Experts Caution States On Airport Projects

Continued from page 32 of setting up an airport is gigantic. For instance the first phase of the Lagos airport project is projected to cost about $900 million.

Aviation stakeholders have, however, expressed fears over the proliferation of airports being driven by the states. They have, therefore, called on state governments to carry out project feasibility studies to determine the viability of airports in their states before venturing into such.

These experts are of the view that government should priortise the need of the people ranging from the basics of life like food, shelter, heath, education and the others, emphasising that airport construction goes beyond acquiring hectares of land without perimeter fencing , compromising the safety of operations and construction of substandard runways that will be washed away during one or two raining seasons

Commenting on the proliferation of airports across the country, President/CEO, Sabre Network Africa, Dr Gbenga Olowo, queried the rush for the establishment of more airports by state governments, claiming that most of the existing aerodromes are not commercially viable.

Non-oil Exports: Nigeria Earned $22.6bn in Four Years

Continued from page 32 airport in Makurdi, the state capital.

The Bank also released the sum of N23.70 billion under the N1.0 trillion Real Sector Facility (RSF) to eight new real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing, and services. Cumulative disbursements under the RSF currently stands at N2.43 trillion which was disbursed to 462 projects across the country, comprising 257 manufacturing, 95 agriculture, 97 services and 13 mining sector projects.

Under the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP) the CBN has disbursed N114.17 billion to beneficiaries since commencement in January 2022. The funds were expended on 71 projects across healthcare, manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

The Commissioner for Information in Benue, Mr Mike Inalegwu, disclosed the approval recently, informing that the state was among those that secured licences from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authorities (NCAA) for the construction of Civil Aviation Airports in their respective territories.

Inalegwu said the construction of the new airport would commence in the second week of April, 2023 with a foundation laying ceremony for the airport at Kura village, along Naka road, about 12 kilometres away from the city centre.

Similarly, other states, including Ekiti, Bayelsa, Abia, Osun and Ogun are at various stages in their plans to build an airport.

By the time the airports are completed, they would have spent close to N150 billion, which may not be different from the ones in Delta, Akwa Ibom and Imo states, which are presently not viable. Reports have shown that the airports in these areas have not significantly improved the economies of the states because of low traffic level.

Consequently, many of the state-owned airports have become liabilities to the aviation agencies, particularly the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) even when they do not have direct impact on the people. Additionally, the cost

Rather, Olowo advised that efforts should be geared towards developing hubs at the major airports in the country, especially at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, with many terminals in order to attract more traffic and airlines.

Speaking with THEWILL, Olowo observed that most of the airports, apart from the ones in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, are not commercially viable.

According to him, facilities that would make the existing airports a hub are still lacking in most of the country’s airports. He mentioned the absence of a concourse light train network to connect the domestic and international terminals and vice versa both in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano.

"Installing modern technology facilities like self-checking service kiosks and the likes are also lacking. There exist too many toll-gate check-points rather than the many agencies to share data and file a single watch-list with security. This is a major disincentive for hub development. Passenger facilitation is made more cumbersome rather than the global effort at making it seamless".

For cargo airports, Olowo, who is the current president of Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ART), lamented that the intra- and inter-state road linkages to the airports are in deplorable states and wondered how such airports would be useful to farmers and other users to deliver their products.

He said that airports are not only expensive to build because of the many facility linkages but also expensive to maintain.

Olowo submitted that there must be a short and long term enforceable plan by successive governments before embarking on airport development if the government were to be a continuum.

"One governor quitting and another abandoning the project, such as revealed during the launch of the Ogun State Agro Airport runway is lamentable", he said:

“For Lagos Airport, for instance, to become a hub, first-class and world-class airport transfer connection facility is necessary. Concourse light trains should be built to connect the terminals rather than allowing Transit and or Transfer passengers to check out of the customs, burst into the precarious mammoth crowed in rain and shine with their baggage in order to pick a taxi to the next connecting terminal.

The programme is for select 100 private sector companies with projects that have the potential to significantly increase domestic production and productivity, reduce imports, increase non-oil exports and overall improvements in the foreign exchange generating capacity of the Nigerian economy.

According to the guidelines for the implementation of the initiative, the CBN fixes the maximum loan amount that a participant could get at N5 billion. The initiative which is bank-led, is rolled over every 100 days (that is quarterly) with a new set of companies selected for financing under the initiative.

The Bank also released N3.01 billion under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF-2) for capital and operational expenditure of distribution companies (Discos) aimed at improving their liquidity status and aid their recovery of legacy debt. The pay-out brouught the cumulative disbursement under the facility to N254.39 billion.

Another non-oil export promotion programme is the RT 200 FX. The scheme which was launched on February 10, 2022 to revolutionise non-oil export drive, stimulate domestic production and expand the frontier of diversification, has proved a success story in its first year. The RT 200 which stands for ‘Race to US$200 billion in Forex Repatriation’ constitutes blueprint that will enable Nigeria to attain the sky-high goal of US$200 billion repatriation, exclusively from non-oil exports over the next 3 to 5 years.

The scheme was created on five anchors, namely ValueAdding Exports Facility, Non-Oil Commodities Expansion Facility, Non-Oil FX Rebate Scheme, Dedicated Non-Oil Export and Terminal, Biannual Non-Oil Export Summit. Each of these anchors constitute a distinct and related channel of implementation of the scheme for measurable outcome.

The RT 200 FX includes a NonOil Exports Proceeds Repatriation Rebate Scheme, which incentivises exporters in the non- oil sector to repatriate and sell export proceeds in the official FX market. Under the scheme, CBN pays rebate of N65 for every dollar repatriated and sold in the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window to authorised dealer banks for third party use. The CBN also pays rebate of N35 for every dollar repatriated and sold into I and E for own use for eligible transactions only, provided the spread is not more than 10 kobo.

The apex bank also stipulated that payment of the incentives shall be quarterly with exporters that qualify credited within one week after the end of the quarter.

At the launch of the scheme in 2022, Emefiele, said, “I am mindful that this goal itself may appear unattainable to some people. But I am resolute and determined that we can achieve it. Many countries that are much less endowed than Nigeria are doing it. Consider for example that agriculture exports alone from the Netherlands was about US$120 billion last year. Yet, Netherlands has a land mass of about 42,000 square kilometers, which is much smaller that the land mass of Niger State alone, at over 76,000 square kilometers.”

At the second RT 200 Non-oil Summit in November 2022, the CBN disclosed that it had paid out a total sum of N81 billion to Nigerian exporters in in the year as rebates for repatriating their export proceeds in line with the RT 200 FX policy. It revealed that a total of $4.987 billion had also been repatriated into the country by nonoil exporters, higher than the $3.190 billion repatriated in 2021.

FirstBank Announces Name Change of Subsidiaries

subsidiaries will be next in the phased name change implementation.

The name change is being implemented to align the subsidiaries with the parent brand and to enjoy the strong heritage and brand equity built by FirstBank Nigeria in its 129 years of banking leadership. This will further enhance the quality-ofservice delivery resulting in better brand clarity, uniformity and consistency across all the markets where the Bank operates.

A leading financial inclusion services provider, FirstBank Group is committed to its nation-building goal. It has taken giant performance strides on its unique growth trajectory as it continues to build distinctive capabilities through partnerships and the constant drive to reinvent itself. This performance is evidenced in the numerous awards and recognitions bestowed on the institution. These awards include Best Private Bank for Sustainable Investing in Africa 2023 by Global Finance Awards;

Best Corporate Bank in Western Africa

2022 by Global Banking & Finance;

Best CSR Bank Africa by International Business Magazine in 2022; and ranked as number one in Nigeria in terms of Overall Performance; Profitability; Efficiency and Return on Risk by the Top

100 African Bank Rankings 2022 released by The Banker Magazine from the stables of Financial Times.

In addition, in Euromoney Market Leaders, an independent global assessment of the leading financial service providers conducted by Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc., the Bank was crowned: Market Leader in Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR); Market Leader in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG); Highly Regarded in Corporate Banking and Digital Solutions and Notable: in SME Banking.

Speaking on the name change, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, CEO of FirstBank Group, said ‘’ the name change which coincides with FirstBank’s 129th founding anniversary (March 31st, 2023) is indeed a milestone reflective of our resolve to continuously provide the gold standard of excellence and value as we put our customers First. The new identity of the subsidiaries contributes to an enhanced brand presence.

C'River Commences Payment of Royalties to Cocoa Landlord Communities

BY BASSEY ANIEKAN

The Cross River State government has kicked off the payment of rents and royalties to cocoa estate landlord communities in the state.

The special adviser to the governor on Cocoa Development and Control, Ntufam Dr Oscar Ofuka, disclosed this during a town hall engagement in Ikom.

The rents/royalties span over eight years and have most times led to confrontation with the host communities thereby hampering maximum cultivation of cocoa seedlings.

Ofuka stated that payment of rent and royalties to the communities was a priority on the agenda of the state government and debunked the rumours that government had refused to defray the debts.

Also speaking, the state commissioner for agriculture Mr Oliver Orok, said the strategy used to clear the debts remains the best as it provides opportunity for the landlord communities to decide whatever formula to be used in sharing the money.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has urged the banking public that the safest place to keep their money is the formal banking system. This is because the NDIC protects their bank deposits.

The Managing NDIC, Mr Bello Hassan made this known today while presenting his speech at the NDIC special day at 34th Enugu International Trade Fair .

“The NDIC likes to reiterate to members of the public, particularly the teaming populace in the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprise (MSME) sector, and others in the informal segment of our economy that the safest, smartest and most prudent place to keep your money is in the formal banking system because the NDIC protects your bank deposits”, said Hassan.

Such deposits, he said also enjoy the benefit of effective regulation and supervision of relevant authorities, and take people’s hard earned money beyond the ambit of illegal fund managers and loan sharks that currently awash the investment landscape and fleecing unsuspecting members of public.

Hassan assured that as the unscrupulous elements get more and more creative in their ignoble acts, and as the NDIC and other regulatory bodies device more ingenious approaches to tackling their menace.

“It is pertinent for the Corporation to continue to sensitize the public on their expected roles towards protecting their bank deposits. Depositors are to ensure their phones have strong password and do not share their bank mobile app password with third parties; ensure no one is watching when they enter their PIN to perform transactions; ensure their token is secure and other parties do not have access to it; and ensure their debit card number and CVV are not exposed to people. Equally important is the need to avoid investment offers with quick and arbitrarily high returns”, he warned.

Multinational oil company, Oando Plc, is to delist from the Nigerian Exchange Limited 31 years after it was listed as a public company in February 1992.

This follows plans by its core investor, Ocean and Oil Development Partners Limited (OODP), to acquire the shares of all minority shareholders as earlier hinted nine months ago.

The firm in a statement Thursday signed by its chief compliance officer/company secretary, Ayotola Jagun, said if the conditions of the transaction with OODP, its core investor, are satisfied, the company will become a private company.

Oando was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange — now Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) — in February 1992, as a public company.

If the offer is completed, the oil firm will be subsequently delisted from NGX and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and re-registered as a private company, according to the statement.

The organisation said the transaction will be executed through a scheme of arrangement, in accordance with section 715 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, and other applicable laws and that OODP is proposing to acquire the minority shares at N7.07 per share.

“Under the scheme, each scheme shareholder shall be entitled to receive the sum of N7.07 in cash or its equivalent in South African Rand (ZAR) for every ordinary share held by the qualified scheme shareholders at the effective date of the scheme (scheme consideration),” the statement reads.

“The proposed scheme consideration represents a 58 percent premium to the last traded share price of Oando on 28 March 2023, being the day prior to the date of submission of the scheme application to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).”

Oando said it has applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a “no objection” to the transaction, adding that it will seek approval of shareholders at a court-ordered meeting.

“Please note that the effectiveness of the scheme is subject to the approval of the shareholders of Oando at the courtordered meeting of the company, as well as the sanction of the federal high court,” the organisation said.

“The terms and conditions of the transaction will be provided in the scheme document which will be dispatched to all shareholders following the receipt of an order from the federal high court to convene a court-ordered meeting

The board of Oando Plc had said in June 2022 that it might seek voluntary delisting of its shares from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) if ongoing plans to buy out the 42.63 per cent minority shares by OODP were approved by all the minority shareholders at a court-ordered meeting.

The company said the decision arose from a court ruling following a petition filed on March 25, 2021, at the Federal High Court, Lagos by 14 shareholders of Oando. The shareholders, it said, held a total of 299,257,869 shares, on behalf of Oando’s minority shareholders led by Venus Construction Company Limited.