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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016
BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S NIBOR OVERNIGHT 1-MONTH
A S
A T
D E C E M B E R
NIBOR 4.150% 15.8625%
3-MONTH 6-MONTH
18.3916% 21.0554%
NITTY 1-MONTH 2-MONTH
11.4397% 16.8358%
Group Business Editor Chika Amanze-Nwachuku
Email chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08057161321, 08033294157
9 , 3-MONTH 6-MONTH
2 0 1 6 17.1394% 19.7842%
EXCHANGE RATE N305//1US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY
Quick Takes Arik Increases Frequency for Yuletide
MERITORIOUS AWARD
L-R: Wife of the Oyo State Governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi; representative of the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank Plc and Executive Director, Service Bank, Niyi Adeseun, receiving an award from the wife of Zamfara State Governor, Hajiya Asma’u Abdul’aziz Yari Abubakar at the 5th Oyo State Officials` Wives Association (OYSOWA) National Women’s Summit 2016 held in Oyo State...recently
FG Grants 50 Years Concession Period for Ibom Deep Seaport Investors Eromosele Abiodun In a bid to attract investors to the Ibom Deep Sea Port (IDSP), the federal government has approved a 50-year concession period for would be investors. This is as stakeholders have declared the project is the most viable in the West and Central African region. The Ministry of Transportation and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) confirmed the long concession period at the Ibom Deep Sea Port stakeholders visioning workshop held in Abuja. Also, ICRC affirmed that only three deep seaports in Nigeria have been captured in the nation’s port development master plan.
MARITIME The three deep sea ports are: Ibom Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom State, Badagry Deep Sea port and Lekki Deep Seaport, both in Lagos State. Speaking at the meeting, Director-General of ICRC, Mr. Aminu Diko, charged the promoters and managers of the IDSP to make bare areas of comparative advantages and threats to the proposed seaport in comparison with other government approved deep seaports in the country. According to him, “We have approved three deep sea ports. We approved Ibom Deep Seaport 18 months ago, and in the process the promoters of
Badagry Deep Sea Port came and submitted proposal and got approval. In June this year, we got an application for Bakasi Deep Sea Port and I make it clear that we are most likely to approve any port without seeing its viability.” On his part, the representative of the Ministry of Transport and Director of procurement at the ministry, Mr. Shehu Aliyu, said that IDSP had become exigent at this time in history of the nation to help curb the incidence of port and road congestion in Lagos. Reiterating that the federal government had only approved three deep seaports in line with the port master plan, he added that the government had been on IDSP for five years, with the
project’s Outline Business Case (OBC) approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). The Chairperson, Technical Committee for the Realisation of Ibom Deep Seaport, Mrs. Mfon Usoro stated that even when all the approved deep seaports become operational, IDSP would still have sufficient cargo and sound throughput to remain viable. The port , she said, is strategically located in the West and Central Africa region, despite the existing ports and emerging ones adding that, “It will serve the cargo needs of the following countries; JDZ Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Angola, Gabon, Republic of Continued on page 20
Insurance Premium: Experts Fear Commercial Flights May be Grounded in Nigeria Chinedu Eze Nigerian airlines may be forced to stop operation if Lloyd’s carries out its threat to blacklist and downgrade Nigerian airlines over their inability to pay insurance premium. The airlines are already beset by paucity and high price of aviation fuel, low passenger traffic as well inability to obtain foreign exchange to meet their aircraft and insurance obligations. Industry operatives, who spoke to THISDAY on the
AVIATION development, said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to operate in Nigeria adding the threat by Lloyd’s could end schedule commercial operation in Nigeria. According to some airline officials, no airline can operate aircraft without insurance so if Lloyd’s carries out its threat to blacklist Nigerian airlines, other insurance companies will do the same and the consequence is that any aircraft, which its insurance is due, would be
grounded because it would not be renewed. This, they noted, will further deplete the aircraft in the airlines fleet as a third of the number of operating aircraft in Nigeria air currently out of service due to the inability of the airlines to source for forex for their mandatory checks abroad. Experts had projected that by March next year, if no action was taken to support airlines with the required foreign exchange, majority of the aircraft would be on Aircraft on Ground (AOG), a development that would ground Nigeria’s economy.
Already the airlines are underserving the domestic market and cannot meet passengers’ demand. These days, flight operations are characterised by flight delays and cancellations, even as flight ticket prices are now beyond the reach of average Nigerians. Before the threat by Lloyd’s to stop insuring Nigerian aircraft due to the inability of the airlines to pay, the operators have been buying aviation fuel at about N240 per litre. The operators described the Continued on page 20
Nigeria’s major carrier, Arik Air has announced it would increase flight frequencies to key domestic destinations ahead of the Christmas and New Year festivities to cope with passenger demands. The airline explained that its decision to increase flight frequencies on the domestic routes is predicated on the need to ensure that many Nigerians are able to travel home to share the joy of the season with family and friends.To also cope with the demands of its international passengers on the London Heathrow and New York JFK routes, the airlinehasleasedawide-bodyA340-300fromPortugaltosupplement its wide-body fleet of two A330-200 aircraft. Arik Air connects 18 destinations within Nigeria, 10 in West/Central Africa and three international destinations enabling the airline to bring more Nigerian families together this festive season than any other carrier. Instead of the average 100 daily flights normally operated, Arik Air will during the festive period increase its daily flights to an average of 120. Arik Air’s Managing Director/Executive Vice President, Mr. Chris Ndulue said, “For many of our guests, the Christmas and New Year period is a time when families wish to be reunited at the end of a busy year. Arik Air is therefore very pleased to announce that on many of our domestic routes, the airline will be scheduling additional flights and operating larger aircraft to cater for the increasing demand.”
IATAReviewIndicatesIndustryProfitability
The International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s latest financial results from Q3 2016 continue to indicate another solid quarter for industryprofitability,althoughthereareongoingsignsthatmomentum in the profitability cycle has weakened. Global airline share prices jumped by 7.5 percent in November, driven by a 16.4percent increase for North America carriers. Brent crude oil prices recently reached a 17-month high, following the agreement by OPEC to restrict oil supplies.The oil market is graduallyre-balancing, with prices expected to trend upwards modestly in the coming years. The Association said while passenger yields edged down in September, the intense downwardpressureonyieldshaseasedsinceearlierin2016,inkeeping with the change in the trend of oil prices seen over the period. The premium segment continues to be an important buffer for airline financial performance. While premium traffic growth has lagged, premium airfares have held up better than those in economy on many routes so far this year. Annual growth in passenger volumes remains broadly in line with its 10-year average. Despite easing in October, the seasonally-adjusted load factor remained above the 80percent-mark Air freight volumes have been boosted by a stronger-than-expected peak season in 2016, with traffic up more than eight percent year-on-year in October.The freight load factor has rebounded from its early-2016 low.
CR Services Repositions
The Board of Directors of CR Services (Credit Bureau) Plc has appointedMr.GodfreyEbetaleyeasthenewactingManagingDirector/ Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Mrs. Jameelah Ayedun who is leaving the company after2 years as Managing Director/CEO in order to pursue her passion in other endeavours but remains on the Board of CR Services as a Non-Executive Director. According to a statement released by the company, this appointment is in line with the company’s robust succession plan and is strategic to sustaining the company’s leadership position as Nigeria’s preferred credit bureau trusted with Nigeria’s largest credit information data base. The appointment is following a resolution of the Board of Directors and subsequent ratification by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In his new role, Mr. Ebetaleye would be responsible for moving the organisation to its next phase of growth, repositioning to further push the frontiers of credit reporting in Nigeria beyond the coverage of commercial banks, to include retail and other critical sectors. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director in CR Services responsible for Business Development & Sales. He is a consummate managerwithoverthreedecadesofcrosscuttingexperiencesspanning several industrial and service sectors. A graduate of the University of Lagos and Chartered Accountant, Godfrey has held managerial
‘’It is very significant to Nigeria and to Africa for an African, a black man to be re-elected as the President of ICAO Council’’
The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
Captain Muhtar Usman