Financial Vanguard

MAY 6, 2013

World Bank, IFAB pledge $1.9bn to boost agriculture in Nigeria

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*From left: Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Roger Gifford; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema; Head of Primary Markets, South Asia, Middle East and Africa, London Stock Exchange, Mr. Ibukun Adebayo and Deputy Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank, Mrs. Cathhy Echeozo, at the UK-Nigeria investment Partnership Forum sponsored by GTB in Lagos.

NAICOM issues new operating guidelines for takaful firms

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ational Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has issued new guidelines to oversee the operation of takaful industry in Nigeria. Takaful is a type of Islamic insurance, where members contribute money into a pooling system in order to guarantee each other against loss or damage.

The guidelines favour a centralised format that is being used across the Islamic finance world. NAICOM is

trying to establish Nigeria as the African hub for Islamic finance, having approved rules for issuing sukuk in March. By this, NAICOM hopes the guidelines will boost insurance penetration in the country.

Its insurance sector had total assets of N621 billion ($3.9 billion) as of December 2011, according to official data. The guidelines, require each

takaful firm to establish an advisory council of experts; at least two of the experts must be sharia scholars appointed to a four-year terms, which is subject to renewal. The insurance regulator will in turn establish a takaful advisory council of its own to oversee industry products and practices, mirroring the centralised approach favoured by countries such as Malaysia and Oman. Advisory council members must comply with eligibility criteria and an internal code of conduct, and attend a minimum 75 percent of meetings or face disqualification.

Under the guidelines, sharia scholars can only be members of one advisory council at a time and must undergo a formal assessment to ensure appropriate training and experience. Islamic scholars are

experts in financial and religious law, but they are not certified or accredited like other professions, so regulators are increasingly developing ways to ensure the hiring of experienced and financially literate scholars.

Conventional insurers in Nigeria will also be allowed to offer services through takaful windows, as long as operations are ring-fenced to avoid leakage and comingling with funds that are not sharia-compliant.

The use of takaful windows has been limited to a few countries such as Indonesia, Kenya and Pakistan. The latter prompted a legal challenge from full-fledged takaful firms against Pakistan’s efforts to encourage competition. Nigeria currently has a

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he World Bank has said that it would commit one billion dollars to support Nigeria’s agricultural sector in the next five years. Ms Marie-Francoise MarieNelly, its Country Director, said this at a workshop on Gender and Agriculture Technical Dialogue in Abuja. Also the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said that it would support the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) with new programmes that would cost $88.5 million.

President of IFAD, Dr Kanayo Nwanze, said this in Abuja when he led a delegation on a visit to Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“I am very delighted with the conversations that we have just had

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140.25

1.3

2,418.00

+4.00

17.52

-0.08

104.58 +1.73 95.89 CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL DOLLAR POUNDS EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYA KRONA SDR

154.75 240.7446 202.9856 165.8806 1.5781 0.2896 232.367 25.1376 41.2634 41.2634 233.8118

155.25 241.5224 203.6414 166.4166 1.5832 0.2996 233.1178 25.2193 41.3967 41.3967 234.5672

+1.90 SELLING 155.75 242.3003 204.2973 166.9525 1.5883 0.3096 233.8686 25.3009 41.53 41.53 235.3227

CBN Exchange rate as at 03/05/2013 C M Y K

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Cover Story

Youth restiveness and unemployment in Nigeria: The way out part 2

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NAICOM issues new operating guidelines for takaful firms Continued from page 17 total of 58 insurance companies which posted gross premiums of N233 billion in 2011, a 16.6 percent increase from a year earlier.

A separate circular sets a relatively low minimum capital requirement for takaful firms, which need to place a deposit of N100 million with the central bank.

Regulators opted to allow three takaful operating models under the new guidelines: mudaraba,

wakala and hybrid. Under the mudaraba model, a takaful firm acts as a managing partner for a policyholder ’s money, working under a profitsharing contract with any losses borne by participants.

In wakala, the firm operates under an agency agreement, managing funds on behalf of policyholders in exchange for a management fee, which can also include a performance fee. The hybrid model uses the mudaraba format for investing and the wakala

format for underwriting. All takaful investments must be in sharia-compliant assets but if these are limited, firms may engage with conventional instruments subject to approval by their advisory councils.

Firms are also encouraged to consider guidelines issued by the Malaysian-based Islamic Financial Services Board and the Bahrain-based Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions, though they are not legally binding.

World Bank, IFAB pledge $1.9bn to boost agriculture in Nigeria Continued from page 17 and your assurances of progress in the Transformation Agenda and the value chain development programme that IFAD has already committed some funds to, the possibility of developing a new programme idea in the current cycle of 2013 to 2015 where IFAD has committed $88.5 million to support the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Transformation Agenda.”

Ms Marie-Francoise MarieNelly World Bank Representative in Nigeria said “The World Bank is strongly engaged in Agriculture, we are planning to commit almost one billion dollars in the next three to five C M Y K

years in agriculture. Not only on this aspect of strengthening the capacity of women but also in strengthening the tools of production; and one area that I want to strengthen is irrigation. We intend to help rehabilitate a number of these irrigation schemes, to have large irrigation land for farmers and we hope that in doing so, we are not going to forget the women. ” She said that the gesture was part of the outcome of the bank’s house hold survey on the impact of agriculture in the country ’s rural areas.

According to her, the gesture is also in line with the Federal Government Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), adding that the Bank would support the

programme for its role in the economy. “We at the World Bank strongly support this programme (ATA) because it is widely recognised both in Africa and in the world; that improving agriculture translates to reduction of poverty. “ Agriculture plays a big role in Nigeria’s economy, it employs the 70 per cent of the labour force and 40 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product.” Marie-Nelly called for policies that would help to empower and support women farmers in the country.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said that women accounted for 75 per cent of farming population in Nigeria, both as farm

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*His Excellency, the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Namadi Sambo (right) with the President and CEO, GE Nigeria, Dr. Lazarus Angbazo at the Presidential Power Reform Transactions Signing Summit which took place at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on April 22, 2013

inister for Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina noted that Nigeria’s unemployment rate is spiralling upwards, growing at 11 per cent yearly, According to him “Youth unemployment rate is over 50 per cent. “Our unemployment rate is spiralling, driven by the wave of four Million young people entering the workforce every year with only a small fraction able to find formal employment.

The rising tide of unemployment and the fear of a bleak future among the youth in African countries have made them vulnerable to the manipulations of agents’ provocateurs”.

These include aggrieved politicians, religious demagogues, and greedy multinationals that employ these youths to achieve their selfish ambitions. It is clearly evident that the absence of job opportunities in developing countries is responsible for youth restiveness with disastrous consequences.

This leaves in its trails; low productivity, intra-ethnic hostilities, unemployment, Scholars have poverty, prostitution and overtime environmental degradation. agreed that Exuberance: Very often, there is a link the youth are described as full of youthful exuberance. This among raw energy has of late been poverty, loss of channelled into livelihood, unwholesome and socially inequality, and unacceptable venture that youth threaten the very fabrics of the community. Also the issue restiveness as of availability and evidenced by accessibility of drugs in street the numerous corners which predispose the violent protests youth to abnormal against the behaviours when they come wielders of under their influence adds to youth restiveness. power in It is also believed that some Nigeria. disgruntled leaders, elders and politicians in our society resort to recruiting youth for settling scores or using them against perceived enemies. With this trend, the activities of these youth have degenerated to outright criminality. Once these youth get mobilized for these nefarious activities they become uncontrollable and the society suffers.

Poverty Poverty connotes inequality and social injustice and this traumatizes the poor. More than 70 percent of people in Nigeria are in abject poverty, living below the poverty line, and one- third survive on less than US $1 dollar a day . This figure includes an army of youth in urban centres in Nigeria who struggle to eke out a living by hawking chewing sticks, bottled water, handkerchiefs, belts, etc. The sales-per-day and the profit margin on such goods are so small that they can hardly live above the poverty line. Disillusioned, frustrated, and dejected, they seek an opportunity to express their anger against the state. Scholars have overtime agreed that there is a link among poverty, loss of livelihood, inequality, and youth restiveness as evidenced by the numerous violent protests against the wielders of power in Nigeria.

Inadequate Educational Opportunities and Resources Quality education has a direct bearing on national prestige, greatness, and cohesion. The knowledge and skill that young people acquire help determine their degree of patriotism and contribution to national integration and progress. Between 2000 and 2004, about 30 percent of Nigerian youth between 10 and 24 were not enrolled in secondary school (Population Reference Bureau, 2006). Perhaps the prohibitive cost of acquiring education is responsible.

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Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 19

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t the end of the 2013 Spring Meetings of World Bank Group/IMF, world financial leaders avowed to two specific global agenda. First, a historic opportunity to end extreme poverty within a generation, the global target of reducing extreme poverty rate, the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day to three per cent by 2030. Leaders at the meeting agreed that this is ambitious. Achieving this goal will require strong economic growth across

Will Nigeria fail again in 2030 to reduce extreme poverty?

Statistics suggested that 112 million Nigerians are poor going by the economic situation in the country in 2011. While 100 million are in absolute poverty, 12.6 million are moderately poor.

The question then is, what do we do with this data? If Nigeria is to meet the new challenge of reducing extreme poverty to three per cent, policymakers must focus on meeting the needs of the 112.6 million Nigerians that are currently living below N170 per day.

Nigeria does not have to reinvent the wheel of economic progress; all that is required is to motivate the private sector into agriculture and housing construction.

These two sectors of the Nigerian economy are capable in a very short while to create and absorb almost the 112.6 million Nigerians into direct and indirect gainful employment.

Housing generally on the supply side can be a very strong driver of economic growth if properly handled.

There are so many linkages within the economy as regards housing employment. Once you start driving the housing and construction sector, there will be employment for

carpenters, welders, masons, interior decorators, etc. It is a whole lot of linkages. Housing construction in economic models is a perfect instrument.

That is why developed economies monitor housing gaps every month. One of the key indicators they report is how many houses have been

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the developing world, as well as translation of growth into poverty reduction to an extent not seen before in many lowincome countries.

World financial leaders, including those from Nigeria, equally endorsed the second proposed goal, to promote shared prosperity. This will entail fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population in every country.

Nigeria’s future economic growth measurement will be based on how policies have helped to reduce the alarming inequality between the haves and have-nots in the country.

Sustained economic growth in this regard needs a reduction in inequality. Government functionaries must come to terms with the fact that shared prosperity means creating opportunities for all citizens, promoting gender equality and focusing on those who, although not currently poor, are vulnerable to falling into poverty.

Unfortunately, in Nigeria we celebrate economic growth that is not accompanied by job creation and poverty reduction.

To meet the new target, Nigeria’s policymakers must put on their thinking cap and develop unique policy measures that will create jobs, and get a larger number of members of the society into gainful employment. This requires mass mobilisation of the populace and moving away from rhetoric to real action.

Nigerians have come to the hard reality that the various government policies since 1980 have contributed to the rising level of poverty in the country despite claims that the economy has been growing.

The poverty data released by the National Bureau of

Nigerians that are well-to-do must stop dishing out handouts to the poor; they must begin to set up those at the bottom to fend for themselves

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built, how many old houses have been purchased, and you have the index that measures the movement of housing crisis within the

economy. This is the time for this government to make a policy change that will use housing as an economic policy instrument to reduce poverty in the land.

As the Cordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said in Washington that government has decided to create a mortgage refinancing institution that will be mainly private sector-held.

Government will only be a motivator and will have a small share in it. The partners in it are the banks, which is why the CBN has a key role in it. The CBN is a partner.

We will be looking for other investors, and hence, the document has been prepared to attract domestic and foreign investors into the housing sector. If government is already aware of the housing potential in poverty alleviation, policy must be directed at this.

Volunteers, governors who have indicated their preparedness to lift the constraints on land titling should help to release land and prepare infrastructure and any of the other accompanying measures must see it as a call to national duty. Lagos, FCT, Bauchi, Niger, Anambra must show others that the key to growing

the economy is on housing and agriculture.

Poverty data shows that there is a lot of work for the government to do to uplift a huge portion of the populace out of poverty. It also shows that there is a significant scope for the private sector to participate in activities that will have a direct impact on the people at the bottom of the pyramid.

The poverty rate in the country must be seen as an opportunity to invest in people and resources. The data should be looked at in a positive sense, and not in a derogatory manner.

Given the extended family structure of most families in Nigeria, especially those in the rural areas, by virtue of Nigerian culture, the well-todo in the families know that the society expects them to assist those not so blessed, especially from the financial perspective. Nigerians that are well-to-do must stop dishing out handouts to the poor. They must begin to set up those at the bottom to fend for themselves.

Relevant government agencies responsible for planning the nation’s economic development must roll up their sleeves and treat economic empowerment with a higher sense of urgency and tact. An opportunity also exists for the private sector to tap into the potentials of the bottom of the pyramid economics in a collaborative win-win way.

Multilateral institutions and NGOs may also be able to have increased participation in measures geared towards poverty alleviation in Nigeria, if their charters so allow.

Above all, provide regular power supply and Nigeria will fly in the economic space.

Cover

World Bank, IFAB pledge $1.9bn to boost agriculture in Nigeria Continued from page 18 managers, primary owners and suppliers of labour.

He stressed the need to invest more on women farmers and ensure that efforts were geared towards removing all constraints that hindered production for women farmers.

“Without women, there will be no food; therefore, we must ensure we remove all constraints that limit ability to raise their farm productivity and incomes. If we invest in women farmers, we invest in the nation and we invest in our

children, women will secure our food supply, they will secure our nation.”

The minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs Ibukun Odusote, identified the critical areas that needed improvement in the sector to include women access to finance; access to lands; insecurity of the tenure; and access to inputs. Adesina said that the ministry in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria would soon

roll out a new credit facility for agro-based businesses, adding that special preference would be given to women. He said that government would recapitalise the Bank of Agriculture and create a special credit facility for women.

He said efforts were also being made to improve access to land for women, reduce the cost of registering land and review the land inheritance law. The minister said that his ministry had projected that about one million women

would benefit from its various strategies to boost the agriculture sector.

According President of IFAD, Dr Kanayo Nwanze, the new programme will be within the strategies and priorities of the Federal Government. He said that the fund would continue to maintain its focus on poor rural populations in developing countries, adding that it had undertaken a series of impact evaluations in 30 countries worldwide to assess the impact the

institution’s investments had made in reducing poverty in the last 35 years. He said the assessment was an extensive exercise that would take at least three years to complete.

Nwanze said that the fund had resolved that within the three-year period, it would contribute significantly to moving 80 million people out of poverty.

He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to provide the fund with information and data to support the project.

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20 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Business & Economy BRIEF Human Resource exper ts har p xperts harp on continuous retraining of employees

BY LAMIDI BAMIDELE

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xperts in human resource have emphasised the importance of continuous training of employees in various organisations in order to bring out the best in them.

The experts reiterated this during a workshop organised by Talent and Vision, a human resource training outfit in Lagos, for heads of human resources and trainer of managers in big organisations entitled ‘How to Train and Retain Your Employees’.

According to Mr. Niyi Alabi, the Learning Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, for a company to keep on improving in its financial output, it needs to take the continuous training of members of staff as a priority and also put in place necessary good welfare packages that will keep the trained staff from moving from their establishment to others after enjoying quality training. The guest speaker advised the government to add entrepreneurship to tertiary institutions curricula as he believes that this will help graduates to have entrepreneurial skills to set up their own business instead of seeking for jobs thereby reducing employment in Nigeria.

Mr. Akinola Akinrin, a Human Resource Business Partner with Ecobank, one of the workshop participants, said that the workshop was an eye opener and he wished to go back to his bank to see how implementation of skilled acquired during the workshop could be used for the progress of his establishment.

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US foreign investment in Nigeria increases to $8bn – Adefuye

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he U.S. Foreign Direct Investment flow into N i g e r i a has increased from $5.2 billion in 2000 to $8 billion dollars in 2012. The Nigeria Ambassador to the U.S, Prof.

Ade Adefuye, made this known during a presentation on investment promotion strategies at the regional seminar for Heads of Missions in the Americas held in New York.

According to him, the country has also witnessed a diversification of investments from the oil and gas sector to other key non oil sectors.

He identified the sectors to include Power, Energy, Agriculture, Hospitality, Housing, and Health Care among others. The envoy said that Nigeria has witnessed a great deal of inflow of Foreign Direct Capital into Nigeria’s agricultural sector under the platform of the Nigerian/U.S Bi-National Commission (BNC) working group.

Adefuye, however, quoted the minister of agriculture as saying that the six billion dollars of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow into Nigeria’s agriculture was from the U.S. He said that the BNC has injected fresh confidence into Nigerian economy to the extent that Nigeria has become a new destination for U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs. “During the

past ten years, Nigeria’s economy has expanded at an annual average rate of over 6.5 percent. This is well above the South Saharan Africa’s average of 5.6 percent from 2001 to 2011. From 2009 to 2011, Nigeria has had an average growth of 7.5 percent compared to the World growth of 2.8 per cent.

“Nigeria is an emerging market and for the past decade, 2000 to 2011, Nigeria’s average growth rate has been the third fastest among the ten emerging market countries behind only China and India,” he said.

In carrying out the mandate of attracting Foreign Direct Investments into Nigeria, Adefuye, said that the Embassy has been able to use the various institutional platforms already existing between the two countries, saying that the total U.S./ Nigeria trade was valued at 38.5 billion dollars in 2011, a 12 percent increase from 2010, largely due to higher oil export volumes and prices.

Adefuye also explained that the U.S. imports from Nigeria were valued at 33.7 billion dollars in 2011 and that it consisted almost entirely of

crude oil. “The U.S. non oil imports from Nigeria consisted primarily of agricultural products such as cocoa, tobacco, rubber, feeds, grains and nuts,” he said.

The envoy also stated that Nigeria is currently the world’s largest importer of U.S. wheat, valued at 1.2 billion dollars in 2011. He said that other goods imported from the U.S. are vehicles valued at 1.1 billion dollars; machinery 270 million dollars; mineral fuel oil 597 million dollars and plastics estimated at 87 dollars million.

From left Executive Director, Junior Achievement Nigeria, Mrs. Kunbi Wuraola; Retail Sales Manager, Blackberry, Mr. Kola Ayenitaju; Head, Retail, Blackberry West Africa, Mrs. Bridget Chukumah; Director, Programmes and Operations, Junior Achievement Nigeria, Mrs. Efe Adefolu and National Programme Coordinator, Mrs. Franca Thomas, during the Junior Achievement Nigeria/Blackberry STEM Innovation Challenge for Secondary Schools in Lagos.

Nigeria loses $60bn oil revenue in 2012

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

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igeria reportedly lost about $60 billion oil revenue due to shortfalls in its estimated production in 2012.

Vanguard gathered from an industry source in one of the leading International oil consulting firms that the country has since 2008 lost about $100 billion revenue by not producing what is supposed to produce. “Even if we are producing three million barrels per day, we can sustain production of oil, the problem is not resources because the oil is there in the ground, but it’s getting that oil out and to get it out, you have to have proper exploitation.

Any delay in getting those resources out translates to lost production.”

The source noted that the arrays of failed projects in the country are as a result of

budgets made on assumption of risk. “From what we are seeing, the money to cover those budget estimates does not come because we are not earning money. This is the reason hospitals are built and not equipped, schools cannot be upgraded, and

universities are where they are. Ghana is producing more than what is in its budget, but we are producing about 20 percent less than what is in our budget.”

Another source that is into advisory services expressed fears over exchange rate

rising to as much as N200 per dollar, hence oil price collapsed to $80 per barrel.

According to the source, “We are in a vicious circle where if we do not take care, we are going to be in trouble. In 2012, we did 2.1 million barrels; the budget was done on 2.5 million.

NIMASA to impose Sea Protection Levy

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he Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that every vessel that plied the nation’s waters must pay Sea Protection Levy (SPL).

Mrs Julian Gunwa, Director, Marine Environment Management Department, said this in a meeting with shipping companies in Lagos. She said that NIMASA was empowered to collect the levy.

“The Federal Government Official Gazette Number 158 Marine Environment Management Regulation 2012 empowers NIMASA to impose levies on all commercially operating vessels of 100 gross tonnages and above,” she said. Gunwa was

delivering a paper on “Implementation of Marine Environment Management Regulations 52 and 53 on Sea Protection Levy and offshore Waste Reception Facilities”. She said any ship that defaulted in the payment of the levies might be detained by NIMASA at any port or jetty until the levy was paid.

“SPL payable will be recovered in court by bringing legal action against the ship and its owner,” she said. Gunwa said that NIMASA already had a vessel called ‘Jumbo Explorer’ that provided a framework on waste generated from ships and offshore installation.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 21

International Business & Economy

Labour to sponsor bill on expatriate quota—TUC President T

he Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has said that the organised labour would sponsor a bill to establish the principles of local content in the construction industry. Mr Peter Esele, TUC’s President, told the 2013 May Day celebration in Abuja that the move would reduce the rate of unemployment in the country. The theme of the celebration was “100 Years of Nationhood: The Challenges of National Development”.

Our hope and desire for the industry is that Nigerians shall be trained to take over the jobs of the expatriates after they have understudied the expatriates,” Esele said.

He said that the government must adopt the Nigerian local content principle in the construction industry, as was done in the oil and gas sector.

He said that a good look at expatriate quota showed that it had contributed to high level of unemployment in the country.

He condemned the kidnapping and killing of workers in the construction company, noting that it had created a state of uncertainty for the workers and stakeholders.” For a country whose major agenda is the development of infrastructure, this situation is definitely unhealthy and unacceptable. We call on all levels of government to ensure early resolution of this

issue before it renders thousands of workers unemployed,” Esele said. He advised the government to fix infrastructure, give bailout funds to improve ailing industries, and facilitate the growth of agriculture to generate raw materials for industries.

“The government must also enter into viable publicprivate partnerships than before, as well as improve power supply to revive industries,” he said. The TUC boss said that the

government should also attract companies that had divested from the Nigerian economy to help develop it.

We are making this appeal because the Central Bank of Nigeria said that Nigeria’s nominal Gross Domestic Product would soon reach 300 billion dollars within the year, with an annual GDP growth rate of 7.03 per cent driven by the non-oil sector.

Which are the non oil sectors that have contributed to the economy and when shall we attract them back?

Government should do something in that direction’’.

He said that many industries and business enterprises were still struggling to rise because of the problem of poor power supply, exorbitant demurrage, transportation, multiple taxation and high exchange of the Naira. He further said that agriculture had the capacity to provide employment for 70 per cent of the population and regain its position in the nation’s economy. “

ational President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Dr James Adetimehin, has urged the Federal Government to create an intervention fund to support insurance underwriters in the country. Adetimehin made the call in Onitsha, Anambra State, in an address he delivered at the CIIN investiture of the chairman and inauguration of executive members of the Onitsha branch of the institute. ‘’Permit me to also seize this opportunity to appeal to the Federal Government to consider the creation of an intervention fund to support underwriters within the pools that would have chosen to C M Y K

Shortlist announced for the African Banker Awards 2013

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he African Banker Awards has released its shortlist of nominees for its 2013 edition. The biggest banks across the continent continue to dominate the list of nominees on many criteria. The African Banker of the Year list is made up of three Nigerian bankers as well as two established bankers from both Tanzania and Mozambique.

They include: Figueiredo, CEO and Chairman, Unico Bank, Mozambique; Andrew Alli, President and CEO, Africa Finance Corporation, Nigeria; Aigboje AigImoukhuede, GMD and Chief Executive, Access Bank, Nigeria; Segun Agbaje, CEO and Managing Director, GTB , Nigeria; and Charles Kimei, Managing Director, CRDB, Tanzania.

Cape TTown own International Airport is Africa’s best L-R): Nigerian Idol Season 3, 1st Runner up, Debbie Olurise; her mum, Mrs Olurise and Director, PMO & Operational Strategy, Etisalat Nigeria, Ndidi Okpaluba at the Cocktail stand after announcing Moses as the winner of the Etisalat Sponsored Nigerian Idol Season 3, held in Lagos.

CIIN urges FG to create fund to support insurance underwriters N

BRIEFS

tackle the emerging risks at these their formative stage.

There is also no better time than now for a genuine national consciousness on the efficacy of insurance, especially with the spate of insecurity and the wanton destruction of lives and property by growing insurgency, as well as natural disasters such as floods and storms,’’ he said. He also urged the Federal Government to reinforce its efforts at stemming the tide of insecurity and ‘’ensuring that the identified culprits are reprimanded in order to serve as deterrent to others.’’

Adetimehin said that the insurance industry would continue to support socio-

economic and political developments in the country, adding that the insurance companies had undisputed stake in the growth of the country. ‘’We are also gearing up at promoting the development of pool formations which can contain these catastrophic risks exposures such as kidnapping and terrorism,’’ he said. He assured that the governing council of CIIN would continue to support the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in its regulations and policy thrusts to move the insurance industry forward.

Earlier, Mr Cyracus Akujobi, new branch chairman of the institute in

Onitsha, said that the branch would struggle to have an examination centre of the institute in Onitsha. ‘’We are happy that the branch is progressing and we have launched an endowment fund for students who would want to take the CIIN professional examinations as well as students of insurance in tertiary institutions close to Onitsha. ‘’We believe with this endowment, we would be able to catch them young and also increase their capacity in learning and knowing what insurance is all about,’’ he said. The branch was able to raise N300, 000 for endowment for its students at the investiture.

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igeria airports did not feature in the top ten airports in the continent according to the ranking of World Airports Award. South African airports dominated the list of the 10 best airports in Africa in 2013, winning the first three places, in addition to the sixth and eighth places according to the 2013 World Airport Awards held in Geneva.

The details of the awards, posted on the Website of the organisers showed that Cape Town International Airport is Africa’s best. The next is Durban King Shaka International Airport, while the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg is third.

PANA reports that no African airport made the top 10 list of the best airports in the world, which was won by Singapore’s Changi Airport for the fourth time. The awards are voted for by airport customers from around the world and this year the survey garnered 12.1 million responses.

22 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Banking & Finance BRIEFS Fidelity bank in $300m 5-year Eurobond, 7% yield

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idelity Bank has issued a $300 million 5-year Eurobond paying a 6.875 percent coupon and priced at a discount to give a 7 percent yield, the bank said on Friday.

A senior official at Fidelity, who declined to be named, said the bond sale was completed on Thursday.

Citibank and Deutsche Bank were joint lead managers on the deal, a prospectus obtained by Reuters shows.

Fidelity CEO Reginald Ihejiahi told Reuters last month that the planned bond was part of a funding drive for projects with dollar financing needs, including in oil, power and infrastructure.

Foreign investor appetite for emerging market debt is soaring, as the hunt for yield amid rock-bottom interest rates in Western countries pushes bond buyers further afield.

Samir Gadio, emerging market strategist at Standard Bank, said the issue price had been 99.48 percent and that the bond gives a spread over U.S. Treasuries of 635 basis points.

Thailand’s central bank policies to focus on SMEs

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he impact on the real economy and on SMEs is of particular relevance when considering regulatory reforms such as Basel III and OTC derivatives rules, says Somboon Chitphentom of the Bank of Thailand Banks in Thailand have successfully implemented Basel III capital requirements starting from January 1, 2013. Local and foreign banks in Thailand must maintain the capital adequacy ratio of at least 8.5%, which is unchanged from the current requirement. Tier I capital must be at least 6%, including minimum 4.5% of common equity.

However, the implementation of the Basel III credit valuation adjustment (CVA) risk capital charge is still under consideration, says Somboon Chitphentom, senior director of prudential policy at the Bank of Thailand. The bank issued a consultation paper on CVA in April 2012 to investigate its merit following concern that it would not be appropriate for the domestic banking sector.

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By EMMA UJAH, Abuja Bureau Chief

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he Bank of Agriculture has set aside N25 billion to fund farmers and other operators in the agribusiness sub-sector in the next two years.

Managing Director of Bank of Agriculture, BoA, Mr. Mohammed Santuraki, disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Abuja.

“The Federal Government has just given us N15 billion. Added to what we had, we now have about N25 billion that is available for farmers and others involved in others activities in agriculture value chain,” he said.

According to the MD, BoA has been re-organised to make it more focused on commercial lending among farmers and other players in the agriculture value chain, which he said was critical if the nation must achieve significant growth in the years ahead. “A lot of the transformation agenda of the present administration in the agric sector emphasises agric value chain and we are leveraging on this to raise the stake of the sector in the nation’s economy. “What we have done is that we have created a more sustainable institution. It is important to support small scale commercial farmers. Small commercial farmers need credit, but any level below that, what they need are perhaps grants and you cannot achieve commercial object with social objectives with the same institution. If we need to support small subsistent farmers, government should create another institution for that, but we will focus on small

Award: Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni (Engr.) Rauf Aregbesola displaying Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) 2012 Special Presidential Merit Award conferred on him by the President of NSE, Engr. Mustafa Balarabe Shehu ( 2 left) during the event in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.

Bank of Agric sets aside N25bn for farmers in 2 years *Collaborates with Abuja Commodities Exchange commercial farmers and agribusiness. What we have also done in the BoA is to redefine what agriculture is.

Agriculture is beyond production. What has happened up till now is that when we talk of agriculture people think of farming,” he said.

According to the BoA boss, agriculture has gone beyond farming as much of the nations farm produce gets lost after harvest due to

inadequate post-harvest infrastructure. He said inputs supply, post-harvest infrastructure, processing and packaging must be given adequate attention for agriculture to play its role in the economy.

Santuraki noted that in the United States, only two percent of the population was engaged in the agricultural sector and yet could feed the nation and export food, while in Nigeria,

GTB partners NSE, LSE on economic development G

uaranty Trust Bank plc said it is partnering the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange to promote economic development and entrepreneurship through lending its support to the 2013 UK-Nigeria Investment Partnership Forum.

In a statement by the bank, the programme which seeks to encourage bilateral trade relations between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, involves presentation of business enhancement models that facilitate trade between both countries, networking between captains

of industries and exploration of business opportunities that exist in both markets.

Mr. Alderman Roger Gifford, the Lord Mayor of London is leading the United Kingdom’s business delegation to the event, with Managing Directors/CEOs of major companies operating in different sectors of the UK’s economy in attendance, the statement said.

Nigeria’s delegation to the event is being led by the CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema alongside Private Sector Industry Leaders and top Government officials. Commenting on the

Bank’s involvement, Mrs. Cathy Echeozo, Deputy Managing Director of GTBank said the Bank was committed to the development of the Nigerian capital market and the promotion of access to global investment capital.

According to Mrs. Echeozo ‘UK and Nigeria are important business partners.

If we are to actualize the plans of President Goodluck Jonathan and Prime Minister David Cameron to double trade and investment growth between both nations by 2016, then private companies must undertake forums like this to exchange ideas.”

70 percent of the population was engaged in agriculture, but Nigeria has consistently imported food. He added that the support for commercial small scale farmers has become critical to enable them build post-harvest infrastructure to help maximise the gains of their harvest.

As part of the bank’s support for agriculture, he said the BoA has decided to cooperate with the Abuja Stock and Commodities Exchange, ASCE, to support the efforts at strengthening it with a view to realising the objectives of its establishment.

A Warehouse Bill being proposed by the ASCE “ will enable farmers have access to finance and borrow against their produce and look for market. The bill will also ensure that warehouse receipts become legal tender.”

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of the ASCE, Alhaji Yusuf Abdurrahim, regretted that the organisation was still to fully take off due to inadequate funding.

In its 12 years of existence, the exchange funding was put at less than N1.5 billion from the federal government. The organisation is 60 percent owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria and 40 percent by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 23

Banking & Finance

L-R:Mr.Oluwaseun Ngonnase,Opon Imo Project Coordinator ,Phillips Consulting Limited;Mr.Femi Fawole,Parmanent Secretary,Ministry of Education,State of Osun;Chief (Mrs) Grace Titilaoye Tomori,Deputy Governor/ Commissioner for Education,State of Osun,and Mr.Bola Ilori,Member of Opon Imo Project Committee during the Osun State Government Launch of Opon Imo Press briefing held in Lagos.

CBN’s one day cheque settlement system takes off across Nigeria

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s move to reduce the settlement cycle of a cheque in Nigeria to one day, also known as cheque truncation system, has now taken off across the country.

The move is in support of the apex bank’s cashless policy and to align the country’s economic policy with current trend around the globe.

The Nigeria InterBank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) and Nigeria’s leading financial services software provider, Precise Financial Systems, PFS, worked with the CBN to achieve this breakthrough across all the 37 branches of the CBN located in states capital in Nigeria including the federal capital territory, Abuja.

Mr. Yele Okeremi, MD/ CEO, PFS, said in a statement made available to Vanguard that with the new regime, all cheques presented for settlement would be resolved within stipulated date across the country.

The cheque truncation system would allow all branches of the CBN to capture all cheques in the respective branches and maintain them in a central server in Lagos. The system then allows all captured cheques from the bank to be transmitted to the clearinghouse from Lagos.

According to him, the system is responsible for the processing of all inward cheques and NEFT transactions of banks. While it would address all required management reporting, its controls are guided “as the system implements all required maker checker rules of the banks”, he said.

With the activation of cheque truncation through iTELLER platform in Nigeria, important challenge the system has addressed is the ability of the CBN to meet the deadline for cheque truncation nationwide. Aside, the platform has also assisted the CBN to reduce cost, time and the stress level involved in its cheque clearing operations. “This system removes all logistics costs associated with clearing”.

While further enumerating on the benefits of cheque truncation, he said before the cheque truncation regime, the banks would have to send their outward cheques to respective central clearing departments by dispatch riders or bullion vans. However, with the system, cheques can be truncated directly at the branch of deposit.

“This removes time-wasting collation and photocopying usually carried out at the bank branches. It also removes the need to postencode cheques, and this provides the platform to use more agile cheque scanners for image and MICR capture”.

Other benefits of the new systems, according to him, include reduction of stress and human efforts in clearing, elimination of all cheques substitution tendencies, reduction of time of consummating manual transaction thereby enabling the cashier to focus on other customer requirements as well as reduction of the manhours required to attend to other customer’s need among others.

In terms of how the new regime influences the market, he informed that the Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) has a critical supervisory role in the cheque clearing systems, as such; the system enables the cheque clearing system to run seamlessly for an effective and efficient cheque payment processing. ”Championing the on-going cheque truncation system is one way NIBSS is enabling the cheque payment and processing system in the nation. The financial institutions in the country are fast switching their practices to comply with the new cheque truncation regime. One basic implication of the new system is that the cheque clearing system in the country is tending towards real time clearing practice. The system has to be well positioned to ensure reliability, availability, sustainability, and recoverability in case of any disaster both by individual financial institutions as players and NIBSS as the supervisor”, he said.

C M Y K

24 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Corporate Finance

Sterling Bank gets shareholders nod to raise N56.2bn

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

S

hareholders of Sterling Bank Plc, at the 51 annual general meeting in Lagos, authorised the Board and management of the bank to raise fresh capital amounting to N56.2 billion from the capital market.

The first phase of the exercise will involve raising of tier one capital through a rights issue of N12 billion (an equivalent of US$75milliion) and a private placement of N19.2 billion, while the second phase will involve raising of tier two capital (subordinated debt) of N25 billion multicurrency.

They also approved distribution of 20kobo per ordinary share dividend to every member of the bank for st the year ended 31 December, 2012.

Addressing shareholders at the meeting, the chairman, Alhaji S.A Adegunwa, explained that the process for the first phase of the exercise had commenced in the first quarter of the year and would be concluded before the end of June, 2013.

Adegunwa stated that the process for the second phase would commence in the third quarter and would be concluded in the first quarter of 2014, adding that the additional capital would enable Sterling Bank to successfully implement its medium to long term strategic objectives.

He noted that the bank made significant progress in integration of its processes and operations following merger with Equatorial Trust Bank, ETB, at the end of the previous financial year.

“We successfully consolidated the two banking systems into a single banking platform, allowing us to streamline our processes, maintenance and development costs, hardware and software, as well as improve the time-tomarket for developing our products and services,” he added.

Speaking, the Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Yemi Adeola, thanked the shareholders for supporting the bank’s effort to raise fresh capital, saying that the management only wanted to wait for the market to sufficiently rebound before taking a plunge.

C M Y K

BY OMOH GABRIEL

O

th n the 16 of April, Diamond Bank hosted investors at the Famous Merchant Taylor’s Hall in London. It was a gathering of prominent investors, friends and well wishers of the bank to celebrate its presence in the financial hub of London. The Managing Director Mr. Alex Otti,had a brief session with Nigerian journalists who were there. Exerpts: What next, Diamond Bank in UK? I think we need to celebrate this first before we will be thinking of what next. I think it is a big feat because we have worked on it for a very long time, and we are very happy that we are here.

The reason why we are here is because of our customers. We will always be where our customers want us to be. So, it is the customers that determine where we will be and today in the UK, we have a large chunk of our business done by somebody else and today we are here and we are going to be doing those businesses.

What are those businesses?

International trade, most importantly letters of credit transactions and then of course, we have a lot of institutions in Nigeria that the subsidiaries are here or else where, and you know that London is a financial hub because when we are in London, we can reach out to anywhere and our shares are also listed on the London Stock Exchange. So, we have a whole lot doing here.

Specifically who are your customers?

I did not need to tell you that, I will be happy to have you as one of them but I have a responsibility not to disclose our customers. But in all the segments of the market, they are in the retail segment of the market, the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises. They are also in the commercial and middle men sales segments; they are in the large corporate, multinational; in short, they are everywhere ranging from oil and gas, manufacturing, import-export, etc. We have a lot of customers and, we have well over 3 million of them.

There is a whole lot of thing we tend to give in this new environment but our brand is so important to us. Our brand goes with a whole lot of things; it goes with efficient service, technology, ethics, professionalism, sound management, strong corporate governance. So, those are the things we are selling.

We may not say we are coming here to sell what has never been sold, but there are people who are looking forward to our being here and I think you can see how much a lot of the people

•Alex Otti, MD/CEO Diamond Bank

We are licensed to do everything a bank can do in London

,

BRIEF

There is a whole lot of thing we tend to give in this new environment but our brand is so important to us

responded to the call. I am sure we will do very well here.

How do you feel as the group CEO bringing your bank to another country?

I feel challenged because the stamp of approval given by the financial services authority for us to operate in the UK is a call to service. It requires that we continue doing what we are doing. You know it is said that the journey to the top may be very difficult, but it is very easy to come down, so for us that we are here means we

,

need to do everything to ensure that we did not go down and that requires that we do everything that we are supposed to do right.

If you listen to me while I was speaking, this is a bank that will rather do the right thing and lose money than to do the wrong thing and make money.

So, we are very happy and encouraged that the regulatory authority here, which is known to be very straight forward, has found us worthy of maintaining a presence here. So, our

challenge is to ensure that we justify the confidence that they are having in us. And I can assure you that with my team and all the people that work with me, we will actually justify the confidence that they put in us.

What is the nature of your license?

We have the license to do everything that a bank can do in the UK other than retail. It is more like a wholesale banking, but in due course, we will also be applying to do retail if we feel that it is important for us.

We have projections to expand beyond this place, but you need to conquer where you are first and there is a whole lot to do in the UK, but our presence here actually gives us opportunities to expand to countries beyond mainland Europe even the United States, Asia, China and the rest of them. So that we are here actually give us a whole lot of opportunity to do business anywhere in the world.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 25

Corporate Finance

NSE raises N195.36bn from new issues in 2012 *Generates N3.95bn revenue

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

A

total of N195.36 billion was raised from new issues on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE during the year ended st 31 December, 2012, translating into a two-year

total of N2 trillion in the value of capital raised on the Exchange.

Also, the NSE generated N3.95 billion in revenue, 11 percent growth over N3.71 billion earned in the same period of 2011.

Similarly, operating surplus for the year rose by 346 percent to N1.2 billion from

N258.297 million in 2011.

Making the revelation at nd the 52 Annual General Meeting in Lagos, Mr. Oscar Onyema, NSE chief executive said that equity transactions accounted for majority of the revenue with companies in the main board pooling 99 percent of value of trades for the year.

He assured that the NSE is making efforts to increase the size of contribution of the alternative securities market from the present state through a continuous drive to sponsor events that would attract more listings from small and medium scale enterprises.

He explained that the NSE has made great strides in its

journey towards providing a world-class market experience, as well as improving service excellence. “We have undertaken major reviews of our market and operations, and we have implemented innovations that will deliver a robust and efficient capital market,” he said.

Onyema also restated the Exchange’s commitment towards providing a stronger regulatory environment and to make the market more accessible.

“For almost two years, we have successfully delivered on key strategic initiatives to create an African institution that competes effectively in the global market place. These initiatives support our efforts to develop a more transparent, liquid and accessible market with a modern market structure to support the delivery of a wide range of investment products.

We have also engaged with investors, listed companies, market operators, the regulator, and prospective issuers, who had lost faith in the capital market and are optimistic that together, we are moving in the right direction,” he added.

Earlier in his address, the President of Council of the NSE, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said that the Exchange is set to launch a derivatives market in 2014 as part of its transformation agenda and commitment to meet clients’ needs.

Dangote noted that the 2016 transformation agenda, which include achieving $1 trillion market capitalisation, ‘guided by our five pillars established for the Exchange’, has already begun to yield results.

He said, “On the back of our rebranding initiative for our board/ market segments, which consolidated thirtythree industry sectors into twelve sectors, the Exchange was in a better position to promote international industry classifications to the market, as well as to prospective issuers.”

C M Y K

C M Y K

53.00 10.07

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Non-Building/Heavy Construction Julius Berger Nig Plc Roads Nigeria Plc

50.00

9.12 7.57 76.00 2.89 9.00 0.65

34.98 910.00

32.27 3.07 2.60

41.10 58.65

10.00 5.90 15.45 2.92 4.50 25.80 5.73 2.64 6.99 8.90 0.63 1.29 20.10

0.50 0.84 1.05 0.50 0.50 1.63 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.40 0.50 0.70 0.50 0.50 0.57 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.06

0.90

Beverages-Non-Alcoholic 7-UP Bottling Company Plc

Food Products Dangote Flour Mills Plc Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc Flour Mills Nigeria Plc Honeywell Flour Mill Plc National Salt Co. Nig Plc UTC Nigeria Plc

Food Products-- Diversified Cadbury Nigeria Plc Nestle Nigeria Plc

Household Durables Nigerian Enamelware Plc Vitafoam Nig. Plc Vono Products Plc

Personal/Household Products PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc Unilever Nigeria Plc

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking Access Bank Plc Diamond Bank Nigeria Plc Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Fidelity Bank Plc First City Monument Bank Plc Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Skye Bank Plc Sterling Bank Plc UBA Plc Union Bank Nig. Plc Unity Bank Plc Wema Bank Plc Zenith Bank Plc

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Sector African Alliance Insurance AIICO Insurance Plc Continental Reinsurance Plc Cornerstone Insurance Company Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc Equity Assurance Plc Goldlink Insurance Plc Great (Nig) Insurance Plc Guinea Insurance Plc International Energy Insurance Plc Investment and Allied Assurance LASACO Assurance Plc Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc Linkage Assurance Plc Mansard Insurance Plc Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc NEM Insurance Co. (Nig) Ltd Niger Insurance Co. Plc OASIS Insurance Plc. Prestige Assurance Co. Plc Regency Alliance Insurance Sovereign Trust Insurance Staco Insurance Plc Standard Alliance Insurance UNIC Insurance Plc Unity Kapital Plc Universal Insurance Plc Wapic Insurance Plc

Microfinance Banks Fortis Micro-Finance Bank Plc NPF Micro-Finance Bank Plc

Other Financial Institutions Africa Prudential Plc Crusader (Nigeria) Plc Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc FBN Holdings Plc Nigeria Energy Sector Fund Royal Exchange Assurance Sim Capital Alliance Plc Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc UBA Capital Plc

1.40 0.50 2.02 19.23 552.20 0.61 103.50 15.00 1.20

0.50 0.50

4.78 266.15 20.65 160.01 0.77

Beverages-Brewers/Distillers Champion Breweries Plc Guinness Nigeria Plc International Breweries Plc Nigerian Brew Plc Premier Breweries Plc

Mortgage Carrier, Broker and Sector Abbey Building SOC Aso Savings and Loans Plc Resort Savings & Loans Plc Union Homes Savings Plc

0.50

100.00

Real Estate Investment Trusts Skye Shelter Funds CONSUMER GOODS Automobile/Auto Parts DN Tyres & Rubber Plc

15.20

1.65 5.43 1.54 5.42 1.14 58.80

Real Estate Development UACN Property Development

2.50

CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. Levents Nigeria Plc Chellarams Plc John Holt Plc SCOA Nigeria Plc Transnational Corporation UACN Plc

0.50 100.00 24.00

1st fTier Securities AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN Cocoa Processors Plc Okomu Oil Palm Plc Presco Plc

Livestock/Animal Specialities Livestock Feeds Plc

0.50

Company

Oil and Gas and Products Petroleum Prod ucts Capital Oil Plc

Opening Price (N)

Capital Market

1.54 0.50 2.02 19.55 552.20 0.55 103.50 14.90 1.08

0.50 0.50 0.50

0.90

0.50 0.84 1.10 0.50 0.50 1.71 0.50 0.54 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.40 0.50 0.74 0.50 0.50 0.62 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.12

10.44 6.13 15.21 3.09 4.50 25.70 5.79 2.63 6.92 9.79 0.62 1.34 20.20

41.53 58.65

32.27 3.18 2.60

34.98 910.00

9.12 7.70 76.00 2.86 9.05 0.60

50.00

4.78 274.02 20.65 161.50 0.75

0.50

100.00

15.20

53.00 10.07

1.81 5.43 1.54 5.42 1.20 64.68

2.68

0.50 100.00 24.15

0.50

Closing Price (N)

18,498 2,611,415

1,326,619

1,937,377 22,000 100 22,203,372

100,000 600,000

11

1,200 7,219,123 155,001 4,068,300 714 928,300 50,000 62,500 5,252,000 50,600 27,223 1,670,890 5,100 1,000,000 10,000 451,000 70,000 661,000 360 120,000 562,745 15,000 85,000 550 5,087,000 744 20 230,000 611,656

7,555,903 10,609,302 483,051 19,207,423 3,573,845 6,848,530 33,010,228 1,693,817 362,545,726 1,295,980 3,401,218 1,581,865 16,097,896

677,575 112,653

79,200 902,841 11,923

315,310 482,302

248,703 7,424,776 81,713 1,005,500 1,221,120 114,500

10,965

4,000 309,882 125,550 1,671,774 20,000

2,666

2,860

229,796

86,518 310

331,250 3,459 10,980 600 11,553,852 224,837

1,023,700

19,600 1,257,622 1,347,991

239,000

Quantity Traded

0.75 0.50 2.02 20.00 552.20 0.78 103.50 15.69 1.41

1.57 0.50 0.50 0.50

6.00 1.18

0.50 1.11 1.03 0.54 0.50 2.44 0.50 0.68 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.60 0.50 2.59 0.54 0.81 0.61 0.50 1.01 0.50 0.56 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.08

12.39 7.51 14.04 3.47 5.70 26.09 6.50 3.05 7.69 10.60 1.22 1.75 21.49

41.02 47.39

36.19 5.54 2.88

37.27 840.10

19.90 16.20 95.00 6.60 6.70 0.88

51.49

4.63

255.00 7.10 100.00 1.01

0.50

100.00

20.15

62.26 8.28

2.54 7.60 8.82 8.28 1.82 42.50

0.66

0.50 24.58 8.30

0.50

Year High

0.00 0.50 2.02 8.57 552.20 0.50 103.50 10.64 0.03

1.37 0.50 0.50 0.50

0.00 0.92

0.50 0.50 0.58 0.50 0.50 1.08 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.06 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

4.70 1.92 9.90 1.13 2.90 13.02 2.65 0.80 1.64 2.34 0.50 0.52 11.96

21.02 27.60

33.96 2.91 2.88

8.33 400.00

4.31 4.02 57.00 2.31 3.80 0.50

,39.00

2.23

186.00 5.23 72.50 0.93

0.50

97.00

11.59

32.96 3.01

1.45 6.43 5.89 5.52 0.50 28.70

0.48

0.50 14.53 6.40

0.50

Year Low

0.19 0.00 0.00 2.03 12.68 0.13 10.56 0.87 0.21

0.19 0.02 0.00 0.00

0.04 0.92

0.00 0.50 0.14 0.02 0.50 0.28 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.16 0.00 0.37 0.02 0.03 0.06 0.04 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.07

1.42 0.90 2.81 0.43 0.00 2.10 0.71 0.54 0.67 0.00 0.00 1.34 2.09

0.82 1.44

13.89 0.61 0.00

1.35 25.43

0.00 0.91 4.09 0.39 1.01 1.13

2.69

9.95 0.41 5.08 0.00

0.00

0.00

11.75

1.69

4.11 4.73

0.16 0.31 0.00 0.35 0.24 6.89

0.11

0.10 7.33 2.75

0.09

E.P.S.

9.16 0.00 0.00 9.85 43.55 6.00 9.71 18.03 6.71

47.6 7 25.00 0.00 0.00

150.00 10.56

0.00 22.20 6.79 27.30 10.00 7.43 50.00 0.00 16.67 50.00 0.00 25.00 0.00 0.00 16.67 16.19 0.00 2.19 26.00 16.67 15.50 12.50 5.65 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 0.00 15.43

8.73 8.34 5.00 7.93 0.00 12.39 9.15 5.43 11.19 0.00 0.00 0.43 10.24

4.39 32.91

2.44 7.07 0.00

27.61 32.84

16.91 14.38 16.89 16.92 5.75 8.83

13.92

0.00

19.98 16.29 22.22 0.00

0.00

8.51

7.33

10.11 2.26

5.18 20.74 0.00 15.77 3.64 4.14

15.00

50.00 2.77 4.37

P.E. Ratio

1.46 0.50

Electronic and Electrical Products Cutix Plc Nigerian Wire & Cable Plc

Petroleum and Petroleum Products African Petroleum Plc Beco Petroleum Plc Conoil Eterna Oil and Gas Plc Forte Oil Nig Plc Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc MRS Oil Nigeria Plc Total Nigeria Plc

4.90 3.30 6.00

Transport-Related Services Airline Services and Logistics Plc Nigerian Aviation Handling Company

0.73

Road Transportation Associated Bus Company Plc Speciality Interlinked Technologies Plc

1.85 2.20 2.52 4.80

0.50

6.27 0.99

0.55

3.88

1.80

0.50

Printing & Publishing.

Academy Press Plc Learn Africa Plc Studio Press Nig. Plc University Press

Media/Entertainment Daar Communications Plc

Hotels/Lodging Capital Hotel Ikeja Hotel Plc

Courier/Freight/Delivery Red Star Express Plc Trans-National Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC

Automobile/Auto Part Retailers RT Briscoe Plc

Afromedia Plc

SERVICES

0.50

20.50 0.50 23.00 2.70 14.24 114.00 18.15 138.00

Intergrated Oil and Gas Services Oando Plc

Hospitality Tantalisers Plc

0.60 15.30

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services Japaul Oil & Maritime Service

3.98 10.67 12.68 4.30 1.05 2.92 0.66

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Packaging/Containers Abplast Products Plc Beta Glass Co. Plc Greif Nigeria Plc Nampak Nigeria Plc Poly Products (Nig) Plc Studio Press (Nig) Plc W.A. Glass Ind. Plc

1.44 0.50

1.32

Paper/Forest Products Thomas Wyatt Nig. Plc

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Se Abbey Building Society Plc Union Homes Savings and Loans

0.50

Non-Metalic Mineral Mining Multiverse Plc

8.50 10.55

Metals Aluminium Extrusion Ind Plc

7.85

1.99 2.74

23.75 7.50 46.80 8.70 178.20 0.50 1.38 77.00 5.70 1.87 10.93

0.50

NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals BOC Gases Plc

Tools and Machinery Nigerian Ropes Plc

Packaging/Containers Avon Crowncaps & Container Nigerian Bags Manufacturing Company

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials Ashaka Cement Plc Berger Paints Plc CAP Plc Cement Co. of Northern Nig. Plc Dangote Cement Plc First Aluminium Nigeria Plc DN Meyer Plc Lafarge WAPCO Plc Portland Paints & Products Nig Plc Paints & Coatings Manufacturers Premier Paints Plc

ICT Telecommunications Starcomms Plc

0.50 17.00 2.29

IT Services NCR (Nig) Plc Tripple Gee and Company Plc

0.50

4.08 1.65 1.51 47.25 1.75 0.80 8.17 2.07

0.50

2.23

Opening Price N

Computers and Peripherals Omatek Ventures Plc

ICT Computer Based Systems108 Courteville Investment Plc

Pharmaceuticals Ekocorp Plc Evans Medical Plc Fidson Healthcare Plc Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig May & Baker Nigeria Plc Neimeth International Pharm Nigeria-German Chemicals Plc Pharma-Deko Plc

HEALTHCARE Medical Supplies Morison Industries Plc Healthcare Providers Union Diagnostics & Clinicals Services

3.30 6.00

4.90

0.80

1.85 2.20 2.52 4.84

0.50

6.27 0.90

0.55

4.00 2.78

1.62

0.50

0.50

20.50 0.50 23.00 2.97 14.24 114.00 18.15 143.00

15.30

0.60

3.98 10.00 12.68 4.30 1.05 2.78 0.66

1.44 0.50

1.46 0.50

1.32

0.50

10.55

8.50

7.85

1.99 2.70

23.30 7.50 46.80 8.70 185.00 0.50 1.38 77.00 5.70 1.87 10.93

0.50

17.00 2.29

0.50

0.50

4.80 1.65 1.53 47.25 1.80 0.72 8.17 2.07

0.50

2.23

Closing Price N

189,471 371,858

20

1,300,886

116,000 1,116,235 100 157,201

5,000

10,000 2,497,400

409,646

413,425 2.78

3,770,302

11,000

400

82,191 100 65,171 411,677 509,520 43,988 8,435 61,741

2,525,540

2,989,336

6,888 114,731 1,100 29,198 200 84,311 2,749,340

2,000 1,000

161,697 200,000

97

300,000

100

500

40

2,000 2,717,101

1,116,825 44,604 89,314 115,146 1,292,107 500 10,000 141,282 10,000 22,000 1,000

2,307,692

2,870 1,146

5,000

299,951

400 224,000 4,314,495 12,305 540,758 145,780 2,000 25,000

3,500

6,780

Quantity Traded

2.78 11.75

5.15

0.80

0.00 6.82

3.68

0.50

400 2.07

1.64

3.67 3,125

3.65

0.72

1.57 6.50

4.90

0.50

3.17 0.30 0.00 3.60

0.48

3.00 1.33

0.90

2.65 0.25

1.30

0.51

141.00 63.86 195.50

163.50 2,100 240.00 200

0.50 0.50 5.71 3.89

27.99

0.87

3.98 12.71 13.97 3.60 1.05 2.92 0.63

1.33 0.50

1.62 2.58

1.38

0.50

10.70

6.80

8.26

5.94 1.47

12.00 8.10 15.16 4.16 95.00 0.50 1.02 36.58 5.11 0.51 10.93

0.50

3.25 3.25

0.50

0.50

5.31 0.70 0.83 2.58 3.61 0.95 0.95 4.28

0.50

9.52

Year Low

0.60 12.53

0.00

0.00

0.54

0.25

0.00

0.34 0.92

0.04

0.60 11.12

0.21

0.00

0.01

6.11 2.98 14.63

4.93 0.00 4.25 0.61

1.73

0.19

0.00 3.90 0.90 1.22 0.30 0.07 0.00

0.03 0.00

0.11 0.00

0.00

0.01

0.13

0.78

0.00

0.5 0.25

2.14 1.09 2.28 1.47 7.56 0.00 0.00 4.10 0.44 0.23 0.00

0.00

0.00 0.01

0.00

0.10

0.19 0.44 2.62 0.20 0.09 0.00 0.00

0.00

0.00

E.P.S

4.22 8.75

0.00

0.00

27.69

12.19

0.00

34.09 2.12

11.25

4.91

8.19

12.75

11.11 19.23 17.07

6.99

7.40 0.00

4.17

6.06

0.00 3.26 0.00 3.52 6.18 41.71 0.00

28.80 0.00

13.15 0.00

0.00

0.00

85.77

7.37

0.00

39.60 9.16

7.86 4.97 8.88 2.31 13.17 0.00 0.00 42.86 14.19 2.89 0.00

0.00

1.43 0.00

12.50

10.00

9.05 14.13 0.00 0.00

88.50 0.00 3.07

0.00

0.00

P.E Ratio

as at Friday, May 3, 2013

37.10 0.70 32.60 5.59

78.97

0.97

3.98 15.58 15.03 4.30 1.86 2.92 0.63

1.51 0.99

2.50 2.58

1.38

0.50

12.39

9.20

8.69

6.91 3.60

30.00 12.57 43.98 15.49 132.51 0.75 3.51 48.05 5.28 3.36 13.40

1.47

9.31 3.59

0.50

0.52

5.31 1.45 3.20 23.11 5.61 1.96 12.91 200

0.50

10.54

Year High

Daily Stock Market Report

26 —Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 27

C M Y K

28 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 29

30 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Homes & Housing Finance BRIEFS LSHA seeks new houses for displaced Ogba residents

BY EBUN SESSOU

L

agos State House of Assembly has passed a resolution recommending that the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, LSDPC, allocate new flats to the displaced residents of Blocks 17 and 18 of Sogunro Housing Estate Phase 1, Ogba, free of charge and with perfected papers.

The resolution followed a recommendation of a threemember Adhoc Committee on a petition forwarded by residents of the place. The buildings which were leased to the occupants for 90 years had been fully paid but they had just spent about 30 years before the building were demolished by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development on the approval of the Governor due to the defects observed in the buildings. It was revealed that some people who are said to have government connection have been compensated and relocated to another place, while others have been abandoned.

In a report presented by the Chairman, Committee of the Whole, Mr. Razaq Balogun, LSDPC management was called upon to expedite action on its audit exercise of the occupants of the estate.

Resor oduces esortt intr introduces zero COT account

R

esort Savings and Loans Plc (RSL) has introduced an account with zero COT charges, to reduce the pressure on customers as a result of charges on banking transactions. Head, Business Development of the mortgage bank, Olayemi Popoola made this known in Lagos, while unveiling the account.

Commenting on the account called “Resort High Yield Flexi Account”, Popoola stated: “It is important to get an account that gives you all the benefits of a current account combined with the opportunities of meeting all your banking transaction needs such as electronic banking, mobile banking, debit cards, SMS Alert without charges on turnover.

It is an account that is specially designed to ensure seamless transactions for account holders of this esteemed product nationwide.

By YINKA KOLAWOLE

E

xperts in the nation’s housing sector have called on the Federal Government to channel the huge funds lying in bank vaults, in the form of unclaimed dividends, dormant accounts, and accumulated premiums from pension schemes, among others, to the development of mass housing schemes across the country.

This formed part of the recommendations of panellists at the 3rd Housing Exhibition and Conference recently organised by ASO Savings and Loans Plc at Abuja. The event was attended by representatives of the different tiers of government, relevant ministries, departments and agencies, the academic community, and those in the housing sector, including researchers, civil society and financial institutions from Nigeria and other parts of the world.

Panelists at the forum recommended that government at all levels should provide an enabling environment for private developers, either by providing the basic infrastructure or an opportunity (tax rebates) for the developers to recoup investments in infrastructural development. They also called for the formulation of appropriate policies and laws to accelerate the provision of mass housing, including policies to reduce the cost of construction. “In this regard, the Land Use Act, amongst other relevant legislations, should be reviewed to address the bottlenecks it creates in title registration,” they said.

Other recommendations include: Speedy passage of the Foreclosure Bill into Law to encourage infusion of capital to the mortgage banking/housing finance sector as well as guarantee free entry and free exit for existing and potential investors in the sector; Government to make commitments to train artisans and craftsmen, whose inputs are required to deliver durable and affordable housing; Strengthen professional associations and provide relevant practical training; Regulatory bodies should be empowered to prevent the tragic effects of constructing substandard building and; Ensure more effective means of generating data on the nation’s housing challenges for better planning. The forum also

•Housing development in a private estate

Mass housing: ASO confab panelists advocate use of idle funds called on stakeholders in the sector to explore and invest in research, development and public enlightenment on the use of local materials and innovative architecture (e.g. green construction) in housing construction.

Participants observed that there was serious limitation to the resources available to stakeholders to provide the required number of houses to address the estimated deficit of 12 – 16 million housing units were required to meet the demand for houses in Nigeria.

According to them, the added responsibility given to private developers to provide basic infrastructure like roads, water and electricity supply, among others, contributed to high cost of building in the country. They also noted that majority of existing housing schemes did not enjoy basic infrastructure; ignored traditional architectural designs and building material; did not take advantage of emerging nonconventional technologies; and disregarded local climatic conditions.

The mode of implementation of the Land Use Act in the various states of the federation, they said frustrated efforts to build affordable housing for lowincome citizens. They also noted that another major constraint to building of affordable housing is high cost of construction materials, adding that over 60 per cent of these materials were imported.

Executive Secretary, Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN), Mr. Kayode Omotoso, lamented that 53 years independence, numerous challenges still impair Nigeria’s ability to create a vibrant mortgage sector for sustained housing delivery. He remarked that

though access to housing is very readily available through mortgages in developed countries, it had continued to remain a major challenge in some emerging economies like Nigeria’s, due to the poor legal and regulatory framework, high costs of titling, dearth of long term finance and absence of

Property firm unveils housing plan for cooperative members

By WILLIAM JIMOH

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ashone Link Limited, a real estate development and engineering construction company has offered its clients an affordable housing plan with investment opportunity by joining its housing co-operative multi-purpose society.

Addressing participants at a stakeholders forum organised by the company in Lagos, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Lanre Shonekan, said the benefit of participating in the new plan includes; free financial service and consultancy, provision of architectural drawings and fast building plan approval at a low cost, convenient payment plan as well as access to immediate development.

According to him, the company will help develop property for any client who is able to make 15 percent down payment, adding that it is the company’s way of assisting clients that may not be able to develop their properties themselves. “We are ready to assist you regardless of what your taste may be, if you want one bedroom flat, with initial payment of N375, 000 and a monthly payment of N36, 000 within a period of 60 months we will develop the property for you, all we need is to know that you are having a stable source of income. The cost that you have from us, you cannot get it elsewhere, but we are doing this to show our clients that just as we are doing business, we also have them at heart,” he said.

Shonekan noted that the company has 62 acres mixed-use real estate development in Simawa in the neighborhood of Redemption Camp ground, over 100 acres of land in Agbara with phase 1, 2, and 3, with another 50 acres located at IbejuLekki and 20 acres with government approval in Kasoa of the central region in Accra, Ghana. He said that the company welcomes both existing and new clients that willing to become house owner at a very affordable price with plan that will help them pay without stress.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 31

Homes & Housing Finance

Affordable housing requires microfinance approach —MfB MD

By YINKA KOLAWOLE

T

he need to adopt the principles of microfinance has been advocated in the quest by government to provide affordable housing for lowincome earners in the country.

Managing Director of LAPO Microfinance Bank, Mr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe, alluded to this in his presentation at a housing exhibition recently held in Abuja. Speaking on the topic, “Achieving affordable housing: Creating 500,000 housing units by 2016 through housing microfinance”, he noted that traditional mortgage practices do not take care of lowincome people.

Microfinance basically entails the provision of financial services to microentrepreneurs and small businesses, which lack access to banking and related services due to the high transaction costs associated with serving these client categories. The two main mechanisms for the delivery of financial services to such clients are: relationship-based banking for individual entrepreneurs and small businesses; and group-based models, where several entrepreneurs come together to apply for loans and other services as a group.

Ehigiamusoe asserted that much like microfinance, affordable housing is about liberalising access to mortgage and also the possibility to use

flexible structures and processes to achieve mass housing targets on a sustainable basis. He noted that housing is required by the poor because it is a basic human need. Also, because among the poor, there is strong connection between the home as a place of shelter or as a means for engaging in income generating activities.

The LAPO MfB boss said that the targets of affordable housing are ready clients, customers and members of microfinance institutions, such as MfBs, Cooperatives and NGOs. “These people organisations have developed flexible and responsive structures and procedures that could be useful for providing mass

From left: Managing Director, ASO Savings & Loans Plc, Mr. Hassan Musa Usman; Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ms Ama Pepple and; Arc. Nya-Etok Ezekiel, Chairman, Sub-Committee on Low Income Housing, Ministerial Implementation Team on Housing Delivery in Nigeria at the opening ceremony of 3rd ASO Housing Exhibition & Conference in Abuja.

15-y ear mor tgage rat e hits record lo w 5-year mortgage rate low

T

he average US rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage fell to a new record low last week, and the rate on the 30-year fixed loan declined. Cheaper mortgages have encouraged more homebuying and refinancing.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said that the average rate for the 15-year fixed mortgage slipped to 2.56 percent. That’s the lowest on records dating to 1991. It fell from 2.61 percent last week, the previous record. The rate on the 30-year loan declined to 3.35 percent from 3.40 percent last week. That’s near the average rate of 3.31 percent reached in November,

the lowest on records dating back to 1971.

Low mortgage rates have helped sustain a housing recovery that began last year.

Home sales and construction are up from a year ago, and prices are rising in most markets. The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes rose in March to the highest level in three years, the National Association of Realtors said.

Home prices rose 9.3 percent in February compared with a year earlier, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index.

That’s the biggest annual gain in nearly seven years. Still, prices are surging because more buyers have fewer homes

to bid on. And sales are rising in some markets hit hardest by the housing crisis because investors are scooping up homes before prices rise further.

Mortgage rates are falling because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The yield fell to 1.63 percent - the lowest this year. The yield declines when demand for Treasurys increases. The Federal Reserve has been buying Treasury bonds since the fall.

And in recent weeks, concerns that economic growth is slowing in the U.S. and abroad has led investors to shift money into safer assets, like Treasurys, and away from stocks.

housing facility. MFIs are already active in provision of houses to low-income people across developing nations such as Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Bolivia and Mexico.”

He identified challenges of housing microfinance to include policy and regulatory constraints, lack of funding, and inadequacy capacity.

According to him, a major constraint is the regulatory definition of micro-loans in terms of volume and tenor, adding that housing loans are usually of larger sizes and of longer tenor.

Ehigiamusoe said the challenge of lack of funding is two-dimensional - the volume of funds required for housing is not available to microfinance banks as they have limited options for deposit mobilisation; and the problem of asset-liability mismatch that will arise when housing microfinance is provided by MfBs. On inadequate capacity, he noted that there is a lack of awareness on technical skills required for providing housing microfinance in the country. “Like microfinance, affordable housing for the poor will require flexible and responsive strategies which differ from the formal mortgage practices. It takes time and resources to build the required competences.”

He called for a review of the microfinance supervisory guidelines that will recognise the roles that microfinance banks can play in provision of mass housing and review size and tenor of micro-loans.

On the issue of funding, Ehigiamusoe recommended the establishment of funding linkages between microfinance banks and cooperatives on the one hand, and commercial banks on the other and also called for the inclusion of mass housing loans into the proposed micro and small enterprise development fund by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In addition, he emphasised the need for technical support for microfinance banks and cooperatives. “The soft technology of mass housing is reaching maturity in other countries and regulatory jurisdictions, and Nigerian microfinance banks can learn from the experiences.

Technical assistance focus should be on mobilization of potential beneficiaries, need assessment, and structuring of loans and repayment schedule,” he stated.

BRIEFS Nigeria hosts global surveyors’ conference

T

he Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) is hosting the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) working week 2013 with the theme “Environment for sustainability” from today May 6 to May 10 in Abuja.

Nigeria won the bid to host the working week 3 years ago and President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to declare the conference open while FIG President, Mr. CheeHai will give the keynote address.

President, Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, NIS, Mr. Bode Adeaga, said the conference will afford the country to showcase its potentials in mappings and surveying profession. He added that the conference is an opportunity for Nigeria to share experience with participants from over 100 countries, and to benefit from advances in technology, procedure and practice of surveying and mapping which is expected to enhance the nation’s developmental effort, housing and land use management.

MDAs get 3-month deadline to develop FCT land

M

inister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, has given a three months notice to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as Cooperative Societies that have been allocated land for housing development of their staff or members to commence development of such plots or risk revocation.

The minister gave the warning during the groundbreaking ceremony of Caraway Dallas District in Kugbo, FCT. He warned appropriate stern measures would be taken at the expiration of the three month notice.

Bala said the administration will no longer accept any form of excuses for non-commencement of development on such lands, adding that the administration is developing a framework, which will ensure fairness and equity in the allocations so that middle and low income earners could own houses in the FCT.

32 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Insurance BRIEF Stanbic IBTC Pension opens Uyo office

S

tanbic IBTC P e n s i o n M a n a g e r s Limited, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings has opened a new business office in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, with a pledge to deepen awareness about pensions and retirement planning to benefit residents of the city and its environs.

In a statement, the company said that the new office is an additional avenue for the company to meet the needs of its customers who already have access to the company through Stanbic IBTC branches present in every state of the federation.

The opening of the new office in Uyo is expected to stimulate further participation in Nigeria’s growing contributory pension scheme, and help people in and around the state prepare adequately for their retirement.

Coming shortly after Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited celebrated its attainment of one million retirement savings accounts, the company said the move aligns with its strategic goal of continuously delivering outstanding customer value by enabling Nigerians, be they active employees, retirees or employers, to become pension-conscious and to plan for their retirement.

“Opening this additional location is in fulfillment of our promise to avail as many Nigerians as possible the opportunity to have quality pension fund administration and financial management services, which will enable a life of comfort in retirement,” said Dr. Demola Sogunle, Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited. “We offer value added services in all our touch-points and this new office will enhance access to these services.”

FG owes N2bn group life premium — NCRIB Stories by ROSEMARY ONUOHA The Federal Government is yet to pay up the balance of N2 billion Group Life premium it is owing insurers for last year, according to the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, NCRIB. Accordingly, the NCRIB has demanded that the Federal Government pay up the outstanding balance which represents 59 per cent of last year’s group life premium, having paid only about N1 billion of the over N3 billion premium.

President of NCRIB, Mrs. Laide Osijo, who disclosed this at the Council’s members evening in Lagos, said the government has only paid 41 per cent of the total group life premium for last year, stressing that the nonpayment of the outstanding is unhealthy for the insurance industry.

She said, “I want to appeal to the Federal Government for the release of outstanding premium on group life for the year 2012. As it stands, only 41 per cent of the premium has been paid remaining 59 per cent to be paid.

“This situation has made many insurance companies to discountenance claims under the year in review of the now existent ‘No premium no cover.’ This, as we are all aware, is to the displeasure of some beneficiaries especially to those who died in active service. The impression many of them have is that the insurance industry is insensitive to their plights, a situation that creates serious image smear for the industry.”

Osijo therefore called on the government to assist the industry to avoid further accumulation of unpaid premiums and claims, adding that such could negate the new premium collection system.

According to her, the initial apprehension on the workability of the ‘no premium no cover’ policy is gradually being laid to rest as brokers and underwriters

now testify of the gains from the initiative.

Managing Director of Lasaco Assurance Plc, Mr. Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, who hosted the event, lauded the giant stride of the NCRIB and promised the c o m p a n y ’ s commitment to continue to work with brokers to deepen the industry.

He said the company will continue to eschew professionalism and sustain its achievements, adding that the firm presently is the leading in special risk businesses and remains the only underwriting firm in the country with ISO certificate.

Dotun Onipede, Director Business Development & Strategy; Emmanuel Otitolaiye, Ag. MD; and Oyedotun Adeoye, COO General business, all of A&G Insurance Plc during a road show organised by the company in Lagos

Insurers upload over one million policies on NIID

A

bout 1.5 million vehicle insurance policies have been uploaded to the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database, NIID, the Director General of the Nigerian Insurers Association, NIA, Sunday Thomas, has said.

Thomas disclosed this last week at a media parley in Lagos, adding that operators have continued to upload data of new policies they registered.

He said the NIA has procured 1000 units of motor insurance electronic readers, of which 25 units has been given to Ogun State Vehicle Inspection Officers, VIO, even as reports have revealed that the units has helped the agency to spot genuine insurance policies.

Thomas said the Association is presently discussing with the Lagos state government and that a date for the deployment of

the devices in the state will soon be fixed.

He noted that with the success achieved from the deployment of motor insurance data, the Association will intensify efforts to ensure that by the end of the year, marine data will be deployed to the platform followed by property and other classes of insurance.

Thomas said it decided to start deployment of the electronic devices with Abeokuta, because historically, insurance in the country is traceable to the city, adding that the state is one of the states to first indicate interest in the project.

The industry’s database project which was conceived in 2010 to help develop robust information on insured vehicles was launched on June 26, 2012. The NIA at the launch promised to deploy over 500000 electronic card readers to security agencies to

verify genuine vehicle insurance licences.

The project according to NIA would eradicate fake insurances and minimise instances of fraudulent claims; provide real time information that would address issues raised by all stakeholders that is, insuring public, market players, law enforcement agents and regulators as well as serve as source of historical data for analysis and benchmarking, thereby providing qualitative analysis of industry performance.

It is believed that the initiative will enhance transparency and accountability to its stakeholders thereby restoring confidence in the insuring public and also create the basis for scientific management of operations in the industry and it will enable the tracking of transactions in the industry.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 33

Micro-Finance

SMEs tto o enjo yment enjoyy Mas MastterCard online pa payment solution Stories by PROVIDENCE OBUH

W

ith the introduction of “SME Online” by global payment solutions company, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country will now enjoy Internet payment solution.

“SME Online” is a suite of value-added services that work seamlessly with MasterCard Internet Gateway Service (MiGS) and extends the benefits of online card acceptance to a broader merchant segment.

Speaking at a launch, Country Manager, MasterCard West Africa, Mrs. Omokehinde Ojomuyide said, “With the likes of Jumia.com, wakanow.com, Nigeria’s Online Travel Website, already signed on to MIGS payment gateway solution, shoppers in Nigeria are already enjoying the benefits of convenient and seamless daily online shopping. SME Online will extend these benefits to thousands of smaller merchants and open the world of online shopping to millions of Nigerians.”

In continuation, MiGS provides a comprehensive Internet payments solution, which banks can offer to their merchant customers who seek to accept payments on their

From Left: Mr. Segun Fayose, Head; Public Relations, MultiChoice Nigeria; Mr. Mayo Okunola, General Manager, DStv; Mr. Philip Akesson, Vice President, Business Development (Konga.com); and Mr. Onyeka Akumah, Vice President, Marketing (Konga.com) during the media interactive session on DStv"s partnership with Konga.com held on Thursday 2nd may 2013 at Blowfish Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. PHOTO; Kehinde Gbadamosi

websites from cardholders of all major card schemes wherever they are.

According to the company, “A key benefit for merchants is that the system can be selfmanaged. It is designed to enable SME merchants establish an internet presence for their businesses, including website design and

processing of batch and individual card payments.”

Other advantages to merchants include: allowing them build their own web shops, including shopping carts and online product catalogues, and providing them with a custom branded ecommerce solution to manage and authorise online payment

*Nigeria-Canada trade to hit $6bn by 2015

N

Banks must step up for SME development

D

transactions in over 145 currencies.

Once merchants create their own web shop, they can start accepting online shoppers on a simple platform that embeds lots of functionalities. They can also add new functions at any time.

Resolv e security issues tto o increase trade esolve volume — Canadian minister igeria must address security issues to enhance its chance to grow trade volume as the wide range of reforms across the economy is prompting investors to take a fresh look at the country.

Canadian Minister of International Trade, Ed Fast said this during a launch of the “2013 report to shine spotlight on country’s economic reforms.”

Meanwhile, NigeriaCanada Business relationship will help double the volume of trade to $6 billion by 2015.

“It is important that security threats are addressed, particularly because security and prosperity go hand-inhand,” Fast said.

He commended the Nigerian government’s privatisation and anticorruption reform efforts, telling the global publishing, research and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group (OBG) that changes introduced in the banking sector, in particular, should

BRIEF

enhance the investment climate.

“These ongoing changes will create better opportunities for all Nigerians and for investors from around the world.

“Canadian businesses are taking a fresh look at Nigeria and the opportunities it presents. They see that the environment is good for business, including a fair and strong regulatory framework to support and protect them,” he said.

Fast disclosed that Canada’s plan to work closely with the African state’s government to address issues relating to security.

The minister added that while Nigeria’s extractive industries remained a focal point of interest for Canadian businesses, other sectors, such as information and communications technology (ICT), were playing a growing role in bilateral trade and investment.

“Diversified trade and

investment are vital to our bilateral relationship, the extractive sector can also be an important driver of sustainable

economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries, provided that an enabling environment is created,” he said.

SMEs must embrace ICT to achieve global growth

S

mall and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are embracing technology have the ability to grow faster, export more and employ more people.

Cloud technology offers SMEs the opportunity to compete internationally like never before and drive their homegrown intellectual property. This is because of all the developments in information communication technology (ICT) over the past decade, cloud computing has been one of the key gamechanger offering far-reaching benefits for businesses.

With new innovations in technology emerging on an

almost daily basis, cloud is one ICT solution that can add value to all businesses, from homegrown micro businesses to multinational corporations.

SMEs are the backbone of any economy, accounting for about 80 per cent of all private-sector businesses.

Small businesses stands to benefit substantially from cloud computing.

Research published this week by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) demonstrates that investment in technology is a driver for innovation for small businesses.

espite their important role, Namibian SMEs face numerous obstacles in meeting their full potential and contributing meaningfully to the economy. While access to finance remains the biggest challenge for most SMEs, several nonfinancial obstacles exist.

These include access to markets, business advisory services and support networks, lack of infrastructure, limited leadership/management skills, and poor marketing/growth strategies and financial management.

These non-financial challenges can have serious implications for a business’s balance sheet and, in turn, further hinder access to finance.

Hence, beyond the traditional scope of banks (i.e. providing financing and money management solutions to their clients by accepting deposits, advancing loans, investing funds, etc), banks have an important role to play in providing business development services (BDS).

Banks are usually the first port of call as SMEs embark on their growth paths, and are concerned with the financial performance of SMEs. This performance determines whether, for example, SMEs can meet their loan requirements or payment terms, which in turn influences the level of risk the bank assumes by financing an SME. But because the nonfinancial challenges that SMEs face often manifest themselves in the business’s cash flow statement or balance sheet, banks should be cognizant of these underlying factors. By looking at the big picture and ensuring that the factors that impede the financial performance of SMEs are addressed through business development support services, banks can get more value from their banking relationships with SMEs.

34 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

I

n a few weeks time, the Jonathan administration would have completed its second year in office after the 2011 elections – although it will also mean that President Jonathan would have completed his third year as President. It is time to take stock; to ask what has been achieved and what remains to be done. It is time to recall the promises that were made and what had become of those pledges. Historically, it has almost always been associated with changes in the cabinet and that invariably brings with it anxieties among top government officials. For every President, two years represent sufficient time for the assessment of appointed officials and to determine whether or not they continue to fit into the overall plans of the administration. Until recently, that process of staff appraisal by presidents had been conducted without overt attempts by people inside and outside of government to damage Ministers and other top appointees through malicious publications.

Unfortunately, times have changed. Rumoured cabinet change had unleashed the worst in us. Now, keeping a top level job has become another form of warfare.

Ordinarily, I don’t get involved in defending those under attack, especially Ministers, because they have staff engaged to respond. I only get involved if one of the parties to the dispute draws me into the conflict. This article is in response to an

Updates on Ministry of Trade and Investments article written recently by one Alfred Anibaba Oni , titled “ The Many lies of Olusegun Aganga “. The author, if there is really such a person called by that name, had made reference to a column written by me in which I have raised questions about some projections made by the Minister of Trade and Investment – Dr Olusegun Aganga.

The Honourable Minister had projected that some of the initiatives by his Ministry will “generate 3.5 million jobs and an estimated five million direct and indirect jobs…within the next two years”. In my response to that announcement, I had asked the Ministry to clarify three things – which were not very explicit in that announcement. First, I wanted to know if two years meant “by March 2015”.

Second, how many jobs which should expect to have been created by 2015. Third, the job expectations pointed in two directions – 3.5 million and 8.5 million jobs. The first would mean creating 146,000 jobs per month; while second raise the job expectations to 354,000 per month.

Since all these are still projections for the future, there was no way I could have

accused the Honourable Minister of lying. I don’t prejudge the outcome of promises made for the future.

Furthermore, the Nigerian Ministry of Trade and

,

“Ideas are capital; the rest is money”.

but helped to generate the Foreign Direct Investment which eventually propelled Japan to the third position among the nations of the world. MITI receives the

The Honourable Minister had projected that some of the initiatives by his Ministry will “generate 3.5 million jobs and an estimated five million direct and indirect jobs…within the next two years

Investment, MTI, is the countr y ’s answer to the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Investment, MITI –perhaps the most powerful ministry in that Asian giant. Japan by general agreement among development economists owed its rapid recovery from the destructions of the second World War to the activities of MITI, which not only promoted Japanese exports

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brightest and the best individuals the nation can find at any time.

The deployment of Olusegun Aganga from the Ministry of Finance to MTI, was in my opinion one of the best measures President Jonathan took in the last three years in office. By its very nature, the Ministry produces nothing. But, paradoxically, the Ministry produces the most important variable in the

world – ideas. Ideas, very good ideas, remain the factor in the shortest supply in the world in general and in Nigeria in particular. I have listened to Dr Aganga on two occasions and he seems to be full of ideas –undoubtedly arising from his previous experience and exposure as an investment banker with global institutions. Each of these ideas eventually gets reduced to investments in productive activities which generate the jobs.

The job estimates, I have since found out are provided by agencies and other departments after the initiatives have shown promises of becoming fruitful – irrespective of whether they are in oil and gas, refineries, banking or transportation.

The Ministry of Trade and Investment simply collates those figures and publishes them. While one may question the tendency to accept the data provided by colleagues, the truth remains that MTI has no resources of its own to conduct studies to establish the number of jobs likely to be created by, say, establishing a refinery with a particular capacity in any part of Nigeria. That estimate can only be provided by either NNPC or other experts.

This response had become necessary only because I was involved. Mr Alfred Anibaba Oni, has the right to carpet any public official he wants; but, I will be happy if he does not take out of context an article written by me. Until 2015, nobody can decide whether the Minister lied or not.

Business & Economy

Equities value grows by N623bn in one week

By CHINEDU IBEABUCHI

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he value of equities listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, recorded an appreciable increase last week, occasioning the market capitalisation to rise by N623 billion.

The market capitalization, which opened at N10.602 trillion, appreciated by 5.9 per cent, to close at N11.23 trillion, while the All-Share Index also rose by 1,950.25 points or 5.8 percent to close at 35,109.33 points from

33,159.08 points.

This was driven by share price rise in forty three equities, led by Dangote Cement Plc, which gained N26.15 to close at N185.00 per share from N158.85 per share.

This was followed by Guinness Nigeria Plc that appreciated by N20.98 to close at N274.02 per share and Nestle Nigeria Plc that rose by N12.00 to close at N910.00 per share.

However, twenty five equities recorded price depreciations. Total Nigeria Plc topped the losers chart,

depreciating by N14.00 to close at N143.00 per share.

This was followed by Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc with loss of N4.80 to close at N114.00 per share and GlaxoSmith Consumer Nigeria Plc, which lost N1.75 to close at N47.25 per share.

Meanwhile, equities transaction declined by 14.1 percent in the week under review, recording 1.51 billion shares valued at N15.87 billion in 20,968 deals, in contrast to a turnover of 1.758 billion shares valued at N17.898 billion in 23,958

deals transacted in penultimate week.

At the close of trading activities for the week, the Financial Services sector came top and accounted for 1.26 billion shares valued at N10.86 billion, which changed hands in 12,786 deals.

Consumer Goods sector followed in the activity chart with 48.20 million shares valued at N3.22 billion traded in 3,427 deals.

Similarly, the banking subsector of the Financial Services sector was the most active during the week with 1.09

billion shares worth N8.88 billion traded in 8,818 deals.

Volume in the banking subsector was largely driven by activities in the shares of United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc and Skye Bank Plc. Trading in the shares of the three banks accounted for 629.97 million shares worth N3.41 billion exchanged by investors in 2,418 deals, thereby contributing 57.8 percent to the total equity turnover volume recorded during the week.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 35

36 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Agric

By JIMOH BABATUNDE

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Dr. Adesina with his team at the Bakolori Irrigation farm

Why we need to empower our rice farmers — Adesina ... Says Nigeria spends N1bn on rice daily farmers on their own decide to turn the dam into surface irrigation “as they dug the canals themselves to enable them have access to the water .”

He said that decision has enabled the farmers to practice all year farming and double cropping as they cultivate wheat and after harvesting they plant rice.

Apart from the issue of sprinklers, the farmers also complained of access to good seeds, mills, and market for their produces.

Nura Abdulali Atajiri said as for the issue of seeds, “this is one of the problems here as we buy from the market. Last year, there is a seed company that gave us seeds and when we planted some farmers succeeded. I am among the lucky ones, but many did not get good yield from the seeds.”

The irrigation project f a r m e r s associationchairman, Alhaji Rabiu Umare said the intervention of the Federal Government and the state in fertilizer has greatly helped them, "we want the government to increase the fertilizers and seeds to us here as we have

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adi Bakindi is a middle-aged woman farmer in the Bakolori Irrigation project in Zamfara state. She is one of the 33,550 farmers on 11,000 hectares of land .

She has one hectare of land allocated to her where she cultivates rice and wheat.

She employs over 76 workers on her farm from where she has been able to build a house, buy three other farms outside Bakolori and takes care of over 23 orphans from what she makes farming.

Like Ladi Bakindi, Nura Abdulali Atajiri ,a farmer from Sokoto state, revealed that last year on a five hectares he got 400 bags of 100kg on his rice farm.

Other farmers have different success stories to share as they till the land all year round in Bakolori Dam to make sure the country is self sufficient in food , especially in the area of rice and wheat which the Federal Government is giving emphasis to in order reduce the importation of such crops.

The dam, located in Maradun local government area of Zamfara state, was constructed in the late seventies during the defunct administration of President Shehu Shagari, primarily to facilitate rice irrigation within the areas of Talata Mafara and Bakura local governments, identified as locations having great potentials for large scale rice production.

And since then the dam has been playing significant role in the production of various crops, poverty reduction as well as economic and social transformation of farmers.

During a visit to Bakolori Dam recently, an intake officer working with the farmers, Aliu Zarki, who has been working there since 1983 said farmers have a hectare, some three and there is a farmer with 45 hectares.

He revealed that the total yield per hectare can be up to five tones of 100kg bags of rice while some get up to six tones on a hectare depending on how the farm is maintained in terms of fertilizer application and other inputs applications.

Aliu Zarki said some years ago there were more farmers participating in the Bakolori Irrigation farming, but the numbers have reduced today because of lack of basic facilities.

“When I came here in 1983 there were more farmers as the sprinklers which enabled the farmers to farm all year round were functional, but now there is no sprinkler and this has contributed to the low number of farmers we are having now.”

He said the issue of the non-functional sprinklers started about a decade or so ago. Not wanting to be tied down by the problem, the

We can do irrigated rice, so Nigeria basically does not have any reason to be a food importing country, it should be net exporting food country

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33,550 farmers, but got only 100, 000 of good seeds and fertilizers .”

He added that they are expecting the government to buy off their wheat as promised as harvested bags of over 1380 of 100kg from their farms last year are still locked up in their silos.“We need tractors, we want rice mill, when we harvest our rice here because we don’t have mills we are forced to sell at lower price, but with mill here it will not be so.

Just as it was evident on the visit to the farms, children of school age were seen busy scaring birds away from the

rice farms, Rabiu Umare attributed that to lack of spray that will enable them control the menace of the birds ravaging their farms and so they need the service of their children.

Responding to the mirage of requests from the farmers, Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Adesina Akinwumi, said present government is focusing agriculture which made it to come up with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda.

The agenda, he noted, has as its pillars the production of 20 million metric tons of food between now and 2015 and in addition to that of creating 3.5 million jobs.

While expressing joy at the revelation of the woman farmer, Ladi Bakindi and others of the success they have made from farming, the minister said two parts of the transformation agenda took him to Bakolori, , “ first is the one on rice production, as a country we have been spending a billion naira everyday importing rice and when we do that we make farmers of other countries very rich while our farmers are poor.”

He added that “the second has to do with wheat, you know we spend as a country N635 billion year importing wheat and when we do that again we are creating jobs in other countries.”

Adesina went ahead to say

that it does not make sense economically, politically, socially and security wise for Nigeria to continue to be a net food importing country.“We can do irrigated rice, so Nigeria basically does not have any reason to be food importing country,Nigeria should be net exporting food countryand so Mr.President has said that we must have self sufficiency in rice production by 2015.

On what the ministry is doing to meet the President’s 2015 mandate on food sufficiency, Adesina revealed that the ministry began a process of making fertilizer and seeds available to farmers last year through the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES).

“15,farmers were reached last year when we started improved seedsand fertilizer in this state and we were ableto do that through the electronic wallet system.

“Over 21000 bags of fertilizer were supplied by the private sector to the farmers in this particular state and we also gave a lot of seeds for rice for example. Through the private sector roughly 180, 000 metric tons of seeds were given out.”

He promised that they are determined to reach more farmers this year. “ we have already registered 80,000 through the new form we have to digitized and register farmers.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 37

Aviation

Most concession agreements are imposed on FAAN — Uresi Stories by LAWANI MIKAIRU & DANIEL ETEGHE

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anaging Director of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mr. George Uresi, has disclosed that most of the concession agreements entered into by the agency and its concessionaires in the aviation industry were imposed on FAAN. Uresi made this disclosure while speaking on Channels Television interview . It will be recalled that FAAN has been locked in a protracted legal battle with BiCourtney Aviation Services over a c o n c e s s i o n agreement they entered into . Under the agreement, BiCourtney was to rebuild and operate the MMIA 2 terminal, a hotel and conference centre for sometime before handing them over to FAAN. FAAN has alleged that the terms of the agreement have been breached by Bi-Courtney.

He further said the agreement entered into with BiCourtney was already null and void at the very b e g i n n i n g .According to him “Most of the concessions in the

aviation industry between FAAN and it concessionaires were imposed on FAAN. The one of Bi-Courtney was already null and void at the beginning of the concession” “I will rather not speak specifically to Bi-Courtney particularly because we are in court with them over some issues but I want to speak about concessions in general.

There were many agreement between the concessionaires and FAAN but if we look at the controversial ones, I chose to call them non valid agreements, what I mean by that is that the agreements when you look at them, they

are in favour of the concessionaires but to the detriment and disadvantage of FAAN.” “As I went through most of them as an airport manager of many years standing, I almost fell off my chair while reading them one after the other and I felt that, what the hell is going on here, you know all of these concessions contrary to the believe that FAAN entered into all of these concessions, if you look at it, well, most of them were imposition on FAAN as a body.

I must tell you that when I first came, I approached some of these concessionaires

myself and make them realise that this thing is unsustainable and they know that these are fundamental things that needs to be corrected and to be frank they are unsustainable.”

The FAAN MD further noted that unlike before where after entering into the concession agreement and the concessionaires always take FAAN to court , it is now FAAN that was now taking the bold step in taken those concessionaires to court over agreement that were not in favour of FAAN.

Mrs. Egwu Dorathy Onyinye, former Asst. Chief Fire Officer jointly being decorated with Chief Fire Officer rank by GM, {ARFFS}, Mr; Peter Onyeri {left} and Director of Airport Operations, Capt, Henry Omeogu during the celebration of the 1st International Fire Fighters’ Day, 2013 at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja over the weekend.

Dana Air launches mobile check-in device P

assengers travelling on Dana Air will now enjoy quicker and more convenient check-in services with the launch of the ‘Roving Agent’, a mobile device which allows guests to be checked-in on arrival at the airport by mobile airline staff.

Strapped with tablet PCs and mini printers, the airline’s mobile check-in agents can issue boarding passes to guests even before they reach the check-in counter. This new initiative complements the airline’s existing check-in counters and online check-in service.

According to Mr Obi

Mbanuzuo, Dana Air ’s Head of Commercial. “What we are offering in roving agents is immense value addition for our guests.

With this solution, our mobile check-in agents can quickly access and verify the travel reservation details of guests; book them on their choice of seat and generate boarding passes.”

“Now guests with hand baggage need not wait at the check-in counter to collect their boarding pass; they can simply approach any of our easily recognizable mobile check-in agents on arrival at the airport and then proceed

through airport security to the boarding gate”..

Airlines, the world over, have constantly been innovating processes to speed up check-in for guests. The ‘Check in as you walk in’, facilitated by the roving agent, is the latest concept for a speedy check-in for the jetsetting passenger. With the recent launch, Dana Air becomes the first airline in Nigeria to deploy this solution.

Since commencing operations in 2008, Dana Air has been at the forefront of the deployment of ICT solutions in Nigeria’s aviation sector

with several awards to its credit. “We will continue to use technology to enhance the flying experience of our guests by simplifying air travel and saving valuable time”, assured Mbanuzuo.

Dana Air currently operates 10 daily flights on the LagosAbuja-Lagos route and has just re-launched daily flight services to Port Harcourt city, from Lagos and Abuja.

BRIEF Nigeria development of Aerotropli – Jonathan

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has declared Nigeria's committment to the development of the Aviation sector through the use of Aerotropoli as the new centers of growth. He made this commitment in a goodwill message to the Airport Cities ,Aerotropoli, Conference 2013 that recently ended in Johanesburg, South Africa.

The president said the Nigerian Aviation Sector is ideally positioned as a catalyst of growth for key economic sectors, including travel, tourism, agriculture, rural development, trade, commerce, manufacturing and communications technology; with all of the attendant infrastructure development critical to sustainable growth of any economy.

According to Mr Joe Obi, Special Assistant, Media, to the Minister of Aviation, President Jonathan said the aerotropolis Nigeria specifically targets a diversification of the economy through increased economic activity, technology transfer, increased trade through global partnerships, value chain development and rural transformation; especially in exploiting the country’s agroexport opportunities, employment potential, new business development and private sector investment, both local and foreign.

Nigeria’s delegation was led by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Aviation Reform, Ms Anne Ene-Ita. Other members of the delegation included the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr George Ossi, the Managing Director of FAAN Mr. George Uriesi, and other delegates.

“The federal government of Nigeria remains fully committed, in partnership with the Private sector to transform Nigeria into the foremost investment destination in Africa, well connected, economically efficient; offering sustainable, secure and attractive returns on investment.

“We are committed to supporting private sectordriven Aerotropoli to rapidly become the commercial nexus, anchoring aviationenabled trade in goods and services.

38 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

ICT BRIEF Globacom contracts N78bn network expansion project to ZTE

By JOY OBOMASE

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lobacom has contracted its network modernisation and expansion project worth about N78 billion ($500 million) to telecom vendors, ZTE Corporation.

Signing the Memorandum of Understanding with ZTE in Lagos, the Group Chief Operating Officer of Globacom, Mr. Mohammed Jameel, stated that the contract was part of the huge nationwide network expansion and modernisation project to make communication on its network a very smooth experience.

The Company had last Friday signed a $750 million deal with Huawei Technologies to massively expand the huge capacity of the Glo network.

Jameel said that the company’s extensive network expansion plan is another commitment on the part of Globacom towards providing better GSM services for its numerous subscribers “We are here today to sign an MOU with ZTE as part of our expansion plan to modernise every aspect of our network and this is expected to result in much improved services.

“With the planned expansion, Globacom’s network capacity will increase in many folds, thus enabling it to carry high level of data in addition to other improvements in voice services,” he said.

He stated further that Glo network will continue to bring in latest technologies from every part of the world to improve telecommunication services for millions of its subscribers in Nigeria and in West Africa.

He thanked Glo subscribers for staying with the Network, adding that the company will continue to make GSM services affordable to them all.

Also speaking at the occasion, The Managing Director of ZTE, Mr. Zenghong Ma stated that GloZTE’s relationship dates back to five years, adding that the new cooperation between the two companies wouldl signal a new era that would provide innovative solution in 2G &3G expansion and upgrading that will enhance the Glo network qualities.

From Right Captain Idris Wada, Exececutive Governor, Kogi State, Abimbola Alale, Alhaji Abdulmumini Usman, Commissioner for Science and Technology Engr. Timasaniyu AhmedRufai, MD/CE NIGCOMSAT Ltd, during a facility visit to the ground control station of NIGCOMSAT Ltd, Abuja recently

Dabiri, WITIN seek more roles for girls in Nigeria’s ICT development STORIES BY PRINCE OSUAGWU

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ember of Nigerian House of Representatives, representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency, Mrs Abike Dabiri last week joined the Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN) group to lament the continued growing gap between ICT adoption by girls and boys, stressing that this must be bridged in order to create more empowerment in the country.

The group in celebrating this year’s Girls in ICT day, joined other stakeholders who attended the event to stress the importance of the female folks, especially the development of girls in ICT in the country.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), observed every April 25 as a ‘Day for Girls in ICT’.

Meanwhile, WITIN’s Chairperson, Mrs. Martha Alade at the forum in Lagos, charged girls to consider taking up careers in the ICT field.

Alade said that the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other stakeholders believed that ICT affected the life and work of everyone on the planet today, hence the need for girls to be involved in ICT. According to her, with the future constantly being reinvented through technology, ICT is the coolest

area to get into by girls. ‘’We are here to raise the visibility of numerous women in ICT in Nigeria, to celebrate the feat of our young girls who have made tremendous impact in the field. ‘’We are here to encourage more girls to step up to technology and not leave all the fun to boys in shaping our future,’’ she said.She also noted that the Girls in ICT day initiative has created a global

environment that would empower and encourage girls and young women toconsider careers in the field of ICTs. Among the speakers at the forum was the Senior Advisor for Women and Technology at the US Department of State, Ms Ann Chang, who revealed that that only about 25 per cent Nigerians were connected on the internet.Chang said that with such low percentage, there were still huge

opportunities to connect more Nigerians, hence the need for girls to be involved in ICT. She said that when more people were connected on the Internet, it would boost the economy of such nation.

According to her, girls should develop contents/applications on the Internet, as it would make them more relevant in the ICT field.

In her own turn, Dabiri, promised that she would collaborate with WITIN in its quest of encouraging girls’ involvement in innovative skills through its various programmes such as the mobile apps competition where they are exposed to the development of applications that could solve societal problems. “The country stands disadvantaged if the disparity to basic ICT services continue, as girls with technologicalskills is critical to achieving a better society,” she said.

Dabiri stated that she would work closely with the National Assembly in embarking on programmes that would strengthen girls’ involvement in ICT, and that one of the ways is through developing talents at incubation centres and technology parks within the country. She said technology parks, which is currently on the front burner of government programmes in developing a knowledgebased economy would contribute immensely to technical skills for girls, and that it would also arouse their interest in science related subjects and courses in secondary and

Samsung prepares for Galaxy S4 launch with accidental damage warranty Samsung is due to launch its new mobile entrant into the cellphone market soon with a warranty. Disclosing this Mr. Emmanouil Revmatas described the introduction of the warranty as a standard for the Galaxy S4, as part of Samsung’s commitment to providing its customers with innovative and impeccable after-sales services.

He added that “at Samsung, we understand the unique needs of our customers and this is another value-added service we are introducing to provide them with comprehensive service assistance in the event of accidental handling damage to their devices.

We are very excited to be

the first mobile device manufacturer to come out with this level of service,” The ADH warranty will be incorporated into the existing 24-month standard factory warranty on the Galaxy S4.

Customers can register their devices through Samsung’s e-Warranty service from their phones within the first 30 days of purchase. In the event of damage, registered customers will be able to take their device to an authorized Samsung Service Centre for repairs.

The Service Centre will replace the screen or board free of charge. According to Samsung, this warranty will cover only screen and liquid damages. Customers will be limited to two incidents requiring repairs within a 24month period.

Countries where Samsung’s ADH is currently available include Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Kenya, Mauritius, Ghana, Uganda, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan, Angola, Tanzania, Botswana, Ethiopia and Mozambique.

On her part, Marketing Manager for Hand Held Products, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Olajumoke Okikiolu also noted that the company was constantly looking for new and improved ways to provide first-class service for its customers wherever they are.

She said that the introduction of the ADH warranty on the Galaxy S4 smartphone was a testament to the commitment.

For her, “through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of televisions, smartphones.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 39

Advertising, Media & Marketing

BRIEFS

Stories by PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

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f it is business, good, if it’s ambushing, not palatable, but if it is on the monetary side, good business for Saka, but yet questions would be asked why Hafiz Oyetoro otherwise known as ‘Saka’ dump Etisalat for MTN.? What was the contractual agreement with Etisalat.? Or could it be the portability switch that prompted the move, what lesson?.

These and more questions keep popping up in the mind.

However, in some quarters it is kudos for the agency and whosoever that may have pouched ‘Saka’. And knocks for any person that did not do his home work well to have tied ‘Saka’ to a contractual agreement if any existed.

Information filtering in had it that ‘Saka’ never had any contractual agreement with Etisalat, but some quarters said, there was, whatsoever, a new record has been set in the marketing communications landscape.

Marketing is a game of opportunities. Find a loophole in a competitor, capitalise on it, use it to your advantage.

Snake swallows snake. That’s the case of MTN. They did try the ‘Saka’ phenomenon with Osofia, Mama Gee and others, but they knew that if it’s not ‘Saka’, who else. This is a strategic move by MTN for the portability season.

However, the power and freedom of choice rests with the subscriber, in this dispensation from what is envisaged. If a customer is dissatisfied with the service of a particular network, such person can ‘port’ to another network, Eugene Juwah, Executive Director, Nigerian C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Commission, NCC, told Journalists at a recent function.

In retrospect, brand custodians, advertising practitioners, marketing Director watch from a distance the recent ‘Saka’ phenomenon as one can only ponder to this timeless advertising jugular.

Like in the view of Mr. Kachi Onubogbu, Commercial Director of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, who said that what the ‘Saka’ imbroglio has clearly shown is that brands would now like to have a working document that clearly defines the term of contract with models; like what the liabilities are to both the company and the model, companies will now watch the kind of contract they are going into with models, even

Dufil searches for 6th Indomie hero

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

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Engr. Biodun Oyedepo, Past Chairman Institution of Mechanical Engineering, Engr. Otis Anyaeji, Vice President, NSE, HE Engr. Gbenga Daniel, Engr. Dideolu Falobi, Managing Director, Kresta Laurel Limited and Engr. Dotun Majekodunmi, Deputy General Manager, Kresta Laurel Limited at the Investiture of Falobi and Majekodunmi as Fellows of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

Portability: Lessons in MTN, Etisalat's Saka phenomenon though the brand(s) cannot tie down somebody to say you will only work for me, but will surely be a definitive contractual terms.

Invariably, Kehinde Bademosi, a former Creative Director with CentreSpread and currently the International Chief Imagination Officer at Orange Academy, put it; Bademosi who said he was privileged to have participated in creating the iconic ‘Saka’ for advertising, pointed out, saying, “I watch

as this device takes on a life of its own and how it is gradually becoming a major case study in the history of Nigeria’s advertising.

According to him, “Saka was not a celebrity before Etisalat discovered him.

Rather, he was a character we at Centrespread designed for an ad campaign that has come to take on a life of its own.

When we did create the character, we needed a talent that could act the role and he came in for the casting like any other person. Looking at the

screen test later on, we had no doubt that ‘Saka’ was the man we were looking for.

You must give credits to Etisalat to have approved of our direction and choice. It really was not their ‘type’ of advertising. So, it was not a case of celebrity endorsement, it was a case of characterization.

Continuing, he said, “While it is a fact that all of us on this planet would want to be better paid for our talent. Etisalat being a hip, classy and swag brand.

Anti-malaria cam paign: What Mor tein, Ogun campaign: Mortein, synergy will do

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he World Malaria Day has come and gone, but the contribution of Mortein insecticide from the stable of Reckitt Benckiser cannot be wished away easily.

The contribution of the brand is of immense importance to the beneficiaries in as much as is a known fact that malaria remains the number one killer in Nigeria, ahead of HIV/AIDS, stroke, coronary heart disease and diabetes. According to investigations, children under five years and pregnant women are reported to be the most vulnerable to death from malaria, accounting for 85 per cent of all malaria deaths across the world.

It was also revealed that worldwide, 35 countries

account for 98 per cent of all the malaria deaths, 30 of them in Africa, while Nigeria is said to occupy the number one position.

April 25, was the Mortein World Malaria Day. As part of the celebrations, Ogun State Government and Reckitt Benckiser ’s Mortein insecticide brand formed a synergy to call for an allinclusive strategy to bring down the current malaria prevalence in Nigeria and entire African continent.

They lamented that although malaria was preventable; there was need for concerned stakeholders to take proactive steps in order to halt the current trend of avoidable deaths resulting from the disease especially among pregnant mothers and

children below five years of age.

Moved by their compassion to promote a malaria-free Nigeria, The Ogun State Ministry of Health and Reckitt Benckiser led by the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka and The General Manager for Central (West & East) Africa, Reckitt Benckiser, Mr. Ashok Bashin alongside Mortein Anti-Malaria Campaign Spokesperson, Omawumi Magebele, embarked on a state road show on major streets of Abeokuta as well as the popular Kuto Market to sensitise the general public on the challenges of malaria and the solutions as well.

ufil Prima Foods Plc, maker of Indomie noodles has said it is beginning another round of search for heroes in the sixth edition of the Independence Day Heroes Award.

The Managing Director, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr. Deepak Singhal announced this at a press conference for the sixth edition of the Independence Day Heroes Award held at Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said that the conference marks the beginning of another round of search for the year 2013 where three outstanding Nigerian children would be recognized and celebrated for heroic acts.

“We are gathered here once again to initiate the search for the 2013 Heroes in which three outstanding children would be picked, recognized, rewarded and then celebrated for their acts of heroism,” he said.

Grand Soya Oil backs women workshop

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nited African Company of Nigeria, UACN, makers of Grand Pure Soya Oil sponsored first edition of the women in media workshop has climaxed in Lagos.

The workshop which brought together leading Bloggers, Online PR professionals, Social Media and digital media experts deliberated on issues concerning the digital media space in Nigeria, particularly the social media trend, online PR and digital advertising, with speakers illustrating the need for strategic digital media switch and handling of digital campaigns and online PR by professionals across the country.

Speaking on the readiness and determination of the brand to support the media, the Senior Brand Manager, Grand Cereals Limited, a subsidiary of UACN, Mr. Tope Banjo said: “the brand is fully ready to support all media activities that would promote healthy living and good health”.

40 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Email:lesleba@lesleba.com, lesleba@gmail.com Blog page:www.lesleba.com/blog2 Website: www.lesleba.com

Tel:0817 002 3569

Unemployment, fuel prices and purchasing power of incomes the real challenges before labour

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resident Goodluck Jonathan, State Governors and members of the Legislature last week celebrated May Day with organized Labour, with the usual spectacle of marchpasts and copious speeches!

Labour, on one hand, demanded for positive results in the areas of employment, security and corruption, so that the Nigerian economy can thrive and soar from the impact of such good Governance.

On his own part, President Jonathan surprisingly indicted his Economic Management Team, when he decried our touted economic growth without attendant job creation, and noted that “I agree totally that until we create jobs, until Nigerians can find food to eat, until Nigerians who are sick can walk to the hospitals and get treatment, the economic indices are meaningless to them”.

Nonetheless, Labour continues to reserve its traditional strike weapon primarily to instigate higher wages for its members and press its demands for reduced fuel prices.

Regrettably, however, the value of the modest wage increases has always been quickly wiped away by unbridled double-digit rate of inflation over the years, as too much money immediately chase less goods. Ironically, success with Labour’s demand for reduced fuel prices also inadvertently induce bloated subsidy payments in place of real infrastructural enhancement.

Consequently, an appropriate question is whether or not increasing purchasing power of incomes and low fuel prices are possible without the antisocial excess baggage of inflation and subsidy.

Indeed, purchasing power of incomes can be enhanced simultaneously with lower fuel prices, if Labour’s strategy recognizes that a relentlessly ‘cash surplus’

President Jonathan surprisingly indicted his Economic Management Team, when he decried our touted economic growth without attendant job creation

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economy is the fundamental reason why the N18,000 minimum wage currently purchases less than half of the goods and services that were possible a few years ago for the same amount.

Similarly, Labour’s demands must recognise that a manipulated naira exchange rate is also the root cause of continuously rising fuel prices and the related wasteful subsidy component.

Although some Nigerians believe that fuel prices would tumble if government built new refineries, this will not necessarily be so; our national experience is indicative that we do not run public corporations with the r e q u i r e d discipline. However, Organised Labour’s demands in this year’s May Day celebration, relates to the need for increasing employment opportunities and the control of insecurity and corruption in

governance!

Incidentally, the major factors that drive employment include stable or increasingly stronger purchasing values, so that workers have access to a wider range of ‘cheaper goods’; thus, rising consumer demand would consequently motivate existing entrepreneurs to expand production and also attract new investors into the market, with increasing job opportunities in tow!

Nonetheless, increasing income values may, however, still fail to promote employment opportunities, if double-digit interest rates (high cost of funds) d i s c o u r a g e investments. Instructively, both high inflation and interest rates are the results of poor management of the amount of cash or liquidity in the economy; for example, while inflation is the product of too much money chasing fewer goods, high cost of funds is instigated by the high Monetary Policy (control) Rate (MPR) that CBN imposes to cage inflation by restraining access to the perceived high cash volumes in the system.

Clearly, however, the link between rising unemployment levels and increasing insecurity is already well established in public consciousness, particularly as unemployment amongst the “youth population, has assumed a very negative dimension with serious consequences for national peace and progress”.

Corruption which Labour also identified as a causative

and consumer demand; furthermore, high cost of funds, unemployment and insecurity, are also proxy products of excess liquidity; so also is weaker naira exchange rate, which in turn instigates high fuel prices and the related astronomical subsidy values.

Consequently, our seemingly intractable problems would be cut to size if CBN effectively manages the source and reduces the prevalent systemic cash flush by adopting the instrument of dollar certificates for payment of monthly allocations of dollar-derived revenue. The oppressive ghost of excess cash will disappear and the impediments to low inflation and interest rates would be removed; naira exchange rate will become stronger and increase the purchasing power of wages, while domestic petrol prices will fall below the current price of N97/litre and make subsidy payments of over N2tn annually unnecessary!

Furthermore, the realisation of low cost of funds and increasing demand will expand industrial production as well as job opportunities.

Ultimately, Labour Union membership will increase, while government tax revenue will rapidly swell from the prevailing bourgeoning commercial and industrial landscape.

The question, however, is will Labour ever recognize the side on which its bread is buttered?

factor of bad governance is equally facilitated by weak sanctions and the availability of excessive supply of easy cash in the system. Thus, instructively, surplus cash availability turns out to be the major root cause of low purchasing power of incomes, and high cost of funds. Excess liquidity also facilitates corruption and rising unemployment, which inevitably also promotes insecurity!

Incidentally, the continuous existence of ‘surplus cash’ in the system is also responsible for rising fuel prices and the wastage of over N2tn subsidy payment annually. In essence, the relentless substitution of monthly naira allocations for dollar-derived revenue instigates a continuous horrendous supply of naira in the market and predicates excess cash supply in the hands of the banks.

Thus, CBN’s misguided payments arrangement pitches increasing surplus naira revenue in the system against the rationed weekly dollar auctions of the apex bank; the resultant market imbalance ultimately weakens the naira rate of exchange and inadvertently pumps up fuel prices with increasing subsidy values as collateral.

From the above analysis, it would be clear, therefore, that CBN’s monopoly of the foreign exchange market is the common cause of ‘excessively’ surplus cash as well as the major determinant of low purchasing power of wages

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVE NIGERIANS!!

Business & Economy Nigeria wants transparency in selecting new WTO DG

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he Federal Government on Friday in Abuja called for transparency in the process of selecting a new Director-General for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on May 31. Mr Samuel Ortom, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, expressed government’s position when Mr Roberto Zapata, a special envoy of Mexican President Pena Nieto, visited him.

Ortom said credibility in the selection process would usher in a competent leadership that would take

the 159-member global trade body to the next level.

Zapata was in Nigeria to solicit the country’s support for Mr Herminio Blanco, a Mexican. Blanco is vying for the post of Director-General of WTO. Zapata’s visit was a follow-up to a campaign mission to Nigeria on March 15 by Blanco, who is contesting against Mr Roberto Carvalho, a Brazilian, for the WTO top job. Ortom, while speaking, said: “What we believe is that the process must be transparent, so that at the end of the day the whole

world will support whoever emerges to achieve desired results.

“Nigeria remains committed to ensuring that we have a credible process that will usher in a director-general of WTO that will move us forward.” He said the credentials of Blanco found him worthy and competent to shoulder the responsibilities of the office of DirectorGeneral of WTO. Earlier, Zapata, said such a reform should be the one that would slant world trade in favour of the organisation’s developing membercountries.

Omoh Gabriel Babajide Komolafe Clara Nwachukwu Peter Egwuatu Yinka Kolawole Favour Nnabugwu Godwin Oritse Godfrey Bivbere Michael Eboh Oscarline Onwuemenyi Franklin Alli Amaka Abayomi Ebele Orakpo Ifeyinwa Obi

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