BusinessDay 08 Nov 2019

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news you can trust I **FRIDAY 08 NOVEMBER 2019 I vol. 19, no 431

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L-R: Adeyemi Dipeolu, special adviser to the president on economic matters, office of the vice president; Bola Onadele. Koko, managing director/chief executive officer, FMDQ Group; Mary Uduk, acting director-general, Securities and Exchange Commission; Jibril Aku, vice chairman, FMDQ Group, and Emmanuel Ukeje, special adviser to the governor on financial markets, Central Bank of Nigeria, at the 2019 Nigerian Capital Markets Conference organised by FMDQ Securities Exchange in Lagos.

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igeria is in urgent need of private capital to resuscitate decaying infrastructure and boost economic growth, but domestic institutional investors say the government isn’t showing enough urgency.

In the face of a revenue shortage, Nigeria plans to plug infra-

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L-R: Blessing Ndamati, director, academic services, Universal Basic Education Board, Rivers State; Michel Puchercos, CEO, Lafarge Africa plc; David Emmanuella, winner of the 6th Edition of Lafarge Africa National Literacy Competition; Muhammad Sanusi II, emir of Kano/special guest of honour; Mobolaji Balogun, chairman, Lafarge Africa plc; Barikpoa Prosper, co-winner, and Dibiah Moses Nwosu, desk officer, academic services/teacher of the winners, at the 6th Lafarge Africa National Literacy Competition themed ‘Bridging the Literacy Gap Together’ in Lagos, yesterday. Pic by David Apara

Nigeria shuns domestic investors structure deficit by leveraging private capital, but some domestic institutional investors, including the pension fund managers who sit on some N9 trillion worth of assets, say there aren’t big ticket deals to back.

“We will invest in infrastructure if the instruments are available,” said Dave Uduanu, MD/ CEO, Sigma Pensions Ltd, at the 2019 FMDQ Nigerian Capital Markets Conference. “We are not serious about attracting pri-

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In push for private capital, LOLADE AKINMURELE, BALA AUGIE, MICHEAL ANI & SEGUN ADAMS

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vate capital into infrastructure.”

Histor y has shown direct government funding cannot plug Nigeria’s infrastructure gap, which the African Development Bank says requires about $3trn by 2024 or about $100bn annually to fix, creating the need for mobilisation of private investment. A means to tap into private institutional capital remains missing.

Experts have advised the government to issue specific bonds

targeted at projects, as opposed to general obligation bonds, from which cashflow generated can settle obligations.

“There is ability to raise longterm finance in local currency,” said China Azubike, CEO, InfraCredit Ltd. Investors are now urging the government to take advantage of some low hanging fruits in existing assets that can easily be

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CBN denies banning individuals, small firms from T-bills

…investors shun short-term OMO bills in apex bank’s N300bn offer HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE & ENDURANCE OKAFOR

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he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday denied reports that it has given a directive to banks and other financial insti-

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Inside

Agusto & Co. ranks Zenith as best digital bank in P. 2 Nigeria 2019

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news Belemaoil builds N3bn engineering faculty for Army University in Biu

L-R: Toyin Sanni, group chief executive officer, Emerging Africa; Gbenga Oyebode, founding partner, Aluko and Oyebode; Ummahani Amin, managing partner, Metropolitan Law Firm/convener, African International Conference on Islamic Finance (AICIF, and Hajara Adeola, CEO, Lotus Capital, at the 4th African International Conference on Islamic Finance in Lagos.

...begins partnership for research, technology, human capital development Ignatius Chukwu, Port Harcourt, & James Kwen, Abuja

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Agusto & Co. ranks Zenith as best digital bank in Nigeria 2019 SEGUN ADAMS

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enith Bank plc, Nigeria’s leading financial institution, has emerged as the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria in the 2019 Consumer Digital Banking Satisfaction Index Report released by Agusto and Co. The Consumer Digital Banking Satisfaction Index report highlights customers’ preferences and attitude towards digital banking platforms provided by banks in the country. The objective of the Index is to create an independent appraisal of the ease of using digital banking platforms by the Nigerian populace following increased competition by banks on digital platforms as well as the growing quest for financial inclusion using digital means.

Agusto & Co., a foremost research and credit rating

agency in Nigeria, explained in the report that the Index, which is in its second year, was the result of an extensive online and offline consumer survey carried out across various geopolitical zones in Nigeria, and was designed to give insight into the behavioural patterns of the respondents, drawn from both the formal and the informal sector. The output of the Index is based on information provided by respondents on the top eight banks in Nigeria by total assets as of December 31, 2018.

In the survey, two banks were assigned a ‘4 Star’ rating for Consumer Digital Banking Satisfaction, with Zenith Bank scoring the highest and emerging the ‘Best Digital Bank in Nigeria’. The report further noted that the ‘4 Star’ rating assigned to Zenith Bank reflects transaction success rates, ease of use,

perceived security and good troubleshooting & IT resolution on its different digital platforms.

The report also revealed that Zenith Bank has the highest transaction success rates on digital banking platforms such as mobile app, USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) or web, the bank’s respondents experienced the most ease in navigating through the digital platforms, and the bank has one of the highest numbers of customers who felt it has an excellent rating on IT issue resolution.

Zenith Bank plc is recognised as one of the most innovative financial institutions in Nigeria and was voted the most customerfocused bank in Nigeria for the retail and SME segments in the 2018 KPMG Annual Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (BICSS).

Most recently, the bank won the Best Bank in Retail Banking and the Bank of the Year at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards.

The bank’s commitment to world-class service standards, products and solutions has also ensured its market dominance, as attested to by the growth in fees from electronic/digital products, which doubled to N35.3 billion in Q3 2019 from the N17.6 billion recorded in Q3 2018.

Clearly, the fact that the bank’s digital platforms and channels have been the main enablers of the massive growth in its noninterest income reflects the ease of adoption of the digital platforms by its teeming customers, and demonstrates the giant strides being made by the bank in the retail segment of the market.

Education, health top priorities as Ajimobi’s daughter among Sanwo-Olu unveils 2020 budget Osinbajo’s sacked aides JOSHUA BASSEY

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agos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu will today unveil the state’s 2020 budget at the State House of Assembly.

The size of the budget to be unveiled was not immediately clear last night, but sources close to the government said it would be bigger than the N1.046 trillion budgeted last year.

The budget, said the sources, would give top priority to education and health. It was also not clear how much will be spent on the two sectors, but it is believed that the allocation to health will be almost double of last year’s N29.9 billion.

“It will be over N30bn,” an

official said, pleading not to be named because “it is out of place to divulge details of the budget before they are released”.

Education will have a big chunk of the sectoral allocations, said another source, who also pleaded not to be named because he “is not permitted to talk to the media”.

The education vote will be “almost double of last year’s vote at over N40billion”, the person said.

Sanwo-Olu is said to have made the sectoral allocations in a “bold” bid to fulfill his campaign promises and emphasise the point that “it is not all about bricks and mortars; development should focus on human beings”. www.businessday.ng

...as VP halts distribution of letters, seeks president’s intervention TONY AILEMEN, Abuja

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s tension mounts over Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s aides who were relieved of their appointments on Wednesday, it has been discovered that relations of prominent politicians were affected.

The list, BusinessDay gathered, includes Ajibola Ajayi, daughter of Abiola Ajimobi, former governor of Oyo State.

Until she was sacked, Ajayi worked as special assistant, legal, to the presi-

dent (VP’s office). She had earlier worked as SA to the president on Bureau of Public Enterprises (VP’s office) from October 2015 to May 2019.

BusinessDay had reported that President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on a private visit to the United Kingdom, on Wednesday relieved over 35 staff attached to the vice president’s office of their jobs.

Other aides relieved of their jobs include Lanre Osinbona, SSA on ICT ;

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foremost indigenous Nigerian oil firm with deep commitment to community development, Belemaoil Producing Limited (BPL), is to commit N3bn to building an engineering faculty in the Army University located in Biu in southern Borno State.

Belemaoil has also entered into partnership with the Nigerian Army University to promote research, technology and human capital development. Belemaoil is operator of Oil Mining Lease 55 and is now maintenance contract holder of the controversial OML 55 owned by SPDC. While calling on other companies in the country to support the young institution for human capital development, Tein Jnr disclosed that it was part of Belamoil’s corporate social responsibility that it had embarked on the construction of the N3Bn Faculty of Engineering in the University.

Belemaoil and the Army University made their intentions known Thursday in Abuja when the management of the Nigerian Army University led by its Vice Chancellor, Fatima Tahir, paid courtesy

visit on the President/ Founder of Belemaoil and Belema Aid Foundation, Jack-Rich Tein Jnr. Tein Jnr said the motive behind the company’s support to the Army University was to develop sound academic programmes that would equip graduates with skills that are needed in the modern global economic environment where, science, technology and innovation are key.

He also charged the newly established institution to develop learning and teaching modules that would produce modern economic game changers, and to develop the right economic ecosystem that would move to country forward.

The President/Founder urged the Nigerian Army University to go beyond academic programmes and put in place vocational and skills acquisition trainings to equip women and youths particularly in the area of agriculture which has comparative advantage in Biu, where the University is sited.

Earlier, the VC said the visit was in acknowledgement of the wonderful support given to the institution by Belemaoil

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Beer drinkers to pay more as brewers mull price increase this month BUNMI BAILEY

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eer drinkers in Africa’s most populous country will soon be paying more for their cherished bottles or cans as major players in Nigeria’s beer industry have indicated plans to increase prices this November.

Analysts in the consumer goods space told BusinessDay that they had seen the increase in prices of beer coming but it was only a question of when.

Abiola Gbemisola, research analyst at Lagosbased Chapel Hill Denham, said Nigerian Breweries in mid-October told its distributors that it would increase prices of its products

by November 2019.

“And interestingly, two weeks ago I received a note from Guinness that they are also going to increase prices in same period. And then International Breweries said they were going to increase prices but they were giving their suppliers time before they implement it,” Gbemisola said.

Nigeria leads the pack of 10 biggest beer drinking countries in Africa. Beer brands make up 16 percent of alcohol consumption in

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the country, while other drinks (spirits and locally brewed drinks) make up 84 percent.

Consumer analysts said the price increase was expected following recent increase in excise duty.

“If you have been following the consumer space, the major players in the brewery industry over the last one year have been pressured by the increase in excise duty that the government charges on them. So it is pressuring their margins and combined with weak consumer spending,” Gbemisola said.

The Federal Government had on June 4, 2018 announced the approval of an increase to the excise duties on tobacco and alcoholic beverages to address revenue shortfalls. The increase, it said, would be introduced in phases over a three-year period (2018-2020) to moderate the impact of the increment on the price of the products. On this basis, the excise duty increased from N0.2k per cl in 2017 to N0.3k per cl in 2018, and a further increase to N0.35k per cl for 2019 and 2020.

Excise duty is a levy placed on the manufacture

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Nigeria lost over $120.53bn gross freight paid to foreign vessels in 14 years AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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he Nigerian economy lost over $120.53 billion in gross freight paid on import and export cargoes to foreign owned vessels in the past 14 years (2004 to 2018), the National Fleet Implementation Committee (NFIC), says.

A breakdown shows that the nation’s economy lost a total of $57.94 billion on freight paid by Nigerian shippers on imports while $62.59 billion was lost on freight paid on export.

According to the committee, these foreign owned vessels have been dominating the nation’s shipping business following the near absence of indigenous ship owners in the carriage of import and export cargoes in and out of the country.

Speaking in Lagos on Monday, when members of Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) officially visited the committee, Hassan Bello, chairman of NFIC, said it had become very important that Nigerians own and operate ships.

B e l l o, w h o a c k n o w l edged that owning of Ni-

gerian registered, flagged and crewed ships would have an immeasurable e f f e c t o n t h e e c o n o my , pointed out that Nigerian ship owners have been losing by allowing foreigners own and operate ships on the nation’s waters.

Ac c o rd i ng t o B e l l o, shipping business, together with other aspects of the maritime industry, w ould finance Niger ian annual budget if properly harnessed.

“Owning of ships is a vital qualification for a country to be called maritime nation. The employment potential of the maritime industry is better imagined. It will impact on training and certification of cadets, especially with the existence of ship building and repair yards, i n s u ra n c e a n d b a n k i n g industries as well,” he said.

Bello, who expressed sadness to that fact that Nigeria as a maritime nation does not own ships, s a i d Ni g e r i a n e e d e d t o change a lot of unfavourable government laws and policies hindering indigenous ship owners from participating in shipping business.

“For Nigeria to have a

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viable national fleet, we need to clean up by working on the unfriendly government policies. We also need to introduce policies that would trigger and incentivise the indigenous shipping business. In addition to owning ships, we need to reserve contract for the ships,” he said.

He solicited for the supports of indigenous ship owners association to enab l e t h e Nat i o na l Fl e e t Implementation Committee succeed with their given mandates.

Mkgeorge Onyung, president of SOAN, who led a delegation of SOAN members to NFIC secretariat, said 90 percent of global trade was carried by ships.

He d i s c l o s e d t h e i n terest of ship owners to collaborate with the Nigerian National Petroleum C o r p o rat i o n ( N N P C ) t o change some trading policies that put Nigerian ship ow ners at disadvantage in the area of cr ude oil lifting.

“Without shipping, everybody would be stranded. We need shipping to create the economic prosperity that Nigerians have been craving for,” Onyung said.

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Leveraging global best practices in real Border Security: AFC to invest $450m Propertymart assures residents of Citiview estate ecosystem key to Investors’ Forum for automation of Customs operations Estate of continued provision of infrastructure Kelechi Ewuzie

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mid the economic challenges investors in real sector ecosystem go through, discussions around attracting net-work individuals and entrepreneurs will take centre stage at the maiden edition of Prindex Properties Investors’ Forum.

The event holding today in Lagos will bring together high net-worth individuals, entrepreneurs, professionals and prospective real estate investors.

Tolu Bawa-Allah, managing director, Prindex Properties, says the company’s portfolio is a mix of completed, ongoing and planned developments, adding that participants at the investor forum will get a feel of the culture of value creation.

He opines that since inception in 2012, the Prindex Properties, established by Tolu Bawa-Allah and Supo Jagun, has distinguished itself with its commitment to professionalism, innovation and transparency.

According to Bawa-Allah, “In a country where real estate developershavebeenknowntocutcorners to maximise profit, often leading to building collapses and failed investments, Prindex Properties promisespeaceofmindbyholding itself to the highest standards.”

Supo Jagun says, “As Architects and real estate profession-

als, our projects are built in line within statutory, regulatory and safety guidelines. We also ensure that our spaces are functional and aesthetically pleasing to the end user. We do not compromise on the quality of our finishing materials as we want our clients to have peace of mind.

“As a company that prides itself in being indigenous and transparent, the Investors Forum is designed to bring our clients and previous investors closer to the faces behind the brand.”

Bawa-Allah notes, “We are not a faceless company; we are real people. Our team comprises of professionals in the real estate industry; architects, engineers and surveyors. As developers, our competencies and experience over the years is what sets us apart. This is why we are able to deliver value clients and investors without compromising quality.”

He further explains that after several years of servicing clients with bespoke homes and building projects across Nigeria, they identified a gap in the residential real estate space and decided to fill that gap. In his words: “We have expanded our scope beyond ‘construction as a service’ to Real Estate development by completing other aspects of the value chain such. From 4 units of residences in 2014 to 23 in 2019, we are growing this number to 85 by 2021.”

James Kwen, Abuja

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he African Finance Corporation (AFC) has expressed the readiness to invest $450 million in the automation of the operations of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) for its turnaround within 12 months.

Managing Director of Bionica Technologies W.A Limited, Umar Kuta, disclosed before the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Finance, Customs and Public Petitions Co-chaired by James Faleke, Yusuf Kila and Jerry Alagbaoso, respectively. The joint Committee is looking into the modernisation of the Nigerian Customs projects.

Kuta assumed that the platform would improve revenue generation by the Nigerian Customs and enhance security at the nation’s borders.

According to him, “A complete automation of the activities of the NCS within 12 months will boost revenue and eliminate all forms of sharp practices in the system.”

Recall that the e-custom Strategic Plan, began in 2016, 94 companies responded to a bid request by the Nigerian Customs, fifteen companies were pre-qualified and all were invited to make presentations

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on their solutions to enable Nigeria realise its vision of attaining complete automation and enthroning best practices in Customs operations.

The managing director said Bionica Technologies emerged tops after the evaluation process

by Nigerian Customs.

According to the document made available to journalists after his meeting with the Committee, Kuta said that firm has five technical partners, namely Paramout Group, Huawei Technology, Smiths Detection, Larsen & Toubro Group and Nuctech of China.

The partners, he stated, are mobilising about $ 450 million in investment to attain the complete turn-around programme.

He told the Committee that the Africa Finance Corporation, has also indicated its interest in supporting the Customs automation programme.

The company chief executive stated that the consortium is to partner Nigerian Custom Service by direct capital investment in collaboration with Original Equipment Manufactures to develop and implement specific modernization programs, with full automation of all the NCS business processes and procedures through the development and implementation of a robust and secured ICT platform.

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GBEMI FAMINU

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eading real estate company, Propertymart Real Estate Investment Limited, has reaffirmed its commitment to continued provision of quality infrastructure at its Citiview Estate, Arepo in Ogun State.

This assurance was given by the spokesperson of the firm, Taiwo Adedeji, at a meeting with some concerned residents of the estate at the firm’s corporate office in Magodo following the flooding witnessed in the estate as a result of the opening of the Oyan Dam in the wake of the recent heavy downpour in the country.

“We are right now addressing the natural challenge of flooding confronting partners who live in our Citiview Estate. For more than 8 years, the estate has never encountered flooding; save for a particular year when there was water seepage from the rear end of the estate. Prior to this season, residents of Citiview Estate had been insulated from severe flooding witnessed by other neighbouring estates and we are only impacted this year majorly because of the dredging activities around Ogun River which has affected the landscape and consequently the flow course of water. Initial parts of the estate which were not prone to flooding are now exposed by the

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dredging activities,” he said.

Adedeji also disclosed that a frontline construction giant, PW, was engaged to construct the road infrastructure leading into the estate as well as major areas within the estate, and that Propertymart has been overseeing its maintenance since the opening of the estate.

On the issue of title documents, Adedeji explained that majority of those who have paid up their requisite fees have been given their Deed of Assignment.

According to him, “allocation of title documents does not start and end on our table; it is tied to the activities of the Government.

The larger percentage of the residents, especially those that have fully paid have their title documents while the rest are still under processing. But there are some who have not paid the necessary fees for the perfection of their title documents. These people also are currently yet to get their title documents.

“The Land Use Act vests ownership of land in state governments and as a company, we won’t hold on to anybody’s title document especially if they have paid. We have engaged the relevant authorities to ensure that outstanding documents are released as soon as possible, but the larger percentage of those who have fully paid up have their title in their possession.”

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Fiduciary duty of care over Chinese loans THE NEW WEALTH OF NATIONS

Obadiah Mailafia

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he International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other western agencies have raised issues with regards to China’s open-cheque approach to Africa. I am an admirer of China and do not buy much of the western propaganda against Beijing. The reason why the Chinese are in Africa, if truth be told, is because the west has never treated us as genuine business partners. The western media have painted Africa as a black hole into which everything disappears; a continent of war, poverty, disease and desperate youths trying to cross the Mediterranean in rickety boats. The Chinese, by contrast, view us as genuine partners with whom they can do business. They are not here as good Samaritans, we all know. But we are doing good business with them. It’s a win-win.

China’s bilateral loans to Nigeria currently stand at $2.6 billion, amounting to 3.5 percent of our total national debt of $83.88 billion and slightly over 10 percent of our total external debt of $27.1 billion, the figure becomes more significant, at slightly over 10 percent. China is Nigeria’s largest bilateral creditor by far. The others pale behind: France, at $362 million, Germany at $171 million and Japan at $76.7 million.

China has become the world’s biggest creditor, much ahead of the Bank and the Fund. Beijing’s direct loans and trade credits have risen from almost zero in 1998 to more than $1.6 trillion, or close to 2 percent of world GDP in 2018. One of the criticisms being levelled against China is with regards to the opaque nature of their lending. The mandarinates in Beijing do not divulge

such information. What we do know is that several of their debtors in Africa – Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Zambia and Madagascar – have had difficulties paying back their loans. As a consequence, Beijing is attempting to make a call on the assets they have pledged as collateral, among them the airport in Lusaka, Djibouti seaport and vast expanses of virgin territory in Madagascar. We hear that our own federal government has pledged some of our oil fields in the Niger Delta as collateral.

In principle, any responsible government worth its salt must be prudent when negotiating foreign loans. Wise men would caution that the devil is always in the little details. China has been talking to the Paris Club since 2016, but I do not think they have joined.

The Paris Club is a body of 20 national public debt creditors with a secretariat based in the French capital. They would much prefer that China joins the debt cartel in ensuring a more coordinated approach to global debt. China seems reluctant, preferring its own bilateral approach.

A major problem with Chinese infrastructure loans is that they are not based on the kind rigorous project identification that we traditionally associate with the World Bank and other multilateral finance institutions with formidable intellectual capital at their beck and call. I would strongly advise that when we enter into loan negotiations with the Chinese, we must always ensure rigorous project preparation as a component of any viable project. I would also insist that we take external loans only for projects that have guaranteed return on investments.

It is also sadly true that the Chinese have not always been transparent with us. For many of their projects, they tend to bring the workmen from their labour-surplus country. In fact, there have been cases of prisoners allegedly being employed in some projects in Africa. I visited the African Union Commission a few years ago for a Summit of African Heads of State and Government. My gentle readers would recall that the Chinese built and donated it as a gift to the African Union; impressive edifice worth $300 million. I was

curious to find some Chinese milling in and out with working tools during a full session of the summit. When I enquired, I was told that they are the people maintaining the building. That cannot be a good arrangement.

But let’s face it: the Chinese are in business. It’s said that life gives you not what you are worth but what you negotiate. It is up to us to negotiate the best terms with the Chinese. I like the Chinese game of Go. It is a military-type game where you fight relentlessly for territory and total domination. When a fool allows himself to be screwed up, the Chinese are last to pity such a fool.

Their single-minded objective is to win.

We must therefore ruthlessly fight our corner, ensuring that any projects they finance include clauses for training, technology transfer and guaranteed systemic development impact.

Be that as it may, I am inclined to believe that the Chinese are our friends far more than the Europeans and Americans could ever be. Like us, they have bitter memories of being treated with humiliation and contumely by the trans-Atlantic powers. For more than a century China was raped and humiliated by foreign adventurers. The so-called Opium Wars were fought in the mid-nineteenth century precisely because European powers literally coerced the Chinese into buying opiates on pain of death. The Chinese, a people with a long and distinguished civilization, were reduced into being a population of drug addicts. The new China, with its 1.4 billion people, sees Africa as a partner of destiny. The sentiments are reciprocal.

China is also becoming a surplus capital country, with external reserves of the order of magnitude of $3 trillion.

They are looking for good investments and good projects in Africa and in other emerging economies. They need our natural resources and markets. We need their goods, capital and savoirfaire. It’s a positive-game.

For decades, no western European country would be bothered to invest in African infrastructures. The duplicitous French invest in African infrastructures in the so-called “Francophone” countries only on condition that they

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I’m inclined to believe that the Chinese are our friends far more than the Europeans and Americans could ever be.

Like us, they have bitter memories of being treated with humiliation and contumely by the transAtlantic powers. For more than a century China was raped and humiliated by foreign adventurers

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

How not to tax a desperate country

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t is undeniable that Nigeria is in the middle of a revenue crunch, the likes of which she needs to find concrete answers to, and fast. The current government, fresh from its electoral victory, has committed to expanding its revenue generating capacity ostensibly to fund the country’s many pressing priorities.

One of its proposed policies involves raising the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate from 5 percent to 7.5 percent.

This proposed increase has met with unsurprisingly withering criticism from Nigerians both locally and in the diaspora. While a few economic analysts have come out in defence of the VAT hike, saying that is a progressive tax which will target the luxury consuming rich and middle classes while sparing the poor, this view, some point out, fails to understand the fundamental structure of a VAT, considering that all the proposals provide no exemption to items most purchased by the “poor.” In view of this muddled state of affairs, some critics have offered to remedy the problem. Enter in, Senator Ali Ndume.

The Borno senator’s grand proposal is to freeze VAT at its current level, while spearheading a new bill that will provide for a Communications Service Tax (CST). In his thinking, a VAT hike imposed on all 200 million Nigerians is unjust, unconscionable and indefensible in these pressing economic

times where the real income of the average Nigerian has shrunk over the last three years.

Most economists in fact agree that sweeping tax hikes disproportionately affect lower income earners as they are compelled to pay a higher percentage of their income into the public purse.

Hence, such taxes are termed regressive. The Senator is on the right side of economics with this limb of his argument.

Which makes the senator’s justification for the CST equal parts interesting and confusing.

The senator believes the CST will only affect the rich minority and if any, only a small proportion of the poor majority.

In making the case for the new tax in a recent Channels TV appearance, he opined that there are only about 60 million “real” mobile subscribers considering the well-known fact that most subscribers maintain more than one phone connection. As context, NCC data suggests that there are 173 million active mobile lines in Nigeria as at June 2019. Thus, Ndume argues, these 60 million Nigerians are a more ideal subset of the population to be taxed as against all Nigerians who will be affected by the VAT umbrella.

The senator’s logic is problematic for a number of reasons. First, he insists that all mobile users in Nigeria are well-to-do and anyone who can afford to have a phone can ab initio bear a greater tax burden. This logic is easily quashed by the market

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exercise total monopoly control while the locals pay extortionate rates. The Chinese, on the other hand, genuinely want to help. Their first major project was as far as back as the 1970s, when they built the Tazara railway; an 1,860 km rail from Kapiri Mposhi in central Zambia to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

The Chinese are only now beginning to understand our continent. They do not always do enough technical preparatory studies in terms of project identification to ensure dynamic integrated sectoral linkages that maximize value and return on investments. The Development Bank of China has assets of a staggering $3 trillion. Their capitalisation outstrips the combined assets of the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is even bigger, with capitalisation in excess of $4 trillion. I would have expected such institutions to at least open offices in Lagos, Nairobi, Abidjan and Johannesburg so as to develop more expertise on local conditions.

It goes without saying that we must be wary of loans we cannot afford to pay back even if they are on concessionary terms. Nigeria’s national debt has recently risen to the astronomical figure of $83.88 billion. We are currently spending over 50 percent of government revenue in servicing our debt alone. Much of the rest goes into recurrent expenditure, with very little left for capital spending. I have no reason to believe that we are exercising enough discipline in terms of expenditure controls. A lot of money goes down the pork barrel of a bureaucracy that has turned rent-seeking into a sophisticated art form.

The model is obviously wrong. I hear people quoting extraordinary billions of dollars as the amount we need to fix our power and infrastructures. Unless the model is changed, it would be foolish to borrow more from the Chinese.

Ikemesit Effiong women, water truck pushers and motorcycle drivers who can be seen brandishing mobile devices all across this land. Furthermore, the Senator argued that mobile phone use is to use his words, “discretionary.”

In an age where the use of telecommunication services is as necessary as food, as ubiquitous as commuting and is the largest non-oil contributor to Nigeria’s GDP, this claim is disingenuous. Just to give one fact, one of the country’s four mobile phone operators supports half a million direct and indirect jobs all by itself. Thirdly, the CST suffers from the same fundamental defect suffered by the VAT – it is a direct tax which will surely be passed on to the consumer. The protestations of Senator Ndume to the contrary cannot alter that incontrovertible fact. Lower-income Nigerians will feel the CST in much the same way as the VAT hike.

What is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the proposed CST is the top rate, which is pegged at 9 percent. By contrast, the VAT increment would have shot it up to 7.2 percent. The senator’s sole explanation for this completely arbitrary figure is that our closet Anglophone neighbour, Ghana, recently increased its CST from 6 percent to 9 percent. What the Senator conveniently ignored is the history.

Ghana first implemented a 6 percent CST tax rate in 2008 and took a decade to consider an increase. Ghana also does not have nearly as

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many multiple taxes on telecommunication as Nigeria - where operators labour under 39 different taxes, charges and levies across federal, state and local jurisdictions. Finally, Ghana’s CST is sector-specific, remitted for the express purpose of improving telecoms infrastructure and other ancillary services. In Nigeria, the proposed CST will be remitted to the centrally managed Consolidated Revenue Fund, just like customs levied and motor vehicle license payments.

While communication services are getting cheaper across the world, the last thing Nigerian policymakers should be doing is encumbering already squeezed consumers by placing a consumer tax an essential service which will be paid by end users. Widening the tax base to incorporate new taxpayers, incentivising people to come out of the informal economy and reducing the cost and size of governance are some sensible initiatives to pursue in this regard. Telecoms services are an essential, if not the essential aspect of navigating an increasingly fast-paced and dynamic world.

A new tax on keeping Nigerians connected to each other and the rest of the globe sector represents a play from a long-discredited playbook.

Ikemesit Effiong is a lawyer and public affairs analyst based in Lagos.

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That all may be happy and well – a review of the book ‘Optimal Mental Health’ by Jibril Abdulmalik HumanAngle

Femi olugbile

T

he book “Optimal Mental Health – An Everyday Guide”, was recently presented to the public in Ibadan and Lagos. The author is a psychiatrist who has been writing a weekly column in The Tribune, an Ibadan-based national newspaper.

Efforts to take Mental Health awareness to the general public through the medium of a weekly newspaper column started in Nigeria in the Sunday Concord – a newspaper under the stable of Chief MKO Abiola, in the period 1984 to 1985. The column ran under the title “A Life in the Day of a Psychiatrist”.

Since then, there have been a number of other offerings through blogs, newspapers and social media.

In packaging material from his longrunning dialogue with the public for presentation in book form, the author is taking the reach and penetration of his advocacy effort to a new level.

Nigeria is a country in need of an urgent wake-up call concerning its mental health. As the author shares with his readers, the statistics are frightening.

One in four of the Nigerian population may expect to suffer a mental illness at some time in their lives. One in every ten suffer from an illness even as we

speak. In hard numbers, an estimated twenty million are suffering illness currently. The specialist boots on the ground, depleted by “brain drain”, are ridiculously few. In spite of that, many of that number are unemployed! His reference point for comparison is Brazil, a middle-income country with about the same population. Brazil has seven thousand “home-based” psychiatrists.

Nigeria has two hundred.

Abdulmalik’s 358-page book opens with a preface which provides human angle insight into how he came to attend medical school in Ibadan and become a doctor after originally securing admission to University to study Engineering. His passion for Mental Health as a specialisation was ignited when he was deployed to the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Maiduguri for his National Youth Service posting.

Those were pre-Boko Haram days, but, even then, the difficulties the young doctor perceived working in the hospital were gargantuan. The facility was the only one serving the six states of the North East.

In addition, it was deluged with patients from neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroun. He could see that many of the patients he treated had suffered extreme human rights abuse before they got to the hospital.

Much of that was due to widely prevalent ignorance and misconceptions about the causation of mental illness and the appropriate way to manage it.

Before the NYSC year was out, he had made up his mind to become a Psychiatrist.

The book has two Forewords. The conventions of writing may consider that to be one “Foreword” too many.

Many of the ensuing pages are filled with goodwill messages and commen-

dations – a feature normally reserved for the blurb.

“Optimal Mental Health” is broken into thirteen parts or themes, each of which subsumes a number of chapters.

A broad range of topics are covered; Common Myths and Misconceptions about Mental Illness, Emotional Wellbeing, Harmonious and Peaceful Living, Depression, Bipolar and Anxiety Disorders, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Drug Abuse and Youths, Mental Health of Children and Young Persons, Mental Health of the Elderly, Women’s Mental Health, Intimate Partner Violence, Human Right, Mental Health, Suicide and the Law, Mental Health in the Workplace and Brain Drain in Mental Health.

It is an ambitious tableau. The author is clearly expanding his remit beyond the confines of “Man as a unit” to “Man in Society” – a holistic, sociological approach to the definition of mental health. No man, after all, is an island.

Everyone lives, ails, and ultimately dies in relation to other people, influencing them and being influenced by them.

The language of the book is simple and easily accessible to readers of even the most basic education. The author employs illustrative case vignettes which read like short stories. In a box, he would then explain the nature of the problem, without recourse to technical language. The general air he conveys is that each problem has a label, and a prescribed management.

He does not spare himself the most awkward questions. Is mental illness curable? What is the role of the media? What is dignity in mental health?

Why does one individual respond catastrophically to setback, and another, shrugs it off? How does substance abuse cause mental illness? How should the

‘

One in four of the Nigerian population may expect to suffer a mental illness at some time in their lives. One in every ten suffer from an illness even as we speak.

In hard numbers, an estimated twenty million are suffering illness currently

Chibok girls and other victims of trauma and kidnapping be cared for? What does failure to do to self-esteem? What about hatred – interpersonal, interethnic?

What has the Boko Haram experience done to Nigerians? What about children who are malnourished and uncared for early in life, and who don’t go to school?

Abdulmalik paints a disturbing picture of the socio-psychological environment in which Nigerians live and bring up their children. His equivalences may be trite sometimes, and some of his prescribed actions may raise an eyebrow. On out-of-school children, there is an implication that the child from Aba taken out of school to start an apprenticeship to his “trader” uncle is in the same straits as an almajiri in Kano who is “dis-parented” and thrown on the street to beg. He emphatically is not! The almajiri issue is a specific, clear and present danger to Nigeria in its scale and the depth of sociological – not just educational, intervention that would be required to repair it.

The author has done a useful service to Nigerians by publishing this unique book. It de-mystifies mental illness and helps people to understand themselves and others better. It points a way to how, not just as individuals, but also as groups, Nigerians may be healthier and happier together. It is commended to the public for general readership, and to libraries in all educational institutions from primary school to University.

Optimal Mental Health is published by Inspiration House, Ibadan. It is available in bookshops or direct from the publishers (08099207874) Olugbile is a writer and psychiatrist. synthesiz@gmail.com

The 123 rules of competitive markets

J

ust as living organisms have a standard pattern of growth and development, so do markets have, especially competitive markets.

A market as we know is a place where buying and selling takes place. But there are different market structure and dynamics. The nature of goods/services sold and the number of sellers greatly affects the market structure of any industry. Generally, when it comes to competition, there are four basic types of market structures: perfect competition, imperfect competition, oligopoly, and monopoly.

A perfect competition describes a market structure, where a large number of small firms compete against each other. In this scenario, a single firm does not have any significant market power or brand name that differentiates it so considerably. Its packaging and container don’t matter so much. Also, none of the firms can influence market prices. An example would be the sachet water industry in Nigeria. In this type of structure factors like distribution and accessibility is a more potent weapon for gaining market share and customers don’t mind any option that is mostly available to them. We can also see a very good example among brokers in the stock market.

Imperfect competition otherwise call monopolistic completion is a type of market structure, where a large number of small firms compete against each other. However, unlike in perfect competition, the firms in monopolistic competition sell similar, but slightly differentiated products. The more the brand differentiation, the more it gives them a certain degree of market power, which allows them to charge higher prices within a certain range. At this stage brand strategy on differentiation is a huge advantage. An example may be competition among consultants, churches, banks, etc.

Oligopoly is the third type of market struc-

ture. This results from a state of limited competition. The firms can either compete against each other or collaborate. Most times they form cartels in that industry to fight new entrants and also to set price and other factors favourable to them. By doing so, they can use their collective market power to drive up prices and earn more profit. We see this among the main telecoms firms in Nigeria, shipping companies in maritime, and the Nigerian cement production industry. And as a rule of thumb, we say that an oligopoly typically consists of about 3-5 dominant firms. To give another example of an oligopoly, let’s look at the market for international gaming consoles. If we observe closely, we’d see that three powerful companies dominate the gaming console market; they are Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. This leaves all of them with a significant amount of market power. Historically a prime example of an oligopoly has been OPEC where a limited number of countries have dictated oil production and prices to the global economy.

Lastly, monopoly, it refers to a market structure where a single firm controls the entire market. In this scenario, the firm has the highest level of market power, as consumers do not have any alternatives. We see this with PHCN today. Monopolistic markets are known for mediocrity, as there is no competition. And competition drives innovation that eventually favours everyone. This is usually missing in monopoly.

Our main focus here will be on the competitive market types. This is because most industries in an economy are made up of that type of market. In line with this, there is an economic research inspired by the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) of the 1960s. It showed a pattern that grouped firms in a market structure into quadrants. In other words, it invented what is today known as the Market Growth/Market Share

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quadrants (it’s a major part of the marketing specialisation syllabus of most MBAs).

BCG once researched into approximately 200 industries in mainly imperfectly competitive and oligopolistic markets and the result revealed that markets evolve in a highly predictable fashion in terms of market share and competition. The Rule of Three governs it.

The 123 Rule basically breaks down the market into 3 main competitor types.

There are always three major competitors in any free market within an industry. Knowing your position in the market (alongside your product lifecycle and the BCG Market Share (x axis) - Market Growth (y-axis) quadrant should determine your strategy.

Number 1 firm: it fights for total market domination (they usually engage in Defensive Marketing).

Number 2 firm: it fights for increased market share (they usually engage in Offensive Marketing).

Number 3 firm (rest of them): it fights for profitable survival (they usually engage in Flank and Guerrilla Marketing.

We can relate more to these theories if we put brand names in competition to perspective. Just like GT Bank (let’s call it the number 1 banking firm in terms of number of customers it has). The trend you’d find is that it has the twice the size of the 2nd place (most likely the likes of Firstbank, Access and Zenith). Here’s another example, General Motors in America has almost twice the size of Chrysler and MTN has almost twice the size as Glo (the industry’s 2nd). This trend is very consistent with most players in every industry.

In most industries, the number one which refers to market leader (they are like the title defenders), an example will be GTBank and MTN; the number 2 brand (the challengers, maybe Firstbank and Globacom) and the third (usually a large number of firms can be in this category at the same time) referred to as “the rest of them”.

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EIZU UWAOMA The later are usually just trying to just make profit without a lot of immediate aspiration to go head to head or attempt to beat the number 1 and 2s.

Usually even if the entire market was given to them, they’d struggle for lack of production and management capacity problems. The truth is, no matter how much you wish, a 2-litre cup cannot contain 10 litres of water. Most of us with our business are probably here.

The number 1 company is usually the least innovative, though it may ironically have the largest Research and Development (R&D) budget. They are usually big enjoying macroeconomic incentives and economies of scale but it is usually very slow to change. But the number 3 usually produce the most innovations, which is most times stolen by the number 1. While number 1 and number 2 battles it out through head to head collisions with the later playing defensive and offensive market strategy respectively; the number 3 guys are advised to concentrate on a niche market. Guerrilla marketing is recommended for the number 3.

Business is like a game of football. It is uninteresting and almost meaningless without an opposing team. In the words of Shiv Nadal, “adaptability and constant innovation is key to the survival of any company operating in a competitive market”. I look forward to driving that innovation with your firm.

Uwaoma is a start-up, corporate restructuring and strategy consultant. contacteizu@gmail.com

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

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

Changing energy strategies of Nigeria’s major oil importers

A

world without oil is nearer than we had imagined.

Large consumers of oil are accelerating plans to switch to clean/ green energy. This means sooner than later, oil will lose its importance and consequently, the price will plummet. Thankfully, Nigeria is also gradually moving away from oil. In 2015, without realising it and for the first time since 1971, Nigeria earned more money from non-oil sources than from oil revenues. This, of course, was due to plummeting oil prices and a consequent rise in non-oil tax collection.

The government is now capitalising on the gains by ramping up efforts to diversify Nigeria’s economy and revenue sources away from oil. The reforms must be fundamental and far-reaching to ensure the country finally and decisively

moves away from oil as the foundation of its political economy.

India, the largest importer of Nigerian crude, has been making big push for electric cars to solve the country’s unbearable pollution problem. Although, its transport minister’s boast in 2017 to shock the automobile world by moving India to 100 percent electric cars by 2030 is unrealisable, the country’s commitment to clean energy is unmistakable. It has signalled its intention to become a “global hub of manufacturing electric vehicles.” More concretely, it recently laid out plans to convert its fleet of buses to electric vehicles.

China, another high-fuel consuming country, is already the world’s largest electric market. It has the world’s largest network of charging stations for electric vehicles and is also the world’s largest manufacturer of batteries – a critical component

of electric cars.

Most countries in Europe – another key destination for Nigerian crude – have set targets to phase out conventional combustion engine cars latest by 2040.

These fundamental energy changes across the world will not only have a huge impact on the price of oil globally, it will directly affect Nigeria and the amount of revenues it can get from oil.

Perhaps, it is that realisation and the revenue challenge brought by lower oil prices that has led to the current aggressive move towards tax and revenue collection by the federal government. This is a good first step. For long, dependence on oil money has made us lazy and unwilling to realise our tax and revenuegenerating potentials as a country. This needs to change.

Nigeria must now develop also a duty-based civic culture

that will lead to a much more productive social contract between the government and the people. This will be the permanent solution to the problem of wanton corruption and lack of accountability and transparency in government.

The government must also ensure that its aggressive tax compliance and revenue drives complies fully with the law to guide against cases of shakedowns, double taxation and infringement on rights of individuals and businesses.

Much more fundamental however, is the need to develop a strategy for fully diversifying the country’s economy and revenue sources. We believe that should be one of the key functions of the recently constituted Economic Advisory Council and not the duplication of the functions of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as the president has asked them to do.

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Elizabeth Warren thinks big in battle to face Donald Trump Democrats like her bold agenda, but moving too far from the centre could be a risk for the party

Demetri Sevastopulo

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fter the Democratic presidential contenders gathered in Des Moines on Friday for a dinner that often sets the tone for Iowa’s crucial February caucus, many of the headlines were dominated by an incautious remark by Pete Buttigieg.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, one of the surprise packages in the Democratic primaries who has been quickly gaining momentum in Iowa, suggested that the race was now a contest between himself and Elizabeth Warren.

“This is getting to be a two-way,” Mr Buttigieg told The Circus, a Showtime programme about the 2020 election.

Some dismissed his comment as hubris. But it highlighted an indisputable fact: over the past two months, Ms Warren has climbed in the polls to the point where rivals now single out the Massachusetts senator as the biggest threat.

While Ms Warren, 70, trails Joe Biden in national polls, she has led the former vice-president since September in Iowa and New Hampshire, the two states that vote first in the primary process and where polls are often viewed as more reliable at this point given voters’ exposure to the candidates.

Her rise to frontrunner status in the early races has come as a surprise to many in the party who once saw her as a wonky bankruptcy law expert.

But over the past 10 months, she has presented a very different image by describing her ordinary upbringing in Oklahoma and her struggle as a single mother to establish a career that took her from public school teacher to renowned Harvard University law professor.

The surge in support for a candidate who wants to radically restructure aspects of the US economy has also crystallised the anguished debate within the party about how best to challenge Donald Trump. While moderates warn against moving too far from the centre, others want to channel the energy on the left of the party and point out that some “radical” ideas such as wealth taxes are actually genuinely popular.

Charlie Cook, a political commentator, reflects the concerns aired by many moderate Democrats. “It comes down to risk tolerance, how much risk will Democrats be willing to take in order to nominate someone with an agenda that many are sympathetic to but may make it more difficult to beat Trump.”

Ms Warren is unapologetic in her insistence that the Democrats offer voters bold change. During a three-day visit to Iowa and New Hampshire the week before the dinner in Des Moines, she drew large, passionate crowds at rallies where she vowed to take on big finance, big pharma, big tech and billionaires.

Her panoply of plans include making college free, cancelling student debt and a host of other progressive ideas that Mr Trump will label as “socialist” giveaways. Her pitch is that she wants to help Americans who’ve been pushed to the “ragged edge of the middle class” by corrupt business and government.

“When I was a girl, a full-time

minimum wage job in America would support a family of three . . . Today, a full-time minimum wage job will not keep a momma and a baby out of poverty,” she told a packed hall at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. “That is wrong and that is why I am in this fight.”

At rallies from Ames in Iowa to Dartmouth in New Hampshire, she was introduced by young women whose lives had echoes of the hurdles she once faced. When she was young in Oklahoma, her family fell on hard times, and later as a divorced, single mother she once lost a teaching job when she showed up visibly pregnant for a new term.

Athena Sade-Whiteside, a young black woman who ran away from home at 16 and is studying to be an opera singer, says Ms Warren has appeal because she has experienced the struggles of ordinary Americans. “She’s a real American,” she says. “What we need in the White House is not someone who has had everything handed to them but someone who has had to work for it.”

Ms Warren has built up a compelling narrative that — combined with a very well organised campaign — has resurrected a once-faltering presidential bid.

“It’s never a good sign when you have to number your husbands,” Ms Warren joked in Cedar Falls, using a self-deprecating line that she sometimes employs as her second husband Bruce Mann watches from the sidelines with their dog Bailey.

In Iowa, she has 22 per cent support against 16 per cent for Mr Biden, who has fallen into third behind Mr Buttigieg. In New Hampshire, she leads Mr Biden 25-21 per cent. And in California, which has become more important after moving its vote forward from June to March, she leads Mr Biden by one percentage point.

‘

When I was a girl, a full-time minimum wage job in America would support a family of three . . . Today, a full-time minimum wage job will not keep a momma and a baby out of poverty,” she told a packed hall at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls

FT

Ghana’s Union of Trades Association calls to boycott Nigerian products

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t came as no shock to me when the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) called on the Government of Ghana to close its borders to Nigerian products and further urged Ghanaians to boycott Nigerian products in retaliation to the closure of Nigerian land borders.

The call for a boycott of Nigerian products was made by the secretary of the association and repeated by the national president of the association Obeng Joseph in a television interview with JoyNews where he argued strongly for the closure of Ghana borders to Nigerian goods as a retaliatory measure.

Explaining the reasons for the closure, Godfrey Onyeama, the Nigerian Foreign Minister stressed that Ghana was not the target. The border needed to be closed because goods were being smuggled into Nigeria through the Benin-Nigeria border and that criminal elements including kidnappers and cattle rustlers infiltrate into Nigeria through its land borders.

He added that Nigeria spends huge parts of its budget in combatting insecurity which is partly aided by the porosity of its borders.

Are Nigerian borders really porous?

If Nigerian borders are truly porous then this porosity is an artefact of negligence and corruption. Nigerian borders have more security agents than any other land border in Africa. In July this year, I travelled through the ECOWAS road that connects Abidjan, Accra, Lome and Contonu through to Lagos. From Accra through

Lome to Cotonou, I met less than ten checkpoints on the road. Immediately I crossed the Seme border from the Benin side to the Nigerian side, I was thrown into a turf of novel experience. Varied security outfits mounted the roads in close succession with their men armed to the teeth. I was taken aback for some minutes, I felt as if I was in a conflict zone.

Security officers which comprised of a combination of Police, Immigration and Customs officers were adequately complemented by the men of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) alongside its sister outfit, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and a lot more men in uniform that I could not adequately identify.

Ironically, no sincere checks were conducted on the crossing vehicles. As soon as the vehicles were stopped, drivers hurriedly dished out N200 notes to the security agents to escape being searched. If the security operatives wanted more money, they requested that the boots be opened, but smart drivers never actually carried rice in their boots. Nigeria needs to weigh the economic and social consequences that have come and are still arriving as concomitants of the closure.

Can Nigeria actually close its borders? My personal experience When I made the return journey from Lagos back to Ghana at the end of August this year, I noticed that the characteristically teeming population at the Seme border had become www.businessday.ng

TSEER TOBIAS

only marginal.

The President of Nigeria had ordered a partial closure of the Nigerian side of the border.

The immigration officers consequently ordered that only persons with a valid passport could cross into the Benin Republic. I attempted crossing without a passport and was asked to pay N10 000 ($28) before I could be allowed to cross.

Hitherto, one could cross with just N1000 ($2.9) through the okada boys (commercial motorbike riders). I crossed using my passport but quickly noticed an influx of okada men from a nearby bush into the Benin Republic. I quickly inquired and was told people could be crossed by the okada boys but they have to follow a road discovered a fortnight ago when the border was closed. I quickly requested to be crossed back to Nigeria using this novel road.

I was told to pay N3000 ($8.33). I did gladly but almost ended the adventure after a few minutes into the journey as the wheels of the motorcycle was buried in muds, my vision thwarted by forested trees and gunshots were heard from close range. The okada man, however, assured me of my safety and off we went.

A few minutes later we stumbled over a succession of roadblocks. A distance of less than 2km had over 7 road blocks manned by Nigerian security agencies. At each point, money was extorted from the okada boys under obvious gun threats.

My okada rider was obliged to tip the soldier,

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“Warren is a very effective campaigner, weaving together her personal life story into her policy agenda, it makes for a very effective narrative that is going over well . . . in early primary and caucus states,” says Mr Cook.

In Iowa, the strength of her organisation was clear. On a rainy night in Ames, she drew 1,200 people to a rally at Iowa State University where her staff signed up volunteers as she posed for selfies.

“Warren has a fantastic campaign organisation in Iowa,” says Suzanne Zilber, a psychologist who was at the event and who said it was the best operation she had seen since moving to the state 29 years ago. “She invested her financial resources in having organisers in Iowa earlier than any of the other candidates.”

Many party insiders questioned her decision in the spring to eschew fundraisers with big donors. Her finance director quit as a result and her mediocre $6m fundraising that quarter prompted concerns over her viability.

But donations have since surged. She raised $24m in the third quarter, coming just behind Bernie Sanders, the Socialist Vermont senator, and hauling in $9m more than Mr Biden.

The clearest sign that Ms Warren has become the candidate to beat came in October’s Democratic presidential debate. She displaced Mr Biden, whose son’s business ties in Ukraine form the backdrop to impeachment proceedings against Mr Trump, as the recipient of most of the attacks on the stage.

As the criticism grows, she has kept a disciplined focus on her “I have a plan” message. She has introduced so many plans — 108 on her campaign website — that Ashley Nicole Black, a comedian, asked on Twitter if she had “a plan to fix my love life”. Ms Warren responded: “DM me and let’s figure this out”.

police and immigration men and after that went the boss. All these expenses came from the N3000 I had paid. When we crossed to the Nigerian side, I told my okada rider I had forgotten an item in Benin Republic and needed to be crossed back. As we made our way back, my okada man had to pay the same ‘taxes’ he paid just a few minutes ago while we crossed.

When we finally crossed back to the Benin Republic, I told my okada rider that I was heading to Togo. He offered to take me to a place where I can get a taxi that would send me straight to the Aflao border.

Does this justify the Border Closure?

Nigeria obviously has done a lot of wrongs in closing the borders. As a compelling power among ECOWAS states, Nigeria needs not to create a bad example particularly after signing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) Nigeria could explore internal mechanisms to deal with the influx of arms and illegal goods into the country by tackling corruption among border management agencies, improving border management facilities and imitating best practices in border management such as the Integrated Border Management System. This will better prevent the smuggling of goods, proliferation of arms and the influx of illegal persons.

Tseer Tobias is a Ghanaian of Nigerian origin, a Ph.D. student at the University of Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

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cityfile Kaduna donates 85 vehicles to security agencies

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L- R: Tola Bademosi, managing director, BD Consult Ltd; Wadudu Ajani Dehinde, Oloruba of Oruba Ota; Rokibat Salau of Sango Junior High School Beneficiary of Dufil Educational Scholarship; Tope Ashiwaju, group public relations and event manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, and Ismail Salako, vice principal, Iganmode Juniour Grammar School Ota, during Dufil Four Million Naira Educational Scholarship Donation to 40 junior students of Ota Community in Ogun State.

Cattle dealers raise alarm over harassment by illegal revenue collectors

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malgamated Union of Foodstuffs and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria has raised an alarm over multiple taxation from illegal gangs in different parts of the country.

The national president of the association, Taheer Ibrahim, told journalists in Abuja that the multiple taxation had led to hike in prices of some commodities which ought not to be.

According to him, such practices were severe in Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kogi, Taraba, Cross River, Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi States.

He cited instances where members were

beaten while transporting goods to different parts of the country.

“We want to inform the world of the widespread harassment of our members all over the country by illegal gangs.

“Their mode of operation is that they disguise as private revenue collectors for some state and local governments; their habits are to mount road blocks in the night and demand for taxes and levies from our members under severe duress.

“We have had incidences where our members were beaten by the illegal gangs. We believe the rampant defiance of good

conduct by the gangs who claim to have been outsourced for revenue collection by states and local governments is contrary to all laws of the land.”

He further added that the multiple taxation for a truck load of cattle often amount to about N450, 000, which is higher than the transportation cost of N330, 000.

Ibrahim said that the union had reported the cases to the Inspector General of Police, ministers of agriculture and labour to stop the menace, adding that its members would not hesitate to withdraw their services if nothing was done about the matter.

He said that the law-

ful conduct of all would e n s u re t h a t c o n s u m e r goods were supplied to Nigerians at affordable prices and for the general well being of the country.

Emmanuel Ugboaja, secretary general, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), expressed concern over the matter, urging states and local governments to streamline their revenue collection methods to ensure transparency.

According to Uboaja, it is important for the tiers of government to check excesses of illegal road blocks in guise for revenue collection, pledging NLC’s commitment to help to stem the tide.

LASG seeks collaboration to grow tourism sector SEYI JOHN SALAU

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agos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has reiterated his administration’s desire to grow the state’s tourism to global standard while also calling for the collaboration of the private sector to strengthen the sector.

“We have a responsibility, no doubt, but we cannot do it alone. We need the Federal Government, the private sector, and the residents of Lagos State. I have already shared some of the interventions of the Federal Government, especially in infrastructure.”

The governor stated this in his keynote address at the 2019 Tourism and Hospitality Forum of the Institute of Directors’ (IoD) Nigeria, held recently in Lagos with the theme, “driving sus-

tainable tourism through governance, policy and infrastructure.”

“For tourism to thrive we must have stories to tell and to sell to the world. We must sensitise people to the many attractions on offer in Lagos, and we must package these attractions in a manner that will intrigue and excite and entertain people,” said Sanwo-Olu. According to Sanwo-Olu, the state government wants to be business enabler, but a number of vital elements must align and work together to attract and support tourism for it to thrive in the country.

“Security is top of that list. Even as it is clear that there is no city in the world that is one hundred percent safe, tourists must be able to feel safe enough to visit and spend time in a city. Here in Lagos we are investing in www.businessday.ng

security, and also counting on the support of the private sector, through their contributions to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF).

“Infrastructure is another key element of the framework required for tourism to thrive. Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, and it has been challenging ensuring that the infrastructure keeps up with the demographics. We need to move larger numbers of people around the city, and in faster and more efficient ways. And we cannot do this by our roads alone, considering that in the first place we are a relatively small landmass, and limited in our ability to expand.

“Rail is also a priority for us; a functioning light rail system is long overdue in a city with the economic potential of Lagos. The Blue Line, which connects the

northern suburbs of the city with Lagos Island, will be completed and ready for operations before the end of 2020,” said Sanwo-Olu, stating that ability to create efficient and affordable mass transit alternatives that will connect and open up Lagos see positive effects in attracting tourists,” SanwoOlu stated.

Chris Okunowo, president and chairman of council, IoD Nigeria said tourism has evolved to become one of the fastest growing industries across the world.

According to him, the growth has been driven by advanced technology in travel and an increased holiday culture.

“However, while several African countries have increased the scope of tourism to meet global benchmarks, Nigeria’s approach appears to be stuck in the past,”Okunowo stated.

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aduna State government on Tuesday doled out 85 operational vehicles to security agencies in the state as part of measures to tackle rising cases of banditry and kidnappings.

Governor Nasiru El-Rufai who handed over the vehicles in Kaduna, said the gesture was to assist the federal security agencies in the task of securing the state, its people, properties and livelihoods.

He assured that the government was making efforts to address the security challenges, including extensive security deployments and operations to contain and neutralise the criminals.

“Aside from the vehicles on ground, we have acquired and put at the disposal of the security agencies, technology that can assist the state to fight back and reassert its authority.

“We have also established the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs to focus and coordinate our efforts and cooperation with the security agencies”.

The governor added that the administration would continue to devote necessary resources to address the security challenges and support the agencies.

As we combat banditry, I urge all residents of Kaduna state to stand together, support the security agencies and report all suspicious characters and activities,

he added.

El-Rufai expressed gratitude to all the security agencies, traditional, religious and community leaders, as well as the Judiciary and the State Peace Commission for supporting the government to entrench tolerance and peaceful coexistence among the people of the state.

In his address, the Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan appreciated the cordial relationship between the government and security agencies in tackling the scourge of banditry and criminality in the state.

“Our appreciation of these security forces is something we simply cannot overstate. We have found in them staunch and ever willing partners. “ We a re i m m e n s e l y grateful for their supportive stance and do not take for granted the numerous sacrifices that they make in demonstrating that support,” he said.

“The improved mobility the vehicles will offer means that our security operatives can respond faster to distress calls. “It means that the war can be taken right to the criminals’ dens and hiding places.

“It also means that citizens can feel safer because of the more visible security presence across our metropolis and the state in general,” the commissioner stressed.

Lagos: Operators want sanctions against illegal dumping of refuse

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rivate Sector Participators (PSP) in waste management in Lagos State have called for stiffer punishment for anyone caught dumping refuse indiscriminately on the road in the state.

Olabode Coker, chairman of the PSP in Agbado O ke - O d o L o ca l C ou n c i l D e v e l o p m e nt A re a (LCDA), lamented that indiscriminate dumping of refuse was a major challenge facing PSP operators in the state.

“A lot of residents do not want to pay for PSP services, they prefer taking their refuse to medians, road side and bus stops, because one way or the other, it has been encouraged.

“As a matter of compulsion, we have to go there and pick it up; and because @Businessdayng

of that, they keep doing it.

“G overnment must bring stiffer punishments and sanctions on anyone caught, or who refused to make use of PSP in the community,” Coker said on Tuesday.

The PSP chairman urged the state government to urgently find solutions to the challenges of delay of trucks at dump sites.

He further called on the government to urgently attend to the treatment and maintenance of dump sites to enable PSP operators do their work effectively.

“Many of us stayed for many days at the dump sites due to lack of access road to the site; many vehicles are damaged in the process of removing them from the sites, thus posing a lot of challenges to the operators,” he said.

Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES & MARKETS

15

COMPANY NEWS ANALYSIS INSIGHT

OIL & GAS

Air Liquide Nigeria turns to investors for N2.1bn OLUFIKAYO OWOEYE

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ir Liquide Nigeria Plc, a listed entity on the NASD OTC platform, is offering subscription for a Rights Issue of 414 million units of ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N5 per share, on the basis of 23 new shares for every 10 units held as of October 15, 2019.

The company, a supplier of industrial, specialty and medical gases, in a circular said the net issue proceeds estimated at N2.01 billion after deducting issue costs of N50.30 million, representing 2.43 percent of the gross issue proceeds would be used to pay down its debt obligations and finance capital expenditure and working capital requirements.

The offer which opened on November 4 would close on November 29,

2019.

Debt obligations include repayment of intercompany bridge loan facility, settlement of foreign currency supplier liabilities, part payment for the purchase, installation, and maintenance of the new Air Separation Unit, repayment of bank overdraft, working capital requirements.

As at the date of this rights circular, the company had an outstanding debt balance of N1.2 billion as follows: N854 million intercompany bridge loan facility from Air Liquide Finance and N300 million bank overdraft from United Bank of Africa Plc. According to Sunday Afolabi, Chairman, Air Liquide Nigeria, the rights issue will enable the company to strengthen its capital base to support business growth and exploit value-accretive opportunities whilst giving

Air Liquide Nigeria greater financial flexibility.

Rights issue is an invitation by a company to existing shareholders to purchase additional new shares in the company.

Cash-strapped companies can turn to rights issues to raise money when they really need it. However, shareholders are not obligated to exercise this right.

In a rights offering, each shareholder receives the right to purchase a prorata allocation of additional shares at a specific price and within a specific period (usually 16 to 30 days).

The subscription price at which each share may be purchased is generally discounted relative to the current market price.

Air Liquide Nigeria is a supplier of industrial, specialty and medical gases in Nigeria, incorporated in 1960 as a private limited liability company,

trading under the name, Port Harcourt Gas Producers Limited until 29 June 1966 when the Company’s name was changed to Gas Producers Limited. The Company commissioned

its first plant at Okehi Street Port Harcourt, in 1960.

Air Liquide Nigeria is a subsidiary of Air Liquide Group, which holds a 61.11percent equity stake

in the company through Air Liquide Afrique S.A. Air Liquide Group is the world leader in gas technologies and services for the healthcare sector and industrial space.

L-R: Bonaventure Okhaimo, chief operating officer, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN); Ibrahim Boyi, keynote speaker and managing director/CEO, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria; Babagana Wakil, chief of staff to the governor of Borno State; Tony Okpanachi, managing director of DBN and Ijeoma Ozulumba, chief financial officer of DBN at the maiden DBN MSME summit in Maiduguri, Borno State

LOGISTICS

C & I Leasing gets SEC approval for N3.23bn rights issue OLUWASEGUN OLAKOYENIKAN

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he Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved an application filed by C & I Leasing regarding an equity capital raising worth N3.23 billion through a rights issue, the company said Wednesday in a notice filed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The approval followed plans by the publiclyowned support and logistics company to sell new 539,003,333 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N6 per share to its existing shareholders on the basis of four new ordinary shares for every three ordinary shares held.

“The company has obtained an approval from the Securities Exchange Commission to conduct the signing ceremony with regards to the proposed rights issue,” C & I Leasing said in the notice issued

by Mbanugo Udenze & Co, the Company Secretary.

T h e c o m p a n y ’s planned rights issue offering is coming months after it conducted share

reconstruction exercise aimed at consolidating four ordinary shares into one ordinary share.

Only shareholders whose names appear in the company’s Register of Members at the close of business on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, would be qualified for the planned rights issue offer, according to the company.

C & I Leasing provides transportation logistics solutions in the form of car and marine rental, fleet management as well as human resource solutions. Its support services are provided along three business lines; fleet management, personnel outsourcing and marine services.

According to the company, the application list is expected to open on November 11, 2019, or any other date approved

by Nigeria’s capital market regulator and shall open for a maximum period of 28 days. However, this is subject to the approval of the executed offer documents by the SEC. Shares of the company remained unchanged at

N6.60 after the close of business on Wednesday at the Lagos bourse, bringing its return since the start of this year to 270.8 percent. This makes the stock, which has been affected by the share reconstruction exercise, the top performer

in the market.

Rights circular will be distributed to shareholders while application forms would also be made available on the website of the company’s Registrars for ease of access, the notice read. The company ad-

vised shareholders to contact their stockbrokers and other financial advisers for more details on the offer.

Gross earnings of the company surged by onethird to N26.55 billion in the first nine months of this year from N19.86

billion in the previous year. But higher operating costs weighed on the gains, causing its net profit for the period to fall by 6.67 percent to N1.20 billion compared with N1.28 billion achieved a year earlier.

L-R: Ituah Ighodalo, managing partner, SIAO; Dolapo Fasawe, general manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA); Sewanu Toplonu Adebodun, director, research and development department, LASEPA, and Obiora Osokola, head, consulting, SIAO, during a courtesy visit by SIAO to LASEPA in Lagos.

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Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES&MARKETS

Business Event

TECHNOLOGY

PayJoy announces compatibility program with six OEMs ...enables smartphone locking technology on more devices JUMOKE AKIYODE-LAWANSON

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ayJoy Inc, provider of consumer finance via smartphones, has launched its compatibility program for smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), starting with agreements with four key smartphone brands in emerging markets: Transsion Group, TCL/Alcatel, D.Light and Hisense, building on existing compatibility with Samsung and LG. These four smartphone brands achieved compatibility by incorporating PayJoy Access in their systems. PayJoy Access is free firmware technology developed by PayJoy to facilitate fast and efficient integration of PayJoy Lock, its industry-leading smartphone locking technology for OEMs. Compatibility with PayJoy’s patented technology enables retailers to offer these smartphones on installment payment plans secured by PayJoy, thereby increasing market access and affordability for the billions of users who have

yet to adopt a smartphone.

“By licensing PayJoy Access, these OEMs have shown a strategic commitment to expanding access to their devices for the next billion consumers, which will in turn increase OEM’s device sales,” Mark Heynen, PayJoy’s co-founder and CBO said.

“PayJoy continues to welcome additional OEMs to our compatibility process and look forward to additional compatibility announcements over the coming months,” Heynen said.

PayJoy Access enables compatibility with the PayJoy Lock, a patented and purpose-built app that facilitates finance for the underbanked consumer segment in developing markets by virtually “collateralizing” the device.

Additionally, the app infor ms the end-us er when their next installment is due and options for paying. If a payment is missed, the device “locks,” limiting its functionality to emergency calls and communicating with the lender.By collateralizing the smartphone with Lock,

PayJoy dramatically improves repayment rates, reducing costs to lenders who can pass the savings on to consumers, thus making smartphones more affordable.

Additionally, similar benefits apply to MNOs who wish to extend subsidy offers in the prepaid segment.

I n M e x i c o, P a y J o y uses Lock to offer its own monthly payment plans based on this technology and found the method so effective as to reduce its consumer default risk by 50 percent while enabling increased approval rates and with no late fees. This approach recently earned PayJoy a Net Promoter Score of 80.

PayJoy licenses Lock to lenders worldwide to improve their portfolios’ payments performance, most recently with leading institutions in 22 countries including Panama, Guatemala, Ecuador, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, and Indonesia.

According to the company; additional commercial launches are expected later this year.

L-R: Olawale Bello, MD WAVL Properties Limited, Freeman Osonuga, MD Adloyalty Business Network, Adeyanju Olajumoke, Head of Admin, WAVL Properties Ltd and Zino Ogregre, General Manager, WAVL Properties Ltd at the ground-breaking ceremony of Plush Magodo GRA recently

L-R: Denzil Kentebe, former executive secretary/chief executive officer of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB); Simbi Wabote, executive secretary, NCDMB; Iroghama Obuoforibo, chief operating officer, Starzs Investments Company Limited, and Ernest Nwapa, pioneer executive secretary, NCDMB, at the NCDMB stakeholders retreat in Akwa Ibom.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

PAC Holdings conference opens investment opportunities between Uganda, Nigeria IFEOMA OKEKE

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anAfrican Capital Holdings (PAC Holdings) in Lagos held a business lunch to host members of both Uganda and Nigeria to explore and engage in conversations on economic opportunities between the two countries.

The business lunch which was attended by over 60 Nigerian CEOs cutting across different sectors including Oil and Gas, Infrastructure, Finance, Tourism and Hospitality, ICT and Media, Telecommunication, Government and more, also had in attendance, Nelson Ocheger the High Commissioner, Ugandan High Commission to Nigeria, as well as members of Executive Management, DMA Group.

Speaking by way of opening remark, Chris Oshiafi, Chief Executive Officer, PAC Holdings commented that whilst it appears that Nigeria and Uganda share a lot in common, from similar his-

tory, characteristics and experience, both countries may not have deeply harnessed strengths on the business front in the areas of trade and investments.

According to the 2017 World Bank report, Uganda’s export to Nigeria stood at $929,000, with majorly food products accounting for 83.54 percent.

“Today’s meeting is particularly exciting because it reflects our commitment to engage the Ugandan and Nigerian business communities and the aspiration to tackle some of the bottlenecks that may have abetted trade relationship”, he told the audience as he pledged the support and preparedness of PAC Holdings to ensure its success.

Also speaking, Nelson Ocheger, the High Commissioner, Ugandan High Commission to Nigeria, thanked the management of PAC Holdings for taking the initiative through the Business

Lunch, as he affirmed that both countries stood to reap a number of benefits including increased export and import trade and enhanced access to human capital.

He further said that, ‘Uganda has proven itself to be a highly stable country over the past 2 decades, standing as the second fore runner at attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows within the EAC.” The Business Lunch was also attended by top Nigerian Industry Chief Executive Officers and Management and staff of PanAfrican Capital Holdings as well as by Senior Management of DMA Group.

PanAfrican Capital Holdings is a Proprietary Investment Company with special focus on key sectors across emerging and frontier markets in Africa including financial services, hospitality and entertainment, real estate and infrastructure, agro-allied and FMCG, healthcare and ICT and Media.

www.businessday.ng

L-R: Ben Langat, managing director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO; Muhammed Sabo Nanono, minister of agriculture and rural development, and Ore Famurewa, executive director of corporate affairs, during a recent courtesy visit to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Abuja as they partner for sustainable dairy development in Nigeria

L-R: Isiah Bozimo, Partner, Broderick Bozimo & Company; Folake Sadiq, Chair, CIArb Young Member Group Nigeria; Nathan Searle, Partner, Hogan Lovells; Laura Alakija, Representative, International Chamber of Commerce- Young Arbitrators Forum, Africa, Middle East and Turkey and Ademola Bamgbose, Partner, Hogan Lovells at the Joint Training of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators-Young Members Group Nigeria and International Chamber of Commerce Young Arbitrators Forum in Lagos.

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@Businessdayng

Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

MONEYINSIGHT How credit bureaus are expanding access to credit in Nigeria FRANK ELEANYA

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redit providers may be in the business of helping people achieve their dreams by making available finance when needed. But they are certainly not not-for-profit organisations. The credit they give are not often personal but funds they received from investors whom they are obligated to make a return at a specific time.

Credit providers make money from the interest rate they charge on loans. In Nigeria, the rates vary widely from the threshold of 13.5 percent set by the Central Bank. While most banks charge between 21 to 26 percent for individuals and businesses, nonbank lenders can go as high as 35 to 50 percent.

Notwithstanding, access to credit is not as ubiquitous as many would expect. For instance, it took an imposition of a 60 percent loan-to-deposit threshold to get Nigerian banks to increase lending to small businesses. Currently, the CBN has increased the landing target for banks to

65 percent.

But banks’ willingness to give collateral-free loans to businesses and people often depends on the amount of information they possess the recipients. Small businesses and individuals are leaving a vast amounts of digital footprints and data trails on mobile and online payment platforms, social networks, and other

African tech hubs get least funding from Venture Capital, University FRANK ELEANYA

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enture Capital and Universities are the least sources of funding for the majority of technology hubs across Africa, according to a report by Afrilabs and Briter Bridges.

The report which derived its results from data collected from over 90 Africa tech ecosystem builders and hubs, found that while 60 percent of all respondents said they had received external funding, corporate sponsors, philanthropic organisations, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are the most active funders.

Venture Capital and Universities contribute 5 percent and 3 percent respectively compared to corporate sponsors which account for 21 percent of total funding.

Philanthropic organisations and foundation/grants bring in 16 and 15 percent respectively while private investors account for 12 percent of funding.

The 5 percent for universities is hardly surprising considering that the tech ecosystem is only recently beginning to build a bridge between it and the academia in Africa. Africa academia has long been accused of being disconnected from the latest developments in the world of technology and has done little to build a relationship with tech entrepreneurs setting up shop across the continent.

A hub which is defined as a centre, structure or network

credit in Nigeria.

A credit bureau refers to an entity that collects and shares information about the creditworthiness of individuals and businesses. Essentially, they are set up to gather information about people’s loan performance and the information gathered includes previous loans that have already been paid, new loans that

have just been collected, how the loans have or are being serviced and if there are any outstanding balance. It also includes the contact addresses of the borrower.

Credit bureau operations in Nigeria go back to 2003. Today, there are only three national credit bureaus licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. This include CreditRegistry Plc; FirstCentral Credit Bureau; and CRC Credit Bureau. Recently, the three bureaus formed an association called the Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria (CBAN). The association has a mandate to promote the development and use of credit reporting in Nigeria.

Apart from banks and credit firms, companies outside the financial services sector also use the services of credit bureaus. This is because the credit bureaus also serve as an accountability mechanism that influences behaviour and stimulates honouring business agreements and obligations.

In other words, they champion a high level of financial responsibility of the public. They also make possible the processing of millions of loan decisions everyday and in an automated fashion.

Four ‘Made in Nigeria’ footwear makers in Lagos entrepreneurs can learn from STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

comprising of actors supporting or facilitating the development of an environment conducive to entrepreneurship or innovation, has often been projected as critical to driving the digital economy. Their ability to harness talents and ideas is particularly beneficial for universities which are also a breeding ground for unskilled talents.

“Insights from the hub managers also suggest that greater financial support and collaboration within the ecosystem are vital success factors for hubs to efficiently and sustainably deliver their services,” said Dario Giuliani, founder and director of Briter Bridges.

While most of the hubs said they have received less than $100,000 from various sources, a significant portion is dedicated to paying salaries and upgrade facilities. Energy and rent-related costs often depend on where the hubs are located. For those in Nigeria, faced with unreliable access to electricity or increasing rent, a lot more pressure is brought to bear on the business.

The study found over 110 hubs have shut operations in the last few years due to bankruptcy, pivoting, or the expiration of their mandate.

Africa currently has 643 hubs including coworking spaces, incubators, accelerators, and hybrid innovation hubs affiliated with government, universities, or corporations. Nigeria has the largest number of hubs with 90 located in the country. www.businessday.ng

non-banking platforms such as online record keeping and trade transactions.

These vast amounts of digitized alternative data when mined can aid financial institutions in the decision-making process and promote financial inclusion. This is where credit bureaus are playing a significant role in helping expand access to

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ome studies have shown that human beings learn by imitation. For entrepreneurs wanting to earn a living through shoemaking, these four models serve as examples.

Hesey Designs Hesey Designs is an Africaninspired fashion label that makes beautifully handcrafted shoes, apparel and fashion accessories (bags, purses etc.).

The brain behind this fashion label is Odiete Eseoghene, the 25-year-old Nigerian-born fashion entrepreneur, who only graduated from university less than two years ago.

Since hitting the market with her creative designs, just after she graduated from university, Odiete has won several awards and hit the spotlight when she designed the sneakers are worn

by Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, during the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s new uniforms and 30th Anniversary celebration in London.

The young designer started her business with less than $100 in capital, from her savings.

Through sheer determination and passion, she has raised about $60,000 in extra capital to further grow her business.

Odiete’s fashion pieces are primarily sold through its website, commerce stores and a few retail and distribution outlets

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and she’s looking to partner with more retail outlets.

Mona Matthews Mona Matthews is a Nigerian company founded by Monalisa Abimbola Azeh in 2002. The company produces hand-made shoes with matching bags for women, as well as high-quality leather footwear for men. They create whatever shoe size a customer demands. Their styles are very fashion-forward and trendy.

The company offers bespoke services as well as ready-towear shoes and made out of the best quality materials available. Taking advantage of many exotic materials they have a wide variety of colours and styles, such as raw silk, satin, Swarovski crystals and various types of leather.

T. T. Dalk T. T. Dalk is a Nigerian-based fashion brand that is redefining the African footwear industry.

It makes simple, trendy and elegant footwear for both men and women that appeal to a @Businessdayng

wide range of consumer tastes.

Temilade Osinfade is the founder and Creative Director at T.T Dalk. During his days at the university, he would draw out footwear designs on paper for local shoe craftsmen to make for him. His shoes and slippers caught the attention of other students and that’s how the T.T Dalk footwear business was born.

T.T Dalk is revolutionising the local footwear business in Nigeria and has been featured on several international fashion shows and runways. He primarily sells his shoes on online stores and a few boutique retail outlets in Nigeria’s major cities.

Haus of Hercules Haus of Hercules is a footwear and accessories brand based in Lagos, Nigeria. It specialises in simple yet stylish and exquisite handmade shoes.

The HOH collection includes loafers, oxfords, brogues, toms and moccasins made from luxurious fabrics such as velvet and a soft suede and traditional fabrics like denim, tweed and batik-patterned fabrics.

The brain behind Haus of Hercules is Christopher Jeje, a young Nigerian designer and entrepreneur. He started this impressive footwear business in 2010 with just over $30 in startup capital. Since then, HOH has showcased on fashion runways in Lagos, Accra and London.

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Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

IMPACT INVESTING Impact investors that support Sustainable Development Goals In Association With

TELIAT SULE

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how their impact strategies can contribute to this global effort, and some are already actively leveraging the SDG goals as a framework for their investment”, GIIN said.

There are quite a number of impact investors that have been supporting SDGs from information extracted from GIIN’s Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Impact Investing. These impact investors which have channelled their investments

“

to support SDGs are Encourage Capital, PGGM, RobecoSAM, Triodos Investment Management, LGT Impact Ventures and Cordaid.

Encourage Capital is based in New York, the United States of America(USA), and it is an asset management firm with interest in financial inclusion, climate change, sustainable infrastructure, sustainable sea food and water conservation. It was founded in 2014, via a combination of

For years, impact investors around the world have been demonstrating the full potential of the private sector to drive progress in areas such as affordable housing, access to financial services, and sustainable energy—impact areas that very clearly line up with SDGs www.businessday.ng

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t is over four years since countries of the world resolved to address the multifaceted problems of poverty, inequality, climate change and environmental degradation, which are encapsulated in the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the UN, the SDGs are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future are meant to map the essentials for a dignified life.

The SDGs have seventeen focus areas which are no poverty; zero hunger; good health and wellbeing; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequalities; sustainable cities and communities as well as climate actions. Others are life below water; life on land; peace, justice and strong institutions; and partnerships for the goals.

“Through the pledge to Leave No One Behind, countries have committed to fast-track progress for those furthest behind first.

That is why the SDGs are designed to bring the world to several lifechanging ‘zeros’, including zero poverty, hunger, AIDS and discrimination against women and girls”, UNDP stated on its official website.

“We support countries in achieving the SDGs through integrated solutions. Today’s complex challenges—from stemming the spread of disease to preventing conflict—cannot be tackled neatly in isolation. For UNDP, this means focusing on systems, root causes and connections between challenges—not just thematic sectors— to build solutions that respond to people’s daily realities”, the body further added.

In recognition of the roles of SDGs, the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) is mobilising its members to contribute their quotas to the attainment of SDGs. “For years, impact investors around the world have been demonstrating the full potential of the private sector to drive progress in areas such as affordable housing, access to financial services, and sustainable energy—impact areas that very clearly line up with SDGs. While it is still early days for the SDGs, the GIIN has heard from our members (who comprise the largest network of impact investors worldwide) that the impact investing community is eager to explore

Wolfensohn Fund Management, LP and EKO Asset Management Partners, LLC. With $255 million fund under management, its focus is on emerging markets. Using a bottom-up approach, the fund manager has made direct impact on the people and ecosystems and improved the investees’ business models.

PGGM is a pension fund manager based in Zeist, the Netherlands.

Established in 1969, it started its impact investing strategy in 2014 and presently has €8.9 billion under management. Its investments are in Europe and emerging markets.

PGGM prefers asset classes such as public equities, bonds, private equities, real assets, among others.

The areas of impact are climate change mitigation, water, food, and health.

PGGM believes that many institutions will key into the SDG projects because it aligns with their investment strategies, which means in not too distant future, there will be increased investment inflows @Businessdayng

into SDGs from impact investors.

RobecoSAM is an asset manager based in Zurich, Switzerland. It presently manages $10.7 billion in different asset classes and has significant interest in private equity, public equity and fixed income.

With a global focus, PGGM invests in projects that seek to improve access to clean water, health and food security. The SDG goals that align with its investment strategies allow PGGM to collect scores of non-financial impact metrics to monitor the progress being made in its impact investing activities.

Triodos Investment Management was established in 1990 with $3.5 billion assets under management. It is also based in Zeist, Netherlands. With geographic focus on Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East, its investments have been centred on inclusive finance, energy and climate, sustainable food and agriculture, sustainable real estate, and art and culture.

Another impact investor that supports SDGs is LGT Impact Venture. Established in 2007, the asset manager is based in Zurich, Switzerland and has $71.1 million fund under management. Asset classes include private debt and private equity, and LGT prefers areas such as Latin America, East Africa, Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom (UK).

Furthermore, it invests in education, healthcare, renewable energy, agriculture, information and communication technologies.

In 2015, LGT Impact Ventures’ investments reached 3.8 million disadvantaged people while its portfolio directly addresses 16 out of the 17 SDGs. Cordaid Investment Management BV is based in The Hague, Netherlands. A not-for-profit fund manager owned by the Catholic, the fund rates investment in private debt and private equity higher than any other. Its geographic focus includes Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Poverty eradication, financial inclusion, rural development, food security, and access to healthcare are areas the fund shares with SDGs. The increasing numbers of fund managers supporting SDGs through impact investing should be an inspiration to private equity firms in Nigeria to learn from the firms identified above about their strategies, plans and investment objectives, so that the Nigerian private equity firms can play a major role in the attainment of SDGs in this country.

Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

19

LEADINGWOMAN

Glowreeyah Braimah…on music, Law and fulfilling purpose to where I am today.

KEMI AJUMOBI

Did you always want to be a Lawyer?

It was not my utmost choice or desire to be a Lawyer. I would say it was simply a convenient decision. It seemed like the best thing to do at the time. Somehow, I felt that I would be a Diplomat in the Foreign Service.

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lowreeyah Braimah is a versatile and globally-acclaimed Kingdom Personality. As a distinct Worship-Leader and Music Minister, Glowreeyah has graciously been on various ministry, corporate, political and international platforms around the world.

As an insightful Speaker, Glowreeyah is highly sought after by Schools, Universities and other Radio/Media/Television platforms.

Most recently, she was featured on The Christian Broadcasting Network’s ‘Turning Point’ International Show and also on the Daystar Television Network USA as a special guest of the hosts, Marcus and Joni Lamb.

As a cerebral Lawyer, she has vast experience in the private sector particularly in Corporate Social Responsibility, Regulatory and Stakeholder Management.

As a Creativepreneur, she is the CEO of The Creatorium with an avid interest in the digital technology space. She is also an alumna of The University of Cambridge with an Executive Business Certificate in Strategic Digital Marketing.

As a witty Script-Writer, Glowreeyah wrote for Sesame Square Productions (Sesame Street Workshop International in conjunction with USAID).

As a hearty Humanitarian and a youngat-heart futuristic Pace-setter, she recently founded ZIDATA- a music, creative and social impact hub to mentor children and young creatives. Her goal is to chart a new path for

How has your legal background helped in your music career?

Music is a different swirl because there are certain unique challenges which policy or laws are yet to fully address or enforce. I would say being a Lawyer in the creative space allows me to be very eagle-eyed, a little more circumspect in my dealings and analysis of information.

The lyrics of your songs are deep...how are you inspired to write?

I am inspired to write by authenticity and relativity. I will never write a song that I can’t connect with in my spirit.

The popular song ‘Miracle Worker’... share the story behind the song. Are you surprised at its impact till date?

Miracle-Worker from The Expression Album was inspired by my 2 year old Niece who was in a coma at the time after undergoing a minor surgery. I was praying for her and I clearly heard the song in my left ear. Yes, it was a spiritual encounter. She was in that coma for nearly 3 weeks and this song was the only song that I could sing as a prayer for her. I recorded it in the studio with tears streaming down my face and a broken spirit. To think that my Niece recovered and is hale and hearty now but that same song is still making impact today is a testament to the fact that miracles are possible with and through God. Some of her well-known songs from ‘THE EXPRESSION’ album are the evidence of her remarkable testimony. Songs such as ‘Covenant-Keeper’,‘Angel-Armies’,‘Eze’ and the beautiful worship-anthem ‘Miracle-Worker’.

Her sophomore album, titled ‘THE CORE’ comprises of her lovely songs such as ‘Open Heavens’, ‘Jesus is here’, ‘Exalted’, ‘Holy Hallelujah’, Moving mightily’ and ‘Colours of Jesus’ amongst other gems in the album.

Glowreeyah is very colourful in her expression and in the demonstration of her love for God and for people. She is graced for such a time as this as a Woman making a difference in her Community, in her Nation and in her World.

children, by children and with children in the coming days. ZIDATA recently partnered with The John Maxwell Global Youth Initiative on a Creative and Leadership Master-class for Young People. In summary, Glowreeyah is a blazing multi-passionate and transgenerational personality.

Apart from singing duets and hymns with her as he played the piano, Glowreeyah’s Father fondly nick-named her ‘The Bridge’. Perhaps, he foresaw her innate ability to relate with ease and connect with people, irrespective of their gender, age, race or circumstance.

Her loved ones describe her as a plethora of sorts- Warm, Creative, Resilient, Compassionate and Humorous.

Glowreeyah has been known to write all her songs based on her personal devotion and life experiences. Her website www.glowreeyah. com is rife with the inspirational experiences that have birthed most of her songs in her faithjourney. She says ‘I may never have the force and prowess of the world’s greatest armies or the vast reserves of the super-powers but what I have is heart, life and love enough to change my generation; with one word, one song, one expression, one person at a time’!

Earlier Years Growing up was a culturally enriching and divergent experience. My family’s early days rotated between Kwara State, then to Pittsburgh USA and later on to Benue, Lagos and Abuja FCT. My parents operated a warm open-house philosophy and enjoyed entertaining often.

Anyone knew that they were always welcome at ours. It was never surprising to come home and meet absolute strangers or random needy people whom my folks thought needed help or just a warm meal. Even though my Father is from Kogi State and my Mother from Enugu State, one would often hear a variety of other languages in our home-zone ranging from Igala, Igbo, Idoma, Hausa reflecting the diverse cultures/influences in the family. My Dad as a polyglot speaks close to 10 languages fluently. My parents would often communicate in French to each other but English was the major lingua franca.

My parents were very astute professionals in the Federal Civil Service. My Father was a Director-General in the Federal Ministry of Works & Housing and my Mother was a Director of Educational Support service in the Federal Ministry of Education. They were exemplary in their respective roles and sectors.

They served Nigeria with the best of their lives.

Listening in to my Parents’ conversations www.businessday.ng

Writing for Sesame Square Productions (Sesame Street Workshop International in conjunction with USAID).

This might have happened a long time ago but it still fills me with a deep sense of fulfilment.

I feel honoured to have been engaged to help shape culture and learning for the Nigerian child at the time.

Being at ‘Turning Point’ International Show and also on the Daystar Television Network USA as a special guest of the hosts, Marcus and Joni Lamb Both opportunities were pivotal to share insights from my life’s journey, to offer hope and encouragement, to sing the amazing songs that I have been blessed to share with the world and to shine the light from my soul as an Ambassador of my family my community, our nation Nigeria and our African continent as a whole.

was the ultimate wondrous learning experience. They were so vast in their knowledge of life and the times. I would often be found reading their books in their study. Most importantly, my parents instilled in us the intrinsic values of hard work, integrity, compassion and service to God and humanity.

Passion for music, influence, how it all began to where you are today There was always music ranging from Classical, Folk, Jazz and the likes… playing loud from a stereo in the background in my home sometimes.

My Dad would come home from work and one could often hear him play the piano in the study. He would gather us around and we’d sing hymns together. I progressed to joining a few musical groups and choirs later on. I managed to release a few singles in between my corporate job stints. Little did I know that music would pull me further into its vortex right

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Your album ‘The Core’ The Core Album took me on a 3 year journey of discovery. The album title leans on a geological slant from the core of the earth which holds the depth of the richest repository of the earth’s resources. The greatest destination of a lifetime is the one that leads us straight to the rich depth of the core of our Heavenly Father’s heart. Knowing that we are enough in God is the greatest liberty. It is my desire that we all connect with our true core. The Core Album is available on all digital music platforms, major bookstores and also on www.glowreeyah.com.

The Core Album is a 15 track album which features amazing Singers like Ty Bello, Eno Michael, Dipo Adeda-Osinloye and my dear Father-Sir Moses Braimah.

People who have bought the album already have given beautiful reviews about it and I am so elated about it.

Read the concluding part of Glowreeyah Braimah’s inspiring story on our website www.businessday.ng as she graces our Women’s Hub cover for this week. You are just a click away!

@Businessdayng

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Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

HEALTH BUSINESS&LIFE Nigerian entrepreneurs take on country’s healthcare challenges as government looks on ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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igerian entrepreneurs are no longer waiting on the government to resolve the country’s healthcare challenges and are deploying innovative techniques designed to keep Nigerians healthy.

These Nigerian entrepreneurs are looking to big data to fight diseases, drive advocacy, awareness and bring care to more people in innovative ways, using new technologies to develop access and cures.

In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation ensuring that everyone has access to quality health is paramount.

More than 95 percent of people living in Nigeria do not have full coverage of essential health services and about 70 per cent of the country’s population still spend out-of-pocket for health services, according to Budgit, a platform that analyses Nigerian budgets and public data.

Even as the country is struggling with dilapidated infrastructural development, brain drain, underfunding, it worth saying that investing in Nigeria’s health systems is an opportunity to accelerate economic development and growth, driving contribution to saving millions of lives and moving the country closer to achieving objectives of national poverty reduction strategies.

However, some Nigerian entrepreneurs are making great contributions to the country’s health sector, and tackling some neglected areas of healthcare.

One of such entrepreneurs transforming the future of health-

Chioma Nwakanma

care is Chioma Nwakanma (@ DrZobo), a public health expert and the founder of SMILE With Me Foundation As her contribution to the sector, Nwakanma is building a healthcare guide for every patient.

She provides a detailed understanding of past successes and current challenges in improving personal health-care access and quality in Nigeria. This idea has continued in its success even through the ever-changing and complex challenges of the healthcare industry.

She started on a local level and worked to build programmes with health systems through health campaigns by creating the “social needs care specialist” Nwakanma looks into the wide gap between the health service providers and the public. This gap is responsible for many of the ill medical practices that is seen as a normal practice and are gradually claiming the lives of uninformed Africans.

“Hence my life’s commitment to using Social media health blogging and Community Public health education as tools to bridge the health gap in Africa” said.

Similarly, Runcie Chidebe, executive director, Project PINK BLUE is improving, and subsequently measuring cancer healthcare access and quality, bridging the gap in the healthcare sector through his one of a kind initiative.

Project Pink Blue, a Non- Governmental Organisation (NGO) promoting cancer awareness and management and has emerged as an increasing priority alongside a heightened emphasis on advocacy for early detection. Last year, they

Runcie Chidebe

won the prestigious World Cancer Day Spirit Award 2018 at the World Cancer Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for their world cancer day advocacy and collaborative spirit.

“Federal and State Governments of Nigeria should make cancer control a national health priority. There are a couple of major challenges facing cancer patients in Nigeria, some patients catch cancer early but cannot afford medical treatment. The other issue is that some people have no access to medical care for cancer, due to the lack of treatment facilities available,” Chidebe.

A new subtype of HIV discovered ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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cientists have identified a new subtype of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), called HIV-1 Group M, subtype L announced by Abbott noting that this will keep the global health community a step ahead of the virus.

The findings, published on Wednesday, 6th November, in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS), showing the role next-generation genome sequencing is playing in helping researchers stay one step ahead of mutating viruses and avoiding new pandemics.

However, since the beginning of the global AIDS pandemic, 75 million people have been infected with HIV and 37.9 million people today are living with the virus.

Thanks to the work done by the global health community over the past few decades, the goal of ending the HIV pandemic is becoming feasible. Yet researchers must remain vigilant to monitor for new strains to make sure testing and treatments continue to work.

Carole McArthur, professor in

the departments of oral and craniofacial sciences, University of Missouri — Kansas City and one of the study authors said that in an increasingly connected world, we can no longer think of viruses being contained in one location.

“This discovery reminds us that to end the HIV pandemic, we must continue to outthink this continuously changing virus and use the latest advancements in technology and resources to monitor its evolution,” he said.

This research marks the first time a new subtype of “Group M” HIV virus has been identified since guidelines for classifying new strains of HIV were established in 2000.

Group M viruses are responsible for the global pandemic, which can be traced back to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in SubSaharan Africa.

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, Nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 103,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries. www.businessday.ng

To determine whether an unusual virus is, in fact, a new HIV subtype, three cases must be discovered independently. The first two samples of this subtype were discovered in DRC in the 1980s and the 1990s. The third, collected in 2001, was difficult to sequence at that time because of the amount of virus in the sample and the existing technology.

Today, next-generation sequencing technology allows researchers to build an entire genome at higher speeds and lower costs.

In order to utilize this technology, Abbott scientists had to develop and apply new techniques to help narrow in on the virus portion of the sample to fully sequence and complete the genome.6” Identifying new viruses such as this one is like searching for a needle in a haystack,” said Mary Rodgers, a principal scientist and head of the Global Viral Surveillance Program, Diagnostics, Abbott, and one of the study authors.

Rodgers said that by advancing our techniques and using nextgeneration sequencing technology, we are pulling the needle out with a magnet. This scientific discovery can help us ensure we are stopping new pandemics in their tracks.

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Chibuzo Opara

Today, between 10 – 30 percent of drugs sold in open and informal markets are fake, and others can be ineffective due to improper storage, a growing threat to Nigeria’s economy. To solve some of these challenges, Drugstoc operates an internationally accredited end-toend traceable supply chain with zero tolerance for fake drugs.

Chibuzo Opara co-founder and chief executive officer Drugstoc is a health economist, who has worked in different international and Nigerian companies on healthcare policy, healthcare management, healthcare financing and the business of healthcare.

Drugstoc was founded in 2015 and seeks to eliminate counterfeit drugs, increase access to pharmaceutical products and improve transparency in pricing for healthcare providers and the product supply chain in Nigeria. The drug procurement platform enables healthcare providers and professionals to purchase genuine pharmaceutical and healthcare products within 24hours.

“Drugs are of random simples, so fake drugs are very difficult to track, even if it is just 1 percent is too much because you do not know

those that will be affected,” he said.

Nigeria faces a shortage of doctors, Olaitan Larne chief executive officer of Privedoc limited in Nigeria is also making it easier for people to get expert advice and access healthcare from medical specialists via mobile phone.

It’s critical to find new ways of spreading medical expertise. Larne says the platform can be helpful in rural areas where there aren’t many doctors and for low-income people too and in many cases, it

Olaitan Larne

can replace costly visits and save people months of waiting to get an appointment.

“We have invested about N250million into the business which includes the infrastructure, testing, the software’s and everything that supports it,” he said.

Nigeria’s health challenges have taught these entrepreneurs how to navigate complex situations when things go wrong. And it has shown them that it is important to have leaders who can evaluate a situation from different perspectives.

Experts commend mouka on healthy awareness initiative ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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s part of activities to mark the 60th anniversary celebration of the company, the company held a safety walk around the Ikeja community to make known the importance of healthy living.

As a corporate organisation, they ensure this is part of their policy which has been incorporated in all that they do as corporate entity.

Raymond Murphy, managing director /ceo of mouka Nigeria Limited , addressing all the staff of the company during the wellbeing walk advise that the important of healthy living cannot be overemphasized. “hence as a company that is sixty years old you see the health reflection in the company in growth, expansion and the quality of the product that is coming out from it, this can only happen because the not only that the company is healthy, but most especially all members of staff of the company are fit health-wise,”| he said.

Also speaking at the occasion zubair Abdullahi health experts buttress further that wellness and wellbeing should be a lifestyle for everyone and be conscious of our health status.

While explaining she further said @Businessdayng

L-R: Oladimeji Osingunwa, chief commercial director; Tolu Olanipekun; head of marketing , Raymond Murphy MD/ CEO, Femi Fapohunda, chief operating officer and Ifeoma Okoruen; Head of HR and Admin, Mouka Limited during the Wellness Walk organized for staff as part of its 60th anniversary celebration recently.

that some of the major reason why people don’t leave healthy is that they lack personal hygiene and sanitation and lack of malnutrition stating that lack of potable water and abuse of alcohol among others also a contributory factor.

The sixty years anniversary of mouka as a company has been the line up with activities to mark the impact of the organisation in Nigeria since its existence.

Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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HEALTH BUSINESS&LIFE Abstinence still, best way to control AIDS, says Makinde ...inaugurates State’s agency for AIDS control REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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eyi Makinde, Oyo State Governor has inaugurated the Board of the Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA), noting that dealing with the scourge of AIDS “is of utmost importance to his administration.”

Makinde stated that though there had been some signs of progress with regards to anti-retroviral medication, abstinence from sex remained the best way to control the spread of AIDS. The State’s First Lady, Tamunominini Makinde, chairs the Board, while Lanre Abass,a medical doctor is the Executive Secretary.

In his speech shortly after inaugurating the Board, Governor Makinde said: “Health is one of the pillars which this administration is resting on, and dealing with the scourge of HIV in our society is of utmost importance to this administration.

“It is very important to this advocacy because when you either stand on the pulpit or in front of the congregation in mosque when you are preaching, you can also put the word out there for people to know.

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde (middle); his wife and chairperson, Oyo State Agency for the control of AIDS (OYSACA), Tamunominini Makinde (right); SACA, Project Manager, Ogunkunle Olukayode (second left) and one of the Board members, Bukky Alabi during the inauguration of the board members of SACA held at Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Ibadan.

There has been a lot of progress on the anti-retroviral medication but abstinence is the best way to control the spread of HIV/AIDS scourge.

“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that we have assembled the best hands to manage the affairs of Oyo State Agency for Control of AIDS. I have taken time to reflect on what was the modus operandi in the past and I can say to you clearly that the State used to be supplied with medications that were just about

to expire. They have brought some of them to me and, please, that era should be over and be over for good in Oyo State.”

The Governor maintained that though some people had been putting pressure on him to probe the activities of the immediate past SACA Board headed by the wife of the former governor of the State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, he had decided to be forward-looking and to focus on moving the state forward.

Tips for the traveler with an infant

Dr Ade Alakija Q-life Family Clinic

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raveling with an infant is an entirely different ballgame for the traveler who has been traveling alone all the while. It’s as fun as its demanding. An infant is a child less than a year old. Their demands make the journey unique.

The confining seats, changes in cabin pressure, noise and the long duration of some flights can add up to the trouble.

Traveling with an infant requires a long-term preparation. The infant requires an international passport and a Visa. While booking the flight, it’s important to request a

bassinet and a seat that provides enough legroom to accommodate the infant. Unavailability of the right seat makes the journey challenging especially if you are traveling in the economy class.

It is important to pack enough and right clothing as appropriate for the weather at the destination.

Diapers, wipes, feeding bottles, infant foods (if no longer on exclusive breastfeeding), pacifiers, and toiletries are a must. A stroller or baby carrier will be needed to move around within the airport depending on the baby’s size and preference. The hotel or accommodation at the destination should be notified of the infant for provisions like cot, toys and baby meals to be made available.

Pre-travel care: It is advised that the child visits a Travel Medicine Physician along with the parents at least 4-6 weeks before the scheduled travel. The Travel Physician provides up to date health information about the destination. He gives the recommended vaccines especially if there are vaccine-preventable outbreaks in the destination also ensuring that

routine vaccinations are up to date.

The travel physician provides advice that is personalized that will reduce the risk of illness and injury during the travels. Travel health bags (This contains first aid medications) should be obtained at the pre-travel consultation. As for any traveler, insurance coverage for illnesses and injuries while abroad should be verified before departure.

Consideration should be given to purchasing special medical evacuation insurance for airlifting or air ambulance to an area with adequate medical care.

During travels: The infant food and other things that will be needed on transit have to be in the hand luggage. You can travel with expressed breast milk, bottled water, juice and snacks for the baby. Feeding/ chewing during take-off and landing is advised as it relieves the pressures in the ears. An infant must be strapped to the parent during take-offs and landing, except if the baby has a seat that is fixed with an airline compliant car seat. Get familiar with airplane safety tips highlighted for children in case of emergencies. It

“Some people have even come to us and said we must probe activities of the past board and you all know the chairperson of that board. So, it’s a no-go area for me. We want to be forward-looking. Whatever has happened in the past should be in the past. Let us draw the line and focus on our own result areas.

“I want to thank you for accepting to serve the people of Oyo State in this capacity and I also wish you a successful and impactful tenure,” Governor Makinde said.

Earlier, SACA’s Executive Secretary, Abass, maintained that the Makinde administration’s focus on the health sector had seen it paying particular attention to HIV/AIDS response by ensuring that people had access to relevant information, HIV testing services and access to treatment, care, and support for people living with the virus.

He, however, noted that though the State had made progress in scaling up HIV treatment and prevention services in recent time, a development which he noted impacted positively on the prevalence rate in the State, all stakeholders still had a lot of work to do.

is preferred if the baby sleeps during flight, but when awake they can be engaged with downloaded entertainments.

On arrival at destinations, the infant should be made to rest. For shorter trips, baby activities and naps can be made to keep to the time zone at home but for longer trips, they can be slowly adjusted to the destination. The infant should be well covered to protect them from bites; discretion should be exercised as regards to what they are fed with.

For breastfeeding infants, it is preferred they stick with that. Playing with animals should be discouraged to prevent bites and scratch.

Children should be supervised closely and should always wear a life preserver around water. Despite the demands of travel with an infant, there is no need to put travel on hold until the baby gets older. Now is the best time to experience the world together as a family. Embrace the craziness that comes with traveling with a baby. Your baby will only be a baby once, so enjoy these precious moments before they’re gone.

Greenleaf biotech international set to launch in Nigeria ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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reenleaf biotech international a distributor of health products and other daily consumables is set to launch in Nigeria on the 16th of November at oriental hotel in Lagos.

According to Justin chen, country manager, Greenleaf biotech international said that the company has been existence for 22 years in china noting that they have been in Nigeria for one year

HBL TEAM

but are officially launching their establishment.

Chen said that Nigeria is the biggest economy and market in Africa, stating that the ease of doing business in Nigeria is impressive “When you talk about business in Africa, you talk about Nig er ia. Nig er ians are ver y good at doing business and we are doing well and they are very lucrative,” he said.

Also speaking at the press

b r i e f i n g St a n l e y I kw u a g w u , Niger ia’s countr y director Greenleaf biotech international said that It is a privilege to come to the general public for the coming event noting that the company will give more opportunities for people to be empowered.

“It is the first of its kind in Nigeria and the first among many series of direct selling companies in Nigeria,” he said.

Ikwuagwu further that it is

targeted at an estimated 2000 Nigerians youths, graduates, unemployed graduates, networkers, entrepreneurs, housewives who are sick and tired of waiting for the government to provide jobs for them.

“It will also give individuals the opportunity to get extra income,” he said.

Ikwuagwu further said that the products are made from pure organic of both daily use products, health products.

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

LAPO multi-billion specialist hospital to address medical tourism - Ehigiamusoe IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin

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ift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO), a leading microfinance bank an institution in Africa said its multi-billion multi-specialist hospital in Benin, Edo State capital will address medical tourism in the Country.

The 70-bed hospital was commissioned by Godwin Obaseki, Edo State Governor.

The hospital named “Benin Medical Care Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, seeks to reduce medical tourism by Nigerians by providing access to world-class medical diagnostics and solutions.

Speaking at the commissioning, Godwin Ehigiamusoe, chairman, the board of directors of the hospital said the medical care also seeks to enhance the health status of Nigerians, especially in Benin City and environs through the provision of quality medical services that are accessible and affordable.

Ehigiamusoe said the organization was motivated to set up the medical facility to address preventable deaths arising from inadequate medical.

He also listed pauperization arising from poor Nigerians selling off assets in order to access quality diagnostic service, lack of access to quality healthcare in rural communities create access to excellent medical services to the mass of Nigerians among the reasons for the establishment of the hospital.

“Benin Medical Care which is a multi-specialist entity envisaged to be a center of excellence in medical care in the region. BMC shall in conjunction with LAPONGO, run community health outreach programmes.

“Major components of the programme shall include rural mobile clinics which shall provide opportunities for rural dwellers to have access to basic medical services “Mobile phone health services which shall enable patients in remote communities to be reached with basic medical services through digital channels and community-based health insurance scheme through which cost of access to health services will be lowered for needy individuals.

“BMC diagnostics which is well-resourced entity is to provide excellent diagnostic services, state- of- the - art facilities include 1-5T MRI, 64 slice CT Scan, digital mammography, 40 ultrasound scan, digital X-rays, ECG as well as fluoroscopy, and fully automated laboratory services”, he said.

He opined that achieving an acceptable level of access to healthcare in Nigeria, especially in rural communities, would require urgent and substantial involvement of non - state actors such as the private sector, non - government organizations and international development organizations.

He, however, noted that with adequate planning and dedication to excellent services the double bottom-line of profit and social goal can be achieved in healthcare management.

I David Ogar, Graphics

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Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

FINTECH News

Products Review

In association with

Technology Review

Personality Review

Company Review

Can competition replicate Ecobank’s zero charge on USSD transaction?

Stories by FRANK ELEANYA

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he raging debate on who deserves to collect charges on USSD transactions between banks and telcos may not have been the theme of the Nigerian Fintech Week, 2019, that held recently, but it certainly became its most memorable highlights.

The chief operating officer of Ecobank, Patrick Akinwuntan seized an opportunity as a member of a panel to announce that the pan-African bank would henceforth offer every Nigerian zero cost for using the bank’s USSD codes for financial services. Although no one is yet to confirm the service is now working as at the time of filing this report, the bank’s COO certainly stirred the dust.

Prior to that Tuesday, 29 October, the banks and operators in the telecommunication had been locked in some form of stalemate over the pricing of USSD transactions.

It started from a text message MTN sent to its subscribers which a few banks picked

up and also pushed to their customers, informing them of plans to charge N4 for every 20 seconds of USSD transactions.

As a result of the CBN and NCC’s rejection of the charge, the bank CEOs group promptly issued a statement denying it gave telcos the go-ahead to charge their customers. The telcos responded that they were within their rights to collect a fee for the service.

The telcos have since suspended the charge until the

regulators determine the way forward.

The Ecobank announcement however opens a new chapter in the discussion. Importantly, it raises the question whether banks and telcos can forgo the USSD as part of contribution to driving financial inclusion?

While reacting to the reports of MTN’s text, the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele said he had asked the telcos in a meeting with big banks

in May 2019, to consider the USSD charge as “sunk” cost, which means forgone cost, for the sake of financial inclusion. But the telcos had kicked against the suggestion.

“We should not be having a debate of what excludes Nigerians from what I will say is the financial human rights to participate in the economy,” Akinwuntan said.

Since it appears Ecobank has taken up the CBN challenge, would other banks be

open to see their USSD charge as “foregone” for the greater good of financial inclusion?

“I think it is possible for us to offer every Nigerian zero cost for using short codes for financial services,” the Ecobank COO said. “I know the debate has been on if it is the banks or telcos charging. But with the opportunity of 200 million Nigerians and trying to lift Nigerians out of poverty, this is the time to take action.”

It should be noted that while Ecobank is the first to announce zero charge on all USSD transactions to every customer using its bank codes, it is not the only bank to offer zero-USSD. GTBank, on same Tuesday in another forum, also said henceforth it will cover all charges on transfers, USSD transactions and bank alerts for holders of its GTCrea8 Account.

The GTCrea8 targets young undergraduates between the ages of 16-25 years.

Although the USSD service is widely seen as instrumental to delivering the CBN’s financial inclusion vision, its administration has left many

very worried. In terms of banking, USSD codes run by all the banks can only function efficiently by customers with accounts domiciled in the banks.

This raises difficulties for the over 40 million Nigerians without a bank account and who are not financially included. Experts in fintech have reiterated that growing inclusion numbers may require services that doesn’t necessarily require people creating a bank account. In that light, digital banks like Paga and Kudabank have created solutions that offer financial transactions without a bank account. In most cases, all a customer needs is a phone number.

USSD charges have often been put forward as a disincentive for financial inclusion, which makes the move by Ecobank even more remarkable.

A senior level executive in the banking sector who pleaded anonymity to speak freely, said it is highly unlikely all the banks will want to follow in the footsteps of Ecobank.

“They would probably pricing sign an industry agreed pricing,” he said. “Maybe N1 per USSD session.”

UBA flags off new era of digital banking with self-printing debit card machine

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nited Bank for Africa, the institution that gave Nigeria’s financial sector its first banking chatbot, has kicked off another era of digital payments with a self-printing debit card machine.

Victor Osadolor, the chief executive officer, UBA Africa made this known during the flag-off ceremony of the 2019 Lagos International Trade Fair (LITF), in which the bank was a headline sponsor.

The self-printing is unlike the instant debit card issue option which a few Nigerian banks already have. While the instant debit card issue system requires a bank official to function, the UBA selfprinting debit card machine gives the customers control of the process.

It should be noted that the self-printing debit card machine is part of a larger selfservice strategy UBA recently launched. Dubbed the Self

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Service Mobile Kiosk, customers can initiate and complete actions such as requests and transactions with little or no interaction with bank officials.

UBA said it is bringing the innovation because it has seen the number of customers accessing non-traditional banking channels for day to day transactions grow steadily every year. Customers now rely on their cards rather than cash, making them eager to maintain the validity of their

cards always.

“We are creating superior value for all our customers because we believe they are key to our everyday operations,” said Osadolor at the unveiling of the innovation on the opening day of the Lagos International Trade Fair.

Self-service debit card printing allows customers to obtain personalised debit cards at their convenience with turnaround time. These hands control over to the cus-

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tomers to enjoy this service at any time of the day. It also allows customers to block their existing cards in case of theft or misplacement.

An objective of instant card issuance is the reduction of the time expended in furnishing the customer with a debit and credit card. The self-service solution takes this further by ceding the responsibility of the CSO to the customer who initiates the process and follows it through

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until a card is produced.

To access the service, the customer needs to type in an account number or BVN number and selects card type at the kiosk, the information is validated through the biometrics or OTP. the OTP is then generated and sent to the registered phone number, which the customer enters to be authenticated by the kiosk.

If authentication is successful, the card personalisation process begins.

Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

23

AGRIBUSINESSINSIGHT Market Insights

Analysis

Commentaries

Experts/Industry Views

Commodities watch

Policy Reviews

Send in Commentaries to caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com

Why greenhouse farming may not be profitable in Nigeria, yet employ its rural people, just get the normal technologies going. Don’t try to overdo it, said Groot.

One reason often given for preference in using greenhouses for instance in tomato cultivation, has been to combat pests and diseases such as Tuta Absoluta. But just as Groot observed, “going to greenhouses to stop Tuta Absoulta is lovely but it won’t feed the country.”

Stories by CALEB OJEWALE Twiiter: @calebtinolu

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reenhouses have in recent times become a vogue in Nigeria, but how practical its usage will be in Nigeria’s quest for food security and financial returns for farmers appears doubtful, at least presently.

When Emmanuel Ijewere, CEO, Best Foods Fresh Farms Limited started his tomato farm in Igbodu area of Epe in Lagos, he found the first harvest was very good (about five years ago). However, he told Agribusiness Insight in an interview that the second harvest was a disaster because “it was then we realised that most of the land in Southern Nigeria, because of the humidity have a preponderance of something called Nematodes.”

These Nematodes attack the roots of tomatoes. They allow the tomato to grow and flower but at the time of actually fruiting, it dies and withers off. Nematodes were a big deal and the cost of dealing with it was a real problem.

The only solution was to get lime.

At that time, Lagos state government was very kind, according to him, by selling lime to him and a few others at a subsidised price and this helped briefly.

He decided to adopt the Dutch system. Lagos does not have much land, and the little it has should be used optimally, he said. Taking a cue from the Dutch who built greenhouses, Ijewere started making enquiries about greenhouses and eventually got a company that was ready to partner with him to start out the greenhouse. Soon after the greenhouses were set up on his farm, problems set in. The quality of the

greenhouses became a serious problem, he said.

Ijewere who is also vice president of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) would later bring in some French and Dutch experts to look at his farm, and both groups gave independent assessments that the greenhouses (20 in all) will never be profitable. According to him, the size of the greenhouse was a problem, considering the kind of humidity in Nigeria. It was too low and the specification was wrong in terms of size. The material used is such that, it can work in a city but not in the bush or forest, as insects will penetrate it and then a farmer ends up looking for insecticides.

“You then ask yourself, why did I spend millions of naira to build a greenhouse and then use the same insecticide applied on the open field. It does not make sense, so it became a regret,” said Ijewere.

“It is true that greenhouses are becoming more popular but I am yet to find people who are having profitable greenhouses.”

Last year, this reporter met Rutger Groot, chairman, East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer, and a member of the Supervisory Board EWS BV and asked a question, what can Nigeria learn from the Netherlands?

“First, don’t try to copy Holland,” he said, going further to explain there are lessons to be learnt, but there are also ways not to go. Putting this in context, he said, “The best example probably is greenhouse technology. Everybody loves it, it looks very nice, fancy and high tech but what you see in (I dare to say) 80 percent of greenhouses in West Africa, after five years, they are a mess.”

He said this is because, one needs to be a good farmer to man-

age them, they always have to be sealed, shoes and hands have to be cleaned as one goes in, (and generally) managing them very well. Secondly, with the temperature in Nigeria if a greenhouse is not cooled, “tomatoes are going to be cooked when they come off the plant. So you need to invest in cooling,” he said.

According to Groot, the whole price of the (greenhouse) setup is huge and those tomatoes are often grown for “five star resorts, top notch retail chains for the high class and fancy people who like organic, but hey, 99 percent of people in Nigeria buy their vegetables from fresh markets and they cannot pay for that kind of technology.”

While it is lovely to want a greenhouse, maybe as a benchmark for farmers that; this is where we could go someday, but if Nigeria wants to feed the country, and

With a demand of 2.2 million metric tonnes for tomato as contained in the 2016 Agriculture Promotion Policy, it would be quite evident that not all tomatoes in Nigeria can be grown in greenhouses.

To feed Nigeria, as Groot observed would require hundreds of thousands of hectares cultivated for tomato and that cannot be done in greenhouses because of the cost.

The tomatoes from such are going to be too expensive for (ordinary) people to buy.

“If using greenhouses is because of Tuta Absoluta then it will be cheaper to buy tomatoes from Holland,” he quipped.

Ijewere who was an evangelist of sort for adoption of greenhouses in Nigeria, however noted that even with all the difficulties personally encountered, “There is big hope”. He says a number of companies have been able to take care of those problems experienced on his farm. The question however remains, how profitable is greenhouse for the average farmer in Nigeria, and how scalable is it?

The answer from interactions with Ijewere, Groot, and other experts, is less likely to be positive anytime soon. Beyond overdependence on technology, good farming skills and management appear to be a better bet in making a lot of difference.

Benefits of getting certified in the palm oil value chain

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etting certified as a player in any segment of the palm oil value chain could be an expensive process.

However, it has some benefits, and it should also be noted that provisions are being made for smallholders to get certified through a less cumbersome process, that also comes at no cost (at least for the initial one).

When Agribusiness Insight had a Skype interview with Elikplim Dziwornu Agbitor, technical manager - Africa, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), he explained that getting certified offers palm oil producers access to markets previously inaccessible to them. “For instance, most European buyers

have made commitments that by 2020 they would buy only 100 percent certified palm oil. Meaning very soon, if a producer is not certified and Europe is one of the target markets, such a person might be unable to sell,” he said.

The second benefit is for attracting Investments. As the RSPO technical manager explained, for some investment financing institutions like IFC, if a palm oil grower approaches them for a loan or any other form of credit system offered, would request some due diligence assessments are conducted.

According to Agbitor, while IFC has standards for due diligence, in addition to that, it would require a prospective credit seeker www.businessday.ng

to have a baseline assessment against the RSPO standard.

Based on the assessment, IFC is able to see what gaps exist, and which RSPO requirements are not being complied with. Based on those findings, it can then make a decision as to whether or not to give funding. Agbitor emphasised that RSPO is increasingly becoming a due diligence standard for investments in the palm oil industry. While he says IFC is just one an example, there are others such as the African Agricultural Development Company (AGDEVCO). There is also the Netherlands Development Finance Company, called FMO, and while he couldn’t say with certainty, hinted that Export

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Development Canada (EDC) is also making investments in the palm oil sector and like others, requires at least as a minimum, that a prospective fund seeker is an RSPO member. Furthermore, one that is committed to getting certified, if not already certified.

RSPO membership, in essence, gives an opportunity to attract investments. One of the reasons this is possible as he further explained is that before an entity becomes an RSPO member, the RSPO secretariat will conduct some checks and balances. Invariably, “a lot of the financial institutions are happy to say that if an entity is a member then it means they’ve met at least minimum best practice @Businessdayng

requirements,” he said. Therefore, it is helping to reduce the amount of due diligence that the investors may have to do.

The third benefit is about corporate image as he says a lot of companies in the sector are operating across different continents and do not want to be seen as doing the right thing in America, for instance, but doing the wrong thing in Africa.

Therefore, for corporate image purposes, some of such companies become members and it helps with their own internal checks and balances. However, for any entity to become certified, it first has to be a member of RSPO, which says it is a nonprofit entity.

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Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

FEATURE Alaghodaro 2019: Assessing Obaseki’s model for total society in Edo Edo State Governor GODWIN OBASEKI will mark his third anniversary on November 12, 2019. In recognition of his reforms and achievements, the burgeoning private sector in the state is rallying for the third edition of the Alaghodaro Summit to interrogate the progress made and set the state on the path of prosperity for the future, ODINAKA ANUDU writes.

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n the annals of development, only few can boast of engendering drastic change in the life of their people in a short time, reversing decades-old prejudices and obstacles that impinge on the people’s dignity and collective prosperity.

Gradually, through what could be described as a systematic, frugal allocation of scarce resources, Edo State is joining the league of subnational entities that are rewriting their stories through pragmatic policy reforms, programmes and initiatives.

The Alaghodaro Summit series are annual events held to showcase these gradual, steady steps, unveiling the numerous reforms and initiatives that have created opportunities for prosperity – driven by Edo people and the state’s burgeoning investors – and opened up the space to interrogate and challenge conventions that impede progress, with a view to correcting them.

On mounting the saddle as Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, espoused plans for resetting the state’s economic base as well as restoring the dignity of Edo people, anchored on six thematic pillars for development, which touch on all indices of human development.

Alaghodaro 2019 is the third edition of the Alaghodaro summit series organised by the Edo State government in partnership with the state’s private sector. It is being held to mark the governor’s third year anniversary in office. It showcases reforms, policies and programmes implemented by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration in the state, which are opening up space for private investment, inclusive economic growth and improvement of the people’s livelihood.

Themed ‘Delivering to Our People: The Next Level,’ the 2019 edition of the summit focuses on showcases the overreaching impact of the Godwin Obaseki-led administration’s reforms on all sectors of the state, furthering the governor’s vision of building a total society in Edo. Edo’s changing healthcare landscape Governor Obaseki on October 31 launched the Edo State Social Health Insurance/Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) as well as revamped Primary Healthcare Centres under the Edo Primary Health Improvement Programme.

The state had made an initial contribution of N100m to access the BHCPF, opening up opportunities to energise its health insurance programme. All of these tie up to an organic plan to retool the primary healthcare system to be able to meet the needs of ordinary Edo people.

Speaking at the launch of the scheme, Obaseki said the focus of his administration is to improve the lives of the people through good education and provision of basic healthcare services accessible to all Edo people and residents.

He noted his administration set out to provide accessible and affordable healthcare services to residents of the state, adding that his administration is focused on human capacity development by providing good education and quality healthcare services.

L-R: Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, minister of state for education; Godwin Obaseki, Edo State governor, and Sonny Echono, permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, during the World Teachers’ Day celebration, where Obaseki was honoured as the 2019 NUT Best Performing Governor, in Abuja.

“Our emphasis and the bulk of money accrue to the state is dedicated to improve the lives of the people of Edo State through quality health and education. We are spending more than 50 per cent of our recurrent expenditure on healthcare and education.

“Edo Health Improvement Programme (Edo-HIP) will enable us deal with health challenges in the state. This means total revamp of our entire health system from basic to secondary and specialist care. Edo-HIP is comprehensive,” he added.

The governor noted that the focus of his administration is to establish 230 PHCs across Edo State as the centres, noting, “You will not be attended to in general hospitals without referral from your PHCs.” On training and support for health officials, Obaseki said, “We have put in Information Communication Technology (ICT) to help capture information and pass it to a central database. The information gathered will be used for referrals.

All over the world, healthcare services is not cheap but affordable, which is achieved by pulling resources together.

“We have established a Health Insurance Agency in Edo State backed by law for every citizen, as it is now compulsory for every Edo citizen to have health insurance.

You will be given a card that will enable you to access healthcare in the state provided you are enrolled.

For the civil servant and local government workers in Edo State, they will be compulsorily enrolled into the scheme from 1st January 2020.

Finance will not hold citizens back from getting healthcare.”

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, said that the BHCPF will commit N573m to enable Edo people to benefit from essential services after the details are worked out and the healthcare system begins to function, adding that the www.businessday.ng

fund is disbursed to states equitably and on per capital basis using a poverty index determined by the World Bank.

“This will guarantee that the BHCPF will reach the deserving population and reduce inequality in access to health services, particularly by the vulnerable. Public Health Emergencies and other emergency medical services shall also be addressed through the fund.”

Ehanire said, “The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is committed to its mandate of improving the health and productivity of Nigerians in its commitment to human capital development, consistent with national goals in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

His desire is to lift 100 million Nigeria out of poverty in the next 10 years.”

Edo-BEST: revamping basic education for results On education, the state government has revamped the basic education sector by training and equipping 11,300 teachers with tech-based tools and skills to deliver technology-driven education to not less than 300,000 pupils across 918 schools in the state.

Obaseki was awarded the Best Performing Governor in 2019 for the impact of the Edo-BEST programme as well as his prioritisation of teachers’ welfare in the state, which has led to improved outcome in primary schools across the state.

The programme is designed to develop a highly-skilled teaching workforce by training, supporting and motivating them to succeed in the classroom.

Godwin Obaseki said the programme will, develop a highlyskilled teaching workforce by training, supporting and motivating Edo State teachers to succeed in the classroom of tomorrow, empowering children to compete effectively in the world of work.

“The programme will leapfrog

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the basic education delivery systems by leveraging technology to gather and utilise accurate and timely data to drive policy and planning decisions.”

Checks showed that in public schools across the state where teachers now teach with tablets and other digital teaching aids, parents and guardians are hurriedly registering their children to benefit from the new teaching methods.

It was learnt that parents are pulling their children out of private to public schools, which have been revamped under the Edo-BEST programme.

Mr. Enagbare, a parent who withdrew three of his children from a private school to be registered at Oba Akenzua Primary School in Oredo Local Government, said he was impressed with the transformation of the schools in the state.

According to him, “Despite the huge money we spend in private schools, my children are not doing well academically. So, I decided to enrol them in a public primary school.

From the news I hear from other parents like me, public schools have improved greatly because of Edo-BEST” Job Creation: EdoJobs multifaceted jobs drive Committed to ensuring that the state is reset from its status as a civil service state to one that is driven by productivity on the back of its teeming, educated youth population, the state government established the Edo State Skills Development Agency (EdoJobs), to actualise the governor’s promise of creating 200,000 jobs in his first term in office.

No fewer than 150,000 jobs have already been created, including training programmes in technical and vocational skills, technology innovation and business acceleration, among others.

The Edo Production Centre, a novel initiative, is being built-in partnership with the Market Devel@Businessdayng

opment for the Niger Delta (MADE) II programme, Benson Idahosa University (BIU) and the Des Moines Area Community College in Iowa, the United States of America. It would be a multipurpose, one-stop-shop for small businesses, share support infrastructure such as 24 hours electricity, security and low-cost financing to help boost economic growth in the state.

Another major contributor to the state’s burgeoning tech scene, which now incubates young innovators, is the Edo Innovation Hub. The hub, which also houses the South South Innovation Hub, is a cluster for innovators and inventors in Benin City, and is priming youth to evolve and strengthen the technology ecosystem in the state.

Ukinebo Dare, head, EdoJobs, said the state government has done a lot in energising the economy by engaging youths and providing opportunities for them to garner skills or to improve their chances for employability.

According to her, “We have struck a number of partnerships with businesses within the state and beyond, aimed at upskilling our youths. A number of them have got employed while many others are self-employed.

Our strategy is holistic and takes the issue of job creation from different fronts, ensuring that youths are best served with the right opportunities to explore their potential.”

One of the innovative projects to drive industrialisation by the Obaseki-led administration is the Edo Production hub. The facility provides small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and artisans with 24-hour electricity, business support, market development and industry linkage opportunities.

It currently serves as a minireplica of the big businesses and diverse industries expected at the Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park.

The facility allows small businesses to share support infrastructure like security and low-cost financing to help boost economic growth in the state.

The center, located in the Sapele Road axis of Benin City, is fitted with factory space, security and office space and live-in desks for relevant government agencies to engage, support and provide services to small businesses. The agencies to be hosted at the facility are the Bank of Industry (BoI), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Edo Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), among others.

It is fitted with 500KV transformers, which are connected to the 33KV line in the area. It has 1.2MW of power at the onset, which would eventually be expanded to 4MW, to power heavy machines to be run at the facility.

2019 Alaghodaro: Delivering progress to the people The local organising committee for the 2019 Alaghodaro Summit recently released the programme of activities to mark the third-year anniversary of the Alaghodaro Summit. The committee said the business summit will evaluate the administration’s achievements and propose ways to deepen their impact on Edo people and residents.

Friday 08 November 2019

Harvard Business Review

BUSINESS DAY

25

MANAGEMENTDIGEST

Spotlight on the CEO 100: The CEO’s Guide to Retirement BILL GEORGE

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hen Lloyd Blankfein was preparing to retire as chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs in 2018, he wrote a letter to the company’s employees that captured his ambivalence about stepping down.

“When times are tougher, you can’t leave. And when times are better, you don’t want to leave,” wrote Blankfein. “Today, I don’t want to retire from Goldman Sachs, but ... it feels like the right time.”

For leaders who have spent decades working to reach the pinnacle of their careers, retiring can be a scary, almost existential prospect. Their self-worth is often connected to their work, and the questions they face go to the heart of their self-image: How can I remain relevant? Will people still respect me without my title?

I have spent more than 25 years grappling with these issues — and helping others reflect on them. In 2001, at age 58, I left the CEO job at Medtronic after having served 10 years. At Harvard Business School, where I teach courses to CEOs, we talk extensively about the arc of a leader’s tenure and finding the right time to exit. As a board member of numerous organizations, I have been directly involved in counseling CEOs as they devise their exit strategies.

I encourage CEOs to leave while they are on top, rather than wait too long and risk being forced out by their boards when the business is not doing well. CEOs who refuse to retire make their boards’ job much more difficult.

In my experience, when thinking about the right time for a CEO to retire, tenure in the job is the most important variable. It’s rare to find an organization that performs better after a CEO has been in the role more than 10 to 12 years.

In general, nonfounder CEOs should avoid lengthy tenures.

Being CEO is an extremely demanding, travel-intensive job that requires great energy, tenacity and resilience, and leaders often have a hard time

sustaining those qualities for more than a decade.

There is no perfect time for a CEO to leave. To avoid staying too long, CEOs should regularly work through these questions: — Take a personal inventory of your life, your career and your time as CEO. Do you still find fulfillment and joy in the job? Are you still learning and feeling challenged?

— Do you have personal reasons to leave earlier than planned? Do you have family or health issues that may cause you to leave sooner than expected?

— Are you facing an unexpected career opportunity that won’t come around again?

— How is succession shaping up? If you stay longer, will your successor still be young enough to have a long run in the job?

— At the other extreme, is your planned successor not ready or running into some difficulties?

— Are there companyspecific milestones you want to achieve before you depart, such as the integration of a major acquisition or the com-

pletion of a long-running project?

— Is your industry changing so dramatically that your company would benefit from a fresh perspective?

— Does your company have a mandatory retirement age?

Taken together, the questions above provide an important list of issues that leaders should contemplate in deciding when it’s best to move on.

One reason CEOs hold on too long is that they can’t imagine what comes next.

This is shortsighted. Today former CEOs have myriad opportunities to continue to lead and make meaningful contributions. Whether they choose to serve on corporate and nonprofit boards, teach, write books or get involved in nonprofit organizations, many former CEOs find that this period of generativity is very fulfilling.

When I discuss retirement with CEOs, I suggest this stepby-step approach: 1. FINISH STRONG AND GO OUT ON TOP: You are in charge until the last day, and you should finish your tenure

on a high note. By staying fully engaged, outgoing CEOs give their successors time to plan their own agendas without the pressures of daily business.

2. MEET WITH A CAREER COACH OR A THERAPIST A YEAR IN ADVANCE: When leaving Medtronic, I had fears about losing relevance and lacking meaning in my life. So I went back to a therapist I had seen years before and talked those issues through. The discussions enabled me to envision what my new life might look like and what my options might be. Recognizing that I didn’t want to take on another full-time role gave me the freedom to explore many other things that life has to offer.

3. IF YOU’RE MARRIED, TALK THROUGH THE TRANSITION WITH YOUR SPOUSE: Ask questions such as: Where will we find fulfillment? Where would we like to live and spend time? What hobbies haven’t we had time to explore? My wife, Penny, and I met with a counselor six months before I left Medtronic to discuss those issues, and we were able to address the

different stages we were at in our careers.

4. SAY YOUR GOODBYES AND MAKE A CLEAN BREAK: In the months before you leave, make in-person visits to secure your relationships with key people, your employees and customers. When your time is up, don’t hang around the C-suite.

5. TAKE SIX TO 12 MONTHS TO EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS BEFORE MAKING ANY FIRM COMMITMENTS: Extended time away gives leaders a tabula rasa so that they can think clearly about what comes next. Don’t make any firm commitments: The first opportunities that come along may not be the best options. Be careful with smaller commitments, too; they can fragment your schedule and prevent you from taking extended vacations or being available for other, higher priorities.

6. MAKE YOUR DECISIONS AND MOVE AHEAD: When you’re ready to take on new roles and activities, be flexible about your time obligations, knowing that these commitments are not forever.

Then dive in 100% to learn everything you can and contribute as if you will be there the rest of your life.

No matter what you choose to do next, the most important thing you might want to focus on after stepping down as CEO is making sure that the path you are on is one of relevance and meaning. Find new ways to create or nurture things that will outlast you. At a moment when authentic leaders are needed throughout society, it’s an enormous loss if former CEOs simply retire to warmer regions and make no attempt to help solve the world’s myriad problems.

Bill George is a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of “Discover Your True North: Becoming an Authentic Leader.” He was the CEO of Medtronic from 1991 to 2001 and has served on the boards of Goldman Sachs, Novartis, Target, ExxonMobil and Mayo Clinic.

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Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

entertainment

Nigeria loses out on 92nd Academy Awards …as Lionheart gets disqualified OBINNA EMELIKE

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hen the news broke in October this year that the Nigerian Oscars Selection Committee (NOSC), has picked Genevieve Nnaji’s ‘Lionheart’ as the country’s submission to the International Feature Film category of the 2020 Oscars, the film industry stakeholders and film lovers alike were glad for the feat.

It was a feat for the industry because after the approval and subsequent inauguration of the NOSC in February 2014, Nollywood could not present any film for the Oscars as the few submissions did not meet basic criteria.

For the NOSC, Lionheart had so much going for it; in terms of quality, technicality, picture, sound, great cast and production.

Aside being directed by Genevieve Nnaji, the film had successful theatrical release in Nigeria in December 2018 and subsequent worldwide release on January 4, 2019. It also premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, and was acquired on September 7, 2018, as first Netflix original film produced in Nigeria.

Sadly, Nigeria’s hope of competing at the 92nd Academy Awards was dashed on December 4, 2019 when the Academy announced the disqualification of Lionheart from 92 films submitted for the International Feature Film

category of the 2020 Oscars.

The justification for the disqualification was that Lionheart did not meet just one of the requirements for the award.

According to the Academy, “Nominees in its Best International Feature Film Category must have a predominantly nonEnglish dialogue track, and ‘Lionheart’ despite being an unmistakably Nigerian film, did not tick this particular box”.

However, NOSC explains that, “Lionheart passed on other technical requirements from story, to sound and picture except for language as adjudged by the Academy screening matrix, which was a challenge for the committee at a time. This is an eye opener and step forward into growing a better industry”.

Responding to the disqualification, Chineze Anyaene, the

chairperson of NOSC, said: “The budding Nigerian film industry is often faced with producing films with wide reach which often makes the recording dialogue predominantly English with non-English infusions in some cases.

Going forward, the committee intends to submit films which are predominantly foreign language – non-English recording dialogue. We are therefore urging filmmakers to shoot with intention of non-English recording dialogue as a key qualifying parameter to represent the country in the most prestigious award.

The committee is working tirelessly in organising workshops, seminars and using other available media to create robust awareness on the guidelines and requirements for an International Feature Film Entry”.

MultiChoice Talent Factory graduates set to impact …as Asamoah travels to India for internship

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dmund Asamoah, a pioneer student of the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) Class of 2019, who won an internship programme in Bollywood at the inaugural MTF graduation, is off to a 2-week allexpense paid trip to India this November 2019.

The internship, which was made possible by MTF’s partnership with Nihilent Limited, a global consulting and solutions integration company, will give the 27-year-old Asamoah an insight into Bollywood and movie production in general.

Speaking about the internship

programme, Femi Odugbemi, MTF director, West Africa, explained that the internship programme will broaden the film production skills of the young talent. “MultiChoice Talent Factory is about giving upcoming talents the chance to hone their abilities thereby increasing the pool of available talents and world class professionals in the industry”, he remarked.

Besides Asamoah, Gilbert Bassey, a 26-year-old Nigerian who emerged best overall student in the class due to the display of his multidisciplinary abilities during the programme, also won a prize

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to visit the New York Film Academy College of Visual and Performing Arts (NYFA) in the United States of America.

Other MTF pioneer students who won prizes at the graduation are: Moses Akerele, who won a 1-month internship at Mnet Studios in South Africa, Kemi Adeyemi and Salma Saliu who won $2000 seed capital in the CEO Award for Entrepreneurship, Joseph Adeniyi who won a life time AVID Media Composer Licence as the most promising film video editor, while Metong Minwon who emerged the most promising sound engineer also won a life time AVID Pro Tools Licence.

It would be recalled that in October, a new set of 20 students started the 2019/20 academic year with an orientation programme in partnership with Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria.

MTF has over the past 12 months, partnered with government, local and international film industry associations and partners to hone the skills of emerging filmmakers and industry professionals.

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To avoid the pitfall in subsequent submissions, Anyaene itemised the requirements in the Best International Feature Film category.

According to her, the film must have been first released in the country submitting it, after which it must have been exhibited for a minimum of 7 consecutive days in a movie theatre, secondly, the movie must be predominantly non-English, which means that movies with predominant English dialogue will not qualify for the award, and finally, the film must not be transmitted electronically or otherwise, before its official release in the theatre.

As expected, Genevieve Nnaji is not happy with the disqualification of her film. The director took to her twitter handle to express her displeasure.

“I am the director of Lion-

heart. This movie represents the way we speak as Nigerians. This includes English which acts as a bridge between the 500+ languages spoken in our country; thereby making us #OneNigeria.

“It’s no different to how French connects communities in former French colonies. We did not choose who colonized us. As ever, this film and many like it, is proudly Nigerian”, she tweeted on handle @GenevieveNnaji1.

Also reacting to the disqualification and replying to Nnaji’s earlier tweets, Molara Wood, a Nigerian writer, tweeted on her handle @molarawood, “Interesting point. A film from a Francophone African country, in the colonizer’s French, would qualify as ‘Foreign Language’ at the Oscars. No such luck for films in English from Anglophone African countries, it would seem”.

But some others think that the category stipulated a predominantly non-English language film, while Lionheart was predominantly in English, hence the disqualification.

While the world awaits the announcements of the shortlist of 10 films on December 16, 2019, and nominations for the 92nd Oscars on January 13, 2020, Nigerian filmmakers are now more informed on how to make films for the Oscars.

The 92nd Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Pearl Thusi, Eddie Kadi to host 6th AFRIMA grand ceremony

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he International Committee of AFRIMA has announced the main awards ceremony of the 6th All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), will be hosted

by South Africa-born and BritishCongolese Eddie Kadi on November 23, 2019 at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. As well, there will be live broadcast of the awards to over 80 countries that day.

With proven top notch screen and stage experience in the media, entertainment and comedy industry within and outside Africa, the two African superstars will bring their experience to bear while anchoring the programme of events at the star-studded Africa’s biggest music night, which will see winners of the 6th edition of the awards emerge.

Pearl Thusi, South Africa’s most sought after actress, TV presenter, MC, radio personality, model and businesswoman, is no stranger to the AFRIMA awards hosting duties. The talented and engaging Thusi hosted the 5th AFRIMA main awards held in Accra, Ghana on November 24, 2019. She boasts of a formidable breakthrough in her @Businessdayng

career, having gained popularity on the international movie scene with her lead role in Universal Film produced, ‘The Scorpion King: The Book of Souls’ alongside Zach McGowan, and her recurring role in ABC’s Drama Series ‘Quantico’. In 2018, Thusi also bagged a role in the first-ever Netflix African original series, “Queen Sono”. She has hosted shows such as AFRIMA 2018, Lip Sync Battle Africa on MTV, BET Africa’s Behind the Story, SABC 1’s LIVE Amp and the Comedy Central Roast of AKA. Eddie Kadi, better known for his witty, clean and conscious jokes, is fast becoming a strong force in the British comedy scene. The multiaward-winning comedian moved from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the UK at the age of 8 and has since accrued success in his comedy career that includes soldout concerts at the Hammersmith Apollo, London 02 Arena, and the IndigO2. Kadi has been able to use his gift and roots in African culture to break social barriers and unify cultures. In October 2019, he opened the music concert ‘Starboy Fest’ for Nigeria’s Afrobeat artiste, Wizkid, at the London 02 Arena.

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BUSINESS DAY

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entertainment

The image of your workspace

Business etiquette

Janet Adetu

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ave you taken a look at your work space recently? Why not take a picture let’s access the image it portrays.

Maybe you are a clean freak as they say and your space is spotless and immaculate, it means you are meticulous about many things especially your environs.

Do you thrive under pressure?

Chances are your workspace may be a little clustered or very untidy. Only you can understand what is going on and where everything is in the midst of the chaos.

Are you so busy that the tendency is for you to pile up files upon files, books upon books and paper upon papers? Are you so busy that your coffee cup, water glass and even numerous sweet wrappers have littered your work space? How many pens do you own, do you need? Plus the ones that are working well and those that have inked out; you see them all over your work space. Have you ever taken the time to stop audit and clear out your desk drawers in recent times?

The image of your work space can say so much about you, or the owner of that space. Personality, character, class, status, professionalism, educational level and much more are depicted in the image of you and your environment too. The work space is considered deeply because it is presumed that most of one’s time is spent around the workplace daily, weekly and monthly all year round.

Personally in spite of the pressure I may be facing I tend not to like an overcrowded desk, it only adds to the confusion that pressure when faces creates. I try as much as possible to reduce the work load gradually but eventually. At times it takes true dedi-

cation and adequate time allocation to achieve this. I have seen many people’s desks when I walk in and around offices where it appears like World War IV has just taken place. Does your work space look inviting to sit in for a few minutes for decent discussion or does it say keep far away.

What does your workspace say about you?

Executive presence This is the highest state your workspace can look like. It says you are a senior executive or act like a c-suite executive. You are orderly and calculated, you appropriate structure around your work; and in making decisions. Appearance, behavior and conduct mean a lot to you to function well. Your environment will immediately command respect along with a good first impression. This will set the tone for good business conversations.

If your work space indicates executive presence this is seen all over you. Not all executives practice executive presence, unfortunately their work space indicates far from it. The impression they have communicates a wrong message of who they truly are.

Professionalism Your workspace speaks professionalism around you only if is seen to be orderly; and clearly structured.

This is inviting to others who will be impressed at your sense of hygiene and cleanliness. Your workspace can

easily drive others away if it falls below expectation of your status and position in some instances. Professionalism in your workspace is the making

of a leader who should frown at the workspace of others that fail to meet high standards. For your workspace to look professional is a choice that can be achieved by anyone regardless of position or rank.

Millennial Our millennial today as we have seen have become totally paperless, It is all about the gadgets, the computer and high tech working conditions.

You will expect to see very little in the workspace of a millennial. At times you may wonder if these millennial are working in their individual work spaces, as signs of normal working are almost non- existent. As a millennial with no work experience you will need to understand the exiting work ethics of the organization and go with the work flow. Generally productivity is not based on how much work you see on the table, so long as the millennial is preoccupied you will experience good results, provided they are not distracted.

Fresh off the mill Our fresh graduates who have no prior work experience are torn between following the culture of the older generation and alternatively that of the new generation. Most times a lot of inexperience is seen among these youths as they struggle to find their feet, adapt to the new environment and follow the rules of the company. The workspace might not be so arranged; it may also not be inviting or attract respect to its owners. Just like personal rooms at home you may find yourself repeatedly complaining about the discomfort that space. The space will look full depending on your career, nature of assignment and expected deliverables. You may just be drawing people away from you if your space appears confusing. It is surprising how a lot of experienced staff still operate with a work space that looks like it is fresh of a the mill ; a young graduate.

Image is everything; be conscious of the image you present to others so

‘

The work space is considered deeply because it is presumed that most of one’s time is spent around the workplace daily, weekly and monthly all year round

that you can be in full control of the perception you leave behind wherever you may go.

Items that will sabotage the image of your workplace.

Anything can disrupt the work place the look, feel and image of your workspace, you may be keeping things there that you do not want or need. What are you harboring that is sabotaging the image of your workspace. Look at this list carefully and consciously begin to look around.

Your next action step is to remove all unwanted baggage around you. This is my non conclusive list enjoy!! i. Papers, papers and more papers. ii. Irrelevant magazines. iii. Excessive and outdated newspapers. iv. Stationary v. Over flowing documents hanging letter tray. vi. Phone wires and cables. vii. Desktop Dining Tools viii. Files in abundance ix. A cup too many x. Extra pictures on the desk ix. Over flowing books/ dairies iix. Litters/rubbish.

Polish your Workspace with 1. A plant 2. Sweet container 3. File tray.

4. Tissue box 5. Phone 6. Stationary tray 7. Diary 8. Box of Tissue 9. Laptop 10. Ipad Please take a picture of your workplace let me tell you what your space says about you. I look forward to hearing from you. Kindly share your etiquette experience.

All the best!

Janet.adetu@gmail,com quetteconsortium.com @janetadetu Happy Reading!

Atunda entertainment signs partnership deal with 3D modeling Agency

ENOF, entertainers stage concert to create awareness of asthma

tunda Entertainment has scored big in its quest to offer international exposure to models under its grooming as it has signed a partnership deal with 3D Modelling Agency; a leading modelling agency.

With the deal, both organisations are expected to synergise in hunting for talented models from across Nigeria and Africa, with the aim of nurturing them into world acclaimed models through the various channels available in the creative industry globally.

According to Ogongo, the lead model of Atunda Entertainment, who is spear heading the new move, 3D Agency is an internationally recognised modeling agency, with presence in major countries and cities of the world

he Elias Nelson Oyedokun Foundation (ENOF) is collaborating with some Nigerian entertainers to stage a concert aimed at creating awareness of asthma, a health issues that calls for urgent attention due to the increasing number of sufferers in Nigeria.

The concert, which is tagged ‘Family day in the park’ will hold on November 17, 2019 at Muri Okunola Park, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Speaking on the rationale for the awareness, Lola Ilaka, founder, ENOF, said, “Asthma is one of the health issues that need to be managed in Nigeria. There are a lot of triggers that cause an asthma attack including pollution. It is vital to know the triggers.” Ilaka, who lost her son to asthma, is championing the campaign to ensure that lives are saved from taking precautions against the ailment.

The ENOF, according to her, works with medical experts to educate those with the ailment on how to manage and control it, as well as, to inform people how to spot the symptoms early.

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and now making inroads into Nigeria through Atunda Entertainment.

Atunda Entertainment is an arm of Motherland Beckons, an outfit created

by Wanle Akinboboye, who is the president of La Campagne. It is devoted to the building of Africa continent, focusing on developing African talents in the areas of music, modwww.businessday.ng

eling, acting and general creativity with the aim of showcasing them to the world. Since its inception Atunda Entertainment has developed major musical stars and presented them via explosive and unique performances to the world.

According to her, it is a new dawn for the modeling industry in Nigeria and Africa, declaring that, “The agreement represents the next stage for Africans that would like to build career in the modeling industry.’’

She further disclosed that the grooming process for models to be featured in the programme would take place at La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort in Ikegun Village, Ibeji Lekki, Lagos.

La Campagne is world acclaimed African themed resort and Nigeria’s premier resort, where African

culture and architecture have been creatively showcased to present the best of Africa.

3D Modelling Agency provides top models to international brands such as Elite, ING, Crystal, Metropolitan (in Milan), Next, Independence, Wonderwall Fashion, Premier Elite, Essay, Glamour, Flash, Face, Genesis, New York Models and Dream Models.

It also works with major designers and fashion houses, which include Burberry, Armani, Dior, Versace, Dolce and Gabana, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Prada, Gucci, Guess, Nike, Puma, Zara, Adidas and H & M. Its models also work for major product brands such as Audi, Ferrari, Volvo, Mercedes Benz, Coke, Cartier, Volkswagen, Rolls Royce and Jaguar.

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janet.adetu@jsketi-

T

@Businessdayng

“It is my pleasure to team up with the entertainment industry on this campaign because they have also lost some of their members to asthma including the late Ogbonna Amadi, Tosyn Bucknor and others. We would like to bring the discussion on asthma to the forefront as the ailment has no bias to gender, class or tribe”, she further said.

While urging the public to visit the park to be entertained and informed on asthma prevalence and prevention, she noted that ENOF’s long term plan is to set up an asthma medical centre that would cater for patients.

For Michael Odiong, the concert project consultant, while asthma is a serious matter, the concert is going to be fun. “The event will feature games, competitions, food, drinks, music and stalls where families can do some early Christmas shopping and taste some of the delights available.

“It will be a family day where families can bond and artistes will entertain the crowd. There will be talks on asthma prevention and management”, Odiong explained.

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Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

POLITICS & POLICY

Fasoranti’s daughter murder investigation stalled - Afenifere Iniobong Iwok

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an-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, has said that investigation into the circumstances that led to the murder of Funke Olakunrin daughter of leader of the organisation, Ruben Fasoranti has been stalled.

Olakunri, 58, was killed on July 12th along the Benin-Ore expressway, with many attributing her death to the activities of criminal herdsmen.

Olakunrin was travelling from Akure to Ore when her vehicle was attacked alongside others.

The police authorities in Ondo State had said she was killed by suspected herdsmen in a kidnap attempt.

They also confirmed that

the incident occurred between Kajola and Ore along Ondo-Ore road.

Speaking exclusively in an interview with BusinessDay, Wednesday, Yinka

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non-governmental organisation (NGO), Coalition for Development and Democracy in Bayelsa State (CDDB) has cautioned the major political parties in the state to desist from any plan to use violence or monetary inducement to win the forth-coming gubernatorial election.

Bayelsans go to the polls on Saturday, November 16 to elect a new governor and CDDB said the major political parties should think of how to convince the electorate to vote for their candidates through the enunciation of their plans and ideas on how to develop the state.

A statement by the group made available to BusinessDay in Yenagoa and signed by the Executive Director, Ekiyor Welson, said the group charged security agencies

murder had been released by security agencies, stressing that the organisation

L-R: Deji Johnson, son of the deceased; Obafemi Hamzat, Lagos State Deputy Governor; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Folasade Jaji, secretary to the State Government; Seyi Johnson, another son of the deceased, and members of the State Executive Council during a condolence visit to the family of late Brigadier-General Mobolaji Johnson at his Ilupeju residence in Lagos on Thursday.

NGO cautions PDP, APC against violent election Samuel Ese, Yenagoa

Odumakin publicity secretary of Afenifere, said that all the suspects held over the

and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to monitor their leaders and stalwarts throughout the election period.

“Leaders and major foot soldiers of the two major parties” should be put “under surveillance throughout the duration of the build-up, to the Election Day proper, to checkmate the deployment of arms, ammunition and thugs before, during and after the elections,” the group said.

Welson, who made the call at the end of a voter education exercise against violence, rigging and ballot snatching in communities in Sagbama Local Government Area in partnership with INEC, said such a move was imperative to avert bloodshed during the election.

A CDDB team carried out the voter education exercise in the three constituencies of the local government area

does not know what was happening on the case.

Odumakin said that relevant security agencies which supposed to handle the investigation had refused to continue, stressing that the organisation was surprised by the situation of things.

He added that organisation had pressured security agencies to carry out the forensic investigation which was initially conducted by now stalled.

“There is no more investigation on the killing, all the suspects have been released by the security agencies, and we are shocked. I have done several press releases on this issue.

“We put pressure on them before they did the forensic investigation and they did it to some level and stop,” Odumakin said.

Police lead agency for election security, says INEC boss Samuel Ese, Yenagoa

and visited communities including Ofoni, Angalabiri, Toru-Orua, Ogobiri, Ebedebiri, Sagbama, Tungbo, Tungbabiri, Angiama, Agbere and Odoni.

The group used the opportunity to preach the gospel of peaceful and non-violent election, urging the people not to sell their votes while voting for a credible candidate that would address the development challenges facing the state.

Welson also commended INEC in the state for partnering NGOs and CSOs in the state in carrying out the voter education exercise and asked political parties and the state government to emulate INEC. The group said the response from the people at the grassroots was encouraging and an indication that the twin scourge of violence and vote selling was also detested by the people.

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hairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu has stressed that the police remained the lead agency for election security in Nigeria at the second stakeholders meeting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

Yakubu’s assertion is coming at a time that stakeholders were openly apprehensive the military would be deployed for security in the November 16 governorship election in the state.

At the last general election, stern-looking military men were deployed to the state for election security with the sad outcome of the killing of one Reginald Dei at Oweikorogha community.

But, addressing stakeholders on Thursday, Yakubu said: “The police is the lead agency for election security in Nigeria and the IGP is here,” while stating the readiness of the commission to conduct a free, fair and credible election.

He disclosed that INEC has successfully implemented 12 of the 14-point plan for the election as required by law and that five days earlier, the notice of poll w as published drawing the attention of political parties fielding candidates in the election to submit names of polling agents to electoral officers.

Yakubu said the non-sensitive materials had been delivered to the state and sorted out, categorised and batched by local governments, ward and units while the sensitive materials would be delivered to the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria this weekend.

According to him, the normal process of inspection would be carried out in the “presence of party agents, security agencies, observers and the media. The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Bayelsa State will give the date and time for the inspection and the itinerary for deployment in line with the Commission’s standard practice for the inspection and movement of sensitive materials.”

He reiterated that all sort

of voter inducement and vote buying at the polling units are violations of the law and the ban on the use of mobile phones and other photographic devices in the voting cubicle is still in force and would be strictly enforced and monitored.

On the issue of peaceful conduct during the election, he explained that it is the collective responsibility of all to “safeguard the process and to protect all election duty staff including the Youth Corps members who serve at the polling units which is the basic level of the voting process.

“It is also our collective responsibility to extend the same protection and allow freedom of movement and unimpeded access to polling and collation areas for accredited observers and the media during the election.”

Highlight of the stakeholders meeting was the signing of the peace accord by political parties and candidates who resolved, pledged, affirmed and committed to non-violence before, during and after the election.

ties. Dekina and Ankpa Local Government Councils has recorded the highest number of violent attack among party members and supporters.

“On the 19 of October, 2019, a party supporter was allegedly shot dead in Ayingba during one of the political party rallies,” she said.

The number of deaths recorded in Ayingba and Ankpa communities is quite

alarming. There has been a rise in the use of political thugs to perpetrate violence, as this was recorded in Dekina, Ankpa, Olamoboro, Omala and Idah Local Government Councils.

The programme is being funded by National Democratic Institute (NDI), United States Agency for International Development, (USAID), and UKAid.

Kogi polls: Group deploys 21 observers to LGAs …Decries rate of political-motivated killings in the state VICTORIA NNAKAIKE, Lokoja

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non-governmental organisation, Search for Common Ground (SFCG), is to deploy 21 observers for Kogi governorship election, just as it lamented the high rate of political killings in some parts of the state as the election approaches.

Omolola Mamedu, The Early Warning coordinator, disclosed this in Lokoja during the monthly Stakeholder’s Conflict Scan Analysis on Electoral Violence in Kogi State, saying the 21 observers will be deployed to all the 21 local government councils of the state, adding that one observer would be deployed to each local government.

She equally pointed out

that they have been selected and trained to observe and report to an existing database platform on early warning signs and conflict indicators she also noted that the early warning observers have reported cases of violence, physical attacks between All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

She said these reports

cover areas of electionrelated violence, identify potential threats to peaceful election at the pre-and post-election stages in order to facilitate an early response by stakeholders like the Police force, INEC, NOA with the aim of intervening to prevent violence.

“Series of attacks have been recorded during campaign rallies and party activi-

Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

33

Hotels

Top BusinessDay Partner Hotels Four Points by Sheraton Hotel (Oniru Chiefatancy Estate,Lekki) Tel: +234 1 448 9444

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Hope rises for African hospitality

Lagos Continental Hotel Plot 52, Kofo Abayomi St, Lagos Tel: 01 236 6666

…as indigenous management companies soar OBINNA EMELIKE

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t the 2019 edition of the Afr ica Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF), which was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last September, delegates from across the African hospitality sector were toasting to a bumper year for African tourism and travel.

They were celebrating the achievements of the tourism and travel industry, which contributed $194.2 billion to Africa’s economy in 2018, representing 8.5 percent of the continent’s GDP, as well as, offered 24.3 million African jobs, or 6.7 percent of total employment.

Impressed with Africa’s growth of 5.6 percent in 2018, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) described the continent as the second-fastest growing tourism region behind only Asia-Pacific.

As well, this year, there are 75,000 branded rooms in 401 hotels in the pipeline across Africa; representing a growth of 51 percent in total pipeline rooms since 2015, according to the annual African Hotel Chain Development Pipeline Survey by W Hospitality Group.

But the big global chains are still dominating, with Marriott International representing 81 hotels; Accor 57; Hilton 55; and Radisson Hotel Group 47 hotels in the pipeline, while countries with the largest pipelines; are Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco and Ethiopia.

However, some African hospitality management companies are waking up to the challenge and improving on their management skills, gaining confidence of African hotel owners and impressing with world-class service and facility offerings.

From the Mantis Collection, Legacy Hotels & Resorts, Sun International, Serena Hotels, Icon Hotel Group Africa, and to other indigenous hospitality management companies, Africa is beginning to raise home-groomed hospitality business managers who now understand that the enormous growth in the sector cannot be ignored or left to international brands.

Of course, African hospitality managers are now engaging in the scramble for their market share in hospitality management considering the boom on the continent. Currently, there is an increase in intraAfrica travel with at least four out of every 10 travwww.businessday.ng

ellers in Africa are from within the region. That means more guests for the hotels on the continent and more hotels to manage by the indigenous hospitality management companies.

Bearing in mind the need to address the shortage of quality hotels on the continent, as well as, to encourage patronage from Africa’s growing middle class, Icon Hotel Group Africa (IHGA) is among the management companies that are bracing up to the challenge.

The group, which is spreading its reach beyond its Kenyan base, is a fast-growing end-to-end African-grown hospitality hub that serves as a resource base for diverse core hospitality competencies across Africa and beyond.

A stay in Mount Meru Hotel or Palace Hotel both in Arusha, Tanzania, will attest to the world-class quality and commitment of the group to guide the development of international standard, yet culturally authentic hospitality assets on the Continent.

From the East, IHGA’s presence is now felt in West Africa starting with Nigeria.

The turnaround at Best Western Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, which resulted in the rebranding to BWC

Hotel by Icon Hotel Group Africa, is a testimony to the sophisticated network of experienced professionals Icon Hotel Group has.

Bu t t h e Ic o n Ho te l Group Africa is looking to expand further in Nigeria.

To ensure that, it recently appointed Adetope Kayode to drive its growth and expansion plans in Nigeria.

With over 16 years work experience across many sectors, Kayode, whose career to date includes stints at KPMG, ARM, Mixta Africa and HTI Consulting, has achieved among many feats; leading a team that structured and established the first specialist hospitality and retail real estate investment fund in Nigeria.

He is committed to the vision of Icon Hotel Group, which was conceived in 2008 as a response to the dire need of a homegrown hospitality management firm with a deep and holistic understanding of the hospitality sector in Africa.

He describes the Nigerian hospitality market as underserved by quality assets, creating a deep opportunity for a swift rollout of hotels as well as other hospitality, leisure and tourism assets in the key cities as well as other lesser known destinations across the country.

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Southern Sun IkoyI Hotel Address: 47 Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, Lagos Tel: +234 1 280 5200 / +234 1 280 0630 Email: ssikoyi.reservations@ tsogosun.com

Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel 1A,Ozumba Mbadiwe,Victoria Island.

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Live @ The STOCK Exchanges Prices for Securities Traded as of Thursday 07 November 2019 Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities) BANKING ACCESS BANK PLC. 298,579.90 8.40 0.60 297 84,330,518 UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC 217,166.33 6.35 0.79 181 8,071,172 ZENITH BANK PLC 533,740.39 17.00 -2.02 609 52,940,842 1,087 145,342,532 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC 193,834.58 5.40 -0.92 132 12,460,050 132 12,460,050 1,219 157,802,582 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES MTN NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS PLC 2,503,605.11 123.00 - 69 329,662 69 329,662 69 329,662 BUILDING MATERIALS DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 2,520,291.05 147.90 - 58 326,488 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 225,509.14 14.00 - 77 20,173,320 135 20,499,808 135 20,499,808 EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 332,471.18 565.00 - 13 26,136 13 26,136 13 26,136 1,436 178,658,188 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC 1,710.00 85.50 - 0 0 UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) 10,175.81 40.70 - 0 0 UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 11,873.80 4.45 - 5 7,757 5 7,757 5 7,757

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND 411.91 552.20 - 0 0 VALUEALLIANCE VALUE FUND 3,312.39 103.20 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7,757 CROP PRODUCTION FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 440.00 0.20 - 0 0 OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 50,509.53 52.95 - 18 33,111 34,600.00 34.60 - 8 24,850 PRESCO PLC 26 57,961 FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC. 8,520.00 4.26 - 0 0 0 0 LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 1,380.00 0.46 - 12 305,010 12 305,010 38 362,971 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 741.24 0.28 - 3 7,410 JOHN HOLT PLC. 214.03 0.55 - 1 506 S C O A NIG. PLC. 1,903.99 2.93 - 0 0 TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC 40,647.99 1.00 -1.96 36 1,590,004 U A C N PLC. 17,864.04 6.20 - 53 489,906 93 2,087,826 93 2,087,826 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ARBICO PLC. 711.32 4.79 - 0 0 0 0 INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 24,486.00 18.55 - 14 84,090 ROADS NIG PLC. 165.00 6.60 - 0 0 14 84,090 REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 2,520.44 0.97 - 9 103,176 9 103,176 23 187,266 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 954.53 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 7,751.20 0.99 - 1 100 GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. 242.22 0.89 - 0 0 GUINNESS NIG PLC 51,035.92 23.30 - 25 172,605 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 88,107.58 10.25 - 8 6,944 NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 371,855.95 46.50 - 43 345,397 77 525,046 FOOD PRODUCTS DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 111,250.00 22.25 - 0 0 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 119,400.00 9.95 -3.86 40 212,272 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 62,325.77 15.20 - 43 316,224 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 7,137.18 0.90 -8.16 49 3,567,600 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC 1,340.10 0.36 - 0 0 N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 766.26 4.30 - 0 0 NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC 39,344.16 14.85 - 19 57,957 UNION DICON SALT PLC. 3,321.07 12.15 - 0 0 151 4,154,053 FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 16,903.82 9.00 -6.25 26 632,155 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 911,554.69 1,150.00 - 70 81,430 96 713,585 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. 1,680.31 22.10 - 0 0 VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 4,440.50 3.55 - 24 594,353 24 594,353 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 22,036.15 5.55 - 17 160,882 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 124,379.37 21.65 -9.98 22 500,822 39 661,704 387 6,648,741 ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 128,446.86 7.00 - 43 387,480 FIDELITY BANK PLC 51,575.14 1.78 1.14 135 8,641,328 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 794,641.84 27.00 2.86 220 9,389,573 JAIZ BANK PLC 16,205.34 0.55 3.77 25 502,023,704 STERLING BANK PLC. 63,338.92 2.20 - 24 813,131 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 203,845.27 7.00 - 25 289,709 UNITY BANK PLC 6,779.82 0.58 - 3 11,027 22,758.93 0.59 -1.67 25 1,789,137 WEMA BANK PLC. 500 523,345,089 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC 4,117.00 0.20 - 0 0 AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 4,851.14 0.70 2.94 34 1,049,916 AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC 17,325.00 1.65 - 6 69,225 3,170.70 0.39 -4.88 2 300,000 CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 24,272.22 2.34 - 10 167,700 CORNERSTONE INSURANCE PLC 7,217.46 0.49 - 5 117,000 909.99 0.20 - 0 0 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 1,228.00 0.20 - 0 0 487.95 0.38 - 0 0 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 1,904.09 0.26 -3.70 11 445,663 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 2,148.17 0.50 - 3 15,153 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 4,080.00 0.51 - 10 320,000 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. 2,234.55 0.20 - 1 460,000 NEM INSURANCE PLC 10,561.01 2.00 - 10 90,703 NIGER INSURANCE PLC 1,547.90 0.20 - 2 16,520 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC 2,745.10 0.51 - 0 0 REGENCY ASSURANCE PLC 1,400.44 0.21 5.00 3 199,999 SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 1,668.16 0.20 - 0 0 STACO INSURANCE PLC 4,483.72 0.48 - 0 0 STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. 2,582.21 0.20 - 0 0 SUNU ASSURANCES NIGERIA PLC. 2,800.00 0.20 - 0 0 UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. 516.46 0.20 - 0 0 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE PLC 3,200.00 0.20 - 0 0 VERITAS KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 2,773.33 0.20 - 0 0 WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 4,282.48 0.32 - 15 333,199 112 3,585,078

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MICRO-FINANCE BANKS NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 2,515.30 1.10 -7.56 8 1,001,750 8 1,001,750 MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC 4,200.00 1.00 - 1 2,500 ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 7,370.87 0.50 - 0 0 5,796.93 1.39 - 0 0 INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 2,265.95 0.20 - 0 0 UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. 2,949.22 3.02 - 0 0 1 2,500 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AFRICA PRUDENTIAL PLC 7,900.00 3.95 - 28 188,570 CUSTODIAN INVESTMENT PLC 29,409.32 5.00 - 6 178,985 DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC 660.00 0.44 - 0 0 34,258.69 1.73 -0.57 28 713,700 FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 1,080.53 0.21 - 3 12,000 387,517.72 37.00 -2.12 31 3,487,399 STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UNITED CAPITAL PLC 13,080.00 2.18 0.93 43 3,036,078 139 7,616,732 760 535,551,149

HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS EKOCORP PLC. 1,680.29 3.37 - 0 0 UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 781.69 0.22 -8.33 3 142,000 3 142,000 MEDICAL SUPPLIES MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 494.58 0.50 - 2 1,534 2 1,534 PHARMACEUTICALS EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 366.17 0.50 - 0 0 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 6,780.67 3.25 -9.72 6 211,450 7,534.02 6.30 - 13 44,384 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 3,381.46 1.96 - 11 19,166 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 740.67 0.39 - 2 1,526 556.71 3.62 - 0 0 NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. PHARMA-DEKO PLC. 325.23 1.50 - 0 0 32 276,526 37 420,060 COMPUTER BASED SYSTEMS COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC 816.96 0.23 - 6 109,816 6 109,816 COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS OMATEK VENTURES PLC 1,470.89 0.50 - 0 0 0 0 IT SERVICES CWG PLC 6,413.06 2.54 - 0 0 NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 486.00 4.50 - 0 0 TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. 316.77 0.64 - 0 0 0 0 PROCESSING SYSTEMS CHAMS PLC 1,127.05 0.24 4.35 6 530,580 E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 9,996.00 2.38 - 0 0 6 530,580 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AIRTEL AFRICA PLC 1,157,510.66 308.00 - 10 950 10 950 22 641,346

BUILDING MATERIALS BERGER PAINTS PLC 2,173.68 7.50 - 5 4,459 CAP PLC 17,885.00 25.55 - 18 7,334 CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 215,553.42 16.40 - 18 42,129 MEYER PLC. 313.43 0.59 - 0 0 PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC 1,769.32 2.23 - 0 0 1,156.20 9.40 - 0 0 PREMIER PAINTS PLC. 41 53,922 ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC 2,256.91 2.09 - 0 0 CUTIX PLC. 2,465.85 1.40 - 11 125,177 11 125,177 PACKAGING/CONTAINERS BETA GLASS PLC. GREIF NIGERIA PLC 388.02 9.10 - 0 0 13 60,565 AGRO-ALLIED & CHEMICALS NOTORE CHEMICAL IND PLC 100,754.14 62.50 - 0 0 0 0 65 239,664 CHEMICALS B.O.C. GASES PLC. 2,547.42 6.12 - 4 5,230 4 5,230 METALS ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. 1,781.64 8.10 - 0 0 0 0 MINING SERVICES MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC 852.39 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. 83.60 0.38 - 1 6,214 1 6,214 5 11,444 ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC 1,252.54 0.20 - 3 20,908 3 20,908 INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES OANDO PLC 41,893.86 3.37 - 55 732,806 55 732,806 PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS 11 PLC 53,332.04 147.90 - 10 1,454 CONOIL PLC 10,686.86 15.40 - 12 7,862 ETERNA PLC. 3,716.81 2.85 - 2 4,946 FORTE OIL PLC. 20,709.45 15.90 - 27 146,627 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 4,663.23 15.30 - 2 200 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 41,829.09 123.20 - 7 12,268 60 173,357 118 927,071 ADVERTISING AFROMEDIA PLC 1,642.45 0.37 - 0 0 0 0 AIRLINES MEDVIEW AIRLINE PLC 17,551.17 1.80 - 0 0 0 0 AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS R T BRISCOE PLC. 270.56 0.23 - 0 0 0 0 COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 2,623.26 4.45 - 7 15,371 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. 398.52 0.85 - 2 1,382 9 16,753 HOSPITALITY TANTALIZERS PLC 642.33 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 HOTELS/LODGING CAPITAL HOTEL PLC 4,259.15 2.75 - 0 0 IKEJA HOTEL PLC 2,224.31 1.07 - 1 600 TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 7,862.53 3.50 - 0 0 TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC 41,042.18 5.40 - 0 0 1 600 MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 4,800.00 0.40 - 0 0 0 0 PRINTING/PUBLISHING ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 205.63 0.34 - 0 0 LEARN AFRICA PLC 902.60 1.17 - 3 18,569 STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. 1,183.82 1.99 - 1 233 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 616.92 1.43 - 4 21,923 8 40,725

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BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 8 November 2019

Business SOUTH-SOUTH

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SOUTH-SOUTH / SOUTH-EAST

Nigerian Railway losing billions of Naira in South-east REGIS ANUKWUOJI, Enugu

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he Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has lost billions of naira in the last five years in the south-east geopolitical zone for not operating the Eastern railway line – Port Harcourt to Makurdi via Enugu.

Investigations revealed that a train of eight coaches from Port Harcourt to Enugu makes not less than N2 million per a trip.

When BusinessDay visited the NRC office in Enugu, Olusoji Osidipe, the district manager, East Wing, who confirmed that railway has not operated in the zone for the past five years, said, it was as a result of vandalization of the rail lines by unknown individuals. He blamed the perpetrators for not understanding the importance of the rail lines to the economic development of the area.

He called on the villagers to assist the Nigerian Railway Cooperation in monitoring the rail tracks to stop the vandalization. He also appealed to the Federal Government to make laws that would prohibit buying and selling of railway materials from iron melting companies without clearing from the NRC as one of the measures to stopping vandalization of railway lines in many parts of the country.

Osidipe also said erosion and landslide have equally affected many areas of the rail tracks in the Eastern district, as well as the weakness of some rail bridges.

Our investigations further revealed that despite the so-called vandalization, which was occasioned by disuse of the rail lines by NRC for a long time, many parts of the rail lines between Aba in Abia State passing through Enugu to Makurdi have gone bad, and some rail bridges need urgent reconstruction before train can pass on them comfortably.

The reason for Nigeria Railway to have abandoned the Enugu – Port Harcourt

rail line immediately after the last administration five years ago cannot be understood becaus e the contract to rehabilitate the rail line from Port Harcourt to Makurdi was awarded during the last administration to Eser West African Company Limited by the administration of former president Goodluck Johnathan. This company allegedly completed the contract by 2014, and train operations began from Port Harcourt passing Enugu to Makurdi.

The sudden stop that led to the vandalization as was said by the district manager, was the question many people are asking.

All the business activities along the sub-stations have stopped drastically. Petty traders have been forced out of business, with special reference to Enugu where the railway station was a very big commercial area.

All these are gone. Today, the Enugu Railway Station looks like a ghost village, as old coaches are seen in every corner of the station.

Despite the fact that the railway line in Eastern District is not functional, all the Federal roads are receiving little or no attention. The Enugu – Port Harcourt expressway, Enugu – Onitsha Road and many other roads in the south-east are not passable, a situation that

speaks volume to the business activities of the people of the south-east.

Also, today the Federal Government has closed down Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu to effect repairs on the runways.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved N10 billion for the repairs, but since a month ago, work is yet to start at the airport. It was announced that the project would be ready before December 2019. But now the minister of Aviation said it is April 2020 for the airport’s reopening.

Fillers from most people are that the action was politically motivated. “How can you treat a people like this. This present government awarded new railway contracts to where they were no rails before. What stops them from ensuring that the railway line from Port Harcourt to Makurdi which has been existing for decades, is rehabilitated. Our roads are also used for politics,” said a manufacturer. However, Okechukwu, a manufacturer, said he thanked the President for approving money for the Akanu Ibiam Airport’s repairs. He urged the Aviation minister to show seriousness by bringing the contractors to site, and making sure the work was going on. “This is the only international airport we have in the South-east,” he said.

Our products are in high demand – MD, Greenwell Technologies ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

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gainst the backd ro p o f c u r re n t efforts by the Federal Government to revitalize agriculture, a fertilizer blending plant in Akwa, Greenwell Technologies is counting its gains selling the product in states across the country. Johnny Udoh, managing director of the company said the company’s products are now in high demand across the country.

He said Greenwell Technologies, which is located at Abak, few kilometres from Uyo, the state capital, has sold out most of its products. “Most of our products have been sold out. Last month we shipped 4,000 metric tons to Nassarawa

State and some other states.

We still have about 59 trucks that will go to Rivers State whenever they are ready to pick,” Udoh stated in an interview with our correspondent.

The G re e nw e l l Te ch nologies managing director said the company has been making profit follow ing high demands/ patronage of its product by many states across the country; adding that the company has also started blending fertilizer for coconut farms.

He explained that Federal G overnment subsi d i z e s 5 0 p e rc e n t o f t h e cost of the fertilizer as a way of assisting farmers.

“The actual manufacturing price is N11,000 per bag, but the Federal Government pays 50 percent of the price, then the farmers pay

50 percent of the price. In some states, the state government gives to farmers free,” he said.

“You can buy this product at N6,000, or N7,000 in the market because the raw materials are very expensive. We don’t sell less than one truck load to the agro dealers. Right now, we are selling to individuals, but by next year we will not. If someone wants to buy one bag, we will sell, but from next year we are not going to do that again,” Udoh said.

He said the demand for fertilizer is high in the country. “Right now, we have about 1000 metric tons remaining in our warehouse; and the Federal Government has paid for them all.

But we are also producing for private entities. We are

also shipping to coconut farmers right now; we are blending fertilizers for them.”

He said when they started the fertilizer blending plant, most of their customers were from the north, but they have started having customers from Akwa Ibom, Abia, Imo, among others. “We are the only fertilizer blender in the SouthSouth of the country,” he explained.

Udoh however lamented the high cost of running the factory on diesel engine generators; saying the company spends N1.4 million monthly on diesel. He explained that all efforts he had made to ensure regular power supply to the plant with assurance from a power distribution company has not yielded

any dividend. He called on the Federal Government to critically address the issue of power supply in the country.

“I spend about N1.4 million a month on diesel. If I am lucky, I might have light for only two minutes or five minutes for whole week. So, we depend solely on diesel.

We have a 500 KVA generator. If we don’t have power, we cannot operate these machines,” he said.

He said when he first decided to do the business, his first concern was commitment. “We turnout about 300 metric tons a day, sometimes 200 metric tons depending on the need and availability of raw materials. Two of our raw materials are imported, and the rest are purchased locally,” he said.

Ogah promises partnership with Ikpeazu to develop Abia …as governor decries illegal mining in state UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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chechukwu Ogah, the minister of state for Mines and Steel Development, has expressed his willingness to workwiththeAbiaStateGovernor, Okezie Ikpeazu in the development of the state. Ogah said when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Ikpeazu at the Government House, Umuahia, stressing that politics was over, and now is time for governance.

He said, “I’m a minister representing Abia State at the Federal ExecutiveCouncil.Ihavethemandate to always bring out issues that will help to develop this state for the interest of our state. We should all work together as a team to develop the state in the interest of our people.”

He asked the governor to contact him about areas the Federal Government needs to come in to help the state government; adding, “I believe I have the capacity toreachouttotheFederalGovernment,sothattheinterestofthestate is protected.”

He pointed out that there were so much that he and the governor could do together to attract what was due to the state; adding that hisvisitwasamongothers,toshare ideas with the state chief executive on how to move Abia forward.

The minister who stated that he was in the state to represent President Muhammadu Buhari at theburialoflateJohnAguiyiIronsi, the late son of J.T.U Aguiyi Ironsi former head of state, disclosed that he had necessary contacts at the federal level on how to ensure that Abia benefits from the Federal Government.

The Mines and Steel Development minister assured Governor Ikpeazu that the Federal Government would help in tackling illegal mining activities and erosion menace in the state. He called for morecollaborationtoachievethat.

Governor Ikpeazu congratulated Ogah on his appointment and for deeming it fit to pay him a visit. He explained that there were alottheycouldachieveforthestate from the centre.

Thegovernorhowever,decried illegal mining activities going on in thestate;andattributedsuchdevelopment to the issuance of mining licencebytheFederalGovernment without recourse to the state.

He equally lamented the devastating menace of erosion in the state, saying that about 25 percent of land belonging to the state had been eaten up by erosion.

The Abia governor disclosed that through the intervention of the NEWMAP, three critical erosion sites in the state had been reclaimed; adding that the Isiukwuato erosion menace required urgent attention of the Federal Government. He sought for more collaboration from the Federal Government, expressing confidence in the ability of the Mines and Steel Development minister to represent the state well at the federal executive council.

Friday 08 November 2019

BUSINESS DAY

news

Big Dutchman introduces ‘easystep56’ agric management system

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ig Dutchman Agriculture Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Big Dutchman International, has developed an innovative agricultural management system for egg production in Nigeria. This innovation called EasyStep56 layer cage aims to support many African farmers and small scale entrepreneurs in the development of the egg production industry in Africa.

The EasyStep56 layer cage is a management system for layer chicken. It is available in two handy packages with a total weight of 55 kilograms. This makes the cages easy to carry and aids comfortable transportation.

Thomas Ogundiran, MD/ CEO, Big Dutchman, explains that the company has specially developed the EasyStep56 layer cage making it incredibly easy to assemble, saying, “The EasyStep56 layer cage will encourage small/medium scale entrepreneur to start egg production on a small scale. They can begin from one unit and gradually increase to more units as their capacity increases. The set-up of this cage is very easy and everyone can do it.”

Only three tools are required to set up the cage. They are pliers, an open-ended spanner and a

hexagon spanner. All parts of the cage are pre-drilled and pre-cut upon supply.

Adebolu Fatunmise, national sales manager, Big Dutchman, states that the major benefits of the system in comparison with traditional barn egg production systems are the 56 capacity layer cage, 20 percent egg increase, low mortality rate, durability, efficiency, accurate feed and water supply, none feed wastage, manure removal, soil fertilisation, simple assembly and efficient production. “EasyStep56 can be put into operation immediately with no electricity required. Interested farmers can reach us via mail on afatunmise@bigdutchman. com,” he says.

Big Dutchman Agriculture Nigeria Limited is a subsidiary of Dutchman International GmbH, a leading pig and poultry equipment manufacturer and supplier in the world.

Since 1938, Dutchman International has planned and realised feeding systems and housing equipment for modern pig and poultry production.

BD Agriculture Nigeria Limited offer practical, economical and environment-friendly solutions all geared to future needs.

Putin honours Oramah with Russia’s National Award MIKE OCHONMA

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resident Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday in Moscow bestowed the national honour of “The Order of Friendship” on Benedict Okey Oramah, president of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

The award took place during a ceremony held in the Kremlin, seat of the Government of the Russian Federation, and was witnessed by senior members of the government and other dignitaries.

Nigeria was represented by the permanent secretary, office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Gabriel Aduda.

The Order of Friendship is awarded to Russian and foreign nationals for special merit in strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and understanding between nations, for fruitful work on the convergence and mutual enrichment of cultures of nations and peoples.

Established by the first president of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, the Order of Friendship is awarded for great contribution to the implementation of joint ventures with the Russian Federation, major economic projects and for attracting investments into the economy of the Russian Federation.

The award to Oramah was for “Special merit in strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and understanding between nations, for fruitful work on the convergence and mutual enrichment of cultures of nations and peoples.”

It is, specifically, in recognition of the role played by Afreximbank in revitalising trade and economic relations between Africa and Russia as evident in the success of the Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum held in Sochi, Russian Federation, from October 23 to 24, as well as the rapidly rising trade and investment relations between Russia and Africa.

Extortion: Lagos warns corrupt CDAs JOSHUA BASSEY

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nfuriated by reported cases of extortion and harassment of residents by Community Development Associations (CDAs), the Lagos State government says it will not spare any effort at arresting and prosecuting the leadership of such CDAs in any part of the state.

The state commissioner for local government and community affairs, Yetunde Arobieke, gave the warning at a news conference on Thursday to herald this year’s Community Day celebration in the state.

She said such cases had been brought to her office over CDAs’ extortion and harassment of members of the community or engaging in lawless activities.

According to Arobieke,

some CDA members had gone to the extent of arresting landlords, warning that such arbitrariness must stop henceforth.

“We don’t want the action of the CDAs to make people cast aspersions on this administration. They should be friendly with the people, but people should pay their dues.

In the event of paying your dues and the CDAs did not use it for the project proposed, you can report to us, we don’t want extortion, and arbitrariness,” she said.

Speaking on the Community Day, Arobieke said the celebration would be in line with the T.H.E.M.E.S. agenda of the Governor Babajide SanwoOlu’s administration.

She said, “The celebration www.businessday.ng

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L-R: Femi Adesina, analyst, youth segment, MTN Nigeria; Precious Minimah, analyst, Youth Segment, MTN Nigeria; Kelechi Amadi-Obi, award-winning photographer and publisher, Style Mania Magazine, and Kesiena Okobiah, analyst, youth segment, MTN Nigeria, during the Pulse Talk Series of the Pulse Campus Invasion, at the University of Benin, Benin, Edo State.

Senate probes security activities at Lagos ports, alleges OMSL diverting N263.89bn Solomon Ayado, Abuja

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enate has alleged that a company offering illegal security services at the safe anchorage area in Lagos ports, OMLS Limited, has diverted N263.89 billion and it is investigating it.

Senate says it is probing the matter because by virtue of Section 86 of the 1999 Constitution, each House of the National Assembly is empowered to carry out any investigation on any matter on which it has power to make laws.

Senate insists that it is only Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigerian Navy and Maritime police that have statutory responsibility for providing security in the Nigeria’s

territorial waters.

Also, the Senates note that security of anchorage area in the Lagos ports where ships anchor prior to berthing at any of the ports is function of the above named agencies only.

Senate further says that the probe is hinged on its discovery that OMSL Limited has since 2014 carried out provision of security of the Lagos ports safe anchorage area on fees from vessels without regard to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) who by the Ports Act of 1954 has the responsibility.

The motion on the matter is sponsored by Thompson George Sekibo (Rivers East) and presented in plenary on Wednesday.

Leading the debate, Sekibo alleged that “OMSL Limited

charges every ship that anchored within the Safe Area $2,500 on the first day of anchorage and $1,500 on every subsequent day for the period any ship stayed at the anchorage area.”

It takes between 28 to 30 days for ships that anchor at the Safe Anchorage Area to exit and that every ship that anchors at Safe Area pays as much as $46,500 for making use of the anchorage area within the period, he said.

With statistics available to Senate from the NPA, it revealed that about 1,666 ships call at the Lagos Port per quarter and 55% of this number stay at the Safe Anchorage Area to allow time for free space to berth at any of the ports, totalling 916 ships.

Also, Sekibo pointed out that

“a rough calculation estimated the number of ships that stayed at the Safe Anchorage Area in a year to about 3,665 ships.

“OMSL Limited has alleged that the Nigerian Navy had a Memorandum of Understanding with them in this illegal Operation. OMSL Limited in connivance with other security agencies are collecting a whooping sum of $133.28 million or N47.98 billion every year from 2014, meaning that over $733.04 million or N263.89 billion have been collected

by OMSL Limited and its collaborators.”

Concurring the motion, James Manager (Delta South), described the illegal security activities of OMLS as fraudulent and urged the Senate not to ever relent in its probe.

Border closure: Customs boss suspends Alaghodaro 2019: Edo residents gear up supply of petrol to border communities for summit as Benin wears new looks ISAAC ANYAOGU

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omptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ali, has ordered that petroleum products should no longer be supplied to filling stations within 20 kilometers to all Nigerian borders with their neighbouring countries.

A copy of the directive dated November 6, and signed Chidi A, the deputy-controller General on behalf of his boss, obtained by BusinessDay reads “The Comptroller-General of Customs has directed that henceforth no petroleum product no matter the tank size is permitted to be discharged in any filling station within 20 kilometers to the Border.”

“Consequently, you are directed to ensure strict and immediate compliance, please” the directive said.

Recall that the former group managing director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, had in April this year in a meeting with Ali said that smuggling of petroleum products across

the Nigeria’s borders has led to loss of revenue and subverted government’s efforts to ensure adequate supply of petroleum products in all parts of the country.

The NNPC boss said that 16 states, having amongst them 61 Local Government Areas with border communities, account for 2,201 registered fuel stations with 149.9million litres storage capacity. it further said that eight states with coastal border communities spread across 24 LGAs account for 866 registered fuel outlets with combined petrol tank capacity of 73.4million litres Baru further said the activities of smugglers had led to an observed abnormal surge in the evacuation of petrol from less than 35 million litres per day to more than 60 million litres per day which is in sharp contrast with established national consumption pattern.

Meanwhile, the directive did not provide alternatives avenue for Nigerians living in border communities to access petroleum products.

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s Alaghodaro 2019 draws near, residents in Edo State are gearing up for the various activities lined up for the event, which marks Governor Godwin Obaseki’s third year anniversary in office.

A cross-section of residents in the state, who spoke with journalists said they were waiting eagerly for the summit, in its third edition, to celebrate the achievements of Governor Godwin Obaseki in basic education, healthcare, urban renewal and others sectors of the state’s economy. Major roads and streets in the capital city of Benin now wear new look as branding materials dot the cityscape.

The Alaghodaro 2019 summit themed ‘Delivering to the People: The Next Level,’ would host investors, government functionaries, youths, women and other players in the state’s bourgeoning private-sector driven economy.

Gabriel Ehiagwina, a trader in Oba Market, Ring Road, expressed delight over the new look of Benin City, noting that preparations were ongoing to @Businessdayng

ensure a successful outing for the Alaghodaro 2019 summit.

According to Ehiagwina, “We have been hearing a lot about Alaghodaro 2019 summit on the streets, markets and even on radio and television. The governor is marking his third year in office and we are happy to be celebrating with him. Governor Obaseki is someone we are all proud of.

My children in school are happy going to school because of the way they are now being taught.

It is really surprising. I am so happy.”

Another trader, Blessing Igbinovia, said the Obaseki-led administration had done a lot to correct the mistakes of past administrations, especially with the clearing of touts from the streets and restoring sanity to public life.

She said, “I am very happy with the government and I am eager to celebrate with the governor. A lot has happened since he came on board. We are better off, I can say that for sure because sanity has returned to the market. People are now really interested in what the government is doing.”

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news CBN denies banning individuals, small firms...

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tutions to stop the sale of treasury bills to individuals and small businesses with effect from November 29.

“People don’t understand the difference between Open Market Operation (OMO) and Treasury Bills,” Isaac Okorafor, director, corporate communications department of the CBN, told BusinessDay over the phone.

An online report, quoting “some bank officials”, had on Thursday said only big corporate organisations would be allowed to do treasury bills investments from November 29 and that banks were already notifying their customers of the new directive.

But Okorafor said the only circular issued by the CBN was for OMO and not treasury bills.

The CBN had in a circular dated October 23, 2019 directed deposit money banks to exclude individuals and domestic corporates from participating in its Open Market Operations.

In a statement on its Twitter handle on Thursday titled ‘Differences Between CBN OMO Bills and the Nigerian Treasury Bills’, the CBN explained that it issues Nigerian Treasury Bills “on behalf of Debt Management Office on behalf of the Federal Government”.

Industry analysts say if the CBN stops individuals and small businesses from buying treasury bills, it would have both positive and negative impacts on the economy.

An operator said that the inaccessibility of treasury bills might lead to an increase in savings deposits of the banks, attracting interest rates below what the treasury bills offered.

“Fixed deposit rates will definitely head southwards as individuals try to lock in their funds in other alternatives. This implies cost of funds for banks would decline,” Ayorinde Akinloye, research analyst at Lagosbased CSL, said.

He said boutique stockbroking houses would benefit significantly from the move because individu-

als who can’t afford to give money to banks at 2-4 percent interest rates would consider investing in T-Bills via some of these stockbroking houses who can buy from banks and big corporates depending on volume and size.

“Also, alternatives like bonds etc. would see some bullish sentiments as HNIs attempt to cherry-pick the best available yields,” Akinloye said.

According to another industry analyst who asked not to be identified, the stock market may also be a big beneficiary of this move, “but that is probably going to happen in 2020 as a ‘forced rally’”.

The CBN on Thursday issued N300 billion via OMO but sold a total of N232.45 billion for the three tenor instruments.

The N20 billion offered for 89-day tenor which is expected to mature February 4, 2020 recorded no sales, no subscription, and no stop rate.

Johnson Chukwu, managing director, Cowry Asset Management Limited, and Ayodeji Ebo, managing director, Afrinvest Securities Limited, said investors are locking in on longer-tenor instruments anticipating that rates will come down.

C h u kw u f u r t h e r e xplained that investors are doing so to avoid real investment risks associated with short-term bills.

He also said system liquidity is tight as most of the investments are coming from Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) who are looking for longer-term related instruments.

For 180-day tenor instrument, the CBN offered N30 billion at a stop rate of 11.69 percent, which investors demanded. The OMO bill, which matures on May 5, 2020, recorded only N8 billion subscription/total sales.

The CBN offered N250 billion for 362-day tenor and sold a total of N224.45 billion subscribed by investors at a stop rate of 13.30 percent.

Investors earlier demanded a bid range of between 13.24 percent and 13.30 percent for an offer which matures November 3, 2020.

L-R: Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman, Nigerian Diaspora Commission; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Atiku Bagudu, governor, Kebbi State, during NigeriaDiaspora Investment Summit at the the Presidential Villa Abuja, yesterday.

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In push for private capital, Nigeria shuns domestic investors Continued from page 1

securitised.

A panel at the FMDQ conference suggested that government increase the stock of investible infrastr ucture through public-private partnerships (PPP) framework by scaling down large projects into bits attractive to private investors, and explore possibilities like concession of airports.

With some challenges currently around PPP, the government has to create incentives for the entire value chain instead of specific projects to avoid situations like in the power sector where tarrifs don’t reflect cost.

Att ra c t i ng d o m e st i c capital will also require the government to respect contracts in Nigeria. Most times, a change in gov-

which provided solution to a key need of building a faculty of engineering.

Tahir who lamented that the University was in dire need of facilities such as classroom blocks, hostel accommodation and offices (it is still sharing facilities with the Borno College of Education in Biu while students of the institution are being accommodated in military barracks), called on other companies as well as publicspirited individuals to come

our economic challenges,” Dipeolu said. “There are huge opportunities in infrastructure and the government is keen to attract private capital into that space.”

The amount (N205 billion) is 47 percent higher than the entire public expenditure on transport infrastructure in 2018 and 62 percent of the total amount spent on power, works and housing in the same period.

Details were not provided on the specific roads that attracted the money and the private investors behind the deal.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari signed, on 25 January 2019, Executive Order No. 007 on Road Infrastructure Dev e l o p m e nt a n d Re f u rbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.

The 10-year scheme is a public-private partnership (PPP) intervention that enables the cashstrapped government to leverage private sector capital and efficiency for the construction, repair, and maintenance of critical road infrastructure in key economic areas in Nigeria that have deterred business and economic growth.

According to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Nigeria has about 195,000km of road network out of which about 32,000km are federal roads and 31,000km are state roads. In total, only about 60,000km of roads are paved leaving 135,000km untarred. A large proportion of the paved roads are in bad condition due to poor maintenance.

Ajimobi’s daughter among Osinbajo’s ...

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Continued from page 2 of locally produced goods.

In September 2019, the Nigerian government announced plans to raise Value Added Tax from 5 percent to 7.5 percent.

“With duty increases on beer as well (from N30 to N35 per litre) in June 2019, and without price increases, and given the inflation levels, the margin challenge is clear,” Guinness said in a note to companies.

In May, Nigeria Breweries said in its pre annual general meeting that it was considering an increase in price of its products across board in order to remain sustainable.

“We want to ensure our strategy to remain competitive is paying off in terms of growth, although we need to increase prices to compensate for the inflationary pressures that we are facing and probably excise duty,” Jordi Borrut Bel, CEO, Nige-

CBN denies banning individuals, small firms...

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ernment leaves investors vulnerable to dissolution of existing contracts by the new sheriff in town.

Similarly, the private sector has asked to be carried along in policy formulation and not consulted only at advanced stage where dialogue and compromise are difficult.

Meanwhile, moves by the Federal Government to create room for private capital for infrastructure through a tax incentive scheme has yielded N205bn in investment, Adeyemi Dipeolu, special adviser to the president on economic matters, said at the conference, but the need to unlock Nigeria’s true potential requires more funding. “ The interest in the scheme shows that Nigeria remains a compelling destination of capital despite

to its assistance like Belamoil.

The VC assured the oil company of the University’s readiness to contribute its quota in terms of research and other intellectual needs to the company and asked the Founder/President to help the institution identify resourceful persons particularly in the area of Engineering and Environmental Studies for employment while assuring that admission into the institution is open to all qualified candidates from any part of the country. www.businessday.ng

Imeh Okon, SSA on infrastructure; Jide Awolowo, SA oil & gas; Gambo Manzo, SA political, and Edobor Iyamu, SSA Niger Delta.

BusinessDay, however, gathered that Vice President Osinbajo has halted further distribution of the letter.

Osinbajo, it was gathered, has directed his aides to remain at their duty posts until the issues are resolved.

Other aides purportedly sacked by President Buhari include Lilian Idiaghe, SA research, legal and compliance; Arukino Umukoro, SA Niger Delta; Bala Liman Mohammed, SSA economy; Dolapo Bright, SSA agro allied value chain; Toyosi Onaolapo, SA community engagement; Bisi Ogungbemi, SA political matters; Edirin Akemu, SSA industry, trade & investment, and

Akin Soetan, STA economic matters.

Aondaver Kuttuh, technical assistant, rule of law; Ife Adebayo, SA innovation; Yussuf Ali, SA power regulations; Tola Asekun, SSA National Boundar y Commission; Morakinyo Beckley, SA off-grid power; Yosola Akinbi, SSA NEC; To c h i Nw a c h u kw u , S A power privatisation; Bode Gbore, SSA political; Abdulrahman Baffa Yola, SA political, and Kolade Sofola, SA infrastructure, were also among those sacked.

Others are Ebi Awosika, STA community engagement ; Muyiwa Abiodun SSA, power; Forri Samson Banu, SA entrepreneurship; Bege Bala, SA BPE; Feyishayo Aina, Halima Bawa, and Nkechi Chukwueke, all SA community engagement, and Ilsa Essien, SA media.

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ria Breweries plc, said.

Eronmosele Aziba, consumer analyst at Tellimer Group, said the impact of the price increase would depend on the value of the products themselves.

“If prices of Heineken increase, it might not have a huge impact on consumers because the people that usually take it are the ones that can afford it. But if they increase prices of products that are cheaper, like Goldberg, they could suffer especially if their competitors don’t increase prices,” said Aziba.

The excise duty expense has impacted negatively on the revenues and profits of beer makers in country, their latest financial results show.

In the nine months to September 2019, Nigerian Breweries reported a further decline in earnings as profits fell by 17 percent to N12.3 billion from N14.8 billion in the previous year.

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Sports Supersand Eagles off to Paraguay for FIFA Beach Soccer W/Cup Anthony Nlebem

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layers and officials of the Beach Soccer National Team, Supersand Eagles, will jet out of the country on Friday to Paraguay for this year’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup finals.

The two –time African champions picked a ticket for the 10th edition of the global finals after finishing second behind Senegal at the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations staged in Egypt in December last year.

This year’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup will hold 21st November – 1st December in Asuncion, capital of Paraguay. Match venue is the ‘Los Pynandi’ World Cup Stadium, named after the Paraguayan national beach soccer team and located at the headquarters of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee in Greater Asuncion.

“We are travelling early to Asuncion in order to participate in an eight-nation

pre-competition tournament that will take place in Asuncion, 12th – 16th November.

After the tournament, the team will continue intensive training ahead of our first match against Portugal on 22nd November,” Team Administrator, Sunday Okayi, told thenff.com.

The pre-competition tournament will involve Oman, Tahiti, Paraguay, Nigeria, Belarus, United Arab Emirates, Senegal and one other team to be confirmed.

Nigeria, winners of the African title in 2007 and 2009, and quarter –finalists at the World Cup in 2007 and 2011,

have a mountain to surmount in Group B against Brazil (ranked world number one), Portugal (ranked world number two) and Oman (ranked number 14 in the world). Nigeria is ranked 21st in the world.

Host nation Paraguay

2019 FIFA BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP GROUPS Group A: Paraguay, Japan, Switzerland, USA Group B: Uruguay, Mexico, Italy, Tahiti Group C: Belarus, United Arab Emirates, Senegal, Russia Group D: Brazil, Oman, Portugal, Nigeria

2021 AFCON Qualifier: CAF names officials for Nigeria, Benin clash Anthony Nlebem

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he Confederation of African Football (CAF) has picked Senegalese official Issa Sy as referee for next week’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between Nigeria and Benin Republic in Uyo. Sy will be assisted by compatriots Nouha Bangoura (assistant referee 1), El Hadji Abdoul Aziz Gueye (assistant referee 2) and Fatou Thioune (fourth official) at the encounter scheduled for the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, from 5pm.

The Day 1 clash in the qualifying series will also see Munkaila Nassam Adam from Ghana as match commissioner while Kria Samir Bouzareah from Algeria will play the role of referee assessor.

Nigeria will welcome back skipper Ahmed Musa from injury, with defenders Kenneth Omeruo, Abdullahi Shehu and Bryan Idowu, as well as midfielder Mikel Agu and forward Samuel Kalu also returning.

The Super Eagles, bronze medallists at the 32nd AFCON finals in Egypt this year summer, will then fly to Maseru on Friday, 15th November for the Day 2 clash with the Crocodiles

of Lesotho, billed for the artificial turf of the Maseru-Setsoto Stadium as from 6pm Lesotho time (5pm Nigeria time) on Sunday, 17th November.

Super Eagles squad for Benin Republic & Lesotho Goalkeepers: Daniel Akpeyi (Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Heartland FC); Maduka Okoye (Fortuna Dusseldorf, Germany) Defenders : Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain); Abdullahi Shehu (Bursaspor FC, Turkey); Chidozie Awaziem (CD Leganes, Spain); William Ekong (Udinese FC, Italy); Olaoluwa Aina (Torino FC, Italy); Jamilu Collins (SC Padeborn 07, Germany); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Bryan Idowu (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia)

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will tackle Japan in the tournament opening game on 21st November. After their first game against Portugal on 22nd November, the Supersand Eagles take to the beach against Oman on 24th November and then against Brazil two days later.

Head Coach Audu Adamu ‘Ejo’ has listed veterans Abu Azeez and Victor Tale in his final squad of 12, with Emmanuel Ohwoferia, Emeka Ogbonna, Godspower Igudia, Dami Paul and Taiwo Adams also in.

Godwin Tale (Victor’s younger brother), Egan-Osi Ekujimi, Babatunde Badmus, Godwin Iorbee and Hameed Kareem are the other names on the list.

Midfielders: Alexander Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Mikel Agu (Vitoria Guimaraes, Portugal); Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Ramon Azeez (Granada FC, Spain) Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Al Nassr, Saudi Arabia); Victor Osimhen (Lille OSC, France); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Paul Onuachu (KRC Genk, Belgium); Emmanuel Dennis (Club Brugge, Belgium); Samuel Kalu (Girondins Bordeaux, France); Standby: Leon Balogun (Brighton & Hove Albion, England); Peter Olayinka (SK Slavia Prague, Czech Republic); Oghenekaro Etebo (Stoke City, England)

Meristem deepens support for sports, healthy living … Supports 2019 Ondo Rally, Golf tournaments

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eading Financial Services provider, Meristem takes its drive for healthy living and value creation to the Sunshine City, Ondo state, as official partners of the 2019 Ondo State Auto Rally and the Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Memorial Golf Tournament.

The two events, which are scheduled to hold on the 8th and 9th of November 2019, in Akure, and the Smokin Hills Resort Ilara Mokin Ondo state, will feature a series of professional tournaments, amongst upcoming and professional golfers as well as competitive car races amongst off-road and main stream racers. The events will provide an avenue for fun, sports, tourism and overall value creation for attendees and the indigenes of the entire Ondo state.

Speaking on the partnership, Sulaiman Adedokun, deputy group managing director, Meristem stated that Meristem’s greatest commitment is growing wealth and preserving same for seamless generational transfer for our esteemed clients.

He further stated that the firm offers value for its clients

beyond finances. ‘We have identified value in healthy living through our own event Meristem GreenFest; a festival of everything healthy, and through sports, which is one of the key motivations for this partnership. Through this partnership we aim to provide our clients and the society at large a platform to experience something different, away from the hustle and bustle of the main cities, that will contribute to the wellness of their bodies and mind.

Meristem for the past 16-years have been consistent in value creation and innovation within the capital market space. In June 2019, Meristem held its maiden edition of Green Fest; a festival of everything healthy, aimed at promoting a culture of healthy living. In 2018, the Nigerian stock exchange awarded Meristem as the best digital broker of the year. In 2018 also, Meristem became the first Nigerian asset management firm to attain compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) by the CFA Institute. In 2017, Meristem handled the single largest trade in the history of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

2019 NPFL/LaLiga U-15 MVP Peter Joel experiences LaLiga …trains in Malaga, Spain Anthony Nlebem

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019 NPFL/LaLiga U15 Promises Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP), Peter Joel has returned from his LaLiga training in Spain.

Peter Joel helped his team, Delta Force F.C., to a third place finish at the 2019 edition of the tournament earlier in the year, travelled to Malaga, Spain last month where he trained with the Malaga C.F youth team.

As part of the trip, Peter Joel was able to enjoy very closely the Malaguista team and toured the La Rosaleda stadium and the city of Malaga. This trip which is the first time an NPFL U15 player visits Spain, reinforces LaLiga and NPFL’s commitment to develop grassroots and juvenile football in the country. Since its inception in 2017, the tournament has seen over 900 players participate and has also presented the opportunity for over 200 youth coaches to be professionally trained.

MVP 2019 NPFL/LaLiga U15 tournament, Peter Joel expressed his delight on having the opportunity to visit Spain and train with Malaga C.F. He said, “It has been my desire to play in Europe and it was a dream come true to have this

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experience. Although I spent a short time with the team, I learnt a lot and developed my skills especially in terms of my tactical and positional play.

I also enjoyed exploring the beautiful city of Malaga and since I returned, my wish is to become a legend of Malaga CF”.

Speaking about the initiative, LaLiga Delegate in Nigeria, Guillermo Perez Castello said, “We want to thank Malaga C.F for giving Peter the opportunity to nurture and develop his talent. We hope that this platform continues to enable as well as encourage other upcoming youngsters across the world to pursue their football dreams”.

“We are once again delighted to have the opportunity to help in developing young talents across Nigeria. This coun@Businessdayng

try is very passionate about football and we will continue to aid its development through our partnerships particularly with the NPFL”, Guillermo Perez Castello added.

Also commenting, Chairman of the League Management Company, LMC, Mallam Shehu Dikko expressed his excitement with the outcome of the tournament and the impact it is making on young footballers in Nigeria.

“We are excited about the opportunities this tournament is creating for young players like Peter, the trip to Spain to train with LaLiga team, Malaga was a reward for Peter’s overall brilliant performance that helped won his team a bronze medal.

We are committed to developing football from the grassroots as we believe this has a great impact on football development in the country. We’d like to thank our partners, LaLiga who have been supporting us on this project since its inception two years ago”.

The NPFL-LaLiga U-15 Promises Tournament which was modelled after the LaLiga Promises tournament in Spain was created to properly develop young talents using the LaLiga methodology and encourage NPFL Clubs to set up and maintain youth structures.

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news

Osinbajo’s aides beat up Vanguard photojournalist Tony Ailemen, Abuja

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L-R: Raj Gupta, chairman of AFRICAN Industries Group; Aliko Dangote, chairman, Dangote Group; P.K Gupta, founder, AFRICAN Industries Group, and Alok Gupta, managing director, AFRICAN Industries Group, at the 50th birthday celebration of Raj Gupta.

Reps investigate non-refund of $7bn foreign reserves by 14 banks, asset managers James Kwen, Abuja

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ouse of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Ba n k i ng a n d Currency to investigate the details of the $7 billion Nigeria’s foreign reserves disbursed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to 14 banks and global assets managers, and their continued non-repayment of same 13 years after disbursement.

The Committee is also mandated to determine the terms and conditions of the disbursement to ascertain, if the terms and conditions have been complied with, as

it relates to repayment of the fund and report back within eight weeks for further legislative action.

This resolution was reached on Thursday during plenary, following adoption of a motion on: “Need to Investigate the Non-Repayment of $7 Billion USD from Nigeria’s Foreign Reserves Disbursed to 14 Global Asset Managers and 14 Nigerian Banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria Since 2006,” sponsored by Abubakar Ahmad (APC, Gombe).

Presenting the motion, Ahmad said the House noted that sometime in 2006, the CBN disbursed $7 billion of Nigeria’s $38.07 billion foreign reserves to 14 Global

Asset Managers and their 14 Nigerian Banks local partners to manage.

According to Ahmad, the House is aware that the CBN gave each Asset Manager and its Nigerian bank counterpart $500 million from the nation’s foreign reserves to manage.

He noted that, the House was “concerned that of the 14 Nigerian banks that received the said funds about six of them namely; Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Bank PHB, FIN Bank, AfriBank, and very recently Diamond Bank plc were merged/acquired by other banks under the oversight of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)”.

He added that the House

was “again aware that the assets and liabilities of the six merged/acquired banks have been legally acquired as part of the legacies of the defunct banks.”

The lawmaker further maintained that the House was “worried that after13 years, Nigeria’s hard earned $7 billion foreign reserves has not been repaid to the CBN and there is no action put in place to ensure repayment of the funds.”

The motion was unanimously adopted when put to voice vote by the deputy speaker, Idris Wase, who presided over the plenary and referred to the House Committee on Banking and Currency.

Experts speak on topical legal issues Gastroenteritis: Lagos sets up emergency operation centre at Oando annual legal seminar

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ast month, among other highlights achieved, Oando held the 6th edition of its legal seminar at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi Lagos. The event had in attendance seasoned legal professionals and stakeholders across the financial, manufacturing and energy sectors, who discussed salient legal issues that affect the country, as well as proffer solutions on addressing them.

Speaking on the importance of the seminar, the chief legal officer, Oando plc, Ngozi Okonkwo, explained that the seminar was borne out of the need to drive engagement and create an avenue for knowledge sharing in the Nigerian legal sector, whilst bringing forth opportunities for collaborations and deliberations that would be beneficial to practitioners, the industry, and the country at large.

She said: “The kind of value you gain from seminars like these cannot be over emphasized, attendees leave equipped with knowledge that are certain to come in handy in their practice and other endeavours. As a result of their busy schedules,

many professionals do not have enough time for personal development, however, seminars such as these are an easy way to gain real value, opening the door for that flood of useful information that equips us to become that valuable knowledge resource.”

Topics discussed at the event included the intricacies of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA) which has now been signed by 52 out of 55 African countries, including Nigeria.

Experts, at the event harped on the need for Nigeria to improve on its infrastructural facilities to enable the country reap the benefits of AFCTA. Speaking on a panel discussion themed – ‘’African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: Channelings and Opportunities for Nigerian Companies’’, Dr. Khruschev Ekwueme, Partner at Olaniwun Ajayi Legal Practice, highlighted that as much as Nigeria’s signing the AFCTA was a step in the right direction, the country needs to work on key elements such as infrastructure development to fully harness the opportunities of the free trade zone. www.businessday.ng

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onsequent upon the growing concern about the recent increase in the incidence of gastroenteritis in Lagos State, the state government has activated an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) to coordinate responses against the outbreak of the disease as well as other infectious diseases.

According to a press statement seen by BusinessDay, Akin Abayomi, commissioner for health, inaugurated the centre on Wednesday, noting, “The EOC is a command and control centre headquartered in the Ministry of Health that will coordinate and fine-tune logistics and resources in response to the increase in numbers of diarrhoea and vomiting recorded in the past weeks in five local government area of Lagos State.

“The EOC is made up of sub thematic areas of surveillance and laboratory; communication, health education and social mobilization; case management and infection control as well as logistics and data management. We are going to have a complete narrative of what happened during these past weeks on lessons learned

and how we going to move forward.”

Abayomi stated that the state government had been proactive in its response and management of the excess cases of vomiting and diarrhoea since the report was made and investigation commenced.

The commissioner said some samples collected during the cause of the investigation and sent to the laboratory tested positive for a type of cholera, saying, “Investigation is still ongoing to ascertain whether cholera is solely responsible for the entire cases or whether there are other pathogens involved in the excess cases recorded.”

According to Abayomi, we have been able to send some samples to our laboratories and some of those samples tested positive for a type of cholera, but we are not sure whether cholera is responsible for the entire outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting. “But we are sending some other samples to other laboratories and we are going to do some in-depth analysis to see whether this is just a case of cholera or whether there are other pathogens or agents that are contributing to this outbreak,” he said.

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arely 24 hours after reported sack of 35 staff attached to the office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, a photojournalist with the Vanguard Newspapers, attached to Aso Rock Villa, Abayomi Adeshida, was on Thursday morning beaten up by security details of the Vice President.

The incident took place at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja, during the opening session of the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), headed by Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

Adeshida, while narrating his experience to journalists, said he was taking photographs of the Vice President who was taking a tour of the exhibition stands at the event when five personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) suddenly pounced on him as Osinbajo was being presented a copy of magazine as souvenir at a particular stand.

Adeshida said he was not told his supposed infraction as he was not in any way obstructing the event or doing anything out of the ordinary before the

security details started hitting him, dragged him over the floor and damaged his professional camera, right in the presence of the Vice President.

“I was shocked when these DSS started beating me for no apparent reason. They tore off my Presidential Villa accreditation tag on the shirt and dragged me on the floor while hitting me and kicking me.

“I believe they would have done much worse if not for the intervention of the Vice President’s Aide-de-Camp (ADC), who I noticed was making hand movements for them to leave me alone.

“I am feeling pains all over my body and a particular sever pain on my right leg on which I don’t even know what they hit me with,” the Adeshida said before he headed for the hospital.

No other aides of the Vice President made efforts to stop the humiliation of the journalist in the presence of Osibanjo, who may have been embarrassed by the situation.

The incident happened a day after 35 aides of the Vice President were reported sacked on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is away on a private visit to the United Kingdom.

Lifemate announces electronic appliance brand

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ifemate Group is a pan-African firm incorporated in 2002, a comprehensive international group of companies, with headquarters in Nigeria.

Lifemate specialises in the production and supply of furniture products for the home, office and other appliances necessary for use in a home. Lifemate is known to produce home furniture, kitchen cabinet (Tasty Life), Outdoor Furniture (Sunny Life), Sanitary Ware (Joy Life), and Office Furniture (Boss Mate) products.

Following years of success with aforementioned brands, Lifemate is set to introduce a new brand to its collection. In 2018, Vimate was set up in the world’s second largest economy, China, and registered in Nigeria early 2019, thereby starting the process of officially entering the electrical appliance chain industry. Vimate is an incubation, and enjoys the empowerment of well-known

Lifemate Group, which has given rise to the inevitable outcome of Vimate’s rapid development.

Vimate is a new merchandising enterprise that incorporates electrical products display, operations and customer service.

The business model is the first of its kind in Africa. Following the business philosophy of “small profits but quick turnover and service first” and also trusting accurate marketplace positioning and innovative business strategies, Vimate will lead the consumer trend of household appliances and provide consumers with personalised and diversified one-stop service.

Vimate is set to launch in a couple of weeks, with November 2019 being the target set by the company, and her first outfit to be located in the Nigeria’s capital Abuja, creating a one-stop shopping mall where anything and everything about a home can be purchased.

Obaseki leads NGF’s committee on $750m World Bank grant

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do State governor, Godwin Obaseki, will chair the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) committee that will interact with relevant government agencies and prepare modalities for accessing a $750 million World Bank grant.

Obaseki, who disclosed this on arrival at the Benin Airport after series of meetings in Abuja, said the $750 million grant had been approved, adding that the disbursement would commence soon.

He said the World Bank grant to Nigeria’s 36 states will help improve governance, transparency and the development of the physical environment, not@Businessdayng

ing, “There is a World Bank Support for states and the Governors’ Forum asked me to chair a committee that will interact with relevant agencies; Ministry of Finance, the World Bank and the AuditorGeneral’s Office, to see how we can ensure that the facility is well utilised.

“The grant has been approved; we are at the disbursement stage. But there are conditions that must be met before the money can be assessed by the states in the next four years.

We are very hopeful that by the end of the year, we will be clear as to when the disbursement will occur.”

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news

FG pays N157.35bn tax arrears to states for 14 years Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja

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he Federal Government has announced its payment of N157.35 billion PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tax outstanding liabilities by federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies to State Governments from 2002 to 2016.

Tunde Fowler, executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), in a statement signed by Wahab Gbadamosi, head, communications, FIRS, disclosed this at the Flag-Off of the New National Taxpayer Identification Number, TIN Registration System at the South-East Geopolitical Zone in Awka, Anambra State. He said a total of N23.87 billion of the N157.35 billion went to SouthEast Geopolitical Zone.

“Over the last four years, the economic policies of the current administration have focused on establishing a stable foundation for further socio-economic growth and development, and with the astute leadership of Mr. President, the milestones achieved bear ample testimony on the impact that has been made, not only in tax-revenue administration but in the envi-

ronment of doing business in Nigeria”.

Fowler expressed optimism that the remittance to states will encourage State Governments to reciprocate and promptly remit all Withholding Taxes and VAT due to the Federation Account.

He said that the Joint Tax Board and the FIRS in the last few years had recorded several achievements which include: expansion of the tax base from 10 million to 20 million taxpayers with the potential for an increase of up to 45 million before year-end, an exponential growth in the IGR collection at the subnational level by 46.11 percent from N800.02 billion in 2016 to N1.16 trillion in 2018.

He noted other achievements by the agency to include growth in FIRS collections by 53.81 percent from N3.30 trillion in 2016 to N5.32 trillion in 2018; with the 2018 total collection of N5.32 trillion being the highest collection ever in the history of FIRS, while non-oil Revenue, with a collection of N2.85 trillion accounted for 54 percent of total revenue collection.

Others include Nigeria’s consistent upward progression in the World Bank ‘Ease of Doing

Business’ ranking, that saw the country move up 16 places in the recently released 2020 Report from 146th position to 131st position; thus, making the country one of the top 20 reformers globally.

Speaking further, Fowler stressed that the new TIN system would improve the efficiency and output of the entire tax administration process, adding that it is meant to provide enhanced convenience to the taxpayers as well as the tax administrators, while guaranteeing that each taxpayer’s details are readily available to them at their fingertips at all times and anywhere.

“The government needs your continued support by continuous and prompt payment of taxes so that the good work can continue to depend on donor funds and aids. We need to generate our own revenue. And the only way we can do that is through prompt payment of our taxes,” he said.

Fowler noted that the launching in Awka was the third in the series of Flag off exercise, having launched two others in South-West in Lagos State, and in the North-Central in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Prisons ask for seven days to carry out comprehensive medical check-up on Maina Felix Omohomhion, Abuja

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ormer chairman of defunct Police Pension Task Force, Abdulrasheed Maina, will have to stay much longer in prison custody as authorities of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) on Thursday asked for a week to carry out a comprehensive health report on him.

The request followed Maina’s appearance in court on Thursday in a wheelchair. A ruling was expected in Maina’s bail application on Thursday.

Following Maina’ absence in court last Tuesday for his trial on health ground, the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered the Deputy Comptroller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service (Prisons) in charge of welfare and medical, to conduct a thorough examination of Maina, to ascertain his health status and report to the court.

At the resumed hearing of

the matter Thursday, prosecution counsel, Mohammed Abubakar, informed the court that the order of the court was forwarded to the Deputy Comptroller, Medical and Welfare of the NCS, H. B Kori on November 6, 2019.

Abubakar said Kori, in a letter dated November 6 and served on the prosecution on Thursday requested for one week to comply with the order of the court, so as to carry out a comprehensive medical examination on Maina to ascertain his state of health and to know if he (Maina) is medically fit to stand his trial.

This will require Maina to spend one more week in custody of the Correctional Centre.

The prosecution counsel then said Kori’s appeal was reasonable and urged the court to grant the request and to adjourn the case to November 21, 2019, for the continuation of trial.

With the agreement of counsel in the matter, Justice Abang adjourned the matter to Novem-

ber 21 and 22 for the continuation of trial.

Meanwhile, Justice Abang accused journalists covering the proceedings of bias in their reportage. The judge accused journalists of not reflecting the kind gestures of the court in their reports, adding, “Some of them serve their personal interest, rather than national interest.”

He said when the court allows defendants to sit down during trial or the day he allowed Maina to take his drugs in the open court, the press refused to mention all these kind gestures of the court in their report.

“Lead counsel to the first defendant, Ahmed Raji (SAN) walked out on the court during the proceedings of October 30, the press did not report that, even when Joe Kyari-Gadzama (SAN) threatened the court, while arguing for adjournment, the press didn’t mention any of these,” he said but misinformed the public that he ordered Maina not to look directly at him in court.

GTBank creates opportunities for SMEs through Fashion Weekend ODINAKA ANUDU

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igeria’s tier one lender, Guarantee Trust Bank, has created a platform for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to connect with one another and create new markets through the Fashion Weekend.

The event, which will take place on November 9 and 10, will attract over 130 businesses in the fashion industry.

Oyinade Adegite, group head, corporate communications and external affairs of the bank, tells BusinessDay that the biggest take-away from the event is that small businesses will be able to see how they

can connect with customers and create new markets for themselves.

“The biggest thing is to see how the businesses and brands can actually open up,” she says in an interview with BusinessDay in Lagos on Wednesday.

“We have done all the set-up and everything is provided free of charge by the bank. People are passionate about being in that space to meet hundreds and thousands of people that will come over the two-day period. For anyone who has a business, that is where they should be,” she notes.

The event, which is in its fourth year, will feature popular fashion names in the world as www.businessday.ng

well as local designers. There will also be 10 master classes.

“The biggest story about the SMEs is the story of being able to push the boundaries— the paradigm shift— and being able to see opportunities,” she says.

“The biggest stories that touch our heart as an organisation are the ones that talk to us about breaking boundaries and seeing opportunities where people do not see opportunities,” she further states.

Adegite explains that most of the businesses that will grace the Fashion Weekend are new enterprises, adding that GTBank is passionate about seeing entrepreneurs that do different things. https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

@Businessdayng

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FINANCIAL TIMES

World Business Newspaper ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER

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eware older women.

Three American women aged 55 to 70 are leading presidential candidates. Christine Lagarde, aged 63, is president of the European Central Bank; the new European Commission president is Ursula von der Leyen, aged 61. US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is 79.

Below the top ranks, the US organisation Emily’s List, which supports Democratic women candidates, reported that in the run-up to the 2018 congressional elections, more than 8,000 women over the age of 45 contacted the group about running for office.

The ranks of older women in the US workforce keep growing: Harvard economists Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz published a study in 2017 showing that 28 per cent of women aged 65 to 69 were still in the paid workforce, and 16 per cent of women aged 70 to 74, in both cases about double the comparable percentages in the 1980s.

And why not? New York Times columnist Gail Collins has just published a new book called No Stopping Us Now, a chronicle of “the adventures of older women in American history”. She quotes 40-year-old Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a founder of the 19th-century American women’s rights movement who had just had her sixth child, writing to her fellow activist Susan B Anthony to assure her, “You and I have the prospect of

How older women are trying to change the world ‘Phase three’ of life can also be phase free, a time to take risks and upset apple carts

US Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 79, new ECB president Christine Lagarde 63, and European Commission president Ursula von der Layen 61

a long life. We shall not be in our prime before 50, and after that we shall be good for 20 years at least.”

Contrast that attitude — we shall not be in our prime before 50! — with the modern assumption that menopause is a “change of life” to be dreaded, managed and treated.

Historian Susan Mattern challenges this view, arguing that the whole concept of menopause as a medical issue is a constructed

modern phenomenon. Her book, The Slow Moon Climbs: The Science, History and Meaning of Menopause, surely could not have been published 50 or even 20 years ago. She explores a longstanding evolutionary puzzle: men can reproduce at much older ages than women can, but women have longer lifespans. Thus older, post-reproductive women must serve some useful function for the survival of the species.

The traditional answer to this question is that even though older women can no longer bear children, they can help raise them.

Mothers with grandmothers in the picture had an evolutionary advantage in the foraging and gathering necessary to keeping families fed. Prof Mattern goes beyond this thesis and argues that the transition to a life stage “of high productivity and zero reproductivity” for half the population is a

good thing for the economy and society. The business world would do well to take that proposition on board.

The presence and power of older women is not solely due to their renewed post-reproductive energies. One of the chief pleasures of ageing is caring less and less what others think. But for women in particular, the idea of no longer having to depend on men for validation — of our attractiveness, competence and opinions — is liberating.

The older we get, the more risks we are willing to take. The same tendency may well be true of men, but male risk-taking has historically been associated with dramatic personal changes in later life: the red convertible, the trophy wife, the decision to bicycle or sail or mountain-climb around the world. For women who have advanced their careers playing by male rules, risk-taking is more likely to focus on overturning the existing order.

Media executive Pat Mitchell puts it well in her new memoir, Becoming a Dangerous Woman.

“At this time in my life, about to turn seventy-five, I have nothing left to lose,” she writes.

Wall Street slashes forecasts for China and US agree to lift some tariffs in sign of trade war thaw US corporate earnings Beijing says negotiators would like to reduce levies in phases

S&P 500 companies set for just 0.8% growth in fourth quarter PETER WELLS

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all Street has significantly scaled back earnings expectations for US companies for the final three months of 2019, putting the S&P 500 on track for its slowest annual pace of earnings growth in four years.

With nearly four-fifths of America’s largest companies now having reported their third-quarter figures and updated investors on the outlook, earnings are forecast to rise just 0.8 per cent in the final three months of the year. That is down from a forecast of 4.1 per cent at the start of October, according to Refinitiv, and a far cry from the 7.2 per cent expected as recently as July.

A shallower-than-expected decline in third-quarter earnings has helped shares grind their way to record highs in recent days, despite the prolonged global trade war and the uncertain direction of US interest rates.

The diminished outlook, however, on top of new forecasts that US gross domestic product growth could slip to 1 per cent or less in the fourth quarter, raises questions about the durability

of the equity market rally.

“What we’re likely to see this quarter and next is the continuation of the anaemic earnings we’ve seen throughout 2019,” said Patrick Palfrey, senior equity strategist at Credit Suisse. “There are a couple of idiosyncratic items weighing on that. One is pressure on tech margins, the second is the year over year decline in oil.”

The fourth-quarter estimate for S&P 500 earnings represents only a modest rebound from the three months ended September where, with 383 companies having reported as of November 5, earnings are now estimated to have contracted 0.7 per cent.

Excluding the energy sector, earnings growth was likely to be 1.9 per cent.

Refinitiv now forecasts S&P 500 earnings growth for 2019 as a whole at 1.3 per cent, the slowest rate since it rose 0.2 per cent in 2015.

“As this reporting season starts to wind down, we find we’ve gotten more worried about a continuation of fundamental purgatory in the US equity market, in which investors continue to debate the timing and cause of the end of the cycle with no end in sight,” said Lori Calvasina, head of US equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. www.businessday.ng

TOM HANCOCK

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hina and the US have agreed in principle to remove some tariffs imposed in the trade dispute between the two countries, Beijing has said, hinting that a potential trade truce could go beyond a freeze on new duties.

Officials from the world’s two largest economies are working on the terms of a trade ceasefire to be signed in the coming weeks by Donald Trump, the US president, and Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart.

Commerce ministry spokesperson Gao Feng told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that negotiators from both sides had agreed “to remove some of the additional tariffs in phases”, according to China’s state media.

Removing tariffs gradually “can help to stabilise market expectations”, he added. “As for how much will be eliminated in the first phase, that will depend on the content of the phase one agreement,” he said.

Markets were boosted by the comments, with analysts suggesting China had shifted from its demand that the US should remove

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all existing levies as a precondition of any trade deal.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 0.6 per cent higher and S&P 500 futures were up 0.4 per cent.

The onshore renminbi, which is permitted to trade 2 per cent either side of a daily midpoint set by the People’s Bank of China, closed 0.1 per cent stronger against the dollar.

Currency and equity markets also rallied after the Financial Times reported this week that the US was considering removing a round of tariffs it imposed on $112bn of Chinese goods in September.

Tu Xinquan, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said China’s comments were a positive signal. “It’s the first time the US compromises on tariffs,” he said.

The commerce ministry has previously said trade tensions would only end when all additional tariffs were lifted from Chinese products.

“Beijing has stepped back a little bit by not insisting on having to get all the tariffs cancelled,” said Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University.

But he suggested Beijing might not be satisfied with Washington’s @Businessdayng

offer only to lift duties that it imposed in September. “They are showing their resilience. I think that they would want more than just the latest tariffs,” said Mr Zhu. Both Beijing and Washington are under growing pressure to reach an interim deal. Mr Trump is eager to show US voters that his confrontational approach to China has succeeded ahead of presidential elections next year, while Beijing is suffering from a marked economic slowdown.

If a major rollback of existing levies were a part of a trade truce, the deal would have a broader beneficial economic impact at a time when officials around the world are fretting about a global slowdown.

Also on Thursday, a Chinese court jailed nine people, one of whom received a suspended death sentence, on charges of smuggling the opioid fentanyl into the US. The case is the first on which the two countries have worked together.

Washington has repeatedly criticised Beijing for not making sufficient efforts to stem the flow of fentanyl and its chemical precursors, which are often manufactured in China. Beijing said the cases were not connected to the trade war.

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Turmoil at China’s silicon chip champion rocks self-reliance plans Tsinghua Unigroup insists it has not defaulted on bonds and has ample cash RYAN MCMORROW AND DANIEL SHANE

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hina’s focus on designing and manufacturing its own silicon chips has been rocked again by widening losses at a state-backed national champion that the government has poured billions of dollars into.

Ts i n g h u a U n i g r o u p, l o n g thought to have ironclad backing from the government, went out of its way on Thursday to trumpet that support after market turmoil. Unigroup said it had not defaulted on any bonds and had ample cash “in and outside” the country in a statement issued by a listed subsidiary.

The share price of one of its Shenzhen-listed subsidiaries plunged by the 10 per cent limit on Wednesday while the price of its dollar-denominated bond due in 2021 fell sharply. The statement appeared to reassure investors and shares of its listed units nudged upwards while its dollar debt was also largely steady on Thursday.

Unigroup is a major Chinese semiconductor designer and producer with its chips enabling everything from China’s national ID cards to smartphones. It counts the holding company of the elite Tsinghua University as its majority shareholder and has received upwards of $22bn in financing from the government’s chip fund and a state bank.

The company is crucial to Beijing’s push for technological selfreliance — a priority made all the more clear this year as Washington blacklisted telecom equipment

maker Huawei, security stalwart Hikvision and other leading Chinese tech companies, threatening their access to US-made or designed chips.

Unigroup claims to be the world’s third-largest chip supplier for smartphones after Qualcomm and MediaTek. But that has not been enough to assuage growing concerns about Unigroup’s financial position and lingering ownership issues. Its losses widened to Rmb3.2bn ($460m) in the first half of the year, up from a Rmb631m loss in 2018.

Debt at the company has piled up as it invested heavily in building chip plants in China and acquiring foreign companies and talent. Its debt-to-asset ratio in June climbed to 73.7 per cent, up from 62.1 per cent at year-end 2017.

“Unigroup’s earlier capital outlays were too large, and in the near term they won’t be able to return cash,” said Shen Meng, director at Chanson & Co, a boutique investment bank in Beijing.

“Adding to it is Unigroup’s investment in semiconductor projects have been huge, but the technology is not necessarily new, so it remains a question if the state will continue to support it,” said Mr Shen.

Questions over control of the firm emerged last year after Tsinghua University said it would transfer a 36 per cent stake to a Shenzhen government-backed investment fund after a central government campaign to disentangle universities from commercial interests.

In August Unigroup said the sale would not go through.

Burkina Faso left reeling after attack on Canadian mining company Almost 40 people killed and more than 60 injured after convoy ambushed by gunmen HARRY DEMPSEY

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n ambush on a convoy transporting workers of Canadian gold miner Semafo in Burkina Faso left nearly 40 people dead in one of the deadliest attacks to hit the west African nation, shaking investor confidence in mining operators in the country.

Wednesday’s attack on five busloads of company employees and contractors took place in the east of Burkina Faso approximately 40km from its Boungou open-pit mine site on the road to Fada, Semafo said in a statement.

The governor of Est, the region where the attack happened, said that 37 people were killed and more than 60 were wounded in the ambush by gunmen.

Shares of mining companies operating across Burkina Faso were lower on Wednesday after the attack.

Montreal-based Semafo dropped 11 per cent after the incident, as investors were spooked by the deteriorating security situation in the north and east of the African nation.

Endeavour Mining, Roxgold and Iamgold each fell by about 2 per cent, while Orezone tumbled nearly 6 per cent.

The attack highlights the worsen-

ing security situation in the north — where there is a strong jihadi terrorist presence — and east of Burkina Faso, raising concerns among investors that costs to beef up security could rise for mining companies or they could be forced to suspend production if security risks continue to escalate.

“This attack is the worst that we are aware of and, while in the more troublesome eastern part of the country, is also concerning in that it appears that the convoy was specifically targeted,” said Numis Securities, a stockbroker, in a note.

The attack is the third within 15 months against Semafo, which has another gold mine, Mana, in the west of the country.

In December 2018, government security forces were attacked on the same road from Boungou to Fada, leaving five dead. And in August of last year, there were two separate armed attacks against Semafo employees as they were transported to and from the mines.

After the duo of attacks last August, Semafo said that it had begun moving foreign employees by helicopter between the capital, Ouagadougou, and its mines. It also said that it had enhanced protection for local employees who continued to travel by bus. www.businessday.ng

African leaders after agreeing to establish the African Continental Free Trade Agreement at an African Union summit in Kigali, Rwanda in March 2018 © AFP/Getty Images

Free Trade deal can make Africa the global manufacturing hub Successful implementation could see 80m jobs transferred from Asia GEOFFREY WHITE

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ay 2019 saw the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, creating a single market of 1.3bn people that will grow to an estimated 2.5bn by 2050. A market where 60 per cent of the population is under 25, and where there’s an appetite for high levels of consumption of fast-moving consumer goods. The challenge is: how do we make it work?

The AfCFTA has been signed by 54 of the 55 countries in Africa (only Eritrea has not signed it) and ratified by over half of the signatories. It creates a real opportunity for Africa to liberalise over 90 per cent of intra-Africa tariffs and deliver significant growth on the continent.

Successful implementation of the agreement has the potential to establish Africa as a global manufacturing centre and could, ultimately, result in an estimated 80m jobs in Asia being transferred to Africa.

CEOs of African businesses have their fingers crossed that this is, finally, tangible progress towards a homogenous single market. But they remain sceptical that such an ambitious agreement can be successfully implemented, given the limited success of previous African regional free trade zones and initiatives.

The first step to a successful AfCFTA was a high level of participation which, against all odds, has been achieved. The second step, due to commence in July 2020, is the implementation and practical adoption of the trade practices, processes and infrastructure required to establish a working free zone across 54 countries. Precedent for such a Herculean task exists: the Asean free trade zone has been a notable success, creating a platform for manufacturing, regional trade and a stimulus for jobs and prosperity.

Much of the momentum to date has been driven by the African Union and the continent’s development finance institutions, which have ushered the process forward, often having to use all the leverage and persuasion they have available. Encouragingly, they are now fully committed to implementa-

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tion, resourcing and supporting a meaningful launch and delivering achievable steps by July 2020. The agreement will take until 2030 to be fully operational.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa takes on the presidency of the AU in 2020 and understands the benefits of the AfCFTA and the need to drive the process forward. There is concern, however, that he will be preoccupied with the domestic issues boiling in South Africa. It remains to be seen how important the AfCFTA is on his agenda and how much time he is able to allocate to advancing the process.

Africa currently has the lowest intraregional trade in the world.

Only 15 per cent of African trade is cross border between neighbouring countries, whereas cross-border trade represents around 65 per cent of the trade in developed markets.

The free movement of goods has the potential to trigger a manufacturing boom and establish Africa as a world centre for manufacturing.

Asia’s transformation into a global economic engine began with the production of cheap goods in countries where wages were low and workers abundant. What followed was the development of sophisticated regional value chains, knowledge transfer and upskilling, and the transition from export-led economies to more balanced ones with rising domestic consumption.

Africa has yet to experience anything like that. The lack of cross-border trade today stifles manufacturing across the continent, constraining production to local markets that are difficult to scale. The elimination of tariffs will stimulate trade, enabling companies to expand and develop as they address larger regional markets.

The manufacturing sector will also begin to draw foreign direct investment. This, in turn, will lead to larger production volumes and bring about new efficiencies, enabling African manufacturing to finally have the ability to compete not only in domestic and regional markets but to be more competitive with global manufacturing.

By 2040 Africa will have a larger working population than China and India combined. Low wages on the continent are attracting manufacturers from high employment industries, such as the ap@Businessdayng

parel sector, which can manufacturer at a lower cost in Africa than in traditional Asian production centres. The current slowdown in developed markets means that increasing numbers of multinational companies are becoming interested in the African opportunity as a market and as a global manufacturing base.

For Africa, successful implementation of the AfCFTA is a game changer with the potential to move millions from a rural subsistence agriculture-based society to an early stage industrial society. Manufacturing wages are five times more productive for GDP growth than agriculture.

Many of the criteria needed for Africa to prosper finally appear to be aligning. These include a highly competitive young workforce that is willing and able to adopt new technology and embrace the fourth industrial revolution, combined with increasing political stability across the continent and vast, untapped energy resource discoveries that are attracting billions of dollars of foreign investment.

The latter is generating dividend payments for governments in countries such as Mozambique, Tanzania, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mauritania that are sufficient for them to develop as they become net energy exporters.

The AfCFTA has the ability to bind all these prospects together and deliver real growth.

China is first out of the blocks. It is interacting with the private and public sectors in Africa to realise the benefits anticipated from the AfCFTA. Already at the forefront of infrastructure projects in Africa, Chinese manufacturing initiatives are now spreading across the continent.

Chinese companies are relocating their manufacturing hubs from China to Africa in the expectation of tariff-free regional trade and competitive export markets. The alignment of Africa with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative is now at the forefront of all Sino-African intergovernmental discussions.

If Africa can implement the agreements in practice, and other countries and trading blocs follow China’s lead, the AfCFTA has a good chance of living up to its promise, propelling Africa to the forefront of global manufacturing.

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COMPANIES & MARKETS

@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED

US stocks hit record highs on signs of trade war thaw PETER WELLS AND ALICE WOODHOUSE

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S stocks hit record highs, and Treasury bonds sold off, following reports the US and China agreed in principle to remove some tariffs imposed during their trade spat.

The S&P 500 was up 0.6 per cent in morning trade, and not far off its new intraday record of 3,097.15 and putting it on track to edge past Monday’s closing peak of 3,078.27.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.8 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9 per cent, having also chalked up new intraday peaks.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury rocketed 10.5 basis points higher to 1.9173 per cent, while that on the policysensitive two-year was up 5.8bp to 1.6652 per cent.

China’s commerce ministry spokesperson told reporters in Beijing on Thursday negotiators from the two countries had agreed “to remove some of the additional tariffs in phases”, according to China’s state media, adding the gradual removal of those levies “can help to stabilise market expectations.”

That helped soothe nerves following a report by Reuters on Wednesday saying a meeting between Donald Trump and his Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart, to sign a “phase one” trade deal that had originally been lined up for this month would be delayed until December.

European markets were also buoyed by the reports of tariff removal. The continent’s broad Stoxx 600 was up 0.3 per cent, Germany’s Dax jumped 0.8 per cent and London’s FTSE 100 added 0.1 per cent.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index turned to close 0.6 per cent higher. The CSI 300 of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks added 0.2 per cent. In Japan, the Topix was holding at a one-year high and the Kospi in South Korea was flat.

China’s onshore renminbi reversed earlier declines to swing below the 7 threshold. The currency was 0.3 per cent stronger at Rmb6.9746 per dollar, after crossing below the key seven to the buck level in the week.

The dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of peers, was 0.2 per cent firmer to 98.127.

Wells Fargo names ex-Obama chief of staff as public affairs boss Bill Daley joins as bank struggles to recover from mis-selling scandal LAURA NOONAN

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ells Fargo has appointed former Obama chief of staff Bill Daley to leads its dealings with politicians and the public, as the embattled bank battles to recover from a mis- selling scandal.

The bank, which has been led by new chief executive Charlie Scharf since October 21, said Mr Daley would take over as vicechairman of Public Affairs on Nov 13. He will sit on the bank’s operating committee and report directly to Mr Scharf.

Wells has been operating under a cap on the size of its balance sheet since early 2018, one of a range of punishments doled out by regulators after 2016 revelations that the bank falsely created millions of customer accounts.

Mr Scharf said Mr Daley was “a strong voice who brings perspectives from the public sector that we in business do not generally have but are critical for us as we make decisions.”

“The addition of Bill and this role to our Operating Commit-

tee is an important statement that we want different perspectives on our senior-most management committee and that we will think more broadly about our stakeholders as we move forward.”

Repairing relations with regulators — and customers — is a major priority for the bank’s investors and management alike.

Mr Daley’s role is newly created and encompasses everything from media relations to corporate social responsibility.

“I am excited to be able to help with Wells Fargo’s continued transformation and to help shape the bank’s relationship with its customers, regulators and the US public. I look forward to working with a talented executive team to make the new vision for the bank a reality,” Mr Daley said.

As well as acting as Obama’s chief of staff, Mr Daley was Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton administration. His finance career includes a stint as vice-chairman and a member of the executive committees at both BNY Mellon and JPMorgan Chase. www.businessday.ng

Scholz gives ground on banking union, but will Rome cede too?

CLAIRE JONES AND THOMAS HALE

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he lack of a common eurozone-wide fund to dole out deposits when a bank fails is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to a regional banking union. It impedes not only public trust in the euro, but also — if you ask most bankers in the region — cross-border mergers too.

The big reason it hasn’t happened yet is that two of the EU’s big players, Germany and Italy, have failed to agree on what needs to be done before a European Deposit Insurance Scheme, or EDIS, is set up. In short, Germany thinks Italian banks are too risky because they have made too many bad loans and hold too much government debt. Specifically, Germany wants a reassessment of the zero risk weighting attached to sovereign bond holdings, so that banks must hold some capital against them.

Earlier this week, some touted a breakthrough after Germany’s finance minister Olaf Scholz launched a media blitz to restart the debate on banking union -including advocating EDIS. A proposal by Germany’s finance minister to end the stalemate over the eurozone’s banking union has revived hopes in Brussels of making progress on its most ambitious integration project since the creation of the single currency…

Olivier Guersent, the European Commission’s director-general for financial stability, said at an ECB event on Wednesday that Mr Scholz’s intervention was “a bold move and very welcome”.

Others were sceptical, noting that this could be cynical quid pro quo for Germany getting its way on tax harmonisation. And it

would still seek to punish banks that have big portfolios of their host country’s debt through “risk-based concentration charges”. This is from the German finance ministry’s confusingly titled “non-paper” (our emphasis): This type of model would be based on the introduction of base risk weighting for different qualities of loans, measured using ratings, for example. This would include a certain allowance for sovereign debt, which would be exempt of the capital, requirements irrespective of the rating (e.g. up to a concentration of 33% of the Tier 1 capital of the individual bank). This type of exemption for a “base concentration” would reflect the need for banks to maintain, due to regulatory requirements and for refinancing purposes within the central bank system, a certain quantity of safe, liquid assets, which generally consist of sovereign bonds.

The size of the degree of concentration of sovereign debt issued by a single country on banks’ balance sheets could then be addressed using a concentration factor, which would increase with increasing concentration. Multiplying the concentration factor by the base risk

weighting would give the risk-based concentration charges, based on the rating and the degree of concentration. Hence, the lower the quality of the loan and the higher the concentration of the liabilities from individual countries or borrower units on the bank’s balance sheets, the higher the applicable risk-based concentration charge would be.

This type of model can be calibrated in such a way that it would not involve excessively large additional capital requirements for Eurozone banks in comparison with the status quo. Nevertheless, in this case there would already be an incentive for banks to more intensively diversify their sovereign bonds portfolios and hence function better as a buffer in crisis situations. In addition, challenges resulting from the transition could be mitigated by having an appropriate phase-in period (5 to 7 years).

This is progress for euro federalists in the sense that Germany now recognises that at least some portion of government debt holdings need to be exempt from risk weighting.

A transition period of up to seven years is also a decent amount of time for banks to diversify their sovereign bond holdings.

Glencore backs $5.8bn cash call at DRC subsidiary Complex deal to substantially cut debt load of Katanga Mining NEIL HUME

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lencore has agreed to back a refinancing of Katanga Mining, the Canadian-listed company that controls one of its most important assets.

Katanga announced plans on Thursday to repay $5.8bn of debt owned to Glencore through an equity issue, which the Swiss-based miner and commodity trader has agreed to underwrite.

However, Glencore will not commit any new money to the deal but fund its share - and rights not subscribed for by minority shareholders — by swapping debt for equity. After the offering is complete Katanga will be left with around $1.5bn of debt.

Glencore owns 86 per cent of Katanga Mining, which in turn controls the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), one of Africa’s biggest copper producers and a key global supplier of cobalt.

“The maximum amount of cash that might be raised, should all

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minority shareholders take up their rights and no shareholders exercise overallotment options…is $795m,” said Edward Sterck, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. “Should none of the rights be exercised then Glencore should end up with slightly more than 99 per cent of Katanga’s shares on issue.”

Katanga has been a constant source of headaches for Glencore, which is run by billionaire trader Ivan Glasenberg. It has suffered from maintenance and operational problems and made a loss of $685m in the nine months to September 2019.

In June, dozens of illegal miners were killed at KCC when terraces overlooking the main pit collapsed.

It was also fined last year by Canadian regulators for issuing false and misleading statements, after which Glencore decided to take a more active role in managing the company.

Executives parachuted into the company launched a comprehensive business review and set out to tackle Katanga’s debt and unsus@Businessdayng

tainable capital structure. Katanga was technically insolvent at the end of September and facing a January 2021 deadline to repay or refinance the Glencore loans.

Under the turnround plan announced in the summer, Katanga is targeting 300,000 tonnes of copper and 30,000 tonnes of cobalt production from 2022. In the year to date, Katanga has produced almost 250,000 tonnes of copper.

“Glencore fully consolidates Katanga and hence the intercompany debt gets de-consolidated in that process,” said analysts at Citi.

“Therefore, such recapitalisation by virtue of debt-to-equity swap is unlikely to have any major impact on Glencore’s balance sheet.”

Shares in Glencore were up 3.3p at 260p.

Citi said the cash call announced on Thursday could be traced back to the recapitalisation of KCC in 2018

by Katanga. Under that deal $5.6bn of equity was swapped for debt, helping to end a stand-off between the company and Gecamines, the DRC’s state mining company.

Women in Business

Amal Inyingiala Pepple (CFR)

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Board Member, SunTrust Bank Nigeria Ltd mal Inyingiala Pepple is a former ment as a lecturer in Political Science at RivHead of the Federal Civil Service ers State College of Education, Port Harcourt, of the Federation and former Deputy Secretary of the 1989 Constituent Minister of Housing, Land and Assembly, Administrative Secretary of the Urban Development. She is a defunct Social Democratic Party, and the seasoned public servant and a consummate Sole Administrator of the then United Nigeria administrator, Pepple was born in Bonny Congress Party (UNCP).

For her service to Nigeria and humanity, Local Government Area of Rivers State. She obtained a First Class Honours degree in she was conferred with the National Honours Political Science from University of Ife (now of the Officer of the Order of the Niger, OON Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1975 and (2003) and the Commander of the Federal MSc. degree from the School of Oriental Republic, CFR (2008) by the President of the and African Studies, University of London, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Pepple was, in April 2013, elected President of the 24th Sesin 1981.

Pepple has a very rich experience of ser- sion of the Governing Council of UN Habitat.

Until her appointment as a Director in vice to Nigeria, with a professional career spanning several sectors within the executive SunTrust Bank, she was a Member of the Board of Trustees, Lady Dorcas Orphanage, and legislative arms of government.

She served as a Director first in the Fed- Diocese of Abuja (Anglican Communion).

She was the second awardee at WIMBIZ eral Civil Service Commission, then in the Economic Affairs Office, the Presidency, annual conference during the female achievbefore she was appointed, at various times, er’s award ceremony. She broke the glass as Permanent Secretary in the Federal Min- ceiling by being a pioneer woman to head istries of Finance, Transport and Information the civil service of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She was celebrated for her contribuand National Orientation.

She further served as a Permanent Secre- tion to the development of the public sector.

During her acceptance speech at the tary in the Federal Civil Service Commission and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, in award presentation which took place yesterwhich capacity she doubled as the Governor day 7th of November 2019, she stressed on of OPEC for Nigeria, and a fellow of the Pe- the need to support each other as women troleum Training Institute. Also, she served and to be actively involved in politics. She as Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of shared on the challenges women in politics face, identifying finance as a major challenge.

Agriculture and Commerce.

In the legislative arm, Pepple was the Clerk For her, if finance is available, more women Designate in the Senate and the Clerk of the will be encouraged to participate in politics.

She also advised women never to see Senate between 1990 and 1993. Some of the many honours of Pepple in the course of her themselves as inferior to men. Using her rich national service were: Governor, Common story as an example, she said she was the Fund for Commodities; Alternate Governor, only female in her class while at school and International Fund for Agricultural Develop- she came out tops with a First Class degree.

According to Amal, the fact that you are a ment; Governor, OPEC Fund for International Development; Alternate Governor, Islamic woman is not a reason to limit yourself beDevelopment Bank; Alternate Governor, In- cause, if given the same opportunity, what a ternational Monetary Fund; and Alternate man can do, a woman can do better.

Her expression of gratitude at the award Governor, African Development Bank.

Pepple equally served on the Boards of and commendation of the organisers rethe Central Bank of Nigeria, Zenith Bank Plc vealed the state of her heart. She encouraged and Oando Plc. Her interest in politics and women to be supportive of each other at all political education informed her engage- times and in all things.

BUSINESS DAY Friday 08 November 2019 www.businessday.ng

By Kemi Ajumobi

Ebele Okeke (CFR, OON) Chairman/CEO Chantaly Engineering Services

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bele Ofunneamaka Okeke CFR and OON was Born 14, June 1948 and is a Nigerian Civil engineer and former Head of Nigerian Civil Service.

She was born at Nnewi North, Anambra State, Nigeria. She had her secondary education at Arch Deacon Crowther Memorial Girls’ School Elelenwo, Port Harcourt, where she obtained the West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1965.

She proceeded to the University of Southampton, England where she obtained a Bachelor of science (B.Sc) in Civil engineering (1971). She holds a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in ground water from Loughborough University. She also obtained a Post Graduate Degree (PGD) in Hydrology and Hydrogeology from the University College London in 1979. She then returned to Nigeria to obtain a Master of Business Administration, MBA degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 2001.

On March 2007, she became the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and after months of service, she became the Head of Nigerian Civil Service, making her the first female to served in that capacity from the history of Nigeria.

She held this position until 2008, when she finally retired from the Nigerian Civil Service. As a Civil engineer, she has contributed tremendously to engineering development in Nigeria. She founded the Association of Professional Women Engineers, (APWEN) in Nigeria. She was one of the six delegates that represented the retired civil servants at the 2014 Nigeria’s National Conference.

She has a Honorary Doctorate Degree in Engineering Technology Management awarded by Tafawa Belewa University Bauchi and worked in both the private and public sector. As public health engineer, she worked at Sandford Fawcett Wilton and Bell, Consulting Engineers, London.

She worked as Highways and Transportation Engineer, Obiukwu Okeke Associates, Enugu and as Highways Engineer, Gifford and Tolefe, Consulting Engineers, Ibadan.

She was awarded two national honours

of OON (Officer of the Order of the Niger); CFR (Commander of the Federal Republic) and a Fellow of the different engineering Societies/Institutions.

As long as Ebele is concerned, the work of nation building is for both men and women. It should not be gender biased.

In her words, “People think that only men have to build the nation. It is not true.

Women start building the nation from home. It is most unfortunate that elections in Nigeria do not involve a lot of women and that is why we don’t have anybody sponsoring us. We see that election in Nigeria is mostly for men, but if you will put in your quota and I put in my quota, we will go places.”

As long as Okeke is concerned, “Any woman working in the civil service is developing the nation or building the nation from her own angle, and if they are lucky to be in politics and become one of the ministers in any ministry, they can as well contribute more to the building of the nation. All the women who work with civil service are targeting the nation. But if you enter into politics and you become a minister like I was in the civil service and I put in my quota while I was there, then if everyone of us put in their quota, the better for all of us.”

On retirement, she accepted to carry out humanitarian assignments with two international organisations. Appointed the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Ambassador for Nigeria by Water Supply And Sanitation Collaborative Council, an agency within the UN system. She was elected a leading spokeswoman on the Sanitation and Water For All (SWA) Steering Committee. Ebele has handled several international assignments and is currently in private practice as the CEO of Chantaly Engineering Services.

She was honoured yesterday 7th of November 2019, at WIMBIZ annual conference as a female achiever for blazing the trail and who has made significant impact in the civil service and has contributed to the growth and sustainability of the public sector.

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