24 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
The 2nd River Niger Bridge at Onitsha and toll charges
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INDUCTION: From left: Mrs. Ayotola Jagun, Chief Compliance Manager, Oando Plc; Folusho Philips, Chairman, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, NESG; Ms. Olajobi Makinwa, Head Transparency & Anti-Corruption, UNGC, New York and Mrs. Uto Ukpanah, Company Secretary, MTN Nigeria at the induction session for Nigeria Local Network Members of United Nations Global Compact Anti-Corruption Initiative, in Lagos.
Investor education key to market development – SEC DG A
CTING Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Mournir Gwarzo has again emphasized on investors’ education both for retail and institutional to develop the market and improve the level of investment from the domestic side in the country. Gwarzo who spoke in Abuja when he received members of the Fund Managers Association of Nigeria (FMAN) Monday, disclosed that one of the strategies of the new management is to embark on huge public enlightenment programme with other stakeholders to educate the investing public. He said, “Fund management is close to our heart as it is directly under our purview. In dealing with others, we partner with other Self Regulatory Organisations (SROs).
“We will collaborate with you anytime we want to commence the enlightenment through the use of town hall meetings, radio jingles among others.We are ready to put in money for market development and that is one of the cardinal objectives of this management”. Gwarzo also stated that the management is working to empower SROs and trade organisations to enable them handle some complaints cases and deal with them with dispatch adding that the strategy of the management is not to create committees but to focus on prescriptions and ensuring that they are executed within reasonable time frames. “We have finished the rules on complaints management framework and very soon, it will be exposed. One of the highlights is to allow complaints to be managed at the lower
level” he said. Michael Adebola, President of Fund Managers Association of Nigeria (FMAN) disclosed that Nigerians need to have a lot of understanding about what mutual funds is all about adding that the enlightenment will assist to boost the industry. He said “We have 52 funds in 10 different sectors with the largest being the equity based ones which presently stands at 45. Between 2008 and 2009, all we had invested in funds was about N19billion, but as at last week, we had N152billion. He promised that the association would work with the SEC on enlightenment of the investing public which he believes would translate into a bigger fund market in the country.
UBA leads e-banking innovation with mobile POS
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NITED Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has again proven its leadership position in e-Banking with the introduction of mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) terminals. UBA has gone live with this initiative in partnership mPOS partners across Africa. A mobile POS terminal is about the size of Blackberry Curve phone, but works just like the traditional POS currently used in many stores and cash collecting business outlets. mPOS terminals are portable, low cost and extremely secure. Many stores and cash collecting outlets that have already operated the new UBA mPOS have discovered it to be a good strategy to increase sales and expand their customer base. Existing large retailers are also adopting Mobile POS solutions and integrating them into their current point-of-sale environment to enhance the retail and payment experience. mPOS allows even the smallest business to be able to easily track and analyze sales and trends in their business as all sales are automatically and instantly captured on the retailer ’s system thereby improving C M Y K
accountability and transparency in business transactions. It is also suitable for firms and companies that have agents on the field collecting cash on their behalf as an option to the less secure pay on delivery system. According to Kennedy Uzoka, UBA’s DMD & CEO Africa, “mPOS is just one of our many e-banking innovations. We have driven other initiatives such as the acceptance of international cards on our POS terminals. Our POS terminals are also enabled for Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), which means customers and non-customers using foreign payment cards on our POS can see their transaction value in the currency of their card or home country; this aids transaction tracking and personal account reconciliation.” It will be recalled that UBA late last year introduced bill payments such as airtime top up, utility bills payment and Cable TV subscription on its POS terminals in select locations. With a customer base in excess of seven million, UBA has invested heavily in building
HE Federal Ministry of Environment, FMEnv, has released for public comments the report of an Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA, study with respect to the planning, construction and operation of a new bridge project across the River Niger at Onitsha. The new bridge is to be located at a distance of about 1.6km downstream of the existing bridge. The project is to be executed in three phases, Phase I, Phase 2a and Phase 2b. The route for the project takes off from the Benin to Asaba expressway at a point west of the Asaba airport, it is located south of the existing route, it crosses the Onitsha to Owerri expressway and comes to an end on the Onitsha to Enugu expressway for a total route length of 42km. Phase I lies between Phases 2a and 2b and it consists of a road length plus toll plaza on the Delta State side of the river, a 1.59km long bridge and a road length on the Anambra State side that links the bridge to the Onitsha to Owerri expressway. Phase 2a is about 23km long and it connects the western end of Phase I to the Benin to Asaba expressway while Phase 2b links the eastern end of Phase I to the Onitsha to Enugu expressway. Phase I is to be realised through a Public Private Partnership between the Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN, and a consortium made up of NSIA Motorways Investment Limited and Julius Berger Investments Limited. The consortium will design, build, finance and operate Phase I during a 25-year concession period after which Phase I would be given back to the Federal Ministry of Works. Funding for
The public reaction to the charges in the power sector shows that people are interested in knowing what they are paying for
Phases 2a and 2b would presumably come from the FGN. The report of the EIA study gives a description of Phase I. The carriageway would have six lanes of traffic, three lanes in each direction. The toll plaza would be 500m long and 115m wide and allow for 20 lanes of traffic, 10 lanes in each direction. It is assumed that vehicles passing through the toll plaza are in the ratio 50% cars to 50% heavy goods vehicles. Time for payment is assumed to be
10 seconds for cars and 15 seconds for heavy goods vehicles. Traffic studies at the existing bridge put total traffic count for a 24-hour period at 13460 vehicles eastbound in the ratio 75% light vehicles to 25% heavy vehicles while westbound traffic was 13786 vehicles in the ratio 83% light vehicles to 17% heavy vehicles. The EIA report does not indicate the levels of toll charges nor how these charges would be determined. However, the report states that the stakeholders consulted during the study indicated that they were apprehensive about the tolling system and that they were willing to pay reasonable rates for using improved infrastructure. The report went further and stated that the envisaged reduction in travelling time might not translate into cost reductions for the general public if the cost reductions are outweighed by exorbitant toll fees that are incorporated into the cost of goods and services. The report of the EIA study is a draft report and a final report is to be submitted after a public presentation of the draft report to stakeholders and a panel of experts. The public reaction to the charges in the power sector shows that people are interested in knowing what they are paying for. The cost of the capital employed is a major factor in the charges in the power sector. Road construction costs in Nigeria appear relatively high and with high interest rates, the public may find the toll charges high. The final report of the EIA study should therefore give an idea of what the toll charges would be.