businessday market monitor FMDQ Close
Everdon Bureau De Change
Bitcoin
NSE
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Biggest Gainer Stanbic N48.5
Biggest Loser
Total 6.59pc N167
-2.00pc
31,042.32
Foreign Reserve - $43.72bn Cross Rates - GBP-$:1.32 YUANY-N53.58 Commodities Cocoa
Gold
Crude Oil
US$2,216.00
$1,328.70
$67.27
NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **TUESDAY 26 MARCH 2019 I VOL. 15, NO 274 I N300
₦1,445,624.12
+0.48pc
Powered by
g
BUY
SELL
$-N 357.00 360.00 £-N 468.00 476.00 €-N 399.00 406.00
Spot ($/N)
I&E FX Window CBN Official Rate Currency Futures
($/N)
ISAAC ANYAOGU
360.39 306.95
3M -0.31 11.67
NGUS MAY 29 2019 362.05
5Y
0.02 13.78
0.00
14.47
NGUS AUG 21 2019 362.50
10 Y -0.08
20 Y 0.00
14.31
14.13
NGUS FEB 26 2020 363.40
g
Access, Diamond Bank to wear new brand identity in next 6 days ... N6.11trn asset, 24% larger than tier-1 banks ... Diamond gets executive director slot in enlarged Board IHEANYI NWACHUKWU, HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE & DAVID IBIDAPO
F
or shareholders and customers of both Access Bank plc and
Inside
As global bond markets signal slow down, Nigeria should take notice
P. 2
Paul Kagame (r), Rwandan president, in a private meeting with Bella Disu, executive vice chairman, Globacom, after the opening session of the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, yesterday. The forum is an annual networking platform for government and business leaders in Africa to identify ways to improve intra-African trade and investments. See story on page 2
6M
@
g
www.
Buhari sets May 29 target to pass law adjusting oil profit sharing contracts P resident Muhammadu Buhari is seeking the collaboration of the leadership of the National Assembly to pass a law amending regulations governing the deep offshore and inland basin production sharing contracts with oil companies before the end of the current legislative term in May this year. He has accordingly directed the secretary to the government of the federation to as, a matter of priority, “liaise with the leadership of the National Assembly to pass the amendment to the deep offshore and inland basis Continues on page 34
Market
FGN BONDS
TREASURY BILLS
NIWA places stop-workorder on Apple Island project
P. 19
Diamond Bank plc, the much-expected new future that produces an enlarged single entity will Continues on page 34
2 BUSINESS DAY NEWS
C002D5556
Tuesday 26 March 2019
Analysts vote for a hold as MPC decides today …rate unchanged for almost 3 years HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE & ENDURANCE OKAFOR
A
s the financial markets and businesses await the outcome of the ongoing meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), economists and analysts expect the MPC to retain the key monetary policy stance. The MPC, which has the statutory duty to manage the central bank’s interest and exchange rate policies, is scheduled to announce its decision today at the end of a two-day meeting from Monday, 25th through Tuesday, 26th, according to a statement on CBN’s website. Analysts at FSDH Research, the research arm of the FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, believe the decision of the MPC will be based on what will happen to price stability if there is an adjustment to the pump price of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) and the electricity tariff sometime this year. The analysts, headed by Ayodele Akinwunmi, however, believe the short-term outlook for the Nigerian economy justifies a hold decision on policy rates at the current levels. In January 2019, the committee voted unanimously for an unchanged stance. This was, however, expected due to the then imminent elections. “We see it repeated this week because we are in a domestic political transition, because the global landscape has improved from a Nigerian view and because inflationary pressures have calmed,” FBNQuest said in its Daily Note on Monday. The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, said at the BusinessDay Post-Election Outlook Conference last week that Nigeria’s tight “monetary policy will continue in the near term and
the central bank will increase its funding to the agricultural sector”. Emefiele said the apex bank would be able to maintain a stable exchange rate given the strength of Nigeria’s reserves. “We believe the CBN would maintain all policy rates to manage the delicate balance between growth, inflation and exchange rate stability,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said. The country’s highest interest rate at 14 percent has remained unchanged for almost three years since July 2016 when the committee voted by five to three for a 200 basis point hike to 14 percent in a response that was aimed to fight inflation. Meanwhile, the rate at which the prices of goods and services increased in Nigeria (inflation) eased year-on-year to 11.31 percent in February 2019. This marked the third consecutive month of disinflation (slowdown in the inflation rate, though still positive) since December 2018, although the rate still remains well above the country’s 6-9 percent preferred band. The most recent figures by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the inflation rate for the review month is 0.06 percent points lower than the 11.37 percent recorded in January 2019. The CBN governor said as from May 2019 when President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term formally begins, “Nigeria’s economy will witness more growth and reduced unemployment.” Nigeria’s full-year 2018 real GDP growth rate stood at 1.93 percent, higher than the 0.82 percent recorded in 2017. However, the country’s highest quarter growth rate of 2.38 percent in Q4 2018 since its exit from recession in Q2 2017 is nothing close to Ghana’s 7.4 percent in Q3 2018 and Ethiopia’s almost 8 percent.
Minimum Wage: Buhari promises quick action as Rewane committee submits report TONY AILEMEN, Abuja
P
resident Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured the nation that his government would take quick steps to act on the report on the New National Minimum Wage submitted to him by the Bismark Rewane-led Technical Advisory Committee on the Implementation of an Increase in the Minimum Wage. President Buhari said this when he received the committee’s report in Abuja. The committee was inaugurated on January 9. The report is coming about one week after the Senate approved N30,000 minimum wage
for federal and state workers across the country. The committee was set up “to develop, and advise government on how to successfully bring about a smooth implementation of impending wage increases”. The committee was also asked to “identify new revenue sources, as well as areas of existing expenditure from where some savings could be made in order to fund the wage increases without adversely impacting the nation’s development goals as set out in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan”. The terms of reference also included to “propose a work plan Continues on page 34
President Muhammadu Buhari (l), receiving the report of the Technical Advisory Committee on the Implementation of the National Minimum Wage from the chairman of the committee, Bismark Rewane, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. NAN
As global bond markets signal slow down, Nigeria should take notice LOLADE AKINMURELE
B
ond markets and dovish central banks are flashing warnings that a global economic slowdown could be even closer than initially expected. Most sovereign bond yields are at their lowest levels in years. Yields in Australia and New Zealand dropped to record lows after a closely-watched part of the US curve inverted on Friday as investors wager that the
Federal Reserve will need to cut rates. Trading volumes in Treasury futures were double the norm during Asian trading, while Japan’s 10-year yields fell to the lowest since 2016. An economic slowdown does little favours for the oil market, where Nigeria expects over a third of its revenues between 2019 and 2021. Oil prices tend to fall in a slowdown on the back of softer demand. Brent cr ude oil futures climbed 30 cents to $67.33 a barrel Monday, slightly pairing
losses from Friday when cautious remarks by the US Federal Reserve caused 10-year treasury notes to slip below threemonth yields for the first time since 2007, sparking fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy. Historically, an inverted yield curve, where long-term rates fall below short-term ones, has pointed to an upcoming recession and there are signs that the oil market is getting worried. Continues on page 34
Kagame, Bella Disu seek collaboration for regional integration at Africa CEO Forum
R
wandan President Paul Kagame and Globacom’s Executive Vice Chairman Bella Disu on Monday began discussions on the use of digital technology to help the march towards economic prosperity in Africa. The two leaders held a private meeting after the opening session of the two-day Africa CEO Forum taking place in Kigali, Rwanda. Globacom could use its massive infrastructure, including the Glo 1 international submarine cable, to drive digitalisation on the continent. President Kagame said Africa’s hopes of achieving regional integration and economic growth would not be realised without modern technology. He also commended the success Globacom has made. The Rwandan leader, who had in his opening remarks at the forum called for “open, responsive and accountable governance” on the continent, said the pri-
vate sector was critical to growth because of its ability to “envision on what needs to be changed to achieve desired improvement in the private and public sectors”. Disu said Globacom’s Glo 1 armoured submarine cable and digital solutions, such as mobile money, artificial intelligence, EHealth, Smart Cognitive Learning and Smart Energy, could help Africa achieve a digitalised economy. “ I c o m m e n d P re s i d e n t Kagame for his exemplary leadership and for the tremendous success Rwanda has achieved under him. Like President Kagame, I have no doubt that greater integration will lead to continental growth and a more prosperous Africa. Globacom is committed to Africa’s economic renaissance,” Disu said. The Globacom EVC also chaired a session on “Women in Business” on the opening day of the forum. She called for more gender parity on the
boards of companies and applauded Rwanda’s policy of 50 percent female representation in appointments as a good model. “There are no two ways about it, women must continue to advance. After all, we make up more than half of the world’s population,” Disu said. “My charge to women is to keep climbing the career ladder. Climb it anxious. Climb it confidently. But just keep climbing. And when you get to the top, because you will – give a helping hand to the women coming behind you – this is how we grow,” she said. The opening session was attended by Cote d’Ivoire’s Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, Ethiopian President SahleWork Zewde, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé, Congo Democratic Republic President Felix Tshisekedi, Rwandan Prime Minister Édouard Ngirente, and over 1,800 leading decisionmakers in the private and public sectors in Africa.
Tuesday 26 March 2019
BUSINESS DAY
3