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news you can trust ** monday 26 october 2020 I vol. 19, no 679

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More questions on management, deployment of COVID-19 palliatives … as looters uncover warehouses in 9 states

DIPO OLADEHINDE & MICHAEL ANI

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Continues on page 31

Dangote Cement plc

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A generation without future explodes in Nigeria’s protest ear the heart of government in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, a defiant Jennifer Martins thrusts her placard into the air.

Her voice adds to the swelling chants coming from demonstrators all around her demanding for the most basic of civil liberties; the right to life, and other demands all under the umbrella protest slogan called #EndSars.

A cliché used to demand better governance.

After a while, she wriggles her way to the front of the energetic youthful crowd assembled near the country’s Central Bank Headquarters building echoing loudly their demands for a better standard of living for generation

FGN

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HOPE MOSES- ASHIKE & MICHAEL ANI

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he increasing discovery of warehouses where COVID-19 palliatives, meant to ease vulnerable Nigerians Continues on page 31

#EndSARS: A National “Conversation” for A Better Nigerian State

See tomorrow’s back page Inside Lagos State Taskforce team visit to the site of violence between Hausa and Yoruba to inspect some damaged properties around Fagba Junction, Iju Road, Ifako Ijaye Local Government of the state, led by Yinka Egbeyemi, a chief superintendent of police, during the clash between Hausa and Yoruba in Lagos, at the weekend.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

Completion of Nigeria’s longest gas pipeline and its impact on the P. 30 economy

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Attack on Lagos targeted to weaken economy - Southwest governors JOSHUA BASSEY

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hock! This was the expression on the faces of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) members and governors from the south-west geo-political zone, on Sunday, as they toured public and private assets destroyed in Wednesday’s arson in Lagos State.

Their assertion comes as the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Sunday reviewed the curfew imposed on the state to take effect from 8pm to 6am.

The governors and the ministers were in Lagos to commiserate with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu over the large-scale destruction of facilities by hoodlums who hijacked the #EndSARS protest by youths.

The delegation of governors and ministers was received by Sanwo-Olu at the State House in Marina, who showed them the pictorial evidence of the violence before visiting some the torched assets.

At a joint press conference held after the tour, chair-

…urge Igbo to disregard threat …as Sanwo-Olu reviews curfew again man of Southwest Governors’ Forum and Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, likened Lagos to a war zone, given the extent of the destruction.

He said the violence that resulted from the #EndSARS protest left much to be desired, stressing that there was an agenda beyond the youth demonstration against police brutality.

He said: “We are deeply concerned with the ease with which public buildings, utilities, police stations and investment of our people have been burnt despite the proximity of security agencies in those areas. The development leaves us with no other option than to believe that there may be other reasons for continued protests, wellcoordinated and funded.

“We are particularly worried that 48 hours after the unfortunate incident at the Lekki Tollgate by persons adorning military outfit, there has been no definitive statement from the military authorities on the incident. Our anxiety becomes heightened

by the categorical denial of the governor of Lagos State concerning the military deployment. No governor has powers to authorise deployment of military personnel in Nigeria.”

The governors also condemned “sacrilegious” attack on the palace of the Oba of Lagos and decried what they called “vile attack” on All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and businesses in which he has interest.

Akeredolu said the regression into savagery exposed southwest’s vulnerability to manipulation by divisive elements bent on annihilating the region’s economic prosperity and destroying its common heritage.

The governors applauded Sanwo-Olu for his patience and the manner with which he handled the situation.

The governors demanded an investigation into the circumstances that led to the destruction of public assets and private businesses in Lagos.

“We commend Governor Sanwo-Olu for his adminis-

trative acumen. We note his patience and understanding in the face of unwarranted provocation by agents of darkness. We stand resolutely with him at this trying period. We urged our youths to rise up and defend our land against diabolical incursion ravaging our space. We cannot continue to fold our hands and watch our heritage destroyed,” Akeredolu said.

The southwest governors unanimously disowned the war-mongering rhetoric of one Adeyinka Grandson, in a video circulating in the social media, urging the Igbos to leave Yorubaland. They urged the Yoruba and non-Yoruba residents in the Southwest to disregard the threat of violence issued in the video, saying the “secessionist” had no authority to speak for the Yoruba.

Minister of works and housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the visit was at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari, noting that words were not enough to describe the extent of the destruction wreaked by the arsonists.

Lipton Ice Tea wins global peace one-day challenge

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ipton Ice Tea Nigeria has won the 2020 Global Peace OneDay Challenge as its entry was adjudged the best out of 130 entries from over 100 countries.

Exploring the theme of the challenge: “Make Tea Time, Peace Time, Seven Up Bottling Company (SBC) makers of Lipton Ice Tea produced an 80-second video which shows the diversity of Nigeria’s culture while celebrating unity through peace in different Nigerian languages.

Brand influencers like Omashola, Kim Oprah and Hawa Magaji along with staffers of SBC and partner agency were the cast of the award winning video.

In choosing Lipton Ice Tea Nigeria’s creative work as the winning entry, Hanneke Faber, president, Global Foods and Refreshment Division, Unilever, commended Team Nigeria’s entry as showing that “peace really is a universal

Warehouse invasion: Taraba imposes curfew on Jalingo

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he Taraba State gove r n m e nt ha s i mposed a curfew on Jalingo, the state capital, following the invasion of government warehouses by hoodlums in the wake of the EndSARS protest.

The deputy governor of the state, Haruna Manu, announced the order in a state wide broadcast in Jalingo on Saturday night.

Manu expressed worry that some hoodlums invaded government warehouses

containing palliatives and carted away items meant for distribution to members of the public.

“Some hoodlums and vandals forced their way into government warehouses and looted items meant for distribution as palliatives. The government has therefore imposed a curfew on Jalingo from 11 p.m on Saturday to 8 a.m on Monday.

“After this period, the government may decide

to review the situation; our intention is to forestall further breakdown of law and order,” he said.

He directed security operatives to ensure strict compliance with the order, warning, and “we cannot allow the situation to degenerate”.

The deputy governor urged youths in the state to channel their energies into meaningful ventures capable of promoting societal growth.

Agro project targets 10,000 beneficiaries in Kaduna ABDULWAHEED OLAYINKA ADUBI

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he state project coordinator, Kaduna State Agro-processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS), Yahaya Aminu has disclosed that 10,000 people were expected to benefit from the Women and Youth Empowerment Program (WYEP).

The coordinator explained that 35 percent of the direct beneficiaries would be women while 5-10 per cent would be people with disabilities, with grant threshold of N2 million per beneficiary.

He stated this during a meeting of the technical

assistance for the preparation and review of Business Investment Plan (BIP) for women and youth in Kaduna last week.

According to Aminu, the programme is to support business planning and facilitation of business name registration and certification, and also to enhance agricultural productivity.

He admitted that impact of Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down and delayed the programme.

The deputy governor of Kaduna State, Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe who was represented by the deputy chief of staff, James Kanyip said the state was committed to

supporting the programme and actualising the empowerment of women and youths.

According to him, the project would not only be beneficial to the state, but Nigeria at large.

He said the programme was timely and apt, considering the fact that the country is now diversifying its economy, hence the effort of government in given the citizens other opportunities through the various value chains.

“Since the country now is diversifying from oil to agriculture, the Agro-Processing Productivity Enhancement And Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEAL) is a good project,” he said.

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language that is universally spoken and flourishes when people connect”. Faber also said that entry from Lipton Team in Greece which “sparked a positive movement for peace” and the Lipton Market Research and Insights Team “who made 500 connections with their internal activation” were among the top three entries globally.

Commenting on the feat

by Lipton Ice Tea Nigeria, Segun Ogunleye, National Marketing Manager, Seven Up Bottling Company said: “We feel excited that our entry for the Make Tea Time , Peace Time Global Challenge was adjudged the best of the 130 entries from over 100 countries across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. This win is an affirmation of the quality of strategic inputs and creativity that underlines the various campaigns over the years by the SBC marketing team headed by Norden Thurston and our partner agencies.

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#EndSARS: Police brutality in Nigeria is part of wider governmental tyranny GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

OLU FASAN

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igeria is catching the world’s attention again; sadly, for the wrong reason! The #EndSARS protests that started two weeks ago attracted global reactions.

The government’s heavy-handed response, particularly last week’s military attacks on protesters in Lekki, Lagos state, which left some dead, provoked condemnation from political leaders across the world.

The proximate cause of the protests, led by Nigerian youths, was a viral video allegedly showing an officer of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) killing a man in Delta state. Thus, the #EndSARS protests mirrored the #BlackLivesMatter demonstrations, which also started when a viral video showed a police officer brutally killing George Floyd in Minneapolis in the US. The two events led to a global focus on police brutality in both countries.

But there is a fundamental difference between police brutality in America and police brutality in Nigeria. In the US, police brutality usually stems from the behaviour of rogue officers, who are either racist or deranged. But there is no state collusion, and the law is always there to take its full course.

However, in Nigeria, police brutality is an integral part of an oppressive state structure; it is an offshoot of a tyrannical system in which the government perpetrates, condones and covers up appalling human rights abuses. In its 2019 report, Human Rights Watch listed “torture, forced disappearances, assassinations and extrajudicial summary executions” among human rights violations in Nigeria and added: “These abuses typically occur within the context of the Nigerian government’s security operations.”

Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd US President, famously said: “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the

first and only object of good government.”

But, sadly, not in Nigeria! This country subjects its citizens to the triple whammy of abject poverty, organised non-state violence, such as terrorism, and state-led violence, such military massacres and police brutality.

Truth is, there is a systemic inhumanity at the heart of the governance of Nigeria; the care of human life and happiness is not the priority of the government; rather, the destruction of people’s lives and happiness seems to be enabled, tolerated and condoned by the state.

But why is this so? Well, as I have long argued in this column and elsewhere, there are fundamental structural problems with the governance of Nigeria. These problems can be viewed through the prism of the principal-agent theory. Under this theory, the people are the principal, the government is the agent. Thus, the government must act as the agent of the people and govern in their best interests. But the theory also tells us that the agent may pursue its own interests at the expense of those of the principal; in fact, the agent can act in ways wholly detrimental to the wellbeing and interests of the principal.

So, there is always the possibility of a principal-agent problem. To avoid the problem, the principal must create an incentive structure that would constrain the behaviour of the agent and ensure he acts in the principal’s best interests or pays a heavy price for not doing so.

It’s all about the incentives. Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner said in their fascinating book titled “Freakonomics”: “Incentives are the cornerstone of modern life – and understanding them is the key to solving just about any riddle”. Putting it more vividly, they said: “An incentive is a bullet, a lever, a key: an often-tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation.”

Now, institutional and governance structures are the best incentives. As Professor Douglas North, the institutional economist and Nobel laureate, pointed out, institutions and structures can constrain the behaviour of actors, political or economic, and condition them to act in the right way. So, in politics, the principalagent problem can be tackled by creating a politico-governance structure that forces

elected politicians to see themselves as the servants, and not the masters, of the people, and ensures that governmental agencies derive their legitimacy from serving the citizens and ensuring their wellbeing and happiness.

But what do we have in Nigeria? Well, we have a governance structure that incentivises elected officials to act in arrogant, unresponsive and unaccountable ways. The structure allows Nigeria to have a president who, like President Muhammadu Buhari, can behave like an absolute monarch, controlling all key levers of power and yet hole up in Abuja, completely removed from the people. Furthermore, the structure allows state institutions and officials, including security operatives, to abuse their powers with utter impunity.

Let’s face it, the Nigerian state is too powerful, too dominant and too domineering to produce the kind of “good government” described by President Jefferson. I mean, where are the checks on presidential power in Nigeria? President Buhari can do whatever he likes; he can ignore court orders, side-line the legislature or direct any state institution, however supposedly independent, to do his will. He can ignore public opinion as he did in his speech last week when he failed to acknowledge and take responsibility for soldiers shooting and killing peaceful protesters in Lekki.

So, the Nigerian state is a Leviathan, except that, unlike Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan, the Nigerian Leviathan cannot protect the lives and property of its citizens.

But does Nigeria need a Leviathan state? Of course not! As the Enlightenment philosopher David Hume pointed out, the more powerful and overbearing a state is, the less prosperous and happy its citizens will be. This is why, as several studies have shown, decentralised states, in which significant power is devolved to sub-national units, generate more prosperity and happiness than centralised states, where power is concentrated overwhelmingly in central government, in the hands of an all-powerful president.

Which is why scholars argue that political power should be diffused in society. But power is overcentralised in Nigeria. For instance, all the state security operatives take their orders from the president through the service chiefs, the cabal in Aso Rock wield

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Let’s face it, the Nigerian state is too powerful, too dominant and too domineering to produce the kind of “good government” described

by President Jefferson. I mean, where are the checks on presidential power in Nigeria?

enormous power without accountability, and federal agencies and officials treat the public with utter disdain. Have you ever seen how Nigerian civil servants treat citizens who encounter them? Instead of “we are here to serve you”, it’s more like “we don’t care how you feel”!

But there is another problem with overcentralisation of power: it always leads to oppressive governments. This is because those at the centre – president, institutions and officials – always have idiosyncratic views of patriotism – they think they are more patriotic than the rest of us – and will justify the repression of ‘enemies of the state’.

Think of it, even after President Buhari acknowledged there is police brutality in Nigeria, even after SARS was disbanded and replaced with SWAT – Special Weapons and Tactics – nothing has changed, as the “Lekki massacre” shows!

Which is why those calling for police reform miss the point. Nigeria’s problems are deeply systemic and structural, and police brutality is just a symptom of the underlying malfunction. Therefore, police reform without a radical overhaul of how Nigeria is run is like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound; it won’t work!

In 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Agnes Callamard, said that the absence of “accountability functionality” in Nigeria drives human rights violations in the country. Ridiculously, every state governor is setting up a judicial enquiry to probe SARS’ abuses. Yet, as Human Rights Watch points out, “neither the report of the Presidential Judicial Panel set up in 2017 to investigate the military’s alleged war crimes nor that of the Presidential Panel of Inquiry set up in 2018 to investigate SARS abuses has been made public.” Truth is, the state enables the abuses.

So, yes, #EndSARS and #EndSWAT, but without a systemic, root-and-branch transformation, without restructuring, Nigeria’s over-centralised, over-powerful state will never produce the Jeffersonian “good government”, but, rather, a tyrannical one!

Dr. Fasan, a London-based lawyer and political economist, is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. e-mail: o.fasan@lse.ac.uk, twitter account: @olu_fasan

Conflict of interest - Is disclosure sufficient?

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iven that Directors are effectively agents, appointed by the shareholders of the to manage the affairs of the Company, a Director must not allow personal interest to affect his or her independent judgment. When a director has an interest, which impairs or can reasonably be perceived to impair their ability to perform their duties and responsibilities towards the company they steward, he or she is said to have a conflict of interest.

A Conflict of Interest may be actual, perceived, or potential. Conflicts will occasionally occur as interest is oftentimes interwoven. The critical issue is not the conflict but the management thereof. Leaving conflict of interest unchecked can lead to unethical behaviour, fraud and financial manipulation. Enron has been “celebrated” as the “authority” of how conflict of interest can destroy value. Asides from its other corporate governance issues, the board of directors knowingly allowed a member of senior management to act as a general partner in a venture doing business with Enron, a clear conflict of interest that according to the Board’s code of conduct required explicit approval.

Also, the CEO of ICICI Bank was accused of nepotism and conflict of interest. It was alleged that she had sanctioned high-value loans between 2009 and 2011 that favoured

Videocon Group who in turn struck a deal with NuPower Renewables Pvt. Ltd., a company owned by her husband. Following investigations by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the CEO was asked to resign from ICICI after being found guilty of violating the bank’s code of conduct by not making adequate disclosures.

The global minimum measure for managing conflict is disclosure. In Nigeria, Section 306(1) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA) requires that the personal interests of a director shall not conflict with any of his duties as a director. It further prohibits the making of secret profits or obtaining unnecessary benefits. Section 306(6) provides that a director may escape liability if disclosure is made at the general meeting, before the transaction and before the secret profit is made.

The CAMA only focuses on disclosure as a foil to conflict of interest complications.

But it is not instructive on the procedure for perceived conflict or the governance implications thereof.

The Corporate Governance Codes have, however, emplaced more robust measures to tackle issues of conflict of interest. The Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018 (NCCG) requires the Board to approve a Conflict of Interest Policy. Under www.businessday.ng

the Policy, having disclosed interest, the director involved must not be present when the matter in which he/she has an interest is being deliberated upon. This recusal preserves the integrity of the Board and the decision-making process. The director is expected to seek advice from the Chairman, the Company Secretary, or the Chairman of the Nomination and Governance Committee when unsure of the existence of a conflict of interest situation, Additionally, other directors must raise the issue when they become aware of any real, potential, or perceived conflict of interest on the part of a fellow director. Other measures for the management of conflict include the annual disclosure of conflict by directors and the consistent review of the Conflict of interest policy by the Nominations and Governance Committee.

However, in some cases, these measures of managing and addressing conflict of interest will not cure a conflict of interest or the perception of the public on the matter. It may affect the integrity of the Board and company in the eyes of the public. There will be situations where the presence of the conflicted Director on the Board will be reason enough for the Board to forgo that transaction or to require that the Director leave the Board.

In October 2019, Mr. Solomon Dingemans was appointed as the Chair of the

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BISI ADEYEMI Financial Reporting Council (FRC) UK. Mr. Dingemans, formerly Chief Financial Officer of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), had shareholding in GSK and other commitments. When disclosing, he had stressed that he would recuse himself from any relevant decision involving GSK, and he had no commitments that would interfere with his role. But about 8 months after his appointment, he resigned as Chair of the FRC UK, stating that he was unable to avoid conflict of interest.

Some companies have taken the route of prohibiting directors from entering transactions that might create a conflict of interest as this firmly addresses the legal, ethical, and moral implications of conflict – particularly of an enduring nature. The Board should strive to ensure that the interests of Directors are always aligned with and indeed subject to those of the Company.

Adeyemi is the Managing Director, DCSL Corporate Services Limited. Kindly forward comments and reactions to badeyemi@dcsl.com.ng

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Risk assessment / risk management and systemic audit failure (1)

(At body of past presidents of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria dialogue on October 18, 2020)

BASHORUN J.K RANDLE

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onsidering that virtually all those listed to speak qualified as Chartered Accountants over fifty years ago, we deserve the introduction which tagged us as the “Old Brigade”. We should be thankful that we have not been labelled as the “ancient Brigade” who should be stripped of their claim to being digital rather than analogue.

Be that as it may, what is not in dispute is that when we commenced our journey into our cherished profession, to be a chartered accountant commanded immense respect and our commitment to transparency, integrity and professionalism was a foregone conclusion.

Besides, we were the direct inheritors from the expatriates who had hitherto been Senior Partners of the leading firms of Chartered Accountants or Finance Directors/Chief Accountants of multinational companies/conglomerates. It was against this background that we were considered ready and competent (both in learning and character) to be entrusted with the fate of our beloved profession and the destiny of our great nation. That is how we leapfrogged farming, herding and hunting – gathering to become the new elite (or oppressors!!). We were the “inheritors”.

Perhaps, (because) the transition was smooth and seamless, we felt no urge to address the critical issue of Risk Assessment / Risk Management.

We certainly did not contemplate Audit Failure, whether systemic or otherwise.

It would be totally immodest if not inappropriate to postulate that standards have fallen or suggest that the TRUST which the public invested in us was misplaced and unrealistic because we were Nigerians first before we became Chartered Accountants!! That would be a most damning auditors’ report. However, if indeed the standards have fallen, we cannot claim immunity or non-culpability.

Indeed, the line between “Guilty” and “Not Guilty” has become blurred.

What stares us in the face is that our country is at a crossroads or roadblock.

It we had been able to sustain the trajectory of our inheritance, our nation would today be one of the most prosperous in the world with first class health facilities and excellent education as well as politicians and civil servants who are dedicated to serving our nation. Added to this we would have the benefit of an incorruptible judiciary supported by a supply chain of disciplined military and police / security agencies for whom insecurity, fraud, ritual murder, kidnapping, insurgency, rioting and rigging of elections would be an aberration instead of a daily diet served in generous proportions on print and electronic media plus extra rations on social media.

We can only hope that Reuben Abati writing in “ThisDay” newspaper did not include Chartered Accountants when he advertised “……………………. the wickedness of a generation that inherited independence and subverted it.” If the truth must be told, we fall into the category of “Failure of leadership” and the consequential failure of the state under the camouflage of impunity and incompetence.

About ten years ago, I was just one of the guests when Professor Robert Rothberg delivered a riveting lecture

at Harvard University on the systemic breakdown of the security architecture of Nigeria. It was a masterclass. All the data, trends and statistics as well as algorithms had been dissected, analysed and thoroughly mashed by big data and analytics to be fed directly to simulators.

The results were as incontestable as they were alarming. It prompted my firm to host a Summit in 2011 on “security in the air, land and sea” at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The enthusiasm of the participants who came from far and near was subverted and supplanted by the indifference of the Government. The patriotic zeal displayed by Nigerians, especially those from the diaspora was a sight to behold. Sadly, the only outcome was the award of a dodgy contract to a Chinese company to provide CCTV surveillance in Lagos, Abuja etc at a staggering cost of N10 billion.

That was long before Boko Haram became a major threat not to talk of seizing Local Government Areas in the North East and hoisting their flag. In any case, within a matter of months, Boko Haram attempted to assassinate the InspectorGeneral of Police at Louis Edet House (Police Headquarters) Abuja. This was followed by a bomb explosion at the United Nations Abuja Office with very serious casualties. Unfortunately, one of the victims is the daughter of Mr. Ambrose Feese, Sarah Feese. Ambrose Feese the former Minister of Works & Housing.

It was the same story with “Africa Week” at Cambridge University where the focus was on the systemic failure and the consequential “Abandoned Projects” in Nigeria.

Again, all the figures, facts, data had been thoroughly churned and analysed by electronic dumpsters; and fed directly to computer simulators. All four petroleum refineries were abandoned while Nigeria went on an importation

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The well has been poisoned and our nation has been reeling from one crisis to another.

Every week launches a fresh controversy or a rehash of an old rage to be followed by revenge. One calamity leads to another

J.K. Randle is a former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and former Chairman of KPMG Nigeria and Africa Region. He is currently the Chairman, J.K. Randle Professional Services.

Email: jkrandleintuk@gmail.com

Is strategy the next phase of banking? (2)

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t is about the changing marketplace, stupid!

In this ‘war-zone’, value reigns in full. It determines depth, breadth and other marketbased phenomena. Players in this space are thoroughly focused on the exchange of value. It is the definitive anchor for business to consumer and business to business interactions. Without value, no one has any player’s back. Be it ideas, novel product, people and, practice, it must succinctly reward in value for the marketplace to relate. The marketplace elevates, sanctions and kills corporate organisations, as it entrenches/ enforces alignment to its ideals.

For continued subsistence, corporations must listen to its prevailing voices, for they are not hooplas. Business organisations must suffer belief in the capacity of the marketplace to determine their provinces. Anything short, they will suffer much. These days, marketplace calmness is rather short, somewhat uncharacteristic, driven by the rapidity of change. Turbulence, flux and disquiet, as longer lasting occurrences, more clearly define it. Corporations dare not buck the trend for many of yesterday’s champion-corporations are today’s laggard businesses.

The cliché is quite banal and ubiquitous.

Change does not suffer non-constant. Its doggedness kills winning formulas with time, exposes its enigmatic and worrisome posturing. Change acts as the femur-bone of the marketplace. Without it, the market takes a stodgier shape. It is a marker between the enduring and nonentity organisations. As the marketplace morphs, so do great corporations. Non-discerning organisations regard change with disdain, most times, paying

the dire fee. The Nigerian financial services environment travels mildly in the space of change benchmarked against its developed clime counterparts. Unnoticeably, its next evolutionary phase is about the door, rapping. Sadly, it is being ignored by many.

Recall the era of the armchair bankers: laidback, non-aggressive, poorly-suited professionals, who conducted the business of banking in old air-conditioned and dingy offices. Like ministry workers, they were insular to the changing needs of the marketplace. Clients called to engage in business dealings with them, appealed for their attention. Ask the very old banks! For three decades (this write-up assumes 1960 as base year), they ran the rules, poorly managed the stable.

Given a slipshod attitude, they sat back, waiting for customers. Transactions were held up; their dynamics and speed were sloth-like.

Fussing customers were at their mercy. Look up, at the sky. The once big, strong reliable bank has since been shaded behind a thick cloud.

With the passage of time, most failed, except a negligible few, maybe, three. Any appearance of business enthusiasm was photoshopped. Data was discounted, pictured as time-wasting. The changing competitive landscape bore no signals. A transforming customer mindset alerted not. The need for a better understanding of the marketing concept went unheeded.

And, when the tornado of change blew, tormented the marketplace, they were caught snoozing. Rather than take a step back to gird their loins, put up a serious fight, they jeered and mocked the new kid-bankers on the block with www.businessday.ng

TONY MONYE

a marketing-driven template. For the arm-chair bankers, it was the massive erroneous assumptions of too big to fail; too little to impact and too inexperienced to win. All attempts to get them to embrace the echoes of change as whistles for corporate rebirth and rethinking always ended abortively.

The subsisting marketing-based banking began its entry into the financial services scene in 1990. The marketing-based bankers are highly genteel in appearance, confidence-oozing, sharpsuited, fearless foot soldiers, trying the untried.

With a new template which promised greater focus on customer satisfaction, it was truly banking unusual. With customers growing savvier and a better understanding of competition, the new-breed bankers offered a new service culture that delighted. Unlike arm-chair bankers, the marketing-driven apostles took business to clients. Their movements were generally tactical but short ranged, hinged on the immediacy of gains.

Chiefly driven by market demand, product quality went up a notch. On the flipside, marketingbased banking, along the line, suffered shortness of breath. A largely reactionary approach, which hinted at undifferentiated plumage, it promoted the practice of strategic hiring, which led to poaching.

The market evolves. At every stage of its evolutionary process, changing phenomena serve its need for renewal in terms of growth for particular organisations and the demise of others. Players’ actions in the ecosystem motivate change. Yesterday’s predominating platform varies with today’s because change is sheathed

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binge – spending huge sums importing petroleum products even when we were producing two million barrels of oil per day. The River Basin Authorities had become virtually moribund.

Even more damning was the report of the Committee set up by the Government under the Chairmanship of Eng. Bunu Sherriff. In its report which was released in 2011, the committee listed 11,000 abandoned projects all over the country. The amount that had gone down the rat hole was estimated at over N100 billion. Since then, we have accumulated thousands more abandoned projects and the cost thereof runs into billions of dollars / trillions of naira – and still counting.

The well has been poisoned and our nation has been reeling from one crisis to another. Every week launches a fresh controversy or a rehash of an old rage to be followed by revenge. One calamity leads to another.

However, we must tread carefully. The records are intact. It was not so long ago when Chartered Accountants held the commanding heights in the economic and financial infrastructure – as Minister of Finance; Governor of the Central Bank; Minister of Transport; Aviation and Communications; Managing Directors of Banks; Auditor-General; AccountantGeneral etc.

There were also uplifting interludes when General Olusegun Obasanjo as Military Head of State introduced “Operation Feed the Nation” and “Low Profile” followed (after civilian interval/interlude under Alhaji Shehu Shagari) by MajorGeneral Muhammadu Buhari’s regime when the clarion call was “WAI” (War Against Indiscipline).

in permanence. Ideas have lifespan; practices, like investments, have tenors. Armchair banking once predominated. For another three decades, marketing-driven banking prevailed. Signs have begun emerging that too is about going down for the count. Premised on the hiccups and inadequacies of marketing-driven banking, the new mode is strategy-based banking.

Suffused in critical market-based analysis and opportunity-seeking, strategy-based banking so easily presents the massive unseen marketplace breaks. While an enormous step-up on professionalism, customer satisfaction and outcome measures, its research-driven and foresighted bent can help outpace competition. It is the clear connector in the organisation, linking the hard and soft structures. Strategy-based banking supports proactive (rather than reactive), or orchestrated manoeuvres by practitioners for market edge. Given its deeper understanding that our ambition can be exposed by our concerns, it centres on the whole rather than the piecemeal approach of the marketing-driven bankers. In embracing analysis, it deftly evinces that when figures (data as the new crude oil) are whipped, the cries of opportunities are heard. It promotes the heart and mind capture for brand-building and optimality in outcomes. It is about the system rather than the individual, aiding subterranean manoeuvres. It is strategy-based banking, stupid!

Monye is the Managing Partner, Rham Durham Consulting Ltd

@Businessdayng

Dr. Okolo is a Chartered Consultant based in Lagos

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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The Last King of Scotland and the Lekki massacre

DAVID HUNDEYIN

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is Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, CBE, Lord of all the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular, was a rather interesting character back in the 1970s. Having seized power from Milton Obote and converted Uganda into a total dictatorship and a suffocating cult of personality, there were not many crimes he was not guilty of. Murder of political opponents?

He boasted about it. Expelling hundreds of thousands of Asians after revoking their citizenship in a failed racial populist experiment? He did it.

Became immensely wealthy at the expense of the country which was falling into ruins around him? Definitely Idi Amin.

Constantly had the military engaged in one expensively murderous wild goose chase or the other while he solidified his grip on power and frolicked with his vast personal harem? Of course. Responsible for hundreds of thousands of Ugandan and foreign deaths? Absolutely. The Last King of Scotland was objectively a terrible man; a genuine African abomination of the sort that usually only exists in scary late night stories told to wide-eyed children. Yet none of these high volume, high velocity atrocities ever actually made a difference to his political safety.

Uganda in exile often bitterly complained that while they were real verifiable atrocities for the foreign press to talk about, they often spent their limited audiences with Idi Amin taking note of and reporting on his legendary idiosyncrasies and eccentricities. Idi Amin himself was confident that the diversion of his personality was enough to escape scrutiny. While hundreds of thousands of people died he reveled in his

reputation as the lovable madman typified by the ridiculous title he gave himself mentioned at the outset.

And then one day in June 1976 that all changed.

Dora Bloch - An unlikely end to the Idi Amin Myth Dora Bloch was a 74 year-old woman travelling on Air France flight 139 on 27 June 1976 on her way to New York for her son’s wedding. This was the flight that was famously hijacked and redirected to land in Entebbe, Uganda. Block fell ill on the plane and she was then transferred to Mulago hospital in Kampala. As a result she was not among those freed in the famous Operation Entebbe Israeli counterterrorism mission.

While the other hostages were freed, Bloch remained in hospital. Incensed by the failure of the Ugandan armed forces to hold off the Israelis, Idi Amin ordered that she should be killed. He dispatched his personal Chief of Protocol Nasir Ondoga, and head of the Ugandan Secret Police Farouk Minawa to murder the defenseless helpless seventyfive-year-old pensioner. They even killed the policeman who was stationed with her.

Objectively speaking murdering a 75year old civilian was not even close to the worst thing that the Last King of Scotland had done up to that point. And yet this incident marked the beginning of the end of Idi Amin’s murderous regime. From that point international sentiment turned against him and he was no longer the friendly, lovable, slightly kooky African dictator stereotype. He was finally recognised as what he was - a heartless, disgraceful, undisciplined, cold-hearted murderer.

Less than three years later, he found himself out of power and in exile in Saudi Arabia. Until his death in 2003, he never saw Uganda again. If you were to have met the last King of Scotland in his prime, and asked him what incident he thought would have brought his regime to its knees, he might have mentioned in many tribal massacres that he sanctioned. He might have mentioned murdering and dismembering the corpses of his political enemies.

He might even have mentioned destroying the economy of Uganda by ejecting hundreds of houses of the economically active Asians.

What he almost certainly would never have thought to mention was the casual murder of a nondescript random 75 year

old woman from Tel Aviv. This is the beauty of geopolitics and international relations.

10,000 deaths is a statistic, but one death is a tragedy. And over here on the Western side of the African continent, Idi Amin’s contemporary looks set to discover just how this weird dynamic works.

To a dictator, nuance does not exist Major General Muhammad Buhari like his Ugandan agemate, has a litany of atrocities on his record. If you were to ask him which of these atrocities he thinks could permanently destroy his legacy he would look at you and laugh. Pogrom of Igbo military officers in July 1966? He was involved. Genocide of the Igbo ethnic group, euphemistically known as the “Nigerian Civil War?” He was there. A military coup in 1976? He was there. Another military coup in 1983? All him.

Served under General Abacha’s incredibly murderous regime? Unapologetically.

Took up a role as an ethnic champion following the return of electoral democracy?

It was expected. Blatantly stirred up his supporters to go on a murderous post election rampage that killed over 800 people in 2011? Na him. Refused to apologise at any point for this? Of course. Oversaw the murder of over 300 Shia muslims from the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Zaria barely five minutes after coming to power?

Buhari all over. Oversaw the mass and piecemeal slaughter of IPOB separatists in Aba, Enugu and Anambra for years after coming to power? Who else?

So to this guy, sanctioning the military to carry out cold hearted, premeditated murder against innocent unarmed civilian protesters in probably Nigeria’s single most visible and recognizable urban location is just plus ça change. Lekki, Aba, Owerri, it’s really all the same to him. Us lesser civilian life forms will cry and shout for a few days, after which we will shut up and move on like we always do, after all.

As his disdainful 12-minute address last night showed us, Major-General Buhari genuinely does not understand why on earth we should not cry grateful fears of joy that he permits us to breathe air, eat, sleep, copulate and generally exist from the undeserved benevolence of his heart. Why on earth would it matter whether he shoots a few of us every now and again? Do ants complain when you unintentionally step on them and end their lives? Such impudence,

‘

The entire myth of General Buhari as a fundamentally well disciplined, ascetic, wellintentioned and morally pious individual was

Hundeyin is a writer, travel addict and journalist majoring in politics, tech and finance. He tweets @DavidHundeyin.

Alienating employees Well, well, well! his year 2020 has been very interesting and it only gets even more interesting.

Unfortunately, I cannot just write this piece today totally ignoring the fact that some innocent children were shot, maimed and killed by the people supposed to protect them.

20-10-20 will never be forgotten in this nation. I see it as a nation alienating her citizens and so decided to write on how companies alienate their staff. There is actually a correlation.

I hope we will learn and make adjustments.

This has been put together from research and personal experience. This alienation is not to be confused with Marx’s worker alienation which looks at things from a different angle.

A manager’s job is to help guide and encourage employees to reach their ultimate potential.

A manager is called to be a leader, but as projects pile up, life gets busy and many things come to take priority. Maintaining and improving one’s leadership skills can sometimes take a back seat.

However well-meaning the manager, sometimes they may alienate an employee without even realising it.

Unfortunately, many times the employees may be reluctant to speak up. Their bosses may not find out they’ve alienated them until productivity falls or an employee leaves the company.

Below are some examples of what can make an employee feel unappreciated and unfulfilled.

Projecting disrespect is one of the greatest causes of alienation. When employees are seen

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d Stockbroker and Management s.

as objects, not subjects, disrespect shows up as aggressive body language, disdain, and indeed condemnation. An employee’s confidence is undermined, communication is greatly reduced and motivation is dashed by managers who take on a command and control stance.

Consistently not communicating almost always leads to employee alienation. Whether Project status calls and informal small talk, communication is critical. If you’re not building relationships with your team, they will ultimately head in another direction. This is almost always solved by increasing your communication on a consistent basis.

Consistently micro-managing actually leads to many employees quitting their jobs. They feel they are not being allowed to express their creative potential, which can then be interpreted as a lack of trust in their capabilities. A manager can avoid this by implementing a smarter hiring process and designing a company culture with respectful and clear communication so everybody knows where they stand. There will be no need to micro manage.

Favouring one person consistently over the others is also an alienation culprit. When assigning tasks, ask multiple team members to participate. Consistently complimenting the same person while neglecting the others is all it takes to signal that team members are not appreciated. Productivity requires everyone to perform and favouritism hurts.

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valuing them or their contributions, not acknowledging their work and a lack of tangible recognition, especially personal and public affirmation, will lead to them being alienated.

Engage others to help you see blind spots if you are doing this unconsciously. Surround yourself therefore with people who can tell you the truth.

This will help you be constantly grounded.

Failing to give employees a voice, is similar to micromanaging and is a common mistake that managers make. Employees are not given valid opportunities to express themselves and their experiences. This can cause employees to feel isolated, alienated and undervalued. Managers can avoid this by implementing things like open feedback sessions and/or anonymous feedback surveys that can lead to a culture where feedback is encouraged and employees in turn feel involved and valued.

Not following up with a newly deployed employee, not giving enough guidance, until things go wrong will lead to alienation. Even if busy, managers must recognize that an employee’s success is dependent on individual learning styles, direction, engagement, and follow-up.

It’s critical to sit down with new employees often to review their work, give them a chance to ask questions and provide direction.

Interrupting people is a quick way to nonchalantly tell someone that you don’t care about what they’re saying. It also means you were listening just to reply and not seeking to truly understand the person. Avoid that at all costs.

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he told us verbatim last night, “will not be tolerated.” It is over, and now it is time for the ants to disperse before his metaphorical can of military insecticide changes its mind.

This ultimately, is what will be General Buhari’s downfall. He will, of course, finish his term as president because nobody cares to suggest that shooting down your own young citizens in cold blood should ordinarily be a clear basis for immediate resignation or impeachment. Such things simply do not exist in Nigeria. Far be it from an ant like me to suggest that a can of insecticide like General Buhari will receive justice and recompense for a lifetime of wrongdoing.

He is above such things, as we know by now.

The real twist however, is that amidst his vast collection of bodies and destroyed lives, it is the events of October 20, 2020 that will henceforth begin and end how Buhari is remembered. The foreign connections that were hitherto happy enough to be s even with him will stop calling. The Nigerian establishment, even as it tries to keep up it’s hilarious pretense of normalcy, is already incrementally putting vast amounts of optical distance between themselves and General Buhari. He has of course, fully lost all legitimacy in the minds of the population, and force will henceforth become his only tool.

The entire myth of General Buhari as a fundamentally well disciplined, ascetic, well-intentioned and morally pious individual was comprehensively destroyed in a few seconds on Tuesday night. The pitiful efforts by the Nigerian military afterward to gaslight the entire world into doubting the proof of their own eyes had absolutely no effect whatsoever. Buhari is now the 78 year-old equivalent of an ugly baby with an overflowing diaper that nobody will touch except it’s mother.

In this case, said ‘mother’ will be his ethnic support base and the minority within the armed forces who approve of what he did on Tuesday night. Beyond that, Buhari’s 78 years of carefully curated optical illusions have completely crumbled into nothingness, like the scene at the end of Avengers Endgame. Idi Amin’s politically fatal mistake was murdering an innocent 75 year-old woman.

Muhammadu Buhari has just given us his.

LAMIDE BALOGUN

Practice listening. It is an extremely important management skill.

Explain the decision-making process to employees in order to engage rather than alienate them. Employees can become alienated if they don’t know the process. A manager has options when deciding how employee ideas will be used: Hear all ideas and make the final decision alone.

Have everyone hear the ideas, then all vote to narrow down, with the manager making the final call. All votes count equally and the best idea “wins.” Communicate the option you will use.

Another of the surest ways for a manager to alienate a person on their team is to adopt an adversarial posture. I versus You destroys trust, erodes confidence and silences dissent, all of which ultimately results in alienation and a feeling of not belonging.

Finally, lying about a proposed Job and the culture of the organisation during the interview alienates employees. When the new hire joins, they discover the truth and tune out the boss. Hiring managers will smile and tell their potential hires about the terrific opportunity with a motivated team of pros. Instead, tell new hires the truth about your culture. Surprises are rarely good.

I hope this was useful. Please keep safe.

@Businessdayng

12

BUSINESS DAY

Monday 26 October 2020

EDITORIAL We need a Water Law

PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Frank Aigbogun EDITOR Patrick Atuanya

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

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

Nigerians need safe water to drink, for improved sanitation, and for the agriculture industry

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igeria has huge water resources, estimated at 220 cubic Kilometres a year of available surface water, but without proper management, required and adequate regulation, and increased investment and collaboration between all the tiers of the government, Nigerians will continue to lack access to water.

Estimates show that less than 30 percent of Nigeria’s 200 million population have access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This gap has resulted in the rise in the production and sale of mineral water in the country. UNICEF also argues that poor access to improved water and sanitation “remains a major contributing factor to high morbidity and mortality rates among children under the age of five.

In agriculture also, the poor management of our water resources mean that the country is not able to provide

adequate water resources for its agriculture and farmers’ efforts, affecting yields and food production.

Then comes the Water Bill of 2020. The bill, now withdrawn, is an amalgamation of Water Resources Laws that have been in existence. These are: Water Resources Act, Cap W2 LFN 2004; the River Basin Development Authority Act, Cap R9 LFN 2004; the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (Establishment) Act, Cap N1100A, LFN 2004; National Water Resources Institute Act, Cap N83 LFN 2004. The idea was to introduce modifications in line with current global trends as well as best practices in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).

Before it was withdrawn for legislative technical reasons, the Bill attracted considerable criticism, including the plan of the Federal Government to control the vast water resources of the country.

Our view is that the trajectory of the Water Bill is another

demonstration of the mistrust b e t w e e n t h e d i ff e r e n t s e c tions of the country, and it is important for the government, desirable to make progress on investment, regulation, and proper management of the country’s Water Resources, to now provide the leadership it requires to get it done. As it is, the largely and extensive positive purpose for which the Bill is designed has been consumed in the inability to successfully bring together all stakeholders for this common goal.

We acknowledge the work of the federal ministry of water resources to provide an omnibus water bill for the management of water resources in Nigeria, and there is now a great window to ensure all stakeholders are fully behind a water bill that meet the needs of all Nigerians.

Three things must happen, and we encourage the federal government to lead again in these respects.

First, to bring together all stakeholders in the federal and state governments, including

their national representatives, to understand the core principles and goals of this bill. This will demonstrate the inadequacies of the current regulatory environment, which the bill seeks to improve. Second, invite experts in different fields of water resources to explain to these stakeholders the implications of the bill when it becomes law.

Third, the government should endeavour not to “throw away the baby with the bad water”. The baby is the muchneeded water bill. The bath water is the controversy it has generated. We trust that the government can overcome this by following through again the process of consultation and enlightenment, and if need be, required changes, to ensure that the whole country gets the water bill and law it deserves for its progress.

Nigerians need safe water to drink, for improved sanitation, and for the agriculture industry.

We must overcome the recent setback to deliver that.

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD mo Itsueli Mohammed Hayatudeen Afolabi Oladele Vincent Maduka Opeyemi Agbaje Amina Oyagbola Bolanle Onagoruwa Fola Laoye Chuka Mordi Mezuo Nwuneli Charles Anudu Tunji Adegbesan Eyo Ekpo Wiebe Boer Paul Arinze Boye Olusanya Ayo Gbeleyi Haruna Jalo-Waziri Clement Isong Konyin Ajayi

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Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

START-UP DIGEST

13

In association with

Lack of clear-cut business plans hinders SMEs growth — Nwogwugwu Emem Nwogwugwu is an entrepreneur, author, executive coach, and certified project manager of La Pax Life Project. In this interview with Josephine Okojie, she speaks about the Nigerian entrepreneurship ecosystem and how the La Pax Life initiative is supporting entrepreneurs.

Can you tell us a bit about the La Pax Life Project?

APAX Life Project is a 360-degree human development company that sells transformation through tailored training, life coaching, consulting, and project management services. We have created and designed templates, courses, training, and consultations for organisations, individuals, and families to effectively boost productivity.

What inspired you to establish the La Pax Life Project?

I have been a freelance project manager for years.

I had people coming to me for consultations all round.

They applied the strategies I gave them and it worked and continues to work for their families, organisations and individuals. I went further to become a life coach when I saw the demand for coaching and consulting.

As a start-up coach, what is your assessment of the Nigerian business environment?

My assessment of the Ni-

L

Emem Nwogwugwu

gerian business environment is that there is a huge knowledge gap here. The business environment needs a constant source of relevant information. Most businesses

were set up without proper information and guidance.

This has caused most of them to be exploited, and the lack of a constant consultant and coach makes the businesses

fail. We cannot continue to ignore the importance of mentorship, consultation and coaching.

What are the factors that hinder the growth of the Nigerian SMEs? Some of the hindrances to the growth of SMEs are lack of a detailed and clear-cut business plan, dealing with challenges alone without consulting professionals and coaches, lack of realtime business data, not having the right mentor - most times people don’t clarify their expectations from their mentor-, not being the right mentee, poor reading culture and not having a proper sales strategy and marketing plan, among others.

How do you think these challenges can be addressed?

Our government can intentionally create business educational centres all over the country, funding and supporting existing organisations that are already handling these peculiarities like the Tony Elemelu Foundation, which provide mentoring and funds to all sectors

of businesses. Also, they should support and build entrepreneurial skills every year. An example is Womenprenuer Grant by Access Bank- a scheme that targets businesses owned or headed by women-to encourage gender equality and give women-owned businesses a platform to thrive and enlarge. Another example is WimBi, whichz has been a great platform for encouraging people. Similarly, practical financial, marketing, and business education should be included in the curricula from primary to university level.

A critical point for a lot of entrepreneurs is lack of finance, how does your Lapax Project aim to support start-ups with finance?

We offer consultations that critically examine the business strategies and then offer a well-rounded plan on how they can position themselves for international and local grant opportunities.

We make sure that they have a routine that is effectively increasing profits in all areas.

With COVID-19 raging

and businesses struggling, what extra value will you add to a start-up apart from training and consultancy?

With our certified team of project managers, we have the unique ability to give certified project management training, consult, and handle all project types. These include IT projects, construction projects including building, renovation, and remodeling, and strategic projects. Others are social media revamp, sales, targeted resource management, operational media -video and photo-shoots, and non-technical soft skills training (leadership, teamwork, decision-making, and situation awareness.

How affordable are your training and consultancy services for the Nigerian entrepreneur?

They are very affordable depending on the need of our clients and the number of sessions they want. Our charges are hourly with provision for deliberations. All you need to do is send us an email through info@lapaxlifeprojects.com or send a DM to @ emem.ng on Instagram.

Meet Mfonobong, fashion entrepreneur with passion for affordable clothing BUNMI BAILEY

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fonobong Nsima-Abasi Iyang is the chief executive officer of Rockdesignersforless, an online store that sells luxury fashion pieces.

Mfonobong, a graduate of Statistics from the University of Uyo, was inspired to establish Rockdesignersforless in 2018 owing to her love for fashion and luxury brands.

Her passion to make luxury clothing brands affordable to low-income earners was also a critical inspiration factor.

“You know luxury brands do not come cheap, but I

wanted ways to make them come affordable, and that gave birth to my business,” she says.

“I source for pre-owned or second-hand high-end designer brands and I reproduce them and sell,” she says.

The young entrepreneur started her business in 2017 with N32,500, an amount she got from her savings.

The statistician-turnedentrepreneur says her business has grown steadily since starting, as she has continued to expand her product range. “I will say God has been so amazing because he has always been my pillar right from the start till now. I started very little with

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selling only unbranded used bags but I now sell clothes and other luxury items,” she discloses. She says her business has stood out differently from others and survived the country’s difficult business environment owing to the quality of her products.

“I don’t just bring anything to the table. I source right, making sure my customers get value for their money,” the young entrepreneur further says.

Mfonobong explains that she had to re-strategise her business model to survive the difficult moment of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Speaking on some of her

Mfonobong

business plans, she says her plan is to have a physical store where clients can walk in and

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make their purchases.

“I have never stopped expanding my business as I constantly introduce a new line of products. However, my major plan is to open a physical walkin store,” she says.

The young entrepreneur hopes to be a top entrepreneur through her brand in the next five years. “To be a top entrepreneur that is widely known, that whenever my business name is mentioned, people can easily tell it’s me,” she says when asked about her ambition.

“I want to make people know you can be very successful in doing business and for me to be an inspiration

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to many.”

On major challenge facing the business, she says, is the border closure policy, which has made it difficult for her to source specific luxury brands.

“Sourcing for specific brands for a customer is never easy. Borders are also closed, therefore hindering these items from coming into the country easily,” she explains.

“Another challenge is people knowing me and being aware of what I sell because I know a lot of people are still out there looking for where to buy these luxury clothing and bags,” she adds.

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Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

REAL SECTOR WATCH

Guinness Nigeria eyes rebound after COVID-19 impact GBEMI FAMINU

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he closure of bars, lounges and social gatherings has impacted Guinness Nigeria’s revenue and profits for the p e r i o d e n d e d 3 0 Ju n e 2020 (full year).

But the brewer is eyeing a rebound post-coronavirus, with focus fixed on optimising route to consumer, reduction of credit risk and management of cost control.

Its revenue dropped 21 percent to N104.37 billion for the per iod, from NN131.49 billion reported in the same period of 2019. The brewer incurred a loss after tax of N12.7 billion, accordi n g t o au d i t e d re s u l t s released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday.

Baker Magunda, managing director/CEO, G u i n n e s s Ni g e r i a p l c , said the last quarter performance of fiscal 2020

was significantly impacted by restrictions due to COVID-19, exacerbating the already challenging economic environment.

“Closures of on-trade premises (bars, lounges, clubs and dine-in restaurants) which represent the major part of the consumption occasion for our products; and bans on celebratory occasions impacted sales,” Magunda said.

He explained that demand was also impacted b y re d u c e d c o n s u m e r income, unemployment concerns due to the shutdown of a large number of business es, and increases of VAT and excise throughout the year.

“Distribution was further impacted by the ban of inter-state, and in some cases intra-state travel.

Although management worked diligently with regulatory authorities to minimise the impact, this hampered our distributors’ ability to restock and have our brands available

Baker Magunda

for purchase,” he further said.

The brew er, how ever, said that its reaction

t o t h e c ha l l e ng e s p resented by theCOVID-19 lockdown was centered around reducing risk to

Analysts see sustained protest worsening manufacturers’ revenues GBEMI FAMINU

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till healing from the aggressive impact of coronavirus pandemic on businesses, local manufacturers will be hard hit if the #EndSARS protest and unrest persist, analysts have said.

After the shooting of unarmed #EndSARS protesters by soldiers on Tuesday, hoodlums resorted to looting shops and malls, burning down public and private buildings, and committing acts inimical to business. The youths were earlier protesting police brutality, calling for an end to the rogue Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) of the police force.

In view of this, analysts project that local manufacturers will lose more than expected this year on the back of the recent events that have led to decline in demand, lost receivables, as well as restricted movement of personnel, products and services.

Omobola Adu, economic analyst at GDL Nigeria, said beyond the impact of the pandemic, revenue of manufacturers could take a worse turn following the unrest. He, however, noted that it could be controlled if necessary steps and actions would be taken by the government to

… As COVID-19 impact lingers

calm the situation.

“Yes, but the impact would depend on how long the unrest continues. For example, if the curfew imposed for states like Lagos and Edo goes on in the coming weeks, then there is a good chance that it would negatively impact revenue for the quarter due to halt in production, distribution and sales,” Adu said.

However, if the government manages the situation well, and based on the president’s speech on tasking security officers to do all that is necessary to calm the situation, then there won’t be a significant impact on revenue,” Adu explained. www.businessday.ng

Adelaja Olayemi, Lagosbased research analyst, said: “The protest disrupted economic activities and it may actually continue to weigh on the revenue prospects of manufacturers if not properly contained because it affects large-scale customers and consumers. Beyond this, the unexpected break amid the partial resumption will draw back the recovery of sector players,” he noted.

Ambrose Oruche, acting director-general, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), told BusinessDay that the sector was already pressured, noting that its productivity and impact

were declining. He added that the challenges had become tougher on the back of the pandemic outbreak and the lockdown which followed.

“Not all manufacturers have recovered from the lockdown, even after resuming, foreign exchange is a major challenge, and if nothing is done in the next quarter many industries will shut down because many cannot get the raw materials needed,” he further said.

Prior to this unrest, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said the economy lost N700 billion in the first 12 days of the protest.

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the business by focusing on cash delivery, distributo r i nve nto r i e s re d u ction, and fast-tracking of the ongoing distribution transformation project for efficient sales operations.

“This focus ensured a reduction of trade receivables by 88 percent over same period last year,” he stated.

“We also focused on cost management by reacting to the drop in demand by reducing operations for a month. Agile actions taken in the period impacted by COVID-19 complemented the work already undertaken throughout the year to reduce cost of sales by year end,” he explained.

He said going into the new fiscal year, the company is conscious of the continued challenging operating environment with double-digit inflation and pressured consumer income spending.

However, he believes the focus put in optimising route to consumer, credit

risk reduction and managing cost control would position the brewer to e m e r g e e v e n s t ro n g e r from the current crisis.

“We remain confident about the execution and resilience of our Total Beverage Alcohol strategy as a key driver of sustainable growth in the market,” he added.

In a similar fashion, Nigerian Breweries experienced revenue decline of 11 percent to N151 billion in H1 of 2020. Profit after tax declined by 58 percent, from N13 billion in the first half of 2019 to N5.5 billion in the same period of 2020.

A l s o, Int e r nat i o na l Breweries experienced re v e nu e d e c l i n e o f 1 2 percent, recording N60 billion in the first half of 2020 as against the N68 billion in the previous year. It further recorded N9.3 billion in its loss after tax, representing a 37 percent increase in its loss profile.

NACCIMA calls for the need to resolve civil unrest GBEMI FAMINU

I

n view of the recent unrest which disrupted economic and social activities in Nigeria, the National Chamber of Commerce Mines and Industry (NACCIMA), has called for the need to resolve the civil unrest and reach a consensus beneficial to everyone in order to restore peace in the country.

In a statement signed

by Saratu Iya-Aliyu, national president of NACCIMA made available to BusinessDay, she urged that principal stakeholders in various associations reach out to necessary authorities in order to engage and proffer suitable solutions.

“Nigeria, is facing a serious crisis and NACCIMA is calling for calm, and dialogue for immediate end to an orgy of violence, killings, looting and wanton destruction of properties we are now witnessing at a period we are still struggling with the negative impact of COVID-19 on our economy and working on economic recovery, Towards this end we are calling for frank Dialogue between the leaders of the protesting youth and various arms of government at all levels including to douse the tension” she said. @Businessdayng

She added that as a ripple effect the unrest negatively impacted the business environment as well as other economic activities which is still reeling from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. “The impact of the crisis and wanton destruction of property as being witnessed is clear for all to see. Billions have been lost in arson and looting going on, business operations have also been seriously impacted” IyaAliyu added.

She said arresting the unrest is also critical in order not to aggravate the inherent problems regarding Nigeria’s business relationship with other countries. “ NACCIMA’s efforts as a National Chamber, to help project our country as a favorable and investment friendly destination to our Business partners abroad, and other Foreign investors over the years is now suffering a serious setback. , we must not, by acts of commission or omission, aggravate our economic situation. “ she added.

Speaking on the killings which took place at the Lekki Toll gate, the NACCIMA president condoled with families of those who lost their lives stating that every citizen has a right to peaceful protest exercise.

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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15

16

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

In Association With

Who controls the conversation

Britain andcircuit Europe Going full

How to deal with free speech on social media

How a “no deal” Brexit can be

It is too important to be determined by a handful of tech executives

I

T IS THE biggest antitrust suit in two decades. On October 20th the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that Google ties up phone-makers, networks and browsers in deals that make it the default search engine. The department says this harms consumers, who are deprived of alternatives. The arrangement is sustained by Google’s dominance of search which, because of a global market share of roughly 90%, generates the advertising profits that pay for the deals (see article). The DOJ has not yet said what remedy it wants, but it could force Google and its parent, Alphabet, to change how they structure their business. Don’t hold your breath, though: Google dismisses the suit as nonsense, so the case could drag on for years.

Action against Google may seem far from the storm gathering against Facebook, Twitter and social media.

One is laser-focused on a type of corporate contract, the other a category 5 hurricane of popular outrage buffeting unaccountable tech firms for supposedly destroying society. The left says that, from the conspiracy theories of QAnon to the incitement of white supremacists, social media are drowning users in hatred and falsehood. The right accuses the tech firms of censorship, including last week of a dubious article alleging corruption in the family of Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee. And yet the question of what to do about social media is best seen through the same four stages as the case against Google: harm, dominance, remedies and delay.

At stake is who controls the rules of public speech.

A tenth of Americans think social media are beneficial; almost two-thirds that they cause harm.

Since February YouTube has identified over 200,000 “dangerous or misleading” videos on covid-19.

Before the vote in 2016, 110m-130m adult Americans saw fake news. In Myanmar Facebook has been used to incite genocidal attacks against the Rohingyas, a Muslim minority (see article). Last week Samuel Paty, a teacher in France who used cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to talk about free speech, was murdered after a social-media campaign against him (see Obituary). The killer tweeted an image of Mr Paty’s severed head, lying in the street.

It starts with acknowledging the consequences of one

The tech firms’ shifting attempts to sterilise this cesspool mean that a handful of unelected executives are setting the boundaries of free speech (see Briefing). True, radio and TV share the responsibility for misinformation and Republican claims of bias are unproven—rightwing sources often top lists of the most popular items on Facebook and Twitter. But pressure is growing on the tech firms to restrict ever more material. In America the right fears that, urged on by a Democratic White House, Congress and their own employees, the firms’ bosses will follow left-leaning definitions of what is acceptable. Contrast that with the First Amendment’s broad licence to cause offence.

Elsewhere, governments have also used social media companies to go beyond the law, often without public debate. In London the Metropolitan Police requests that they take down legal, but troubling, posts. In June France’s Constitutional Council struck down a deal between the government and the tech companies because it curbed free speech—an initiative that is sure to be revisited after Mr Paty’s murder. Citing Western precedents, more authoritarian governments in countries such as Singapore expect the tech firms to restrict “fake news”—potentially including irksome criticism from opponents.

This might not matter were the networks less dominant. If people could switch as easily as they change breakfast cereal, they could avoid rules they dislike. But switching is like giving up your mobile-phone number: it cuts you off from your friends. Social networks have also become so central to distributing news

and opinion that they are, says Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, a “town square”. If you want to be part of the conversation you have no choice but to be there, soapbox in hand.

This hold over users has one further dismal implication for truth and decency. In order to sell more ads, the tech companies’ algorithms send you news and posts that they think will grab your attention. Political cynics, con artists and extremists take advantage of this bias towards virality to spread lies and hatred.

Bots and deep fakes, realistic posts of public figures doing or saying things that never happened, make their job cheaper and easier. They are rapidly becoming more sophisticated.

The purest remedy for this would be to change the tech firms’ business model and introduce more competition. That is already working well in other areas of tech, like the cloud (see Leader). One idea is for people to own their data individually or collectively (see Schumpeter). The social networks would become utilities paid a flat fee, while people or collectives earned the rent from advertisers and set the parameters for what was served up to them. At a stroke that would align the gains from advertising with the burden upon the people being advertised to. If users could port their data to another network, the tech firms would have to compete to provide a good service.

The obstacles to this are immense.

The tech firms’ value would tumble by hundreds of billions of dollars. It is not clear you own the data about your online connections. You could not migrate to a new network without losing the friends who stayed behind

unless the platforms were interoperable, as mobile-phone networks are.

Perhaps the authorities could impose less sweeping remedies, such as giving users the right to choose feeds set by a neutral rule, not an attentiongrabbing algorithm.

The keys to the hype house Such ideas cannot be implemented quickly, but societies need solutions today. Inevitably, governments will want to set the basic rules at the national level, just as they do for speech. They should define a framework covering obscenity, incitement and defamation and leave judgments about individual posts to others.

International human-rights law is a good starting-point, because it leans towards free speech and requires restrictions to be relevant and proportionate, but allows local carve-outs.

Social-media firms should take those standards as their basis. If they want to go further, attaching warnings to or limiting content that is legal, the lodestars should be predictability and transparency. As guardians of the town square, they ought to open their processes to scrutiny and particular decisions to appeal. Ad hoc rule changes by top executives, as with the recent Biden decision, are wrong because they seem arbitrary and political. Hard cases, like kicking opponents of Bashar al-Assad in Syria off a platform for mentioning terrorists, should be open to review by representative non-statutory boards with more power than the one Facebook has created. Independent researchers need much freer access to anonymised data so that they can see how platforms work and recommend reform. Such rule-making should be open to scrutiny. In America politicians can use removing the protection from prosecution granted by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act as a lever to bring about change.

This will be messy, especially in politics. When societies are divided and the boundary between private and political speech is blurred, decisions to intervene are certain to cause controversy. The tech firms may want to flag abuses, including in post-election presidential tweets, but they should resist getting dragged into every debate. Short of incitement to violence, they should not block political speech. Politicians’ flaws are better exposed by noisy argument than enforced silence.

B

RITAIN’S CONSERVATIVES are fond of Australia, an Anglosphere place with a flourishing economy, fine weather and fabulous beaches. So when trade talks with the European Union were briefly suspended before resuming this week, and Boris Johnson told Britons they might end up not with the Canada-style free-trade agreement he wanted, but instead leave on “Australian terms”, he made the prospect sound beguilingly sunny.

This is typical Johnsonian spin.

If the latest face-to-face talks should collapse and Britain end up with no deal, the terms on which it leaves would not be those that apply to Australia, which has many side-deals and is seeking its own free-trade agreement with the EU. They would be closer to those of Af-

ghanistan, Bhutan or Congo: Britain would have no trade deal at all with its largest trading partner, and little prospect of getting one.

The government’s own modelling suggests the hit to GDP after 15 years would be almost 8% with no deal, against less than 5% for a thin Canadian-style one. Many businesses would be devastated by tariffs, including 10% on cars and 5% on car parts, threatening an industry that employs 800,000 people and accounts for 14% of Britain’s goods exports. The food industry would suffer from EU protectionism, with farmers facing tariffs of 40% or more on lamb and beef exports. Research

by UK in a Changing Europe, an academic think-tank, suggests that food prices would rise by as much as 4%.

Non-tariff barriers now matter more than tariffs, and for services they would be erected with or without a deal. But in two cases an acrimonious no-deal Brexit could Continues on page 17

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

17

In Association With

The young have had enough

Peaceful protesters against Nigerian police violence are shot The army showers bullets on a demonstration in Lagos

T

HE SOLDIERS waited until it was dark. They took down CCTV cameras. They turned off street lights. Then they started shooting, automatic gunfire ringing out late into the night.

Their targets were young people kneeling peacefully in the street, waving the Nigerian flag. They were protesting against police brutality.

The killing on October 20th of at least 12 protesters in a wealthy part of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, was not the first time that the country’s security forces had fired on a crowd of demonstrators.

In 2015, for instance, the army killed hundreds of Shia Muslim protesters, most of whom were unarmed, in Zaria, in the northern state of Kaduna. The officers and men responsible have never been punished. But the latest bloody episode, and the protests that preceded it, may mark a turning point for Africa’s most populous country.

The protests started in early October after the killing of a young man, allegedly by members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police unit with a reputation for brutality. In 2016 Amnesty International, a watchdog, accused it of routinely torturing people to extract confessions or

extort money. A follow-up report in June documented 82 cases of murder, torture, extortion and theft by SARS members since the start of 2017, sometimes under the supervision of high-ranking officers. Amnesty said that not one member of the unit had been prosecuted for these crimes.

The difference this time was that bystanders pulled out their phones and recorded the murder.

Videos spread from phone to phone on social media, sparking demonstrations that have stirred up young Nigerians, crossing lines of ethnicity and religion. Because the protests were leaderless, the government has no one to negotiate with, or to buy off. That made them especially dangerous to a state unaccustomed to its citizens

demanding accountability. A “previously silent majority has now been awakened”, says Idayat Hassan at the Centre for Democracy and Development, a think-tank in Abuja.

Few expected the protests to last this long. Previous demonstrations fizzled out after minor reforms, such as the government adding an F (for Federal) to the SARS acronym and centralising its command. This time people stayed on the streets, even after the government promised to disband SARS. Sensing their power, the activists demanded that corrupt cops be prosecuted. They also want wider police reforms and better governance in general.

The state’s initial response was to truck in pro-government

thugs to attack protesters. Many are thought to come from the country’s north, which is where President Muhammadu Buhari draws much of his support. The gangs, who arrived in police vehicles and set about their mayhem in full view of the men in uniform, also attacked businesses belonging to people from other parts of the country in an apparent bid to stoke up regional tensions. When that failed to quash the demonstrations, the government called in the army.

Yet instead of crushing the protest movement, the killings in Lagos have provoked a violent response. After videos of the massacre spread on social media, crowds set fire to the family home of the governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. They also torched a police station, public buses and the offices of a newspaper and television channel linked to Bola Tinubu, a ruling-party politician who is widely expected to run for president in 2023.

Mr Buhari appealed for calm, but said nothing about investigating the shootings or prosecuting those responsible for them. That may be because, as he told the Nigerian Bar Association in 2018, human rights “must take second place” to “national security and public interest”. But Nigerians have heard enough excuses.

Millennials and markets

In defence of millennial investors They are changing finance for the better

T

HE URGE of the old to lament the folly of the young is as ancient as civilisation itself.

“The beardless youth… does not foresee what is useful, squandering his money,” scowled the poet Horace, in 15BC. This year silver-haired Wall Street pros have tutted at the enthusiasm of youthful stock-pickers, who have taken to punting on markets in the lockdown. Manic millennials tapping screens piled into Hertz— after it declared bankruptcy. They dabbled with derivatives and bid up shares in Nikola, an electriclorry-maker that later admitted to letting a prototype roll down a hill during a “demonstration” because it could not have powered itself.

It may seem as if the only lesson is how not to invest. Yet as we explain this week, young people are changing how finance works (see article) and often for the better.

Every generation leaves its mark, but those aged 56-74 today, known as baby-boomers, had an outsize impact on America’s capital markets. Thanks to solid economic growth, rising asset prices and fat pensions, they have accumulated piles of financial

savings—about $600,000 on average, held in retirement accounts and other vehicles for shares and bonds. The asset-management industry has been built around this mountain of money. Specialists run pensions, index providers such as Vanguard let you track the market while snoozing, and wealth managers offer personalised service and perks to the rich. No wonder the number of jobs in finance has risen by 31% since 1990.

At first glance the young don’t look as if they have enough money to reinvent Wall Street. Those under 35 have, on average, just $35,000 in financial assets, and those born between 1981 and 1996 own just 7% of all such assets in America, a far cry

from the 26% share that boomers had amassed by a similar age and the 50% slice they now hold. Having faced two economic crises in about a decade, the young are less likely than their predecessors to own a home or a car. Half of those aged 18-29 say they have a positive view of socialism, according to Gallup, a polling firm.

Yet much of this is about to change as the young approach their peak earnings and the boomers retire and die. In recent years the churn in investible asset holdings has been relatively small, at around $1.3trn every five years, or 5% of total wealth in America. This pace is expected to double in a decade or so, as boomers begin to hand wealth to their children—either in their dotage or in their wills. By 2042 millennials are expected to have inherited roughly $22trn.

The young are also early adopters of new technologies and investment philosophies. In America digital-payments networks such as Venmo and Zelle are dominated by younger users even as their elders still scribble on cheques. Huabei, a credit service launched in China in 2014 by Ant Group, a fintech firm, now has a vast army of users—the

pioneers were young people who could not get credit cards or bank loans. Younger American savers are happy using robo-advisers, which automate investment across a range of cheap index funds. As technology has cut the cost of trading, it has become easier and cheaper for them to trade assets actively, too. The leading adherents of the sustainable-investing boom that has gripped asset-managers are those aged 24-39. More than two-thirds of these young savers say they are very interested in making a positive social and environmental impact with their investments, compared with about half of the general population.

Some big financial firms are alive to the coming shift. Last year Morgan Stanley bought Solium, a startup that manages stock options and equity as they vest, largely for young tech workers. Goldman Sachs purchased United Capital, an investment-advisory firm popular with young professionals. But much of the financial industry, still drunk on the colossal windfall from the baby-boomers, is unprepared.

If those firms want to stay in business, then instead of laughing as the new generation experiments with finance they should be taking notes.

How a “no deal” Brexit can be...

Continued from page 16

be damaging. The financial-services industry (see article) would suffer more than it already has if the EU refused to accept the equivalence of Britain’s regulation, and many firms, especially those in the digital economy, would struggle without a similar agreement on the adequacy of data protection. Failure to reach a deal would probably exclude Britain from the lucrative European energy market, and might even threaten mitigation measures to allow lorrydrivers and airlines to keep operating on the continent.

Then there is Northern Ireland.

No deal would resurrect the threat of a border in Ireland between north and south, which all sides wish to avoid. It would also create problems within the United Kingdom. The protocol that is part of January’s Brexit withdrawal treaty in effect keeps Northern Ireland inside the European single market and customs union, with Great Britain outside. As Mr Johnson has belatedly conceded, that necessitates controls on goods moving between the two. These could be manageable with a trade deal; without one, which would mean not just customs checks but tariffs, the protocol would be far more intrusive. The government’s solution would be to rewrite it unilaterally, but that would create new problems. As the House of Lords made clear in voting against it this week, such a naked breach of international law would undermine trust in Britain.

Worst of all, leaving without a deal would make it hard to talk further. Even a thin trade agreement could be built on, for instance, with renewed efforts to extend its range to more services. Most security co-operation, crucially including access to common intelligence databases, would halt completely after no deal. The bad blood would imperil broader joint diplomacy, a serious loss in a dangerous world.

And it would be difficult to restart negotiations, because the EU may well begin by putting back on the table the demands that had prevented a deal in the first place.

18

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Harvard Business Review

ManagementDigest

Case Study: Pull the plug on a project with an uncertain future? run.”

“If Alicia is willing to stick with you, could you persuade her to buy out Nikolai’s company? Or would EPM?” “Us, no. Not now. Alicia, possibly. But I’m not sure I can navigate this without Nikolai. I suspect that the project has gone as smoothly as it has only because he’s a drinking buddy of half the town.”

“I hope you’re not beating yourself up,” Jay said. “These are strange times, to say the least.”

“I recognize that this is mostly out of my control, but I’d love to be the person who pulls it off despite the odds. There’s no denying that it would have huge upsides for me, from both a financial and a career perspective.”

Cody Evans and Chris Mahowald

A

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER CONSIDERS WHETHER TO PUSH FORWARD WITH AN OFFICE COMPLEX IN THE MIDST OF COVID-19 Alex Kozak was sitting in his Moscow apartment waiting for his colleague, Nikolai Krylov, to join their Zoom call. When his video window popped up, Nikolai announced with a smile, “I have good news!”

It had been a while since Alex had gotten any of that. In fact, he’d spent the past several weeks holed up in his apartment because of the pandemic lockdown, and it had begun to feel as if the world was unraveling around him.

“I’ve got a potential buyer,” Nikolai said. He and Alex had been working together for the past six years on the development of a 700,000-square-foot commercial office building in Moscow, which they’d dubbed Eastern Square.

Alex was leading the project for his company, the New York-based property firm EPM, and Nikolai represented its local joint venture partner, Krasny Invest, which had traded a prime parcel of land close to the Presnensky district and its expertise in navigating Russian bureaucracy for one-third ownership of the project. In late March they’d had to pause work, and Alex had thought they’d be using this virtual meeting to discuss restarting. Selling the development was not on his radar.

“It’s an investment firm based in Kazakhstan, and they’re eager,” Nikolai continued, either ignoring or not noticing Alex’s shocked look. Alex knew that Krasny Invest was reeling from the abrupt halt in the Russian economy, as were so many others, but he’d thought they would stick this project out.

The timeline had been extended, of course, but thanks to the strong architecture, engineering and construction teams they’d assembled, they were only a year away from completion and already had a prime anchor tenant, a U.S. company opening its first Russian office.

Nikolai explained more of the details. The proposed deal with the Kazakhs would monetize the project’s $100 million of invested equity plus a small profit. This was only a fraction of the more than $475 million in profit that Alex and Nikolai had projected so confidently back in January — a healthy increase from the $200 million in profit expected when the project was first conceived.

Of course, as Alex well knew, the past few months had introduced many new risks. What would the Moscow real estate market look like in a year? Would the economy recover that quickly? Would people even be going to their offices?

Or would companies shrink their footprints and let people work from home? The team had navigated the 2017 slump in the Moscow

real estate market. But this crisis was clearly different.

“I need to process this,” Alex told Nikolai now.

“Look, we’re all scrambling,” Nikolai said. “Between you and me, my company needs the liquidity. But given how the world has changed this year — and specifically how the workplace has changed — I think it’s smart to get out now. We might not be able to secure an offer like this again. Talk to Alicia.”

Alicia Mendez was a managing director at a London-based insurance company with $150 billion in investments globally, including a 33% stake in Eastern Square.

“I need to talk to my bosses, too,” Alex said. “And the construction team.”

Alex stared out his apartment window. As an American expat with family roots in Poland, he’d come to love Moscow, and he hated to see so much suffering in this city as well as around the world. He believed this project would be a catalyst for the city’s further growth — and he had put his heart and soul into it. If they sold now, his company and its partners wouldn’t lose money, but he’d have wasted six years of his life. What’s more, he’d forgo his outsize share of the potential profits. Did he really want to start a new project in this economy?

WE CAN SEE IT THROUGH That evening Alex logged in to his last videoconference of the day — this one with Alicia. An influential partner at her firm, she managed a $30 billion real estate portfolio and had always been fully committed to the Eastern Square project. But like everyone else, she was now worried.

“Before we talk about Nikolai’s proposal, I want some more info on where things stand with construction,” she said.

“We had a two-hour meeting with the foreman earlier today; he and his team are set to restart as soon as they get the green light from the city,” Alex explained. “But they’re understaffed, and new guidelines are restricting the numwww.businessday.ng

ber of people we can have on-site.

Their best guess is a year’s delay at a minimum.”

“And worst case?”

“He mentioned three years.”

Alicia’s eyes widened. She took a breath. “Well, a delay could work in our favor, despite the higher interest costs. It would allow time for the economy to recover, for a vaccine to be developed, for people to return to the office. And the anchor tenant?”

“I talked to the COO today, and she said they’re deep in planning revisions but as of now still hoping to move forward with the expansion to Moscow. They might not need the full space though. She threw out the idea of 50% capacity.”

Alicia was silent for a moment.

Alex waited.

“As you know, we play the long game,” she finally said. “Moscow’s commercial office sector has long been underserved, especially at this grade.” That was what had initially sold her on the project.

The city had so few quality office buildings that competition over the existing stock was fierce. And Eastern Square was the most significant development in the pipeline through 2025.

“The question is, will there still be demand when the market recovers?” Alicia continued.

“Right, of course,” Alex said.

“That’s hard to predict. There are some financial upsides — falling interest rates, cheaper labor costs — but we need to keep our tenant and also attract others. I think we can still achieve a profit of more than $400 million if we pursue the long game, as you said.”

“There may be an opportunity to offer new state-of-the-art features like air filtration and touchless entry,” Alicia replied. “Those could be critical differentiators.

If you feel strongly, I think I can persuade people here to see this thing through, with a fully baked proposal from you on how we can weather the storm. Things may get worse before they get better.”

Alex nodded and smiled. “I can do that.” But as soon as he closed the Zoom window, he asked himself, Can I? He couldn’t escape

https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

the ominous headlines from cities around the world. If he was having trouble convincing himself, how could he convince others? And even more distressing, should he try?

PAST EXPERIENCE It was close to 2 a.m., and Alex, still awake, called his mentor and former business school professor, Jay Huang, who’d spent his career in real estate development before joining academia.

“Are you getting any sleep?” Jay asked.

“Some,” Alex lied. “I manage to fit a few hours in between scenario-planning sessions.”

Jay knew Moscow well. Right after Russia opened to outside investors, he had bought up land and built numerous high-end properties in the country. He’d left the city soon after the 2008 global financial crisis.

“What are you seeing?” he asked.

“Obviously the possible range of outcomes is wide,” Alex said. He explained that assumptions about rent and cost of capital could hold or, if things continued to deteriorate, could fall even further below his initial projections. The vacancy rate in Moscow had already spiked from 0.5% to 7% practically overnight.

Alex gave Jay more details about the Kazakh investor’s offer. “Nikolai says they see this as an opportunity to get a trophy asset at a great price. And they’re eager to close the deal soon, which would give Krasny Invest the liquidity it needs.

Plus Alicia and I would get a modest return on our investment. The EPM brass wouldn’t be angry, but they wouldn’t be happy either.

This was supposed to be our marquee development for 2021. If it turns out I’m selling at a bargain, it would be a bad move.”

“What does your boss say?”

“He’s super busy with other projects in the EPM portfolio. Honestly, most of my counterparts are in a worse position than I am. Besides, you know how EPM operates. I’m the one on the ground, so it’s my call: Make it work or cut and @Businessdayng

“And you’re so close to the finish line. This crisis will end. The global economy will recover. Companies will bounce back. The Moscow market will start growing again.

Even in the aftermath of 2008, I had success with my projects. These things pass.”

“Spoken like a true real estate developer.”

Jay laughed. “You’re one of us now.”

START OVER FROM SCRATCH? Early the next morning, when the sun was barely up, Alex put on a mask and walked from his apartment to the Eastern Square site. A few months earlier these streets had bustled with people. Today the few others he passed were in medical or police uniforms and also had their faces covered. It felt like a dystopian future. Would any city ever operate normally again? Were he and Alicia crazy for thinking that a central-city office project could still succeed?

He reached his destination. If COVID-19 had never happened, construction workers would have been arriving, putting on their hard hats, and starting up the cranes and lifters for the day. But all was still. He looked up at the shell of the building and felt a tightness in his chest. He’d lined up a well-capitalized investor, a well-connected local partner, a reliable construction team, a premier location and a world-class tenant. What seemed like the most promising project of his career was now at risk.

This development had been his life for six years, and the thought of giving up on it now was difficult to stomach. Beyond the emotional investment, Alex had real dollars to consider. If he could salvage the project, his company’s share of the investment would be worth millions, whereas a sale now would mean starting this chapter of his career from scratch.

Cody Evans is the founder of Homecoming Capital, an investment firm focused on fighting climate change. Chris Mahowald is the managing partner of RSF Partners, a series of real estate private equity funds, and a lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The Exchanges Market Statistics as at Friday 23 October 2020

Top Gainers/Losers as at Friday 23 October 2020 GAINERS Company

LOSERS Opening

Closing

Change

N4.1

N4.4

0.3

ZENITHBANK

N20.65

N20.9

WAPCO

N17.65

UBA CUTIX

PZ

Opening

Closing

Change

OANDO

N2.28

N2.25

-0.03

0.25

INTBREW

N6.25

N6.23

-0.02

N17.9

0.25

UAC-PROP

N0.79

N0.77

-0.02

N6.8

N7

0.2

JULI

N1.51

N1.51

0

N1.78

N1.9

0.12

N6

N6

0

Company

EKOCORP

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

28,616.62 1,839.00 178,484,331.00 3.075

Generic 1st ‘DM’ Future 28,186.00USD -82.00-0.29%

Deutsche Boerse AG German Stock Index DAX 12,645.75EUR +102.69+0.82%

S&P 500 Index 3,450.46USD3.03-0.09%

S

unrest, Lagos-based United Capital research analysts said that economic outcomes in the region “may actually weaken beyond initial projections”.

Equity investors on the Bourse booked about N20billion gain in the review trading week, thanks to consumer goods stocks which helped spur the gains.

The market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) printed slightly higher at +6.91 percent, helped by rally in the month of Octo-

ber alone as the market has increased by +6.93 percent month-to-date (MtD).

“With investors cherry picking attractive counters across sectors, the ASI maintained its positive performance while neutralizing the effect of declines in the Insurance sector, as local institutional investors continue to take position in the market”, analysts at Lagosbased Vetiva Securities said in their recent note.

With a number of bellwether stocks expected to

release their third quarter (Q3) 2020 results into the market in the new week, the analysts expect the market to be largely directed by the expected earnings results.

“We also believe the unattractractive yields in the fixed income (FI) market will continue to redirect funds into the equities market. However, due to the persistent uncertainties in the global and domestic space, a cautious trading strategy is still recommended in the short term”, the analysts added.

Fixed Income, Currency markets turnover decreased to N14.07trn in September

T

Nikkei 225 23,516.59JPY +42.32+0.18%

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

T

urnover in the Fixed Income and Currency (FIC) markets for the month ended September 30, 2020 was N14.07trillion, FMDQ Securities Exchange monthly report shows.

The record turnover indicates a month-on-month (MoM) and year-on-year (YoY) decrease of 1.33percent (N0.19trillion) and 26.76percent (N5.14trillion) from N14.26trillion (August 2020) and N19.21trillion (September 2019) respectively.

The year to date (YTD)

FTSE 100 Index 5,860.28GBP +74.63+1.29%

turnover as at September 30, 2020, was circa N164.32trillion, representing a YoY decrease of 7.69percent (N13.68trillion) on the YTD turnover of N178trillion recorded as at September 30, 2019.OMO bills and Foreign Exchange transactions were the highest contributors to the FIC markets in September 2020, jointly accounting for 54.48percent of the total FIC market turnover.

Total FX market turnover in September 2020 was $8.66billion (N3.34trillion), representing a MoM decrease of 11.27percent ($1.10billion) from the turnover recorded in August 2020 www.businessday.ng

$9.76bn (N3.76trillion) as liquidity challenges in the FX market persisted, despite the interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in form of FX Sales to Dealing Member (Banks) to reduce the backlog of unmet FX demand in September 2020.

Analysis of FX market turnover indicates that FX Derivatives turnover decreased MoM by 28.94percent ($2.04billion) whilst FX Spot turnover increased by 34.69percent ($0.94billion) in September 2020. In the OTC FX Futures market, the near month contract (NGUS SEP 30 2020) with a total outstanding notional value of $1.54billion matured and

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Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3,278.00CNY -34.50-1.04%

Conoil shareholders approve N1.39bn dividend payment

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Global market indicators

14.957

NSE ASI rose by 0.13% in week marred by protests he benchmark performance indicator of Nigeria’s stock market increased by 0.13percent in the trading week ended Friday October 23 but marred by agitations.

Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa battles protest against police brutality (#EndSARS), a risk which most stock investors weighed while acquiring the naira asset in ongoing remote trading sessions.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation - increased from week-open low of 28,659.45 points and N14.979trillion to 28,697.06 points and N14.999trillion respectively.

The market witnessed a mix of bargain hunting activities and profit taking as investors resorted to cautious trading approach amidst global and domestic uncertainties.

With the devastating impact of COVID-19 on countries in Africa like Nigeria, now amplified by social

19

was settled, whilst a new long-term (60-month) contract, NGUS SEP 24 2025 was introduced at a rate of $/N589.09.

The total notional value (NV) of open OTC FX Futures contracts as at September 30, 2020 stood at circa $11.13billion, representing a 9.81percent ($1.21billion) decrease on the NV of open contracts as at August 31, 2020 (circa $12.34billion), and continuing the downward trend in the NV of open contracts since May 2020. The total NV of OTC FX Futures contracts traded since inception stood at $50.41billion as at September 30, 2020.

hareholders of Conoil Plc approved the payment of N1.39 billion dividend proposed by the board of the major oil marketing company, coming on the back of an impressive performance recorded in the 2019 financial year.

This meant that shareholders will get 200 kobo on every 50 kobo ordinary share.

At the virtual 50th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company held by proxies on Friday October 23, the shareholders were unanimous in their commendation for the Board and Management for the wonderful performance and for the consistency in the payment of dividend.

“We congratulate the Board for the impressive financial results and especially being able to reward shareholders when we consider the tough times faced by all fuel marketing companies in the country in the last financial year,” Adebisi Bakare said.

Conoil stated that the modest dividend payout was predicated on the need to consolidate its cash management effort vis-à-vis the liquidity squeeze in the economy and also to continue to ensure improvement in its overall performance in order to meet the expectations of the shareholders.

According to the audited financial results for the 2019 financial year, Conoil Plc Gross Revenue grew by 14.4 percent to N139.8 billion.

Profit Before Tax grew by 10.4 percent to N2.83 billion while Profit After Tax also grew by 9.8 percent to N1.97 billion.

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The foremost fuel marketer also grew its Total Assets by 4.4 percent to N63.6 billion, while Interest Expense dropped by 26 percent to N1.1 billion. “There has been a consistent drop in interest expense since 2017 which we hope to sustain,” it informed the shareholders.

In his address to the shareholders, the Chairman, Conoil Plc, Mike Adenuga (Jr.), said the impressive financial results recorded by the company against the background of the tough challenges that marked the operating environment of the downstream oil sector, was in fulfillment of his promise the shareholders of better execution of value-added products and services especially in the areas of marketing and growing the bottom-line.

According to Adenuga, the company had set an ambitious growth strategy for the next five years, driven by innovation and market penetration.

“Thus far, significant investments have been made in strengthening the company’s retail network and important progress recorded on all fronts for the benefit of all stakeholders,” the chairman said.

“We are proud of the attainments of the management. It was a challenging year with impressive results,” he added.

Adenuga further assured Conoil shareholders that the company would consolidate on its achievements to deliver a strong and sustainable performance that enhance juicy returns on their investment, stating that the company has strategically positioned its business to take advantage of emerging opportunities in the downstream oil sector.

20

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

This is MONEY

• Savings • Travel • Debt & Borrowing

A guide to your Personal Finance

21

• Utilities • Managing your Tax

Financial tips for our youth

quires time, effort, drive, ambition, a burning desire, and a belief in yourself that you can learn, grow, and transform your life.

Personal development requires daily action. Make some time everyday, even just for 30 minutes a day to add value to your life.

Read something of value, listen to something new, exercise, or just take a step back, and reflect on the lessons that life is teaching you.

The world is facing huge problems of youth unemployment, which are unlikely to be resolved even in the medium term. The finest degree is no guar-

‘

Things happen and it is always important to be able to be prepared for unexpected events and emergencies without having to beg or borrow

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‘

O

ne of most important life skills you need throughout your life is financial knowledge. Unfortunately, personal finance is not in the school curriculum. This leaves many young adults without any knowledge about how best to manage money or stay out of debt. Here are some few tips to set you well on the path to financial security.

Have a plan Few good things happen by accident. Your future is not something that just happens; it is something that you can help to create. If you let life just happen to you, you will end up with whatever comes your way. By having a plan, and being focused, you have a better chance of achieving your goals. Write down your short, medium and long-term goals.

Create a budget The concept of budgeting is often seen as boring but it really is a most effective way of keeping track of your expenses. A budget helps you see exactly where your money is going. Start by adding up the essentials, transportation, food and other important expenses. There is the tendency to eat out often, pick up take away meals, or to overspend on clothes and a lifestyle that you perhaps cannot afford just yet. This is the time to commit to save and invest for the future. The key is to live below your means and spend less than you earn.

Keep your debt under control Use debt cautiously. It is better to borrow for things that have lasting value such as your personal development and education, or to buy property, rather than for clothes, gadgets and your lifestyle. If you are in debt, focus on paying off or at least reducing the debt with the highest interest first.

Building a solid credit history from your youth is

important. Your employer, family and friends might lend you money from time to time. Be meticulous with repayment and don’t abuse this trust. It could be very important when you need to borrow more significantly for your business or other needs in the future. Borrowing is about character and credibility.

Don’t abuse the privilege.

Start saving now Things happen and it is always important to be able to be prepared for unexpected events and emergencies without having to beg or borrow. Job loss or other emergencies come out of the blue; ideally you should try to accumulate up to 6 months worth of your living expenses set aside in an easily accessible account.

Don’t wait until you earn “enough” before you start to save. It will never be enough; no matter how little you earn, save something; just get started, little by little. Even the smallest amounts add up over time.

If you are consistent and disciplined, you will be surprised at how quickly the funds build up.

If you earn regular income, automating your savings via a direct debit will make it easier for you to save. The mantra “pay yourself first” involves treating savings as part of your non-negotiable monthly “expenses” that must be considered before any other expense. Set a realistic savings goal and start to save at least 10 - 20 percent of your income in a money market account or mutual fund.

Only a few of you are lucky enough to have parents that give you an allowance. Most are not so lucky. This means that you must look for ways to create income in order for you to save from monetizing your gifts and talents.

Invest in yourself Each of you has Godgiven talents, and unique abilities. Identify your talents and skills and maximize them. True greatness often comes from developing a natural gift, from pursuing a specific dream, talent or goal. If you organize your life around your passion, it is quite extraordinary what you can achieve; but be practical.

You are your greatest asset. Invest in yourself.

Personal development re-

anty for a job. Even whilst still in school or university, equip yourself with work experience and internships. Get some work experience under your belt.

Even after your formal education, continue to learn constantly by attending seminars and webinars, and read widely.

Invest for the future Your savings won’t be enough to meet your goals.

To meet long-term goals, you need to invest. Start by saving regularly and then slowly build an investment portfolio of stocks, bonds, property etc. Mutual funds are an ideal place to start as they offer diversification and are professionally managed. The entry point for mutual funds is as low as N5,000 making it a good place to start. There is a magic that results from investing young. It is the surest way to long-term financial security.

Make an effort to learn about saving and investing. There is a plethora of information in the media, books, magazines, newspapers, seminars and the internet that will help guide you as you make financial decisions. Seek professional advice so that your own unique situation can be carefully considered and appropriate investment choices can be made for you.

Protect your wealth To be sure that all the assets that you have built are protected, include insurance in your financial plan - your car, your personal effects, your health and your life. Don’t wait for something to happen

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and then wish you were insured.

Health is wealth As we all know the COVID-19 pandemic has changed all our lives. Don’t allow a sense a fatigue and complacency to build. The virus is still here, so continue to follow the protocols meticulously.

Wear your mask, wash your hands frequently, use a sanitizer, keep your social distance, and avoid crowds.

Beyond COVID-19, society the world over is riddled with negative influences that are right there in your face. Protect your physical and mental health. Give your body its best chance with the right diet, exercise, and rest. If you feel overwhelmed, don’t shy away from speaking up. Depression and suicide are real.

Choose your relationships carefully The adage “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with” speaks for itself. Surround yourself with decent, positive, hardworking people who have a strong, moral and spiritual compass and foundation, so that you can encourage and support one another and add value to each other’s lives.

As you expect to build great lifelong friendships, it is also important to be the good, reliable friend that you wish to have.

Find a mentor that can guide you, support you and be a useful listening ear as you follow your path. A well-selected mentorship relationship is one of the keys to sustained @Businessdayng

success.

The choice of your life partner The decision to marry will be one of the most important decisions you ever make. You must strive to partner with someone who supports you and encourages you to be your best version of yourself. The impact of the right or wrong choices are far reaching and has significant implications on whether or not you attain your full potential.

Make an impact How you impact the lives of others is the greatest yardstick of success.

Use your gifts to make a difference in other peoples’ lives. Measure success not by what you get or how much you have, but by what you can give. By deciding to make a difference in someone’s life, you can bring so much more meaning, value and fulfillment to your own.

You have a unique opportunity from where you stand to make a difference through integrity, honesty, hard work, discipline and the pursuit of excellence.

Be focused in that pursuit of excellence. There are no short cuts, but there are also no limits to your potential other than those that you may be setting yourself.

Instagram and Twitter: @ mmwithnimi, Facebook and Google+: ‘Money Matters with Nimi’. www. moneymatterswithnimi. com, or send us an email info@ moneymatterswithnimi. com Nimi Akinkugbe has extensive experience in private wealth management. She seeks to empower people regarding their finances and offers frank, practical insights to create a greater awareness and understanding of personal finance.

For more personal finance tips, contact Nimi: Email: info@ moneymatterswithnimi Website: www. moneymatterswithnimi. com Twitter: @MMWITHNIMI Instagram: @ MMWITHNIMI Facebook: MoneyMatterswithNimi

22

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

23

Live @ The STOCK Exchanges Prices for Securities Traded as of Friday 23 October 2020 Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities) BANKING ACCESS BANK PLC. 273,698.24 7.70 0.65 282 80,538,046 UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC 241,105.92 7.05 3.68 195 24,934,963 ZENITH BANK PLC 659,326.37 21.00 1.69 324 19,555,044 801 125,028,053 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC 218,961.29 6.10 0.83 190 24,386,086 190 24,386,086 991 149,414,139 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES MTN NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS PLC 2,849,631.83 140.00 - 61 283,380 61 283,380 61 283,380 BUILDING MATERIALS DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 2,573,116.62 151.00 0.67 154 1,842,325 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 288,329.54 17.90 1.42 111 4,158,519 265 6,000,844 265 6,000,844 EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 247,146.72 420.00 - 7 5,266 7 5,266 7 5,266 1,324 155,703,629 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) SFS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 1,386.00 69.30 - 0 0 UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) 10,163.30 40.65 - 0 0 UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 10,139.42 3.80 - 2 800 2 800 2 800 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND 411.91 552.20 - 0 0 VALUEALLIANCE VALUE FUND 3,692.74 115.05 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 800 CROP PRODUCTION FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 572.00 0.26 - 0 0 OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 76,312.80 80.00 - 10 11,180 PRESCO PLC 65,900.00 65.90 - 20 114,172 30 125,352 FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC. 8,500.00 4.25 - 0 0 0 0 LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 2,010.00 0.67 - 14 894,330 14 894,330 44 1,019,682 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES JOHN HOLT PLC. 217.92 0.56 - 0 0 S C O A NIG. PLC. 1,903.99 2.93 - 0 0 TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC 24,795.27 0.61 1.67 13 1,499,001 U A C N PLC. 20,601.27 7.15 - 19 117,809 32 1,616,810 32 1,616,810 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ARBICO PLC. 152.96 1.03 - 0 0 0 0 INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 26,611.20 16.80 - 19 106,818 ROADS NIG PLC. 165.00 6.60 - 0 0 19 106,818 REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 14,662.38 0.79 -2.53 15 767,850 15 767,850 34 874,668 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 954.53 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 6,968.25 0.89 - 2 70,000 GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. 829.98 0.81 - 0 0 GUINNESS NIG PLC 34,936.61 15.95 - 83 900,776 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 169,231.03 6.30 0.80 91 2,158,292 NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 415,838.91 52.00 - 39 2,876,572 215 6,005,640 FOOD PRODUCTS DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 167,626.92 13.80 - 43 425,661 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 94,308.73 23.00 - 23 245,005 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 7,216.48 0.91 -4.21 24 2,300,906 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC 1,340.10 0.36 - 0 0 N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 746.66 4.19 -9.89 7 217,000 NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC 37,886.97 14.30 10.00 21 562,385 UNION DICON SALT PLC. 2,993.06 10.95 - 0 0 118 3,750,957 FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 14,086.52 7.50 - 19 96,303 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 931,371.10 1,175.00 - 3 3,600 22 99,903 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. 1,680.31 22.10 - 0 0 VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 7,505.06 6.00 -3.23 32 666,649 32 666,649 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 17,470.10 4.40 7.32 13 386,839 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 75,546.82 13.15 - 45 586,010 58 972,849 445 11,495,998 BANKING ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 83,490.46 4.55 1.11 129 11,266,572 FIDELITY BANK PLC 58,529.09 2.02 3.59 62 3,488,437 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 896,179.41 30.45 1.50 152 76,498,349 JAIZ BANK PLC 17,089.26 0.58 - 9 157,891 STERLING BANK PLC. 40,306.59 1.40 - 15 91,366 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 139,779.61 4.80 2.13 68 1,520,078 UNITY BANK PLC 6,779.82 0.58 - 6 325,955 WEMA BANK PLC. 21,601.70 0.56 - 17 802,463 458 94,151,111 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC 4,117.00 0.20 - 1 2,272 AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 11,556.81 0.85 - 12 264,757 AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC 19,320.00 1.84 - 8 60,528 CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC 3,639.53 0.34 - 2 10,000 CORNERSTONE INSURANCE PLC 10,899.84 0.60 - 1 3,500 CORONATION INSURANCE PLC 9,596.67 0.40 - 11 80,799 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 909.99 0.20 - 0 0 GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 1,228.00 0.20 - 0 0 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE PLC 487.95 0.38 - 0 0 LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 1,904.09 0.26 - 11 205,726 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 4,725.96 1.10 - 0 0 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 4,000.00 0.40 - 0 0 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. 2,234.55 0.20 -4.76 5 2,642,300 NEM INSURANCE PLC 10,877.84 2.06 - 7 280,000 NIGER INSURANCE PLC 1,547.90 0.20 - 0 0 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC 3,816.72 0.60 - 3 100,099 REGENCY ASSURANCE PLC 1,467.13 0.22 - 0 0 SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 2,272.89 0.20 - 2 14,820 STACO INSURANCE PLC 4,483.72 0.48 - 0 0 STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. 2,582.21 0.20 - 0 0 SUNU ASSURANCES NIGERIA PLC. 2,800.00 0.20 - 0 0 UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. 516.46 0.20 - 0 0 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE PLC 3,200.00 0.20 - 0 0 VERITAS KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 2,773.33 0.20 - 1 2,272 64 3,667,073 MICRO-FINANCE BANKS NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 3,064.09 1.34 -4.29 9 1,000,649 9 1,000,649

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MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC 6,784.62 1.05 - 0 0 ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 7,370.87 0.50 - 0 0 INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC 5,671.82 1.36 - 0 0 RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 2,265.95 0.20 - 0 0 UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. 2,949.22 3.02 - 0 0 0 0 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AFRICA PRUDENTIAL PLC 11,100.00 5.55 - 50 524,391 CUSTODIAN INVESTMENT PLC 29,409.32 5.00 - 10 154,628 DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC 405.00 0.27 - 0 0 FCMB GROUP PLC. 48,318.61 2.44 -5.74 32 937,835 ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 1,183.44 0.23 - 3 400,035 STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC 488,663.89 44.00 - 20 204,109 UNITED CAPITAL PLC 22,920.00 3.82 0.53 89 4,662,806 204 6,883,804 735 105,702,637 HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS EKOCORP PLC. 2,991.61 6.00 - 0 0 UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 923.82 0.26 -3.70 2 120,000 2 120,000 MEDICAL SUPPLIES MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 593.50 0.60 - 0 0 0 0 PHARMACEUTICALS EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 366.17 0.50 - 0 0 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 7,761.26 3.72 - 6 104,473 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. 6,457.73 5.40 - 31 524,419 MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 5,175.70 3.00 - 14 101,801 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 3,741.34 1.97 9.44 12 549,052 NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. 556.71 3.62 - 0 0 PHARMA-DEKO PLC. 325.23 1.50 - 0 0 63 1,279,745 65 1,399,745 COMPUTER BASED SYSTEMS COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC 710.40 0.20 - 2 1,630 2 1,630 COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS OMATEK VENTURES PLC 764.87 0.26 - 0 0 0 0 IT SERVICES CWG PLC 6,413.06 2.54 - 0 0 NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 216.00 2.00 - 1 10 TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. 178.18 0.36 - 0 0 1 10 PROCESSING SYSTEMS CHAMS PLC 986.17 0.21 - 3 56,818 E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 7,602.00 1.81 0.56 6 772,492 9 829,310 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AIRTEL AFRICA PLC 1,541,593.75 410.20 - 19 50,644 19 50,644 31 881,594 BUILDING MATERIALS BERGER PAINTS PLC 1,941.82 6.70 - 8 2,675 BUA CEMENT PLC 1,385,052.08 40.90 - 14 41,797 CAP PLC 12,950.00 18.50 - 30 315,100 MEYER PLC. 265.62 0.50 - 0 0 PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC 1,626.50 2.05 - 0 0 PREMIER PAINTS PLC. 1,156.20 9.40 - 0 0 52 359,572 ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC 2,192.12 2.03 - 0 0 CUTIX PLC. 3,346.51 1.90 6.74 19 729,208 19 729,208 PACKAGING/CONTAINERS BETA GLASS PLC. 27,698.45 55.40 - 2 1,003 GREIF NIGERIA PLC 388.02 9.10 - 0 0 2 1,003 AGRO-ALLIED & CHEMICALS NOTORE CHEMICAL IND PLC 100,754.14 62.50 - 0 0 0 0 73 1,089,783 CHEMICALS B.O.C. GASES PLC. 1,769.04 4.25 - 0 0 0 0 METALS ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. 1,781.64 8.10 - 0 0 0 0 MINING SERVICES MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC 852.39 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. 77.00 0.35 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC 1,377.79 0.22 - 8 233,600 8 233,600 INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES OANDO PLC 28,467.93 2.29 0.44 34 1,000,985 34 1,000,985 PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS 11 PLC 64,294.14 178.30 - 15 8,406 ARDOVA PLC 15,499.53 11.90 - 22 160,960 CONOIL PLC 10,964.44 15.80 - 6 21,053 ETERNA PLC. 5,816.49 4.46 - 15 187,139 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 3,794.59 12.45 - 1 1,200 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 38,094.35 112.20 - 8 19,147 67 397,905 109 1,632,490 ADVERTISING AFROMEDIA PLC 887.81 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 AIRLINES MEDVIEW AIRLINE PLC 15,796.05 1.62 - 0 0 0 0 AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS R T BRISCOE PLC. 235.27 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 2,964.33 3.20 - 4 5,450 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. 431.34 0.92 - 0 0 4 5,450 HOSPITALITY TANTALIZERS PLC 642.33 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 HOTELS/LODGING CAPITAL HOTEL PLC 3,748.05 2.42 - 0 0 IKEJA HOTEL PLC 2,307.46 1.11 - 0 0 TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 7,076.28 3.15 - 1 895 TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC 30,401.62 4.00 - 0 0 1 895 MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 3,600.00 0.30 - 0 0 0 0 PRINTING/PUBLISHING ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 163.30 0.27 - 2 50,000 LEARN AFRICA PLC 848.60 1.10 - 0 0 STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. 1,064.85 1.79 - 0 0 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 522.01 1.21 - 2 10,737 4 60,737 ROAD TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC 497.31 0.30 - 1 5 1 5 SPECIALTY INTERLINKED TECHNOLOGIES PLC 688.80 2.91 - 0 0 SECURE ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY PLC 1,126.31 0.20 - 0 0

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24

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

abujacitybusiness Comprehensive coverage of Nation’s capital

UN rates FCTA high on fight against COVID-19 Dozie Emmanuel, Abuja

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he United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Nigeria, Edward Kallon has commended the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration for its efforts in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in the territory.

Kallon who disclosed this when he led a team on a courtesy visit to the FCTA also said his organization

would continue to support the FCT Administration in its fight to ensure that the virus was kept in check.

He explained that funds from the UN Basket Fund, which was launched by the UN, specifically to address the pandemic was being used to procure medicines and non-pharmaceutical items to the National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, for onward distribution to all 36 states of the federation and the FCT. The UN envoy expressed sadness on the non-compliance to the use

of non-pharmaceutical items by many residents, adding that the virus was going to be around until a vaccine was developed.

He therefore urged leaders not to relent in their efforts at educating the populace on the use of face masks, frequent hand washing with soap and water and maintenance of social distancing.

Kallon urged the FCTA to increase its testing base, especially with the opening of schools and also called for more vigilance, warning against any complacency.

While responding, the FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello commended the UN for supporting Nigeria in the fight against COVID-19.

He commended the UN for all support the FCT had enjoyed thus far and expressed the hope for more support.

Bello urged the UN to also focus its COVID-19 intervention in the FCT on the provision of water facilities so as to encourage the frequent washing of hands by residents across the territory.

L-R: Alan Sinfield, CEO, 9Mobile; Umar Garba Danbatta, EVC/CEO, NCC, and Olusola Teniola, president, Association of Telecommunications Company of Nigeria (ACTON), during National Dailogue on Telecoms and ICT Sector in Nigeria, themed ‘Harnessing the Digital Resources for the Building of our National Economy’ held in Abuja.

Picture by Tunde Adeniyi

ITF banks on ‘SIWES’ to close skills mismatch in university education HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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n the heels of rising concern on lack of requisite skills required to address rising unemployment, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is banking on its Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) to address concerns skills mismatch in Nigerian University education and labour market.

Joseph Ari,the Director General of the ITF who stated this in Abuja at the 14th Biennial SIWES national conference in Abuja with the theme: Implementation of SIWES in the new world order-roles and responsibilities of stakeholders said the fund is concerned about rising unemployment despite skills gap exposing needed opportunities in some industries.

The Director General said the ITF has been en-

gaging stakeholders on skills mismatch in Nigerian Universities and addressing the concern through its SIWES programme,adding that available records revealed that students who passed through such trainings are needed in thelabour market.

Ari further informed that the Fund has taken a step further and is in partnership with the University of Jos in conducting a study to determine the dynamics in labour market demands in order to adjust it’s training to the findings.

He noted that the earlier, national skills gap assessment in some priority areas conducted by the United States nations Industrial Development Organisation UNIDO and the federal government revealed that despite spiralling unemployment, 925 trades were wither difficult or hard to fill in Nigeria’s labour market. www.businessday.ng

Aide drums support for Ishaku’s government Nathaniel Gbaoron, Jalingo

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enior Special Assistant to to the Governor of Taraba state Darius Ishaku, Tenimu Gambo has called for continued support and prayers for the Governor in his quest to deliver the much needed dividends of democracy to the people of the state.

Gambo who made the call in Takum the home town of the governor, during a meeting she organized to intimate her people of her new appointment said that every individual and leader needs the support of his people to succeed, hence the need for the call.

While appreciating Victor Kona, the immediate past Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state for influencing her appointment Gambo said she initiated the gathering to familiarise herself with the people and seek their prayers and

support to enable her to succeed in her new assignment.

According to her, the Governor has many good policies and programmes on ground, adding that he needs people’s support to actualise them.

“I want to thank you for the support accorded me since my appointment as SSA, and like your son, I promise that I will not disappoint you, by God’s grace.

“I will continue to do my best for the development of the local government, Taraba state and the country at large. When am assigned a portfolio I will still come and inform you.

“I must tell you that Governor Ishaku has many good policies and programmes that have direct bearing on the lives of the people of the state.

He, therefore, needs your support to actualise those policies and programmes”, Gambo said

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e-Customs is not a concessionary project - Customs Dozie Emmanuel, Abuja

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he Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has clarified that the e-Customs, aimed at launching the service into the digital world where all its operations will be automated, was not a concessionary project, but a Customs project.

BusinessDay recalled that in November 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the sums of $3.1bn for the e-customs so as to enable the service align with international best practices.

However, the project, premised on a concessionary agreement of 20 years of Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model, has long been enmeshed in controversies.

The NCS Public Relations officer, Deputy Comptroller Joseph Attah spoke to BusinessDay in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that e-customs was a customs project in line with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) framework of standard to modernise its operations.

Attah pointed out that they had since secured the approval and had swung into action, adding that the automation of customs processes would substantially enhance national security, block leakages, raise revenue and increase its efficiency.

The Customs spokesman debunked fears that when the project finally come on stream, it would render some officers and men of the service jobless.

Attah highlighted that the consortium would not allow the scanners and other facilities needed for its smooth operations go to waste.

His words: “The consortium that are in charge of this won’t want their money to go to waste after such a huge investment. So how are they going to recoup their money? It is only when it is functional and generating the desired result that they will recoup back their money within the 20 years agreement period. “ There is no fear whatsover.

That is why we sort and got experts and for those who think it is a concession, it is not a concession; it is a customs project and in line with WCO framework of standard that encourages every custom administration to collaborate with expert, seek technology that will help them modernise their operations.

“We have gotten approval for the e-customs and we are swinging into action. Of course, you know the whole component of the e-customs revolves around full automation and processes which will include installation of scanners, e-port, logistics monitoring, cargo tracking, e-enforcement system etc.

It is a complete automation of every aspect of customs operations instutitionalising the use of smart and emerging technologies in such a way that NCS administration operates within the confines of global best practices”.

Several killed as troops destroy Boko Haram structures in Borno Godsgift Onyedinefu

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he Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole has destroyed some Boko Haram Terrorists’ (BHTs’) structures and killed several of their fighters at Ngoske on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State.

John Enenche, Coordinator, Defence Media Operations (DMO) said this in a statement in Abuja.

Eneche said the operation was achieved through air strikes executed on 20 October on the heels of credible intelligence reports indicating that the terrorists had resumed use of the settlement as a staging area to launch attacks. @Businessdayng

“Accordingly, the Air Task Force dispatched a force package of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and helicopter gunships, which scored devastating hits in their multiple waves of attacks resulting in the obliteration of designated portions of the BHTs’ hideout as well as the neutralization of several of their fighters”, he said.

Meanwhile, Eneche said the troops of Operation Safe Haven delivered drugs to Rim Primary Healthcare Clinic renovated by the Defence Headquarters at Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State in the last week. He noted that it was part of the Civil Military Cooperation Activities of the Headquarters.

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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25

26 BUSINESS DAY

Monday 26 October 2020

NEWS

Looted COVID-19 palliatives are not ours - VSF COVID-19 Task Force ENDURANCE OKAFOR

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ictims Support Fund’s (VSF) COVID-19 interventions have absolutely nothing to do with the CACOVID looted food bags in the Videos online, the VSF Task Force on COVID-19, a subsidiary of the Humanitarian organisation established to take care of Victims of terrorism and violence across Nigeria clarifies.

“Those food bags been looted are not ours and have nothing to do with our VSFCOVID-19 interventions,” Toyosi-Akerele Ogunsiji, the Chairperson of VSF Task Force explained in a message to BusinessDay on Friday.

This is following the videos circulating on social media where hundreds of residents in Lagos State, on Thursday, broke into a warehouse at Monkey Village, Maza Maza, in Amuwo Odofin, and carted away Covid-19 food palliatives stored in the warehouse.

Hundreds of residents were seen moving out tons of food palliatives marked CACOVID, believed to have been donated to the state by the Private Sector Coalition Against CO-

VID-19 (CACOVID). The same incidents were reported on two other states on Friday.

“I have seen the Videos of the COVID-19 Food Bags that were meant to be shared to Vulnerable Families amidst the Pandemic that was stored in Warehouses now looted by angry Young People in Lagos and I am shocked myself,” Ogunsiji said.

As the chairperson of the Victims Support Fund COVID-19 Task Force, Ogunsiji said she was proud of the transparency, accountability and probity that epitomised the process of budgeting, purchasing and distributing of the Task Force’s N1.83 billion worth of COVID-19 Pallatives and governments, communities and citizens across Nigeria in the North East, South-South, South East and South West - Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Abuja, Ogun, Lagos, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Enugu, Edo and Delta between March 2020 and now.

According to her, the task force was supposed to have been in the North West and North Central geopolitical zones this October but for the pockets of unrests in few states but said the organisation will

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be going to Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Benue, Plateau and Niger in the first week of November 2020.

“We followed through from start to finish to ensure that all the Food and Medical Items we bought were not stolen nor converted by anyone, did we make sure our intended beneficiaries got everything directly. Watch all those Videos attached,” she said, adding that, “we also provided Technical Support and Equipment to Public Institutions like the NCDC and the federal ministry of health.

Inaugurated by the chairman of the Victims Support Fund, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma in April 2020, the VSF Task Force on COVID-19 is currently working on setting up boreholes and hand washing/ sanitation facilities to some lowcost public secondary schools nationwide.

“Let me categorically state for the records that I can confirm that all the Food Items donated to the Lagos State Government and our 10 NGO Partners in Lagos as COVID-19 Pallatives in our #VSFCOVID19Interventions have since been distributed completely,” Ogunsiji said.

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Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

27

NEWS

ASUU: Stakeholders support strike, ask president to secure future of the Nigerian child REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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takeholders in the education sector have thrown their weight behind the ongoing strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) towards getting improved funding for the revitalization of public universities and new salaries for lecturers.

The support came at an engagement programme organised by the Ibadan Zone of ASUU held at the University of Ibadan Conference Centre, at the weekend, to brief stakeholders on the reasons the union embarked on the current strike and ask for suggestions from the public.

In his opening speech, Ibadan Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Ade Adejumo, a Professor who was represented by former National Treasurer of ASUU, Ademola Aremu, also

a Professor, lamented that the plan of government was for the children of the masses to continue to serve their own children educated abroad by deliberating under-funding public university system .

Present at the engagement were chairman University of Ibadan ASUU, Ayo Akinwole, Moyo Ajao (UNILORIN), Biodun Olaniran (LAUTECH), Femi Abanikanda (UNIOSUN), Adesola Dauda (KWASU), and Dele Ashiru (UNILAG).

Taking the stakeholders through the journey of ASUU strike, Aremu noted that ASUU was fighting for the interest of children of the masses and the future of the country knowing full well that an uneducated child would become terror to the country.

The Federal Government has not been faithful towards fulfilling the agreements it reached with the Union but

prefers to allocate more funds for the executive and the legislative arms of government.

The former ASUU National Treasurer informed the stakeholders that ASUU’s strike was focused on funding for the revitalization of public universities as contained in the FGN-ASUU Memorandum of Understanding of 2012-2013 and the Memorandum of Action of 2017 and 2019; payment of arrears and mainstreaming of Earned academic allowances; renegotiation of 2009 agreement, constitution of visitation panels to universities, and remittance of withheld third-party deductions from ASUU members.

While contributing, Student Union Government president, University of Ibadan, Segun Akeju, while supporting the Union on the strike for the revitalisation of universities, urged the Union to carry students along in their strikes.

Akeju noted that there was no how the strike would not affect the students but asked that the Union ensure that the strike achieved the reasons for ongoing strike.

Chairman, Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), Bayo Titilola Sodo, who lauded the stakeholders’ engagement of ASUU, stated that ASCAB “is on the same page with ASUU on the need for massive increases of fund for the education sector. The decay in the sector, especially in regards to infrastructure and conditions of service of all categories of workers, because so palpable due to World Bank dictations and the deliberate neglect of education and other critical social services by successive ruling class governments, especially since the imposition of Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, between 1984 and 1986.”

EndSARS: Looted drugs from Kaduna warehouse constitute health risk, NAFDAC warns ADEOLA AJAKAIYE, Kaduna

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he National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned residents of Kaduna on the health risk of drugs looted from a warehouse in the state.

NAFDAC gave the warning in a statement by the state commissioner for internal security and home affairs, Samuel Aruwan in Kaduna on Sunday.

The agency said that the items were looted on October 24 in a warehouse located at Narayi in Chikun local government area of the state.

The looted items, it said, included expired, prohibited and dangerous drugs, adding that anybody who consumed such drugs risked serious illnesses and death.

NAFDAC also quoted the management of a food processing company, whose stores were also looted in Kakuri, as saying that the stolen grains had been treated with chemical preservatives.

It said such chemical pre-

servatives had rendered the items as unsafe for consumption.

“Residents of Kaduna State are hereby notified to be vigilant and careful about the sources of the food and medications they take and where they buy them, to avoid these dangers.

“NAFDAC, on behalf of the Kaduna State government, appeals to the public for information on the identities of the looters and where they might be hiding the stolen items,” it said.

The statement, which quoted the NAFDAC directorgeneral, Mojisola Adeyeye, as expressing shock over the looting and mindless destruction of the agency’s property at the warehouse, however, said no life was lost during the incident.

Adeyeye commended the state government for taking prompt action to safeguard the health of the citizens. NAFDAC said it has beefed up security around its facilities nationwide to forestall a recurrence.

BCX Nigeria to kick off expansion plans with new identity Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (l), governor, Kwara State, assessing the extent of damage caused by rampaging youths to some business premises, during his visit to Kwara Mall and Agro Mall in Ilorin, at the weekend. He has announced N500m support for looted businesses in the state capital.

NAN

IMF blames Nigeria’s social protest on economic difficulties HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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he International Monetary Fund (IMF) has attributed the Nigeria’s social protest (#EndSARS) to economic difficulties, saying economic conditions in Nigeria for the last four years have been very difficult in the wake of the decline in oil prices in 2015-16.

“Since then, their growth has been quite anemic “ Abebe Aemro Selassie, director, African Department, IMF said during October 2020 subSaharan Africa regional economic outlook press briefing, on the sidelines of IMF/World Bank virtual annual meetings in Washington D.C. last week.

He said there has been a lot of pressure on standards of living, “so there has been this dislocation and you know, as

always when you have these kinds of economic difficulties, you know, social protests are not uncommon”.

“We are always concerned when we see protests. Particularly ones that are difficult like the ones in Nigeria, and anywhere in the world. So we hope that there will be a satisfactory resolution there,” Selassie said.

In its October 2020 regional economic outlook, the Washington based Fund projects a modest growth of 3.1 percent for economies of sub-Saharan Africa in 2021.

The entire region is not expected to return to its 2019 level of output until 2022, and for some of the region’s largest economies, real GDP will not come back to the precrisis level until 2023 or 2024.

This growth will translate into www.businessday.ng

quite significant decline in standard of living, as measured by real per capita GDP, over 2020-21, a contraction of around five percent, which is significantly larger than most other parts of the world, the Fund said.

IMF said growth expectation for the region this year is broadly unchanged from June. It had in June forecast the regional economy to contract by 3.2 percent, double the contraction predicted in April.

The Fund said sub-Saharan Africa faces significant financing gaps of $290 billion in three years. Much it said would depend on how private financing flows behave.

“If they were to remain below pre-crisis levels, and even taking into account existing commitments from international financial insti-

tutions and official bilateral creditors, the region could face a gap of as much as $290 billion, between 2020 and 2023,” Selassie said.

Closing this financing gap, the IMF said would require a combination of additional concessional financing, timely debt relief in those countries where debt is unsustainable, and transformative reforms to attract private investment.

Selassie was concerned that the Covid-19 pandemic really has been quite devastating to the region. In just a few months, he said the crisis has jeopardized years of hardwon development gains and upended the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the region. Regional activity dropped abruptly and quite sharply in the second quarter.

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FRANK ELEANYA

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CX Nigeria, a technology solutions provider says it will be unveiling a new brand identity as part of plans to reposition the company for better services and widen its market reach in Nigeria.

The brand unveiling is set for November 2020 and will consolidate the company’s new management status. The company used to be owned

by BCX Group.

Following the acquisition of BCX Group by Telkom in 2015, the business decided to divest all its investments outside Southern Africa and earlier on in 2020, BCX Nigeria exchanged ownership in a management buyout led by the company’s incumbent managing director, Ayo Adegboye and IP & Cloud Ltd. Adegboye said BCX Nigeria has run autonomously for the last five years. The acquisition positions it to expand beyond Lagos where it has its headquarters, and regional offices in Port Harcourt and Abuja. It is targeting sectors in which local content has been a barrier.

“We are currently concluding our regional expansion to other parts of subSaharan Africa. One of our differentiators in the industry has been our technical strength and our clients are assured of seamless continuity in this regard since all accreditations and certifications were obtained locally and therefore remain valid,” said Adegboye.

Adegboye added that financially, BCX Nigeria has run autonomously for the last five years and with this @Businessdayng

acquisition, is now better positioned to expand to other areas in the country besides its head office in Lagos and regional offices in Port Harcourt and Abuja especially in sectors where local content had erstwhile been a barrier.

To mark the unveiling of the brand identity, the company said it was organising both virtual and onsite activities.

“Since our advent into the Nigerian business environment in 2008, BCX Nigeria has been at the forefront of developing innovative and disruptive technology solutions for all of West Africa,” Adegboye said.

BCX Nigeria has recorded some significant milestones.

In 2009, the company deployed the ‘campus-wide wireless network’ for one of the federal universities which became the largest single enterprise wifi project in Nigeria at the time. In 2012, it launched the BCX Cloud Computing Service, a major contribution to Nigeria’s ICT infrastructure, and followed it up in 2013 with the deployment of the very first SIM Registration Solution (incountry) for one of the largest telcos in Nigeria. In 2018, it deployed end-user computing and networking for the world’s largest brewery, and in 2019 signed a contract to deploy the largest Vocalcom deal in Africa for over 2,500 agents.

“In so many ways, our customers have been part of the BCX journey for 12 years and as we rebrand to take on new challenges, innovate new solutions and deliver a greater future, we want customers to be part of this next stage in our evolution,” Adegboye said.

28 BUSINESS DAY

Monday 26 October 2020

NEWS

Employment, FDI panacea for youths’ restiveness, say former Nigerian leaders TONY AILEMEN, Abuja

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i g e r i a’s f o r m e r heads of state have unanimously a g re e d o n e m p l oy m e n t generation, economic growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow as the panacea for youths’ restiveness in the country The former leaders in a virtual meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhar i on Fr iday also condemned the divisive and inciting pronouncements of separatists, and were of the opinion that such acts should be stopped.

In a statement by the presidential spokesman Femi Adesina, the former leaders commended the actions taken by state governors to address the demands of the #ENDSARS protesters and their efforts to check the excesses of those who perpetrated violent acts.

They also appealed to the youths to pursue peaceful means, in seeking redress through engagement with the government and encouraged further conversation with the youths and other stakeholders in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari had during the m e e ting re i te rate d t hat the Government will not fold its ar ms and allow miscreants and criminals continue to perpetrate acts of hooliganism in the country.

He stated that it was unfortunate that the initial genuine and well-intended protest of youths in parts of the country against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was hijacked and misdirected.

The President recounted the initial concessions made by his administration on the demands of youths protesting against the excesses of some members of the SARS. He recalled that the youths had demanded that the squad be disbanded, a n d f u r t h e r a r t i c u l at e d the additional demands, including: ‘’The immediate release of all arrested protesters.

Justice for deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for their families. ‘’Setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of Police misconduct within 10 days. ‘’Psychological evaluation and re-training of a l l d i sb a n d e d SA R S o fficers before they can be re-deployed; and increase in Police salary.’’

The President declared:

‘’We accepted all the demands and proceeded immediately to scrap SARS and started the process of addressing the other demands. ‘ ’ Un f o r t u nat e l y , t h e protesters refused to call off the protest and engage the government to address their grievances. Instead, they became emboldened and gradually turned violent.’’

President Buhari expressed concern that in the mayhem that ensued, many lives have been lost, a number of public and private properties completely destroyed or vandalised.

Reiterating his pledge to Nigerians from the nationwide broadcast Thursday, the President reaffirmed: ‘’We w ill continue to improve good governance through our democratic process including through sustained engagement. ‘’We shall also continue to ensure that liberty and freedom, as well as the fundamental rights of all citizens are protected. Here, I want to also reaffirm our commitment to preserving the unity of this country.”

The President thanked the former Heads of State for attending the meeting and their invaluable comments, obser vations and advice, adding that ‘’Nigerians expect nothing less from responsible statesmen.’’

Each of the former leaders commended President Buhari for steps taken so far to restore calm and order to the country and also applauded the presidential broadcast of Thursday as detailed and soothing to the country. ‘’I commend the speech of last night. The nation h a d b e e n w a i t i n g . Yo u made points that I believe need to be commended.

Peaceful demonstration is part of democratic practice. The demands of the genuine protesters were accepted, and you are working on implementation. We commend you,’’ former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said.

T h e y a l s o e x p re s s e d their condolences to the bereaved families of civilians, policemen and soldiers killed as a result of the violent protest, and reaffirmed the commitment to respect the fundamental rights of citizens, including for peaceful protest as enshrined in the constitution.

At t h e m e e t i n g w e re past civilian and military leaders, including Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanj o, Ib ra h i m Ba b a n g i d a, Ernest Shonekan, Abulsalami Abubakar, Goodluck Jonathan. www.businessday.ng

NASS urged to reconvene plenary over #EndSARS as PIB, Electoral Act, others suffer delay JAMES KWEN, Abuja

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oncerned stakeholders have called on the National Assembly to reconvene plenary to address the contentious issue of #EndSARS protest that have degenerated into crisis, leading to the loss of lives and destruction of properties.

Both chambers of the National Assembly last week adjourned plenary to November 24, 2020 to enable lawmakers have adequate time to hold budget defence sessions with Ministries, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs).

President Muhammadu Buhari had on October 8, presented the 2021 budget of N13.08 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly, during which he called for prompt passage to sustain the return to the January - December budget cycle.

Consequently, the National Assembly in its practice of suspending plenary for budget defence which became more pronounced in the twilight of the 8th Assembly and the current 9th Assembly adjourned plenary.

The adjournment came at the point the #EndSARS

protests turned bloody with scores killed and properties destroyed in Lagos and Abuja, attracting local and international concerns.

Also, before the adjournment, there were a lot of critical legislations such as the consideration of the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management recently transmitted to the National Assembly by President Buhari, various constitutional alterations Bills and Electoral Act Amendment.

This could lead to the delay of these all important pieces of legislations aimed at repositioning the socioeconomic status of the country as the National Assembly may not have time to attend to them when plenary is reconvened on November 24 and members shortly proceed on Christmas and new year break from the second week of December.

While the senate passed for second reading, the PIB which is aims to provide legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of the host communities and for related matters, before proceeding on the adjournment, the House of

Representatives is yet to commence debate on the general principles of the bill despite promises by the speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.

On the #EndSARS protests, National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives through the speaker Gbajabiamila threatened not to sign off on the 2021 budget if it does not include adequate provisions to compensate those who have suffered violence and brutality at the hands of the police in Nigeria in the last two decades.

Assurance was also given that in two weeks, the house will receive and immediately begin to consider legislation that seeks to establish a system of independent, responsive accountability that holds erring members of the Police Force to account for their conduct in the performance of their duties.

However, these efforts have been seen as not enough hence the calls for the reconvening of plenary where more steps could be taken to address the situation.

The call first came from Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) who asked the National Assembly to as a matter of urgency reconvene for an

emergency session to discuss the alleged killings of peaceful protesters and conduct an investigative public hearing on the loss of lives and human rights violation resulting from police brutality.

Speaking to BusinessDay, Auwal Rafsanjani, executive director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) said even though it has been the tradition of National Assembly to go on recess whenever budget is being presented for defence, the lawmakers should reconvene to address the #EndSARS protests.

Rafsanjani said: “We will kindly appeal to the National Assembly given the national challenges that we are facing instead of completely going on recess, the National Assembly should consider reconvening to take decisive actions.

“For example, the ongoing crisis requires collective intervention of the National Assembly. National Assembly has always provided leadership in a national crisis like the one we are facing. So, we believe that the National Assembly can play a role in addressing this lingering crisis that we are facing.

L-R: Kayode Fayemi, governor, Ekiti State; Seyi Makinde, governor, Oyo State; Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor, Lagos State; Babatunde Fashola, minister of works and housing; Gboyega Oyetola, governor, Osun State, and others, during the inspection of Lekki Toll Gate by the South-west governors, yesterday. The toll gate was destroyed during the #EndSARS protest.

Military arrests 123 hoodlums for vandalising, looting public properties in Jos GIFT WADA

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he special military task force, ‘Operation Safe Haven’ (OPSH), maintaining peace in Plateau has arrested 123 suspects for vandalising and looting items from private businesses and government properties in Jos. The suspects comprised 110 males and 13 females.

The commander of the task force, Chukwuemeka Okonkwo, a major-general, paraded the suspects to newsmen on Sunday in Jos. Okonkwo said the suspects defied the 24-hour curfew

imposed by the state government to perpetrate the criminal act.

He said some of the suspects were arrested while looting properties at the Plateau Agricultural and Development Agency (PADP), located at Dogon Dutse of Jos North local government area of the state.

Others, he said, were arrested while trying to vandalise and loot private shops at West of Mines area of the locality.

The commander said that the arrest was aimed at curbing all forms of criminality in

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the state, adding that it would also serve as deterrent to others.

“We arrested these suspects while vandalising and looting private businesses and properties in Jos. These are hoodlums, not EndSARS protesters. So, they are purely criminals. We will not tolerate any form of criminality and this exercise will also serve as deterrent to others,” he said.

He warned that the task force would decisively deal with anybody caught tampering with public properties, adding that the suspects would be prosecuted. @Businessdayng

“We shall not spare anyone caught unlawfully taking government property. Such persons are criminals and will not go scot free. These suspects will be handed over to the appropriate authority for prosecution,” Okonkwo said.

He said that the task force would make more arrests, adding that the outfit’s personnel were out to ensure that such criminal elements were apprehended.

Some of the items looted by the suspects include pumping machines, bags of fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides.

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

MARKETS INTELLIGENCE

29

Supported by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)

Stocks

Currencies

Commodities

Rates + Bonds

Economics

Funds

Week Ahead

Watchlist

Nigeria’s finances is in its worst position in history …fiscal deficit set to hit N6.4 trillion this year …debt service ratio reached 85% in August 2020

SHORT TAKES N312m After a disappointing 2018, Fidson healthcare seems to have regained its mojo as it records an after-tax profit of N312 million in full-year 2019 for the period ended 31 December. Revenue dipped 13.5 percent to N14.06bn from N16.22bn in the same period in 2018. Efficient cost management saw its cost of sales decline 17.35percent to N8.19bn from N9.91bn

BALA and IFEANYI JOHN

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he year 2020 has been a historic year in Nigeria for so many wrong reasons. From the crude oil price meltdown to the outbreak of coronavirus that has killed thousands to the first-of-its-kind nationwide lockdowns that crippled the nations’ economy to the nationwide youth protests against police brutality to the shocking show of force used by Hoodlums, the Police and the Nigerian Army on peaceful protesters resulting in several deaths, the year 2020 has been a non-stop rollercoaster of the most scary reality Nigerians have ever had to face, all happening simultaneously.

In response to the 5 for 5 requests put forward by the Youth Protesters, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, promised to raise the salaries of the Nigerian Policemen, Paramilitary workers, and Teachers. This salary review decision and the decision to increase the national budget by more than N3 trillion (or 30% spending increase) therefore puts an increased pressure on the Federal Government’s already terrible finances and shines a bright spotlight on the dire and critical financial situation of the Federal Government.

Data compiled from the breakdown and highlights of 2020 budget performance presented by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, showed that in the first 7 months of the 2020, that is between January and August 2020, N2.5 trillion in revenue and spent about N6.25 trillion creating a record budget deficit of N3.7 trillion. At this pace, analysts suggest that the government may generate roughly about N4.3 trillion in revenue, spend N10.7 trillion in expenditure and end the year with a historic deficit of almost

P.E

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Zainab Ahmed

N6.4 trillion! To put this figure into perspective, Nigeria budgeted to spend just N6.06 trillion for the entire year in 2016. Today the deficit is on track to exceed that figure in just one year. In fact, total government spending in 2018 alone was N6.94 trillion according to the government. This means that the government is creating debt today at a record pace never before seen in Nigeria’s history.

This reckless behaviour by the Federal Government has now pushed the budget deficit to revenue to 174 percent as at August 2020. The debt service burden has worsened to 85% this year as a total of N2.1 trillion was used to service the national public debt compared to revenue generated of just N2.5 trillion as at August 2020. As at H1 2020, the Debt Management Office reported that the national public debt had reached N31 trillion.

Analysts from EUA Intelligence told BusinessDay that they fear that if the 1 year treasury yield

was more market reflective and rose to a price of around 14% on local debt and 8% on Eurobond to reflect the rising rate of inflation in the country and current market average market yield on Nigeria’s Eurobonds, it will add an additional N1.08 trillion to the national debt service, which will put the

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If the country fails to take adequate steps to improve its revenue performance, then it must cut its spending significantly rather than increase it

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debt service ratio of Nigeria from 85 percent today to 128 percent, effectively almost bankrupting the nation but forcing it to pay far more in debt service than it is able to generate in revenue.

“If the country fails to take adequate steps to improve its revenue performance, then it must cut its spending significantly rather than increase it. The excessive spending has failed to generate the promised economic growth and is on the verge of pushing the country towards a debt overburden situation which is terrible for the economy,” said an analyst from EUA Intelligence.

With the government now planning to increase its personnel expense which analyst forecast will hit N3.3 trillion this year (after posting N1.9 trillion personnel expense as at August), the only feasible way to pay for the salary increment as our finances are today is to carry more debt which unfortunately is dangerous for the government’s finances today.

The stock market declined for the fifth-straight trading session on Friday to end its worst week after CBN’s CRR policy weighed on banking stocks and set off 2020’s longest bear-run.

Nigerian equities fell for all five trading sessions last week to close 2.65 percent lower weekon-week, and end January on a very different tempo than it began the month.

Bank stocks shed 5.17 percent to push Year-to-date return to 7.46 percent, down from around 10 percent at the beginning of the week, while analysts say the bearish sentiment will likely extend to trading this week.

“Next week, we expect bearish pressures on the equities market to remain, as investors continue to selldown on banking counters,” said analysts at Lagos-based Chapel Hill Denham in a note to clients.

N23bn Interswitch Limited has listed its N23bn callable senior unsecured bond with a tenor of seven years at a fixed rate of 15percent, embedding a call option that can only be exercised from the second year, are payable in full at maturity A callable bond is a bond that the issuer may redeem before it reaches the stated maturity date. In essence, a callable bond allows the issuing company to pay off their debt early.

According to the company, this is part of its N30bn debt issuance programme through a special purpose vehicle, Interswitch Africa One Plc.

BusinessDay MARKETS INTELLIGENCE Team Lead: BALA AUGIE, IFEANYI JOHN; Graphics: FIFEN FAMOUS

BMI provides in-depth analysis and data on industries, companies, stocks, currencies, fixed income/credit, economics, regulation and factors that influence investor’s decision-making Continues on page 37 Email the BMI team balaaugie@yahoo.co.uk; augiebala@gmail. www.businessday.ng

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@Businessdayng

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Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

news Beyond #EndSARS: Peterside advises youths to re-strategise, keep eyes on 2023 STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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wo weeks of largely peaceful #EndSARS protests against police brutality in Nigeria peaked with the articulation of five demands and the shooting of unarmed protesters Tuesday night by unidentified operatives of the Nigerian Army.

In an interview with Arise News Morning Show, Friday, Atedo Peterside, chairman, ANAP Foundation and founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, advised the Nigerian youths to be more strategic in holding government to respond to the five demands. These demands include immediate release of all arrested protesters, justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for their families.

Others are setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of police misconduct.

In line with the new Police Act, psychological evaluation and retraining (to be confirmed by an independent body) of all disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) officers before they can be redeployed and an increase in police salary so that they are adequately compensated for protecting the lives and property of citizens.

Drawing from his wealth of experience dealing with

the Nigerian state, politics and politicians, Peterside said the youth would have to craft a strategy anchored on 2023 general elections if they want politicians to take them seriously. Long-term planning would have more impact, he explained.

“Our youth need to adopt the carrot and stick approach and make this clear to the politicians. When a politician realises that their 2023 ambition can be negatively impacted by how they treat the #ENDSARS demands, they will sit up,” the investment banker said.

Simply put, politicians, especially governors, who move quickly to implement the demands would be rewarded accordingly and those that fail to do so, get voted out.

The time to start building the strategy is now.

He also emphasised it was time to decentralise policing in the spirit of true federalism as in the United States of America for instance, where each state had a police department with a Federal Bureau of Investigations.

This would make policing more effective because police personnel would speak the language of the people and understand the terrain too, unlike the current situation where total strangers are expected to police environments where they neither understand the language nor the terrain.

Why moribund primary healthcare centres will continue to worsen maternal mortality - experts Godsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja

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espite of the new platforms launched by the Federal Government to tackle the burden of maternal mortality, experts in public health insist that Nigeria may continue to be a hot bed for maternal deaths on account of nearly non-existent primary healthcare in the country.

Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), has decried the alarming statistics and called for prompt action.

“Every day in Nigeria, approximately 145 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. This is equivalent to having one Boeing 737-300 series aeroplane, fully loaded with 145 women crashing every single day in Nigeria, and killing everyone on board”, Shuaib said.

Recently, the Nigeran government launched the Nigeria Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent and

Elderly Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N) platform.

The platform seeks to improve the well-being of women, children, adolescents and elderly in Nigeria.

Government also introduced the National Emergency Medical Ambulance system, NEMSAS, to respond to medical emergencies, to reduce lives lost in emergencies by 50 percent including emergencies around child birth.

The minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, while launching the platform lamented that Nigeria had the worst burden of maternal deaths, with a ratio of 512 per 100,000 live births and 67 out of every 1,000 live birth in Nigeria die at infancy.

While there are several medical and non-medical factors responsible for maternal mortality, experts say the most underlying factor has been inability to access the minimum level of care or reaching the the hospital and not attended to.

Aural Musa, Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC),

said the dire lack of functional Primary Health Centres across the country was the leading factor giving rise to deaths of Nigerian women and children, because they cannot access the most basic care they deserve.

According to Musa, Primary Health Care should be the first contact at levels of care, but a lack of functional centres results in overburden of Secondary and Tertiary health care facilities with basic ailments that PHC was established to addressed.

“The burden exacerbates the existing high patient-todoctor ratio. It also amplifies delays in accessing minimum level of care for maternal and child health”, Muaa said.

Available statistics from trends in Maternal Mortality show that 23 percent of global maternal deaths occur in Nigeria.

Adaobi Onyechi, a public health analyst, says though all the plans rolled out by government are good, what is urgently required is concerted efforts and attention to the establishment of functional primary

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari; former President Olusegun Obasanjo; Ibrahim Babangida, former military president; Yakubu Gowon, former head of state; former President Goodluck Jonathan; Ernest Shonekan, former head of Interim National Government, and Abdulsalami Abubakar, former head of state, during President Buhari’s virtual consultation meeting with former Nigeria leaders at the Presidential Villa, in Abuja on Friday. NAN

#EndSARS: Nigerian insurers fear unprecedented claims in business history … to seek government’s support for claims

Modestus Anaesoronye umulative loss s i tu at i o n t hat will arise from last week’s #EndSARS protest hijacked by hoodlums across the coun-

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try is the highest in history of insurance business in Nigeria, operators have said.

This follows the wanton damages in lives and properties of both government and private businesses.

According to the operators, the expected claims may be so huge and capable of swallowing the industry if government fails to support in helping to meet claims obligations, expected to be in billions of naira at a time the sector is embarking on a recapitalisation exercise.

Aside the number of people that lost their lives or got injured who may claim from health insurance, public and government assets razed by fire, shopping malls looted and vandalised, private businesses looted and vandalised, as well as private residents and businesses of politicians that were also affected, have claims to make from insurance.

The #EndSARS loss incident is covered in insurance un-

der policies that extend to riot and civil commotion. So, fire and burglary or Commercial property insurance if extended covers damage that results from vandalism, rioting and civil commotion. These policies specifically include coverage for acts of looting in connection with a riot or civil commotion.

Ademayowa Adeduro, managing director/CEO, Law Union & Rock Insurance plc, says the loss is colossal and I am not sure whether we have witnessed this before, apart from the Civil War era. “The destructions are massive and because there was curfew, the perpetrators had a field day going around looting, setting houses, banks, shops on fire. Insurance industry is going to pay heavily for it,” Adeduro states.

He notes, “I don’t know as an industry why we should not request for government support for this. Government should have prevented the situation so that it would not have gotten out of hand as it happened. Government should have envisaged this kind of thing and do every within her power to prevent it.

“The destructions started

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health centres, which according to her are non existent.

“There has been so much talk about the revamping of these facilities in every ward of the country but I don’t see any progress being made to that regards. If there was a primary health centre in every local government area at the very least, it makes it much easier for women to access health services and this will improve significantly the indices on maternal care”, she states.

The ambulance services proposed by the federal government may be out of reach to women in rural communities being that it is being designed to run like an uber service, and will likely excavate the burden of out pf pocket payment, she notes.

She further stresses that improving access to care is not enough, ensuring availability of quality care and medicines before, during and after child birth is key, and urges government to expedite actions in identifying and addressing the gaps fuelling maternal mortality.

Completion of Nigeria’s longest gas pipeline and its impact on the economy Harrison Edeh

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n line with the present administration’s policy trust to deliver infrastructure to boost the economy and improve oil production capacity and increase the supply of electricity, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has completed the construction of EscravosLagos pipeline project phase 2 (36’x342km), and delivered for immediate transmission of gas to power stations in the country.

The project, delivered to the NNPC by the contractor, Zakhem Construction Nigeria Limited, is a major gas pipeline that has capacity to serve many power stations within the South West region.

Group managing director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, who had promised the delivery of the project in a statement in May this year, said the completion of the gas pipeline project was a confirmation to the fact that the present administration was desirous of improving the state of infrastructure in the country.

According to Kyari, the project will provide solution to the lack of natural gas at various power plants that have been completed within the South West region, which of course will translate to a boost in the economic activities and create employment among the youths in the labour market.

This is the longest pipeline project the Federal Govern-

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ment has constructed, and this achievement has come with a lot of commitment and sacrifice on the part of government, which is why we shall continue to ensure that this particular Excravos Lagos pipeline is used to pipe gas to power plants in the area, he said.

The project, executed by one of the biggest pipeline construction company in Nigeria, Zakhem Construction Nigeria, is said to be monumental to drive the growth and development needed in the oil and gas industry to boost generation, transmission and the distribution of electricity in Nigeria, at a time when the power sector is struggling to survive.

The engineering procurement and construction con@Businessdayng

tract executed by Zakhem will empower some of the major off-takers of gas routed through this line, like Egbin Power, Ikeja Industrial Area (with Gaslink as a major offtaker). Other beneficiaries include industries and factories located within the region and around Lagos and Ogun states, and Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical.

One of the major policy trusts of this administration has been resuscitating the economy, and it has over the years demonstrated capacity and commitment to drive the growth and development of the nation’s economy and as well create employment, which has been the bane of successive administrations in Nigeria.

Monday 26 October 2020

BUSINESS DAY

31

News More questions on management...

Continued from page 1

from the impact of corona-

virus pandemic lockdown is hoarded, is generating more questions than answers.

“There is a need for an explanation on how funds were curated, disbursed and the execution managed. The recent discoveries make this a compelling integrity issue. Who are those responsible for the stockpiles,” asks Olufemi Awoyemi, a financial analyst, on Twitter.

In a bid to sustain the livelihood of vulnerable Nigerians impacted by the economic and health impact of the coronavirus pandemic, private sector players under the umbrella of the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CA-COVID) assisted the government in providing life support for its citizens.

The private sector-led initiative, which was funded and championed by renowned business leaders, and has as its members Aliku Dangote, Jim Ovia, Tony Elumelu, Herbert Wigwe, among others, coughed out as much as N32 billion to support the course. But it appears the use of the funds has been largely questioned.

In April, billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, in a tweet, said the private sectordriven initiative, CA-COVID, had devoted N23 billion to feed 10 million Nigerians. And, “In the next few days, food items will reach 1.67 million households across the wards of the 774 local government areas to reduce the effects of the coronavirus pandemic”.

But it is six months down the line, and Nigerians say they have wondered when and how these palliatives worth such an amount have been executed, with any impact whatsoever; but the new recovery has put an answer to that question.

Responding to BusinessDay on the matter, Saturday night, Herbert Wigwe, group managingdirector,AccessBankplcand co-founder CA-COVID, said, “The items have been handed over to the government, and while some of them have distributed others have not.

“You cannot blame CACOVID. We flagged off these palliatives on different dates and there were pictures to that effect, showing the state governments receiving these items for their respective states. So, there is much you can do in terms of pursuing it.

“Some states like Ekiti, Nasarawa and Imo had given out everything but some had not and chose to keep them in their warehouses.”

According to Wigwe, the CA-COVID will issue an official statement this week to clarify the matter before the public.

BusinessDay had in a July publication questioned authorities to give account on how it spent N32 billion, huge amount, building tents while Ghana spent a much smaller amount ($7.5m) building a world-class hospital.

That publication by this medium sparked public en-

gagement as Nigerians began to demand answers on how the funds were managed, and this new development has once again triggered such a call.

So far, based on BusinessDay investigation, no fewer than 10 warehouses across different states in the country loaded with packaged items meant as palliatives, including items such as garri, rice, beans, pastas, vegetable oil, salt, rice, noodles, among others, having the inscription written, “CACOVID palliative, not to be sold; were uncovered, and looted by a large crowd of Nigerians.

Two warehouses were uncovered and looted in Lagos - one in Monkey Village, in Maza Maza, and the other in Ikorodu.

Similarly, warehouses hoarded with COVID-19 palliatives were also discovered and looted in Ilorin, Jos, Taraba, Osun, Kaduna, Cross River, Delta, and in Benin City.

The number could have been more but for the security forces who prevented the looters from gaining access into palliative warehouses in states Enugu and Zamfara, among others.

But without justifying any case for the looters, the bigger question many concerned stakeholders who spoke with BusinessDay, was: Were these palliatives not meant to be for vulnerable Nigerians? Why were they not shared earlier to Nigerians at the heat of the pandemic? Why have the government of these states chosen to hoard these items provided by private players to the extent that many of them were getting spoilt?

“The reports of the discovery in Nigeria of “Covid-19 warehouses” with palliatives on which billions of naira were budgeted and spent, hoarded and undisbursed to citizens, tell us that much about “governance” in our country is simply a glorified criminal enterprise,” according to Kingsley Moghalu, a former Central Bank of Nigeria deputy governor, who went on Twitter to express displeasure on the matter.

The Osun food and relief committee on Covid-19, on Friday, claimed that the palliative items were not hoarded, rather it were kept to be flagoff for official distribution.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has also condemned the vandalism of the warehouses through a statement by Abisola Olusanya, acting commissioner for agriculture.

According to him, the state governor, Babajide SanwoOlu, had on September 22, taken receipt of the food palliatives for distribution to indigent persons.

While these claims might be plausible, questions regarding timing and a lack of communication appear to have sprouted up, as BusinessDay learnt that some of the items were already getting spoilt in the warehouse as at the time the looting took place. www.businessday.ng

L-R: Denise Natali, assistant secretary, US Department of State, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilisation Operations; Ulrich Brechbuhi, counsellor, US Department of State, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, during a visit of delegation from the US Department of State to the Presidential Villa, in Abuja.

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A generation without future explodes...

Continued from page 1

Z, the newest generation

to be named born between 1997 and 2012/15. They are currently between 8-23 years old and are a generation that insists that they can no longer tolerate the failure of the Nigerian state and leadership.

Like her fellow youths around her armed with strength, education and creativity, Blessing Usman hopes to escape from poverty and give her unborn children a better life, however as the Nigerian economy continues to falter, there is justifiable fear that more families will continue to fall into poverty, and remain trapped in it, perhaps for more generations, perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty.

Nigeria’s youths want an end to the special anti-robbery squad or SARS, popularly known for its brutality, its indulgence in extra-judicial killing of many innocent Nigerians its members terminated with impunity.

However, Police brutality is not the only beast: the youths of Nigeria have since identified more beasts: a problematic foreign exchange rate, poor infrastructure facilities, legislators who are underworked and overpaid, insecurity, unemployment, collapsed health system and a failed leadership elite, all of which combined threaten the future of the average Nigerian youth.

Although some of them realistically agree that resources are thin considering an outsized population, however many admitted that poverty and inequality in Nigeria are largely due to misallocation and misappropriation of resources, a development that has fuelled extreme hunger in the country with over 95.9 million people living in extreme poverty — that

is, people living below the poverty line of $1.90 per day.

In countries like Norway, the government is toiling night and day to protect its unborn generation by insulating its rainy day fund from political pressure, for Nigeria its government is less concerned as its excess crude account has fallen by about 98 percent within the last 5 years to about $72 million, with little accountability of how the funds were used.

With high unemployment and overstretching of inadequate and poorly maintained infrastructure, many Nigerians have had to seek their fortunes abroad as smaller nations such as Ghana, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates hold more promises due to efficient usage of scarce resources and higher life expectancy.

For most youths, they can’t fathom why 2019 World Malaria Report said Nigeria had the highest number of global malaria cases (25%) in 2018 and accounted for the highest number of deaths (24%) when other countries have turned the tide against the disease while also making progress in infant and maternal mortality rates.

At the same time, multinational corporations that could have reduced the country’s alarming unemployment rate of over 27 percent as at the second quarter of 2020, based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics, find the Nigerian business climate difficult.

They point to a lack of stable electricity supply and endemic corruption, both of which impede their smooth operations.

There are a number of factors that come into play with the tensions that have happened in the past few weeks,

#EndSARS: Nigerian insurers fear...

Continued from page 30

after curfew was declared. I think there should have been a back-up measure to prevent the massive destructions and lootings by some bad element who hijacked the hitherto good intentions of our youths.”

According to Adeduro, insurance companies are going to pay because some of those clients whose properties are affected should not be left to lick their wounds without adequate compensation in one way or the

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and one of them is the fact that “you have an economy that would have twice gone into recession between 2016 and 2020, with population growth outgrowing economic growth,” one renowned economist told BusinessDay. “EndSARS was only an avenue for people to vent their anger, but the real issue is the economy. When the economy no longer exists. When there is no hope for a daliy bread and people are being killed, you should expect this kind of outcome,” the economist said, who doesn’t want his name mentioned.

Many years of bad governance have caused Nigerians to have a huge distrust for its leaders, making the youths, the country’s biggest assets, see little or no hope in the future of the country.

From a lack of jobs, down to failing health care, failing education, bad roads, insecurity in various parts of the country and an epileptic power supply, Africa’s largest economy is tottering on the brinks, and the situation appears not to be getting any better.

In healthcare, Nigeria has a doctor to patient’s ratio of one per 5,000 people, drastically below the WHO-recommended one doctor per 600 people.

But it is not like it doesn’t have enough trained doctors churned out from its Universities every year. The country’s health sector has suffered massive brain drain with many of its best doctors practicing abroad due to poor remuneration and a lack of infrastructure. This has been the case of the Nigerian health sector for years yet its elite spends $1 billion annually on health tourism.

A similar scenario is also playing out in the educational sector, with Nigerian tertiary students having to spend long years in universities due to

failure of the Federal Government to meet with the demands of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU).

A majority of young people that BusinessDay interviewed say they have been hugely disappointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator, who first assumed power 2015 as a reformed democrat, portraying himself as a messiah and a supposed poster child, claiming to fight corruption to a standstill, create jobs, and restore the economy’s almost lost hope.

Buhari’s first tenure was greeted by a lengthy recession that sent the economy in a tailspin due to a collapse in global oil price, the country’s biggest earner, and destruction of pipelines in the Niger Delta region.

This was worsened by his failure to quickly appoint key cabinet officers after his election, that would have helped kick-start the economy.

Under his watch, Africa’s biggest economy is yet to return to its pre-recession days, growing at an average of 2 percent annually since 2016.

Per capita income in Nigeria has declined to $2,229 in 2019 from $3,268 in 2014, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Citizens are worse off, with consumer prices soaring by 13.7 percent in September, their highest levels in 30-months, further reducing their standard of living.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), while delivering its October 2020 Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Economic Outlook attributed the recent social protest in the country, (EndSARS) to economic difficulties, saying that conditions in Nigeria for the last four years have been very difficult in the wake of the decline in oil prices in 2015-16.

other, depending on the outcome of Loss Adjusters’ investigation as per the terms and conditions that guide insurance policies.

“For instance, some policies may have Riot, Civil Commotion, and Strife as terms and condition. So, if you don’t have these as

terms and conditions in your policies, you will not be compensated. If the situation is not properly handled, it’s going to weaken the insurance industry. But by and large, I think the industry is going to sit together as a body and demand for government support,” he says.

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Company IN FOCUS

BUSINESS DAY Monday 26 October 2020 www.businessday.ng

Down but not out: SPAR’s classy message after looting of Lekki store wins plaudits LOLADE AKINMURELE

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igeria’s largest chain of hypermarket stores, S PA R , h a d a classy response to the vandalisation and looting of one of its stores in the commercial hub of Lagos where unrest amid the End-SARS protests provided a cover for hoodlums to ravage private properties.

The retail chain which mainly sells groceries and household items from electronics to furniture shared a video on Twitter of its plundered and vandalised store in the affluent neighbourhood of Lekki.

Rather than throw its hands up in despair, Spar’s response to the loss was full of optimism and support for Nigeria amid what are troubling times for Africa’s most populous nation following the excessive use of force by the military on youths peacefully protesting police brutality and the destruction of public and private property that has since followed.

Here’s what SPAR had to say about its vandalised store.

“Our Lekki store has been vandalized and looted. But, we acknowledge that this is only a setback compared to the larger issues we are all facing as a nation, and our thoughts and prayers remain with Nigerians everywhere, and for a peaceful resolution to various issues at hand.

“Rebuilding a supermarket is hard. Rebuilding a nation is even harder. We stand with you Nigeria. Stay focused. Be the solution,” SPAR said.

The classy message illicited compassionate messages of love and support by Nigerians. While some said they would mobilise to help clean up the store others pledged to patronise SPAR more than ever before.

“Guys, after the curfew ends, can we mobilize and go help the folks at @SPARNigeria clean up the Lekki store and surroundings at least, and for free?,” one Ikenna Ronald Nzimora said on Twitter. His tweet got nearly 5,000 likes and 4,000 retweets within hours of being posted on Friday.

SPAR responded to Nzimora’s tweet by saying “True generos-

ity and kindness will always prevail. Even in the hardest times, remember that there are good people in this world, and together we can do amazing things. @ronaldnzimora you’re a gem. Reach out to us and let’s rebuild SPAR for the people, with the people.”

SPAR was not the only retail chain on the receiving end of attacks by hoodlums on private businesses.

At least two of the stores of Shoprite, another retail chain of

supermarkets in Nigeria, were also vandalised.

The over 20 stores, including that of Shoprite, within Circle Mall at Jakande, Lekki, were looted and set ablaze. Retail pharmacy chain, Health Plus and clothing stores Pep and Ruff N Tumble were also affected.

Several stores at a Surulere Mall which houses no less than 30 different stores, including cosmetics company, Zaron, were also plundered during the raids by angry mobs which exposed

‘‘

Our Lekki store has been vandalized and looted. But, we acknowledge that this is only a setback compared to the larger issues we are all facing as a nation, and our thoughts and prayers remain with Nigerians everywhere, and for a peaceful resolution to various issues at hand

Nigeria’s deep rooted socioeconomic crises.

An official from the cosmetics store, Zaron, who did not want to be named said goods worth N5 million may have been carried away.

“I haven’t been there to see things for myself yet but theperson said. “I heard the other stores in the mall were all attacked and items worth millions taken away,” the person said.

Asked if there was an insurance cover for the store, the person said “ I am not sure there’s an insurance cover for that particular store.”

Several other stores in other parts of the Lekki and Surulere suburbs were also attacked with credible videos showing tens of people carting away with food items, clothes and electronics obtained from the stores even as they were being ravaged by fire.

It’s not the first time that mobs are organizing brainless attacks on private businesses in the name of protests. During the xenophobic attacks in South Africa where some Nigerians were killed, private businesses in Nigeria were targeted.

What started as attacks on businesses in Nigeria with South African affiliations, even though they were run by and employed Nigerians, soon escalated to attacks on Nigerian-owned businesses.

The attack on private businesses at any given opportunity is a sign of the deep rooted socioeconomic crises in Africa’s most populous nation where more than half of the population are poor, unemployment is at a record high and social welfare is practically non-existent.

Given that insecurity is one of the biggest threats to private investment, the attacks on private businesses could hinder investments in a country where local and foreign investment are already drying up.

Nigeria received $1.29 billion in foreign investment in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, representing a decrease of 78.6% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2019, according to the latest Nigerian Capital Importation report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Reduced private investment would further worsen the unem-

ployment and poverty situation in a country that has overtaken India as the poverty capital of the world.

About SPAR The SPAR licence for Nigeria was granted to the Artee Group in 2009, a leading retail operator in Lagos.

SPAR operates 14 stores in Nigeria, according to information on its website and caters to over 5 million shoppers annaully.

Its retail sales hit 128,867 Euros in 2019.

About Artee Group Artee Group is one of Nigeria’s leading businesses spanning across the consumption space.

While retail forms the core business activity of Artee Group, Group subsidiaries are present in shopping mall, manufacturing, real estates, among many others.

Artee Group’s statement of purpose is ‘Adding value beyond limits’. This is as true as it was in 1998, when the business started out as a wholesaler in Nigeria.

SPAR Park n Shop which operates in the hypermarket and supermarket retail format is present across 3 cities of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

In the year 2014, Artee Group launched its first shopping mall in Port Harcourt.

Riding on the success of Port Harcourt Mall, Artee Group is presently working on 3 shopping mall projects across Nigeria.

With the launch of Dollarstore in Port Harcourt Mall, Artee Group recently added another value format to its retail brand portfolio.

E xpanding its presence across the consumption space, Artee joined hands with Landmark Group of Dubai to launch Babyshop, Lifestyle and Splash store brands to cater to fashion and lifestyle requirements of Nigerians.

Progress has continued throughout the years in developing the SPAR presence in Nigeria.

The partner has assessed the potential in the market and developed the brand through a combination of new build and conversion stores, creating brand recognition amongst shoppers and local entrepreneurs able to supply local products to this organised retail network.

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Advert Hotline: 08033225506. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08169609331 Editor: Patrick Atuanya. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.