the regulator of banks and other financial institution licensed three additional Microfinance Banks (MFBs) to the existing ones.

The updated list of licensed MFBs operating in the country stood at 911 as at September 30, 2019 as against 908 in June 30, 2019.

The number of MFBs was 885, comprising 8 National, 135 State and 742 Unit MFBs at the end of December 2018, compared with 1,034 at the end of June 2018. The change was attributed to the revocation of the operating licences of 154 MFBs and licensing of five new ones, the Financial Stability Report (FSR) for December 2018, revealed.

According to the report, Total assets of the MFBs increased to N421.95 billion at the end of December 2018, from N379.59 billion at end-June 2018, reflecting an increase of 11.16 percent. The shareholders’

funds increased by 3.63 percent to N97.63 billion at the end of December 2018 from N94.21 billion at the end of June 2018. The increase was largely attributed to capital injection and the revocation of the operating licences of some MFBs. Total deposit liabilities increased by 9.76 percent to N213.25 billion at the end of D ecember 2018, from N194.28 billion at the end of June 2018. Similarly, net loans and advances increased by 26.11 percent to N220.95 billion at the end of December 2018, from N175.20 billion at the end of June 2018.

During the review period, 609 candidates completed Level II Certification examination administered by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), resulting in a total of 5,790 certified candidates at the end of D ecember 2018, compared with 5,181 at the end of June 2018.

The CBN also licensed four Finance Companies (FCs) as the total number of the operators stood at 77 as at September 30, 2019 from 73 as of June 30, 2019.

The FSR revealed that the number of FCs fell to 6 9 at t he e n d o f D ecember 2018 from 82 FCs at the end of June 2018, following the revocation of operating licences of 22 FCs during the review period. The affected institutions comprised 14 FCs that did not meet the new regulatory capital of N100 million and eight other FCs for various reasons including: sur render of operating licences to the CBN; insolvency; and discontinuation of business. www.businessday.ng

L-R: Foluso Laguda, non-executive director; Olufemi Oyetunji, group managing director/chief executive officer, and Ian Tofield, independent non-executive director, all of Continental Reinsurance, during the 32nd annual general meeting of the company.

Ogun moves to tackle multiple taxations, decaying infrastructure across industrial zones RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta

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ollowing complaints from investors operating in the state under the auspices of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the Ogun State government has pledged to tackle multiple taxations and decaying infrastructure, especially roads, across its industrial zones.

This policy statement was made in Agbara Industrial Estate by Governor Dapo Abiodun, who was represented

by Noimot Salako-Oyedele, deputy governor, and Sola Arobieke, consultant to the Governor on Commerce and Industrial, during a tour of three manufacturing companies - Eko Supreme Nigeria Limited, Primera Foods Nige-

ria Limited and Natural Prime Resources Nigeria Limited, all located within the OPIC Industrial Estate in Agbara.

Speaking on behalf of the state government, Noimot Salako-Oyedele said better economic policies would be formulated and implemented in the interest of manufacturers and investors as part of effort to improve on ease of doing business index by tackling perennial complaint of multiple taxations and decaying infrastructure at the industrial zones across the state.

According to Salako-Oyedele, Governor Dapo Abiodun places much premium on the relationship with manufacturers in the state, hence, his regular interface with them in different capacities, adding that since inception of

the present administration, there had been series of meetings with MAN and related companies to further cement relationships.

She said, “The Investment Promotion Council policy of this Government epitomises what we are saying about ease of doing business because it would provide a one-stop-shop for investors coming to the State and provide them with information needed for setting up a business under this umbrella.”

Government is making effort on the reconstruction of the Atan-Agbara road through Public Private Partnership (PPP), she said, adding that Ogun and Lagos states are already proposing that the Federal Government cedes the Atan-Igbesa-Agbara Lagos/

Ota-Abeokuta and IkoroduSagamu roads to them for reconstruction.

She however lauded the organisations for working in line with the vision and mission of the current administration on improving people’s wellbeing by employing about 5,000 residents directly and indirectly, enjoining them to use the state’s job portal as the first point of reference when recruiting their personnel.

The visit was to see what the companies do, how they operate within the community, she noted, saying they should embrace government’s agenda on Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) by adopting renovation or construction of a public school or Primary Health Care Centre within the community.

Art X Lagos Fair 4th edition gets Gage Media unveils Africa’s first boost from Access Bank digital award GBEMI FAMINU

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ccess Bank has again thrown its supports behind the fifth edition of Art X Lagos, West Africa’s premier international art fair, scheduled for today to Sunday, November 3, 2019. Art X Lagos through its partnership with Access Bank has evolved into the largest art, culture and lifestyle fair in West Africa. The fair, which will hold at the Federal Place Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos promises to be an even bigger affair than previous editions.

Art X Lagos is designed to showcase the most innovative contemporary art from the African continent and Diaspora. In line with Access Bank’s philosophy to offer “More than Banking”, the Bank is a strong proponent of the Nigerian art scene, passionate about helping Africans tell the African story through creative and innovative ways. This years’ edition promises to celebrate some of Africa’s emerging, most exciting, underground mavericks.

Speaking on the partnership with Art X, The Group Head of Corporate Communications, Access Bank, Amaechi Okobi stated “Access Bank has been at the forefront of supporting Nigerian art and the creative industry for a long time. Art X Lagos is a unifier, bridging the gap between Nigeria, other African countries and the world. It is our goal to ensure that creative works from Africa can sit side by side with their foreign contemporaries.

The highlight of the event, however, will be a solo presentation from the Access Bank Art X 2019 prize winner, Etinosa Yvonne who smiled home with the prize money of N1.5m and a three-month art residency next year at Gasworks, UK. She will be presenting her multi-media art project, alongside the other runners up.

The three-day event will also be showcasing art from notable visual artists such as Dafe Oboro, Joy Matashi and live musical performances from WurlD, Lady Donli, and Buju.

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BUNMI BAILEY

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he Gage Media Entertainment has unveiled its first of a kind awards tagged “Gage Awards” in Nigeria. It is poised to be the most coveted prize in the digital ecosystem in Africa, as it will reward the very best of the digital world, which will include businesses and brands, influencers, apps and web developers, entertainers, and many more.

The Gage Awards has been dubbed “The Grammies of The Web” due to its long-term potential to put the Nigerian web players on the global stage, and is set to take place on February 22, 2020, in Lagos. It would boost the pace of innovation and growth in the digital ecosystem in Nigeria by recognising outstanding players in the countr y’s emerging digital industry. @Businessdayng

The premier digital ceremony is set to identify and reward activities online that help shape the pace of human development in Africa and especially Nigeria, in Innovation, Information, Inspiration, Entertainment, and Business.

“For three years now, we have behind the scenes to create these awards because the digital industry has become one of the drivers of growth. So such an influential platform will speed up the rate of innovations and development in the industry,” the company stated.

The awards will be given in various categories of excellence on the night, under five key areas bordering on Entertainment, Innovation, Inspiration, Information and Business for the year in review-2019. This is a flagship event that would become a yearly tradition.

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current expenditure – In particular, social inclusion has been prioritised through the $500bn Social Investment Programme, which has been implemented in the last four annual budgets and will be continued under the 2020 budget. Additionally, we continue prioritising human capital investments, with spending in the health and education sectors being optimised at both the federal and subnational levels. We are also increasing investments in critical infrastructure, in part through the implementation of crucial initiatives such as the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme and the Family Homes Fund.

(3) Optimising management of both domestic & global fiscal risks: We are implementing a debt management strategy aimed at achieving an optimal debt balance, through (a) the increase of oil and non-oil revenues, (b) the continued use of diversified borrowing instruments including Sukuk and Green Bonds, (c) a continued focus on concessional loans and lower cost external debt. Such reforms will ensure that our

Achieving inclusive, sustainable economic growth... borrowing remains fiscally sustainable.

(4) Increased coordination of fiscal, macroeconomic, monetary & trade policies (5) Integrating annual budgets & medium-term fiscal strategies into rolling medium & long-term national plans – with discussions between the Executive and the National Assembly currently ongoing regarding the 2020 Budget Proposal, we are well on our way to ensuring a stable January to December budget cycle.

An important next step will be to transition our 20172020 Economic Recovery and Growth Plan to a successive long-term Vision 2040 Plan.

To this end, I am currently working with the Honourable Minister of State Budget and National Planning to prepare a Medium-Term Economic Growth Acceleration Plan for 2021-2024 as a successor to the ERGP. Nigeria’s use of innovative debt instruments Nigeria is also innovating in the use of debt instruments, including Sukuk Bonds, and Green Bonds.

Sukuk Bonds: Nigeria issued Sukuk Bonds in 2017

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and 2018 to finance critical road infrastructure projects.

Specifically, in September 2017, government issued a Sukuk Bond of N100bn, with proceeds to fund 25 road projects by FMPWH across six geo-political zones, and in December 2018, a sevenyear Sukuk Bond of N100bn was issued, with proceeds to fund 28 road projects across six geo-political zones. The offer attracted significant interest from a wide range of retail and institutional investors with a total subscription of N132.20 billion, which represents a subscription rate of 132.2 percent.

Green Bonds: In December 2017, Nigeria became the third country in the world and the first emerging market sovereign to issue a Sovereign Green Bond (N10.69 billion for the financing of solar-powered lighting for security on university campuses across the country, as well as solar-powered electricity for small households). A second Sovereign Green Bond was issued in June 2019, in the amount of N15 billion. The total value of subscriptions received was

N32.93 billion, representing 220 percent of the N15 billion offered.

The Green Bonds issued thus far have been used to provide off-grid renewable energy in seven federal universities in different geopolitical zones of the country, and to generate and distribute off-grid renewable energy resource in underserved and rural communities. This has resulted in emission reductions of up to 41,888.04 metric tons in the last two years, creating green jobs and planting trees in over 2,000 hectares of land across Nigeria.

In 2020, we plan to issue a Third Green Bond, with which we intend to triple Nigeria’s GHG emission reductions, stimulate economic growth and drive investment in social programmes such as education and health.

Jollof Bonds: We are currently exploring the use of so-called “jollof bonds” to fund infrastructure. To this end, during the recently concluded 2019 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, we met with UK authorities to advance

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discussions regarding their commitment to support our infrastructure financing through the possible issuance of jollof bonds. Already, a working group is being set up to work on naira-denominated, internationally traded bonds. The Central Bank of Nigeria is leading this effort. We will explore all options on this at the next UK Investment Summit in January 2020.

Conclusion The Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the Federal Ministry of Finance, reiterates its commitment towards building lasting, endurable, and increasingly more innovative capital market. I therefore look forward to today’s deliberations and to your continued support in achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth and prosperity.

Being keynote remarks by Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, at the BusinessDay investment and capital market conference themed ‘Market Recovery, Innovation and Regulation in Nigeria’ held in Abuja, Thursday, October 31, 2019.

@Businessdayng

77% of Nigerians not willing to pay ...

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quirements is identity. India was able to solve its financial inclusion problem through the introduction of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) system, which is used as a means of identity, and through that people could open bank accounts,” Dozie told BusinessDay. As part of the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) procedures as implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Deposit Money Banks (DMB) are required by the regulator to obtain identification documents before opening an account for their customers.

“I went to open a bank account and they asked for my national identity card; it made me shy because people were looking at me for not having anything to show. So now I want to register because even if I don’t want to open an account again, I need the ID card to receive the money my sister will send to me from the US,” Ofure Imafidon, a bank customer, lamented.

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news Nigeria’s healthcare faces bleak future as external...

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their recipients for a future when such development assistance will no longer be necessary. The funding structure of Nigeria’s healthcare, however, appears ill-prepared for that future.

The burden of managing scourges – including human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), malaria, maternal and child health, reproductive health and tuberculosis – has mainly rested on charity at a time citizens of donor sources are constantly querying the impact of such capital flight on their local economy.

The Global Fund, Gavi, the World Bank and Global Financing Facility are the leading multilateral providers of financing assistance for health globally, deploying $10 billion yearly in Africa.

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria dropped from 3 percent in 2015 to 1.4 percent in 2019, according to the Federal Ministry of Health.

Malaria declined to 27 percent in 2018 from 42 percent in 2016, with the number of children receiving immunisation increasing to 57 percent in 2018 from 48 percent in 2015.

These results were made possible with backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Financing Facility of the World Bank, USAID, DFID, Global Fund and others.

But deadlines on some of these funds are approaching and Nigeria will no longer qualify.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for instance, targeted rounding off its mission to Nigeria by 2023, but reconsidered in first quarter of 2019, agreeing to extend vaccine funding to Nigeria till 2028. During President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term, Gavi committed $1.03 billion to vaccine financing initiative of the government.

Its commitment sheet shows that $954.3 million has been disbursed between 2000 and 2019 from a total of $1.2 billion devoted.

BusinessDay monitoring of US expenditure in Nigeria healthcare through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President’s Malaria Initiative shows that funding has plunged from 75 percent in 2015 to 30 percent in 2018. It only rose marginally by 5 percent to $170.9 million in 2019.

The Global Fund, another international donor, allocated a total of $660.7

million to support HIV/ AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis between 2017 and 2019.

In a recent flag-off of the USAID Integrated Health Program, the agency said it would spend $225 million over five years to strengthen access and quality of primary health services in five states including Bauchi, Kebbi, and Sokoto.

Since 2015, USAID has procured close to $900 million in commodities to treat HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and support family planning, with significant investments in private distribution and warehousing to improve quality control and move commodities to the last mile.

As of March 2018, the UKAID said it had provided sustainable access to clean water to 3.5 million people and introduced 347,000 additional women and girls to modern methods of family planning between 2015 and 2017. The agency planned a combined £124 million for maternal and newborn child health programme, water, sanitation, and hygiene in Nigeria. These are few instances of grant activities which take live-saving care to Nigerians in hardto-reach zones.

If these donor interventions are withdrawn, however, and government priorities to health remain unadjusted, Nigerians who rely on free antiretroviral vaccines for survival, free treated mosquito nets and public hospitals for maternal and child health would suffer the most, said Halilu Usman, communications specialist, U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Usman said it was critical for the government to look inwards for alternative means of funding health, and curb excessive reliance on what donors can provide.

“If it means enabling local manufacturers with the enabling environment to produce and distribute drugs of local necessity, the government should do it. Donor sources are not a sustainable system to build healthcare,” Usman said fielding questions at US workshop on health reporting.

Like Usman, healthcare stakeholders have warned the government against using expectations of donor funding as an excuse for underfunding a health sector expected to look after over 200 million people out of which over 70 percent battle with poverty.

L-R: Foluso Phillip, executive chairman, Phillips Consulting Ltd; Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State; Oba Otudeko, chairman, FBN Holdings plc and Honeywell Group Limited, and Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun State, during the October Breakfast Forum of the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce in Lagos.

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FG mulls tax incentives for capital markets...

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pire by next year.

“An important next step will be to transition our 2017-2020 Economic Recovery and Growth Plan to a successive long-term Vision 2040 Plan. To this end, I am currently working with the Honourable Minister of State Budget and National Planning to prepare a Medium-Term Economic Growth Acceleration Plan for 2021-2024 as a successor to the ERGP,” Ahmed said.

The minister noted that the theme of the conference, “Market recovery, innovation and regulation in Nigeria”, is apt in the sense that it is aimed at addressing the enormous challenges currently facing the nation’s capital market.

She added that the Federal Government has also put in place other polices that will boost investors’ confidence in the sector and generally in the Nigerian economy, especially the Draft Finance Bill.

“Among these strategic objectives is the introduction of tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets, and specifically the introduction of Tax Rules to complement existing SEC Regulations for Securities Lending Transactions on The Nigerian Stock Exchange,” she said.

The Draft Finance Bill, which accompanied the 2020 Executive Budget Proposal submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly on October 8, 2019, included five strategic objectives aimed at achieving incremental but necessary changes to the country’s tax and fiscal laws.

The minister noted that Nigeria’s capital market is crucial to actualising and

achieving the sustained, inclusive and equitable socioeconomic growth that this government aims to achieve.

She stressed that the capital market is key to the mobilisation of long-term savings for investment as well as efficient pricing of financial instruments, saying it has provided a necessary platform through which the business sector and government have been able to source for capital to expand their operations and provide public goods and services for the citizens.

“Therefore, we recognise the importance of maintaining a competitive, resilient and innovative capital market through, in part, the development of appropriate policies, and a strong regulatory and enabling environment, and continued implementation of the 10-year Capital Market Master Plan (2015 to 2025), aimed at positioning the Nigerian capital market for accelerated development of the national economy,” Ahmed said.

The minister stated that government in 2020 plans to issue a Third Green Bond, “with which we intend to triple Nigeria’s GHG emission reductions, stimulate economic growth and drive investment in social programmes such as education and health”.

She said government is currently exploring the use of so-called “jollof bonds” to fund infrastructure. Jollof bonds are naira-denominated bonds floated overseas, similar to so-called Masala bonds issued by India.

“To this end, during the recently concluded 2019 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, we met with UK authorities to advance discussions regarding their commitment to support our infrastructure

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financing through the possible issuance of jollof bonds,” Ahmed said.

“Already, a working group is being set up to work on Naira denominated, internationally traded bonds.

The Central Bank of Nigeria is leading this effort. We will explore all options on this at the next UK Investment Summit in January 2020,” she said.

Oscar Onyema, CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), sought a minimum floor for pension funds investment in equities and other asset classes. Pension Fund Administrators’ exposure to equities is today as low as 4.9 percent, compared to 9 percent some two years ago, which stakeholders agreed at the conference was too low and there being possible over-concentration in fixed income by PFAs. In his address, Frank Aigbogun, publisher/CEO, BusinessDay Media, stressed the importance of capital market to the economic development of Nigeria and tasked government and all stakeholders to make the required efforts to ensure that the Nigerian capital market remains the preferred place for investment.

Aigbogun, in his welcome address, stressed the importance of capital market as vehicle for long-term investment.

“At both local and international forums, the recurring questions are: when will the Nigerian capital market recover and what are the regulators doing to this effect?” Aigbogun said.

Mary Uduk, directorgeneral, Securities and Exchange Commission, in her remarks decried the negative effect of poor corporate governance.

“This has chased people out of the capital market in the past,” Uduk said.

She, however, noted that @Businessdayng

hope is not lost as “efforts are ongoing to ensure effective regulation of firms”.

“With the introduction of scorecards to measure the direct compliance of firms in terms of corporate governance, we have discovered a huge growth from where we used to be and we have made it mandatory for all firms to comply with the code,” she said.

Ayotunde Owoigbe, partner, Banwo & Ighodalo, attributed the tremendous growth in the banking sector to the strong corporate governance guiding its operation.

She stressed that since the 2009 tsunami in the banking sector, which was characterised by irregularities, conflict of interest, outright corruption as well as poor operation of board members, there has been changes and better coordination in the sector due to strong corporate governance policies.

“No bank director can be as reckless and daring as it was before 2009, but now we have moved forward especially in our rules and guidelines,” Owoigbe said.

Abimbola Kasim, vice president, corporate finance, FCMB Capital, speaking on ‘Localising Global Innovations for the Nigerian Capital Market’, observed that “FinTechs will continue to disrupt the normal traditional systems”.

“We now have FinTechs that will fast-tract transactions in two minutes and you probably get as much as you want,” he said.

Kasim, who spoke on the need for innovative ideas to create necessary products for the capital markets, cited the existence of over N9.4 trillion in pensions fund assets and urged players in the sector to come up with products that can harness the pension potential.

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FEATURE

NEWS

FG targets financially inclusive future with Nigerian Capital Market

LAPO educates students nationwide in celebration of World Savings Day

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igerians are in to see a future where the majority have been sustainably lifted out of poverty, and have access to fundamental services, including education, health care, water supply and sanitation, according to Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and national Planning.

Speaking recently at the BusinessDay Investment and Capital Market Conference: ‘Market Recovery, Innovation and Regulation in Nigeria’, held in Abuja, she said the country looks to a future where all are financially included, with affordable access to financial products and services. A future where we have left no one behind.

Considering the Nigerian capital market as the spring board, Ahmed stated that it is crucial to actualizing this future, and to achieving the sustained, inclusive and equitable socio-economic growth that the Government aims to achieve.

In her words: “It allows for the mobilisation of long-term savings for investment as well as efficient pricing of financial instruments.

Further it has provided a necessary platform through which the business sector and Government have been able to source for capital to expand their operations and provide public goods and services for the citizens.”

“Therefore, we recognise the importance of maintaining a competitive, resilient and innovative capital market through, in part, the development of appropriate policies, and a strong regulatory and enabling environment, and continued implementation of the 10-year Capital Market Master Plan (2015 to 2025), aimed at positioning the Nigerian capital market for accelerated development of the national economy.”

Having recognised that Nigeria’s past failure to plan and execute for sustainable, diversified, inclusive growth and development led to the inevitable recession precipitated by external shocks (oil price collapse) and other factors, she disclosed that Government remains committed to executing the Economic recovery growth plan’s (ERGP) priority programmes such as: developing the investment-driven non-oil sector that is not dependent on oil earnings; and using oil and non-oil revenues to transition away from past dependencies on the oil sector.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE APO Microfinance Bank Limited has carried out sensitisation programme for secondary and primary school students across 33 states in the country, as part of efforts to mark the World Savings Day celebrated October 31, 2019.

This is in line with the financial education programme, as implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

During the visit, primary school pupils were educated through simple presentations on savings, the financial products offered by the bank as well as the need to manage money.

The presentations and other related activities were aimed at primary and secondary school students in order to create awareness of the importance of smart money management and

the importance of saving from the earliest age.

Godwin Ehigiamusoe, managing director, LAPO, while commenting on the initiative, noted, “Our commitment to drive financial inclusion especially at such a young age prompted us to embark on this initiative.”

He further commented, “Customer satisfaction and convenience through alternative channels has given birth to our thrift collection model to encourage savings and ensure customer satisfaction.”

This and other similar events organised on the occasion of World Savings Day are the integral parts of the financial education that LAPO has conducted over the years with the aim of strengthening financial inclusion and responsible financial management for the benefit of economic development and growth of Nigeria.

Alaghodaro 2019: Presco, Okomu, Nosak, others lead local players to summit

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Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed

Ultimately, it is, as she posited, about building a more resilient foundation, moving forward. It is also about a strong, innovative and thriving capital market which is integral to such a future.

She stated: “As we continue towards sustainable, diversified and inclusive growth and development, Government remains mindful of the following: Current and prospective Economic Headwinds; Slower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and recovery due to challenges in the agriculture (e.g. security, floods, etc.) and oil sector (e.g. technical issues, underinvestment in production, etc.); The lingering impact of politics and the 2019 elections on investor sentiment, economic recovery and growth; Revenue challenges as economy recovers (e.g. tax revenues to rise in tandem with economic recovery, although with a one-year time lag for corporate and trade related taxes); and the issues of sustainability relating to the debt service to revenue ratio.”

According to Ahmed, Government is currently focusing on the implementation of policies www.businessday.ng

and programmes in line with the following 11 priority areas that highlight (a) Economic and governance reforms: Macroeconomic stability through coordinated economic, monetary, fiscal and trade policies; Fight corruption and improve governance; (b) Enhanced investments in physical infrastructure, human capital development, to spur job creation and economic growth, improve health, education and productivity of Nigerians, and ensure energy sufficiency (power); Ensure energy sufficiency (petroleum products); Improve transportation and other infrastructure; Drive industrialization, focusing on macro, small and medium-sized enterprises; Optimize investments in physical security and food security to drive inclusive socio-economic development; Improve security for all citizens; Enhance agriculture self-sufficiency to achieve food security; Enhance social inclusion by scaling-up social investments; and improve access to mass housing and consumer credit to enhance financial inclusion.

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s different business concerns are upbeat for the Alaghodaro 2019 Summit, the big-ticket players in Edo State’s economy including Presco plc, Okomu plc and Nosak Group, have made strong commitment to throw their weight behind the event.

The Alaghodaro Summit, in its third edition, is organized to mark Governor Godwin Obaseki’s third year anniversary and would host the crème of Nigeria’s business community in Edo State from November 8 to 12. It is themed “Delivering to Our People: The Next Level.”

In a statement, Crusoe Osagie, special adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, said the summit was being sponsored by the private sector actors in acknowledgement of the progress being recorded in the state.

According to Osagie, “We have attracted a lot of businesses in the state in the last three years. At the same time, we have made the state more conducive for a lot of businesses to expand and increase productivity.

“Some of these people are throwing their full weight behind the Alaghodaro Summit. Some of these players in the local economy include Presco Plc, Okomu

Plc, Nosak Group and a long list of others.

These companies benefit from reforms in education, investment promotion, infrastructure and energy that we have implemented in the last few years.

“We have promoted local enterprise by promoting a strategy that ensures that our people patronize entrepreneurs and businesses in the state and ensure we have a strong and vibrant productive sector. This is evident in what we have at the Utesi corridor, where a lot of production is ongoing.”

He added that part of reforms to open the state up for investment include the prioritisation of basic education and primary healthcare, repositioning Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) to be more private sector driven and investing in infrastructure to attract investors.

“We made commitment to get the Benin Airport begin night operations in partnership with the federal government agencies. This included the purchase and installation of night-landing equipment and supporting relevant agencies to protect and deploy the equipment. This has enabled local players more option in travels and also attracted a major airline to the state.”

Organisation holds conference on corporate governance Nov 21 MICHAEL ANI

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he Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, a not-for-profit organisation committed to the development of corporate governance, is set to hold its 2019 annual conference.

The conference which has been scheduled to hold Thursday, November 21, 2019, at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, aims at fostering good governance and best practices in Nigerian organisations.

The conference themed “Purposeful leadership and governance as a prerequisite for national and economic development” will be held under the distinguished chairmanship of Pascal Dozie and will host captains of industries, heads of institutions, board chairmen and directors, company secretaries, members of the diplomatic corps, regulators and other stakeholders from across sectors.

It would also serve as a platform for impactful discourse on the role of good governance and purposeful leadership on economic development @Businessdayng

as well as addressing the issues of governance in the Nigerian corporate sector towards safeguarding its economic development.

Since inception, the annual corporate governance conference organised by SCG has continued to serve as a platform where resources are deployed to enhance the knowledge and practice of corporate governance best practices through research and publications, intensive learning programmes for board chairmen/ directors, conferences, seminars and breakfast meetings.

In line with its vision of fostering good governance and best practices in Nigerian organisations, the organisation has hosted over 7,000 business executives via its annually held corporate governance conference.

The event promises to be insightful and will feature key leaders of thought, boardroom experts and public servants with a track record of excellence in a panel session who would share insights from their wealth of experience in governance, unveiling of publications, networking and an evening of fine dining and socialising.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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news

Binatone unveils Trade Fair package for customers ENDURANCE OKAFOR

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L-R: Yusuf Yahaya-Kwande, consultant, oil and gas; Samuel Peppiait of Trafigura PTE Limited; Mumuni Dagazau, chief operating officer, AA Rano Nigeria Limited, and Mark Russell of Trafigura PTE Limited, at the Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL) 2019 African Downstream Week in Lagos, sponsored by AA Rano Nigeria Limited.

FG retrieves Nigeria’s geological data from UK to cater for 12.2m steel needs … Ajaokuta Steel, National Iron Ore Mining can create 16,000 jobs - miners RAZAQ AYINLA

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isturbed by continued imports of steel and steel products that run into several trillions of naira annually, the Federal Government has begun the process of retrieving old colonial geological data from the United Kingdom (UK) as part of effort to augment 12.2 million metric tons of steel deficit in the country.

The effort is being undertaken through a serious engagement and dialogue with the British Geological Survey (BGS) with a view to developing a full-fledged national electronic geological data archiving system for which master plan on new

mineral deposits and mining can be developed to unlock potentials in the industry.

Speaking at the 19th annual general meeting and international conference of the Nigerian Society of Mining Engineers (NSME) held in Abeokuta on Thursday, Olamilekan Adegbite, minister of mines and steel development, declared that holistic efforts were being marshalled to unlock potentials abound in the nation’s mineral and mining sector, which is still largely underdeveloped.

The minister, who was represented by Obadiah Simon Nkom, director-general of Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Abuja, noted that Nigeria had only been able to attract 0.12%

out of the 5% share of exploration investment in mineral resources in West Africa, and there must be a heavy investment in mining sector if the huge deficit of steel would be met.

Adegbite stated that part of aggressive and meaningful intervention of Federal Government towards unlocking hidden potentials in the sector is frantic effort to resuscitate Ajaokuta Steel Company and other relevant mining and steel rolling mills across the country, saying Nigeria must “wean the economy from its addiction to crude oil and diversify into other sectors.

“The Federal Government and Ministry of Mines and Steel Development have consciously made efforts at addressing the is-

sues of insufficient geo-science data and information and the enforcement of Mining laws and regulations.

“Nigeria’s minerals and mining sector is still largely underdeveloped despite its glorious past and abundance of mineral resources for development. The good news is that the Federal government is determined to wean the economy from its addiction to crude oil, the failure to do so will be so catastrophic.

“Nigeria has only been able to attract 0.12% out if the 5% share of exploration investment flowing into West Africa. Yet exploration is critical for discovery and creating a pipeline of new mineral deposit that could lead to future lines.

Access Bank eyes expansion into 4 other African Southeast leaders’ affection to Buhari, countries after transnational takeover remarkable - analyst MICHAEL ANI

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ccess Bank plans to expand its footprints into four other African countries next year, Herber Wigwe, CEO of the firm, said.

“By this time next year we would probably have added about four more subsidiaries, most of them greenfield,” Wigwe said, in an investorconference call, Wednesday, following the release of the company’s latest earnings report for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

The plan to expand operations in other markets is coming a few days after the lender successfully snapped up a 97.3 percent stake in Kenya’s Transnational Bank. In a statement sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the bank said the acquisition of the Kenyan midsized bank was part of its strategic objectives of becoming Africa’s gateway to the world.

According to Wigwe, the bank is probably looking South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Senegal, Liberia and Ivory Coast as possible markets to establish

its subsidiaries, partnerships or representative offices. If that happens, the bank would be close to achieving its mission of having a presence in 22 African countries. It currently has operations in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Congo, Rwanda, and Kenya.

To finance this plan, Wigwe noted that the bank would consider whether to issue a fresh Eurobond before its $300 million debt sets to mature by 2021. “We are careful as to what going to the market means in terms of cost,” he said. “We will approach the market at the appropriate time.”

Early this year, Access Bank completed the acquisition of Carlyle-backed Diamond Bank in a deal valued at $200 million.

In 2012, it acquired Intercontinental Bank.

The fallout from the Diamond deal saw the bank climbed the number one spot —overtaking two of Nigeria’s biggest lender (Zenith and First bank)—to become the biggest bank by asset, a growth plan it earlier hoped to achieve in 2022.

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public affairs analyst, Carl Umegboro, has applauded the leaders of the Southeast geopolitical zone for their expression of affection and oneness to President Muhammadu Buhari following his rapid response to their demands recently.

Umegboro, who is an associate, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, disclosed this in a statement with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, stating that he was overwhelmed by the leaders’ gratitude expressly shown to President Buhari visà-vis their demands.

The analyst said the Southeast leaders by the action showed that the nation could make progress when leaders take national unity as collective responsibilities and adopt dialogues and diplomacy instead of combats or confrontations knowing that peace and unity would always create avenues for progress.

Umegboro added that only cordial relationship between geopolitical zones and the central government could produce progress and dividends of de-

mocracy to the masses as well as encourage their followers to embrace national unity.

According to the analyst, President Buhari is an exceptional and detribalised leader whose priority centres on good governance for common good but misunderstood by few due to his zero tolerance on corruption.

“I salute the leaders of Southeast geopolitical zone over the positive relationship with Mr. President which will not only promote peace and unity in the polity but also bring about progress and dividends of democracy to the masses.

“Equally, President Buhari deserved encomium for his sense of fairness which manifested by his rapid response to the Southeast leaders’ demands as it aligned with his declaration during his first inauguration, “I am for everyone, I am for nobody.

“Without a doubt, by the respects and affection expressed to Mr. President by the Southeast leaders, their followers will most likely learn from the body language for a peaceful and united society.

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t is going to be a rewarding time at this year’s Lagos International Trade Fair with Binatone celebrating its 45th anniversary in Nigeria. The fully Air Conditioned Binatone Stand will have on offer fabulous deals and numerous freebies for every purchase made at the Fair ground which will take place at Tafawa Balewa Square complex, Onikan in Lagos between November 1st and 10th.

Managing director of Global Appliances Nigeria Limited, the sole distributors of Binatone products in Nigeria, Prasun Banerjee said the gesture is part of the company’s decision to enable its teeming customers to check out its wide product range in Domestic & Kitchen Appliances, Cooling as well as Power Protection products.

Binatone, founded in the UK in 1958, commenced operations in Nigeria in 1974 and has been consistently delighting customers with high quality, innovative products at affordable prices.

Banerjee disclosed that apart

from a flat 10 percent discount on all purchases, there will be specially branded assured gifts like Kitchen Utensil tools and Calendars for every purchase.

Moreover, on the purchase of select Binatone products during the Trade Fair additional Binatone products as free gifts will be given to customers. These free gifts would include Binatone Heavy weight Dry Irons, Orbit & Stand Fans, Double Wall Cool Touch Kettles & Stainless-Steel Kettles.

He explained that a full Range of Binatone products that will be on display during the fair, including Multi-functional Gourmet Machine & Yam pounders, wide range of Fans and Air coolers and the innovative Bluetooth Tower Music Fan. There would be power protection products like Surge protection devices & the 10 KVA centralized stabilizer, suitable for an entire house. Small Domestic appliances like the wide range of heavy weight & high-power Irons with Binatone’s Magi-cloth (specially designed to absorb the extra heat that would otherwise spoil an expensive, dress, shirt or suit,) would be on display.

Beko launches promotion at Trade Fair ODINAKA ANUDU

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ousehold appliances brand, Beko Nigeria, is launching a new promotion aimed at enhancing the purchasing power of its teeming customers during the forthcoming Lagos International Trade fair, which holds from November 1-10.

The promotion according to Evren Albas the company’s Regional Director of Sub-Saharan Africa will see anyone who purchases any Beko product getting as much as 10 percent discount, a special gift with two years warranty on all products purchased during the Trade fair which is taking place at the Tafawa Belewa Square complex, Onikan in Lagos.

The promotional discount, the company explained will cover all existing Beko models and it is aimed at also enabling retailers to drive sales in the run up to Black Friday and the Christmas festivities.

“The campaign will appear across Beko digital platforms to tar-

get home owners, plus retailers will receive marketing materials to use in store and online. This is the biggest promotion we’ve ever run and we’re confident it’s going to boost sales over the next few months,” Albas stated.

Albas, who recalled that the company commenced operations 64 years ago in Turkey with the production of washing machines pointed out that its gesture is aimed at demonstrating the strategic importance of its numerous customers and the Nigeria market to Beko Nigeria “Our global band, BEKO has been one of the fastest growing players in the highly competitive European market since year 2000, it currently holds the number one position in the free-standing white goods market. Today, we are a leading player in the household appliances industry with 12 brands present in 146, countries with 22 manufacturing facilities across the globe,” he declared.

Heritage Bank pledges continued support for women empowerment

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eritage Bank plc says it will continue to lend support to causes that promote women empowerment, as this will impact positively on the nation’s socio-economic development.

Ifie Sekibo, managing director, Heritage Bank, stated this at the “Raising Girls Summit ’19,” which held in Lagos last Friday as part of activities to commemorate the International Day of the Girl-Child.

Sekibo, who was represented

by Dike Dimiri, regional executive, Lagos/South-West, Heritage Bank, disclosed that the lender sponsored the “Raising Girls Summit ‘19” because, “At Heritage Bank, we are committed to anything that represents women empowerment.”

According to Sekibo, the bank has been in the vanguard of promoting financial literacy and financial inclusion especially among women because it believes that this is key for advancement in today’s dynamic world.

He said: “If we can start pro@Businessdayng

moting financial inclusion especially among the girl child, then we can stand a better chance of having our children growing up to help build a strong financial system. Heritage Bank has been in the fore front of trying to ensure that financial inclusion is not just for adults but for children and more so at a very early age.”

Sekibo, who notes that Heritage Bank actively participates in financial literacy programme organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in different parts of the country every year, assured organisers of “Raising Girls Summit ‘19” of Heritage Bank’s continuous support.

Organised by The Green Girl Company Limited (organiser of the Miss Nigeria Beauty Pageant), the Raising Girls Summit is part of a global effort to empower, and deliberate on issues affecting the girl-child in Africa. It is also aimed at influencing social change and policies to ensure the better life and the future prospect of girls in Africa.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

news Olubunmi Talabi promotes hand washing culture with launch of new book Modestus Anaesoronye

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hildren’s book author and founding publisher of Clever Clogs Books, Olubunmi Aboderin Talabi, has launched the latest book, Why Do You Wash Your Hands? The book is targeted at promoting the importance of hand washing among children, parents, teachers and families.

According to the UNICEF, hand washing with soap has been cited as one of the most cost-effective interventions to prevent communicable diseases.

For Talabi, this is a major reason why the book was written. “Why Do You Wash Your Hands? deploys a fun and pictorial style to help children and their parents understand the importance of regular hand washing and learn the different occasions before or after which they should wash their hands,” she said.

“The book is not only being launched in the month of

Global Hand Washing Day, but it is also in line with UN’s declaration of 2019 as the year of Indigenous Languages as it comes in a compendium version of four languages. This makes it the first Nigerian children’s picture book to be published simultaneously in four Nigerian indigenous languages – English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba,” Talabi further added.

There were special readers who read the various versions of the book. Popular media personality and comedienne, Chigul read the Igbo version while Director of Business Process & Technology at Prime Atlantic Group, Foluso Gbadamosi read the Yoruba version. Haruna Abu who also worked as translator for the book read the Hausa version and ten-year-old Tiara Adeniyi read the English version of the book.

Other special guests spoke on the significance of being proud of our indigenous languages and teaching them to our children.

Med-View returns to operations soon, complies with civil aviation regulations IFEOMA OKEKE

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ed-View Airline, which temporarily suspended flight operations, will recommence services in the next few weeks.

Fact to this emerged Thursday when Michael Ajigbotoso, the chief operating officer (COO), told journalists in Lagos that the management was preparing to return to service operations in November.

Ajigbotoso told aviation correspondents that the airline, which remains the only carrier on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), had to temporarily suspended operations due to lack of equipment, but assured that the management had perfected plans to return to some of its old routes in the country.

He also said the airline was in compliance with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs)

9.1.1.12 (A), stressing that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) was aware of its current status.

The COO emphasised that some of its aircraft, which went for maintenance checks, would return to service very soon, insisting that the airline would return to service stronger despite the recent challenge in operations, as the safety and comfort of its passengers were still paramount to its operations.

He also commended the staff of the organisation for their commitment and sustained belief in the airline despite the recent operational challenges.

“We appreciate the staff for their commitment in spite of the little operational challenges, whichwebelievearethehallmark of any business. Businesses have their high and low moments and I can tell you we are surmounting the challenges. We are coming back soon bigger and better.

Health expert tasks Nigerians on regular exercise

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igerians have been urged to engage in at least 30 minutes’ walk every day to maintain a healthy heart as over 1,235 participants took part in Power Oil’s 4th annual health awareness walk tagged “Power Oil WalkHeartOn” Kingsley Akinroye, executive director, Nigerian Heart Foundation, who made this call said the daily walk will help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

“Regular walking everyday maintain a good body weight and it ultimately enhances mental alertness and general wellbeing. As simple as it sounds, the benefits of walking to human lives is unquantifiable as many lives have been lost as a result of a sedentary lifestyle.”

A 2017 data by World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that coronary heart disease led to the death of 76,410 a 3.76 percent of total deaths recorded that

year. A figure that ranked Nigeria 90 in the world among countries with age adjusted death rate of 117.12 per 100,000.

Similarly, multiple researched studies published in science journals revealed that walking reduced the risk of cardiovascular events by 31 percent and cut the risk of dying by 32 percent.

Speaking during the walk, Prerna Pathre, brand manager, Power Oil, said it was designed to promote a healthy lifestyle and remind Nigerians across the country on the benefits of a daily fitness routine.

“The level of participation is a clear indication that the gospel of healthy living which the brand has been preaching is hitting the right spot in the minds of Nigerians, as it is beginning to sink into their sub-consciousness not only to eat healthy to stay alive, but also to keep active for a healthy heart.”

L-R: Folake Soetan, chief operating officer; Anthony Youdeowei, CEO, both of Ikeja Electric; Magnus De Souza, chairman, Shonibare Estate Residents Association, Maryland; Sefi Momoh, general secretary of the association, and Banbo Adesanya, trustee of the association, during the signing of Premium Power Purchase Agreement between Shonibare Estate Residents Association Maryland and Ikeja Electric on Monday, at Ikeja Electric’s headquarters, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

Private sector drives support for educational philanthropy with advocacy KELECHI EWUZIE

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hilanthropy is a globally renowned gesture by well-meaning individuals in uplifting the stand of some other people. This act is not rare in Nigeria, as philanthropists, in recent times, have supported the government in many ways and changed the situation for many persons. This could be in areas such as health, education, community development, human services, sports and recreation, among others.

However, it has been ascertained that some philanthropic gestures do not align with the current need of certain communities. This usually occurs when there is no detailed research and interaction with the people to know what the problem is and

how they intend to scale the hurdle of their community.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has advocated that budgetary provision for education, on the minimum, should be between 15 and 20 percent of the annual budget of a nation. In Nigeria, the 2019 budget fell short of it. This year, the education sector got N620.5 billion (about 7.05%), marginally above the N605.8 billion budgeted for the sector in 2018. Over some years, the country’s funding for education continued to rotate between 5 percent, 6 percent and 7 percent of the national budget.

There have been concerns expressed about the state of education in Nigeria. At various point in time, stakeholders have called for the total declaration of a state of

emergency in that sector.

All of these challenges have brought the timely intervention of The Akin Ogunbiyi Foundation, which is at the forefront of raising the bar of the standard of education in Osun State. The Foundation is not just giving funds to enhance education but has also led the discourse by inviting stakeholders to chart a way forward for education in the state and Nigeria at large.

The Akin Ogunbiyi Foundation Lecture Series was held in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, with the theme “Education as an input variable for National Development.” The keynote speaker at the event was the former Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University and past secretary general, Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Professor Michael Faborode, who

set the matter open before Nigerians by calling for an urgent reform of the educational system.

Some of the highlights of Faborede’s presentation point to the need for education to be fit for purpose if we want to achieve enviable heights like China, Korea and other Asian countries that have advanced and made remarkable progress. Equally cited as very important is that leaders within the Nigerian educational system must provide leadership for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and partner with the private sector and Non-Governmental Organisations like The Akin Ogunbiyi Foundation in ensuring that Nigeria moves from a developing nation to a developed nation like China, Korea and others.

Automobile dealers fault Customs on arbitrary, anti-WTO rules’ duties CHUKA UROKO

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utomobile dealers in Nigeria under the aegis of AutomobilesAssociationof Nigeria (AAN) have picked holes in the arbitrary duties Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) may have imposed on automobiles, saying such duties negate the World TradeOrganisation’s(WTO)rules.

The dealers suspect that NCS may have, following the recent closure of vehicle dealerships across Nigeria, contrived its own import trade Duties outside the rules established by WTO, which are binding on Nigeria.

The dealers, in a statement obtained by BusinessDay on Wednesday, recalled that on September 29 this year, members of the Comptroller-General of the NCS’s strike force and officers attached to the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone ‘A,’ Ikeja, Lagos, stormed the popular Berger auto market along Apapa-Oshodi

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Expressway, and other major car dealers’ premises across Lagos.

The officers, according to the statement, were in search of what the Customs public relations officer,JosephAttah,saidwas“based on credible information that there were smuggled vehicles in these car marts, but the sealing is just temporary. As from this week, we willassessthesituationandadvise them accordingly as to what they should do.”

Contrary to Attah’s claim, all dealerships have remained shut since then, regardless of those not involvedinanybadbusiness.“But I can confirm that some numbers have been shut down. Within the week, customs will take a look at the records of each vehicle in these car marts and appropriate actions will be taken,” Attah was quoted as saying.

Ademola Moshood, secretary of the automobile association, who signed the statement, said Custom’s subsequent meeting with the dealerships revealed that

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the government’s agency had a system of documentation and two regimes of duties that create a fertile environment for corruption to thrive within its fold to the distress of buyers of new vehicles in the country.

“TheCustomsService’sDuties system is whimsical because it is not based on any known indices and certainly not based on the WTO’s rules, which apply only duties determined as Freight on Board (FOB). This means the amount the manufacturer sold the product to the Nigerian or any other country’s importer, less the cost of shipment and transportation,” he explained.

Hesaidthiscost,recognisedas FOB, was universal to every buyer of goods from the same manufacturer and so could be calculated for the sake of local Duties in the destination country.

For instance, Nigeria or Ghana, if the cost of FOB is different, then it must be on account of accessories in the vehicles and @Businessdayng

these can be calculated to arrive at the final costs on which FOB/ Duties are based.

Moshood noted that the cost of freight was usually determined by charges from the country of originoftheproducttoitsdestination. For instance, there would be different freight costs for vehicles shipped to Nigeria from Dubai, whichusuallyhandlestheMiddle East and Africa markets and for those coming into Nigeria from South Africa, which is responsible for sub-Saharan Africa markets.

“Regardless, the FOB for the same products from either Dubai or South Africa remains the same, so also should the Duties. This system is used by Nigeria’s neighbour, Ghana, where dealers employ the FOB, which is online, to calculate their Duties, which is universal, as it is known to the manufacturers, importers, and buyers of new vehicles and this Duty is paid online to their Customs Service to the benefit of all parties.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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POLITICS & POLICY Stakeholders blame Nigeria’s leadership woes on faulty selection process …As group moves against voter apathy among youths INIOBONG IWOK

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olitical stakeholders have blamed Nigeria’s electoral process for the bad leadership which has bedevilled the country in recent years, while canvassing for more inclusive electoral process with more participation from youths.

They stated this at a good governance mentoring Boot camp organised by an advocacy group, Grassroots Project for Good Governance (GPGG) for secondary school students and youths held Thursday, at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka.

They expressed worry over the growing trend of youth’s apathy in Nigeria’s electoral system in recent elections, while calling for concerted effort to solve the problem.

Delivering his keynote address at the event, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mutiu Okunola, noted that the country

R-L: Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor, Taiwo Adisa; Governor Seyi Makinde; Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oyelowo Oyewo; Secretary to the State Government, Olubamiwo Adeosun; Commissioner for Works, Prof Raphael Afonja and Executive Director, ENL Consortium LTD, Kemi George during the governor inspection of Ibadan circular road along Lagos-Ibadan bye pass.

had retarded since independence because of poor leadership and the faulty electoral process, while stressing that it was now obvious that bad governance was not only associated with autocratic and oligarchic

system but with democracy.

Okunola, who was the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Ikeja federal constituency in the 2019 election, warned that if proactive steps were not taken to restore good gov-

ernance in the country, development may continue to elude Nigeria.

According to him, “Poverty of leadership in most of the Nigeria’s 59 years of existence has not only hindered the national development

but continued to threaten its peace and stability.

“While it is widely believed that bad governance is prevalence in autocracy and oligarchy systems, it is evident now that bad governance does exist much more in democracy.

“Proactive steps need to be taken for the enthronement of good governance, peace and stability and development will continue to elude Nigeria, beyond this, the corporate existence of the nation remains threatened.”

A facilitator and public policy expert at the event, Ismali Ogunbanwo, urged the nation’s youths to rise and partake more in the electoral system, stressing that leadership positions would not be given to them on a platter of gold if they don’t show interest.

According to him, “Basically, it is about time the youths stand up. The apathy is worrisome, what we have noticed is that they find it difficult to do the needful when you talk of politics,

but in entertainment they are there.

“It is about time we tell ourselves the true; that we need to start talking to our leaders for us to be counted.

We have to be part of every activity; the likes of Barrack Obama started small.”

“The youths must be ready; nobody would come and hand over power to you on a platter of gold you must earn it,” Ogunbanwo emphasised.

Speaking on the essence of the programme, Founder and Director of (GPGG), Cephas Kadiri said that the programme was initiated to educate young Nigerians on the importance of being involve in the electoral process and importance of electing the right leaders to guarantee good governance.

“Basically, one of the first things that can resolve the leadership problem in the country is the selection process of the leaders, which overtime we have seen is wrong. We are desirous of training young Nigerians for a mental shift,” he said.

Abia federal lawmaker makes case for separate account for ecological fund UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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keiru Onyejeocha, member representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency and the Deputy Whip in the Lower chamber of the National Assembly, has called for the separation of ecological fund from federal allocations accruing to states.

Onyejeocha, who made the call during a media chat with select journalists at her Isuochi country home, Abia State, said the action had become necessary to avoid misappropriation or abuse of the fund by governors.

She regretted that all the ecological fund released by the Federal Government to states every month were lumped together in the federal allocations, yet state governors rarely tackle ecological problems in their states.

The four-term legislator frowned at the attitude of

Nkeiru Onyejeocha

governors in managing ecological funds, which according to her should be strictly deployed to addressing ecological challenges in various states.

“I think the best practice will be to separate

ecological fund from federal allocations and not lumping it together with other items in FAAC, “ she said.

Onyejeocha disclosed that the National Assembly would be glad to give

a legislative backing to any executive bill for the separation of ecological fund from federal allocations to states.

The Abia Federal lawmaker, who decried erosion menace in her con-

stituency, said she had contacted the Ecological Office for intervention.

According to her, personnel from the office had visited the constituency for on-the-spot assessment of gully erosion sites in the area.

She said various erosion sites in the constituency had been captured in the data base of the office and were undergoing the process of design preparatory to award of contract for tackling them.

Onyejeocha, who also revealed that she had drawn the attention of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other relevant federal agencies to the menace, appealed to her constituents to be patient, assuring that intervention works would soon come their way.

On the closure of Enugu International Airport for repairs, the former House Committee Chairman on Aviation said it was a step

in the right direction.

Onyejeocha, who also described the runway of the airport as “a disaster waiting to happen” disagreed with those insinuating that the closure was a deliberate action against South East.

She recalled during the period she was the Chairman House Committee on Aviation, she had led a delegation to the Airport which made serious recommendations for a holistic surgery of the Airport.

“What they built there is road and not runway.

Whenever it rains the whole place is flooded. So, the closure of the airport is not an action against Ndigbo Those who say it took the visit of Igbo leaders for N10 billion to be released should tell us if Igbo leaders visited Aso Rock before work on 2nd Niger Bridge started, or the on-going rehabilitation of Enugu /Port Harcourt Expressway,” she said.

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Harvard Business Review

MANAGEMENTDIGEST

Using AI to eliminate bias from hiring FRIDA POLLI

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WORK VS. LIFE ike any new technology, artificial intelligence is capable of immensely good or bad outcomes.

The public seems increasingly focused on the bad, especially when it comes to AI’s potential for bias. This concern is well-founded. But the deepestrooted source of bias in AI is the human behavior it is simulating.

Let’s focus on hiring. The typical way of reviewing applicants before an interview is through recruiters reviewing résumés. Studies have shown this process leads to significant unconscious bias against women, minorities and older workers. Also, large pools of applicants are being ignored. Recruiters limit their review of the applicant pool to the 10% to 20% they think will show most promise: those coming from Ivy League colleges and employee-referral programs, which are much less diverse than the broader pool of applicants submitting résumés.

Furthermore, traditional hiring tools are already biased. This is permitted by a loophole in U.S. law: Federal regulations state that a hiring tool can be biased if it is job-related. “Job-related” means that the people who are successful in a role show certain characteristics. But if all “suc-

cessful” employees are white men, owing to a history of biased human hiring practices, then it is almost certain that your jobrelated hiring assessment will be biased against women and minorities.

AI holds great promise for eliminating bias in hiring. A beauty of this technology is that we can design it to meet cer-

tain beneficial specifications. A movement among AI practitioners like OpenAI and the Future of Life Institute is already putting forth a set of design principles for making AI ethical and fair. One key principle is that AI should be designed so it can be audited and the bias found in it can be removed. An AI audit should function just like the safety testing of a

new car before someone drives it.

If standards are not met, the defective technology must be fixed before it is allowed into production.

AI can assess the entire pipeline of candidates rather than forcing time-constrained humans to implement biased processes to shrink the pipeline from the start. Companies today

unabashedly admit that only a small portion of applicants are ever reviewed. Technologists and lawmakers should work together to create tools and policies that make it both possible and mandatory for the entire pipeline to be reviewed.

Additionally, the focus on AI fairness should have us evaluate existing pre-hire assessments with the same standards. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission wrote the existing fair-hiring regulations in the 1970s — before the advent of the public internet and the explosion in the number of people applying for each job. The EEOC didn’t anticipate modern algorithms that are less biased than humans yet also able to evaluate a much larger, more diverse pipeline. We need to update and clarify these regulations to truly encourage equal opportunity in hiring and allow for the use of algorithmic recruiting systems that meet clear criteria.

It’s impossible to correct human bias, but it is demonstrably possible to identify and correct bias in AI. If we take critical steps to address the concerns that are being raised, we can truly harness technology to diversify the workplace.

Frida Polli, a cognitive neuroscientist, is a co-founder and the CEO of Pymetrics.

The role of private equity in driving up health care prices LOVISA GUSTAFSSON, SHANOOR SEERVAI AND DAVID BLUMENTHAL HEALTH rivate investment in U.S. health care has grown significantly over the past decade thanks to investors who have been keen on getting into a large, rapidly growing, recession-proof market with historically high returns. Private equity and venture capital firms are investing in everything from addiction treatment facilities to physician practices. In 2018, the number of private equity deals alone reached almost 800, with a total value of more than $100 billion.

While private capital is bringing innovation to health care through new delivery models, technologies and operational efficiencies, there’s another side to investors entering health care.

Their common business model of buying, growing through acquisition and selling for above-average returns is cause for concern.

Take the phenomenon of surprise bills: invoices a patient unexpectedly receives after being treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility.

They’re driven, at least in part, by investor-backed companies that remain out of network and can therefore charge high fees for

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urgently or unexpectedly needed services. Private equity firms have been buying and expanding the specialties that generate most surprise bills — emergency room physicians, hospitalists, anesthesiologists and radiologists.

To blunt growing bipartisan political support for protecting patients from surprise bills, various groups have lobbied against legislation that would limit the practice. They include Doctor Patient Unity, which has spent more than $28 million on ads and

is primarily funded by large private-equity-backed companies that own physician practices and staff emergency rooms around the country. Their work seems to be having an impact: Efforts to pass protections have stalled in Congress.

Physician practices have been a popular investment for private equity firms for years. According to an analysis published in Bloomberg Law, 45 physician practice transactions were announced or closed in the first

quarter of 2019. At the current pace, the number of deals to buy physician and dental practices will surpass 250 this year, far exceeding 2018 totals. Yes, these investments can provide independent physicians and small practices with an alternative to selling themselves to hospitals and can help them deal with administrative overhead. But, at least in some cases, the investors’ strategy appears to be to increase revenues by price-gouging patients when they are most vulner-

able.

Surprise billing isn’t the only problem. Private-equity-owned free-standing emerging rooms are garnering scrutiny because of their proliferation and high rates.

The majority of free-standing ER visits are for nonemergency care, and their treatment can be 22 times more expensive than treatment at a physician’s office.

Private investor-backed companies that hurt consumers are not likely to perform well in the long term. Unlike many other markets, health care is both highly regulated and highly sensitive to the reality or appearance of victimizing the sick and vulnerable.

Consumer outrage leads quickly to government intervention. Investors would benefit most if they solved the health care system’s legion of problems by delivering high-quality services at affordable prices and eliminating waste. Those who try to maximize their short-term profits by pushing up prices without adding real health care benefits are likely to find that those strategies are unsustainable.

Lovisa Gustafsson is an assistant vice president at the Commonwealth Fund, where Shanoor Seervai is a senior research associate and communications associate and David Blumenthal is president.

Friday 01 November 2019

FT

BUSINESS DAY

45

FINANCIAL TIMES

World Business Newspaper

VICTOR MALLET IN PARIS AND MICHAEL PEEL IN BRUSSELS

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ince his 2017 election victory, French President Emmanuel Macron has never been shy about promoting his desire to reshape Europe — but his go-italone diplomacy is testing the patience of some of his EU partners.

From his courting of Russian president Vladimir Putin to his rejection of accession talks for Balkan states and his reluctance to extend the Brexit deadline, Mr Macron’s willingness to ignore the consensus has antagonised even longstanding allies.

Philippe Lamberts, the co-president of the Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament, and a political rival compared Mr Macron with the Star Wars character Emperor Palpatine, accusing the French president of being “drunk on power”.

“It’s someone acting quite imperiously,” said a Brussels diplomat of the 41-year-old Mr Macron.

In a sign of the political tensions at the heart of the EU, Mr Macron’s enemies in the European Parliament this month engineered a humiliating rejection of Sylvie Goulard, his candidate as France’s commissioner in the new EU administration. They are likely to challenge Thierry Breton, his new choice for Brussels, too — potentially giving a further unwelcome headache for Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming European Commission president.

Mr Macron’s approach has even begun to destabilise the Franco-German partnership that has always been at the core of the EU. Without always keeping Ger-

‘Imperious’ Macron tests patience of EU partners French president’s initiatives from Brexit to Russia raise hackles in Europe

President Emmanuel Macron’s unilateral approach has antagonised some of his allies © Thierry Roge/BELGA/dpa

man Chancellor Angela Merkel in the loop, he has courted Russia and Ukraine to try to broker peace, and done the same with Iran and the US in pursuit of a new deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

The irritants in the FrancoGerman relationship are therefore

piling up, according to Daniela Schwarzer of the German Council on Foreign Relations.

When Mr Macron made his overtures to Mr Putin in the summer and called for a new EU approach to Russia, “a lot of people said he didn’t even inform

us ahead of time”, she said. “It seemed to be part of an emerging pattern of unilateral actions.”

French officials and diplomats accept that Mr Macron is seen as arrogant by other Europeans — one said he had “a way of lecturing the others which is very French,

and that annoys them”. But they defend what another called his “combative position” on Europe and say he is more consistent on matters such as Brexit (no extension without a good reason) and EU enlargement (deepen integration of the existing EU before adding new members) than rivals give him credit for.

Mr Macron models himself on Charles de Gaulle, and there are echoes in his behaviour of the wartime leader’s pompous style that so infuriated Winston Churchill.

“Our line is not for some kind of splendid Gaullo-Napoleonic isolation,” insisted one Elysée official this week. “It’s true that Macron has a voice that is stronger and louder [than those of other EU leaders]. Yet it’s not to annoy his partners, but because he has a vision . . . The system must sometimes be shaken up a bit.”

Mr Macron is the most visible EU leader in foreign policy these days not just because he is eager to push his own agenda, but because there are no obvious alternatives.

The UK is planning to abandon the EU within months, leaving UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson almost entirely focused on Brexit, while Ms Merkel is nearing the end of her political career.

Bombardier offloads Belfast Jeremy Corbyn sets campaign tone by targeting rich individuals plant to Spirit AeroSystems Labour leader ‘goes after’ Duke of Westminster, Ashley, Odey, Ratcliffe and Murdoch US group agrees $500m deal for 3 of Canadian group’s aerospace sites MICHAEL POOLER

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ombardier has reached a deal to sell three of its aerospace plants, including the historic Belfast business once known as Short Brothers, to US company Spirit AeroSystems for $500m in cash.

The Canadian aircraft and trainmaker will also offload smaller facilities in the Moroccan port of Casablanca and Dallas, Texas, with Spirit assuming some $700m in liabilities such as pension obligations and government advances as part of the transaction.

Bombardier put its aerostructures activities, which make aircraft components such as wings and fuselages, on the block in May under a drive to refocus on rail transport and business aviation.

The three sites together are expected to generate revenues of roughly $1bn in 2019, with an adjusted earnings margin of 12 per cent before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Collectively they employ 4,000 people, more than two-thirds of those in Belfast.

Spirit’s acquisition will come as a relief for the workforce in Northern Ireland, where the old Short Brothers is one of the largest private sector

employers.

Bombardier’s decision to quit the province cast a shadow over the future of a key UK industrial asset that is a pillar of the country’s aerospace sector.

It also came at a delicate moment for the British government, since many of the surrounding areas are strongholds for the Democratic Unionist Party, on which the ruling Conservative party had been relying on to govern.

Bombardier said that following the transaction, Spirit would continue to supply structural aircraft components and spare parts for Bombardier’s Learjet, Challenger and Global families of aircraft.

It added that the disposal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2020, would further strengthen “Bombardier’s liquidity as it moves toward the deleveraging phase of the turnround”.

“This transaction represents another strategic milestone in the reshaping of our portfolio to focus on our strong business aircraft and rail franchises,” said Alain Bellemare, chief executive officer.

“We are confident that Spirit’s acquisition of these aerostructures assets is the best outcome for customers, employees and shareholders, and we are committed to ensuring a smooth and orderly transition.” www.businessday.ng

GEORGE PARKER AND SEBASTIAN PAYNE IN LONDON

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eremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, set the tone of his election campaign on Thursday with a direct attack on “the privileged few” who benefit from a “corrupt system”, naming individual millionaires whom the UK opposition party wants to target.

Mr Corbyn promised to “go after” the Duke of Westminster, the landowner; Mike Ashley, the retail billionaire; Jim Ratcliffe, chair of the Ineos chemicals group; Rupert Murdoch, the media baron; and Crispin Odey, the hedge fund boss.

In his first speech of the election campaign, Mr Corbyn put himself firmly on the side of “the many not the few”,promising to shake up capitalism to help ordinary working families.

“This election is a once-in-ageneration chance to transform our country, take on the vested interests holding people back and ensure that no community is left behind,” he said.

Mr Corbyn claimed that “the elite” in society do not want to pay taxes. “So they’ll fight harder and dirtier than ever before,” he said.

“They’ll throw everything at us because they know we’re not afraid to

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take them on.”

The Labour leader then directly criticised “landlords like the Duke of Westminster”, whom he claims tried to evict families to make way for luxury apartments.

He attacked “bad bosses like Mike Ashley, the billionaire who won’t pay his staff properly and is running Newcastle United into the ground”,and Sir Jim, whom he claimed is “Britain’s richest man who makes his money by polluting the environment”.

Also in Mr Corbyn’s sights was Mr Odey, “who makes millions betting against our country and on other people’s misery and donated huge sums to Boris Johnson and the Conservative party”, and Mr Murdoch, whose “empire pumps out propaganda to support a rigged system”.

The Financial Times could not immediately obtain comment from most of the business people Mr Corbyn referred to in his speech.

Spokespeople for the duke and Mr Ashley declined to comment.

The Labour leader asked voters to choose between siding with the supposed beneficiaries of Britain’s “rigged” capitalist system, or ordinary tenants, shop floor workers and children suffering from pollution.

“When Labour wins, the nurse wins, the pensioner wins, the student

@Businessdayng

wins, the office worker wins, the engineer wins, we all win,” he said.

Mr Corbyn’s economic prospectus has hardened considerably since the 2017 general election, when Labour claimed its policies of targeted nationalisations and tax rises on the rich were firmly in the European “social democratic tradition”.

The Labour leader’s speech confirmed that the party now intends to take a much tougher approach.

Labour has already set out plans for the state to seize 10 per cent of shares in big companies, which would be given to workers.

The party is also proposing a big nationalisation programme and has floated the idea of allowing tenants to buy their homes from private landlords, possibly at a discount to the market rate.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Labour Movement has announced it will not campaign for the party in the upcoming election, due to the alleged rise in anti-Semitism under Mr Corbyn’s leadership.

The JLM said it will not support Labour — the first time in its 100-year history — and will only offer support in “exceptional circumstances” and for “exceptional candidates”. The organisation has more than 2,500 members.

46

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

FT

NATIONAL NEWS

John Bolton asked to appear before Trump impeachment inquiry Former national security adviser agrees to testify once he receives a subpoena LAUREN FEDOR AND DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO IN WASHINGTON

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ohn Bolton, the US national security adviser who left the White House last month after falling out with Donald Trump, has been asked to appear before Congress’ impeachment inquiry, setting the stage for testimony that could change the course of the investigation.

Mr Bolton is seen as a central figure in the presidential impeachment proceedings, with other witnesses testifying he vociferously objected to Mr Trump’s attempts to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate the family of former vice-president Joe Biden and other domestic political disputes.

As a longtime Republican hawk, Mr Bolton would be difficult to paint as an anti-Trump partisan if his testimony is critical of the US president’s actions; Mr Trump has sought to portray some of the most damaging evidence given against him as part of a Democratic-led political smear campaign.

According to one person briefed on the House of Representatives investigation, Mr Bolton has been asked to testify in a closed-door session on November 7. Mr Bolton’s attorney, Charles Cooper, told US media that while his client would not appear voluntarily, he was willing to testify under subpoena. Mr Cooper did not immediately respond to a Financial Times request for comment.

William Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, told the impeachment inquiry Mr Bolton strongly objected to efforts to link an Oval Office meeting for the new Ukrainian president with the launching of investigations into the Bidens and a conspiracy theory focused on Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

Mr Taylor testified that Mr Bolton had “abruptly” ended a July White House meeting with Ukrainian officials after Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, suggested the two were connected.

The investigation is due on Thursday to hear from Tim Morrison, a National Security Council official who Mr Taylor described as having a “sinking feeling” when he heard about Mr Sondland’s demands.

A senior administration official said Mr Morrison, who handled Russia and Ukraine policy at the National Security Council, will soon leave the White House, although the official insisted it was unrelated to his impending testimony.

“After more than a year of service at the National Security Council, Mr Morrison has decided to pursue other opportunities — and has been considering doing

so for some time,” the senior administration official said.

The Sondland meeting has become a focus for investigators since it prompted several career and political appointees to raise red flags with legal authorities in the White House.

On Tuesday Alexander Vindman, a US army officer and member of the National Security Council, told the investigating committees the meeting was “cut short”

by Mr Bolton after Mr Sondland “started to speak about Ukraine delivering specific investigations”.

Mr Morrison, a Russia hawk, replaced Fiona Hill, who gave similar testimony to the House panels earlier this month, saying Mr Bolton referred to the linking of any Oval Office meeting between the two presidents and the opening of investigations as a “drug deal”.

Ms Hill also testified that Mr Bolton had called Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s personal lawyer and the alleged architect of the Ukraine pressure scheme, a “hand grenade” who would “blow everybody up”.

Mr Bolton, known for his hardline stance against American adversaries, broke with Mr Trump over the president’s efforts to negotiate deals with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Iran’s supreme leader and the Afghan Taliban.

He left the White House following repeated disagreements with administration officials, including secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

Mr Trump and Mr Bolton sparred after his departure, with the president claiming on Twitter that he had fired Mr Bolton by telling him his “services are no longer needed”. Mr Bolton countered that he had offered to resign.

The House committees leading the impeachment inquiry — the intelligence committee, the oversight committee and the foreign affairs committee — have questioned more than a dozen witnesses in closed-door sessions as part of their probe, sparking criticism from the White House and many Republicans who have called for more transparency and claimed the president is not being treated fairly.

The investigation is expected to become more public-facing, with live televised hearings, in the coming weeks.

On Thursday the entire House of Representatives is set to vote on a resolution setting out the next steps for the impeachment inquiry, which is expected to eventually move to the judiciary committee, which will draft articles of impeachment against the president. The full House would need to approve the articles by a simple majority in order for the president to be impeached, before a trial were to take place in the Senate. www.businessday.ng

Margrethe Vestager has taken a robust stance on Big Tech © STEPHANIE LECOCQ/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Hong Kong falls into recession as protests rock economy

Territory’s GDP shrinks by 3.2 per cent after months of anti-government demonstrations DANIEL SHANE AND NICOLLE LIU IN HONG KONG

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ong Kong’s economy has plunged into recession after months of political turbulence in the Asia financial hub with some economists predicting the downturn will worsen in 2020.

Preliminary data released by the government on Thursday showed that the economy shrank by 3.2 per cent in the three months to September, a figure far greater than the 0.6 per cent contraction forecast by economists in a Bloomberg poll.

The figures come after the economy shrunk 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year, sending the territory into a recession for the first time since the global financial crisis.

Economic gloom comes against a backdrop of violent anti-government protests. The protests have

seen millions of people take to the streets since June, hammering revenues in the tourism and retail industries and prompting a credit downgrade from two big rating agencies. Hong Kong, an international business and export centre, is also being buffeted by the US-China trade war and a slowing global economy.

“What’s happening in Hong Kong now is unprecedented,” Carrie Lam, the city’s leader, told business leaders on Thursday. It is an “inevitability the economy will be hard hit”.

Iris Pang, an economist at ING, an investment bank, forecast that the economy would shrink in all four quarters next year.

The demonstrations in Hong Kong began in opposition to a now withdrawn law that could have seen criminal suspects extradited to mainland China, but have since evolved into a broader challenge of Beijing’s rule over the former British colony.

Authorities’ enforcement of a ban on wearing masks at public gatherings, introduced in October, could face its steepest challenge yet on Thursday.

Instead of the customary skeleton costumes, protesters plan to mark Halloween by donning masks of Ms Lam and Chinese President Xi Jinping and marching through the city’s financial district to Lan Kwai Fong, a nightlife area known for its raucous Halloween parties.

Riot police are expected to be out in force. Hong Kong’s metro service will close early, while a popular theme park has cancelled Halloween festivities entirely.

The Hong Kong government has begun rolling out measures to stimulate the economy. These include tax cuts and boosts to social security, as well as relaxing mortgage rules for first-time buyers. But the administration, which holds a war chest of HK$1.1tn ($140bn) in fiscal reserves, has refrained from widescale stimulus.

South Africa’s Sibanye weighs dividend resumption as prices rise Miner’s shares hit three-year high as recoveries in platinum group metals and gold boost earnings HARRY DEMPSEY IN LONDON

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outh African miner SibanyeStillwater said that it may resume dividends for shareholders in the second half of 2020 if stronger prices for precious metals continue, pushing its share price up to a three-year high.

Sibanye said on Thursday that its earnings before interest, tax and other items increased by 240 per cent in the third quarter relative to the year before to R5.5bn ($377m), helped by higher prices for platinum group metals and gold.

Shares in the miner, which have almost tripled since the beginning of the year, rose 3 per cent on Thursday morning to hit R2,875, their highest level since September 2016.

Sibanye said the results mark

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a “pleasing recovery” for the group, which has endured a tough 18-month period, facing a fivemonth strike at the beginning of the year and estimating in September that it would lay off 5,270 workers due to the restructuring of its Marikana platinum mine. It had previously announced in February that it may have to cut nearly 6,000 jobs as part of a restructuring of its gold mines due to sustained losses.

The improved financial performance in the quarter helped the precious metals miner to reduce its leverage ratio — of net debt to adjusted earnings — to 1.7, down from 3.5 previously.

Since its founding in 2012 Sibanye has grown rapidly, acquiring US miner Stillwater for $2.2bn in cash in 2016 as well as completing its acquisition of struggling platinum @Businessdayng

producer Lonmin in June this year.

The company revised down 2019 production guidance for its US operations to between 590,000 and 610,000 ounces of palladium and platinum, down from a previous range of 625,000 to 640,000 ounces, due to “challenging ground conditions” at its Blitz project in Montana.

Sibanye also said that its global gold production is forecasted to meet the lower end of production guidance at around 0.77m ounces. This figure reached 1.17m ounces in 2018.

Despite the lower production output, the company’s results have been boosted by elevated prices for precious metals. Gold is trading just above $1,500 a troy ounce, up 24 per cent for the year, and palladium has soared 75 per cent in a year to reach over $1,780 an ounce.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

47

FINANCIAL TIMES

COMPANIES & MARKETS

@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED

Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot agree to pursue giant auto merger Tie-up would create world’s fourth-biggest carmaker by sales DAVID KEOHANE IN PARIS AND PETER CAMPBELL IN LONDON

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rance’s PSA, which owns Peugeot, and Fiat Chrysler have agreed to pursue a merger that would create the world’s fourth largest carmaker and reshape the automotive sector.

PSA and FCA said their boards had agreed to “work towards” a tieup that would give shareholders of each group 50 per cent ownership in the new entity.

“Both boards have given the mandate to their respective teams to finalise the discussions . . . in the coming weeks,” said the two companies on Thursday morning after board meetings the evening before.

The deal would create a company with revenues of €170bn, recurring operating profit of more than €11bn and combined vehicle sales of 8.7m, putting it ahead of General Motors and Hyundai-Kia in sales.

In Europe, the company’s sales would even outpace Volkswagen, which has historically dominated the region’s industry.

At current market prices the combined entity is worth just under €43.4bn.

While FCA shares soared 9.5 per cent, PSA shares had fallen 12 per cent by mid-morning in Paris with analysts at Citi pointing to the lack of a cash payout: “On balance, the terms of the deal favours existing FCA shareholders (who benefit from a cash distribution equivalent to 30 per cent of the market cap), while Groupe PSA shareholders are being asked to remain patient.”

In order to balance the value of the two companies, PSA will distribute its 46 per cent stake in parts maker Faurecia to shareholders, worth €2.7bn at Wednesday’s close, according to analysts.

FCA shareholders will receive a €5.5bn cash payout and proceeds from the sale of its robot-making Comau unit, estimated at between

€200m and €300m.

“Adjusting for the difference in market cap and the dividend paid to respective shareholders, achieving a 50/50 shareholding suggests PSA is paying a 32 per cent premium to assume control of FCA,” said Philippe Houchois, an auto analyst at Jefferies.

The two companies intend to forge a 50-50 all-stock merger in which Carlos Tavares, PSA chief executive, runs the business and John Elkann — the scion of Italy’s Agnelli family, which controls FCA — becomes chairman. Mr Tavares would have an initial mandate of five years.

The 11-person board will comprise six members appointed by PSA, including Mr Tavares, and five members appointed by FCA. The combined group will be based in the Netherlands, a neutral location, where FCA is domiciled, and will be listed in Paris, Milan and New York. It will “continue to maintain significant presences in the current operating head-office locations in France, Italy and the US”.

Approximately €3.7bn in estimated annual synergies are targeted, 80 per cent within the first four years, “without any plant closures resulting from the transaction”. The total one-time cost of achieving the synergies is estimated at €2.8bn, added the statement.

Analysts at UBS applauded the deal, as PSA seeks to increase its exposure to new regions, such as North America, while “FCA has the highest risk of not meeting the CO2 targets, potentially paying fines as a consequence” and “PSA could transfer its power-train technology at a highly competitive cost by leveraging its experience with Opel.”

PSA bought Opel-Vauxhall from General Motors in 2017 and has presided over a dramatic turnround at the previously struggling carmaker.

African swine fever sparks global meat shortage fears Chinese imports of pork, beef and chicken jump, driving up prices around world ANNA GROSS IN LONDON

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dramatic decline in pork production due to African swine fever in China is contributing to a global shortfall in meat supplies that is expected to drive pork, chicken and beef prices higher into next year.

China’s total swine herd has declined by 45 per cent since the virus was first detected in the northeastern city of Chenyang last August, according to analysis from US financial group INTL FCStone. The disease has now spread to every province in the country.

Though global beef and chicken production is forecast to rise marginally over the coming year, analysts say it will not make up for the fall in global pork production caused by swine fever, increasing

prices around the world.

Data from the United States Department of Agriculture suggests that in 2020 there will be a roughly 6.4m tonne fall in total global chicken, pork and beef production, compared with this year — a record fall for these meats. Some analysts think the actual figure could be much higher.

“We haven’t seen a meat supply shortfall like the one African swine fever has produced going back 30, 40, 50 years in the data,” said Justin Sherrard, global strategist covering animal protein at Rabobank. “We’re truly in extraordinary times.”

As the disease spreads into Vietnam, Mongolia, Cambodia and beyond, the price of meat is expected to continue rising, driving expansion from big meat exporters such as Brazil, Argentina and the US www.businessday.ng

Jay Powell, Federal Reserve chairman, said if anything happened that would cause a ‘material reassessment’ of the central bank’s outlook, policymakers would respond © MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Federal Reserve opts to wait on the American consumer with rate cut pause Jay Powell’s optimism over the trade war is at odds with latest data BRENDAN GREELEY IN WASHINGTON AND COLBY SMITH IN NEW YORK

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ince January, through careful communication in speeches and statements, officials at the Federal Reserve have been building an argument. The Fed is not designed to respond to trade wars, they said. But by lowering rates, it can take out an insurance policy against trade uncertainty — the possibility that businesses, unclear about negotiations among countries, might avoid any big, expensive capital investments.

In its statement Wednesday, and in a press conference with chairman Jay Powell, the Fed’s Open Market Committee indicated that it believes it has paid its premium in full.

After three 25 basis point cuts in three consecutive meetings, it will stop fretting, for now, over the US’s trade war with China. Mr

Powell said that if anything happened that would cause a “material reassessment” of the Fed’s outlook, policymakers would respond.

What he meant is that the Fed is going to wait, finally, for the American consumer to crack before it makes any more moves.

“They are hanging their hat on the US consumer,” said Torsten Slok, chief economist at Deutsche Bank Securities, warning that it looked a risky thing to do. If businesses failed to invest in new factories now, they would have less reason to hire new employees in the future, he said. “If you use less capital in your economy, you will eventually also use less labour.”

Mr Slok laid out a question that has always vexed central bankers: is it better to respond after the data get bad, or when the data might get bad in the future?

The Fed’s difficulties this year showed up perfectly on Wednesday morning, as the FOMC began

the second day of its meeting. The US Department of Commerce released its first read of thirdquarter gross domestic product growth, which showed that American households, though slowing down, were still buying cars, furniture, shoes, clothes, meals out — everything.

Business investment, however, contracted at 3 per cent, its worst result since the US manufacturing recession of 2015 and 2016. This was the catastrophe the Fed had said it was taking out its insurance policy against. It has become worse.

On Wednesday, Mr Powell said that this year’s rate cuts were a response to three developments.

Manufacturing has slowed all over the world. Trade uncertainty is having an effect on US activity.

And the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation continues to run below its target of 2 per cent.

None of these things has measurably improved. And yet the Fed is done cutting, for now.

High debt, high deficit: Lebanon’s economic woes fuelling protests Lack of reforms pose challenge for political elite as protesters force Hariri to resign HEBA SALEH IN CAIRO

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he resignation of Saad alHariri as Lebanon’s prime minister on Tuesday has plunged the country’s economy deeper into uncertainty as protesters continue to occupy public squares, calling for a clearout of the entire political elite.

Banks remain shuttered for a second week amid fears that the unrest will trigger capital flight and a run on lenders by customers anxious about their dollar deposits. The Banking Association said they would reopen on Friday.

“Given the uncertain political outlook, the risk of capital flight is very high, should banks open on Friday,” said Alia Moubayed,

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managing director at Jefferies International, a US investment bank.

“Imposing temporary capital control before that [happens] is necessary, in order to contain further downside risks to the credit and avoid a serious public backlash against banks and the Banque du Liban [the central bank].”

A loss of confidence in the banks could jeopardise the dollar peg the country has maintained for two decades, analysts say, leading to a disorderly devaluation of the local currency, the lira, and exacerbating the political and economic instability.

The huge demonstrations that toppled Mr Hariri were triggered by government plans to tax WhatsApp calls. One of the most heavily indebted countries in the world, @Businessdayng

Lebanon has been grappling with its fiscal deficit for years.

The country has traditionally relied on large flows of foreign currency deposits from its vast diaspora to fund debt repayments, but now these are shrinking — a reflection of investors’ diminishing confidence in Lebanon’s economic management.

Mr Hariri had announced economic measures last week but they failed to pacify the protesters.

“The challenge is to reestablish confidence,” said Farouk Soussa, Middle East and north Africa economist at Goldman Sachs.

“There is now a credibility gap and widespread distrust in the current policymaking environment.”

48

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

FT

ANALYSIS

Apple’s wearables and services drive revenue as iPhone sags Tim Cook touts growth in non-smartphone business and offers bullish holiday outlook PATRICK MCGEE IN SAN FRANCISCO

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pple offered sceptics some proof on Wednesday that it can thrive in a future already saturated with iPhones by posting strong sales of accessories such as watches and headphones and offering bullish guidance for the holiday season.

The California tech group reported $64bn in revenue for the three months to September 30, up 2 per cent from a year ago, even as smartphone and Mac sales both declined.

That was ahead of the median Wall Street estimate for $62.9bn, driven by 54 per cent growth in the group’s increasingly prized Wearables division — comprising watches, headphones and other accessories — to $6.5bn.

Earnings per share rose 4 per cent to a record $3.03, also well ahead of expectations of $2.84 a share. Net income, however, fell 3 per cent to $13.7bn as operating costs rose from $8bn to $8.7bn.

Tim Cook, chief executive, called the quarter “remarkable” and said Apple’s growth outside of the iPhone was running at a 17 per cent rate.

Apple gave a bullish outlook for the holiday quarter just beginning, projecting between $85.5bn and $89.5bn in sales, in line with forecasts of $86.8bn. This gives Apple a chance to beat its best-ever quarter of $88.3bn.

The fourth-quarter earnings said little about sales of Apple’s refreshed line-up of iPhones, led by the “Pro” series with triple-lens cameras, as they were released with only nine days to go in the quarter. But the solid forecast implies optimism for smartphone sales as well as its Series 5 Apple Watch and the new noise-cancelling AirPods Pro wireless headphones.

Yoram Wurmser, analyst at eMar-

keter, said the projections imply Apple was not concerned with the impact of new trade tariffs that took effect on some products in September.

Indeed, Mr Cook seemed nonplussed by the tariffs. “In general my view is very positive with how things are going,” he said of the US-China trade battle. “The tone has changed significantly.”

Luca Maestri, chief financial officer, spent more time with analysts discussing foreign exchange headwinds, which held back last quarter’s revenues by $1bn, he said.

Apple’s stock rose as much as 3 per cent in after-hours trading, returning to a high it achieved earlier this week and solidifying it as the world’s largest public company, now worth $1.1tn.

Dan Ives, Wedbush analyst, said “there were no blemishes” in the earnings despite Apple briefly becoming “the poster child of the US/ China trade battle” when it removed a crowdsourcing tool from the App Store used by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Mr Maestri said Apple repurchased $18bn of its stock in the quarter and told the Financial Times he believed the company remained undervalued.

“We see great value in our stock,” he said. “Our multiples compared to some other technology companies — even compared to the market — we believe there is a lot of value there.”

Apple recorded iPhone sales down 9 per cent in the past quarter to $33.4bn, while Mac sales fell 5 per cent to $7bn.

But overall revenues rose as Services, the unit encompassing the App Store, warranties and licensing deals, hit a record $12.5bn in revenues, up 18 per cent from a year ago. Sales of iPads were up 17 per cent to $4.7bn.

US DoJ reaches settlement with Jho Low in 1MDB forfeiture case Malaysian financier at centre of scandal aims to resolve case targeting close to $1bn in assets KADHIM SHUBBER IN WASHINGTON

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ho Low, the Malaysian financier at the centre of the 1MDB scandal, has struck a $700m settlement with the US Department of Justice that resolves a string of civil forfeiture lawsuits targeting assets including luxury properties and a private jet.

The settlement, the largest civil forfeiture ever agreed by the justice department, fully resolves 10 lawsuits brought by the DoJ as it sought to recover cash allegedly stolen from 1MDB, Malaysia’s government investment fund.

It marks the latest step towards a resolution of a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal that rocked Malaysia and implicated Goldman Sachs.

“This settlement agreement forces Low and his family to relinquish hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains that were intended to be used for the benefit of the Malaysian people,” said Brian Benczkowski, the head of the criminal division of the justice department, in a statement.

The assets included in the settlement include a Bombardier Global 500 jet, high-end real estate in London, New York and Los Angeles, and a “luxury boutique hotel” in Beverly Hills.

The deal, filed in California on Wednesday evening, requires approval by the courts. It also addresses three additional lawsuits that will remain outstanding as they include other parties not involved in the agreement.

In a statement provided by his spokeswoman, Mr Low called the deal a “historic agreement” and said it was the result of “good faith discussions” with the justice department.

Mr Low, who was indicted in the US last year, still faces criminal prosecution for his alleged role as the mastermind behind the looting of 1MDB. He has denied any wrongdoing and remains at large.

“Importantly, the agreement does not constitute an admission of guilt, liability or any form of wrongdoing by me or the asset owners,” the statement added.

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The powerful forces reshaping America’s capital markets WeWork’s abandoned IPO reflects the fall in new listings and the growing role of private equity RICHARD HENDERSON IN NEW YORK AND MILES KRUPPA IN SAN FRANCISCO

W

hen WeWork spent $60m on a Gulfstream G650 jet last year, its private investors shrugged off the expense. The lossmaking property group’s valuation had soared over the years and would eventually reach an eye-watering $47bn, allowing its backers to record substantial paper gains.

Now WeWork has been presented with an $8bn valuation — part of a rescue package from its biggest investor, Japan’s SoftBank Group — and the Gulfstream is up for sale. It follows the scrapping of plans to list on the US stock market last month. Public equity investors — dismayed by lax corporate governance and escalating losses — simply did not want to own the stock.

In calling off the IPO and turning back to its private market investors, WeWork symbolised the powerful forces that are reshaping America’s capital markets as the number of new listings shrinks while the power of the private equity industry continues to surge.

Over the past two decades, the number of companies listed on the US stock market has almost halved. The world’s largest, most liquid public equity market — which has provided capital to the likes of Google, Amazon and Facebook — has lost its shine.

WeWork’s failure to convince the mutual funds, pensions and sovereign wealth funds that own the bulk of US stocks about its IPO plans could discourage other companies from listing and attracting the sceptical glare of the markets.

Instead, investors have rushed to back fast-growing private companies, even though they may be less profitable and more difficult to sell than public competitors.

This has distorted global capital

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markets and fomented fears of a bubble in private markets that may spill over into the public realm.

A boom in share buybacks, where companies purchase their own stock to increase the price, has further shrunken the stock market by reducing the number of shares from the remaining public companies. Historically low interest rates have compounded the trend, tempting companies to raise cheap debt rather than sell equity.

Even the companies that are looking to access public markets are trying to find new ways to list shares that reduce the influence of banks and give them more flexibility.

“Companies are staying private for longer and getting funded longer,” says Jim Cooney, head of equity capital markets for the Americas at Bank of America.

In 2013, a quarter of the equity raised from new shares came from the private markets, according to the bank’s data. Today the figure stands at 48 per cent — a trajectory set to continue, Mr Cooney says.

The global market for private equity, including venture capital, has swelled fivefold in the past two decades to $4.2tn of assets under management, according to end2018 data from Preqin. This has put pressure on fund managers, overseeing an additional $1.6tn, and waiting for worthy investments to put that capital to work.

WeWork’s decision to backtrack is also significant because it points to another important consequence of abundant private money — the persistent criticism that some companies are able to hide losses by simply raising more money. SoftBank and its $100bn Vision Fund, the world’s largest private equity vehicle, has embodied this strategy more than any other investor.

Those companies that eventually list do so after a longer time in private hands and emerge larger than ever before. But by delaying an IPO, businesses ignore profit@Businessdayng

ability and “create a culture of growth at any expense”, says Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager.

“That’s why so many recent IPOs haven’t done well. Public markets force more financial discipline,” Mr Fink says. “Private companies are waiting too long to go public.”

This year several hotly anticipated listings have flopped. Uber shares remain 30 per cent below their May IPO price, while shares in Lyft, its ride-hailing rival, have nearly halved since their March debut. Shares in Peloton, which sells exercise bikes, slipped 12 per cent when it listed in September and are now a fifth lower than their IPO price.

Each was among the so-called “unicorns” — start-ups valued above $1bn — that have soaked up capital from private investors.

Data company CB Insights counts 410 that remain private, a nearly tenfold increase from 2013.

“There are more alternatives today for companies to raise capital publicly or privately from a larger swath of investors than there were 20 years ago,” says Sarah Bayer, a managing director for equity capital markets at Citigroup.

Other factors may be thwarting potential IPOs, including heightened corporate reporting demands. US listed companies not only open their books for investors every three months but also provide guidance on future quarters — a requirement the likes of Warren Buffett and JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon have railed against as a driver of short-term thinking.

“The appeal of being a public company has been eviscerated,” says Rob Arnott, chairman of the fund group Research Affiliates.

“The pressure is overwhelming.”

Former US president Barack Obama attempted a remedy with the 2012 Jobs Act, which was intended to support small business and ease IPO registration for groups with under $1bn in annual revenues.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

ECONOMIC MONITOR A WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF BUSINESSDAY RESEARCH & INTELLIGENCE UNIT(BRIU)

briu@businessday.ng

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08098710024

Nigerian domestic economy in third quarter 2019 ISAAC ESOWE

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he recent macroeconomic data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for Q3 2019 reveals that the Nigerian economy enjoyed relative stability as major macroeconomic indicators remain stable during the reference period.

However, some indicators slipped while others increased but at the decelerating rate. For the period ended September 2019, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation is put at 11.24 percent. This is 0.22 percent points higher than the rate recorded in August 2019 at 11.02 percent.

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending September 2019 over the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 11.26 percent from 11.27 percent in August 2019, this slightly increased by 0.003 percentage point.

Similarly, the urban inflation rate also recorded an increase of 3 percentage points from 11.78 percent (year-on-year) in September 2019 from 11.48 percent recorded in August 2019, while the rural inflation rate increased slightly by 2 percentage points from 10.61 percent in August 2019 to 10.77 percent in September 2019.

The combined urban and rural consumers Food inflation hit a 3-month high during the considered period: July (13.39%); August (13.17%) and September (13.51%). This increase can be attributed to the persistent rise in prices of foods due to a recent ban on the importation of some items, especially, rice, chicken and other frozen

Source: NBS, BRIU

foods, among others.

Additional upward pressure came from education which increased by 9 percent from 233.3 percent in September 2018 to 253.5 percent in September 2019.

Transport by 9 percent; health by 9 percent; communications by 8 percent; restaurants & hotels by 8 percent; recreation & culture by 8 percent, and miscellaneous goods & services by 9 percent.

However, the “All items less farm produce” or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 8.94 percent in September 2019, down by 9 percent when compared with 9.8 percent recorded in September2018.

While inflation is on the rise, the high unemployment rate is equally worrisome. As at the end of the third quarter of 2018, the nation’s unemployment rate stood at 23.1 percent of the workforce, which was a 23 percent growth compared to Q3 2017. The combined percentage total of underemployed and unemployed is 43.4 percent of the total labour

Source: NBS, BRIU

force. The urban and rural unemployment rates for the reference period stood at 21.2 percent and 23.9 percent respectively.

Although the unemployment rate varies across the state, it is as a result of the major economic activities that are predominant in each state. Generally, weak demand is a prime reason for the emergence of high unemployment rate in Nigeria. Other reasons include fragile and poorly structured Nigerian economy, absence of foreign investment inflows, corruption, just to mention a few. Economic growth in the past year has not been strong enough to provide and sustain an economy that can generate significant employment opportunities across the various sectors of the economy.

Other eyeballing economic variables The Nigerian economic output grew by 1.94 percent year-onyear in Q2 2019, easing from an upwardly revised of 2.10 percent expansion in the preceding period. Growth was relatively stable

due to stability in oil output as well as successful political transition.

In Q2 2019, Nigeria recorded an average daily oil production of 1.98 million barrels per day (mbpd), which was 7.6 percent higher than the daily average production of 1.84 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2018, but slightly less than output recorded in Q1 2019 (1.99mbpd-revised from 1.96 mbpd).

Similarly, the non-oil sector grew by 1.64 percent in real terms during the reference quarter. This was a decrease of 0.40 percentage points than the value recorded in the same quarter of 2018, and a decline of 0.83 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2019.

During the same period, the value of capital importation into Nigeria stood at $5.8 billion, this represents a decrease of 31.41 percent compared to Q1 2019 and an increase of 5.56 percent when compared with Q2 2018.

The largest amount of capital importation by type was received through portfolio investment,

Source: NBS, BRIU www.businessday.ng

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which accounted for 73.76 per cent ($4,292.89m) of total capital importation, followed by Other Investment, which accounted for 22.41 per cent ($1,304.43m) of total capital imported and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which accounted for 3.83 per cent ($222.89m) of total capital imported in Q2 2019.

The value of total export in Q2 2019 increased by 1.34 percent against the level recorded in Q1, 2019 and by 2.06 percent when compared with its value in Q2, 2018. Crude oil accounted for almost 90 percent of Nigeria’s total export which was valued at N3.9 trillion. The value of export for the reference period has been relatively stable, but then, the value of import has maintained its steady rise.

Nominal growth in the education sector during the second quarter of 2019 was 11.09 percent, an increase of 6.58 percentage points from the growth of 4.52 percent reported in the corresponding quarter of 2018, and up by 1.45 percentage points when compared to Q1 2019 growth rate of 9.64 percent.

Also, nominal GDP growth of the manufacturing sector in Q2 2019 was at 37.79 percent YOY; this is 18.27 percent points higher than figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2018 (19.52 percent) and 1.34 percent points higher than the preceding quarter of 36.45 percent. Quarter on Quarter (QoQ) growth of the sector stood at 11.53 percent.

The Monetary Policy Rate(MPR) is still retained at 13.5 percent which was cut down by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during their May meeting. The exchange rate has been stable during the considered period.

50

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Markets + Finance

‘Providing proprietary research, commentary, analysis and financial news coverage unmatched in today’s market. Published weekly, Markets & Finance provides all the key intelligence you need.’

Zenith Bank is making unprecedented push into retail banking BALA AUGIE

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enith Bank Nigeria, the largest lender by profit, is making an unprecedented push into retail banking, while using its digital platform to magnify earnings and deliver a return to shareholders in form of bumper dividend and share appreciation.

It plans to expand retail loans as a percentage of total credit to about 4 percent this year from less than 1 percent in 2018, and it will achieve this by making a bigger push into personal loans, car financing and mortgages.

Increased technology use and urbanization are opening up a market of almost 200 million people where less than half of adults are banked, as the country seeks to deepen financial inclusion.

In Nigeria, there were over 172 million mobile subscribers, accounting to a penetration rate of 87 percent of the population.

This figure represented a 6.4 percent growth increase, compared to 162 million subscribers in 2017, according to recent report by online shopping giant, Jumia.

The report further stated that over 112 million Nigerians had access to the internet in 2018, representing 56 percent of the population.

Zenith Bank has introduced an array of products designed to ensure that banking services reach peo-

ple wherever they are and regardless of age or demography, and those living in the rural areas are captured in the financial architecture.

It introduced Z-Money, is an agency banking product which entails the on boarding of agents who are expected to render basic financial services on behalf of the lender, Through the bank’s network of agents spread across the urban and rural communities in the country, customers are able to open accounts, deposit cash into any account, withdraw cash from any bank account, transfer funds, buy airtime, pay bills, and do so much more in a convenient way. In order to engender trust among its customers, the Bank ensures that all transactions done through the agents are PIN protected and safe.

The bank remains focused on providing premium financial solutions that create value for its customers wherever they are located across the country, according to Ebenezer Onyeagwu Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Bank.

Onyeagwu added that apart from helping to extend the bank’s retail reach across all segments of the market, the adoption of the agency banking platform also demonstrates the bank’s commitment to achieving financial inclusion in the country.

Zenith Bank also introduced a new feature on its internet banking platform that allows customers apply for Dubai Visa and make the associated Visa fee payment

Ebenezer Onyeagwu, group managing director/chief executive of the Bank

effortlessly.

According to the bank, the new offering is aimed at creating a more convenient and efficient way for Nigerians to apply for Dubai Visa, as a large number of people travel there several times each year.

It had introduced the Zenith Children’s Account (ZECA) Education Loan to assist parents pay their children/ wards school fees as the new school session begins.

The loan offering, which is disbursed directly to the account of the beneficiary’s school, comes at a very competitive interest rate and

flexible repayment tenors.

To access the loan, parents are required to open a ZECA account for their children/ wards at any of the bank’s branches.

To ensure its services are more aptly suited for the life style of needs to its customers, the largest lender by profit has upgraded its mobile banking application.

The upgraded mobile app has an improved user interface and more offerings such as QR payments, biometric sign-on for android users, and a help menu for prompt challenge resolution to guarantee a more rewarding bank

experience.

The bank recorded a remarkable growth in both value and volume of electronic product transactions, resulting in a 169 percent growth in income on electronic products.

Its aggressive retail drive is yielding fruit as cost to income ratio, a measure of efficient, improved to 51.10 percent in the first nine months of 2019, from 51.20 percent a year ago, which added impetus to the bottom line as Earning Per Share (EPS) increased to N4.58 per share in the period under review from N4.80.

It generated N73.84 billion in fees and commission income in the third quarter of 2019, which represents a 19.09 percent increase from N62 billion realised the previous year. A further analysis shows the figure eclipsed the N54.50 billion it generated in 2015.

Noninterest revenue stood at N156.75 billion in the period under review, from N128.73 billion in 2018, but lower than N169.47 billion in 2017, while it is higher than the N94.87 billion and N80.32 billion, N60.79 billion realized in 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Zenith Bank is committed to continue to grow its retail business. This will be achieved through the deployment of innovative products in mobile banking, internet banking and cards services.

The capturing of bio data (BVN) of all bank’s customers across the industry into as single data base has also boosted its retail banking business as it is now able to grow its retail loans.

Zenith Bank Plc is recognized as one of the most innovative financial institutions in Nigeria and was voted the most customerfocused bank in Nigeria for the Retail and SME segments in the 2018 KPMG Annual Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (BICSS).

The bank’s commitment to world-class service standards has led to several prod-

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uct innovations over the last few weeks including the “Zenith Timeless Account”, which allows Nigerians aged 55 years and above bank for free, the “Zenith Save4me”, a high interest target savings account and “Dubai Visa Service” on the Zenith Internet Banking Platform, which allows convenient application and payment for visas to Dubai.

About Zenith Bank About Zenith Bank Plc Zenith Bank Plc offers its clients a wide range of corporate, investment, business and personal banking products and solutions. It is one of the biggest and most profitable banks in Nigeria.

The bank was established in May 1990 and started operations in July same year as a commercial bank. It became a public limited company on September17, 2004 and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on October 21, 2004 following a highly successful Initial Public Offering (IPO). Zenith Bank listed on the London Stock Exchange via a non-capital raising GDR on March 21, 2013.

The Bank presently hasa shareholder base of over one million, an indication of the strength of the Zenith brand. It is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. With over five hundred (500) branches and business offices nationwide, Zenith Bank has presence in all the state capitals, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and major towns and metropolitan centres in Nigeria.

The Bank’s expansion is not limited to Nigeria as Zenith became the first Nigerian bank in 25 years to be licensed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK for the commencement of banking operations by Zenith Bank (UK) Limited in April, 2007. This is in addition to its presence in Ghana, Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited, Sierra Leone, Zenith Bank (Sierra Leone) Limited, Gambia, Zenith Bank (Gambia) Limited and a representative office inBeijing, China and Dubai branch of Zenith Bank UK.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

51

Live @ The STOCK Exchanges Prices for Securities Traded as of Thursday 31 October 2019 Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities) BANKING ACCESS BANK PLC. 264,811.93 7.45 -0.67 209 9,733,584 UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC 198,356.64 5.80 0.87 199 21,658,593 ZENITH BANK PLC 533,740.39 17.00 0.29 541 103,685,102 949 135,077,279 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC 188,450.29 5.25 -0.94 122 5,383,048 122 5,383,048 1,071 140,460,327 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES MTN NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS PLC 2,564,668.64 126.00 -0.79 72 21,254,644 72 21,254,644 72 21,254,644 BUILDING MATERIALS DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 2,545,851.81 149.40 0.27 71 2,367,216 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 214,233.68 13.30 -0.75 74 754,042 145 3,121,258 145 3,121,258 EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 332,471.18 565.00 9.28 28 117,235 28 117,235 28 117,235 1,316 164,953,464 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC 1,710.00 85.50 - 0 0 UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) 10,175.81 40.70 - 2 150 UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 13,074.52 4.90 - 0 0 2 150 2 150 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND 411.91 552.20 - 0 0 VALUEALLIANCE VALUE FUND 3,312.39 103.20 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 150 CROP PRODUCTION FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 440.00 0.20 - 0 0 OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 50,509.53 52.95 - 6 2,592 PRESCO PLC 38,400.00 38.40 - 4 10,600 10 13,192 FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC. 8,520.00 4.26 - 0 0 0 0 LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 1,380.00 0.46 - 6 99,700 6 99,700 16 112,892 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 741.24 0.28 - 1 3,408 214.03 0.55 - 0 0 JOHN HOLT PLC. S C O A NIG. PLC. 1,903.99 2.93 - 10 7,480 TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC 40,241.51 0.99 -1.98 19 11,069,170 U A C N PLC. 18,728.43 6.50 0.78 64 3,486,213 94 14,566,271 94 14,566,271 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ARBICO PLC. 711.32 4.79 - 0 0 0 0 INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 24,486.00 18.55 - 10 46,322 ROADS NIG PLC. 165.00 6.60 - 0 0 10 46,322 REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 2,780.28 1.07 - 5 101,062 5 101,062 15 147,384 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 954.53 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 7,829.50 1.00 -0.99 2 101,750 GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. 242.22 0.89 - 0 0 GUINNESS NIG PLC 52,240.63 23.85 - 33 63,265 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 108,307.86 12.60 - 4 1,054 NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 399,845.10 50.00 8.11 47 483,072 86 649,141 FOOD PRODUCTS DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 111,250.00 22.25 - 0 0 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 124,200.00 10.35 - 26 57,040 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 58,225.39 14.20 1.43 36 650,286 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 7,533.69 0.95 - 6 123,200 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC 1,340.10 0.36 - 0 0 N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 766.26 4.30 - 0 0 NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC 39,344.16 14.85 - 6 4,520 UNION DICON SALT PLC. 3,321.07 12.15 - 0 0 74 835,046 FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 18,030.74 9.60 - 9 11,217 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 967,040.63 1,220.00 - 89 374,002 98 385,219 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. 1,680.31 22.10 - 0 0 VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 4,377.95 3.50 - 15 116,439 15 116,439 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 21,837.62 5.50 - 14 82,983 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 153,391.64 26.70 - 2 7,319 16 90,302 289 2,076,147 BANKING ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 130,281.81 7.10 - 15 68,528 FIDELITY BANK PLC 49,836.65 1.72 1.78 79 8,542,001 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 732,836.36 24.90 -2.35 250 39,183,225 JAIZ BANK PLC 14,437.48 0.49 8.89 6 265,100 STERLING BANK PLC. 58,444.55 2.03 1.50 19 747,515 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 203,845.27 7.00 -0.71 14 230,024 6,312.24 0.54 -8.47 7 282,109 UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. 21,987.45 0.57 1.79 16 732,882 406 50,051,384 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC 4,117.00 0.20 - 0 0 AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 4,781.84 0.69 2.99 16 3,045,984 AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC 17,325.00 1.65 - 3 3,203 CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC 3,252.00 0.40 8.11 5 350,000 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 24,894.59 2.40 - 3 151,640 CORNERSTONE INSURANCE PLC 6,628.28 0.45 - 1 4,000 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 909.99 0.20 - 0 0 GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 1,228.00 0.20 - 0 0 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE PLC 487.95 0.38 - 0 0 LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 1,904.09 0.26 4.00 12 2,040,000 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 1,933.35 0.45 -8.16 3 102,010 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 4,080.00 0.51 - 2 24,500 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. 2,234.55 0.20 - 20 6,524,405 NEM INSURANCE PLC 10,561.01 2.00 - 9 54,259 NIGER INSURANCE PLC 1,547.90 0.20 - 1 10,000 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC 2,745.10 0.51 - 0 0 REGENCY ASSURANCE PLC 1,333.75 0.20 - 0 0 SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 1,668.16 0.20 - 0 0 STACO INSURANCE PLC 4,483.72 0.48 - 0 0 STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. 2,582.21 0.20 - 0 0 2,800.00 0.20 - 1 4,600 SUNU ASSURANCES NIGERIA PLC. UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. 516.46 0.20 - 0 0 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE PLC 3,200.00 0.20 - 0 0 VERITAS KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 2,773.33 0.20 - 0 0 WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 4,550.13 0.34 -8.82 92 7,754,055 168 20,068,656

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MICRO-FINANCE BANKS NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 2,721.10 1.19 - 2 93,300 2 93,300 MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC 4,200.00 1.00 - 0 0 ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 7,370.87 0.50 - 0 0 INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC 5,796.93 1.39 - 0 0 RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 2,265.95 0.20 - 0 0 2,949.22 3.02 - 0 0 UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. 0 0 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AFRICA PRUDENTIAL PLC 7,800.00 3.90 - 28 176,452 CUSTODIAN INVESTMENT PLC 32,056.16 5.45 - 4 56,900 660.00 0.44 - 0 0 DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. 31,684.34 1.60 -0.62 52 85,120,843 ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 1,029.07 0.20 - 2 180,000 STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC 387,517.72 37.00 - 8 2,445 UNITED CAPITAL PLC 12,300.00 2.05 0.49 45 1,597,210 139 87,133,850 715 157,347,190 HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS EKOCORP PLC. 1,680.29 3.37 - 0 0 UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 817.22 0.23 -8.00 3 206,000 3 206,000 MEDICAL SUPPLIES MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 494.58 0.50 - 0 0 0 0 PHARMACEUTICALS EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 366.17 0.50 - 0 0 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 8,345.44 4.00 - 1 100 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. 7,534.02 6.30 - 12 31,709 MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 3,450.47 2.00 - 3 19,522 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 740.67 0.39 - 3 107,012 556.71 3.62 - 0 0 NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. PHARMA-DEKO PLC. 325.23 1.50 - 0 0 19 158,343 22 364,343 COMPUTER BASED SYSTEMS COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC 781.44 0.22 - 7 280,560 7 280,560 COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS OMATEK VENTURES PLC 1,470.89 0.50 - 0 0 0 0 IT SERVICES CWG PLC 6,413.06 2.54 - 0 0 NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 486.00 4.50 - 0 0 TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. 316.77 0.64 - 2 9,500 2 9,500 PROCESSING SYSTEMS CHAMS PLC 1,127.05 0.24 9.09 18 2,113,901 E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 9,996.00 2.38 - 0 0 18 2,113,901 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AIRTEL AFRICA PLC 1,157,510.66 308.00 - 6 235 6 235 33 2,404,196 BUILDING MATERIALS BERGER PAINTS PLC 2,173.68 7.50 - 8 22,142 CAP PLC 17,885.00 25.55 - 16 27,175 CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 208,981.67 15.90 - 14 68,575 MEYER PLC. 313.43 0.59 - 0 0 PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC 1,769.32 2.23 - 0 0 PREMIER PAINTS PLC. 1,156.20 9.40 - 0 0 38 117,892 ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC 2,256.91 2.09 - 1 2 CUTIX PLC. 2,465.85 1.40 - 8 47,304 9 47,306 PACKAGING/CONTAINERS BETA GLASS PLC. 26,898.49 53.80 - 2 125 GREIF NIGERIA PLC 388.02 9.10 - 0 0 2 125 AGRO-ALLIED & CHEMICALS NOTORE CHEMICAL IND PLC 100,754.14 62.50 - 0 0 0 0 49 165,323 CHEMICALS B.O.C. GASES PLC. 2,547.42 6.12 - 1 10 1 10 METALS ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. 1,781.64 8.10 - 0 0 0 0 MINING SERVICES MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC 852.39 0.20 - 1 500 1 500 PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. 83.60 0.38 - 0 0 0 0 2 510 ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC 1,252.54 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES OANDO PLC 38,661.69 3.11 -7.44 65 3,151,462 65 3,151,462 PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS 11 PLC 53,332.04 147.90 - 18 20,017 CONOIL PLC 10,686.86 15.40 - 12 17,489 ETERNA PLC. 3,716.81 2.85 - 20 192,315 FORTE OIL PLC. 20,709.45 15.90 - 22 119,734 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 5,166.13 16.95 - 0 0 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 41,829.09 123.20 - 6 1,726 78 351,281 143 3,502,743 ADVERTISING AFROMEDIA PLC 1,642.45 0.37 - 0 0 0 0 AIRLINES MEDVIEW AIRLINE PLC 17,551.17 1.80 - 0 0 0 0 AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS R T BRISCOE PLC. 294.09 0.25 - 0 0 0 0 COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 2,623.26 4.45 - 5 27,615 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. 393.83 0.84 - 0 0 5 27,615 HOSPITALITY TANTALIZERS PLC 642.33 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 HOTELS/LODGING CAPITAL HOTEL PLC 4,723.78 3.05 - 1 2 IKEJA HOTEL PLC 2,224.31 1.07 - 0 0 TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 7,862.53 3.50 - 0 0 TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC 41,042.18 5.40 - 1 1,000 2 1,002 MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 4,800.00 0.40 - 1 2 1 2 PRINTING/PUBLISHING ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 205.63 0.34 - 0 0 902.60 1.17 5.41 6 141,291 LEARN AFRICA PLC STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. 1,183.82 1.99 - 0 0 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 560.83 1.30 7.44 32 1,926,274 38 2,067,565 ROAD TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC 729.39 0.44 - 0 0 0 0

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52

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

53

MADE in aba

Positioning Aba products for global competitiveness Gbemi Faminu

C

o n su m e r s i n Nigeria are familiar with made-in-Aba products.

The Aba model has been in existence for many years and has continued to thrive irrespective of a myriad of challenges, policy changes and influx of foreign products into Nigeria.

Aba has over 50,000 manufacturers of shoes and fabrics, contributing to employment and the gross development of Abia State and Nigeria.

Despite the large amount of dedication, innovation and passion, these artisans still have to work tirelessly to sustain themselves while much of the profit goes right past them— to the waiting hands of those who do less work.

Aba products are exported abroad, but most of them are branded ‘Made in China’ or ‘Made in Italy’ to enhance their marketability.

“It is trade malpractice, but its target is to increase a c c e p t a b i l i t y ,” s a i d Ike Ibeabuchi, CEO of MD Services Limited, a manufacturer and service provider.

“But it would really be nice to make Aba brand strong by projecting it to the rest of the world. This can only be achieved by letting the world know where the products are coming from,” he further said.

Quality is a major issue for Aba products. It is still a mixed bag as many Aba products have good quality while others have comparatively low quality.

Olusegun Adeniyi, a Nigerian consumer, said he does not trust many Aba products and generally made-in-Nigeria goods.

“I always take my time when buying things for myself and I do not mind the cost as long as I am able to get value for my money,” he told BusinessDay. “I prefer foreign products not necessarily top designers but as long as I am sure of its durability and quality. I do not trust most Nigerian made products as they do not give value for its purpose,” he said.

Mbanefo Elijah, a Lagos-

based consumer, said Aba manufacturers must be sensitive to quality and designs.

“Whenever I shop, I watch out for quality, beauty, and durability regardless of the cost,” he said. ”Once it meets these criteria, I rush for it, whether it is Nigerian or foreign made. I use both of them because some of the locally made products surpass foreign products,” he further said.

But things are looking up in Aba in terms of designs.

Traders from West African neighbours come into the industrial city every week to buy different product designs. Southern African schools place orders directly from the shoe makers. Even Canadians, Europeans and the Chinese are coming, placing orders themselves directly or through their Nigerian proxies, BusinessDay was told in Aba. One million pairs of shoes are produced by more than 80,000 leather makers in Aba each week. With 48 million pairs produced each year at an average price of N2,500 a pair, the industry is said to be worth up to N120 billion.

The Aba artisans put in efforts to expand their horizon, but experts tap regular training as one major way of boosting the capacities of the artisans.

The business is getting bigger by the day. Many are already online, with the likes, of Gada Africa, Jiji.ng and abanaijamade.com. ng, among others, handling marketing and distribution of those shoes, including belts and trunk boxes, after online orders are taken.

Online shops take 20 to 50 percent cuts from sellers, BusinessDay gathered from the shoe makers.

But analysts suggest that Aba artisans must form partnerships with local and foreign businessmen to scale.

Most businesses in Aba are not registered formally with the government or the Corporate Affairs Commission. This hinders e a s y a c c e s s t o l o a n s, national and international opportunities; and leads to less business visibility.

Most of the businesses in Aba are worth more www.businessday.ng

than the owners are aware of. Development of these businesses will not only promote the made-inNigeria campaign, but will help the manufacturers to scale, create more job opportunities, and boost the reputation of made-inAba/-Nigeria products.

Aba has high potential in leather and garment.

The Abia leather industry alone is made up of shoes, trunk boxes and belts. It p rov i d e s e m p l oy m e nt for tens of thousands, with many specialising in different stages such

as designing, patterning, cutting, skiving, stitching, peeling and finishing. It is made up of clusters such as Powerline, Imo Avenue, Bakassi, Aba North Shoe Plaza, Omemma Traders and Workers, ATE Bag, and Ochendo Industrial Market, comprising input suppliers, among others.

However, the industry is in thriving in chaos as the majority of shoe makers in the industrial city are poorly structured, making scale-up difficult. Exports are made informally, making tracking and planning difficult.

Okezie Ikpeazu, governor, Abia State https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

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Their machines are crude and much of their work is still done by human labour. The more advanced shoe makers in Lagos are mostly foreigners, who design their shoes abroad and then import Completely Knocked Down shoes back to the country for finishing. “ This is where the problem lies. We in Aba have no good machines,” Ken Anyanwu, secretary of the Association of Leather and Allied Industrialists of Nigeria (ALAN), who produced Nigerian armed forces shoes in 2016.

“The Bank of Industry has done its best by giving some of us N300,000 each, but it takes $250,000 to N750,000 to set up a standard shoe factory,” he said.

He said this is why the majority of Aba shoe makers are not meeting demands and are over working themselves once orders are placed.

“It is a problem already for us because if a customer comes and we can’t meet demand, he will go elsewhere. The industry needs retooling,” he said.

Nigeria and Ethiopia have things in common in terms of leather. Ethiopia is home to 56 million cattle, which provide ready raw materials to shoe makers.

But Nigeria has 131 million cattle, goats and sheep, according to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (2011 figures), with more shoe makers. The country is the second most populous (with 105 million people) @Businessdayng

after Nigeria with almost 200 million people.

Nevertheless, Aba shoe makers import animal skins from China and many parts of Africa and Europe.

“What happens is that the tanneries in Kano and Kaduna process animal skins and sell them as leather in the global market, earning foreign exchange,” said Chinatu Nwagbara, coordinator of Made-inAba Project, who produced shoes for Olusegun Obasanjo in 2016.

“So we go to China and other countries to buy.

Sometimes, we buy our products and re-import,” he said.

More investments are going to Ethiopia. Between October and December 2016, Ethiopia attracted over $500 million in FDI to the shoe and leather industry.

About 124 investors willing to invest $3.5 billion indicated interest to swell the export-oriented shoe market, according to the E t h i o p i a n I nv e s t m e n t Commission (EIC).

Ethiopia exported $33.7 million worth of footwear products, mainly to the United States in 2015, one million lower than the preceding year. Through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the US-Africa trade law that allows duty-free and quota-free access into the US market, Ethiopia shoe exports jumped from $630,000 to nearly $7m between 2011 and 2012, a more than tenfold increase, according to statistics from USAID. The Abia State government said in 2016 that Huajian Group in Ethiopia, which made shoes for Ivanka Trump, United States president’s wife, would be coming to Aba. In S eptemb er 2017, Sherr y Z hang, general manager of Huajian Shoes in Addis Ababa, told BusinessDay in Addis that the company was still interested in setting up a shoe factory in Aba, southeast Nigeria. But this has not happened since. However, a new set of machines have been imported by a new investor i n Ab a, w h o p l a n s t o modernise the industry, BusinessDay was told.

Friday 01 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Achieving inclusive, sustainable economic growth through innovative capital market Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed

I

am delighted and honoured to join you today to provide the keynote address at this year’s BusinessDay Investment and Capital Markets Conference, themed “Market Recovery, Innovation and Regulation in Nigeria”.

Earlier this month [October], during the Nigerian Economic Summit, I posed the question: What do we want our future Nigeria to look like, and how will we design the necessary policies, sustainably finance them, and ensure the thriving and booming private sector-led economy integral to bringing about the much-needed paradigm shift that will lead us there?

I also shared a vision for a future Nigeria where the majority of Nigerians have been sustainably lifted out of poverty, and have access to fundamental services including education, health care, water supply and sanitation; a future where all are financially included, with affordable access to financial products and services; a future where we have left no one behind.

Our capital market is crucial to actualising this future, and to achieving the sustained, inclusive and equitable socio-economic growth that this government aims to achieve. It allows for the mobilisation of longterm savings for investment as well as efficient pricing of financial instruments.

Further, it has provided a necessary platform through which the business sector and government have been able to source for capital to expand their operations and provide public goods and services for the citizens.

Therefore, we recognise the importance of maintaining a competitive, resilient and innovative capital market through, in part, the development of appropriate policies, and a strong regulatory and enabling environment, and continued implementation of the 10year Capital Market Master Plan (2015 to 2025), aimed at positioning the Nigerian capital market for accelerated development of the national economy.

Overview of the macroeconomic environment I plan to share government’s priority areas generally, and specifically the priorities and economic agenda for the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. Let me first take a few moments to provide

Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning

context on the macroeconomic environment.

Global economy: The global economy has experienced a synchronised slowdow n w ith grow th weaker than expected in about 90 countries. Specifically, growth is projected to slow down from 3.6 percent in 2018 to 3.0 percent in 2019, representing the weakest over the last decade. Main triggers of the global slowdown include the trade tensions leading to the disruption of global value chains, entrenched policy uncertainty, rising debt concerns, looming crisis in Brexit and adverse geopolitical developments. We therefore called for continued momentum from trade truce to trade peace that will enhance macroeconomic stability.

Domestic economy: Pursuant to implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), we have seen the economy exit from recession and set on a path of sustainable, inclusive and diversified growth. Specifically, we have seen real GDP recover from the -1.6 percent contraction in 2016, and we have had nine con-

secutive quarters of growth since the exit from recession, though levels remain below desirable targets.

Annual GDP growth increased from 0.82 percent in 2017 to 1.93 percent in 2018 and 2.10 percent in 2019. In Q2 2019, GDP grew at 1.94 percent due to growth moderation in agriculture, telecommunications, manufacturing, real estate and trade.

On economic diversification, we continue to deepen our non-oil economic performance with non-oil Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at over 90 percent of GDP as at Q2 2019. In the area of security, we made successful efforts to counter the insurgency in the North-East and to resolve militancy conflicts in other parts of Nigeria.

Regarding trade, we have seen improved trade balances, with a move from a deficit to a surplus. As at Q2 2019, the trade balance was positive at N588.7 billion.

Additionally, we have been able to raise and maintain more stable oil production levels.

Learning from the lessons of the recent oil price boom and bust

Having recognised that Nigeria’s past failure to plan and execute for sustainable, diversified and inclusive growth and development led to the inevitable recession precipitated by external shocks (oil price collapse) and other factors, government remains committed to (i) executing the ERGP’s priorities programmes; (ii) developing the investmentdriven non-oil sector NOT dependent on oil earnings; (iii) using oil and non-oil revenues to transition away from past dependencies on the oil sector.

Ultimately, it is about building a more resilient foundation moving forward, and a strong, innovative and thriving capital market is integral to such a future.

As we continue towards sustainable, diversified and inclusive growth and development, government remains mindful of current and prospective economic headwinds; slower GDP growth and recovery (due to challenges in the agriculture (e.g., security, floods, etc.) and oil sector (e.g., technical issues, underinvestment in production, etc.); the lingering impact of politics and the

2019 elections on investor sentiment, economic recovery and growth; revenue challenges as economy recovers: e.g., tax revenues to rise in tandem with economic recovery, although with a one-year time lag for corporate and trade-related taxes; and issues of sustainability relating to the debt service to revenue ratio.

Government’s 11 priority areas Government is currently focused on the implementation of policies and programmes in line with the following 11 government priority areas: (A) Economic and governance reforms 1) Macroeconomic stability through coordinated economic, monetary, fiscal & trade policies 2) Fight corruption & improve governance (B) Enhanced Investments in physical infrastructure, human capital development to spur job creation & economic growth 3) Improve health, education & productivity of Nigerians 4) Ensure energy sufficiency (power) 5) Ensure energy sufficiency (petroleum products) 6) Improve transportation & other infrastructure 7) Drive industrialisation, focusing on macro, small and medium-sized enterprises (C) Optimise investments in physical security & food security to drive inclusive socio-economic development 8) Improve security for all citizens 9) Enhance agriculture self-sufficiency to achieve food security 10) Enhance social inclusion by scaling-up social investments 11) Improve access to mass housing & consumer credit to enhance financial inclusion Priorities and economic agenda of the Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning Integral to achieving our collective goals under the Eleven Priority Areas is the need for a significant push towards mobilising domestic revenues, increased coordination and alignment of fiscal, macroeconomic, monetary, and trade policies, and the prudent management of emerging fiscal risks. This is especially relevant to today’s discussion, as it is well established that the above factors are important as we look to strengthen, further enable, and to ensure continued innovation in the domestic

capital market.

The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning is focused on the following five priority areas: (1) Enhancing revenue generation, collection & monitoring: particularly through (a) continued implementation of the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives (SRGI); (b) the ongoing reconciliation and monitoring of revenues by the Presidential Revenue Monitoring and Reconciliation Committee; (c) the review of current tax laws and development targeted at fiscal policy reforms to coincide with the annual budget cycle; and (d) the deployment of innovative ICT solutions (such as the ministry’s Project Lighthouse) aimed at leveraging and mining big data to enhance revenue tracking for informed decision-making.

On tax laws, we reconstituted the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee (NTPIC) to review various tax laws & produce a single draft Finance Bill 2019 to support FGN’s 2020 budget.

The Draft Finance Bill, which accompanied the 2020 Executive Budget Proposal submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly on October 8, 2019, included five strategic objectives aimed at achieving incremental but necessary changes to the country’s tax and fiscal laws.

Amongst these strategic objectives is the introduction of tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets, and specifically the introduction of tax rules to complement existing SEC Regulations for Securities Lending Transactions on The Nigerian Stock Exchange. This strategic objective recognises the crucial relationship between fiscal policy, the regulatory environment and the strong capital market we all seek to ensure in Nigeria.

We plan that going forward, the annual budget will always be accompanied by finance bills to enable the realisation of revenue projections. Future Finance Bills will therefore also provide us with additional opportunities to incrementally improve the fiscal policy and regulatory/ legal environment in order to further strengthen our domestic capital market, and ultimately ensure sustained and inclusive growth and development.

(2) Accelerating fiscal consolidation by optimising priority capital & reContinues on page 37

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