BusinessDay 01 Sep 2020

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news you can trust I ** tuesDAY 01 september 2020 I vol. 19, no 641 isaac anyaogu

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eary investors are now renewing their interest in Nigeria’s beleaguered electricity sector as they count on the new service-reflective tariff Continues on page 29

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With new service-reflective tariff, investor interest in power sector grows Nigeria requires competitive ports to reboot economy, create jobs Page 4 Inside

Source: World Bank, NSC, KPA, BusinessDay

Source: SBM Intel, BusinessDay

Multinationals stuck with P. 29 naira they don’t need find way of beating dollar crunch

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news Rivers signs 330,000 cubic litres water deal that may give 6,200 jobs Ignatius Chukwu

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ivers State government has signed contracts for the rehabilitation and upgrading of water supply for Port Harcourt and Obio/ Akpor local council areas, thereby reviving the loan deal abandoned long ago.

The project, which will upgrade 496 kilometres of pipeline, will produce 330,000 cubic litres of potable water per day, according to the Rivers State Government House on Monday after signing the agreement with contactors.

In addition, the project would create 1,200 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs.

Speaking at the ceremony, Governor Nyesom Wike advised the contractors handling the projects not to compromise the agreed standard.

Ibibia Walter signed on behalf of the Rivers State government, Chen Kangle for CGC Nigeria Limited, Yang Gengqi for Top International Engineering Corporation, and Iskandar Taslakian signed for Mothercat Limited.

Governor Wike urged the contractors to mobilise to site in preparation for the expect-

ed project flag-off on October 1, 2020, saying, “Let me warn, in Rivers State, we do not compromise with quality of work viz-a-viz timely delivery of contracts.

“I shall be visiting all project sites unannounced, to monitor progress and compliance with specification.

I am requesting the African Development Bank (AfDB) that will finance the project to do so with 100 percent cost of net of taxes.

“The COVID-19 pandemic presented huge challenges, as the accruable revenues both to Federal Statutory Allocation and Internally Generated Revenue have dropped.

“The Commissioner of Water Resources and Rural Development and the Managing Director of Port Harcourt Water Corporation should engage AfDB with the view to get the Bank to finance 100 percent of the cost of the project net of taxes.

“I am aware that the loan closing date is April 2021. I am directing the commissioner and the managing director to submit applica-

Continues on page 31

Decreasing demand by Nigeria’s traditional crude buyers paints gloomy picture for the economy HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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oncerns are now being raised as major buyers of Nigeria’s crude oil continue to cut demand, a development industry experts say is creating more burdens to an already stretched economy battling low revenue and facing recession.

Nigeria has relied so much on its rich oil resources with annual budget relying heavily on oil proceeds, but, it has also delayed in ensuring that the enabling law that could see it tap richly from the benefits of the oil resources is enacted.

As Covid-19 pandemic continues to bite harder on economies, the United States, one of Nigeria’s traditional oil buyers, recently reported a slash in its crude imports from Nigeria to 9.37 million barrels in the first five months of 2020.

This is 11.67 million barrels lower than what it bought in the same period of 2019.

“If the global economy doesn’t start properly, we could see oil cuts more. As you can see, America cut its demand recently from Nigerian oil,” Henry Ademola Adigun, an oil sector governance expert, told BusinessDay. Nigeria’s crude oil earning was again threatened after India, the largest buyer of the country’s crude, announced lowest oil imports in 10 years

as at June 2020.

Experts observe that with the global oil demand trend, amid the coronavirus pandemic concerns, Nigeria needs to get ready for a gas revolution to support its dwindling economic fortunes.

According to Adigun, “Nigeria needs to start preparing to harvest the benefits of its gas resources. NNPC should start focusing on gas rather than focusing on oil alone, there must be focus on increasing production.

“By few years, our oil cannot fund our budgets sufficiently. The signs are already there, you can see we are borrowing to fund budget.”

Adigun recalled the government emphasis on “a year of gas” but, regrettably, the fiscals in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that should push that had not yet been worked on.

“The minister needs to do more with a policy and fiscals that would enable us drive gas revolution,” he further stressed.

Adeola Adenikinju, a professor of Energy Economics at the University of Ibadan, speaking on this development, said, “We owe it as a duty for a long term development to reduce our over reliance on crude oil,” noting that many developed countries were also

Continues on page 31 www.businessday.ng

Nigeria requires competitive ports to reboot economy, create jobs AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

BUSINESSDAY JOBS & GROWTH SERIES

n China, ports are the gateways to international trade. One hundred and thirty of its 2,000 ports are open to foreign ships. Dwell time is no more an issue, and traders are aware of what to spend to get their goods in and out.

As a result, 12 of its marinerelated companies created 10.75 million jobs in just in 2017, according to Alistair McIlgorm, a marine and fisheries economics and management specialist.

In 2011, Port of Shanghai overtook Singapore as world’s busiest port, handling 514 million annual cargo tonnages.

Seven of the top 10 container ports in the world were Chinese as at 2018, according to data from the World Shipping

Council.

Apart from Shanghai, there is a model in Africa that Nigeria can copy. The Port of Durban in South Africa is the largest and busiest shipping terminal on the continent, with 58 berths, handling up to 45 million tons of cargo and 4,500 commercial vessels every year.

It ferries out $45 billion worth of trade annually - equal to 11 percent of Nigeria’s GDP. Rail tracks totalling 302 kilometres link the port to the rest of South Africa and provides 100,000 jobs, including the use of drones for surveillance, monitoring and for other operations.

The port, also known as Durban Harbour, has a trackand-trace technology that

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tracks port assets such as tugs and dredgers.

It is transforming into a mega logistics gateway and, like Lagos, is located close to a central business district.

Nigerian ports on the other hand handled 4,009 vessels in 2018, according to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

This number means that Apapa and Tin Can ports in Lagos handled fewer vessels than Durban.

Business worth about N1.9 trillion ($5bn) is done at the Nigerian ports and waterways each year, according to Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), as against Durban’s $45 billion.

But empty containers dot Apapa and Tin Can ports, two of the nation’s premier

ports located in Lagos, causing congestions. Scanners are not working at the ports, and access roads are nearly inaccessible.

When railways are constructed, no one understands the economics of linking them to the ports.

Today, the documentation processes for cargo clearing is clumsy and cumbersome for importers, and as a result, it takes a minimum of three weeks to clear cargoes from the ports.

The management of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has succeeded in creating multiple units for cargo clearing at ports due to physical inspection caused by lack of functional scanners.

These units are presently

Continues on page 31

Nigeria risks losing COVID-19 lessons on healthcare rot as international airspace opens Temitayo Ayetoto

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he hard lessons taught

by Covid-19 disruption on the costly consequence of decades of healthcare neglect for all Nigerians may soon be lost in the excitement of access to foreign alternatives that international flights resumption promises, some health industry stakeholders fear.

The quick spread of the disease globally and the deadly impact on citizens of even countries with the most developed health facilities were forces that caged Nigeria’s elite within the shores of the country, forcing all and sundry to rely on the weak health system available.

Some of Nigeria’s top politicians, government functionaries and elites regrettably could not find standard hospitals to settle for within their immediate locale as they had to be whisked into Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve. This is while the average Nigerians had to grapple with bouts of rejections from public hospitals that were ill-equipped to tackle the virus.

But as the international space sets to open September 5, stakeholders are worried that businesses might return to usual with the wealthy and powerful class preferring to attend to minor and major health needs overseas, while the public health system wallows in rot.

“The reality is that if the politicians and the comfortable people look at it well, they will realise that if you spoil your health system it affects everybody at the end of the day. I think that postCovid-19, we should be more reasonable and try as much as possible to invest in health-

care,” Saliu Oseni, Nigeria Medical Association’s (NMA) national deputy secretary, told BusinessDay. “The amount they use to take care of trivial cases overseas is probably enough to even start hospitals in some quarters. Quite a good number of the things they are trying to mage outside the country can be managed here,” Oseni said.

The medical doctor noted that medical tourism had continued to provide a soft landing, filling the gap of poor health structure for those at the top.

Since 2000, Nigeria’s government health expenditure saw its highest level at 7.3 percent of total government expenditure in 2006. From 5.3 percent in 2015, it plunged to 4.5 percent against the 2001 African Union agreement that member countries will commit at least 15 percent of their annual budget to improve the health sector.

For Akeem Olowofela, a resident doctor at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun State, wasting the lessons from Covid-19 could amount to a huge loss of an experience that should trigger an overarching rehabilitation of the country’s health system for good. Healthcare access in Nigeria needs to grow to a level where basic services can be provided to the average Nigerians without a huge burden of out-of-pocket expenditure.

Olowofela lamented that the country’s hospitals were still few compared to the population seeking health services and were mostly handicapped by lack of improved equipment and expertise to provide prompt clinical in-

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tervention. While higher-cost alternatives are available in private hospitals and laboratories, Nigeria’s poor still find themselves at the mercy of cheaper public health centres where the dearth of bed spaces frequently stands between life and death.

“I have a friend in Georgia, USA, who had some health challenges and visited a particular community hospital with his wife. They did a test worth N30,000 free of charge.

That is the kind of thing we don’t have in this country.

Ordinary people cannot access what is basically good.

And what is very good are quite very expensive. An ordinary general hospital is not equipped to do anything,” Olowofela said.

Nigeria needs to align ef-

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forts with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reduce health inequality by ensuring people earn more to access better healthcare and quality of life, he said.

Among the considerations that place some countries ahead of others in terms of quality of life and human development is a well-developed public health system.

The UN last year highlighted that despite progress, the world is not on track to eradicate extreme deprivations in health and education by 2030, with 3 million children under age 5 still expected to die every year. This implies at least 850,000 above the SDG target.

Nigeria may remain stuck in these grey zones if the neglect continues.

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COMMENT

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Will negative interest rates suffice for Nigerian depositors?

EMEKA OKOLO

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ny productive outfit unquestionably has its basic raw materials; the source of which it must not allow to suffer any disruption.

Simply put, it must ensure that the supply is guaranteed at all times for it to function seamlessly.

For any banking institution, its basic raw material is money (read cash) and its source is largely its depositors, hence the name deposit money bank.

However, the situation bedeviling an average Nigerian depositor today seems to question the strategic place of this source to the Nigerian banking institution. To refresh, banks have variants of sources, namely those maintaining current, savings and fixed

deposit accounts. Of the three, banks rely mostly on the last two mainly because of their somewhat long tenors as opposed to the first which can conveniently pass as “daily” account. The two, especially the last one aid banks in their planning activities and may in fact pass as the “authentic” source of the banks’ raw materials.

Of late, the Nigerian banking institution has been inundated with a plethora of policies by the main regulatory authority - the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) - which on the surface seem antithetical to the banks’ abilities to continue sourcing deposits, especially those of the long tenor hue. Today, deposit money banks are required to maintain a Loan to deposit ratio of 65 percent (with heavy penalties on defaulters), amongst other ratios. Some analysts have pointed to this as the main de-motivating factor for the banks sourcing for deposits, especially those of long tenors.

A cursory check, for example, on banks’ fixed deposit rates today reveal that on the average, the highest rate for 365-day tenor is no more than 2 percent. For a 90 day or 180-day tenor, the average is about 1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively, depending on the amount involved. For savings ac-

counts, the average is about 2 percent p.a if the customer does not make a withdrawal more than twice in a month, otherwise the interest accrual for that month is lost. Meanwhile, the inflation rate as recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for the month of July 2020 is 12.82 percent, monetary policy rate 12.5 percent and the asymmetric corridor still remains ± 2 percent and 5 percent!

Is it not a paradox that at a point the CBN has fixed liquidity and cash reserve ratios at 30 percent and 27.5 percent respectively, some Nigerian banks are rejecting deposits? With the almighty loan to deposit ratio (LDR) at 65 percent, one would have thought that the banks would be falling over each other to attract more deposits in order to lend and maintain balance.

The alibi of some banks is that there are no bankable projects out there to lend to.

What was at play at the initial stage when the CBN came with the deliberate policy of LDR at 60 percent and later 65 percent was that many banks started wooing their customers with text and email messages to ‘come and borrow’.

Not few were aghast at that none creative way when many Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) were

‘

We figure out what to do with the cash in the vaults”. That of course has not stoppedtheCBN from exerting the necessary penalties by debiting their accounts with humongous amounts for noncompliance

and are still in dire need of finance but banks were suffocating with stashed cash in their vaults waiting for evacuation.

Being at their wits end, these banks thought of the easy way out. Bang!

Halt acceptance of deposits while “we figure out what to do with the cash in the vaults”. That of course has not stopped the CBN from exerting the necessary penalties by debiting their accounts with humongous amounts for non-compliance.

How long some of these banks will hold out in their disenchantment with deposits, especially those that have rejected deposits outright remains to be seen. At a time, there are efforts at promoting financial inclusion, these banks’ attitude smacks of dysfunctionality. Can Nigerian depositors afford to accept negative interest rates as a last resort? Even those in advanced economies where the concept of negative rates originated are yet to embrace that. If in doubt, ask the European Union (AU) depositors!

Certainly, we can’t go back to the era of stuffing money in mattresses and pillow cases at home.

Dr. Okolo is a chartered stockbroker and management consultant based in Lagos.

How investing in digital infrastructure can make the difference to Africa’s economic recovery

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frica faces many challenges on its path to becoming a global economic competitor. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Africa’s development can either be a massive barrier to advancement – or, the spark that lights the fire of innovation and investment across the continent.

There’s no denying that for most of the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed digital adoption forward in vast leaps in a very short space of time. What the pandemic has also made apparent is the disparities of infrastructure across Africa, as well as gaps in adoption and policy.

It’s now a necessity, rather than a luxury to fast-track the adoption of technology. By increasing productivity and facilitating innovation, technology is a key sector for the economic development of any country, and those who have embarked on their digital transformation journeys are better equipped to handle the obstacles that arise.

A recent report by McKinsey & Company on Africa in the wake of Covid-19, suggests that to expedite Africa’s economic recovery beyond the pandemic, the continent will need to accelerate its digital transformation. The report urges governments and social sector institutions to expand and broaden digital offerings, foster an enabling environment for rapid digitisation and speed up infrastructure investments, among other things.

Access is of paramount importance Lack of broadband is a central issue – many countries are below the 20 percent critical mass necessary to achieve improved efficiencies and enhanced information flows for economic growth and innovation. Consumer demand for wireless connectivity is surging and spectrum is a finite source. It is critical to intensively share underused spectrum bands.

As the Covid-19 pandemic has introduced social distancing and lockdown orders across the continent, the need for digital connectivity is more essential than ever. And as the pandemic spreads beyond major cities into peri-urban and rural areas, unconnected or under-connected populations risk becoming more vulnerable and isolated as they lack the digital means to access essential services. Wifi hotspots can provide effective connectivity solutions to Covid-19 testing stations and field hospitals, and can support remote working and learning.

Microsoft has been championing the use of

TV White Spaces (TWVS), which uses unused portions of spectrum for television broadcasting to bring broadband and internet-connected solutions to remote and underserved communities at an affordable cost, since the launch of 4Afrika partner Mawingu’s pilot project in 2013.

The sustainable nature of this type of spectrum use makes it very cost efficient to implement, which is extremely beneficial for rural, underserved and developing areas. With TVWS, people are now able to access the internet for less than 5 percent of the average household income.

In Kenya, Project Mawingu connects schools, the Laikipia County Government Office, Laikipia Public Library, Red Cross and the Burguret Dispensary Healthcare Clinic. With support from Airband’s COVID-19 response fund and from the Department for International Development, Mawingu is connecting 85 unserved public health clinics across Laikipia county. They plan to have the first 24 clinics connected by the end of this month.

Now a part of the Microsoft Airband initiative, Microsoft also has plans to expand and commercialise each of its TV white spaces (TVWS) pilot-projects, ensuring more people can affordably access the internet across Africa.

In Eastern Ghana, another Airband Initiative partner Bluetown is delivering affordable broadband, with 440,000 people under coverage in rural areas. Using technology like TVWS, Bluetown is enabling local businesses and schools to access digital services, and including the Western project, the projected coverage number is just under 2 million people.

The effectiveness of TVWS technology has been proven and commercial deployment is underway following the completion of its regulatory framework in many countries around the world. As a member of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA), 4Afrika also recently participated in public consultations in Nigeria to motivate for the rollout of TVWS technology across the country.

Through this and other partnerships, we’ve demonstrated how new technologies, business models and regulatory approaches expand internet access and support public policy goals around education, healthcare, e-government and other priorities. This in turn motivates governments to adopt more regulations opening up access to TV white spaces frequencies.

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Skills development is a crucial part of digital infrastructure As much as we talk about the need for intensive ICT investment into infrastructure and the technology that will support Africa’s engagement in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), this will not happen without the human infrastructure to support the technology. For Africa to fully realise the opportunities brought about by digital transformation and 4IR, it is vital we have strong ICT skills. We refer to this as having ‘tech intensity’ – the ability to not just adopt emerging technology, but develop the capabilities to effectively use it. Skills development has a crucial role to play, both in skilling new resources – our youth – and also in upskilling our current workforce to play their part in supporting ICT infrastructure development.

With the youngest population in the world, Africa can supply the world’s future workforce.

But over 50 percent of young people in SubSaharan Africa lack access to formal education, and only two percent of the labour force has IT skills. Microsoft is continuing our skills development initiatives, including a partnership with the African Development Bank to upskill 50 million youth and create 25 million jobs by 2025.

4Afrika’s partner-led SkillsLabs and the Interns4Afrika programme offer our graduate youth access to skills and certification, so that they are workplace-ready by the end of their programmes, and our Enterprise Skilling initiative works with employers to provide upskilling and reskilling opportunities to existing workers who want to improve their skills and move into 4IR positions.

Developing skills to fill these new job roles remains high on our agenda. Regardless of age – whether students in schools, youth in and out of college, or today’s IT professionals – our mission is to empower every individual to achieve more by skilling, upskilling and reskilling them to lead a better quality of life.

Through initiatives including Cloud Society, the AI Business School, and partnerships with NGOs, governments, academia and businesses, we are helping to build digital talent pipelines for our partners and customers.

Ingenuity and resolve can help solve African problems There is an abundance of talent and ingenuity displayed by startups and entrepreneurs

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AMROTE ABDELLA

across the continent. Investing in them is as important as any other ICT investment. Beyond the future workforce, digital talent will also support more local innovation, as developers and entrepreneurs are empowered to create locally relevant solutions that best address challenges and needs in healthcare, agriculture, financial services, government services and education.

As just one example, our partnerships with organisations like FirstBank in Nigeria, MTN and Liquid Telecom are helping to extend cloud services to SMEs, supporting their growth and enabling the economies that they operate in.

Public-private partnerships are necessary There’s no disputing that it will take a concerted effort across industries and sectors to drive digital investment in Africa. In research recently conducted by Microsoft and EY, businesses cite a lack of regulatory guidelines among their top three challenges to implementing AI. African governments have important roles to play in developing sound digital policies and stable harmonised regulatory environments that enable people and businesses to participate fully in the global digital economy.

We are committed to supporting digital policy development and implementation across Africa, working with governments in creating sound digital policies that enable people and businesses to participate fully in the global digital economy.

Now more than ever, we need to pay close attention to how organisations transform digitally, what changes they face in acquiring new technologies and broadband, and the daily challenges they may be facing in the area of digital skills development.

If African governments, together with private partners and organisations, can invest in these areas through supporting start-up innovation, through contributing to skills development and in many other verticals, this will drive meaningful gains towards unlocking Africa’s vibrant potential.

Abdella is Regional Director, Microsoft 4Afrika

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Mali and an open phase of uncertainties

Securing the nation first is crucial STRATEGY & POLICY

MA JOHNSON

M

ali joined the league of independent francophone countries in September 1960. A country of about 20 million people with a long history of seasonal migration and emigration driven by poverty, conflict, demographic pressure, unemployment, food insecurity and drought. Since independence, Mali had hardly been economically viable.

It is good and desirable for any country to have independence from the clutches of colonial masters. But many scholars believe that it is not the shell of independence that counts; it is the contents namely, economic, social and human. Just like Chad and Niger, Mali is landlocked, mostly desert, thinly populated and desperately poor. Mali is one out of the five immediate neighbors of Nigeria. And anything that happens in Mali- good or bad- has strategic impact either positively or negatively on Nigeria and the West African sub-region.

So, what is happening in Mali? Recently, democracy suffered a devastating blow in the hands of military junta who overthrew the government. It was a sad news. The illegal seizure of power from President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse was a red flag to the international community.

Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita popularly called “IBK” has since resigned and dissolved parliament, saying his decision to quit became necessary to avoid bloodshed, as reported. A pity, you may say.

But one thing that kept resonating in my mind: Why will any army for that matter resort to the use of force to solve

political problems in a democracy?

Applying the military component of national power may be ineffective or counterproductive because no military solution could resolve intractable political problems.

In one of my essays in this column, I referred to Carl Von Clausewitz, the Prussian General who wrote in his book On War about the trinity. Clausewitz’s trinity in its most basic component talks about the government, the people and the army. The government is at the apex of the trinity; however, the people constitute the center of gravity of any democratic society.

So, all means available to the government and the army must be used to protect the people against all forms of threats. What happens when government fails its citizens? The unfortunate truth is that governments in many parts of the world do fail their citizens as we have seen today. Failure as a result of government actions creating inefficient outcomes where efficiency would otherwise exist does not call for illegal seizure of power by rebels.

It is known that most conflicts- internal or interstate- has underlying political issues that may spark violence if not nipped in the bud. Whatever the reason for conflict, the military should not interfere in any political problem. Only countries whose armies are neck deep into politics will most likely have their democracies threatened by putschists.

Although, many pundits say that Keita’s removal by the army wasn’t a surprise. I beg to differ but these experts argued that Mali’s political situation has been deteriorating for many years as a result of crisis. According to these gurus, “the situation was ripe for the military to take advantage of. The army is not happy with Keita’s government because they are ill-equipped to fight the jihadists and they have lost many soldiers.

There is communal violence in Mali which was getting out of hand.” But did the channel of communication between the Malian army and the presidency failed? If truly, the army was subordinate to the political class, the former could have used laid down procedures

to make its challenges known to the latter instead of embarrassing Africans and the international community with a coup.

The overthrow of Keita may likely open a phase of uncertainties in Mali.

Where does the country go from its current status as a state under military rule? Miffed by developments in Mali, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has directed its members to close land and air borders to Mali. The closure of borders by members of ECOWAS has complicated logistics for the mining sector which accounts for 9.7 percent of Mali’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019, according to reports.

Furthermore, the ECOWAS said that sanctions meted out against “all the putschists as well as their partners and collaborators will be enforced.” Amid global condemnation, however, the head of the military junta Assimi Goita insisted to rule for 3 years before restoring stability and overseeing a transition to elections in Mali. This is an indication that the military junta is interested in sharing the national cake rather than security of the state.

Methinks security of Mali is vital.

President Buhari was quoted as saying that “about two-thirds of the country is occupied by terrorists and it makes common sense to secure the country first rather than pursue individual interests.” Mali has drawn increasing global attention for its simmering jihadist movement as there is a struggle between al Qaeda and members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

In fact, public affairs analysts have referred to the West African sub-region as the “new global hotspot for extremism.” This has necessitated France to deploy the military towards solving a problem that was political in Mali.

France’s concerns are borne out of severe insecurity occasioned by Jihadi militants and criminal gangs in Mali’s northern region when Keita took office.

Since then, the security situation in Mali has deteriorated resulting in major humanitarian crisis.

In spite of humanitarian crisis, the

‘

In spite of humanitarian crisis, the apparent support of the coup by a section of the Malian population shows ignorance on their part and distrust for the government.

ECOWASmember states are particularly concerned about the consequences whichinstability poses to the West African sub-region

apparent support of the coup by a section of the Malian population shows ignorance on their part and distrust for the government. ECOWAS member states are particularly concerned about the consequences which instability poses to the West African sub-region.

Mali is a poor country by any standard. So, coup is not the way to go because it complicates matter in the immediate and long terms respectively.

France and other international agencies have condemned the “unconstitutional change of government” in Mali. The African Union (AU), United Nations (UN), European Union (EU) and China amongst others have opposed the change of government by force and they have advocated for “immediate return to civil rule.” Mali is at the heart of Frenchled efforts to roll back jihadists in the Sahel, and its neighbors are anxious to avoid the country sliding into chaos.

All said, the crisis in Mali is a clear failure of leadership at the highest level of government. But what is the lesson for Nigeria and other African countries?

Good governance is what Nigerians and indeed Africans demand from their leaders. And when a leader is unable to provide good governance for whatever reason, he or she should honorably resign.

Such a leader would be highly respected by his people and the international community. An example that comes to mind is the resignation of Japanese President Shinzo Abe who resigns honorably from office due to illness.

A threat to stability in Mali or any other country in the Sahel constitute a risk to the West African subregion. If the security situation in Mali deteriorates further, will the ECOMOG intervene?

Which nation will lead ECOMOG at a time when most economies in Africa and particularly the West African sub-region are contracting as a result of coronavirus?

Or will Nigeria be collaborating with France to solve the security challenges in Mali? Only time will tell. Thank you!

Johnson is an author and a retired naval engineer who has passion for African development and good governance

Mali’s coup d’état: Nigeria must embrace dialogue, avoid Mali’s route

T

he coup d’état is back. Last month in Mali, soldiers overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK). IBK was elected by a landslide in 2013, but by 2019, most Malians were exhausted by his government that had promised so much in terms of economic upliftment, but had failed, so woefully, to bring either peace or progress to their longsuffering country.

The coup against IBK’s government brought months of turmoil including massive street protests, to an end. The tragic thing is that it did not come as a surprise as not only had IBK lost the support of the public but also of the military.

What is difficult to predict is if this coup will change the security picture despite rising insecurity being one of the major reasons for Keita’s ouster. But it is important to make a distinction between this coup and that of 2012 which removed one of IBK’s predecessors, Amadou Toumani Touré. That coup was instigated by the rapid fall of northern Mali to jihadist militant groups and a rebellion by the Tuareg ethnic group, while this one took place amid an escalating security crisis, and contentions following highly disputed parliamentary elections.

The long-term international reaction will also tell us where the rest of West Africa will go.

You see, while the coup enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, the popular support of Malians, it is a mistake that shows a big failing in the practice of

democracy in West Africa. Governments come in via the popular vote, go on to alienate a significant portion of their population, and then rig the polls to remain in office, creating a loop of voter apathy, which in turn builds support for illegal military interventions.

ECOWAS condemned the coup and quickly moved to isolate Mali, but tellingly, it sent President Goodluck Jonathan on a mediation mission, a sign that it can accommodate coup plotters. Meanwhile in a sign of geopolitical interest, the Russians sent a delegation to visit Assimi Goita and his merry band of plotters.

That, along with silent Turkish support will, despite the condemnation by other countries such as erstwhile colonial master, France, give the mutinous soldiers hope. Turkey is increasingly involved in geopolitical games on the opposite side of France in places like Libya, Syria, and more recently, the Eastern Mediterranean, where France has come in on the side of Greece in a spat against the Turks.

There are multiple risks involved in permitting military interventions. There is the risk of Goita’s junta shrinking the civic and democratic space if allowed to stay in office without a definite timeline for returning the country to democratic rule. In addition, there is the risk that it is unlikely to honour the timeline if one is eventually reached.

But most importantly for us in Nigeria, is the

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risk of contagion.

Coups beget coups. Many of Africa’s “longestserving” leaders, including Bouteflika in Algeria (he got 81 percent of the vote last time out), Mubarak in Egypt and Mugabe in Zimbabwe were essentially toppled by coups after popular discontent followed elections in which they “won” handsomely. The same applied to Bashir in Sudan, while in Nigeria’s immediate abroad, Cameroon, Paul Biya, who has been re-elected handily on a number of occasions is presiding over an undeclared civil war. When democratic rule is so brazenly undermined, provide cover for soldiers to seize power in the name of restoring — not disrupting — democracy.

Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, all sharing borders with Mali, have elections coming soon, and possess similar political dynamics as Mali did before the contentious vote that saw IBK retain power. In Guinea, Alpha Conde has just decided to toss the Constitution, “democratically” of course. In Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara is playing similar games. In both countries there are powerful groups that are unhappy, and have supporters in their militaries. If the junta in Mali is allowed to remain in power, it could encourage the militaries or other non-state actors in these countries to have ideas, and from there it could spread. That is how the disease of coup making spread in the region shortly after the rash of independence celebrations in 1960.

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CHETA NWANZE So, what is Nigeria’s interest you might ask.

Nigeria is the behemoth in West Africa, and is just as unstable as any of these countries. Indeed, Ouattara’s Côte d’Ivoire is arguably more stable. If the disease of coups begins to spread, if ECOWAS allows the Mali junta to get away with it, then the risk of some discontented idiots in our barracks here having ideas goes up. At a time when our military is active in operations in all states of the federation bar Kebbi and Abuja, the last thing we need is a misguided attempt at “steadying the flagging ship of state”. What we need is for us to learn to dialogue with each other in this democratic experiment, no matter how obnoxious we find people from the other side to be.

Note: the rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng Cheta Nwanze is the lead partner at SBM Intelligence and heads the company’s research desk.

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Fitch’s Dissanayake on Nigerian banks amid COVID-19

RAFIQ RAJI

M

ahin Dissanayake, senior director of banks for Africa and the Middle East at Fitch, s p e a k s to Af r i c a n Banker on the outlook for the Nigerian banking sector in light of the covid-19 pandemic & low oil prices What is the medium-term outlook for Nigerian banks in light of covid-19 & low oil prices?

Our medium-term outlook for the Nigerian banking sector is negative.

As the twin shocks of the oil price fall and the coronavirus began to unfold, we took action on all of the Fitch-rated Nigerian Banks. The rating actions reflected severe downside risks arising from the weakening operating environment and its negative impact on other rating factors.

Our expectations were (and remain) that asset quality will deteriorate over the next twelve months, mainly from the bank’s exposure to the oil and gas sector.

Asset quality risks will also arise from other sectors hit by social containment measures, such as manufacturing and trade. At this stage, it is very difficult to predict how bad it will get or even provide you with a forecast impaired loan ratio for FYE20.

Based on our experiences from 2015/2016, the current oil price shock will adversely impact the oil and gas sector. This sector accounts for around 30 percent of the banks’ gross loans, of which a large proportion was restructured during the previous crisis (some are still classified as Stage 2 under IFRS 9). Our stress tests show that asset-

quality risks arising from deterioration of the banks’ oil and gas exposures are the biggest threat to their ratings. Additionally, we expect the non-oil segment to be impacted by the slower economy, but also due to the fallout of the coronavirus, which could severely affect households, businesses and industries.

It would particularly test the quality of consumer and SME loans.

Banks earnings and profitability will weaken in the medium term. This reflects lower activity (slower loan growth in particular), the low interest rate environment, low yields on government securities, lower income from debt relief measures and rising credit costs.

That said, most banks are expected to remain profitable in 2020 due to their revenue generating capacity and low cost of funding (from large and stable customer deposit bases). Banks will start reporting losses if only asset quality deteriorates faster than we expect.

On balance, the near-term impact on funding and liquidity will be tolerable. The primary risk is that lower oil revenues (and Nigeria’s falling FX reserves) could limit banks’ access to foreign currency liquidity and constrain their ability to meet foreign currency obligations. While we saw this in the last crisis, we are not at this stage yet.

Furthermore, adverse global conditions could impede some banks in raising external financing. Local-currency liquidity remains strong with banks funded mainly by low-cost customer deposits.

A significant outflow of foreign portfolio investors from Nigeria would have a significant impact on the financial markets as well as Nigeria’s FX reserves. This will in turn impact foreign currency supply in the banking sector and in the broader economy.

Our other major concern for banks stems from currency devaluation risk.

This risk will gain further prominence if Nigeria’s FX reserves continue to deplete. Currency devaluation would affect the banks directly, given their dollarized balance sheets and therefore the impact on banks’ capital ratios, and indirectly from their borrowers being affected (this will cause asset quality

problems).

Lastly, regulatory intervention remains another risk for the banks due to measures like the punitive minimum loans to deposit requirement and cash reserve requirements. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is unwilling or unable to ease these requirements.

Policy measures from the CBN can be unpredictable and contradictory, and credit negative in our view.

The ratings of all the Fitch-rated banks are currently on Rating Watch Negative (RWN). Rating Watches indicate that there is a heightened probability of a rating change and the likely direction of such a change. The Negative indicates that the rating could stay at its present level or potentially be downgraded.

The RWN reflects our expectations that all Nigerian banks will face material pressures from a weaker operating environment over the next few months given the oil price crash, potential further devaluation of the Nigerian naira and the impact of the pandemic on individuals and businesses. While the full extent of the financial impact is not yet known, our view is that risks are firmly skewed to the downside.

Even before the current crisis, Fitch’s sector outlook for the Nigerian banking sector was negative, which reflected tough operating conditions, including slowing GDP growth, rising regulatory risks and potential performance pressures.

Is Nigeria on the cusp of another banking sector crisis?

Going into 2020, the banks were in fairly good shape and therefore, at this stage, we are not expecting another fullblown banking crisis. It really depends on the duration and severity of the coronavirus and oil price fall. Nigerian banks have reasonable loss absorption buffers, underpinned by strengthened capitalisation since the last crisis. This gives us some reassurance that Nigeria is not on the cusp of another banking sector crisis.

But as I said earlier, risks have risen significantly since February and to a level that its affected ratings and has

‘

Going into 2020, the banks were in fairly good shape and therefore, at this stage, we are not expecting another fullblown banking crisis. It really depends on the duration and severity of the coronavirus and oil price fall

the potential to result in further rating actions (hence the RWN). In the near term still, healthy earnings will continue to absorb larger credit losses but future profits will be under pressure from slowing loan growth, reduced client activity and higher levels of provisioning for expected credit losses under the IFRS 9 accounting framework.

It is also worthwhile to differentiate the big banks from the small banks as operating environment risks will affect them differently. While the Tier 1 banks have the franchise benefits which would allow them to absorb shocks to a good degree, that is not the same for Tier 2 or Tier 3 banks. These banks are particularly vulnerable to credit concentration risk and risks to their capitalisation.

Do you see another round of consolidation?

Yes, this is a possibility. However, it is worth remembering that there are much fewer banks than in the last systemic crisis in 2019 and therefore consolidation may not make strategic sense. Banks will only merge or be acquired these days only if they are facing significant problems. It would not be a commercial decision to merge or be acquired.

Is there a need for a government bailout package for the sector?

At this stage, we are not seeing the need for a government bailout for the sector. Recently, the governor of the CBN publicly stated that the regulator stands ready to provide liquidity backstops as and when required. Furthermore, in response to the coronavirus the CBN announced a number of relief measures which should alleviate some near-term asset-quality pressures. These include requesting banks to restructure loan tenors and terms for consumers and businesses that are most affected, particularly borrowers in the oil and gas, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

First published in the Q3-2020 issue of African Banker magazine “Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel.

He was previously an Africa Economist at Standard Chartered Bank, London, UK. (Twitter: @ DrRafiqRaji)”

The shadow of moral hazard over public debt

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n April the G20 group of “rich” nations announced that it was prepared to defer bilateral debt service due from defined lowincome countries up to the end of this year.

The governments in question were expected to seek comparable treatment from private creditors, who are generally holders of Eurobonds or syndicates of banks. A fair number have since secured the relief through the Paris Club of bilateral lenders but without negotiating with the private creditors for fear of limiting future market access and of provoking negative ratings actions.

The G20 was, of course, responding to the COVID-19 virus and its impact on developing economies, notably their public finances. Against this background, there have been calls for debt cancellation by all creditors including the private lenders. We would tread carefully in this area and be highly selective with full debt relief.

The complication is that, unlike at the time of the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative of the IMF and World Bank in the 1990s and 2000s, private creditors have become an important element in sovereign external debt profiles. For much of the 2010s, EM debt investors became enchanted with exotic sovereign names they might previously have struggled to place on a map of the world. According to a study by S&P in late June, private creditors account for 65 percent of the interest due in 2020 from the 21 African sovereigns it rates. (Their share of the external debt stock is far smaller because almost all official

lending, bilateral and multilateral, is contracted at below-market rates.)

The total interest bill looks huge, and the ratio for interest payments/government revenue alarming in several cases. Quoting the same S&P study, the bill for the rated sovereigns in Africa this year is estimated at US$46bn, of which South Africa alone is responsible for 29 percent. The bill, however, is 73 percent due to domestic creditors. Even if we exclude South Africa with its very large domestic debt market, the share is still more than 50 percent.

The external interest bill for S&P’s rated sovereigns is therefore $12.5bn this year. The monies could be spent on health and education systems at this hour of need when tax revenue has also been hit by the downturn brought about by the virus.

We are sceptical about a second round of debt relief. It is legitimate to ask why many governments have failed to capitalise on the savings and clean slate provided by the first round. In a few cases such as Ghana and Mozambique, public debt ratios last year were already worse than pre-HIPC. Generally, fiscal, structural and governance reforms have been inadequate. S&P shows Nigeria to have the worst interest payments/general government revenue ratio of the 21 rated sovereigns, at about 55 percent last year. It is not hard to find an explanation: gross revenue collected in 2019 in Nigeria amounted to just 7.1 percent of GDP, whereas peer economies and sizable commodity exporters regularly achieve +/- 20 percent. Three other sovereigns (Ghana, Angola and Egypt) had

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ratios for interest paid above 40 per cent in the S&P chart: the first two are struggling while Egypt raised $5bn on the Eurobond market in May in an offer competitively priced and said to be four times oversubscribed.

As for cases where failure to improve governance has contributed to debt distress, we pick out Mozambique for the tuna bond, Angola for its public debt accounting and Zambia for a series of poor decisions including the recent dismissal of the central bank governor without a convincing explanation.

We must warn of moral hazard. Theoretically, a government could migrate from one round of debt relief to the next, confident that it will not have to bear the consequences of its policies.

Therein lies a future of permanent economic underdevelopment. The virus has created a strain on public finances across the world but the answer in our view is not extensive debt relief. We should point out that the G20 initiative is deferment not cancellation of bilateral debt service due this year.

There will be a few cases where cancellation of official debt is warranted such as when the impact of a natural disaster or even the current virus has been extreme. Otherwise we would favour more lending by official creditors in the expectation that borrowing governments raise their game in terms of reform. The IMF has provided funds equivalent to 100 per cent of quota without conditionality under its two facilities created to tackle external shocks such as COVID-19. It may well be that

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GREGORY KRONSTEN these funds are insufficient and that the Fund should increase its allocation of SDRs to member countries, having overcome US opposition.

For private creditors, we understand why applicants for the G20 relief did not seek comparable treatment. However, all parties know that defaults happen although this has yet to take place with a mainland African issuer of Eurobonds. Look no further than Argentina! It has defaulted again although it was not so long ago that its government issued maiden 100-year paper. The new Eurobond issuers of the past decade in Africa and elsewhere have tapped a market when US dollar interest rates are low and investors are hungry for yield. They have raised funds quickly and without conditionality. They know that, if their plans come unstuck for whatever reason, payments delays, ratings downgrades and haircuts lie ahead. Defaulters are not generally shut out of the market; they return but at a price.

Kronsten is the Head, Macroeconomic and fixed income research at FBNQuest Capital

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

EDITORIAL Strengthening legislative oversight functions

PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Frank Aigbogun

For democracy to thrive, the public must hold the parliament to a minimum standard of conduct

EDITOR Patrick Atuanya DEPUTY EDITORS John Osadolor, Abuja Tayo Fagbule NEWS EDITOR Osa Victor Obayagbona NEWS EDITOR (Online) Chuks Oluigbo MANAGING DIRECTOR Dr. Ogho Okiti EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STRATEGY, INNOVATION & PARTNERSHIPS Oghenevwoke Ighure ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude 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

GM,BUSINESSDEVELOPMENT(South) Ignatius Chukwu

A

key discovery from previous and ongoing investigations of activities of federal government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) by the National Assembly is that legislatures compromise the standards expected of them by getting involved in contracts’ awards and other acts of malfeasance demeaning of their revered positions as law makers. It is not in doubt that law-makers have turned oversight visits, probes and public hearings into marketing assets. Every committee struggles to conduct at least one oversight or probe per session. This kind of performance gives the impression that law makers undertake oversight function for reasons other than the noble cause.

The legislature, in the discharge of its power of oversight, exposing corruption and minimising waste regarding funds appropriated by it must be like Caesar’s wife, beyond suspicion.

It is constitutionally and morally wrong for the legislature or its members to be complicit in any matter that is or likely to be within its purview. The Senate and House of Representatives have

committees on Ethics and Public Petitions whose mandates include ethical and conflict of interest situations like ones under review.

Just like the legislature oversights the executive, the public oversights the legislature. In this public oversight of the legislature the media and civil society have critical roles to play in ensuring ethical compliance by legislators and the legislature as an institution.

Democracy is not an event, it is not a milestone, it is an endless journey, it is a process and all citizens have a responsibility to it. For democracy to thrive, the public must hold the parliament to a minimum standard of conduct.

The legislature is an institution which represents the common and collective interests of the citizens through the enactment of laws and the exercise of oversight functions on the activities of the executive arm of government. In the quest for nation building in a democratic set up like Nigeria, the exercise of effective legislative oversight function remains crucial.

Its purpose is to provide a powerful check on the executive authority, enhancing accountability where a dominant executive branch might operate with impunity. It also aims at ensuring that all relevant

societal groups are included in and benefit from the nation building and development exercise and that government policies and budgets are implemented in an effective, efficient, transparent and accountable manner.

Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers each House of the National Assembly to conduct investigations into the affairs of the executive.

This power covers (a) any matter or thing with respect to which it has power to make laws; and (b) the conduct of affairs of any person, authority or Government Department charged, or intended to be charged with the duty or responsibility for (i) executing and administering laws enacted by the National Assembly (ii) disbursing or administering moneys appropriated or to be appropriated by the National Assembly.

In exercising its powers to conduct investigations the legislature uses investigating Committees.

Nigeria, being a developing country, the legislature’s capacity to carry out its oversight functions remains weak because legislative role and culture is at its infancy and therefore often confronted by many challenges.

Legislative oversight is a very

important instrument for nation building in that it assures that the nation’s resources in addition to state revenue and expenditure are properly considered and fiscally sound, that government programmes address the people’s relevant needs and are executed in a timely and proper manner. Through an effective exercise of oversight functions, the legislature can exercise adequate checks and balances, transparency and political legitimacy and better enforce financial regulations and policies and ensure wide participation, ownership and sustainable democracy.

The unsavoury actions of our lawmakers’ calls for urgent steps to strengthen legislative oversight.

First should be the establishment of specific oversight mechanisms to effectively hold the executive to account for their activities. Second is to adopt a bi-partisan approach in parliament when overseeing executive activities. Third the Ethics and Public Petitions Committees must rise up to the challenge by applying the appropriate sanctions where and when necessary.

Additionally, there must be a truly participatory parliament with a commonly accepted standard for specific oversight mechanisms which would pass public test.

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 Haruna Jalo-Waziri Clement Isong Konyin Ajayi

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES&MARKETS The Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 - what you need to know UDO UDOMA & BELO-OSAGIE

Part 6 – Netting

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Background he Companies and Allied Matters Act (Chapter C20) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (“CAMA 1990”) was initially made law in Nigeria in 1990 as a decree of the military government. It was modelled on the English Companies Act 1985. For thirty years, there were no significant amendments to the CAMA 1990, notwithstanding that England has, over the past three decades, amended and replaced its own Companies Act. Nigerian companies had to, essentially, rely on a 30-year old law to govern the way businesses operate in our dynamic and exponentially evolving global community. However, this all changed on Friday the 7th of August 2020, when President Muhammadu Buhari, gave his assent to the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (“CAMA 2020”).

In the course of a 12part series, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie will provide a review of the provisions of the CAMA 2020, highlighting changes that have been introduced into the body of Nigerian company law by this ground-breaking legislation.

What is netting?

Netting is the process by which risk is reduced in financial contracts by aggregating two or more obligations or payments and offsetting them against each other in order to achieve a reduced single net obligation. Chapter 28 of the CAMA 2020 deals with the subject of netting and is one of the innovations of the CAMA 2020 (the CAMA 1990 does not contain any provisions on netting).

Netting is an essential element of many qualified financial contracts such as repurchase contracts and derivatives and is a process by which risk is reduced in financial contracts. In insolvency, the mandatory rules relating to insolvency set-off, preferences and disclaimer are, to some extent, likely to conflict with the netting provisions in these financial contracts. It is, therefore, necessary to protect obligations arising under financial contracts entered into pursuant to netting agreements. The netting provisions of the

CAMA 2020 are based on the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) 2006 Model Netting Act. Preferences – new parameters In the absence of netting legislation, there is a risk that any payment made or collateral transferred by an insolvent party to a solvent party during the relevant “preference period” could be voided on the basis that it constitutes a preference.

This is relevant as the preference rules were applicable in respect of the insolvency of a Nigerian counterparty by virtue of the CAMA 1990 and section 46(1) of the Bankruptcy Act LFN 2004. These provisions give a liquidator the power to invalidate any payment made by an insolvent party to a creditor within 3 months of its insolvency if it was made with a view to giving that creditor a preference over other creditors. The preference provisions are also retained in section 658 of CAMA 2020, and the section provides that anything done during the “preference period” that gives a creditor, surety or guarantor undue advantage is invalid. This could, therefore, cover payments made, or collateral transferred at this time and therefore could potentially disrupt the netting provision.

Chapter 28 of the CAMA 2020, however, provides that the liquidator of an insolvent party may not avoid a payment or transfer of collateral under a netting agreement on the grounds that it constitutes a preference by the insolvent party of the non-insolvent party to the netting agreement,

unless there is evidence that the non-ins olvent party made such payment or transfer with intent to hinder, delay or defraud an entity indebted to the insolvent party. This provision seeks to ensure that any payment or transfer of collateral made by the insolvent party under the netting agreement during any “preference period” is not treated as a preference, and would, therefore, not be void.

Single agreement Chapter 28 of the CAMA 2020 reinforces the single agreement nature of a netting transaction, which is often set out expressly in netting agreements and, to that extent, reinforces the general affirmation of the enforceability of netting agreements in the insolvency of a party and the rule against cherry-picking discussed below.

Enforceability of netting agreements generally To ensure stability in the financial markets, the CAMA 2020 generally confirms the enforceability of netting provisions even if the counterparty is subject to insolvency proceedings.

It also provides, subject to the terms of such agreements, that netting provisions cannot be limited by the action of a liquidator or the insolvency law provisions applicable to the insolvent party.

CAMA 2020 specifies that the only obligation or entitlement due to or from a party to such netting agreement upon the close-out netting of transactions is its net obligation or entitlement as provided by the relevant netting agreement.

Enforceability of quali-

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fied financial contracts outside insolvency Despite the fact that derivatives are legitimate financial contracts, there are certain elements of their structure that could appear to be similar to gaming contracts. To avoid the risk of legitimate financial contracts being treated, under the law, as gaming contracts, the netting provisions in the CAMA 2020 provide that a qualified financial contract shall not be void or unenforceable by reason of laws relating to gaming, gambling, wagering or lotteries.

Cherry-picking The netting provisions also prevent a liquidator from accepting, pursuant to the netting agreement, only those contracts that benefit the insolvent party and disclaiming (under section 499 of the CAMA) the contracts that do not favour the insolvent party in a manner often referred to as “cherry-picking”. This is to ensure that the single agreement nature of netting arrangements is recognised and that close-out netting would therefore not be undermined.

This series was produced by Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice and does not purport to be fully comprehensive. If you have any questions or require any assistance or clarification on how the subject of this guidance note applies to your business, or require any company secretarial or business establishment services, please contact us at uubo@uubo.org

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CardinalStone’s Debut Commercial Paper Issuance records 148% subscription

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ardinalStone Partners Limited, one of Nigeria’s leading multi-asset investment management firms, successfully completed its debut Commercial Paper issuance with a subscription of 148%.

This impressive subscription level demonstrates investors’ confidence in the company and the ability of its management team to deliver value.

The company had set out to raise N5 billion in the first tranche under its N10 billion Commercial Paper Programme recently registered with FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited. However, subscriptions totaling N7.1 billion were received from individual and institutional Investors including asset managers, pension fund administrators amongst others.

The Series I 270-day Commercial Paper was issued at an effective yield of 7.0%.

The company’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr Michael Nzewi, was pleased with the overall outcome of the Commercial Paper Issuance. He indicated that the funds from the Commercial Paper Issuance would enable the company to diversify its financing mix and fund its working capital require-

ments.

“This issuance is expected to consolidate CardinalStone’s position as a credible borrower in the Nigerian capital market while at the same time setting a precedence for commercial paper issuance by a non-bank affiliated financial services business”, Mr Nzewi stated.

FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited acted as Lead Arranger & Dealer while FCMB Capital Markets Limited and CardinalStone Partners Limited were Joint Arrangers on the debut commercial paper transaction.

CardinalStone was founded in 2008 with the vision to build a world-class investment banking firm of African origin. Over the years, the company has continued to offer an assortment of financial services to a diverse institutional and retail clientele base.

In addition to investment banking, CardinalStone also offers securities trading, asset management, registrar services and consumer finance via its subsidiaries namely CardinalStone Securities Limited, CardinalStone Asset Management Limited, CardinalStone Registrars Limited and CS Advance Finance Company respectively.

First Bank, Baba Ijebu others named sponsors of ‘The Voice Nigeria’ season 3 talent show MICHAEL ANI

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orld’s leading international talent show, The Voice Nigeria is back with its third instalment of the show. This season of the show is sponsored by First Bank, Baba Ijebu and many others.

The show will be fully produced in Nigeria and it promises to be bigger, better and even more authentic than ever before.

The show is expected to attract and help unleash the brightest of Nigerian musical talents for the global stage as the country’s music industry continues to enjoy international attention. This season of the show will be produced in partnership with television giant from the UK, ITV, international record label, Universal Music UK and in partnership with YouTube.

Speaking on the Sponsorship, the Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria, Adesola Adeduntan (FCA) noted that, “For over 126 years, First Bank of Nigeria has been at the forefront of nation-building, supplying through resourceful partnerships to build Nigeria’s creative industry value chain which has over the years played a critical role in influencing the growth @Businessdayng

of Africa’s art and culture and indeed a major contributor to Nigeria’s GDP,”.

“The creative industry contribution to GDP is put at 2.3 per cent, the Nigerian music industry’s significant part of art & entertainment and recreation grew by 9 per cent in 2016 to reach a value of $39 million and is projected to grow by 13.4 per cent by 2021.”

“First Bank support for The Voice Nigeria is a demonstration of the bank’s commitment to contributing to the projected revenue of $86 million by 2021 from the Nigerian music industry aimed at promoting a diversified economy in line with the federal government of Nigeria’s economic diversification policy,” Adeduntan said.

This year, contestants can look forward to big names as coaches who will help unleash the hidden talents in them. The coaches for this season’s The Voice includes the first time coaches Darey, and Falz, as well as return coaches, Waje, and Yemi Alade. Each of these award-winning artists boasts a successful music career across different genres, and they will be bringing to the table a wealth of experience in making excellent music, becoming a superb performing artist, and connecting with people, especially Nigerians, through art.

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

15

property&lifestyle Why home ownership level remains low despite developers efforts to increase stock CHUKA UROKO

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espite efforts by both public and private sector developers to increase housing stock in Nigeria, home ownership level in the country remains low at 25 percent. This differs significantly from what obtains in Kenya, South Africa and Indonesia where levels are as high as 75 percent, 56 percent and 84 percent respectively.

The low home ownership level in Nigeria correlates with the country’s wide housing demand - supply gap estimated at 20 million units.

Explanation for these are in a combination of factors including lack of credit facilities from banks and government’s policies which either delays or frustrates developments through long, cumbersome and costly land titling and documentation processes.

For these and other factors, growth inthehousingsectorhas been sub-optimal as reflected in a recent report by Ubosi Eleh + Co, an estate surveying and valuation firm. “An analysis of data in the third quarter of 2019 shows that the Nigeria’s housing industry grew only once since 2016,” the report says.

Continuing, the report notes that the industry’s slow growth has to do with the little or lack of

funds available to the industry for delivering homes. It cites data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which suggests that loans granted to the real estate sector recorded seven consecutive declines dating back to the third quarter of 2017.

“The real estate performance remained sub-optimal during this period and recorded positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth just once in the past 15 quarters,” the report points out.

Other highlights of the report which explain why housing stock in Nigeria remains small and homeownership low are that bank loans to real estate fell in the second quarter of 2019, and that total credit to the industry declined 4.20 percent quarteron-quarter and 22.90 percent year-on-year to N1.80 trillion in the second quarter of 2019.

Similarly, bank credit dropped from N710 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2018 to N588 billion out of N16.25 trillion credit facilities given out in the same period of 2019, according to a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report.

Thereportstressesthatthese recessionary trends impact negatively on firms in the housing industry as well, as shown

by UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) which reported a decline of 42 per cent

in revenue and a pre-tax loss of N9.20 billion in full year 2018.

The good news, however, is that despite these odds and limitations, some private developers are still doing developments and putting products on the market. New homes have emerged across the country, specifically in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja, where the bulk of the homes have been built.

Leading the pack of these resilient developers is Lekki Gardens, a leading real estate company pioneering the development of affordable luxury homes across Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

The company has contributed over 8,000 units since 2012 thereby helping to re-

duce housing deficit in Nigeria. The country needs a lot more industry players to take a cue from Lekki Gardens’ model which has shown capacity to support the government’s delivery goals.

The company has serviced consumers across different sectionsofthehousingmarketsand hasdelivereddifferentpropertytypes, including terrace duplexes,fullyandsemi-detached, maisonettesandflatsofdifferent sizes (1–5 bedrooms).

Like the few real estate companies still weathering the storm in the industry, Lekki Gardens employs many local personnel of global repute to drive its projects.

According to its officials, the company’s intervention has

led to the employment of over 10,000 people, directly and indirectly.

But side by side with these success stories are concerns bordering on product uptake, arising from the low income capacityofmostprospectivehome buyers. This has been made worse bymortgage interestrates which are so high that government intervention is needed.

Industry professionals say that housing loans are ways for people to become homeowners, but that is still catching up in Nigeria. In Nigerian, mortgages are not viable options for home buyers as interest rates are in double digits. It is argued that if a home buyer pays 15 percent interest on a 35-year mortgage, he will end

up paying about five times the original value of the property.

The professionals note that, in reality, current low cost housing projects are delivered at prices that are clearly out of the reach of people earning basic salaries, adding that one way to get around this is for the governmenttopromotelowcost technologies for mass housing solutions through PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) initiatives..

As a way forward for the industry, the professionals recommend a review of policies and regulations in the industry, stressing that the quality of land administration in the country needs significant improvement.

The Land Use Act No. 6 of 1978 (LUA) continues to hinder the land markets and acquisitioninNigeria.The major objective of making land easily available has not been fully achieved bytheAct.Tenureofsecurityand titling system is largely formal, requiring the consent of the governorofastateonalltransactionssincetheLUAhasvestedall lands in the governor.

Whilst government is increasing efforts to reduce the housing deficit and effectively focusing on problematic areas like the deficiency of housing loan system, lack of social housing, titling problems and documentation, there is dire need for other entities to complement their efforts.

Foreshore Waters strengthens workforce, appoints Joy Ogbebor Sales Business Director

Nigerian’s GDP will continue to decline unless it unlocks real estate potentials – stakeholders

CHUKA UROKO

f Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, doesn’t unlock the potentials in its property industry, resolve issues around dead capital and Land Use Act, and set up a functioning mortgage system, its economy will continue to move southwards, stakeholders from different sectors of the economy have said.

Unlocking the potentials in Nigeria’s real estate sector would mean more revenue from the 70 to 80 percent dead capital, affordable housing for over 23 million Nigerians, lower unemployment rate and higher economic growth, the different industry players who spoke at the recent webinar by the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) titled ‘Access to Credit’ said.

“Not only is real estate sector one of the key sectors, but it is also the most important for Nigeria because it doesn’t matter what you do in agriculture, power or manufacturing, if those sectors do well and the real estate is not functioning, we are still going to have an economy that’s not working for Nigerians,” Andrew S. Nevin, Partner and Chief Economist at PwC, said.

While the GDP of the real estate sector fell sharply by –18.15 percentage points from -3.84

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F

oreshore Waters, one of Nigeria’s leading real estate development companies, has strengthened its workforce and deepened corporate governance with the appointment of Joy Ogbebor as its new Sales Business Director.

Before her new assignment, Ogbebor effectively marshalled the sales strategy function and steered the company’s business operations in the last seven years, wearing multiple hats as occasion demanded.

A seasoned professional, Ogbebor has led diverse high performing teams to achieve significant milestones.

“In the light of her antecedents of sheer diligence, stellar performance and in recognition of her record-setting achievements, the company has mandated Ogbebor to take up strategic leadership of the Foreshore Waters as SBU. “She will help to strengthen customerservicedeliverywhich remains one of our key focus areas as she has successfully done in her previous roles,” Akinwande Romeo, Chief Engagement OfficerofForeshoreWaters,said.

With an impressive career spanning up to two decades in the aviation and real estate sectors, Ogbebor’s hands-on

Endurance Okafor

experience, working with leading global and local firms, makes her a strategic asset of the company in providing leadership and achieving their key business objectives.

Anaccountinggraduatefrom theUniversityofBenin,Ogbebor is an astute real estate business juggernaut with several professional qualifications, having completed executive management programmes in Strategic Sales, Management, Customer Relationship Management, Disruptive Strategy and Business Process Optimization.

As Sales Business Director, she will be saddled with the responsibility of overseeing all sales operations, organizational strategy, business development, revenue growth activities and overall strategic steering of the Foreshore Waters team.

Ogbebor replaces Evelyn Edumoh who left the company in July 2020 and ceases to represents the company in any capacity. This is wishing Ogbebor success in her new role.

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•Adele

•Nevin

•Olowo

percent in the second quarter of 2019 to -21.99 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2020, Nigeria’s economy shrank 6.1 percent in the same quarter, the first contraction since 2017. This also implies that the economy is now a quarter away from recession.

On growing the Nigerian economy, the Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Olowo, said the government has just two tools (taxation and expenditure) that it uses to stimulate and oil the economy to enable growth.

“In the fiscal policy toolbox, the government uses taxation and expenditure, and statistics shows that we are not doing well in Nigeria as the tax-to-GDP ratio shows we are at 6 percent and that of Lagos is less than that of Nigeria,” Olowo said, in his speech as the special guest at the second webinar series.

According to the commissioner, “taxation is a fiscal tool that has a direct impact on all

sectors of the economy and real estate is not an exception and, in view of this with the current economic realities, it is much more important to refocus our attention on taxation because that’s one of the ways our economy can grow going forward.”

He also added that from African perspective, Nigeria has a lot to do in ensuring that taxation becomes a unified tool of engagement and trust between the people and the government.

“Real estate is going to be a big lever for rebooting this economy. It is absolutely critical that we look at what is happening at the bottom of the market,” Femi Adewole, MD/CEO, Family Homes Funds, said.

Exacerbated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Nigeria can now be best described as one that is stagflated. The condition, described by slow, declining or contracting economic growth and relatively high unemployment, or economic

stagnation, which is at the same time accompanied by rising prices (i.e. inflation), tips Nigeria into top six most miserable countries globally.

The current economic state of the country means deeper dwindling of consumers’ purchasing power, which implies that incomes of many Nigerians can only buy less of their usual consumption basket, a situation of the poor getting poorer in real terms, and the middle class thinning out.

According to Adewole, there is need to scale up micro-lending to empower those at the bottom of the pyramid to grow and contribute to not just the real estate sector but the economy at large.

Before Nigeria’s property market was hit by the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, access to affordable housing was crippled by lack of non-functioning mortgage system, high cost of property development made worse by the country’s 41 years old Land Use Act, etc.

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16

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

INTERVIEW

17

INTERVIEW

NDDC contracts have become a bazaar with no method – Ndoma-Egba Senator VICTOR NDOMA-EGBA, SAN, is a lawyer and politician. Son of a former Justice of the Court of Appeal, former Commissioner for works in Cross River State and third term Senator, he was Deputy Leader of the 6th Senate (2007-2011) and Leader of the 7th Senate (2011-2015) as well as the immediate past Chairman of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).in this interview with Assistant Editor/Member Editorial Board, OBINNA. F. NWACHUKWU in Abuja, the senior advocate explained issues around the controversial NDDC contracts, the bogus salaries and allowances enjoyed by members of the National Assembly and other matters. Excerpts:

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istinguished Senator, you have been in politics for over 3 decades. But popular thinking is that politics is a dirty game. Why did you choose politics over law which is your profession?

What actually was the attraction?

I was born and I grew up in a political environment. My mother, Regina Achi Nentui who recently passed on was the first elected female County (now Local Government) Council Chairman in the defunct Eastern Region, and the entire country presumably.

She was elected Chairman, Ikom (now Ikom, Boki and Etung Local Governments of Cross River State) County Council in 1960 and served to 1963. She had previously been elected as Councilor for Ikom Urban ward. My father, on the other hand was the first lawyer, first High Court Judge and first Justice of the Court of Appeal from my part of the world. Many joke that I took politics from my mother and law from my father in equal proportions more or less. While both professions are critical to society, politics however gives you a wider platform and audience and an opportunity to serve the greater good. As a student I was in politics either through the University of Lagos Law Society, the Students Parliament or the National Association of Nigerian Law Students where I first met people like the late Senator Haruna Abubakar who was to become Deputy Senate President in 1999, the late Yahaya Mahmud Zaria SAN, Justice Chrisanthus Senlong, OCJ Okocha SAN, Awa Kalu SAN and Rotimi Akeredolu SAN who is currently Governor of Ondo State.

Social scientists have postulated that there is a direct correlation between democracy and development, economic, social, political and human development. Having, in all humility, proven myself in the legal profession, I was Chairman of Calabar Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association for an unusual three terms, a Bencher and now a Life Bencher and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, I had to move to serving a greater number of people. My politics is to deepen democracy in context and content, enhance debate, elevate the intellectual and moral inputs into our politics which is not dirty if you had already set for yourself clear moral boundaries like I believe I have.

one. I am categorical on this. Check the records. The threshold for the Board to award contracts was withdrawn by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation when there was no Board.

That was before we were appointed and it was never restored while I was chairman. Moreover I believed then, and still believe, that part of the problems of the NDDC is that contracts have become a bazaar with no method to them and too many to be realistically managed.

We rather, as part of the strategy to restructure the books of the Commission terminated about three hundred billion Naira worth of contracts and were going to cancel many more when the board was prematurely dissolved for reasons that I still cannot fathom.

You were a Catholic Church seminarian but were not ordained a priest. What happened?

I went to a famous Catholic School, Mary Knoll College, Okuku which served as holding ground for those aspiring to the Catholic priesthood during the Nigerian Civil war as there was no access then to the seminaries for those from my part of the world. I had gone there in the first place because of my aspiration to be a priest. Again because of the civil war I had to change schools. By the time I returned to Mary Knoll after the war a lot had changed.

My colleagues were already in seminaries. One irreverent young lawyer in my firm told me in jest that it took God and a civil war to stop me from being His priest and wondered what kind of Priest I would have become. I keep wondering about that.

By October 1st this year, Nigeria will be marking 60 years of independence. What would you say are our key achievements and setbacks as a nation?

Our key achievements are that we survived the Nigerian civil war of 1967 -1970 and that we are still a country. Beyond these every index in terms of physical and social parameters shows that we have declined. Up to the early 1980’s you most likely contemplated going abroad to study only if you did not find a place in a Nigerian university. Our universities compared with the best in the world as did our primary and secondary schools.

Our medical facilities, largely public or owned by religious missions were first rate. It is said that up to 1965 the King of Saudi Arabia went to University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan for his medicals.

Today, our social and physical infrastructures are in shambles.

The textile factories in Kano and Kaduna and many other industries all over the country have shut down. We have one of the highest, if not the highest, number out of school children in the world, the unemployment and poverty rates are scandalous. I did my NYSC in Bauchi (now Bauchi and Gombe) States. The safest time to travel then was at night. Crime was very low especially in the North. That has changed for the worst. Nigeria’s judiciary was rated amongst the best in the world. Today, in every sector it is a tale of woes. By 1971, United Arab Emirates was complete desert with no infrastructure. We were

One issue that has emanated from the ongoing NDDC probe and other probes by the NASS is the fact that legislatures compromise on their oversight functions. Is this proper?

The Legislature, in the discharge of its power of oversight, exposing corruption and minimizing waste regarding funds appropriated by it must be like Caesar’s wife, beyond suspicion. It is constitutionally and morally wrong for the Legislature or its members to be complicit. In any matter that is or likely to be within its purview. The various Houses have their committees on Ethics and Public Petitions whose mandates include ethical and conflict of interest situations like this. Just like the legislature oversights the Executive the public oversights the Legislature. In this public oversight of the legislature the media and civil society have a critical role to play in ensuring ethical compliance by legislators and the legislature as an institution. Democracy is not an event, it is not a milestone, it is an endless journey, it is a process and all citizens have a responsibility to it.

miles ahead. Today UAE compares with the best in the world and has sent people to space while we now grapple with nineteenth century issues. Religious tolerance in this country is a policy, it is practiced and strictly enforced.2019 was proclaimed as ‘Year of Tolerance”.

Churches and Mosques exist side by side. In Abu Dhabi there is the Mary, Mother of Jesus mosque next to the St. Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral. In Nigeria rather than preach tolerance where we should have strength, the political elite, in agbada and military uniform, have rather exploited these differences to promote disunity and hate. You can find neither peace nor strength in disunity and hate`. We need a

different strategy to deal with our differences to promote tolerance, understanding and unity.

You were the immediate past Chairman of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

How do you feel about the allegations of corruption and other infractions made at the national assembly investigations?

The allegations of corruption in the NDDC must worry every Nigerian of conscience and especially the long suffering people of the Niger Delta Region who are face to face with the squandering of their opportunity for development. More

worrying is the fact that the sleaze is not peculiar to the NDDC. It is an open secret that corruption has become endemic especially in the public sphere. If we are to open up every public institution to scrutiny we will suffocate from the bad odor of corruption. With the kind of resources that have gone into the Niger Delta Region in the last twenty years if the region could not look like Dubai it should at least look like Bahrain.

But some of the NDDC contracts were alleged awarded during your tenure as Chairman of the Board. Did the contracts go through due process? And why were they not executed?

My Board inherited very many contracts.

It did not award any contract, not even

In view of what you just said, what should happen to legislatures found guilty of abusing oversight functions?

Each chamber of the National Assembly that is the Senate and the House of Representatives has its Committee on Ethics and Public Petitions to handle allegations of ethical breaches among others their members. Where the infractions are essentially ethical, depending on the gravity, the sanction could range from a reprimand to a suspension using its own laws, that is the laws of the legislature. Where however a crime is committed parliamentary privilege will not apply and it will be subject to the laws of the land and not the laws of the parliament as members do not enjoy general constitutional immunity like the President, Vice President, Governors and their deputies and except where there is

arms. Add the endemic corruption everywhere and the sense of injustice by sections of the country, the poor conditions of the armed forces and the police. I could go on and on. All of these are as a result of serial failure of political leadership by the political elite, both military and civilian over the years. In the last few years the same strategy and security architecture have been deployed to address the symptoms rather than the causes with very limited success.

We cannot do the same way and expect different outcomes. The solution to our security challenge must be global and holistic. It will require political will and consistency.

immunity no one is above the law.

The public must therefore hold the parliament or legislature to a minimum standard of conduct.

Do you think scrapping legislative oversight function is the way out?

I don’t think so. Appropriation and oversight are at the soul of any parliament. Remove these two functions the legislature becomes useless and needless.

Since the exit of your Board, the Federal government has been using Interim Management Committee to run the NDDC; does this contravene the NDDC act?

The Interim Management Committee was not contemplated howsoever by the NDDC Act. It is an illegal contraption. Its actions can be successfully challenged in court by anyone affected by them. I believe that if the decisions or actions of the Interim Management Committee are challenged in a Court of competent jurisdiction they will be declared unlawful. Government must resort to the Act setting up the NDDC and comply strictly with the law by setting up a Board for the Commission as envisaged and provided for by its Act. With the way Nigeria is being ruled, would you say we are practicing true federalism?

I cannot say we are practicing true federalism. We are practicing what my friend and brother Senator Ike Ekweremadu called “feeding bottle” federalism where the State’s apart from perhaps Lagos State and one or two other States are completely dependent on statutory allocation.

We have sixty eight items on the exclusive legislative list and thirty on the concurrent list with only sixteen actively for the States. You have a centralized police and correctional (prisons) system creating an anomalous situation where for instance, a person commits a state offence; he is arrested by a federal police, is tried by a state court and sentenced to a federal correctional facility. Our federalism is clearly abnormal. Its content suggests a unitary system.

How would you justify the humongous salaries and allowances being enjoyed by members of the National Assembly in the light of the following : first, the work they do as legislatures, second, In relation to the state of the Nigerian economy and thirdly,

In relation to the N30,000 per month minimum wage earned by an average Nigerian worker?

To the best of my knowledge the salaries of public officers, including members of the National Assembly, are fixed by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission. I believe that their running costs are misrepresented as allowances. Every public office has running costs and until these running costs are compared with those of other public offices you cannot reach a fair judgment. The budget of National Assembly including the National Assembly Service Commission, Nigerian Institute of Legislative Studies and their capital and recurrent expenditure is less than three percent of the national budget and less than what is paid as oil subsidies and lost as customs and other waivers. If you scrapp the National Assembly you will be saving less than three percent of the National budget. If we must interrogate the cost of governance therefore, which we must, it should be holistic and global. Scapegoating an arm of government, simply because through military rule we had learnt to live without it will be most unhelpful. We might unwittingly be browbeating the Legislature into timidity.

The current 9th National Assembly by their words and actions has become a stooge to the executive arm to the detriment of the electorates that put them there. Does this not negate the principle of check and Balance?

The three arms of government, the Legislature, the Executive and Judiciary are intended to be independent but that independence in reality is not and cannot be absolute. The Legislature is meant to check and oversight the executive but there are times both must work together as they are part of the same

government without mortgaging their independence .There are also times the National Assembly must rise to stabilize the polity like it did with “ the doctrine of necessity “. I also believe it is precipitate to tag an Assembly which is not even midway into its term. Any objective assessment can only be at the end of its term as we cannot foresee tomorrow.

How do you feel about the state of insecurity in Nigeria today and what actions would you advise President Buhari to take The state of insecurity in the country is a matter of grave concern to everyone. I am very worried. The causes of our insecurity and the architecture to tackle it must be addressed.

There is no silver bullet for solving the security problems of the country which are multidimensional. The root causes are social, economic, political and environmental. Discussing our security problems will require a treatise but I will attempt to make it as short as I possibly can because of space and time. Our social institutions especially in education and health have totally collapsed.

Today we produce graduates who cannot justify their paper qualifications. Our moral and social values are so badly eroded that there is a complete loss of shame in the public and private spheres. Youths have role models in people who ordinarily should be in jail. We celebrate people who in other climes should be an embarrassment to society.

Every activity, whether public or private has become transactional.

Youth unemployment has reached alarming proportions and therefore the greater opportunity for criminality. Businesses are folding up daily especially in the North. Add the consequences of desertification and the drying up of Lake Chad and the attendant pressure on land, and of course our porous borders and proliferation of small and other

For 12 years you were in the Senate and rose to the position of Senate leader. What would you say were your major contributions?

It is for the public and history to judge my achievements in the Senate. However I like to be judged by the simple promise I made to my constituents when I was soliciting their mandate to represent them.

The promise was that I was going to give them a voice. In all humility I believe I gave them that voice. I introduced thirty eight bills during my time in the Senate two of which, the Freedom of Information and the Nigerian Correctional Services Bills are now Acts of the National Assembly. I introduced many topical motions including the ones on the implications of the tsunami of years back on us and the fate of Nigerian sailors captured by Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia precipitating events that led to their eventual release. I offered undergraduate and post graduate scholarships to over seven hundred of my constituents, secured employments for about four hundred of them in federal ministries, departments and agencies, attracted ninety seven projects from the minor to the mega, sponsored small and medium businesses for constituents, facilitated medical treatment locally and abroad for many of them, provided laptop computers for many of my students sponsored many for the Central Bank of Nigeria entrepreneurship programme and provided them with startup capital, gave out over two hundred cars , sponsored both Christians and Muslims on pilgrimages, among many other things. My free computer training programme is still running and we now have over ten thousand graduates. Like I said earlier it is for the public and history to judge and I pray that the judgment is merciful.

But it was alleged that your failure to return to the Senate in Cross River state was because of disagreements with former Governor Liyel Imoke. Could you please explain what actually happened?

I had desired to return to the Senate. As to what happened and why, only Senator Liyel Imoke who was Governor at the time can tell as I still do not know what the issues were. Whatever the reasons they are now in the past and I have moved on trusting as always that my destiny is God’s hands always and not men.

18

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

EDUCATION Weekly insight on current and future trends in education

Primary/Secondary

Higher

Human Capital

Stem Education: Lagos State Ministry of Education partners with Smithsonian Museum Institute USA

UI launches Mathematics Solution song, ‘MATMUSIC’, as Oyo Promises support

• It’s a boost for STEM Education - Adefisayo

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MARK MAYAH

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he Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Education in Lagos State received a boost with a partnership/collaboration of the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Smithsonian Museum Science Institute, USA. The collaborative efforts are aimed at driving education reforms through the goals STEM education would avail, according to Lagos state Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo in a statement made available to BusinessDay. Adefisayo revealed that the Smithsonian Museum Science Institute offered a generous grant to have officers from the Ministry involved in curriculum improvement to participate in their annual intensive week-long institute training which is held every July.

The annual event, according to Adefisayo, is a forum where teams of educators, administrators and stakeholders from across the world converge to gain an in-depth understanding of the Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) model and apply it to strategic planning for their varied communities.

The commissioner said: “With the challenges and demands of a technologydriven economy in the verynear future, the State needs to place an elevated importance on STEM Education by creating a steady pipeline of skilled personnel to meet these demands as it remains germane for the actualization of the ‘smart city’.”

She however revealed that the Smithsonian Museum Science institute is a renowned group of museums and research centres administered

Folasade Adefisayo

by the government of United States institute which was established as far back in 1846 and was a learning institution concerned with enhancing science.

“The Smithsonian Education Centre’s (SSEC) mission is to transform and improve the learning and teaching of science for Primary and Secondary school students.

Their work is cantered on the establishment of effective science programs for all students and by actualizing that goal, the SSEC creates awareness for K-12 science education reform among State and District leaders, through their programmes that lead to the professional development of teachers and administrators.

The educational mission of the Smithsonian Education Centre has been a global drive towards attaining research and curriculum development transformation through their teaching and learning of science.” She added.

“The SSEC have had widespread impact through their support of schools, Districts, States, and Ministries of Education all across the 50 States

of the United States and 43 nations through theirs proven Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) model, which they have proven through data & vast experience to lead to higher student achievement in science and improved science teaching and learning” The Commissioner further disclosed.

She therefore stressed that, “Working on driving the infusion of the STEM teaching and learning methodology in the basic educational curriculum of Lagos State to encourage students to become innovators and problem-solvers instead of becoming sole consumers of knowledge remains crucial if we must prepare the students for the future”.

“We also should ensure that our State is a stem literatesociety that would produce a crop of intellectually enhanced students who will grow to contribute meaningfully towards the development of their communities, corporate firms and the economy at large, ’she said.

An elated Adefisayo reiterated that the Lagos State Gov-

ernor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu remains firmly committed to innovatively ensure that the quality of Education is pushed to an enviable world class standard and the collaboration with Smithsonian Museum Science institute was a welcome intervention towards the development of Science as well as capacity building for in-Persons leadership development in the State.

She noted that setting up Stem Education was necessitated to integrate STEM into the curriculum while the infusion of Education and Technology was a catalyst for overseeing the operation or implementation of Stem practices in the classroom.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on STEM Education, Adetola Salau; an engineer and a STEM certified Expert in STEM pedagogy, stated that due to the advent of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the weeklong convening was shifted to a fully virtual leadership development event in July, 2020. She revealed that the program was a series of live and asynchronous meeting.

She emphasized that during the training individuals and teams were to tackle the challenge of ensuring Science Education remains a critical component of their classrooms and contexts even during this challenging period.

“Participants attended sessions on hot topics including social emotional learning, equity, and accessibility. Through the days of attendance, the participants were to develop and share action plans to articulate their strategies for facilitating nontraditional learning experiences in their communities.

The same grant from the inperson program was extended to the Lagos State Ministry of Education team for inclusion in the virtual workshop.” She concluded.

REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan. ice Chancellor University of Ibadan, Idowu Olayinka, a Professor has launched the mathematics Solution song (MATMUSIC) composed

by Akin Salami of the Early Child Education Department of the Premier University.

While speaking on the innovative project of using songs to simplify the dreaded mathematics, the Vice Chancellor stated that innovative tools must be adopted to enhance learning outcomes.

Olayinka challenged other researchers to discover new ways of enhancing learning by making learning interesting for positive learning outcomes “He has come up with this innovative way to teach mathematics through music and I believe there is another possibility to teach medicine through music just to make learning interesting for the learners with the efforts the doctor, instructor or lecturer is putting into it will make

the formula and solution.

Together with the pupils, Salami said the song was composed and produced to ease the understanding and solving mathematical problems in elementary primary schools.

According to him, about 20 schools in Oyo state were given 10 free audio and video CDs of the MATMusic and another 300 to those who attended free of charge.

Representative of the Oyo SUBEB Chairman, Nureni Adeniran, Kemi Adeosun lauded the innovative project and promised that the state will partner with the University of Ibadan to ensure that the CDs get to the pupils at the grassroots to neutralise the fears of pupils to mathematics.

“We so much appreciate this notable project because mathematics is a very important subject and as we all know that the major objective of UBE is to inculcate in Children, Literacy numeracy, life skills and values that will help them in lifelong Education and as well to solve life problems and we found out that student regards

Idowu Olayinka, UNIBADAN VC

learning much more possible.”

The researcher of the MatMusicproject, Ishola Akindele Salami stated that the idea of MATMUSIC was a product of his teaching experience at the University Staff School where he taught mathematics and realised that the students loved the course when he introduced music in passing across

this subject as an almighty mathematics including myself because I struggled to have the last credit in my Levels Examination and this method will really help the teachers and the learners to develop the capacity to understand mathematics better and be able to learn it in a fun way and it will make it easier and the achievement of the UBE will be easier.

FG, states partners to provide access to digital devices for students KELECHI EWUZIE

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etermined to cushion the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the education sector, the Federal Government says it is working with state governments and some development partners to improve the country’s education system by making it more digitally accessible.

Obafela Bank-Olemoh, senior special assistant on Education Interventions to President

Muhammadu Buhari, says that going forward, one of the key areas that Nigerians are going to see a lot of funding from both the federal and state governments towards the education sector, is in the area of devices.

He noted that plans on how to get cheap and affordable devices into the hands of school students is a key thing that the government is working on.

Bank-Olemoh observes that Nigeria’s education sector has been one of the most affected by the pandemic. Since the govwww.businessday.ng

ernment instituted lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus, schools across the country have remained closed. The federal and state governments plan to have the resumption happen soon; however, no date has been fixed.

He stated this while speaking at MTN Nigeria’s The Revv Programme masterclass on ‘Education without Borders and Boundaries’, an initiative from MTN Nigeria to help small businesses rethink and relearn their operations to enable them mitigate against the effect of the

COVID-19 pandemic using a four-pronged approach that includes masterclasses, access to market, productivity tools support and advisory initiatives.

He noted that the pandemic has meant that the state and federal governments, along with development partners, rethink Nigeria’s education system. “The reality has changed how we do education whether at the state or federal level. Whether we like it or not, we have to provide devices for our children; this is because if something like this

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happens the second time, we can’t make the excuse of not planning for it,” according to Bank-Olemoh.

Continuing, Bank-Olemoh said the plan wasn’t just to put devices in the hands of students, but to see how that can be done locally.

“Beyond that, it is also an area that we say how do we do it locally? This is because what we have now is just pumping funds outside the country. However, going forward, that’s one major area that we’re going to see a lot of intervention from the federal @Businessdayng

government, states as well as development partners.”

Other educators and education experts from the public and private sectors that made up the event’s lineup of speakers included Sim Shagaya, chief executive officer, Ulesson Education; Orondaam Otto, founder/ED, Slum2School Africa; Bolajoko Falore, education director, Mind Builders School; Olamidun Majekodunmi, country manager, Nexford University; and Babalola Oyeleye, general manager, Transformation Office, MTN Nigeria.

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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EDUCATION LASG resuscitates interest in Arabic teachings with introduction of teachers to new skills and methodology MARK MAYAH

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n a bid to curb the dearth of Arabic teachings in Lagos State Schools, the State Government has resuscitated interest in Arabic teachings with the introduction of teachers to new skills and methodology.

This is following the recent investments of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration that have pledged and ensured that the Education Sector in the State is transformed in all ramifications.

Speaking at the opening of a One-Day Workshop organized by the Ministry of Education for Arabic Teachers across the six Education districts of the State at the Multilingual International Resource Centre, Maryland, Lagos, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Abosede Adelaja, who gave a keynote address at the event noted that appreciable investments in the Multilingual International Resource Centre as well as the determination to build capacity of teachers and administrations in the State’s Public Schools have begun yielding laudable results and has become evident in the education of children in the State.

The Permanent Secretary said the training became necessary as language remains an important and an all-encompassing element in human life and key component in elective Communications which undeniably guarantees a harmonious society and that the continuous capacity building at the local and international levels will be of immense advantage to teachers in the State.

Adelaja stressed that the theme for the workshop “Teaching and learning of Arabic Language in Lagos State Schools; Status, challenges and Way forward” was apt and clearly depicts the readiness of government to further improve the teaching and learning of languages in the State as driving the 21st Century economy requires in-depth global approach that would transcend platforms and diverse global societies and economies, hence the need to tackle barriers which a deficiency in language may portend.

She however revealed that psychological studies have found that speaking two or more languages is a great asset to cognitive process which is quite beneficial for students; which further empowers them

Sanwo-Olu, Lagos Governor

with the right skills and knowledge crucial for their independence and self-reliance in preparation for the future workplace.

“Instituting various approaches that will aid in achieving improvement in learners’ outcomes, increase literacy and numeracy rate of students and also optimize School Curriculum to enhance capacity of School personnel and improve infrastructural

SDG Donates 14, 850 Textbooks to Oyo Primary schools REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan.

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he Office of the Senior Special Assistant on Sustainable Development Goals has donated 150 cartons (14, 850 textbooks) of the Global Goals for sustainable development textbooks to Primary schools in Oyo State, under the auspices of Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board.

The donation is in fulfilment of the SDG’s pledge to collaborate with Oyo SUBEB on providing quality education for public primary school pupils in the State.

Speaking at Oyo SUBEB’s car park, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on SDGs, Kunle Yusuff said the 14, 850 textbooks would be distributed freely to pupils in Primary 4, 5 and 6.

He affirmed that, “we are convinced that education is key to unlocking Oyo State’s greatest potential, hence, our huge investment in educational intervention programs.

“We will continue to do our

best to create community focused initiatives to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, (SDG), Number 4, which seeks to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030”, he said.

“We donated the Students’ Edition of the Global Goals for sustainable development not just to provide quality education in the public primary schools, but to also create a model for educational experi-

Nureni Adeniran, Oyo Subeb chairman www.businessday.ng

ence for our children.”

Yusuff assured the Board of further collaborations with his office, noting that Basic Education forms part of his office’s key targets.

In his response, the Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Nureni Adeniran promised that the texts would be part of school curriculum and learning materials for social studies and basic science in all schools.

He posited that with the spate of educational development in Oyo State, schools would soon start recording zero dropout among pupils; and improved learning outcomes in speaking, reading and writing among the pupils.

“The achievements recorded have been made possible by the critical roles played by Governor Seyi Makinde, Universal Basic Education Commission and other partners such as the Office of the SSA on SDGs, who are committed to sustaining the impact of this project.

development are clear indications of the transforming of the Education Sector,” Adelaja further stated.

She encouraged participants at the event to avail themselves of the opportunity of the workshop, noting that the lectures by the seasoned facilitators are an onus for effective service delivery and simplified teaching and learning of their students.

Among the facilitators

were Saheed Timehin[Dr], Head Of Arabic Unit, Department of Foreign Languages, Lagos State University who delivered the first lecture titled “ Teaching and Learning of Arabic in Lagos Schools” while the Dean Student Affairs and former HOD Arabic Department, Michael Otedola College of Education, Morufudeen Adeniyi Shittu[Dr], delivered the second lecture titled “Relevance of Arabic Language to the World Development: Challenges of Nigeria Arabic Teachers” While welcoming participants, the Director, Multilingual International Resource Centre, Taiwo Haastrup told those present that Arabic language is one of the languages recognized by the United Nations and spoken by people and nations across the globe. She said the Multilingual International Resource Centre MLIRC is committed to raise Oral proficient indigenous and sovereign language learners as well as world class learners of foreign and indigenous languages in a conducive learning environment as provided by the Lagos State Government.

Haastrup said the centre also serves as a

platform for capacity building for many languages to mitigate the dearth of Arabic Language teaching and learning in Lagos State Schools and to stem the tide of drafting Arabic language Teachers to teach other subjects viz Islamic Religious Studies, Civil Education amongst others. ‘’Our objective for this workshop is to train Teachers on effective methodologies in the teaching and learning of Arabic as a foreign language.

We also want to encourage and resuscitate the interest of Teachers and Students in the Learning of Arabic language as universal means of communication. ‘’We also believe this workshop will spiral an upward increase in enrolment of Arabic language by students in WAEC and NECO examinations as the teacher avail themselves for the impactful sessions.

She enthused that the Multilingual International Resource Centre will leave no stone upturned, in the quest to ensure that new trends and approaches are continuously instituted. “Our commitment to ensure a balanced education will transcend certification; it must be in conduct and in learning” She concluded.

MTN Foundation, MUSON graduate 30 music scholars MARK MAYAH

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total of 30 artistes graduated from MUSON School of Music in Lagos on Saturday after a two-year scholarship awarded by MTN Foundation.

Our correspondent reports that the virtual ceremony, held at Shell Hall of MUSON centre, was attended virtually by family and friends in accordance with COVID-19 protocols.

Dennis Okoro, Director MTN Foundation, while presenting the graduands, expressed appreciation to the

graduands for being part of the programme.

“On behalf of the MTN family, I thank you all for entrusting us with your gift through this programme. “We are honoured to be part of your success story and look forward to the great things you will achieve. ` The MTN Foundation has impacted students through various initiatives including the MTN Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme (MTN STSS) and the MTN Scholarship Scheme for Blind Students,” Okoro said.

Banke Ademola, Direc-

tor, MUSON School of Music, thanked the Foundation for the opportunity and scholarship given to the students to showcase their various talents especially in music.

“We thank MTN Foundation for the golden opportunity and scholarship given to the students; more so, the unflinching support at monitoring by the staff of MTN. “Surrounding the graduation ceremony of our students, although it is different this year with the COVID-19 pandemic, we still had glamorous presentations both in live stream and virtually,” she said.

Girl child education panacea to gender inequality SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

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ttahiru Garba Madami, Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kwara State has advocated for improved education of girl child to enable them compete favourably with their male counterparts.

Madami gave the indication in Ilorin at One-Day Stakeholders Meeting on

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the Effect of COVID-19 on Women Participation in Politics, organized by League of Women Voters of Nigeria in collaboration with Action Aid. He says girl child education is vital tool for empowering women and development.

“Education is the bedrock of development and the only legacy we can leave for our children especially the girlchild.

“We must break religious, @Businessdayng

cultural, social and challenges/ barriers hindering the girl child education.

“Therefore, education for girl child must be made compulsory while parents that failed or refused to send their girl child to school should be sanctioned,” said Madami.

Folashade Aransiola, the chairperson of the group in Kwara State stressed the need for parents to be more responsive in educating their girls on ways of live.

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

BDTECH

In association with

E-mail:jumoke.akiyode@businessdayonline.com

ESET urges companies to comply with Nigeria’s data protection regulations

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JUMOKE AKIYODE LAWANSON

ompliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) will impact data protection governance, information systems and security configuration, as well as documented policies and processes, says ESET Nigeria.

ESET, the internet security company that offers anti-virus and firewall products, emphasised that organisations, both public and private, operating in Nigeria are expected to comply with the NDPR. These requirements are already in force, and its implications are complex and the potential penalties for non-compliance are severe.

Olufemi Ake, the managing director, ESET Nigeria and Ghana, at a zoom conference recently organised to discuss how organisations can comply with the data protection regulations, said that encrypting data and creating an additional authentication for data accessibility in organisations are a few ways to help in meeting the new data security and compliance rules.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) introduced The Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and enforced its compliance from January 2019 as the new requirement on collection and processing of personal data. It requires such activities to be in accordance with a lawful purpose consent by the data

subject.

Due to this, organisations have been mandated to put compliance measures in place within the first year of the regulation.

“Compliance with this regulation will impact data protection governance, information systems and security configuration, as well as documented policies and processes,” Ake said.

He also enumerated objectives of the regulation as; “to safeguard the rights of natural persons to data privacy; foster safe conduct for transactions involving the exchange of personal data; to prevent manipulation of personal data; and to ensure that Nigerian businesses

remain competitive in international trade through the safe-guards afforded by a sound data protection regulation.

“NDPR applies to all storage and processing of personal data conducted in respect of Nigerian citizens and residents and it covers transactions intended for the processing of personal data and to the actual processing of personal data and person(s) residing in Nigeria or residing outside Nigeria but of Nigerian nationality.

“Unlike the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR), NDPR is not enforced on persons and organisations outside Nigeria that collect, store, or process data

of Nigerians,” Ake said.

“The maximum penalty for breaches of data privacy rights on international transfers can be up to N10M or two percent of annual gross revenue of the preceding year, whichever is higher and based on the number of data subjects dealt with. Other massive losses that non-compliance could cause are reputational damage and prosecution of principal officers in the event of a severe data breach”, he reminded organisations.

Ake also affirmed ESET’s readiness to assist organisations on NDPR compliance.

“To ensure 100 percent compliance, organisations should ensure

the following solutions are deployed and proactively used.

“Organisations are keenly advised to get a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution to ensure that sensitive data is not lost, misused, or accessed by unauthorised users.

Most importantly the likes of ‘Safetica’ that classify regulated, confidential and business-critical data and identifies violations of policies defined by organisations or within a predefined policy pack, typically driven by regulatory compliance such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, or NDPR. “Multi-factor Authentication will serve as an additional layer of protection of data from unauthorised users. This tool will help data controllers in securing all logins to database and networks (onpremise and cloud) by generating a one-time password that is not known to anyone but unique to a particular user and per login. An excellent example of such a solution is ESET Secure Authentication,” Ake said.

Finally, the security expert advises that organisations should also deploy data encryption technologies, develop organisational policy for handling personal data (and other sensitive or confidential data), protect emailing systems and ensure continuous capacity building for staff. This is because report has shown that most organisations in Nigeria seek the above solutions to meet up with the compliance requirements of NDPR on data security.

Indigenous autotech company redefines used vehicle purchasing with innovative online platform JUMOKE AKIYODE LAWANSON

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etacar.ng, a Nigerian autotech company specifically created to sell used cars in good condition, has totally transformed the way second hand car purchases were formally conducted, and has built more confidence in buyers who can now track history and records of the vehicles before purchasing.

On its integrated e-commerce

platform, which was launched in August 2019, customers can start the car buying journey online on the website betacar.ng to search and learn about the variety of car options, and the physical car store that allows customers to test drive and validate preference for their chosen car.

Lou Odunuga, CEO of Betacar said that; “So much has been achieved in one year since the launch, and we have recorded exciting growth in customer base.

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Betacar.ng has raised the bar in the Nigerian automotive industry.

Providing car buyers with quality, transparency, and instalment payment options to improve affordability. We are most excited about the reception of customers to all our products and innovative services.”

On its innovations, Betacar provides a warranty on all cars sold on the platform. This is unique in the Nigerian used car market and it’s a great step forward by the company.

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This gives customers full peace of mind when buying cars from Betacar.ng platform.

Other innovations by Betacar for the local market include- 200-points vehicle quality checks on every car, and providing customers access to car history reports for transparency.

The website also features Betacar Financing, a fintech product that allows salary earners and structured business owners to buy quality certified Tokunbo cars and pay over a

@Businessdayng

period of 12-24 months.

Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson, the marketing manager, Betacar.ng, said that; “To commemorate the first anniversary of Betacar.ng, customers who purchase their car from us in September 2020 will receive one-month worth of fuel for free.

Nigerians deserve the best of both worlds, quality certified cars that give peace of mind, and affordability through low prices and car financing options.”

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Media business Consultant asks employers to abandon some biases during recruitment Daniel Obi

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job applicant went for a job interview in a medium scale company. He was rightly suited for the job as he qualified in most of the skill sets for the job. Eventually he was not employed because he was above the required age.

Assessing this discrimination for employment especially on age difference which companies have employed based on trend rather than on hiring right based on skill and ability, the Head of Jobberman, Nigeria’s foremost recruitment platform that helps employers and jobseekers solve their recruitment and employment challenges, Foluso Agbaje said this kind of discrimination automatically excludes better qualified candidates in the labour market. There are also some biases against some men and women.

Recruitment needs to leave of some biases behind as the world progresses towards a

focus on hiring for the right fit based on skill and ability, not on the notion of what the right candidate looks like on paper, she said recently in an interview.

According to her it is important that when employers are looking for a candidate, they know exactly which areas

they are willing to compromise on for different roles without disqualifying candidates who have potential but don’t tick all the boxes.

Foluso Agbaje further said that modern-day recruitment literature suggests that to be best placed for the future of work; companies should be

assessing the critical skills their organizations need to have the right competitive advantage.

This implies that to hire right, companies will need to hire candidates who have the critical skills that have been identified for the business.

“This is where our assessment product comes in; by using an assessment you can immediately see what skills the applicants have and at what level because the assessment report shows you the level of proficiency the candidate has based on their answers”.

Agbaje who was management Consultant in KPMG’s Lagos office, serving private and public sector clients primarily on People & Change projects advised HR professionals and recruiters that recruitment is an art not a science; “there is no one size fits all recipe for recruiting for all roles across various organisations. What this means is that you might need to tailor your recruitment strategy for each open role in your organization to ensure that you are getting the best fit”.

BD Brand Talk

Business survival beyond the Pandemic: Jottings from a Corporate Governance Master Class Mike Umogun

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usiness sustainability can be described as continued development or growth, without significant deterioration of the environment and depletion of natural resources on which human well-being depends. It is “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The era of the Pandemic is one of unlearning and new learning. The focus of this brand talk would be to review our existing learnings and see what is working and what is not and highlight the way forward.

According to Margie Warrell the bestselling author of Stop Playing Safe and Find Your Courage we are in the season of cleaning out junk knowledge to allow our new self lift off like a Falcon 9 heavy rocket booster . Says Margie Unlearning is about moving away from something—letting go—rather than acquiring. It’s like

stripping old paint. It lays the foundation for the new layer of fresh learning to be acquired and to stick. But like the painter who needs to prepare a surface, stripping the paint is 70% of the work while repainting is only 30%.

Adult education experts estimate that up to 40% of what tertiary students are learning will be obsolete a decade from now when they will be working in jobs that have yet to be created. So new knowledge would be needed for moving to the next level. Indeed, the top 10 most in-demand jobs today didn’t even exist 10 years ago. To say that we live in a changing world understates the speed of both the pace and the scope of ongoing change and societal development.

Businesses that are desirous of been around for a few more decades must unlearn old ways of doing things and adorn a new business mentality. For instance, business leaders should understand that working from home is becoming the new normal but how do you as a business relate to this new business model matters. If you www.businessday.ng

are an industrial entity and your workers must come to the production floor, their health matters now deserve additional care to ensure they are well protected and their personal safety is well catered for and nothing is not left to chance.

According to Bode Ayeku President and Chairman of Council of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) Corporate entities must learn to communicate and trust their staff to get the work they are paid for done as and when needed. The truth is that more hours and job can be done with mutual trust by both parties without the usual bickering.

This is the era of reaffirming existing relationship so that stakeholders can jointly survive this pandemic. A lot of transparency and accountability would do all concerned a lot of favour and build more confidence into the business moving forward. Where the right level of confidence exists, management and workers can talk mutually about salary cut or adjustment to ensure the business is kept out of intensive care just as

the support of suppliers and regulators would go along to ensure survival today and thus enabling the business repositions itself for a better tomorrow. In other words, lots of emotional intelligence is desirable in these months of the Covid-19.

Higher empathy and clarity of long-term goals would help all parties concerned survive these interesting times.

According to Jack Ma the owner of Ali Baba businesses should focus on sustainability and not too much on profit as economic recession in the case of Nigeria is just one quarter away. Business sustainability can also be aided by quality of government policies. It would not help if government now intensifies revenue generation and drive at this delicate period instead deferring payments to ensure corporate survival Business survival requires collaboration of all stakeholders to ensure we are all here doing what we love ...creating value for all.

Michael Umogun works with Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria ( ICSAN)

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Companies hide under Covid-19 goodwill messages to promote products, evade APCON vetting

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ome companies have adopted a new method of avoiding advertising vetting by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON and evading the payment of the necessary fees.

The companies are smartly embedding product promotions in their Covid-19 corporate social responsibility messages. Ordinarily, APCON does to vet goodwill messages designed to support the government or the society in any course.

Such goodwill messages should primarily talk about the event or the programme and sign off with the spon-

sor’s company name, but this time, some companies are promoting their products while talking about Covid-19 pandemic.

“They are now going directly to the media houses to place such Ads without coming for vetting in the name of supporting the government campaign messages against Covid-19.”, a source in the advertising regulatory body told BusinessDay. The source however said that the council has started to sensitise the companies on their actions. “Such ads must be vetted by APCON if they contain product promotions”.

Consumers applaud new Chi Exotic, Chivita Ice Tea Cans

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he recent introduction of Chi Exotic and Chivita Ice Tea in 330ml cans to the Nigerian market is gaining positive consumer reviews as its popularity soars, according to a statement from the company. The innovative Cans are resonating with consumers, particularly millennials, who are increasingly relating to them at the times when they need fruity nourishment and natural refreshment.

It said the Chi Exotic and Chivita Ice Tea 330ml cans has become an ideal choice for millennials and many others alike, not just because they are contemporary, but also because they are convenient and easy to carry, thereby complementing the consumers’ lifestyle.

“A cross section of consumers recently interviewed confirm that the Chi Exotic and Chivita Ice Tea 330ml cans have the same great taste as

the products in the Tetra Pak packaging. They agree that carrying and drinking from the new Chivita Cans exudes confidence and style.

“One of the consumers who expressed his opinion on the new Chivita Cans was Timothy Ugwu, a Lagos based journalist. He noted that the popularity of the Chi Exotic and Chivita Ice Tea 330ml cans among millennials can be attributed to the creativity of the Marketing Campaign which features emojis that are portrayed in a unique way that expresses the Nigerian diversity in a cool and trendy manner.”

“I have seen the “Chivita New Cool Cans’’ Television commercials severally and believe that as long as the brand keeps coming up with new and exciting ways to engage and be relevant to consumer needs, they would continue to remain the preferred fruit juices choice.” he said

Spectranet 4G LTE launches new data plans

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G LTE Internet Service provider, Spectranet 4G LTE has unveiled a unique set of data plans tagged “Do More Spectracular Data plans” to address the changing data requirements of its customers as a result of the new normal of Working from Home (WFH).

Speaking on the virtual launch of Do More SpectraCular Data Plans, Ajay Awasthi, Chief Executive Officer, Spectranet 4G LTE said, in a statement said “our study of the customer behaviour during Covid-19 period highlighted a distinct shift in the browsing habits and usage patterns. The customers are now consuming more data during night hours than day hours. Even within day hours the early morning hours are showing a spike in usage.

Addressing these twin needs of higher data consump@Businessdayng

tion while working from home and even higher data requirement during specific times of day and night, Do More SpectraCular data plans comes packed with attractive Data benefits topped up with “ Do More” benefits of Free Unlimited data during certain times of the day and night,such as Unified Value plans with Free Unlimited morning time Data ( 4 AM-8AM) for 120 hours in a month and Mega Value plans with Free Unlimited night time ( 1 AM-8AM) Data for 210 hours in a month.

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Branding When Mamador brand sustains annual women conversation in trending style What interests marketers globally is finding the right key and platform to connect with consumers. The engagement, when properly utilised usually activates consumer actions, creates loyalty and revenue. In this report, Daniel Obi looks at how brands are connecting with consumers, leveraging Mamador recent example.

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L-R: Ufuoma McDermott, Mamador Brand Ambassador and Moderator of the Mamador August Meeting Empowerment Session; Chioma Akpotha, Nollywood Actors and Ngozi Nwosu, panelists at the Mamador August Meeting Empowerment session, which held recently.

Mamador cooking oil, Mamador seasoning cubes and Mamador spread.

With understanding of the relevance and importance of the August Meeting usually marked by Igbo women, the brand refused to allow the various challenges posed by the pandemic affect this year’s August Meeting.

The August Meeting is a women gathering recognised amongst the Igbo community as it is the annual homecoming congress. This gathering of women has been used over the years, as an opportunity for the Igbo womenfolk in diaspora and in the cities to travel back to their villages to meet with their local counterpart to discuss matters pertaining to national development and other cultural and socio-economic initiatives.

In the South East, many of the wives live with their husbands in urban areas. They hold their separate meetings in their cities of residence.

Every end of the year, usually at Christmas period provides an opportunity for most of the women to congregate in the village and deliberate on certain issues. It is also a time to reunite with their mother-in-laws and understand some cultural nuances. The Christmas period gathering is called Home and Abroad meeting. But this period has other events that do not allow for proper tackling of issues in their communities hence the women settled for August, a month they think has less activities.

Unfortunately, this year, the Covid-19 pandemic posed a major threat to the gathering for this year’s August meeting, owing to the fact that many are keeping safe and are www.businessday.ng

unable to travel, especially those in diaspora.

Mamador virtual meeting With a deep thinking informed by consumer insight, the Mamador brand managers therefore took it upon themselves to create an opportunity for these women to gather online as it organised the very first virtual August Meeting.

This is a commendable and innovative move as the brand took a normal physical gathering to online which however saw more participation that perhaps would not have been possible if it was organised

‘

Mamador’s innovative digital connection with the August meeting has, expectedly given the consumers the chance to learn more about the product while also enjoying the experience

‘

Business disruption resently, businesses are struggling to cope with the challenges and opportunities that Covid-19 created. The pandemic engendered new ways of conducting business as it has obviously disrupted most traditional methods of doing things. One thing is therefore clear, only businesses with creative and innovative thinking, will survive the disruption as those businesses that think outside a box will be able to innovate, connect with their consumers and remain stable.

It was clear that many CEOs, marketers and other executives were really unprepared about the degree of the disruption and the impact of the pandemic on businesses.

As the pandemic which has reset the world is not slowing down, a new phrase in business lexicon, ‘New Normal’, has become the new currency defining businesses. Understandably, some businesses in different sectors in Nigeria are realising the changes as times and trends continue to evolve.

Connecting with Consumer Unfortunately, the pandemic hit Nigeria at a time there is growing interest in experiential marketing among consumer businesses. This is with the aim of properly engaging and interacting with the consumers.

With growing competition, many businesses want to remain relevant and meaningful before the dynamic and changing consumers. They want to achieve this by creating touch points where the brands and the target audience meet. Brand owners are therefore allocating more resources to experiential campaigns and activations seen as impactful. This allows consumers to have direct experience with the products as the brands and the target audience interact directly.

Simply, brand owners are putting consumers at the centre of their decision making and marketing strategies. It is said that “real world experiential marketing campaigns provide an opportunity to leave an impression, intrigue and compel consumers” but marketers are equally enhancing this with digital”.

To a marketer, finding the right touch point with the consumer is always the bull’s eye which is expected to produce the expected impact.

Mamador connection with August Meeting In August this this year, brand managers at PZ Wilmar Food Limited, a joint venture between PZ Cussons and Wilmar International, producers of Mamador brand of products, came up with a striking brand connection and association with their consumers around the world. Mamador products include,

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offline.

The virtual meeting which incorporated key events synonymous with the ideals of the August Meeting provided opportunity for the hundreds of women who participated to deliberate on relevant issues as most of the women where grateful to Mamador for providing such window for women deliberations.

The Mamador’s organised August virtual Meeting for Igbo women kicked off on August 20, 2020 with a cooking master class hosted by Chef and Mamador brand ambassador, Ify Mogekwu, where the audiences were taught how to prepare some Igbo delicacies such as making Abacha and cooking bitter leaf soup.

The meeting also featured an empowerment session themed Women: The vessels for transformation. The session, which was moderated by super star actress and also Mamador brand ambassador, Ufuoma McDermott had guest speakers which included, veteran actresses, Ngozi Nwosu and Chioma Akpotha, where the role of women and building consciousness of their capabilities in transforming the nation in all sectors was discussed.

The event which was well attended across various social media platforms, climaxed with a thanksgiving celebration as it is synonymous with the August Meeting, the audience was treated to a live performance from a cultural dance troupe, signalling the end of a successful virtual August Meeting on August 28, 2020.

Speaking on this initiative the Marketing Manager, PZ Wilmar, Chioma Mbanugo congratulated the brand on the success of the Mamador August Meeting 2020. @Businessdayng

“Understanding the importance and significance of the August Meeting, not just the cultural aspect, we felt it was necessary to host an online version. Times are fast changing; we now live in a world where distance shouldn’t be a barrier to our collective growth and development. This August Meeting has always provided women with the opportunity to gather and foster community growth and development, as well as support each other whichever way they can.

Which is why I am very delighted that we have been able to achieve likewise with our first ever Mamador August Meeting” she said.

Consumer Impact In today’s world, technology has enabled brands to communicate in ways that past societies would never have dreamed. Actually, brands like Mamador and others are using this increased dependence on technology to amplify the impact of experiential marketing. The experts say by using digital marketing, brand owners can inform more people about their brands and therefore can see the best results.

Mamador’s innovative digital connection with the August meeting has, expectedly given the consumers the chance to learn more about the product while also enjoying the experience.

Deserving entrepreneurs in the food industry who were participants of the Mamador August Meeting were empowered with Kitchen appliances, and a Free Digital Masterclass at Utiva, a leading Tech education company in Sub-Saharan Africa that helps people learn premium technology skills virtually.

In his comment on Forbes, Steve Olenski said “”the goal of experiential marketing is to create lasting impressions on consumers that they want to share with others and that, ultimately, leads to brand loyalty”.

By organising the virtual meeting, Mamador has not only ingrained its brand in the minds of thousands of Igbo women by letting the women see and feel what their lives would be like with the brand. It has succeeded in creating a long lasting emotional relationship.

When bonds are built with consumers beyond shopping, it creates lasting connections and this is where the innovative approach of Mamador is compelling. Ordinarily, according to experts, most people go out of their way to avoid commercials, yet most will also go out of their way for a new experience. That’s why experiential marketing works so well.

With insights, data about consumers, it becomes easy to know where and how to reach consumers most effectively. This is a learning point for most brands.

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Investments

ENERGY INTELLIGENCE

Market Insight Companies Commodity Tracker Policy

OIL

GAS

PETROCHEMICALS

POWER

How Nigeria plans to increase bi-fuel vehicles count on roads STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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he Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources is fiddling with an ambitious programme that aims to increase the number of bi-fuel vehicles on Nigerian roads as a component of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP).

A bi-fuel system uses two types of fuel, but the fuels are not mixed during operation. The engine is capable of switching between the two so that it is always using the type of fuel most efficient for the conditions at hand.

Under the automobile gas development as a component of the NGEP, plans have reached an advanced stage aligning with ministerial directive and support for the development of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) colocation in Nigerian National Petroleum Corpo-

ration (NNPC) owned and operated mega stations in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Under this arrangement retail outlets will offer a full complement of gas products as transportation fuels in addition to existing white products as a cheaper cleaner and more environmentally friendly alternatives.

“The NNPC and mega retail outlets owners and equipment providers are fully on-board in this objective and measures are in place to achieve a roll-out of this programme by end of September 2020 using select NNPC owned outlets as pilots,” Justice Derefaka, technical adviser, on Gas Business & Policy Implemen-

Three reasons why Nigeria should not expect an oil rally soon DIPO OLADEHINDE

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igeria, like other oilproducing countries, is suffering from the double whammy of the coronavirus-related economic slowdown and the oil price crash and a rally may not be here soon for three reasons.

China’s changing oil strategy In recent months, the world biggest importer, China has changed its oil policy by importing more crude oil from the United States while reducing purchase from Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a development that would lead to more oil glut and lower oil price.

Saudi Arabia’s oil exports to China in July declined by 23.4 percent to 1.26 million barrels per day (bpd), making Saudi Arabia China’s thirdlargest oil supplier while Chinese imports of U.S. crude oil soared by 139 percent year over year, to around 864,200 bpd, placing America at the fifth place among Chinese suppliers.

To compare, in each of May and June, China imported 2.16 million bpd of Saudi crude, a record high.

Saudi Arabia has lost mar-

ket share in China not only to the U.S. but also to Brazil, estimates from Reuters columnist Clyde Russell show.

Growing inventories There is real danger of a growing supply glut that could soon flip and inventories could start rising again - a very negative development for oil prices.

According to EIA data, U.S. oil inventories declined by 10.6 million barrels during the week ending July 24 and then dropped by 7.4 million barrels, 4.5 million barrels, and just 1.6 million barrels in the three subsequent weeks, respectively.

Norwegian independent energy research firm, Rystad Energy has also warned that a renew e d surplus could come knocking again following the loosening of the OPEC+ production cuts: “OPEC’s experiment to increase production from August could backfire as we are still nowhere near out of the woods yet in terms of oil demand. The overall liquids market will flip back into a minisupply glut and a swing into deficit will not happen again until December 2020.”

Analysts at Dutch bank www.businessday.ng

ING expect the oil market to remain in a supply deficit for this year and throughout 2021 with Brent forecast to average $40 per barrel in the third quarter of 2020 and $50 in the fourth quarter.

Uncertainties of coronavirus The coronavirus pandemic affects the oil market in two ways. First, travel restrictions due to containment efforts limit the use of jet fuel, and supply chains slow and industrial activity declines, less oil and oil-based products are being used and produced including the stock market.

Implication for Nigeria The collapse in oil prices and oil demand, and the new OPEC+ production cut deal – with which Nigeria has yet to comply fully have crippled Nigeria’s government revenues, more so than in some other countries, because crude oil is Nigeria’s largest source of revenues.

In the second quarter of this year, Nigeria’s economy shrank by 6.1 percent year over year due to the low oil prices and the lockdowns in the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

tation, to Minister of State, Petroleum Resources said.

There is also a draft of a bi-fuel engine importation and domestic manufacturing policy underway, intending to push through the endorsement of government as an executive order with effect from January 2021. This will compel all engine imported or manufactured domesti-

cally to comply with the bifuel requirement as it is done in many other countries that have made significant progress in autogas utilisation.

This will imply that all engine imports or manufactured domestically must comply.

In the case of Nigeria bi-fuel engine vehicles use either petrol or diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG). This is not new because as of 2013, it was estimated that 3, 000 vehicles had been converted to run on compressed natural gas and petrol in Benin City.

The Green Gas Limited, a joint venture between the Nigerian Gas Company and NIPCO Plc drove this initiative. But the joint venture has fizzled out according to a source who does not want a mention.

Of the three companies given the licence to pioneer the CNG revolution in 2007, only NIPCO Plc has stayed on course. In 2018, NIPCO Plc claimed it has converted a total of 5,600 vehicles in

Nigeria to use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), as one of the company’s efforts at providing access and alternative to the motorist to power their automobiles. The conversion of the vehicles was done at the company’s workshops in Benin, Edo State and Ibafo, Ogun State.

Conversion costs remain prohibitive though. It costs between N100, 000 and N300, 000 to purchase the kit needed in converting a car from petrol or diesel engine to a CNG engine, depending on the nature and condition of the car. But the conversion leads to a 40 percent savings in energy cost for car owners.

“All our trucks run on CNG. This is a much better fuel, as it is cheaper and much cleaner. We strongly believe that it is a more viable alternative to petrol and diesel, however, market forces need to determine the price,” Sumeet Singh, director, sales and strategy at Powergas Nigeria told BusinessDay on the phone.

Global offshore industry is struggling, Nigeria is not immune DIPO OLADEHINDE

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he global offshore industry is currently struggling with limited contracts and bad debt, and Nigeria whose deepwater assets account for 40.47 percent of the total production of 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd), is not immune.

The world’s largest offshore rig owner by fleet size, London based Valaris, joins rivals Noble Corp. and Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. and Arena Energy, one of the largest offshore oil and gas companies in filing for bankruptcy in August.

Diamond Offshore Drilling was the first to file for bankruptcy in April after collapsing under the weight of $20 oil. With a debt pile of $2.6 billion, according to the Financial Times, the move was motivated by the unprecedented oil price crash, saying in its filing that conditions in the oil industry had “worsened precipitously in recent months.”

Earlier this month, Noble Corp filed for bankruptcy protection following the company’s inability to make an interest payment of $15million on a loan.

Noble’s total debt burden was $4 billion.

Arena Energy attributed its bankruptcy filed on August 24 to years of low crude

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prices made worse by the recent coronavirus-driven oil crash. The company said it has more than $1 billion of debt and $35 million of cash on hand.

Pa c i f i c D r i l l i n g S A earlier this month said it may return to bankruptcy court for the second time in less than three years, and Transocean Ltd., the world’s biggest owner of deep-water oil rigs has said its exploring strategic alternatives.

In a recent report by British information provider, IHS Markit said that demand for drilling rigs would start to recover next year and gather speed in 2022.

But this will only happen in some parts of the world, namely South America and Western Africa.

“Offshore drilling is s t r u c t u ra l l y d a ma g e d , and recovery is not imminent,” Nicholas Green from Bernstein wrote in a note cited by Bloomberg.

The above development will be a huge concern for Nigeria, who currently has about 13 billion barrels of oil equivalent presently untapped in Nigeria deep offshore area.

Also, data obtained from Baker Hughes Incorporated and OPEC showed Nigeria had six rigs count last month, a sharp decline compared to 35 rigs count recorded in February 2018. @Businessdayng

The rig count is largely a reflection of the level of exploration, development and production activities occurring in the oil and gas sector.

“The logic is straightforward. When the number of oil rigs rises, it means more people can be employed, when it drops, it means loss of employment opportunities,” said Edward Diete Koki, managing director, Alliance Capital Management Ltd. Niger ia’s success in boosting offshore developments will, however, also depend on its efforts to make the regulatory and legislative backdrop more certain for investors.

Aside from the Bonga field, other deepwater fields such as Chevron Agbami field, ExxonMobil Erha field, Nigerian Agip Exploration Aboh field, Total Exploration and Production Akpo and Usan fields, and to the most recent, Egina field have all started exploration, drilling and production in full swing, yet at least 80 other deepwater oil blocks are yet to begin operations.

Niger ia is cur rently pumping close to two million barrels of oil a day and it plans to roughly double that by 2020, a target that could prove difficult to achieve given expectations that offshore drilling orders will not begin to return until 2021.

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

FEATURE Banks as back bone of economy, humanity in a turbulent time This report takes a look at how the financial sector, especially the banks engaged and supported the society this pandemic period. For instance, UBA showed empathy with a donation of N5b to fight Covid-19 pandemic.

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he COVID-19 pandemic could be the weightiest challenge to financial institutions, ever encountered all over the world.

As the economic fallout spreads, banks in Nigeria collectively find themselves focused on some big priorities that require concrete steps to effectively meet customer needs at this pressing time.

This task seems to have been compounded by the urgent need to safeguard the lives of Nigerians in the face of the scary spread that has seen it blow-out to more than 170 countries including Nigeria.

Confronted with the need to act in order to curtail the spread, President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday, March 30 2020, in his muchanticipated nationwide broadcast declared total lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja as a measure to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus disease [COVID-19] in the country.

Most Nigerians in the affected states understandably panicked not sure what to expect. However, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the Ministry of Finance quickly called on the President to waive that of the banking sector among other essential financial services from the lockdown, though confined to operate partially.

As the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic fully unfolds, businesses, particularly the banking sector, continue to grapple with how to effectively deliver quality service to all customers. A good number of banks have no doubt put in place far reaching innovative ways to ensuring that customers do not encounter challenges in accessing their funds as at when due by so stepping up their game.

A visit to banks, namely, Zenith Bank, GT Bank, First Bank , United Bank for Africa, Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, Stanbic Bank, FCMB revealed high level of professionalism most of the banks dished out in assisting customers and their own employees as the COVID-19 pandemic puts extreme pressure on all.

One example worthy of mention is the United Bank for Africa which has evidently taken necessary measures to safeguard its workers as well as customers in all branches across the 36 states, particularly the 3 states affected by the shutdown- Lagos , Abuja and Ogun State in this difficult and trying time.

The bank ensured that it observed stringent safety measures in every branch as all Front-line officers wore masks and hand gloves as personal protective equipment; all staff and customers were made to undergo temperature tests before being ad-

mitted into the banking halls.

Also, rigorous additional cleaning procedures were introduced which include an increase in the number of wipes, hand sanitisers, and other materials in banking halls and throughout business offices.

In the case of transactions, front line officers are constantly on hand to educate and guide customers as it concerns access to the products and services they want at all times.

Customers are duly informed of how easy it is to find Leo the chat banker on WhatsApp, Facebook and on Apple business chat which reduces the need for customers to come to the banking halls thereby encouraging them conduct their transactions at home as it is easy to find UBA products and services quickly and in realtime, 24/7 on all the mentioned apps.

The frontline staff were not only courteous and helpful but ensured that they displayed a high level of empathy which is invaluable at this trying time.

One of the bank staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity clarified that they were under strict instructions from management to follow all social distancing rules and impress it on customers to follow all guidelines of checking their temperature and ensure they use sanitizers provided before they gain entry into the ATM gallery or banking hall. According to the staff: “We understand this is a turbulent period in the world, and have taken it upon ourselves that we give our very best to ensure that our customers are happy when they leave here and most importantly that www.businessday.ng

they have a reason to be happy and hopeful that all will be well. “We are in this together and we shall overcome and tell our success stories together when the pandemic is over’’, she assured.

The pan African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has upgraded its mobile banking application, introducing lots of exciting and interactive features to aid banking, whilst allowing customers to perform unlimited transactions with simple taps on their mobile phones.

The award winning innovative bank which was the first to launch

“

With the new interface, the user can now see all the transfer options including the saved beneficiary option at a glance and can even order food for delivery via the app

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its chat bot Leo on the continent, is committed to delivering superior and innovative banking solutions to its customers.

Group Head, Digital Banking, Sampson Aneke, who spoke about the new features of the upgraded mobile app, said UBA as a listening institution, aims to provide the best value possible for its customers through a more interactive, user friendly interface that makes available a myriad of opportunities from the comfort of customers’ homes.

He explained that the new mobile app will now prompt users to use their device enabled biometrics, adding that the menu has been reduced and divided into sub-menus to enable users view Transaction History, Net worth, Trends amongst others at a glance.

“With the new interface, the user can now see all the transfer options including the saved beneficiary option at a glance and can even order food for delivery via the app,” he said.

Customers who subscribe to the lifestyle offering on the app will enjoy access to the free online medical doctor, a great response to the new norm created by Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of offerings to make life easier for customers in this trying time, the bank is also offering consumers and small businesses penalty-free withdrawals, reimbursing ATM fees, and deferrals, extensions and waivers on loans and lines of credit.

“We understand that this pandemic has put many of our customers in a position of uncertainty, and we are working to take some of that burden off them.”

Kennedy Uzoka Group Managing Director/CEO said: “In difficult times, we must come together and confront issues that affect us and our communities, following the recent development which seems to have shaken the world turning it upside down so suddenly and unexpectedly”.

“Today, as we speak, the Covid-19 pandemic is causing chaos but we will work steadfastly to find calm in the middle of the storm. As a responsible bank, we have been responding as information emerges. Our Crossfunctional Taskforce have been put on constant high alert, closely scanning, monitoring and scrutinising the development – both globally and locally in each of our country of operations”.

Uzoka further noted that the bank has also introduced rigorous additional cleaning procedures, and are increasing the number of wipes, hand sanitisers, and other materials available in banking halls and @Businessdayng

throughout business offices.

“We have followed this up by ensuring that customers have access to the products and services they want at all times. We are also making it easier to find UBA products and services quickly and in real-time, 24/7.

We have taken steps to help protect our staff from possible exposure to COVID-19 by reducing the number of face – to – face meetings that we organise. With the use of technology, this has been made simple and even more effective. We will continue to monitor the situation in order to constantly adapt to your needs should things change. We recognise that this is a challenging period globally and we remain deeply committed to the safety of our customers, staff and communities in which we operate.

You are at our heart as an institution and we look forward to continuing to serve you to the best of our abilities.

Please take care of yourself and your loved ones”.

It will be recalled that true to his words, the bank went ahead to announce a donation of over 5 billion Naira (USD14 million), through the UBA Foundation, to catalyse a comprehensive pan-African response to the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic.

The donation which is the highest among its peers, according to the bank will provide significant and much-needed support to Nigeria and 19 other African countries, by supplying relief materials, critical care facilities, and financial support to Governments.

This unprecedented gesture, the pan-African bank said will also fund a medical centre immediately in Lagos, Nigeria, with beds for isolation and ICU facilities, managed and operated in partnership with Heirs Holdings’ healthcare subsidiary, Avon Medical Hospital.

In addition, UBA provided a free telemedicine platform, that is physician-led, to provide direct access to medical advice for citizens, in compliance with social distancing requirements.

UBA Group Chairman Tony O. Elumelu, stated ‘This is a time when we must all play our part. This global pandemic must bring citizens, governments and business leaders together – and quickly. As we see a rapidly increasing number of cases of the coronavirus in Nigeria and Africa, the private sector must work hand in hand with various Governments, in stemming the spread of the global pandemic.

Operating in 20 African countries and in the United Kingdom, the United States and France, the United Bank for Africa has a strong record of supporting its communities.

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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News With new service-reflective tariff...

Continued from page 29

regime kicking off today

President Muhammadu Buhari (r), with Pastor Enoch Adeboye, general overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God, after their meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. NAN

Multinationals stuck with naira they don’t need find way of beating dollar crunch LOLADE AKINMURELE

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ultinational companies unable to repatriate dollar dividends and stuck with naira they don’t immediately need are using the idle cash to buy tiny bits of ownership in their local units.

Heineken B.V, Nestle SA and Unilever Overseas holdings have since August bought additional shares in their local units, with more companies with foreign owners expected to do the same amid the dollar crunch in Nigeria.

By channelling idle cash into the shares of their Nigerian entities, the multinationals achieve two things.

One is they are able to hedge against inflation in Nigeria, which accelerated to a two-year high of 12.8 percent. What this means is that the naira risks being eroded by higher inflation.

The second is the opportunity to buy shares of their local units, some of which are at record-lows, cheaply.

The small quantities being bought by these multinationals however suggest that they are probably finding use for stranded naira in Nigeria that should have been converted into dollars and repatriated as dividend proceeds rather than bargain hunting in their local units.

Investment bankers, however, say the trend is alerting some retail and institutional investors to the opportunities in the cheaply valued stocks of

some of the local multinational companies.

Heineken B.V, the majority shareholder in Nigerian Breweries, has bought shares of the beer company four times since August, with the latest transaction on August 25, when it acquired 53,272 units at an average price of N36 per share. That is the lowest price since 2017.

In total, Heineken B.V acquired 7.2 million shares in Nigerian Breweries over the course of the month, according to data compiled by BusinessDay and sourced from the NSE. For context, that is not even up to 1 percent of Nigerian Breweries’ outstanding shares of 8 billion.

Nestle SA and Unilever Overseas holdings are also buying trickles of their local units at cheap amounts.

Nestle SA, which bought 636,384 units of shares in Nestle Nigeria on August 20, before buying an additional 111,663 August 26, bought them at an average of N1,175 per share, that is down from a peak of N1,600 this year. The total 748,047 shares bought by Nestle SA equate to only 0.09 percent of the Nigerian unit’s 792 million outstanding shares.

Unilever also bought 17 million units of shares in Unilever Nigeria on August 10, before adding another 67 million shares on the August 27.

Both deals were done at an average of N12 per share, which is down 48 percent from the price in January.

The total 84 million shares amount to 1.5 percent of www.businessday.ng

Unilever Nigeria’s 5.75 billion shares.

“These amounts are too little to suggest it is more than these companies finding a way to deploy stranded naira,” one investment banker told BusinessDay. “For the multinationals, it makes sense to reinvest dividends in their local units rather than hold naira waiting endlessly for dollars to come from the banks,” the banker said.

It has become increasingly difficult for Nigerian firms to source dollars amid a supply shortage caused by lower oil prices and reduced foreign portfolio inflows into the country on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data released Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that capital importation into Nigeria slumped to a four-year low of $1.29 billion in the second quarter of the year.

The CBN’s capital controls has made what was already a bad situation in Nigeria worse, with foreign investors whose funds are trapped in the country sending a damaging signal to other investors.

Several multinational companies face the challenge of sourcing dollars to aid repatriation of dividends. But the pain is also felt by manufacturers who cannot get more than 15 percent of dollars they need for key inputs at the official market.

Banks will not honour card payments and Nigerian students abroad are stranded as economic output hurtles toward a second

contraction in four years.

The NBS reported last week that GDP contracted 6.1 percent, the most since 2004. One more quarter of negative growth and the economy is in recession, even though it has not fully recovered from the last one in 2016.

Dependent on oil exports for half of its revenue, the Nigerian government’s coffers have emptied after crude prices plunged in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

There is little prospect of a respite any time soon: it needs oil prices of $70 per barrel and production of 2 million barrels a day to balance its budget, but prices are hovering around $40 and OPEC curbs have restricted the nation’s output to about 1.4 million barrels a day.

The decline in dollar inflows has boxed the CBN into a tight corner. It has devalued the naira three times already this year, which is more times than in the last three years. Yet there may be even more devaluation coming with the CBN targeting a unification of its multiple exchange rates.

A World Bank loan of $1.5 billion, which was partly supposed to help the CBN meet a growing dollar demand backlog of between $5 and $7 billion, has been suspended due to the apex bank’s slow pace of reforming its foreign exchange market. As the dollar crunch wades on, it is the economy that is paying the ultimate price just like it did in 2016.

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to breathe new life into the sector by vastly improving liquidity across the value chain, BusinessDay investigations reveal.

One critical electricity venture that has been stranded for years, the $500 million Geometric Integrated Power project in Aba, could be the first beneficiary of this renewed investor interest, our reporter learnt at the weekend.

According to BusinessDay investigations, the Cairobased pan-African multilateral trade finance institution, Afrexim Bank, has indicated its willingness to open a credit line of $100 million to complete the Geometric project in Aba now that the servicereflective tariff regime proposed by NERC is coming into effect and following a resolution by National Council on Privatisation (NCP) of the long-running battle over the separation of Aba Disco from Enugu DisCo, between Interstate Electrics (core investor in Enugu Disco) and Geometric Aba Power Limited, a dispute that dates back to the privatisation of Enugu Disco in 2013.

Under the terms of the resolution, brokered at a meeting of the NCP on August 16, 2020, Geometrics will pay $26 million to Interstate to acquire the area around Aba from Interstate (Enugu DisCo) and pay another $7 million to the Federal Government for the acquisition of government’s 40 percent equity in the concession.

The resolution will also require the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) to sign a share sale and purchase agreement (SSPA) transferring the remaining 40 percent interest held by the Federal Government in the now created Aba Disco (the ringfence area created around the old NEPA Aba Zone) to Aba Power Limited, which is the sister company of Geometric Power Limited.

This will enable Aba Power Limited own the distribution concession 100 percent, allowing it enter into a power purchase agreement with its sister company, Geometric Power Limited, which built a 144-MW power plant in Aba along with associated gas supply and metering assets.

Under a 2006 agreement between Geometric and the former state owned NEPA, Geometric entered into a concession for the Aba Zone on the basis of which it increased the number of injection substations in the Aba Zone from three to seven and revamped the electricity reticulation network by building over 140km of overhead 33kV and 11kV distribution lines across the entire Aba Zone, between 2007 and 2013.

With the compromise bro@Businessdayng

kered by the NCP and the SSPA executed between BPE and Geometric, the 144MW Geometric Power IPP and the Aba Power distribution concession will become Nigeria’s first active fully integrated gas supply, electricity generation, transmission and distribution entity in the country.

As a prelude to firing the plant, Geometric Power has sent the IPP’s power plant turbine engines, which were installed without commissioning and unutilised at Aba for over 7 years, back to its OEM, General Electric, in Houston, USA, for recertification of the original manufacturer’s warranties.

Geometric Power has also executed gas supply agreements with a major oil and gas company for a reliable gas supply to the IPP through a 26km gas pipeline it also built to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the Aba region.

The operationalisation of the Geometric Aba integrated project stalled due to the privatisation of the Enugu Disco and the subsequent reluctance of Interstate Electrics to recognise and give effect to the lease agreement made in 2005 between Geometric and the Federal Government, under which Geometric leased the old NEPA Aba and Osisioma Districts (which now make up Aba Disco) and was also granted the first option or right of first refusal to purchase all of the electricity distribution facilities in the leased area should the government wish to privatise the entire electric assets in the (old Enugu Zone, now Enugu Disco) area.

Based on this lease agreement, the owners of Aba Power invested over $400 million to build a 144MW IPP and upgrade the electricity distribution assets in the leased area. The IPP was 95 percent completed while all the electricity distribution work had been completed by the time of privatisation in 2013.

With this resolution by the NCP and the interest Afrexim has shown in financing the completion of the project, a way has been found to end this long-running and perhaps avoidable dispute, while over N109 billion in principle and interest could be taken off the books of AMCON and the various banks that provided debt capital to Geometric.

Senior government officials also say they are making progress with the search for new buyers for the troubled Yola Disco after the core investor, Integrated Energy, pulled out several years ago following the disruptive effect of Boko Haram insurrection in Nigeria’s North East.

The initial attempt at a reprivatisation in 2018 did not succeed mainly because it was launched too close to the 2019 presidential elections.

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

POLITICS & POLICY

Ekiti 2022: Minister of Industry refutes governorship ambition rumour The former Ekiti governor said though he appreciates the various calls from the group and other pressure groups, he would rather be focused on his current assignment as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, where he is helping President Muhammadu Buhari to achieve his goals for all Nigerians during this second term.

“I am aware of the recent development of people agitating for me to contest the governorship of Ekiti State in 2022.

“With every sense of humility and respect, I want to thank them for believing in me. However, I must state clearly that I am not interested in the running for the office of governor of Ekiti State again,” he said.

“As a leader, it was a privilege to serve Ekiti as its First Executive Governor where I did my best

James Kwen, Abuja

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he Minister of Industr y, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo has refuted speculations dragging him to contest for the 2022 Ekiti State governorship election.

Adebayo, who first governed Ekiti State between 1999 and 2003, made this known on Monday in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Julius Toba-Jegede.

The Minister was reacting to the recent erection of some billboards across Ado Ekiti, the state capital and other strategic locations across the state by some political groups, calling on him to join the race in view of what they described as his good leadership traits.

Adeniyi Adebayo

leaving behind verifiable legacy projects.

“My interest now is to continue playing my leadership role of ensuring that our dear state is peaceful, well governed and to encourage the next generation of leaders to emerge,” he further said.

According to the minister, “At the federal level, I am currently engaged with the responsibilities of my office as a Minister and how to ensure that the economic diversification goals of President Muhammadu Buhari for the country are achieved during this second term. “’At all times, I will be available to offer my advice, support and encouragement to all Nigerians who are serving and those who crave to serve in various capacities, especially those of Ekiti extraction.”

Lagos-east by-election: We’ll defeat Suspected gunmen attack Obaseki’s campaign convoy tional headquarters. gunshot, but the security operawhoever APC presents as candidate - PDP Idris Umar Momoh, Benin Iniobong Iwok

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he Lagos State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday said it was sure of victory in the forthcoming Lagos-east senatorial by-election, irrespective of the candidate the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) might present for the election.

The party expressed the optimism in a statement issued and signed by its publicity secretary, Taofik Gani, declaring that PDP would emerge victorious if the election was a free and fair election even if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor was the candidate of the APC. Gani said the PDP would capitalise on the instability in the APC, especially in the senatorial district where the by-election will be held to win.

The senatorial seat became vacant following the demise of Bayo Sikiru Osinowo, who was serving his first term.

Already, in both APC and PDP, aspirants have started jostling to contest the position with the two parties having already concluded with the screening exercise and pre-

paring for the primaries to pick their candidates.

According to him, “The People’s Democratic Party, Lagos State chapter has dared the APC to put forward even the Governor of CBN (Central Bank) as its candidate for the coming Lagos East Senatorial by-election.

“We are going into the Lagos-east senatorial by-election and other future elections with the kind of morale needed and ready to face and defeat the APC, irrespective of their eventual candidate.”

The PDP said the assertion became pertinent following the APC’s narrative that a now retired affluent banker will be its flag bearer in order to overrun the party (PDP), even as it alerted Lagosians in the senatorial district to be wary of happenings around them ahead of the poll exercise.

“Voters in that senatorial district will not be fooled by the affluence of any candidate but the physical developments sponsored and encouraged by the candidate. Any emergency largesse to the area now by any eventual candidate would be collected as a gift and will not be enough to ‘steal’ the voters’ votes,” the party added.

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rmed men suspected to be robbers on Monday attacked the campaign convoy of the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu at Erua Village in Uhunmwode Local Government Area of the state.

BusinessDay gathered that the armed men who were probably on a robbery operation fell a tree to block the Benin-Auchi expressway, a few metres away from Jehovah’s Witness interna-

It was gathered that the hoodlums who were said to have laid siege few metres away from a police checkpoint mistook the governor’s convoy for a prominent personality.

The Security operatives attached to the convoy, however, repelled the armed robbers from attacking the convoy.

A source, who witnessed the incident, said the governor’s convoy was moving slowly without blaring a siren.

“Upon sighting the governor’s convoy, the hoodlums fired a

tives attached to the governor and his deputy, Hon. Philip Shaibu, repelled the robbers who fled into nearby bushes.

“The armed robbers thought it was just a VIP that was coming.

The governor’s convoy was not blaring siren and was moving slowly when the attempt was made.

“Immediately the convoy approached where they laid siege.

While we were thinking of what to do, they fired a gunshot. We had to jump out and repel those miscreants”, he said.

Akintoye-led Yoruba World Council dissolves executive committee Iniobong Iwok

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he Yoruba World Council (YWC) under the leadership of Banji Akintoye has dissolved a 16-member Interim Executive Committee with immediate effect while also setting up a four-member committee with the same responsi-

bility.

The association, which staged rallies in states of the Southwest in support of the governors when they launched the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, took the decision at the end of its meeting in Ibadan at the weekend.

Although Akintoye dismissed claims that the group was faction-

alised, the group, however, said in a communiqué that the Interim Executive Committee, consisting 16-member secretaries and directors, stood dissolved immediately as a 4-man support committee to work with the President-General and leader pending when a convention would be held to elect substantive officers, be set up immediately.

reality was once again reflected as our candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu emerged with the lead votes, and our party was vindicated by the people as non-violent in its approach.

“The online polls reflected the reality of Ize-Iyamu’s soaring popularity in Edo State and vindicated the APC as the only political party running an issue-based campaign devoid of violence.

“In the Ripples Nigeria poll, our candidate scored 48 percent; the PDP candidate polled 46 percent while

other parties got 6 percent. A total vote of 6, 909 persons voted,” he said.

He urged the People’s Democratic Party to provide undebatable evidence of sponsorship of the said opinion poll, publish the contractors, or the organisation contracted, disclose the full details and result of the said poll conducted by APC and won by the PDP. He said the focus of the party was to build on the support it enjoys across the state and has neither time nor resources to stage or manipulate polls.

Edo 2020: APC, PDP in verbal war over opinion poll Idris Umar Momoh, Benin

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ess than three weeks to the conduct of Edo State governorship election scheduled for September 19, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) verbally attacked each other over alleged opinion poll which purportedly gave victory to the PDP candidate, Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Recall that the Edo State publicity secretary of PDP at a press briefing

in Benin City on Sunday, had alleged that the result of the opinion poll sponsored by the main opposition in the state, APC, favoured the reelection of the state governor, Obaseki.

Reacting, John Mayaki, chairman, Edo State APC Media Campaign Council, at a press conference in Benin City on Monday countered the PDP claims.

Mayaki said it was an act of PDP propaganda aimed at confusing the emerging demeaning narratives of a party losing in reality and in the polls. www.businessday.ng

The APC media campaign council chairman, who said the party never sponsored any opinion poll, said that the Punch newspaper and Ripples Nigeria, an online platform conducted separate independent polls which gave victory to the APC candidate.

“From our own independent investigations, what has emerged is the fact that some media platforms including The PUNCH newspaper and Ripples Nigeria conducted polls on their respective digital platforms where

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

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News BUSINESSDAY JOBS & GROWTH SERIES

Nigeria requires competitive ports to...

Continued from page 4

creating bureaucratic bottlenecks and delay, experts say.

A recent visit to the ports shows that currently the NCS has over 12 different units at each port, which include Enforcement, Valuation, Customs Intelligent Units (CIU), Residence, Taskforce, Strike Force, CG Squad, Headquarters Strike Force, Customs Police, Special Weapons and Tactical Team (SWATT), Abuja Alert and the Federal Operations Units mounting checkpoints right at the port gates.

These units are involved in cargo clearance such that importers and their agents must seek approval of their documentation before the release of their cargoes.

Consequently, importers and their agents are presently encountering delays during cargo clearing, which compels them to pay demurrage and storage fees to shipping companies and terminal operators for failure to take delivery of their consignments conformably.

Vicky Haastrup, chairman, Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), who condemns the high rate of manual examination of cargoes at the port, says deployment of automated scanners would drive and enhance the cargo clearing process.

Haastrup, who spoke in Lagos during a virtual conference held recently, notes that manual examination of cargoes is not efficient.

“We have a situation where people must visit the port physically to do Customs documentation and cargo examination before they can take delivery of their consign-

ment,” she states.

According to Cajetan Agu, director of consumers’ affairs at the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), in Lagos recently, Nigeria is losing out for failing to adopt technology like neighbouring West African ports.

Citing example, he says before the introduction of single window in Benin Republic, cargo dwell time was more than 18 days, but since the port embraced single window, cargo dwell time crashed to less than seven days and revenue for government also jumped up by 33 percent.

In Lome Port, Togo, cargo dwell time has fallen from 22 days to three days due to use of technology.

In Port of Tema, Ghana, dwell time came down to 15 days from 24 days due to improved service efficiency.

“We must have a port that is contactless and paperless.

We need the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Customs, freight forwarders and service providers to transact business online. We have to sharpen our terms of trade, and there are four vital legislations that we have to push out including arrival and departure of ships, responsibility of terminal operators for transparency, and electronic bill of lading, which will make it mandatory for people to transact online,” notes Hassan Bello, executive secretary, NSC. A recent report published

by SBM Intelligence, Nigeria’s leading geopolitical intelligence platform, shows importers using Lagos ports pay more as shipping charges for bringing goods from European Union (EU) and high terminal charges when compared with what importers

Rivers signs 330,000 cubic litres water...

Continued from page 4

tion to the Federal Ministry of Finance and AfDB to extend the duration of the loan by two years to enable full implementation of all components of the urban water sector reform.

“They should further engage AfDB with a view of restoring the works at TransAmadi, Abuloma, Woji and Elelenwo regrettably cancelled by other development partners.”

The governor assured that he would not hesitate to fully implement the PHWC restructuring and organisational build-out report when ready, and pointed out that his administration had opened a new phase of commitment to reposition water supply services across the state.

He noted that through the

project thousands of Rivers people would be engaged directly and indirectly throughout its lifespan.

Commissioner for water resources and rural development, Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, said the project would have four new devices reservoirs located at Rumuola, Diobu, Moscow Road and Borikiri in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor.

The commissioner said there would be eight elevated tanks with carrying capacity of about 1000 to 1500 cubic litres of water and about 17 boreholes in about six cluster areas connected to water treatment plants.

The plan in the previous administration, which designed the project, was to commercialise the water scheme through metered water taps around the city.

The managing director www.businessday.ng

Chidi Izuwah (l), DG/CEO, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, with Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, at the reopening of the rehabilitated Enugu Airport.

using Tema Port in Ghana and Durban Port in South Africa, pay.

A breakdown of SBM report shows that importers using Apapa Port in Lagos pay about $374 as shipping charges on imports from EU countries; $457 as terminal handling charges and $2,055 on local transport to importers’ warehouses.

Meanwhile, importers using Tema Port in Ghana pay $321 as shipping charges on import from same EU countries; $284 as terminal handling charges and $285 on local transport to importers’ warehouses.

Also, importers using Durban Port in South Africa pay about $247 as shipping charges on imports from EU countries; $180 as terminal handling charges and $208 on local transport to importers’ warehouses.

This could force more Nigeria’s importers to divert cargoes to other African countries as soon as the African

Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement begins in 2021.

Hadiza Bala-Usman, managing director, NPA, said one of the things hindering Nigerian ports from achieving efficient and timely service delivery, which translates into huge cost for the consignee, was the absence of Single Window platform.

According to Bala-Usman, establishment of Single Window would ensure that Nigeria has less human interventions in cargo clearing system.

On delay encountered by ships at Nigerian ports, ship owners say that there is need to reduce the number of government agencies that go onboard vessels for clearance.

Aminu Umar, a ship owner, says ships experience so much delay before being authorised to berth in Nigerian ports, which has affected their operations.

“With this delay, demurrages also piled up for ship owners and this has created

of Port Harcourt Water Corporation, Ibibia Walter, said his team worked assiduously within eight months to secure the contractors trusted to execute the project.

Decreasing demand by Nigeria...

He thanked Governor Wike for his commitment to ensure that rural dwellers access potable water.

Speaking for CGC Nigeria Limited, Chen Kangle, who expressed gratitude to the governor for the trust in his company to handle the projects, assured of timely delivery.

Yang Gengqi, who spoke for the Top International Engineering Corporation, said they had been in Nigeria since 2017, and was confident to deliver a quality project.

For Mothercat Limited, Iskandar Taslakian pledged to engage indigenous workers on their sites.

Continued from page 4

sorting out ways to reduce its dependence on fossil fuel.

Adenikinju said, “Our oil is very good, we still have some relative advantage. We must have incentives that must help us drive markets.

However, we need to also find a way to make our oil products competitive, even if it means making discounts for oil buyers and working towards developing new markets.”

According to Hakeem Ali, an oil sector governance expert, Nigeria without a better fiscal framework needs to ensure that the international oil companies go back fully into oil production.

“First step that must be taken by the government preparatory to this expected surge is to ensure that the international oil companies go back fully into production in deep offshore. This would

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serious conflict between the ship owners and their clients.

Nigeria needs to adopt European procedure where no official is allowed to board the vessel because clearance of vessels are done virtually, which is a much preferred procedure that Nigeria can adopt,” Umar states.

Also, with the alarming rate of congestion in port terminals as well as persistent traffic jam on the roads leading to seaports in Lagos, Nigeria must begin to use a combination of rail, inland waters and road to not only decongest Apapa and TinCan Island ports, but to also make the cost of haulage competitive.

Bala-Usman, who is of the view that Nigerian ports would not function well if 90 percent of import and export cargoes are moved by road, said there was a need for Nigerian importers to make use of intermodal transport system in evacuating their goods out of the ports.

help production rise and also in developing new markets.

“We are in competition with other OPEC countries, we must find a way to incentivise our oil production and get our fiscals right so that we can have capacity to develop new markets and diversify our economy with oil,” Ali told BusinessDay. Monday Osasah, acting executive director of African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, also informed BusinessDay that the governmentmusthastenupwithfiscals that would enable us attract investments to diversify our economy using oil resources.

“We are worried that we’ve been using opaque laws to run the oil and gas sector, and are being overtaken by our competitors in the oil and gas sector. This is what expedient passage of the PIB can do for the Nigerian oil and gas sec@Businessdayng

“Evacuating cargoes using the waterways and rail would be a very significant development that would strengthen intermodal transportation system.

“Economically, it would mean a lot to the nation’s economy, especially as regards the fact that one of the major concerns for port users, revolves around the huge revenue loss to congestion on the roads leading to ports in Lagos,” she said.

Unemployment in Nigeria rose to 27.1 percent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 from 23.1 percent in the third quarter of 2018.

The job-starved economy shrank by 6.10 percent in Q2 2020 in real terms and is a quarter away from another recession in four years. The economy needs to create jobs for the world’s poverty capital, but for that to happen the ports must provide the right atmosphere for businesses to thrive and provide employment, analysts note. tor,” Osasah said.

“Research shows that Nigeria loses about $31 billion worth of investment in the oil and gas sector to neighbouring countries on the back of the clear rules governing the sector. This is the best time to take advantage of the market and use the oil sector to consolidate our economy,” he said.

Nigeria has current OPEC quota of 1.4 million barrel per day. The dwindling fortunes in oil resources analysts say could be addressed if government lays foundation for a stable domestic market and expand to other African frontier markets with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.

“We must seek to have virile domestic refining capacity that does meet the local demands, but also can expand to other African countries in line with the African Continental Trade Area agreement,” Adenikinju also noted.

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L-R: Sarki Auwalu, director/ chief executive, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR); Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, and Bashir Indabawa, head of the national data repository, DPR, conducting the minister round the operational units of the DPR in Lagos.

Speculators lose as naira sells at N460 on black market HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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urrency speculators are losing as much as N20 with the dollar trading at N460 as at 3:00pm on Monday across Lagos and Abuja black market, up from N480 last week.

Investigation shows that naira is trading at N465 in some parts of Lagos streets where currency trader are operating. Currency traders are buying at N450 from individuals who want to sell dollars.

The naira appreciation followed the plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to resume dollar sales to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators next week.

The CBN on Thursday, August 27, informed the general public that gradual sales of foreign exchange (FX) to licensed BDC operators would commence with effect from September 7, 2020.

At the BDC segment of

the foreign exchange market, naira firmed to N466 per dollar on Monday afternoon from N470/$ in the morning.

The local currency also signalled appreciation by N0.43k as the foreign exchange market opened with an indicative rate of N386.50k on Monday from N386.93k opened with on Friday last week at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, data from FMDQ showed.

At the I&E FX window, trading volume remained low due to tightened system liquidity. The resumption of FX sales to BDCs is expected to inject more liquidity into the retail segment of the FX market. Naira remained stable at N385.67 per dollar.

Analysts at FSDH Research said most participants maintained bids between N380.00 and N386.00 per dollar.

The foreign exchange daily turnover improved by 18.86 percent to $14.37 million on Monday from $12.09 million recorded on Friday

last week.

The Apex bank on March 26, suspended foreign exchange sales to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators until further notice due to the Covid-19 lockdown as requested by the operators. The suspension notwithstanding, some BDCs are still active in the market.

At the money market, the Nigerian treasury bills closed on a negative note on Monday with average yield across the curve increasing by 10 bps to close at 2.12 percent.

In the Open Market Operation (OMO) bills market, the average yield across the curve declined by 2 bps to close at 3.10 percent.

The Overnight (O/N) rate declined by 5.30 percent to close at 9.60 percent. The Open Buy Back (OBB) rate also declined by 4.80 percent to close at 9.10 percent.

The Federal Government bond market closed on a negative note on Monday, as the average bond yield across the curve cleared

higher by 1 basis point to close at 4.74 percent.

“At the secondary bond market, we anticipate an uptick in trading activities on the back of the anticipated improvement in the system liquidity and the absence of a Primary Market Auction this week,” the analysts said.

Africa Fintech Foundry appoints new head

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anagement and board of Access Bank plc have announced the appointment of Daniel Awe as the new head of the Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF).

According to the financial institution, the appointment of Awe underscores its commitment to advancing technological innovation in the African banking sector.

Speaking on the appointment, Herbert Wigwe, group managing director of the said, “We are excited about Daniel’s appointment as we strongly believe that he is the right person to lead Nigeria’s next wave of financial technology disruption. Since its inception, the AFF has created opportunities for African innovators and entrepreneurs to thrive. Daniel’s track record ensures that this developmental pattern will be strengthened.”

Before his appointment, Awe served as a payment solution architect at Access Bank, leading the Channels Solution Delivery Group. He has spent the better part of the last 15 years innovating and creating cutting edge epayment platforms in the financial sector.

Awe is equipped with a

Retooling of workforce key to achieving digital transformation- Experts KELECHI EWUZIE

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trategic retooling of the workforce in post Covid-19 is critical in digital transformation and productivity, industry experts have said.

Management professionals in a webinar themed “skilling roundtable Nigeria” organised by Microsoft, agreed that Covid-19 has impacted the jobs of up to 80 million people, adding that as economies slowly start to reopen, jobs that were impacted and lost at the start of the global lockdowns, may now not exist.

The roundtable, one of the first in a series developed to provide a continental answer to youth employment and skill promotion, brought together experts and decision-makers from the private sector, government agencies, and academia.

Akin Banuso, country manager, Microsoft Nigeria observed that Covid-19 has dramatically accelerated the pace of digital transformation and as a result of this, digital skills are required immediately.

Banuso pointed out that a research by Microsoft indicated that by 2025 digital www.businessday.ng

job capacity would mean the creation of 149 million new jobs, adding that 800 million people would be required to learn new skills to fully execute their jobs by 2030.

In his presentation at the event, John Edokpolo, director, corporate, external and legal affairs, MEA emerging markets for Microsoft, noted that one of the key objectives of the webinar was to gain a better understanding of the available models, approaches and best practices in employment as the country edges closer to the recovery phase of this crisis. https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

@Businessdayng

wealth of experience around leadership, management, technology strategy, customer experience transformation, design thinking, solution architecture, enterprise capability, and depth of knowledge to identify and nurture innovative opportunities.

AFF is an Access Bank initiative that aims to nurture, fund and accelerate the growth of FinTech startups in Africa through its mentorship and accelerator programmes.

Fast-tracking the growth and maturity of startups, AFF has facilitated the delivery of market-relevant solutions, organised digital conferences to foster innovation and thought leadership, while also leading in the provision of greater access to financial services to the financial excluded across the continent.

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

NEWS

Buhari moves NIMC to communication ministry

L-R: Osahon Idemudia, non executive director, representing the chairman; Maureen Ekeopara, company secretary, and Austin Oyagha, acting managing director, all of Global Spectrum Energy Services plc, at the 12th annual general meeting of the company in Lagos yesterday.

Pic by Pius Okeosisi

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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CBN adds fresh obstacles for PSBs with 75% deposit in liabilities requirement FRANK ELEANYA

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fter waiting for over two years to get a mobile money license, Payment Service Banks (PSBs) would have to relinquish a significant portion of the deposit from customers to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), unattractive treasury bills market and other government debt instruments.

An update of the guide which had been in existence since 2018 mandates that PSBs shall maintain not less than 75 percent of their deposit liabilities in CBN securities, treasury bills (T-Bills), and other short-term Federal Government debt instruments at any point in time.

The CBN says the update

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and review of the guidelines for payment banks became necessary due to the latest market developments since 2018.

Leaving a 25 percent deposit with PSBs may make the license economically worthless, especially for telcos which are mostly funded by foreign investors. Investors have in recent times stayed away from CBN securities like the Open Market Operations (OMO) auction mainly due to global market sell-offs which have left foreign investors with no choice but to exit emerging markets drying up any future security sale.

In March for instance, the financial regulator recorded a no-show as investors shunned the auction.

Meanwhile, the latest data on treasury bill auc-

tions shows that it has plunged to 3.39 percent per annum from about 15 percent early last year.

Adedeji Olowe, CEO of Trium, a venture capital firm, describes the 75 percent provision as “disastrous” as it makes the license “useless”.

Financial inclusion is primarily the reason the CBN is issuing licenses to non-banking non-financial services firms to provide mobile money services. At a press conference in 2018, a senior official with Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), a CBN subsidiary, told BusinessDay that telcos have no business in financial services when they should be focusing on building network of infrastructure to make customers’ experience of mobile

services seamless.

But the slow growth in financial inclusion has forced the CBN’s hands.

The apex bank has a target to get 80 percent of bankable Nigerians banked.

“So far we have been talking about this possibility of capturing the unbanked population for the past 12 years, and in spite of the improvement in the number of ATMs, digital platforms, mobile apps, and the utilisation of USSD codes, there is still a high percentage of unbanked Nigerians. The last estimate was that 63 percent of the population have no access to a bank account,” Olusola Teniola, president, Association of Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ATCON) told BusinessDay.

resident Muhammadu Buhari has approved the transfer of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to the ministry of communications and digital economy.

This is to ensure synergy, effective supervision and coordination in line with the Federal Government’s digital transformation initiatives. The approval for the transfer was based on the President’s consideration for the critical role of NIMC towards the realisation of the objectives of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS).

It would be recalled that

NIMC was mandated to create, manage, maintain and operate the National Identity Database established by the NIMC Act, 2007. In an effort to realise this, the commission has so far registered around 41 million eligible enrollees for the National Identity Number (NIN). The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the other hand has details of over 191 million mobile subscribers.

The NIN, considered as a social security as well as civil number, is very important for economic planning and social intervention. With Federal Government’s digitalisation initiatives in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, access to services and interventions will require it.

Adeboye holds closed door meeting with President Buhari ANTHONY NLEBEM

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he general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Enoch Adeboye, Monday, visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja. Bashir Ahmad, Buhari’s personal assistant on new media, made this known in a twitter post on Monday afternoon.

“President @MBuhari receives in audience General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, @ PastorEAAdeboye, at the State House, Abuja,” Ahmad wrote.

Details of the meeting were not made public as the meeting was held behind closed doors.

The meeting is coming on the heels of the ongoing protest by a section of the religious bodies over the Companies and Allied Matters (CAMA) Acts, 2020, which was recently signed by the President.

Pastor Adeboye had advised governments across the world to include religious leaders in Covid-19 committees so as to help with the spiritual aspect of the fight against the pandemic.

“I believe that the return journey to normalcy has started, might not be very rapid or sudden; it might be gradual but it will be steady.

I sincerely hope that when the battle is over, we will remember to give all the glory to God.

Half of PR agencies in Nigeria reporting revenues less than N5m - Survey Asharami Synergy launches ‘value for money’ campaign DANIEL OBI

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igeria PR report has revealed that 56 per cent of public relations (PR) agencies in Nigeria are reporting revenues of less than N5 million annually. However, 68 percent of the agencies reported that their revenue plateaued in 2015, while 15 percent reported a decline in revenue which was in line with the Nigerian recession.

The report further revealed that in 2019, 71 percent of agencies indicated growth in revenue and 10 per cent reporting a decrease in revenue.

There are about 200 PR agencies in Nigeria registered either with Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) or Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN).

In its survey, the BlackHouse Media (BHM), which conducted the 2020 fourth edition of the PR annual research, used a sample

population of about 196 respondents in the industry made up of agency owners, clients, agency staff and media practitioners to arrive at its findings. The annual report is dedicated exclusively to chronicling data on trends, perceptions, challenges and prospects within the industry.

Most of the PR agencies, according to the PR report are within the SME band, with 64 percent of respondents qualifying as micro-enterprises based on the number of employees as defined by the Small and Medium Enterprises Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).

Insights from the report highlight the pedigree of some of the PR agencies in Nigeria. To be sure, 12 percent of Nigerian PR agencies have been in operation for five years, 19 percent have been in operations for more than five years and less than ten, whilst only 9 percent have been in operation for over 20 years.

In addressing the imwww.businessday.ng

provement made to counter gender imbalance and the need for improvement on the same, the report shows that the industry remains maledominated with a record of 74 percent while women constitute just 26 percent of the industry. Younger agencies under five years old seem to have a higher proportion of men with women comprising only 21 percent of PR professionals working in these agencies. Older agencies that have been practicing for 11 to 20 years parade 44 percent of women professionals as their staff.

This situation is not limited to Nigeria. In a report published on the PRWeek in 2019, 64 perecent of PR professionals surveyed in 37 countries in the first Global Women in PR(GWPR) Annual Index to address issues in gender diversity believe having more women in the boardroom would improve profitability and 81 percent said more should be done to help women get there.

SEYIJOHN SALAU

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sharami Synergy, a Sahara Group downstream company has launched the “value for money” campaign to give all classes of customers and consumers convenient access to safe, reliable, and top-quality diesel.

The campaign, according to Foluso Sobanjo, acting CEO, Asharami Synergy, will reinforce the gold standard in diesel supply to protect the well-being of customers, their assets as well as the environment, while ensuring great value

for money.

Sobanjo said the campaign was a response from Asharami Synergy to raise the bar of quality that would enable the sector stamp out the activities of agents involved in the proliferation of sub-standard petroleum products. “As a leading company in the sector, Asharami Synergy is delighted to lead the charge for global standards in the market for diesel supply. We are empowering our customers to do and achieve more with our diesel because we uphold the philosophy of getting value for money,” he stated.

According to him, the campaign will cover various themes including, safety, convenience, quality, reliability, performance, and environmental sustainability. ‘We are using our ‘value for money’ campaign to create awareness and give the buying public the diesel option that ensures peace of mind. We are leveraging our pedigree as a Sahara Group company and our several International Standard Organisation (ISO) certifications to reposition the sector for a greater level of transparency, corporate citizenship and competitiveness.”

Lagos Assembly moves against drug abuse by students INIOBONG IWOK

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agos State House of Assembly has called on Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu to direct commissioners in the ministries of education, information and strategy, youth and social development

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and other relevant agencies to embark on an anti-drug campaign programme for students in primary and secondary schools, as well as those in tertiary institutions.

Desmond Elliot (Surulere 1), who moved the motion during a plenary on Monday, also urged the state task force on @Businessdayng

environmental and special offences to carry out strict enforcement against the sale of drugs around school premises and mandate the committees on education and legislative compliance to ensure that the relevant agencies comply with the resolution of the house.

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How to address rising cost of production in oil and gas industry- Stakeholders OLUSOLA BELLO

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takeholders have proffered solutions to the rising cost of production in nation’s oil and gas in-

dustry.

They suggested the stoppage of numerous levies by agencies of the government which are responsible to 10 percent of the cost of production in the industry.

The agencies which oil companies pay levies to, are Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to which three per cent of the companies budget are given, Nigerian Content Development Board (NCDMB), one percent of the contract awarded, and Educational Trust Fund .

The stakeholders also advised the government to sell off the refineries as they constitute drains on the nation’s purse. The four refineries, they said, have not refined a barrel of crude for over 15 years, yet workers collect billions of naira in salaries and allowances.

Aside from these, they

asked the minister of state for petroleum to tackle insecurity in the Niger Delta as there can be no proper production activities with the worsening security situation.

The issue with rising cost of production, they argued, is not in staff cost but harsh investment environment, stating that no company has taken final investment decision (FID) on any new project in the last five years. New investment will drive up production while increase output will automatically reduce operational cost per barrel.

Its simple economic theory they stated Most companies including Chevron and Mobil don’t have any new project in sight and that is not being addressed, they stated Eddy Wikina, former managing director of Treasure Energy Resources and external affairs manager with Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, said that most of the money paid to NDDC and NCDMB end up being used to settle politicians rather than doing serious jobs that will impact the

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lives of people of Niger Delta.

Another stakeholder who works with an oil servicing company, but does not want his name mentioned, said that government must work on those that have constituted risks to the operations of the oil and gas industry.

President Muhammadu Buhari and Mele Kyari, group managing director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), have said the rising cost of oil production is now threatening jobs and profit in the sector.

The President, who dropped the hint at the 6th triennial national delegates’ conference of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Abuja, said that with the production cost hitting 46 percent, it was inevitable for the oil sector stakeholders to meet with a view to fashioning out the way out.

Kyari said since there was need to cut down production, it meant that the industry would have to reduce its activities, and this will translate to downsizing the workforce.

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Cheaper fabric nose cover tumbles prices of disposable face mask BUNMI BAILEY

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ompetition from nose cover made from fabric has reduced the price and demand for disposable face mask, according to a BusinessDay survey.

Findings show that prices of disposable face mask in selected pharmaceuticals stores in Ikeja, Lagos Island, Apapa and Surelere have fallen by some 45 percent from their initial value at the peak of the novel coronavirus.

At HealthPlus Pharmaceutics Limited, a pack of disposable face mask containing 50 pieces is sold for N8, 000 from N18, 000 at the onset of Covid-19, between February and March. At Alpha Pharmacy, a pack of face mask is sold at N7, 500 from N14, 000

and at Careforte Pharmacy, a pack is sold for N3, 700 from N6, 450.

In some stores on Lagos Island, where retailers buy wholesale quantities, a pack is sold for N3, 650 from between N5000 and N8000 more than a month ago.

“The scarcity and rush for the mask is no more, unlike during the outbreak of the pandemic,” Tomisi Akinyemi, a pharmacist at HealthPlus Limited said.

Tolu Esan, a pharmacist at Teen Pharmacy & Stores where a pack is sold for N3, 500 from N10, 000 noted that competition from the local cloth mask which sells for N100 per piece reduced the price for the disposable ones Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, a pack usually imported from China was sold for between N1,000 and N1,500. How-

ever, in the wake of the pandemic, rising demand, panic buying, hoarding of the item had skyrocketed prices.

And in the fight against the coronavirus, face masks have become the most visible symbol of the deadly pandemic, worn by millions of people around the globe.

According to reports, face masks are generally effective in reducing the chances of infection, but are most effective when worn by those infected and people at the frontline taking care of them.

China, the world’s leading manufacturer of disposable face masks had to almost completely shut down its factories in late January as the number of coronavirus cases mounted. But in March, more and more Chinese factories

reopened.

The shutdown of the factories which led to a scarcity of the masks presented an opportunity for tailors in Aba, the manufacturing hub of Abia State, to make face masks from local fabrics.

“The alternatives to the disposable face mask which is sold for N100 and people making their own mask have reduced the demand for the disposable mask, leading to a significant decline in the prices,” Ayorinde Akinloye, a consumer analyst at CSL Stockbrokers said.

Akinloye further noted that prices would ultimately revert to previous levels due to people getting use to the alternatives and a vaccine which may be developed in about six months to one year.

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NEWS

Wema Bank partners AIICO to provide better healthcare for women HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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ema Bank Plc in partnership with insurance AIICO Insurance Plc and AIICO Multishield Health Management Organisation (HMO), to provide better healthcare services for its women.

In line with the bank’s initiative, the partnership seeks to enhance the lifestyle and general well-being of women within the community.

In addition to the HMO plan that has been specifically tailored to meet the health care needs of women, the partnership also features a hospital cash plan that enables women who have been hospitalized for a minimum of 3 days receive cash of N10,000 per hospitalization for up to 5 times a year.

This is to serve as compensation for income loss experienced during hospitalization. In a statement made during the scheme's virtual launch, Dotun Ifebogun, divisional head, retail business, Wema Bank said “With the AIICO scheme, we will cover a series of healthcare services including obstetrics, gynecology and neonatal/ pediatric services.

This covering is available to all our new and existing female customers”.

Also, Olusola Ajayi, executive director, retail business group of AIICO Insurance Plc, said, “Women constitute a huge underserved segment of our society on insurance. Besides low awareness, cost and access are other challenges we have identified as reasons for their low insurance uptake.

These are the things we seek to address with this strategic partnership with Wema Bank. We aim to reach more women with our low-cost and value-based Hospital Cash offering.”

“We are also extending this value by offering a tailor-made health insurance, specifically for the needs of women” added, Leke Oshunniyi, managing director, AIICO Multishield Limited, an HMO subsidiary of AIICO Insurance Plc. Dotun Ifebogun, also added that “Wema Bank, through the SARA community is committed to ensuring that Nigerian women across all socioeconomic classes, including entrepreneurs, workers and stay-athome mothers are afforded adequate provisions for healthy living. He further assured that Wema Bank will continue to partner and encourage initiatives designed to support women in their personal lives as well as in business”.

Oniru holds talks with residents on Iruland development

O L-R: Anire Kanyi, chairman, nominations and electoral committee, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)-Section on Business Law (SBL); Ayuli Jemide, chairman, NBA-SBL; Seni Adio SAN, immediate past chairman, and Adeoye Adefulu, vice chairman, at the 2020 NBA-SBL annual general meeting in Lagos.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

FG to place six-month travel ban on international travellers violating safety protocols HARRISON EDEH, ABUJA

I

n the build up to the commencement of international travel,the Federal Government has forewarned international travellers coming into Nigeria to abide by prescribed Covid-19 protocols or face sanction of six months travel ban by relevant authorities.

Sani Aliyu,the national coordinator of the Presidential Task Force, PTF said on Monday briefing in Abuja that inbound travellers

must abide by key protocols laid out my the taskforce.

According to Aliyu, “for passengers who declined the test upon arrival, we will still allow them up to day 14 days to have the test done.

After that, their details will be forwarded to Port Health, Immigration and all the security services.

“It is very likely that we put in place measures by suspending their travel up to six months or denied foreign travel,” He urged Nigerians to abide by the laid out measures for the safety of the www.businessday.ng

country.

Speaking on the protocols, he said “As regards pre departure, we need three things: First, we need a negative Covid-19 PCR test.

This needs to be done from a certifiied and accredited laboratory within the country.

“It needs to be done, prefarably, as close as possible to the time of boarding. That is before 72 hours of departure. We can still accept tests that are valid for seven days.”he said.

“The second protocol is the need to register on Ni-

gerian international travel portal which we are developing and we hope it would go life this week. You register on a payment portal and pay to have the PCR test done in from the departing country. A confirmation email would be sent.

The third protocol, he said, is focused on health declaration, observing however, that the format is being changed to electronic to ease congestion, noting that the information would be sent to Port Health in Nigeria for proper documentation of the traveller.

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ba of Iruland, Omogbolahan Abdulwasiu Lawal, Abisogun II, has restated commitment to the development of Iruland through frequent enhancement of security and empowerment of residents of the kingdom.

Speaking at a 4-day series of town hall meetings hosted by the monarch to engage stakeholders, residents and business entities within Oniru Estate recently, Oniru said that the meeting was meant to discuss the prospects towards improving livelihoods and fostering development, adding that the parley was a deliberate effort to solicit, direct feedback about present conditions and future development strategies.

At the meetings, issues on the security, effective drainages and traffic management were discussed extensively at the sessions with residents making recommendations and requests on how to tackle the challenges accordingly.

The monarch, who joined the meeting virtually, also expressed his passion for frequently engaging stakeholders, describing them as allies and partners for the development and growth of the king@Businessdayng

dom.

Oba Lawal, who spoke through his Private Secretary, Hakeem Akintoye, a lawyer, expressed gratitude to all the residents across the different zones, saying that the meeting was meant to seek corporation of the various stakeholders before embarking on other arrays of developmental plans.

Oba Lawal said: “I always try to avoid the predict-andprovide theory or syndrome in all the leadership positions I have occupied. Therefore, before I set out to implement any policy programme or project; I ensure stakeholder feedback is sought, hence this engagement.” He continued, “I am committed to leading large-scale change by inspiring climate leadership, impact investment, and deep social inclusion for a more sustainable livelihood.”

At the interactive town hall meeting sessions which had the Oniru residents and stakeholders in attendants, Oba Lawal also highlighted some of the palace’s interventions since his installation, such as the facilitation of training for female micro-entrepreneurs through the newly established Iru Empowerment Hub.

36

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The Exchanges Market Statistics as at Monday 31 August, 2020

Top Gainers/Losers as at Monday 31 August, 2020 LOSERS

GAINERS Company

Opening

Closing

Change

N175

N192.5

17.5

MOBIL

Company

Opening

Closing

Change

CILEASING

N4

N3.6

-0.4

ASI (Points) DEALS (Numbers)

DANGCEM

N134.2

N134.9

0.7

GUINNESS

N14.15

N13.8

-0.35

WAPCO

N11.55

N11.95

0.4

REDSTAREX

N3.85

N3.65

-0.2

VOLUME (Numbers)

N5.47

N5.71

0.24

ACCESS

N6.4

N6.2

-0.2

VALUE (N billion)

N40

N40.1

0.1

UBN

N5.4

N5.3

-0.1

MARKET CAP (N Trn)

VITAFOAM BUACEMENT

25,327.13 3,854.00 302,009,486.00 2.627 13.212

Nigeria’s stock market rallies by 2.57% in August …records mild gain to open new week Soties by Iheanyi Nwachukwu

N

igeria’s stock m a r k e t opened the new trading week on a positive note, though it was a mild gain of +0.07 percent or circa N9billion in value.

Africa’s largest economy’s stock market closed the month of August with record positive return of about +2.57percent.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) closed at 25,327.13 points while the value of listed stock increased slightly to N13.212trillion as against day open lows of 25,309.37 points and N13.203 trillion respectively.

Analysts at United Capital research had expected to see some level of profit-taking “given the bullish performance in the last two weeks, especially as we continue to await

A

FTSE 100 Index 5,963.57GBP -36.42-0.61%

Nikkei 225 23,139.76JPY +257.11+1.12%

S&P 500 Index 3,505.82USD -2.19-0.06%

Deutsche Boerse AG German Stock Index DAX 12,945.38EUR -87.82-0.67%

Generic 1st ‘DM’ Future 28,414.00USD -197.00-0.69%

Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3,395.68CNY -8.13-0.24%

Dangote Cement targets N50bn as Series 17, 18 Commercial Paper issuance opens

T

he Series 17 and 18 Commercial Paper issuance (CP) under the Dangote Cement Plc N150billion CP Issuance Programme is now open and scheduled to close on Thursday September 3, 2020.

Dangote Cement Plc targets N50billion from the CP issuance to fund short-term working capital requirements and for general corporate purposes.

The Series 17 with a tenor of 177 days is issued at a discount rate of 3.9240percent and implied yield of 4.000 percent; while series 18 with a tenor of 268 days is issued at a discount

of 4.8231 percent and implied yield of 5.0000percent.

Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited is the arranger and dealer of the CP issuance which opened on Monday August 31.

Other dealers are: FBN Quest Merchant Bank Limited, Futureview Financial Services Limited and Meristem Capital Limited. Dangote Cement is the largest cement manufacturer in Sub-Saharan Africa with an installed capacity of 45.6Mta across its operations in 10 African countries.

Dangote Cement is assigned AA+ long-term rating

by GCR and Aa2.ng long-term rating by Moody’s.

Global Spectrum Energy grows revenue by 31%

the publication of Tier-1 Banks audited H1-2020 result.”

Their counterparts at Vetiva research said they expect the market to be driven by the long-awaited results of the Tier 1 banking stocks, “coupled with continued bargain hunting activities in the Consumer goods space.”

The market’s year-todate (ytd) negative return

decreased to -5.64percent.

The positive open to new week was aided by bargains in stocks like Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc which increased from N175 to N192.5, after adding N17.5 or 10percent.

Also, Dangote Cement Plc share price rose from N134.2 to N134.9, up by 70kobo or 0.52percent. Lafarge Africa Plc advanced from N11.55 to N11.95, up

by 40kobo or 3.46percent.

Vitafoam Nigeria Plc went up from N5.47 to N5.71, up 24kobo or 4.39percent while BUA Cement rose from N40 to N40.1, up by 10kobo or 0.25percent.

In 3,854 deals, investors exchanged 302,009,486 units valued at N2.627billion. UACN, Zenith Bank, UBA, FBN Holdings and Access Bank were actively traded stocks.

Ardova Plc says committed to delivering improved profitability, value for shareholders rdova Plc (AP), a leading Nigerian integrated energy company has restated its commitment to delivering improved profitability and value for shareholders.

The company noted this on August 28, 2020, in Lagos during its 41st Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was also its first virtually held AGM. In compliance with social distancing measures designed to curb the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, in-person shareholder attendance at the AGM was by proxy whilst the meeting was simultaneously streamed live online for the benefit of all the

Global market indicators

AP’s shareholders not physically present.

While addressing the shareholders, AbdulWasiu Sowami, Chairman, Ardova Plc said; “On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to inform our shareholders that the change in strategy introduced by our new management has begun to yield returns.

“Despite what was a challenging economic environment, the evolution of our business model to one focused on improving operational efficiencies, leveraging existing core assets and positioning the company to be at the forefront of renewable energy distribution in Nigeria has led to significant improvewww.businessday.ng

ment in our top and bottom line. We will continue to focus on delivering value to our shareholders as we continue to drive the growth and profitability of our business.”

Key highlights of the company’s year 2019 financials indicate an increase in shareholders’ funds by 15.6 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to N17.5 billion in FY 2019 (FY2018: N15.1 billion) as a result of a 38percent growth in retained earnings.

The company also improved its operational efficiency and increased its volumes and margins for all its products, resulting in total volume growth of 37.4percent y-o-y from 804.7million in FY 2018

to 1.1billion in FY 2019.

Olumide Adeosun, Chief Executive Officer, Ardova Plc in his comments on the 2019 financial performance stated that “Following the entry of the new management in 2019, our vision was to create an energy firm that will become the brand of choice for consumers.

“Our strategy to deliver on this goal is to be laser-focused in increasing operational efficiency and leveraging our core assets to maximise growth. On this premise, we divested from our noncore subsidiaries, a strategic move that quickly resulted in a cleaner balance sheet and a healthy platform from which our resulting growth stems.

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G

lobal Spectrum Energy Services Plc (GSES) grew its revenue by a significant 31percent to N2.6 billion in the financial year ended December 31, 2019, from N1.87 billion accounted for in the previous year 2018. The growth in revenue occurred as the company continued to expand its operations and grow its contracts portfolio.

The growth in revenue however, came as the company’s profit dipped to N112.7 million in the period under review from N595 million recorded in the preceding year 2018.

The company at the annual general meeting held Monday August 31 in Lagos said it achieved the growth in revenue in spite of very tough and challenging environment as it continues to focus on excellent service delivery to its clients.

Osahon Idemudia, who presided as the Chairman at the AGM said that strong drive for increased businesses yielded good results that translated to revenue growth. He said, “In addition to strengthening our current businesses, we are also exploring other business lines, one of which is the merchant escort business, an area that we see huge opportunity for growth”.

The chairman explained that the drop in profit occurred mainly as a result of a loss from the sale of one of the company’s assets which has been under utilised, and not as a result of a loss in the ordinary course of operations. He said the asset constituted a drain pipe on the company’s profits as it attracted huge depreciation charges. He noted

@Businessdayng

it was of sound business decision to dispose of the asset and take the loss at this point.

The shareholders at the AGM expressed satisfaction at the performance of the Company, having shown resilience in generating more businesses despite the very harsh and uncertain economic condition under which businesses operate in Nigeria. They however cautioned the management to be cost conscious in the running of its operations.

According to the shareholders, the performance of the company shows that Board and management are quite focused and understands the operational dynamics of their industry of business.

According to William Adebayo, a shareholder, the revenue growth of the company for the period being considered is quite commendable. This is more so, he said, as most organisations within the sector that GSES operates are still trying to find their feet in the very uncertain business environment. He urged the board and management to remain focused to ensure that the performance is sustained, but with a total reversal in profit decline.

Odunuga Samiat, another shareholder, speaking commended the company for being consistent in declaring profit, even as she noted that the dip in the 2019 profit does not speak good of the management. She therefore urged management to find ways to efficiently manage its costs and improve on profitability.

Recall that the company paid a dividend of 5kobo for the 2018 financial year.

Tuesday 01 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

39

NEWS

Oyo releases N72m counterpart fund for improved rural projects REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

O L-R: Tony Fadaka, registrar/chief executive, Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered); Patience Anabor, president and chairman of council; Abdullahi Muraina, deputy president, and Christiana Atako, national treasurer, at the 59th annual general meeting of the institute in Lagos.

FG reintroduces fuel subsidy as Nigeria pays N5.35bn in June DIPO OLADEHINDE

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ne of the biggest fiscal burdens in Nigeria’s history has raised its ugly head once again despite pledges by President Muhammadu Buhari administration not to incur any more subsidy on petrol.

Less than three months ago, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) group managing director, Mele Kyari had made bold declaration of “It is zero subsidy forever” in a series of interviews and webinar, however, stateowned oil company said it incurred N5.35 billion as under-recovery in June 2020.

NNPC had previously recorded zero-subsidy payments in April and May 2020, after it recorded under recovery of N43.31 billion, N20.68 billion and

N37.66 billion in January, February and March 2020 respectively.

NNPC spokesman Kennie Obateru said the costs represented temporary payments to marketers, who buy imported fuel and then sell it on, for stocks they held when the subsidy was removed and would be spread over six months.

“Since the subsidy removal started with reduction in pump price, marketers have to be paid the differential of the (government) verified stock they held,” he told Reuters.

The government through PPPRA has not published retail prices since March 31 because it requires constant political commitment when global oil prices rise.

Although international oil price currently settles around $45, Nigeria’s petrol price is still artificially low at N138.62 for the current month despite various

studies showing fuel subsidy expenditure has been higher than budgets for far more important state functions, including education, health, defence and infrastructure since 2006.

At the dollar exchange rate of N385, petrol should be selling at N155 but it sells at N145, meaning an effective daily subsidy of N560m calculated by an assumed under-recovery of N10 for each of the 56m litres of petrol sold in Nigeria every day.

At the dollar rate of N470 the subsidy is higher at N1.624bn daily. This is derived from the assumed market price of N174 a litre and a N29 per litre subsidy if importers were to secure their FX on the parallel market.

Over time, most stakeholders have repeatedly called the fuel subsidy scheme a fraudulent exercise as the biggest benefits

often go to people who own vehicles, which is a small share of the population.

Fuel companies cannot charge prices that cover their costs, which has repeatedly crippled supply.

In 2018, survey research found that 15 percent of people couldn’t buy fuel at all, and a further 18 percent paid black-market prices far above the official subsidised price. Subsidies also waste scarce resources. Since 2006, fuel subsidy expenditure has been higher than budgets for far more important state functions, including education, health, defence and infrastructure.

Also, history does not inspire confidence. President Muhammadu Buhari already attempted to reform fuel subsidies back in 2016.

At the time, it was supposed to be a permanent removal, yet subsidies were back in under two years.

LCCI seeks review of central bank’s directive on Form M GBEMI FAMINU

L

agos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to review its recent directive which states that the Form M for Letters of Credit, Bills for Collection and other forms of payment dealt in foreign exchange should only be opened in favour of the ultimate supplier of a product or service, implying the elimination of third parties in the trade activities.

In a statement signed by Muda Yusuf, director-general of the LCCI, the chamber observed that although the underlying motive was laudable, the aftermath and impact was critical to the business environment, especially with the lingering challenges around forex

and access to credit. It noted that the CBN was exchanging the global supply chain problem with a domestic supply chain disruption.

“While the LLCCI appreciates the efforts of the CBN in curbing abuses in the foreign exchange market, this policy measure would create more problems than it would solve.

It is impractical to expect all importers of raw materials, equipment, and other inputs to buy directly from the ultimate producer, manufacturer, or supplier, especially in an economy driven by SMEs,” Yusuf said.

He stressed that the SMEs which make up more than half of the business environment were vulnerable and would be the worst hit as they do not have the resources and capacity to purchase directly from manuwww.businessday.ng

facturers. He added that the SMEs also enjoy certain privileges from agents and middlemen which cannot be accessed from manufacturers directly.

Beyond the impact on SMEs, he argued that exporters would also face problems from the policy especially as the exchange rate is not favorable for them, adding that the policy negates the export promotion mission.

“A market-driven forex policy would also incentivize the repatriation of export proceeds. It is unfair and unjust to compel exporters to offer their proceeds at N380 to dollar when the open market is around N470 to the dollar, This disparity would naturally create compliance issues. It also contradicts the craving of the government

to promote export development. Exporters deserve an unfettered access to their export proceeds.” Yusuf said.

He reiterated that the policy if implemented would create a string of problems critically hurt the business environment as many of them are yet to recover from the impact of Covid-19.

“The disposition of the CBN to suppress market forces in the foreign exchange arena is a major issue and is not sustainable, It creates distortions, transparency problems, corruption, and drives forex and international trade transactions underground, and into the informal space.

It also obstructs the inflow of foreign exchange, either from foreign investors or remittances. ” Yusuf said.

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yo State government has released N72 million as counterpart fund to the Oyo State Community and Social Development Agency (OYCSDA) for the improvement of living standard in rural communities.

The fund is meant to access a World Bank intervention fund on Covid-19 Action Response and Economic Stimulus (CARES) for empowerment project, expected to kick-off in January 2021 with focus on livelihood of the people at the grassroots.

Board chairman of OYCSDA, Ahmed Babatunde Eesuola disclosed this during an impact assessment and evaluation tour to some of the project sites in Ogo Oluwa, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Iseyin, Iganna, Ona- Ara and Akinyele local government

areas of the state.

According to him, the assessment tour was scheduled to assess the impact of the intervention and to hand over completed projects to the benefiting communities for proper maintenance.

“I am impressed with the compliance and strict adherence to the quality standard of the projects executed by the communities visited. My advice for the benefiting communities is to ensure they put all these projects into use to benefit the life of average members of their communities and as well imbibe maintenance culture to keep them in existence for a long period.

“I wish to announce that the state government, through Governor Seyi Makinde has approved the N72 million counterpart funding for the Covid-19 Action Response and Economic Stimulus (CARES),” he said.

LASU says students to resume in batches KELECHI EWUZIE

V

ice-chancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Olanrewaju Fagbohun has said that plans have been put in place for students to resume in batches starting from September 14 as earlier announced by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday.

Fagbohun made this known while speaking during a radio interview on Monday monitored by BusinessDay, stating that on the immediate, 400, 500 and 600 levels students would resume first for two months with intensive lectures starting from 9am3pm daily for those that live off-campus.

According to him, “The 400, 500 and 600 levels students would resume for a duration of two months.

After the completion of 400, 500 and 600 levels resumption; students in 200 and

300 levels are to resume for two months of lectures before the commencement of exams.”

Resumption for the students in 200 and 300 levels was divided into different days of the week.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, 300 level students would be on campus for lectures. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, 200 level students would be on campus in order to maintain social distancing.

Fagbohun said the decision was to protect the students and staff of Lagos State University and to prevent contracting the coronavirus disease.

The V-C noted that all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 had been put in place by the management.

“Regular hand washing is very important as the university has provided taps and soap dispenser in the school. The use of face mask is compulsory.

CITN to digitalise operations ENDURANCE OKAFOR

T

o ensure seamless and stress-free operations, the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) will be digitalising most of its activities.

With the mandate to promote professional ethics in tax, efficiency and best tax practices in Nigeria, the Lagos district of CITN made this known during their recent annual general meeting, in Lagos.

According to Yemi Sanni, the new chairman of CITN, Lagos district, a number of the district’s operations would have to go digital. @Businessdayng

“The way things will be done going forward will be a bit different from how it has been in the past,” Sanni said during the annual general meeting, which was also the day of its election for the 2020 to 2022 chairmanship.

Exacerbated by the outbreak of Covid-19 which forced a lot of economic activities to be doing virtually the new chairman of CITN Lagos district said: “It is partly as a result of Covid-19 but even before the pandemic it was part of the things I already had in mind that I was going to implement to ensure a seamless process.”

leaderSHIP

BUSINESS DAY Tuesday 01 September 2020 www.businessday.ng

CEO in focus

Imrane Barry: CEO leading the only IOC in Nigeria’s downstream sector DIPO OLADEHINDE

W

ith a career spanning over 24 years, Imrane Barry, managing director of Total Nigeria Plc, is championing a fresh idea in Nigeria’s petroleum sector despite challenges.

Under the leadership of Barry, Total Nigeria is currently the only International Oil Company (IOC) in Nigeria’s downstream sector with diverse innovations including lubricants, insecticides and solar energy, which is being used to provide alternative power.

Under his leadership, Total Nigeria aims to be a leader in Nigeria’s downstream sector with extensive distribution networks across the country and a wide range of top-quality energy products and services.

Nigeria, ranked as the 13th largest crude oil producer in the world with an average daily output of about 2 million barrels per day, one would expect that the downstream sector would be abuzz with significant investments and activities. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Th e s e c t o r i s c u r re nt l y bogged down with numerous challenges, such as inappropriate product pricing, bridging product supply, insecurity, irregular gas supply, pipeline vandalism, inadequate pipeline infrastructure and nonfunctional/under-functioning refineries among others.

Barry stated that the reason Total Nigeria will not exit the downstream sector whether now or in the future is because of the company’s strong belief in the country.

Barry is running with the vision of tapping into the human capital in Africa by training people and knowing how to think globally and act on it.

“Total believes in the continent. We are Nigeria Total in Ghana, we are Nigeria Total in Cote D Ivoire, and we are Nigeria Total in Africa,” Barry said at the “Pan African” petroleum

Barry

summit the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit, (NIPS) in Abuja earlier this year.

He noted that the company invests more than 50 per cent of its revenue to ensure safety of workers especially those with the responsibility of moving products from one location to the other. “For the biggest risk is not on the platforms only, but also in the downstream”, he said.

With Barry were other panelists who attempted a constructive swipe at the key issue of

“Sustaining Industry Momentum in the Downstream – What new strategies, tactics and innovative partnership”.

They include Emeka Ene, CEO, Oildata Inc, Tunji Oyebanji, CEO 11Plc and Chairman Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Prince Abner Ishaku, Technical Assistant (Downstream) to Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Devakumar Edwin, ED Dangote Industries, among others.

“We believe in Africa. The

‘‘

Under the leadership of Barry, Total Nigeria is currently the only International Oil Company (IOC) in Nigeria’s downstream sector with diverse innovations including lubricants, insecticides and solar energy, which is being used to provide alternative power

beauty is that we are a medium enterprise and for such an organization, it is important to be deeply rooted in the country where you are located,” Barry told the audience.

For Barry innovation is an indispensable key in operating in Nigeria’s downstream sector.

“If you don’t innovate you will die. Innovation is something permanent. Today, as part of innovation, we are continuing with the fleet management solution into our cards. As far as lubricant is concerned, we are moving into a new generation of base oil and Total is about to launch new packaging for lubricants which is more appealing.

This is also the feature technical characteristics of the products,” Barry said on the sideline in an interview with Energy Focus Report Magazine.

On transport safety, Barry said Total Nigeria is introducing a new software that is based on camera which will capture the face of the driver to alert early fatigue signs and prevent the driver on how to manage the journey.

Barry who also spoke at business forum in Lagos has this to say: “Clarity, priority and focus is important in business. It is extremely important to know why we are doing something. It is important to set up our priority and stick to them. It is also vital to share the financial report with your team. This will put you all on the same page; nothing is hidden. This topic of discussion is just a reflection on our normal and daily lifestyle.”

He pointed out that the major challenges to operational excellence are: “adaptation to changes and ensuring your balance sheet is strong, lack of urgency and also the variability and aim for excellence.”

The Oil Industry has had a particularly tough year, owing primarily to the novel pandemic. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the global oil demand is expected to further decline this year as Covid-19 spreads around the world, constraining travel as

well as other economic activities.

Organizations like Total depending on international trade will be forced to scale down operations until restrictions ease off.

The company, in its last full year annual report, noted that to make significant savings to both operational and capital expenditure costs, a series of initiatives relating to cost efficiency, process optimization, and significant reduction of working capital requirement and finance costs, were put in place and are in motion for this year.

Imrane is not new to the Total group as he had previously served as Managing Director of Total Uganda in 2013, Total Cameroon SA in 2015 and Total Nigeria Plc in 2018. He also worked with other Total affiliates in Kenya and Ivory Coast, at SEP-Congo as the Technical and Transport Director, and in Paris as the Strategy and Development Senior Officer.

Imrane joined Elf in 1996 where he served as Operations Manager in Guinea and Engineering and Operations Manager in Kenya. Between 2000 and 2002, he served in Totalfinelf Guinea as Operations Manager. From 2002 to 2012 he served as Operations Manager in Total Cote d’Ivoire, Technical and Transport Director in Total DR Congo and StrategyDevelopment Senior Officer in Total Paris. He was appointed the Deputy to the Executive Vice-President Total West Africa in 2012.

In 2013, Barry was appointed Managing Director of Total Uganda and Managing Director of Total Cameroon in 2015. In 2018, he was appointed Managing Director of Total Nigeria Plc. Prior to joining Total, Imrane worked in several capacities in Engineering and Construction Companies in Guinea Conakry, Cote d’Ivoire and Gabon. He holds a Degree in Civil Engineering from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Traveux PublicsENSTP (Cote d’Ivoire).

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