BusinessDay 12 Oct 2018

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ormer president Olusegun Obasanjo has finally endorsed the candidacy of his former vice president Atiku Abubakar. Atiku led a

powerful delegation to the house of his estranged former boss yesterday, after having seriously considered the political influence of Obasanjo ahead of the general elections slated for 2019.

They held a closed-door meet-

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2019: Game changing moment as Obasanjo endorses Atiku RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta

fgn bonds

Treasury bills

ing with the former president in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital at the end of which Obasanjo gave have his blessing to his former vice president from 1999 to 2007.

“Let me start by congratulating President-to-be, Atiku

Abubakar, for his success at the recent PDP Primary and I took note of his gracious remarks in his acceptance speech that it all started here.

Continues on page 4

Visionscape: Ambode’s loss leads to fear of contract termination ... State already provided guaranty for N50bn bond JOSHUA BASSEY

T

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo (2nd l); Atiku Abubakar (2nd r), PDP Presidential candidate; Matthew Kukah, Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, and Islamic scholar, Shiek Abubakar Gumi, at yesterday’s endorsement of Atiku by Obasanjo in Abeokuta, yesterday.

here are growing concerns over the continuity of a subsisting waste management contract signed by the Lagos State Government with Visionscape Sanitation Solutions limited, a municipal waste management firm, following the unexpected failure of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to get a second term mandate from his party that would have seen him stay in power till 2023.

Having failed to secure the ticket of his party- the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the 2019 governorship election, Ambode’s tenure terminates automatically on May 29, 2019, when a new administration will also take effect.

This has raised fears that a new administration, whether formed by the APC or the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would not want to Continues on page 4

2 BUSINESS DAY NEWS

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Friday 12 October 2018

Full text of Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku

I

am happy to welcome the distinguished leaders of goodwill who have led the PDP Presidential Candidate and my former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, to my humble abode and I welcome the Presidential Candidate himself.

Let me start by congratulating President-to-be, Atiku Abubakar, for his success at the recent PDP Primary and I took note of his gracious remarks in his acceptance speech that it all started here.

Yes, when it started, it was meant for Atiku to succeed Obasanjo. In the presence of these distinguished leaders of goodwill today, let me say it openly that we have reviewed what went wrong on the side of Atiku. And in all honesty, my former Vice-President has re-discovered and re-positioned himself. As I have repeatedly said, it is not so much what you did against me that was the issue but what you did against the Party, the Government and the country.

I took the stand I had taken based on the character and attributes you exhibited in the position you found yourself. I strongly believe that I was right. It was in the overall interest of everyone and everything to take such a position.

From what transpired in the last couple of hours or so, you have shown remorse; you have asked for forgiveness and you have indicated that you have learnt some good lessons and you will mend fences and make amends as necessary and as desirable.

Whenever or wherever you might have offended me, as a Christian who asks for God’s forgiveness of my sins and inadequacies on daily basis, I forgive and I sincerely advise you to learn from the past and do what is right and it will be well with you. Obviously, you have mended fences with the Party and fully reconciled with the Party. That’s why today, you are the Presidential Candidate of the Party. In addition to appreciating all that the Party has done for you, may I advise you to work together with all those who contested for the Party’s flag with you as a team for your campaign.

There are still areas, nationally and internationally, where you have to mend fences and make amends.

You will know how to handle what is already out and what may yet be put out by the opposition. But, I am convinced that if you continue with the attitude that brought you here with these distinguished leaders of goodwill, with remorse and contrite heart, the rest of the coast within and outside the country can be cleared. And if there is anything I can do and you want me to do in that respect, I will do.

I am sure with the right attitude for change where necessary, and by putting lessons learned by you to work, you will get the understanding, cooperation, support and mandate - all at the national level.

With Nigerians voting for you, it will mean that you secure their forgiveness and regain their confidence. It will be with the hope or assurance of a Paul on the road to Damascus Conversion. After all, change and conversion are of man. I believe that with a contrite heart, change

is possible in everybody’s life and situation.

For me, relatively and of all the aspirants in the PDP, you have the widest and greatest exposure, experience, outreach and possibly the best machinery and preparation for seeing the tough and likely dirty campaign ahead through. From what I personally know of you, you have capacity to perform better than the incumbent. You surely understand the economy better; you have business experience, which can make your administration businessfriendly and boost the economy and provide jobs.

You have better outreach nationally and internationally and that can translate to better management of foreign affairs. You are more accessible and less inflexible and more open to all parts of the country in many ways. As Pastor Bakare, one-time running mate of the incumbent President said, “You are a wazobia man.” And that should help you in confronting the confrontable and shunning nepotism.

As you know, along the road to where you are today, many leaders and ordinary people cooperated and overtly and covertly worked hard. On your behalf, I thank them all. May their coast continue to be expanded. And when you become Nigerian President which, inshaAllah, you will be, remember what we did together in government – we ran an administration by Nigerians for all Nigerians where merit and performance count more than blood relationship, friendship or kith and kin. Although some time and ground have been lost, you should endeavour to start from where we stopped and recover some lost ground, if not time.

Please uphold truth, integrity, principles, morality and fight corruption, crimes and insurgency.

The fundamental law of the land, our constitution must be scrupulously defended. I make one demand and one demand on you today, I need you to say before God and man that you will always remain irrevocably committed to upholding ALL the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the whole country will remain your single indivisible constituency.

Constitutionalism, popular participation and inclusiveness are preconditions for reversing the deficits of the past three and half years. They will ensure abiding faith in our indivisibility, oneness and faith in the survival of all against none.

The fundamentals for our development, economic growth and progress are hard and soft infrastructure. Remember to always give adequate places in your administration to our youth and women.

All the authorities involved with the preparation, all processes and conduct of the election must ensure that the election is free, fair and credible.

Once again, congratulations and I wish you well. My distinguished brothers and leaders of goodwill, thank you for making this happen. I will now count on you to encourage all hands to be on the deck to take Nigeria to the level God has created it to be – autopilot level.

God bless you all and God bless Nigeria.

Talent Acquisition Manager, British America Tobacco (BAT), South Africa Area and recipient on behalf of Nigeria, Cornell Randall (first left); BAT, Southern African Area Managing Director and recipient for the overall Africa award, Soraya Benchikh (fourth right); and other recipients of the award for other BAT markets in Africa during the Top Employer Institute award dinner where BAT was honoured as Top Employer Africa, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

IMF recommends tight monetary policy, non-oil revenue mobilisation for Nigeria Hope Moses-Ashike in Bali, Indonesia

I

nternational Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday opened an agenda for the Nigeria’s new finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, recommending a policy tightening and increasing non-oil revenue mobilisation.

Christine Lagarde, managing director, IMF gave the recommendation at the ongoing IMF/World Bank Group annual meetings in Bali, Indonesia.

Lagarde was concerned that Nigeria’s domestic revenue mobilization at 5% of GDP is too low relative to addressing the issues of health, education, proper social spending on the people, and particularly the young people of Nigeria.

She also recommended structural reforms that would probably include really, making sure that the

refineries and the oil equipment available in Nigeria works well and works for the benefit of Nigeria.

“I am delighted that Nigeria has appointed, yet again, a female Finance Minister, and I welcome the meeting that I will have with her.

But if she was to ask me, what is our policy recommendation? I would certainly start with a tight monetary policy, higher non‑oil revenue mobilization”, Lagarde said.

Nigeria’s total revenue generation through taxation in the first half of the year rose to about N2.43 trillion,representing an increase in the revenue collection performance of N499.2 billion compared to the total collection of N1.94 trillion for the corresponding period last year. According to Federal Inland Revenue Service (IFRS) Non-oil revenue amounted to about N838.58 billion, while receipts from oil taxes accounted

for N1.60 trillion.

Responding to the issues of trade tension spilling over to the country, Lagarde said “In terms of spillovers, this is work that is constantly underway. It is to be found, if you will, in the Article IV that we produce under our bilateral surveillance. It is a tricky question because you have spillovers that are produced in very circumvoluted ways and not just a direct spillover. But we are doing this exercise on a country‑by‑country basis, very often taking scenarios and hypotheticals that either are proven true and hopefully will be proven wrong”.

Lagarde said the economy is not strong enough “because we clearly see that growth has plateaued if, three years in a row, it is at 3.7 percent”.

•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com

World Bank says educational outcomes in Nigeria very poor

... Spending on health very low ...urges finance minister to take responsibility Hope Moses-Ashike, Indonesia

T

he World Bank Group on Thursday October 11 criticised the poor level of educational outcomes in Nigeria, which it said is very, very poor. The bank also said the overall spending on health at 0.76 percent of GDP was far too low to deliver meaningful reliefs.

Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group made this claim while briefing journalists on the human capital project at the ongoing IMF/World Bank Group annual meetings in Bali, Indonesia.

Kim advised the Nigerian government, specifically the finance ministry to take responsibility and invest in human capital.

“Nigeria is one of the most important countries not only in Africa, but in the world. So we feel that it will be extremely important for Nigeria to really go on a different level altogether in terms of their commitment to investing in human capital”, he said.

Yong Kim said Africa needs to invest more in health and educa-

tion. “Luckily, because our IDAR, our fund for the poorest countries is 50 percent larger than it was three years ago, we can provide more support for African countries.”

The World Bank president acknowledged that politicians in rich and poor countries alike face an uphill struggle to fund better healthcare, put more money into schools and make other investments in people that yield measurable dividends only over time.

However, “we need a stronger argument. That’s why today we’re launching a new tool to help countries make those investments in their people: the first Human Capital Index.

“If a country’s children grow up unable to meet the needs of the future workplace, that country will find itself incapable of employing its people, unable to increase its output and utterly unpreparedtocompeteeconomically.”

Heexplainedthatthehumancapital index gives policymakers compelling evidence that delivering better outcomes in children’s health and learning can significantly boost the incomes of their people and shape the direction for

their countries far into the future.

He said policies to build human capital are some of the smartest investments that countries can make to boost long-term, inclusive economic growth and that right now, a quarter of the world’s young people are unlikely to achieve their full potential because of chronic malnutrition and illness that result in stunting, which permanently affects a child’s cognitive development, school performance, and future income.

“If we act with a fierce sense of urgency, we can create a world where all children arrive at school well-nourished and ready to learn; where they have a chance to grow up and become healthy, skilled adults; and where they can be productive throughout their careers as they reach for their own aspirations.”

Besides poorly equipped educational institutions in the country and poorly trained and motivated teachers, Nigeria is said to have about 14.2 million children between the ages of 1 to 14 years who have never stepped into a formal classroom.

Friday 12 October 2018

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BUSINESS DAY

3

4 BUSINESS DAY NEWS 2019: Game changing moment as Obasanjo...

Continued from page 1

“Yes, when it started, it was meant for Atiku to succeed Obasan-

jo. In the presence of these distinguished leaders of goodwill today, let me say it openly that we have reviewed what went wrong on the side of Atiku. And in all honesty, my former Vice-President has re-discovered and re-positioned himself.

As I have repeatedly said, it is not so much what you did against me that was the issue but what you did against the party, the government and the country.

“I took the stand I had taken based on the character and attributes you exhibited in the position you found yourself. I strongly believe that I was right. It was in the overall interest of everyone and everything to take such a position.

“From what transpired in the last couple of hours or so, you have shown remorse; you have asked for forgiveness and you have indicated that you have learnt some good lessons and you will mend fences and make amends as necessary and as desirable.

“Whenever or wherever you might have offended me, as a Christian who asks for God’s forgiveness of my sins and inadequacies on daily basis, I forgive and I sincerely advise you to learn from the past

and do what is right and it will be well with you. “Obviously, you have mended fences with the party and fully reconciled with the party. That is why today, you are the Presidential Candidate of the party. In addition to appreciating all that the party has done for you, may I advise you to work together with all those who contested for the party’s flag with you as a team for your campaign.

“There are still areas, nationally and internationally, where you have to mend fences and make amends.

You will know how to handle what is already out and what may yet be put out by the opposition. But, I am convinced that if you continue with the attitude that brought you here with these distinguished leaders of goodwill, with remorse and contrite heart, the rest of the coast within and outside the country can be cleared.

And if there is anything I can do and you want me to do in that respect, I will do.

“I am sure with the right attitude for change where necessary, and by putting lessons learned by you to work, you will get the understanding, cooperation, support and mandate – all at the national level. With Nigerians voting for you, it will mean that you secure their forgiveness and regain their confidence. It will be with the hope or assurance of a Paul on

C002D5556

the road to Damascus Conversion.

After all, change and conversion are of man. I believe that with a contrite heart, change is possible in everybody’s life and situation.

“For me, relatively and of all the aspirants in the PDP, you have the widest and greatest exposure, experience, outreach and possibly the best machinery and preparation for seeing the tough and likely dirty campaign ahead through. From what I personally know of you, you have capacity to perform better than the incumbent.

You surely understand the economy better; you have business experience, which can make your administration business-friendly and boost the economy and provide jobs.”

“You have better outreach nationally and internationally and that can translate to better management of foreign affairs. You are more accessible and less inflexible and more open to all parts of the country in many ways. As Pastor Bakare, onetime running mate of the incumbent President said, “You are a wazobia man.” And that should help you in confronting the confrontable and shunning nepotism.”

“As you know, along the road to where you are today, many leaders and ordinary people cooperated and overtly and covertly worked hard. On your behalf, I thank them all. May their coast continue to be expanded.

And when you become Nigerian

President which, insha-Allah, you will be, remember what we did together in government – we ran an administration by Nigerians for all Nigerians where merit and performance count more than blood relationship, friendship or kith and kin. Although some time and ground have been lost, you should endeavour to start from where we stopped and recover some lost ground, if not time.”

“Please uphold truth, integrity, principles, morality and fight corruption, crimes and insurgency. The fundamental law of the land, our constitution must be scrupulously defended. I make one demand and one demand on you today, I need you to say before God and man that you will always remain irrevocably committed to upholding ALL the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the whole country will remain your single indivisible constituency.”

“Constitutionalism, popular participation and inclusiveness are preconditions for reversing the deficits of the past three and half years. They will ensure abiding faith in our indivisibility, oneness and faith in the survival of all against none.”

“The fundamentals for our development, economic growth and progress are hard and soft infrastructure.

Remember to always give adequate places in your administration to our youth and women.”

Friday 12 October 2018

“All the authorities involved with the preparation, all processes and conduct of the election must ensure that the election is free, fair and credible” Obasanjo was quoted to have said.

Several attempts in the past by Abubakar to get the endorsement of Obasanjo had failed. Both men fell apart in the final months of the Obasanjo Presidency over allegations of corruption levelled against Atiku. However, Atiku is yet to be charged to court over any of the corruption allegations, which he has continued to deny.

But now that Atiku has emerged as the presidential candidate of the main opposition PDP, and to stand against President Buhari who Obasanjo has said is unfit to be elected for a second term, both men look set to bury their differences if that is what it will take to get Buhari out of Aso rock in 2019.

In the visit to Obasanjo, Atiku came along with some notable Nigerians including; Uche Secondus, national chairman of PDP; Liyel Imoke, former governor of Cross River state; Bode George, PDP chieftain; Senator Ben Bruce, Gbenga Daniel, former governor of Ogun state, among others as well as Bishop David Oyedepo, general overseer of Living Faith Church, apparently to intercede with Obasanjo.

Visionscape: Ambode’s loss leads to fear of...

Continued from page 1

continue with the Visionscape, one of the main reasons Ambode

is said to have lost the support of his party members and many residents of Lagos.

Legal practitioners have however warned of the implications of terminating the waste management contract, sayingeitherofthepartieshavetheright to seek redress, and that if it is the Lagos State Government that terminates, it will cost tax payers a lot more.

The allegations that put outgoing governor Ambode on a collision course with backstage power brokers in Lagos include claims that he deviated from an inherited Lagos economic blue print, as well as a purported deliberate detachment of himself from party men.

Ambode’s termination of the contracts of private sector participants (PSPs) in the waste management sector, with a combined workforce put at about 25,000 workers, to introduce Visionscape as replacement was also said to have riled the party and many more interest groups and individuals to no end.

Already, Visionscape has threatened to suspend operations in Lagos, following alleged consistent attacks on its equipment and personnel in the line of duty.

Some observers say a this is suggestiveofragingangeragainstthecompany ontheperceptioninsomequartersthat it has failedtoliveuptotheexpectations of the public in the management of waste in the state. Other observers say the company is simply the victim of an unfortunate political backlash.

The Ambode-led government first began a reform of the waste management processes in 2016 and by 2017 consolidated the various environmental laws and policies, including restructuring of existing waste collection and management system, to ensure efficiency and corporate global best practices.

The government, through the ministry of the environment, introduced the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) backed by the Environmental Management and Protection Law passed by the House of Assembly and

signed by the governor. It subsequently awarded contracts to Visionscape Sanitations Solutions Limited and its strategic partners for deployment of waste management infrastructure.

On February 23, 2017 Visionscape executed a Memorandum of Understanding which authorised the incorporation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (“SPV”) – the Municipality Waste Management Contractors Limited for the purpose of issuing Medium Term Notes (bonds) to finance implementation of the CLI. On March 21, the State Executive Council presided over by Ambode passed a resolution to secure the financing structure adopted by Visionscape and its partners to raise up to N50 billion in bonds for the implementation of the CLI through issuance of an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) as a charge on the State Internally Generated Revenue Account/ Environmental Trust Fund.

This means that the state government will pay, in the case of default, for a N50 billion bond programme the Visionscape Group through its SPV issued.

With this guarantee, the Visionscape Group raised an initial first tranche of its bond issuance, a N27 billion, 17.5 percent, fixed rate fiveyear bond due 2022.

In the letter guarantying the issuance, Lagos State assured that “Consequent upon the above, this office would implement the monthly remittance of the gross sum of Seven Hundred and Thirteen Million, Seven Hundred Thousand Naira Only (NGN713,700,000) as a first line charge fromtherevenueaccountofLagosState Government which is to commence in June 2017 and terminate in June 2027.”

The consequence of this is that in a one-year period, the state would spend N8.56 billion as guarantees for the bond and be on the hook for about N85 billion over the 10-year timeline on this one transaction, something that a new governor may not find acceptable considering that the system that Visionscape replaced was not costing the state any cash.

The information memorandum (issued in lieu of a prospectus for private placements) sent out to

L-R: Shweta Shah, National Programme Lead, Engine 2 Programme; Tayo Erinle, Executive Director, Tabitha Cumi Foundation, and Stephen Onyekwuelu, National Programme Officer, UNESCO, during the 2018 International Day of the Girl Child, theme ‘With Her: A Skill Work Force” held in Abuja.

Pic by TUNDE ADENIYI

prospective investors and seen by BusinessDay, included an excerpt from Agusto & co that said: “We estimate that the duly executed ISPO on Lagos State’s revenue account constitutes sufficient security for the issue as the remittances... will be adequate to cover the cumulative obligations (coupon payments and principal repayments) of the Series 1 Note 1.03 times.”

A source close to the APC told BusinessDay on Wednesday that a new administration in the state would be sympathetic with PSP operators, whose business and over N6 billion investments was disrupted by Ambode.

Debo Adeniran, a legal practitioner says there are grave implications for both parties depending on the terms of agreement signed. “Each of the parties has a right and obligation in the agreement. It will be a breach of agreement if Lagos State terminates the contract and it will cost tax payers more. Any new government is supposed to continue with the agreement because government is a continuum.”

Adeniran, who is the executive director of the Centre for AntiCorruption and Open Leadership

(CACOL) said that he believes that “Visionscape has not failed” and therefore there is no need for the contract to be terminated.

AdetokunboMumuni,anotherlegal practitioner and executive director of Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), said such contractsarebindingonpartiesinvolvedand whateverhappens,thepartieswouldfall back on the terms of the contract.

“If the Lagos State Government stood as a surety on the bond issued by the company, then the state will have to look at the implications. But if due diligence was not done to ascertain the capacity of the company in the first place, then there is still something for the parties to fall back on,” said Mumuni.

Signs of tough times ahead for Visionscape are already emerging, as the company last weekend threatened to suspend operations over claims of reported attacks on its staff and destruction of its vehicles and equipment as a result of political outcomes in the state.

In a statement signed by Simon Reading, chairman of the Board of Investors, the company stated that

it had become necessary to raise its concerns over volatility in Lagos and its impact on its operations.

“Security reports brought to our attention contain details of a surge in violent attacks on the trucks and equipment and in some cases, the operators.”

The firm claimed that the opposition party in the just concluded gubernatorial race used subversive language about the residential collections contract and called it “a misadventure”.

If the Visionscape is terminated, it would not be the first time that the Lagos State Government will be getting out of a Public Private Sector Partnership (PPP) that it voluntarily entered into. The Lagos State Government, in August 2013, terminated a Public Private Partnership (PPP) entered into with the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) that would have seen the company fully fund the construction of the Lekki-Epe Expressway, and recoup its investment through tolling on the road over a period of 30 years. To avoid a legal battle, the government opted to buy back the concession agreement by way of buying the company.

Friday 12 October 2018

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BUSINESS DAY

5

6 BUSINESS DAY NEWS

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Airlines move operations to GAT as MMA2 shutdown persists IFEOMA OKEKE

A

irlines are now taking off and landing from the General Aviation Terminal (GAT), the Lagos terminal operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), following the shut down of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) since Wednesday.

MMA2 had been shut down since Wednesday by aviation unions over the disengagement of some workers of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operator of MMA2.

The situation has become worse now as the unions used trucks to barricade the entrance of the terminal yesterday, making it impossible for anyone to gain access into the terminal.

The unions involved in the activity were the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE).

Airlines affected by the action include Arik Air, Medview Airline, Azman Air, Max Air, Dana Air and Aero Contractors, which operate flights from the terminal.

Frances Akinjole, general secretary, ATSSSAN, said the unions were compelled to carry out the action following the refusal of the BASL management to accede to their demands.

Akinjole, who claimed the protest was a successful one yesterday, insisted that the picketing would continue this morning (Thursday) if BASL refused to meet the unions’ demand.

The union leader however warned that any attempt to truncate the industrial action by management of BASL without meeting their demands would be met with stiff resistance.

He said to forestall any possible act of sabotage from BASL, Trade Union Congress (TUC), the parent body ATSSSAN, had started mobilising to join in the picketing.

“Our activities yesterday (Wednesday) at MMA2 was very successful. We made sure that no flight departed or arrived at the terminal.

The action continues today Thursday, pending when they meet our demands on the workers laid off because of their alleged involvement in unionisation of BASL workers.

“Our parent body, TUC has mobilised to join us at the picketing tomorrow,” the union leader said.

He said, “This issue started since May when these workers were laid off for indicating interest to belong to unions. We met the management asking them to reinstate these workers and recognise their rights to join unions but they refused.

“The regulator of the industry, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as well as aviation security agencies have intervened in series of meetings, but BASL management has refused to do the needful to avert this crisis.”

However, Steve Omolale, Bi-Courtney’s spokesman in a statement, said the company had obtained a court order from the Federal High Court, Lagos, restraining the unions from shutting down Nigeria’s only privately owned terminal.

AFC acquires inaugural $300m facility from Export-Import Bank of China

A

frica Finance Corporation (AFC), a leading infrastructure development finance institution in Africa, announces its successful acquisition of a loan facility from the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) of a $200 million five-year loan and a $100 million five-year stand-by facility for general corporate purpose.

The facility from CEXIM marks AFC’s inaugural financing facility from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This follows the Corporation’s strategic focus to build a broad coalition of investors by diversifying its fundraising activities to include all sources of institutional capital in East Asia, in addition to its existing partners in Europe and North America.

Apart from the mediumterm liquidity that this proposed facility will provide, it will also further provide contingent funding support which is particularly important for liquidity risk management as well as opening up other financing and relationships with Chinese entities (both state-owned and private).

It has also been agreed that the signing of the facility agreement shall mark the first step into what will be a long and beneficial relationship with CEXIM, including AFC’s support to CEXIM’s Africa strategy, looking at their portfolio of assets and advising them on how to optimise its loan book on the continent.

Samaila Zubairu, president/CEO at AFC, commented: “In the last two

decades, China has grown from a relatively small investor, to becoming one of Africa’s largest trading partners today.

“This facility is therefore not only a milestone for the Corporation and its strategy for the Far East, but also marks a natural evolution in the growing financial sophistication of China in Africa, a necessary development required to accelerate Africa’s journey towards closing the infrastructure deficit.

“Moreover, AFC welcomes CEXIM’s commitment towards its Africa strategy, and we look forward to lending our expertise on how best to deliver sustainable infrastructure investment that should catalyse industrial growth on the continent.”

Edo LGAs receive N3.2bn as September allocation

E

do State Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) has declared N3,204,857,456.43k as gross allocation received from the Federation Account for the month of September 2018.

Speaking with journalists at the end of Edo JAAC meeting, presided over by the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, chairman of Etsako Central Local Government

Area and vice chairman of Edo State chapter of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), John Akhigbe, put teachers’ salaries at N1,151,526,487.55k.

He said, “Non-teachers’ salaries gulped N60,318,373.78k while the total deduction for the month was N1,825,907,586.41k,” saying the net allocation shared by the 18 LGAs of the state from the Federation Account

was N1,378,949,870.02k.

He said “unfortunately, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by the local councils in the state which was N173,080,974.94k for the month of September reduced by 15 per cent when compared to IGR generated in August due to the heavy rainfall, flood as well as the warning strike embarked upon by the organised labour.”

Friday 12 October 2018

Friday 12 October 2018

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7 NEWS

BUSINESS DAY

OPEC watches Hurricane Michael with bated breath

…shuts in 700,000bpd US production … as IEA warns oil market entering danger zone ISAAC ANYAOGU

O

rganisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), an oil cartel responsible for a third of global oil production, is keenly following the movement of Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm, said to be strongest hurricane on record to hit the Continental United States, leading to the shut-in of over 700,000bpd production in the US. OPEC has been tasked to turn on the taps and dig into their spare capacity, to help shore up oil prices as US sanctions on Iran expected to kick in on November 4, is billed to turn the heat on the oil market and send prices even higher. OPEC is worried that ramping production and digging into spare capacity will severely limit their ability to respond to future disruptions, raising the risk

of even bigger oil prices.

Meanwhile, Paris-based global think tank, the International Energy Association (IEA) warns that unless production increases to meet outages, the global oil market will enter a red zone.

“We should try to comfort the markets all together because it may be bad news for the consumers, importers today, but I believe it may well be bad news for the producers tomorrow,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, told journalists.

“If there are no major moves from the key producers, the fourth quarter of this year is very, very challenging.” Birol said that the run up in oil prices is occurring at a time when more red flags regarding the global economy are emerging, something that will ultimately spell trouble for the oil industry if it leads to demand destruction.

About 40 percent of the Gulf of Mexico’s oil production and 28 percent of its natural gas production was shut down as the region braced for a powerful hurricane to make landfall.

But this is a precautionary measure as the hurricane missed several key production areas.

The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said the volume shut in represents roughly 718,877 barrels per day of oil production. According to a Reuters report, at least 75 platforms were evacuated, including those operated by Anadarko Petroleum, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil.

Though the IEA expects production downtime to be brief as the crude volumes shut-in represents a small portion of total US production of over 10 million bpd and would have marginal impact on oil prices, fears remain.

Oil prices rallied late

September seeing Brent crude break $80 a barrel, its highest level since 2014.

The benchmark commodity is up 26.6 percent yearto-date, while WTI crude is up 24 percent in the same time period. Prices currently hover around $86 per barrel and could wellhead to $100 by the end of the year analysts warn.

“The way we’re seeing it is long dated oil prices are rising, the front-end is weakening which is telling you that hey, we don’t have a problem today, we potentially have a problem tomorrow,” Jeff Currie, global head of commodities for Goldman Sachs told CNBC. The IEA warns that threat from oil prices would arise from geopolitical events like the US sanctions on Iran. Iranian exports fell 1.1 million bpd in first week of October down from 1.6 million in September and a far cry from its high of 2.6 million bpd in April of this year.

L-R: Vincent Nnadi, Executive General Manager CSR, Total; Bruno Dormoy, Executive Director/Secretary General M&S, Total; Bayo Rotimi, CEO Quest Advisory Services; Bunmi Popoola-Mordi, General Manager, Human Resources & Corporate Services/ Company Secretary, Total and Opeyemi Owosho, Winner of the first edition of Startupper by Total, during the press conference organized to announce the commencement of the second edition of Startupper by Total in Lagos recently.

Atiku Campaign Organisation chides Buhari’s alleged hypocrisy INNOCENT ODOH, Abuja

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he Atiku Campaign Organisation has chided President Muhammadu Buhari’s Campaign Organisation and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over their current attacks against former Vice President and the flag bearer of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2019 elections, Atiku Abubakar, describing it as inconsistent with the praises they showered on Atiku previously.

The Atiku Campaign Organisation in a statement issued on Thursday, said ever since he emerged as candidate of the PDP the Presidency, the Buhari Campaign Organisation and the

APC had taken up the uncultured habit of hurling insults and casting aspersions on Atiku.

The statement said that it was rather unfortunate that because Buhari and the APC had no record of performance, they would rather run an ad hominem campaign.

“However, we wish to remind them of their past praise and validation of H E Atiku and ask them what has changed between then and now.

“On December 22, 2014, President Muhammadu Buhari declared that HE Atiku Abubakar is “an inspiration” who has done a “great service”. Today, the Presidency is singing a different tune.

How can Nigeria be stable

economically and politically if the President cannot be counted to stick to his words?

“On December 21, 2014, the All Progressives Congress issued a statement describing HE Atiku as a “special gift” and “an asset”. Today, the same party is hurling invective on the man they once celebrated as an exemplary citizen. Is this two facedness the type of example they want to give to Nigerians?

“Moreover, on December 19, 2014, the All Progressives Congress praised HE Atiku as an “agent of change”.

Now that Atiku Abubakar is on the brink of effecting the promised change that the APC failed to implement, they have ‘changed’ and now call him all sorts of negative names,” the statement said.

The Atiku campaign asked that if Nigerians cannot trust President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC to stand by their words, how could they trust them to stand by any promise they make to the nation?

“Finally, we urge the Presidency, the Buhari Campaign Organisation and the All Progressives Congress, to stick to issues. We on our own part are informing Nigerians on how Atiku Abubakar will Get Nigeria Working Again by focusing on JOBS (Jobs, Opportunity, Being United and Security). We therefore urge the Buhari camp to allow themselves be inspired by higher ideals, instead of this pedestrian approach of insults and gutter language,” the statement said.

John Anyanwu

Bimpe Afolabi

Toyin Ogunlowo

Goke Oyelami

KPMG Nigeria appoints 4 new partners

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PMG member firms in Nigeria are pleased to announce the appointment of four new partners.

The new partners are: Olabimpe Afolabi of KPMG’s Quality and Risk Management unit; John Anyanwu of the firm’s Advisory practice; Adegoke Oyelami and Olutoyin Ogunlowo of the firm’s Audit practice.

In congratulating the new partners, Kunle Elebute, senior partner, KPMG Nigeria/chairman, KPMG Africa said, “The success of professional service partnerships hinges on the specific talents of highly skilled individuals. Jointly, these individuals share almost 60 years of professional experience across a diverse range of service lines in well-established and new emerging sectors. They present a unique blend of talents and abilities for providing exceptional client service.”

He emphasised, “The new admissions reflect the firm’s commitment to supporting the current business needs of our clients whilst anticipating their requirements for tomorrow. I’m proud of the track record of each of our new partners and heartily congratulate them on the attainment of this key milestone in their careers.”

Olabimpe Afolabi Olabimpe holds a Petroleum Engineering degree from University of Ibadan and Global Executive MBA from IE Business School, Spain. A Fellow of ICAN, an Associate of CITN and a Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors. She joined KPMG Tax practice in 2002 and later joined the Quality and Risk Management unit in 2006 and has excelled as a risk management professional assisting KPMG in setting up and complying with required policies and

regulations.

John Anyanwu John holds a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Federal University of Technology, Owerri. He is a member of several cyber security and assurance professional bodies like ISACA, ISC2 and FIRST. An ISO 22301 (BCMS) Lead Auditor, a Certified Information Security Manager, Certified Information Systems Security Professional and Certified Information Systems Auditor. He joined KPMG in 2004 and has extensive experience providing best-in-class IT advisory services to clients across various sectors.

Adegoke Oyelami Adegoke holds an Accounting degree from University of Lagos. A fellow of ICAN, Adegoke joined KPMG in 2006 and has a wealth of experience in the financial statements/statutory audit of various FSI clients. He has deep experience in audit and preparation of consolidated and group financial statements involving complex group reporting structures and has demonstrated his expertise on various integration of finance processes of banks, insurance and other financial services entities.

Olutoyin Ogunlowo Olutoyin holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Federal University of Technology, Akure and she is a Fellow of ICAN. Prior to joining KPMG in August 2018, she had garnered several years of experience providing audit and audit related services to various clients including indigenous and multinational companies in the ENR sector. Her extensive oil and gas industry experience includes leading special purpose engagements and other Accounting/Financial Reporting related projects.

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Lessons for Nigeria from Germany on 2019: Senate approves N189bn INEC budget FG spends N460bn from 2018 Social Intervention Procircular economy, waste management OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja gramme from N500 billion to budget on capital projects CHUKA UROKO

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n Europe, particularly in Germany, circular economy is top priority for environmental policy and the country’s ability to transform its waste management into a resource management system where about 14 percent of the (non-energy) raw materials used in its economy are recovered from waste is a huge lesson for Nigeria.

Circular economy demands that a country like Nigeria should be efficient with its resources. To achieve this, Nigeria should make laws to promote investment in recycling because billions of wealth can be generated for the economy, leading to the creation of thousands of new jobs if companies and individuals focus on building circular supply chains to increase the rate of recycling, reuse and re-manufacture.

Waste management in Nigeria, especially in big cities like Lagos, the country’s economic capital, is still a big challenge. The capacity and technology to convert waste to wealth are neither here nor there despite efforts at deploying them to address the intractable problem.

Lagos, a sprawling city of over 20 million population, has become a case study on a degraded environment where waste management has failed unlike Germany where it has evolved into a large and powerful economic sector.

“There are more than 270,000 people working in some 11,000 companies with an annual turnover of around 70 billion Euros.

More than 15,500 waste management facilities help to conserve resources through recycling and other recovery operations,” Gafar Odubote, a director at Junior Chamber International (JCI) Nigeria, said in an interview in Lagos.

“Germany’s high recycling rates of 67 percent for household waste, around 70 percent for production and commercial waste, and almost 90 percent for construction and demolition waste speak for themselves,” he said.

Odubote does not, however, blame the waste management situation on one level of government alone because, according to him, responsibility for waste management should be a collective effort among the federal, states and local authorities.

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he Senate has approved N189,007,272,393 for INEC for the 2019 general election as requested

by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Breakdown of the amount shows that while N143.3 billion was allocated for 2018 for the Commission, lawmakers approved the sum of N45.6 billion for 2019.

This is to enable the electoral commission conduct the forthcoming election, which is barely four months away.

This followed the adoption of the interim report of the Joint Senate Committee on Appropriations and Finance at Thursday plenary.

Presenting the report, chairman, Appropriations Committee, Danjuma Goje, said the source of funding the election should be vired from both recurrent and capital component of Special Intervention Programme captured in the Service Wide Votes of the 2018 Appropriation Act. In his first letter dated July 11, 2018 President Buhari had requested that the election budget be taken from the over N500 billion inserted into the 2018 budget by lawmakers for various projects.

With this development, the committee slashed the

N310 billion.

“It is pertinent to mention that the recommendations on this interim report cover provision for the Independent National Electoral Commission’s 2019 General Elections operations. In making this recommendation, the Committee took into account the report of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on INEC, which met several times with INEC during the recess to justify the need for the component of the request,” Goje said.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police; office of the National Security Adviser (NSA); Department of State Services (DSS); Nigeria Immigration Service and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Thursday appeared before the Goje-led committee to defend their budgets for the election.

While the office of the NSA was allocated with the sum of N4.2 billion for the conduct of the election, Nigeria Police got N30.5 billion. Others are DSS N12.2 billion, NSCDC N3.5 billion and NIS N2.6 billion.

The report of the committee on the security agencies’ elections budget is expected to be passed by next week.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE, Bali, Indonesia

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he Federal Government on Wednesday said it had released over N460 billion from the 2018 national budget, which Udoma Udo Udoma, minister for budget and national planning, said was spent on capital projects.

This is coming as President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday asked lawmakers to approve the issuance of a $2.79 billion Eurobond to help finance the budget deficit and to fund infrastructure projects.

Udoma, who spoke on the sidelines of the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Group annual meetings in Bali, Indonesia, said, “We have to keep on growing, we are focused on working and are not distracted by electioneering. The president has instructed us to remain focused. We are happy IMF has spoken well about Nigeria.

“We expect that by the end of this year, we will be growing by 2.1 percent, things are going well in Nigeria, not as well as we want to be, we are working hard

to improve things. We are in stronger position than 2015.

Our foreign reserves are $44 billion and we have a trading surplus whilest our imports are not increasing; we have been able to manage those imports. All the indices are positive.”

Also speaking with journalists in Bali, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, disclosed that there were discussions around the possibility of Nigeria increasing its shareholding, just like Afrexim that had a very large portfolio of about 40 percent in Nigeria.

She also disclosed that there were discussions around setting up some industrial parks in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in three centres: Lekki, Kano and Kaduna.

On the issue about raising the Federal Government stake at the bank, she said, “When we have a consensus, we will join. That discussion is being driven by the federal ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. That we will need to consider increasing our shareholding in the bank because there is a lot of value that we are getting from Afreximbank.

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The first casualty of trade war is truth prejudiced bias, partisan oracles continue to be given ample space in major global media.

Setting aside the hollow prophecies, where is Chinese economy today?

DAN STEINBOCK Dr Dan Steinbock is the founder of Difference Group and has served as research director at the India, China and America Institute (USA) and visiting fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore). For more, see https://www.differencegroup.net/

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ecently, US academic Yasheng Huang argued on Wall Street Journal that “Jack Ma is retiring.

Is China’s economy losing steam?” By the same logic, Elon Musk’s forced resignation from Tesla would mean US slowdown.

Similarly, Bloomberg columnist Nisha Gopalan explains Ma’s retirement by claiming that the prosecution of corrupt business oligarchs in China signals economic weakness, despite corruption’s corrosive impact on private economy.

In turn, Gordon F. Chang urges US tariffs against all Chinese imports as “necessary.” But these prophecies have a pathetic track record. In 2001, Chang published The Coming Collapse of China, even as Chinese economy was about to grow sixfold in a decade.

It is often said that the first casualty of war is truth. Trade war is no different. What is odd is not that times of peril offer opportunities to ideologists, or ideologies to opportunists. What’s odd is that, despite recurrent flawed predictions or

Chinese growth amid Trump’s trade wars As the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) recently cut banks’ reserve requirements, Reuters headlined: “Trade war imperils [China’s] growth.” Yet, analysts saw the cut as an affirmation of Chinese government’s commitment to support the domestic economy. In the new, more challenging status quo, accommodative monetary policy is likely to continue, along with further fiscal easing.

In the short-term, China is responding and adjusting to US tariff wars. In 2018, growth forecast is 6.5% to 6.6%, thanks to strong first half of the year. Moderation in the second half will reflect US tariff wars and consequent slower demand growth.

For now, solid service sector growth, supported by monetary and fiscal support, has kept the economy on track. Inflation is moderating and current account surplus could narrow more than expected. Trump tariffs are designed to hurt export growth and thus the growth of manufacturing investment. Further, the White House’s sharpened tone suggests US trade hawks hope to instigate capital outflows from China.

In the medium-term, China is deleveraging, while reducing poverty and pollution, to sustain higherquality growth. A year ago, shadow banking still peaked at more than 15% year-on-year; now its growth has plunged. While substandard

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In the long-term, Chinese economy is rebalancing as the sources of growth are shifting from investment and exports to consumption and innovation. On the supply side, the economy continues to move away from industry and toward services

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loans and actual bank losses have been relatively low, “special mention” loans - a category slightly above nonperforming loans - remains substantial, though they have been declining.

In the long-term, Chinese economy is rebalancing as the sources of growth are shifting from investment and exports to consumption and innovation. On the supply side, the economy continues to move away from industry and toward services.

On the demand side, consumption is

increasingly fueling growth. Meanwhile, global innovation hubs are expanding from Shenzhen to Shanghai and Beijing.

Obviously, Trump’s trade offenses complicate and defer Chinese reforms, but the direction of these reforms prevails. There are no winners in a trade war. If the White House will up tariffs on all Chinese imports, the stakes will soar to $500 billion. That could penalize China by 1% of its GDP; but US GDP would suffer a 2% hit.

However, global economic prospects could suffer even more.

Undermining global prospects The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has now cut its forecast on global economic growth to 3.7% percent for 2018 and 2019, citing rising trade protection. But that is an optimistic projection because it downplays the full impact of the Trump administration’s effective tariffs, retaliations impact, the inclusion of new potential tariff targets and subsequent collateral damage.

Following a sharp upswing in 2017, exports and imports in Asia have held up fairly well. But thanks to Trump’s new protectionism, world trade and investment are set to take severe hits. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), merchandise trade volume growth was expected to increase 4.4% in 2018.

But as tariffs escalate trade tensions, the outlook is likely to be penalized.

In turn, world investment soared to $2 trillion before the 2008 global crisis. Last year, it fell to $1.5 trillion. As tariff wars spread, world investment is likely to languish even more.

Instead of confronting protectionism, Brussels and Tokyo still hope to

gain exemptions to avoid Trump’s trade wrath. In the B20 Summit, the business voice of the G20, advanced economies have been pushing a policy proposal to address “staterelated competitive distortions.” In advanced economies, the share of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in national employment is about 5% to 15%. In the early days of Chinese reforms, the comparable figure in the mainland was over 75%; today barely 20%. However, advanced economies have had two centuries to reduce the role of SOEs in their economies; China barely two decades.

If confrontational approaches are favored by G20, then why not start by reviewing the role of US and EU agricultural subsidies that have caused irreparable harm to developing economies in Asia, Latin America and Asia for decades?

What G20 and the world economy needs today is not more friction, but a united front of advanced, emerging and developing economies for global trade. As long as that front remains absent, Trump’s trade hawks can continue their bilateral ‘rule-and-divide’ tactics against individual economies - instead of having to cope with the multilateral force of the global economy.

Over time, the alternative is the kind of global depression that was barely avoided in 2008.

• A version of the commentary was released by China Daily on October 10, 2018.

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The art of discovering growth opportunities in your organization

WITH

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‘UJU ONWUZULIKE

Uju Onwuzulike is Nigeria’s leading authority on Systems Thinking and Strategic Management. He was a Steve Haines trained strategy and systems thinking expert and a former global partner of Haines Centre for Strategic Management, California, USA. He is the founder and Chief Results Officer of MCL – a strategy and outstanding performance specialist firm. He can be reached on 09091142093 or uju.onwuzulike@mclgroup.net.

egardless of the industry or sector we play in, at one time or the other, we may have asked this pertinent question: how can we discover more opportunities for business growth? That question goes to show that organizations are looking for one opportunity or the other to improve their results. In reality growth opportunities are not magical; they abound in the things we see every day, things we discuss about and things we do. Interestingly, we all live in the same environment, see what everyone sees, hear about the needs of people the same way others do. As an organization, your ability to think and act differently what others have seen from a ‘generalized perspective’ should be your focus and that is where opportunities for growth stem from.

Discovering the right opportunity at the right time will lead to the growth of one’s business. What will fuel the discovery is one’s ability to think differently. So the key question to ask is: is your organization ready to discover opportunities others would have seen but were not able to see it as one due to their limited way of thinking? Like Albert Szent-Gyorgyi said, “Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought”.

This is true and it gives a competitive edge. Szent-Gyorgyi was simply encouraging individuals and organizations not to join the bandwagon and conform to what everyone else is doing but rather to sit back and think of how to do things differently.

Remarkable results always come

when an organization stands out from the crowd and not conforming to their old ways of doing things. Interestingly, we have countless areas of opportunities in and around us. When we see or hear about a customer being treated poorly, process being too cumbersome, approvals taking longer time than necessary, heavy bureaucracy, lack of customer feedback system, lack of employee welfare, etc, what comes to our mind?

Someone might see it as mere problems that will fizzle out with time, another will see it as a time to sit back, think and do things differently for his or her own organization. The later is more positioned for growth.

Of a truth, leaders have major role to play in helping their organizations stand out. They are also expected to build more of future businesses for their organizations and concentrate less on day to day managing of the businesses.

However, having leaders that will help their organizations stand out and to build future business may not be possible without a commitment to be more strategic. They must be committed to be strategic in both their thinking and their actions. Apart from the leaders, the collective employees must also learn how to be strategic in their thinking and actions. Naturally, people were not born strategic thinkers. We were born with our ‘biological thinking’. This is why often times we hear bosses telling their subordinates to be more strategic. Any

time I hear such a comment, I always pause to ask myself: how will they become strategic if they have not been taught? Strategic thinking is a broader, disciplined and more innovative way of thinking and is being learnt as a skill.

One major barrier that will always come in the way of discovering new opportunities for the organization is the silo mentality. This happens when individuals or certain units/departments in an organization decide not to share useful information or collaborate with others in the same organization.

Apart from hampering new opportunities, it affects productivity, reduces efficiency and employees’ morale and at the end of the day the organization suffers. There is no way an individual or unit with such a silo mentality will proffer any opportunity for business growth. Traditionally, organizations have encouraged analytical way of thinking, where the parts (including some units/departments) are primary and the whole (the entire organization) is secondary. Silo mentality festers because people in the workplace are jostling for resources, recognition and approval at the expense of others and the entire organization. But really, forward looking organizations have moved from analytical way of thinking to systems thinking – where the whole (the entire organization or country) is primary and the parts secondary.

Importantly, in systems thinking,

cross-functional teamwork is encouraged and this is where discoveries for opportunities are hatched. There is no ‘either/or’ solution to discovering new opportunities but so many ways.

Point to ponder: Is it possible to see growth opportunities in an organization where people are concerned about themselves, units or departments as opposed to the entire organization? What do you think your organization can do urgently?

Final note: What will stand an organization out is its ability to see what others have seen but decides to think and do things differently. To be able to foster business opportunities and encourage information sharing, organizations must deal squarely with the ‘silo mentality’ inherent in some organizations. We should always ask ourselves this question: at the end of the day who should win ‘I’ or the ‘organization’? Off course, the organization should win. That means we should collectively join hands to make our organization win.

As always, I welcome your suggestions, requests and comments.

Happy reading and I look forward to hearing from you!

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The changing role of the CFO

TAJUDEEN AHMED Ahmed, a strategy expert, with several years of senior management experience in consulting, commercial banking, and FMCG, is the General Manager/Group Head Business Development at BUA Group

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enerally, in the past, accountants/Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) were seen as dour, colourless, figure-liking people whose obsession was calculation and production of financial statements. They were perceived as not being adept at excellent oral and written communication; they rarely made fancy presentations to any significant audience. They were ‘figure mongers’ and nothing more.

In terms of career trajectory, a young accountant’s ultimate aspiration was to be promoted to the “chief accountant” role (the common nomenclature before the CFO acronym displaced it in management lexicon). Those who lacked character among them, and who combined this negative trait with the positive of being very intelligent, were needed to ‘cook the books’ and fraudulently make management and the Board ‘smell like roses’ even when the

figures lie on a putrid foundation; while those with the dual positives of integrity and intelligence were only expected to diligently provide accounts.

Contrastingly, in the last decade, that role has evolved in context, significance, and career reckoning.

Decision-making driven by data, influence of finance and financial markets, intense pressure regarding profitability, increased interaction of the role with other functional areas within the organization, increasing focus on compliance, investments, corporate governance, due diligence, and investor relations, etc are a few factors that have placed the modern CFO in vantage position. I will, therefore, discuss the evolution of today’s CFO within the organization.

Strategy: Before now, CFOs had little to do with the strategy. At best, the chief strategy officer, head of strategy, or by whatever name the role was called, would only forward a copy of the corporate strategy approved by the board to the CFO with the expectation of focus on the various budgets and present what was not more than a ‘variance analysis’, i.e. the difference between budget and actual figures. The CFO was not usually at the table when the rigorous process of strategy formulation occurred.

Today, in contrast, the CFO is actively involved in strategy conceptualization/development, preview, approval, execution, postexecution, and review. As group head of strategic planning at a commercial bank until December 2015, I knew too well that the CFO was at

the table! His role has changed from merely acting as purveyor of figures he knew nothing about ; he participates in formulating the strategy behind the figures and has a role in analyzing the ‘what, ‘how’ and ‘why’.

Investor relations (IR): Investor relations, the well-structured role of proactively engaging staff, management, the board, analysts, shareholders, government, other users of financial and non-financial information/ data and the general public became a buzzword in corporate Nigeria only over a decade ago. In fact, it was commercial banks that first caught the bug, which has now spread to all other major sectors. These days, no IR activity takes place without the CFO being a principal participant. In terms of quarterly, yearly or specific corporate event-based analyst conference calls, non-deal road shows, deal-based road shows, investment drives, pre-Annual General Meeting (pre-AGM) and AGM activities and presentations, the CFO has become a major resource person.

His pivotal utilityis corroborated by analyst firms’ engagement of CFOs directly for clarification regarding the organization, especially for organizations without designated Chief Strategy Officers.

Succession planning: This is perhaps one of the most significant changes to the CFO role, especially in Europe and the Americas. Unlike in the past when marketing directors and sales directors were favored for CEO succession, companies now deliberately train, whether formally or otherwise, their CFOs with an eye for future prospective appointment as chief executive. Examples of this

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In Nigeria, CFOs should move from their comfort zones, keep an open mind and embrace other functions, recruit team members with diverse, non-finance skills… and operations skills, motivate and inspire their team, and become proactive in engaging all internal and external stakeholders

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are legion. In April 2018, Nestle appointed its CFO, Steve Presley, as CEO of Nestle USA; just as Sunil Mathur, S. Sridhar, Umang Vohra, Rajesh Gopinathan, Marcel Smits, Indra Nooyi, Peter Voser became CEOs of Siemens, Pfizer, Cipla, Tata Consultancy Services, Sara Lee, PepsiCo, and Shell were promoted from CFO roles.

Recently, Reuters projected, based on its interview with over a dozen current and former executives, that 49-year old Ms. Marianne Lake, CFO at JP Morgan Chase & Co., will be the successor to longtime, maverick CEO, Jamie Dimon.

Robert Half, foremost recruitment firm, reported that about 25% of CEOs appointed in 2013 at the USA’s largest listed firms were once CFOs; around 50% of CEOs appointed in

2012 and 2013 in the UK’s FTSE 100 had finance backgrounds, with 12% promoted directly from CFO. Although this is not popular in Nigeria yet, a major recent instance being the appointment of the former CFO as GMD/CEO of the behemoth UAC Plc, in January 2018, I predict that, soon, organizations in Nigeria will start to copy the CFO-to-CEO succession model.

The CFO is now under more intense scrutiny of internal stakeholders, government, regulators, tax authorities, analysts, sector-specific opinion moulders, shareholders, and the general public. Hence, he must be acquainted with developments within his organization, as he is now perceived as the repository of organizational knowledge. He must be aware of issues in strategy, marketing and sales, business expansion, human resources, procurement/ supply chain, etc in addition to his traditional role of preparation and interpretation of financial statements, regulatory filings, and liaison with external auditors.

In Nigeria, CFOs should move from their comfort zones, keep an open mind and embrace other functions, recruit team members with diverse, non-finance skills, e.g. sales, marketing, and operations skills, motivate and inspire their team, and become proactive in engaging all internal and external stakeholders.

The CFO has come of age; he is no more merely the “number cruncher”.

He should act like the Boy Scout: he should be prepared!

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Sounding the climate alarm

NNIMMO BASSEY Nnimmo Bassey is Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF)

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he Climate alarm could not have been much louder than the special report (SR15) that has just been released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). While the Paris Agreement presented the famous target of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or well below 2.0 degrees, the special report shows that such a range may actually be political wishful thinking.

The special report clearly shows that a temperature rise of 1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels will bring about severe changes compared to current extreme weather events.

Professing a diagnosis is easier than providing a solution, especially when you do not wish to ruffle feathers. Most scientists and laymen agree that although global warming has risen and abated in the past, what has happened

since the industrial revolution is a vertical climb that shows no sign of reversion. It is also generally agreed that the catastrophic rise is largely systemic - caused by the exploitative economic system that the world is locked on. It is this rigged system that blocks the routes to the needed climate action.

Is it not known that the problem is about the continual burning of fossil fuels that stokes the atmosphere with greenhouse gases? Why is the world reluctant to stop the extraction and burning of fossil fuels even though these are known to be detrimental? The answer is simply that the powersthat-be prefer profit to people and the planet. So, business as usual continues and disaster brings even more profit through displacement of poor people and the grabbing of resources that the poor and the vulnerable are unable to access or return to.

The world will cringe at the dire prognosis of the report, and then go right ahead to dig up more coal, more crude oil and proceed with more fracking. Governments will still dig for coal and destroy forests in the process, despite loud alarms raised by forest protectors such as the ones at the Hambach Forest in Germany.

And in Nigeria, the flaring of associated gas will continue and the dream of a superhighway through the last pristine forest will persist in Cross River State.

Happily, the appeal court at

The Hague sided with Urgenda in the case against the Dutch government and declared that the government has a duty to take adequate climate action as a means of protecting the citizens from climate impacts and for securing the human rights. Interestingly the court also discounted the Dutch government’s argument that the carbon being pumped into the atmosphere today will be sucked out in future.

We note that SR15 also acknowledges that the carbon-sucking technologies being bandied about are unproven.

The IPCC report diagnosed the problem and raised the alarm urging politicians and economic leaders to act. However, some of the suggested actions are equally alarming and will likely add more problems for the poor, the unprotected and the vulnerable, in the unfolding climate chaos.

We are told that the window for halting the chaotic climate march is a narrow twelve years. It is stated that by 2030, the global emissions of carbon dioxide must be cut by 45 percent from 2010 levels. It is also estimated that by 2050 renewables should provide 85 percent of global electricity.

So, what is to be done? When the IPCC says that action must be taken to ensure that the store of carbon in the atmosphere is brought to net zero, what is meant is that the amount of carbon released from excessive consumption and burning of fossil fuels and the like must be equal to the amount of carbon

that is captured and stored somewhere, locked in sinks or deflected by some other means. These proposed actions, the hallmark of market environmentalism, are the real alarm bells that we should wake up to.

And, we cannot forget that about 7 million square kilometres will be needed for so-called energy crops. That sounds nice, no?

The more understandable names for those crops are biofuel and agrofuel crops. These are crops grown to feed machines or to provide biomass for some synthetic processes. An uptake of that massive size of land away from food crops will definitely bring profit to industrial farmers; promote genetically engineered crops and attendant agrotoxics while raising global hunger and diverse social malaise. Also, more forests will be designated as carbon sinks with corresponding exclusion of communities from enjoying and managing their common heritage.

It is estimated that up to $2.4 trillion would have to be invested in energy systems in the next two decades to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is at a time that the world cannot raise $10 billion for climate finance.

Polluting and capturing and locking up pollutants in some carbon prisons, is not a new idea.

It is a brilliant marketing spin. It allows business as usual, permits climate irresponsibility and delivers heavy cash to the polluters. For

example, oil companies that use associated gas to literally scrape the bottom of oil wells will claim they are engaged in carbon capture and sequestration - even though they release the carbon in the first instance by drilling for oil. Companies engaged in geo-engineering will don their beautiful badges as climate engineers and work to deploy an array of climate-interfering planetary experiments - including cloud whitening, solar mirrors in the sky, other forms of solar radiation management as well as ocean fertilization. Yes, with net zero carbon targets we can keep cranking up global temperatures but hope that “we have the technologies” to handle the problems.

Humankind’s techno optimism gives policy makers that assurance and also that the oceans and genetically engineered trees can suck carbon from the atmosphere.

It assures them that we can ape volcanoes and release particles into the sky that would block the sun and cool the earth. Suddenly it is as though our planetary systems are not interconnected and one part can be tweaked without a corresponding result elsewhere. But, who would really care if the negative impacts can be deflected on those destined for the slaughter?

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessdayonline. com/ Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.com

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Friday 12 October 2018

Nigeria’s harsh business environment

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hen Muhammadu Buhari became President of t h e Fe d e r a l Republic of Nigeria in 2015, Nigeria ranked 170th in World Bank ease of doing business annual ratings. In the two years that followed, Nigeria’s ranking improved considerably, moving up 25 places to rank 145th in the world in 2017.

It seemed like in spite of the economic stagflation and currency crisis in 2016, Nigeria had somehow managed to create a better economic environment than other countries or the other countries just grew worse than Nigeria. Either way, theWorld Bank saw an improvement and marked the country higher.

While the Bretton Wood institution’s rankings insinuate the business environment in Nigeria has improved, multinational companies may have a contrasting opinion. After Nigerians voted with their PVCs in 2015, multinationals have been voting with their legs ever since.

The first to walk out the door was South African largest food company, Tiger Brands in 2015.

Tiger Brands pull out of its struggling Nigeria Venture in 2015, following an unfruitful $181.9 million acquisition of 63.35 percent stake in Dangote Flour Mills (DFM), a Nigerian

company that produces flour, noodles and pasta, and is partly owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

Tiger Brand cited the tough economic conditions in Nigeria, which include naira devaluation and the fuel crisis in May and June 2015, for the company’s woes as the company struggled to meet its customers’ demands on time. When the losses became unbearable, Tiger Brands took the decision to end the pain and go home. Since it left, Nigeria has suffered another currency devaluation in 2016 and one of its worst and longest fuel scarcity between December 2017 and February 2018.

Next out of the door also in 2015 was Brunel services plc, a Dutch stock exchange-listed staffing agency who according to its chief executive struggled to do business in an unpredictable environment marred by continuous bribery and corruption.

At the time, the Buhari administration was in its first year at the helm, still vibrant with what Nigerian’s perceived to be will-power in fighting corruption. Why will a foreign company leave when things were about to get better? Now in hindsight, it seems like these multinationals had better foresight.

In no time the year was gone and 2016 wasn’t any better for the multinationals and for many the economic recession delivered

the final blow to their Nigerian operations as the rush for the door was far beyond what any economist anticipated.

The year had barely begun in January 2016 when South Africa based clothing giant Truworths International closed its two remaining Nigerian stores at the southeastern cities of Enugu and Warri over stringent regulation of stock imports and foreign exchange controls as rising costs made it too difficult for the South African retailer to operate in Nigeria.

Then the airlines found the exit doors. Spanish national carrier, Iberia Airline withdrew its services from Nigeria citing huge financial difficulties repatriating proceeds made in Nigeria back to its parent countries. In similar fashion, United Airlines, Chicagobased American airline pulled out of Nigeria in 2016 over difficulty in recovering monies made from tickets sales, due to Nigeria’s foreign exchange policy.

The Naira devaluation caused Etisalat’s $1.2 billion debt to implode which caused the Abu Dhabi owners to terminate its management agreement with its Nigerian arm. Nigerian regulators were forced to intervene to save Etisalat Nigeria from collapse after talks with its lenders to renegotiate the $1.2 billion loan failed.

This year, UK based InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), operator of InterContinental Ho-

tels brand had withdrawn from Nigeria four years after it opened its first site in Nigeria due to the difficulty in operating a luxury hotel business in a country struggling to grow its economy.

As the multinationals exited, few dared to enter the country as they quickly learnt that although Nigeria is blessed with abundant human and natural resources, converting resources to finished goods in an infrastructure deficient country with regular policy somersaults is definitely no stroll in the park.

South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd, Africa’s largest telecommunications provider is currently facing its toughest year in Nigeria after regulators asked the company to cough out $10.1 billion in alleged unpaid taxes and illegal repatriation. The company has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

How the World Bank will reassess Nigeria’s position in the new ease of doing business after the failed sojourns and current struggles of foreign companies in Nigeria is anybody’s guess. What we know for sure is that attracting foreign capital or businesses into Nigeria over the next few years will be even more difficult than the past considering the recent failures major players. Sadly, the Nigerian government is going ahead antagonising businesses as if foreign investors are queuing and begging the come and do business in Nigeria

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BUSINESS DAY

Friday 12 October 2018

CityFile

Task force seizes fake drugs in Akure

Wife of the governor of Lagos State and Chairman, Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), Bolanle Ambode (3rd r); rep. of HC for Health, Olufunmi Taiwo (2nd l; rep. of chairman, Health Service Commission, Tokunbo Oluwole (3rd l); Commissioner IV, HSC, Kemi Ogunyemi (l); COWLSO project team and MD, Gbagada General Hospital, Tayo Lawal (r), inspecting the incubator, during the donation of two Transport Incubator ambulance and Portable Otoread equipment, to four General Hospitals in the state, by COWLSO as part of it’s annual health intervention project for 2018, at Gbagada GH, on Wednesday.

YOMI AYELESO, Akure

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ndo State task force on counterfeit and fake drugs has confiscated adulterated and counterfeit drugs worth millions of naira from some patent medicine stores in Akure, the state capital.

The task force also sealed off some patent medicine stores for being in possession of drugs not registered by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and some others meant to be dispensed only by pharmacists.

Gbenga Lasekan, the task force chairman, who presented the report of the arrest to the commissioner for health, Wahab Adegbenro, said government would not rest until killer drugs and those who dispensed them were sent out of circulation in the state.

The commissioner said government, after making arrests, would also embark on making public the identities and locations of patents medicine stores involved in such crimes and hand them over to appropriate authorities for prosecution.

According to him, the need to eradicate this menace is non-negotiable in order to allow qualitative healthcare services being provided by the government to thrive.

Adegbenro, who also disclosed that efforts were being intensified towards increasing public awareness on fake drugs, advised residents to desist from patronising counterfeit drugs dealers, noting that fake drugs were injurious to the health and damage they cause might be irreversible.

NAPTIP opens business for trafficking victims

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he National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has inaugurated a pilot hospitality business for three victims of human trafficking in Benin, Edo State.

Inaugurating the CJ&P catering services on Wednesday, Julie Okah-Donli, directorgeneral of NAPTIP said the project was more than just another addition to the hospitality business.

According to Okah-Donli, the pilot hospitality business was carefully thought of, and it was hoped that it would culminate into a role model for others of its kind to follow.

She said that the agency observed that some beneficiaries of NAPTIP in the past had deviated from their mission, as a result their businesses suffered.

She noted that it was in view of this that the Agency thought of the means to ensure the sustainability of its empowerment projects.

“So the concept of partnership between partners to be overseen by NAPTIP was born with the intention of starting small, then expanding in the future”, she said.

She explained that as the Agency empowered the beneficiaries, it was fulfilling its obligation of protecting and assisting victims of human trafficking, while progressively achieving its mandate.

Okah-Donli, therefore, urged the business partners of the outfit to see the project as an opportunity to redress, recover and reintegrate into the society.

She stressed that the agency was fully committed to the prevention of all forms of human degradation and exploitation through the coordinated use of the Natiin’s crime prevention and law enforcement resources.

Okah-Donli also presented a generating set to a victim that was empowered in 2016 with fashion design equipment.

According to her the need to present the generator to her was borne out of the judicious and resourceful way she has handled her empowerment which has multiplied from just a sewing machine to five sewing machines and three apprentice. NAN

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Lagos targets zero infant mortality ... as COWLSO donates equipment to hospitals JOSHUA BASSEY

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fforts at reducing infant mortality in Lagos received a boost on Wednesday with the donation of relevant medical equipment to two general hospitals by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), with Bolanle Ambode, wife of the governor saying the target is to attain zero mortality.

The equipment donated include two transport incubator ambulances with the Gbagada General Hospital and Lagos Island Maternity as beneficiaries. The donation is part of COWLSO’s health intervention project for 2018.

The transport incubator ambulance is specially designed to transport ‘pre-mature’ babies to standard medical facilities, equipped with Intensive Care Unit, (ICU).

Ambode noted that members of the committee were touched by the high mortality rate of pre-term babies, occurring before they could access intensive care.

The transport incubators, she said, would provide a womb-like environment for the baby, with the right temperature and life-saving gadgets, to help the newborn hang unto life till it gets to the ICU. “The special ambulance can also be used to convey infants with severe post birth com-

plications and others in serious emergency situations. The women of COWLSO reckon that with this intervention, many more newborns, infants and children in Lagos State, will be saved from avoidable deaths with attendant happiness to their parents’.

The committee also donated two hearing defect management equipment, Portable Otoread OAEs, to Alimosho and Shomolu General Hospitals, also as part of their intervention effort.

Ambode observed that COWLSO was constrained to continue its previous intervention in early detection and management of hearing defects, because of the serious consequences of hearing loss in children.

She recalled that the committee two years ago had upgraded the Ear, Nose and Throat (E.N.T) department of the Lagos Island General Hospital, Odan, subsequently followed with the donation of Portable Otoread OAEs equipment to Badagry, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikorodu and Gbagada General Hospital.

The objective according to her, was to enable early screening of newborns for possible hearing defects, to eradicate the worrisome menace, which comes with a network of consequences like delayed language development, academic under performance, social isolation and higher risk injuries among others.

She insisted that the incubator ambu-

lance must be made available for use by other government hospitals.

Jide Idris, the state commissioner for health lauded the government’s deployment of appropriate modern technology for delivery of qualitative and affordable healthcare to the people.

According to him, ‘the donation of transport incubator ambulance to two general hospitals will help to reduce the neo-natal morbidity and mortality indices of the state significantly’.

He commended the committee for their continual intervention in the healthcare sector, stressing that it had impacted lives, given hope to the downtrodden, empowered women and protected the environment in the state.

The commissioner urged benefitting hospitals to make optimal use of the equipment towards achieving the health objectives of the state government.

Speaking at the event, Bayo Aderiye, chairman, state health service commission, represented by Oluwole Tokunbo, commended COWLSO for its health interventions over the years.

The medical directors of Gbagada General Hospital and Lagos Island Maternity, Tayo Lawal and Muyiwa Eniayewun thanked COWLSO for the gesture, saying it will close the gap of challenges in the health sector, as it affects children.

Police nab 10 suspected kidnapers, robbers in Edo, C’River

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he police have arrested four suspected kidnappers, four armed robbers and two cultists in Edo and Cross River States.

Johnson Kokumo, Commissioner of Police (CP), Edo State, who briefed the media on Wednesday, said the kidnap suspects were arrested on Tuesday, October 9.

According to Kokumo, the arrest followed credible intelligence by operatives of the antikidnapping and cyber crime unit of the Edo police command.

He disclosed that the suspects who had confessed to the crime were involved in the kidnapping of three persons.

He said that the police recovered two locally-made cut-to-size guns, 10 live cartridges and one white operational bus from

the suspects.

In Cross River, the police said four suspected armed robbers terrorising the street of Atakpa in Calabar South local government area of the state have been rounded up.

Irene Ugbo, spokesperson of the police in the state, said in Calabar that the suspects were arrested on October 4.

Ugbo explained that the suspects have been terrorising the residents for a long time, adding that the police got a tip-off during their operation and arrested them.

“We recorded some achievement last week Thursday with the arrest of four suspected armed robbers who have been terrorising residents in Atakpa area of Calabar.

“A concerned resident in the area alerted the police while the gang was carrying out their

operation and the police immediately swung into action and arrested them. We recovered two locally made pistols from the suspects.

“The suspects are now in our custody and we will charge them to court as soon as investigation is completed,’’ she said.

Ugbo said that the anti-cultism and kidnapping squad department of the police also arrested two cultists in Eta-Agbor area of Calabar on October 7.

She said that the cultists were arrested with dangerous weapons during a stop- and-search by the police.

She appealed to residents of the state to provide timely information to the police that would lead to arrest of suspected criminals in their neighborhood, especially during this ember months.

14

BUSINESS DAY

Friday 12 October 2018

AgriBusinessInsight Market Insights

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Send in Commentaries to caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com

Scientists record breakthrough in breeding resistance to banana wilt disease CALEB OJEWALE Twiiter: @calebtinolu

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breakthrough appears to have been recorded in the search for banana varieties that are resistant to the lethal bacterial banana wilt disease. The disease, which causes premature ripening and rotting of the fruits, wilting, and eventually death of the plant, has drastically affected the highland cooking banana production in East and Central Africa (ECA) and the food and income of millions of farmers.

Nigeria, which is described as the largest producer of Banana in West Africa with an estimated 2.73 million tonnes produced annually, does not appear to be currently in danger of the disease. The findings however mean, thousands of farmers who cultivate the crop can heave a sigh

of relief as there is a variety which can now offer some resistance to the disease.

A team led by scientists from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in announcing this feat, opined that this debunks the notion that all banana varieties are susceptible to the disease and opens the possibility of breeding resistant varieties.

IITA wrote in a statement that; until now, the scientific world believed that all banana varieties in the region, except for a wild-seeded banana called Musa balbisiana, were susceptible to the

disease, which originated from Ethiopia and has now invaded all banana growing areas in the highlands of eastern and central Africa.

The discovery by the team led by Rony Swennen, head of banana breeding; George Mahuku, senior plant pathologist for Eastern, Southern and Central Africa; and Valentine Nakato, a plant pathologist, was reported in the Plant Pathology journal.

The disease is caused by Xanthomonascampestrispv. musacearum bacteria and its symptoms include yellowing and wilting of leaves,

Climate change: Temperature, flood put millions at risk of hunger

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limate change is taking more toll on the wellbeing of people in Nigeria, like other parts of Africa, perhaps more than governments in the continent are aware of.

Agricultural productivity has taken a hit this year already as floods ravaged farmlands in different parts of the country. The floods, said to have to been caused by the Rivers Niger and Benue overflowing, have resulted in thousands of people becoming displaced and vast swathes of farmlands have been destroyed.

A report this week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) detailed progress and pathways to liming global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The report makes plausible, the argument that occurrences such as the floods in Nigeria are consequences of global warming.

Apollos Nwafor, Pan Africa Director of Oxfam International, in reacting to the report, said “Climate change has set our planet on fire, millions are already feeling the impacts, and the IPCC just showed that things can get much worse.

Settling for 2 degrees would be a death sentence for people in many parts of

Africa. The faster governments embrace the renewable energy revolution and move to protect communities at risk, the more lives and livelihoods that will be spared.

“A hotter Africa is a hungrier Africa. Today at only 1.1 degrees of warming globally, crops and livestock across the region are being hit and hunger is rising, with poor small scale women farmers, living in rural areas suffering the most. It only gets worse from here.

“To do nothing more and simply follow the commitments made in the Paris Agreement condemns the world to 3 degrees of warming. The damage to our planet and humanity would be exponentially worse and irreparable.

“None of this is inevitable. What gives us hope is that some of the poorest and lowest emitting countries are now leading the climate fight. We’ve moved from an era of ‘you first’ to ‘follow me’ - it’s time for the rich world to do just that,” said Nwafor in a statement.

Oxfam called for increased, responsible and accountable climate finance from rich countries that supports small scale farmers, especially women

to realize their right to food security and climate justice.

The statement also noted that while time is short, “there is still a chance of keeping to 1.5 degrees of warming. We must reject any false solution like Large Scale Land Based Investments that means kicking small scale farmers off their land to make way for carbon farming and focus instead on stopping our use of fossil fuels, starting with an end to building new coal power stations worldwide.”

Natural disasters such as droughts and floods have been thwarting development in the African continent. Fluctuations in agricultural production due to climate variations along with inefficient agricultural systems cause food insecurity, one of the most obvious indicators of poverty. The 2016 El Niño phenomenon, which was super charged by the effects of climate change, crippled rain-fed agricultural production and left over 40 million people foods insecure in Africa. Without urgent action to reduce global emissions, the occurrence of climate shocks and stresses in the Africa region are expected to get much worse.

a cream to pale yellow bacteria-laded oozing when the plant is cut, shriveling of the male bud, premature ripening, internal discoloration of fruits, and finally death of infected plants. Transmission is fast and mainly through contaminated tools, insect vectors, and planting material. Therefore, major investments by national programs, donors, and scientists have been geared towards rigorous monitoring of banana fields, removal of diseased plants, and decontaminating farm tools.

“This discovery is very

important for the millions of smallholder banana farmers in the region as one of the most effective ways to control any disease is developing resistant varieties,” said Nakato, based in IITA Uganda.

Bananas are an indispensable part of life in the region providing up to onefifth of the total calorie consumption per capita. The average daily per capita energy from banana consumption in ECA is 147 kcal: 15 times the global average and 6 times the African average. The region has over 50% of its permanent cropped

area under banana; this is around half of the total area under banana cultivation across Africa. ECA countries (Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) produce annually 21 million tons of banana with a value of US$4.3 billion.

IITA and NARO have developed superior highyielding matoke hybrids dubbed NARITA and now those NARITA, which were developed with the resistant banana varieties, will be screened for bacterial wilt resistance and become part of future breeding schemes to develop bacterial wilt resistant matoke varieties.

Other partners in the study included the University of Pretoria, South Africa and Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Institute of Experimental Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

FAO, AU launch framework to increase mechanisation, boost farm productivity in Africa

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AO and the African Union have launched a new framework document that aims to increase agricultural efficiency and reduce drudgery by helping countries in Africa to develop strategies for sustainable farm mechanization.

The Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework for Africa (SAMA) is the result of discussions with policy makers from AU member states, the AU Commission, FAO and key partners. It offers a detailed look at the history of machinery in Africa, and points the way towards addressing challenges and creating new opportunities to assure the successful adoption of mechanization.

“Doubling agricultural productivity and eliminating hunger and malnutrition in Africa by 2025 will be no more than a mirage unless mechanization is accorded utmost importance,” AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Josefa Sacko, said at the launch of the framework at FAO. FAO noted in a statement that, more than 75 percent of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa prepare their lands using only hand tools, a practice that entails poor productivity, repels youth and is incompatible with the continent’s Zero Hunger goal.

“Farmers in Africa should be able to use modern agricultural technology, both digital and mechanical, to boost the agricultural sector in a sustainable way,” said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO deputy director-general.

The new framework identifies 10 priorities for AU member states to include in their national plans, ranging from the need for a stable supply of machine spare parts and innovative financing mechanisms, and the importance of regional collaborations that allow for cross-border hiring services.

The framework notes that successful national mechanization strategies will address key sustainability issues including gender, youth, environmental protection and the overarching principle that farming must be profitable. It also emphasizes that these strategies should cover the entire agrifood value chain, including harvesting, handling, processing and food safety aspects, with an eye to reducing food losses, boosting rural employment and bolstering the links between farmers and consumers.

While tractors are used to prepare land on over 60 percent of cultivated lands in Asia, the corresponding figure for SubSaharan Africa is around five percent. Moreover, the use of draught animals in sub-Saharan Africa is minimal outside of Ethiopia - due in considerable measure to the tsetse fly - so almost all the work is done manually.

One result is that many African farmers deploy low-yielding techniques and may prefer slash-and-burn methods.

Today smaller and more affordable machinery, such as two-wheel tractors are available. Hiring services using digital technologies are proving

popular around the continent, underscoring how the sharing of capital assets can be leveraged to achieve greater scale and access to modern tools.

The framework notes that cross-border initiatives - for dealers, supply networks and tractor operators - can allow for viable scale and greater utilization.

Another key consideration is farm profitability. This can be fostered by giving access to markets, credit and land tenure a visible role in mechanization policies. The framework has been designed to contribute to the pledges made in the African Union’s Malabo Declaration and Agenda 2063, and to do so in a way that is private-sector driven, environmentally smart, affordable and friendly to smallholder farmers.

Its implementation will require significant contributions from other stakeholders, including public institutions and private actors such as the European Agricultural Machinery Industries Association (CEMA), which has just renewed its partnership with FAO to work on issues related to sustainable mechanization strategies in developing countries.

FAO and the AU’s strategy acknowledges that “there is great potential for innovation in African agriculture” - notably with the proliferation of mobile technologies and access to information and services - and that a significant effort in capacity development will have to be made to rise to related challenges.

Friday 12 October 2018

BUSINESS

COMPANIES & MARKETS

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Odua grows revenue by 3.8%, pays N278 million to owner states

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C O M PA N Y N E W S A N A LY S I S A N D I N S I G H T

Chapel Hill infrastructure debt fund unit holders get N4.05% Q3 distribution ...as N8.25 billion Series III offer closes

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he Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (“NIDF” or the “Fund”) has announced a quarterly distribution for the Q3 period to September 30, 2018, of N4.05 per Unit for its existing unit holders.

It also announced a distribution of N2.20 per unit for the new unit holders that subscribed to the Fund’s units in its Series 3 offer. This quarterly distribution marks the fifth consecutive quarterly distribution to be made by the Fund.

With this quarterly distribution, the total cash distributions made by the Fund during the trailing twelve months (TTM) ending September 2018 aggregated N16.50 per Unit (which translates to an annualised yield of 17.55 percent).

In Q3 2018, the weighted average interest rate for the Fund’s portfolio of infrastructure loans was 19.24 percent, which is a 4.6 percent premium over the prevailing average yield on the 10-year FGN bond during the quarter.

L-R: Olukunle Iyanda, president and chairman of council, Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM)(Chartered); Oyebanjo Kale, consultant pathologist/guest speaker; Pat Anabor, deputy president, NIM, and Tony Fadaka, registrar/chief executive, at the maiden edition of health talk programme of the institute in Lagos.

Given the floating rate nature of these loans, the interest received by the Fund is automatically reset on a quarterly basis in line with the movements in FGN bond yields.

Since its inception in June 2017, the investors in NIDF

have enjoyed strong, consistent and predictable returns, along with low volatility in reported NAV and principal preservation (reflected in the NAV being consistently higher than the par value).

The Fund has achieved

total returns of 36.75 percent during the period. The total returns for the TTM period ending September 2018 were 24.8 percent.

“We are also pleased to announce that the NIDF successfully closed its Series 3

issuance, on August 24, 2018.

The Fund raised N8.25 billion from a number of investors including pension funds, insurance companies and family offices. The Series 3 offer attracted 4 new PFA investors bringing the total number of

Asoko Insight launches platform Fidelity Bank drives customer base to connect potential investors with new account opening initiatives CHUKA UROKO

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s part of its commitment to facilitating deal-making, Asoko Insight has launched a new platform that connects high investment potential African companies with angel investors, venture capital and private equity companies to help them raise capital and accelerate their growth.

Asoko Insght is the most comprehensive solution to map private, African companies. The new platform known as ‘DealMapping’ is built around one core objective—to help African businesses secure growth capital to realise their full potential.

The company explained in a statement obtained by BusinessDay that, to benefit from the new initiative, companies submit profiles via the platform in order to become “discoverable” by global investors who use the platform daily. In addition, these companies benefit from exclusive “DealRooms”, match-making events facilitated by Asoko at which pre-qualified companies and global/regional investment firms meet face-to-face.

“African businesses are rapidly growing in terms of number and sophistication, but sourcing alternative forms of funding and positioning themselves in front of global investors remains a challenge. At the same time, deal sourcing across the continent’s private markets can be an arduous task for investors seeking high-growth opportunities”, noted Rob Withagen, Asoko CEO and Co-Founder, who spoke at the launch of the event.

“Enhancing private sector cooperation and driving investment in sectors of strategic interest within Africa, is at the core of the vision at Asoko,” he added.

According to the statement, upcoming DealRoom events include GAIN Nutrition DealRoom, taking place on October 16-17, 2018 in Nairobi and this is focused on companies operating in the food and nutrition value chain.

That will be followed closely

by Africa 2018 Forum DealRoom to be held in Sharm El Sheikh on December 8-9, 2018 where the focus will be on companies operating in the agro-industry, manufacturing, tech/fintech, and transport and logistics sectors.

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idelity Bank Plc has unveiled a novel account opening initiative, just as it launched a new savings promotion campaign aimed at rewarding new and existing customers of the bank.

The new account opening initiative, the first of its kind in the Nigerian banking industry, enables members of the public to open online savings accounts through a Quick Response (QR) code which can be scanned from any of the promotional materials such as roll up banners, fliers, posters and newspaper adverts.

This is expected to significantly ease the process of enrollment of new accounts and deepen the penetration of the new savings promo tagged; Get Alert in Millions Season 3 explained Chijioke Ugochukwu, executive director, Shared Services and Products, Fidelity Bank during the launch ceremony at the bank’s corporate Head Office in Lagos “This new savings promo

is the 8th in 11 years. As with the previous ones, we are motivated to continue to empower our customers by rewarding them with cash and gift items, whilst at the same time promoting the savings culture, in line with the financial inclusion drive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)” said Mrs. Ugochukwu, who doubles as the Chairperson of the Promo Committee.

Speaking shortly before formally flagging off the promo, Fidelity Bank CEO, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo thanked customers, stating that the bank is motivated to continue to incentivize them for their patronage. He said it was imperative to acknowledge the contributions of customers to the growing fortunes of the bank.

“Last week, we joined other institutions across the world to observe the 2018 Customer Service Week and I want to use this opportunity to again thank all our customers. Our impressive

half year results attest to your support and with your continued patronage, we are on course to delivering on our financial targets for the year” he said.

As a customer-centric bank, Okonkwo said Fidelity Bank would continue to leverage technology, in line with its digital retail strategy, to better serve customers, through innovative products, services and solutions.

He reeled our some of the products to include the newly upgraded Fidelity Online Banking, *770# Instant Banking and Flashkey.

“Our online banking solution enables you to transfer foreign exchange seamlessly just as we are the first bank to introduce a chat banking solution that is known as Flashkey. This solution enables you to effect monetary transfers whilst on any social media platform, without recourse to the online banking platform installed on your mobile device” he stated.

pension funds participating in NIDF to 17, the company said in a statement.

During the quarter, the NIDF also witnessed trading activity in its units on the FMDQ with nearly 9 million units traded – representing some 5% of the outstanding units of the Fund. This further strengthens the investment justification for NIDF, which enables investors to access an otherwise illiquid asset class through a listed and tradable instrument.

The Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund is the first and only infrastructure debt fund dedicated to and domiciled in Nigeria. The Fund is an Infrastructure Fund under the rules and regulations of the Securities & Exchange Commission, Nigeria and the National Pension Commission, Nigeria.

The Fund’s Units are listed on the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, Nigeria. The Fund has registered a programme for issuance of up to two billion Units with par value of N200 billion. NIDF is sponsored by Chapel Hill Denham and Chapel Hill Denham Management Limited is the Fund Manager of NIDF.

Diamond Bank unveils luxury debit card DIPO OLADEHINDE

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iamond Bank has announced the launch of a new product called Diamond Visa Signature Debit Card, a unique Naira debit card designed to provide customers exceptional spending power and exclusive privileges.

The new debit card gives affluent customers the opportunity to have wider and richer experiences when they relax or travel, home and abroad.

“Ourcustomerstoldusthatthey want more travel benefits, greater peace of mind and something a lot more rewarding than they get from an everyday current account” said Karimot Tukur, head, Consumer Banking,DiamondbankPlc. “With the Diamond Visa Signature Debit card, together with xclusive Plus, customers get access to over 800 airport lounges around the world, VIP treatment at top hotels and complimentaryworldwidetravelinsurancefortripspaidforonthecard.”

Theheadofconsumerbanking atDiamondBanknotedthattheinsuranceisvalidforforeignvisaapplicationasDiamondBankcustomers are also getting great entertainment benefits which include complementary event tickets through the year and free cinema tickets.

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COMPANIES & MARKETS Malabo scandal: Ex- FBI agent accuses former Nigeria’s Attorney-General of collecting $10bn … Aliyu Abubakar popularly known as ‘AAA Oil’ named …London based Arcadia Petroleum limited and its CEO indicted …next hearing October 17 DIPO OLADEHINDE

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n a court sitting in the city of Milan Italy, Debra LaPrevotte retired lead agent at U.S Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) have accused former Nigerian Attorney General, Bayo Ojo and a London based Arcadia Petroleum limited of bribery in the controversial sale of the most prolific oil field in Africa worth about $1.3 billion.

Debra LaPrevotte told judges on Wednesday of how an investigation carried out by the bureau showed $801 million from the OPL 245 deal flowed from JP Morgan in London through Nigerian bank accounts and into companies owned by Aliyu Abubakar popularly known as ‘AAA Oil’, a person reported to be connected to members of the former president Jonathan administration.

Debra LaPrevotte narrated to the court how Bayo Ojo, a former Nigerian Attorney General under President Goodluck Jonathan received $10 million and how over $10 million was sent to London based Arcadia Petroleum limited and

$5 million to their former CEO who was being sued by the companies’ owners for alleged embezzlement.

Arcadia Petroleum limited is an independent trading company was founded by Japan’s Mitsui & Co Ltd in 1998 and has trading desks in the United States, Britain, Switzerland, UAE, Singapore and Australia. The Company offers products such as gasoline, gasoil, kerosene, fuel oil, and liquefied petroleum gas, as well as operates a fleet of long term charter vessels, according to its website.

It was once one of the top buyers of Nigerian oil, which were known collectively as the “magnificent seven”, but it did not appear on the official list of buyers of the OPEC member’s crude for 2011 to 2012.

Debra LaPrevotte told the court how a Russian Ednan Agaev hired by Dan Etete to find a buyer for the oil block, agreed to a voluntary interview as more testimonies revealed millions of dollars went to a Brazilian luxury property developer, Nigerian Interior Design Company and $1.6m was spent on one vehicle at a Dubai car sales company.

L-R: Andrew Mashanda, executive director, corporate and investment banking, Stanbic IBTC; Victor Olayiwola, indomie independence Day Awards (IIDA) physical bravery category winner; Remi Oni, executive director, First Bank, ans Pawan Sharma, CEO, Multipro Consumer Product Limited, during the 2018 IIDA in Lagos.

ENI and Casula’s lawyers on the actions and funding of The Sentry an Non Governmental Organization (NGO) connected to the case that LaPrevotte now works for, the trial Judge replied “..the funders are public…..”.

Also, lawyer to Dan Etete, a convicted criminal who was Nigeria’s petroleum minister from 1995 to 1998 asked whether Malabu was under investigation; the trial

judge replied “..no just the money not individuals….”

After much cross examinations, from both ENI and Dan Etete’s lawyers the senior judges adjourned hearing till next week 17th of October.

The Malabu oil scam, which has been under investigation for over four years, relates to the billions of dollars paid by oil giants, Shell and ENI, into a Federal

Survey shows more Nigerian, SA millennials affected by state of economy

Medview sacks over 100 staff over financial constraints

ACCIMA partners ATTA on Aba Investment Summit

FRANK ELEANYA

IFEOMA OKEKE

ba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ACCIMA) and Abia Think Tank Association (ATTA), joint organizers of the 1st Aba Investment Summit, says they have concluded plans to host a successful summit in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State.

This is also as Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, has appealed to them to use the opportunity of the Summit, to market the newly licensed Enyimba Economic City to the world.

Ikpeazu, made the appeal, Monday, at the State Governor’s Lodge, Aba, while hosting the leadership of the two organisations.

He expressed his excitement at available opportunities at the Enyimba Economic City, for the rapid development of the state, noting that all savvy investors would not need much convincing to invest there, once they understand the outlay and gave the assurance that Darl Uzu, the promoter of the project, has all it takes to deliver on the project timeline.

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nlike popular belief that millennials are emotionally disassociated from happenings in the economy of their country, a survey has found otherwise.

Youth Opinion Study, a two-prong survey conducted by strategy agency, SPACE which focused on responsdents from South Africa and Nigeria has disclosed that millennials may actually care more than people think.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) describes millennials are people under the age of 15 and 34.

“The survey spanned issues of socio-political and economic relevance and saw 22,029 Nigerian millennials respondents from different walks of life, varying education levels and social interests

answer a number of predetermined questions,” Johan Prins, director of strategy, SPACE, said.

Unemployment (61 per cent) ranked as one of the biggest concerns of millennials in South Africa while 38.9 per cent respondents in Nigeria said it was a major source of worry.

Unsurprisingly, concerns around slow economic growth made the top list of concerns for respondents in both Nigeria and South Africa. Nigeria recently came out of a five quarter economic recession while the South African economy went into recession in September 2018 and is yet to come out.

Almost 72 per cent and 69 per cent of respondents in Nigeria and South Africa respectively identified cur-

LaPrevotte further recounted how the FBI tracked down the purchase of an aircraft worth over $50 million from a US firm and Cadillac Escalades a full size SUV engineered and manufactured by Cadillac Motor car Division a subsidiary of U.S based General motors’ bought in Texas through a broker.

During the trial, there were also questions from

rent economic state as their major concern.

The economic state notwithstanding, half of Nigerian respondents are upbeat and believe they are better life than their parents were at their age.

That optimism however does come at a steep price as most of the millennials spare little thought for a rainy day as they spend often without restraint. Majority of this age group do not also own a credit card.

The survey also found that Nigerian millennials are avid online shoppers, with 35 per cent of respondents saying that they prefer to make their purchases online.

Increasing adoption of digital payment has also led to decline in use of hard cash in both markets.

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here are indications that Medview airline, one of Nigeria’s domestic carriers has sacked over 100 of its staff over financial constraints.

A source close to the airline told BusinessDay that those affected include engineers, pilots and crew which constitute almost 40 percent of its work force.

BusinessDay’s checks show the airline served the dismissed staff their letter of disengagement last week Friday October 5th.

The source also disclosed that disengaged staff were said to be owed six months salaries asides allowances before they were disangaged last week Friday.

A part of the latter of disengagement reads “...you would be reconsidered for employment when the situation improves’’ The airline also requested that the disengaged staff to return all the company items in their possession including their uniforms and cabin shoes.

GODFREY OFURUM, Aba

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Government account, for OPL 245, considered the richest oil block in Africa.

OPL 245 is perhaps, the most talked-about asset in Nigeria’s oil industry. It covers 1958 square kilometers and holds over 9 billion barrels of crude oil, equivalent to nearly one quarter of Nigeria’s total proven reserves.

Experts claim that the deposit can power the whole of Africa for twenty years.

The Governor charged the organisers of the Summit to ensure that they give the promoters of the Enyimba Economic City enough time to showcase the project to guests that would be coming for the summit and reassured on the full supportandparticipationoftheAbia State Government in the Summit.

Andy Uba Obasi, president, ACCIMA, informed the Governor that arrangements for the Summit had reached advanced stages and that the planning committee, came to brief him on their readiness.

Jerry Kalu, chairman of the central planning committee of the Summit, expressed the readiness of the Committee to receive all guests coming for the Summit.

Also present at the meeting were Emma Nwakpadolu, immediate past president of ACCIMA, Alex Adaelu, adviser to the committee, Chairman, contact and mobilisation sub-committee, Chris Agbo, chairman, security sub-committee, IK Ajuzieogu, representative of Abia Think Tank and Henry Nduka, director-general, ACCIMA.

Friday 12 October 2018

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COMPANIES & MARKETS

Business Event

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Odua grows revenue by 3.8%, pays N278m to owner states AKINREMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan.

O

dua Investment Company limited has grown its revenue by 3.8 percent from N3.918 billion in 2016 to N4.068 billion in 2017.

The company also announced profit before tax of N698 million for the financial year ended December 31st, 2017.

Olusola Akinwumi, the group chairman who disclosed this at the 36th Annual General Meeting in Ibadan said the directors approved N277.78 million as dividend to shareholders.

Odua investment is owned by Oyo,Ogun ,Osun Ondo,Ekiti and Lagos states.

Akinwumi however assured shareholders and directors of the company’s commitment to strict adherence to highest standards of corporate governance and ethical leadership.

While reviewing the out-gone year, the chairman stated that the

group’s skewed assets in real estate adversely affected the business.

According to him, a sizeable number of clients and tenants in rented commercial, retail and residential properties defaulted in rent payments.

He added that overall cost increased due to inflation and devaluation of the currency the previous year pushed operating cost upwards.

He stated that in aligning with the priority sectors of federal government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan(ERGP),the company is pursing sustainable development projects in the areas of agriculture, services and infrastructure.

The company, he pointed out, had made disciplined investments for growth opportunities saying “ we recently embarked on full buy back of minority holding leading to 100 percent ownership of one of the moribund manufacturing outfits in the group, Cocoa Industries Limited,Ikeja for better utilisation of its facilities in joint ventures.

Also, he revealed that the company is currently undertaking commercial cultivation of tomatoes on a portion of its 3,500 hectares arable farmland in Imeko,Ogun state.

On plans to further strengthen the company for more investment frontiers, Akinwumi,an engineer said the board had approved the drawing up of a new strategic plan which would be implemented in phases over a five- year period.

While speaking about Lagos State joining the membership of Odua group, he said “ coming of Lagos into Odua as one of the investing states is best for regional integration agenda, we shall continue to work out synergy to drive the socio-economic development of the western region”.

Adewale Raji, the group managing director said the company has approved N277.78 million divided for 2017 financial year, while the company has so far declared and paid about N920 million to shareholders over the last four years (2014-2017).

Baker Magunda, managing director, Guinness Nigeria (r), and Mojisola Christiana Adeyeye, director general, National Agency for Food & Drug Administration & Control (NAFDAC), at the DG’s site visit to Guinness Nigeria Brewery.

Contec Global Agro holds promise for Nigeria’s food security - Obseki HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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he Executive Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, said the deployment of science research and ICT tools to production of organic food crops by Contec Global Agro (CGAL), holds a great promise for Nigeria to meet its food security challenge.

Benoy Berry, chairman of the Company conducting the Edo State Chief Executive round the research facilities for production of tissue culture and bio-organic fertilizer plants in Abuja, said the outfit is committed to setting the pace in organic agriculture based on sustainable modern practices with inclusive community programmes for all categories of Nigerian farmers.

Addressing the media, after

the tour, Obaseki, remarked, “We just realized after this tour that we have such a secret in Nigeria where so much work has been done with the application of biotechnology for growing food crops a lot more organically and efficiently.

The governor acknowledged that he is impressed with the facilities that that helps farmers and investors to identify the various soil types across the country and the treatment that will make the soil more productive.

According to him, using tissue culture to identify the types of plants and food crops where you can strengthen or using different scientific methods to make those plants more productive to make sure that they have higher yields is gladdening to note, he said.

The Governor remarked that sort of research that is going on here and we see as great promise

for the future of food an crop production in Nigeria/country. On partnership,the Governor said, “I think we certainly want to start through piloting because part of the challenges that we have in Nigeria is that we talk about ideas we comments and analyses.

Sometimes we lament and never get to do things.”

According to the governor,”Our strategy in Edo State is to just execute. We are here to sign up by next week to start a pilot and hopefully expand it because here we have seen and so we don’t need to talk about it but to go and do it.”

We are looking at cassava, banana and pineapples as Edo State has some of the best pineapples in the country and we have found out that they are doing some of the best work on tissue culture in Nigeria and so we want to find out

Team Banga emerges winner of Unilever ideatrophy 7

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fter an interesting round of competition, Team Banga from Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), has emerged the winner of the seventh Unilever Nigeria Ideatrophy challenge.

This year’s competition themed, “Freedom to Explore, Freedom to Experience, Freedom to Grow” got entries from 2,100 number of teams across Nigeria.

The competition targets undergraduates across universities in Nigeria and challenged them to come up with unique ideas based on the years’ theme. Participants are provided opportunities to develop ideas on real-life business scenarios, which will be reviewed by a panel of judges. The exercise is aimed at achieving Unilever’s objective of grooming and developing young talents with great minds who are capable of moving the fortunes of the continent to the next level.

Speaking on this year’s event, Yaw Nsarkoh, managing director,

Unilever Nigeria and Ghana, said the company is glad that the Ideatrophy contest has sustained its tempo of nurturing great minds.

Congratulating the participants, Nsarkoh admonished both the winners and runners-ups to expand on their ideas and ensure that they utilise the knowledge gathered extensively in their future endeavours.

“This year’s theme for the Ideatrophy challenge Freedom to Explore, Freedom to Experience, Freedom to Grow reaffirms Unilever’s ambition for sustainable growth and our sense of social purpose. As our youths explore the opportunities, they have the potential of gaining the needed experience that will make them grow. Such growth can bring the desired change that will impact positively across our societies. The world is interconnected and the symbiotic relationship that exist therein meant that our youths across Africa should not be left out”, Nsarkoh said.

He further added that Unilever believes in a brighter future – a world where everyone lives well and exists within the natural limits of our planet. “We are pioneering a new, more sustainable way of doing business because we recognize that change is essential if we want our planet, our consumers and our business to thrive. I congratulate the winners of this year’s contest and advise them not to rest on their oars to reach great heights”, he added.

In his reaction Ezeoguine Chuka, leader of the winning team, thanked Unilever Nigeria for an opportunity to explore their talents on a global scale. “This competition has been a life changing experience for Team Banga. It has enabled us to explore our innate business abilities and further exposed us to the realities of doing business. The competition has given each member of the team a leap to achieve greatness in life and we sincerely hope to take it further from here,” he said.

L-R: Tunde Bejide, vice president, Lagos chapter NAPPS; Idowu Adesokan, senior manager, consumer marketing, MTN Nigeria; Alhaji Wasiu Adumadeyin, president, Lagos chapter NAPPS, and Abimbola GoldOladipupo, teen segment manager, consumer marketing, MTN Nigeria, during the courtesy visit of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) at MTN Headquarters, Falomo, Lagos.

L-R: Vincent Nnadi, executive general manager CSR, Total; Bruno Dormoy, executive director/secretary general M&S, Total; Bayo Rotimi, CEO Quest Advisory Services; Bunmi Popoola-Mordi, general manager, human resources & corporate services/company secretary, Total and Opeyemi Owosho, winner of the first edition of Startupper by Total, during the press conference organized to announce the commencement of the second edition of Startupper by Total in Lagos recently.

L-R: Oniloye Odunmorayo, Opa Emese of Ooni Orissa; Daniels David, trade marketing officer, sales and distribution, MTN Nigeria, and Sulaimon Ayilara Ajobiewe, royal chanter to the Ooni of Ife, during the MTN sponsored Olojo Festival in Ile-Ife, Osun State, recently.

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INTERVIEW ‘Entrepreneurs must learn to fuse technology and design thinking to succeed’ BOLAJI JUNAID is the founder of Just Passion Concepts and co-founded Initiative for Development and Empowerment through Arts (I.D.E.A.). In this interview with KELECHI EWUZIE, he shares some of his entrepreneurial experiences and his plans to revolutionise the concept of Sociopreneurship for the next generation business owners. Excerpts:

M

y we know you better by way of introduction?

I am Mobolaji Solomon Junaid. I completed my elementary education at Dee Unique Schools, Ipaja, proceeded to Anwar-ul-Islam Model College, Agege and later got a degree in Business Administration from Lagos State University and a post graduate in Management from the prestigious Lagos Business School. It’s okay to call me a full bred Lagosian.I started out as a young Entrepreneur; in fact, I made my first cash sales at the Age of 12. Registered my first creative company Just Passion Concepts at 21. However, I have always had a passion for the Advertising industry especially seeing the creative works that were being churned out from Insight Communications back then. Interestingly, luck or fate could we say shone on me in 2014 when I eventually was offered a spot in the famous Management Traineeship programme after many failed application attempts.

Today, after four years, I can humbly say I have become a business-oriented Adman, accelerating the growth of brands across different industries ranging from FMCGs, Retail, Financial services, Telecommunications, and the public sector. I’m currently a Business service and Brand Development Manager at Verdant Zeal Communications Ltd.

What is the concept of ‘The Tripreneur’ all about?

Tripreneur is 3-fold spin off from the words “Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship and Sociopreneurship”. I coined the word “The Tripreneur” having taken a deep reflective thought of my life’s journey. I have been exchanging value using my personal company, working for organisations and developing the society at large by facilitating different skills acquisition trainings in the last 18 years of my life.

How in your own assessment do you think young and aspiring entrepreneurs in Nigeria can strategise to attain global competitiveness?

I will simply say it starts from the mind. Any young and aspiring entrepreneur must first of all believe they can build a

globally-competitive company.

It’s this mindset that will push them to put in the work to gather men, materials and money resources to achieve the vision.

As someone that has journeyed into the realm of entrepreneurship since Age 12; how have you tackled the challenges you face all these years?

I guess the challenges have been what kept me going. The fact that there’s always a problem to fix per time can be a motivation; however, I have learnt to always surround myself with the right relationships, build capacity in terms of trainings, identify formidable partnerships and innovate at every point in time.

Why did you choose Sociopreneurship to affect your generation? Just how challenging or rewarding has it been for you?

I won’t say it’s a choice; I believe it’s something that comes naturally to me and I was lucky enough to notice this early enough. I love seeing people and environment become better and this passion usually leads me to develop ideas and solutions to influence situations wherever I find myself.

As regards challenges, very prominent is the fact that people hardly trust you have good

intentions especially in a society like ours. More people tend to believe all your actions are done for your own selfish benefits.

Having said that, I have been blessed to meet like minds that we share same passion and we consistently support one another.Rewards have been mainly the fulfillment I enjoy after the completion of every project and interestingly seeing the lives touched live their true potentials.

What have been the toughest hurdles you have had to overcome in your entrapreneurship sojourn into the Advertising industry?

This is quite a big one. I remember my first discussion with the head of Account Management at Insight then. He asked me what I was bringing on board the team and I responded that I would be bringing on board my 14 years’ business experience. He laughed at my confidence and that’s how I started as an Intern.

I said that to say that statement put me in a tough position; here I was telling my Employer that I run another business apart from his own.

I have to always double my efforts, build trust of my colleagues and always put the organisation’s interest before mine. There were peculiar situations where I had to lose some personal income just to attend to my organisation’s need of my time. In all, it’s all about setting priorities right, upholding your values and embrace teamwork to deliver results as an Entrepreneur.

I must mention that Insight and my current Employer try to support their staff personal goals and that has helped me a lot too.

You will be launching your long-awaited book in October;what informed this decision?

It’s indeed long overdue; this is a project I have been working on since 2012 but my perfectionist nature and maybe procrastination has caused the delay.

Finally, I got inspired to finally launch it on my 30th birthday as my personal gift to humanity. “The Tripreneur” chronicles my journey through my teenage years, campus life and how I had to relinquish leadership of my thriving business against my father’s wish to learn from Legends in the marketing communications space.

The primary objective is to

As regards challenges, very prominent is the fact that people hardly trust you have good intentions especially in a society like ours. More people tend to believe all your actions are done for your own selfish benefits

reach out to teenagers on how to start adding value early and harmonise all their talents to their benefits and the world at large and also serve as a guide for young adults on how they can build their entrepreneurial and employability skills while on campus. I believe this will ultimately become a panacea to Nigeria’s youth unemployment in the 21st Century.

What would you consider your areas of expertise, strengths or weakness in the industry you play in?

Development of effective marketing strategies and communications plans using both traditional and digital platforms to reach target audience. I also bring to the fore, my understanding of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) challenges being one myself to create tailor-made solutions that can grow the bottom-line.

Being a member of different professional groups like Junior Achievement and the NESG Youth initiative also gives me the opportunity to leverage on a robust network.

The Advertising industry is worth over 7million US dollars according to a recent report, however, there are quite a few challenges. Top on this list is the fact that the consumers are fast changing, client’s budget keep decreasing, little or no barrier to entry amongst many others.

However, I believe the industry is yet to reach its full potentials especially in terms of positively influencing social behaviour.

A good example is the recent Nike’s 30th anniversary ad campaign that featured Colin Kaepernick; it didn’t only increase the value of the brand but has also evoked a movement of standing for what it is right in the face of challenges.

What are your plans for the future?

I see an exciting future, as I continue to build my career with a fuse of technology, design thinking and growth of SMEs. I believe the Advertising industry will continue to witness several disruptions driven by internet penetration, artificial intelligence and strong competition from both the consulting and entertainment sector. I will be sharing more of my stories through books, online platforms and train the younger generation to have a better society.

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INTERVIEW ‘We need to embrace circular economy in Nigeria to achieve sustainable environment’ The protection and conservation of the environment, especially as they affect health and economy, are today of local and global concern. Environmental activism is on the rise at individual and organizational levels. Junior Chamber International (JCI) is one of such organizations and, in this interview with select journalists in Lagos, Gafar Odubote, the 2018 national director of JCI Nigeria ‘Let’s Do it’ campaign, speaks on the activities of the organization as a non-profit organization of young active citizens. He also speaks on other enlightening environmental issues including circular economy, plastic pollution, recycling, climate actions, etc. CHUKA UROKO, Property Editor, was there. Excerpts: Your organization, the Junior Chamber International (JCI), is upbeat in environmental activism. What does it seek to achieve and what is your role in all of that?

CI is a non-profit organization of young active citizens aged 18 to 40 who are engaged and committed to creating impact on their communities. Active citizens are individuals interested in the future of our world. JCI gathers active citizens from all segments of society towards achieving sustainable development.

We develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to make informed decisions and take action. As young active citizens, our impact cuts across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FTC), Abuja, with membership and alumni over 7,000 in 50 local organizations and 70 tertiary institutions. This thus makes us the largest youth-led organization in Nigeria. JCI members take initiative to solve local challenges that threaten global peace, education, health, and current environmental issues.

My key role is to inspire the entire Nigerian population to have positive mindsets towards wastes, engaging key stakeholders in achieving circular economy while educating people on effective wastes disposal, eliminating plastic pollution, achieve recycling and promote climate actions.

Some states have become disaster zones due to flooding challenges. How can this be addressed?

The issue of flooding in Nigeria is caused by a lot of factors, and topmost among them is improper waste disposal and deforestation. I have seen people dumping wastes deliberately in gutters during rainfalls while the ones littered on the street enter into drainage systems and clog drains. This obstructs the free flow of the water that enters into these drains causing water to back up during rainfall flooding the surrounding area. If improper waste disposal continues, the flooding situation will worsen, and will have adverse effects not only to commuters but to the city’s economy, see what happened recently in Abeokuta and some areas in Lagos State.

People must change their attitude towards wastes while the government, for example, the local government, should impose sanctions to check house-by-house, building-by-building and impose a heavy fine on anyone whose surrounding is dirty, people will wake up. If residents can make sure that the drainage in front of their houses is clean, it is going to be fine for everyone. There is also a need to strengthen our reforestation programmes in Nigeria. We also need to focus our efforts on educating people to make them more aware of their role in flooding.

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As a non-governmental organization, are there other NGOs besides Let’s Do it Foundation that you collaborate to make your work easier and more effective?

Our goal is to unite every sector of the society for a waste-free Nigeria and we believe that collaboration is very key to achieving that.

We have on board over 25 civic organizations that are into environmental advocacy who are promoting the key message of a cleaner Nigeria.

We are also collaborating with Aspire Coronation Trust (ACT) Foundation – an organization that supports organizations like JCI Nigeria in tackling environmental challenges. Aside the NGOs, all the states ministry of environment and environmental protection agencies are in support of the campaign in their various states. In Lagos State, for example, where we have campaign secretariat, we enjoy full collaboration with Visionscape and the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment through the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI).

As an individual, at what point did you get interested in the environment; what triggered the interest?

I grew up in the suburb of Lagos where we constantly have flooding issue on every single rainfall as a result of blocked drainage. There was a day I couldn’t go to school because the whole streets were flooded and no way to pass through. I decided to add my voice to those advocating for a waste-free environment. I am tired of seeing trash all around our public places, while we can be efficient with our production and consumption. We don’t have any other place to call home aside this planet Earth and waking up every day seeing my children grow in this present state of environment has inspired me to do something different and contribute towards a cleaner and more sustainable environment. The advocacy started in 2012, when JCI Eko gave me the platform to host my first cleanup project in Ogba and since then I have been across the country engaging stakehold-

Gafar Odubote

ers, hosting cleanups, educating people and contributing to environmental best practices.

At different levels of government, laws and policies have been put in place to address environmental challenges. What has happened to those laws and policies?

The environmental laws exist but there is the problem of implementation, monitoring and sustainability. The Federal Government, through the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), has developed various environmental regulations but currently we don’t have a National Policy on Plastic Waste Management to regulate the use and disposal of plastics in the country. The awareness on the existing policy is low while there is an inadequate investment on research and development for the appropriate environmental policies implementation. Over the years, the government has been planning to implement the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Programme - which is not entirely new as it has been implemented in other countries across the world. It is a policy approach that transfers significant responsibility to producers for the entire life-cycle of their product(s) especially at the post-consumer stages.

The whole idea of recycling and reusing is creating wealth from waste. In the light of that, how in real terms can Nigeria exploit waste to economic advantage?

One thing we should know is that there is money in recycling and it is good for the environment. Instead of sending all wastes to the landfill, we can convert significant portion of the heaps of refuse lying around into wealth.

90 percent of the materials within a mobile phone can be re-used. For example, the copper, silver, gold, palladium and a host of other rare metals found in e-waste are, increasingly, ending up in landfill, which we could extract and recycle. There is a huge demand for compost

manure, which can be derived from our kitchen wastes and leftover food; polythene bag can be washed, dried, cut into shreds to serve as threads and later used to make other materials.

We can’t keep relying solely on our raw mineral resources when there is even the issue of scarcity. Circular economy demands that we should be efficient with our resources. Nigeria should make laws to promote investment in recycling and circular economy. Billions of wealth can be generated for the economy and thousands of new jobs can be created if companies and individuals focused on building circular supply chains to increase the rate of recycling, reuse and re-manufacture. Through appropriate research and technology, we can generate data to understand our wastes and see how to harness it.

After six years as an environment activist, where do you think Nigeria is getting it wrong in waste management and what are the lessons from other countries?

The circular economy is a top priority for environmental policy in a country like Europe. I will like to use Germany as an example. The country has been able to transform its waste management into a resource management system. About 14 percent of the (non-energy) raw materials used in the German economy are recovered from waste.

Waste management in Germany has evolved into a large and powerful economic sector. There are more than 270,000 people working in some 11,000 companies with an annual turnover of around 70 billion Euros.

More than 15,500 waste management facilities help to conserve resources through recycling and other recovery operations. Germany’s high recycling rates of 67 percent for household waste, around 70 percent for production and commercial waste, and almost 90 percent for construction and demolition waste speak for themselves.

From your experience over the years, what would you suggest as ways forward for waste management in Nigeria?

Responsibility for waste management should be a collective effort among the federal government, states and local authorities. The local government should be empowered to have responsibility for household waste which includes collecting and transporting waste; measures to promote waste prevention and recovery and the construction and operation of waste disposal facilities.

The government must provide the needed infrastructures and attract investors that will support proper wastes collection, sorting and recycling. Separate collection of waste is key to achieving recycling, bio-wastes, paper, glass, metal and plastic; these wastes should be collected separately on pre-determined specific dates. Nigeria should introduce landfill limiting policies. Waste going to landfill must be pretreated in mechanical, biological treatment plants so as to prevent any biological conversion processes from occurring so as to reduce landfill gas like we experienced recently at the Lagos Olusosun landfill.

Waste management as a subject should be introduced into the academic curriculum of students at all levels. The government should set a target for achieving a waste-free Nigeria and circular economy. The Enhanced Producer Responsibility (EPR) should be objectively implemented as it will pave way for waste prevention and recovery; while a Deposit Return Scheme should be introduced.

The government should come up with a National Circular Economy Act, which will promote the circular economy in order to conserve natural resources, and protect human health and the environment from the impacts associated with waste generation and management. Appropriate technology should be deployed in the entire value-chain of the waste management process.

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Poor storage of Oxytocin endangers lives of women at childbirth CALEB OJEWALE

Ondo targets zero child morbidity, mortality through ‘Agbomola’ YOMI AYELESO, Akure

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igeria’s unenviable position of second highest maternal mortality rate in the world may be substantially addressed, when efforts are increased to ensure the quality of medicine administered to women at the point of putting to bed.

This is particularly important in the case of Oxytocin, an important medicine used during labour to cause contraction of the uterus to start labour, increase the speed of labour, and to stop bleeding following delivery. In Nigeria, it appears there are quality issues, arising not just possibly from manufacturers, but also in handling and storage of Oxytocin.

BusinessDay correspondent while interacting with some experts at the recent Medicine Quality and Public Health Conference in Oxford, learnt that a lot of Oxytocin in Nigerian hospitals have quality issues on account of storage, resulting in multiple doses having to be administered when women go into labour.

“When a woman is given a drug and it doesn’t contain what it should, then the uterus would not contract. Healthcare workers can detect when this happens and will see that women are continuing to bleed through those blood vessels that have been left open after the baby has been born. So, what they are doing is often using two, three, four doses of Uteritonics to get those uterine contractions to stop this bleeding,” Fiona Theunissen, program manager for maternal health at Concept Foundation told BusinessDay. Moji Adeyeye, director general, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), noted that a study conducted by the agency in collaboration with USP revealed “About 70 percent of the Oxytocin in the market or in the hospitals have degraded because of climatic condition in storage.”

Adeyeye emphasised the imperative for enlightenment by going to the different hospitals or institutions to talk with nurses, pharmacists and

doctors.

“They think that it can be put in room temperature and it is okay. No, there has to be a cold chain storage,” she said.

Her position is corroborated by Conept Foundation’s Theunissen, who said “There is widespread belief that Oxytocin does not need to be kept in the cold chain. So, in Nigeria for example and a number of other countries, Oxytocin is procured from manufacturers that have labelled the product store at room temperature or store at twenty degrees, store under thirty degrees.

“The WHO does not recognise this labelling as being correct for Oxytocin,” Theunissen stressed.

The misconception that the product can be left on the shelves implies there is a very good chance that it is not going to work as efficiently as it should. When this happens without the medical team being able to control bleeding and other complications that may arise, expectant mothers could end up losing their lives.

Chioma Ejekam, a public health physician, in the department of community health, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), in an interview with BusinessDay, discussed findings of a research on Oxytocin, in which she participated, revealing a culture of poor storage in many hospitals.

She explained that many of the medical personnel surveyed had experienced use of ineffective brands of Oxytocin and nothing is being done about it. The major

problem that was discovered is degradation, particularly due to lack of cold storage practices in the supply chain and even the health facilities.

“It was evident that a lot of our healthcare providers did not know the proper storage for Oxytocin is in cold chain temperature,” Ejekam said.

The solution from submissions by several experts, points to proper storage of this important medicine which could save women a lot of pain during childbirth, and even possibly save them from dying on account of excessive bleeding.

Apart from medical workers who have been said to store the medicine in poor conditions, dealers in medical products also need to do more, experts say.

Chimezie Anyakowa, chief of party, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) in Nigeria, stressed the importance of consistent market surveillance, which according to him will keep those in the supply chain on their toes. This, he says, will ensure the medicine is properly stored to avoid degradation.

“Once people who peddle these fake medicines know that somebody is watching, it is not easy for them to do it anymore.

In addition, most people do not know that the medicines they supply are of poor quality because of the storage condition they did not know about. Through postmarketing surveillance these can be detected, and corrected (where possible),” said Anyakowa.

Friday 12 October 2018

n its drive to reduce indices of child morbidity and mortality, the Ondo State government has begun a Save Our Children Initiative called ‘Agbomola.’

The initiative will involve; provision of life-saving medical and laboratory equipment to all Primary Healthcare facilities in the State, training of health workers on the use of the equipment’s and strengthening of diagnostic capacity of the health workers to respond to minor and common causes of under-five and pregnancy related morbidity and mortality in the state.

Wahab Adegbenro, the commissioner for Health revealed this at the training of about 120 health workers on basic lifesaving skills in Akure, the state capital.

Adegbenro recalled that about 200 laboratory technicians and officers were trained about a week ago to improve the diagnostic capacity at the PHC level, which he described as a first of its kind in the state.

“The passion of the Ondo State governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu at curbing childhood morbidity and mortality is evident in his painstaking and consistent effort to strengthen the Primary Healthcare Centres to enable them deliver on their mandate,” he said.

The commissioner said that the Governor had on the 20th of August commissioned medical and laboratory equipment worth millions of naira which was distributed to all PHCs in the State and had directed that workers to use the equipment’s should be trained to enable them perform optimally.

“Mothers and relevant stakeholders at the community level would also be engaged through specific and targeted interven-

tions to help in addressing the common causes of childhood mortality namely: acute respiratory diseases, Malaria, Measles, Malnutrition and Diarrhoea,” Adegbenro said.

Adegbenro charged PHC Coordinators of the 18 LGAs to see it as a clarion call to be on top of the various stages of implementation and do all humanly possible to support the Akeredolu’s vision of a functional and qualitative Primary Healthcare system in the state.

He called on development partners, philanthropists and well-meaning Nigerians to lend the government a helping hand in reducing the indices of childhood morbidity and mortality.

On his part, Francis Akanbiemu, executive secretary Ondo State Primary Healthcare Development Board, said though the State has achieved great reduction in maternal and child morbidity and mortality, it would not rest on its oars until it achieves zero.

To achieve this targeted reduction, Akanbiemu said the PHC has to be strengthened since it accounts for over 70 per cent of caregivers in the state.

He implored parents and caregivers to seek medical attention at accredited health facilities where there are skilled hands so they can maximally enjoy the dividend of democracy.

Banke Oluwafemi, the lead resource person and chief medical director Mother and Child Hospital Akure taught with practical demonstration Basic lifesaving skills such as; Prevention of infection , Neonatal Resuscitation ,Strategies of sustaining the life of a child beyond the neonatal period among others.

Some of the participants who spoke said the role of training and retraining cannot be over emphasized in qualitative healthcare delivery.

Cost-effective cancer control solutions advocated by experts ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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ost-effective ways of dealing with cancer to reduce the burden of the disease, which constitutes the highest cause of medical tourism by Nigerians, have been advocated by experts at this year’s Annual Doctors’ Conference organised by Lakeshore Cancer Centre.

They suggested lifestyle modifications, early/accurate diagnosis as well as appropriate treatment and palliative care as key ways of reducing the scourge of cancer.

“There is a cancer epidemic brewing at our doorstep and we must act now to effectively combat it. Breast, cervical, prostate and colorectal cancers are the four most common cancers currently in Nigeria,” said Chukwumere Nwogu, a Cancer Epidemiologist; Thoracic surgical oncologist and

chief executive officer, Lakeshore Cancer Centre.

According to Nwogu, it has been documented that the burden of non- communicable diseases on the Nigerian population is growing at an alarming rate.

He explained that given the limited expenditure on healthcare in Nigeria, it is crucial to strive to maximize the impact of cancer control through less financially demanding alternatives that exist.

Nwogu said that since our cancer registration is marked under developed, this is probably a significant under estimated of the Nigerian Cancer burden.

He pointed out that Lifestyle modifications, vaccination, screening, early/accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment and palliative care are all critical components of effective cancer control.

“There is a compelling opportu-

nity to engage working collaboratively, with the public and private healthcare institutions, physicians, nurses, pharmacist, allied healthcare workers, researchers, nongovernmental organisations and the citizenry at large can make a huge difference,” Nwogu said.

According to the latest estimate on the global burden of cancer, in September 2018, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) “There will be an estimated 18.1million new cancer cases and 9.6 million cancer deaths in 2018. In Nigeria, 115,950 new cases and 70,327 deaths are predicted”.

Francis Abayomi DurosinmiEtti, consultant clinical oncologist and chairman, National Programme on Cancer Management, noted that Cancer prevalence in Nigeria is on the rise, it is not going down and it is frightening.

“Emphasis in Nigeria should be placed on finding means of supporting the cancer patients in cost effective cancer care. This is why this symposium is a very important one.”

“Cancer treatment is always very expensive for the patients and their families and it is yet to be covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme.

“If the country finds a means of getting the money whether through the NHIS or even some other means of support, then patients can get treatment at a proper price and also service will be kept going,” Durosinmi- Etti said.

Also at the conference Stephen Edge, a professor of surgery and oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Buffalo, New York, USA, while speaking on ‘key breast cancer treatment practice for cost effective care’,

said breast cancer is an increasing problem around the world and especially in Africa, noting that the major problem is late presentation.

Edge added that cost effective solutions for treatment are available such as appropriate use of radiation, lymph node surgery, and use of neoadjuvant therapy.

“Cost effective approaches must be addressed in the setting of increased efforts to promote early detection and early intervention,” Edge advised.

Similarly, Abuchi Okaro, Consultant Laparoscopic upper GI and Bariatric surgeon at Euracare Multi- Specialist Hospital in Lagos, urged Nigerians to consultant specialists for proper screening.

He also advised conducting pap smears test and mammogram, noting that early detection will help increase chances of survival.

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Building Africa’s laboratory workforce, key to quality healthcare ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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mproving the quality of healthcare delivery in Africa has been hinged on building the laboratory workforce through new initiatives and partnerships aimed at training, mentoring and certifying laboratory professionals across the continent.

According to the press statement made available to BusinessDay, Pascale Ondoa, director of Science and New Initiatives, African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) is one of those promoting this view.

Ondoa said, this is important since laboratory professionals play a vital role in the identification of diseases, ensuring the reliability of laboratory investigations and reporting laboratory findings to the clinicians for timely and adequate patient management.

“Admittedly, the only interaction that patients have with the laboratory is when their blood is drawn, or other specimens collected for testing. While the role of the laboratory professional cannot be over emphasised, unfortunately due to the public’s limited exposure to them, their value is often overlooked.”

“We cannot deny that medical laboratories are an essential part of disease detection, control, prevention and surveillance, as well as response to outbreaks. Unfortunately, most laboratories in Africa are not only poorly resourced but also stretched, limiting their capacity to operate effectively,” she said.

Ondoa, who currently serves as senior laboratory scientist at the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and development (AIGHD),

explained that the African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) is committed to raising the profile and importance of laboratory professionals on the African continent, hence the relevance of the forthcoming ASLM conference in Abuja.

Averring that the situation of a high incidence of inadequate and unqualified laboratory professionals in Africa has become a source of great concern with long-term consequences, Ondoa explained that inadequate resources and limited diagnostic services jeopardise the quality of patient care resulting from wrong diagnosis and consequent under/over treatment of the disease. She noted that this has a negative impact on the continent both socially and economically.

“Investing in a robust, welltrained and dynamic laboratory workforce in Africa will facilitate the delivery of diagnostics services

to over a billion African citizens, advancing universal health coverage and global health security,” Ondoa added.

According to her, Last year, the Coordinating Council for the Clinical Laboratory Workforce in the United States identified some of the challenges in the laboratory sector that hampered recruitment and retention efforts. Some of these issues were: lack of visibility of the profession, low salary increases, poor wages compared with other healthcare professions and a lack of career advancement opportunities.

Sadly, Africa faces similar issues on a much larger scale, coupled with a huge infectious disease burden on the continent.

For any headway to be made in the laboratory medicine sector, Ondoa suggested that the conversation about changing Africa’s laboratory workforce should in-

volve educational institutions as much as laboratory leadership and governance.

“The magnitude of the current shortage of laboratory professionals and reasons for staff attrition are often not properly documented at the country level. There are several questions that need to be addressed, such as the demand for laboratory professionals to be equivalent to the number of biomedical graduates and how they are being trained for new technologies and emerging service needs”, she said.

The viro-immunologist with years of experience in HIV also emphasized that there should be discussions around roles and responsibilities of the various categories of the laboratory workforce, requirements for each role, scope of clinical laboratory workers and the key factors affecting the development of this workforce.

“To address some of these issues, ASLM contributes to inservice and pre-service training initiatives, as well as raising awareness about the need to develop a harmonised framework for the certification of laboratory professionals. The fact of the matter is increasing the number and improving the skills of the laboratory workforce on the continent is critical, especially as the need for technology-driven health services continues to increase on the continent”, she concluded.

The African Society For Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) 2018 Conference will hold in Abuja from December 10-13, 2018 and registration is still on-going. The theme of the Conference is: “Preventing and Controlling The Next Pandemic: The Role of The Laboratory”.

LASG to promote inclusive healthcare delivery as social health insurance take root in Lagos SEYI JOHN SALAU

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ver the years, healthcare service delivery has always been paid for ‘out-of-pocket’ and this to a large extent depict the delay in our healthcare service delivery and lack of investment in the health sector.

However, in the recent past the discourse on mandatory health insurance has taken the lead in quality healthcare service delivery in Nigeria.

Leading this discourse in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative is PharmAccess Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation that provides funding and capacity building for health base SMEs. Recently, a 35-year-old married woman Morenikeji (real name withheld), found out she was pregnant; she was struck with a sudden pang of worry and fear. Pregnancy news was supposed to be the most exciting event for an expectant mother; however, she was filled with anxiety, thinking about the cost of managing her pregnancy.

Morenikeji was filled with anxiety because it was not her first pregnancy because complications from her previous two pregnancies, and a lack of access to quality healthcare had rendered the experience traumatic for her. Luckily for Morenikeji, she was introduced to the Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS), which reduced her burden and anxiety.

The Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS) is a state-wide health insur-

HBL TEAM

ance scheme targeted to ensure that all residents of the State have access to quality, affordable health care services.

The scheme covers treatment of common adult and childhood ailments, maternal and child services, preventive healthcare services, selected noncommunicable diseases and surgeries.

In support of the LSHS, a proof of concept, supported by the PharmAccess Foundation, commenced on 25 September 2017. According to Njide Ndili, the country director of PharmAccess Foundation Nigeria, “the proof of concept which mirrored the Lagos State Health Insurance Scheme, was implemented to demonstrate how the scheme can improve the lives of vulnerable population at scale, using mobile phones and light technology”.

Prior to commencement of the scheme, field agents visited communities around the two selected hospitals (Igando General Hospital and Subol

Hospital) to recruit eligible beneficiaries who were later enrolled into the pilot programme.

The Poverty Probability Index identification tool was administered to identify those eligible for the pilot programme. Morenikeji was found eligible, and was enrolled and covered by the LSHS benefit package which includes pregnancy, normal delivery, caesarean section and post-natal care at Igando General Hospital.

The pilot was administered using the CarePay ICT platform, a mobile solution for scheme administration which serves as a digital health exchange that connects the three important stakeholders in healthcare: Payers, healthcare providers and the users or beneficiaries. The platform can manage various types of healthcare payments and healthcare benefits from different programs, and present these payments and benefits to the beneficiaries on their mobile phone in a clear and user friendly way.

For each hospital visit, the treatment data is submitted electronically by the healthcare provider and after approval by a medical claims assessor, the funds are moved digitally to the healthcare provider.

Jide Idris, the commissioner for Health in Lagos State, stated recently that the CarePay platform “will guarantee ownership of all data generated and ensure that these data can be used to make informed decisions”. According to Idris, one of the objectives was to demonstrate how digital mobile

solutions can be utilized to improve decision-making and transparency, reduce transaction costs, and increase access especially for poor households.

In collaboration with Lagos State Ministry of Health, PharmAccess implemented the proof of concept mirroring the LSHS benefit package, provider payment mechanisms and the interaction between patients and providers. The proof of concept has 153 families (659 enrolees) in two facilities (one private provider and one public provider) in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Having run for a period of twelve months, the pilot witnessed the 659 beneficiaries whose premium was paid for by PharmAccess Nigeria gaining access to free health care for the duration of the pilot.

“The results of this pilot show that the Scheme is doable and is a step in the right direction towards achieving Universal Health Coverage for the residents of Lagos State,” said Idris stating that Morenikeji that had a caesarean section in which she delivered a healthy boy, is one of the many success stories from the pilot test.

According to Peju Adenusi, the general manager of Lagos State Health Management Agency, the scheme is a mandatory pre-paid health plan for all residents. The LSHS aims to achieve universal coverage and provide financial protection against catastrophic health care spending. “A healthy population is a productive population,” said Adenusi.

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We’ll revamp primary healthcare system - Akeredolu YOMI AYELESO, AKURE

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overnor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state insists that his administration will not stop until the state’s primary healthcare system is totally revamped and reposition.

He says he will not stop until the state’s healthcare sector becomes virile and dependable one.

Akeredolu stated this on Wednesday during the third quarter polio eradication and routine immunisation task force meeting at the Cocoa Conference Hall of the Governor’s Office, Akure, the state capital.

The governor, who expressed delight over a report that Ondo State has remained free from the Wild Polio Virus for about nine years in a row, said the feat was worth mentioning because the state health workers’ diligent services assisted in reducing the barest minimum the morbidity and mortality associated with vaccine-preventable diseases.

He said: “Analysed data of our dear state shows that the average coverage of Penta-3 (the third dose of pentavalent vaccine) from January to August 2018 was 91%. This shows that 9 out of 10 children vaccinated in our health facilities will remain within the vaccination pool to receive the third dose of pentavalent vaccine that is taken at 14 weeks of birth.

“The figure is encouraging, no doubt, but because the one child out of 10 who drops out of the safe net is a danger to all other vaccinated children, our noble job of polio eradication and routine immunisation is yet to be completed.

“Consequently, our role as a team is to review our strategies, identify gaps and proffer solutions immediately in order for all under-one children to benefit maximally from this cheap but highly effective intervention.”

Akeredolu therefore added that for the state’s primary healthcare system to be completely revamped and repositioned for effective service delivery, his government would prioritise relevant infrastructural upgrading, particularly medical and laboratory equipment.

The governor also promised to address the shortage of the needed man-power for the adequate coverage of the routing polio immunisation programme.

This, he said, would ensure the state become a totally polio free zone in the country.

ANTHONIA OBOKOH and ANI MICHAEL / Reporters. Email: obokoh.anthonia@businessdayonline.com I David Ogar, Graphics

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IMPACT INVESTING

Friday 12 October 2018

In Association With

How waste management, clean cities are interconnected UJU IKEDIONU

facturing companies should be sensitized on the importance of recycling and proper waste disposal and while disciplinary actions should be taken against companies that fail to comply. It is interesting to note that some manufacturing companies (that make use of plastics) have introduced a recall on plastics, which is an incentive they aim to use to reduce large amount of waste generated from their products from the societies.

Constant sensitization of the public across all the states of the federation on the need for proper waste disposal should be on top of the list; enlightening the public on the dangers of pollution caused by improper disposal of waste on human health and the environment becomes pertinent.

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espite the policies on environmental protection and improvement, waste management remains one of the major challenges faced in Nigeria especially in major cities such as Lagos, Edo, FCT Abuja, just to mention a few.

Nigeria’s huge population which is estimated at about 190 million inhabitants generate humongous waste daily. This is as there is no commensurate investment in waste management to convert the waste into wealth thereby alleviating poverty.

According to the data from BioEnergy Consult, which shows that out of 32 million tons of solid waste generated by Nigerians annually, only 20 to 30 per cent of the solid waste are collected leaving the remaining 70 per cent lying on the streets, motorways, walkways and even waterways.

In advanced countries, measures are being taking by both the government and private sectors on waste management to ensure safe and conducive living environment for citizens of their countries through implementation of efficient waste management infrastructure and processes.

Analysts have the consensus opinion that there is need for impact investors to support innovations that can improve efficiency in waste management. With the on-going global policies by major economies to address climate issues and corporate objectives directed towards creating a clean environment, environmental impact investments have been at the top of the list of investment decisions countries are making in recent times.

In India for instance, $6.5 million (Rs. 44 crore) was invested in waste management by Nepra Resource Management Pvt Ltd as well as Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group and Asha Impact.

Impact of improper waste disposal The people at the receiving end of unsatisfactory disposal of waste are those in areas where waste disposal channels are ineffective and mostly the victims are school children, waste workers and those living

close to waste dump sites.

Contaminated water causes viral diseases like cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever and other skin conditions like scabies and trachoma. The contaminated water also harbours the fish and other sea foods we consume.

In Nigeria, 7.8 percent of the waste pickers suffered from typhoid, 10.1 percent suffered from dysentery while 5.1 percent suffered from cholera respectively according to the 2015 Global Waste Management Outlook by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA).

According to the report released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in September 2018, Nigeria recorded a total of 27,927 cases of cholera outbreak and 517 deaths in 19 states in 2018.

Open burning of accumulated

waste is quite widely practised to reduce waste collected by individuals where waste collection service is inexistent or ineffective. The emissions associated with these include dioxins, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and black carbon (BC), which are highly toxic to human health and environment.

Empirical evidence has shown that whenever there is an outbreak of diseases as s result of the intake of contaminated food or water, the economic activities of the region or state are stalled. This manifests in the forms of absenteeism from work or upsurge in out of pocket expenditure particularly in countries where health insurance is poorly implemented or non-existent. Also, improper disposal of waste in areas of high agricultural activities can be harmful to plants or even lead to their death. This can cause reduction in food supply and losses to the farmers.

Preventive measures to be taken The Nigerian government and its parastatals particularly the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), Environmental Protection Commission (SEPCO) therefore should create an enabling framework that will attract private sectors to invest in waste collection, storage, recycling and reusing in a way that will not endanger human lives and the environment as well.

They should also intensify more efforts on carrying out effective environmental compliance monitoring and enforcement exercises to regulate the activities of the private sectors towards ensuring efficient waste disposal management and protection of citizens’ wellbeing, through adequate prevention of air, land and water pollution.

Companies, especially manu-

Role of impact investors The interests of impact investors are not limited to making superior, long-term, risk-adjusted returns, but also in ensuring that their investments have a positive impact on the environment.

These investments could be in bin placements, waste collection route-planning, provision of landfill site, construction and operation of material recovery centres, purchasing of new compactors to increase waste collection capacity and upgrade of existing waste depots and transfer loading stations.

Food spoilage and wastage are increasing in Nigeria due to insufficient storage systems. With short shelf life, some food items due to improper means of preservation spoil even before they are transported to the market. Investment in innovations for food storage and preservation (such as using natural lactic acid to reduce bacterial spoilage and increase the shelf life of juices, meat, vegetables and bakery products) can help reduce the amount of food waste.

Investment in plastic and polythene recycling can help reduce the number of plastic cans and polythene bags polluting the rivers and oceans. By investing in waste management, public health will be improved, and a cleaner environment will be assured implying that more jobs will be created and it will have positive effect in boosting tourism and attracting investment decisions by visitors who enjoy clean city.

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Investments

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Market

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Influencers

FUNDING

Nigerian Stock Exchange releases strict rules for Green Bond issuance Stories by ISAAC ANYAOGU

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o be eligible to issue green bonds on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the issuer would in addition to complying with regulations, demonstrate that the proceeds of the proposed green bond will be used to finance environmental and climate change issues, the NSE has said in draft rules for green bonds released in Lagos recently.

The proposed rules for listing of Green Bonds on the Nigerian Stock Exchange

is a four page document that outlines the obligations and rights of an issuer of green bonds on the NSE. A green bond is a special bond issued to finance or re-finance in part or in full new and existing eligible environmental or climate projects.

The rules said, “The Issuer shall demonstrate that the proposed Green Bond shall comply with the green bond principles. The Issuer shall open an escrow account specifically for the net proceeds of the issue; and shall prudently manage the proceeds from the offer in order to ensure strict allocation to identified proposed projects.

Expatiating on what Green Bond Principles (GBP) entails, the document said, it is a “set of voluntary process guidelines that recommend transparency and disclosure and promote integrity in the development of the Green Bond market by clarifying the approach for issuance of a Green Bond.

The GBP are intended for broad use by the market as they provide Issuers guidance on the key components involved in launching a credible Green Bond, aid investors by ensuring avail-

ability of information necessary to evaluate the environmental impact of their Green Bond investments and assist underwriters by moving the market towards standard disclosures which will facilitate transactions.

The NSE is also demanding that issuers shall make and keep readily available, up to date information on the use of proceeds on an annual basis until full allocation of the proceeds, which shall be presented in an annual report to bondholders. The Issuer would also appoint an independent external reviewer to issue annual, and follow

up assessment reports to confirm the alignment with the GBP. “The annual report shall be published in at least one national daily newspaper, and the issuer shall ensure that the information is published on and remains on its website throughout the tenor of the Green Bond,” said the NSE guidelines.

According to NSE, failure to comply has consequences. “Upon finding that the issuer has failed to comply with these Rules, the NSE shall declare in a release to the public that such Issuer’s Green Bond listing is no longer in compliance with the

Rules of The Exchange, and that investors are to trade with caution on the bonds in light of the absence of up to date information, among other actions.”

NSE equally noted that issuers shall comply with the rules, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) regulations, and as well as the Exchange’s requirements for listing and issuance of bonds.

Green Bond offering are ear-marked for financing green projects. The proceeds will be managed separately from other funds, and their use shall be monitored and reported throughout the tenor of the Green Bond, said the NSE. Nigeria’s N10.69 billion Sovereign Green Bond issued on December 18, 2017, is the world’s first fullycertified sovereign green bond, according to Amina Mohammed, UN SecretaryGeneral.

Nigeria had after signing up to the Paris Climate Change protocols, indicated it would raise green bonds to finance some environmentally friendly projects in agriculture, transportation and renewable electricity sources. Three other countries: Poland, France and Fiji have issued Sovereign green bonds.

POLICY

Egypt nears meeting 50% electricity demand with renewables ... Study shows renewables could present $900m annual cost savings

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dnan Z. Amin, IRENA Director-General and Mohamed Shaker, Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Egypt has a real chance of meeting its over half of its citizen’s energy needs from renewable sources by 2030, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has said, as well as shaving $90m from the country’s energy spend.

Unlike Nigeria which has articulated a clear vision for its renewable energy sector but continues to take the winds out of its sails through poorly conceived fiscal policies, Egyptian government officials and regional decision makers are collaborating to improve energy access for the country’s over 95million people.

IRENA finds that renewables could cost-effectively

provide up to a quarter of Egypt’s total final energy supply in 2030.

“Achieving the higher targets would, however, require investment in renewables to grow from USD 2.5 billion per year based on today’s policies to USD 6.5 billion per year,” the organisation said in a release.

Under current plans, Egypt aims to source 20 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2022, rising to 42 per cent by 2035. Total installed capacity of renewables in the country today amounts to 3.7 gigawatts (GW).

“This analysis offers the Egyptian energy sector a roadmap, building on current ambitions and plans, to enhance our position as an energy hub connecting Europe, Asia and Africa,” said Mohamed Shaker, Egyptian minister of Electricity and

Renewable Energy.

“Job creation, economic development and the growth of local manufacturing capabilities are at the heart of our renewables programme, and with the support of IRENA we can pursue our plans to grow the country’s installed ca p a c i t y b a s e t h ro u g h smart policies, and the latest renewable technologies,” Shaker further said.

Many countries who pri-

oritise renewable energy specifically name a minister for it. In Nigeria, it is subsumed under the ministry of power with a separate government agency, the Rural Electrification Agency in charge of implementing off grid policies. Treating it as a purely as a rural issue, largely informs the poor conception and application of renewable energy policies in Nigeria.

Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA director-general and Mohamed Shaker, Egyptian minister of electricity and renewable energy

Analyst: Isaac Anyaogu, Email: isaac.anyaogu@businessdayonline.com, 07037817378,

Eg ypt is draw ing on an abundance of renewable energy resources to achieve higher shares of hydropower, wind, solar and biomass. To capitalise on this, the report suggests that national policy makers may benefit from periodically re-evaluating the long-term energy strategy to reflect rapid advances in renewable energy technology and falling renewable power generation costs.

“Remarkable cost reductions in renewable energy in recent years are encouraging governments all over the world to rethink energy strategies so as to better reflect the new economics of renewables,” said Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA DirectorGeneral. “Egypt’s renewable energy potential is vast and the Government has now moved decisively to accelerate its deployment. The

Benban solar complex with its impressive scale reflects this new momentum.”

“Building on these achievements, Egypt has the opportunity to further raise its ambition which entails substantially increased investments,” continued Amin. “Attracting these investments requires stable policy frameworks and a streamlined regulatory environment that provides clarity and certainty for investors.

Investments in renewable energy not only help to meet rising energy demand but they can also contribute to fostering economic growth, creating employment and developing local manufacturing.”

The report was prepared

by IRENA in close collaboration with Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, and the New and Renewable Energy Authority.

Graphics: Joel Samson

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Friday 12 October 2018

Hotels Top BusinessDay Partner Hotels Novotel Port Harcourt Address: 3 Stadium Road Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt Rivers State, Tel: 0809 713 5734

Transcorp Hilton Abuja 1 Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, Abuja Tel: +234-708-060-3000

Legend Hotel Lagos Airport; a signature of Curio Collection by Hilton OBINNA EMELIKE

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ith a portfolio of 14 worldc l a s s brands comprising more than 5,400 properties with nearly 880,000 rooms in 106 countries and territories, Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is truly a leading global hospitality company.

While Hilton’s 14 brands come with distinct characters and offerings, there is one that is crafted for those looking for unexpected and authentic experiences across the world.

The Curio Collection by Hilton speaks volume of unique experiences and offerings. The fact that there are just over 60 of such hotels across the Hilton family tells why the hotels in Curio Collection are oneof-a-kind hotels and resorts handpicked for their unique character.

However, the Hilton brand and Curio Collection have found Lagos worthy of their brand, hence the recent opening of Legend Hotel Lagos Airport, Curio Collection by Hilton. The hotel, which opened its doors to discerning guests on October 5, 2018, marked the first Curio Collection to open in Africa, as well as, Hilton’s 500th hotel to open across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

The hotel features 54 spacious guest rooms and suites, unique culinary experiences at De Bull restaurant and bar and Sky Lounge, and extensive business and leisure facilities. Yet the many breathtaking artworks by Victor Ehighale Ehihkamenor and Dotun Popoola

light up open spaces and some strategic views with aesthetic appeals.

Moreover, the latest hotel in town comes with uniqueness.

First, it is the first branded hotel to open at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Ikeja, Lagos with approximately five kilometres from the domestic terminal and one kilometre from the international terminal.

Most importantly, aside being adjacent to the airport’s private jet terminal, it is the only hotel in Nigeria and probably West Africa that has exclusive immigrations and customs desks for private jet passengers.

The contemporary and stylish design appeals to the five senses as well. On offering at the hotel are 54 spacious guest rooms and suites, featuring beautiful art deco style interiors. All guest rooms offer a 40-inch TV, chaise lounge, ergonomic workspace, and a bathroom with separate shower and bathtub. The hotel also has two Presidential Suites, which offer a private terrace with a bar and whirlpool, and stunning airfield views.

A stay at the hotel offers guests a somewhat culinary experience, especially at De Bull restaurant and bar where guests can enjoy Nigerian dishes, global cuisine and signature cocktails amid the enthralling backdrop of the airfield. For those in a hurry, the stylish Sky Lounge is ideal for light bites and refreshments, and room service is available 24/7.

Beyond catering to the accommodation needs of discerning guests who are among the more than eight million passengers, which Murtala Muhammed International Airport serves each

year, the hotel also carters to the needs of the international business community with world-class business and leisure facilities.

On offer are three flexible meeting rooms featuring spacious outdoor terraces, natural daylight and modern A/V equipment. With a total area of 120 square metres, the meeting space can host up to 80 delegates.

For guests looking to refresh and recharge, the hotel also has an indoor swimming pool, steam room and 24/7 accessible fitness centre.

As a member of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton’s 14 distinct hotel brands, Legend Hotel Lagos Airport, Curio Collection by Hilton offers guests the wide network and benefits of Hilton Honors. Members who book directly have access to instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that allows them to choose nearly any combination of points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount, free standard WiFi and the Hilton Honors mobile app.

At the hotel opening ceremony graced by dignitaries including; Hadi Sirika, Nigerian minister of state for aviation, Chris Nassetta, chief executive officer of Hilton, Sam Iwuajoku, chairman of Quits Hospitality Limited, owners of the hotel, Aliko Dangote, chairman, Dangote Group, among others, Hilton expressed its committed to work with credible partners to grow its footprint across Africa.

Speaking at the opening in Lagos, Chris Nassetta, Hilton’s president and CEO, said: “We will continue to innovate in Africa with new brands and products, and

we are pleased to introduce our Curio Collection brand here with the opening of Legend Hotel Lagos Airport.

As the continent continues to undergo rapid urbanization, with the United Nations forecasting that the world’s 10 fastest-growing cities will all be in Africa by 2035, this hotel is a part of our strategy to connect guests to key cities and airport locations across the region.”

As well, excited at the addition of the 60th Curio Collection hotel, Mark Nogal, global head, Curio Collection by Hilton, said, “We are excited to debut in Africa with Legend Hotel Lagos Airport, a contemporary property with close proximity to a major financial centre in Nigeria.

Whether it is taking in the views of the airfield from De Bull restaurant and bar or enjoying the beautiful Art Deco style interiors, Legend Hotel Lagos Airport offers travellers a distinctive and unexpected experience in a growing tourist destination”.

For Uche Iwuajoku, executive director/business innovation manger, Quits Hospitality, the hotel will not falter in offering unexpected and authentic experiences to travellers.

In the same vein, Peter Idoko, general manager, Legend Hotel Lagos Airport, welcome travellers to Nigeria’s only airport hotel. “With an unrivalled location, exclusive immigration and customs desk, spacious guest rooms and the support of Hilton and its award-winning Hilton Honors program, the hotel is perfect for travellers looking for unparalleled accommodations near the airport and convenience to local attractions”, Idoko assured.

Protea Hotel Apo Apartments Address: Ahmadu Bello Way, Apo, Abuja Tel: 09 480 1818

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Abuja 1 Uke St, Garki, Abuja.

Tel: +234 9 4603900, +234 805 7522500

Chida Hotel International Address: Plot 224, Solomon Lar Way, Utako, Abuja Tel: 0810 871 8882

Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja #38/40 Isaac John St, Ikeja GRA100271, Ikeja Tel: +234-908-780 5555

206 Hotel Plot 206 Cadastral Zone B02 Opposite Kenuj 02 Mall, Oladipo Diya Road, Durumi District, Abuja Tel: 08119707993 Email: 206abuja@gmail.com

Protea Hotel (GRA Ikeja) GRA Ikeja

Protea Hotel (V/Island) Off Ajose Adeogun Street, V/ Island

Gombe Jewel Hotel, 22, Njamena Street, off Aminu Kano crescent Wuse 2, Abuja.

Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel 1A,Ozumba Mbadiwe,Victoria Island.

Friday 12 October 2018

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FINTECH News

Products Review

Technology Review

Personality Review

BUSINESS DAY

25

Company Review

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

Digital banking services seen outpacing cyber security framework FRANK ELEANYA

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i g i t a l b a n king is the new buzzword and evolving customer behaviour the new prize and target of innovative products and services. Leveraging new technologies, fintech companies are encroaching into a space traditional financial institutions once hold sway; offering lending, payments, advisory, investment and wealth management services quicker, faster and more efficiently.

But as Nigerian banking services get more innovative with players pouring huge investments in 21st century digital knowledge, the country’s cyber security framework’s lack of movement leaves stakeholders very worried.

Nigeria’s cyber security framework is contained in the Nigerian Cybercrimes Act

that was enacted in 2015. The Act makes provisions for cybercriminal activities such as cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying, cybersquatting, internet fraud, hacking, and identity theft among others. The Central Bank of Nigeria has also come up with guidelines to ensure safety of financial trans-

actions. The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for instance is responsible for coordinating the receipt and analysis of financial disclosure of Currency Transaction Reports and Suspicious Transaction Reports in line with Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and combating the

financial terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, it also disseminates intelligence gathered thus to competent authorities.

At a Deloitte Nigeria Alumni event, stakeholders of financial institutions noted that while the digital growth is commendable, the country’s security policies are not keep-

ing up with the changing times.

Jim Ovia, chairman of Zenith Bank and the keynote speaker at the event stated that banking and finance has seen tremendous growth with the full adoption of technology in operations. No doubt, fintech companies have provided the required motivation for players in the sector.

“Financial services will need to collaborate and corporate with fintech companies to achieve desired goals. Fintech will not take away the bank customers or services as has been widely predicted,” Ovia said.

While he predicted that future of banking holds many possibilities in terms of innovative services that aim at customer satisfaction, regulators has to do more to protect everyone from imminent danger posed by online exposure.

Urum Kalu Ekeh, group managing director of First Bank Nigeria Holdings disclosed that the number of

cards issued by the bank increased from 3 million to 10 million in the space of two years.

“This tells us that digital and innovation is the only way forward,” Ekeh said.

He noted that growth has also put the banks on high security alert given that there could be a breach from any source.

In a report titled ‘Open banking, open risk? Managing financial crime in a disrupted world’ researchers at Deloitte Touche predicted that regulators are likely to find it increasingly difficult to monitor a growing number of smaller players that may be using new and possibly anonymous transaction technologies.

Hence it recommended that collaboration, new technology implementation and an understanding of the shift towards open banking practices and data sharing will be part of the solution.

documents as soon as they have opened a wallet, or account, through Luno.

“This added layer of security will help combat fraudulent and scammer activities that target vulnerable customers, as we’ll be able to immediately verify their identity,” a statement from Luno noted. “This action helps you, and Luno, as it allows us to make sure no one is opening an account with your name and personal details.”

There is a reason why this is significant. It is often taken for granted that while young adults are leading the charge in digital products adoption, senior adults are

not just looking at them but are also actively learning and embracing these innovations.

Their adoption of digital innovations also exposes them to cyber criminals and leaves them even more vulnerable than young adults who may be more alert. It is therefore imperative to make them a top cyber security priority.

“Luno monitors accounts searching for clues and patterns of fraudulent activity in locations where fraud is higher than the benchmark,” Owenize Odia said. “As a result, Luno has identified that customers over the age of 60 are being targeted at a higher rate by scams.”

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

Rising cryptocurrency scams: Are exchanges keeping up?

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ising incidence of fraud is one of the major reasons for low confidence investors are showing towards cryptocurrencies. This has seen the price of most top coins like bitcoin, Ethereum underperform for almost the entire 2018. It is also responsible for increased push for more regulatory oversight on the market from different quarters.

In August, the City of London Police noted that there had been 203 reports of cryptocurrency fraud in the months of June and July. Data from Action Fraud, its national fraud and cybercrime re-

porting centre disclosed that victims lost £2.1 million – an average of £10,096 per person.

Pauline Smith, director of Action Fraud in an interview with the Financial Times noted that “opportunistic fraudsters are taking advantage of this market, offering investments in cryptocurrencies and using every trick in the book to defraud unsuspecting victims.”

Also in August, 22 year old Aarni Otava, a Finnish millionaire reportedly lost 5,564.4 bitcoins, after inadvertently sending them to fraudsters in Thailand.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

(ACCC) also raised scam alerts because of a 12 month high incidence of scams involving cryptocurrencies.

Australia-based bitcoin platform, bitcoin.com.au recently highlighted four of the major cryptocurrency scams of 2018 to include OneCoin, Centratech, Dragon Coin, and NCR Coin. These are fake altcoins that have defrauded unsuspecting customers of their money.

As bitcoin.com.au pointed out, cryptocurrency scams give the market a very bad name. It deflates the public trust that the market needs to grow which makes it pertinent to ask, are cryptocurren-

cy exchanges doing enough to protect their customers.

In Nigeria where the market is patronised by thousands of people most of whom trade in ignorance, creating awareness and updating security strategies to keep up with new attack trends become critical.

What are the awareness strategies being put in place to protect them?

Recently, Luno, one of the leading exchanges in the country, added an extra layer of security for its customers over 60 years of age.

The company now ask customers over the age of 60 to send through their identity

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Friday 12 October 2018

MultiChoice Talent Factory launches West Africa academy …offers 20 students opportunity in film business Stories by OBINNA EMELIKE

T

he MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy (MTFA) in West Africa was officially opened on Monday at a highlyanticipated launch ceremony in Lagos. The launch of the Academy, expected to provide Africa’s next generation of film and television storytellers with a 12-month training programme, attracted commendation for MultiChoice by the Lagos State Government.

Speaking at the launch, Steve Ayorinde, the Lagos State Commissioner of Tourism, Arts and Culture, commended MultiChoice Nigeria for giving young Nigerians selected from across the country an opportunity to understand the business of film production.

“What MultiChoice did deserves huge commendation and these 20 students should consider themselves lucky. They need to acknowledge the fact that stakeholders in the entertainment industry in Nigeria and across the continent expect a lot from them and the students on their part should make good use of this opportunity given to them”, he said.

As well, Ziblim Iddi, Ghanaian Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, expressed his appreciation to MultiChoice for organising the laudable initiative in Nigeria, and also congratulated the 20 students selected for the inaugural

MTF selected students with Femi Odugbemi, director of academy, MultiChoice Talent Factory; Steve Ayorinde, Lagos State Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism; Ziblim Barri Iddi, deputy minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ghana, and John Ugbe, managing director, MultiChoice Nigeria during the launch of MultiCoice Talent Factory in Lagos recently

edition of the MTFA and charged them to be committed to learning as this is a life changing opportunity.

Also speaking at the launch, John Ugbe, managing director, MultiChoice Nigeria, said: “The film and television industry is the pioneer of creative industries in Africa and is particularly relevant as a tool for

Major Lazer thrills Nigerian fans …as U.S. advocates non-violent elections

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he United States Consulate General in Lagos in collaboration with U-Live Africa on last Friday night co-hosted the Major Lazer Sound System Concert at the Hard Rock Beach on Victoria Island.

Major Lazer, the American electronic dance music group, comprising Diplo, Jillionaire, and Walshy Fire, were in Nigeria as part of a broader Africa tour which has taken them to South Africa, Malawi, Kenya and Uganda.

Following performances by leading Nigerian disc-jockeys, United States Consul General F. John Bray delivered brief remarks to hundreds of excited music lovers.

“Tonight we are all here for Major Lazer. Music is the weapon, peace is the mission. As the 2019 general election draws close, I encourage you all to make a commitment to a non-violent and peaceful democratic process,” Consul General Bray who was accom-

panied on stage by leading Nigerian artistes; Sound Sultan and Korede Bello remarked just before Major Lazer began their performance.

It was a night to remember for the hundreds of fans who thronged the Hard Rock Beach as the electronic dance music trio thrilled the audience with a blend of local and international tunes.

Major Lazer’s visit to Nigeria underscores the strong U.S.-Nigeria cultural and people-to-people ties.

The electronic dance music group has recently dropped three singles featuring three popular Nigerian acts –– Tied Up featuring Mr. Eazi; Loyal featuring Kizz Daniel and All My Life featuring Burna Boy. The Cultural Affairs Office at the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos organises a broad range of activities promoting cultural relations between the people of Nigeria and the United States.

shaping the African narrative. We have been telling authentic and well-produced stories that only Africans themselves can tell. Nevertheless, there is a lot of raw talent that need to be nurtured and polished. The Academy will give such talents the opportunity to hone their skills, thereby increasing the pool

of world-class talents within the industry. It is also about teaching the selected candidates the business of film and television”.

Ugbe further praised the support of critical partners saying, “We are incredibly fortunate to have the calibre of broadcast partners that we do in M-Net and Africa Magic who

believe in this project and have been on this journey with us from the very beginning”.

The 20 candidates from Nigeria and Ghana will begin their 12-month training programme at the Academy this month. They will be provided with the skillset to ignite their passion, connect with industry professionals and tell authentic African stories through a comprehensive curriculum comprising theoretical knowledge and handson experience in cinematography, editing, audio production and storytelling.

“The talented creatives that will go through the MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy will be primed as key players in the growth and sustainability of Africa’s creative film and television industry. As the director of the Academy, I will be preparing the candidates as future business owners who will in turn, play their own part in building the economy around the industry. It is time that we not only reap the rewards of high-end quality TV and film products, but we also equally benefit from the investments behind the lens”, Femi Odugbemi, director, West Africa Academy, said.

In attendance at the launch were members of the academia and industry creatives, as well as, the media, who joined the ribbon cutting ceremony, which was followed a tour of the Lagos-based academy facilities situated in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Lipton, African Artist’s Foundation celebrates Nigeria’s creative voices

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ipton yellow label tea in partnership with African Artist’s Foundation (AAF) celebrated leading creative voices at the Lipton and Literature tea party (L&L), which held in Victoria Island, Lagos on October 7, 2018.

The event featured works of artists like Oyinkan Braithwaite, Ifeoluwa Nihinlola, Isaac Akah, Seun Odukoya, REZthapoet, Pelumi Kolade and Dami Ajayi.

There were poetry renditions by Koromone Koroye and William Moore, as well as, a special installation by MI Abaga, leading hip hop artiste and Chocolate City CEO. Speaking at the event, Abimbola Ogunsemi, senior brand manager, refreshment, Unilever, emphasized Lipton’s commitment to supporting artists and the importance of arts and literature in building communities.

“Literature is crucial in telling the stories important to people, and the arts help us place the spotlight on the societal issues that exists in today’s world. We are excited about our partnership with African Artist’s Foundation

to celebrate some of Nigeria’s leading creative voices and contribute our quota to improving the creative sector,” she said.

Charlotte Langhorst, creative director, African Artist’s Foundation said: “The Lipton and Literature party is aimed at celebrating contemporary African artists who are using their voices to advocate for transformation in their communities. We are focused on providing assistance to artists

driving social change with their works. Through this partnership we are able to further amplify the messages of the artists exhibiting today.”

The exhibition audience was made up of a diverse mix of art enthusiasts, content creators, media practitioners, policy advocates amongst others, leading to robust conversations on the importance of arts in shaping societies.

Friday 12 October 2018

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BUSINESS DAY

27

Business Etiquette

Film Review – Seven and a half dates

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t was so nice to see Mercy Johnson okojie in this new movie, although we haven’t seen Mercy Johnson a lot for a while now, she has being doing well since she tied the knots. A lot of fans flocked to the cinemas to go see Mercy Johnson Okojie and Toyin Aimakhu, a lot of them were intrigued to see them together and wanted to see what they were up to in this brand new movie. It was easy to predict the angle the movie was going to take just reading from the title, Mercy Johnson had to go on several blind dates, to find out if she could find the right partner before her sister’s wedding as her mum wouldn’t let her have peace.

The movie was directed

by Biodun Stephens and produced by Toyin Aimakhu they did have a few things going for them in this movie, such as a nice production, A-list cast, beautiful locations and a similar simple story. It seemed like we have seen this movie before because, we have had similar story lines both foreign and local in the past few years. They did try to pay attention a bit more to details, and for most people it was nice to see Jim Iyke back again and this time with Mercy Johnson Okojie. They had a simple story but added a bit of humour to it, which made everyone laugh all through the movie, especially when Mercy met some of the guys, who seemed and looked like jokers her to, there was no way on earth she was going to date them, left alone marry any of them.

A bit about the movie, they started with telling us about the Gomez family, MR. and Mrs Gomez who had 2 daughters Bisola who was the elder and her sister. Bisola loved to work so hard, she was very successful and confident, she was pretty but just couldn’t make out time to mingle with others or social. Her sister on the other hand was the lucky one, she was engaged to a wealthy handsome guy, and they were preparing to get married.

She thought that her sister was the luckiest and happiest one as, she saw her always smiling and glowing.

She was so happy for her and supported her solely.

with Janet Adetu

Speaking like a pro

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Cast: Mercy Johnson Okojie, Toyin Aimakhiu, Charles Okocha, Ali Nuhu, Ken Erics, Jim Iyke, Sola Sobawale, Akin Lewis, Bhaira Mcwizu, Kunle Idowu, Director: Biodun Stephen Producer: Toyin Aimakhu Executive Producer: Samuel Olatunji Casting: 1hr 50min Genre: Drama, Romance & Comedy Ratings: 12 The major problem was her mum who, was bent on frustrating her to go and get married, that the normal tradition expects that she marries first before her younger sister, she later gave her a deadline that she must come with a serious guy for her sister’s wedding in a few months’ time, this was now like a mission impossible for Bisola who had the time, had no single guy in the picture.

It was funny how her dad decided to step into her case and help her get 10 dates in two weeks, he spoke to his old friends who had sons, who weren’t married and were ready to settle down and arranged for them to meet up with his daughter, he was very optimistic that she might be lucky and find her Prince charming and Mr Right. Well I hate to break it to you, but they all turned out quiet bad, and for her it felt like a total disaster, she

thought to herself, if it was that difficult to find a single decent, sane and responsible your man. It was quiet funny how they ended the story.

To my verdict I score this movie a 6.5/ 10, the movie was simple and nice and had a few things going for them. The only hitch for me was that the story seemed like one we had seen over and over again.

We really need to have new stories that would come up with different and unique twist at the end. So I would recommend this for the comedy and romance lovers, who want to have a good laugh.

Feel free to review any movie of your choice in not more than 200 words, please send us a mail to linda@businessdayonline. com and stand a chance to win a free movie ticket.

Linda Ochugbua @lindaochugbua

o ma ny t i m e s you attend a conference or a speaking engagement and inspite of the microphone in the hands of the presenter you simply still cannot hear what is being said.

In the same space another person will take the microphone and be as loud and clear as ever. You wonder if the microphone went on a short vacation or deduce that the speaker truly is soft spoken.

Your voice is one of your prized assets, it depicts your personality, your character and your natural persona. How you project your voice also tells us how much of an extrovert or an introvert you are, given the circumstances.

Everybody has a voice no matter how low that can be projected to the hearing of all. Though because we are all different without a doubt a number of things can affect how you use your voice.

Your voice is key to direct communication, it sets an impression immediately both physically and virtually. One major factor that can affect the use your vocal abilities is LANGUAGE. Communication is either enhanced through speaking of the same language, dialect and intonation or alternatively by not saying anything at all and replacing with BODY LANGUAGE. By this you buttress your voice with gestures, signs and facial expressions which at times has been proven to speak louder than words themselves. I always say that to be able to speak clearly and audibly, a good exercise of stretching and breathing is one to try out before the engagement.

Things Affecting the Sound of Your Voice Environment: Many people given the task of speaking in an open external space many struggle to shout out loud even when there is no PA system to assist. Being an outside location may mean that there is a crowd or an audience that needs to be addressed. How far this audience is, the wind, the

weather and the waves may distort how well your voice is received.

Equipment: I did mention that for some no amount of equipment can help their voice because they have not practiced the art of using a microphone. The microphone still requires that you will need to raise your voice a little louder than usual for best results.

Sometimes the equipment itself is faulty; producing fuzzy unclear sounds or the speakers themselves are not well placed for quality sound effects. The equipment should always be tested before, during and after use.

Acoustics: The room or space you

are in also plays a major role in how well your voice is heard. When the venue or the room is in the basement it may have a dingy hollow effect on your voice. Also where there are many windows or how the room is laid out will determine the natural effect on the voice. It is again easier to have a room where participants are clustered together in front other than sparsely scattered all over the room.

All About You: Since we are all made up biologically different YOU play the ultimate card in bringing out the best in you. Some factors about you are truly given where you cannot change, these are your gender, age, colour or physiology. Other factors are grown over time steaming from experiences in life, your level

of exposure, your health and fitness regime and your state of mind. Your voice needs preparation, thoughtfulness and discipline. Be on your guard when you mount the stage always ensuring you are fit to stand for long.

Speaking Methodology: Pronunciation is the master of all communication enough for people listening to understand you.

In pronouncing words how do you come across?

How is the PACE of your voice? : Is it fast or slow?

How is the PITCH of your voice? : Is high or low?

How is the TONE of your voice? : Is it muffled or clear?

How is the POSITION of your voice? : Are you seated or standing How is your POSTURE? : Are you upright or bending?

How is your DICTION? : Are you verbally correct or not?

How is your enunciation? : Is it on a flat platform or floating on high waters?

How is your level of ARTICUL ATION? : Are you slanging or are you top notch?

Ultimately a visit to the speech clinic is great if you find yourself making speeches regularly. This will give you the opportunity to learn how to get rid of habitual words, fillers inappropriately used slangs.

Quick Speaking Tips i. Plan your speech from the introduction to the body and the conclusion ii. Know your audience and match them iii. Do a 5 – 7 minute breathing exercise before speaking events iv. Shorten your speaking event to bullet points for the day v. Record yourself making a speech to identify your habits or gaps vi. Notice your body language as you speak for impact vii. Practice practice practice Good luck Janet.adetu@jsketiquetteconsortium.com

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BUSINESS DAY

Harvard Business Review

Friday 12 October 2018

ManagementDigest

Why CEOs devote so much time to their hobbies EMILIA BUNEA

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hen Goldman Sachs named David Solomon as its new CEO earlier this year, the media didn’t just focus on his professional background and his rise through the ranks; it also covered his moonlighting as a bona fide DJ. Solomon, aka DJ D-Sol, is known for his mantra of finding passion at, and outside of, work — and he’s not an isolated case. We have identified dozens of S&P 500 CEOs who have what we call “serious leisure” interests. These are hobbies and volunteering gigs that often start at a young age and that individuals continue to invest considerable time and energy into.

Does serious leisure make you a better leader? The few studies that have looked at the job performance of CEOs with strong hobbies show mixed results.

For instance, CEOs who are also pilots lead more innovative companies, and CEOs who run marathons show better company performance — but excessive CEO golfing may actually harm shareholder value.

In our research, we set out to investigate why leaders make time for passionate leisure interests in their already impossibly busy schedules — and whether they feel it helps their job performance. We searched for public information on the hobbies of CEOs whose companies were in the S&P 500 at the start of 2018.

Our search yielded 56 CEOs for whom a serious leisure interest is known. For each of them, we scoured thousands of articles, videos and social media posts about them and their interests, which helped us build a rich picture about how they connect their hobbies to their leadership.

One of us (Emilia Bunea, a former CEO herself) also conducted private interviews with 17 CEOs of S&P 500, Fortune 500 and similarly sized U.S. companies, asking about their hob-

bies — and if they had a serious leisure activity, what it meant to them and their ability to lead.

A few common themes stood out about how a CEO’s passion impacts his or her professional career: IT PROVIDES DETACHMENT LIKE NOTHING ELSE CAN. Many CEOs opined that the complexity of the top job has increased dramatically, with diverse constituencies requiring their attention at any given time, and that they can never stop thinking about their work, even in their free time.

Such all-encompassing work schedules do not help their performance, as research shows: Excessive stress impairs strategic thinking and leads to increased aggression and reduced ability to engage in positive leadership behaviors. Being able to occasionally switch off is essential for stopping that constant background mulling, and simply relaxing on the couch or even spending time with loved ones isn’t enough.

Instead, research points to passionate, active leisure pursuits as the only ones that can offer a full recovery from the stress of work.

As Electronic Arts CEO Andy Wilson has said: “I train a lot of Brazilian jiujitsu, and you know, when someone’s trying to take your head off, you pretty much

can only think about that.”

IT MEANS CONSTANTLY STRIVING FOR YOUR “BEST SELF.” Having a true nonwork passion mean continually striving to improve yourself. Many of the “serious leisurites” in our sample have conquered impressive heights by objective standards: Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, led his squash team to the gold medal in the Maccabiah Games in his first year as CEO, while Entergy’s Leo Denault has brought home four Ironman medals. While competitiveness certainly comes up as a motivation, for most of these CEOs it is truly about reaching one’s highest potential, a lesson they’ve transferred to leading.

IT CAN PROVIDE A WELCOME HUMILITY LESSON. Evidence shows that humility at the top can translate into greater engagement all the way to the bottom of the organization. Several of the CEOs we spoke with touched on the importance of keeping hubris at bay. As one of them said: “I think it’s always good to do anything that keeps you humble.” When Mike Gregoire participates in cycling competitions with his work colleagues, he is not the fastest; his role is that of a “domestique” (a biking term that means “servant” in French), the team member who helps the better riders succeed, which can in-

volve lending them his bike and or even getting out of the race entirely.

IT OFFERS A “FULL CONTROL” EXPERIENCE. CEOs used to be seen as all-powerful leaders who could single-handedly control the fate of their companies. But increasingly intricate governance systems, stronger shareholder influence and the rapid pace of change all conspire to make the CEO’s “control panel” wobblier than ever. This can take a serious toll on top leaders’ emotional balance. One CEO told us: “I got into [competitive cycling] right after the financial downturn. And a lot of it was, ‘I can control this; I can’t control the world, but I can control how I exercise. And I need some level of control over something.’”

IT CREATES DIFFERENT, DEEPER CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR FOLLOWERS.Most CEOs who have a serious leisure interest have found a way to connect it to their followers. Dennis Muilenburg of Boeing and Arne Sorenson of Marriott engage in their favorite sports (cycling and running, respectively) with large teams of employees during their visits to company offices around the world. Going for a run with employees or joining a company sports team is a great way to get in touch with people outside of one’s typical circle.

2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

IT STRENGTHENS YOUR AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP. Authentic leaders develop their identities through the construction of their life stories, which illustrate how they became who they are. For the vast majority of the S&P 500 CEOs we studied, their passionate interests originated in college or even earlier and are fully integrated into their life stories, because they provide not only a powerful expression of their values but also their strong identities.

IT MAY SIMPLY MAKE YOU A BETTER LEADER. As two of our interviewed CEOs said, “How your mind works and clarity of thought all come along with it” and “It gives me great energy. ... I think energy has a big correlation with results and enjoyment and impact.” PayPal’s Dan Schulman has credited practicing martial arts with a host of leadership lessons, from “never standing still” to keeping one’s calm in a crisis to avoiding unnecessary fights with competitors.

Wondering how you could possibly squeeze time for serious leisure in your overbooked schedule? A recent Harvard Business Review article (“How CEOs Manage Time”) showed that CEOs have, on average, about 2.1 hours a day for “downtime.” The beauty of a passionate nonwork interest is that, in the words of one CEO, “It will force you to find time for it.”

Emilia Bunea is a corporate leader with nearly two decades of C-level experience at multinational firms, most recently as CEO of a financial services company with 2 million clients. Svetlana N. Khapova is a professor of careers and organization studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Evgenia I. Lysova is an assistant professor careers and organizational behavior at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

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Politics & Policy

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Grazing reserves: Afenifere accuses Tinubu of pursing personal agenda … It’s an excuse for Buhari’s failure - PDP INIOBONG IWOK

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L-R: Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate; Bishop David Oyedepo, Olusegun Obasanjo, former president; Uche Secondus, PDP national chairman during yesterday’s visit to Obasanjo’s home at Abeokuta.

“Assuming this is even true, Afenifere means that the good we want for ourselves is what we want for others .We would not support any suggestion that puts any section of the country in harm’s way.

“That Tinubu has maintained s i n f u l s i l e n c e a s h e rd s m e n launched vicious attacks on the South West and other sections of the country with thousands of lives lost in the last three years does not remove the fact that those who wear the shoe know where it pinches.

“He can play all the Ostrich he wants but we know he was mute when herdsmen kidnapped Olu Falae. He could not find his voice when herders killed people in

hordes in Yewa, Oke Ogun, Akure, Ekiti and the Middle Belt.

“Neither did I hear a word from Tinubu when herdsmen kidnapped and killed a Permanent Secretary in Osun where Tinubu and I are from.

“How can he say South West is not part of the affected states in a desperate bid to be in the good book of Miyetti Allah and its patrons”.

Meanwhile, the Southwest Vice chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Eddy Olafeso, has equally condemned calls for the setting up of grazing reserves across the country, saying that it was a sign of the failure of the Muhammadu Buhari administration to tackle the incessant killings across the country.

Speaking in an inte rview with BusinessDay, last night, Olafeso stressed that grazing reserve was a personal business which should be treated as such, adding that the party would work against such moves by the current administration.

“It is part of the move by the APC government and Tinubu to satisfy some section of the country, grazing reserve should be a personal business and should be treated as such.

“What have they done to check the killings? It is part of the failure of the Buhari government. They have refused to do something about the porous border which makes Nigerians prone to attacks,” Olafeso said.

Condemnation trails attack on police MAJA presidential candidate unveils station by APC youths in A/Ibom agenda, vows to change the empty change ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo Angered by the development, SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

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he presidential candidate of Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA), Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies has pledged to offer selfless and exemplary leadership to Nigerians if elected as the nation’s president in 2019.

The Ira-Kwara-born presidential hopeful said she would bring the real change which Nigerians are yearning for in running the country’s affairs.

Adesanya-Davies spoke about her agenda shortly after she was affirmed as the presidential flag bearer of the MAJA party.

The university don in a statement by her Special Assistant, Isioma Nkenchor, a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Wednesday said: “I, Princess Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies from the Ira

‘Single term of six years will end vote-buying in Nigeria’ BOLADALE BAMIGBOLA, Osogbo

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an-Yoruba socio cultural group, Afenifere, has lambasted former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over his call for the setting up of grazing reserves in some parts of the country as a solution to the incessant clash between farmers and herdsmen.

Afenifere in a release signed by its Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, made available to newsmen in Lagos yesterday, wondered why Tinubu was silent when thousands of Nigerians, and some leaders of the Southwest region were being kidnapped and killed, stressing that the group would never support calls for the setting up of grazing reserves in any part of the country.

The statement further accused Tinubu of pursuing a personal agenda, stressing that grazing was a personal business and that interested individuals should apply to such state for land allocation.

“Afenifere disagreed with Tinubu’s suggestion that the Federal Government should take over unoccupied and isolated lands in the country and convert them into grazing reserve, a demand Miyeti Allah has always put on the table.

“But for someone who has lived a life of denial, there is nothing for Tinubu to rebut in the offensive suggestion, he is playing with the intelligence of the public, only said he did not mention the South West in the suggestion as if the zone is not part of Nigeria.

Friday 12 October 2018

Palace, North Central of Nigeria, Kwara ‘State of Harmony’ set to offer selfless service by changing the empty change.

“This time, it’s not only in speech but in real action as well as practical demonstration of good governance set to be driven by my Advanced PMA Restructuring 12-Point Agenda which would be fully rooted in Populism Ideology within my Mission and Vision statements within the four years.”

Adesanya-Davies becomes the MAJA party’s candidate and flagbearer following her Presidential affirmation at the MAJA’s Convention in Abuja last Sunday.

MAJA is one of the parties that merged with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to form the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP).

Adesanya-Davies was the first person to declare for the 2019 presidency on January 1, 2018 in Ilorin, Kwara State.

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ondemnation has trailed the attack on a police station in Oboko Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State by youths suspected to be members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over moves to impose a candidate for the federal constituency in the forthcoming general elections.

It was gathered that APC substituted the name of the winner of the primary election in the federal constituency with another candidate who did not buy the expression of interest form.

Robinson Ebumoh, who reportedly won the primaries of the party had his name missing on the list approved by the state chapter of the party which allegedly has the name of Victor Attai, a former commissioner of culture and tourism who defected with former Godswill Akpabio from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC.

youths in the area attacked the police station vowing to resist any attempt by the party to substitute the name of the winner of the primaries conducted in constituency with another candidate.

Speaking when she visited the area, Felicia Bassey, the deputy speaker of the state house of assembly who hails from the area condemned in the strongest terms the attack of government property at Okobo Divisional Police Headquarters, Okopedi noting that it was unthinkable and “highly condemned that such magnitude of would be meted out on a federal government property in the name of politics.”

Bassey, who was accompanied on the visit by a former Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and former Member of the House of Representatives, Peter Linus Umoh, further maintained that such act of violence was a strange in the area which according to her is known for for peace, orderliness and political inclusiveness.

he candidate of Providence People’s Congress (PPC) in the last Osun governorship poll, Prof. Ife Adewumi, has called for limiting tenure of office for the executive in the country to a single term of six years.

The university lecturer was of the opinion that, if just one l term is permitted, the desperation to buy votes by the politicians would be eradicated.

The professor of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, who also lamented how voters’ inducement was relied on to compromise Osun governorship election, said the present leadership recruitment process in the country, would not allow for emergence of credible people.

The United State Consultant on environmental Engineering, during an interactive session with newsmen in Osogbo, averred that a single term tenure would encourage good governance and discourage using government money to finance re-election into office for another term by the incumbent.

The former chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife chapter noted that billboard politics should be de-emphasised, while advocating for a robust public debate for candidates of all parties participating in elections.

Though Adewumi said his party aligned with the call for the announcement of the governorship candidate of PDP, Senator Ademola Adeleke as the duly elected governor of Osun St, he however expressed his party’s resolve to support the declared governor-elect, Adegboyega Oyetola.

He commended Oyetola whom he described as a cool headed and intelligent person for his readiness to run an inclusive government.

“I urge him to run a welfarist government that would guarantee abundant life to the people of Osun. The prevailing economic situation in the state is not palatable.

“I also urge him to read the mind of the people of Osun by embarking on prompt payment of salaries for workers, also pay emoluments of retirees and scrap single uniform for students in public schools for easy identification,” Adewumi said.

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‘Belgium police raids football clubs over match-fixing’ Stories by ANTHONY NLEBEM

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elgian police has carried out series of raids at football clubs and h o m e s a c ro s s t h e country and detained many people for questioning about financial fraud and possible match-fixing, Belgian prosecutors said.

A total of 44 searches were carried out at top Belgian clubs and residences, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

At the same time, searches of 13 houses also took place in France, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia.

Prosecutors did not name any clubs or people, but Belgian broadcasters VRT and RTBF said searches had taken place at leading teams, including Anderlecht, Club Bruges and Standard Liege.

Prosecutors said the searches were related to an investigation launched at the end of 2017 into suspected financial transactions in the top Belgian league, with possible charges of criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption.

Some agents were suspected of hiding commissions on transfers, players’ pay and other payments from the Belgian authorities, the prosecutors said.

“During the investigation, there were indications of possible influencing of matches in the 20172018 season,” the prosecutors said.

The searches come after Belgium reached the World Cup semi-finals.

Most of the national team squad now play abroad but previously played in the Belgian premier league, which is a major feeder of players for top European club sides.

Some of the house searches were carried out at the homes of club directors, football agents, referees, a former lawyer, a trainer, and journalists and at an accountancy office.

“A large number of people have been deprived of their liberty and taken in for a thorough interrogation,” the prosecutors said.

He added that a judge would later decide who should be held in custody or formally arrested.

The searches abroad were chiefly at offices and residences of people used to set up the suspect transactions, the prosecutors said.

Odion Ighalo is Nigerian highest paid footballer in 2018 JONATHAN ADEROJU

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he Nigerian football industry in recent years keeps growing and getting better when it comes to players’ value.

Many top Nigerian players get paid quite high right now many Nigerian players are on the list of highest paid players in Africa.

According to the most recent ranking by infopedia, Odion Ighalo is now ranked as the current highest paid footballer in Nigeria. He earns N90 million as against N13 million he earned while at Watford. He plays as a striker for the

est paid Nigerian footballer; however he was formerly the leading as the top earner in Europe until Ighalo took over.

Although he is listed among the Nigerian professional footballers who play in the English premier league.

He earns weekly N31 million at Leicester City after a transfer from Manchester City as compared to his former earn at N 36 million this showed he dropped at about 15 percent.

Victor Moses who is often used as a wing back in Chelsea is the fourth highest paid Nigeria footballer. Victor Moses can operate as a winger and is also among Nigeria football stars to

Odion Ighalo

national team and also for Changchun Yatai.

The second highest Midfielder, Mikel Obi is second earner on the list of highest paid Nigerian footballers in the Chinese league with a weekly salary of N66 million in his current club, Tianjin TEDA as against N33 million from his former club Chelsea.

Kelechi Iheanacho is the third high-

earn big salary in England. He earns N 31 million weekly as against N 22 million weekly prior to his contract renewal.

Also the Nigeria assistant skipper Ahmed Musa who became fans favourite when he scored two goals against Iceland in the world cup 2018 is the fifth highest paid Nigerian footballer.

This made him the undisputed Nigerian football star of the world cup.

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Economic diversification: What can we learn...

Continued from back page

speculations while putting a lid on wholesale capital account liberalisation. Today, the world community of economists are agreed that he was right.

Malaysia showed a capacity for independent thinking, innovation and deployment of knowledge capital to tackling some of their arduous challenges. Malaysia is today a world leader in ICT, petrochemicals and other strategic sectors. Petronas, the country’s national oil giant, was restructured to operate on strictly commercial principles. The country today is prosperous economy with a diversified base covering electrical/electronic products, medical/ pharmaceutics, metals, machinery, food-processing, health and tourism, logistics and business services. All these were achieved through focused leadership, an effective bureaucracy, aggressive trade and industrial policies, innovation and creativity.

The final example that comes to mind is Gulf nation of UAE. It is a confederation of seven emirates, namely, of which the most prominent are Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I have been a regular visitor to Dubai, and like many visitors, I continue to marvel at the vision and wisdom that has seen this Emirate grow from a desert backwater based on exporting pearls to a diversified prosperous high-income country.

The UAE has a total population of 5.7 million, if you exclude over 3 million immigrant workers. It has a GDP of US$647 billion, way ahead of Nigeria’s. Its per capita GDP of US$67,616 far outstrips that of the United States which stands at US$57,220.

How did the UAE attain these enviable heights?

First, it was through the vision of its late paramount ruler and President, Sheikh Zayd bin Sultan al Nahyan, who passed away in November 2004. During the late seventies the country discovered oil and became one of the biggest of the Gulf oil exporters. From early 1990s, Sheikh Zayd gave marching orders to his economic planners that he wanted his henceforth coun-

try must accelerate diversification away from oil. He set the target of 50% dependence on oil for local and foreign earnings.

Dubai took the lead among the Emirates, thanks to the equally bold and visionary leadership of its Prime Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum. Sheikh Rashid has been something of a philosopher-king; a poet-prime minister who sees no limits to what human thought, creativity and vision can accomplish. He famously declared that, “Innovation is what defines our status among nations and the value we add to the world around us”. Mark his words carefully: he did not harp on how much oil or gas or commodities lay buried under the soil of his native land; rather, he underlined the role of creativity and innovation as the foundation of his country’s economic success and status among the nations.

What are the lessons for Nigeria in terms of how to implement a successful diversification drive?

I believe that, this time, it is different. Low oil prices will become the ‘new normal’ for a long time to come. We have no choice but to place the new agenda of diversification at the heart of our national economic policy. For a country the size of ours, with more than 17o million, we have little or no option but to diversify. But we must eschew the empty rhetoric of the past. We must move on boldly to implement a new vision anchored on agriculturebased mass industrialisation. Either Nigeria will become an advanced industrial-technological state or we would be nothing.

Successful diversification in our context will require visionary and bold leadership; creative and original thinking; the forging of a national consensus on the way forward for our country; a coherent development strategy anchored on agriculture-led mass industrialisation; a framework for implementation with a concise blueprint and a systematic roadmap with timelines, effective monitoring and evaluation with measurable indicators, with rigorous follow-up and feedback.

I get worried when I hear people

mentioning agriculture as the path to diversification. That will take us nowhere. We need an integrated approach, linking agriculture to agribusiness, food processing and SMEs. We also must leverage on our considerable endowments in solid minerals, linking these to manufacturing, steel, metals, machine tools and precision engineering.

Diversification must never mean jettisoning the petroleum sector.

While petrol may be on its way out as a source of energy, we have the potential to become a world centre for the petrochemicals industry. We need to learn from Saudi Aramco and from Petronas of Malaysia and Petrobras of Brazil that have been restructured as forward-looking world class energy organisations.

The NNPC as currently constituted is a Byzantine cash cow that is totally unsustainable. We also need to go big on petrochemicals and LNG, linking these to power, manufacturing and other sectors, with an eye to domestic and world markets. We also need a robust infrastructure base. We need railways, railways, railways. We must link all our major cities and towns with fast modern trains based on new technology that has a strong base on a growing iron and steel sector.

The overall foundations of economic diversification must be anchored on a mass agro-based industrial revolution. But such a revolution requires certain critical conditions: a coherent development strategy that drives a stable macroeconomic and financial environment; an eco-system conducive to manufacturing, a merit-based civil service, a strong and stable naira; enhanced productivity in the real sector; and heavy investments in human capital, skills, innovation and research, particularly in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. There must be a new leadership committed to economic development and socio-economic transformation. It requires noting less than a sea change in the structure of domestic politics, leadership mindsets and the way we govern our people.

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Live @ The Exchanges Market gains 0.11% as investors buy large cap stocks IHEANYI NWACHUKWU

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nvestors’ interest in low priced largely capitalised stocks impacted positively on the outcome of Thursday’s trading.

The benchmark performance indicator of the Nigerian Bourse increased by 0.11percent as 15 stocks gained against 15 laggards.

Nestle Nigeria Plc led the advancers while Forte Oil Plc stock price declined most.

The value of listed stock increased by N13billion as investors took positions in the value counters.

The equities market closed on a positive note, as NSE ASI appreciated to 32,417.82 points as against 32,382.58 points recorded previously.

The stock market’s year-to-date (YtD) returns stood

L–R: Seyi Osunkeye, national council member, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Adeola Mojisola, council secretary, NSE; Patrick Adebayo Ajayi, national council member, NSE; Abimbola Ogunbanjo, president, national council, NSE; Patience Nohuoma Alile, wife of Apostle Alile; Oscar N. Onyema, CEO, NSE, and Yomi Adeyemi, national council member, NSE, during a condolence visit to the family of erstwhile director-general Hayford Alile,

at -15.23percent.

The value of listed stocks increased from N11.822trillion to N11.835trillion.

In 2,857 deals, stocks traders exchanged 148,527,210 units valued at N2.859billion.

GTBank Plc, Fidelity

A new product to boost the AUM of PFAs -FBN Quest Capital research

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he assets under management (AUM) of the Nigerian regulated pension industry increased by 17.4percent year-on-year (y/y) in August to N8.33trillion ($27.3billion).

They are growing at a reasonable rate yet, at just 7.3percent of 2017 GDP, are running well behind many emerging markets. Nigeria was relatively late (2004) in introducing legislation creating a sound structure for regulated pensions.

If the industry is to

come close to realizing its full potential, forwardlooking leadership from the regulator and new products to extend coverage across the economy are required.

The industry’s holdings of FGN paper amounted to 68.5percent of their AUM in August, compared with 72.1percent one year earlier. The beneficiary has been domestic money market securities, which gained a 4.5percent share over the period.

The role of the PFAs in local debt markets re-

mains pivotal. Their holdings of FGN bonds at end-August represented 47.3percent of the stock of the instruments at endJune.

The share of AUM held in domestic equities has declined over 12 months from 8.9percent to 7.6percent. The NSEASI fell by 1.9percent over the same period. The PFAs therefore have to make up some ground to meet revised Pencom regulations stipulating that retirement savings accountholders under the age of 49 must have at least 10percent exposure to equities by end2018.

The latest PenCom data show a total of 8.24 million scheme memberships, implying an average portfolio of N1.01million (unchanged from June).

PenCom has placed advertisements in the local media to announce the launch shortly of a new micro pension for the selfemployed and employees of small firms. Access will be via multichannel platforms and investors will be able to withdraw up to 40percent of their contributions before their retirement.

Bank Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Transcorp Plc and FBN Holdings Plc were actively traded stocks on Custom Street.

Nestle Nigeria Plc rallied most from N1,420.3 to N1,430, up

by N9.7 or 0.68percent ; Okomu Oil Palm Plc

increased from N75.8 to N79.8, up N4 or 5.28percent.

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc rallied from N42.95 to N45, up N2.05 or 4.77percent ; while Flour Mills Nigeria Plc advanced from N20.4 to N21.95, up N1.55 or 7.60percent.

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc increase from N14.55 to N14.7, up 15kobo or 1.03percent ; Forte Oil Plc stock price dipped from N22.1to N20.25, down N1.85 or 8.37percent ; Nigerian Breweries Plc declined from N85.5 to N85, down by 50kobo or 0.58percent ; GTBank Plc dipped from N36.9 to N36.5, down 40kobo or 1.08percent.

CUTIX dipped from N4.5 to N4.33, down by 17kobo or 3.78percent ; while UBA plc stock price decreased from N8.2 to N8.05, down by 15kobo or 1.83percent.

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Lagarde defends Fed interest rate rises after Trump attack IMF managing director’s comments come hours after US president called increases ‘crazy’ CHRIS GILES

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hristine Lagarde came to the defence of the US Federal Reserve at the IMF’s annual meetings in Bali on Thursday, calling its interest rate rises “legitimate and necessary” less than a day after President Donald Trump described them as “crazy”.

As stock markets continued to sell off in Asia, the IMF’s managing director called for global leaders not to break the system of international co-operation that she said has served the world well since the second world war, and rejected US complaints that China was engaged in competitive devaluations of the renminbi.

Ms Lagarde said the intervention was part of an effort to not forget the dangers of protectionism and highlight the benefits of global cooperation and international rules.

Nations should “de-escalate trade tensions, fix the system not break it, [create] the right policy mix and that includes inclusive growth”, she said. “Everyone is the brother or the sister of the other,” she added.

The IMF has been vocal in its support of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to normalise interest rates as inflationary pressure has grown in the US. But the fund has also warned that the consequences of the action was likely to be more volatile international monetary flows, including capital flight from some emerging economies and the potential for financial market volatility.

Speaking after Mr Trump blamed the US stock market drops on the Fed, saying that it had “gone

crazy”, Ms Lagarde said: “It is fair to observe and all people are observing that the US equity market and stock markets in general have been extremely high.”

She added that some of the risks across economies in the world were “consequences of legitimate and necessary monetary tightening”, contradicting Mr Trump.

Ms Lagarde also had little sympathy for the US administration’s concerns that China was engaged in currency manipulation, deliberately devaluing the renminbi to offset the tariffs that the US has im-

Joao Lourenço has a chance to transform Angola But doubts remain about his commitment to real change DAVID PILLING

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f all the momentous changes sweeping across southern Africa, the least noticed — though perhaps the most significant — are those in Angola.

Understandably there has been great focus on Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe was pushed out by the military and a new leader installed and subsequently elected.

In South Africa, too, the ousting of Jacob Zuma and his replacement as president by Cyril Ramaphosa has raised lavish expectations that the rot of the Zuma years can be extinguished. But it is events in Angola, sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest economy and its second-largest oil exporter, where arguably the greatest drama is taking place.

It all began in August 2017 with what looked like a routine — if generational — changing of the guard. After 38 years as president, José Eduardo dos Santos nominated João Lourenço as his successor. Angola had been one of the most tightly controlled economies in Africa, with much of the country’s considerable wealth centred around a coterie of well connected

people. During her father’s reign, Isabel dos Santos — the “princess of Angola” — had become the richest woman in Africa, with an estimated net worth of $2.2bn.

One of the president’s sons, Filomeno, considered less astute in business than his sharpshooter sister, was given a $5bn sovereign wealth fund to play with.

Most Angolan observers assumed that little would alter.

Although Mr Lourenço would be president, Mr dos Santos would remain chairman of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the party that has dominated Angola since independence in 1975. Many expected Mr Lourenço to be a puppet. Instead, he has grabbed hold of the strings.

Change began almost immediately. In his inauguration speech, Mr Lourenço — or JLo as he is known — hit out at the monopolies in telecoms and cement controlled by the dos Santos family.

He fired the governor of the central bank, later alleging there had been a plot to spirit $500m of the country’s reserves abroad in the final weeks of the dos Santos era.

These turned out to be just Continues on page 35

posed on its imports from China.

“If you compare the position of the renminbi relative to the dollar, the story has a lot to do with the strength of the dollar,” Ms Lagarde said.

“If you compared the renminbi with a basket of currencies, there is a bit of depreciation, but not as much, and we have supported the move of China towards flexibility and we have encouraged the authorities to continue along this path going forward.”

She urged the US and China not to escalate their trade disputes into a currency war. “I sincerely hope that we don’t move in either the direction of a trade war or currency

war. It would be detrimental on both accounts for all participants and there would also be lots of innocent bystanders,” she said.

Addressing specific US concerns about Chinese subsidies and potential theft of intellectual property, she recognised there were procedures at the WTO specifically designed to assess issues of state subsidies in trade. “Those issues need to be clarified and agreed, which is why we certainly advocate de-escalation and sitting around the table, so that we can improve the system as it is so that it works better for all and so that it is fairer in many ways,” she said.

Ms Lagarde also sought to address the Trump administration’s concerns that the fund might indirectly bail out China if it agreed a new lending programme to Pakistan, saying that the IMF would insist on “absolute transparency” and demand to know how exposed the state was ultimately to Chinese and other debt.

“We really need to understand the position of the debt burden in terms of sovereign and state-owned enterprises so that we can really appreciate the debt sustainability of that country when we are producing a programme,” she said.

Brazil’s big soyabean win turns painful

China demand sends price up more than 30% but leaves domestic supplies perilously low EMIKO TERAZONO

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razil is discovering that winning big in trade wars comes at a cost.

Since Beijing imposed a 25 percentage point tariff increase from 3 per cent on imports of US soyabeans in June, Brazilian farmers have reaped a windfall as China has turned to the South American country for the crop that is turned into animal feed and oil.

The ravenous demand from China, which has become the world’s largest importer of the commodity, has sent the price for Brazilian soyabeans surging more than 30 per cent this year but left domestic supplies run dangerously low.

“Traders and producers alike are clearing out every last bin in order to take advantage of the upside in prices stemming from international trade tensions,” US Department of Agriculture officials based in Brasília noted this month.

Exports to China hit 54m tonnes in the first eight months of the crop year from February, already up more than 10 per cent over the same period in 2017, according to Agricensus, the price reporting agency.

The boom in exports of soya-

beans, mainly grown in central and southern Brazil, means that business for the domestic soya processing industry, which crushes the commodity into soyabean oil and meal, has slowed.

“The [Brazilian] crushers are running out of soyabeans,” said Michael Magdovitz, commodity analyst at Rabobank, a leading lender to agribusinesses. He added that the rise in the processors’ purchase price for soyabeans meant that their margins were getting squeezed.

The inventories, which provide a buffer against sudden shortages of soyabeans in Brazil, are forecast by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization/AMIS to fall to a 6-year low of 800,000 tonnes at the end of this year.

With China historically importing about a third of its soyabeans from the US, where it is mainly grown in the Midwest, the global industry has found itself in the crosshairs of the escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing. US farmers are feeling the impact as soyabean prices in Chicago have plunged.

Rising meat consumption by China’s burgeoning middle class is fuelling demand for soyabeans, which is used as pig feed.

And Chinese consumers are also seeing the effect of the soaring price of Brazilian soyabeans, which is feeding into the local price of pork. The price of soyabean meal on the Dalian Commodity Exchange has surged more than 12 per cent since the start of September, taking its gain for the year to more than a fifth.

It is a cost that has been deepened by the sharp rise in the Brazilian real over the past month as investors warm to the economic agenda of presidential frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro.

“What happens in the Brazilian elections is affecting the price of pork on the Chinese dinner table,” said Andrew Allan, analyst at AgriCensus.

One question is whether Brazil now turns to the US, where soyabean prices have declined, to replenish its own supplies. “Prices are so low at the ports in the US Gulf that the economics might work,” said Mr Allan, although he noted that many of the Brazilian crushers were inland, which would push up the cost.

Get alerts on Agricultural commodities when a new story is published Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2018. All rights reserved.

Friday 12 October 2018

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BUSINESS DAY

NATIONAL NEWS

FT Joao Lourenço has a chance to transform...

Chinese agent charged over attempt to steal GE secrets

Continued from page 34 the opening shots. Subsequent events have had Angola-watchers gasping. Filomeno was ousted as head of the sovereign wealth fund. Isabel — whom many had regarded as untouchable — was sacked as head of Sonangol, the state oil company cum cash machine. Filomeno was then arrested in connection with the missing — now recovered — $500m. His close associate, Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, whose Zurich-based Quantum Global was given the mandate to manage the $5bn sovereign wealth fund, is also in custody. The government accuses him of mismanaging the funds and charging excessive fees, allegations he denies. Quantum Global also denies involvement in the alleged $500m fraud.

Last month, Mr Lourenço replaced Mr dos Santos as MPLA chairman, earlier than expected.

The new central bank governor has begun to clean up a banking sector riddled with bad loans, many linked to cronies of the old regime. Angola has begun to woo foreign investors, to talk of private-sector led growth and of diversification from oil, which accounts for 95 per cent of exports.

What happens in Angola matters. Though inequality is entrenched, it is an upper middleincome country with a gross domestic product of about $125bn, six times the size of Zimbabwe’s.

It produces 1.7m barrels of oil a day, making it the world’s eighthlargest exporter. Reserves, which have been dwindling, could rise again if Mr Lourenço persuades multinationals to step up their investment. Angola is also a locus of the new “scramble” for Africa, a country where China has made huge inroads. In the past three years alone, Angola’s debt has ballooned by $23bn, much of it money from Beijing. Mr Lourenço has shown signs of wanting to tilt back to the west, repairing relations with western oil companies and seeking help — and therefore scrutiny — from the IMF. Still, there are reasons to pause.

The anti-corruption drive may not lead to genuine change. So far, the campaign has been targeted tightly around close associates of the previous dos Santos regime. It is easy to pin all Angola’s woes on the leader of the past four decades.

It is harder to put something coherent in its place. As with China’s president Xi Jinping, Mr Lourenço may be motivated more by consolidating power and shoring up the ruling party than by a genuine overhaul of the political economy.

Nor is it clear what impact changes will have on 28m ordinary Angolans. Many are desperately poor in spite of the country’s obvious wealth. If the economy is managed better, their lot could improve.

But only if it is managed radically differently can it be transformed.

The curtain is closing on the old era.

The hope — still only a hope — is it will open on a new one.

Luigi Di Maio, deputy prime minister and head of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, told Italian media this week that the budget would still be imposed even if the spread were to rise above 400bp.

However, Credit Suisse analyst Carlo Tomaselli was sceptical about the government’s position, saying: “The sovereign spread above 400bp is not sustainable.”

35

Allegations relate to move to obtain information from US aerospace companies KADHIM SHUBBER AND PETER WELLS

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Salvini’s budget fight with Brussels rattles investors Those who took League leader’s market-friendly language at face value left feeling burnt MILES JOHNSON

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ast month, days before Italy’s populist coalition government was due to announce its spending plans, prime minister Giuseppe Conte met in New York with Larry Fink, head of BlackRock, one of the world’s largest investment groups.

In the same month, Scott Thiel, a senior investor at the company, said he had become so convinced that Rome would embrace a “marketfriendly outcome” for its budget that he had started snapping up Italian debt.

Some international investors had become increasingly confident that Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy’s hardright League party and the dominant figure in the government, was not the unpredictable anti-European populist some had feared. Now, many will be worried they made an error of judgment.

“He is focused on an end goal,” said Francesco Galietti, a risk consultant in Rome. “If he is forced to choose between being marketfriendly, and politics, he will prioritise his political interests”.

Mr Salvini had increasingly started to sound like a pragmatist who could

be trusted to control his anti-establishment Five Star coalition partner. At a summit on the shores of Italy’s Lake Como in September, he had given a masterclass in telling an audience of business leaders and investors exactly what they wanted to hear. “Every morning, before I call my kids, I check the [Italian bond] spread,” he said.

This week, investors watched in dismay as Mr Salvini, next to Marine Le Pen at a joint press conference in Rome, launched a tirade against “Soros-esque” speculators after the European Commission warned the Italian government that its budget plans for next year will break eurozone spending rules. With Italy’s borrowing costs shooting up to the highest level in four years since the budget plans were announced, anyone who had bought its debt will be nursing losses.

Mr Thiel and BlackRock declined to comment.

Mr Salvini launched another broadside against financial markets on Wednesday. “Should I change my policies — my agreement with Italians — on the basis of what some speculators decide in morning? No,” he said in an interview on Italian television.

“If someone speculates to try and make us turn back he is wrong, and he will lose.”

As Mr Salvini ramps up this rhetoric, investors fear the government is not only willing to risk a head-on collision with Brussels over its budget plans, but will also dare to stare down financial markets.

“It seems to us that [Five Star leader] Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini are prepared to play hardball, and the disruption could help them gain power in the next EU parliament election,” said Kaspar Hense, a portfolio manager at BlueBay Asset Management.”

Mr Salvini has set his sights on achieving a big result in next year’s European elections and has been emboldened by polls showing the League has overtaken Five Star as Italy’s most popular party.

“Salvini is an extremely rational actor, he is not a mad dog,” said Mr Galietti. “He cares about the consolidation of his power, and increasing the power of the League.”

The question remains, at what point financial markets could force Mr Salvini to change course. Mr Salvini said on Wednesday that the spread at which Italian 10-year government bonds traded over their German equivalent would never rise to above 400 basis points, effectively setting a target for markets to test.

Cameroon election dispute pushes country towards crisis Opposition leader declares victory over President Paul Biya ahead of official result NEIL MUNSHI

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ameroon is on the brink of a political crisis after the government branded a leading opposition politician an “outlaw” for declaring victory in Sunday’s presidential elections.

President Paul Biya is widely expected to win re-election to a seventh term when results are certified in the next two weeks, but a declaration of victory from Maurice Kamto is threatening to cause new strife in a tense country.

The US embassy in Cameroon has called “on all parties to wait until the official results are announced before making pronouncements about the supposed winner”.

The election took place with tensions in Cameroon running high as Mr Biya, a francophone leader in power since 1982, faces an armed rebellion sparked by a crackdown on peaceful anglophone protests in 2016.

The poll became a flashpoint in English-speaking regions, where rebels who want to create an independent anglophone state banned voting. The contested result threatens to further undermine elections seen by many in Cameroon and in the international community as neither free nor fair.

Mr Kamto, a former minister in the Biya government, said at a press conference that he had “received a clear mandate from the people and I intend to defend it until the end”.

He did not cite any evidence for his claim.

Mr Biya is among Africa’s longest-serving rulers.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, his information minister, said: “You cannot want to govern Cameroon and not abide by its laws and regulations.

We call upon the Cameroonian people, of whose great maturity we are convinced, to wait serenely for the proclamation of the results by the constitutional council.”

Hans De Marie Heungoup, an International Crisis Group analyst, estimated that turnout in the anglophone region was under 5 per cent, compared with about 55 per cent in francophone areas.

He tweeted that Mr Kamto’s declaration of victory meant Cameroon was “de facto getting into a post-electoral crisis”.

A number of African countries have in recent years seen opposition candidates claim victory in elections marred by irregularities.

In 2016, the government of Gabon responded violently to the opposition claiming victory. Last year’s Kenyan elections had to be

rerun after disputed results. This year, security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in Zimbabwe, killing at least six, after the opposition declared victory in what it deemed a stolen election.

Zanda Carol, who lives in Buea in English-speaking Cameroon, said his city of more than 100,000 people was a ghost town on election day.

Soldiers stalked the streets, while armed independence fighters declared a ban on voting in what they called an illegal poll.

“We are between two devils,” Mr Carol said by phone from Buea, where gunfire raged throughout election day.

The insurgency in the anglophone region, where a fifth of Cameroon’s 24m people live, represents perhaps the greatest challenge Mr Biya has faced in 36 years in power. Hundreds of thousands have fled violence from soldiers and militant separatists.

The president rules by decree and has abolished term limits while allowing what critics call a façade of multi-party democracy.

The international community has largely been silent about the anglophone crisis, in part, critics charge, because Cameroon is a key member of the fight against Boko Haram, the jihadi group present in the country’s far north.

S authorities charged a Chinese spy for allegedly attempting to steal trade secrets from American aerospace companies, including a subsidiary of General Electric, in a case where the agent was lured to Europe to be arrested.

The Department of Justice said Yanjun Xu, a Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) operative, had been extradited to the US this week after his arrest in Belgium in April. He appeared to be the first MSS officer brought to the US and charged.

Mr Xu is the second Chinese citizen the US has indicted in as many months in a trade secrets case, as Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on alleged economic espionage by China.

“This case is not an isolated incident. It is part of an overall economic policy of developing China at American expense,” said John Demers, chief of the justice department’s national security division, in a statement.

The indictment, unsealed on Wednesday, alleged Mr Xu’s role at MSS, China’s intelligence and security agency, involved obtaining technical information and trade secrets from aviation and aerospace companies in the US and Europe. An attorney for Mr Xu could not be immediately identified.

His alleged tactics included identifying “experts” who worked for the companies and arranging their travel to China to give presentations at universities. Mr Xu told the targets he was associated with Jiangsu Science & Technology Promotion Association, according to the indictment.

In one case in 2017, Mr Xu and another Chinese intelligence agent, not identified in the indictment, persuaded an engineer for an Ohiobased aircraft engine supplier to visit the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronomics for an “exchange” of ideas, according to court documents.

The engineer gave a presentation at the university in June 2017 that included details of engines built by the company. He was paid $3,500 and reimbursed for meal and hotel expenses, the US alleged.

In the months that followed, Mr Xu continued to attempt to coax information from the engineer, asking him detailed questions about composite materials the company used and requesting he send a file directory for his computer, according to the indictment.

The engineer provided the directory, but heavily edited to remove sensitive information and with the approval of the company.

Mr Xu then arranged to meet with the engineer in Belgium, according to the charges. He was arrested on April 1, the same day he entered the country, in what appears to have been a co-ordinated sting operation involving Belgian authorities.

The justice department said in its announcement that GE Aviation had been targeted by Mr Xu but said the company’s co-operation and internal controls protected its proprietary information.

GE Aviation said in an emailed statement that the impact to the company was “minimal thanks to early detection” and their partnership with the FBI. “No sensitive information relating to military programs was targeted or obtained,” the company said.

BUSINESS DAY

C002D5556

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

Opinion Economic diversification: What can we learn from others

I

have always maintained that we must diversify or perish.

There is no other way for Nigeria. Given that our population doubles every 30 years, our demographics will exceed the 400 million mark by the year 2050.

How on earth are we going to provide for such a population without weaning our economy away from oil dependence and building a more robust foundation for economic prosperity? Succeeding governments have paid lipservice to diversification, but no major policy initiatives have so far been taken in that direction.

We can and must do better.

According to a recent study by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), some of the more successful African diversifiers include Mauritius, Tunisia, Egypt, Botswana, Kenya and South Africa. In the context of the emerging economies, I believe there is a lot to learn from countries such as the Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Chile and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Among the key drivers of successful diversification are: (i) quality/magnitude of investment in infrastructures and key sectors; (ii) effective trade and industrial policies; (iii) dynamic growth performance in productivity and output; (iv) macroeconomic

stability anchored on sound fiscal/monetary policies and improvements in key economic fundamentals such as interest rates, exchange rate, inflation and access to affordable credit for SMEs and the real sector; and (v) institutional variables such as good governance, enhanced national competitiveness, absence of conflict and an attractive environment for local business and international investors. At the heart of any diversification effort is provision of critical public goods such as physical infrastructures, in particular electricity, railways, roads, harbours and a high level of human capital and skills.

Four countries – Mauritius, Brazil, Malaysia and UAE provide good examples on how to implement an effective diversification and structural transformation strategy.

Mauritius is a small island nation in the Indian Ocean with a population of only 1.3 million people. But it has an impressive GDP of US$18 billion and a per capita income of US$11,000.

The latter far outstrips Nigeria’s per capita income of US$2,500.

Mauritius was largely dependent on sugar exports in the early years of its independence. However, they took bold steps by diversifying their economy through

textiles and other manufactured products. They had to lay down a solid infrastructure base as well as effective industrial, trade and labour practices. Leadership and democratic stability were critical to their success. Today, Mauritius consistently ranks in first place in Africa in terms of national competitiveness. I visited the country a few years and was impressed with what I found. Democracy and the rule of law, purposeful leadership and stability have given this island nation a headstart in economic prosperity compared to Nigeria.

With a population of over 200 million, and a total GDP of US$1.5 trillion, Brazil is a middle-income country with a GDP per capita of US$7,477. Remarkable for an emerging economy, Brazil hosted not only the World Cup but also, recently, the Olympic Games. Not too long ago, Brazil was dismissed by the German writer Stefan Zweig, as the country of ‘eternal potential’. Not anymore. For centuries, the country was held back a corrupt ruling class made up of oppressive latifundia land owners lording over an oppressed and dispossessed peasantry. The military also ruled with a heavy hand, denying the country the liberty and justice needed to flourish and bloom. Today, however, Brazil

HumanAngle FEMI OLUGBILE Physician, psycho-profiler and essayist

is a forward-looking, progressive nation. But, like Mauritius, race discrimination remains the perennial experience of black Brazilians who number almost 50% of the population.

The foundations of Brazilian transformation were anchored on the restoration of democracy and the rule of law and in development of sectors such as steel, automobiles, pharmaceutics and agribusiness. During the years of President Fernando Cardoso, Brazil restructured the foundations of its economic and social system. Cardoso, a brilliant professor of economic sociology, was brave enough to address subjects that were considered taboo in respectable Brazilian society: racial discrimination against the black people and the Amazonian Indians and poverty in the sprawling urban favelas. Cardoso was humble enough to concede that he did not understand technical economics enough to do it alone. He enlisted the help of top-class economists in revamping monetary and fiscal policies, implementing industrial reforms and rejuvenating the momentum for growth.

Building on those foundations, Cardoso’s successor Lula da Silva implemented successful social reforms to redress prevail-

ing inequities through the ZeroHunger Programme and the Bolsa Familia social transfers that, within a decade, lifted more than 20 million Brazilians out of poverty and destitution. There was a commitment to science and innovation – to using local skills and local knowledge systems to make innovative products for local and world markets. There are still many challenges in Brazil, but the country is well on its way to joining the ranks of prosperous economies.

The story of Malaysia is equally impressive. This Asian, predominantly Muslim nation of 31 million people has a GDP almost double that of Nigeria’s, at US$800 billion. It is a prosperous highincome country with a GDP per capita of US$25 billion. For several decades Malaysia was prominently an oil and commodity exporting nation. They took bold steps to diversify their economy under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed. Mahathir was a rather temperamental leader who was not afraid to pick quarrels with the IMF and World Bank when he believed they were wrong. At a time when they discourage economic planning, he embraced it.

During the Asian financial crisis in the late nineties, the Malaysian

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

several years ago, at the height of his powers. Initially it was a shock to everyone. Some people thought it was a move by the white establishment to discredit and disempower one of the most successful figures in black American history.

Bill Cosby is in jail now, serving a three to ten-year sentence. A lot of his vast fortune has been con-

opinion, he was not a suitable person to sit in the highest court in the land. The principal accuser was a Professor of Psychology, who, before all the world, stood up to describe how her life has been permanently scarred by the trauma she underwent so long ago when he tried to rape her.

Kavanaugh’s story, though, has not ended the way of Weinstein or Cosby – he has been approved for the Supreme Court by a supremely partisan Congress. But the whole drama has inflicted a massive scar on American society itself, further tearing it down the middle.

What seems clear is that the sexual exploitation of women is not new and is not localized to any part of the world. Some months ago, there was the case of a Professor who was dismissed from Obafemi Awolowo University for demanding ‘sex-for-marks’ from a female student. A University in Lagos has just dismissed two lecturers for the same offence.

Most surprisingly, a recent conversation with an old classmate from Medical School revealed that even in the sedate cultured atmosphere of University life several years ago, some female students were having to cope with sexual harassment, unbeknownst to their male colleagues. The classmate in question described an experience of being chased around the table in the office of an eminent Professor of Gynaecology. She considered herself a ‘survivor’, and the experience still rankled deeply, after four decades.

There are, of course, several other sides to the story. There are women who use their sexuality to make a living or seek unmerited advantage in work and social situations. The Biblical Esther was favoured of God, but that favour was manifested in her being able to sexually attract King Ahasuerus of Persia and become his Queen.

There is a disturbing tendency

to try alleged sexual predators in the court of public opinion, without recourse to due process, or before there is a firm pronouncement of guilt by a court. It is righteous passion weaponized, and it is akin to the rule of the mob. The law presumes that a person is innocent until convicted by a court of law.

Many accusers are not waiting for such conviction. They try the accused in newspapers and on social media, and find him guilty.

Through demonstrations, through harassment of the individual, his work, his family, they will ensure he loses his job, his sponsorships, his dignity.

Even people who signed financial settlements with famous people long ago after dubious claims of assault are tearing up those agreements now in the MeToo era, and pronouncing themselves victims.

They are demanding much larger settlements. The footballer Christiano Ronaldo is in trouble over one such allegation, all of two decades old, and his sponsors are already getting nervous, for nobody wants to be associated with the brand of a sexual assaulter. Nobody wants #MeToo to come after them, with the righteous fury of all the women in the world.

In the end, #MeToo is a great development not just for female rights and justice, but for sanity in male female relationships. Its effect on human society will be more farreaching than Tarana Burke ever imagined. A young man taking his girlfriend out on a date will not now again assume that she means ‘Yes’ when she says ‘No’, as has been the accepted wisdom in the past.

It is possible that people will start demanding that their partners sign written contracts explicitly giving permission before they proceed to sex.

It is a brave new world, but it is a world that must be managed with caution, so that ‘freedom’ does not morph into a new form of tyranny.

#MeToo and the rest of us

T

here is a movement which has caught the world by storm, and has many people running scared. It is putting a new type of fear into the hearts of the high and mighty.

The subject is sexual violence, a matter about which all rightthinking persons would be expected normally to find common cause. From the beginning of time, sexual violence has been directed principally at women in many societies. In war times, outrages take place, involving rape and other violent events. In India, sensational stories are carried in the press about women being gang-raped, and sometimes being brutally murdered into the bargain.

There is often an ambivalence in society itself concerning whether a wrong has been done, who is responsible for the wrong, and this is frequently reflected in a lukewarm attitude from law enforcement authorities. Many women who are victims of such violence are loath to report. There is a strong sense of shame and scandal attached to being the victim of sexual violence, especially if it involves rape. In many cultures it carries a lifelong taint and makes the victim a pariah. Many people are quick to blame the victim, irrespective of the circumstances. Perhaps she dressed in a certain way?

Why was she in a certain place? It

gets worse if a religious element is superimposed, especially where such a violent incident leads to pregnancy. Instead of getting ‘justice’ by seeing the aggressor punished, she may be advised to

marry the man who raped her, as the only way to ‘save face’.

In 2006, an African-American lady named Tarana Burke started to use the term ‘Me Too’ in the social media as part of a campaign to draw attention to the plight of black women who experienced sexual abuse. The phrase was said to have been inspired in her when she was confronted by a thirteen-year-old girl who told her that she had been sexually assaulted in her community. Tarana was dumbfounded.

Later, she decided, she should have told the little girl – ‘Me Too’.

By 2017 the term had gone viral as a hashtag. #MeToo be-

came a byword for a war against sexual harassment, especially in the work-place. It also became an arrowhead for the general feminist struggle for equality.

This war has exploded onto world attention with a number of sensational cases.

Harvey Weinstein was an institution in Hollywood. With his brother he ran a film production company that was like a gateway to fame and glory for emerging, and even established stars in the film industry. Stars fell over themselves to be in his good books. It emerged later that many of the female stars and wannabes were also required to fall on their backs on his fabled ‘casting couch’. Many, it seemed, succumbed and went on to glory.

Some bravely declined, clinging to their human dignity, and survived to spill the beans. Fueled by the groundswell of energy generated by #MeToo, they have torn down the Weinstein edifice brick by brick. The lucrative production company of the Weinstein brothers has collapsed. Harvey is in court, facing criminal charges.

Bill Cosby is the grand old man of American television comedy, and one of the most highly admired and respected men in America.

That was until, emboldened by #MeToo, women started to come out in public to disclose how he had drugged and sexually violated them

THE NEW WEALTH OF NATIONS

sumed in litigation, and undoubtedly more of it will still be swallowed up in civil litigation.

The recent travails of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee – Brett Kavanaugh is further proof of the muscle #MeToo. First one, then two, and later three women have come up with accusations that they were sexually molested three decades ago by a drunken rambunctious Brett Kavanaugh when he was in University. In their

‘

There is a disturbing tendency to try alleged sexual predators in the court of public opinion, without recourse to due process, or before there is a firm pronouncement of guilt by a court. It is righteous passion weaponized, and it is akin to the rule of the mob. The law presumes that a person is innocent until convicted by a court of law

,

OBADIAH MAILAFIA

obmailafia@gmail.com; 08036590990 (text messages only) Ringgit suffered a precipitous fall against the dollar. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed blamed speculators such as George Soros and the Washington institutions’ gospel of unbridled liberalisation. He proceeded to curb such Continues on page 31

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