Westafrica BusinessNews Monday, March 04, 2019

Top activity trails Diamond Access shares ahead of court ordered meeting

BY BONNY AMADI

T Wigwe, GMD, Access Bank

here is no doubt that the financial services sectors has sustained market vibrancy over the year now.

More especially, Diamond and Access banks which have pencilled this week’s Tuesday for court ordered meeting to secure sharehold-ers support for the merger, have been

turning high turnovers.

Week on week, year on year, the banking subsector of the financial services sector led by Diamond and Access banks sustain lead on activity chart of the equities market.

Like in the previous week, the financial sector for the week ended March 01, 2019, sustained high level of market activity driven by Diamond

Access bank.

The Financial Services Industry measured by volume led the activity chart of the equities market with 1.377 billion shares valued at N11.311 billion traded in 14,180 deals; thus contributing 78.63 per cent and 57.47 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Conglomerates Industry followed the banking sector with a distance 115.142 million shares worth N168.128 million in 1,126 deals. While the third place was Consumer Goods Industry trailed the conglomerates closely with a turnover of 113.079 million shares worth N6.051 billion in 2,993 deals.

However, the turnover

recorded by the financial services industry during the week were mainly pulled by three De-posit money banks (DMBs) Diamond Bank, Access bank and Zenith Bank.

The three banks which held high earning possibilities for investors. Transaction sin their equities during the

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N200 MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Vol. 06 No. 295

ISSN: 2408-6703

Delisting: Anger as Coy Directors Short-change shareholders Page 5

Forex: CBN pondering over Restriction on Milk, Tomatoes Importation

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inancial analysts in the country have said that the planned decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to put a ban on the importation of tomatoes and milk policy will not only help in conservation of forex, but also develop local industries and ultimately grow the economy.

It would be recall that

through a recent policy, the federal government had banned the importation of tomato paste, powder, or concentrate for retail sales, as well as of preserved tomatoes. It had also increased tariff for tomato concentrate, presumably for commercial use from

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Telephone Subscribers increase to 174m as Internet Users hit 113.8 in January Page 26

Market gears to recover from N326Bn postelection loss Page 8 BDCs set N250/$ exchange rate agenda for President Buhari Page 9

President Buhari with wife Mrs Aisha Buhari at the victory dinner organised by his wife at the state house Conference Centre, Abuja at the weekend.

Foreign Reserve depresses by $233m

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igerian foreign reserve which set a declining trend in January, sustained the downward movement last week ended March 01, 2019, as it closed the week at $42.30 billion, having declined by $233.15million.

The value deprecation in the country’s foreign reserve, which was in line with the pattern in the last two weeks, was sustained last week, as the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN)

recorded another foreign reserve depletion to the tune of USD233.15 million w/w to USD42.30 billion.

The apex bank sold $210 million across its different strata of foreign exchange (FX) windows, distrib-uting $100 million to the wholesale, $55 million to the SMEs, and $55 million invisible segments.

Accordingly, the naira appreciated by 0.13 per cent to USD361.03 at the investment and Export (II&E) window, but

was flat at N360 in the parallel market.

Meanwhile, total turnover at the I&E window surged by 162.7 per cent to USD3.95 billion with 91.86 per cent of trades executed within the N360-369/USD band.

Similar to spot market, USD/NGN appreciated across all forward contracts. The 1-month contract grew by 0.2 per cent to N363.39, 3-month contract rose by 0.2 per cent, to close the week at N369.04,

6-month contract also grew by 0.5 per cent to N381.05, and 1-year advanced by 1.7 per cent, the highest margin, to N404.99.

Meanwhile, cross section of analysts have forecast that going forward, the mixture of still healthy for-eign inflow, robust FX reserves and possibility of PFI resurgence in the near team, would guide to-wards sustaining stable currency regime for much of 2019.

World markets themes for this week ahead

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MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known as WONUADE KUDIRAT FOLASADE now wish to be known and addressed as WONUADE BOSEDE FOLASHADE KUDIRAT. All former documents remain valid. Authorities concerned and general public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known as AKINWUNMI TAIWO SERIFAT now wish to be known and addressed as ABEJIDE TAIWO SERIFAT. All former documents remain valid. Authorities concerned and general public take note

STOCKS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Delisting: Angst as shareholders feel short-changed

JULIUS ALAGBE, EDITOR-INTELLIGENCE UNIT

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s numbers of companies that are unable to meet listing requirements by the Nigerian Stock Exchange is soaring, there is general anger that some directors of affected companies are fleecing shareholders of their invested funds.

Most importantly, analysts think that shareholders with non-controlling interests are more open to risk of delisting even while the company is still alive.

On that note, some shareholders are recently expressing anger at market regulators as per the manner at which companies are being delisted on the Stock Exchange without consulting the affected shareholders.

Their anger which has always been registered is occasion by increased numbers of del-isted entities, of which shareholders’ interests were not covered even as many of the delisted firms continue to operate.

Recently, Directors of some companies are accused that after collecting money from shareholders to increase

profitability outlook and capacity of some listed companies, in a while, the firm would delist for inability to meet listing requirements.

While some of the drivers of delisting include inability to file appropriate financial statement, others include nonperformance and perhaps poor trading history.

In the last five years, with the inclusion of companies that are recently removed, more than forty companies have been delisted from the

stock exchange. In 2019, two companies were delisted in a month, while some others are still struggling to meet listing requirements.

Reports from the NSE showed that a total 39 companies were delisted from 2013 to 2018. A review of the list showed that 25 delisted on regulatory instruction, 10 of the companies chose to delist volun-tarily, three companies delisted on merger, while one company was delisted on acquisition.

The current leadership of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and NSE are trying their best to secure our investments but shareholders need more. Adequate care should be taken to ensure that foreign direct investments come into the country as well as ensure that the foreign investors do not come and exit as they like which put the shareholders at risk.

Some analysts said that in some angle, delisting has always been a deliberate thing concocted by rogue directors.

The question that market observers have been asking for years is that what happen to equi-ty investors after a listed company is removed from trading on the floor?

It may be recalled that, last week, Former President, Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association (NSAN) Mr Timothy Adesiyan, said shareholders were expecting increase in share prices from the in-coming government, come May 29.

Some shareholders are also asking for capital market reform that will encourage efficiency, and in-vestment protection.

According to Adesiyan, the decrease in share prices, of recent, is not helping the overall earnings of shareholders in the country. He said that there is need to secure investments in the capital market and the Nigerian Stock exchange.

He said, “The current leadership of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and NSE are trying their best to secure our investments but shareholders need more.

Adequate care should be taken to ensure that foreign direct investments come into the country as well as ensure that the foreign investors do not come and exit as they like which put the shareholders at risk”.

“We want protection from government in the areas of delisting of companies”, he said. The ex-president of the association noted that companies kept declaring poor results after using the shareholders’ money to improve their businesses.

“The painful aspect of the delisting is that, after few months of being delisted, the companies will bounce back into full business.’’ Adesiyan said that poor results being declared by companies always discourage shareholders from investing more.

He, however, urged that the interest of shareholders should be taken into consideration before delist-ing companies.

Adesiyan said that shareholders would also like the government to appoint a person with experience of the market and share reading as Minister of Trade and Industry.

BUSINESSNEWS 6 WESTAFRICA MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

ECONOMY

Forex: CBN pondering over Restriction on Milk, Tomatoes Importation The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) planned decision to include, in the nearest future, tomatoes and milk on the forex restriction list in line with the apex bank’s policy of discouraging importation of items that could be produced locally, has been seen as a welcome development by market operators.

NIYI JACOBS writes

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inancial analysts in the country have said that the planned decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to put a ban on the importation of tomatoes and milk policy will not only help in conservation of forex, but also develop local industries and ultimately grow the economy.

It would be recall that through a recent policy, the federal government had banned the importation of tomato paste, powder, or concentrate for retail sales, as well as of preserved tomatoes. It had also increased tariff for tomato concentrate, presumably for commercial use from five to 50 per cent in or-der to revive the tomato sector in addition to $1,500 per metric tonne.

This policy probably came into effect in a bid to check the huge capital flight and the pursuit of the Ni-geria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), which prioritises agro-allied businesses, an area that the coun-try has comparative advantage. Nigeria is said to import an average of 150,000 metric tons of tomato concentrate per annum at a staggering value put at $170 million.

The financial expert therefore said that Nigeria has a perfect conditions for tomatoes and milk production. The country has a food basket in the Benue/Plateau and Manbila Plateau region where toma-toes thrive in numbers that can meet local consumption and also be enough for export. ‘the same applies to the production of milk as Nigeria has the fourth largest heads of cattle in Africa’, Mr Ugo Benson, a market analysts said Benson said the thinking therefore is that the move could boost production, improve the value chain in agriculture and agro allied business and attract invest-ment. while speaking with Mr Segun Adedipe also a financial analyst said with the move, government could set out to stop the importation of tomato paste, powder or concentrate put up for retail sale.

Already, the CBN’s ban on 41 items from accessing forex in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market has helped to conserve the hitherto depleting nation’s foreign reserve, therefore buoying up the econo-my.

The country’s monthly import

bill has reportedly fell significantly from $665.4 million in January 2015, to $160.4 million as at October 2018, representing a drop by 75.9 per cent and an implied savings of over $21 billion on food imports alone over that period.

Some financial experts have also mentioned that the CBN initiative, when operational, will be an example of how monetary policy can be used to affect the economy. But that of itself will not be enough to get the job done; the fiscal side must complement the monetary side.

To that extent and as part of government’s infrastructural drive, it can start to put in place, ways of preserving tomatoes and other perishable crops so that they can be available all year round, they said Adedipe also noted that the government should create the industrial environment amenable to pro-cessing these crops to add value to them. In this way, not only will industry that will employ the hordes of young school leavers and graduates spring up, the resulting products will fetch hard currency to help beef up the forex reserves.

In his words; ‘While we would not call on government to ban foreign tomatoes because of WTO rules on fair trade, we advocate the use of tariffs to encourage the local farmers for massive tomato farming, which will be in synch with the country’s factor endowment and help farmers earn more

Godwin Emefiele

from their products. Government can also consider the option of heavily subsidising the crops along with other farm products’.

This is fair in international trade, as all developed countries heavily subsidise their farmers.

In fact, the phrase, ‘US farm subsidies’ has found its way to the world trade transaction.

That is why even after these

foreign products make it to Nigerian markets post tax and tariffs, they are still cheaper than the country’s local substitutes.

In a similar vein, Professors Chuka Nwosu, an economist noted that the country’s local cows produce less milk than they ordinarily should because of the tedious methods of grazing whereby the cows have to walk for

Some financial experts have also mentioned that the CBN initiative, when operational, will be an example of how monetary policy can be used to affect the economy.

But that of itself will not be enough to get the job done; the fiscal side must complement the monetary side.

miles on end to get enough food.

This affects their ability to produce enough milk, according to the experts. The ranching method has been proved to help cattle conserve energy and produce enough milk.We urge government to do the needful in this regard and help produce nourishing milk both for local and international consumption.

He expects government to deal decisively with the frequent farmers/herders clashes that have claimed hundreds of lives and diminished the food producing capability of the nation’s food basket and calling to question, government’s ability to protect lives and property.

Similarly, others also mentioned that Government should put the various food research institutions to work by updating their mandates and properly funding them towards meeting up their ancillary duties to agriculture. Once the fiscal side is done to complement the efforts of the monetary authorities, government can conserve scarce forex and achieve accelerated diversification of the economy through agriculture and agro-allied industry and grow the economy.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Nigeria GDP: Recording Economy growth on weak fundamentals S

ince Nigeria existed recession in 2017, the country’s economy has been on the upswing, as it has demonstrated consistent growth quarter-to-quarter effective from second quarter 2017, thus altering the GDP basket.

But some financial experts have expressed strong reservations with this growth, claiming it still rests on a weak tripod with the current fragile growth not being able to deliver much jobs, others agree that although the current GDP may not be strong as expected, it is, however, on course, signalling a recovery path.

It would be recalled, that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its fourth quarter 2018 GDP reported a figure of 2.38 per cent in real terms (year-on-year) compared to 2017 fourth quarter growth rate of 2.11 per cent.

The economy, the agency added, recorded an aggregate nominal GDP of N35.23 million, higher than N31.27 million recorded in Q4 2017.

The growth rate showed a rise of 0.55 per cent points when compared with the growth rate recorded in Q3 2018, adding that on a quarter-on- quarter basis, real GDP growth was 5.31 per cent.

According to NBS, fourth quarter growth performance implies that real GDP grew at an annual growth rate of 1.93 per cent in 2018, compared to 0.82 per cent recorded in 2017, an increase of 1.09 per cent .

However, the quarter growth represents an increase of 0.27 per cent points when compared to the fourth quarter of 2017, which recorded a growth rate of 2.11 per cent. It also indicates a rise of 0.55 per cent points when compared with the growth rate recorded in Q3 2018.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, real GDP growth was 5.31per cent.

Key drivers of GDP are categorised into oil and non-oil sectors. Oil is Nigeria’s economic main stay. NBS put average daily oil production during the quarter on focus at 1.91 million barrels per day (mbpd). The figure was lower than the 1.95 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2017, and 1.94mbpd in Q3 2018.

The oil sector recorded a real GDP growth rate of –1.62 per cent (year-on-year) in Q4 2018, indicating a decline of– 12.81 per cent points relative to the growth rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2017.

However, when compared to Q3 2018, growth increased by 1.29 per cent points. On an annual basis, real GDP growth for the oil sector stood at 1.14 per cent as against 4.69 per cent recorded in 2017.

The oil sector contributed 7.06 per cent to real GDP in Q4 2018, down from figures recorded in the corresponding period of 2017 and the preceding quarter, where it contributed 7.35 per cent and 9.38 per cent respectively.

Following a recent report that Nigeria Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figure has recorded a 2.38 per cent growth (year-on-year) in fourth quarter of 2018 while the real GDP annual grew to 1.93 per cent in 2018, some financial experts have argued that the Nigerian economy is still weak and, therefore, call for stimulation of non-oil sector to achieve inclusive economy growth. NIYI JACOBS reports

Mrs Zaniab Ahmed

For 2018, the contribution of the oil sector to aggregate real GDP was 8.60 per cent, slightly lower when compared with 8.67 per cent in 2017.

The non-oil sector grew by 2.70 per cent in real terms during the fourth quarter of 2018, indicating 1.25 per cent points higher than the growth rate recorded in Q4 2017, and 0.38 per cent points higher than the growth rate recorded in Q3 2018.

On an annual basis, the nonoil sector recorded a growth rate of 2.00 per cent in 2018, performing considerably better than 0.47 per cent seen in 2017.

NBS listed key performing activities in non-oil sector during the quarter to include information and communication, transportation

and storage, arts and entertainment, agriculture and manufacturing.

Agriculture, a very dominant sub-sector played active role. The sector grew by 18.58 per cent year-on-year in nominal terms in Q4 2018, showing an increase of 8.45 per cent points from the same quarter of 2017, and 0.26 per cent points increase from Q3 2018.

Crop production remains the major driver of the sector, accounting for 89.84 per cent of nominal agriculture GDP. On an annual basis, agriculture GDP grew by 14.27 per cent, higher than 11.29 per cent recorded in 2017.

“The sector contributed 23.08 per cent to nominal GDP in Q4 2018, which is higher than its

The growth rate showed a rise of 0.55 per cent points when compared with the growth rate recorded in Q3 2018, adding that on a quarter-on- quarter basis, real GDP growth was 5.31 per cent.

contribution in Q4 2017 (21.93%) but lower than it was in Q3 2018 (25.52%). On an annual basis, the sector contributed 21.42 per cent to nominal GDP in 2018.

“In real terms, the agricultural sector grew by 2.46 per cent (year-on-year), a decrease by –1.78 per cent points from the corresponding period of 2017, but an increase of 0.55 per cent points from the preceding quarter.

Annual 2018 growth was 2.12 per cent, which is lower than the 3.45 per cent recorded in 2017.

The sector contributed 26.15 per cent to overall GDP in real terms during the further quarter, slightly higher than the contribution in the fourth quarter of 2017 (26.13 per cent), but lower than the third quarter of 2018 (29.25 per cent Agriculture sector contribution to real GDP in 2018 was recorded at 25.13 per cent, up from 25.08 per cent in 2017.

The latest GDP figures elicited different reactions from experts.

Some are of the view that though the figures are not enough to put economy in its comfort zone, it is, however, heading on positive direction that will ultimately get the economy to the comfort zone.

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in its reaction to latest GDP growth described the growth as weak, vulnerable and fragile.

According to LCCI, this growth reflected the performance of the non-oil sector, which improved by 2.7 per cent year-on-year, with the full year GDP improving by 1.9 per cent better than the 0.8 per cent growth achieved in 2017.

Also, Dr. Zuhumnan Dapel, a researcher at the Scottish Institute for Research in Economics in Edinburgh, said Nigerian economy was yet to attain robustness that corresponds to its size.

He said: “Nigeria shows that economic growth combined with rising inequality won’t lift people out of poverty. The country’s next government should heed the lesson’.

According to him, growth that reduces poverty is sometimes called “pro-poor growth” (also referred to as the “twin goals” of the World Bank) because it helps the poor escape poverty and it raises, in relative terms, their average living standard at a rate faster than the rest of the population. However, the widely accepted theory that holds that “growth is good for the poor” simply does not apply in the case of Nigeria, where impressive growth numbers alone failed to reduce rampant poverty.”

Also reacting, Professor Uche Uwaleke of Nassarawa State University described it a cheering Continues on page 12

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WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

STOCKS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Market gears to recover from N326Bn post-election loss

BY BONNY AMADI

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he Nigerian equities market is poised to recover from the N282.30 billion loss in market capitalisation recorded in last week, as the last trading day of the week ended March 01, 2019 showed return of pos-itive market sentiments.

It will be recalled that investors last week lost N367 billion in only three days of trading, which was however, lessened by N41 billion gain recorded on the last trading day of the week, The Nigerian equities market closed negative in the outgone week, having lost in three of the five trading sessions of the week.

As a result, ASI was down 2.12 per cent week-on-week to close at 31,827.24pts. In the same vein, market capitalization declined to N11.87trillion, from N12.13trillion in the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian equities market closed the final trading session of the week in green, gaining 0.34 per cent.

However, the market closed down for the week by 2.12 per cent WTD. Market breadth index on Friday was flat with 19 gainers and 19 losers. For the five days of trading dur-ing the week ended Friday March 01, 2019, the market closed in green in two sessions, Monday and Friday and closed in red for three trading days, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

However, The week’s last trading day’s performance was driven by the gains in CILEASING which grew by 9.98 per cent, CORNERST by +8.70 per cent, FIDELITYBK by 6.82 per cent, UCAP grew by 5.35 per cent, TOTAL appreciated by 5.26 per cent while JAPAULOIL advanced in share price by 4.55 per cent.

The gains, posted on Friday however offset the losses in NPFMCRFBK which declined 10.00 per cent, JAIZBANK -9.23 per cent, DANGFLOUR -9.17 per cent and GOLDINSURE -8.33 per cent.

Sector performances were positive on Friday with the NSE Banking index appreciating by 0.40 per cent and emerging the best performer. In the same vein, Oil & Gas grew by 0.30%), Industrial 0.26 per cent and Consumer Goods index advanced by 0.08 per cent, as all closed positive.

In terms of activity levels, total volume and value transacted by investors on Friday declined by 17 per cent and 29 per cent respectively compared to Thursday, as investors exchanged 342million units of shares worth N3.75billion.

ZENITHBANK which gained 0.21 per cent was the most actively traded stock with about 64million units of shares worth N1.55billion.

Gains recorded on Friday was reversal of negative market which held sway since Tuesday.

Following the announcement of the elections results on Tuesday February 26, 2019, the equities mar-ket has sustained a downward trend, as supply continue to pitch against demand, leading to massive loss in equity prices.

For 16.30 Hours of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock exchange (NSE) which span over three days, investors have recorded N367 billion loss on their investment value as uncertain political and pol-icy terrain continue to becloud the Nigerian investment space.

The Nigerian equities market closed on Thursday, the fourth trading session of the week in red, losing 1.62 per cent.

Equities market capitalisation which opened Thursday, February 28,2019 trading at N12,024,377,562,076.96 trillion, closed at N11,828 393,558,358.43 trillion, reflecting loss by N196 billion.

Investors transacted a total of 411,694,543.00 million shares, worth N411, 694,543.00billion, in 5,320.00 deals.

The market All Share –Index (ASI) closed lower at 31,718.70, from 32,244.24 points which opened trad-ing , indicating 525,54 bps decline or 1.62 per cent.

Westafrica BusinessNews

Market breadth index on Friday was flat with 19 gainers and 19 losers. For the five days of trading dur-ing the week ended Friday March 01, 2019, the market closed in green in two sessions, Monday and Friday and closed in red for three trading days, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. recalls political tempo negatively impacted the market on Tuesday, even before the result announcement , and on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, the equities market closed down following losses across all sectors, as market value which closed Monday’s February 25,2019 at N12,194,382,264,689.50, closed midweek February 27,2019 at N12,024,377,562,076.96, reflecting N170.01 billion loss by investors for just two days of trading.

Three days of consecutive losses, N84.49 Billion on Tuesday, N85.61 Billion on Wednesday,

and N196 billion on Thursday, However, the trend reversed on Friday with N40 billion growth in market value, as market closed higher at N11.869 billion, against N11, 828bn that opened trading on Thursday.

On the last trading day of the month Thursday February 28, , marked sell-offs across bellwether stocks, led to the Nigerian equities market closing the last session of the month on a negative note as the ASI dipped by 1.63 per cent, largest single day decline since Jan 31, 2019, to 31,718.70 points.

Equities market capitalisation which opened Thursday,

February 28,2019 trading at N12,024,377,562,076.96 trillion, closed at N11,828 393,558,358.43 trillion, reflecting loss by N196 billion.

Thus, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns moderated to 3.80% and 0.92%, respectively All sector indices closed negative ,Banking index dropped 4.56 per cent, Industrial Goods index 2.18 per cent, Consumer Goods Index -2.02 per cent, Oil & Gas -1.56 per cent, and Insurance -0.97 per cent.

Notable stocks include, GUARANTY decline by 6.85 per cent, WAPCO by 0.39 per cent, NB -4.45 per cent, OANDO -9.92 per cent, and AIICO by -5.19 per cent, respectively.

Market breadth remained negative Thursday with 30 losers and 9 gainers, led by OANDO and LIVE-STOCK which gained +7.94 per cent.

Total volume traded on Thursday dropped by 9.17 per cent to 411.69 million units, valued at NGN5.27 billion, and exchanged in 5,320 deals.

Transactions mid-week reflected sustenance of bearish market sentiments in the Nigerian equities market as the benchmark index dipped by 0.71 per cent to 32,244.24 points, weighed by selloffs across Tier I banking and major Consumer Goods stocks.

Accordingly, the Month-toDate and Year-to-Date returns moderated slightly to 5.52 per cent and 2.59 per cent, respectively.

On sectoral breakdown, all sectoral indices, save for the Insurance index which gained 0.08 per cent, others closed in the red, with the Oil & Gas declining by 1.65 per cent, Banking -1.44 per cent, Con-sumer Goods-0.66 per cent, and Industrial Goods index by -0.05 per cent recording declines.

Midweek notable stocks include CORNERST which gained +4.55 per cent , OANDO decline by 9.66 per cent, ZENITHBANK’s drop by 3.49 per cent, UNILEVER -4.65 per cent and WAPCO -0.38 per cent, re-spectively.

Market breadth Wednesday was negative, with 10 gainers and 30 losers, led by NEIMETH which grew by 9.84 per cent and UNIONDAC’s decline by 9.68 per cent, respectively. Total volume of trades rose by 41.6 per cent to 456.07 million units, valued at NGN2.68 billion, and exchanged in 5,416 deals.

As the market continues to digest election results, we guide investors to trade cautiously in the short term. However, stable macroeconomic fundamentals and compelling valuations remain supportive of recovery in the midContinues page 9

STOCKS

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

9

AfricaSan: AfDB eyes higher fiscal growth via Sanitation targets execution scale up BONNY AMADI

T

he African Development Bank (AfDB) , has expressed commitment to higher Africa’s economic growth through the scale up of sanitation targets implementation.

Subsequently, the AfDB has called on development partners to scale up support for implementation of sanitation programs to fast track Africa’s progress and deliver on its promise to the continent.

Division Manager in the Bank’s Water Development and Sanitation Department, Osward Chanda, said during a presentation before the Development Partners Dialogue, that “Achieving the Ngor Commit-ments and the ambitious targets for sanitation and hygiene within the Global Development Agenda can only become a reality if we scale up our work,” Chanda cited United Nations estimates that show that some 734 million Africans do not have access

to basic sanitation infrastructure, which translates to 62% of the population on the African continent.

He also pointed out that there are huge disparities between service levels in rural and urban areas.

“We need to optimize the resources available and ensure harmonization of our approaches as devel-opment partners, in order to increase opportunities for regional member countries and for them to make the best of the existing resources and leverage on finances

available,” Chanda said. He laid out a presentation of what the Bank has planned to achieve these goals.

According to him, the plans aim to mobilize resources from a variety of donors, including traditional development partners and the private sector, and draw up an initial pipeline of inclusive Sanitation projects. The Bank plans also to promote investment opportunities and leverage additional financing from the private sector and other donors.

BDCs sets N250/$ exchange rate agenda for President Buhari

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igerian bureaux de Change operators have risen to their expectations by Nigerian business commu-nity by setting forex rate agenda for Nigeria’s newly re-elected president, Mohammadu Buhari, to-wards attaining more robust fx regime.

Subsequently, the Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) set N250 to dollar exchange rate agenda for the President in his second term in office.

ABCON President, Dr Aminu Gwadabe, disclosed to financial journalists in Lagos, that achieving a lower exchange rate for the economy will benefit the common man and lift businesses. The naira exchanges at N362 to dollar at the parallel market and N358 to dollar at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) while the local currency exchanges at N306 to dollar at the official rate.

The ABCON boss also said such lower exchange rate will improve the transaction volume for BDCs by enabling operators to buy and sell more dollars from their available cash flow.

He said a lower exchange rate against the greenback will stabilize the local currency, raise investors’ confidence, improve Diaspora remittance flow and entrench fiscal discipline.

A stronger Naira, the ABCON president said, will enhance Internally Generated Revenue, assist in the implementation of the restriction of foreign exchange access to 42 items that can produced locally and improve BDCs capabilities to thrive.

Gwadabe therefore advised the Federal Government to constitute new economic management team and review government’s performance in the last four years.

He added that such review will give room for better performance in the second term of this administration which commences in May 29, 2019.

Gwadabe said the economy is not performing to expectations, and government is expected to re-strategise and review its performance in the last four years and develop concrete actionable strategy for better performance.

The All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, emerged the winner of the 2019 presidential election in Nigeria. The incumbent president, who defeated 73 other candidates, scored a total of 15,191,847 votes across 19 states.

The Nigerian Bureaux de Change Chief, said that if government waits till May 29 before setting up a think-tank economic

equally look at the tax system, and block all revenue leakages to generate more funding for the economy.

He said the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Forex Window introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is having positive impact on the Forex market and should be sustained because of the stability it has brought to the market, adding “government should pay more attention to promoting ease of do-ing business, lifting private and public enterprises and creating jobs for the people”

Gwadebe team with functional experience on the economy, security, agriculture and human resource development, it would have wasted tangible time needed for smooth take-off.

He said the committee members should have deep knowledge of the economy, and be ready to access information on how these sectors have worked effectively in other countries in order to deploy similar strategy in the interest of the local economy.

Gwadabe said that by now, government should know where the complaints over its performance in the last four years came from and give priority to tackling unemployment, fixing road infrastructure, creating

better investment opportunities for the people and companies as well as strengthening the financial sector, of which BDCs are key players.

The ABCON boss said: “It is only when the economy is buoyant, that they people will be able to save, and that provide enough liquidity for banks to lend and fuel the economy. The other sub-sectors including the bureaux de change sector will equally be posi-tively impacted y a thriving economy”.

Gwadabe also advised the Federal Government to be more cautious at borrowing, ensuring that bor-rowed funds are channelled to projects that will be able to repay the loans. He said government should

According to Gwadabe, there is need for fiscal restructuring by ensuring that states become more effi-cient in revenue generation and less dependent on federal allocations. “Government should focus on things that create jobs especially through small and medium enterprises by creating opportunities for them to have easy access to funds,” he said.

The ABCON President said the BDCs have over the years, remained a potent monetary policy tool for exchange rate stability.

The sector, he added, has helped the government in creating over 30,000 jobs for Nigerians, thereby reducing the unemployment rate in the country. “The BDCs have continued to make foreign exchange available to the critical retail end users thereby deepening forex access in the country.

It shall support innovative and catalytic projects, thus at-tracting additional funding and enabling project developers to mobilize funding for their innovative projects.

The development partners are, a collective of international development organizations, governments and NGOs working in the sanitation sector.

The partners further called for resource mobilization for sanitation and hygiene and the development of co-financing arrangements to replenish sector wide financing mechanisms such as the AMCOWinitiated African Water Facility and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative, both hosted by the African Development Bank.

According to the bank , in a statement made available to Westafrica BusinessNews, the conference was co-convened by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) and this year’s AfricaSan Inter-national Task Force, held February 18-22, 2019, in Cape Town, South Africa, was themed, “Transform-ing Sanitation in Africa: Accelerating progress towards the Ngor Commitments to achieve the Social Development Goals.”

The Ngor Declaration on Sanitation and Hygiene adopted at the AfricaSan4 conference in 2015, defines clear, achievable commitments intended to deliver dignity and equity in sanitation and hygiene in Afri-ca by 2030.

The Bank also took part in a special AfricaSan 5 Conference tribute to the late Piers Cross, the South African activist who advocated for water and sanitation for the poor. Wambui Gichuri, the African De-velopment Bank’s Director of Water Development and Sanitation, presented the AfricaSan Lifetime Achievement Award to the Cross family, who attended the ceremony. The Award honors Cross, con-sidered one of the most influential global activists in the water and sanitation sector.

“Piers [Cross] was the consummate water and sanitation professional who was also instrumental in the creation of the AfricaSan regional process,” Gichuri said.

Market gears to recover from N326Bn post-election loss Continued from pafe 8

to-long term.

On Tuesday, February 26, the Nigerian equities market closed the second trading session of the week in red, losing 0.69 per cent.

However, market breadth index was somewhat flat with 21 gainers against 20 stocks that declined.

AFRIPRUD with 10.00 per cent growth was the top gainer while NPFMCRFBK with 9.70 per cent led the losers’ chart. SUNUASSUR was the most actively traded stock on Tuesday with about 51million units of shares worth N10million.

Sector Performance on Tuesday showed mixed performances across sectors.

The NSE Consumer Goods Index closed down by 1.57 per cent, following the declines in NESTLE by 4.43 per cent, HONYFLOUR by -0.71 per cent and DANGSUGAR’s -0.65 per cent.

NSE Banking Index dropped by 1.18 per cent, largely driven by the sell-offs in UBN which lost 8.28 per cent on its share value, WEMABANK -6.59 per cent, FBNH -3.61 per cent and FCMB -3.00 per cent.

However, the NSE Oil & Gas Index gained 1.56 per cent to close up, majorly due to the advancement in OANDO by 9.85 per cent.

NSE Industrial Index also

closed up by 0.04 per cent on the back of the buy interest in CUTIX which ad-vanced by 9.63 per cent.

However, the week opened on Monday February 25 on appositive note, following the conclusion of the general election, sentiments in the Nigerian equities market turned positive, the benchmark index notched higher by 0.57 per cent to 32,568.65 points, driven by interest across major counters.

Accordingly, the Month-toDate and Year-to-Date gains increased slightly to 7.01 per cent and 4.04 per cent, respectively.

On sectorial breakdown on Monday February 25, showed that all sector indices close positive, led by the Consumer Goods

index with +1.26 per cent , and followed closely by the Insurance with 1.13 per cent.

The NSE Banking index on Monday gained 0.85 per cent, the Oil & Gas index advanced 0.05 per cent, while NSE Industrial Goods index grew by 0.02 per cent.

Market breadth Monday was positive, with 25 gainers and 8 losers, led by DANGFLOUR which ad-vanced by 9.95 per cent and UNIONDAC that lost 6.45 per cent on its share price.

Total volume of trades declined by 0.7 per cent to 219.81 million units, valued at N5.55 billion, and exchanged in 4,327 deals.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

FBN Holdings will seek foreign listing at appropriate time — Eke

G

roup Managing Director, FBN Holdings Plc, Urum Kalu Eke has given insight into the Group’s projections, saying that they would seek listing in foreign markets where it operates at the appropriate time.

Eke said at a news conference to mark 125th anniversary of First Bank Nigeria Limited in Lagos that the company would liaise with investors and regulators at the right time when opportunities arise.

He said that FBN Holdings would seek foreign listing when the time was right and regulation was also conducive, but would maintain

headquarters in Nigeria in line with the vision of the founding fathers.

“These are bold statements aligning with the vision of the founding fathers, in the course of time, we will evaluate opportunities even as we work with the regulators, as we work with investors, with a view that we will continue to maintain headquarters in Nigeria.

“We will spread our network when the time is right and regulation is also conducive, we will be able to make a statement about listing in those foreign markets,” Eke said.

He explained that listing was

not something you do without a deliberate plan.

“At the time, the founding fathers set up First Bank in 1894, they have a view of a pan African institution with headquarters in Nigeria with presence across the globe.

“That is why few years after 1894, by 1896 we were in Accra and two years after we were in Sierra Leone, today we have expanded the scope of our coverage, we are in six African countries. We are in Asia and we are in Europe,” he stated.

FBN Holdings, currently listed only on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, is the non-operating financial holding company of one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in Africa.

He, however, said that the company was very proud of the achievements of its flagship subsidiary, First Bank of Nigeria Limited.

“We are proud at FBN Holdings of the achievements of our flagship First Bank of Nigeria Limited over the last 125 years, and that makes us at the holding company level the premier and of course the largest financial services group in Nigeria today,” Eke said.

He said that the group played active role in merchant banking and asset management sector as well as in insurance space.

“Just as we celebrating the commercial bank we can list a whole lot of achievements that have been recorded by the merchant bank through FBN Quest group and also the insurance.

“Today, the insurance company is the fastest growing insurance company in Nigeria and we are proud of what they are doing,” he added.

Eke noted that insurance had very low penetration in Nigeria with less than one per cent against 15 per cent penetration in South Africa.

“Talking about the life insurance business, it’s not just about taking insurance to the cities, we are also

present across the country, wherever you find First Bank, we have a life insurance staff embedded in those branches “We are saying we can play a very dominant role in championing insurance deepening in Nigeria, the same thing you can say about our FBN Quest group,” Eke said.

He said that the company had supported the Federal Government and sub-Nationals to raise bonds and capital for infrastructure development.

The group managing director said that through the pedigree of its franchise, it enabled government to raise N200 billion Sukuk bond in two tranches.

“At the holding company level, I need to say that there is so much confidence by the investing public in the brand so we can say today we are the largest in shareholder base,” he said.

He said that FBN Group had about 1.3 million shareholders, comprised of 17 per cent international institutional shareholders and about 36 per cent retail.

Also speaking, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, Chairman First Bank of Nigeria, said that the bank wold remain committed to the development of entrepreneurs to scale up employment rate.

Awosika said that the bank had invested heavily in organising programmes that would enhance knowledge of Small and Medium Enterprises.

NSE: Market indices open March with 0.34% growth

T

ransactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) opened for the month of March on a positive trend, after declining for three consecutive days.

The crucial market indices rebounded by 0.34 per cent with Nestle leading the gainers’ pack.

Specifically, the All-Share Index inched 108.54 pointed or 0.34 per cent to close at 31,827.24 compared with 31,718.70 recorded on

Eke

Fraud volume in Nigerian banks climbs to N25Bn in 5 years, says Institute

P

ro-tem President, Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria (CIFIAN), Dr Victoria Enape has said that fraud volume in Nigerian banks has increased dramatically to about N25 billion in the past five years.

Enape said this in Abuja at the opening of intensive training for forensic and investigative auditors with the theme “The Use of Forensic and Investigative Auditing for Prevention of Fraud, Corruption and Cyber-crimes in Nigeria”.

She noted that the training had become necessary going by the global acknowledgment of corruption in most government and financial institution and its (corruption) rejection by the United Nation (UN), World Bank and International Monetary Fund

(IMF).

“Government at all levels are losing billions of Naira every day and most of these criminal cases bordering on fraud, corruption and cyber-crimes are partly because there are no forensic and investigative auditors in Nigeria to prevent fraud from taking place.

“The place of training of forensic and investigative auditors cannot be overemphasised because the whole world has embraced this current trend years ago which has assisted them in the fight against fraud.

“Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors is an anti-fraud organisation, saddled with the responsibility of providing skills to relevant professionals on the use of science and technology to prevent, detect and investigate fraud of all kinds.

“The Institute also has mechanism to block illicit financial flows in the country; it therefore becomes indispensable in Nigeria if Nigerians and the future generation must experience peace and economic development,” Enape said.

According to her, scandalous collapses, financial loses, loss of employment, investment and investors, loss of earnings and means of livelihood are some of the consequential social dislocations and risks of corruption and fraud.

She explained that fraud and corruption weakened the institutional capacity of governments and organisations as well as impedes trade and investment.

The CIFIAN boss, therefore, reiterated the urgent need for

the passage of the Institute’s Bill by the House of Representatives to give concurrency after Senate passed the Bill on July 5, 2018.

The Registrar of the Institute, Valentine Ugwu, said the Bill, when passed would also assist government during elections.

“Forensic auditing can also be used to tackle and prevent electoral fraud. And President Buhari is the only Nigerian leader that has openly tackled corrupt persons since the existence of the country.

“We intend to help President Buhari in the fight against corruption by validating and enhancing members’ standing as forensic and investigative auditors with a credible, comprehensive and internationally recognised certification,” Ugwu said.

Thursday.

Similarly, the market capitalisation which opened at N11.828 trillion rose by N40 billion or 0.34 per cent to close at N11.868 trillion.

Nestle recorded the highest price gain to lead the gainers’ table, gaining N40 to close at N1,510 per share.

Total followed with a gain of N10 to close at N200, while Dangote Cement added N1.30 to close at N196.60 per share.

C &I Leasing improved by 66k to close at N7.27, while Nigerian Breweries increased by 50k to close at N80 per share.

Conversely, Unilever topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N2.30 to close at N38.70 per share.

International Breweries trailed with a loss of N1.25 to close at N25, while Dangote Flour shed N1 to close at N9.90 per share.

Dangote Sugar declined by 35k to close at N14.65, while Union Bank of Nigeria was down by 30k to close at N6.70 per share.

However, the volume of shares exchanged stood at 341.95 million shares valued at N3.75 billion transacted in 4,513 deals.

This was in contrast with a turnover of 411.69 million shares worth N5.27 billion traded in 5,320 deals on Thursday.

Zenith Bank was the most active stock, exchanging 64.51 million shares valued at N1.55 billion.

Diamond Bank followed with an account of 44.27 million shares worth N102.09 million, while Transcorp traded 43.39 million shares worth N54.53 million.

Access Bank exchanged 37.89 million shares valued at N220.74 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 21.57 million shares worth N47.87 million.

GLOBAL ECONOMY

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

11

Women Face Setbacks in Legal Rights Affecting Work - World Bank

BY BONNY AMADI

T

he World Bank group has risen in support of advancing women’s right in work place, a development that is bound to further boost global regional economies as well as global economy.

The World Bank noted that though reforms have improved women’s economic inclusion but gaps remain, as a ten-year study recently released on February 27, 2019 shows.

Globally, women are accorded only three-quarters of the legal rights that men enjoy according to a new index released by the World Bank, constraining their ability to get jobs or start businesses and make economic decisions that are best for them and their families.

“If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as well,” said World Bank Group Interim President Kristalina Georgieva. “Change is happening, but not fast enough, and 2.7 billion women are still legally barred from having the same choice of jobs as men. It is paramount that we remove the barriers that hold women back, and with this report we aim to demonstrate that reforms are possible, and to accelerate change.”

The study showed that subSaharan Africa ranks as the region with remarkable progress in women’s rights advancement through reform initiatives in work places.

Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study, had the most reforms of any region with 71 over the past decade. Though this is in part due to the large number of economies in the region, it is also an indication of improvement from the baseline.

More than half the reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa were in the areas of starting a job and getting married. Within each of these indicators, the biggest areas of improvement were on laws affecting gender-based violence.

Five economies introduced laws on workplace sexual harassment and domestic violence The World Bank’s study index, introduced in the study Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform, looked at milestones in a woman’s working life, from starting a job through to getting a pension, and legal protections associated with each of these stages. The data spans a ten-year period where 187 countries are scored according to eight indicators.

The report pointed that,

Jim Yong Kim

achieving gender equality is not a short-term process, requiring strong political will and a concerted effort by governments, civil society, international organizations among others, but legal and regulatory reforms can play a foundational role as an important first step.

Extracts of the study reveals that progress over the last ten years in the areas measured by the index has been significant.

During the period, the global average has risen from 70 to 75. 131 economies have made 274 reforms to laws and regulations that improve women’s economic inclusion.

35 countries implemented legal protections against sexual harassment at work, protecting nearly two billion more women than a decade ago. 22 economies removed restrictions on women’s work, reducing the likelihood

that women are kept out of working in certain sectors of the economy. And 13 economies introduced laws mandating equal remuneration for work of equal value.

Accordingly, six economies, Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Sweden – now hold perfect scores of 100, meaning they give women and men equal legal rights in the measured areas. A

If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as well,” said World Bank Group Interim President Kristalina Georgieva. “Change is happening, but not fast enough, and 2.7 billion women are still legally barred from having the same choice of jobs as men.

decade ago, no economy could make that claim. Under this index, economies that conducted reforms experienced bigger increases in the percentage of women working overall, leading to women’s economic empowerment.

Despite these efforts, women in many parts of the world still face discriminatory laws and regulations at every point in their working life. Fifty-six countries, spanning all regions and income levels, enacted no reforms at all to improve women’s equality of opportunity over the tenyear period. The pace of reform was the slowest in the category of managing assets examining gender differences in property rights.

The study develops new insight into how women’s employment and entrepreneurship are affected by legal discrimination, and in turn how this affects economic outcomes such as women’s participation in the labour market. The new index aims to lay a roadmap for progress over time and identify potential areas where more work is needed, to inspire reforms that benefit gender equality

GLOBAL STOCKS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Top activity trails Diamond Access shares ahead of court ordered meeting

BY BONNY AMADI

T

here is no doubt that the financial services sectors has sustained market vibrancy over the year now. More especially, Diamond and Access banks which have pencilled this week’s Tuesday for court ordered meeting to secure sharehold-ers support for the merger, have been turning high turnovers.

Week on week, year on year, the banking subsector of the financial services sector led

by Diamond and Access banks sustain lead on activity chart of the equities market. Like in the previous week, the financial sector for the week ended March 01, 2019, sustained high level of market activity driven by Diamond Access bank.

The Financial Services Industry measured by volume led the activity chart of the equities market with 1.377 billion shares valued at N11.311 billion traded in 14,180 deals; thus contributing 78.63 per cent and 57.47 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Conglomerates Industry followed the banking sector with a distance 115.142 million shares worth N168.128 million in 1,126 deals.

While the third place was Consumer Goods Industry trailed the conglomerates closely with a turnover of 113.079 million shares worth N6.051 billion in 2,993 deals.

However, the turnover recorded by the financial services industry during the week were mainly pulled by three De-posit money banks (DMBs) Diamond Bank, Access bank and Zenith Bank. The three banks which held high earning possibilities for investors. Transaction sin their equities during the week measured by volume accounted for 594.377 million shares worth N4.757 billion in 4,315 deals, contributing 33.93 per cent and 24.17 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively during the week.

For instance, Zenith bank which closed the week at N23.95 per share, topped the activity table on the last trading day of the week, ended Friday March 01, 2019, pulled a total turnover of 64,507,920 million shares worth N1, 546,072,557.70 recorded in 665 deals, Diamond bank with closing price of N2.31 per share, followed in the day’s activity chart with 44,265,612 million shares worth N102, 094,454.60 million and recorded in 131 deals, while at N5.75 per share closing price, Access bank followed with 37,885,256 million shares worth N220,741,826.50 million recorded in 270 deals.

Analysis of the total turnover of the three banks during the week, showed that the combined turnover of the banks amounted to 146,730,068 on March 01, 2019, as the top three most active of the financial sector stocks.

The turnover was an improvement from what was recorded on Thursday as only Diamond bank made it to the top five most active placing fifth on the chart with 25,757.401 million shares transacted by investors, while on Wednesday, the combined turnover of Diamond bank and Access Bank, second and third most active, peaked at 210,479.905 million shares.

On Tuesday, February 26, 2019,Access bank and Diamond bank, the second an third most active stocks pulled a com-bined turnover of 60.905.746 million shares, while the week opened on Monday with February 25,2019 with Diamond and Access Bank recorded combined turnover of 51,503.096 million shares , as the second and third most transacted stocks of the day.

It will be recalled that since the announcement of the ongoing merger plan between Diamond bank and Access bank, the share prices of the two banks have been recording remarkable growth, while top activity is being posted on their shares week on week.

Meanwhile, according to the Diamond Access merger plans, their respective court ordered meeting is scheduled for Tuesday

……With Zenith Bank attracted more investors in five days March 05, 2019 at respective venues in Lagos The meeting which all shareholders are expected to attend in Lagos, was ordered on January 24 by Justice O. O. Ogun-toyinbo of the Federal High Court, Lagos.

The Lagos court had ordered that a meeting of the holders of the fully paid-up ordinary shares of Access Bank Plc be convened and held for the purpose of considering and if thought fit, approving a Scheme of Merger between the company and Diamond Bank Plc as well as related matters.

A copy of the scheme document sent to all

the shareholders said the following resolutions will be proposed, and if thought fit passed as special resolutions of Access Bank.

For purposes of identification, the publication said the scheme document dated January 24, 2019, has been endorsed by the Chairman and approved by the Directors of the bank.

They have also given consent to any modification of the scheme that the regulatory authorities, namely Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the court shall impose or approve.

Peter Amangbo

The directors were authorised to accept the transfer of all the assets, liabilities and undertakings, including real prop-erties and intellectual property rights of Diamond Bank Plc upon the terms and subject to the conditions set out in the scheme document, without any further act or deed.

As consideration for the transfer of all the assets, liabilities and undertakings, including real properties and intellectual property rights of Diamond Bank Plc, the court authorised the directors to allot the scheme shares to Diamond Bank shareholders upon the terms and subject to the conditions set out in the scheme document, without any further act or deed.

The directors were also authorized to pay N1.00 per share for each issued and paid-up Diamond Bank ordinary share held as at the date of the court-ordered meeting.

It also directed the company’s solicitors to seek orders of the court sanctioning the scheme and the foregoing resolu-tions as well as such other incidental, consequential or supplemental orders as are necessary or required to give full effect to the scheme.

The directors of the bank were equally authorised to take such actions as may be necessary to give effect to the scheme, including but not limited to the listing of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The shareholders of the two banks are made to understand by the court that “Voting at the meeting will be by poll. Shareholders may vote in person or they may appoint another person, whether a shareholder or not to attend and vote in their stead.

Westafrica BusinessNews recalls that the merger scheme will be subject to the subsequent approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the sanction of the Federal High Court The Group managing directors of the two banks have maintained that the merge would provide a better future for their respective shareholders as well as all stakeholders and the business community.

Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, had earlier assured that the combination of the two busi-nesses entities will create the largest retail bank in Africa by customer base and a very significant player in the Nigerian market.

Nigeria GDP: Recording Economy growth on weak tripod Continued from page 7

news considering that the economy came out from recession.

“The Q4 2018 GDP growth rate of 2.38 per cent is cheering news viewed against the fact that the expansion in national output was merely 1.5 per cent in the second quarter of same year. What is more, the traction in the economy was seen more in the non-oil sector, which recorded a modest improvement over that of the previous quarter. The picture is clearer when seen from a longer term perspective.

The expert added that the growth reflected some of the policies and measures put in place by the government to stimulate the economy.

This, he noted, includes the Anchor Borrower programme, which has boosted agric sector as well as other interventions by the CBN to ensure that credit is channeled to the real sector.

However, Uwaleke said it was not yet Uhuru for the economy. just

“A GDP growth rate of 1.9 per cent in 2018 is a far cry from the about three per cent target projected in the 2018 budget,” he said. “Also, it has not been a job-led growth considering that unemployment rate actually increased just about the same period, btw Q3 2017 and Q3 2018, from 18.8 per cent to 23.1 per cent.

Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, said with the maintenance of the growth trajectory, the economic diversification objectives of ERGP are set to be realised.

Given the crash economy experienced in 2016 that dragged it into recession, a slow pace recovery is envisaged.

The Federal Government had been optimistic that the economy would attain robust growth on conscientious implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

This can, however, not happen in a vacuum, as the Federal Government must direct its efforts towards stimulating the nonoil sector to achieve an inclusive growth.

Emefiele

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

STOCK TABLE

STOCK TABLE

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

15

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Thirty-five million bank customers without BVN R

ecent report that only 36.8 bank customers out of 71.79 million active bank accounts in the country are linked to Bank THE TEAM Verification Number (BVN) as at February this Publisher Westafrican Business Newspapers year calls for thorough re-examination of the Ltd. scheme.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR The relevant Enyi Moses, Esq authorities including the apex bank, the Central NEWS EDITOR Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bonny Amadi the Nigerian Inter Bank Settlement System EDITOR, SPECIAL REPORTS (NIBSS) and banks on Julius Alagbe their own, ought to take practical steps to identify AG. BUSINESS EDITOR the hiccups in the BVN Niyi Jacobs scheme.

CORRESPONDENTS The centralised David Ayodeji biometric identification Goddy Obinwa scheme launched in Clifford Agbajor 2014 was introduced to Emefiele Amanda Mella, Abuja address identity theft, reduce exposure to fraud inheritance as part of the DEPUTY ADVERT MANAGER and enhance the banking problems regarding tying Tope Adesiyan, arpa industry’s chances of account numbers to BVN. The fact that some being able to fish out DEPUTY ADVERT MANAGER of these accounts carry blacklisted customers Monday Itodo among others, but the very low balances, their never show slow pace of capturing owners ADVERTS the BVN of all bank up again. The banks Oniovosa Diejomaoh welcome Rosemary Ugiomoh customers is however, themselves developments Rita Azita hindering the attainment such because the huge funds of that goal.

PRODUCTION Going by statistics aggregation attract no Akintunde Akinsanmi released by the CBN, cost and eventually end Henry Enegede about 49 per cent of active as profits.

These developments customers are without HEAD, IT BVN. The CBN attributes should naturally worry Chinonye Moses in the the high incidence of stakeholders abandoned accounts financial industry and PHOTO EDITOR which had always been those involved in the Sunday Adesanya a feature of the Ni-gerian investigation of financial CIRCULATION MANAGER banking industry, as crimes. As long as these Chidi Ephraim partly responsible for the accounts are not brought inability to link all the under the BVN system, it becomes difficult to track LOGISTICS active accounts to BVN. Emmanuel Odoh The apex bank down the operators of Akan Ekwere blamed the cumbersome procedure involved in SALES complete closure of Victoria Nnake an account, on some account holders who, prefer to withdraw the last kobo in their account and move on, abandoning the account for good.

There is also the problem of dearth of information regarding the heir to the estate of the account holder and poor documentation on

those account and those who abandoned them.

There are chances that some of those accounts could have been abandoned after using them for ne-farious activities bordering on crimes and criminality.

There are also chances that chronic debtors could have escaped being blacklisted since there is nothing linking them with those (fraudulent) accounts.

We do not believe that the CBN and stakeholders in the monetary system including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), are in a state of

There is also the problem of dearth of information regarding the heir to the estate of the account holder and poor documentation on inheritance as part of the problems regarding tying account numbers to BVN.

helplessness, because banks owe responsibility to the state and their customers.

On the part of customers, banks must obtain enough information from customers on their next of kin, including correct addresses of customers, their names and all relevant information that would be needed to identify the customer and their heirs.

Banks also owe a duty to carry out a thorough KYC (know your customer), so that when it becomes necessary, they will fish out all relevant information on their customers. In order to checkmate illicit funds, banks must report back to regulatory authorities and appropriate security agencies, transac-tions that are not in tandem with regulatory provisions.

Every necessary step must be taken to reduce this large number of accounts without BVN. Anything less, would mean that the aims and objectives for the BVN scheme have been defeated.

18

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Police recover 61 suspected rustled cattle in Kaduna

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he Police Command in Kaduna State on Saturday said that 61 cattle suspected to be rustled had been recovered at Kwanar Ugara on the Buruku Kaduna Road in Chikum Local Government Area of the state.

The State Commissioner of Police, Malam Ahmad Abdurrahaman told newsmen in Kaduna on Saturday, that a police patrol team on Feb. 27 sighted the herd of cattle without a shepherd and suspected they might have been stolen.

He said “Hence the police intercepted and took the animals to Buruku Divisional Headquarters.

“The command therefore wishes to inform members of the public whose cattle may have been stolen, rustled in the state to come to the command with proof of ownership

for possible identification.”

Abdurrahaman also said that on Feb.19, the 453 Base Service Group, Nigerian Air Force, Kaduna, handed over 57 livestock that were recovered on Feb. 12.

He said the animals recovered from suspected bandits comprised 44 cattle and 13 sheep .

“Out of the 57 livestock, 17 cows have been identified by seven owners who have satisfied legal requirements, ‘’ he said.

The CP assured Kaduna residents of the command’s commitment to rid the state of any form of criminality and protect lives and properties.

“I urge you for useful information so as to take proactive measures against criminals in our midst,’’ Abdurrahaman said.

• Cattle Grazing in the field

Abia NDE Coordinator tasks youths on skills acquisition

C

oordinator, National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Abia, Mrs Buchi Ojei has urged youths to embrace skills acquisition as a viable option to white collar jobs.

Ojei gave the advice at the weekend during the closing ceremony of the NDE Cosmetology training programme held at Asaga, Ohafia, Abia.

About 500 participants benefitted from the oneweek training, which was in conjunction with Dr Chidia Maduekwe, Chief Executive of Nigerian Film Corporation.

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu

Ojei said that certificate qualification had failed the country, saying that the best was to embrace skills that could make one self-reliant and employer of labour.

“People who are working are going into skills acquisition now. The world is going into skills acquisition, so the earlier we embrace it the better.

“I am happy to say that Abia indigenes have really embraced skills acquisition,’’ she said.

The NDE coordinator said that forms had been given to the participants to facilitate loans for them.

“We have a collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria. These forms will enable them to access loans and with these loans, they will be able to establish,’’ she said.

Ojei expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the training, saying that the participants were part of the 10,000 to be trained by the NDE in Abia.

She thanked the Director-General of NDE, Nasir Argungu, for bringing the training to the place.

She commended Maduekwe for collaborating with NDE for the successful training.

Sunday Ugah, a participant from Arochukwu, commended the organisers.

“I learnt a lot in Cosmetology. With this training, I can now produce and as well sell.

“With something like this, many Nigerians will be self-employed,” he said.

Highlight of the event was the presentation of certificates to the trainees as well as inspection of the displayed products by the NDE state coordinator.

Some of the products produced by the trainees include liquid soap, shampoo, bleach, perfume, air freshner, balm, body jelly and conditioner.

Abuja residents raise alarm over flooding after first rainfall

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ome residents of Abuja have raised alarm over the damage caused by flooding after the first rainfall in the city.

After the first rainfall in Abuja, some residents of the Federal Housing (FHA) Lugbe, woke up to find their roads and homes flooded with their property floating.

A resident, Miss Chika Okeke, who narrated her ordeal, said that she had been rendered homeless.

“The rain started around 3 a.m. and before I knew, it my whole house was flooded.

“I was still mopping up the water in the bedroom only for me to enter the sitting room and the kitchen to find my property floating on water.

“My property have been destroyed now and I don’t know what to do.

“The rain caught everybody unawares and all the houses in my area were affected,’’ she added.

Also in Lugbe, other residents complained about the poor maintenance of refuse disposal system in the area thereby blocking the drainage resulting to flooding.

They called for proper waste disposal system to tackle the problem when the rainy season fully sets in.

Mrs Chioma Ejekwu, another resident said, “Ev-

erywhere you look there is waste because people throw rubbish on the roads and in the drainage.’’

“The rain water then carries the waste into the streets, blocking people’s paths and drainages.

“We have environmental workers who burn the dumping sites every two weeks which is too long because the dustbins would have already too full.’’

Ibrahim Usman, a waste disposal official said that some residents, who do not want to pay the waste disposal agency, usually threw the waste inside drainages.

“Some people still to throw their waste anywhere they feel like and that is the reason we have so much waste on the road after the

rains.”

Joshua Ayodele, a civil servant, however called on the government to institute harsher punishment for those who do not dispose their waste properly and provide a better waste disposal system.

“If they don’t burn the waste every day, rains will continue to push it out and people will be stepping on waste as they walk.

“The government needs to provide a proper system for disposing waste in the area the way it is done in the city centre.

“Those who also dispose of waste indiscriminately should be fined or punished to act as a deterrent to others who want to do the same,’’ he added.

Flood after a heavy downpour recently

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Centre records 303 Zakat: Hadejia Emirate distributes 346 cases, resolves 69 bags of grains to 200 less-privileged in 14 months

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he Director of the Enugu State Citizens’ Rights and Mediation Centre, Ikechukwu Ezenwuka said at the weekend that the centre recorded 303 cases from January 2018 to date.

Ezenwukwa said that 69 of the cases were resolved, while 10 were abandoned.

He said that the centre provides free services on human rights and mediation matters, especially for indigent people in society.

He said: “We do not charge any fee. Those who come for mediation cases pay N1,000 only onto the bank account of the state Internal Revenue Office.

“Once they come with their tellers showing that they paid, we issue them receipt and the process will commence,” Ezenwukwa said.

He said that the state government established the centre in the 17 local government areas of the state to provide access to justice at the grassroots level.

He said that 10 local government areas were ready for mediation activities, adding that the remaining seven had reached 50

per cent completion.

He expressed the hope that they would be ready for work in a few months time.

Ezenwukwa listed the councils that were ready to include Aninri, Nkanu East and West, Udi, Enugu East, South and North, Eziagu, Isiuzo and Oji-River.

He said that while some cases were either resolved or abandoned, some were often withdrawn, after the parties had reached a memorandum of understanding.

He said: “The Centre deals with both human right and mediation matters but mediation matters often come through written petitions.

“When the petitioners come, they are counselled and allocated to lawyers to talk to them and mediate in their cases depending on the nature.

“Some of the human right cases, were cases at the police stations,’’ Ezenwukwa said.

He said that the centre usually sent its lawyers to police stations to ascertain the number of detainees, nature of their offences and ensured they were freely resoled.

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he Hadejia Emirate Council Zakat Committee has commenced the distribution of 346 bags of assorted grains worth N1.9 million to 200 less-privileged in Auyo Local Government Area of Jigawa.

Zakat is a form of charity or alms- giving which is considered as a religious obligation in Islam.

The Spokesman of the Council, Alhaji Sani Adamu, made the disclosure in an interview in Auyo on Saturday.

He said the committee’s chairman, Alhaji Abdulwahab Abdulfatah, who was represented by the Chief Imam of Hadejia, Sheikh Yusuf Abdulrahman, inaugurated the distribution on Thursday, in Tsidir.

Adamu said the grains, which included rice, guineacorn and millet were distributed to the needy drawn from the 10 wards in the council.

He said that the wards are; Auyakayi, Auyo, Ayama, Ayan, Gamafoi, Gamsarka, Gatafa, Kafur, Unik and Tsidir.

He called on large scale farmers and wealthy indi-

viduals in the area to ensure they give out of zakat regularly.

Zakat, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, is also paid in cash and on certain number of livestock.

It is obligatory for every Muslim who is financially buoyant to pay zakat to the needy to purify his wealth and seek blessings from Allah.

Distribution of Bags of Rice

Ondo state records 102 cases of Lassa fever, 15 deaths in two months – NMA

N

o fewer than 102 people have been confirmed to be positive with Lassa fever, in addition to 15 deaths

recorded in Ondo State between January and Febuary.

Dr Wale Oke, the State Chairman of Nigerian

Doctor attending to a Lassa Fever patient

Medical Association said this in Akure.

“As at Thursday Feb. 21, 102 people have been tested positive to Lassa fe-

ver this year.

“82 people in Jan. and 20 people so far in February apart from 15 deaths recorded in January as a result of the fever but no death has been recorded so far in Feb. “Most people that died either reported late or were already subjected to alternative treatment and doing self medication before they eventually came to hospital.

“Their kidneys and livers had been affected as a result of the delay,” he said Oke, who is also a staff member at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, urged residents of the state to report early to the medical centre if they experienced upsurge of temperature in their bodies.

“We have Contact Tracing Mechanism whereby we can place on

surveillance for 21 days for those that may have contact with infected persons.

“We continue to monitor their temperature if it is above 37.8 we direct them for quick treatment,’’ he said.

According to him, the centre has the highest success rate out of the three treatment centres in Nigeria for Lassa fever treatment.

He added that the State Government had put in place measures to curtail the fever, adding that the government had declared state of emergency on health sector.

Oke explained that Ondo NMA alongside Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and others had engaged in series of sensitisation for the people of the state.

He explained that the

exercise was aimed at preventing further cases in the state.

“Since the outbreak of Lassa fever, we have been moving round all the health facilities to sensitise our people to the need to maintain universal caution and also to be vigilant about Lassa fever.

“So far, we have been to almost all the local government areas in the state.

We rounded off with Akoko last Wednesday.

“NMA is concerned with the infection, prevention and control out of the so many pillars involved in the management of Lassa fever, hence the basis for the sensitisation.’’

However, OKE revealed that Owo, Ose, Akoko North, Akure South and Akure North were the Local Government Areas in the state that had recorded cases of Lassa fever.

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WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

NEWS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

MSME represent 96% of business activities in Nigeria -DG SMEDAN T

Dr. Dikko UMaru-Radda, DG - SMEDAN

Industry experts task President Buhari on smuggling, infrastructure

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ome industry experts have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to approach the issues of smuggling, infrastructure, unemployment and improving the business environment in his second term.

The experts stated this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Saturday.

They said that the president still had a huge task in tackling the issue of smuggling and infrastructure deficit which constituted an impediment to economic growth.

Hamma Kwajaffa, DirectorGeneral of Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA) said that the challenge of smuggling and dumping of counterfeited goods was still rife in the country.

He noted that the issue had affected the capacity utilisation of the manufacturing sector, led to

dearth and downsizing of some companies, while increasing the country’s unemployment rate.

Kwajaffa said that extant law should be made punitive to recognise smuggling as a criminal economic offence.

He also urged the president Buhari to ensure the effective implementation of the various Executive Orders, especially Executive Order 3, on patronage of locally-produced goods to boost productivity and growth.

Eke Ubiji, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) urged the President Buhari to evolve policies and initiatives that would spur economic activities, job creation and infrastructure development.

He said that the government should ensure that there was no economic lull since the administration was continuing.

Moses Imayi, Project Direc-

tor, Skool Media, said that there was need to stimulate economic growth through increased investment in building the capacity of citizens to be globally competitive.

“With the growing trend of job losses and skills gap in the Nigerian labour market, government must be committed in ensuring this deficits are addressed and our labour market becomes more vibrant, adopting relevant skill sets that resonates with the twenty-first century,” he said.

Imayi said that education was pivotal to the growth of any economy, saying that government should not relent in boosting investment and relevant infrastructure that would catalyse socio-economic development.

He noted that the starting point to economic transformation was bridging the industrial skills gap, engaging technology and innovation to drive productivity.

he Director General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr Dikko Umaru-Radda, said on Saturday that Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) represented 96 per cent of business activities in the county.

Umaru-Radda said this in Bauchi at the flag-off ceremony of the Conditional Grant Scheme (CGS) in Bauchi.

Making reference to a survey conducted some time ago, he said 37 million MSME engaged 59.7 million persons, which is 84.2 per cent of labour force, contributing to 7.27 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to him, 90 per cent of the micro enterprises are informal and populated by people at the bottom of the pyramid, hence the introduction of Condition Grant Scheme (CGS) for micro enterprises in Nigeria.

He said that the process would enable informal enterprises metamorphos into formal sector, industrialize the nation, develop the rural economy, stem youth restiveness and unemployment as well as create sustainable economy growth and development.

The D-G said that the present move would target capacity building and post-intervention support services such as access to finance, markets, workspace and technology, among others.

He recalled that the scheme was first introduced in 2017 in 145 Local Government Areas of Katsina, Gombe, Ebonyi, Oyo, Akwa Ibom and Benue States.

According to him, 13,000 enterprises in the those areas benefited from entrepreneurship training, formalization of registration of businesses, provision of insurance and access to finance through grant of N50,000.

Umary-Radda said that the agency had decided to extend the scheme to Lagos, Bauchi and Sokoto States, targeting 6,000 beneficiaries, to encourage job creation, business formalization, improved productivity and capacity enhancement of the operators.

“The scheme would move the micro enterprises from the earlier informal to formal, create jobs, wealth and alleviate poverty in the society “Others are enhancing competition of these enterprises towards meeting national, regional and global standards as well as improving internally generated revenue to reduce dependence on oil revenue,” he said.

He said that the agency would work in partnership with banks, office of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, business development service providers, state and local governments, insurance companies and Corporate Affairs Commission.

Governor Muhammed Abubakar of the state, while speaking at the occasion, said that the scheme would stimulate the generation of revenue in the state.

He urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the funds to be granted to them towards industrial development of the state.

One of the beneficiaries, Karimatu Aliyu, who spoke on behalf her colleagues, thanked the federal government for the gesture and promised to utilize the funds properly.

Three groundnut oil and rice processing cooperative societies in the state benefitted from the scheme, with each member receiving a cheque of N50,000.

The groups are Gugulin Gaina Women Widows Processors Cooperative Society Ltd, Misau; Nasarawa Rice Farmers Cooperative Society, Azare and Fahimta Women and Youth Development Initiative, Kirfi.

NIMC begins diaspora enrolment in South Africa

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he National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is set to commence enrolment of Nigerian adults and children in South Africa into its database for the issuance of the National Identification Number (NIN).

The Director-General, NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, said this in a statement by the Commission’s Spokesman, Loveday Chika Ogbonna in Abuja.

Aziz said that the launch of the diaspora enrolment in South Africa was in collaboration with Thebez Global Resources Limited (TGR) in a bid to ensure that Nigerians living outside the country were not disenfranchised.

According to him, six Nigerian companies have been licensed to work with their respective partners across all countries such as Africa, Asia, Europe and America.

He listed the licensed Nigerian companies to include; Biosec Solutions Limited, CHAMS Consortium Limited, Defcon Systems Limited, National eAuthentication Limited, Thebez Global Resources and Venn Technology Limited.

Aziz said that the six companies would carry out the enrolment of Nigerian adults and children in the diaspora into the National Identity Database (NIDB).

“They will be issued with the National Identification Number upon enrolment and subsequently the General Multipurpose Card

(GMPC)’’.

He, however, said that requisite standard guidelines and regulations have been put in place to ensure the effective implementation of the National Identity Management Systems (NIMS).

He added that NIMC would ensure the provision of the right platform for providing digital identity for Nigerians and legal residents and Nigerians in diaspora.

He said that the South Africa NIN enrolment centre located at 205 Rivonia road; Morningside, Sandton, Johannesburg, 2057 will open for enrolment from Wednesday, March 6 He also added that appointments could be made through the TGR website, “http://nin.thebezglobalresource.com/”nin.thebezglobalresource.com from Monday, March 4 The director said: “it is expected that other countries will come on board on the platform of Thebez Global Resources Limited after the South Africa pilot exercise.

Thebez Global Resources Limited is a Nigerian owned firm with global presence and years of experience in identity management solutions.

The company is in the business of providing similar services by themselves and in partnership with other similar companies in diaspora jurisdictions.

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WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

COMPANIES & BRANDS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

TCN records 30,281,04 MW decrease in February, transmits 98,876.66MW

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he Federal Government recorded a decrease of 30,281.04 megawatts (MW) in power generation in February 2019, as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) transmitted 98,876.66 mw in February 2019 as against 127,157.7 mw recorded in January 2019 .

The daily statistics of TCN operations from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator (SO), a section of the TCN, indicated that the 98,876.66 mw was generated between Feb. 1 and Feb, 28, 2019.

This translates to a decrease of 30,281,04 mw as against 127,157.7mw generated between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31 .

The statistics indicated that power generation transmitted dropped by 30,281.04 mw be-

tween January 2019 and February 2019.

The energy generated in February 2019 was transmitted to 11 distribution companies (Discos).

The TCN said the national peak demand forecast stood at 19,100.00mw, while the installed available capacity was 11,165.40mw.

The current transmission capacity and network operational capacity are 7,000 mw and 5,500.00mw respectively.

The peak generation ever attained in Nigeria is 5,222.3mw, while the maximum energy ever attained stands at 109,372.01 mwh.

Ethiopian Airlines takes delivery of first B737-800 “Developed with the industry’s freighter most efficient and reliable technol-

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thiopian Airlines, the Largest Aviation Group in Africa, has taken delivery of its first B737-800 freighter, in addition to its fleet of cargo freighters.

Ethiopian Airline’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Tewolde GebreMariam, made the announcement in a statement.

GabreMariam said that the arrival of the new freighter was a significant addition that would propel both the capacity and frequency of the airline’s operation.

He stated that the B-737-800 Freighter would give the airline a new capability to serve short haul destinations in African and the Middle East more economically, which includes the export of Ethiopian meat, fruits and vegetables to the Gulf Region.

“As per our strategic roadmap, Vision 2025, we will keep introducing new systems and technologies and play an indispensable role to the socio-economic development of Ethiopia and Africa at large.

“We are excited to have taken delivery of the newest freighter a few days after being crowned with ‘African Cargo Airline of the Year’ and ‘Air Cargo Brand of the Year in Africa’ Awards for the fourth year in a row.

ogy, the new B737-800 freighter aircraft, is the newest member of the freighter family and offers greatest efficiency for the standard-body freighter market,” he said.

GabreMariam said that the freighter had a carrying capacity of more than 23 metric tons of payload, with excellent operating economics to maximize efficiency for cargo operations.

He, however, added that the Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services operates dedicated freighters from its Africa’s largest trans-shipment terminal in Addis Ababa.

According to him, Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services delivers cargo services spanning across 44 international destinations in Africa, the Gulf, Middle East, Asia, the Americas and Europe, augmenting the export of perishables from Africa and import of high value goods.

“By 2025, Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services envisions to become a full-fledged profit centre of Ethiopian Airlines Group with annual revenue of $2 billion, 19 dedicated aircraft, annual tonnage of 820,000, and 57 international destinations,” he said.

FG begins skills acquisition for budding entrepreneurs in Southwest

P

REMIER Hub Innovation Centre, the Southwest Coordinator of National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), has urged budding entrepreneurs to key into the programme scheduled to end on March 30.

The centre’s Spokesperson, Kome Brown, said in a statement in Lagos that the programme, under the Office the Vice President, was limited to upcoming entrepreneurs in the Southwest zone.

Brown said that the programme was established to fast-track industrialization in Nigeria by providing training and mentorship for a wide range of technology-enabled skills while empowering Nigerian Youths for entrepreneurship.

According to her, the programme, which is the second in its series in the Southwest, is to redefine the entrepreneurs’ product, achieve product-market fit and acquire new customers for the entrepreneurs.

She said that under the second series, budding entrepreneurs with business ideas that could transform the agricultural, manufacturing, ICT, FinTech and Health sectors of the economy would get an added advantage.

She said that such entrepreneurs could apply through www. premierhub.com.ng., adding that the entrepreneurs’ offices must be located within the six states in the Southwest.

It would recall that at the end of the boot camp of the progamme in 2018, over 73 entrepreneurs were trained while 10 start-ups were funded in the first edition.

Life pro Mills, a food manufacturing start up that is upscaling the potentials of cheap sources of vital organic nutrients through their flagship product Hiru (deodorised locust bean) emerged the overall winner of the 10 start-ups.

The firm won the N2.5 million grant at the event. The other top 9 start-ups are SmartTeller, Viamove, Momma’s bay, Agrimax, Agroconnect, Trusmart, Hikrz, Techbionics and Bubbue .

They were provided the opportunity to pitch their businesses to local and international investors for possible investment as well as exhibit their products for purchase.

COMPANIES & BRANDS

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

22

MTN leads campaign against substance abuse

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TN Nigeria has stressed the need to combat the deadly scourge of substance abuse in the country.

The Chairman, MTN Foundation, Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, said that MTN Nigeria had embarked on a campaign with industry experts to see how substance abuse would be eradicated in the country.

“In furtherance of the drive to curb the increasing rate of substance abuse in Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, under the Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) led a multi sectoral roundtable on the substance abuse ecosystem in Nigeria.

“There is also the need for intensified collaborative action among industry experts to fight this scourge.

“The forum held in Lagos was part of the Lagos State activation of the ASAP aimed at reducing the incidence of substance abuse among youths in Nigeria,’’ he said in a statement.

Adelusi-Adeluyi, said that the purpose of the campaign was to stimulate discourse among leaders of thought, policy makers and leaders from different walks of life.

He noted that the campaign would bring experts much closer toward the goal of freeing Nigeria’s future leaders from the evil attraction of drugs and possible addiction to opioids.

The Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Dr Jide Idris said that education on substance abuse was very essential.

“We all can take time to educate ourselves and others about the harmful nature of these substances.

L-R: Coordinating Manager, Freedom Foundation, Adeshola Bello; Chairman, MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi; Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Nonny Ugboma, and Director, MTN Foundation, Mr. Dennis Okoro at the Lagos Roundtable of the MTN Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) “Education on the impact that these drugs and substances of abuse have on the individual and the society as a whole should be taught and understood,’’ AdelusiAdeluyi said.

Mr Agboola Dabiri, Commissioner for Youth & Social Development, Lagos State, said that there was the need to remind the

youth of their strategic place in nation building.

“The youth are the future of Nigeria; they have a lot to give.

When we speak of the next level, you are the next level,’’ he said.

Dabiri said that on the issue of substance abuse and the ASAP initiative, “the issue of drug abuse is no longer on the roads; it is now

within our homes’’.

He thanked MTN for this opportunity and commended them for a job well done.

The state activations, which started with various activities in primary and secondary schools, motor parks, and markets, will continue with an advocacy walk that will culminate in counselling

sessions for all interested persons.

A replication of all the activities under the ASAP initiative will be in five other states – Imo, Rivers, Kano, Bauchi and Abuja in the coming months.

The overall objective is to take the ASAP initiative to the streets of Nigeria and meet the youth in their comfort zones.

Ibom Air will boost state economy British Airways releases spring Okon said.

– Commissioner operations,’’ return fares as low as $169 He debunked the fears that as

A

kwa Ibom state Commissioner for Special Duties, Akan Okon, says the newly inaugurated Ibom Airline with three aircraft, will boost Akwa Ibom’s economy when it commences full operation.

Okon said this when he conducted journalists around Ibom Airport, to inspect the aircraft in Uyo at the weekend.

He said that the aircraft would be professionally managed to ensure profitability and for it to play a key role in the economic development of Akwa Ibom.

He said that the Ibom Air was expected to grow its fleet to 10 aircraft by 2021.

According to him, the airline will create not less than 400 jobs for the teeming Akwa Ibom youth, within the first one year of operation.

The commissioner disclosed that flight operations were expected to commence as soon as the regulatory agencies give the approval.

“When you operate a new airline, it is expected that you will do what is called patrol flight on the routes and you are going to fly.

Once that is done, they will sign off for the airline to commence

a state owned company, the airline would not be capable of making good return on investment.

Okon discountenanced these fears, adding that with the commitment of the state government to the accountability and good governance, the airline would enhance the state’s economy.

According to him, the airline would draw its bulk of passengers from the South South and South East regions of the country.

He said that business travellers from the South East would prefer to make use of the airport due to the proximity to their business locations made possible by the good road network between Akwa Ibom and its neighbouring states.

“Arochukwu (in Abia State) to Uyo is only one and a half hours, while the journey to Port Harcourt takes more than three hours, so people there and environs will prefer to pass through the Victor Attah International airport in Uyo,’’ he said.

He disclosed that the recruitment process for hiring workers had been done through the proper channels as required, advising that youths with required skills and potentials in the industry had been given consideration.

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he British Airways, which is the largest airline in the United Kingdom has released a range of low fares for the spring season.

The return fares go for as low as $169(N61, 000) $2, 009 (about N730, 000) and $5, 800 (about N3 million) for economy, business and first class, respectively.

The discounted tickets are already on sale for outbound travel and will run till the 29th of March, 2019.

Speaking on the development, Kola Olayinka, British Airways Regional Commercial Manager for West Africa, stated that one of the reasons for the introduction of the promo was to increase tourism activities.

“We have introduced this promo to encourage people to visit fascinating places in the UK and Europe.

“We want them to witness Britain’s rich and diverse history and culture.”

He mentioned historic and fascinating sites that visitors could visit such as, “the pillar of rock jutting from the Atlantic, off the Scottish Isle of Lewis, which is recorded in the Guinness Book

of Records for being the windiest place in the UK. “The summit of Scaffell Pike at 978m, the highest point in England, the Museum of London, a vast facility showcasing the history of the great city from the pre-historic era to the modern day.

He added that the Museum of London had more than 1.1million objects on display, amongst many other fascinating places to relax and spend the holidays.

British Airways Aircraft in flight

The fares are exclusive of taxes, fees and surcharges and are subject to availability.

The promo is only applicable to customers who plan to travel to the United Kingdom and Europe with a minimum stay of 3 days and a maximum of 12 months.

More exotic places to visit in Europe are : the Donnington Brewery, the Eagle and Child Pub, Christ Church, Lakes Distillery and a host of others.

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WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

POLITICS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Rivers Guber: Accord Party rejects judgment recognising Barido as candidate

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he Accord Party has rejected a Federal High Court judgment, declaring a former Chairman of the party, Mr Precious Barido, as its governorship candidate in Rivers.

The National Chairman of the party, Muhammed Nalado, made the party’s position known, while briefing newsmen, on Friday.

“Mr Barido never indicated interest in contesting for the governorship position; neither did he participate in the party primary.

“The party never at any time submitted his name or particulars to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as our candidate.

“The party duly submitted the name of Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs as its candidate.

“We affirm that Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs remains our validly nominated candidate,” Nalado said.

Nalado alleged that Barido was an impostor working in collusion with the Peoples Democratic Party

A

Governor Wike casting his vote during the just concluded Presidential elections in Nigeria

(PDP) and its gubernatorial candidate in Rivers.

He insisted that Lulu-Briggs was the rightful candidate of the Accord Party, having met all the necessary requirements of the party and the INEC to contest for the 2019 guber-

natorial election in the state.

According to him, the party has appealed the judgment, asking for stay of status quo, which recognises Lulu-Briggs as the duly nominated candidate for the governorship election in Rivers.

The National Chairman of the party, however, called for peaceful conduct of the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

He also called for minimal involvement of the military in the process.

Guber/Assembly Polls: Delta PDP Leaders Hold Strategy Meeting

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ELTA State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, former Governor James Ibori and other political leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have resolved to work for all the candidates of the party to emerge victorious in the Govertnorship and State House of Assembly elections billed for March 9, 2019.

The leaders spoke yesterday (01/03/19) in an enlarged meeting of members of the party held separately for Delta South and Delta Central Senatorial Districts at Warri, Warri South local government area and Effurun, Uvwie local government areas respectively.

Governor Okowa at the meetings, said members of the PDP are true democrats as reflected in the votes cast across the state in the Presidential and National Assembly elections, stating that it was important for loose ends to be tightened for the remaining

Community leader urges Igbos in Lagos to come out and vote

few Deltans who voted for the All Progressive Congress (APC) to cast their votes for the PDP candidates in the governorship and state assembly elections.

“I thank Deltans, especially, the people of Delta South Senatorial District for doing us proud in the last elections; I am confident that going forward, on the 9th of March, Delta South and all Deltans will give our party more votes; I am also confident that people will not be selective about who to vote for; all votes should be for the candidates of the PDP, as you cast your votes for me, also vote for the House of Assembly candidates, there should be no discrimination,” the governor said while addressing the people of Delta South Senatorial District.

He also, commended the people of Delta Central Senatorial District for voting for the PDP and urged them to increase the number of votes for the party in the

March 9 elections.

According to him, “as you are going into the elections, the leaders of our party must be leading the people by remaining after casting their votes to monitor the elections and follow it up to ensure that our votes are protected.”

“The state government is the closest to the people and the government that impacts on you and we need to stay strong; as you are voting for the Governor, vote for members of House of Assembly, don’t be selective, it is not about the candidate, it is about us as members of one political party, the PDP; nobody will stop us because, God is with us; we love the peace that we have and we want things that are equitable as Deltans who believes in unity as members of one family; we should win in the 25 local government areas because, we have touched a lot of lives and there are many more lives to be touched,” Governor Okowa stated.

Chief Ibori had said at the meeting of Delta Central that, “we

From left; Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori; Delta State PDP Chairman, Barr. Kingsley Esiso and Senator James Manager, during Delta South PDP Senatorial Meeting, held in Warri.

PIX JIBUNOR SAMUEL.

are here to reassure our Governor that the Urhobos are ready to vote for him on March 9; let us prove that we can vote massively for the Governor and candidates of the PDP on March 9.”

“Mobilise without inhibitions or reservation and deliver fully for the PDP because you did it very well for me and did it for Dr Uduaghan, so, we must do it for Governor Okowa to complete eight years as we did; our Ijaw brothers, you cannot say you don’t have a stake in this government, so, you must protect your stake; the PDP has done very well for the Ijaws, we have also done very well for the Itsekiris after all, we gave you people Governor and I commend our Isoko brothers, you have to do your best, you did very well in the last elections proving that politics is not all about money,” Chief Ibori said at the meeting of Delta South Senatorial District.

He continued, “I have said it time and time again that with what the PDP has put in place for the peace and unity of Delta State, Governor Okowa by the grace of God has done four years and God will keep him as Governor for another four years; I am not in opposition with anybody, what I am saying is that we should live in peace and unity and those of you in Delta South should give us the votes that we need to deliver the party.”

Others who spoke at the meetings include Deputy Governor Burutu Otuaro, Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN), Chief Emman Amgbaduba, Hon. Val Arenyenka, Sir Plus Sinebe, Brother Emma Ogidi, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo, Dr Roland Oritsejafor, Senator Stella Omu, Chief Patrick Foyle, Hon. Funkekeme Solomon, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire and Barr. Kingsley Esiso.

They all expressed the preparedness of the party to win in the governorship and state assembly elections.

head of the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly election on March 9 2019, a community leader, Chief Desmond Duru, has cautioned Igbo community resident in Lagos state to be civil in their conduct.

There was misunderstanding between some Igbo and Yoruba communities during the Feb. 23 Presidential and National Assembly elections, leading to some people injured.

Duru expressed regret over the violence, saying that the crisis was uncalled for and at most could have been avoided.

He asked the Igbo in the state not to boycott the election, but come out and vote candidates of their choice in manner that would not depict violence.

“It is important we drum it into our ears now for us to remain civil in the way we behave in order not to incur the wrath of others.

“The lessons of what happened in some parts of the state at last election ought to guide us to know the way others feel and then accord them their respect.

“We cannot afford to engage others to fight, that is uncalled for because of election that will come and go after which we remain in enmity with others.

“There is every need for us to maintain peace in our various domain during and after the election,” he said.

He added that as critical stakeholder in the state, it would not speak well for the Igbo to be part of those that would rock the boat.

Duru also reminded them to follow due process in seeking redress of perceived wrong doing, saying that people should not take the law into their hands.

INEC officials at a polling booth

24

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

POLITICS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Igini denies manipulating presidential, NASS election results in A’Ibom M ike Igini, the Akwa Ibom Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), has denied manipulating the Presidential and National Assembly election results in the state.

Igini made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Uyo on Saturday.

He said that the allegation was not true and that the election was not manipulated.

• Mike Igini, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Akwa Ibom

Vote Kashamu for economic growth, development –Princess Oyesanwo

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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Ijebu North local Government, Princess Olarewaju Oyesanwo has urged both Ogun indigines and non indigines to vote for Peoples Democratic party gubernatorial Candidate,Senator Buruji Kashamu,in the coming election,saying a vote for PDP is a vote for economic growth,development, prompt pay-

Princess Olarewaju Oyesanwo PDP chieftain

ment of salaries and allowances in time.

She made the call during House to House campaign in Oru,Ilaooru ,Awa area on Saturday.

“Senator Buruji Kashamu is a good listener and has capability of governing the state.

He is the only mature candidate among the contestants of gubernatorial candidates in the state Oyesanwo who is also a leader in Good Women Alliance,(GWA) assured Ogun indigines that kashamu will stick to the policy of transparency and accountability .

S P B K will accelerate economic transformation through investment in critics infrastructure projects so as to drive economic growth. He will pay special attention to education and health. “ He will take communication, transport, electric power provision,security and portable water supply to the highest level.He will create jobs.He will ensure that resource are equitably distributed an enabling and conductive business environment provided.

He will continue to work on good governance, which is an essential part of economic diplomacy, promote the growth of local business”she said.

She urged Ogun people both indigines and non indigenes particularly public servants,civil society,youth,women’s group and traditional leaders to support the PDP gubernatorial candidate and all other party house Assembly candidate.

Senator Kashamu deserves our support in order to change the baton of leadership from oppressors in the state.

If you desire something better,you have to vote for Senator Buruji Kashamu.He will continue to work for the development of Ogun State and Nigeria in general,make our economy buoyant,create more jobs,reduce unemployment and social tension,its time for Ogun people to come together around one choice,One candidate,who we know will work for us”said Oyesanwo “And that candidate is Senator Buruji Kashamu.” She said.

Supplimentary Election: Ondo Senatorial candidate pleads with electorate to vote en masse

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tunba Nicholas Tofowomo, candidate for Ondo South Senatorial seat, has urged the electotate to troop out en masse to vote for him in the suplimentary election on March 9.

This was made known in a statement signed on Saturday in Okitipupa

by Olumide Akinrinlola, Director of Media and Publicity, Tofowomo Campaign Organisation.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct supplimentary election for the inconclusive one concurrently with the Governorship and State House of Assemby elections on March 9.

Tofowomo advised the electorate to rekindle their strength and hope to

vote for him and other PDP candidates for the State House of Assembly.

He also urged all PDP supporters in the district to remain calm and maintain peace, adding the the party will coast to victory in the March 9 elections.

“On the Ondo South Senatorial inconclusive election result, INEC has decided to run a supplimentary election in 52 Polling Units cuncurrently with State House of Assembly elections on March 9.

“We are urging the electorate in the south senitorial district to troop out enmasse like tbey did on Feb.23, to cast thier votes for Tofowomo and other PDP candiates for State House of Assembly.

“We enjoin all our supporters to es-

chew violence and rekindle their faith because we are sure of victory at the elections,” Tofowomo said.

“We also urge all our supporters not to renege on their faith but rekindle their hope for total victory because united we stand and divided we fall.

Tofowomo pulled 79,029 votes against his closest rival, incumbent Senator, Yele Omogunwa of All Progressives Congress (APC) who polled 51,993 votes at the Feb. 23 polls.

Prof. Kayode Onifade, the INEC Returning Officer for Ondo South, had declared the election inconclusive over various irregularities in 52 polling units, also sighting that the cancelled votes of 28,047 was higher than the leading margin of 27,036 votes.

Igini said that elections were won and lost at the polling units, saying the REC would not be at the polling units from the beginning to the close of the polls.

“The allegations are incorrect, we have a total of 2,980 polling units, I was not in any these polling units from the opening to the close of the polls.

“I have no vote to given nor will I allow anybody to manipulate the election process,” igini said.

He noted that the commission had put in place, anti-rigging devices to check election malpractice in the state.

Igini explained that the strength of the political parties were determined on the election day at the polling units.

The REC said that henceforth, no politician would have access to poll officials in the state.

“No politician will know the level of presiding and collation officers in the state.

“They can no longer be the

ones to supply ad-hoc staff that function in those categories,” Igini said.

The Akwa Ibom REC noted that the era where politicians were writing results had ended in Akwa Ibom, alleging that politicians before now carried result sheets to their houses, thumb print and rewrite results.

“What they used to do in time past is to write results but it is now that they allow people to vote their conscience.

“The era of writing results on behalf of the good people of Akwa Ibom is gone forever,” Igini said.

Reacting, Sen. Ita Enang, the Senior Special Adviser to President Buhari on National Assembly Matters, said that there were several irregularities during the Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

“The results in Akwa Ibom do not in any manner reflect the true voting and will of the people of the state.

“It was heavily and massively manipulated by the PDP in collision with an alliance with INEC’s permanent and Ad-hoc staff in the state.

“Throughout the course of the campaign, I try to personally avoid castigating INEC, i have aligned myself with all the complains that we as a party made against the Akwa Ibom REC. “And I have thought that in the course of the elections that he will display what I thought I knew about him in terms of integrity but the last elections of Feb 23, is the lowest low,” Enang alleged.

IBB Congratulates Buhari, urges him to heal wounds, restructure

F

ormer military president of Nigeria, Gen.Ibrahim Babangida, has sent a message of congratulations to President Muhammadu Buhari on his reelection for a fresh term of four years.

In a long message that dredged some of the issues that triggered some disagreement between the two leaders last year, Babangida asked Buhari not only to heal wounds from the election, but also to restructure the country and introduce ‘creative measures’ to tackle the economy.

The former military leader called restructuring agitators, ‘reasonable Nigerians”.

“The President may wish to heed to the yearnings of reasonable Nigerians for restructuring and seek all constitutional means to devolve some powers presently exercised by the Federal Government to the other tiers of government”, he said.

Babangida also asked Buhari to heal the wounds arising from the electioneering campaign and the outcome. ”The newly elected president should heal the wounds of the heated campaign exchanges by embracing those who contested alongside with him. ” The President must resist

the temptation to see them as enemies; not even opponents, but fellow compatriots who merely disagreed with him on how best to move our country forward.

He also reserved special praises for Atiku Abubakar, Buhari’s main challenger, decorating him with several adjectives, such as being ‘dogged, gallant, audacious” and his electoral support cutting across ethnic “ethnic, religious and regional lines”.

However, Atiku’s winning votes across all lines of divide was not peculiar as Buhari even outperformed him, winning at least 25 per cent in 34 states and FCT and outrightly winning 19 of the 36 states.

Atiku led in the traditional PDP states of South South and South East but struggled to win his home state of Adamawa. He also won narrowly in Ondo, Oyo, Benue, Plateau, Taraba states.

He trailed Buhari in most of the North West and North East states, and failed to make 25 per cent cut in Kano, Kebbi, Zamfara, Borno, Katsina, and Yobe.

He also lost to Buhari in Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Kwara, Nasarawa, Kwara, Ekiti, Kogi, Gombe, Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto, Jigawa and Kaduna.

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WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

NEWS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Jumia, Xiaomi partner to drive smartphone penetration in Africa

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umia, an e-commerce platform, says it has entered into partnership with Xiaomi, a Chinese electronic company, to give millions of users in Africa access to Xiaomi products.

A statement made available in Lagos said that Romain Christodoulou, the Vice President Jumia Group, disclosed this during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain recently.

Christodoulou said that the partnership was important because it would foster smartphone adoption in Africa as well as support e-commerce penetration.

Xiaomi Corporation is a Chinese electronics company with headquarters in Beijing.

Xiaomi manufactures and invests in smartphones, mobile apps, laptops, and related consumer electronics.

The Jumia VP said that the partnership was very beneficial for both companies and above all for its consumers in Africa.

“Through the partnership, Jumia will open the Mi official store on its platform and give Xiaomi access to millions of online customers across 14 countries on the continent.

“It will also be supported by an ambitious joint-market throughout 2019 leveraging on Jumia’s digital assets and Xiaomi marketing capabilities, including the Mi fan community,” Christodoulou said.

The Chief Executive Officer of

Jumia Nigeria, Mrs Juliet Anammah, in her reactions described the partnership as a welcome development.

She said that the partnership was coming at a time that Nigeria was listed among the seven countries that would contribute 700 million new mobile subscribers to hit the 6 billion mobile subscribers mark in the world by 2025.

“Availability of lower price point smartphones such as Xiaomi will deepen smartphone penetration in the country and help the country in meeting its four per cent quota of the 700 million new global mobile subscribers, as predicted by GSMA Intelligence,” she added.

“The partnership will initially cover Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Ghana, and aim to cover all other countries where Jumia operates.

“Most markets will be directly supplied from China, confirming the fast expansion of intercontinental trade in Africa, ” Anammah said.

She said that Africa had seen the rise of affordable entry-level devices from price-focused brands especially from China, which remains a key driver of smartphone adoption on the continent.

Anammah said that smartphone penetration in Africa stood at approximately 36 per cent in 2018, with the figure expected to reach about 66 per cent by 2025.

Romain Christodoulou (left), Senior Vice President, Jumia Group and Wang Xiang, Senior Vice President, Xiaomi Corporation at the signing of the agreement.

NCS advises FG to prioritise digital dev’t

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he Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to prioritise digital development in the country during his next fouryear tenure.

The Conferences’ Committee Chairman of NCS, Jide Awe made the appeal in Lagos.

According to him, the fear

AIB begins investigations into NCAT aircraft incident

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Rescuers at a Plane Crash Site.

he Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has begun investigation into the incident involving a Tampico (TB9) aircraft belonging to the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria.

The General Manager, Public Affairs, AIB, Tunji Oketunbi, made the disclosure in a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos.

The pilot of the aircraft with registration number 5N-CBP, had on March 1, made a successful forced landing at Rumi forest, Sabon Birnin,Birnin Gwari LGA, Kaduna State.

Oketunbi said the flying school had immediately notified the AIB of the incident in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations.

“From the information provided by NCAT, the aircraft was on a Test Flight being conducted by a pilot and an engineer.

“The aircraft was force landed at 2:40pm as a result of an engine failure.

“There was no fatality after the forced landing. Our team of safety investigators has commenced investigation,” he said.

of some government officials in adopting digital technology in their daily activities, which also has to do with how secured the technology is, has made technology a challenge for the country.

He added that prioritising digital technology in the country would give the sector enough room to be the alternative the country needed from oil and petroleum.

“We are expecting President Mohammadu Buhari to build on his existing achievements and progress in the Information and Communications Technology sector; even though we are not where we ought to be.

“He needs to give some direction to his administration on the need to prioritise digital development.

“It is not enough that they have been talking about finding an alternative to oil and petroleum. This is the time to look for an alternative in digital technology with a concrete action, ‘’ he said.

Awe said that digital technology was a means of being competitive and surviving as a nation.

According to him, as a nation, we do not have any choice anymore if we need to compete favourably with other climes.

He expressed concern about

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo

the plans the country had regarding smart technologies.

“We are talking about technology because really the basis of our technology is the human capital.

“We have the capacity to do this, the technologies are available but it is a challenge.

“Technology, being a challenge is because everyone ought to be embracing technology but some people are not yet technology-literate, have fear of technology because of security and also the issue of infrastructure in certain areas.

“Challenges should not stop one from moving forward; with proper planning accordingly, we will get there,” he said.

Awe also called on the government to invest in the youth and support youth innovations.

“Technology is something we have to live with and we do not need to fear something that is good for us.

“We need to get a better understanding of things, have a better plan, put security measures in place, because we cannot avoid something that can make us better just because we are afraid of it.

“Also is the political will. We need to have it because the capacity, human capital are available in Nigeria, ‘’ he said.

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WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

ICT

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Telephone subscribers increase to 174m in Jan – NCC

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he Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), says there was 174,012,136 active subscribers on the telecommunication networks in January 2019, as against 172,871,094 recorded in December 2018.

The telecommunications regulator disclosed this in its Monthly Subscriber and Operator Data made available on its website.

Active subscribers increased by 1,141,042.

According to the data, 173,625,306 of the 174,012,136 active numbers subscribe to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network services.

The GSM operators’ active customers’ figure increased by 1,139,501 in January, after the 172,485,805 subscribers recorded in December 2018.

The reports stated that out of the GSM operators, MTN had 66,665,378 users in January, showing a decrease of 467,631 from the 67,133,009 it recorded in December 2018. Globacom’s figure increased in January by 348,341 with 45,603,638 customers, as against 45,255,297 in December 2018.

Airtel had 44,970,973 subscribers in the month under review, which showed an increase of 790,489 users, from the 44,180,484 recorded in December 2018.

9mobile recorded 16,385,317 customers in January, having an increase of 468,302 subscribers, against 15,917,015 in December 2018.

The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators recorded 124,257 subscribers in the month under review, indicating a decrease of 165, from 124,092 users in December 2018.

Visafone, which is one of the two surviving CDMA operators had 119,797 customers in January 2019, showing an increase of 165 from the 119,632 recorded in December 2018.

On the other hand, Multi-Links had 4,460 in the month under re-

view, same with the record of December 2018.

The monthly subscriber/operator data showed that the Fixed Wireless Network (landline) consumers remained at 26,865 in January 2019.

One of the two landline networks, Visafone had 26,437 subscribers, while Multi-Links maintained its record of 428 customers in the month under review.

It also revealed that the Fixed Wired operators (landline) subscriber base decreased by 5,677; reducing to 107,949 users in January, as against 113,626 recorded in December 2018.

In the Fixed Wired arena, MTN Fixed moved from 5,450 users in December 2018 to 5,480 users in January 2019, thereby increasing by 30 customers.

Glo Fixed had 2,896 users in January, increasing by 17 customers from the December 2018 record of 2,879.

IpNX network moved from 2,281 subscriber base in December 2018 to 2,248 in January 2019, hence, its customers decreased by 33.

It said that 21st Century Network had 97,325 customers in

January, recording a decrease of 5,691 users from its December 2018 record of 103,016 subscribers.

The report also showed that the two Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) networks had 127,759 active users in January, as their customers increased by 7,053, from their December 2018 subscriber base of 120,706.

Of the VOIP networks, Smile Communication had 121,261 customers, giving an increase of 8,060 users to its December result of 113,201.

Ntel had 6,498 consumers subscribing to its products and services in January, showing a decrease of 1,007 users to the December 2018 record of 7,505.

The regulatory body said that Section 89, Subsection 3(c) of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 mandated it to monitor and report the state of the telecommunications industry.

“The commission is mandated to provide statistical analyses and identify industry trends with regard to: services, tariffs, operators, technology, subscribers, issues of competition and dominance.

“This is to identify areas where regulatory intervention will be needed.

Prof. Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC

“The commission regularly conducts studies, surveys and produces reports on the telecommunications industry.

“Therefore, telecommunica-

tions operators are obligated, under the terms of their licenses, to provide NCC with such data on a regular basis for analytical review and publishing,” NCC said.

...Internet users hit 113.8m in January

I

nternet users in Nigeria increased marginally to more than 113.8 million in January 2018, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said.

The NCC made this known in its Monthly Internet Subscribers Data for January 2019 posted on its website.

The data showed that overall internet users increased to 113,875,204 in January 2019 from the 111,632,516 recorded in December 2018, showing an increase of 2,242,688 new subscribers.

According to the data, Airtel and MTN gained more internet subscribers during the month under review, while 9mobile and Globacom were the big losers.

The breakdown revealed that

MTN gained more with 2,o31, 214 new internet users in January 2019, increasing its subscription to 45,931,171 as against 43,899,957 in December 2018.

It further showed that Airtel was second, gaining new users in the month under review, increasing its subscription to 30,460,528 in January 2019 as against 29,757,791 in December 2018.

It said that Globacom lost 454,409 internet users, decreasing its subscription in January 2019 to 27,600,539 from 28,054,948 recorded in December 2018.

The NCC data further showed that 9Mobile also lost 36,854 internet users in January 2019 with 9,882,966 as against 9,919,820 recorded in December 2018.

Buhari’s re-election: CAPDAN seeks intervention fund for ICT industry

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President Muhammadu Buhari

he Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) has called on President Muhammudu Buhari to facilitate the provision of intervention fund for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry.

CAPDAN President, Adeniyi Ojikutu who made the call in Lagos also suggested training of ICT professionals in the Computer village at Ikeja and other prominent ICT sales outlets.

Ojikutu said that the intervention fund and training would contribute meaningfully to the nation’s economy.

According to him, the intervention fund will be similar to the agriculture intervention fund.

He congratulated President Buhari, saying that the ICT industry had enormous potential and the government should assist to ensure the potential are adequately tapped.

According to him, the association has transformed the Computer village to a near formal sector but government needs to provide the requisite business training, technical training and engineering training for the business community.

“The training will improve

the professional standards of engineers in the Computer village and will also improve their contributions to the country’s economy.

“Ultimately, it will affect the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and improve the country’s economy,’’ Ojikutu said.

According to him, ICT can be said to be the second contributor to the nation’s GDP, so there is need for government’s contributions.

He, however, urged the Federal Government to come up with more policies that would improve the ICT sector.

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

NEWS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Ekiti Govt. pays N24m WAEC administrative charges for candidates

T

he Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has approved N24 million for the payment of administrative charges for 13,390 candidates in public secondary schools across Ekiti schools.

Beneficiaries are candidates who will be writing the April/May 2019 WAEC Senior School Cer-

tificate Examinations.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ayodeji Ajayi, disclosed this in his office in Ado Ekiti.

He said that the state government paid N1,85O per student to cover both the administrative charges and other incidental ex-

penses relating to the examination for each of 13,390 candidates.

Ajayi, who warned that any school caught in examination malpractice would be punished accordingly, reminded the Principals of the position of the State government on examination malpractice.

He said that the Kayode Fayemi-led administration has a zero tolerance for examination

malpractice.

The Permanent Secretary, however, disclosed that Vice Principals, who had served for over 20 years would henceforth be engaged in supervision of Certificate Examinations in the State.

He, therefore, called on Principals in the state not to collect any money from any candidate who would be writing the examination.

Governor Kayode Fayemi

Youth NGO calls for the release of N-Power workers in DSS custody

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he Concerned Youth Empowerment Association of Nigeria, an NGO, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to ensure the release of NPower workers in the Department of State Security DSS custody.

In a statement, the National President, Comrade Noble Adaelu, said that the workers, Gaius Nnadi and Felix Obisike, were arrested on Feb. 15, for allegedly being in possession of INEC election result sheets.

Adaelu said that the voluntary workers were arrested at the cam-

paign office of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Abia.

He said that all workers of Npower and other beneficiaries of social investment programmes in the state had earlier received a text message invitation to attend a meeting with the Special Adviser to the President, Mrs Maryam Uwais, at the campaign office.

According to him, our enquiry revealed that the message did not emanate from the office of the focal person of social investment programme in the state, Chinenye Nwaogu.

Adaelu said that a counter

N-Power Skill Acquisition Programme

message was however, sent from the office of the focal person, urging workers to ignore the message and not to attend the meeting.

According to him, Nnadi and Obisike arrived at the venue at different times they were arrested and beaten up by men of the campaign office.

They were accused of foiling the proposed meeting.

Adaelu said that the DSS later came to the rescue of the boys and they had been in detention since then.

He called for the arrest and prosecution of those who were behind the maltreatment and assault of the voluntary workers.

In a separate interview with the Social Investment Programme Focal Person in the state, Nwaogu, confirmed the incident.

Nwaogu said that he put a distress call and sent messages to the DSS as well as the Commissioner of Police in the state when he heard of the incident.

The focal person said that he directed Obisike to send the message to inform N-Power workers not to attend the meeting as the message did not originate from his office.

He accused the APC gubernatorial candidate in the state, Uche Ogah, of trying to hijack the Social Investment programme in the state for political gains.

Nwaogu said he has a running

battle with Ogah over how social investment programmes should run in the state.

He said efforts to have the workers released proved abortive, even after the INEC Resident Officer, in the state had dismissed any case of missing document in a press conference.

When the News Agency of Nigeria contacted Ogah in a telephone interview, he confirmed that the boys were arrested in his campaign office.

He explained that some NPower beneficiaries, who wanted to campaign for President Muhammadu Buhari, were supposed to meet at his campaign office on the day of the incident.

Ogah said that workers in his office, who had worked hard ahead of the gubernatorial election were angry to find result sheet with some people not connected to INEC. The candidate, however, said that he called in the DSS and urged his staff not to be angry but handover the matter to the security agency.

On allegation of trying to hijack the N-Power programme, Ogah said that there was no need to respond to such allegation.

When contacted, the DSS spokesman in Abuja, Peter Afunanya, said he was not aware of the matter and could not speak on it.

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Gov. Obaseki inaugurates 17 members into Edo PHC board

G

ov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo state has inaugurated a 17-member State Primary Health Care (PHC) Board to ensure an efficient and effective healthcare system.

Inaugurating the board on Friday in Benin, Obaseki charged them to ensure quality service healthcare delivery to the people of the state.

“For us in Edo, our Primary Healthcare system is most paramount and should be built on several pillars, which includes human capacity, provision of technology, quality assurance, financing and infrastructure,” he said.

The governor said that the inauguration was to formalise the process that started over six months ago of working with a consultant to build 20 Primary Health Care Centres across the state.

Obaseki outlined the key functions of the board as to initiate, organise and sponsor programmes for effective healthcare management and manpower development.

“Creation of public awareness is of importance to public healthcare in the state,” he charegd.

He said that the members were also expected to regulate the appointment, promotion, transfer and discipline of staff of the agencies.

Dr Victor Iyekekpolo, the Chairman of the Board, appreciated the efforts of the governor for repositioning the state healthcare sector.

Iyekekpolo however urged the governor to expedite action on the proposed amendment to the Edo Primary Healthy Care Development Board Bill.

“It would help provide legal framework for the successful implementation of Primary Health Care Policies and Programmes in the state,” he said.

He commended the governor for considering them worthy to serve as members of the board, pledging that they would not fail in performing their duties effectively and efficiently.

Governor Godwin Obaseki

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

SPORTS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

28

Gateway United to take on Sunshine Stars, Osun United during pre-season tour

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ateway United Football Club of Abeokuta on Saturday said it had concluded plans to face Sunshine Stars and Osun United FC during their pre-season tour which began on Sunday.

Moses Oyewunmi, the club’s Media Officer, in a statement in Abeokuta disclosed that the club would face Sunshine Stars FC on Sunday.

“The match against the 2018/2019 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side would hold at the Akure Township Stadium.

“Thereafter, the team will travel to Osogbo to take on Osun United on Monday,’’ he said.

Oyewunmi quoted the club’s Head Coach, Akeem Busari, as saying the tour was an avenue to test the strength of his players against top sides.

The coach had added that it would as well help to assess their preparedness for the 2018/2019

Nigeria National League (NNL) season which was being expected to start soon.

“We are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that our players are fine-tuned and are poised to do well in the new season.

“To secure the elusive top flight ticket, adequate preparation is required and we have not faltered in this aspect, thanks to the management of Gateway United for making this happen.

“Having played non-league clubs with huge victories, top friendlies of this nature are also needed for proper assessment of our players.

“So, we expect to have good games against these teams,” Busari was further quoted as saying.

Oyewunmi also quoted the club’s Acting General Manager, Niyi Soleye, as backing Busari’s words by saying all hands were on deck to play more quality friendlies before the league’s kick-off.

Bundesliga: Ji strikes twice as Etoile Sportive du Sahel coach says Augsburg shock Borussia Dortmund his players ready to stun Rangers

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undesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund slumped to a shock 2-1 loss at Augsburg.

Augsburg forward Ji Dong-won scored twice to give champions Bayern Munich the chance to draw level at the top.

Dortmund, whose captain and top scorer Marco Reus returned after a month out through injury, are on 54 points, three ahead of Bayern.

The Bavarians travel to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. Dortmund had led the standings by seven points.

Their second league loss of the season came before next week’s Champions League round of 16 second leg against Tottenham Hotspur following their 3-0 defeat in London last month.

The Ruhr valley club, who beat Bayer Leverkusen last week to end a five-game winless run in all competitions, struggled to reach the Augsburg box and the hard-working hosts took control.

South Korea international Ji stunned the visitors in the 24th minute when he shook off two defenders to fire in from close range.

Dortmund, who had two chances late in the first half, were toothless for much of the second period.

They went 2-0 down when Ji beautifully chipped the ball past keeper Roman Buerki in the 68th minute.

Dortmund substitute Paco Alcacer notched his 13th league goal in the 81st to cut the deficit but despite late pressure they could not find an equaliser.

Fifteenth-placed Augsburg held firm to move further away from the relegation zone.

E

toile Sportive du Sahel (ESS) coach Roger Lemerre on Saturday said his players were ready to pick at least a point against Rangers International Football Club on Sunday in Enugu.

Rangers are hosting the visiting Tunisian side from Sousse in the reverse fixture of their 2018/2019 CAF Confederation Cup Group B pairing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium.

The former CAF Champions League winners arrived on Friday for the Match Day 4 fixture with a 40-man delegation.

They arrived very optimistic of getting a victory, going by the fact that they were able to beat Rangers 2-1 last

weekend to halt their unbeaten run on the continent.

Speaking during a media briefing on Saturday, Lemerre said his club would work hard to get the maximum points to boost their chances of qualifying for the final stages.

The Frenchman who was a coach of Morroco, Tunisia and France at different times said his players’ confidence level was quite high.

“The players and technical crew are determined to come out victorious in this match,’’ he said.

Also, the team’s captain, Abdar Sethi, while noting that Rangers are formidable and a tactical and pacy side, however said “but we will curtail their forays’’.

Kane, Lloris help rescue EPL point for Tottenham against Arsenal

A

Augsburg forward Ji Dong-won (middle) ruins Dortmund with brace

rsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a 90th minute penalty kick as a scrappy north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur ended in a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

Hugo Lloris got down low to keep out the substitute’s poor kick and rescue a below par Tottenham who had equalised in the 74th minute through Harry Kane’s penalty kick.

Arsenal, bidding to close the gap to their arch-rivals to one point, had taken the lead in the 16th minute when Aaron Ramsey broke clear after a mistake by Davinson Sanchez.

Kane had a first-half header ruled out for offside, but Tottenham struggled to create chances as a third English Premier League defeat in succession for the first time since 2012 loomed.

Alexandre Lacazette had wasted a good chance to make it 2-0 to Arsenal, but it was the man who replaced him, Aubameyang, who cost his side victory.

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NEWS

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Association urges FG, investors to patronise artisans to reduce housing deficit

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lhaji Fasasi MuhammedJamiu, National President, Builders And Construction Skilled Artisans Association of Nigeria (BACSAAN) has called on government and investors to patronise building artisans directly to enhance affordable hous-ing and greatly reduce its deficit.

Muhammed-Jamiu made the call on Sunday in a congratulatory message to President Muhammadu Buhari over his re-election, signed by him in Abuja.

According to him, the Buhariled government has been shown commitment to reducing housing deficit,adding the association has also subscribed to that goal., He said members of the association had crucial role to play in reducing housing deficit in the country, if effectively patrinused by government and investors.

NAN reports that housing deficit in the country hovered between 17 million and 20 million housing units, increasing by about 900,000 units annually in a nation of over 180million people.

“The major hindrance to significant reduction of housing deficit is high cost of housing to majority of the populace who are low income earners. ” That cost can be reduced if governments and housing investors directly engage artisans in their projects across the country.

“If there is land, two to three bedroom flats can be completed between N4 million and N5 illion in major cities like Abuja. This will further reduce,interms of cost, if the buildings are in block of flats. ” But the market prices in such areas go for 10 million to 15 million, which naturally makes it difficult for low income earners to buy them.

“Most middle men in government and private housing projects inflate cost of labour but pay peanuts to our members who toil round the clock on the sites. ” High percentage of the cost usually go to the middlemen who makes it difficult for low income earners to get afford-able homes,” he said.

The association’s president also said some property owners and middle men did not only inflate cost of labour but also compromised standard of materials and safety.

“We, the artisans know the right materials for quality work but we are

helpless whenever those engaging us procure substandard or inadequate ones. ” Our efforts to report such sharp practices to regulatory bodies often put us at the receiving end. ” Such situation accounts for 99 per cent of building collapses and defects.”

Muhammed-Jamiu said the association got better attention under Buhari’s administration and would fully cooperate with the government to achieve its people -oriented programmes.

He called for the provision of more logistics for the Federal Ministry

of Power, Works and Housing to boost its effit in reducing in the provision if affordable house for the masses.

This he said was important especially as the Buhari government warmed to take the nation to the next level of development, in its second term.

He commended the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Council for the Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN) for engaging the association in their bid to eradicate substandard projects in the country.

Herbert Wigwe

Food insecurity, contributory factor affecting incidence of malnutrition - Expert A Consultant Family Physician, Dr Oluwajimi Sodipo, says food insecurity is a major contributory factor affecting the incidence of malnutrition in Nigeria.

Sodipo, who works at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, made this known in Sunday in Lagos.

He spoke against the backdrop of the 2019 International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) marked annually on March 3.

The theme is: “End Malnutrition: Protect the Future of the Nigerian Child.“ Sodipo said: “When we are talking about malnutrition, there is a spectrum; some people are under-nourished, while some are actually overnourished.

“It is very difficult for people to actually get the type of food

that they need on either form of the spectrum.

“For those under-nourished, they cannot get the basic foods they need including protein, fats, and carbohydrates; so that they can actually get to the weight they should be, to help them live healthy lifestyles and fight infections.

“Again, some group of people have less exposure to the right type of healthy lifestyle choices.

“For instance, if you are hungry, it is cheaper to buy foods that are not nutritious and will predispose you to obesity.

“It is more expensive to buy fruits and vegetables; the general problem is food insecurity in the coun-try,.“ The physician urged the government to develop a food policy that would address food insecurity by ensuring that

healthy food choices were necessarily available all year round.

“What we see in Nigeria at certain periods of the year, depending on rainfall and other factors, you have situations where basic foods that you need and are healthy lifestyle choices are not available.

“But, where they are available, they are very expensive; at other times of the year, the foods are ac-tually available; in fact, in abundance and they now waste.

“We need to ensure that when those healthy food choices are available, they can be stored in such a way that they can actually get to everybody that needs it at the right time.

“By the time we have food security, the issue of variation in the prices of a lot of these common foods we actually

need, will come to an end.

“Also, once there is price stability, people can actually eat those healthy food choices and make a lot of progress,“ the expert said.

He also said that there was need for people to be educated on the types of healthy food choices they could make.

According to him, education on healthy food choices has to be clear and constant; hence, there has to be a standard programme or information that everybody can benefit from.

Access, Diamond Banks to jointly commemorate International Women’s Day

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ccess Bank Plc, says it is still committed to women as it is set to jointly mark the International Wom-en’s Day, 2019 with Diamond Bank Plc while both look forward to the successful completion of a merger process.

Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director of the bank, said on Sunday in Lagos that Access Bank was constantly in support of women, particularly by promoting women-focused initiatives.

“At the core of our services is catering to the needs of women and we are constantly gearing efforts towards promoting women-focused initiatives and providing opportunities to help them maximise their potential.

“One of the reasons we are going to host a breakfast conference is to help women overcome limita-tions as well as reach their best potential,” Wigwe said in a statement by Mr Abdul Imoyo, Head, Me-dia Relations of the bank.

“As we expand with the merger, and continue on our journey to building Africa’s biggest retail bank, our women now have more innovative offerings that they can explore to make themselves and their businesses better.”

Corroborating the assertion, Head of Affluent Banking at Diamond Bank, Dolapo Orelaja, said the joint conference between Diamond and Access Bank had been organised to equip women with the knowledge.

Orelaja said they also required skills that would grow their businesses, develop themselves and stay relevant in the fast changing business environment of today.

“We are very passionate about women and their progress in life,” she added.

The bank said the day would be celebrated with a two-day event involving a breakfast conference with a theme: “Balance for Better” holding from March 13 to March 14.

It said both banks would host women across various industries to a breakfast conference at Eko Hotel and Suites on the second day of the conference, March 14, 2019.

Ms Ada Udechukwu, Head of Women Banking, Access Bank Plc, said the bank remained passionate about the women and their overall well-being.

“We are interested in their growth in family life, career, health and other areas. We will continue to provide platforms and support programmes that will enhance their businesses.

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WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

PHOTOSPEAK

Wole Famurewa, Market Editor, West Africa, CNBC/Moderator; Dr. Doyin Salami, Senior Lecturer, Lagos Business School (LBS); Abosede Alimi, Director, Strategy, Partnerships and Stakeholder Management, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF); Dr. Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, Group Chief, Sustainability and Governance, Dangote Industries Limited, and Mr. Kola Aina, Founding Partner, Ventures Platform Limited,

-L-R, Ibrahim Aliyu, chairman North South Power Company Limited (NSP), Olubunmi Peters, vice chairman NSP Company Limited, Sunny Anene, group executive director, United Capital Plc and Irene Chegbu, independent director NSP Company Limited during the signing of MoU on offer for subscription of #8.5 billion under a #50 billion Medium Term Bond Programme held in Abuja.

L-R : Managing Director,Bank of Industry, Mr Olukayode Pitan; Chairman,Bank of Industry,Mallam Aliyu AbdulRahman Dikko; Former Minister of Industy,Chief Nike Akande; Retired Executive Director,Bank of Industry,Dr Waheed Olagunju with his wife Mrs Bolaji during the send- Forth dinner in honour of Dr Waheed Olagunju as he retired as Executive Director of BoI in Lagos.

Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (middle); former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori (right) and Delta State Deputy Governor, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro, during Delta South PDP Senatorial Meeting, held in Warri. PIX; JIBUNOR SAMUEL.

No going back on UTME biometrics says JAMB

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he Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), says it will not rescind its decision on the use of biometrics in the conduct of its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

This is contained in the board’s weekly bulletin issued on Sunday in Lagos.

According to the bulletin the importance of biometrics in the conduct of the board’s examination can-not be overemphasised.

It noted that the Biometrics Verification Machine (BVM) was introduced by the board in an attempt to get rid of the numerous forms of examination malpractice.

It said the BVM was a security mechanism used for the authentication of candidates’ identity as it pro-vided access to the individual data, based on physiological characteristics.

“The core value of a biometric verification process lies in its ability to provide extra layers of security and protection against counterfeiting and impersonation.

“The increasing threat of identity fraud during the board’s UTME before the advent of the BVM neces-sitated its introduction for capturing biometrics of candidates to counter fraud.

“The candidate’s 10 fingers are captured during registration and are used as clearance to admit them into the examination hall.

“There are various types of biometric solutions but JAMB opted for finger print recognition, to elimi-nate all forms of infractions.

“Biometric security is surely a breakthrough for the board, because the finger prints recognition tech-nology provides a greater degree of security as it is impossible to steal, forget, loose or compromise data already captured.

“Therefore, the adoption of biometrics in the conduct of our examination is here to stay,” the bulletin noted.

It reassured candidates that their finger prints would not be used for any purpose other than identifi-cation.

According to the bulletin, the benefits of the BVM are immense and indispensible to the assessment process.

The board had prior to the commencement of the sales of its 2019 registration documents

on Feb. 10, warned that it would not reschedule any examination for candidates with biometric issues.

It added that candidates with issues of biometrics must visit the board’s headquarters in Abuja to be captured.

The bulletin noted that out of a total of 52 candidates with such challenges nationwide, only 22 showed up at the board’s headquarters for the process.

Meanwhile the bulletin also noted that the slash in the UTME fee by the Federal Government had in-creased the number of candidates who want to sit for the examination.

It said government had announced the reduction of the fees for the examination from N5, 000 to N3, 500.

The board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin had told NAN in an interview that over 1.8 million candidates had registered for the examination.

“The board had in the past six weeks put its UTME and Direct Entry application documents from Feb. 10 to Feb. 21.

“Many candidates been interviewed disclosed that they were encouraged to register when they dis-covered that they could afford the new fees,” the bulletin said.

Ishaq Oloyede

From left: Project Manager, Clarion Events West Africa (CEWA), Mr. Joseph Otu-Oru; President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN); Engr. Mansur Ahmed; and the Director General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir; during MAN and RMRDC press conference on the forthcoming 2019 Nigeria Manufacturing and Equipment Expo (NME), held at MAN House, Ikeja in Lagos.

Manager, Card Operations, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Peter Ashaolu; Head Girl, Miss Hannah Olugbemi; Principal, Mr. Adeoye Adebowale; Head Boy, Master Oluwaferanmi Aribisala, all of Ilupeju Senior Secondary School; and from the Legal Services Department of Stanbic IBTC, Mr. Uyi Uhunmwangho, during the bank’s Employees Volunteering and Mentorship Programme at the school in Lagos.

Commissioner for Higher Education, Engr. Jude Sinebe (left) and Directorate of Youth Development, Mr. Oghenekaro Ilolo, during Delta South PDP Senatorial Meeting, held in Warri.

31

WESTAFRICA BUSINESSNEWS

Social DIARY

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Davido, Adesua, IK make 2019 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards list

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hree Nigerian stars, Davido, Adesua Etomi-Wellington and IK Osakioduwa, have been nominated for the 2019 Nickelodeon kids’ Choice Awards scheduled for March 23, in Los Angeles, California, USA. According to the list of nominees released by the organisers, Davido was nominated in the ‘Favourite Global Music Star’ category alongside American artistes J Balvin and Taylor Swift.

Other contenders for the category were Blackpink from Asia, David Guetta and HRVY from Europe.

Award-winning Actress, Etomi-Wellington and media personality IK Osakioduwa were nominated in the ‘Favourite African Star’ category.

American DJ Khaled clinched nomination for favourite male artist and favourite collaboration for “No Brainer,” featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo and Chance the Rapper.

Other stars listed for major awards include: Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Camila Cabello, and Shawn Mendes.

The Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, now in its 32 edition, is an annual American children’s awards ceremony show produced

by Nickelodeon, American cable channel for children.

The show honours the year’s biggest television, movie, and music acts as voted by viewers worldwide of Nickelodeon networks.

This year’s award ceremony which will be hosted by DJ Khaled, is scheduled for March 23, at the Galen Center.

Int’l Women’s Day: Tonto Dikeh to host 10 ordinary Nige-

Davido (David Adeleke)

Adesua Etomi-Wellington

rian women Popular Nigerian Actress, Tonto Dikeh, has announced plans to host 10 ordinary Nigerian women to some luxury come March 8.

Dikeh disclosed this on her Instagram page, saying that the event would be in commemoration of the 2019 Women’s Day celebration.

The International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 every year. It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.

After the Socialist Party of America organised a Women’s Day on Feb. 28, 1909 in New York, the 1910 International Socialist Woman’s Conference suggested a Women’s Day be held annually.

The theme for the 2019 International Women’s Day is #BalanceforBetter.

Dikeh, who has over three mil-

lion followers on Instagram, has promised to make the day great for the chosen women.

According to her, the event which has the title, “10 women with Tonto’’ will treat women to a lunch date, makeovers, shopping, heart to heart talk, amongst others.

The celebrity said that the event aimed at hosting women from all walks of life, ranging from food vendors, market women to the least woman in the society.

“The Tonto Dikeh Foundation plans to give start-up funds to the 10 women for their businesses,’’ she wrote.

Dikeh added that the event also aimed at celebrating the achievements of women in the society.

The celebrity called on wellmeaning Nigerians to support the planned event.

First Bank marks 125th anniversary

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irst Bank of Nigeria has assured that it would remain committed to the development and growth of Nigeria as well as the financial industry through enhanced service delivery.

Dr Adesola Adeduntan, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, stated this at its 125 years anniversary flag hoisting in Lagos.

Adeduntan said that the bank, a long-standing institution, had impacted the nation and the world through various financial products and services.

“From that very modest beginning in 1894, First Bank has traversed an incredible journey of delivering impeccable financial services to its customers and supporting the building of the modern-day Nigeria and indeed, West Africa, including our early pivotal role as the monetary and fiscal policy regulator for the entire West African region,” he said.

He said the bank had provided topclass financial services to the country and citizenry and had supported in the past 125 years and would continue in that direction in the future.

“As a long-standing institution, which even predates Nigeria as a unified entity, FirstBank is entrenched in the nation’s development; woven into the very fabric

of society, with our involvement in every stage of national growth and development.

“At the amalgamation, independence and through the seasons ever after, we have been here marching hand-in-hand with you and our dear nation. We have enabled financial, technological, industrial and societal advancements, achieving very many firsts over time,” Adeduntan said.

He noted that the institution was celebrating 125 years of unbroken business operations in Nigeria; 125 years of supporting and enabling dreams; 125 years of resilience and relevance.

Adeduntan added that it was celebrating 125 years of trust, safety and security as well as 125 years of long term value to all stakeholders.

He said that the bank was now building for the next 125 years and beyond and would continue to maintain its leadership position.

The chief executive officer said that hoisting of the flag symbolises the identity, impact, permanence and reverence of an institution.

He said that the bank was among the few companies in the world that survived over 100 years of existence.

Also speaking, Dipo Fatokun of the Central Bank of Nigeria,

lauded the bank for its achievement in the development of the financial sector and Nigeria as a whole.

Fatoku said that integrity was very important in the banking industry, adding that First Bank had remained a major player both in human capital development and financial service delivery.

Some of the dignitaries at the event were the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, former CBN Governor, Mr Joseph Sanusi, Mrs Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Dr Omobola Johnson, former Minister of Communication Technology and Mrs Nike Akande, among others.

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, MD, First Bank

IK Osakioduwa

Afreximbank names another Nigerian Head of IT

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he African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has named another Nigerian, Olaleye Babatunde, as director of its Information Technology (IT) Department, the third in a week.

Obi Emekekwue, Director and Global Head of Communications and Events Management in Afreximbank, said this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.

It would be recalled that on Monday, the bank appointed Humphrey Nwugo as Regional Chief Operating Officer for its Harare-based Southern Africa Regional Office.

Also on Wednesday, the bank named a Nigerian, Maureen Mba, as director for its Compliance Department.

Emekekwue said Babatunde would be responsible for leading Afreximbank’s strategy on information technology in support of the bank’s mandate and medium-term strategy.

He said Babatunde had headed the bank’s Information Technology Unit as a Senior Manager since February 2014 when he joined the bank.

He added that prior to that he was the Chief Information Officer/Deputy General Manager at Stanbic IBTC Bank, Nigeria.

Babatunde holds an MBA from the Lagos Business School in 2004.

He holds M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Lagos in 1998 and a B.Sc., also in computer science, from the University of Ibadan in 1995.

Afreximbank is the foremost pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extraAfrican trade.

Afreximbank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors and nonAfrican investors.

Since 1994, it has approved more than $67 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including $7.2 billion in 2018.

Afreximbank has a total asset of $11.9 billion as at Dec. 31, 2017 and is rated BBB+ (GCR), Baa1 (Moody’s), and BBB(Fitch).