BusinessDay 04 Mar 2021

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news you can trust ** thursday 04 march 2021 I vol. 19, no 770

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435.58

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As NNPC seeks equity stakes in joint venture company

60m 36m 28-Feb-24 25- Feb-26 511.54

605.76

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Why T-bill rates at 12-month high is positive for mutual funds, bonds …but bad for equities Endurance Okafor

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he recent yield uptick in fixed income instruments holds an opportunity for mutual funds and bonds inves-

Onyinye Nwachukwu

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Dangote Cement plc

*NTB - Nigerian Treasury Bills; *CP - Commercial Paper

Demand in Morocco seals $1.4bn deal for Nigerian gas igh demand for Nigeria’s gas by Morocco has enabled a landmark $1.4 billion deal finally sealed Tuesday between the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), OCP of Morocco as well as Akwa Ibom State to develop a plant where Am-

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Benchmark Sovereign & Corporate Bonds

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Inside Nigeria sinking under weight of petrol subsidy as FG fails to act P. 27 Dapo Abiodun, governor, Ogun State, presenting keys to the 10 patrol vans and 20 motorcycles to Ahmed Tijani Abdullahi, deputy commissioner of police, while others (from l) Brig. Gen. EJ Amadasun, Brigade Commander of 35 Artillery Brigade, Abeokuta; Hammed Abodunrin, commandant, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, and David Akinremi, commandant, Amotekun Corps, look on at the inauguration of the Joint Security Interventions Squad at the Memorial Arcade, Governor’s Office, Abeokuta, on Tuesday.

Nigerian team builds first-of-its-kind technology for Microsoft P. 30

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Reps summon SGF, others over salaries commission’s 28-year unaudited account James Kwen, Abuja

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he House of Representatives has invited secretary to government of the federation (SGF), the head of service (HOS), director-general of Budget Office, accountantgeneral of the Federation and auditor-general of the Federation to explain why the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission has not been audited since its establishment in 1993.

The public accounts committee of the House of Representatives gave the invitation at the ongoing investigative hearing into the activities of ministries, department and agencies (MDAs), following queries by the Office of the auditor- general on dwindling revenue into the Federation Account.

Oluwole Oke, chairman of the committee, said it was gross misconduct for the commission not to have rendered its accounts in the 28 years of its existence, against the law of the land.

Aghughu Arhotomhenla, the auditor-general of the Federation, represented at the hearing by Maryam Ibrahim, said there was no information in respect to their audit accounts.

According to the auditorgeneral, “external auditors are supposed to audit the commission and then we have records of their audited accounts. But we do not have any record of this agency.”

Ekpo Nta, acting chairman of the commission, who resumed office in August 2019, told the lawmakers that the failure of auditing the commission’s account was due to shortage of staff and funding.

Nta said all the auditing needs of the commission have always been incorporated in the auditor-general’s final report which is presented to parliament, adding that both the accountant-general and auditor-general post their staff to the commission.

“Incidentally the commission is audited 100 percent by the office of the auditor-general and that of the Budget Office in collaboration with the accountantgeneral’s Office and the audit department of the Office of the SGF. We do not have external auditors. As a matter of fact, they used to post staff to our audit to head the place until 2018. So all our rendition and processes are domiciled with the Office of the auditor-general of the Federation,” Nta said.

But members of the committee vowed not to aban-

don such important function of rendition of account, saying without it the auditorgeneral cannot even raise queries on the transactions of this agency.

Oke, chairman of the committee said the law authorises the auditorgeneral to conduct periodic checks on the books of the commission because it lacks power to audit it, but it was the commission’s duty to appoint an external auditor.

“This is very serious issue. If this agency has been mismanaged since 1993 it has come to an end today.

So what we do is to invite the SGF, HOS, director-general, Budget, accountant- general of the Federation and auditor-general and the chairman to come and explain what the law says about the organisation,” he said.

“The commissions Act is an establishment of the parliament and section 9 subsection 2 of the Act provides that the commission shall keep proper accounts of its information in respect of which year and proper records in relation thereto and shall cause its accounts to be audited not later than six months after the end of each year by auditors appointed from the list of auditors not by the auditor-general himself,” Oke pointed out.

CBN debunks report of restricting OMO sales to foreign investors Hope Moses-Ashike

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he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday denied the report that it plans to stop phase out sales of bills known as Open Market Operation (OMO), to foreign Investors.

Osita Nwanisobi, director, corporate communications department, CBN, disclosed this to BusinessDay by phone on Wednesday. “ There’s nothing like

that. It is not true. Absolutely, nothing like that.

We are trying to get exactly where this is coming from.

However, we have put on information across that the CBN is not trying to stop anything and that is the position, “ he said.

A report by Bloomberg said Nigeria’s central bank is preparing an end to an era of debt sales that handed foreign investors some the best carry returns in Africa.

OMO is the sales or purchases of government secu-

rities by the Central Bank in order to expand or contract money in the banking system and influence interest rates.

In October 2019, the CBN adopted a policy prohibiting domestic nonbank institutional investors from reinvesting in OMO bills.

The significant liquidity released from maturing OMO bills held by these investors has mostly found its way into the government debt market which has driven interest rates to record low levels.

Loose Media launches into digital market space

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fast rising digital marketing and media agency, Loose Media, has launched into the digital marketing space.

With the official launch, the digital agency which began operations in May 2020, is solidifying its place in the marketing and advertising ecosystem in Nigeria.

Loose Media comes power-packed with top talents and experts in the digital and traditional marketing industry.

Speaking on the launch, Ized Uanikhehi, MD/CEO Loose Media, expressed

excitement, saying, “In my 15 years’ exp er ience in marketing, I can honestly count this as my proudest moment. At Loose Media, what sets us apart is the fact that we are KPI and data driven, plus we have a vast knowledge of the digital marketing industry and we know what works”.

She further said, “I am really excited about how far Loose Media has come. “I am grateful to God for giving me the best team ever. I wouldn’t have come this far without this team”.

Loose Media is motivated by a desire to create meaningwww.businessday.ng

ful connections for brands and their target audience, telling impactful stories for brands that captivate the hearts of customers, which they have been known to do in a short time.

On the goals of the company, Charles Avackaa, the COO of Loose Media, explained: “Our services are geared towards building a brand people love, use and talk about. That’s why our vision is to be the hub of value-driven creativity and the foremost expert in the marketing ecosystem out of Africa. This is what drives us every day”. https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

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Apapa: Sanwo-Olu to name, shame saboteurs of e-call up system

…as Lekki-Epe corridor roundabouts remodelled to boost traffic flow Joshua Bassey & Seyi John Salau

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ndividuals, corporate organisations, and law enforcement officers seeking to frustrate the newly introduced electronic call-up system which has helped to restore sanity in Apapa and the ports environment, would have the Lagos State government to contend with.

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said his government would stop at nothing in exposing and bringing such group to public opprobrium naming and shaming them, as Lagos cannot afford to return to the Apapa dark days.

“I am saying it before the camera now that we will not stop at anything in ensuring that anybody that tries to take us back to where we are coming from on the gridlock in Apapa; we will do everything to fight them. We will name and shame them, be it a corporate organisation, company, police

officer or Lagos state official,” Sanwo-Olu said while commissioning the remodelled Lekki first, second and Abraham Adesanya roundabouts on the Lekki-Ajah corridor, on Wednesday.

The electronic call-up system which became effective from February 27, allows only trucks cleared by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to make their journey to the Apapa port from any of the eight licensed truck parks within and outside the Lagos metropolis.

Consequently, trucks hitherto parked on roads and bridges with resultant daily gridlock, are no longer allowed.

The state government collaborating with the NPA and other stakeholders, including the Nigeria Police, and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had already deployed some 500 operatives to monitor and enforce traffic flow around Apapa with that axis already experiencing free movement of persons, trucks and goods.

According to Sanwo-Olu,

the state government can no longer condone recklessness around the port environment.

The governor said his administration would adopt the name and shame approach to bring any saboteurs of the new system before the court of public opinion.

“Those who say the solution we are bringing to Apapa will not work will answer to the citizens of Nigeria and Lagos State,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The governor equally appealled to SIFAX, Dangote, Flour Mills, Tunde Folawiyo Oil and other major players within Apapa to collaborate with the government in solving the gridlock in Apapa.

“We gave a commitment and said, we’ll do everything possible to solve the gridlock problem of Apapa” said Sanwo-Olu, adding that the intervention took longer because the government needed to collaborate with all the stakeholders in the Apapa corridor.

According to him, what is currently happening in Apapa

is the beginning of the lasting solution his administration is bringing to the area.

Frederic Oladeinde, the state commissioner for transport, said the remodelling of the roundabouts was symbolic and demonstrated Lagos’ commitment to ensuring efficient traffic management and transportation; which according to him, is the first pillar of the THEMES development agenda of the current administration.

Oladeinde further stated that the projects were a testimonial to Sanwo-Olu’s belief, trust, and confidence in the ministry as a government agency, saddled with the responsibility of driving the ongoing reforms in the transport sector.

“Most of the existing roundabouts/junctions were prepared mainly for manual traffic control system; which in reality, could not meet the 21st century technology driven traffic control system needed in an emerging Smart City with fast growing population like ours,” said Oladeinde.

L-R: Biodun Otunola, director, Planet Project; Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor, Lagos State; Obafemi Hamzat, deputy governor, Lagos State, and Frederick Oladeinde, commissioner for transport, during the inauguration of Abraham Adesanya and other roundabouts on Lekki-Ajah Expressway in Lagos, yesterday.

Herders/farmers’ clashes: Ogun deploys patrol vans, motorcycles in Yewa Zebulon Agomuo

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he Ogun State government has deployed 10 patrol vans and 20 motorcycles in the Yewa axis of the state as part of efforts to check the herders/farmers’ crisis in the area.

Governor Dapo Abiodun at the presentation ceremony in Abeokuta said the measure was a fulfilment of his promise to return peace to the affected areas in Yewa.

Abiodun recalled that when the crisis broke out few weeks back, he had constituted a Joint Special Security Intervention Squad as well as a high powered government delegation to mediate between the two parties.

He also recalled that he promised to support the task

force with operational equipment and other logistics needed to accomplish its task.

“This gesture is therefore, a step in making good my promise to support the taskforce for the success of its assignment,” he said.

The governor noted that the people of the affected area who lived close to the border area of the Republic of Benin usually had difficulties making distress calls in times of trouble. He explained that the state had been having series of meetings with telecommunication firms, adding that plans are in top gear to deploy more masts to the area to address the issue.

Abiodun explained that the equipment were meant only for the Yewa axis and that same measure would be replicated in other parts of the www.businessday.ng

state should there be a need for such.

The governor, who noted that Ogun was widely known for peace, assured that the government would ensure that anyone found sponsoring or perpetrating crime in the state would be severely dealt with.

He called on the people of the state to stop ascribing crime to a particular ethnic group, saying that “a criminal is a criminal regardless of where he comes from.”

The governor noted that proliferation of fake news had also contributed to deepen the crises in the area. He described as falsehood recent reports that no fewer than 5000 Ogun indigenes had escaped to seek refuge in the Republic of Benin because of the crisis.

“I wonder who took the

census and how that can take place without meetings between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin.

“Some who came to Abeokuta because of the crisis were provided with free accommodation and so I wonder why some people would just sit down somewhere and be cooking up untrue stories,” he said.

Abiodun explained that the state Ministry of Justice had already been working to ensure that there were necessary laws to provide for punitive measures against publishers of fake news.

Edward Ajogun, Commissioner of Police (CP), Ogun command, commended Abiodun “for a promise kept”. He assured that all security agencies were committed to restoring peace to the area.

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NEWS

GText Homes plans 1,000 houses by 2035 …to invest N20bn in 20 estates this year OBINNA EMELIKE

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Te x t H o m e s , a leading real estate conglomerate, has unveiled plans to build 1,000 housing units in 200 estates across the country, as well as 25,000 green and smart homes by the year 2035.

The 15-year expansion plan is commencing this year with an estimated N20 billion investment, aimed at adding another 20 estates to the existing 20, and boosting its housing portfolio to 40 estates this year.

With the investment, the real estate firm has acquired 10,000 hectares of land and hopes to create about 5,000 to 1,000 jobs and 2,000 indirectly and directly, and also help in reducing the housing deficit in Nigeria.

Speaking on the plans during a media parley, which held at the real estate firm’s office in Lagos recently, Stephen Akintayo, managing director/CEO, GText Homes, noted that the real estate firm is actualizing the ‘smart city’ dream with the building of smart/green estates that are climate friendly, and will be using technology to drive the project.

Moreover, it plans to use the waste generated within the estate to generate electricity, while ensuring zero emission.

The indigenous real estate firm has also opened an office in Dubai, while intending to have operational offices in the United Kingdom and the United States of America this year.

The Dubai office, according to Akintayo, is an independent subsidiary called GText Dubai, which handles its real

estate business in Dubai.

It is also partnering with several companies, which are coming on board to bring in their own buyers and clients that would be interested in investing in its property.

Akintayo also assured investors of good returns that would add value to their investments.

The MD/CEO also stressed the importance of the real estate sector saying, the company recorded success as Nigerians in the diaspora patronised the company during the 2020 pandemic year, as the company leveraged the power of technology to excel in marketing and sales of its products.

He pointed that real estate investment is where to go because of the appreciating financial value of housing.

The GText Homes CEO also disclosed that apart from real estate business, the firm is diversifying into agriculture, particularly in the food processing sector, which is vital in preserving perennial crops.

In line with its investment in agriculture, the firm has bought several hectares of land at Ibeju Lekki in Lagos, Ijebu-Ugbo in Ogun State and Osun State for farming with GText Farms subsidiary handling the operations.

According to him, GText Farms would give grants to people in that sector, while using locally made processing plants and machines for its operations. “We intend to also set up a coconut refinery plant to boost food processing in the country”, he said.

Others N300,000, as well as, payment of tuition fees for 100 children.

FG renews telcos’ NIN registration licence for 5 years FRANK ELEANYA

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he Federal Government has extended the tenure of NIN enrolment agent licences issued to mobile network operators (MNOs) from one to five years.

This is in consideration of their satisfactory performance in the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment exercise.

The government said the approval is a deliberate effort to simplify the enrolment process for Nigerian and legal residents. It plans to keep monitoring the MNOs during the period.

The approval is part of f o u r- p o i n t r e s o l u t i o n s reached when the ministerial task force on the NINSIM registration held its 4th review meeting recently.

During the meeting, stakeholders reached a resolution to give MNOs approval to establish dedicated SIM Swap Centres across the 774 @Businessdayng

local government areas in the country. The approval requires all MNOs with already existing service centres in critical locations in these LGAs to upgrade their facilities to a level where they can qualify as SIM Swap Centres. This is aimed at bringing the centres closer to the people and reducing the challenges associated with SIM swap and replacement process for people.

Other resolutions include mandating the technical committee of the Task Force to complete the development of a new SIM issuance strategy that cannot be compromised. This is to prevent past experiences in which the process was compromised through pre-registration by some agents.

The stakeholders also resolved that a multi-sectoral ad-hoc committee be responsible for reviewing the processes for new SIM activations for legal residents staying in Nigeria for less than 24 months.

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WAC: A war marred by communication collision

IK MUO

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hree years ago, I mused on the confusing communication tendencies of this administration, and argued that while it has been in the character of our previous government, this change-propelled administration has made it a corner stone and I gave an example. ‘On 26/11/13, a group of rebel governors, led other nPDP members to join the APC and the great Lai Mohammed described the defection as a strategic merger that would give Nigeria and Nigerians a new lease of life. Five years down the line, the same group of rebels formed the rAPC and decamped mostly to PDP and the same Lai declared: Today is a special day.

God has answered our prayers by exposing our political traitors. God has removed stones from our rice. The first act of political harlotry was strategic while the second was divinely ordained to de-stone the APC rice’ (Ik Muo: Communication Collision, Pharaseesm & Change Management.

The Guardian, 23/8/18).

Communication Collision (CC) is the tendency to say opposing things depending on the time and circumstances or political brethren contradicting each other in the market square; when what one said previously collides with what the same person says presently or when two people, supposedly in the same camp

publicly contradict or lambast each other. It involves one contradicting himself, contradicting his comrade or contradicting the past with the present. This tendency I wrote about 3 years ago has become so professionalized that we cannot have it better elsewhere and it has become the major on-doing of this WAC (War Against Coro).

Of course, I treated a similar matter when I wrote on the forkedtongue tendencies of the Federal government last week (Ik Muo: Chatham House Declaration, Forked Tongues and Our Security Catastrophe; BusinessDay, 25/2/21). I also note that in Nigeria of today, everything is a war: War Against Corruption, War against IPOB, War against banditry, War Against ASUU, War against Sunday Igboho, War against hate speech and its twin brother, hate-speech, and War Against EndSARS. Probably, that is why nothing is working because we are fighting many wars in many directions at the same time.

In June, 2020, the PTF unveiled its Ten-Pillar Multisectoral Strategy for WAC and one of the pillars was Risk Communication and Community Engagement. How can that pillar work when we have 1001 institutions and persons communication with us on the WAC? Communication on WAC comes from the Minister of Information, Minister of health and his junior counterpart, the PTF represented by the Boss; The Coordinator of PTF (Dr Aliu), The PTF National Incident Commander, the NCDC, NAFDAC, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Ministry of Education, National Research Institutes and at times the amorphous Presidency! So, why won’t there be Communication Collision (CC) or confusion in the land over coro?

Let’s start from the vaccine mat-

ter. Nobody was sure of the quantity, the type, the source, the arrival date, the projected number of people to be vaccinated, the cost of the vaccines and the cost of the vaccination. The figures have varied from 100,000 to 4m, to 47m, to 57m, to 109m to 120m while the arrival date had moved from early 2021, to late January, to early February to late February to April. Until the Minister of Health confessed that he was no longer sure of the date while NPHCDA boss informed us that the date would be fixed by COVAX. And just on 2/3/21, we took delivery of 3.9m doses, enough to vaccinate about 1% of Nigerians and we held a reception party for the vaccines, when Ghana & Ivory Coast had started jabbing!

And since COVAX is free, why was a government official telling us that the delay in arrival was caused by negotiation over prices and why was BUA Group and CACOVID quarreling over who paid for what?

Recently, NAFDAC gleefully announced the approval of AstraZeneca brand for Nigeria. Good enough. It is not only Willie that is working; this shows that NAFDAC is also working. But other questions arose.

If NAFDAC has just approved a vaccine for Nigeria, which vaccines were CACOVID, Nigerian Governors Forum and other groups promising to buy for us? Or was any group working from answer to question? And how many people are we planning to vaccinate? 109m? 75%? 50%?

We all recall when the FG directed students in exit classes (SS3, JSS3 and Primary 6) to resume so as to write exams. However, the same government had earlier declared that Nigerian students would not write WAEC and while that was going on, the Minister of state for Education had advised parents who were not sure of their childrens’ safety to keep them

‘

If NAFDAC has just approved a vaccine for Nigeria, which vaccines were CACOVID, Nigerian Governors Forum and other groups promising to buy for us? Or was any group working from answer to question?

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This is the optimistic part of this story. It is good to begin 2021 on a positive, optimistic level, despite the ravaging COVID 19 virus that has almost collapsed the economies of developed and developing countries.

Now, let us come down to reality.

Our world has gone digital. But, most countries in Africa are still applying the go-slow methods of migrating from analogue to digital age. Check out the internet penetration statistics in some African countries to get the gist here.

I agree, the internet penetration records of some countries in our continent are commendable, but they are still far cries compared to some developed countries. As I wrote in 2017, corruption, illiterac y, poverty, lack of social amenities, insecurity, lack of trust, lack of knowledge on what it takes to run a business online, are some of the factors militating against Africa and Africans.

Internet penetration is 28.7 percent in my beloved continent, compared to North America with 89 percent penetration level. This means North America with an estimated population of 579 million people is more digital than Africa, despite our wide markets.

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EMMANUEL UDOM

However, in fairness, businesses are striving in our continent and despite the hardship unleashed on our world by the outbreak of COVID 19 virus, some individuals, nations, corporate bodies, etc, have made it and are still making it. Do some facts-check to confirm or refute this angle of the statement.

As we know, challenges could serve either as stepping-stones or stumbling blocks. So, while some have made it big-time, Coro or no Coro, others have fallen by the wayside. There are some Africans out there, who know little or nothing about online business even in this digital age. They are old school, analogue and therefore afraid to grow with time. To some of these persons, people who do businesses online a re f rau d s t e r s, ya h o o - ya h o o b oy s, scammers or criminals. These persons have every right under the sun to think and behave the way they do, even if not correct.

Truth is that there are genuine and fake business owners everywhere, internet inclusive. Trust has also made it impossible to do business online.

With the world becoming a global family, business owners do not need to meet physically to transact business.

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The great Lai had told us that coronised corpses would not be released for burial but we all knew what happened to the corpse of Abah-Kyari. And then, we remember the famed mysterious deaths in Kano. The Minister of Health said about 60% was caused by Covid. The PTF Technical Team said that there was no evidence but that they would investigate and then said that its preliminary reports indicated that most of the deaths were coro-related. The governor of Kano set up its own team and after its verbal-autopsy model declared that it was a mere 16% and that the report by the Ministry of health or PTF should be thrown into the ocean. As at today, nobody is sure of what exactly happened. We don’t have the patience to follow through on any matter except it involved sharing money!

Ik Muo, PhD. Department of Business Administration, OOU, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State muoigbo@ yahoo.com ;muo.ik@oouagoiwoye.edu.ng ; 08033026625

The pains of doing business online in Africa ith an estimated population of 1.216 billion people, you will agree with me that Africa is a great continent. But, you also have the right to disagree with me, here.

As you know, the population of our entire world is estimated at about 7 billion people. This, we all know is a huge market for both online and offline business concerns. It is obvious that we have moved from being a global village to a global family, simply with a click of the mouse. Therefore, no boundary, no limitations, endless possibilities, global reach and network, etc.

Thank God, thank humanity for this is progress, despite the many challenges facing this planet.

We all have unique skills, talents, knowledge, and experience. God indeed is wonderful for not creating all of us the same. So, if you think of the r ight market to sell your products, goods or services, come to Africa. Of course Nigeria is also the right market for investors of all sorts.

It has the right population, though insecurity is threatening the peace, unity and progress of our beloved country.

away from School. The Minister of Education said that they were ‘forced’ by states to open the schools. He was in effect singing, ‘it wasn’t me’, that hit-song released by Shaggy in 2000.

PTF told us that we had flattened the curve but at the same time told us not to rejoice and while it declared that the second wave was upon us, the Oyo State Government said ‘it is a lie’ while the Kogi State Governor or government (they are not different) said there was no Coro, even though the government is said to have budgeted some billions for the vicious enemy.

There are no limitations in this digital age to running businesses. Everything and anything could be sold online and money in local and foreign currencies transferred from one part of the world to the other.

But, my good friend in Lagos, Nigeria, who has a master’s degree from one of the oldest universities in our country knows little or nothing about running an online business.

We were discussing yesterday and he told me bluntly that he knows next to nothing about online business. So, he is comfortable moving his vehicle parts from one place to the other in search of customers.

In 2021, I am positive that more and more business owners will overcome the pains of going from analogue to digital in Africa. I get the feeling deep down that ten years down the line, the story will change for the better and internet penetration in Africa will soar.

Emmanuel Udom, editor, www.csomedia.com.ng is a Lagos-based freelance journalist

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A peep into Nigeria’s internal security and why the country is unravelling

CHRISTOPHER AKOR

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oncerne d w ith the militarisation of internal security in Nigeria, the Second Republic government of Shehu Shagari decided to revamp the police and transform it into a quasimilitary organisation with the ability to respond to any internal security threat. Armoured personnel carriers (APCs), assault rifles and other sophisticated weaponries were procured for the police and police personnel were trained and placed in Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams or mobile police units all over the country. The intelligence section of the police was also beefed up to enable it to track and prevent crimes even before they take place.

Of course, to do this – and due to the economic recession at the time - the government had to reduce the military budget and move more funding to the police. Military officers did not take kindly to this and the feeling of ‘inter-organisational hostility’ began to simmer. To the

military officers at the time, and in the words of Eghosa Osaghae in his book, Crippled Giant, “...any attempt to build the police into an ‘alternative’ military force, especially at the expense of the army and other arms of the military, was absolutely unacceptable.”

Expectedly, the moment the military junta of Muhammadu Buhari kicked out the Shagari regime, it halted further investment in the police, seized the APCs and assault and sophisticated weapons bought for the police and restored the military’s pre-eminent role in internal security matters. Soldiers, and not the police, once more, became the default police in the country. And the default tactics of the military was not to detect or investigate crimes, but to eliminate threats or expressions of dissent entirely through brute force.

What happened to the police?

Expectedly, it was greatly weakened, starved of funds and equipments and its crime detection, investigation and controlling capacities were almost destroyed such that it closed down its main investigative section (B department) and its dog section.

It neglected its fingerprints, handwriting and other scientific departments and ignored training abroad, recruited no new experts and lost grip of its traditional functions of detection of crime and apprehension of offenders.

A former Chief Justice of the Federation, Alfa Belgore, in 2008, offered an interesting theory of why the military deliberately destroyed the police. He said it was for leak-

ing the 1966 coup to the civilian politicians, even though the civilian authorities never believed them.

He said the military never forgave the police for telling the politicians about the impending coup, and that immediately the military took over power, they scrapped the ‘E Branch’ – this was the intelligence branch of the police – and greatly reduced the budget of the police.

Coincidentally, the sophisticated police intelligence unit that picked up the 1966 coup signal was no longer there and could not provide the military with any warning on the Dimka bloody coup of 1976. Regardless, the military regime of General Obasanjo blamed the police for the lack of intelligence on the coup and proceeded to set up the National Security Organisation (NSO) in 1976.

Although, the government said the NSO was going to be in charge of all internal intelligence operations, in reality, it was created to protect the military juntas in power by snooping on the military and the larger society to detect threats against the government.

After the spate of coup d’états against the Babangida regime, the NSO was disbanded and restructured into three separate organizations under the Office of the Coordinator of National Security. Of course, the primary purpose was to protect the Babangida regime, but, as usual, the official reasons were for proper delineation of duties.

The State Security Service (SSS) was to be responsible for intelligence within Nigeria, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for foreign

‘

The moment the military junta of Muhammadu Buhari kicked out the Shagari regime, it halted further investment in the police, seized the APCs and assault and sophisticated weapons bought for the police

Cryptocurrency – Risks and opportunities in Nigeria

C

r yptocurrencies are digital virtual currencies that can be transferred, stored and traded electronically. These currencies do not have legal tender status.

Over the years, cryptocurrencies have been seen to facilitate illicit activities such as: Money Laundering: Criminals use the proceeds of their crime to open online accounts with cryptocurrency exchanges, which accept fiat currency from banks.

They then create a trail that is impossible to track and can use a privacy coin that enhances anonymity. Once the money’s origin is properly disguised, it is integrated into the financial system as clean money.

Terrorism: Due to the anomalous nature of cryptocurrencies, it can be used to fund terrorist organisations without knowing who is behind the funding. The anonymous or pseudonymous cryptocurrencies receivable donations as a source of terrorist financing facilitate arms trafficking and easy transfer of funds cross border that cannot be detected by the normal financial system.

Sanctions evasion: Individuals and countries that have been subject to economic sanctions and embargo have moved to cryptocurrencies to circumvent such sanctions. This undermines UN economic and trade sanctions put in place to make countries comply with global efforts to make the world a safer place to live.

Scams and Fraud: Bitcoin has been used to facilitate a lot of scams and

fraud. Many people have reported being targeted in investment scams that have resulted in substantial loss. Fraudsters target the vulnerable in romance scams, fake exchanges, fake wallet apps, money mules, 419 scams, blackmail scams, f rau d u l e nt I C O s, pu mp a n d d u mp schemes, ponzi and pyramid schemes to mention a few.

Darknet transactions : Bitcoin is widely accepted in the darknet market, which is a commercial internet site in the underground that can only be accessed by use of special software. It is a black market for drugs, arms, weapons, illicit goods, counterfeit currency, stolen data, and child abuse materials.

Ransomware: Bitcoin is often dema nd e d by rans omware attacke rs.

Ransomware is malicious software that blocks computer systems, prevents users from accessing their system or personal files and demands ransom payment in bitcoin in order to allow users to regain access.

Cybercrime: Cryptocurrencies ecosystem is linked to other cybercrimes such as Account takeover, Crypto jacking, Phishing, Sextortion, Worm, Spyware, and Malware.

Drug trafficking: The anonymous nature and the value transfer system of certain cryptocurrencies enable buyers of illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin to pay their dealers in cryptocurrency.

Human Trafficking: The near anonymity of cryptocurrencies works for the advantage of human traffickers who are able to conduct transaction in labour and

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BABAJIDE ONIWINDE

sex trafficking that have no virtual end destination.

Cryptocurrencies also poses risk to the overall financial system: Risk to financial stability and market integrity: Bitcoin poses a risk to the real economy as large fluctuation in the value of bitcoin controlled by unregulated and unidentifiable persons can cause concerns.

Due to complete reliance on technology, outages and technological disruptions can impact on the financial system.

Risk to consumer public: This risk arises from inexperienced investors participating in a very complex product, which has very high price volatility whereby the value can increase, or decrease within minutes. Other risks are excessive fees, high price, exchange hacking, loss of data, operational risk, fraud and maladministration, risk of inaccessible accounts due to loss of private key, no deposit protection.

Risk to Competition: Cryptocurrency poses risk to traditional banks that have been in existence for many years and are properly regulated. Cryptocurrency can suddenly dominate the market by creating attraction of large volumes of savers away from these reputable banks who are complying with well established regulations.

Risk to local fiat currency: Cryptocurrencies linked to the value of dollars will see the exit of huge sums out of the country thereby putting pressure on the Naira, the local fiat currency and creating a negative impact on the economy of the country.

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intelligence and counterintelligence, and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) for military-related intelligence outside and inside the country.

From the above, it is clear why Nigeria is gradually unravelling.

We have destroyed the police and replaced it with the military whose approach to internal security is to terrify, massacre and destroy. Sadly, all the intelligence agencies were set up sorely for regime protection and not for the protection of the citizens. That is why criminals and terrorists continue to operate almost freely while the Department of State Security (DSS) concentrate almost exclusively on harassing political opponents and government critics on social and traditional media.

Nigeria was supposed to reverse this trend and rebuild the police to begin to perform its rightful functions in a democratic society when it transitioned to democratic governance in 1999. But how can it when it has continued to elect the same old soldiers who destroyed the police in the first place? Throughout Obasanjo’s eight years, for instance, it was clear he preferred the use of soldiers for internal security operations – just like in his military days.

It was easier, for instance, to send in soldiers to massacre people and destroy Odi in Bayelsa or Zaki-Biam in Benue state than invest in intelligence to fish out criminals who killed security operatives. Nothing has changed since then. Sadly, the chickens have come home to roost and Nigeria is barely hanging by the thread.

Opportunities of Cryptocurrency Cryptocurrencies provide the following opportunities: Speculative Investment: As return on investment appear to have dried up in traditional banking, with low interest rates and the stock market not being impressive for a considerable period of time, people are turning to bitcoin as speculation to make profits by buying low and selling high, taking advantage of frequent price fluctuation aided by growing market capitalisation and liquidity.

Means of exchange and a store of value: The value of cryptocurrency helps store value during economic instability as no one entity has sovereignty over Bitcoin. In addition, the presence of blockchain technology makes transactions immutable, secure and transparent and parties can monitor their transactions in real time. Also, unlike fiat where you can have counterfeit notes, there are no counterfeit cryptocurrency coins.

Cross border remittance: Speed of transfer of funds can be as fast as sending an email. The process is completely decentralised, trading can be done freely in a cost effective manner across borders. Anyone can access and use cryptocurrency no matter where one is in the world. Thereby facilitating financial inclusion and frictionless ecommerce with global reach.

Overall, a lot of regulatory effort will be required to police the use of Cryptocurrencies and perhaps take positive advantage of the opportunities it presents.

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Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

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The infinite stake theory - The devil is in the details POSITIVE GROWTH WITH BABS

BABS OLUGBEMI

M

y last article on employee capitalism generated huge reactions. A C-level officer called me to discuss the quote from the article. In the article, Babs Olugbemi wrote, ‘If you reward a few leaders for others’ work and believe all you need are the leaders and the result they produce; you are leading your company into oblivion soon.’ My caller was hysterical and discussed how the treatment of employees is a significant difference in organisations.

I am an idealist on the infinite stake theory, and here is the devil in the details.

Employees are part of the stakeholders in any organisation, even in the most robotic settings. Take the decisions, discretions and the emotions of people out of any venture, and then you have a failed outcome in waiting.

Most employees who contribute to the organisation’s success are in what I termed as the pivot group. Take a staff strength of 15,000, for example. There is the likelihood of having a minimum of 75% of the 15,000 employees in the pivot group. 11, 250 employees out of 15,000 are a critical stakeholder with perceived insignificant power and influence. The other groups are what I termed the Drivers and the Directional teams. The drivers are responsible for the pivot group, while the directional teams are the directors and the business owners.

Most organisations, in theory, recognise the importance of the pivot group. That is why we have many kneejerk slogans on employees, but a few leaders practising what they proclaimed. Employees are claimed to the most critical assets, but they are treated like cost. Employees are dismissed at a slight offence and at times without a clear and mutual performance appraisal understandings. The apologists of Jack Welsh and Milton Friedman must do it in the interest of shareholders’ wealth. Who is creating wealth?

Organisations who adopt my infinite stake theory recognise the inherent power and influence of the mass employee group - the pivot team.

Rather than rewarding few people in the driver and directional groups, why not develop a culture of reward that permeates beyond those who report performance to those who makes it happen. The mistake of those who reward leaders only for other people’s performance is thinking that leaders or their leading style generate results. No. Leaders are measured by the result and are responsible for those that achieve the result. The ability to influence those directly responsible for the result by creating an atmosphere for the expected outcome is the work of leaders.

The Drivers and Directional groups are accountable for the Pivot groups, who, in a real sense, are the producers of the result for organisations, anywhere and anyway. Thus, no football coach achieves results or wins the tournament with his or her players. It was the invincibility of the Arsenal team in the glorious years of The arsenal that made Arsene Wenger a good coach; not just his knowledge and intelligence.

Therefore, where too much focus is on fellow top leaders without a conscious effort to create an enabling culture where the goose that lays the

golden eggs are nurtured and rewarded, the decline in brand image and performance metrics is inevitable. A senior team member will earn a bonus on behalf of others but will not serve the organisation for many years or produce the cumulative output of the pivot team. The reality of not focusing on the pivot team is an organisation being led under disguise. Disguise for customer service especially. The focus of all, including the owners, is on what they can get- their take-home and perquisites, not building a sustainable institution that lasts the test, stress and stretch of time.

If 75% of your team interact with your customers or are your mouthpiece in the market, would you instead make them think like the owners? Or will you focus on less than 25%?

Time is always the great revealer of truth. In the long run, the difference will be whether an organisation treats its employees fairly or is just living with customer services and employee engagement as a slogan.

I recently visited a variety store, and I heard the announcement concerning the protection of staff and customers in the store against COVID-19. The statement mentioned the staff first.

‘In the interest of our staff and customers’, it says. This is different from what most companies will do, especially in Africa, where playing to the gallery on employees’ engagement and fair dealing is high. We will put the customers first in a similar announcement. It is not wrong to put the customers first, but there will be no customers if the internal customers are not treated as the internal kings and brand ambassadors.

My team at Mentoras Leadership have equally practised the infinite stake theory and employee capitalism with one of our clients. As part of my culture and business re-engineering assignment, we advised the client.

‘ Employees are claimed to the most critical assets, but they are treated like cost. Employees are dismissed at a slight offence and at times without a clear and mutual performance appraisal understandings

Babs Olugbemi FCCA, the Chief Vision Officer at Mentoras Leadership Limited and Founder, Positive Growth Africa. He can be reached on babs@babsolugbemi.org or 08025489396 or on Twitter @successbabs.

Politics is not a Game

I

First, stop claiming industry leadership in terms of customers and financials. Rather than using finite metrics, use infinite parameters. We developed infinite objectives for the company.

Infinite goals are those that focused on providing services that will outlive the current staff and owners. We developed trusted teams where the will of the people, their resilience toward achieving the company’s objective is more than the finite measurement of profits and the number of customers.

We encourage the treatment of staff as an essential asset. The company invested more in the professional and mental capacity of the team.

In weeks, employees developed high engagement and satisfaction level. We helped them to find ‘meaning’ in their daily routine and work. The sales volume and figures moved up.

The connection and trustworthiness index with the customers increased.

People are having a work-life balance even when spending more time in the office. This is because they see meaning in their work and love the brand they are building.

Because we focus the company on infinite objectives, things changed.

The owners and directors focused more on ‘business eternity’ and not being headline-chasing sensationalists. They stopped chasing their wealth, though they gain more wealth and fulfilment. They are more contented with stable growth and profitable finite metrics but with more infinite resources within the company on a perfect pathway to being a going concern; a company that is built to last.

And not built to be lost!

OMAGBITSE BARROW

f politics is a game, then your life is a joke. This expression about politics being a game is as baseless as it is useless, and it is one of the paradigms that need to change about the way we view politics.

Democratic politics is not just some beauty contest of egotistic and highly confident people seeking high political office. Rather, it is the “collaboration of similar-minded people to create a positive influence in society through leadership and accountability”.

It is a collaboration because it requires the wilful participation of the candidates and the electorate and involves both sides working together. It is not about manipulation, deceit or coercion. In this collaboration there will be trade-offs and negotiations in the same way that any other human system operates.

It must also be about similar-minded people - this is why Socrates doesn’t spare us from the guilt of electing incompetent, corrupt and inept leaders. We are certainly accomplices when we either elect such people or allow such people to be elected without exercising our votes against them.

You see when you vote for a politician whose party uses violence, money or ethnicity to win elections, you are confirming that these are your own values too. After all, no one puts a gun to your head to vote for anyone and thankfully we are a multi-party democracy, so you are not restricted to the “devil” or “deep blue sea”.

The goal of politics is to organize the society in a particular direction by using not only political power, but more importantly the “influence” that you have. I recently remarked, “political power cannot create positive change until people with positive influence possess political power”. So, if politics is a game played by power-seeking neverdo-wells then it can never create the positive influence needed to transform society.

Finally, according to this definition of politics, all of these are achieved through leadership which is essentially serving the needs of others and accountability - taking ownership in making sure things work and being transparent about all your activities.

If this is what politics is, then how can we then debase it so much by referring to it is a game. Unfortunately, we have reduced it to a power-game not just by the words we use but more so by our actions and deeds.

As we start to prepare for the next round of on-calendar general elections in 2023, we already see different types of candidates from across the society gearing up. Those who claim that they were not really interested, but have been called by their people, and those who are jumping from one party to the other to hedge their positions. We also have those who are re-packaging and rebranding themselves especially as champions of the youth in response to the hangover of #EndSARS and #Nottooyoungtorun, and even

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those who are champions of feminism - all in a bid to play the “game” to the gallery of the increasingly potent pool of women voters.

I have always been a proponent of a higher level of voter participation, but high numbers are not enough - this is what makes politics no better than a game of Ludo. It is not about numbers or the luck of a draw. It should be about much more.

It is more about meaningful participation and the quality of our participation. For democratic politics to take root in Nigeria and create good governance outcomes, we must get away from the “game” mentality and start taking it seriously.

We must get involved by increasing participation on the demand side (voters) and supply side (candidates), but more importantly, we must improve the quality of participation on both sides.

I see people running programs and courses to equip aspiring politicians with the skills for contesting and winning elections and some even with the skills for sponsoring legislation, crafting policy and managing the economy. While these are very useful, I do not think that these are the skills that are most deficient today.

If it is to teach people how to win elections - then you are probably teaching them the way of voter-inducement, rigging, violence, godfatherism and ethnic politics that has been the dominant approach to winning

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elections in the last 20 years. If you are schooling them in public finance, economics, diplomacy and policy making - we have always had intellectuals and technocrats and it is certainly not for a lack of these skills that we are in a mess.

We should rather focus on some of the root causes of our democratic failures and equip people with these three essential skills.

First, politeracy - the wholesome truth about politics and governance; then civication - the truth about how our society is organized, the role of Government and the rights of people, as well as our political history; and finally values reorientation that focuses on our common humanity (anti-ethnicity and anti-religious bigotry), anti-corruption and values-based leadership.

This education is required not just for those aspiring to high office, but for all Nigerians - the voting public, young children (voters and candidates of tomorrow), electoral officials and security agents who all have a role to play in what must be a new way (not game) of politics in Nigeria. #LetsGetInvolved

Omagbitse Barrow is Director of the Abujabased #LetsGetInvolved Program @GetInvolved_Naija

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Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

EDITORIAL PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Frank Aigbogun EDITOR Tayo Fagbule

DEPUTY EDITORS Lolade Akinmurele John Osadolor, Abuja NEWS EDITOR Osa Victor Obayagbona NEWS EDITOR (Online) Chuks Oluigbo MANAGING DIRECTOR Dr. Ogho Okiti EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha GM ADVERT Ijeoma Ude GM CONFERENCES Obiora Onyeaso GM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North) Bashir Ibrahim Hassan GM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu GM DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION SALES Rerhe Idonije BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri

Roads infrastructure and funding challenge in Nigeria

N

igeria has approximately 200,000 kilometres of roads. Of this number, 34,000 kilometres belong to the federal government and these are the class of roads called federal highways in the country.

The condition of these roads is so poor that only about 35 percent of the network is motorable. A trip through many of these highways, especially those in the southern part of the country, confirms to any traveller that the roads are merely highways to hell.

It is pertinent to point out that there are efforts at addressing the country’s N3 trillion out of $15 trillion global infrastructure gap. Besides budgetary allocations, there have been interventions from direct foreign investment (DFI). The infrastructure tax credit initiative is another of such interventions.

The Sukuk funding for road construction which recorded 132.25 percent over-subscription in 2019 is yet another intervention.

The second tranche of the N100 billion of the fund was meant to fund 28 road projects across the country.

This included the dualisation of the Lokoja-Abuja-Benin; AbajiLokoja; Kano-Maiduguri; OyoOgbomosho and Benin-Shagamu roads and the rehabilitation of

the Enugu-Onitsha and Enugu-Port Harcourt roads.

Despite these efforts, the roads remain death traps and highways to hell. And the reasons are not farfetched. It is no secret that the cost of either constructing or maintaining a kilometre of road in Nigeria is extremely high when compared to other African countries.

A report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) based on an earlier study by the World Bank estimates the cost of constructing a kilometre of road at between N400 million and N1 billion.

The budgetary allocation for the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in the 2020 budget, for instance, was N262 billion. In 2019 fiscal year, the ministry of Power, Works and Housing had budget allocation of N428.4 billion. This is higher than the N127 billion for Power and the N262 billion for works and housing in 2020 put together by about N39 billion.

Placing these numbers side by side with the 200,000 kilometres of roads in the country makes roads infrastructure funding in the country a huge joke, meaning that poor funding and lack of commitment to the maintenance of existing ones are reasons for the poor condition of highways in Nigeria.

To understand how poor funding and high cost of road construction impacts on roads infrastructure in

Nigeria, there is need for a comparative analysis of two highways that have similar history.

We recall that, in 2013, the Federal Government awarded contract for the reconstruction of the 127- kilometre Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at N167 billion, which was equivalent to $1 billion at the time in terms of naira exchange rate to the dollar.

In the same year, a similar contract was awarded for the 1,028-kilometre Lagos-Abidjan road project.

The Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) which awarded the contract estimated this project to cost between N167 billion and N240 billion.

The six-lane ECOWAS project is expected to connect five major cities in the region namely Lagos, Nigeria; Cotonou, Benin Republic; Lome, Togo; Accra, Ghana and Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire. In other words, the number of kilometres to be covered by that project is 8 times higher than Nigeria’s Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project; and the cost per kilometre is far lower than that of Nigeria.

At N240 billion projected maximum cost, the cost of ECOWAS road project per kilometre is N234 million while the six-lane Lagos-Ibadan Expressway contract awarded by the Federal Government at N167 billion costs N1.3 billion per kilometre. And that was eight years ago.

In our view, the message all these

scenarios send to Nigerians, particularly the N262 billion budgeted for the country’s highways that need attention to be given at N1 billion or more per kilometre, is that the highways will continue to be in poor condition.

Another message we see in all these is that no particular region in the country—Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba—is marginalized because most roads in the country, especially in the southern part of the country, are in deplorable condition.

But the situation becomes more worrisome considering that even the N262 billion budgetary allocation is not for works alone, but also housing. Added to this, the whole allocation will never be 100 percent released which explains why LagosIbadan Expressway remains a perpetual construction site.

It is noteworthy that the neglect given to roads infrastructure in Nigeria is reason the transport sector in the country is underperforming. It also explains why the contribution of the sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) has been on downward trend.

In the same vein, poor state of roads has impacted businesses negatively, resulting in low productivity of workers as immeasurable man-power is lost to traffic congestion on daily basis. It also serves as a hot-bed for the twin evils of armed robbery and kidnapping.

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Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

RESEARCH&INSIGHT A WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF BUSINESSDAY RESEARCH & INTELLIGENCE UNIT(BRIU)

13

In association with briu@businessday.ng

08098710024

Role of sectoral credit allocation in Nigeria’s exit from recession about September to year end 2020. Accordingly, the return in the nation’s capital market was about 50 percent in 2020, whereas yields on fixed income instruments were in single digit.

TELIAT SULE

M

any people are happy that Nigeria has exited the last recession, especially as the country’s economic data shows that we have gone through two recessions in the last five years, and this experience is not palatable to anyone. In a country with high unemployment and poverty rates, recession fears send cold down the spine of everyone.

In Q4 2020, Nigeria’s GDP growth rate was 0.11 percent, but the overall year on year growth for 2020 was -1.92 percent, meaning that it is not yet uhuru. The country’s exit from recession has much to do with sectoral allocation of credit. It is a known fact that capital is the lifeline of business which thrives when it receives capital in the required amount and at the appropriate time.

Against that backdrop, the total credit injection into the Nigerian economy in Q3 2020 grew by 22.3 percent to N19.86 trillion up from N16.25 trillion in Q3 2019. Basically, the Nigerian economy got N3.62 trillion injection across the different sectors in Q3 2020.

The five sectors with the highest growth in credit allocations were transport and storage; agriculture; construction; finance, insurance and capital market, and education.

Players in the nation’s transport and storage sub sector received credit facilities worth N503.95 billion in Q3 2020 in contrast to N375.41 billion in Q3 2019. On a quarterly basis, sectoral credit allocation to the transport and storage sub sector maintained an upward trend from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020. It rose by 19.5 percent in Q4 2019.

There was another increase of 9.9 percent in Q1 2020. In Q2 and Q3 2020, sectoral credit to the transport and storage sub

Source: NBS, BRIU

sector rose by 7.3 percent and 7.8 percent respectively.

The effect of an increased funding to the sector could be seen in the improved sectoral GDP performance in 2020. At the peak of the lockdown in 2020, which was basically in Q2 2020, the transport and storage sub sector recorded a negative real growth rate of 49.23 percent. Before lockdown, real GDP growth rate was 2.82 percent in the first quarter of 2020.

The partial lifting of lockdown produced a minimal effect on the sub sector which recorded a real growth rate of -42.98 percent in Q3, and -5.95 percent in Q4 2020.

Sectoral credit growth in the agriculture sub sector was 39 percent as of the reference period. On a quarter on quarter basis, growth in sectoral credit allocation to the agricultural sub sector averaged 9 percent from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020.

And in spite of the lockdown, the resilience of that sub sector ensured that every segment of the nation’s agricultural value chain, recorded a positive real growth. Overall, the nation’s agricultural sub sector ended 2020 with a 2.17 percent real GDP growth. Crop production outshined others as it grew by

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2.24 percent in 2020. Livestock’s GDP grew by 1.91 percent; forestry rose by 1.62 percent, while fishing only grew by 0.26 percent.

Construction sub sector got N940.54 billion credit in Q3 2020, representing 30.2 percent increase on a year on year basis. Just like other aforementioned sectors, quarterly trend shows steady increase in sectoral credit allocation to this sector. From N722.63 billion in Q3 2019, credit rose marginally to N723.15 billion in Q4 2019.

It further increased to N803.11 billion in Q1 2020; N859.16 billion in Q2 2020, and to N940.54 billion in Q3 2020.

The steady increase in construction sectoral credit allocation translated into better real GDP growth during the period. With a quarterly real GDP growth of 1.69 percent in Q1 2020; the construction sector recorded -31.77 percent growth rate in Q2 2020; 2.84 percent in Q3 2020 and 1.21 percent in Q4 2020, with a -7.68 overall growth rate in 2020.

The finance, insurance and capital market received sectoral credit to the tune of N1.40 trillion, amounting to an increase of 26.5 percent year on year in

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Q3 2020. Sectoral credit to this sector mirrored others with steady quarterly increase from Q3 2019 to same period in 2020.

From N1.11 trillion in Q3 2019, sectoral credit allocation rose to N1.27 trillion in Q4 2019; N1.31 trillion in Q1 2020; N1.37 trillion in Q2 2020 and N1.40 trillion in Q3 2020.

What effect did this have on the finance, insurance and capital market sub sector? It actually caused a positive development as economic activities picked up in that sub sector. Real GDP growth rate for Q1 2020 was 20.79 percent, but moderated to 18.49 percent in Q2 2020. The reason for this high growth rate even when other sectors ended the quarter with a negative real growth rate was the switch to digital platforms during the lockdown. With banking halls closed to individuals, mobile and online platforms became the preferred options.

In addition, the capital became the most attractive investment option towards the end of 2020 following the CBN’s interest rate policy on savings accounts. Listed stocks, which were experiencing bearish runs at the beginning of the year, became the toast of investors from

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Effects of the declining NonPerforming Loans (NPLs The Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) within the financial system decreased by 1.98 percent between Q1 and Q3 2020. Put differently, NPLs which stood at N1.14 trillion in March 2020 improved to N1.12 trillion in September of the same year. This is cheering news to financial institutions and creditors. The most improvement was recorded in the nation’s oil and gas sector whose players repaid N42.59 billion to bring the amount of NPL in that sector to N238.26 billion in Q3 2020 from N280.85 billion in Q1 2020.

NPLs equally declined in power and energy sub sector, where N15 billion was paid up.

This may not be unconnected with the rise in the number of metered households. Also, financial institutions recovered N10.54 billion from those involved in general commerce, to bring that sectoral NPL to N160.14 billion in Q3 2020 from N149.60 in Q1 2020. The manufacturing sub sector was another area with improved NPL. With N13.63 billion recovered, manufacturing sectoral NPL reduced to N107.09 billion in Q3 2020 from N120.72 billion in Q1 2020.

On the contrary, NPL maintained an upward trend in three sectors during the period. Between Q1 and Q3 2020, the information and communication sector recorded additional N20.28 billion non-performing loans. Further, newly accrued NPL in the transport and storage sector was N14.04 billion and in the water supply, sewage, waste management and remediation activities, NPL increased by N11.53 billion during the period.

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Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES&MARKETS How a new gas company raised $650m debt facility during COVID-19 ISAAC ANYAOGU

T

he feat would have been remarkable on any given day. But amidst the threat of a raging virus that has shuttered national economies, it was even more remarkable.

How a new company, ANOH Gas Processing Company (AGPC) secured financing during a pandemic by sufficiently derisking the project through a solid governance structure and smart strategy, provides lessons for how to acquire debt.

In November 2020, Seplat, Nigeria’s leading indigenous oil company announced that it secured financing for the construction of the $700m ANOH gas plant facility sited at Asaa, Ohaji/Egbema in Imo state.

ANOH Gas Processing Company (AGPC) is an incorporated joint venture owned 50:50 by Seplat Petroleum Development Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

This facility was obtained primarily from Nigerian commercial banks who ruined their decision to lend to the oil sector.

“This means that there’s a lot of hope for financing gas and gas-related activities,” said Mele Kyari, NNPC GMD. We distil lessons from this transaction for investors who are embarking on similar projects.

Clarify your strategy From the very beginning, the company articulated a clear funding strategy. This usually entails developing a practical, working plan that specifies how you are going to raise money and the resources that it would deploy.

But it should not be just in

your head. Seplat began communicating this plan over four years hinting the market that it would raise money through debt and equity.

“By the time they went to the lenders, they were well aware that this was coming and were prepared to meet with them This made the process smooth,” said Yetunde Taiwo, GM for new energy at Seplat during a presentation at the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA) virtual multilogues last week.

Have a great governance structure One reason for Nigeria LNG’s success is that it is an incorporated joint venture, unlike the traditional unincorporated joint ventures in the upstream oil and gas sector.

The incorporated joint venture is both the company and the business, unlike the traditional joint ventures where the companies are different from the joint venture. This model gives the company a license to fund itself. It goes out to the

financial and capital markets to raise funds for its operations, unlike the traditional joint ventures where equity contributions fund the business. It is this model that was replicated by the APGC. It is the first domestic gas IJV with a simple equal shareholding structure, which gave the lenders some comfort and made the due diligence go smoothly, Taiwo said.

Investors are wary when they have to deal with governments in developing countries like Nigeria because of regulatory uncertainty. A study conducted by KPMG some years ago found that regulatory and political risks were the most pressing concern for investors.

“Any relationship that you have with the government that is perceived to be cordial, it gives the lenders a level of comfort that the partnership is solid and there isn’t the fear of interference coming from the side of government,” Taiwo said. The Nigerian government is notorious for disrespecting

contract terms but the odds are definitely stacked against you if certain elements in government express disapproval, and loudly against a deal where the government is a partner. Having the Federal Government support, on the other hand, is euphoric.

It is possible you may not incorporate a joint venture with the NNPC, but having a good corporate governance system assures investors of the sustainability of the business.

Reduce investor risk Though APGC is partly owned by a credible company, Seplat Petroleum Development Company, listed on both the Nigerian and London stock exchanges, and the NGC, a subsidiary of a profitable national oil company, NNPC, with wild powers, yet more was required.

APGC significantly derisked the project before the lenders came on board. Being a greenfield project, the shareholders had to inject about 60 percent of the project cost as equity.

L-R: Olubunmi Oludaisi, director, operations, Avila Naturalle; Hafsat Balogun, winner of the Diamond Partner of the year 2020/ MD, Hafbam Global, and Oluwakemi Fafiyebi, business development manager, Avila Naturalle, during the prize presentation ceremony to Avila Naturalle distributors in Lagos

Branch International appoints Dayo Ademola as managing director in Nigeria IFEOMA OKEKE

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eading digital finance app, Branch International, has announced the appointment of Dayo Ademola as managing director in Nigeria, effective immediately.

Ademola brings with her over fifteen years’ experience at global, consumer-centric companies such as MainOne and Rosetta Stone (USA) as well as with foremost local brands like Union Bank amongst others.

With her experience as financial services and technology leader, she has established operational excellence in innovation, business strategy, customer segmentation, strategic marketing, product positioning, product development and business performance management.

Before joining Branch International, Ademola served as the head of innovation at EFInA, a financial sector development organization focused on promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria and funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

During her tenure, she was responsible for the administration of EFInA’s multi-milliondollar Innovation Fund, funding licenced financial services providers as well as start-up and growth-stage fintechs, to boost financial inclusion in Nigeria. Ademola earned a bachelor’s degree in International Business and Economics from Temple University, USA and a Global Executive MBA from INSEAD. As managing director for Branch International in Nigeria, she will lead the team striving to provide Nigerians great value and modern financial services.

Following the announcement of her new role, Ademola said, “I’m excited to join Branch because I love how the Branch app offers Nigerians a great deal. No other finance app offers a 20 percent investment yield (highest in Nigeria), zero-fee unlimited money transfers and instant loans with no paperwork, collateral or late fees. Branch’s all-in-one finance app can help everyday Nigerians simplify their financial life and get ahead.

I’m excited to do my all to help everyone in the country become aware that there’s a better deal when it comes to your money.”

With over 20 million active users and offices across Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and India, Branch continues to redefine digital finance as the platform with product features such as instant loans, free money transfers, bill payment and investment. In Nigeria, Branch has processed over N40 billion in over three million loan transactions in the past three years of operations and is one of the most downloaded financial apps in Africa.

The Branch app offers superior customer value by providing access to unlimited free transfers, an unbeatable 20 percent interest rate on investment and other amazing features still to come.

Lafarge earmarks $8million to environmental sustainability IHEANYI NWACHUKWU

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afarge Africa Plc, the Nigerian operations of the world’s leading Swiss building materials multinational, LafargeHolcim, recently committed a total of 5.3mCHF to change its current Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) to baghouse in its Ewekoro plant. This entails making significant adjustments including the shutting down of its kilns for at least 6 months to make this improvement.

Khaled El-Dokani, the CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc remarked, “At Lafarge Africa

Plc, sustainability is at the core of our strategy and it transcends all that we do.

Sustainability is about meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. One of our goals is to pioneer the transformation of the local building materials and construction sector in Nigeria to address important environmental issues, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and our Sustainability ambition pillars of Climate & Energy, Circular Economy, Environment and Communities. Care for the environment

and for our host communities is built into all aspects of our operations everywhere in the world.”

Th e L a f a rg e C E O e xplained that this investment underscores the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability, adding that “At Lafarge Africa, our sustainability pillars - Climate and Energy, Circular Economy, Environment and Community is the lever for which Lafarge is driving innovative solutions and impact. Our social impact is focused on the areas of the most needs: Education, Empowerment, Health and

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Safety and Shelter/Infrastructure. LAP partners with our host communities to develop and implement social interventions in these areas.

Lafarge is also increasingly using biomass, including oil palm and rice husks, as alternative fuels to power its plants.

Currently, a good number of cement plants in Nigeria are powered by coal, gas or low pour fuel oil. However, alternative fuels are considered cleaner, more sustainable, and also help surrounding communities dispose of waste more efficiently. Considering this, alternative fuels currently account for up to 40 percent of

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the fuel used to power Lafarge Africa’s Ewekoro plant and the company plans to have all plants operating on at least 35 percent alternative fuels by 2023.

At the Global level, LafargeHolcim is committed to building a world that is greener, smarter and works for all.

Impacting communities in Ewekoro More than 16,000 people have been impacted so far by social investment programmes by Lafarge Africa’s at Ewekoro. Several initiatives directed towards health and safety, education, rural elec@Businessdayng

trification, infrastructure and environmental sustainability across several communities have been executed. Some of the initiatives include a 14-bed healthcare centre and supplied medical equipment at Olujobi community, a 1.5 kilometre reinforced concrete road and drainage in Alagutan, a 4-kilometre long pipe-borne water supply installed at Elebute, a transformer base for electrification at Okeoko Sekoni and several bursary awards granted to students from the communities who are currently studying in tertiary institutions in Nigeria among others.

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COMPANIES&MARKETS Nestle Nigeria’s profit plunge to 3-year low on higher cost MERCY AYODELE

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estle Nigeria Plc, one of Nigeria’s fastmoving consumer goods firms has seen its profit slump to its lowest in three years in 2020 as higher sales cost and finance cost weakened profit.

The firm’s profit after tax plunged 14 percent to N39.2 billion in 2020 from N45.6 billion in 2019.

Revenue grew by just 1 percent to N287 billion in 2020 but the sales cost rose faster. Cost of sales rose by 7.7 percent to N167.8 billion in 2020 compared to N155.7 billion in the previous year.

This dragged gross profit down by 6.9 percent, to N119.2 billion in 2020 from N 128.1 billion a year before.

The firm could not deleverage in 2020 as borrowing cost soared 95 percent to N4.42 billion from N2.26 billion in the previous year.

...pays shareholders N35.50

Finance cost also plunged to N646.5 million compared to N1.32 billion a year before.

Although the consumer goods maker spent less on marketing and distribution as the expense dropped by 4.7 percent to N43.8 billion compared to N46 billion in 2019. However, administrative expense declined 9 percent from the previous year.

Profit before tax dropped 15 percent to N60.6 billion in 2020 from N71.1 billion in 2019. The firm’s income tax expense dropped to

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N21.4 billion, down from N25.4 billion in the year before.

Other income rose 2.3 percent to N66.9 billion in 2020 compared to N65.3 billion recorded in the same period of 2019.

Earnings per share (EPS) plunged 14.2 percent to N49.4 per share from N57.6 per share in 2019.

The directors of Nestle propose a final dividend of N35.50 in 2020 compared to 2019 when a dividend of N45 per share was proposed. The 2020 dividend

comprise of N24.50k from the profit after tax for the year ended 31 December 2020, N5.00 and N6.00 from the after tax retained earnings for the year ended 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2018 respectively.

Nestle joine d forces with the federal and state governments to help the response efforts and those in need through both financial contributions and donation of food and beverages. The firm contributed over N700 million comprising donation of food and beverages worth N450 million, and N250 million in cash.

Nestle sells foods and beverages. The Food segment includes production and sale of Maggi, Cerelac, Nutrend, Nan, Lactogen and Golden Morn while the Beverages segment includes production and sale of Milo, Chocomilo, Nido, Nescafe and Nestle Pure Life.

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Veritasi Homes opens Camberwall Court Phase 1 project JOSEPHINE OKOJIE

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eritasi homes and properties, one of Nigeria’s fastestgrowing real estate companies have recently held another Open House at one of its estates - Camberwall Court Phase 1, Abijo for viewing by potential buyers.

Also, the Open House was to showcase the quality of work done at the estate while also giving potential investors a foretaste of what they’ll be investing in.

The already sold-out estate which comprises apartments, bungalows, and semidetached buildings, has been described by attendants of the events as an exceptional development and outrightly the best value for money invested.

“This project is the right fit for smart investors in so many ways, from the property location to the quality of construction and even the price.

As you can see for yourselves, we have been very meticulous and detailed with this

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project,” said Adetola Nola, chief executive officer, Veritasi Homes during the event.

Participants who attended the two-day event also had a lot to say, particularly about the modern architecture and finishing of the model building.

Tobi Yusuff, partner and head of Communications, Veritasi Homes said that the design of homes at Camberwall Court phase 1 was intended for the modern-day family and individual, with a taste for minimalism and an appreciation for space, lighting and overall comfort.

“We carried out our due research into the audience we were building for and we are proud to say we successfully built the ideal home for them,” Yusuff said.

During the event, attendants were treated to a tour around the furnished buildings and also taken to see ongoing construction at Camberwall court phase II which is just a stone throw away, with some light refreshment and networking to the top.

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Is an MBA the right choice for you as a lawyer? ...Adedoyin Pearse, Company Secretary and General Counsel of Siemens Energy Limited, shares her thoughts

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aking significant career decisions is hardly comfortable, more so, when the decision seems unconventional. Over the course of our careers, we encounter points along the journey where we are faced with these significant decisions – whether it is leaving a job, going after a new opportunity, or even switching careers entirely.

A few years ago, after my manager (at the time) suggested during my performance review that I consider getting a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree to expand my capacity to take on more businessfocused roles and hone my leadership skills, I came to one of those points on my journey. Considering the cost and the amount of time needed to get an MBA, I knew I had to be fully convinced that making this investment was right for me. After two years of self-reflection and preparation, I took the bull by the horns. In September 2020, I enrolled for the Executive MBA at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Expectedly, my decision to get an MBA sparked questions from friends, colleagues, business partners, and some ‘new wigs’. In essence, they wondered why a person already leading a legal department would want an MBA. In this article, I share my thoughts on the relevance of an MBA for lawyers and what this investment and path could do for your career. I consider how an MBA could increase a lawyer’s skill set, boost his/her career, and help his/her personal growth.

Also, I consider the personal and financial costs involved in undertaking an MBA. However, it is noteworthy that deciding to get an MBA will ultimately depend on your unique and personal career goals.

The MBA – A Summary An MBA explores and covers the scientific approach to business decisions. It is a holistic study of business administration covering areas that include finance, statistics, accounting, management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. It is a globally respected professional degree that is offered in business schools worldwide – from the Lagos Business School in Nigeria to the Stanford and Harvard Business

INSIDE

ultimately influenced my decision to undertake an MBA. In the next section, I discuss other interesting reasons you may want to consider going for an MBA as a lawyer.

Schools in the USA, Cambridge’s Judge, Oxford’s Said, and the London Business School in the UK, INSEAD in France, and many others. Despite historically being a traditional path for finance professionals, other professionals, including engineers and lawyers, are increasingly enrolling for the MBA. Through its structured and practical approach to learning by case studies, an MBA provides an effective way to sharpen a lawyer’s business skills while proffering pragmatic solutions to real-life organizational challenges.

Why did I consider it?

After my performance appraisal and my manager’s suggestion, I realized that I needed to hone my entrepreneurial, business, quantitative, and leadership skills, particularly my understanding of the rudiments and considerations behind business decisions. (For example, why would a company decide to sell off

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one of its lucrative business units?).

Understanding the key concerns in these situations and scenarios would significantly expand my capacity to contribute to core business and strategy beyond solely providing legal perspective. Further, I believe having this knowledge, in addition to preexisting legal expertise, would equip me with the right skillsets to function effectively in any business role.

It is instructive to mention that I had previously explored the several options available to me to address these development areas before enrolling for an MBA. For instance, I gained significant experience through on-the-job training and interactions with my business partners. Also, I attended some short executive programs in some of the top global business schools. However, I realized that, while beneficial, these efforts were inadequate for me to achieve my desired level of proficiency, especially regarding my quantitative skills. This

A Lawyer with an MBA – Potential Benefits Becoming an effective business advisor In my experience, I have realized that businesses critically need lawyers who are more than legal advisors; they need business advisors. As new challenges and ways of doing business emerge, it is becoming more critical that lawyers understand their clients’ needs and address them efficiently.

So, whether you work in a law firm or as in-house counsel, clients need you to be able to speak their business language, understand their business strategies, appreciate their commercial objectives, and deliver efficient, excellent results. Sadly, however, the Nigerian legal, educational system does not presently teach the core skills needed to thrive as a lawyer in the corporate sector. This lack of preparation for the corporate world has resulted in frustration for business decisionmakers. It is not uncommon to hear anecdotes by corporate executives that lawyers unnecessarily complicate business decisions.

An MBA, through its pragmatic and case-study approach to learning, is one of those routes that could make a lawyer an effective business advisor.

The degree also improves a lawyer’s analytical skills as it teaches him/ her how to interact with data to make accurate business decisions. One also acquires quantitative skills that employers often require, especially as lawyers are not generally known to be excellent in that aspect. Further, one becomes knowledgeable enough to understand the intricacies behind business decisions.

It must be emphasized that there are other ways through which a lawyer can upskill and get the knowledge described above. One may opt for on-the-job trainings as well as specialized leadership and finance trainings/ programs. Other alternatives such as the General Management Programme (GMP) and Advanced Management Programme (AMP) exist for senior executives. Ultimately, the decision on how best to acquire these skills is a function of an individual’s unique

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career goals and circumstances.

Career Boost An MBA could help to increase the career prospects of a corporate lawyer.

In fact, in some companies, having an MBA is a prerequisite for occupying certain top management positions.

An MBA may also come in handy for a lawyer considering a mid-career change or taking a horizontal career path either within an organization or industry while leveraging your existing skills. For example, after getting an MBA, a former classmate who is a lawyer rose to become a leader in the venture capital arm of a multinational company.

There is no gainsaying that doing an MBA is a great career move, and the benefits are numerous. However, an MBA is not the only way to reach the career peak. As stated earlier, a lawyer needs to personally reflect on whether the degree is necessary for him/her based on his/her personal or career goals while also considering alternate options offered through Executive Education.

Entrepreneurial Support Often, I come across lawyers who want to set up businesses or found start-ups but lack the requisite business and entrepreneurial skills to do so – an MBA could prove useful in this regard. Additionally, many business schools also have incubators to support MBA students who want to found start-ups. For instance, the Stanford Graduate School has the Stanford Venture Studio, an entrepreneurship hub that provides mentorship, funding, and expertise for venture ideas.

Cambridge Judge Business School also has Accelerate Cambridge, an accelerator supporting start-ups from concept to seed funding stage. This funding and mentorship support often goes a long way in ensuring the Continues on page 21

Adedoyin Pearse is the Company Secretary and General Counsel of Siemens Energy Limited, an affiliate of Siemens AG, offering fully integrated world-class products, solutions, and services across the energy value chain *The opinions expressed in the article are solely mine and do not represent the views or opinions of my employer, Siemens Energy Limited

The Copyright Piracy fight is Online and not on the Streets

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The AfCFTA and Nigerian Merger Control (Part II) AYINLA OLUWASEYE

AfCFTA and Market Definition ne of the core concerns of merger controls are mergers that c re at e o r e n hance market power. Market power being the ability of a firm(s) to profitably increase price above, reduce output below or decrease quality less than the competitive level independently of competitive strictures from consumers, customers and competitors.

Section 91(2) of the Act provides that in the determining whether a merger is likely to be SPLC, the Commission will assess the strength of competition in the relevant market and the probability that the undertakings in the said market, after the merger, will behave competitively or co-operatively. Consequently, definition of the market is the necessary precursor to assessment of market power (though not always). The Act defines “market” as the relevant market for goods or services, as well as other goods or services that, as a matter of fact and commercial common sense, are substitutable for them, which is examined based on the examination of demand substitutability, supply substitutability and potential competition. According to Section 167(12) of the Act, there are three dimensions of market definition: A. Geographical market: the geographical boundaries that identify groups of sellers and buyers of goods or services within which competition is likely to restrained.

B. Product Market: the goods or services which are regarded as interchangeable or substitutable by the consumer by reason of their characteristics, prices and intended use; and C. Potential Competition: suppliers to which consumers may turn in a short term if a relevant undertaking increases price or other acts detrimental to the interest of consumer.

For the purpose of this Article the emphasis will be on geographical and product market.

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Product Market and the AfCFTA The Relevant product market is described in terms of products, and the set of products that customers consider to be close substitutes such that they are able to impose competitive constraints on the products of the competing undertakings. Product markets are typically defined in terms of demand side substitutability and supply side substitutability. For the purpose of this article, the discussion will be restricted to demand-side substitutability. Demand side substitutability refers to the ability of customers/consumers to easily divert to another product where there is an undue price increase or quality suppression in respect of the choice product. The emphasis is on substitute goods whose prices and other characteristics can serve as a disincentive for the merging firms to raise price and reduce output. To the extent that AfCFTA enables the flow of substitutable goods and services into Nigerian market, the goods and services from other African countries will be treated as part of the same product market. The Nigerian consumer is highly price sensitive and predicates purchasing decision on price.

According to Olanrewaju Onyitan the Founder & CEO of Wwww.businessday.ng

Holistic Business Solution as saying “Nigerians are not loyal to brand but loyal to products best suitable for ‘pocket’ and hence favour cheaper goods”.

Geographical Markets and AfCFTA The relevant geographical market can be defined as the geographical location within which the supplier operates and to which the purchasers of the goods can turn to for supply of the said goods. Geographic locations are deemed to form part of the same geographical market if buyers are able to turn to such location as an alternative source of supply for the products. Because geographic markets are delineated in terms of suppliers to which buyers can feasibly substitute, it does not matter that the suppliers are in different locations because geographic markets for competition law purposes is not defined in terms of politically delineated geographical boundaries but as a matter of trade practice.

Since the AfCFTA seeks to annihilate the compartmentalization of African economies and increases the homogeneity of competitive conditions for the sale and purchase of goods and services across the continent, other African countries from which consumers and customers may suitable switch for the supply

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of goods and services will be included in the definition of geographical markets by the Commission.

Level of Import Substitution When the Commission investigates whether a proposed merger will be SPLC, it conducts the “strength of competition test” which include evaluating competitive constraint that import substitution can impose on the merging parties. Actual or potential direct competition from imported goods or services can provide an important competitive constraint on domestic firms. A merger is less likely to result in SPLC where sufficient import competition (or the potential for import competition) provides an effective competitive constraint on domestic firms providing goods and services in the market. Since the AfCFTA removes tariff and non-tariff barriers to entry into the Nigerian market, the merging firms may witness highly competitive imports from neighboring African firms.

Considering that the AfCFTA allows the free movement of goods, services, persons and capital, import substitution from neighboring African nations, there will be significant competitive constraints on merging Nigerian companies.

The Nigerian agricultural industry gives strong credence @Businessdayng

to the above submission. Between 2016 and 2018, Nigeria had an export revenue of N0.53 Trillion from agricultural exports while her total agricultural import bill for the same period was in excess of N2.39 Trillion. For the stated period Nigeria’s trade balance deficit stood at N1.86 Trillion making Nigeria net food importer. As at the second quarter of 2020, Nigeria had a trade deficit of N1.8 Trillion. With each succeeding year, the situation gets more dire despite the boost and drive for local production by the Federal Government. In 2020, Nigeria’s food importation surged to a five year high in the first nine months of 2020. A total of N1.2 Trillion food products were imported into Nigeria between January and September 2020 which is a 65% rise compared to 2019 according to statistics from the NBS. For a majority of food commodities, local demand far exceeds local supply. The huge local supply-demand gap can be attributed to dearth in critical infrastructure, storage facilities, low use of mechanization and irrigation facilities, which defects frustrates the attempts by the Federal Government to push for increase in local production.

Ayinla Oluwaseye is a Partner at Duale, Ovia & Alex-Adedipe

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LegalBusiness

Regulatory Framework for Open Banking in Nigeria – Emerging opportunities for fintechs and financial institutions (Part II) DAVIDSON OTURU

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n the first part of the article, we considered open banking and the effect of Application Programming Interface (API) on banks and fintechs.

We also analysed some of the provisions of the Regulatory Framework for Open Banking in Nigeria (“the framework”).

In the concluding part of the article, we examine the categories of financial data as well as data protection and cybersecurity issues that can arise in the use of open banking and APIs. Categories of financial data Data and services that can be shared through APIs are categorised with their risk levels as follows:

mation technology, information security policies and a risk management framework that address APIs and also have a Designate a Chief Risk Officer who shall be responsible for implementing effective internal control and risk management practices.

2) Customer Rights – the agreement that onboards the client must be presented in the customer’s preferred language and his consent must be revalidated annually.

3) Liability for loss Participant and its partner shall be jointly responsible and bear liability for any loss to the customer, except where the participant can prove wilful negligence or fraudulent act against the customer.

4) Guidance on Operational Rules - Dispute

practices.

Our takeaway The CBN framework is quite comprehensive and if effectively implemented, could lead to remarkable changes in the banking sector. The key points to note from the comprehensive framework is that the CBN has sought to provide standards for the safe utilisation and exchange of data and services and has defined data access levels (i.e., what bank data can be shared and who can get it).

However, the successful implementation of open banking is dependent on collaboration between fintechs, banks and NBFIs and the CBN. Some of the changes that could be introduced by

There could be fiercer competition with larger banks competing for the market with fintechs and smaller banks. This could also see financial institutions trying to outdo themselves by deploying better technology, better customer service, higher interest rates and lower costs.

Conversely, financial institutions can use APIs to create a new experience with their customers by assisting customers in ways that were previously not possible in the market. For instance, they could help customers who are illiterates better understand financial issues around opening a bank account with voice commands in local languages or pidgin English. For the sophisticated customer, an open banking app could also assist them in determining the most affordable loan facility they can obtain from institutions, taking into consideration the state of their finances.

It will also generate additional revenue for financial institutions in the form of commission or access fees. Open banking conducted via APIs could also consolidate the position of forward¬-looking fintechs who, via data aggregation, can create detailed customer profiles and offer relevant products to clients for greater engagement.

Ease of banking Conducting banking activities with traditional financial institutions is sometimes considered stressful. However, with open banking, customers will have consolidated information about all their financial products in a centralised location.

This would reduce time spent in carrying out transactions and minimise the paperwork for onboarding new users to the institutions’ platforms.

Other relevant provisions: 1) Risk management the framework provides that this is the responsibility of all participants. They are therefore expected to have (infor-

resolution protocols among participants are to be codified for basic operational issues. Operational rules are to also discourage dominant party and anti-competition www.businessday.ng

the implementation of the framework include the following: Competition and innovation

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Cybersecurity and data protection issues There are some challenges that exist with open banking, particularly around cybersecurity, data privacy and the resulting liabilities @Businessdayng

to financial institutions. Issues around data breaches, hacking, phishing scams and malware are issues that would have to be taken into consideration when any institution is considering open banking and the use of APIs. Also, with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), which bears close resemblance to the European Union GDPR, the legal basis for processing data has to be taken into consideration before the financial records of customers are shared. Direct consent must be obtained from the customer in line with the provisions of the framework as the failure to do this could lead to dire consequences for the financial institution that shares the data.

Conclusion The introduction of the CBN framework is a good development which could potentially lead to the improvement in the delivery of financial services in Nigeria.

However, although open banking offers a number of advantages, there are also concerns over the security risks occasioned by the sharing of data. Data protection laws, such as the NDPR, must also be countenanced by service providers when they are processing the data of consumers.

It is however our view that with the engagement of cybersecurity experts, financial service providers and lawyers with experience in data protection and technology, some of the risks can be managed and open banking can thrive in Nigeria.

Davidson Oturu is Partner at the Firm AELEX is a full service Commercial & Dispute Resolution law firm with offices in Nigeria and Ghana. Contact us: www. aelex.com; @aelexpartners on LinkedIn, Twitter. Instagram and Facebook; info@aelex.com AELEX Notes is a dedicated column, managed by ǼLEX Legal Practitioners and Arbitrators, featuring legal developments and insights.

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The Copyright Piracy fight is Online and not on the Streets CHUBA AGBU

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he Nigerian Copyright Commission clamp down on street hawkers indicates misplacement of priorities in a battle that has long since migrated from the physical realm to the digital realm. To curtail copyright infringement of works, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has taken the fight to the streets.

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), in partnership with the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPD), took to the streets to stamp hawking of copyrightprotection works. Speaking during a visit to AEPB headquarters in Abuja, John O. Assein, the Director-General, NCC, expressed displeasure at vendors who sold pirated books. He called for a proactive partnership of NCC and AEBP to rid the streets of widespread peddling of pirated works such as CDs, CDs and DVDs. However, to many, this looks more frivolous than practical.

When assessing this strategy, it is important to look at the larger picture and what it actually means for the Nigerian creative industry. Targeting vendors on the street who are trying to survive in a failing economy is akin to plucking

the hairs of a lion in a bid to kill it.

In 90’s America, this type of piracy is referred to as selling bootleg goods. Usually, a shady man would camp outside predominantly more impoverished areas and sell pirated material out of his car trunk.

Today, one would be hardpressed to find any of these individuals around in the states anymore. Why? Well, that is because the battle is now occurring online.

According to a new study from the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Centre, global digital piracy costs the US film and TV industry at least an estimated $29.2 billion and as much as $71 billion annually. Internet piracy is far more damaging and can be executed on a

much larger scale than any street hawking collective could hope to achieve. The memo has long been out; the copyright infringement fight has evolved, and the focus should be averted to the web-based mediums that perpetrate this infringement.

Music enthusiasts use apps like Apple Music and Deezer, which in Nigeria can go for as little as 1000 Naira a month. A Netflix subscription goes for around 4000. These streaming platforms give users access to seemingly unlimited access to music and movies. The price of a single pirated music CD goes for about N200 and a movie DVD for around N500. For the paying customer, it makes little sense to buy physical mediums instead of subscribing to the platforms mentioned above.

This dawn of streaming platforms has phased out physical CD’s, and this is no different for pirated versions of these physical copies.

So, why deliberately attack an inconsequential ailment that history shows technology will eventually phase out? Street hawkers cater to a demographic of people who would mostly not buy the original content in the first place; the big picture effect is that targeting street hawking likely has a minuscule impact on the creative industry’s revenue inflow. The chances are that the local bus driver will not go out of his way to purchase an original Davido CD, nor does he know what a Netflix account is, let alone sign up for a monthly subscription.

The solution lies in regulation and enforcement.

Legal strategies and antipiracy investigations include the prosecution of individuals and companies that upload and download pirated content.

The civil penalty for copyright violations in the United States is $150,000 per infringement, meaning a civil suit can cost a violator millions of dollars. This steep fine is not merely to punish the violators but also meant to serve as a strong deterrent to others.

The Nigerian Copyright Act is grossly outdated, and although provisions can be loosely in-

terpreted to infer violation, it does not explicitly address the substantive aspect of digital piracy. More so, the stipulated fines in 2020 seem more like a slap on the wrist, particularly, when adjusted for inflation.

The NCC should gear its efforts and strategy around anti-piracy investigations which primarily leverage technology, to enable content owners to identify where and how content is being leaked to provide them with a precise estimation of the scale and potential risks of such an infringement. Upon determining the scale of the infringing activity, the owner can then take steps to develop strategies and defer to legal recourse.

The anti-piracy investigation’s effectiveness can be observed when the Premier League carried out one of the world’s most extensive raids.

During this investigation, 14 locations were raided, five arrests were made, and authorities were able to shut down illegal streaming businesses, which allowed access to over 800 television channels. Their efforts employed the use of IP tracking systems amongst other types of software.

The purpose of this article is not to advocate for street hawking piracy but rather to emphasize the need to prioritise the more pressing issue on the battle against copyright piracy in 2021.

Is an MBA the right choice...

Continued from page 17

success of the start-ups.

Networking Beyond the above reasons, the MBA could be a premium platform for networking opportunities. It is often said that doing an MBA is not only about what you learn but also about whom you learn with. You may be in a class with top CEOs, other start-up founders, experienced professionals from diverse backgrounds, and different countries. This enables you to experience diverse perspectives and cultures. Also important is the alumni network of these schools. The alumni network of MBA graduates constitutes an essential platform for accessing opportunities. So, if you decide to set up a business after your MBA, members of your class may turn out to be critical business contacts, your co-founders, investors, or even your first customers.

Personal Growth On a personal level, doing an MBA has been transformational. I have been exposed to a new world of experience in the past few months – a challenging yet exciting experience.

I have expanded my knowledge and broadened my professional horizon.

I have learned personal investment lessons and been exposed to different business scenarios. Broadly, an MBA takes lawyers out of their comfort zone, and grooms them to be better leaders and managers. As such, more lawyers can easily migrate to C-suite executive roles. While studying for an MBA can be challenging for a lawyer, especially as scientific and quantitative courses are part of the bargain, the experience is intellectually rewarding and satisfying.

Counting the Cost Studying for an MBA is an expensive endeavor and involves significant financial commitment. For example, the current annual tuition for a year (out of two years) of an MBA at the Lagos Business School is over three (3) million Naira. This may mean that lawyers who do not have the financial wherewithal or sponsorship cannot afford such a program. Not only is an MBA generally expensive, but an MBA in a top foreign business school is considerably more, given foreign exchange considerations. This makes one question the practical relevance www.businessday.ng

of an MBA. To bring the point home, spending such a considerable amount might prove unreasonable for a lawyer. For instance, such a lawyer may decide to start his private practice or establish a start-up. Apart from the tuition fees and other associated costs, one may have to pause active work for the MBA program duration. This depicts the level of sacrifice and financial commitment that comes with studying for an MBA. As a result, when selecting a business school, it is essential to consider the cost. Further, the returns from the investment in an MBA may depend on the pedigree of the school. Top business schools like Harvard, Oxford, and INSEAD have their alumni in top corporate positions across different industries and sectors, suggesting that attending those schools may help to land better jobs and opportunities.

In terms of post-study salary income, an MBA could provide a good return on investment as it can ensure faster career mobility and a salary boost. In Nigeria, for instance, 94% of Lagos Business School MBA graduates get job placements after graduation.

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Additionally, applying for an MBA is also time-demanding. MBAs at top schools are competitive, and they require a lot of preparation. From the application stage to the admission process, it can be a daunting and exhausting journey. One needs to set aside adequate time to research suitable schools and know their admission requirements, costs, scholarship availability, etc.

MBA or Not – Reflect, Plan, Decide Adaptability is critical to the legal profession’s future as business models, and clients’ needs are continually evolving. Thus, beyond being a tech-savvy lawyer, the future of work requires that lawyers ought to be business savvy. Besides, it is only a lifelong learner that can thrive in this constantly changing business world.

Studying for an MBA is a significant career decision. Given the costs (personal and financial) associated with it, it is a decision that should be made based on one’s long-term career goals. You should consider and evaluate other options that may be more readily available to you, including short and specialized courses, participating in corporate leadership or @Businessdayng

development programs, etc. Lawyers with significant work experience may also consider executive courses like the GMP and AMP. As MBAs are application-oriented, requiring context within the real business work, it is crucial to have some work experience before enrolling for an MBA. In conclusion, it is essential to have a good picture of one’s goals and the returns one aims to realize after completing the MBA. Therefore, if you decide that you need to expand your skillset, embark on an entrepreneurship journey, ascend to a top corporate position, or switch careers, an MBA could be the right choice for you as a lawyer.

Adedoyin Pearse is the Company Secretary and General Counsel of Siemens Energy Limited, an affiliate of Siemens AG, offering fully integrated worldclass products, solutions, and services across the energy value chain *The opinions expressed in the article are solely mine and do not represent the views or opinions of my employer, Siemens Energy Limited

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Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

BUSINESS TRAVEL

COVID-19: Global airlines to remain cash negative throughout 2021 – IATA Stories by IFEOMA OKEKE

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he International Air Transport Association (IATA) released a new analysis showing that the airline industry is expected to remain cash negative throughout 2021.

Previous analysis (November 2020) indicated that airlines would turn cash positive in the fourth quarter of 2021. At the industry level, airlines are now not expected to be cash positive until 2022.

Estimates for cash burn in 2021 have ballooned to the $75 billion to $95 billion range from a previously anticipated $48 billion. The following factors play into this estimate:

Weak Start for 2021: It is already clear that the first half of 2021 will be worse than earlier anticipated. This is because governments have tightened travel restrictions in response to new COVID-19 variants.

Forward bookings for summer (July-August) are currently 78 percent below levels in February 2019 (comparisons

to 2020 are distorted owing to COVID-19 impacts).

Optimistic Scenario: From this lower starting point for the year, an optimistic scenario would see travel restrictions gradually lifted once the vulnerable populations in developed economies have been vaccinated, but only in time to facilitate tepid de-

mand over the peak summer travel season in the northern hemisphere. In this case 2021 demand would be 38 percent of 2019 levels. Airlines would burn through $75 billion of cash over the year. But a cash burn of $7 billion in the fourth quarter would be significantly improved from an anticipated $33 billion cash burn in the

Allied Air takes delivery of Africa’s First B737-800 converted freighter

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igeria-based and West Africa’s biggest cargo airline, Allied Air, has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737-800 converted freighter. The aircraft worth about N8bn is the first for airlines in Africa. The freighter (MSN 36846) is the youngest 737-800 in the world that has been converted to-date.

The technologically advanced cargo aircraft will be deployed to COVID-19 vaccines distribution across Nigeria as one of its first missions, as it is fitted to deliver medical supplies safely.

The deal was financed through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) intervention fund but structured and delivered by the Access Bank Plc. Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation, Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor; and Hubert Wigwe, the Access Bank Group Managing Director; and Val Tongo, the Managing Director of Allied Air, along with other government officials received the aircraft greeted by a water cannon ceremony at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Speaking at the brief ceremony held on Thursday at the Abuja Airport, Val Tongo, the CEO of Allied Air, said the aircraft will be deployed to COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

He stated that the freighter (MSN 36846) is the young-

est 737-800 in the world converted to freighter to-date.

In his comments, Goodwin, the CBN Governor said, “The aircraft is funded through the intervention fund of the CBN, but through Access Bank.”

Emefiele added: “Only about three weeks ago, the Aviation Minister Commissioned another aircraft for Air Peace. What does that mean, with the hard work, the Nigerian Aviation Sector is opening up more and more and investments are coming in.”

He called on other investors to invest in the aviation sector, assuring that the CBN and the Nigerian banks are ready.to support them.

Hadi Sirika said at the event that “the aircraft will be dedicated to cargo and the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the country.

Before the vaccines arrive, the cargo shade would be ready and the aircraft is also ready for distribution.”

Just like the CBN Governor, he tasked other operators to invest in the aviation industry so it can double its contribution to the GDP to 5 percent or N450bn annually.

Musa Nuhu, the director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said the aircraft will undergo the mandatory process that will ensure the airline has acquired the proficiency to

in cash this year. And it could be as bad as $95 billion.

“More emergency relief from governments will be needed. A functioning airline industry can eventually energize the economic recovery from COVID-19. But that won’t happen if there are massive failures before the crisis ends. If governments are unable to open their borders, we will need them to open their wallets with financial relief to keep airlines viable,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO said.

With airlines now expected to burn cash throughout 2021 it is vital that governments and the industry are fully prepared to restart the moment governments agree that it is safe to re-open borders.

Ibom Air records 500,000th passenger, says numbers show airline’s validation

safely fly the aircraft.

“Right now they are going through demonstration flight where they will show the ability to handle this type of aircraft,” he said.

Herbert Wigwe, the GMD Access Bank, said: “We are extremely happy to be a part of this endeavour and these are little signals to show that we are coming out for cargo,” adding that this aircraft can carry specialised medical facilities.

By this acquisition, Allied Air has set a new standard in air cargo operation in terms of fleet upgrade in the region that is dominated by ad hoc operators and use of old aircraft for cargo operations.

L-R: Hubert Wigwe, the Access Bank group managing director; Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor; Hadi Sirika, minister of Aviation; Val Tongo, managing director of Allied Air and Musa Nuhu, director-general, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority during the reception of the newly-acquired B737-800SF in Abuja www.businessday.ng

first quarter.

Pessimistic Scenario: This scenario would see airlines burn through $95 billion over the year. There would be an improving trend from a $33 billion cash burn in the first quarter reducing to $16 billion in the fourth quarter. The driver of this scenario would be governments retaining significant travel restrictions through the peak northern summer travel season. In this case, 2021 demand would only be 33 percent of 2019 levels.

“With governments having tightening border restrictions, 2021 is shaping up to be a much tougher year than previously expected. Our bestcase scenario sees airlines burning through $75 billion

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I

bom Air has disclosed that it carried its 500,000th passenger since commencement of operations of the airline on 7 June 2019.

According to Chief Operating Officer, George Uriesi, “We are very pleased to record this key milestone of 500,000 passengers. Although we would have clocked this number around November of last year but for the three and a half months Covid-19 lockdown, still, it is an indication of steady customer uptake, and validation of our services.

“We are most thankful to our customers for believing in us and continuing to rely on our unique proposition of

schedule reliability, on-time departures, and excellent service. As we continue to grow apace, we are determined to continue to deliver on our customers’ very high expectations”. Ibom Air, which is owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government, has quickly established a reputation for on-time performance and excellent service in the market.

It is the only domestic Airline in Nigeria that publishes its schedule reliability and ontime performance statistics monthly.

The airline has consistently maintained above 90 percent performance since inception. It operates daily flights between Uyo, Lagos, Abuja, Calabar and Enugu.

Cargo agents urge management of MMA2 to beef up security around shed

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argo agents operating at the cargo shed of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos have called on the management of the terminal to enhance security in and around the shed, warning that nonrestriction of access to that part of the airport may spell doom for it.

The operators under the auspices of the Domestic Airport Cargo Agents Association (DACAA) told the executives of the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) on Monday at its office that as one of the important clients of BiCourtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of MMA2, efforts to relate on how the security of cargo could improve at the termi@Businessdayng

nal had yielded little fruit.

Monday Subair, Chairman DACAA, expressed worry that the cargo shed had become “an all-comer affair and called on the management to change its approach by working more harmoniously with the body to further monitor and if possible, regulate activities at the cargo shed.

Subair, however, noted that the terminal had screening machines for screening all cargo that came into the shed, but insisted security had gone beyond screening equipment.

He said: “The terminal operator has screening machines to screen cargo that go in there, but a lot still needs to be done to enhance security at the terminal. MMA2 management has refused to recognise us despite the volume of businesses we bring to them daily.

Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

23

Investor Helping you to build wealth & make wise decisions

NSE All Share Index

Week open (19- 02–21)

40,186.70

Week close (26 -02–21)

39,799.89

Percentage change (WoW) Percentage change (YTD)

Market capitalisation

NSE Premium Index

The NSE-Main Board

N21.026 trillion

3,438.51

N20.823trillion

3,389.88

-0.96 -1.17

NSE ASeM Index

NSE 30 Index

NSE Banking Index

NSE Insurance Index NSE Consumer Goods Index

1,733.19

729.87

212.59

1,723.27

1,612.56 1,593.45

380.13

729.87

382.76

-1.41 -2.33

-0.57 -0.15

0.00 0.00

-1.19 -2.84

NSE Oil/Gas Index

NSE Lotus II

582.30

262.85

2,804.58

1,908.19

1,393.86

202.09

563.85

265.39

2,766.68

1,898.20

1,377.91

0.69

-4.94

-3.17

-2.61

6.64

0.97

-1.66

17.33

-1.35 -2.79

NSE Ind. Goods Index

-0.52 -7.51

NSE Pension Index

-1.14 -0.77

Investing in equities: These views can guide you Stories by Iheanyi Nwachukwu

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ver N1.4trillion was lost in February as bearish sentiments dominated the Niger ian Bourse.

The loss was largely fuelled by the gradual uptick in fixed income yields which continued to attract risk-averse investors.

Following the rout in February, questions are now whether this month of March (which took off on a positive note) will bring any relief for equity investors.

After January’s rally which placed the stock market of Africa’s largest economy as the continent’s best, investors became worse off in February with a record dip of -6.16percent.

INVE STOR collated some investment houses views on the market to help guide your decisions.

Meristem “While we expect bargain hunting activities and better investor participation in anticipation of dividend announcements, we expect bearish sentiments to have the upper hand, pushing the equities market to another negative close”, according to Meristem research analysts.

Meristem’s ‘Buy’ sentiment is in favour of stocks like ETI, Fidelity, FBN Holdings, Stanbic IBTC, UBA, Zenith, AIICO, Law Union, Linkage Assurance, NEM, Wapic, Nigerian Breweries, Dangote Sugar, Flour Mills, May & Baker, Fidson, and Neimeth.

Other stocks Meristem wants investors to buy are: Chemical and Allied Products, Conoil, and MRS. Meristem also believes that the Target Prices (TP) for these stocks are above their current market prices by at least 10 percent.

GTI “Despite impressive

performance posted by some fundamentally viable companies and high dividend yields, we expect to see further mixed sentiment by investors in the equity amidst rising yield in the Fixed Income market”, according to GTI research analysts in their recent note.

They want investors to buy GTBank, Zenith, Access, UBA, FCMB, Sterling, Union Bank, FBN Holdings and Fidelity Bank.

GTI Research analysts believe that the upside potentials of these stocks over the next 12-months are significantly high when their current prices are compared to the

analysts fair values.

Hence, investors may take positions on these stocks. Also, Dangote Sugar, Flour Mills, UACN, United Capital, and Africa Prudential are in the analysts Buy list for this week.

Coronation “Despite the effect of rising market interest rate yields, there is the likelihood of investors taking positions in dividend-paying stocks as companies like Zenith Bank and MTN Nigeria release their full-year 2020 corporate earnings. However, our overall sense is that interest in the market is weak”, according to analysts at Coronation Research.

“Last week we forewarned our readers that we would make sales among our industrial stocks in order to raise our notional cash position by up to five percentage points, in the event making notional sales to bring the notional cash position up from 13.2percent to 17percent. We made notional sales in MTN Nigeria, Dangote Cement and Airtel Africa (which, frustratingly, is a very illiquid stock at the moment). We intend to continue with these tactics this week with the aim of reaching a notional cash position of 20percent,” the analysts said.

Vetiva “ Vo i d o f a n y s i g n i f i c a n t

positive event capable of lifting investors’ sentiment, the All Share Index (ASI) continued its downward slope amid persistent sell pressure. With the anticipation of some corporate earnings hitting the market in the coming week, we expect the market to trade mixed, with a bit of cherry-picking activity in some counters and continued sell pressure driven by the outflow of funds from the equities market to the Fixed Income market”, Vetiva Research analysts said.

Below are stocks Vetiva wants investors to Buy, noting that they consider them highly undervalued, “but with strong fundamentals, and where potential return in excess of or equal to 15percent is expected to be realized between the current price and the analysts’ target price (TP).”

The stocks are GTBank, UBA, Access, FBN Holdings, FCMB, Stanbic, Guinness, Unilever, Flour Mills, Dangote Sugar, Lafarge, Julius Berger, Total and Ardova.

United Capital Though United Capital Research e x p e c t s t h e s t o c k m a r k e t ’s performance to “vibe to the tune of corporates actions”, stocks like GTBank, PZ, Flour Mills, Dangote Sugar and Zenith are in their ‘Buy’ list this week.

Nestlé Nigeria’s FY’20 profit dips by 14.2% on rising finance cost …proposes final dividend of N35.5 per share …share price down 10.3% year-to-date

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estlé Nigeria Plc has announced its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020. The company reported revenue of N 287.1 billion in 2020, up by 1.1percent over 2019 low of N284.035billion.

Gross profit for the year 2020 stood at N119.2 billion, down by 7 percent when compared to N 128.1billion recorded in the preceding year.

Operating profit of N64.419billion in 2020 against N72.062billion in 2019 represents a decline of 10.6percent.

The company’s finance cost of N4.427billion in 2020 as against N2.267billion in 2019 which represents an increase of 95.3percent impacted negatively on the its profit level. Nestlé Nigeria Plc posted pre-tax profit (PBT) of N60.638billion in 2020 as against N71.124billion in 2019, which represents a decline of 14.7percent.

Profit after tax (PAT) of N39.3billion in 2020 as against N45.683billion in 2019, was down by 14.2percent.

The N1, 350 which Nestlé Nigeria shares were priced at the close of

trading session on Tuesday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) represents a decline of 10.3percent this year.

In addition to N25 per share interim dividend already paid in December 2020, the Board proposed

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final dividend of N 35.5 per share making for a total dividend of N60.5 for 2020. This proposed dividend will be submitted for approval by shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting on June 22, 2021. Qualification Date for the

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dividend is May 21, 2021 while the closure of members’ register is May 24-28, 2021 (both dates inclusive).

Wassim Elhusseini, Managing Director and CEO of Nestlé Nigeria Plc said, “Amidst a very challenging business environment in 2020, we

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strengthened market leadership across our categories. Thanks to our high performing team, we successfully continued to provide our consumers with high-quality affordable foods and beverages to enjoy every day.”

“In line with our purpose of unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone today and for generations to come, we broadened our portfolio in 2020 to help our consumers fulfill their nutrition needs. Our latest innovation is the new GOLDEN MORN MultiCereal, fortified with Iron and other vitamins and minerals.”

“Going into 2021 - which portends to be another challenging year - we will continue to focus on keeping our people safe, continued supply of high-quality nutritious foods and beverages to consumers as well as caring for our communities and the planet. We will also keep supporting our business partners as we strengthen our operations to adapt to the rapidly changing reality,” Elhusseini said.

24

Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

INTERVIEW PaywithSpecta is boosting consumer spend, fueling economic growth - Atilola In this interview, Shina Atilola, divisional head, Retail and Consumer Banking at Sterling Bank Plc, shares the bank’s inspiration for launching PaywithSpecta, an online digital credit solution. He revealed how the solution empowers consumers to make essential purchases and pay in instalments, creating sufficient demand and stimulating the economy.

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terling Bank recently launched PayWithSpecta, a consumer and merchant payment solution, what does this product entail?

COVID-19 impacted the world’s economy, and Nigeria is not an exception. The capacity of a consumer to pay for products and services has diminished.

We know the merchant wants to sell, and the consumer wants to buy. A significant challenge has been the capacity of the consumer to make purchases. We created PaywithSpecta to solve this nagging problem. It allows consumers to pay for goods in instalments, while merchants are credited instantly.

It creates new funds and disposable income for consumers, which empowers them to make essential and everyday purchases. On the part of merchants, it establishes sufficient demand for their products and services.

Consumers can now pay for products and services as opposed to just window shopping.

PaywithSpecta was designed to help merchants to increase sales and enable consumers to enjoy the good things of life without necessarily killing themselves to pay.

What inspired your bank to introduce a solution that allows customers to make purchase from merchants’ stores then pay over time?

You will agree with me that the outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown that followed affected businesses. Among the worst-hit are small businesses and households which necessarily precipitates an economic downturn. It means consumers will not spend, merchants will not sell, and manufacturers will keep goods in their warehouses and stop manufacturing new ones. This can lead to employees’ disengagement, which increases unemployment, and the economy will continue to be in recession. Daily spend by consumers drives economic growth.

We intervened with PaywithSpecta to stimulate spending and mitigate against recession.

your user credit is debited, and the merchant credited instantly.

So, the issue of carrying several cards is out of it. The issue of POS is out of it. You have eliminated the use of cash. The risk of somebody forcefully taking you to the ATM and asking you to insert your card, input your pin, withdraw the money are no longer there. You have eliminated those risks.

PaywithSpecta brings safety, convenience, speed, and ease of making purchases and payments to Nigerians.

Shina Atilola

It represents our way of igniting the economy.

What are the requirements for individuals and merchants seeking to access the payment solution?

The requirements are simple and straight forward. For merchants, just necessary information: The company name and its Registered Company (RC) number. Once we have the details, we add you to the platform, and consumers can use PaywithSpecta to make purchases from your store. Now, it can be in-store or online. In-store means they can visit your physical store, or they can purchase online. Some merchants are purely online. Consumers can visit their online store to buy and PaywithSpecta digital credit.

A consumer who wants access to the digital credit would need to provide his name and account number. We will run a check to determine the customer’s capacity before granting a valid digital credit for three months. Customers can spend, withdraw cash, or use it to buy items from the merchants that accept PaywithSpecta within www.businessday.ng

those three months.

PaywithSpecta can also be used to pay school fees or medical bills. For instance, if an individual is sick and wants to do surgery but cannot pay for it, they can use digital credit to sort the bill.

How do you determine a customer’s credit limit on PaywithSpecta?

It is quite simple. Once we have your name and account details, this will give us access to your six-month bank statement.

Then, we analyse it and see what you have the capacity for. We will then avail you that credit limit. So, it is now for you to determine how much you want to spend from the credit limit.

Is this digital credit like having a virtual credit card? What are the unique features or benefits of PaywithSpecta?

You are correct. Let me tell you some of the things that PaywithSpecta will disrupt. When you visit a store either online or in-store, you have options. You can pay with your card, or you want to PaywithSpecta. Immediately you put your Specta ID,

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What is the anticipated impact of the payment solution on the economy?

For consumers, it is making dreams come true. Consumers can now make purchases that include cars, household items, groceries, and other essentials, even when they do not have money. They can PaywithSpecta and spread payments over a period. This increases sales volume and boosts the cashflow of merchants.

Linking this to economic impact, we are in a recession, and manufacturing is down because consumers do not have purchasing power. If merchants do not sell, the downturn will linger, leading to job losses. But with PaywithSpecta, merchants will sell more, and manufacturers can increase production.

Increased production creates new jobs and new consumers with purchasing power leading to a healthier overall economy in which businesses thrive. And the economy bounces back.

Consumer finance is still very low in Nigeria compared to advanced economies, what can be done to accelerate its uptake?

This is cultural in nature. We have a poor perception of credit in this country. Most of us are trained to save to acquire whatever we want. However, if you check the wealthiest people in the world or rich nations of the world, they use credit a lot. They use credit to invest in businesses that bring about growth and development.

Sterling Bank, especially the @Businessdayng

Specta Team, is at the forefront of leading this change. It will take time, but when people see what can be achieved through consumer credit, they will join the train. We are creating awareness and educating the public about the benefits of consumer finance. For instance, we are educating Nigerians about items they can buy and pay for in instalments within three months without any interest payment.

We are letting Nigerians know that this option is available.

Consumer education is the key that will unlock our latent consumer finance potential.

Can you tell us a little bit more about Specta’s performance since its debut in 2018?

Specta has done exceptionally well, and we are proud of the product. It has done close to N100 billion in loans with less than 1.5 per cent non-performing loans. We are proud of our achievements. Mind you, we are not resting on our oars which led us to create PaywithSpecta.

PaywithSpecta is the first of its kind, and you will be shocked because we have not launched the product. We are testing the ground. We are launching fully this year. We are too pleased with the kind of numbers that PaywithSpecta is churning out and the rate at which it is going.

What measures are in place to mitigate the risks associated with consumer finance default?

As bankers, we are always managing risks. In the case of PaywithSpecta, we perform credit checks on consumers opting to use the solution. This reduces credit default risk significantly.

So, the process of onboarding, though fast and short, is as detailed as possible. And beyond our standard collection, Global Standing Instruction (GSI) is available, same for appropriate insurance. In some instances, we have some comfort from the merchants.

Credit risk arises when borrowers are unable or unwilling to pay. Most retail credit customers are willing to pay, and that has been a noticeable trend.

Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

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@Businessdayng

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26

Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The Exchanges Market Statistics as at Wednesday 03 March 2021

Top Gainers/Losers as at Wednesday 03 March 2021 LOSERS

GAINERS Company

Opening

Closing

Change

N0.6

N0.54

-0.06

NEM

N2.12

N1.91

-0.21

0.03

CHAMPION

N2.05

N1.85

-0.2

N0.84

0.04

NPFMCRFBK

N1.9

N1.72

-0.18

N2.23

0.09

LINKASSURE

N0.56

N0.51

-0.05

Opening

Closing

Change

SEPLAT

N530

N583

53

AIICO

N1.15

N1.21

0.06

CORNERST

N0.58

N0.61

UAC-PROP

N0.8 N2.14

CUTIX

Company

JAPAULGOLD

ASI (Points) DEALS (Numbers) VOLUME (Numbers) VALUE (N billion) MARKET CAP (N Trn)

39,522.06 4,714.00 244,342,845.00 4.128

D

Fund managers, NSE highlight growing interest in Mutual Funds

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here continues to be growing interest in the mutual funds asset class evidenced by the increasing number of registered mutual funds with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since 2019.

This was highlighted at The Nigerian Stock Exchange’s (NSE) digital Closing Gong Ceremony to commemorate the election of Tope Omojokun as the President, Fund Managers Association of Nigeria (FMAN) on Tuesday, March 2, 2021.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Divisional Head, Listings Business, NSE, Olumide Bolumole stated, “On behalf of the National Council and Management of the NSE, I extend our warmest congratulations to Mrs. Omojokun on her election as President, FMAN. I must also commend FMAN for its continuous collaboration in ensuring increased efficiency and investor participation in the Nigerian

mutual funds market. As at 19 February 2021, the number of registered mutual funds with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has grown from 76 in 2019 with Net Asset Value (NAV) in excess of N600bn to 102 mutual funds with NAV of over N1.43Tn; 56 of which are listed on the NSE with NAV of over N1.24Tn representing 88.3% of total NAV. This confirms the NSE as the preferred listing destination for this asset class and we will continue to strategically position ourselves to support the growth of our fund managers and our stakeholders.”

On her part, Omojokun commented, “I extend my gratitude to the NSE for this honour. FMAN was established to promote the operations of fund managers registered with the SEC and its objectives include self-regulation and supervision of its members; the enforcement of global best practices in its members’ operations, and most importantly, the education of www.businessday.ng

the public on investments.

Working with the NSE has brought about the trading of listed funds on The Exchange and are working towards the display of mutual funds prices on the ticker tape of the NSE. Furthermore, we are collaborating with the X-Academy to train our members and the public on adopting best investment practices and we look forward to other avenues to work together for the development of the capital market.”

Last year, The Exchange admitted two mutual funds; (N500 million) ARM Fixed Income Fund and ($1,000,000) ARM Eurobond Fund on its memorandum listing platform. The Exchange has also achieved all round increased efficiency in terms of competitive pricing structures, improved turnaround time and enhanced customer experience. As such, market participants continue to look forward to more listings in the coming months.

S&P 500 INDEX 3,867.25USD -3.04-0.08%

Deutsche Boerse AG German Stock Index DAX 14,068.99EUR +29.19+0.21%

Generic 1st ‘DM’ Future 31,494.00USD +136.00+0.43%

Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3,576.91CNY +68.31+1.95%

C

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Wednesday, thereby pushing this month’s decline further (-0.70percent).

Japaul Gold decreased most on the Bourse, moving from 60kobo to 54kobo, shedding 6kobo or 10percent. It was followed by NEM Insurance which decreased from N2.12 to N1.91, after losing 21kobo or 9.91percent.

Champion Breweries also made the top laggards league, moving from N2.05 to N1.85, down by

Nikkei 225 29,559.10JPY +150.93+0.51%

FCMB introduces paperless, cardless transactions at branches, ATMs and POS Terminals

...Investors lose N91billion

(YtD) has increased to -1.86percent. SEPLAT led the league of 16 gainers as against 29 losers topped by Japaul Gold.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation decreased further by 0.44 percent, from 39,697.62 points and N20.769trillion respectively to 39,522.06 points and N20.678trillion.

The value of listed stocks decreased by N91billion on

FTSE 100 Index 6,661.52GBP +47.77+0.72%

20.678

Sell pressure pushes Nigeria’s equities market further south espite significant increase in share price of SEPLAT (+10percent) and 15 others that gained, Nigeria’s equities market still failed to close positive at the end of Wednesday’s trading session due to sell pressure on major bellwether stocks.

Except Oil & Gas index (+5.02percent), all other sectoral performance indices closed in the red –namely NSE Consumer Goods (-0.45percent), NSE Industrial Goods (-0.41percent), NSE Insurance (-0.86percent) and NSE Pension (-0.16percent).

The stock market’s negative return year-to-date

Global market indicators

20kobo or 9.76percent.

NPF Microfinance Bank declined from N1.9 to N1.72, shedding 18kobo or 9.47percent. Likewise, Linkage Assurance also decreased from 56kobo to 51kobo, down by 5kobo or 8.93percent.

Amid the negative market breadth, as well as the unimpressive sectoral performances, market watchers expect the record bearish trend to filter into Thursday’s session.

ustomers of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) can now seamlessly carry out an array of transactions with just their fingerprints and Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs). This followed the introduction of paperless transactions within the Bank’s over 200 branches in Nigeria.

With this innovation, customers no longer require deposit slips, withdrawal booklets, or cheque books to carry out over-the-counter transactions.

In addition, FCMB customers now have the opportunity to enjoy cardless banking experience by just using their fingerprints to withdraw and deposit cash at 575 select biometric Automated Teller Machine (ATM) points of the Bank spread across the country and via biometric Point of Sales (PoS) terminals available within the Bank’s branches.

Beyond this, the 575 biometric ATMs of FCMB can be used by customers for intra and interbank transfers as well as change of PIN and data update.

The simple, convenient and secure cardless services are available for use when customers do not wish to go out with their debit cards or these are inaccessible due to loss or damage.

In a statement, FCMB explained that to withdraw cash with fingerprint via its biometric ATMs, customers are required to visit any of the 575 select ATMs, and initiate the cardless menu.

This is followed by selecting the fingerprint withdrawal option, then precisely indicating the 10-digit NUBAN account number. The customer should then place his or her right thumb on the fingerprint scanner for 7 seconds, press “proceed”, input the amount to withdraw then take the cash.

Africa Prudential proposes N1bn gross dividend despite muted earnings

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frica Prudential Plc has released its audited financial statements and independent auditor’s report for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Summary of the performance of the company during the review year shows gross earnings decreased by 10.18percent to N3.508billion from a high of N3.906billion in 2019.

The company’s full year results at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) show operating expenses of N1.566billion in 2020 declined by 8.42 percent from N1.710billion reported in 2019.

Profit before income tax expense (PBT) of N1.980billion in 2020 came down by 17.12percent from N2.389billion reported in 2019; while profit after tax (PAT) of N1.446billion in 2020 represents a dip by 13.98percent from N1.681billion in

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2019 financial year.

The Board of Directors of Africa Prudential Plc recommended the payment of a gross dividend of N1billion (N1.4billion in 2019) that is 50 kobo per share payable to shareholders on the Company’s Register of Members as at March 5, 2021. The dividend is subject to the deduction of appropriate withholding tax.

The Register of Shareholders will be closed from March 16, 2021 to March 20, 2021. Qualification date is March 15, 2021. In terms of significant shareholding (5percent and above), the company’s register shows that International Equity Capital Limited is the largest shareholder in Africa Prudential Plc with 519,000,000 units of share.

The N5.80kobo the share price closed on Tuesday March 2 repre@Businessdayng

sents a decline of 7.2percent year-to-date (YtD).

On March 26, 2021 the dividends will be paid electronically to shareholders whose names appear on the Register of Members as at March 15, 2020 and who have completed the e-dividend registration and mandated the Registrar to pay their dividends directly into their Bank accounts.

Africa Prudential Plc primarily carries on the business of registrar and investor relation service.

As part of its business diversification strategy, it has expanded its business activities to provision of digital solutions for businesses.

Its flagship digital solutions product known as EasyCoop is a unique software, which is aimed at aiding the administration of Cooperative Societies in Nigeria and other digital business solutions.

Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

news

Commentary

Nigeria sinking under weight of petrol subsidy as FG fails to act Titi Omobude

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costly failure which has hobbled Nigeria over the last three decades is repeating itself in a spectacular way.

Every day in Africa’s most populous nation, an incredible N1.8 billion is lost to a profligate policy called petrol subsidy or so-called under recovery - that is, the difference between real and fixed price of petrol.

This price difference is not provided in the budget of the Federal Government, but the cost is borne all the same. And not many in the country expect the government in power to summon the will to wean the people off this expensive indulgence.

As of March 1, 2021, the world’s average retail price of gasoline was $1.11 or N427.35 but pump price across Nigeria is artificially maintained at N165 a litre. The huge arbitrage opportunity is behind the never seen before volumes being smuggled across the border to neighbouring West African countries.

Nigeria is the continent’s largest economy and a nation of 200 million people, 40 percent of whom are trapped in poverty. And even higher percentage do not have health insurance cover and mortality is high across the various demographics.

Why the government continues with this policy which benefits the elite in the main, baffles economists and business leaders.

The more you ask questions, the less you seem closer to the root of this rot.

Less than a year ago, the government announced to the world that the pricing of petrol had been deregulated and that it would no longer bear the suffocating cost of subsidising petrol. A long overdue admission that it was a weight it was

sinking under.

A few days ago, the same government recanted its words, and the country is paying a hefty price for this ambivalence.

Apart from the rising oil price, baffled industry players also point to a curious rise in the volume of petrol which the government, the sole importer, is supplying.

In 2018, the total volume of petrol, or PMS as it is called, supplied to the market averaged 53.5 million litres daily.

This figure rose to 56.39 million in 2019 and stubbornly held at 55.73 million litres daily in 2020 when the country was under a lockdown and most of its land borders shut.

Data available to BusinessDay suggest that the average supply actually rose astronomically to 64 million litres a day in November last year and it could have been as high as 67 million a day in January 2021.

It is perhaps the case now that NNPC, the national oil company, unable to maintain such a huge volume might now be deliberately reducing daily supply to the market.

And as such, volumes may be at a managed supply level of 55m litres daily.

Public finances in Nigeria rank among the most desperate in OPEC, hammered by a health pandemic and the economic lockdown that it occasioned.

Handcuffed by labour and over pampered parliamentarians, the Nigerian government is threading the failed path of its predecessors by keeping petrol prices at levels not seen even among more endowed OPEC cartel members.

Several government officials including leaders of NNPC agree that the subsidy regime is unsustainable, and a number of state governors are fuming over the revenue loss that comes with petrol subsidy.

Ebola: Reps ask FG to scale up surveillance of entry points James Kwen, Abuja

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he House of Representatives has mandated the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health to enhance surveillance at points of entry into Nigeria to ensure quick respond to any suspected outbreak of Ebola coming from any African countries, especially Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo where the disease has been reported.

The Reps also mandated the government through the federal ministry of information to create awareness on the deadly virus.

They urged the health ministry to work with the West Africa Health Organisation and World Health Organisation on strategies to bring the Ebola outbreak under

T

he Royal Academy of Engineering, an engineering charity focused on harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy, is showcasing its impact on enhancing collaboration, education, and diversity in engineering in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report is delivered through its Africa grants programmes ahead of the second UNESCO World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development on March 4, 2021.

The achievements of the Africa grants programmes include: training over 2000

professionals by professional engineering institutions across sub-Saharan Africa and over 530 student industry placements since 2013. Number of students obtaining industry internships increased from 40 percent to 90 percent over the course of one project in Zambia.

Others are diversity and inclusion initiatives have driven equal gender participation in programmes. A project from the Institute of Engineers Rwanda helped to increase the number of female internship applicants from 5 percent in 2018 to 25 percent in 2019; 50 individual course curricula reviewed and improved as a result of industry-academia partnerships; and almost 50 UK organisations and 400 inwww.businessday.ng

control and provide regular updates on preparedness, containment and response measures and mandated the committee on health to ensure compliance.

These resolutions were sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Unyime Idem (PDP, Akwa Ibom) at plenary on Wednesday.

Moving the motion, Idem informed that the Ebola virus was reported and confirmed by the World Health Organisation on March 25, 2014 in West African countries as a small part of the epidemic which originated in Guinea and represents the first outbreak of the disease globally, and suspected cases were soon reported in the neighbouring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The lawmaker said, “The index case in Nigeria was a Liberian-American, Patrick

Sawyer, who flew from Liberia to Nigeria’s most populous city of Lagos on July 20, 2014.

He was reported to be violently ill upon arriving at the airport and died five days later. In response, the Nigerian government observed all of Sawyer’s contacts for signs of infection and increased surveillance at all entry points to the country.

“On October 9, 2014, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) acknowledged Nigeria’s positive role in controlling the effort to contain the Ebola outbreak and praised the staff of the Ebola Emergency Centre who coordinated the management of cases, containment of outbreaks and treatment protocols in Nigeria.

“The WHO declared the feat ‘a piece of world-class epidemiological detective work and spectacular success

story” and Nigeria was officially declared Ebola-free on October 20, 2014 after no new active cases were reported in the follow-up contacts.

“Unfortunately, on February 7, 2021, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had again announced a resurface of a new case of the Ebola virus, months after the outbreak was declared over in the region. In the same vein, on Sunday, February 14, 2021, Guinea’s ministry of health also declared an Ebola outbreak, following the mysterious death of three persons.

“It is on record that in the last one year, we have experienced two waves of infections and recorded a lot of fatalities.

Today, Nigeria health institutions have been stretched beyond their capacity in the past one year and cannot afford to witness another outbreak of the dreaded virus.”

Seyi Makinde (r), governor, Oyo State, and AbdulRahman AbdulRasak, governor, Kwara State, during a peace/security meeting between the two states, in Ibadan.

Royal Engineering Academy showcases development in Africa Daniel Obi

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country bodies involved as project partners so far.

In celebration of World Engineering Day, the Academy is also releasing a series of videos highlighting how engineers play a critical role in meeting the UN sustainable development goals.

The Academy is helping to develop innovative solutions to a range of impending and accelerating challenges.

Working with local higher education and engineering organisations, it is helping to grow engineering capacity and support sustainable development across 23 countries in sub-Saharan Africa through two key programmes: Higher Education Partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa (HEP SSA) and GCRF Africa Catalyst.

#FixPolitics charges partners on nation building Iniobong Iwok

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biageli Ezekwesili and other members of the #FixPolitics’ Work Study Group have urged the first set of cohorts in the unconventional school of politics, policy and governance to be ready to imbibe the spirit of servantleaders and statesmanship.

The students, on Monday, started the journey for a seven-month course that would revolutionise their thinking and propel their minds for nation building. The course is part of the group’s agenda to fix politics in Nigeria and Africa.

Welcoming the pioneer participants during the virtual

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matriculation ceremony, Alero Ayida-Otobo, the CEO of the Group, described the event as the rising of nation builders.

Ayida-Otobo noted that through the programme, students would be given the necessary tools to understand the political landscape, economy, resource management, among others.

“Today is the first day of a journey for many of you, a journey that is going to take you to unusual places. Some are going to be painful and others exciting. But I want you to keep the end in mind,” she said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Ezekwesili, who founded #FixPolitics, emphasised the significance of the Group, calling the attention of the students to the @Businessdayng

understanding of leadership as service for the common good.

“To that extent, we must say to you that you are on a journey for self-discovery. You are in a journey where you are to be the one to evaluate your readiness as well as negotiate your values because the greatest tragedy of the African leadership failure is willingness to negotiate values.

According to her, “If after being with us, there is nothing that proves you are different from the leadership that brought us from the lowest rock of development, then we will not have done anything meaningful. My joy is that even before you started, we felt the air of what you exude: the readiness to go for it,” she said.

28 BUSINESS DAY

Thursday 04 March 2021

NEWS

Digitalisation gives edge to new African gas producers STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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ew African gas producers are seen having an edge over older ones with legacy analogue assets, as systematic application of digital technologies to gas fields development, offers chances of high returns, increased productivity and cost savings.

Digitalisation is also associated with improved performance that follows investments in big data, the ‘Internet of Things’, artificial intelligence and other digital technologies.

Mature producers run into obstacles with regard to digital adoption. This is because digital technologies must be integrated with legacy systems, as well as with the oil and gas personnel who operate them. Such markets are often characterised by narrow exposure and high resistance to change.

As a result, digitalisation represents a unique opportunity for emerging producers like Mozambique, which discovered major offshore gas reserves in 2010 and took the $20 billion final investment decision on its Area 1 Mozambique LNG development as

recently as 2019.

“Inefficient processes cost money. A recent study shows 20 – 30 percent of value is lost to inefficiency by oil companies. Workflow processes are not transparent, unrepeatable, inconsistent and analogue,” said Sophia Weaver, manager, Production Technology & WRFM at FIRST E&P, an indigenous Nigerian oil company, at the Operational Excellence Webinar. “Upstream E&P companies can save $73 billion annually through process digitalisation.”

Yet according to Deloitte’s digital maturity index published last May, upstream oil and gas trails significantly behind other industries when it comes to the pace and degree of digital adoption.

Resistance to digitalisation in the upstream energy space can be ascribed to several factors, some of which apply to hydrocarbon producers regardless of the maturity of their assets or the sophistication of their sector.

For example, the oil and gas industry imposes strict health and safety regulations to protect employees against high-risk environments, such as offshore oil platforms and, as a result, companies cannot be laissez-faire about

implementing automated or robotic technologies without ensuring that the new technologies sufficiently address safety precautions.

The sector is also dependent upon an extended global supply chain, in which labour forces vary in skill, capacity, size and cost. Compounding these factors is frequent market volatility, making digital transformations difficult to roll out in tune with everfluctuating oil prices.

Grace Goodrich, field editor at Africa Oil & Power argued in an opinion piece circulated by the African Press Organisation that for Mozambique with the relative infancy of the sector – as the country prepares for first gas by 2023 – building technology into the DNA of its sector as it evolves in real-time would be more profitable than upgrading technologies and systems retroactively.

Oil and gas operations rely on highly technical, physical processes, in which digital transformations must apply themselves to complex, capital-intensive assets, such as offshore platforms, LNG terminals or pipelines.

For its part, Mozambique has been at the forefront of spearheading large-scale gas developments that are the

first of their kind both in the country and on the continent, including the Coral South floating LNG terminal, the first newly-built deep-water floating liquefaction plant globally.

Mozambique has also leveraged German technological innovation with Siemens Energy’s supply of four centrifugal compressors and six SGT-800 industrial gas turbines to provide onsite power generation at the Mozambique LNG facility.

In short, Mozambique has proven a worthy recipient of foreign expertise and remains in the need of additional technology and knowledge transfer to apply to its range of world-class gas infrastructure projects.

As companies across sectors have had to adopt digital tools for remote work, COVID-19 has accelerated the need for digital rollouts, positioning technology as a means of coping with transformational changes facing nearly every industry. Within the oil and gas sector, specifically, digitalisation and optimisation of oilfield assets have emerged as principal cost-cutting mechanisms, as energy companies continue to face threats to efficiency, sustainability and profitability.

NPA begins new licensing regime for barge operators AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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etermined to ensure efficient movement of barges within the Lagos coastline, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said it has perfected arrangement to embark on new licensing regime for operators of barges in Lagos State.

Hadiza Bala Usman, managing director of the NPA, who disclosed this during a recent meeting with newsmen, said there have been some elements of challenges in terms of the regulation of barge operators, which needs to be addressed with the new licensing regime.

Barge operation has become an integral part of intermodal transportation, which is required in order to ensure seamless cargo evacuation from the port.

This is why the use of barges to evacuate cargo from the port has become one of the sustainable ways of reducing the burden on Nigerian roads.

According to her, the NPA has instituted an eregime for validating the license of the operators, which would have strict requirements in terms of effectiveness by the barge operators.

“The NPA Marine and Operations Directorate is going to embark on new licensing for 2021, which

would be centered on ensuring that those barges are functioning above the challenges that we have around the movement of the barges within the coastline,” Usman said.

She further disclosed that the new move will also ensure that the Harbour Master takes control of the activities of the barge operators.

“We also recognise that these operators have some of their equipment in some of the locations where they operate from, but there is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that has been already developed. We are going to share it with our sister agencies to facilitate the necessary comments from those agencies, which can be incorporated in order to have a Standard Operating Procedure that would guide barge operation in Nigerian ports,” she said.

Recall that in September 2020, the NPA in conjunction with Lagos State, ordered the stoppage of all barge operations along the Marina coastline, which according to them, have desecrated the beauty and peace of Marina coastline.

At that time, the Nigerian Ports Authority threatened to revoke the license of barges operating in Lagos due to the long queue of trucks and containers that have constituted health and security hazards on the Marina area.

Group to reward 100 football fans weekly Nkechinyere Oginyi

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Hope Uzodimma (2nd l), governor, Imo State; Akpan Bassey-Akpan (l), chairman, Senate committee on gas resources; Ifeanyi Uba (2nd r), Senator representing Anambra South, and Barimada Mpigi (r), Senator representing Rivers South East, during the visit of the Senate and House of Reps committee on petroleum industry bill to the governor in Owerri, yesterday.

NAN

Reps to probe 5.2m barrels crude allocation to DSDP scheme James Kwen, Abuja

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he House of Representatives on Wednesday resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the allocation of 5.2 million barrels of crude oil under the Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme from 2018 till date.

The committee is also to investigate crude oil allocation per refinery and the rationale for such allocation as well as what happens to un-utilised

stock of crude oil in the case of a refinery with inadequate production capacity.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored

by Abubakar Yalleman (APC, Jigawa) at plenary.

Presenting the motion, Yalleman recalled the contents of a report published in This Day Newspaper on February 14, 2021 which brought to national attention the unfortunate details of how Nigeria’s crude oil is being stolen or diverted daily. www.businessday.ng

He said the report showed that approximately 5.2 million barrels of crude oil supposedly allocated to comatose Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refineries in 2018 under Direct Sales Direct Purchase (DSDP) operations are unaccounted for.

“Essentially, almost half of the 10.9 million barrels of crude oil allocated for domestic supply between June 2018 and July 2019 as reported by the NNPC is either stolen or diverted,” Yalleman said.

“The average price for Ni-

gerian crude oil in 2018 was $65 which means that the unaccounted volume may have denied the country $339 million at a time of acute revenue deficit.

“Deeply worried by this report and would like to know: the status of the 5.2 million barrels allocated for domestic supply in 2018 till date; crude oil allocation per refineries and the rationale for such allocation. In a case of inadequate production capacity, what happens to un-utilized stock of crude oil?

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s part of its youth empowerment initiative, a group, Bravura Solutions, has commenced, a self-funded, online trivia soccer quiz, called “PayMe”.

The programme is designed to empower over 110 Nigerian football fans every week across the country and 443 per month.

According to Levi Nwaokenneyah, CEO of Bravura Solution Limited, said the soccer quiz was based on the pool leverage ratio.

He explained it was an intellectual quiz contest that selects winners based on their knowledge capacity and the swiftness of providing the correct answers within a stipulated time.

He said the payment was designed strictly for the interest of every person resident in Nigeria and subsequently in approved countries of the World.

He said that “winners are placed under three categories. Ten persons will win @Businessdayng

a hundred thousand naira each week; hundred persons will win ten thousand naira each week, while the three most valuable players will be rewarded with one million naira each month. In total, the platform will empower 443 participants every month.”

To qualify, Nwaokennaya said interested participants have to create an account with PayMe where they are expected to fill in their details.

It is expected that a quizzer purchases a token at the rate of N200.00 to play.

“Players register, purchase tokens, test the waters using a demo quiz before the actual quiz session, results are displayed at the end of the player’s session, and winners are announced on the last day of the week (Sunday),” he said.

Botex Nwaokenneyah, a director, and Benjamin Mbaocha, general manager, Bravura Solutions, noted that interested quizzers can walk into any cyber cafe around them to get registered if they don’t have a phone with internet access.

Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

Government Enterprise & Empowerment Program

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Brought to you by

How the Nigerian government is cushioning the effects of COVID-19 on MSMEs

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he negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has been overwhelming. According to research, over 90% of business owners agreed that they were adversely affected. Their cash flow, sales, revenue and salaries/ wages took the biggest hit.

While a number of medium and small scale business owners are struggling to keep their heads above water, the resultant effect for the others is devastating. With fast depleted fund reserves, most businesses are forced to close.

Employees are laid off, and business owners, disgruntled. Over 82.8 percent of businesses are likely to lay off one to five employees.

MSMEs play a pivotal role in Nigeria’s economic development. They are responsible for over 84 percent of job creation in the country. Therefore, a continuous decline in their sales and profit may trigger a major unemployment crisis in the country.

In order to mitigate such occurrence, the Federal Government introduced the MSME Survival Fund. It is a N75 billion conditional grant to support micro and small enterprises and safeguard jobs in the MSMEs sector. Launched in September, 2020, the Fund is a part of ₦2.3 Trillion stimulus package, known as the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP).

The MSME Sur vival Fund Scheme has the following categories: • Payroll Support: assist vulnerable MSMEs in meeting payroll obligations of between ₦30,000 - ₦50,000 per employee over 3 months.

Employees of a Nigerian MSME

Nwodo and some staff of Andertek Global Roofing Ventures in Lagos State

Mallam Usman and some staff of Ami Maihatsi Enterprises in Kano State

• A r t i s a n s / Tr a n s p o r t Workers Support: provide artisans and transport business operators with

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₦30,000.

• Guaranteed Off-take Scheme: Bulk purchase of products from MSMEs to

protect jobs and livelihood.

• General Grant: Support the survival of 100,000 MSMEs most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Formalization Support: Provide free CAC Business Name registration for 250,000 new businesses.

The program actively promotes gender inclusion - with 45% of the fund going to women-owned businesses.

Since the start of the program till date, the MSME Survival Fund has achieved the following results: • Provided Payroll Support of between ₦30,000 – ₦50,000 for 3 months to 320,678 employees from 64,395 companies across 36 states and the FCT. • Given one-time grant of ₦30,000 to 96,157 artisans and transport workers in 36 states and the FCT. • Provided free business registration with CAC for 140,531 businesses across the country.

S e v e r a l b e n e f i c i a ries across the country are thankful to the government for providing this timely intervention.

Mrs Nwodo Uche, the CEO of Andertek Global Roofing Ventures in Lagos State had this to say: “When one of our staff received her first payment from the Payroll Support, she was so elated because we had not been able to pay salaries for some months. It was really a welcome relief for us as a business and for our employees. The payments our staff received for three months seriously helped to cushion the effects of the pandemic. Our gratitude goes to the Federal Government for remembering small businesses in these trying times.”

Mallam Usman Ibrahim who is into fruit pro-

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Victoria & some staff of Goodnews School in Gombe

Ofui Blessing – Artisan Support beneficiary in Delta State

duction in Kano State shared his experience: “I heard about the Survival Fund from one of my friends. I had to ask one of my staff to help us apply online and upload all our documents. I had ten employees before but I had to downsize to five, due to the effects of COVID-19.

When we received our first payment in November, all my staff were so happy. We continued to receive the payments in December and January. It has helped us so much. Sales has now picked up this year and we can now afford to pay our staff again. I am grateful to the government for helping us, just at the time we needed it.”

Mrs Victoria Jashi, the head of Goodnews School

@Businessdayng

in Gombe State was effusive in her praise for the government’s timely intervention: “We really thank the Federal Government for their help. Schools were not open for a long time and it affected our ability to pay salaries.

The Payroll Support allowed us to register 10 employees which is the maximum per organization, although we had a staff strength of 52 employees. Every month that we received the payroll support, we brought all the funds together and shared it among all the staff. We just wanted everyone to partake of the benefits.”

Ofui Blessing, a makeup artist in Delta State received the artisan grant of ₦30,000. She said “This money helped me to settle some debts I incurred during the lockdown because there was no business. Once we were able to move again, I used the remainder of the money to purchase some of my make-up materials and I have started doing my make-up again. I am so grateful for the timely help the government gave us.”

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Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

news COMMENTARY

Kidnapping: Zamfara governor should name the sponsors now Obinna Nwachukwu

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overnor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, stirred the hornet’s nest when he alleged that the abduction of 279 students from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State, was politically motivated.

According to Matawalle, the people behind the kidnapping offered money to the bandits to sabotage the negotiation between the state government and the kidnappers for the release of the girls.

The students were abducted by bandits at the school on Friday, February 26, 2021.

“While the state was in negotiation with (the) abductors for the release of the schoolgirls, other persons offered money to the armed bandits to keep the girls in captivity,” the governor said.

He stated this while addressingthefreedJangebeschoolgirls at the Government House in Gusau, the state capital.

The governor said he had relayed the information to the police and relevant security agencies to investigate the matter, pledging to expose those behind the act.

This is the second time in one week the governor would make such statement, and based on the fact that he is a sitting governor and the chief security officer of the state, the statement must be taken with all seriousness it deserves. For no reason should it be swept under the carpet.

From the statement, it is obvious the governor has vital information many Nigerians do not have and it is advisable he discloses to Nigerians the sponsors of this dastardly act.

The time of keeping quiet or treating criminality as ‘business as usual’ should be over.

The governor should please speak out. He should call a spade by its proper name. He must tell Nigerians those behind the killings, destructions and kidnappings across Nigeria. Nigeria needs to get to the root of this madness.

Unfortunately, kidnapping has become such a lucrative business in Nigeria that people now serve as middlemen in negotiating between the government/victims’ relations and the bandits. Human lives no longer matter but ransom taking.

For instance, on Monday, March 1, 2021, controversial Islamic scholar, Ahmad Gumi described the kidnapping of school children as lesser evil

compared to the ransacking of towns and killing of its residents.

He made the remark while featuring on BBC Pidgin. Given the mediatory roles Gumi is playing in the kidnapping saga in Nigeria he should also volunteer information on the sponsors and perpetrators of the crime. He should equally tell Nigerians how much he has received so far as commission from the voyages and his relationship with the bandits he defends.

Sadly, shootings, bombings, kidnappings, arson, car and suicide bombings are ubiquitous and have heightened the spate of insecurity in the nation. For us to make progress as a nation, the spate of wanton killings must be stopped. No nation can make meaningful progress under such a situation.

Apart from igniting fear; insecurity has become the common word on the lips of every Nigerian and a discussion topic where two or three persons gather. The presence of several illegal armed groups, ethnic militia groups, religious fundamentalists and fanatics does not augur well for us as a nation.

Obviously, these happenings are negatively affecting Nigeria economically, politically, religiously and culturally. Even the international community is losing confidence in the ability of Nigeria to contain the situation.

But if I may ask. What does it profit an adult to kidnap young innocent school children, especially those in boarding school? It started seven years ago in Chibok community in Borno State on April 14, 2014, when Boko Haram terrorists abducted hundreds of school girls from their dormitories at a time the students were writing their final year examination.

Then followed the abduction on February 18, 2018 of another 110 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Dapchi town of Yobe State. On December 11, 2020, suspected gunmen attacked Government Boys Science Secondary School in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State and took away over 300 students.

Incidentally, President Buhari was in his Daura home town of Katsina State at the time.

On February 13, 2021, another set of bandits abducted 27 students and 15 others at Government Science School, Kagara in Niger State. The last and most recent was the

Continues on page 31 www.businessday.ng

Nigerians paid more to travel by air in January … Anambra, Cross River, Jigawa, Lagos, Bauchi top list Iheanyi Nwachukwu

A

ir travel in Nigeria was costlier in January 2021 than the preceding month of December, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) ‘transport fare watch.’

Average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey increased by 0.02 percent month-on-month (MoM) and by 18.27 percent year-on-year (YoY) to N36,463.65 in January 2021 from N36,454.59 in December 2020.

States with highest airfare were Anambra (N38,600), Cross River/Jigawa/Lagos

(N38,500), Bauchi (N38,400), while states with lowest airfare were Akwa Ibom (N32,450), Sokoto (N33,700), and Gombe (N35,000).

As the aviation industry experiences influx of new airlines and prospective operators, the cost of flying within Nigeria are beginning to reduce and this trend is expected to turnaround when NBS releases February data.

For instance, Anambra State, one of the states said to have recorded the highest airfare in January is a sister state to Enugu State where United Nigeria Airlines, a new entrant into the aviation industry, is headquartered.

Last month, after securing an Air Operating Certificate

(AOC), United Nigeria Airlines began commercial operations.

The carrier, which is based at Enugu Akanu Ibiam International (ENU) Airport, has a fleet of four Embraer ERJ145 aircraft flying domestic network comprising five routes.

Also, both NG Eagle and Green Africa, which are at the final stage of getting their AOCs will help push down airfare across Nigerian states.

The NBS ‘transport fare watch’ report also covers bus journey within the city per drop constant route; bus journey intercity, state route, charge per person; airfare charge for specified routes single journey; journey by motorcycle (Okada) per drop, and waterway passenger transport.

Average fare paid by commuters for bus journey within the city decreased by -0.66 percent month-on-month and increased by 74.75 percent year-on-year to N352.15 in January 2021 from N354.49 in December 2020. States with highest bus journey fare within city were Zamfara (N600), Bauchi (N522.75) and Ekiti (N458.77), while states with lowest bus journey fare within city were Oyo (N189.46), Abia (N205.22), and Borno (N240.79).

Average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity decreased by -0.25 percent month-on-month and increased by 39.55 percent year-on-year to N2,346.41 in January 2021 from N2,352.19 in December 2020.

L-R: Doyin Salami, chairman, Nigeria’s Economic Advisory Council; Ben Akabueze, director-general, Budget Office, Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Bismarck Rewane, MD/CEO, Financial Derivatives Limited, at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)/ Bankers Committee’s Initiative for Economic Growth, A oneday special summit on the economy by bank CEOs in Lagos.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

Nigerian team builds first-of-its-kind technology for Microsoft FRANK ELEANYA

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icrosoft Mesh, a new mixedreality platform powered by Azure - that allows people in different physical locations to join and share holographic experiences on many kinds of devices, was launched on Tuesday by Microsoft.

The team of engineers behind the technology mostly worked from Lagos, Nigeria’s most populated commercial city.

Mixed-reality technology allows real and virtual elements to interact with one another and the user to interact with virtual elements like they would in the real world.

The new technology essentially changes the experience people would have in a virtual meeting where they can only participate with their voices.

With the Microsoft Mesh launched, participants would not only speak to one another, but they also get to be in the same virtual room and interact

with virtual objects like in real life. In that sense, Mesh is more than an app for holding virtual meetings. It is an all-encompassing platform built on top of Azure that Microsoft is hoping developers will tap into.

“Today, the world finally gets to hear about Microsoft Mesh. Our incredible engineering team here in Lagos has been working tirelessly towards this day for a very long time. So proud of what we have accomplished,” Hoop Somuah, engineer manager, Microsoft Mesh, tweeted on Tuesday.

Somuah, who joined Microsoft as a software engineer in June 2003, became the software engineering manager in January 2019. He also heads the mixed-reality team in Nigeria. Microsoft maintains engineering teams in Nigeria and Kenya.

Mesh is likely the future of the Microsoft Team - the company’s virtual meeting app.

Microsoft is hoping architects, engineers and designers will all see the promise of Mesh, particularly during a pandemic

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when it is difficult to work with 3D physical models without all being in the same room.

“This has been the dream for mixed reality, the idea from the very beginning,” said Microsoft technical fellow, Alex Kipman. “You can actually feel like you are in the same place with someone sharing content or you can teleport from different mixed-reality devices and be present with people even when you are not physically together.”

The new platform is the result of years of Microsoft research and development in areas ranging from hand and eye-tracking and HoloLens development to creating persistent holograms and artificial intelligence models that can create expressive avatars.

Microsoft originally demonstrated HoloLens using a collaborative Skype call where a technician could guide you on how to fix some wiring. It felt like the promise of augmented reality, and Microsoft Mesh seems like the natural next step. @Businessdayng

Microsoft Mesh will also enable geographically distributed teams to have more collaborative meetings, conduct virtual design sessions, assist others, learn together and host virtual social meetups. People will initially be able to express themselves as avatars in these shared virtual experiences and overtime use holoportation (a new type of 3D capture technology that allows high-quality 3D models of people to be reconstructed, compressed, and transmitted anywhere in the world in realtime) to project themselves as their most lifelike, photorealistic selves, the company said.

Experts say the Microsoft Mesh is likely to face its biggest challenge with the high cost of HoloLens devices and virtual reality (VR) headsets.

Users however can still use the Microsoft Mesh using a 2D screen like a phone or personal computer (PC), but the experience will not be as immersive as using a headset. The price of one HoloLens goes for about $4,950 (N1.88m).

Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

31

news

Why T-bill rates at 12-month high is...

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tors, according to investment analysts.

After hitting a four-year low of near-zero percent in 2020, yields on the Federal

Government risk-free treasury bills climbed to a 12-month high in February. Fixed-income investors demanded higher rates for T-bills weeks after the apex bank shocked the market with a 10.10-percent stop rate for the 362-day OMO bill, the highest level seen in almost a year.

Following the increase in Tbills rates, which is expected to maintain an upward trajectory, the bonds and mutual funds market is projected to see a boom as rates are expected to rise and favour investors.

“The hike in OMO rates some weeks ago has increased investors’ demand for higher yields. Investors bid at higher rates, hence the government had to raise the stop rates to raise sufficient funds for its obligations,” Ayodeji Ebo, senior economist/head, Research and Strategy, Greenwich Merchant Bank, said.

As a result, Ebo said he expected “this will also lead to further increase in rates in the bonds market.”

According to Ebo, it is positive for fund managers because “we expect a return on mutual funds to improve in the coming months.”

The recent rise in the yield on government instrument is cheering news for domestic investors who for almost two years had a return that was negative in real terms amid a high inflation rate.

While interest rates have always been high in Nigeria due to the monetary system in vogue since 2009, which sought to use FGN bonds/T-bills and OMO bills as means of attracting US dollar to stabilise the naira, the recent OMO policy by the central bank, which prevents domestic investors from participating in the auction, has sent yields to its worst record.

From October 23, 2019, the apex bank banned nonbank locals (individuals and corporates) from participation in its Open Market Operations (OMO) at both the primary and secondary market. The CBN‘s policy is largely in line with its drive to divert liquidity away from risk-free instruments to the real sector.

From a yield record low level of 4.048 percent in November 2020, Nigerian 10-year Government Bond climbed to 10.62 percent in March 2021. After touching its lowest record since 2016 in the fourth quarter of last year, rates on T-bills climbed to 12-month high of 5.5 percent for the 364day bill, as compiled from Nigerian treasury bills primary market auction results for February 24, 2021.

While the increase in the yields on the government is positive for investors, it is negative for the equities

market as analysts fear that investors may be forced to further redirect their funds to less volatile government instrument.

“This may send a negative signal to the stock markets as investor interest may wane,” a Lagos-based market analyst said.

A survey from the performance of the Lagos Bourse shows that the increase in the yield of the less volatile government instruments has already taken a toll on the equities market.

After January’s rally, which placed the stock market of Africa’s largest economy as the continent’s best, investors became worse off in February with a record dip of -6.16 percent.

The survey shows further that of the 20 trading days in February, the market lost 16, gaining only four as investors overlooked impressive full-year numbers of listed companies as well as the positive news of Nigeria’s exit from its worst recession since the 80s, in the fourth quarter of 2020.

In monetary terms, investors in Nigeria’s stock market who were caught in the web of huge capital loss shed a cumulative estimate of N1.36 trillion.

February, which opened with a total value of Nigeria’s listed equities at N22.186 trillion and the market’s benchmark performance indicator (All Share Index) at 42,412.66 points, closed at N20.823 trillion and 39,799.89 points, respectively.

While the yields uptick in the fixed income instrument contributed to the record bearish outing witnessed in the equities market in February, analysts expect the trend to continue in the near term.

L-R: Muhammad Mahmood, minister of environment; Abubakar Malami, minister of justice, and Sadiya Umar-Farouk, minister of humaniterian services, disaster management and social development, during a virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday.

NAN

Demand in Morocco seals $1.4bn deal...

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monia and Di-ammonium

Phosphate will be produced.

The new deal comes under NSIA Gas Industrialisation Strategy and will drive implementation of the Multipurpose Industrial Platform project - a backward integration initiative, which builds on the successes of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) and other sovereign bilateral initiatives between Nigeria and Morocco.

The first phase of the project will produce 1.5 million tons per annum of ammonia in two phases.

Up to 70 percent of the ammonia produced will be allocated for export to Morocco and the balance will be routed to the production of 1 million tons per annum of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and NPK fertilizers to feed domestic demand.

Kidnapping: Zamfara governor should...

Continued from page 30

abduction of 317 female students on February 26, 2021, by bandits at Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State, in an early morning raid on their school.

Many of the Chibok and Dapchi students are yet to be rescued and reunited with their families several years after they were kidnapped.

Suffice it to say that these kidnappings as well as destruction of farmlands and other heinous crimes all over the country paint a picture of a deteriorating security situation in the country and a growing assertiveness of bandit groups.

That the gunmen were able to move hundreds of boys and girls through the roads without challenge shows security in the areas is inadequate. Successful negotiation resulting in the release of kidnap victims is one thing that is fuelling the spate of kidnappings across the country, making it a lucrative business www.businessday.ng

with huge returns.

Many armed groups operate in the forests therefore reaching an agreement of good conduct with one of them does not guarantee that others would not embark on a similar venture in the future, especially when certain concessions are made.

Nigerians should learn to hold those in government accountable. The Federal Government should be disgusted with what is currently happening. It is ironic that while government is willing to part with millions of naira to placate the criminals, Nigerian soldiers have lost morale, defending the nation with no proper care, facilities and equipment.

Therefore, exposing the sponsors of kidnappings would not only bring the heinous acts to an end but would equally enable Nigerians and indeed the international community to name and shame these unpatriotic elements in society.

TheMultipurposeIndustrial Platform (MIP) project is structuredtocommercialiseNigeria’s vast natural gas resources and satisfy Morocco’s demand for cost-competitive ammonia.

The project is also seen as a huge boost to Nigeria’s quest to become self-sufficient in fertilizer as well as in food production.

The MoUs were signed at the Mohamed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Benguerir, Morocco.

The NSIA, managers of Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, and Morocco’s OCP Group, one of the world’s largest producer of phosphatebased fertilizer, had been in talks since June 2018 when the parties signed a protocol agreement to build the plant.

Parties in the deal also include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria Limited (GACN), and Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN).

Authorities have assured that project construction will commence no later than third quarter 2021, while the plant is expected to commence operations 2025.

Land availability and accessibility; gas adequacy; sufficiency of marine draft, and other environmental and social considerations informed the decision to site the plant in Akwa Ibom.

NSIA said at completion, the integrated ammonia and fertilizer plant will house – within its battery limits – the process plants for ammonia and fertilizer production, administrative buildings, fertilizer bagging units, water purification units, storage for raw materials and finished goods, onsite power plant and other ancillary facilities.

The plant is also structured to have a dedicated jetty to facilitate seamless importation of raw materials from Morocco and other suppliers, and export of excess ammonia and fertilizer to Morocco and potentially other regional markets.

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The agreements on the second phase of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) give effect to the presidential directive, which has restructured the PFI programme.

With the revised structure, NSIA’s role under the PFI moves upstream thereby limiting its involvement to bulk importation of raw materials on behalf of the fertilizer blenders, with bank guarantees provided by the blenders.

Thefivedifferentagreements signed include: MoU between the NSIA, OCP Africa and the Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) to commit to the second phase of the Nigerian PFI. The NSIA also signed a Shareholders Agreement (SHA) with the OCP Africa for the creation of the Joint Venture Company (JVC), which will oversee the development of an industrial platform that will produce ammonia and fertilizers in Nigeria.

The third MoU is between NSIA, OCP Africa and the Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria on land acquisition, administrative facilitation, and common agricultural development projects in the state.

The fourth MoU between NSIA, OCP Africa, and the NNPC, is to evaluate the opportunity of an equity investment by the NNPC in the JVC and for its support on gas.

The fifth is a Framework Agreement between NSIA, OCP Africa, Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), the NNPC and the Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria (GACN) on gas supply for the MPI. According to Uche Orji, managing director, NSIA, the project forms a key part of NSIA’s gas industrialisation strategy and will deep intracontinental trade which is essential to Africa’s development and economic renaissance.

“This landmark project, the MIP, will explore increased levels of synergy between NSIA and OCP and the partners to the transactions and ultimately ensure that Nigeria builds an industrial base that is sustainable and complimentary to mutual objectives of developing the agriculture sector in Nigeria. @Businessdayng

“The changes to the PFI significantly reduce NSIA involvement and transfer the responsibilities to the blenders.”

Authorities have expressed firm commitment to the project with optimism that this approach will make the programme more sustainable, strengthen the productive capacity of the blending plants and eliminate financial risk to the NSIA. Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum and head of the Nigerian delegation, said, “President Buhari is quite committed to actualisation of this project and has mandated the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and all its agencies, notably the NNPC, DPR, NCDMB and all other government agencies to give maximum support.”

Chairman/CEO of OCP, Terrab said, “Ultimately, these agreements will strengthen the partnership between the NSIA and OCP Group and the different institutions in the gas industry in Nigeria.”

According to Terrab, the agreements will translate to knowledge transfer and broader economic opportunities as we build out the industrial platform, saying, “The platform will leverage the best of Nigerian and Moroccan natural resources, namely the Nigerian gas and the Moroccan phosphate and create a new basis for stronger ties.”

Mele Kyari, GMD, NNPC, assured that the NNPC and all its subsidiaries were committed to the project, noting of NNPC’s plan to take equity stakes in the joint venture company and would ensure sufficient gas was available for the project to succeed.

Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State also assured the parties that his state was committed to ensuring the PMI project was a resounding success, stating, “Our state is receptive to investments and we are prepared to offer the necessary support to make the project a reality.

“With a site that is suitably located to enable operational logistics and an abundance of gas resources, all that is left is for the parties to accelerate the project development process.”

Insight

BUSINESS DAY Thursday 04 March 2021 www.businessday.ng

How NEXIM is powering Nigeria’s quest to grow non-oil exports John-Mark Ikyaave

O

ver the past three years, the Nigeria Export-Import (NEXIM) Management Team has implemented a suite of reform initiatives, which have helped to reposition it as a well-managed non-oil export development finance institution. It has also been able to create impact as a key driver of the Buhari administration’s plan to boost Nigeria’s non-oil exports. The Bank provided concessionary financing for the revamp of several moribund local manufacturing firms, supported a broad range of firms to expand their production capacities while also leading regional initiatives that would promote increased regional and global trade amongst several others.

The result has been a decent uptick in non-oil export earnings for the country, the creation of thousands of skilled and unskilled jobs as factories expand operations and new openings for work hands emerge. Thanks to the renewed vigour at NEXIM, Nigeria is now experiencing a growing build-up of financially capable, competitive non-oil export firms that would help maximize Nigeria’s participation in the regional and global market. The business-driven leadership of the Abubakar Bello-led Management of the NEXIM bank has led to a remarkable turnaround of the bank.

The good news from NEXIM provides reasonable cause for optimism about the future of Nigeria’s foreign earnings. Set against the backdrop of declining global oil prices, which accounts for over 90% of foreign earnings, a reformed and stronger NEXIM Bank that is powering the emergence of financially capable non-oil export firms is crucial to help Nigeria hedge against the ominous effects of low global oil prices. Although, there has been a recent rally in oil prices to about $64 as economies have opened, movement and travel has increased after the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is a settled fact that the golden era of high oil prices over $100 is finally over. The shale boom in the United States and the Paris climate accords, have changed the outlook for the future of oil and gas. With the prospect that major economies like the US, China and Europe will ramp up implementation of green energy policies that would actively try to shift their economies away from oil at a time when the costs for producing oil from shale is declining through technological innovation, it is becoming clearer that oil under the ground, as is the case with Nigeria, might someday be less valuable than oil produced and sold in the coming years.

The stark reality calls for deep and sustained action. Nigeria now has a small window of time left to re-engineer the lopsided structure of its foreign earnings mix. The urgent need to move at blistering pace towards a rapid economic diversification by building local manufacturing capacity and bolstering non-oil exports is more reason why the positive

Abubakar Bello, MD/CEO, NEXIM

developments at NEXIM, the leading non-oil development Bank, is so significant today.

Historic increase in the financing of non-oil export firms Consider the Bank’s recent performance statistics. The NEXIM Management has used a targeted approach to significantly improve access to concessionary financing for non-oil export firms. In the past three years, NEXIM Bank processed a record total of 227 financing applications valued at N173billion for a range of non-oil export businesses. The amount includes a naira component totalling N159.27billion and a dollar-financing portion in the sum of US$37.67million, equivalent of N14.3billion.

So far, the Bank has successfully disbursed over N68billion to 68 of the 227 beneficiary businesses, while over N30billion is currently under processing for another batch. The financing was structured under the bank’s Export Development Fund (EDF) window that is specifically designed to support export-oriented enterprises in the non-oil exports value-chain cutting across different segments from manufacturing, agriculture, solid minerals to services.

Impact: Revamp of manufacturing plants, trade facilitation, job creation etc The historic increase in NEXIM Bank’s financing interventions has handed many non-oil export businesses a much-needed financial lifeline to grow and thrive. Beneficiary operators are deploying the funds to resuscitate moribund manufacturing plants, while others are scaling up production levels to enable them produce more. These expansions have led to the creation of thousands of decent - skilled and unskilled paying jobs for Nigeria’s teeming unemployed population.

Equally notable is the fact that a greater number of local businesses are engaging in high profile regional

and global transactions on the back of the Bank’s financial boost. And, as a result recording higher foreign receipt that have positively impacted the volume of Nigeria’s export earnings in recent time.

Specifically, records show that over the past three years, Nigeria has received about $182.31million and €203,018.42, the equivalent of N70.40billion, as export proceeds from some of the NEXIM funded projects that have repatriated their income. More of such receipts are expected from other projects that are yet to complete their transaction circles.

Another positive indicator of NEXIM Bank’s impact is that many of the export businesses, which the Bank supports now feature prominently on the list of Top 100 exporters published annually by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The number of companies on the CBN Top 100 have grown from 2 in 2017 to 18 today.

The broad and longer-term implication of this trend is that NEXIM is, in effect, powering the emergence of a cross-sectoral and financially resilient network of non-oil export businesses that would collectively lead the charge towards the rapid growth of the country’s non-oil exports.

A result-oriented strategy for enhanced value exports A sense of focus and professionalism by the Management has been key to NEXIM Bank’s string of successes within the past three years.

Immediately after the Abba Bello-led Management Team assumed office in May 2017, they set to work and crafted a Strategic Action Plan that laid out a clear but ambitious roadmap for the bank. The plan outlined the Bank’s corporate priorities, performance targets and operational course of action for the period 2018 to 2020. The Bank’s operations have been guided by a strict adherence to the Bank’s innovative philosophy of Produce, Add Value and Export (PAVE) that is

designed to reverse the worrisome trend where primary products (such as cashew nuts, processed leather, cocoa, tobacco, cotton, etc.) dominated Nigeria’s export basket.

As a result, NEXIM has within the past three years expanded its operations beyond powering non-oil start-up business projects to cover the rehabilitation of important industrial manufacturing firms, whose operations were shut down due to inadequate working capital. This includes the provision of working capital and business advisory services. Companies that have benefitted from NEXIM Bank’s revitalization financing support cut across important sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and solid minerals.

NEXIM has also designed and implemented programs targeting key non-oil export commodities as part of an overarching strategy to maximize the scale and depth of Nigeria’s participation in the global non-oil exports market. A good example is the Shea Butter. Several operators that are into the production and export of Shea butter in Lagos, Ogun & Niger States have received varying levels of financial and advisory support that has led to a significant boost to their production and export levels.

Expanding Nigeria’s export basket to maximize global trade opportunities In fact, as a direct result of NEXIM’s intervention and support for the acquisition of Shea Processing Plants, Nigeria recorded its first major export of Shea butter in March 2018. Prior to NEXIM’s intervention, Nigeria had no significant footprint in the export of shea products due to low processing capacity and high incidents of smuggling/informal trade. This is despite Nigeria’s ranking as the world’s largest producer of shea, with annual production of 364,000 metric tons, accounting for 45% of global output.

NEXIM’s support strategy is helping this trend.

NEXIM has also recorded decent impact in its efforts to help players in the Hides & Skin industry to maximize the benefits of the global leather industry that projected to reach a market value of $306billion by 2027. The Bank formed a strong development partnership with the Kano leather cluster in Kano and deployed concessionary financing totalling about N2bn and approvals totalling N2.4bn currently undergoing disbursement processes to enable them to scale their operations. Over the past three years, NEXIM funded three (3) companies and assisted them to acquire new machines and retool their operations towards becoming major players in the global value chain. About N3.6billion has also been approved and undergoing disbursement processes for similar projects in Abia State.

Other high impact non-oil commodities and services that NEXIM has supported include the cocoa industry, solid minerals, services sector, and the pharmaceutical industry.

Besides being a major advocate

of value-added exports, the Bank also supported the export of raw materials, particularly where the local industries could not fully absorb production or where production capacity can be expanded. Hence the Bank has also provided working capital to support many companies engaged in cleaning and export of various agricultural commodities and other products. Such commodities include hibiscus flower, dried ginger, sesame seeds, gum Arabic and charcoal, which were exported to various parts of the world.

Driving Intra-Africa Trade Initiatives NEXIM also pioneered several initiatives that would help Nigeria to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that is designed to move exporters up the value chain, promote intra-African trade, create jobs, and enhance export revenues.

Noteworthy is the Sealink Project that is designed to foster regional trade connectivity and facilitate inland waterways operations to support hinterland trade and bulk commodities exports, especially of solid minerals. Last year, NEXIM facilitated the signing of a tripartite memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NEXIM, Sealink and NIWA (Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority) towards the operation of the project. The Bank is working closely with the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Nigerian Navy and other private sector partners to ensure commencement of operations within Q2, 2021.

The second Intra-Africa Trade initiative is the Inter-State Road Transit Scheme. This aims to facilitate the transportation of goods by road across Customs territories free of duties, taxes, and restrictions while in transit in line with ECOWAS protocol. NEXIM has undertaken to act as the National Guarantor under the scheme through the issue of insurance bond to mitigate the risk of diversion. NEXIM has also promoted Factoring services to foster financial inclusion and provide alternative trade financing support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Improved relationship with multilateral institutions The Bank has also improved relationship with multilateral institutions and funding partners, leading to payment of due obligations and attraction of new lines of credit.

Currently, NEXIM is collaborating with the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim bank) to implement the Nigerian-African Trade and Investment Promotion Programme (NATIPP), under which US$1bn has been earmarked to support Nigeria’s trade and investment activities under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. NEXIM is also finalizing plans to on-lend at least US$25million from Afreximbank under the Pandemic Trade Mitigation Facility to assist Nigerian Exporters to weather through the challenging period of the Covid 19 disruptions.

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Advert Hotline: 08033225506. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08164361208 Editor: Tayo Fagbule. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

BUSINESSDAY’s

NIGERIA STOCKWATCH

Thursday 04 March 2021

EQUITIES TO END 2021 UPBEAT In spite of capital reversal to fixed income instruments threat, current bearish trend

• Shortage of alternative assets drove equity growth in 2020, TB down 444 bps YTD while equity delivered double digit return • Risk of capital reversal into fix income instruments real • All share index down 3.27% year to Feb 25 • Slide fuelled by investors watching on the sideline, slow pace of vaccine distribution • Oil price 40% rise YTD build confidence of improved forex earning, further economic recovery • 15.3 x PER ( compared with other frontier markets) presents entry opportunities for investors GODFREY OBIOMA

T

he equities market will end positive in 2021 in spite of belief that fixed income instruments like OMO, Treasury Bill and bonds are likely to present new leg of opportunities in the New Year.

Sentiment towards fixed income instruments is buoyed by perception that the CBN may soon resume tight monetary policy, leading to rise in interest rate and spike in yields from Omo, TBs and Bonds.

Rise in liquidity, shortage of alternative assets and fund managers’ search for real return on investment in the face of galloping inflation were parts of the reasons for the 2020 equity market double digit rally. This continued in January 2021 with investors believing that the slowdown in fixed income instruments will last for a long time. But the bullish run was halted early February. By February 25, the All share index had lost 3.27 percent while market capitalization declined by 3.25 percent. The downtrend was driven by growing information that the CBN may resort to tight monetary policy to reduce pressure on the foreign exchange market; moderate inflation and attract floating funds in the global market. Also adding to the bear market is the attitude of investors who are waiting on the sideline for market correction, and slow pace of Covid-19 vaccine distribution.

But fund managers say the equities market remain attractive but may not deliver returns as high as it did in 2020. Abiodun Keripe, managing director, Afirnvest Research believes the Nigerian equities are underpriced at 15.3 x price earnings

• Expectation of good corporate earnings and dividend payment remain investors attraction to equities • 10% market cap to GDP signals potential for equities growth • Stocks in resilient sectors like Telecom, Banking, Argic to drive market • Strategic portfolio mix of equities, fix income assets advised • Equities to end 2021 with 12% return • Covid -19, oil price, CBN policy thrust (flexible or tight monetary ); lack of co-ordination between monetary and fiscal policies present risk factors. ratio compared with its peers in the BRIC nations.

Expectation for impressive corporate earnings and positive outlook for dividend payment from companies in the resilient sectors of the economy also present the equities as attractive assets.

Unlike in matured and some emerging markets, ratio of market capitalization to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is still low in Nigeria at 10 percent. But keripe says this shows that the market has great potential for growth.

The uptick in the price of crude reflects increased economic activities and oil demand from China and other developed nations. Usoro Essien, Head, Renn Stockbrokers said if the trend continues, it will build more confidence in the Nigerian economy, grow foreign exchange from oil and the nation’s external reserves, a development he believes will have positive spillover effect on the stock market, Investment Advice As the threat of capital reversal grows, fund managers said the harvest for returns this year will be for discerning investors who are research focused.

Abiodun Keripe advises investors to opt for diversified portofolio that will include both equities, treasury bills and other government instruments in their asset selection. Keripe canvasses for stocks in the telecom, banking, and agriculture sectors that deliver returns above inflation.

Continues on page 03

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Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

NIGERIA STOCKWATCH EQUITIES TO END 2021 UPBEAT

Continued from page 1

Last year the stock market delivered handsome returns to investors. For example, Zenith Bank rewarded investors with 106.66 percent returns through capital appreciation. Stanbic paid 12.12 percent capital gain. Investors earned 42.05 percent capital appreciation while Airtel Africa returned over 184 percent capital gain to investors. Okomu oil paid investors 65.30 percent return

through price appreciation. And Asset Managers said the market will still be on the uptrend but will require real strategic investing.

STOCK PICKS One of the stocks to watch in 2021 H2 is Seplat Oil. Essien Usoro believes the company will benefit from the current oil price recovery and its investment in gas production and be able to deliver impressive earnings.

FORECAST The expectation is that Nigeria will continue on the growth path, having exited the economic recession. The optimism is based on the rise in price of oil in the international market and discovery of Covid-19 vaccines. Essien is optimistic that the year- on- year improvement in oil and non oil GDP will berth at overall GDP at 2.1 percent in 2021 The impact of COVID 19 disruption in service sector in 2020

was massive with double digit decline in trade, hospitality, transportation, entertainment and Essien fears that this would continue in 2021.

RISK FACTORS In spite of the discovery of vaccine for Covid 19, the pandemic, especially the new variant remains a source of worry to investors. The challenge of distributing the vaccine, suspicion and reluctance to take the vaccine in some countries

Fixed income market report

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n February 25,2021, the Interbank call rate rose 610bps to close at 7.60% with the fixed income market traded positive..

Yields across the bonds space closed lower while we observed limited activity in the NTB and OMO segments of the market. Bond yields dipped 9bps on average, due to interest across a broad range of tenors. Particularly, yield on the 12.50% FGN-JAN-2026 bond fell 144bps to 8.16% while yield on the 14.80% FGN-APR-2049 bond eased 38bps to settle at 11.07%. However, yields in the NTB rose 1bp on average, but closed flat in the OMO space.

A week before, the overnight (OVN) increased by 15.75ppts w/w, to 20.5%. According to Cordross Research, the rate was depressed at the beginning and middle of the week, following inflows from OMO maturities (NGN207.84 billion) and FX retail refunds into the system.

However, provisioning for CRR by banks, and FGN bond (NGN80.55 billion), OMO (NGN180.00 billion) and FX auction debits at the twilight of the week pressured system liquidity and drove the rate northwards, the company said..

The Treasury bills secondary market closed bullish, as the average yield across all instruments declined by 28bps to 4.1%. As in prior weeks, activities in the OMO secondary market primarily drove proceedings in the broader market, as local banks reinvested excess liquidity from OMO maturities – especially at the long (-17bps) end of the curve. Thus, the average yield in the space contracted by 32bps to 6.4%. At this week’s OMO

auction, the CBN maintained stop rates across the three tenors, selling NGN180.00 billion worth of bills to market participants. Trading in the NTB secondary market was relatively muted (average yield increased slightly by 2bps to 1.5%) as weak sentiments persisted.

Secondary end of the Treasury bonds market remained bearish due to weak demand following earlier bond auction; and investors” continued pricing in of the higher rates at the T-bills market.

The market reacted to another inflation uptick (January 2021 CPI: 16.47%). Cordross Research reported that across the benchmark curve, the average yields at the short (+19bps), mid (+31bps), and long (+38bps) segments sustained their expansions, as investors sold off the JAN-2026 (+121bps), FEB-2028 (+45bps) and JUL-2045 (+130bps) bonds, respectively. At the primary auction, the DMO offered instruments worth NGN150.00 billion to investors through re-openings of the 16.2884% FGN MAR 2027 (Stop rate: 10.25%), 12.50% MAR 2035 (Stop rate: 11.25%) and 9.80% FGN JUL 2045 (Stop rate: 11.8%).

We note that demand was weaker (subscription: NGN189.51 billion; bid-to-offer: 1.3x) compared to January (Subscription: NGN238.27 billion; Bid-to-offer: 1.6x). Due to investors’ demand for higher yields, the DMO allotted only NGN80.55 billion and opted to issue an additional NGN122.00 billion via noncompetitive allotment, bringing the total sale NGN202.55 billion. Stop rates rose by an average of 254bps compared to the previous auction.

For Enquiries, Contact GOBI Communications Ltd / Tel: 08023116461

including Nigeria is a challenge which governments and their agents must address.

The concern that CBN may relax its flexible monetary policy and resume tight option is creating uncertainty in the market.

Notwithstanding, the consensus is that the equities market will still deliver good returns to investors in 2021. But asset managers said investors have to reshuffle their portfolio to include treasury bills and other government securities.

Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

03

NIGERIA STOCKWATCH

STOCK BRIEFS

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OKOMU oil impresses in 2020 Q4 koomu opened trading in 2021 at N91.00 per share on January 4 and by February 15, 2021, it appreciated 2.19 percent.

Between January 4 and January 29, it gained 12.08 percent.

The upward trend is a spillover from the Okomu’s 65.30 percent capital gain from January to December 2020.

The January 2021 price rally was triggered by the companies 2020 Q4 impressive result; it recorded growth in revenue from N18.86 billion in 2019 Q4 to N23.43 billion. Profit after tax grew from N5.04 billion to N7.38 billion.

However, following February 2021 price correction, Okomu lost 5.98 percent from January 29 and February 15, 2021.

UAC back on profit zone For the 2020 Q4, UAC ‘s revenue increased from N179.26 billion in 2019 Q4 to N81.59 billion.

From N9.25 billion loss in 2019, the company returned to profitability with N4.32 billion. In response, the stock recorded 12.08 percent and 2.19 percent gain between January 4 and February and January 4 and February 15, 2021 respectively.

In 2020, UAC appreciated 65.30 percent between January and December. The stock however showed coldness in February, declining 5.98 percent between January 29 and February 15, 2021 following general profit taking.

Guinness in 7.89% Capital gain Trading at N19.00 per share January 4, 2021, Guinness closed at N20.50 per share February 15, 2021 gaining 7.89 percent. Unlike many other stock that lost in early February trading, Guinness gained 7.89 Percent between January 29 and February 15 . The price leap was informed by the 2020 Q4 result; the company’s revenue increased from N41.42 billion in 2019 Q4 to N42.32 billion although profit after tax declined from N1.68 billion to N0.52 billion.

In 2020, Guinness lost 56.63 percent between January and December.

Flour Mills 13.17% stronger For the 2020 Q3, Flour mills recorded N300 billion revenue and N5.53 billion for the year to December. Profit before tax was

transaction that would boost its earnings and return to investors.

Graham Hefer, Managing Director of Okomu Oil Plc

Omoboyede Olusanya, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc

Folasope Babasola Aiyesimoju, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UAC of Nigeria Plc.

Oyeyimika Adeboye, Managing Director of Cadbury Nigeria Plc

Baker Magunda, Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Guinness Nigeria Plc

Carl Cruz, Managing Director of Unilever Nigeria

Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD, Fidelity Bank

Wole Adeniyi, Chief Executive officer of Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC.

Engr Yusuf Binji, managing director, BUA Cement Plc.

David Wright, Managing Director of CAP Plc.

Olumide Adeosun, CEO of Ardova Plc

Mike Adeniyi Ishola Adenuga Jr. (GCON, CSG) of Conoil

N23.6 billion Flour Mills opened 2021 trading with N26.95 per share and gained 28.75 percent from January 4 to 29 to closed at N34.70 per share. It however lost 13.54 percent between January 29 and February 15. In 2020, Flour Mills gained 18.18 percent.

Cadbury 5.5% down Cadbury lost 2.22 percent between January 4 and 29 and 5.5 percent between January 4 and February. The weak price movement follows the company’s reduction in revenue from N39.32 billion in 2019 Q4 to N35.40 billion in 2020 Q4 profit after tax also declined from #1.07 billion to N0.172 billion

Unilever returns to profitability From loss of N4.74 billion in 2019 Q4, Unilever came back to the profit frontier with N0.468 billion. Revenue however increased from N9.13 billion to N16.83 billion.

Trading at N13.90 per share January 29, it lost 2.87 percent.

Between January 29 and February 15, it gained 3.30 percent. In 2020, it lost 7.33 percent.

Fidelity Bank Fidelity Bank gained 17.21 percent in 2020 but recorded price depreciation for January 2021 trading at N2.77 per share on

January 4 and N2.72 per share January 29.

Fidelity Bank recorded decline in earnings in the 2020 Q4 with N54.40 billion in 2019 Q4.

Profit after tax also fell to N7.62 billion from N9.36 billion, a decrease compared with N215.57 billion in 2019. Profit after tax YTD came down to N28.03 billion from N28.40 billion.

To inject capital into the bank, the management of Fidelity recently issued a 10 year N41.21 billion tier 11 local fixed rate unsecured subordinated bond at 8.5 percent coupon rate for maturity in 2013. It is expected that with such larse capital injection, the bank can take up big ticket

Stanbic IBTC in 2.5% capital Stanbic IBTC appreciated 2.5 percent between January 4 and February 15. This is in spite of the lower earnings reported in 2020 Q4 and full year. For the 2020 last quarter, earning declined to N51.16 billion from N57.65 billion in 2019 Q4. Profit after tax fell from N19.48 billion in the corresponding period in 2019 to N17.04 billion For the full year Stanbic IBTC marginally grew earning from N233.80 billion in 2019 to N234.44 billion while profit after tax was N83.21 billion up from N75.03 billion in 2019 BUA Cement losing its 2020 gains BUA Cement opened trading in 2021 at N85.00 per share on January 4 and closed ar N79.00 on January 29, 2021 losing 7.05 percent. Between January 29 and February 15, it lost 7.21 percent. It appreciated 109.05 percent in 2020. The company reported increase in earnings for the 2020Q4 from N175.52 billion in 2019 to N209.47 billion. Profit also increase from #60.61 billion to N70.50 billion CAP grows earnings CAP mproved earning marginally from N263 billion to N374 billion for the 2020 Q4. Profit after tax however decline to N0.36 bilion from N0.50 billion in 2019.

Trading at N20.00 per share January 4, 2021, it depreciated it percent to close at N18.00 per share February 15. In 2020, CAP lost 20 percent between January and December.

Ardova 40.70% sronger In 2020, Ardova appreciated 20.66 percent. And between January 4 to February 15, 2021, the stock has gained 22.04 percent to close at N16.55 per share.

In Januray alone, it gained 40.74 percent between January 4 and 29 to close at N19.00 per share.

Conoil up on earning, down on profit Conoil grew earning for the 2020 Q4 to N117.46 billion from N139.75 billion in 2019. Profit after tax however declined to 1.52 billion from N1.97 billion.

It opened trading in 2021 at N20.85 per share on January 4 and gained 2.18 percent by January 29.

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Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

NIGERIA STOCKWATCH

Equities still have potential to deliver strong returns in 2021 - Abiodun Keripe There are growing concerns that fixed income yields may rise in 2021 following perception that the CBN may resort to tight monetary policy between 2021 Q2 and H2. But Abiodun Keripe, managing director, Arinvest Research said equities will still have an edge.

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he Equities market started 2021 bullish with All share index rising from 41, 147.39 basis point January 4, to 42, 423.66 points January 29. By February 25, it declined to 39, 799.89 basis points. What drove the January bullish trend and current bear market? What do you expect for the rest of in Q1?

The Nigerian equities market is reversing some of the January gains which were driven by continued local participation, positive sentiments around vaccine distribution despite reported increase and new strain of the C-19 virus and the outlook that fixed income yields could remain low for longer. Combined, this drove the market up by 5.3% in January. However, sentiment seems to have reversed given the mixed signal from the fixed income market that yields may begin to rise fasterthan-anticipated following the outcomes from the last OMO and NTB auctions conducted by the CBN. Again, the slow-paced vaccine distribution amidst increase case counts both globally and locally is worrisome.

Consequently, equities are down 4.7% on a month-to-date basis in February. Lastly, given the wall of liquidity in the market, some investors have been on the sideline, waiting to see some level of correction. That said, Nigerian equities are still relatively underpriced at 15.3x price-earnings ratio compared with some of its global & BRICS peers and now presents entry opportunity for investors that have been waiting for a correction. The expectation for corporate earnings performance and dividend outlook remains positive particularly for the companies operating in the resilient sectors of the economy (Telecoms, Banking & Agriculture), we believe these would provide support for the market.

We have seen equities take the shine off fixed income instruments. Do you see a change soon and why? What will be your advice to investors?

Our broad outlook is for fixed income yields to remain low for most of the Q1 and Q2:2021 giv-

capital reversal to the fixed income market when yields begin to recover also presents another leg of attraction, hence the need for a diversified strategy.

What are your stock picks for March and why?

From a corporate performance angle, the market is rotating into the full year earnings season with expectation for dividend payment from the quality names on the bourse. We favour names with quality earnings growth, decent margin expansion and strong dividend yield.

Abiodun Keripe, head, Investment Research

en the weak supply of notes and the massive demand backed by liquidity. From a liquidity angle, the fortunes of the market is tied to the liquidity formation and

recovery in yields. We advise investors to maintain a diversified strategy/portfolio. Equities still have potential to deliver strong returns in 2021 but the risk of

‘

Equities still have potential to deliver strong returns in 2021 but the risk of capital reversal to the fixed income market when yields begin to recover also presents another leg of attraction, hence the need for a diversified strategy’

Trump Administration embarked on trade wars and the implications. Under Biden, US appears to be relaxing it. How will this new stance affect the Nigerian economy?

As at Q3:2020, the US accounts for 9.7% of total Nigeria trade imports higher than 9.9% in FY:2019 and 7.9% in 2017. On the other hand, the share of exports to the US has fallen from 12.7% in 2017 to 5.3% in 2019 and 2.3% as at September 2020.

I am not particularly optimistic that this shift would change the dynamics of trade between both countries. The US is increasingly pushing for a non-carbon economy and has cut back on oil imports from Nigeria. On the other hand, the relaxation of immigration rules would be a positive for Nigerians and can continue to support higher diaspora remittances.

What is the outlook for the Nigerian economy and equities market for 2021?

In our 2020 Outlook report, titled Nigeria in the New Decade: Nothing Ventured; Nothing Gained, we had reviewed the performance of the Nigerian economy over the last decade and highlighted critical imperatives necessary to restore the nation on the path of prosperity in the new decade.

We noted that while economic performance in the last decade was a tale of two halves with GDP growth averaging 3.7%, the new decade promises to be better given the commencement of a reset in the economy and consolidation of reforms across key sectors. True to this, the decade commenced with

traction from the leadership of the country in favour of curbing subsidies, embracing trade, and embarking on business friendly reforms. However, there has been no meaningful traction in restoring fiscal discipline, embracing market approach and raising agriculture productivity in an era when the world is increasingly transitioning to a post-carbon economy. With the outbreak of the pandemic, the path to resetting the economy became murkier. The health crisis and the ensuing security and poverty challenges have further exposed decades of neglect for human capital development.

We believe the impact of this pandemic would reverse the marginal gains recorded since the 2016 economic recession, thereby hurting businesses and households. Nigeria now faces the need to accelerate development in healthcare and education but weak government capacity and lack of policy makes this difficult.

Notwithstanding, we believe the pandemic presents an opportunity for the leadership of the nation to make choices that would help the economy reset. The cycle of poor investments in human capital development has to end. In the face of severe resource shortages, the fiscal discipline to channel government resources to the most critical sectors such as education, healthcare and infrastructure remains missing.

The running costs of the government formed 86.1% of revenue in 2010 and was still elevated at 81.8% in the 2021 budget. This also meant that the resources available to invest in priority sectors are scarce. Also, the present approach to resolving insecurity has not led to significant improvements across the country while it continues to deter investments in the agriculture value chain, leaving the nation stuck to perennially weak growth in the sector. We believe the challenges of the past would continue to haunt the Nigerian economy, especially in the near-term if the leadership fails to make the right choices. The inability of the government to make these choices leave the nation on a blurry path to recovery.

Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

05

NIGERIA STOCKWATCH

STOCK FOCUS Zenith Bank rallies 106.66 %

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ith market capit a l i z at i o n o f N813.16 billion and outstanding shares of 31, 396, 493, 786, Zenith bank a tier 1 bank has remained consistent in robust returns to investors.

Trading at an average of N12.00 per share January and closing at N24.8-0 per share in December, 2020, it appreciated 106.66 percent in 2020.

However, between January 4 and February 15, it shed 2.14 percent in price to close at N25.15 per share. And by February 25, its price had risen to N28.85 per share.

Zenith Bank has earned investors’ respect over the years. A good dividend paying stock too, Zenith justified its 2020 impressive outing with Q3 revenue of N695.45, up from N662.25 billion in 2019 while profit after tax increased from N208.89 billion to N230.56 billion.

As at the close of trading on January 13, 2020, Zenith had gained 8.28 percent from December with ytd of 5.29 percent. Demand pressure for the stock pushed its price to an all-time high. The stock which traded at an average price of N20.85 per share in January slumped to N12. 10 per share in March in response to the Covid 19 pandemic but rose to N17. 30 in September, N27.

15 on November 13 before the December 4 N23. 91 per share

correction.

Its 2020 Q3 rise in revenue from N49. 26 billion in 2019 to N508. 07 billion and increase in profit after from N150. 72 billion to N159.3 billion created enough incentives for investors to capitalize on as the price rose 38.43 percent. Between September and December, it rewarded investors with79.93 percent return through capital appreciation.

Our market study shows that the stock had a 52 week high of N28.15 per share, low of N10.70 per share and year to date of 25.94 percent.

Zenith Bank has been on a gaining spree over a period.

Apart from January to March 2020, when the stock lost 39.50 percent following the general price slump, it has been investors’ toast because of its price appreciation-and dividenddriven return. Trading at N16.15 per share, Zenith Bank gained 16.90 percent between March 26 and May 29 2020.

For the 2020 Q1, Zenith Bank reported 8 percent year -onyear increase in Gross Earning at N166.8 Billion. This is in spite of the 7 percent year -on- year decline in interest income to N114.3 Billion. The increase in earnings was driven by 61 percent year –on- year increase in non-interest income of N52.5billion. The foreign exchange revaluation gain in the banking industry boosted the result. Price of Zenith Bank is expected to close higher by the end of 2021.

EBENEZER N. ONYEAGWU GMD/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc

Stanbic IBTC leaps

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ith market capitalization of N488.66 billion and 11, 105, 997, 568 outstanding shares, Stanbic IBTC is a strong stock to watch. Trading at N33.50 per share on January 4, 2021, it lost 8.05 percent to close at N30.80 per share on January 29. By February 25, 2021, it rose to N40.00 per share.

Investors who took positions in Stanbic IBTC stock in January, 2020 at N39.29 per share were not disappointed. Even when the price fell to N38.29 per share in March following the general market trend, it rose to N46. 00 per share on November 13 before moderating at N44.00 per share on December 4, 2020. Between January and November 13, 2020, it gained 17.07 percent.

Following its 2020 Q3 impressive performance, it appreciated by 8.64 percent between September and December 4. The bank reported improvement in earnings in 2020 Q3 from N176.15 billion in 2019 Q3 to N183.28 billion while profit after tax was up from N55.55 billion to N66.16 billion.

With 52 week high of 48.00 per share, low of N23.85 per share and YtD of 10.00 percent, Stanbic IBTC emerged one of the growth stocks that stimulated the market in 2020.

DEMOLA SOGUNLE

TAG Managing Director of Stanbic IBTC Bank’s

Stanbic IBTC was among the stocks that beat the pre-COVID 19 valuation.

Between March 26 and October 2, it recorded 65.30 percent price appreciation. In between, the stock also demonstrated value increase with price gain

of 19.17 percent between June 30 and August 28; 10.95 percent between August 28 and September 11 and 24.61 percent between June 30 and October 2.

Between January and October 2, it recorded capital gain of 5.71 percent.

New status to spike GT Bank’s earnings

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s at February 17, 2021 recorded YtD of 6.34 percent.

The bank’s plan to restructure into financial company offers it an ability to invest in large project and assets that could further grow its earning. According to UcheUwaleke, a financial economist, this is expected to help investors extract greater value from the stock. JolomiOdoghanro, head, Cordross Research is optimistic that the bank’s earnings will remain resilience on account of a new capital buffer and risk framework that will support its assets quality and efficiency ratio.

In 2020, the stock appreciated by 84.72 percent with YtD of 15.03 percent. It reported Q3 profit after tax of N142.28 billion, down from N146. 98 billion in 2019.

Trading at an average price of N30.

00 per share in January, 2020, N18.00 in March, N22. 05 in June, N27.00 in September and N36. 40 in November, investor’s extracted 10.83 percent capital gain- driven return between January and December 4, 2020, 84.22 percent from March to December and 23.14 percent between September and December.

For the second quarter of 2020, Zenith Bank reported earnings of N331.5 billion. Profit after tax was up from N88.88 billion to N103.82 billion.

The impressive result impacted

SEGUN AGBAJE MD of GTBank

positively on its share price. The bank gained 73.55 percent from March 26 to October 23 and 4.65 percent between June 30 and August 28. From June 30 to October 2, it appreciated 12.11 percent and 49.17 between March 26 and October 2,2020.

Listed in the Financial ServicesBanking of the exchange, GTBank has rewarded its shareholders with

robust returns through capital appreciation and dividend payment.

Between March 26 and May 29, it gained 33.33 percent and 28.33 percent between March and June 18. The bank paid dividend of N2.50 per share with record of 5.9 percent dividend yield and yield to date of -17.8 percent.

Continues on page 6&7

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Thursday 04 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

NIGERIA STOCKWATCH Dangote Cement supported by MTN ridding on increase in data demand infrastructure spendings

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MICHEL PUCHERCOS GMD of Dangote Cement

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ith market capitalization of 3.92 trillion, Dangote Cement is one of the most capitalized companies quoted on the Stock Exchange. It traded at N244.90 per share January 4, 2021 and lost 10.16 percent to close at N220.00 per share on February 17, 2021. By February 25, the price remained N220.00 per share.

The market value of Dangote Cement is expected to be boosted by the company’s share buy-back of about 10 percent of the issued stock.

Fund managers also believe the Federal Government’s 2021 budget offers great opportunity for the company to grow its earnings. UcheUwaleke, a Financial Economist and Professor of capital market at the Nassarawa State University said implementation of the budget which provides greatest capital market allocation to works and housing is sure to grow earnings for Dangote Cement. The company is into cement production and provides services to government at various levels of infrastructure development.

Dangote reported 2020 Q3 revenue of N 761.44 billion up from N679.79 billion at the same period in 2019. Profit after tax increased from N154.35 billion to N200.69 billion. The stock appreciated 102.90 percent between January and December 2020 but lost 6.08 percent from December 2020 to January 13, 2021.

Investment managers however believe that the company’s earnings and returns in 2021 will be supported by its African spread. Jolomi Odonghanro, Head, Cordross Research said its Africa wide foot prints will

provide diverse opportunities for earnings. The company is expected to leverage on its efficiency and network to drive earnings and growth.

From January to December 4, 2020, investors reaped 64.87 percent returns through capital gains alone. A strong divided paying company, Dangote Cement recorded price rally in 9 months with 53.95 percent gain, trading at N129.26 per share in March when the market suffered its worst general slump and N199.00 per share on December 4, 2020. Dangote Cement far outperformed the NSE All-share index, with YtD of 44.37 percent.

The company gained 25.10 percent between January to October 23, 2020 and 16. 82 percent between March and October 23.

It recorded 5.66 percent between June 30 and August 28 and 13.38 percent from June 30 to October 2. The stock appreciated 19.30 percent and 11.02 percent between January and October 2 and 11.02 percent from March to October 2 respectively.

The company reported N476.85 billion earning for the 2020 second quarter, up from N467.7billion in 2019 Q2. It grew profit after tax from N119.2 billion in 2019 Q2 to N126.04 billion.

Trading at N139.60 per share as at June 18, 2020, the stock is known for its impressive dividend payment and capital appreciation, having paid about N16.00 divided per share with record of 12.34% dividend yield. June 18, 2020, Dangote Cement appreciated by 7.17 percent. The company posted N249.18 billion revenue for the 2020 first quarter, 3.8 percent year -on- year increase compared with the 2019 record. Profit after tax increased by 0.66 percent.

TN opened trading at N169.90 per share January 4 and closed at N181.70 per share on February 17. By February 25, it declined to N179.90 per share.

A member of the premier Board of the Nigerian stock Exchange, MTN is one of the most capitalized companies with market capitalization of N3.35 trillion and outstanding share of 20,354, 513, 050.

Investors harvest good returns from MTN through strong dividend payment and capital gains.

In 2020, the stock appreciated 42.05 percent.

For the 2020 Q3, MTN Nigeria, quoted in the ICT- Telecom Services segment of the market recorded earning of N975.75 billion, an increase compared with N856.95 billion in 2019 and reported a decline in profit after tax from N149.22 billion to N144.24 billion.

There is positive investors sentiment that the company will perform more impressively in the 2020 full year and 2021 Q1results. Jolomi Odonghanro, head, Cordross Research is upbeat that the commencement of PSB operation, the company’s leadership in broadband penetration and increase in social media activities in the country will further grow data demand and stimulate earnings.

Between January and October 23, 2020, MTN Nigeria gained 17.15 percent and 40.00 percent between March and October 23, 2023. It appreciated 30 percent from March 26 to October 2. Between August 28 and September 11, its price increased by 1.86 percent and 3.33 percent from September 11 and 25. It recorded 0.25 percent increase from June 30 and August 28.

MODUPE KADRI CEO/CFO of MTN

MTN Nigeria traded at N199.60 January and closed at N119.00 at the close of business on August 14, 2020. Between the periods, t recorded streaks of gains and losses. After losing 16.38 percent between January and March, it gained 16.7 percent between January and March. It appreciated 16.7 percent between March 26 and May 29; 1.29 percent between May 29 and July 30; 1.64 percent between July 3 and 29; 0.51 percent between July 29 and August7 and 19.00 percent between March 26 and August14, 2020. The price appreciation was driven by the increase in data demand following the Covid19 inspired lockdown.

In the second quarter of 2020, MTN’s revenue increased 12.5 percent to N638.1 billion from N567.06 in 2019 on quarter on quarter basis. Revenue declined

6.2 percent to N308.9 billion from N329.2 billion. The increase in revenue followed the 49.0percent increase in data to N154.0 billion and 2.7percent increase in voice revenue to N363.6 billion; 33.5 percent increase in value added services to N21.9 billion and 5.0 percent rise in digital revenue to N17.8 billion. Operational expenses rose 17.5 percent to N311.06billion from N264.6 billion in the first quarter of 2019.

This was due to the 23.7 percent rise in direct network operation; 14.6 percent increase in discount and commission; 68.7 percent increase in accessory cost and 28.4 percent rise in employee benefit cost.

The company paid interim dividend of N3.50 per share or 5.9 percent dividend yield to N119 price.

AIRTEL, the bull on the loose

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irtel gained 9.18 percent, opening at N851.80 per share January 4 and closing at N930.00 per share February 17, 2021. By February 25, it still closed at N930 per share.

Between January and December 4, 2020, Airtel appreciated 114.11 percent and 114.76 between March, height of the covid 19 pandemic and December 4. Between September and December 4, less than 3 months, it gained 58.94 percent. Airtel recorded 52 week low of N298.90 and high of N640.00 per share. The stock was traded at N298.90 January 31, N390.20 per share in June, N480.97 per share on November 13 and N640.00 per share on December 4 with YtD of 96.99 percent.

Airtel Africa, listed in the ICTTelecom service sector of the market rewarded its investors with 5.87 percent capital gain between July 3 and 29, 2020; 9.19 percent between August 7 and 14 and 13.15 percent from January to August 14 through price ap-

SEGUN OGUNSANYA MD/CEO of Airtel Nigeria.

preciation.

The company reported revenue increase from $851 million in the 2019 first half to $851 mil-

lion. EBITDA declined 62.0 percent from $988 million to $375 as profit fell from $132 million to $57 million.

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NIGERIA STOCKWATCH Low equity market capitalization to GDP displays significant headroom for growth - Usoro Essien

Nigeria’s equities market outperformed many of its peers in 2020. And Usoro Essien, Team Leader, Research, RMB Nigeria said opportunities for more growth exist with the low equities market capitalization to GDP ratio.

T

he capital market delivered double digit percentage returns to investors in 2020. By February 25, the trend has changed. What do you attribute this to and how long can this last?

The main driver was the shortage of alternative investment assets with returns superior to inflation due to the decline in treasury bills to decimals (>1%) in 2020 (YTD -444bps). Equities on the other hand, presented investors with several blue-chip counters delivering dividend yields in the single to double digit range (6 – 12 %). There is no certainty on the duration of any stock market rally, so our expectations are primarily hinged on our

Usoro Essien, Is Lead Team, Research, Rmb

projections of the change in fixed income yields, foreign exchange liquidity and other factors. We expect another positive close for the market,

albeit with a more narrow return (c12% 2021e).

How would you rate the Nigerian equities market com-

pared to matured, emerging and other frontier markets?

The Nigerian equity market holds a special place amongst other frontier markets particularly in the African continent due to its level of development (Advanced trading platforms and products) and sheer size (Market Capitalization). Also, the stock markets relatively low equity market capitalization to GDP (c10%) displays significant headroom for growth and development. The market could easily develop into a competitive emerging market with additional trade liberalization efforts and more alternate investment instruments (Derivatives, Commodities).

According to the NBS, Nigeria’s real GDP contracted

by 3.62 percent in 2020 Q3 compared with 6.10 % in 2020 Q2 and growth of 2.28% same period in 2019. What are your expectations in 2021 H1 and H2 and why?

We expect Nigeria to grow oil and Non-Oil GDP to 2.0% in 2021. Our expectations for tangible growth are supported by a 2020 low base and improved demand and supply from distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.

The rally in commodity prices, particularly Brent crude oil (40% YTD) is reflective of improving economic activity in China and other key manufacturing nations.

It is noteworthy to mention that the impact from pandemic induced disruptions was greater on Nigeria’s service sectors with double digit declines in

trade, hospitality, transport, entertainment and the significantly large informal sector.

We believe these sectors will continue to trail non-services sectors (tangible) in 1H21 due to their extreme reliance on significant foot-traffic and physical interaction to deliver growth.

What are your Stock Pick for March and why?

Seplat - Oil price recovery and additional investments in gas production (ANOH).

What are the new trends you are noticing in the global and local economy?

Aggressive reform and adaptation to Covid-19 disruptions.

Renewed focus on underfunded sectors.

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NIGERIA STOCKWATCH STOCK MARKET IN CHARTS

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NIGERIA STOCKWATCH STOCK MARKET IN CHARTS

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NIGERIA STOCKWATCH ECONOMY IN CHARTS

Source: NBS