THE NATION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015
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BUSINESS THE NATION
E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net
What does corporate governance do? It ensures that you have set up a structure and a culture within the institution that can drive the business in line with given rules. That’s what corporate governance does. -Seplat Petroleum Managing Director Mr Austin Avuru
Customs generates N5.8b in Cross River From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar
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HE Cross River State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generated N5.8 billion in 2014. Area Controller of Customs in charge of the Calabar Free Trade Zone, Cross River and Akwa Ibom States, Mr Oshomah Nicholas, who made this known during a courtesy visit to the State Security Adviser, Mr Rekpene Bassey, said the command under the present Comptroller General was motivated to do even more. He expressed appreciation for the cordial relationship that had existed between the command and the state government, urging that it be strengthened going forward. “We would not have achieved this without the assistance of Cross River State government and we would be grateful if you would continue the same way you did with my predecessors,” he said. State Security Adviser, Mr Rekpene Bassey, reassured the Command of the continuous support of the state government. He said the state was large and the command needs to gear up to deal with the challenges of checking prohibited items, especially drugs and arms, coming in through the water and land borders. He called on the Federal Government to continue to encourage the Service to do more especially as they generate so much revenue.
DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil $58/barrel Cocoa $2,686.35/metric ton Coffee ¢132.70/pound Cotton ¢95.17pound Gold $1,396.9/troy Sugar $163/lb RATES Inflation 8% Treasury Bills -10.58%(91d) Maximum lending 30% Prime lending 15.87% Savings rate 3% 91-day NTB 15% Time Deposit 5.49% MPR 13% Foreign Reserve $34.5b FOREX (RDAS) US Dollar 168 Pounds 253.26 Euro 190.6968 Swiss Franc 181.1907 Yen 1.4316 CFA 0.2889 WAUA 235.9975
• From left: The Head, Employee Services, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, Mr. Kolawole Amusa; the Group Head, Central Processing Centre of the Bank, Mr. Maroof Busari; the Vice Principal of Modupe Cole Memorial Child Care and Treatment Home, Akoka, Lagos, Mrs. Adetoun Sadiq; one of the teachers of the Home, Mrs. Grace Efunwole; the Team Lead, CSR and Sustainability of FCMB, Mrs. Temitayo Ade-Peters and Head, Treasury Operations of the Bank, Ms. Doyin Dada, during a visit by staff of FCMB to the Home in Lagos...yesterday.
Equities lose N684b in four days
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QUITIES dropped to two-year low yesterday as the placement of Nigeria’s credit rating on negative watch by the Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S & P) exacerbated growing anxiety about macroeconomic and political risks among investors. Nigerian equities lost about N262 billion yesterday, representing an average dayon-day decline of 2.73 per cent. Overall, equities have lost N684 billion in the past four days, after the last Saturday postponement of general election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). But the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, allayed fears of investors assuring that the Nigerian economy is resilient and that monetary and fiscal authorities will do everything possible to see that the economy pulls through fairly well. Aggregate market value of all quoted companies at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) slumped to N9.321 trillion yesterday as against its opening value of N9.583 trillion. It had opened the week at N10.005 trillion, and the year at N11.477 trillion. The benchmark index for the Nigerian stock market, the All Share Index (ASI), a
•CBN assures foreign investors By Taofik Salako
value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted companies, closed at a two-year low of 27,935.77 points yesterday as against its index-on-board of 28,721.27 points. The ASI had opened the week at 29,985.08 points. It started the year at 34,657.15 points. The recent streak of bearishness at the stock market worsened the negative overall market situation, resulting in equities losing about N2.16 trillion so far this year, with average yearto-date return at -19.39 per cent. Afrinvest Securities Limited, a dealer on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), stated that the Nigerian stock market is on overdrive citing increased concerns after the S & P announcement. “The crystallising macroeconomic risk and heightened political uncertainty in the economy continues to weigh on the equity market,” it stated, adding that “the weakening macroeconomic fundamentals highlighted by the depreciation in Naira as well as the political uncertainty has led US rating agency, S&P to place Nigeria’s Credit Rating on a negative watch.
“This has a negative impact on overall market sentiment and we expect the market to stay bearish within the near term,” S&P said. Addressing the investing public yesterday, Emefiele, assured of the authorities readiness to curtail macroeconomic vulnerabilities. “The Nigerian monetary authorities as well as fiscal authorities are doing everything they can to respond to those vulnerabilities. I repeat that there is no need for us to panic because we have looked at various scenarios and models where we look at some of those actions that the monetary and fiscal authorities would kick in as we attain various levels in the price of crude,” Emefiele said. He said the diversification of the Nigerian economy would cushion the crude oil decline, noting that Nigeria has over N75 billion in increased non-oil revenues in 2014 and the government is expecting that this would ramp up to as high as $1 billion this year. He admitted that the negative response has also been due to the political situation in Nigeria, but reassured that the nation would have its general elections and con-
tinue to survive beyond that. “Of course, naturally you will find that before an election happens or occurs, there would be disagreements one way or the other, but I am very confident in the spirit of Nigerians that sometimes you find that as we approach elections, people pull back and say, ‘This is Nigeria and this is one nation’ and that is the reason why we all need to have faith in Nigeria. “And that is why I say, no need to panic. The elections will take place; I am not supposed to respond to (questions on) elections, but it is important for me to say there is no need to panic as a result of the elections. The elections will happen, it will go, Nigeria will remain the same and economic activities will improve. “That is a statement I thought I should make, not only to Nigerians but also to our foreign investors and partners who are working with us. Retain your confidence in Nigeria. Indeed, increase your level of confidence in Nigeria; this economy is resilient. There are so many things that we are doing to diversify the structure of the Nigerians economy and I believe that by the special grace of God in due time, you will begin to reap the benefits of these efforts,” Emefiele said.
FMBN mulls lifting embargo on loans T
HE Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), is looking at the possibility and process of lifting the embargo on Estate Development Loan (EDL), the Managing Director/ CEO, Gimba Ya’u Kumo, has said. Kumo, who spoke when the new executive management team of Real Estate Development Association of Nigeria (REDAN) visited the bank in Abuja yesterday, said this is part of efforts the bank in making to deliver quality houses that Nigerians would be proud of as the bank continues in its efforts to reduce the housing deficit.
From Nduka Chiejina (Asst. Editor)
Recently, the bank embarked on an aggressive drive to recover loans from its clients in order to meet its obligations to its shareholders. The Board of Directors while mandating the management to go all out to recover loans given through the National Housing Fund (NHF), also resolved that Primary Mortgage Institutions would be included in the loan recovery exercise. Kumo who declined to
mention the outstanding debts, said the figure was not important, adding that the management needs to recover the loans in order to enable other Nigerians benefit from the fund. He explained that the bank would review the estate development loan window to remove the observed lacuna, adding that the National Housing Scheme would be reviewed to ensure better collection of contributions from the PMIs. He said the bank is reforming its operations to enforce discipline and transparency. Earlier, the new President, Ugo Chime, thanked the bank for listening to the associa-
• Kumo
tion’s complaints and grievances on issues affecting their members, especially in the area of operations, saying the visit is part of efforts to build harmonious working relationship with the bank.
Govt, South Korea partner on 1,000MW solar plant From John Ofikhenua, Abuja
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LOCAL firm and its South Korean technical partners yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government to construct a ,000megawatts solar plant in Nigeria. Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo who praised Firstgate Business Intermediaries Limited and its South Korean partners on the the initiative, urged them to delivering the project within the time frame stipulated in the agreement. Nebo also urged Firstgate Limited to ensure that it taps into the huge power technology abounding in South Korea to deliver quality power plant in Nigeria, adding that the solar energy farms in South Korea could power industry clusters with advanced battery storage systems. He said building a 1,000Mw plant would require up to $2billion. Earlier, the Chairman. Firstgate Business Intermediaries Limited, Kelvin Iyke Asogwa, assured that the firm has financiers, as it would collaborate with local banks in executing the projects, adding that it also has technical partners from Turkey who are reputed to have excelled in power projects. Asogwa said the company has an MOU with the Kogi State government on 2,700 hectares of land to site the solar farm, saying it is ready to commence the project within three months once the requisite materials are in place. He noted the firm has agreements with foreign partners to train about 74,000 youths in their operating plants overseas, who would then constitute the workforce for the local companies being constructed. “We have planned to work with 74,000 youths. The MOUs we have with these companies say the foreign partners will take our youths and while they are on training, they will be building these companies here and the youths will graduate when the factories are ready to absorb them. They are coming back to resume work in these factories, so the cycle is completed,” Asogwa said.