BusinessDay 17 Aug 2017

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NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **THURSDAY 17 AUGUST 2017 I VOL. 14, NO 418 I N300 @ g 

Nigeria’s bogus auto policy 

pushes car prices up 200% 

Dims hope of car ownership for middle-class 

MIKE OCHONMA 

Prices of brand new vehicles 

sold in Nigeria 

have risen by more 

than 200 percent between 

2014 and 2017 

and are now out of the reach 

most individuals and corporate 

buyers who need them for their 

business. 

The significant rise in the 

prices of brand new vehicles 

has been blamed largely on the 

bogus auto policy, which raised 

import duty on cars to 35 percent 

in addition to a 35 percent levy, 

amounting to 70 percent, as well 

as a weaker naira. 

Analysts say the policy automatically 

raises the prices 

of cars by 70 percent, pricing 

out the middle-class and other 

low income earners in need of 

mobility. 

Added to this, is the weaker 

exchange rate of the naira that 

is compounded by the increase 

in duties and levies on imported 

new vehicles. 

According to industry watchers, 

the 70 percent increase in 

taxes on imported new vehicles, 

along with the 86 percent fall in 

exchange rate of the naira from 

N196 to the dollar, to relative 

stability at N365 in recent times, 

including other incidental expenses 

at the ports and company 

overhead costs, have combined 

to force prices of vehicles northwards. 

Many individuals who can no 

longer afford the new cars have 

resorted to maintaining their 

old cars for extended periods of 

time, even as prospects of workable 

financing schemes remain 

unavailable. 

Many banks accustomed to 

Continues on page 2 

L-R: Kola Garuba, executive director, sales and marketing, BusinessDay; Oghenevwoke Ighure, executive 

director, digital services; Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria, and Zebulon Agomuo, editor, 

BDSunday, during their visit to Obasanjo, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun 

State, yesterday. 

Pic by Olawale Amoo 

Inside 

Nigerians pay 

N400 billion as 

bribes in 2016 

P. 2 

FG seeks new 

economic 

frontiers on 

$41bn rail 

modernisation 

investment 

P. 2 

Public debt 

burden: 

Dollar-backed 

t-bills as a 

breather 

– Uche Uwaleke 

P. 10 

Parenting: 

The world’s 

toughest job 

– Omagbitse 

Barrow 

P. 11 

Foreign investors, Wapic in race to acquire Ensure Insurance 

Insurance was acquired by Prudential, 

a major global insurer 

…analysts say its thumbs up for local industry based in the United States of 

including Hollard of South Africa, 

Allianz of Germany and a by Greenoak Global Hold- 

BusinessDay investigations 

was acquired three years ago markets. 

America. 

MODESTUS ANAESORONYE 

The case of Ensure Insurance 

is even more interesting. 

The Nigerian insurance local Nigerian company, Wapic ing Limited of UK, a London reveal that the foreign companies 

are already talking with 

industry landscape is Insurance Plc, are jostling to based investment firm, focused 

This company was known as 

about to witness another 

major change, Ensure Insurance Plc, for- 

insurance businesses in fast- 

Nigeria, for a possible acquisi- 

acquire Ensure Insurance Plc. on building market-leading the owners of Ensure, outside 

Union Assurance and not doing 

particularly well, but turnas 

three international insurers, merly Union Assurance Plc, growing frontier and emerging tion, a few weeks after Zenith 

Continues on page 4

2 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Thursday 17 August 2017 

NEWS 

Nigerians pay N400 billion as bribes in 2016 

...customs officers, judges, police are highest bribe takers 

A 

National Bureau 

of Statistics’ (NBS) 

survey has shown 

that Nigerians paid 

about N400 billion 

or $4.6 billion as bribes in 2016. 

The survey, which was conducted 

between June 2015 and 

May 2016, was supported by the 

United Nations Office on Drugs 

and Crime (UNODC) and the 

European Union, wanted to assess 

the quality and integrity of 

public services in Nigeria. The 

amount paid as bribes by Nigerians 

to public officials was 

TELIAT SULE 

equivalent to 50 percent of the 

internally generated revenue 

(IGR) of the 36 states of the federation 

in 2016. 

Ninety-two percent (92%) of 

the bribes paid were in cash. And 

when compared with countries 

such as Afghanistan, Iraq and 

Western Balkans, surveyed by 

UNODC on similar issue, at 92 

percent, Nigeria and Iraq are 

countries where bribes are paid 

the most in cash. 

“Corruption is the bane of 

any progressive society. It stifles 

entrepreneurship, professionalism 

and erodes the value of 

hard work and honesty, and is 

Nigeria’s bogus auto policy pushes car... 

Continued from page 1 

changing cars for top executives 

every four years, have suspended 

the practice, due to high cost of 

procuring the new vehicles. 

The impact has been seen in a 

sharp drop in the sale of new vehicles 

in the country, resulting in 

the closure of many car dealerships 

and the consequent loss of jobs. 

The Federal Government had 

in 2013 increased the duties and 

levies on imported new vehicles, 

to encourage local auto assemblers 

through some incentives under 

the 2013-2023 National Automotive 

Industrial Development Plan 

(NAIDP) as supervised by the 

National Automotive Design and 

Development Council (NADDC). 

A sample list of car prices from 

the Koreans, Japanese and German 

manufacturers, which come 

in various engine capacities across 

model ranges, exclusively obtained 

by BusinessDay, showed that 

prices have more than doubled 

between 2014 and 2017. 

In 2014, a brand new Kia Cerato 

1.6 litre automatic transmission saloon 

car sold for N3.96 million but 

now costs N9.54 million in 2017, 

while a Kia Picanto 1-liter engine 

capacity, which cost N2.25m three 

years ago, is now sold for N4.95 

million in 2017. 

Toyota Corolla 1.6 liter GLI automatic 

transmission fabric sold for 

N4.45 million three years ago, now 

costs N18.9 million. 

In the same period, a Mercedes- 

Benz C200 luxury sedan, which 

was sold with a dealership price 

tag of N10.5 million, costs N25 

million in 2017, while a Mercedes 

G63AMG model which previously 

sold at N50 million, presently 

wears a price tag of N78 million. 

This shows a price jump of over 

100 percent and this applies to other 

brands of vehicles in the market, 

apart from those manufactured in 

Korea, Japan or Germany. 

According to Kunle Ade-Ojo, 

Managing Director/CEO, Toyota 

Nigeria Limited, the rise in vehicle 

prices is majorly due to the unfavourable 

exchange rate of the naira. 

Ade-Ojo explained that as the 

dollar is scarce, so also is the naira 

pretty much scarce and that bank’s 

interest rates have gone up. 

“Even though the exchange rate 

has moderated from a high of about 

N520 to the dollar at a very critical 

period and trading at about N366 to 

the dollar and below, from the end of 

2016 to 2017, it is still not available.” 

Ade-Ojo estimated that the 

country’s auto industry is expected 

to import and sell between 8,000 

and 10,000 new vehicles this year, 

which is lower than the 15,000 projected 

at the end of last year. 

The forecast, Ade-Ojo said, 

was based on the industry’s performance 

in the first quarter of 

2017, adding that at the end of the 

first quarter of 2017, total import 

figures in the nation’s automobile 

industry, from the nation’s ports, 

came to about 350 units, compared 

to about 3,500 units that came in at 

the same period last year. 

He said with this statistics, “imports 

dropped by about 90 percent 

between 2016 and 2017 first quarter. 

one of the root causes of underdevelopment 

in our society. bribes were paid 82.3 million 

bribe payments, meaning that 

Over the years, we have seen the times by Nigerians during the 

effect of corruption manifesting period. 

across all sectors of society, with Furthermore, 62 out of every 

collusion across the public to 100 Nigerian adults that paid 

private sectors to sports bodies bribes during the period, paid 

and even civil society”, the survey at least once and at most three 

report stated. 

times in a year. Furthermore, 19 

The exercise covered 33,067 out of every 100 adults that paid 

households in the 36 states of bribes, did so at least four times 

the federation and the Federal and at most six times in year, 

Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. just as 13 out of 100 Nigerian 

The survey findings further show adults paid bribes at least seven 

that 52.2 percent of Nigerian times and at most 15 times in a 

adults had contact with public year. Three out of every 100 paid 

officials, of which 32.3 percent bribes at least 16 times and at 

of such interactions resulted in Continues on page 4 

“In terms of retail sales, we are 

estimating, based on the information 

we have, that the auto market 

did about 2,000 vehicles, compared 

to about 5,000 vehicles that was 

done in first quarter of 2015, a drop 

of over 50 percent in retail sales. 

“Passenger cars reduced more 

than commercial cars and of 

course, when you look at the duties 

on passenger cars also at 70 

percent, compared to 35 percent 

for commercial, the impact is more 

on passenger vehicles.” 

Retail sales went from about 

32,000 in 2015 to about 18,000 last 

year, representing a market drop of 

about 42 percent. 

While giving the status of the 

implementation report of the 

NAIDP between October 2013 and 

June 2017 at a recent stakeholders 

meeting involving local auto assemblers 

and other stakeholders in 

Lagos recently, Luqman Mamudu, 

Director of Policy & Planning, 

National Automotive Design & 

Development Council (NADDC) 

revealed that the automotive policy 

is seeing tremendous progress, 

despite doubts in some quarters 

and that soon, Nigerians will begin 

to see positive result. 

He disclosed that at the inception 

of the automotive policy in 

2013, the number of approved 

local assemblers by the NADDC 

was 11 companies and grew to 53 

companies in 2017. 

Production capacity rose from 

108,380 units in 2013 to 408,870 

units in 2017. Actual production 

size increased from 1665 in 2013; 

4776 in 2014; 11,332 in 2015 and 

started witnessing a drop from to 

11, 332 in 2015 to 10,673 in 2016 

and 8,473 in 2017. 

Reacting on the astronomical 

jump in prices of new vehicles, Olawale 

Jimoh, Marketing Manager, 

FG seeks new 

economic frontiers 

on $41bn rail 

modernisation 

investment 

... With GE and China’s 

Eximbank as principal actors 

MIKE OCHONMA with agency report 

Nigeria’s quest to explore 

new areas of revenue 

generation and diversification 

of its economy from oil 

is gaining traction, as the country 

seeks new opportunities 

through massive investment 

Continues on page 4 

L-R: Jean Ngbwo, president, Financial Markets Commission of Cameroon; Mounir Gwarzo, director-general, Securities 

and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Joe Mekwiliuwa, general manager, operations, Central Securities Clearing 

System plc, during a news conference by SEC on implementation of e-dividend registration, in Lagos, yesterday. NAN 

Kia Motors Nigeria Limited, stated 

that for over two years now, the 

steady increase in the prices of cars 

in Nigeria has been misconstrued 

by some industry followers. 

He argued that the local assembly 

of cars will invariably bring a 

new dawn that will result in affordable 

“Made in Nigeria” cars. 

That expectation should ideally 

not be out of place, if Nigeria’s economy 

over the years has been stable. 

He lamented that with the fast 

depreciation in the value of the 

naira, prices of cars have increased 

by more than 100 percent, which 

may still not totally compensate for 

the drop in the value of the naira. 

Jimoh lamented that at this 

stage of the country’s auto development, 

assembly plants still import 

SKD kits to assemble, on account 

of the dearth of component manufacturers 

in the country, among the 

interplay of other factors.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

3


C002D5556 


NEWS 

Foreign investors, Wapic in race to acquire... 


around and positioned in just 

three years, and both Hollard 

of South Africa and Allianz of 

Germany are taking a serious 

look at it. 

An industry source who prefers 

not to be named, says this 

brings, funding, capacity, skills 

and an enhanced image for Nigeria’s 

insurance industry, underscoring 

the great potential 

available in the local market, 

in which many international 

insurers are working hard to 

position in. 

Mohammed Kari, commissioner 

for Insurance, says Nigeria’s 

vision 2020 Development 

Plan, describes the insurance 

sector as a gross untapped 

opportunity with low market 

penetration. 

Kari says foreign investors, 

having noted these great opportunities, 

are attracted by the 

huge potential in the Nigerian 

insurances space. 

“These investors are ready 

to position themselves for the 

future and so, have taken position 

in the industry and in 

partnership with indigenous 

companies for development 

and growth.” 

Kari noted that three foreign 

acquisitions into the sector 

took place in 2014, two in 2015, 

five in 2016 and two acquisitions 

are now in progress. 

In an email response from 

BusinessDay enquiries, Joe 

Macaulay, an insurance analysts, 

said these developments 

would lead to job creation in 

the industry. “It is estimated 

that given time and with sufficient 

support of the regulatory 

authority and government, not 

less than 100,000 jobs can be 

created within five years. This is 

because global players are very 

big on retail and the agency 

distribution model.” 

Macaulay noted that underwriting 

capacity, which has 

been a challenge, will receive a 

major boost, “most of the companies 

in the industry don’t 

have the underwriting capacity 

to retain larger proportions of 

the risks they write.” 

He says there is an outflow of 

premiums to the foreign markets, 

pointing out that these 

global insurers with deep pockets 

and shareholders’ funds 

will deploy greater capital to 

their Nigerian subsidiaries, 

thus increasing the ability of 

Nigerian businesses to retain 

more premiums.” 

Nigerians pay N400 billion as bribes in... 


most 30 times in a year, while 

another three out of every 100 

paid bribes more than 30 times 

in a year. 

Nigerian Police officers top 

the list of public officials who 

asked for bribes directly and they 

were followed by public utilities 

officials and customs officers. 

The findings show that six out of 

every 10 bribes paid to Nigerian 

police officers were asked for 

directly, while others were asked 

On human capacity, he said, 

“there is a skills gap in underwriting 

of special risks such as 

Aviation, Engineering and Oil & 

Gas, so with these global players, 

experience in appraising 

such risks will readily be passed 

to the Nigerian underwriters. 

“Nigerians will experience 

a massive improvement in the 

quality of service they currently 

get from the insurance industry 

because these companies will 

introduce global best practices 

and systems.” 

On corporate governance, 

Macaulay said “this is certainly 

one area that will receive a 

great deal of attention and 

positive impact. NAICOM will 

indeed be extremely happy at 

this development. 

“On awareness, I see insurance 

uptake growing massively.With 

the very deep 

pockets of global players and 

the new competition, they all 

will spend a lot of money on 

marketing communications 

and advertisements. This is 

not only going to create more 

awareness, it will also create 

more opportunities for public 

relations firms and advertising 

companies too. 

“Another area I see as positive 

for the industry, is product 

innovation”, he says, stating 

that these foreign companies 

will transfer knowledge 

and research-based information 

to help in product development. 

At the last count, global insurance 

companies including 

the likes Old Mutual, Metropolitan 

Life, Sanlam; Greenoaks; 

NSIA; Saham; AXA; Liberty 

and SwissRe are already here 

in Nigeria. 

FG seeks new economic frontiers on $41bn rail... 


into the rail sector. 

Following years of neglect 

under prolonged and inept military 

rule, freight-rail capacity 

reduced to 15,000 metric tons a 

year in 2005, from three million 

tons four decades earlier. According 

to a transport ministry 

source, recent developments 

indicate that the Federal Government 

is determined to open 

up its rail system to private 

investors, following decades of 

government control. 

Key projects include building 

a second railway line connecting 

the nation’s two biggest 

cities, the commercial capital, 

Lagos, and Kano in the north. 

The 1,100-kilometer (680- 

mile) line will carry freight and 

passengers, even as government 

also wants to construct a coastal 

railway that connects Lagos to 

the eastern city of Calabar. 

The two new railways are expected 

to cost $20 billion, with 

most of the funding coming 

from the Export–Import Bank of 

China, which has so far released 

$5.9 billion. China’s Civil Engineering 

and Construction Co. 

is building the project and both 

railways should be ready by the 

end of 2019. 

Another $16 billion will be 

invested in additional rail routes 

to link up all the country’s interstate 

network to state capitals, 

with extension across the northern 

border into neighbouring 

Niger’s southern city of Maradi, 

according to Bloomberg. 

Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, 

had told Business- 

Day during a recent visit to the 

Nigeria Railway Corporation 

to inspect the $5.851 billion 

for indirectly. For customs officers 

and their counterparts in 

public utilities, five out of every 

10 bribes paid to them were 

asked for directly, while the rest 

were asked indirectly. 

However, the customs officials 

are the most expensive to deal 

with. This is because in every 

transaction where a customs officer 

asked for a bribe, an average of 

N88,587 was paid. The next most 

expensive to deal with are judges 

and magistrates, prosecutors, 

land registry officers, representatives 

of local/state government, 

teachers/lecturers, doctors and 

police officers. In any transaction 

that required that a bribe must 

be paid, the average amount collected 

by judges/magistrates was 

N18, 576. Prosecutors collected 

N10,072 bribe per transaction, 

while land registry officers, local/ 

state government representatives 

and teachers/lecturers collected 

N8,782; N8,043 and N5,958 as 

bribe respectively. Doctors working 

in public hospitals and health 

centres and public utilities officers 

collected N5,925 and N4,373 as 

bribe per transaction respectively. 

Lagos-Ibadan rail segment 

of the Lagos-Kano standard 

gauge rail (SGR) project, that 

the plan of the ministry is to go 

to every nook and corner with 

the project. 

While reminding the Chinese 

Civil Engineering and Construction 

Company (CCECC) 

of the crucial need to deliver 

the Lagos-Ibadan project by 

December 2018 as contained 

in the Memorandum of Understanding 

(MoU), he noted that 

it was too early to share a timeline 

or funding details of other 

rail projects in the pipeline, as 

government is still talking to 

investors for this public-private 

project. 

He added that government 

is also trying to complete a $3 

billion line from Abuja to the 

southern oil hub of Warri by 

2018. 

With rail links to the existing 

and planned deep-sea ports, 

the country hopes to substantially 

reduce logistics costs and 

facilitate exports and imports. 

“There’s no economic development 

or growth without 

logistics, and for logistics to be 

efficient, you have to deal with 

the issue of railways,” the minister 

noted. 

Nigeria has witnessed a 

plunge in the price and output 

of oil, which accounts for more 

than 90 percent of foreign income 

and two-thirds of government 

revenue. 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari’s Economic Recovery 

and Growth Plan, presented in 

March, seeks to boost agriculture 

and manufacturing by developing 

the country’s transport 

network and power infrastructure, 

with the rail sector among 

L-R: Chizoma 

Okoli, executive 

director, business 

development, 

Diamond Bank plc; 

Uzoma Dozie, MD/ 

CEO, Diamond 

Bank plc; Nneka 

Okekearu, deputy 

director, Enterprise 

Development 

Centre (EDC), and 

Peter Bankole, 

director, Enterprise 

Development Centre 

(EDC), at the 

press briefing on 

the launch of Building 

Entrepreneurs 

Today 7 (BET7) in 

Lagos, yesterday. 

Most of the bribes were paid 

in order to speed up procedures, 

avoid payment of fines, stop cancellation 

of public utilities and to 

receive preferential treatment. 

Among the six geopolitical zones, 

the highest bribe per transaction 

was paid in the South-East region. 

During the period covered by the 

survey, an average of N14,106 was 

paid as bribe per transaction in 

the South East zone; N8,190 bribe 

paid per transaction in South- 

South; N4,586 in North East; 

N4,002 in North West; N3,861 in 

North Central while N3,180 was 

paid as bribe per transaction in 

the priority projects. 

Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of 

Transportation said in Abuja, 

that the Federal Government 

has started a $41 billion railway 

expansion to reduce dependence 

on oil and diversify its 

struggling economy by improving 

transport links to allow the 

movement of goods around the 

country and to ports. 

As at the time of filing this report, 

General Electric Co of the 

United States is leading a group 

that is rehabilitating Nigeria’s 

3,505 kilometers of century-old, 

narrow-gauge railways, linking 

the coastal cities of Port Harcourt 

and Lagos with the north. 

The group, including Sino- 

Hydro of China, South Africa’s 

Transnet SOC Ltd. and the 

Netherlands’ APM Terminals 

BV will fund, revamp and operate 

the railways for a period to 

be decided in negotiations with 

the government, the minister 

said. They won the concession 

in May this year. 

It plans to invest $2.2 billion, 

Sabiu Zakari, permanent secretary 

in the Ministry of Transport, 

said at the time. Nigeria 

will then have two links between 

Lagos and Kano, with the new 

Chinese-built one allowing 

trains to travel twice as fast as 

they can on the existing link. 

Oke Maduegbuna, Managing 

Partner at Pete, Moss & Sam Ltd, 

a transportation and logistics 

consultancy, lamented that 

the country’s rail system was 

neglected for too long. 

He said, “There’s a new 

awareness among government 

officials of the economic benefits 

of a good rail network.” The 

Abuja-based expert added that 

the new projects would succeed 

only if there is consistency in the 

planning and execution. 

Briefs 

Two more bosses quit White House panel 

Two more executives have resigned 

from a White House business 

council, amid controversy 

over President Donald Trump’s 

reaction to violent clashes in 

Virginia last weekend. 

Inge Thulin of manufacturer 

3M and Denise Morrison of 

Campbell Soup Co announced 

their decisions on Wednesday. 

Seven groups have withdrawn 

after the far-right rally in Charlottesville. 

Ryanair accuses Lufthansa of Air Berlin ‘conspiracy’ 

Ryanair has accused Lufthansa 

and the German government 

of conspiring to carve up 

collapsed airline Air Berlin. 

Lufthansa is negotiating over 

buying Air Berlin planes, which 

are still flying following a 150m 

euro German government loan. 

Ryanair said there was an 

“obvious conspiracy” between 

Germany, Lufthansa and Air 

Berlin to carve up the assets. 

Dulux owner Akzo Nobel strikes truce with activist investor 

An activist investor hedge 

fund has agreed to halt its longrunning 

feud with Dulux paint 

owner AkzoNobel. 

US hedge fund Elliott Advisors 

reached a “standstill” 

agreement after clashing with 

Akzo over the way the company 

should be run.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

5



C002D5556 

NEWS 

Wike calls for increased investments 

in science/technology 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU 

Rivers State Governor 

Nyesom Wike has 

called for increased 

investment in science 

and technology for the 

nation to experience rapid 

development. 

Speaking at the Government 

House Port Harcourt 

on Tuesday, when he granted 

audience to the National Executive 

Council of the Science 

Teachers Association of Nigeria 

(STAN), Wike, who was the 

immediate past education 

minister, regretted that the 

Federal Government was yet 

to give the sciences the priority 

attention they deserve. 

The governor said science 

teachers should be encouraged 

with necessary incentives 

to carry out their responsibilities 

of preparing Nigerian 

children for developmental 

roles. He said: “Nigeria cannot 

develop unless the nation 

invests in the teaching of science 

and mathematics at all 

levels. That is the way to go. 

… sponsors 400 teachers 

We cannot talk of development 

without science and 

mathematics. There must be 

the needed encouragement 

and incentives for teachers of 

mathematics.” 

The governor commended 

STAN for their contributions 

to the development of science 

education over the last six decades, 

and informed that his 

administration had invested in 

the equipping of science laboratories 

in selected schools 

to ensure that students had 

practical knowledge. 

He directed the sponsorship 

of 400 science teachers for 

the ongoing workshop in the 

state, noting that such workshops 

would improve their 

capacity to impact knowledge. 

Earlier, president of STAN, 

Mohammed Moulud, commended 

the efforts of the 

Rivers State government in 

enhancing the quality of delivery 

of science, technology, 

engineering and mathematics 

education in the state schools. 

BBC News broadcasts a week of special 

programming on Africa’s rising population 

BBC News has announced 

a weeklong 

series exploring 

the steep incline in 

Africa’s population and the 

continent’s coping mechanisms. 

The population of Africa 

is predicted to double to two 

and a half billion in just 30 

years. On a continent where 

nearly two thirds of people 

are already under 25, this vast 

new baby boom has the potential 

to provide a huge pool 

of workers ready to transform 

African economies, or the 

potential to create an even 

greater migration problem. 

BBC Africa correspondent, 

Alastair Leithead, has 

been investigating the potential 

of this “demographic dividend” 

in a series of special 

TBY, LCCI host roundtable on Fintech, digitalisation in banking 

The Business Year 

(TBY), a media and 

research firm, recently 

organised an 

exclusive event in Lagos, entitled 

“Harnessing Digitalisation 

in Nigeria’s Financial 

Sector,” in conjunction with 

the Lagos Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry (LCCI). 

Leland Rice, TBY’s editorin-chief, 

moderated a dialogue 

between Oscar Onyema, 

CEO, Nigerian Stock 

Exchange; Uzome Dozie, 

CEO, Diamond Bank; Tayo 

Oviosu, CEO of PAGA; Juliet 

Nwanguma, country manager 

of PayU; Valentin Obi, 

CEO of eTranzact, and Muda 

Yusuf, director-general of 

LCCI. 

Reducing costs and driving 

client-oriented innovation 

were at the centre of the 

discussion, with attendees 

engaging in a debate over 

the role of banks and regulators 

to streamline financial 

transactions. 

reports from across Africa. 

For a week, beginning August 

21, BBC World News and 

BBC World Service will broadcast 

daily features within Focus 

on Africa, looking at matters 

such as the rapid urbanisation 

in Nigeria, the industrial 

revolution in Ethiopia, contraception 

in Niger and food 

sustainability in Kenya. 

From Monday, more information 

can also be found on 

bbc.com/africapopulation, 

including a written in-depth 

analysis, a series of short videos 

and additional features. 

A special documentary, 

Africa’s Population Explosion, 

will also broadcast on 

BBC World News (DStv 400) 

at 2330 GMT on August 25, 

and 1130 & 1630 GMT on 

August 26. 

According to Dozie, in the 

last 20 years the banking sector 

has evolved and adjusted 

to market conditions, and “it 

took Diamond Bank 23 years 

to acquire 7 million customers 

using 300 branches and 

in the last two years it took no 

branches to acquire another 

7 million customers by partnership 

and collaboration.” 

Digital infrastructure 

is thus a necessary tool to 

merge the needs of financial 

institutions and clients. 

Obi agreed on the progress 

of the Nigerian banking 

sector, and insisted on the 

excessive costs of a cashbased 

economy and the 

importance of data in providing 

financing tools. He 

expressed, “How we analyse 

the data will help in the situation 

of lending.” 

On the same note, Onyema 

said, “We have to find 

new ways to provide capital 

to firms that are looking for 

equity,” to which Oviosu an- 

Strong macro-economic prospects drive 

mutual funds AUM above N300bn mark 

MODESTUS ANESORONYE 

Nigeria’s Mutual 

Funds, currently 

swelling 

with over 

N300 billion 

in asset under management, 

have continued to 

attract local and foreign 

investors. 

The growing level of 

interest is attributed to 

economic prospect, stock 

market and interest rate 

rally, as well as improved 

mutual funds offerings, the 

Securities and Exchange 

Commission has said. 

This is further backed by 

a recent report by Quantitative 

Financial Analytics, 

which estimated that 

Nigerian mutual funds attracted 

the sum of N42 

billion inflows in Q1, 2017, 

as against the N49 billion 

inflows recorded the entire 

2016. Nigeria’s mutual 

funds’ assets also grew to 

N318 billion as at the beginning 

of H2, 2017, up by 

42 percent on a YTD basis, 

from the 2016-year end 

value of N223.6 billion. 

Speaking on this trend 

at the launch of one of 

such funds, Emeka Okolo, 

senior fund manager and 

head, Coronation Asset 

Management, said active 

portfolio management by 

experienced professionals 

offer investors better prospects 

on their investments, 

especially in periods of 

market volatility and economic 

downturn, as is being 

experienced in Nigeria, 

making mutual funds an 

optimal choice. 

On the Coronation Mutual 

Funds, Okolo noted, 

“No one can doubt the 

capacity and expertise of 

Coronation Asset Management 

to deliver competitive 

returns to investors in the 

Coronation Mutual Funds. 

The level of professionalism 

and quality of investments 

will be difficult to match by 

other mutual fund managers 

in Nigeria and the West 

African sub-region. This, 

along with the proposed 

investment mix and the 

fund structures, distinguish 

these mutual funds. 

“Indeed, the recently 

launched, naira denominated, 

open-ended mutual 

funds by Coronation Assets 

Management, which witnessed 

a high subscription 

rate by individual, retail 

and institutional investors 

has continued to elicit 

excitement. The Mutual 

Funds – N1.5 billion Money 

Market Fund, N400 million 

Fixed Income Fund and 

the N200 million Balanced 

Fund, were all offered at par 

of N1 each.’ 

In the same vein, Tunde 

Folawiyo, chairman of the 

bank , said the funds offer all 

strata of investors, individual 

and corporate, an opportunity 

to diversify their investment 

portfolios backed by 

the strength of the Coronation 

Brand and managed 

by a team of experienced 

professionals at Coronation 

Asset Management. 

According to Folawiyo, 

the Money Market Fund 

will exclusively invest in 

short-dated money market 

instruments, offering 

capital preservation and 

liquidity to investors. 

L-R: Samuel Rowland, compliance officer, Lagos State Lotteries Board; Ojeh Afam, deputy manager, National Lottery 

Regulatory Commission; Ope Wemi-Jones, group head, inclusive banking, Access Bank plc; Banjo Adegbohungbe, 

group head, corporate operations, Access Bank plc, and Olusola Ogunbode, senior manager, National Lottery Regulatory 

Commission, at the first monthly selection of the Access Bank Family Fortune promo held at the bank’s Admiralty Way 

branch, Lekki, Lagos, yesterday. 

swered that providing capital 

needed to go through implementation 

of a distribution 

network that accessed the 

mass market. 

TBY and the speakers 

also discussed the role of 

Fintech companies and their 

relationships with banks and 

the role of regulators. On the 

matter, Nwanguma admitted 

the need for Fintech companies 

and banks to cooperate 

since they both need each 

other, emphasising banks’ 

role in working with end-users 

and Fintech companies’ 

role in developing payment 

processing technologies. 

Collaboration with the 

regulators is also deemed to 

be crucial, as new Fintech 

actors are unable to grow 

and operate in the long-term 

without rules of engagement. 

Innovation has to be 

sustained, creating a scheme 

of tax incentives and facilitating 

access to financing, 

especially for SMEs. 

Solid minerals sector to contribute up to 3% of GDP by 2025 - PwC 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

Industry close watchers 

say if the right steps 

are taken and the current 

momentum is sustained, 

the Nigerian solid 

minerals sector can contribute 

up to 3 percent of gross 

domestic products (GDP) 

by 2025. 

They are optimistic that 

going by the measures outlined 

in the current roadmap, 

the sector’s contribution can 

move up from 0.5 percent to 

3 percent. 

Cyril Azobu, advisory 

partner and mining leader 

at PwC Nigeria, says several 

important developments in 

the Nigerian mining sector in 

the last year bode well for the 

industry’s future, “perhaps, 

the most significant is the 

approval in August 2016 of a 

new roadmap for the sector 

by the government.” 

Azobu, while speaking 

about the upcoming Nigeria 

Mining Week scheduled for 

October 16-19, in Abuja, says 

the high-level strategic mining 

investment platform will 

link investors, project developers, 

financiers, technology 

providers and government 

to share best practices and 

demonstrate the latest strategies 

to evolve the sector 

successfully. 

According to Azobu, “My 

vision for the sector is one 

that is profitable to all stakeholders 

and in which the 

Nigerian people are able to 

enjoy the maximum benefits 

possible for these natural 

endowments.” 

He further says that the 

Nigeria Mining Week is organised 

by the Miners Association 

of Nigeria in partnership 

with Spintelligent and 

PwC Nigeria. 

On the new roadmap for 

the sector, the expert says 

this very important policy 

document has really set the 

tone for the development of 

the sector. 

“Following from this, we 

have seen the constitution of 

the Mining Implementation 

and Strategy team whose 

duty is to co-ordinate the implementation 

of the roadmap 

and programme manage its 

execution,” he states. 

He adds: “Furthermore, 

the Federal Government also 

approved a N30bn Mining 

Intervention Fund. A significant 

proportion of the fund 

has gone into data gathering 

and a part of it is to go 

into capacity building for 

artisanal miners. We are also 

seeing the Federal Government 

making efforts to take 

advantage of some strategic 

minerals such as Steel and 

Bitumen but all of these are 

still in the early stages.” 

It would be recalled that 

the board of the Solid Minerals 

Development Fund was 

inaugurated by the minister 

of mines and steel development, 

Kayode Fayemi.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

7



C002D5556 

NEWS 

Onayekan to speak on Nigeria’s current recession, 

economic recovery at CBU national conference 

FRANK UZUEGBUNAM 

The 2017 annual lecture 

of the Catholic 

Brothers United 

(CBU), one of the 

pious associations at the 

St. Agnes Catholic Church, 

Maryland Lagos, to be held 

in October this year is focusing 

on the country’s current 

recession and ongoing efforts 

of the government to turn the 

economy around and engender 

overall growth of critical 

sectors of the economy. 

The CBU in its determined 

efforts to support national 

development through 

the annual lecture platform 

through which it generates 

discourse among major 

stakeholders in both the political 

and economic space is 

set to hold the event which is 

the 18th in the series. 

This year’s lecture with 

the theme, “ Proffering solutions 

to the current economic 

recession: The religious 

perspective” is to be 

delivered by His Eminence, 

John Cardinal Onaiyekan, 

the Archbishop of Abuja. 

According to president of 

the CBU, Emmanuel Okoro, 

the topic is timely given the 

sustainable efforts and commitment 

by the federal government 

to exit the country 

from the present economic 

woes. 

Okoro said the CBU as an 

association made up of professionals, 

entrepreneurs and 

business men sees the body 

as a stakeholder in the ongoing 

economic restructuring 

process and as also considers 

it a duty and national assignment 

to support genuine and 

determined activities to move 

Nigeria away from poverty. 

He observed that religion 

should not be separated from 

the society as religion plays 

important role in shaping the 

entire society, by engaging 

public office holders, government 

officials as well as policy 

makers in issues of national 

development. 

“Religion impacts discipline, 

spiritual knowledge and 

right attitude to the people 

particularly the youths by 

encouraging them to be worthy 

ambassadors as well as 

imbibe the culture of patriotism 

in their daily lives, and 

so our annual lecture which 

has been sustained for the 

last 18 years has made significant 

impact through robust 

discourse and solutions they 

have proffered in the previous 

lectures”, Okoro said, adding 

that the teeming youths in the 

society as well as operators in 

the economy will benefit from 

the robust discussion by his 

Eminence given his pedigree 

and statesman position in 

national issues. 

Lagos lauds Sterling Bank’s 

sustainability campaign 

In a show of endorsement 

of Sterling 

Bank’s sustainability 

campaign known as 

Sterling Environmental 

Makeover (STEM), senior 

officials of Lagos State government 

have paid tributes 

to the initiative, saying it 

is in line with the state’s 

vision of encouraging residents 

to show respect for 

the environment. 

Addressing a crowd at 

the flag off of the mega 

cleaning exercise that took 

place at the Computer Village 

in Ikeja at the weekend, 

Babatunde Adejare, 

Lagos State commissioner 

for the environment, commended 

the bank for its 

outstanding show of commitment 

to the campaign 

for a livable environment. 

Adejare said, “We need 

to have more respect for our 

environment than we do 

now. The state government 

cancelled the monthly sanitation 

exercise because it 

believed that cleaning the 

environment should be 

part of our daily lives and 

not just a monthly routine.” 

The commissioner disclosed 

that the state government 

recently introduced 

the Cleaner Lagos 

Initiative in a bid to better 

manage solid waste, and 

urged participants in the 

cleaning exercise to extend 

the practice to their different 

homes as part of their 

contribution to the emergence 

of a cleaner Lagos fit 

for human habitation. 

In his welcome address, 

Yemi Adeola, CEO of Sterling 

Bank, said the STEM 

programme was being held 

simultaneously in eight 

other locations across the 

country. These include 

the seven state capitals of 

Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Rivers, 

Enugu, Plateau, Kano, and 

in Abuja. 

STEM is the bank’s corporate 

social responsibility 

initiative that promotes 

sanitation and helps to 

reduce the impact of human 

activities on the environment 

with the aim of 

making planet earth a clean 

and safe place for all, Adeola 

explained. 

Also speaking, Mojeed 

Babajide, chairman of 

Ikeja Local Government, 

thanked the bank for the 

initiative, adding that the 

local government was very 

happy to partner it, and 

echoed the commissioner’s 

plea for refuse to be properly 

packed for officials of 

LAWMA to pick them up 

in a bid to ensure a cleaner 

Lagos. 

TCN secures $1.55bn to revive 

transmission projects, expand grid 

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja 

Transmission 

Company of Nigeria 

(TCN) has 

secured $1.55 billion 

from multilateral 

donors to revive 

some transmission projects 

and expand the grid. 

Usman Gur Mohammed, 

the interim managing 

director, disclosed this 

on the sideline of the 18th 

Monthly Power Sector and 

Stakeholders meeting in 

Kumboso, Kano State. 

Mohammed said in a 

statement that the intervention 

came from the 

World Bank, African Development 

Bank, Islamic 

Development Bank, European 

Union and JICA. 

According to Mohammed, 

“the funding is to resuscitate 

transmission projects 

and further expand the transmission 

grid. Projects to be 

executed include the Abuja 

transmission project, which 

would provide sub-stations 

as well as another transmission 

line for supply to Abuja 

from Lafia. 

“We have also resuscitated 

the JICA project that 

has been on the drawing 

board for a long time now. 

These projects, plus others 

are being executed around 

the country,” he said. 

He recalled that when he 

assumed office he discovered 

that TCN’s capacity to wheel 

power was actually higher 

than that of the distribution 

companies (Discos). 

To him, there was need 

however for further expansion 

of the grid, which made 

it expedient for TCN to seek 

the support of the Federal 

Ministry of Finance and Ministry 

of Power, Works and 

Housing to raise funding 

from donor agencies. 

“On growing the load and 

avoid load rejection, we are 

working with Discos to see 

how to improve their capacity 

and we have appointed, 

interface focal officers to 

help the Discos pick more 

load,” he said. 

On TCN’s part, he said the 

transmission company was 

working towards realising 

20,000 megawatts of transmission 

capacity in the next few 

years, pointing out that Right 

of Way was a crucial challenge 

in the power sector, which had 

resulted in a study by the West 

African Power Pool on the international 

transmission lines. 

He pointed out further 

that since the payment of 

compensation for Right of 

Way in Nigeria had become a 

crucial problem, TCN started 

collaborating with state governments.


Harvard 

Business 

Review 

Global Business Perspectives 

CONNECTING THE WORLD ONE BUSINESS AT A TIME 

BUSINESS DAY 

9 

Global Confidence in the United States Is Shaken 

Though only six 

months old, Donald 

Trump’s presidency 

already has had a 

major impact on 

how the world views the United 

States. Trump and many of his 

key policies are broadly unpopular 

around the globe and, 

according to a Pew Research 

Center survey spanning 37 nations, 

ratings for the United 

States have declined steeply 

in many nations. The rare 

countries where confidence 

in America has grown include 

Israel and Russia, with Israelis 

and Russians expressing greater 

support for Trump than for his 

predecessor, President Barack 

Obama. 

Criticism of the United States 

and its president for stubbornly 

rejecting trade agreements such 

as the Trans-Pacific Partnership 

or policies that could stem climate 

change are an indicator of 

the lack of public will in many 

countries to have their leaders 

cooperate with the Trump 

White House. 

A median of 22% responding 

to the survey said that they 

had confidence in Trump to do 

the right thing when it comes 

to international affairs. This 

stands in sharp contrast to the 

final years of Obama’s presidency, 

when a median of 64% 

expressed confidence in him. 

A median of 64% had a positive 

view of the nation in the last 

years of the Obama presidency, 

but today only 49% are favorably 

inclined toward America. 

The decline in confidence in 

the president has come mostly 

in advanced economies. America’s 

image also has suffered in 

emerging markets and developing 

countries, however, where 

some of Trump’s proposed 

policies — notably his promise 

to build a wall along the Mexican 

border and his efforts to 

restrict entry into the United 

States from Muslim-majority 

countries — are particularly 

unpopular. 

A majority of Israelis and 

President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, escort former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama to their 

helicopter after the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2017 

Russians, at 56%, and 53% respectively, 

has confidence in 

the U.S. president. In Europe, 

however, a median of only 18% 

has confidence in Trump to do 

the right thing regarding world 

affairs. 

The president is not much 

more popular in the rest of the 

world. A median of only 14% in 

Latin America expresses confidence 

in him, including 5% in 

Mexico, 12% in Chile and 13% in 

Argentina. In comparison, 49% 

of Mexicans had confidence in 

Obama in his last year in office, 

as did 60% of Chileans and 40% 

of Argentines. Trump’s ratings 

are closer to some of those given 

President George W. Bush in 

his last year: 16% in Mexico, 7% 

in Argentina. 

Such disapproval surely is 

due, at least in part, to Trump’s 

proposal to build a wall along 

the border between the United 

States and Mexico to stem the 

flow of undocumented immigrants. 

A median of 83% of Latin 

Americans disapproves of such 

plans. Moreover, Latin Americans 

express harsh judgments 

of Trump’s personality. A median 

of 82% suggests that he is arrogant, 

77% that he is intolerant 

and 66% that he is dangerous. 

In sub-Saharan Africa a median 

of 50% has confidence in 

Trump. This includes 26% in 

Senegal and 39% in South Africa. 

Overall 56% of people in the 

region have a favorable view of 

the United States. Confidence 

in the U.S. president is down 

51 points in Senegal, however, 

down 33 points in Ghana and 

down 27 points in Tanzania. 

Although more than half 

the public in Ghana, Senegal 

and Tanzania still expresses a 

positive view of America, such 

sentiment is down 30 points in 

Ghana, 25 points in Senegal and 

21 points in Tanzania. 

Much of this decline may be 

attributed to opposition to proposed 

Trump administration 

policies. Only roughly a third 

of the public in sub-Saharan 

Africa favors Trump’s proposals 

to pull out of international 

climate-change agreements, to 

restrict entry to the U.S. from 

some Muslim-majority countries 

and to withdraw from 

major trade agreements. Notably, 

despite lukewarm feelings 

about Trump’s policies, a median 

of 61% of sub-Saharan Africans 

views Trump as a strong 

leader and 51% agree that he is 

qualified to hold his office. 

Views of Trump and the U.S. 

are low in the Middle East, except 

in Israel, where 56% of 

respondents have a positive 

opinion of the president, up 7 

points over Obama. In most of 

the region, views of America 

and its leader declined sharply 

during the Bush era and did not 

recover with Obama. Only 9% 

of Jordanians, 11% of Turks and 

15% of Lebanese see Trump in 

a positive light. This is down 34 

points in Turkey and 21 points 

in Lebanon from assessments 

of Obama. 

Much of this may be due to 

strong opposition to Trump’s 

proposed restrictions on the 

entry into the U.S. of people 

from Muslim-majority countries: 

Ninety-six percent of 

Jordanians and 88% of Lebanese 

disapprove of such plans. 

Trump’s image has done little 

to harm views of the United 

States in Lebanon and Jordan, 

however, where U.S. favorability 

is low and relatively unchanged 

compared with the Obama era. 

2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate 

Only in Asia do publics 

in emerging and developing 

countries have a mixed view of 

the United States and its new 

president. In India 40% have 

confidence in Trump, down 

18 points from their view of 

Obama last year, and 45% voice 

no opinion. Only 23% of Indonesians 

have faith in the U.S. 

chief executive, down 41 points 

from their view of Obama, who 

spent a portion of his boyhood 

in that country. Views of the 

U.S. are down 14 points in Indonesia 

and 7 points in India. 

At the same time, Trump is 

relatively popular in both the 

Philippines, at 69%, and Vietnam, 

at 58%, his highest ratings 

among the 37 nations surveyed. 

These assessments are lower 

than views of Obama, however, 

down 25 points in the Philippines 

and 13 points in Vietnam. 

Still, Philippine and Vietnamese 

judgments of Trump may be 

buoying opinions of the United 

States: 84% of Vietnamese and 

78% of Filipinos have a favorable 

opinion of America, the 

highest rating for the nation in 

the 2017 Pew Research Center 

survey. 

The nation’s image and global 

confidence in the U.S. president 

suffered under the Bush 

administration after 2000, but 

recovered during Obama’s tenure. 

The Trump era began on a 

sour note throughout much of 

the world, including emerging 

and developing nations. 

During the Bush years opposition 

to the United States and 

to its leader often made it difficult 

for leaders of other nations 

to work with the United States 

on issues such as Iraq. So far, 

possibly aware of their citizens’ 

wariness of the Trump administration, 

many leaders are proceeding 

with their own plans on 

climate change, trade and the 

conflicts in Afghanistan, North 

Korea and Syria. 

(Bruce Stokes is director of 

global economic attitudes at the 

Pew Research Center.)



C002D5556 

COMMENT 

UCHE UWALEKE 

Uche Uwaleke is the Head of 

Banking & Finance department at 

Nasarawa State University Keffi 

In an apparent move to ease 

the country’s huge debt service 

burden following the rising 

cost of servicing domestic 

debt, the federal government 

plans to refinance $3billion worth 

of naira-denominated short-term 

Treasury bills with dollar borrowing 

of up to three years’ maturity. 

According to the Finance Minister, 

Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who made 

the disclosure recently, the plan, 

which is tantamount to ‘’debt restructuring’’ 

involving borrowing in 

dollars instead of naira, will go a long 

way in halving the cost of borrowing 

thereby reducing the pressure on 

domestic debt service considering 

that ‘’the average rate at which we 

borrow internationally is at seven 

per cent; whereas on our Treasury 

bills, we are paying between 13 per 

cent and 18.5 per cent’’. 

Expectedly, not a few have voiced 

opposition to the plan, not least 

because the country’s experience 

with foreign creditors especially 

prior to 2005 (when Nigeria pulled 

free from the yoke of the Paris and 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline. 

Public debt burden: Dollar-backed t-bills as a breather 

London clubs) was nothing to write 

home about. There is the fear that 

despite the fact that foreign loans 

may be relatively cheaper, the debt 

burden will become more severe in 

the event of another oil price shock 

given the country’s over reliance on 

oil for foreign exchange. It is also 

argued that an additional $3 billion 

will add to the existing stock of foreign 

debt and since this will not be 

used for any productive investment, 

interest and principal repayments 

will be at the expense of investment 

in critical infrastructure. 

Be that as it may, the merits of 

the plan far outweigh the demerits. 

Treasury bills are short term debt 

instruments with a maturity profile 

of a maximum of 364 days. The refinancing 

arrangement will ensure 

that instead of rolling over the debts 

as they mature, the government is in 

a position to repay by borrowing for 

up to three years in the expectation 

that as the economy recovers and 

grows, the country will be in a better 

position to make repayment. It is 

equally expected that by reducing 

government’s borrowing by $3bn, 

more room is created for banks to 

lend to the private sector which may 

translate to downward pressure 

on interest rates. Furthermore, the 

immediate impact on the foreign 

exchange market will be positive 

since dollar denominated loans 

will typically increase the nation’s 

external reserves, thus helping to 

strengthen the naira 

Indeed, a cursory look at data 

from the Debt Management Office 

The refinancing arrangement 

will ensure that instead of 

rolling over the debts as they 

mature, the government is in 

a position to repay by borrowing 

for up to three years 

in the expectation that as 

the economy recovers and 

grows, the country will be 

in a better position to make 

repayment 

provides some justification for this 

initiative. As at March 31, 2017, the 

domestic debt stock of the federal 

government was about N12 trillion 

while the total external debt stock 

stood at $13,807.59 or about N4.3 

trillion. Of the domestic debt stock, 

Nigerian Treasury Bills constitute 

30.08 percent while FGN Bonds account 

for 68 per cent. Actual external 

debt service in 2016 was $353,093.54 

(about N108 million)with the bulk of 

the obligations (47 per cent) to Multilateral 

Institutions (mainly the World 

Bank Group and African Development 

Bank); while actual domestic debt service 

in 2016 stood at N1.3 trillion with 

Nigerian Treasury Bills taking up N336 

billion and FGN Bond N839billion. 

In the 2017 budget, over N1.8 trillion 

is allocated for debt servicing alone 

the bulk of which is meant to service 

domestic debt. 

So the challenge really comes 

more from coping with domestic debt 

service than meeting foreign obligations. 

This is further confirmed by 

the 2016 Debt Sustainability Analysis 

report which stated that ‘’the liquidity 

ratio revealed gross weaknesses 

in the structure of the economy, as 

the ratio of Public Debt Service-to- 

Revenue of 28.10 percent as at end 

of December, 2015, breached the 

Country-Specific threshold of 28 

percent. This highlights a potential 

risk to the debt portfolio, which could 

be exacerbated by the developments 

in the international oil market, as further 

decline in global oil prices would 

exert undue pressures on the already 

fragile economy, including the debt 

position in the medium to long-term’’. 

Consequently, the Debt Management 

Strategy, 2016-2019, provides 

for the rebalancing of the debt portfolio 

from its composition of 84:16 as 

at end-December, 2015, to an optimal 

mix of 60:40 by end-December, 2019 

for domestic to external debts, respectively. 

The key policy recommendation 

of the 2016 DSA is to the effect 

that given ‘’the Country-Specific 

threshold of 19.39 percent for NPV of 

Total Public Debt-to-GDP ratio (up to 

2017), the borrowing space available 

is 5.89 percent of the estimated GDP 

of US$374.95 billion for 2017. To this 

end, the maximum amount that could 

be borrowed (domestic and external) 

by the FGN in 2017 without violating 

the country-specific threshold will 

be US$22.08 billion (i.e. 5.89 percent 

of US$374.95 billion). It is proposed 

to be obtained from both the domestic 

and external sources as follows: 

new Domestic Borrowing US$5.52 

billion (equivalent of about N1,600 

billion); and new External Borrowing: 

US$16.56 billion (equivalent of 

about N4,800 billion)’’. It is pertinent 

to note that these are recommended 

maximum amounts that could be 

sourced, taking into cognizance 

the absorptive capacity of the domestic 

debt market and the options 

available in the international debt 

market. This policy stance has been 

reinforced by the recent economic 

headwinds and the rising cost of 

domestic borrowing. Hence, the shift 

of emphasis to external borrowing 

would help to reduce debt service 

burden in the short to medium-term 

and further create more borrowing 

space for the private sector in the 

domestic market. 

Now that the government has 

concluded with the prospective 

lenders and waiting for the nod of 

the National Assembly as disclosed 

by the Finance Minister, it is vital to 

put in the public domain detailed 

information regarding the sources 

and cost implications to enable 

the National Assembly reach a well 

informed decision which provides 

assurance that the plan is in sync 

with the government’s Economic 

Recovery and Growth Plan. 

To be sure, not even the Finance 

Minister is under any illusion that 

the $3 billion debt refinancing plan 

is a panacea to the country’s rising 

debt burden. But it does provide the 

much needed breather while the 

government concentrates on current 

efforts aimed at diversifying the 

country’s economy. 

I wish I were North Korea’s spokesman and speech writer 

OKEY NWACHUKWU 

Nwachukwu is a Lagos-based 

communications consultant 

With two bullies at 

the helms in the US 

and the Democratic 

People’s Republic of 

Korea (DPRK), as North Korea is 

officially known, the threat of nuclear 

war has never seemed so imminent. 

DPRK leader, Kim Jong Un, 

needs to further tighten his hold on 

the nation of 25 million people by 

ratcheting up the age-long propaganda 

about America’s quest to 

annihilate the country. Donald 

Trump, contending with the lowest 

approval ratings of any American 

President at the 200-day mark, desperately 

seeks a game changer that 

would upend the endless controversies 

around his administration. 

Even if he is ultimately removed 

from office, as some believe he 

would, starting a needless nuclear 

war would definitely distinguish his 

place in American history. But the 

choices are grim. 

In the wake of a fresh dose of 

sanctions levied against the reclusive 

state by the United Nations, 

Pyongyang vowed to teach America 

a “severe lesson,” and undertake 

“strong follow-up measures.” 

America’s crime was that it crafted 

the offending sanctions package, 

which was surprisingly supported 

by all five permanent members of 

the Security Council. Pyongyang 

did not assail its traditional allies, 

Russia and China, but singled out 

America for rebuke. To further 

stoke the tension, the Washington 

Post reported that Pyongyang had 

miniaturized a nuclear warhead 

that could be delivered by missiles. 

In response, Trump warned 

that continuing threat by Pyongyang 

would be met with “fire 

and fury like the world has never 

seen.” The world was startled. 

Never lacking in bombastic invectives, 

North Korea shot back, 

announcing that its military was 

“examining the operational plan” 

to strike Guam, a US territory 

in the Pacific that harbours two 

nuclear-armed military bases. 

Medium-to-long-range strategic 

ballistic missiles, the Koreans 

declared, would be deployed, “to 

send a serious warning signal to 

the US.” Trump retorted that the 

US military is “locked and loaded” 

just in case North Korea should 

“act unwisely.” 

The amplification of strongly 

worded statements is a welldocumented 

propaganda tactic 

routinely used by DPRK to ward 

off perceived US hostility. The 

country had enjoyed unchal- 

lenged deployment of bellicose 

rhetoric until Trump arrived with 

his ‘America First’ policy, which 

seemingly required some nationalism 

undergirded by tough talk and 

‘alternative truth.’ America would be 

comfortable looking after itself, as 

envisioned by Trump, but the incessant 

firing of missiles, both long and 

short by North Korea, disturbs the 

quiet Trump needs to reset America. 

While the war of words continues, 

it is hard to determine whether 

either Trump or Kim would play the 

endgame as both men seem to enjoy 

posturing. At 33, with just a child 

and no known outside investment, 

Kim may be ready to risk everything, 

including the lives of over 25 million 

North Koreans. His only introspection 

may be why a family dynasty of 

almost 70 years could crumble under 

his watch. Trump, at 71 and with 

wealth touted in billions, may not be 

willing to quit mother earth just yet. 

His flamboyant lifestyle, cushioned 

by proceeds from investments in real 

estate, is such intimidating accomplishment 

that, in Trump’s reckoning, 

cannot be jettisoned now. So, he 

needs to stay alive to protect America 

from the Russians, Chinese, Europeans, 

Arabs, Iranians, ISIS, Mexicans, 

Al-Shabab, and Hezbollah. And his 

opponents believe he lacks the steel 

to frighten a determined foe, more 

so a nuclear-armed Kim. 

I have been imagining the work 

of communications managers on 

both sides. Trump has, via Twitter, 

emerged the indisputable com- 

municator-in-chief of his administration. 

His aides only need to 

find and offer justifications for his 

impulsive pronouncements, even 

when they say nothing or mean 

different things. 

The North presents a different 

ball game. Most information from 

the country emanate from the 

state-run Korean Central News 

Agency (KCNA). That is expected; 

it is a communist state where 

every aspect of society is strictly 

controlled and citizens exist just 

for the purpose of eulogizing the 

leadership. Expectedly, most news 

are nimbly choreographed to project 

DPRK’s image and military 

advancements. 

Given the fixation with existential 

threat, notably from America 

and its ‘puppets,’ an outline of the 

work of a North Korea spokesman 

or speech writer can be easily figured 

out. Even without prompting 

from the high command, all that 

is required is the creation of scenarios 

that would be subsequently 

plugged when a real situation arises. 

For instance, tomorrow, Trump 

tweets that “a new defence system 

goes up in South Korea and Japan 

shortly.” North Korea’s response, 

“this is an extremely unacceptable 

provocation that will be met with 

severe punishment with the full 

strength of our sovereignty.” Then 

Pyongyang fires a medium range 

missile that lands in Japan’s territorial 

waters. America calls for a 

meeting of the UN Security Coun- 

cil. Trump blasts, “China has failed 

the world, unfit for a seat on UN 

Security Council.” The Chinese sue 

for maturity and de-escalation but 

Pyongyang responds “the great aggressor 

is threatening global peace 

and the good people of DPRK; our 

gallant revolutionary army stands 

ready to extinguish this fire with the 

fiercest arsenal.” 

Such diatribes are not exclusive 

to Trump and Kim. Prolonged 

military rule in Nigeria came with 

it such frightening rhetoric. Sadly, 

the restoration of democratic governance 

has barely toned down 

belligerent language and action 

in the country. And as Nigerians 

increasingly call out government 

on responsibility and accountability, 

the North Korean tonality will 

expectedly grow louder. However, 

if the increasing awareness among 

Nigerians about their rights and 

expectations from government 

precipitates class wars that could 

unravel a great nation, let it be. In 

any case, as Nigeria’s democracy 

is steadily militarized, the Federal 

Government would undoubtedly 

find in people like me the capacity 

to craft appropriate terse rhetoric, 

whether directed at Charly Boy, 

IPOB, Boko Haram, Badoo, BBOG, 

kidnappers, PDP, restructurists, 

and indeed anyone that threatens 

Nigeria’s ‘non-negotiable’ ‘unity’ 

and ‘indivisibility.’ 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline.com


COMMENT 

TAJUDEEN AHMED 

Ahmed, a strategy expert, with 

several years of senior management 

experience in consulting, commercial 

banking, and FMCG, is the General 

Manager/Group Head Business 

Development at BUA Group 

OMAGBITSE BARROWFCA 

Omagbitse Barrow is the Founder 

and Director of Creative Learning 

International School, Abuja 

@GbitseBarrow 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline. 

Resolving the customer service conundrum 

“So what? Are you the first 

person to buy regularly from us? 

What makes you special?” 

“I am hanging up right now; we 

will get back to you later.” 

“Didn’t you check our telephone 

directory before calling; 

is this the procurement department?” 

These opening statements, 

as readers may have known, are 

familiar retorts from employees 

of organizations to prospective 

or current customers, from whom 

they seek to make sales and earn 

revenues! 

With this background, the 

importance of good customer 

service as a core element of an organization’s 

potential survival was 

aptly captured in the American 

Express Survey’s statement that: 

“…customers are willing to spend 

14% more for great service”. In a 

similar vein, 2014 JD Power Study 

on US Retail Banking Satisfaction 

found that “poor customer service 

was the number one reason customers 

switched banks.” 

Here in Nigeria, aside the corporate 

theme called “strategy”; arguably 

the other theme constantly 

abused by organizations is “customer 

service”. In reality, it should 

have been named as the antithesis, 

“non-customer service”; for 

lack of a better expression. This 

unfortunate attitude usually reflected 

in the treatment meted to 

customers at/by hospitals, banks, 

schools, airports, corporate offices, 

visa processing centres, 

cable TV firms, mobile telephony 

companies, etc. Yet, our corporates 

have created high-sounding 

descriptions for the good old customer 

service department in the 

forms of ‘customer care’, ‘customer 

experience’, ‘customer excellence’, 

‘customer support’, ‘client service’, 

etc, but they do the exact opposite! 

Examples regarding our terrible 

attitude to customer service 

in Nigeria are many. Recently, 

employees of an airline shamelessly 

engaged their customers in 

a brawl at the airport in full glare 

of the public! In the same aviation 

sector, customers usually got harassed 

by so-called ‘customer care’ 

officers, with crude statements 

such as “Oga, we have done everything 

from our end, if you like go 

and book with another airline. Do 

you want me to kill myself because 

of your one-way ticket?” This is in 

addition to gravely debilitating 

constant delay and cancellation of 

flights without any worthy explanation, 

apology, or remediation. 

At the restaurant, if you tarried 

a bit deciding what to pick from 

the large menu, the employee 

of the outlet who is supposed to 

serve you, and on whose patronage 

the payment of his/her salary 

is hinged, could retort: “Oga, abeg 

pick your food fast, I don’t have 

the whole day to attend to you.” 

Or, you could hear a more cynical 

one: “Next person jare, how 

could you delay everyone here 

because of the N2,000 food you 

organizations, rather 

than focus on perfunctory 

trainings on customer 

service, should go deeper 

and train their staff on 

the psychology of service 

delivery. Through this, 

employees are trained to 

put away their personal 

frustrations and serve 

customers with a smile 

and mutual respect, as we 

often observed in other 

parts of the world 

wanted to buy?” 

In a particular instance, a customer 

wanted to make a withdrawal 

at her bank and the teller told her, 

after an error on the withdrawal 

slip: “How could you not know 

that today’s date is June 14?” There 

is even the more tiresome one, 

when bank officials give you the 

ubiquitous line for service failure: 

“our network is down, come back 

later.”That excuse is usually given 

to the customer without any shred 

of emotion conveying apology and/ 

or suggesting remediation. It is 

sometimes given in a frame of mind 

as though the officer was being disturbed 

by the customer! 

Similarly, a prospective customer 

rings up the official line of a 

company, having checked it up on 

their website, seeking to engage an 

C002D5556 

official in the legal department. 

The front desk officer picks up the 

phone, and to cut a rather long 

story short, after a bit of backand-forth 

between them, tells the 

prospective customer: “Isn’t this 

the receptionist’s desk? Couldn’t 

you have called the legal department 

directly? I am busy o, today 

is Monday; I will end this call in 

two minutes.” 

Even at the work place, for roles 

with internal (rather than external) 

customers, you hear people say: “I 

(we) am (are) working on it”, a refrain 

I consider as one of the most 

riling statements in the corporate 

environment, and which is a sure 

excuse for “doing nothing.” 

In changing the poor service 

narrative, organizations should 

change their approach to customer 

service as a ‘nice to have, 

everyone-has-it’ department; to 

a more strategic approach, seeing 

it as the main gateway for sustainable 

profitability. In taking the 

strategic route, ALL employees 

should be made to see the pivotal 

importance of excellent customer 

service to the organization’s existence. 

When that approach is 

institutionalized as a culture, indignant 

employees will shape up 

or ship out! 

Another antidote to poor service 

is the need to show genuine 

care to the customer; personalize 

his preferences, and make him 

feel loved. Most times, customers 

only desire the minimum; they 

wish to be treated fairly as human 

beings; not as irritants who could 

be talked down upon, and onto 

whom venomous anger and derision 

could be poured at the earliest 

opportunity. 

Further, organizations, rather 

than focus on perfunctory trainings 

on customer service, should 

how difficult it is. Communication 

should not just be about the 

“what” that you want them to do, 

and not only the ‘how”, but even 

more importantly, the ‘why” 

behind the ‘what” and “why”. 

Explaining the “why” helps children 

to start to rationalize, and 

understand the thinking behind 

their decisions. When they are 

faced with difficult choices when 

you are not there, they will learn 

to rationalize, and make better 

decisions. 

Parents should also encourage 

their children to explore. 

Rather than trying to narrow 

your children’s world view and 

perspectives regarding their talent 

and capabilities, we should 

help them explore as many 

options as possible, and build 

capabilities in a variety of areas. 

This will build their mental agility 

and toughness and prepare 

them for the reality that one day 

they may be challenged to do 

jobs and tasks that are not always 

“interested” in. in the real world 

they will be thrown into the deep 

end of the pool, and will need to 

learn to either “sink” or “swim”. 

One of the biggest issues that 

parents need to deal with is conveying 

their beliefs and values 

properly to their children with 

integrity. The same parent who is 

BUSINESS DAY 

Parenting: The world’s toughest job 

My brother-in-law, 

Osayi celebrated 

his 50th birthday 

recently, and the 

tribute written by his wife in the 

birthday program paid glowing 

tributes to his skills as a dad. As 

we celebrate Osayi and other 

parents, I reflected deeply on 

the subject, and thought it was 

a good opportunity to remind 

ourselves of the realities of parenting 

and the huge responsibilities 

that come with parenting. 

I remember speaking to a 

group of children in our school 

recently. I asked them if they 

had never thought to themselves 

“Are these people actually my 

parents” on account of their 

parents being too strict and difficult. 

I told the children that if 

this thought had not yet crossed 

their minds it could only mean 

two things – 1) they, the children 

were saints or 2) their parents 

were irresponsible and incompetent 

at parenting. We all grow 

up wondering why our parents’ 

“wahala” is so much, only to 

find out later that parental love 

is “tough love” – a combination 

of carrot and stick. 

In spite of our best efforts, 

we still make many mistakes as 

parents, and it is important that 

we remind ourselves of some of 

these classic mistakes, and some 

of the things we must do differently 

to be better parents. I am 

particularly concerned about 

the age in which we live and its 

impact on parenting. We are in 

an age of digital media and the 

internet, with huge implications 

for the kind of messages to 

which our children are exposed. 

Cartoon stations now show 

cartoons with adult themes and 

some promote values that are 

antithetical to our values and 

norms. Unfortunately, many 

parents are too busy to pay attention 

to what is being shown 

on TV and are exposing their 

children to inappropriate messages 

in the name of watching 

cartoons! 

Due to the multiple sources 

of messages that our children 

receive, one area that parents 

need to improve upon is communicating. 

I find that the generation 

of children that we have 

today need a lot of talking to and 

a lot of engagement. Good parents 

like good leaders must have 

an ear to listen to their children 

watching for both the verbal and 

non-verbal cues and must keep an 

open line of communication with 

their children. Parents should 

also be mindful that they are not 

“pushing” their children so hard, 

and wanting to live out their own 

lives through their children. We 

have experienced failures and 

successes in life and should be 

careful about trying to micromanage 

our children’s lives in line 

with our own aspirations without 

regard for theirs. The final deadly 

sin of parenting is over-indulging 

our children. As we grow and 

prosper we start to think that the 

most important thing is to protect 

our children from the ‘sufferings” 

that we had to endure. While this 

is useful, we should be careful not 

to go overboard with “protecting” 

our children from the realities 

of life so much so that we end 

up over-indulging or “spoiling” 

them. 

So, what are some of the core 

things that parents should pay 

attention to: Firstly: Communicating 

powerfully – parents must 

keep an open line of communication 

with their children and spend 

quality time with them, no matter 

11 

go deeper and train their staff (especially 

those at the front desks and 

service points) on the psychology 

of service delivery. Through this, 

employees are trained to put away 

their personal frustrations (considering 

the inexplicably combative, 

angry manner some of them treat 

customers) and serve customers 

with a smile and mutual respect, 

as we often observed in other parts 

of the world. 

Organizations should know that 

grand advertisement campaigns 

cannot mask poor customer service 

and its severe implications. 

A company noted for having rude 

employees, who have scant regard 

for regular or walk-in customers 

can never deceive the discerning 

public regarding its fidelity to good 

service. In fact, they should be 

aware, if they are not aware already, 

that ‘word-of-mouth advertisement’, 

undertaken by an unfairlytreated 

customer is far more potent 

than huge outlay on media blitz; 

just as a modest advertising expenditure 

accompanied with positive 

‘word-of-mouth campaign’ 

which satisfied customers usually 

undertake without solicitation, is 

usually more rewarding and sustainably 

profitable. 

In conclusion, organizations 

that emphasize offering cheaper 

products/services accompanied 

by poor service should note that 

by proven research, they cannot, 

in the long run, earn greater profits 

than competing products/services 

that are more expensive but which 

provide excellent customer service. 

The average customer in Nigeria, 

and elsewhere, is willing to pay 

extra (as confirmed by my previous 

reference to American Express 

Survey) for being treated or served 

well, as opposed to paying less for 

being treated like a brute. 

over-protective of his daughters 

from “boys”, ends up being the 

same parent who buys “expo” 

for his daughters to pass JAMB/ 

WAEC. Parents must be consistent 

– there must be alignment 

between your words and actions 

and a general consistency in your 

values and ethics. 

Finally, there are a number 

of important values that parents 

must teach their children to 

prepare the for the real world 

out there – 1) deferred gratification 

– be prepared to make sacrifices 

today for a better future; 

2) the virtue of work – hard work 

doesn’t kill, it only makes you 

better; 3) Stress is a choice – what 

may seem like difficult is only so 

because of how you have framed 

your mind; and 4) failure is a 

certitude – you will face failures 

in life, but be prepared to fail 

forward. 

Parenting is no doubt the 

world’s toughest job – requiring 

so much from parents, and with 

huge implications for the future. 

Parents should always be mindful 

of some of the typical mistakes, 

and should always aim at paying 

attention to the things that really 

matter. 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline.com

Thursday 17 August 2017 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 13 

COMPANIES 

& MARKETS 

Company news analysis and insight 

Nigeria’s Government to 

auction N135bn bonds 

August 23 – DMO 

P14 

Investors’ crave for Nigerian mutual 

funds heighten with AUM all-time high 

• As Coronation Asset Management launches funds 

• Active portfolio management better outlook for investors - Okolo 

INNOCENT UNAH 

The value of assets under 

management (AUM) 

in the Nigerian mutual 

funds industry hit alltime 

high as it surged to N322.99 

billion as at week-ended July 21 

2017, latest data from the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(SEC) has shown. 

The SEC data showed that 

AUM value rose 11.03 per cent 

from May 26 2017. Industry 

stakeholders say that the increase 

is caused by the increased 

interest of investors who have 

been flocking towards Nigerian 

mutual funds recently. 

Analysts hinge the resurgent 

interest on such factors as the 

current state of the Nigerian 

economy, stock market and interest 

rate fluctuations as well as 

much improved mutual funds 

offerings. 

This assertion is further 

backed by a recent report by 

Quantitative Financial Analytics 

which estimated that Nigerian 

mutual funds attracted the sum 

of N42 billion inflows in the first 

quarter of 2017 compared to the 

N49 billion inflows recorded in 

the entire 2016 fiscal year. 

Mutual funds’ assets in Nigeria 

also grew to N318 billion as 

at the beginning of the first half 

of 2017, 42 per cent spike since 

the beginning of the year. AUM 

stood at N223.6 billion as at the 

end of 2016. 

It is against this background 

the Coronation Asset Management 

Limited (CAM) recently 

launched its two mutual funds 

with a view to leveraging its 

capacity and experience to help 

investors realise better returns 

and minimise risks of their 

investments. 

“No one can doubt the 

capacity and expertise of 


to deliver competitive 

returns to investors in the 

Coronation Mutual Funds,” 

said Emeka Okolo, senior 

fund manager and head of 


at the launch of one 

of the funds. “The level of 

professionalism and quality of 

investments will be difficult to 

match by other mutual fund 

managers in Nigeria and the 

West African sub-region. This, 

coupled with the proposed 

investment mix and the fund 

structures, distinguish these 

Mutual Funds.” 

Okolo noted that active 

portfolio management by experienced 

professionals offer 

investors better prospects on 

their investments especially 

in periods of market volatility 

and economic downturns as is 

being experienced in Nigeria, 

making mutual funds an optimal 

choice. 

He said that the recently 

launched Naira-denominated, 

open-ended mutual funds by 

CAM, which witnessed a high 

subscription rate by individuals, 

retail and institutional investors, 

has continued to elicit excitement. 

The Mutual Funds, which 

include the N1.5 billion money 

market fund, the N400 million 

fixed income fund, and the 

N200 million balanced fund, 

were all offered at par of 1 Naira 

each. 

Tunde Folawiyo, chairman 

of Coronation Merchant Bank, 

said that the funds offer all strata 

of investors, individual and cor- 

TCN gets $1.55bn multilateral corporations facility to boost transmission 

porate alike, an opportunity to 

diversify their investment portfolios 

backed by the strength of 

the Coronation brand and managed 

by a team of experienced 

professionals at CAM. 

The money market fund 

and the fixed income fund have 

been rated “A- (NG)(f)” and 

“AA-/FV4 (NG)(f)”by Agusto & 

Co, a foremost Nigerian rating 

agency. The ratings indicate low 

to medium risk characteristics 

of the funds. 

The initial public offering 

(IPO) for the funds came on 

the back of a strong financial 

year for the premium financial 

institution. 

Coronation Merchant Bank, 

the parent company of CVAM, 

had grown its profits by 128 per 

cent from December 2015 to 

December 2016. The Group’s 

financial strength, sound risk 

management, prudent investment 

strategies, tradition of 

excellent value delivery to all 

stakeholders, attracted investors 

to the IPO for the mutual funds. 

The Coronation mutual 

funds are being overseen by 

institutions with strong track 

records of providing superior 

financial services. CAM acting 

is the Fund Manager, Citibank 

Nigeria is custodian, and United 

Securities Limited is registrar to 

all three funds. 

Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited 

will acts as Trustee to the 

Balance and Fixed Income 

Funds while United Capital 

Trustees will act as Trustee to 

the Money Market Fund. 

The Transmission 

Company of Nigeria 

(TCN) says it has secured 

$1.55 billion 

from multilateral corporations 

to finance its transmission 

expansion projects in 

the country. 

The Managing Director of 

TCN, Usman Mohammed, 

said this in Kano on Monday, 

while addressing newsmen. 

He said that TCN had approached 

multilateral donors 

to raise significant finance to 

execute its numerous projects 

in the country. 

He said sourcing of fund 

was also designed to realise 

TCN’s ambition of increasing 

transmission capacity 

by 20,000 megawatts in few 

years time. 

He said that the provision 

of the fund had resulted in 

the resuscitation of some 

projects that were hitherto 

abandoned . 

“The Abuja transmission 

project, which is supposed 

to provide three sub-stations 

and provide another avenue 

for supply through Abuja from 

Lafia, has been completed. 

“We have also resuscitated 

the JAICA project that has 

been on the drawing board for 

a long some time now. 

“Those two projects, plus 

other projects, cost about 

1.55 billiion dollars which is 

coming from the World Bank, 

African Development Bank 

(AfDB) the Islamic Development 

Bank, JAICA itself and 

the European Union (EU) .” 

Mohammed said that the 

TCN was also collaborating 

with the state governments to 

resolve the problem of right of 

ways on transmission lines in 

the country. 

“The payment of compensation 

to right of ways issue in 

Nigeria is a big problem, so in 

trying to expand capacity of 

transmission lines, the right 

of ways is a big problem and 

that is why we are collaborating 

with state governments.” 

He said that Kaduna Government 

had paid some compensation 

for some of the 

places TCN intended to construct 

transmission lines. 

“We are working to expand 

the linesfrom Shiroro 

to Kaduna, and from Kaduna 

to Kano, and we are putting 

a code line that will carry 

2,400 transmission capacity, 

We have never had that 

kind of line in Nigeria, but 

we need to collaborate with 

states and we have started 

with Kaduna.” 

“The Governor of Kano 

State is also supporting us 

on the right of ways between 

Kano and Kaduna border, 

and we are working with the 

governors of Abia, Lagos, Imo 

and Ogun. So everywhere, we 

are putting capacity; we are 

working with the state government 

there. 

The TCN Boss noted that 

the company is also working 

to avoid stranded generation 

in the system. 

“On growing the load and 

avoiding load rejection; we 

are working with Discos to see 

how to improve their capacity 

and we have appointed interface 

focal officers to help the 

DisCos pick more load.” 

According to him, there is a 

‘stranded’ generation of about 

2,000 megawatts in the grid. 

He said that stranded generation 

was detrimental to the 

development of investments 

in the generation aspect of 

the sector, hence the need to 

ensure the evacuation and 

distribution of power generated 

to the consumers.

14 

BUSINESS DAY 

COMPANIES & MARKETS 

Comfort Stevens berths in Aba, to 

produce 5,000 pairs of shoes daily 

GODFREY OFURUM, 

The Aba shoe industry 

has received 

a boost 

following the inauguration 

of a 

multi-million naira shoe and 

garment factory, promoted 

by Comfort Stevens Group, 

a United States of America 

based firm. 

The factory, which is located 

off-MCC road, Aba, the 

L-R: Bayo Adekanmbi, chief transformation officer, MTN/keynote speaker; O’Lekan Babatunde, publisher, 

Brand Crunch; Jaiye Opayemi, CEO, Chain Reactions and Steve Babaeko, CEO, X3M Ideas/speaker, 

at the maiden edition of BrandCrunch Learning Session in Lagos. 

commercial hub of Abia State, 

is to produce 5,000 pairs of 

shoes daily, when fully operational 

in January 2018. 

Comfort Stevens, a multinational 

e-commerce, multivendor 

marketplace company, 

will also provide an 

online platform for producers 

and marketers of different 

products made-in-Aba to sell 

their products. 

John Nwankwo, president, 

Comfort Stevens said: 

“We are unique, because 

most of these other online 

stores do not own product 

lines; they are just there to 

connect buyers and sellers. 

But Comfort Stephen is 

unique, in the sense that we 

have our own product linesgarments, 

shoes, bags and 

other fashion accessories 

and these are Comfort Stephens 

branded products, 

produced in Aba and we are 

proudly saying that they are 

produced in Aba and meets 

the same standards you see 

in Italy, Brazil, Dubai and 

even better than what is 

produced in China.” 

He said further: “Using internet 

technology and human 

resources, Comfort Stevens is 

here to create economic value 

and by so doing, promote the 

non-oil sector, particularly 

goods made in Nigeria with 

C002D5556 

emphasis on Made-in-Aba 

products.” 

“Recall that the Acting 

President, Yemi Osinbajo, in 

one of his recent visits to Abia 

State, commissioned the Abia 

Investment House, a-one stop 

shop, established by the Abia 

State Government to improve 

ease of doing business in the 

State.” 

The one-stop shop was 

designed to host the Inland 

Revenue Service (IRS) and its 

partners to create a friendly 

environment for investors 

and other patrons, who would 

come into the state to do business, 

Nwankwo said. 

It is the dream of the State 

Government to rank among 

the top 10 States in the ease of 

doing business in the country, 

he said. “It is heartwarming 

that efforts of the Government 

to improve ease of doing 

business in the State; including 

revenue harmonization 

have started yielding fruit, 

and these results are coming 

within two years of the life of 

the present administration in 

the State.” 


Nigeria’s 

Government to 

auction N135bn 

bonds August 23 – 

DMO 

The Federal Government 

has offered 

for subscription by 

auction, N135 billion 

bonds in its Aug. 23 auction, 

according to the Debt 

Management Office (DMO). 

The offering circular obtained 

from the DMO’s website 

on Tuesday in Abuja indicated 

that it would sell N35 

billion of a bond, to mature in 

July, 2021, at 14.50 per cent. 

It would also sell N50 billion 

at 16.28 per cent to mature 

in March 2027, while 

another N50 billion of paper 

would be sold at 16.24 per 

cent, to mature in April 2037. 

All the bonds on offer are 

reopening of previous issues, 

the circular said. Nigeria 

issues sovereign bonds 

monthly to support the local 

bond market. It also created 

a benchmark for corporate 

issuance to fund its budget 

deficit. 

NOSAK Group pioneers survival 

strategies for businesses in recession 

...Introduces programme for learning and development 

The current economic 

variables playing out 

within the Nigerian 

business hemisphere 

have forced organisations to 

transition in order to survive 

and still maintain a portion 

of the market share. This has 

equally given rise to innovations 

regarding strategies for 

survival, which will hopefully 

check future re-occurrence. 

Igie Odozi, head of training 

at the Nosak Group, stated 

that this reality not only impacts 

businesses directly in 

terms of market share but 

affects to a larger extend the 

owners and drivers of the 

business. 

“The major stakeholders 

in this endeavour are the 

owners and the employees,” 

Odozi said “In situations such 

as the one business owners 

and organisations have found 

themselves in this country, 

the organisations will have to 

grapple with issues of shrinkage 

of the market, downsizing, 

cost savings/reduction in 

order to remain afloat while 

employees on their part are 

up and doing in seeking for 

greener pastures in other 

organisations to mitigate the 

risk of job losses.” 

According to Odozi, this to 

a large extent accounts for the 

current high level of employee 

turnover in organisations. 

For organisations willing 

and seeking to remain afloat 

while running profitably, the 

key is to imbibe a culture 

of learning. Training programmes 

for human capital 

development are now channelled 

towards ensuring the 

effectiveness of employee 

contributions to the success 

of the business. 

Nosak Group as a world 

class company, an innovative 

and leading brand in industries 

is an advocate of this 

smart solution of investing 

heavily in continuous learning 

and development of its 

workforce using the best of 

technology and content. 

A recent study revealed 

that leading companies 

like the Nosak Group are 

taking it further by leveraging 

on social learning 

activities, mobile learning 

solutions, among other initiative. 

Hence, the Group 

has consistently increased 

its budget size for learning 

and development. 

This has equally given rise 

to a paradigm shift whereby 

there is a transition from the 

traditional context of strictly 

controlling approach of the 

workforce to the innovative 

approach of engaging and 

seeing the workforce as partners 

in the business. 

The traditional methods 

of learning are also being 

abandoned in favour of more 

effective learning solutions 

based on cutting edge technology, 

which engages talent 

and improves performance. 

“In the present scheme of 

things, our approach at Nosak 

Group to organizational 

development are prioritizing 

the Individual employee, developing 

and re-training key 

talents as a strategic business 

priority leading to business 

growth, and strengthening 

partnership between the 

Group and our workforce,” 

the Nosak executive said. 

“This makes us not to be 

overly ‘controlling’ but one 

that views her employees as 

collaborators for success.” 

It is in line with this paradigm 

shift by the management 

of Nosak Group that 

it commissioned a worldclass, 

fully equipped training 

school on March 15 2017, to 

serve not only the needs of 

the Group but other organisations 

willing to key into the 

initiative. 

Halogen Security CEO receives 

Titans of Tech Merit Award 

The CEO of Halogen 

Security, Wale Olaoye, 

has been honoured 

with a ‘Titan of Tech 

Merit’ award. The Chief Executive 

of the foremost risk management 

company in Nigeria 

was honoured for his commitment 

and dedication to the 

integration of technology and 

its application to the Nigerian 

security landscape. 

The ‘Titans of Tech’ award 

was held at the Oriental Hotel 

in Victoria Island Lagos, 

to recognize stakeholders 

presently contributing to the 

advancement of technology 

in Nigeria. 

Established by Technology 

Africa, the event is also a 

platform where the most influential 

players in West African 

ICT markets interact for the 

purpose of exchanging ideas 

and positively influencing and 

promoting ICT agenda for the 

optimal good. 

The event had a business 

roundtable, an interactive session 

and award presentation. 

It was attended by technology 

industry leaders and ICT 

professionals, security experts, 

very senior Government officials, 

the media, corporate 

organizations representatives, 

and the general public. This 

year, the event focused on ICT 

and Security. 

Among the guests were 

Adebayo Shittu, Nigeria’s honourable 

minister of communication, 

Emmanuel Uduaghan, 

former governor of Delta State, 

and Tony Ojobo, director of 

public affairs at the Nigerian 

Communications Commission 

(NCC). 

The Halogen boss was also 

the keynote speaker at the 

event. 

He spoke on ‘The Strategic 

Role of Technology in curbing 

Nigeria’s security challenges, 

the Halogen experience’. 

He took the audience 

through the twenty five year 

experience of Halogen and its 

evolution to becoming a technology-powered 

end-to-end 

risk management company 

that is positioned to deliver 

peace of mind to individuals, 

communities, businesses and 

government in an open and 

continuously changing world. 

“No one is immune to the 

reality that the world is now 

borderless and the threats we 

face as individuals, businesses 

and on the national scale have 

heightened due to the change 

in the risk equation occasioned 

by technology and the state of 

anomie prevailing in the world 

today,” Olaoye said. “The reality 

of warfare and considerations 

for national security going 

cyber have become more imminent 

and this should be a 

major consideration in our 

national security policy and 

architecture.” 

He was optimistic that the 

several security challenges 

facing currently facing Nigeria, 

from porous borders, poor prison 

infrastructure and systems, 

and kidnapping for ransom, 

will be a thing of the past. 

“This will happen when 

we are able to strategically 

deal with policies that enable 

coordinated approach 

to technology and security 

infrastructure working to 

address our national security 

imperatives,” Olaoye said. 

“These imperatives include 

national identity data integration 

& management, national 

addressing systems coding, 

risk management impact assessment 

as part of building 

approval process, movement 

and residency database localized 

in Local Government 

level policy, etc.” 

He said that the value of internet 

of things (IOT), artificial 

intelligence, mobility and cloud 

and their application to national 

security systems would then 

have meaning. He added that 

most of these technologies are 

already available in the country 

and companies like Halogen 

and the government need to 

take seriously, engagement 

with strategic Nigerian professionals 

in evolving the several 

policies that would enable the 

country leverage fully the advantages 

technology portends 

for our National Security.

Thursday 17 August 2017 C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 15 

Dmr Photo Studio unveils 

memory photo-shoot 


Business Event 

Bunmi Banjo and 

Angel James 

Dmr Photo Studio, 

a photography 

establishment 

birth out of 

passion to help 

clients preserve memories 

recently unveils photo-shoot, 

which it said will enable professional 

quality photographs 

easily available in a digital 

format, at a press briefing in 

Lagos. 

Joseph Musa, Managing 

Director, Dmr Studio, in his 

opening address at the unveiling 

said the studio works to 

help clients look their best, by 

helping them keep their photos 

up-to-date. “Dmr Studio 

has a comprehensive program 

to preserve memories on an 

ongoing basis. We see individual 

pictures, especially baby 

pictures, as gateway products 

for our programs of ongoing 

photography,” he said. 

“However, we specialize 

in producing baby pictures, 

high school senior Yearbook, 

Family, Individual portraits, 

model’s Portfolio and glamour 

shots wedding, album photos 

suitable for Magazine publication, 

video recording and 

Book portraits, one aspect is 

photography, training, we also 

do video shoots, and looking 

to expand to full blown media 

house.” Joseph stated. 

Mary Musa, CEO, Dmr 

Photo Studio, in her remarks 

said her love for photo shoot 

and passion to help clients 

preserve memories and for 

people to portray themselves 

in the best light brought her 

into photography. 

According to Mary, photos 

are created in a high-resolution 

digital format, from which our 

prints are made and since the 

internet and commonly used 

printers typically use the lowerresolution 

300 dpi format, 300 

dpi digital files are available to 

clients for a nominal charge as 

well as higher-quality digital 

photos and prints carries full 

pricing. Mary opined that Dmr 

Photo Studio retains high-resolution 

data, which can make 

clients order more prints from 

its studio. “Our photo studio 

includes quality props for portraits 

and baby, child and pet 

photography, video recording 

for YouTube users, events and 

skits,” she said. 

“The physical environment 

of the studio is fun and accessible, 

making families want to 

come here. We also go regularly 

to people’s homes and 

bring cameras and lights that 

are out of the budget of nonprofessionals, 

and before the 

end of this year we plan to 

do more in different areas 

and come up with new ideas,” 

Mary stated. 

L-R: Kunle Olawepo, chairman, Nigerian Medical Association, Kwara State Chapter; Alexandra Spang, 

marketing director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Nigeria ltd; Atolagbe Alege, commissioner, ministry 

of health, Kwara State, and Omolaja Odunuga, medical director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals 

Nigeria ltd, , at the launch of the GSK MedVan Initiative in Ilorin, Kwara State. yesterday 

12 years on, Toastmasters directs focus on 

improved national leadership 

FRANK ELEANYA 

Eagle Toastmasters 

Club, a member of 

Toastmasters International, 

a non-governmental 

organisation said it 

is set to deepen conversation 

around competent leadership 

in government and in the corporate 

world. 

Citing the 49 competencies 

of Toastmasters International, 

the NGO’s national 

leaders said Nigeria’s leadership 

would only move forward 

and soar when political 

leaders learn how to communicate. 

Speaking during the club 

Change of Guard ceremony, 

Abayomi Aiyesimoju, Program 

Quality Director, District 9 told 

BusinessDay that Toastmasters 

is “something” that should 

be recommended to leaders 

whether in politics or in business. 

“What it does is to develop 

in people two important skills 

which if you have as an individual 

you will be able to make 

excellent contributions to your 

corporation and organisation. 

These are communication and 

leadership skills,” Aiyesimoju 

said. 

Ambassador Vincent Sunny 

Okobi, the first chartered 

member of the club in Nigeria 

recalled that since the club 

was established in 2005, it 

has consistently provided a 

platform for many leaders to 

improve their ability to speak 

and communicate effectively. 

He expressed confidence in 

the new crop of leadership the 

club has produced. 

“As we pass on the baton to 

them, they are fully equipped. 

They are getting training in 

leadership that you can get 

nowhere else but in Toastmasters,” 

Okobi said. 

Unekwu Nwaezeapu, the 

incoming President of the premier 

Toastmasters Club said 

the handover ceremony was 

very significant as it signified 

continuity in the vision of the 

club’s founding members. 

L - R: Osita Ede, head, mass market; Aishah Ahmad, head, consumer banking, all of Diamond Bank 

Plc; Mamiska Kanayochukwu, N1million winner, Diamond Xtraordinary Wins, and Chioma Omeruah aka 

Chigul, DiamondXtra Season 9 ambassador, at the cheque presentation ceremony for Winners of the 

Diamond Xtraordinary Wins Reward Scheme in Lagos recently. 

CodeLagos Initiative deepens competitiveness 

for 5,000 next generation youths 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

CodeLagos, an initiative 

to teach one 

million Lagosians to 

code by 2019 says 

the first phase of the project 

trained 5,464 students from 

65 schools, including public 

and privately-owned primary 

as well as secondary schools 

across the state. 

Obafela Bank-Olemoh, 

Special Adviser to the Governor 

on Education, said the pilot 

phase which was unveiled to 

the public in November 2016 

has delivered to the students 

critical life skills including 

basic computing, computational 

thinking and use of basic 

computer programming tools 

like Scratch and python over a 

period of eight weeks and the 

feedbacks have been inspiring. 

Bank-Olemoh while giving 

a breakdown of the schools 

that have partaken in the 

project so far said “Of the 65 

schools in the pilot, 23 are 

government schools of which 

seven of them are girls only 

schools while two others are 

boys only.” 

Deremi Atanda, Executive 

Director SystemSpecs one 

of the partners while speaking 

during a CodeLagos forum, 

said that partnering with 

the Ministry of Education for 

CodeLagos “demonstrates SystemSpecs’ 

interest in the youth 

segment of Lagos and Nigeria 

as a whole, as well as its support 

for the transformation of 

the economic and educational 

fortunes of Lagos state.” 

Having taken vital lessons 

from the first phase of the 

project, the Lagos State governor, 

Akinwunmi Ambode, has 

approved the implementation 

of the second phase, which 

will be launched in September 

2017 and would include all 

state-owned public libraries to 

ensure access to more Lagosians 

especially those outside the 

conventional schools system. 

There would also be coding 

centres in tertiary institutions 

across the state. 

The pilot phase of the project 

was supported by some 

of Nigeria’s leading corporate 

brands, including consulting 

firm PWC; SystemSpecs, the 

developers of Remita; foremost 

insurance firm, ARM 

Insurance; and the Lagos State 

Ministry of Science and Technology. 

Olamide Adedeji aka Baddo, Glo brand ambassador, (3rd from right), flanked from L-R: by Temitope 

Adeolu-Gboyega; Baby Toluwani Adeolu-Gboyega; Adeolu Gboyega, and Oso Bukola Mary, all Glo 

subscribers, at the Akure edition of the Glo Mega Music Nationwide Tour held at the Golden Events 

Centre, Akure, on Saturday. 

L-R: Gaji Temitayo Yussuf, company secretary; Akinmolu Opeodu, chairman, and Akintayo Oloko, MD/ 

CEO, all of Safetrust Mortgage Bank Limited, at the bank’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos, recently.


C002D5556 


I NVESTOR 

In association with 

Helping you to build wealth & make wise decisions 

Week open (16 – 07–17) 

Week close (23 – 07–17) 

Percentage change (WoW) 

Percentage change (YTD) 42.14 51.40 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU 

NSE All Share Index 

37,425.15 

38,198.60 

NSE Premium Index The NSE-Main Board 

Market capitalisation 

NSE ASeM Index NSE 30 Index NSE Banking Index NSE Insurance Index NSE Consumer Goods Index NSE Oil/Gas Index 

Year Open 26,874.62 N9.247 trillion 1,695.51 1,203.79 1,189.69 1,195.20 274.32 

2.07 

Last week, Zenith Bank Plc 

became the first tier-one 

lender to release its audited 

interim financial report for 

the half year (H1) ended 

June 30, 2017. 

The H1scorecards 

The financial scorecards of the 

bank which beat most analysts’ 

expectation show gross earnings 

rose by 77.10percent in H1 2017 to 

N380.44billion, up from H1 2016 level 

of N214.81billion. 

The results at the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (NSE) show the Zenith Bank 

grew its Profit after tax in H1 2017 rose 

by 112.36percent to N75.31billion from 

H1’16 low of N35.47billion. 

The bank declared interim dividend 

of 25kobo for the H1 period ended 

June 30, same as in corresponding 

period of 2016. Profit before tax rose 

to N92.18billion from H1’16 level of 

N53.90billion, up by 71.01percent. 

Earnings per share reached new high 

in H1 2017 to N2.39 from N1.13, up 

112.46percent. 

Zenith Bank Plc (Zenith Bank) 

is Nigeria’s second largest lender. 

The bank offers its clients wide 

range of corporate, investment, 

business and personal banking 

products and solutions across 500+ 

branches, predominantly in Nigeria, 

with subsidiaries in the UK, Ghana, 

Sierra Leone and Gambia, as well as 

representative offices in South Africa 

and China. 

Principal activities and business 

review 

The principal activity of Zenith 

Bank Plc is the provision of banking 

and other financial services to 

corporate and individual customers. 

Such services include obtaining 

deposits from the public, granting of 

loans and advances, corporate finance 

and money market activities. 

Zenith Bank Plc has five subsidiary 

companies namely –Zenith Bank 

(Ghana) Limited, Zenith Pensions 

Custodian Limited, 

Zenith Bank (UK) Limited, Zenith 

Bank (Sierra Leone) Limited and 

Zenith Bank (The Gambia) Limited. 

During the review first-half period, the 

bank opened one new branch while no 

N12.899 trillion 


2,609.77 

2,566.97 

-1.64 

1,634.63 

1,708.53 

4.52 

1,161.80 

1,161.80 

0.00 

1,698.40 

41.93 -2.34 45.96 

455.28 

1,744.51 450.99 

126.29 

143.24 

138.92 

712.65 

892.56 

979.22 

2.71 -0.94% -3.02% 9.71% 

312.68 

325.90 

316.85 

-2.78% 

64.40% 10.00% 37.41% 1.33% 

Zenith Bank: Stock gets positive 

ratings on impressive H1 scorecards 

branch was closed during the period. 

Substantial interest in shares 

According to the register of 

members as at June 30, 2017, the 

following shareholders held more than 

5percent of the issued share capital of 

the Zenith Bank Plc. 

Jim Ovia (2,946,199,395units), 

which represents 9.38percent; 

Stanbic Nominees Nigeria Limited/ 

C011–MAIN (2,930,305,445 units) or 

9.33percent; Stanbic Nominees Nigeria 

Limited/C002–MAIN (2,259,774,999 

units) or 7.20percent; and Stanbic 

Nominees Nigeria Limited/C001– 

TRAD (1,970,144,280 units) which 

represents 6.28percent. 

Analysts comment 

“Zenith’s H1 PBT tracks well ahead 

of consensus full year (FY) 2017 PBT 

forecast of N165billion. As such, we 

expect to see marked upward revisions 

to consensus PBT forecast. The shares 

have outperformed the Index this 

year. They have gained 62.7percent 

year-to-date (ytd) versus 41.8percent 

ytd for the All Share Index (ASI). 

We rate the shares Outperform. Our 

estimates under review”, Olubunmi 

Asaolu’s team of research analysts at 

FBNQuest noted in their first reaction 

to the bank’s results. 

Also, FBNQuest analysts 

“outperform” rating given to 

Zenith Bank stock results from the 

analysts’ expectation that the stock 

will outperform the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (NSE) All Share Index 

(ASI) over the next 12 months or the 

specified investment horizon. 

Also, Olalekan Olabode-led team 

of research analysts at Vetiva Capital 

believe that Zenith Bank Plc earnings 

beat as foreign exchange (FX) income 

spike dwarfed huge provision. The 

analysts want investors to buy the 

shares of the bank following the raise 

in their target price (TP) to N30.73 from 

previous N28. 

The analysts “Buy” rating 

for Zenith Bank Plc shares results 

from their consideration that it is 

highly undervalued, but with strong 

fundamentals. Also, they expect Zenith 

Bank shares to offer potential return 

in excess of or equal to 15percent 

between the current price and analysts’ 

target price. 

“With capital adequacy and 

liquidity ratios of 21percent and 

61percent (regulatory benchmark 

of 15percent and 30percent) 

respectively, we believe the bank is 

well positioned to take advantage of 

the market opportunities. Given the 

earnings outperformance, we revise 

our target price to N30.73 (Previous: 

N28). Although we have seen a strong 

rally in the stock in recent time (Ytd 

return: 63percent), we believe the bank 

remains largely undervalued,” said 

Vetiva Capital research analysts. 

“Amidst rising non-performing 

loan (NPL) ratio (H1’17: 4.3percent 

versus first-quarter (Q1) 2017: 

3.2percent), Zenith Bank reported a 

significant rise in loan loss provision, 

up 198percent year-on-year (y/y) to 

N42 billion versus our N16 billion 

estimate. According to management, 

the increase in impairment charge was 

largely driven by higher provisioning 

across the Power and Telecoms sectors. 

“We recall that Zenith Bank had 

the highest exposure to Etisalat and 

believe the bank must have taken 

a conservative approach to make 

provision for a portion of their exposure 

to the telecoms company. Despite this, 

Operating Income rose 47percent 

year-on-year (y/y) to N215 billion – 

22percent ahead of our N176billion 

estimate”, Vetiva Capital research 

analysts further noted. 

Exposure to 9mobile (formerly 

Etisalat) 

Zenith Bank has made a provision 

on 30 percent of its loan to 9mobile, the 

country’s fourth largest telecoms group 

formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria, the 

bank’s chief executive said on Monday. 

“We have taken about 30 percent 

... as a provision which we believe 

is very prudent as the company is 

undergoing restructuring ... to prepare 

for a new investor,” Peter Amangbo told 

a conference call. 

Trading information 

Zenith Bank Plc share price 

stood at N23.5 as at Monday August 

14. With a market capitalisation of 

N763.563billion, Zenith Bank Plc 

shares outstanding stands at 

31,396,493,786 units. 

NSE Lotus II 

1,841.59 

2,309.48 

2,402.71 

4.04% 

30.47% 

NSE Ind. Goods Index 

2,176.44 

2,260.35 

2,315.36 

2.43% 

45.13% 

NSE Pension Index 

810.04 

1,268.92 

1,294.02 

1.98% 

59.75% 

LendInvest joins London 

Stock Exchange’s ORB 

Property investment platform 

LendInvest has launched 

first retail bond on the Order 

Book for Retail Bonds (ORB) of the 

London Stock Exchange Group 

(LSEG). LendInvest is also the first 

UK company on ELITE, LSEG’s 

business support and capital raising 

programme, to access the debt 

capital markets to support its growth. 

ELITE offers the UK’s most exciting 

and ambitious private companies 

a full programme to help them 

grow, including education, business 

support and access to Europe’s 

financial and advisory community. 

LendInvest was admitted to ELITE 

in April 2016 and has since grown 

rapidly. ELITE’s growing community 

now includes more than 600 

companies in 25 countries across 

36 sectors, generating €50 billion in 

combined revenues and accounting 

for over 215,000 jobs across Europe 

and beyond. 

London Stock Exchange Group is 

committed to supporting increased 

private investor participation in the 

financial markets. The demand for 

LendInvest’s retail bond highlights 

private investor appetite for retailsized 

bonds in the UK. London Stock 

Exchange launched ORB in 2010 to 

open up the corporate debt market 

to private investors and provide 

companies with an alternative source 

of funding and today counts 60 retail 

bonds from 37 different issuers. 

Pietro Poletto, LSEG’s Head 

of Fixed Income Markets said: 

“Welcoming the UK’s first and largest 

online market place platform for 

property lending and investing, 

LendInvest, to trading on our Order 

Book for Retail Bonds is a significant 

milestone for the company and 

London Stock Exchange Group. The 

successful listing reinforces LSEG’s 

position as a leading retail bond 

trading venue in Europe and the 

success of our ELITE programme in 

supporting companies to access a 

range of funding options. ORB and 

ELITE are just two of our innovations 

that help support fast-growing 

companies tap into retail liquidity 

pools and access long-term patient 

capital.”

Thursday 17 August 2017 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 17 

I NVESTOR 


United Capital Investment View 

Equities: FMCGs power the 

bull-run… ASI up 2.1% w/w 

...sentiment remains upbeat 

Nigerian equities 

delivered positive 

returns in the week to 

11th August, thanks 

to sustained interest in FMCGs 

despite bearish sentiments across 

other sectors. 

The local bourse advanced on 

4 of 5 trading days during the week, 

logging a +2.1% weekly return and 

crossing its 38,000 threshold for 

the first time since 2014 settling 

at 38,198.6 points. This drove 

YTD return to 42.1% as market 

capitalization added N266.6bn to 

settle at N12.9tn. 

In this past week, system 

liquidity opened N109.8bn long 

with OBB and O/N rates at 26.7% 

and 27.5% respectively. During 

the week, the CBN floated OMO 

auctions on all trading days except 

for Tuesday, mopping up a total of 

N83.4bn from the system. 

On Thursday, c. N93.9bn 

maturity provided a bit of reprieve 

to liquidity levels as rates fell to 

double-digits from their three-digit 

levels on Wednesday. To close the 

week, OBB and O/N rates settled at 

55.8% and 59.3% respectively (up 

36.8% and 33.8% from the previous 

week’s level). 

Although the recent rally has 

been supported by improving 

economic fundamentals, we 

observe that stocks are beginning 

to stretch beyond their longterm 

averages from a valuation 

standpoint. As such, we caution 

that profit-taking is likely in the 

interim despite outstanding 

earnings scorecards from the 

remaining Tier-1 players. In 

the interim, we expect mixed 

sentiments to dictate proceedings 

in the T-bills space, even as the 

bonds space stays tepid in the 

absence of any system shocks that 

will catalyze activity. 

Global and Macroeconomic 

market update 

Geopolitical tensions hobble 

global equity performance 

In the Global market, 

heightened geopolitical worries 

remained largely in focus during 

the week. In the U.S. market, a 

tough talk from President Donald 

Trump on North Korea amid tepid 

earnings and mixed economic 

data sparked a wave of uncertainty 

to the market as all of the three 

major equity benchmarks finished 

sharply lower for the week. The 

S&P 500 Index sank 1.4%, even as 

the Dow Jones Industrial Average 

dropped 0.7% while the techladen 

Nasdaq Composite Index 

plummeted 1.8%. 

Weaker than expected 

economic data amid increased 

geopolitical tensions dented 

sentiments for European stocks. 

Overall, UK’s FTSE was down 2.0%, 

the Pan-European STOXX 600 lost 

1.8%, the CAC declined 1.2% and 

Germany’s DAX dropped 1.1%. 

Performance across the BRICS 

classification was bearish, save 

for South Africa’s JSE (4.6%) and 

Brazil’s IBOV (+0.3%). On the flip 

side, China’s SCHOMP (-2.0%), 

Russia’s RTSI (-0.8%) and India’s 

BSE Sensex (-6.8%) closed higher 

for the week. 

Domestic Financial Markets 

Review and Outlook 

Equities: FMCGs power the 

bull-run… ASI up 2.1% w/w 

Nigerian equities delivered 

positive returns in the week to 

11th August, thanks to renewed 

interest in FMCGs despite bearish 

sentiments across other sectors. 

The bourse advanced on 4 of 5 

trading days during the week, 

logging a +2.1% weekly return 

and crossing its 38,000 threshold 

for the first time since 2014 to 

settle at 38,198.6 points, dilating 

YTD return to 42.1% as market 

capitalization added N266.6bn to 

settle at N12.9tn. 

On the markets, the 

Consumer Goods index (+9.9%) 

enjoyed investors patronage 

the most, especially in tickers 

like DANGFLOUR (+18.4%), 

GUINNESS (+27.1%), NB 

(+8.7%), NESTLE (+17.7%) and 

DANGSUGAR. Similarly, the 

Industrial Goods Index (+2.5%) 

was upbeat, buoyed by price 

appreciation in UNILEVER 

(+10.4%). 

On the flip side, the Oil & 

Gas (-2.6%), Banking (-1.0%), 

Industrial Goods (-0.5%) and 

Insurance Index (-4.9%) were 

downbeat for the week as players 

were bearish on counters such 

FO (-10.6%), OANDO (-4.7%), 

TOTAL (-4.8%), FBNH (-2.1%), 

GUARANTY (-1.0%), ZENITH 

(-5.8%), DANGCEM (-0.8%), NEM 

(-18.5%) and AFRIPRUD (-8.0%). 

Investor sentiment measured 

by market breadth was downbeat at 

0.9x (relative to 1.4x in the previous 

week) as 30 stocks appreciated 

against 34 decliners. Activity level 

closed the week weaker as average 

value traded fell by 74.7% w/w 

In this past week, system 

liquidity opened N109.8bn long 

with OBB and O/N rates at 26.7% 

and 27.5% respectively. During 

the week, the CBN floated OMO 

auctions on all trading days 

except for Tuesday, mopping 

up a total of N83.4bn from the 

system. On Thursday, c. N93.9bn 

maturity provided a bit of reprieve 

to liquidity levels as rates fell to 

double-digits from their three-digit 

levels on Wednesday. 

To close the week, OBB and 

O/N rates settled at 55.8% and 

59.3% respectively (up 36.8% and 

33.8% from the previous week’s 

level). Going by the patterns of 

recent CBN actions, we expect to 

see more OMO issuances in the 

coming week. Additionally, we also 

expect N168.0bn maturing bills to 

hit the system on Thursday. 

Fixed Income Market: 

Thinning system cash spurs the 

bears 

FX intervention and OMO 

auctions helped rouse sell-side 

sentiments across the Bills and 

Bonds market in the prior week as 

average T-bills yield edged higher 

by 67bps w/w to close at 21.0%. In a 

similar but quieter theme, average 

bonds yield inched upwards 

fractionally by 8bps to end the 

week at 16.4%. In the interim, we 

expect mixed sentiments to dictate 

proceedings in the T-bills space, 

even as the bonds space stays 

tepid in the absence of any system 

shocks that will catalyze activity. 

Currency Market: Naira 

appreciates across segments 

RSA FUND PRICE OF PFAs AS AT AUGUST 11, 2017 

S/N PFAs 

CURRENT PRICE 

1 CrusaderSterling Pensions 3.5338 

2 Premium Pensions 3.4827 

3 ARM Pension Mgrs. 3.4586 

4 Stanbic-IBTC Pensions 3.3656 

5 Legacy PFA 3.2313 

6 NLPC PFA 3.0977 

7 PAL Pensions 3.0287 

8 Trustfund Pensions 2.9589 

9 First Guarantee Pension 2.9558 

10 Leadway Pensure PFA 2.8113 

11 SigmaVaughn Pensions 2.7728 

12 AIICO Pension Managers 2.7124 

13 APT Pensions 2.5256 

14 Fidelity Pensions 2.4596 

15 FUG Pensions 2.3911 

16 AXA Mansard 2.3848 

17 OAK Pensions 2.3001 

18 Investment One Pension Mgrs. 2.1968 

19 IEI Anchor Pension Managers 2.1033 

20 IGI Pension Fund Managers 1.8133 

21 NPF Pensions 1.3145 

to N5.8bn and average volume 

traded inched lower 39.7% w/w to 

303.5mn units. 

From a valuation standpoint, 

we observe that stocks are 

beginning to stretch beyond 

their long-term averages. This 

indicates that the market is 

repricing itself, given the rally in 

Nigeria’s equity market has been 

supported by improving economic 

fundamentals. That said, we are 

likely to see some profit-taking this 

week even as we await the release 

of the outstanding scorecards from 

some Tier-1 players. 

Money Market: MM rates 

jump over 50% w/w 

At the official market, the Naira 

depreciated by 2bps to close the 

week at N305.6/$1. Similarly, the 

domestic currency saw a 68bps 

downtrend in the parallel market, 

to settle at N365.5/$1USD. On 

the other hand, the local unit 

strengthened 46bps at the I&E 

Window to end at N364.8/$1. 

In a related development, oil 

prices fell 1.2% from $52.4/b to 

$51.8/b during the week as supply 

glut persists. The outlook of the 

Naira remains tied to the spate 

of CBN’s intervention in the spot 

and forward markets as well as the 

better price discovery in the I&E 

FX window. 

Investor’s Square 

•Have you been shabbily treated by your registrar, stockbroke r or 

other capital market operators? 

Let us know and investor will help you investigate and report back. 

E-mail: investor@businessdayonline.com 

Africa investor index 

Company Ticker Sector Country Price Price MKT P/E Shares 

US$ Chan. on Cap in issue 

the week SMn Mn. 

SAB Miller SAB SJ Beverages South Africa 59.50 -2.7% 95,837.67 34.8 1,610.64 

Anglo American AGL SJ Mining South Africa 16.79 3.3% 21,467.93 -10.5 1,278.50 

Sasol SOL SJ Oil & gas South Africa 30.78 -0.1% 20,046.78 9.7 651.39 

MTN Group MTN SJ Telecommunications South Africa 8.75 -4.9% 15,730.46 15.6 1,797.23 

Standard Bank SBK SJ Banking & finance South Africa 12.47 -2.0% 19,911.87 12.0 1,596.58 

Anglo Platinum AMS SJ Mining South Africa 25.23 2.1% 6,769.03 140.5 268.30 

ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI LTD ANG SJ Mining South Africa 9.21 -9.2% 3,761.03 -80.7 408.22 

Tullow Oil plc TLW GN Oil & gas Ghana 4.07 -0.1% 3,706.24 381.7 911.38 

Maroc Telecom IAM MC Telecommunications Morocco 14.46 -0.3% 12,707.53 20.9 879.10 

DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DANG NL Building Materials Nigeria 0.67 -9.1% 11,365.72 17.9 17,040.51 

Orascom Construction OCIC EY Construction Egypt 12.23 0.5% 2,530.25 74.0 206.92 

Attijariwafa Bank ATW MC Banking & finance Morocco 47.95 1.0% 9,759.68 17.0 203.53 

Nigerian Breweries NB NL Breweries Nigeria 0.98 -9.5% 7,385.83 28.4 7,562.56 

Banque Marocaine du Commerce BCE MC Banking & finance Morocco 21.89 1.2% 3,929.13 16.3 179.46 

Telecom Egypt ETEL EY Telecommunications Egypt 0.61 0.5% 1,045.31 8.2 1,707.07 

VODAFONE EGYPT VODE EY Telecommunications Egypt 4.04 -8.2% 968.55 7.1 240.00 

Banque Centrale Populaire BCP MC Banks Morocco 30.97 0.1% 4,006.41 19.0 182.30 

Lafarge LAC MC Building materials Morocco 229.72 -2.4% 5,382.73 25.1 23.43 

Douja Prom Addoha ADH MC Real Estate Morocco 5.06 -0.5% 1,632.87 13.5 322.56 

Sonatel Sn SNTS BC Telecommunications Brvm 43.57 2.6% 4,356.63 12.9 100.00 

Guaranty Trust Bank GUARANTY NL Banking & finance Nigeria 0.11 -13.9% 3,244.64 8.9 29,431.18 

Zenith Bank ZENITH NL Banking & finance Nigeria 0.07 -13.9% 2,180.62 6.5 31,396.49 

CGI CGI MC Real Estate Morocco 45.16 1.2% 831.30 14.4 18.41 

Guinness Nigeria PLC GUINNES NL Beverages Nigeria 0.20 -2.1% 315.75 -52.0 1,591.13 

Commercial International Bank CIB EY Banks Egypt 4.68 -1.9% 5,398.79 15.4 1,153.87 

First Bank FIRSTBAN NL Banks Nigeria 0.02 -4.8% 615.35 3.9 35,895.00 

Abu Kir Fertilizers ABUK EY Chemicals Egypt 9.13 -37.6% 1,152.31 10.0 126.19 

East African Breweries EABL KN Breweries Kenya 2.61 1.1% 2,066.42 24.8 790.77 

Safaricom Ltd SAFCOM KN Telecommunications Kenya 0.23 -4.1% 9,214.95 19.8 40,065.43 

Mauritius Comm. Bank MCB MP Banking & finance Mauritius 6.77 1.5% 1,613.18 7.5 238.19 

Mobinil EMOB EY Telecommunications Egypt 7.11 14.4% 711.08 - 100.00 

T M G HOLDING TMGH EY Real Estate Egypt 0.42 -0.1% 876.05 17.6 2,063.56 

Poulina Group Holding PGH TU Holding Companies-Divers Tunisia 3.44 1.3% 618.31 14.5 180.00 

Ecobank Transnational Inc ETIT BC Banks Brvm 0.03 1.3% 519.09 2.0 15,952.70 

STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC IBTCCB NL Banks Nigeria 0.10 -11.6% 1,033.55 11.2 10,000.00 

State Bank Mauritius SBM MP Banking & finance Mauritius 0.03 1.5% 1,035.11 11.2 31,000.00 

Barclays Bank Kenya BCBL KN Banking & finance Kenya 0.09 -2.1% 510.37 7.6 5,432.00 

Banque De Tunisie BT TU Banking & finance Tunisia 3.39 -1.3% 508.98 13.7 150.00 

Equity Bank Limited EQBNK KN Banking & finance Kenya 0.39 -4.2% 1,468.10 9.3 3,773.67 

Kenya Comm. Bank Ltd KNCB KN Banking & finance Kenya 0.40 -1.2% 1,199.13 6.4 3,025.21 

Africa investor Ai40 Weekly Commentary – 7 August 2017 

After notching gains for 

four consecutive weeks, 

the Ai40 Investor’s 

Index finally cooled off and 

ended last week in negative 

territory. Telecoms and mining 

stocks tracked by the Index 

performed exceptionally well, 

while Nigerian-listed equities 

experienced a heavy sell-off. 

The Index fell 2.15 points, a drop 

of 2.13% from last week’s value 

of 100.58, to close Friday at a 

value of 98.43. 

In US markets, the strongerthan-expected 

non-farm 

payroll numbers gave stock 

markets a boost on Friday. 

According to CNBC, “the U.S. 

economy added 209,000 jobs 

last month, according to the 

Labor Department, well above 

the expected gain of 183,000.” 

The Dow Jones Industrial 

Average broke the 22000 point 

for the first time ever, led by 

gains in large-cap banking 

stocks. Reuters analysts suggest 

that the jobs report may pave 

the way for the Fed to announce 

plans to cut down its $4.2 trillion 

bond portfolio in September, 

and could reinforce its case 

to hike rates for the third time 

this year in December. Global 

markets were mixed at Friday’s 

close, as the pan-European 

Stoxx 600 gained 0.95% while 

“Shanghai’s index fell amid 

news that U.S. is considering 

investigating China’s demands 

that American companies 

share more of their advanced 

technology” according to Times 

Colonist. 

At Friday’s close, the Dow 

Jones Industrial Average was up 

0.30%, or 66.71 points, to close 

the week at a value of 22,092.81. 

The Nasdaq Composite Index 

gained 0.18% or 11.22 points, 

to end the week at a value of 

6,351.56. The S&P 500 closed 

the week higher by 0.19% or 4.67 

points, to close Friday on a value 

of 2,476.83. 

Gainers 

Orange Egypt enjoyed huge 

gains last week (coming from 

being the worst performer 

in the last review). The stock 

gained 14.4%. JSE-listed miners 

Anglo American and Anglo 

Platinum also enjoyed upward 

price movements last week, 

with increases of 3.3% and 2.1%. 

Anglo American’s diamond 

mining arm De Beers, reported 

a 5.7% rise in diamond sales on 

Tuesday. 

Shares for Sonatel – a BRVMlisted 

telecoms company – and 

Mauritius Commercial Bank 

closed off the Gainers List with 

increases of 2.6% and 1.5% 

respectively. 

Losers 

Nigerian equities tracked by 

the Index dominated the Losers 

List last week as the country 

“missed its best chance in 13 

months to overtake Egypt in 

stock-market capitalization 

as an expansion of the new 

foreign-exchange window 

spurred a plunge in the naira” 

according to Bloomberg. 

Amongst the banking stocks, 

Zenith and Guaranty Trust 

Bank both fell by 13.9%; while 

Stanbic IBTC Bank was down 

by 11.6%. Shares for Nigerian 

Breweries ended the week in 

red with a 9.5% drop. 

However, last week’s worst 

performing stock on the Index 

was Cairo-listed Abu Kir 

Fertilizers as the share price 

dropped by a hefty 37.6%.



C002D5556 

I NVESTOR 


Retail investors take shine 

off institutional counterparts 

…in June composition of domestic stock trading 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU 

The institutional 

composition 

of the domestic 

market decreased 

by 17.09percent 

from N67.95billion recorded 

in May to N56.34billion in 

June 2017; while the retail 

composition increased 

by 46.92percent, from 

N42.47billion to N62.40 

billion within the same 

period. 

Recent highlights of the 

domestic composition 

of transactions on the 

Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE) between January 

and June 2017 show a 

higher participation by 

retail investors over their 

institutional counterparts for 

the first time this year. 

In the review period, 

domestic investors 

outperformed foreign 

investors by 7.82percent. 

Total domestic transactions 

increased by 7.53percent 

from N110.42billion recorded 

in May 2017 to N118.74billion 

in June 2017. 

Domestic and foreign 

portfolio participation in 

equity trading for June 

shows foreign transactions 


from N95.19 billion to 

N101.53billion within the 

same period. 

Total transactions at the 

nation’s bourse increased 

by 7.13percent from 

N205.61billion recorded in 

May 2017 to N220.27billion 

(about $0.72 billion) in June 

2017. Also, total transactions 

for the first half of the year 

FSDH Weekly Insights 

Reigniting investors’ interest in the FGN Savings Bond 

Investors’ participation in 

the Federal Government of 

Nigeria (FGN) Savings Bond 

has not been impressive since 

the introduction of the Bond in 

March 2017 despite the increase 

in the coupon rate (interest rate) 

on the Bond. 

The amount allotted dropped 

consistently from N2.07billion in 

March 2017 to N400.57million 

in July 2017. The total number of 

investors in the FGN Savings Bond 

also dropped from 2,575 in March 

2017 to 779 in July 2017. 

The coupon rate on the 2-year 

Bond which was 13.01percent in 

March 2017 stood at 13.39percent 

in July 2017 while the coupon rate 

on the 3-year Bond which was 

13.79percent in April, the first time 

a 3-year bond was issued, stood at 

14.39percent in July 2017. 

There is a need for all the 

stakeholders in the Bond to reignite 

investors’ interest in it. 

In March 2017, the Debt 

Management Office (DMO), on 

behalf of the FGN, introduced 

the monthly FGN Savings Bond 

(FGN SB) as part of its efforts to 

promote the savings culture in 

Nigeria and improve financial 

inclusion, particularly amongst 

retail investors. 

The Bond also provides 

additional funding for the 

government and helps to broaden 

the country’s funding base. 

It offers guaranteed return 

in the form of a fixed quarterly 

interest payment. The minimum 

investment is N5,000 while 

the maximum investment 

is N50million. Investors can 

subscribe to the Bond through 

their preferred stockbroking firms 

on a monthly basis. 

Some of the important features 

of the Bond are: income earned 

on the Bond is exempted from 

tax payment; it can be traded in 

the secondary market on the floor 

of The Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE); it is backed by the full 

faith and credit of the FGN; it 

commands a higher interest rate 

(coupon rate) than the traditional 

savings account in banks; the 

Bond is acceptable as collateral 

for loans by banks and it serves as 

good savings towards retirement, 

wedding, school fees, house 

projects, etc. 

Between March 2017 and July 

2017 a total amount of N5.15billion 

was raised through the FGN 

Savings Bond. The highest amount 

allotted so far was N2.07billion 

in March 2017 while the lowest 


from N624.41 billion 

recorded in 2016 to N935.26 

billion in 2017. 

The monthly foreign 

inflows outpaced outflows, 

however, foreign inflows 

decreased by 10.95percent 

from N73.15billion in May 

2017 to N65.93billion in June 

2017 while foreign outflows 


from N22.04billion in May 

amount was N400.57million in 

July 2017. 

The coupon rates for the August 

2017 offer are 13.535percent and 

14.535percent for the 2-year Bond 

and 3-year Bond respectively. 

This means that the August Bond 

issues carried higher coupon rates 

than the July issues and represent 

the highest coupon rates since 

inception. 

The persistent increase in the 

coupon rates has not attracted 

enough subscription to the Bond 

despite the steady decrease in the 

inflation rate in the country since 

January 2017. 

One of the factors we can 

attribute to this development 

is the rally that dominated the 

equity market in Nigeria since 

the introduction of the Bond in 

March 2017. 

The Nigerian Stock Exchange 

All Share Index (NSE ASI) 

appreciated by 51.47percent 

between March 01, 2017 and 

August 9, 2017. Many retail 

investors diverted funds to the 

equity market to take advantage 

of capital appreciation. 

Other factors are: The low 

awareness of the benefits and 

characteristics of the Bond, the 

low liquidity of the Bond at the 

2017 to N35.60billion in June 

2017. 

In comparison to the 

first half of 2016, total 

foreign portfolio investment 

(FPI) transactions 


from N269.22billion to 

N430.23billion, while the 

total domestic transactions 


from N505.03billion to 

N355.19billion. 

secondary market and the high 

yield on the Nigerian Treasury Bill 

(NTB). The following strategies 

can be adopted to increase 

investors’ participation in the 

FGN Savings Bonds. 

The Debt Management Office 

(DMO) and the Stockbrokers can 

organize investors’ roadshows in 

various cities and schools across 

the country. This will be an avenue 

to directly engage retail investors 

on the need for them to hold 

the Bonds in their investment 

portfolio. They can start with a 

pilot scheme in Lagos, Abuja, Port 

Harcourt and Kano. 

The DMO can work with 

some identified large corporate 

organizations that have large 

number of employees to encourage 

their employees to invest in the 

Bonds on a monthly basis. 

The DMO can also work 

with government agencies to 

encourage civil servants to invest 

in the Bond.We believe these 

strategies should be able to 

attract a minimum of 1million 

subscribers on a monthly basis. If 

this is achieved and the monthly 

subscription amount increases, 

the overall weighted average 

interest rate on the FGN debt 

will drop. 

Trading Rights Issue 

Capital is 

fundamental 

to businesses, 

this is why it 

is listed as a factor of 

production alongside 

Land, Labor and 

Entrepreneurship. 

The strength of an 

organizations’ capital 

determines its size. 

Capital which is 

naturally costly can 

take the form of debt 

or equity where debt 

is the more expensive 

of the two. The costly 

nature of capital has 

made it imperative that 

companies look for 

cheaper ways to raise or 

create it. Companies who 

have existing debt capital 

will need to service 

these debts. Companies 

who intend to cater to 

expansion or growth 

strategies will also need 

additional capital. 

A rights issue is one 

of the ways by which 

a company can raise 

additional capital among 

the various types of 

equity share capital 

sources available. 

Through this method, 

the company gives its 

existing shareholders an 

opportunity to acquire 

additional shareholding 

as a proportion to their 

current holdings. These 

shares are usually sold at 

a fixed price, usually at a 

discount to market value 

of the shares, within a 

specific subscription 

period. Rights are 

usually transferable and 

shareholders who do not 

want to take them up 

can sell them to other 

individuals. 

An investor should 

be able to look beyond 

the discount offered 

by rights issues when 

considering whether or 

not to subscribe to an 

offer. Rights issue differ 

from bonus issues as 

one pays money to get 

additional shares and 

should take caution to 

subscribe to it only if 

he/she is completely 

sure of the company’s 

fundamentals. Also, one 

should not take up the 

rights if the share price 

has fallen below the 

subscription price, as it 

may be cheaper to buy 

the shares in the open 

market. 

The opportunity 

for transfer of rights 

makes it profitable 

to individuals who 

are not willing to 

take it up. However 

a major constraint to 

transferring rights was 

the manual execution 

of rights trading. This 

limitation has been 

removed with the 

announcement of the 

automation of Rights 

trading and settlement 

by The Nigerian Stock 

Exchange with effect 

from May 8, 2017. 

With this, 

shareholders can sell 

subscription rights both 

efficiently and at fair 

prices. A unique security 

code, different from 

that of the underlying 

security will be assigned 

to the rights on the 

NSE’s trading engine to 

facilitate the process. 

This automation of 

Rights trading and 

settlement in the 

Nigerian capital market 

has enhanced price 

discovery, as rights 

can now be traded 

and re-traded without 

settlement complexities. 

This automation has 

helped to eliminate 

operational challenges 

resulting from manual 

trading and cash 

settlement between 

counterparties, whilst 

simplifying counterparty 

trade reconciliation 

between the brokers, 

registrars and the NSE”. 

An investor who 

wishes to participate 

in rights trading must 

have a CSCS account set 

up through a licensed 

Dealing Member firm 

of the Exchange. In 

addition, the investor 

must fund his/her broker 

with the consideration 

value, premium and 

transaction fees, prior 

to execution of his/her 

mandate. An investor is 

advised to consult with 

a licensed stockbroker 

when considering 

whether to take up a 

rights offer or not.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

19 

BUSINESS 

TRAVEL 

‘Nigeria needs strong national policy 

on tourism, aviation to edge Ethiopia’ 

Ethiopia and a few other African countries are leveraging on tourism and aviation to 

grow their economy, while Nigeria, still contributes less than one percent to its Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP). In an interview with Ifeoma Okeke in Ethiopia, Ikechi Uko, a 

travel expert speaks of how best to address this challenge in Nigeria. Excerpts. 

Ethiopia has lots of huge 

tourism attractions and 

rich histories which they 

have been able to harness to 

enhance economic growth. 

Nigeria also has rich histories 

but has still not been 

able to showcase these to 

the rest of the world. What 

is Nigeria not doing right? 

Ethiopia probably 

has an advantage 

because they 

have the greatest 

number of world 

heritage sights in Africa. 

The world has been able to 

recognize that there is something 

about Ethiopia that is 

unique. They have written 

history longer than us. They 

are quoted in the bible and 

in the Quran. So, they already 

established history about 

them all over. Nigeria has 

advantages over Ethiopia 

which we haven’t used. 

We could say their own is 

working for them because it 

is already written for them, 

so they are just exploiting it. 

Are we making any effort to 

exploit our own? There is a 

national policy about aviation 

and tourism in Ethiopia. 

It is this national policy that 

drives Ethiopia. There is a national 

policy about aviation 

in most East African countries. 

It is this policy that is 

driving the tourism. The tour 

operators say that Uganda 

was charging $100 for visa 

and they protested and the 

government dropped it. 

Kenya was complaining 

that the minister was 

not promoting tourism and 

the president changed the 

minister. Tourism is vital for 

those countries. In Nigeria, 

tourism has not proved itself 

vital for the whole economy 

that is why Nigeria has not 

given it attention. You could 

see a state like Cross River, 

here tourism is important. 

Once there is a little bit of 

violence everybody starts 

screaming in the state and 

the government will parade 

with military men, trying 

to show up confidence because 

tourism is important 

to them. So, there has been 

no national effort to drive, 

promote and organise tourism 

as a business in Nigeria. 

That is where we are. 

How best do you think 

we can practically address 

this challenge, looking at 

what Ethiopia is doing right? 

People are discussing and 

raising issues that the private 

sector is organising itself and 

there are things that need 

to be done by government 

and before five years time, 

we might get on the path 

but those things cannot be 

done in isolation. First we 

are a country and people are 

coming to our country, so our 

country has to have an image 

and a set of things that will 

make it appealing. So, there is 

no national master plan and 

no consensus on what we 

should be selling. There is no 

agreement on the products 

Nigeria should concentrate 

on. A country like Rwanda 

sells mainly gorillas. They 

have actually doubled the 

price of their gorilla to $1,500 

from $750. 

They make over $400million 

from just one product. 

So now they are trying to 

diversify, they are doing tree 

houses, they hired lions from 

other countries to put in their 

national park. There is a concerted 

plan to grow tourism. 

Ethiopia had just relied on 

its airline to drive its tourism 

but now, they are beginning 

to market tourism. We are in 

Ethiopia because Ethiopia 

airline is organising familiarization 

trip. Nigeria has never 

organized familiarization 

trips, even for Nigeria media 

or the tour operators. 

The familiarization trips 

are organized by private organisations 

like my own organisation, 

like Cross River 

government and few others. 

We want to get results without 

doing the right things. We 

expect that these things will 

happen naturally but there 

has to be a plan. We have to 

identify what the products 

we as Nigerians want to sell 

and how we can sell it? You 

only bring in CNN probably 

when countries have crisis. 

That is the last part of your 

plan. There are set of things 

that need to be done before 

going to expose a campaign. 

The biggest problem I 

have seen is that you appoint 

people into government who 

believe that tourism is easy 

so they spend four years 

figuring out that tourism is 

Ikechi Uko 

not easy and after they have 

finished learning and their 

term expires, they go and another 

person comes and start 

something else. Meanwhile 

there are quite a number of 

people in Nigeria who have 

been doing this for ages. Government 

has the right to appoint 

anyone they want and 

when the person comes up, 

you will ask the people what 

can be done. In the last six 

years, there has never been 

a time the government of Nigeria 

has called private sector 

people and asked them what 

Nigeria should market. 

How do we market Nigeria? 

Who do we market Nigeria 

to? This has never been 

done. Even if government is 

smart and figures out what 

to do, who is going to implement 

it? So if government 

is smart, government needs 

these people to implement 

it and if government is smart 

and is not working with the 

people, government cannot 

do it. Government cannot 

be a tour operator, hotelier 

and run airline at the same 

time. There are people who 

are specialized in different 

areas. For me, the first step 

is to begin to get the right 

people. We need to look at 

what Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia 

and other countries that 

are excelling in aviation do. 

Do you think aviation 

and tourism should be under 

one ministry? 

I am one of the few people 

that play well in aviation 

and also in tourism and I 

can tell you a lot of people 

in both industries misunderstand 

the two businesses. 

People in aviation 

see aviation as a technical 

thing so they will always tell 

me I am not in core aviation 

and that is stupid. Aviation 

is what provides service 

for the travellers. Air transport 

will either carry cargo 

passengers or for military 

purposes. When you now 

talk about the travellers 

and the people, the travel 

aspect of it is tourism. For 

most people in Nigeria, that 

doesn’t count. Pick any Nigerian 

paper; 90percent of 

the story on aviation is on 

the other part of providing 

services such as the Federal 

Airports Authority of Nigeria, 

(FAAN), Nigeria Civil 

Aviation Authority, (NCAA) 

and others. The most important 

reason why you have an 

airport is the passengers and 

that is what we need to concentrate 

on but these are the 

people we concentrate the 

least on. Instead of concentrating 

on dealing with the 

passenger aspect of it, we do 

not do that. The people who 

say they want aviation and 

tourism under one ministry 

are talking about that aspect 

where tourism and aviation 

meet, which is the airport 

environment. This won’t 

work in Nigeria because 

98percent of the people in 

aviation are not interested 

in what happens to the passengers. 

They are interested 

in what happens in the other 

aspect of it, if not, most of 

our budget will go into making 

our airport passenger 

friendly. Aviation in Nigeria 

is running without the passenger, 

as the passengers’ 

needs are the least. 

For tourism, the tourism 

people see tourism differently. 

They do not see it as 

travel business. All tourists 

are travellers but not all travelers 

are tourists. So tourism 

should be a ministry on its 

own. Aviation can be a department 

under transport. 

Aviation ought not to be a 

ministry; it ought to be regulated 

by NCAA. As it is now, 

there is confusion. If there is 

a ministry, the job of NCAA 

is to regulate. NCAA ought 

to be cooperating and be 

on the board of the tourism 

organisation or the ministry. 

The ideal thing for me to see 

in Nigeria is to have ministry 

of tourism that has culture in 

it and see a ministry of transport 

that has a department of 

aviation and has NCAA that is 

autonomous and independent. 

Tourism will work well 

with this organisation. 

The ministry of tourism is 

supposed to coordinate the 

affairs of everything about 

tourism in Nigeria. There 

is also a problem with the 

Supreme Court judgement 

that says that tourism is a 

business of states not federal 

government. This creates another 

problem. In Nigeria, 

our tourism is not based on 

wildlife. So, national parks 

are under environment but 

if our tourism was based 

on wildlife, national parks 

should be under the ministry 

of tourism. Culture should 

be under the ministry of 

tourism. If there is ministry 

of tourism, the minister will 

deal with all these people 

together. He will be the policy 

maker and NCAA will regulate. 

So, in Nigeria I cannot 

see how tourism and aviation 

will work together. 

How do you think we 

can use the aviation sector 

to drive tourism in Nigeria? 

We can ride on the back of 

aviation to grow tourism because 

the passengers’ saved 

tax is supposed to help grow 

tourism. We could also use it 

to drive other things. United 

Kingdom started their airport 

departure tax for places of 

more than four hours. Africa 

wanted to start a 10percent 

tax on aviation too and use it 

to grow tourism and fund the 

African Union (AU) but international 

organizations fought 

against this. So for Nigeria, 

tourism needs to be supported 

because when tourism 

grows, aviation grows.

20 

Out patients and visitors 

waiting at one of 

the hospital’s gate 

locked by protesting 

patients. 

Gridlock: NSE to partner 

LASG on road projects 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

BUSINESS DAY 

CITYFile 

The Nigerian Society of Engineers 

(NSE), Ikeja Branch, said it would 

collaborate with the Lagos State 

Government on road designs to 

end perennial gridlock on the 

popular Pen Cinema area in Agege. 

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve 

centre with an estimated population of 21 

people and a vehicular density of 264 vehicles 

per kilometre of roadway, like other 

megacities around the world, faces daily 

traffic congestion challenge. 

The congestion is worsened by the fact that 

the transport network in the state is predominantly 

road based with 90 percent of total passengers 

and goods moved through that mode. 

The state has natural waterways for ferry 

services and federal rail network, but these 

modes play an insignificant role in the daily 

commuting of residents. The state government 

plans to complement the poorly managed 

and aged federal rail system with six 

new rail lines and one mono rail, but these 

are the dreams of the future with no specific 

timelines for their delivery. 

Patients protest incessant robbery attacks in Edo hospital 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, BENIN 

Akin Akintola, chairman of the Ikeja 

branch of NSE said on Tuesday that the 

society would be joining the efforts of the 

government in finding solution to the challenge 

of traffic gridlock especially around 

Agege Pen Cinema and its environs where 

the society has its office. 

Akintola, represented by his vice, Funmi 

Akingbagbohun, at the society’s 2017 “charity 

walk and traffic coordination,’’ said that 

NSE would study the traffic pattern around 

the Pen Cinema and come up with an engineering 

design to solve the problem. 

“We as engineers want to contribute to 

the society. This is our axis and we discovered 

that traffic congestion has become 

a major and constant problem we must 

tackle. We want to see how we can provide 

engineering design solution. 

“We want to appreciate what the state 

government has done at Ojodu Berger and 

Iyana Oworo areas,” he said adding that 

some members of Ikeja NSE were working 

with the state government on the Abule 

Egba fly over project which was supposed 

to pass through Agege.” 

He said that the study of traffic pattern 

Scores of patients at the Edo State Central 

Hospital in Benin staged a protest 

against incessant robbery attacks in 

the maternity ward of the hospital. 

The protesters, mainly women, overpowered 

the only security guard at the gate and 

locked up the two main gates at the hospital, 

thereby denying staff and out-patients access 

to the facility for more than one hour 

on Tuesday. 

Loveth Oghenekaro, spokesperson of the 

protesters, in a chat with Cityfile, said the 

action was to register their grievances over 

what she described as incessant robbery 

incidents in the hospital. 

Oghenekaro said at about 1:00am last 

Sunday, armed robbers gained entry into the 

maternity ward through the ceiling and disposed 

a patient of N100,000 and three phones. 

“This is not the first time of robbery attack 

in the hospital. Last week, patients at 

the accident and emergency ward were also 

robbed and the management is not doing 

anything about it.” 

“After the attack, we briefed the hospital 

management of the development but nothing 

was done about it. The management 

only came to the ward to access the situation 

without addressing the patients who were 

traumatised by the attack. 

“The money was meant to settle the hospital 

bill of the patient who delivered at the 

hospital. I was the one who borrowed her 

N5,000 to buy drugs,” she said, attributing 

the development to poor security situation 

in the hospital. 

Philip Ugbodaga, the Chief Medical Director 

(CMD) of the hospital, who addressed 

and subsequent engineering solution was 

part of the Ikeja branch’s efforts to collaborate 

with the state government in solving 

road connectivity problems. According to 

the chairman, the effort would go a long 

way in proffering solution to traffic congestion 

in the state. 

Akintola explained that the charity walk 

was an opportunity for engineers to burn 

extra calories while serving their immediate 

community. He said that NSE was also 

aware that reckless driving was part of the 

problems that compounded gridlock and 

was planning a workshop for commercial 

drivers on the axis. 

“We intend to do a workshop for drivers. 

We have done for mechanics and will do 

one for construction workers on Friday.’’ 

Remi Eko, a co-opted executive member 

of the branch, said that the walk was also for 

the engineers to keep fit and interact with 

the Agege community on best ways to serve 

them as part of their CSR. 

It is not just traffic, we also want to find 

lasting solutions as we understudy the traffic 

pattern and also ask relevant questions,’’ 

Eko said. 

the protesters, assured that adequate security 

would be provided. 

“When the incident happened, I reported 

the matter to the police and our guards were 

able to apprehend one of the robbers and 

handed him over to the police. We have 

requested for police presence at night,” 

Ugbodaga, who alleged that the robbery 

was done in collaboration with an insider 

noted that when the robbers entered the 

ward, they didn’t even ask for the money, 

but went straight to where the money was 

kept and picked it. 

Speaking also, Chris Obaseki, director, 

Hospital Services and CEO, Edo Hospital 

Management Board, described the development 

as unfortunate, noting that hospital is 

a place where patients seek for treatment. 

Obaseki, however, assured that they are doing 

their best to provide security in the hospital. 

Residents laud Udom over 

improved power supply 

ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo 


Residents of some residential estates 

in Akwa Ibom have lauded the state 

government over improved power 

supply in Uyo, the state capital following 

the upgrade of energy infrastructure and 

construction of distribution lines. 

Residents of Osongama , Ewet Housing 

estates, Nwaniba, Shelter Afrique including 

Four-Lane and the Le Meridien Ibom 

Hotel said they have enjoyed uninterrupted 

power supply for upward of 18 

hours a day. 

Ekaette Ekpenyong, a resident said she 

enjoyed regular power supply and wished 

it would continue indefinitely. “I now 

enjoy a 18-hour uninterrupted supply in 

my area,’’ she said. 

Meyen Etukudo, managing director 

of Ibom Power Company attributed the 

development to the newly inaugurated 

2 x 15MVA, 33kV/11kV injection substation 

at Uyo. 

Etukudo said the 2 x 15MVA injection 

substation constructed by Governor 

Udom Emmanuel has increased power 

distribution to parts of Uyo by 24mw 

which is the reason residents of those 

areas now have steady and quality power 

supply at 240volts daily. 

“In addition to the 2 x 15MVA substation 

in Uyo, there is a similar 2 x 15MVA 

at the Airport; a 2 x 15MVA on IBB Avenue 

and Oron road and there is a 1 x 2.5MVA 

Point-Load Substation at Tropicana with 

on-going plan to have another 2 x 15MVA 

around the stadium road”. 

“When these power infrastructure is 

fully implemented, power supply in Uyo 

will be stabilised and more reliable” he 

said. 

Abia: Flood kills 2, 

ravages 46 communities 

Heavy flooding has ravaged 46 communities 

in Abia and killed two 

children, an official of the State 

Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) 

has said. 

Sunny Jackson, head, Planning, Forecasting 

and Operations of the agency, 

disclosed this in Umuahia. 

Jackson said that the children drowned 

when flood submerged their home in Akoli 

Ohazu autonomous community in Aba South 

local government area sometime in July. 

He said that the mother of the deceased 

was busy trying to salvage her property 

when the flood surged into her house and 

drowned the children. 

Jackson described flooding as a natural 

disaster but noted that it could be escalated 

or checked through human actions 

or inactions. 

“Building on flood planes and waterways, 

deforestation, over-grazing, improper 

channelling of water, blocking of 

drains and flood channels are capable of 

triggering the disaster.” 

Jackson said that the 46 affected communities 

cut across 13 local government 

areas of the state and that Aba South local 

government area topped the list with 

11 communities. He said that Aba North 

came second, followed by Obingwa, 

Osisioma and Ugwunagbo council areas. 

“Some residents of the affected communities 

can no longer access their homes 

because their houses had been completely 

submerged. Some of the communities 

have been cut off from their neighbours 

because flood has washed off their roads.”

BUSINESS DAY 

21 


BDLegalBusiness 

C002D5556 

Research Intelligence Practice Management Industry Report Partnerships 

INSIDE 

Lawpavilion concludes 

plans to 

celebrate 120 SANs 

Pg 22 

Pioneer Status 

and the ‘First 

Year Rule’ 

Pg 23 

Why over 44,000 

companies were 

delisted from CAC 

database 

Pg 22 

Appeal to proceed in 

£14bn 

landmark Mastercard 

Pg24 

Digitalisation: Nigeria, next stop 

for data centre investments -DOA 

Says massive opportunities for existing data centres across Africa 

As the conversation on the impact 

of digitalization across various 

industries take centre stage at 

business and intellectual gatherings 

globally, digital-age law 

firms like Duale Ovia and Alex-Adedipe 

(DOA) and a few other TMT experts are at 

the forefront of driving the discourse across 

the globe. 

The duo of Adeniyi Duale and Leke Alex- 

Adedipe were spotted recently in London 

at the eighth TMT Finance Africa 2017, 

alongside more than 50 Corporate executives 

from Africa’s largest TMT companies 

including MTN, Orange, Liquid Telecom, 

Millicom, American Tower Corp, Jumiah, 

Airtel Africa, SEACOM and Helios Investment 

Partners, to discuss investment and 

growth strategies for Africa’s TMT (Technology 

Media and Telecom) sector. 

Discussing opportunities for investment 

into vertical services, key actors in TMT 

examined the huge potential in areas such 

as B2B services, payments and financial 

services, and ‘owning as much of the wallet 

as possible’. Areas around media, content 

delivery and digital services were also noted 

as key areas of focus. 

DOA partner, Adeleke Alex-Adedipe, who 

chaired the Enterprise Cloud & Datacentres 

Panel at the event, disclosed that Africa was 

the new frontier for data centres and cloud 

services investments despite its regulatory, 

financial and economic challenges. 

Taking a critical look at the development of 

the data centre market in Africa, other panel 

members which include, Ayotunde Coker, 

Managing Director, Rack Centre; Michael 

Tobin OBE, an Industry Entrepreneur; Amine 

Kandil, CEO & Founder of N+ONE Datacenters 

and Ranjith Cherickel, CEO & Founder 

of icolo.io. discussed issues traversing data 

centre operators, investors and service providers. 

The considered opportunities for investment 

across Africa; the development of data 

centre market in Africa; finance available for 

building and expansion; the most appropriate 

data centre models for the region; as well as 

the growth of cloud-based services and how it 

impacts demand and Investment strategies for 

greenfield projects and developing markets. 

It was noted that whilst South Africa appears 

to be experiencing some investment in 

this regards, Nigeria would be the next stop 

despite the obvious challenges. 

“There is massive room for investment 

in Africa and equally huge opportunities for 

existing data centres across Africa,” Panelists 

agreed. 

On core telco operations, most CxOs present 

at the conference were convinced that 

there would be more mergers across Africa, as 

operators focus on rationalizing and strengthening 

existing businesses. “Tower operators 

on the other hand could either consolidate or 

look to the bond or equity markets to fund the 

next phase of growth,” they adviced. 

In the same vein, investors were confident 

about the market. “The debt and equity markets 

are open for the right opportunities and 

larger blue chip private equity backers and 

funds are starting to get more comfortable 

in certain sectors,” we are told, and despite 

significant evidence of innovation and entrepreneurialism, 

challenges remain for earlier 

stage funding, with a limited but increasing 

supply of investors available.

22 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday 17 August 2017 

INDUSTRYFILE 

Lawpavilion concludes plans 

to celebrate 120 SANs 

Africa’s leading Legal Technologies Solution 

Provider and Software Developers, 

LawPavilion has in an unprecedented 

recognition of intellectual sagacity and immense 

contribution to the development of 

law and justice in Nigeria concluded plans 

to celebrate 120 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, 

SANs who have been registered on its platform 

and users of the award winning LawPavilion 

Electronic Law Reports (LPELR) during the 

forthcoming NBA Conference which also coincides 

with the Company’s 10th commercial 

year anniversary. 

Speaking, Ope Olugasa, Managing Director 

of LawPavilion stated that “Words in Gold for 

Senior Advocates of Nigeria” is a recognition of 

the immense contributions of the 120 Learned 

Silk which became obvious during the development 

of the Company’s latest ambitious Legal 

Analytics product, the LawPavilion Prime, 

Africa’s First legal Analytics Software. He 

stated that because data was being mined from 

available reported cases from the Supreme 

Court and Court of Appeal in the creation and 

development of LawPavilion Prime, many of 

the identified Learned Senior Advocates of Ope Olugasa, MD, Lawpavilion at a Conference in Las Vegas 

Nigeria had appeared in many of these cases 

either as Lead Counsel or part of the representation 

team and their contributions have been Advocate or others. Furthermore, it becomes a He stated that as part of its commitment to the 

instrumental to the development of Nigerian veritable tool in the compilation of books, essays 

or biographies about the life and practice Africa’s First Legal Analytics software – The 

industry, it will be unveiling commercially 

law and jurisprudence. 

As part of the planned celebration, each of such Learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria. LawPavilion Prime, which is the result of more 

of the identified tech-adept Senior Advocate According to its Managing Director, Ope than 4 years of intense research and development 

which involved more than 150 lawyers 

of Nigeria will be handed a compilation of Olugasa, the LawPavilion brand has been servicing 

the legal services industry for the past and software developers. 

his/her submissions in all the cases in the 

Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in which 10 years and the Company is using the opportunity 

of the 2017 NBA-AGC to celebrate with being slow to adopt technology, the innova- 

For an industry that has been portrayed as 

such Learned Senior Advocate had appeared. 

In the immediate, it serves as an invaluable its teeming subscribers and appreciate their tions provided by LawPavilion have changed 

memorabilia and portable testament of the patronage and loyalty for the past 10 years. that narrative and shown that with tailor-made 

legacy of such Learned Senior Advocate. On He stated that the Company would not rest solutions, legal practitioners in Nigeria are 

the other hand, it will also serve as a first reference 

tool for future cases regarding similar trail for other service providers to follow in the contemporaries from advanced jurisdictions 

on its oars of being innovative and blazing a able to compete and rub shoulders with their 

cases to be handled by such Learned Senior legal services industry and Nigeria in general. without hindrance. 

Oba Olateru-Olagbegi, Akwa Ibom 

state CJ, others, to receive honours 


Why over 44,000 

companies were delisted 

from CAC database 

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) 

has disclosed its reasons for delisting 

over 44,000 companies. According to 

sources at the commission, it was based on 

an inordinate number of breaches against the 

Companies and other Matters Act (CAMA) 

amidst several other extant regulations of the 

commission, notably, late and outright refusal 

to file returns. 

It announced that the first batch of delisted 

companies had been over nine thousand while 

the second batch came up to over 35, 000 

companies totaling 44,000 firms delisted from 

its database. The commission stated that most 

Bello Mahmud, Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs 

Commission. 

of those delisted were ‘briefcase’ companies 

without legitimate addresses, noting further 

that it plans to continue the process until these 

sharp practices are totally eradicated. 

The move by the CAC is part of efforts by 

the government to institute the Ease of Doing 

Business and enhance business practices 

across the country. These deceptive practices 

in the past hindered the development had 

resulted in the loss of revenue to the commission, 

44,000 companies were recently delisted 

from the database of the Corporate Affairs 

Commission, CAC, while 1.5 million companies 

have been registered. 

A 

group of lawyers under the auspices of 

Class of 1985 at the Nigerian Law School 

will on Monday honour their teacher and 

former Secretary of the Council of Legal Education 

(CLE) Oba Olateru-Olagbegi at their annual 

reunion luncheon scheduled to hold in Lagos. 

Oba Olateru-Olagbegi will be honoured 

alongside a member of the Class and the Chief 

Judge of Akwa Ibom State, Hon. Justice Godwin 

Abraham and other deserving members of the 

class who have distinguished themselves in various 

spheres of the legal profession 

The popular annual reunion of the set will 

hold on the sidelines of the 2017 Annual General 

Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association taking 

place in Lagos. 

According to a press statement by the Chairman 

of the Class, Chief Emeka Ngige SAN, 5 judicial 

officers, 5 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, 

a professor of law, 5 top executives in the federal 

bureaucracy and another traditional ruler will 

also be honoured at the annual reunion holding 

at the prestigious Four Points by Sheraton, 

Victoria Island, Lagos. 

Among the judges to be honoured are US 

based jurist, Judge Adetokunbo Fasanya of Family 

Court , State of New York; Hon. Justice A. B. 

Mohammed and Hon. Justice Angela Otaluka, 

both of the High Court of FCT, and Hon. Justice 

Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the High Court of Lagos 

State. 

Among the Senior Advocates to be honoured 

are Chief Adewunmi Ogunsanya, Chairman of 

Multi-Choice Nigeria; Mr. Elisha Kura, a Kaduna 

based trial lawyer; Mr. James Ikeyi and Mr Ayo 

Akintunde. The only scholar in the honours list is 

Prof. Jerry Agbo Madaki of School of Law, Catholic 

University of East Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. 

Also to be honoured are the National Commissioner 

at Independent National Electoral 

Commission (INEC) and former Thisday Lawyer 

Editor, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu; the newly 

appointed Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court 

of Nigeria, Hadiza Mustapha; Executive Secretary 

of Pension Transition Arrangements Directorate 

(PTAD), Ms. Sharon Ikeazor, and Group 

Legal Adviser of Nigerian National Petroleum 

Corporation (NNPC), Hajia Hadiza Coomassie. 

Also to be awarded are Dr. Alexander Adeyinka, 

General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Canadian 

National Insurance Crime Services (CA- 

NATICS) in Ottawa Canada; Mr. Alex Ugwuanyi, 

Company Secretary, Capital Hotels Plc, owners 

of Abuja Sheraton, and the Onogie of Ihieve- 

Ogben in Owan East Local Government of Edo 

State, Chief Andrew Otokhina. 

The leader of the class, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, 

SAN is expected to chair the occasion. 

Chief Ngige enjoined members of the class to 

turn out in their large numbers for the exquisite 

reunion dinner.


LEGALINSIGHT 

BUSINESS DAY 23 


C002D5556 

Pioneer Status and the ‘First Year Rule’ 

The Myth and The Reality 

OYEYEMI OKE 

On Wednesday, August 2, 

2017, the Nigerian Federal 

Executive Council approved 

the addition of 27 

new industries and products 

to the list of industries considered 

pioneer. An industry or product is designated 

as pioneer: 

if the industry or product is not being 

carried on in Nigeria on a scale suitable 

to the economic requirements of Nigeria; 

or if it is expedient in the public 

interest to encourage the development 

or establishment of such industry in 

Nigeria. 

On the back of the announcement 

by the Nigerian government, the Federal 

Ministry of Industry, Trade and 

Investment (“FMITI”) released the 

“Application Guidelines for Pioneer 

Status Incentive” (the “Guidelines”). 

The Guidelines, amongst other things, 

provide for “considerations and mode 

of application” for Pioneer Status Incentive 

(“PSI”). 

One of the considerations under the 

Guidelines is that an applicant must 

make an application for the grant of PSI 

in the first year of production/service 

(the “First Year Rule”). This briefing note 

examines the provisions of the Industrial 

Development (Income Tax Relief) 

Act (“IDITRA”) which is the legal framework 

for PSI with a view to determine the 

basis for the First Year Rule, both at law 

and tax policy-wise. 

The IDITRA and PSI 

IDITRA has no provision that prescribes 

that an application for PSI must 

be made within the first year of production/service 

of the applicant company. 

Section 2 of IDITRA provides for the 

mode of application of pioneer certificate 

including the grounds upon which 

the applicant relies and the required 

information to be provided by the applicant. 

It is significant that Section 2 

does not provide for the period within 

which a PSI application should be made. 

Section 1(3) of the IDITRA provides that 

both by an existing company or promoters 

of company in formation can apply 

for a pioneer certificate or for the inclusion 

of a specific industry in the list of 

pioneer industries and products. 

Section 6 of IDITRA, relates to the 

certification of the production day, 

amongst other things. The production 

day is used as the date of commencement 

of the actual tax holiday of a pioneer 

company. Sections 6(1) and (12) of 

IDITRA are to the effect that a pioneer 

company should apply and propose its 

production day, within one month of 

reaching commercial scale in the production 

or provision of its pioneer goods 

or services as the case maybe. 

Section 5 of IDITRA contemplates 

that a pioneer certificate can operate 

retrospectively, that is, the benefits of 

PSI can take effect from a date earlier 

than the date of the pioneer certificate. 

The foregoing provisions implicitly 

recognize the fact that a PSI application 

can very well be made after the first 

year of commencement of commercial 

production/service, in the particular 

instance that the provisions and no 

other provision of IDITRA have said 

otherwise. 

The Guidelines and the Pioneer Status 

Incentive Regulations 2014 should 

follow IDITRA 

In the absence of any provision of 

IDITRA mentioning or inferencing 

the First Year Rule, it is out of place for 

either the Guidelines or the Pioneer 

Status Incentive Regulations 2014 

(“PSIR 2014”) to set this disenfranchising 

hurdle. 

It may be recalled that the PSIR 2014 

(Regulation 3(4)) had stated that a PSI 

application be made within one year of 

commercial production. Although still 

not in tandem with IDITRA, the provision 

is a lower hurdle compared with 

that under the Guidelines. The first year 

of commercial production is relatively 

a longer time away than the first year of 

production/service. 

In any event, the law of the land is 

that subsidiary legislations such as 

the Guidelines and the PSIR 2014 are 

subsidiary legislations that cannot 

expand the scope of the substantive 

legislation, IDITRA, in this instance. 

The First Year Rule may fail in the face 

of IDITRA should it be set before the 

Nigerian courts. 

The First Year Rule Discriminates 

Earlier Pioneers 

The First Year Rule punishes those 

who earlier took on the challenges 

of what today qualifies as a pioneer 

industry, by making them ineligible 

to partake in the benefits of the PSI, 

due to their age in business. It is no 

gainsaid that some businesses have 

been, for more than a year, taking 

risks, particularly in time and money, 

to understand the rules and vagaries 

of their chosen industry. Much of the 

lessons that these businesses learnt 

may have informed the emergence of 

new entrants. The First Year Rule simply 

embraces the new entrants and shuts 

the door on the real pioneers. Such a 

reality is economically-insensitive and 

does not enhance the promotion of entrepreneurial 

ambitions which should 

have informed the PSI in the first place. 

This is beside the point, as highlighted 

below, that most of these early pioneers 

are yet to be profitable. This is basically 

a policy argument. 

The First Year Rule is insensitive 

to Business Cycles 

The rationale for the First Year Rule 

is questionable when viewed from the 

background of the current loss cycle 

of early pioneers. More often than not 

very few companies tide into profitability 

in their first year of production or 

commencement of service. In a country 

with high operating costs, especially on 

power and infrastructure, there is that 

high possibility of making losses in the 

first year or most likely for the first few 

years of commencement of business. 

If this were to be the case and 

the First Year Rule is applied, then a 

company that makes an application 

in the first year of commencement of 

production or service and is granted 

a pioneer status during its loss cycle 

enjoys no benefit. Suffice to state that 

the corporate minimum tax rule contemplates 

that a company may operate 

at a loss for its first 4 years in business. 

The First Year Rule is insensitive to this 

statutory reality. In the circumstance 

that a typical company would seek to 

claim loss relief on the losses it has accumulated 

over the years from profits 

of subsequent years before considering 

utilization of the PSI, the introduction 

of the First Year Rule, only presents the 

PSI as a myth. 

Conclusion 

The tax system stands on a tripod 

of policy, law and administration. The 

policy direction of the Nigerian government 

in encouraging certain industries 

in its economy through the PSI is laudable. 

The particular expansion of the 

list of pioneer industries, although 

may affect government’s fiscal projections, 

but ultimately should stimulate 

greater economic activities, if government 

is not to be the loser. The IDITRA 

as the enabling law for PSI provides 

the framework for the grant of pioneer 

status and does not contemplate the 

First Year Rule. Application of the First 

Year Rule makes the PSI more of a myth 

than a reality. The Guidelines and the 

PSIR 2014 should be amended to be in 

line with the policy and law guiding the 

grant of PSI. Where the position of the 

FMITI and the NIPC are that the First 

Year Rule is actually the policy, then 

it would fall flat in the face of the law. 

Such arguments are needless at this momentous 

period of Nigeria’s emergence 

as an economic power block among its 

peer countries. An active and coordinated 

process of engagement between 

Government and affected industries or 

businesses is recommended. 

Oyeyemi is Partner at AO2 Law and 

Director at Taxaide Professional 

Services Limited.

24 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday 17 August 2017 

GLOBALREPORT 


Immigration status 

shouldn’t bar lawyers from 

practice, ABA House says 

The ABA House of Delegates on 

Monday voted to urge Congress 

to allow state courts to permit 

immigrants who are seeking legal status 

to obtain licenses to practice law, and to 

support “the principle that bar admission 

should not be denied based solely on 

immigration status.” 

The issue of whether immigrants who 

are in the United States without authorization 

can practice law has been under 

debate for the past few years, particularly 

when they arrived in the country as children 

and have been allowed to attend 

college and law school. 

For example, Cesar Vargas arrived 

in the United States as a 5-year-old from 

Mexico and had been authorized to re- 

Lawyers would have to provide 

more information about trust 

accounts in which they hold 

the funds of other people according 

to model rule changes approved by 

the House of Delegates on Monday. 

Lawyers would have to disclose 

the names of financial institutions, 

in addition to account numbers, 

for each account holding funds 

for clients and for third persons in 

connection with a representation. 

Lawyers would also have to disclose 

the names and addresses of 

people authorized to operate or disburse 

money from the accounts, and 

the name and address of the lawyer 

responsible for complying with the 

rules governing the account. 

Frank Neuner Jr., chair of the 

American Bar Association (ABA) 

Standing Committee on Client 

Protection, told the ABA House the 

changes will give regulators better 

Charging for routine work 

in 10-minute units is ‘unusual’ 

in litigation and clients 

should be warned that they are 

unlikely to recover such fees in full 

from their opponents, a UK costs 

judge ruled recently. 

In a preliminary ruling in Breyer 

Group Plc & Others v Prospect Law 

Ltd, Master Rowley in the Senior 

Courts Costs Office ordered that 

the 10-minute units charged by the 

defendants be reduced at detailed 

assessment to the usual one-tenth 

of an hour, or six minutes. 

The judge, who was addressing 

the situation where individual tenminute 

units had been charged for 

‘routine items’, said that while this 

was normal in some transactional 

work, it was ‘an uncommon practice’ 

in contentious work, where the 

‘invariable practice’ is to charge in 

six-minute units. 

He added: ‘Given that this is an 

uncommon practice, it seems to me 

that the express agreement of the 

claimants in terms of the client care 

main in the country under the Deferred 

Action for Childhood Arrivals program. 

He graduated from the City University of 

New York School of Law and passed the 

New York bar exam in 2011, but he was 

not immediately allowed to join the state 

bar. In 2016, Vargas was finally permitted 

to practice law in New York. 

Other states, like California, have 

also allowed immigrants living here 

without legal permission to be admitted 

to the bar. However, in Florida, the 

state supreme court in 2014 overturned 

legislation that had been passed to allow 

such immigrants to practice, ruling that 

federal law prohibits them from receiving 

a state benefit. 

---ABA JOURNAL 

Lawyers to provide more trust account 

information in measure passed by ABA House 

tools to deal with client trust accounts 

when lawyers or their staff 

abuse them. 

The changes, summarized in 

Resolution 110, amend Rule 7 of 

the Model Rules for Disciplinary 

Enforcement. 

A report to the House of Delegates 

calls the proposed changes 

“simple but necessary.” The changes 

make it easier for disciplinary counsel 

to investigate allegations of 

misappropriation when the lawyer 

whose name on the account is not 

necessarily the wrongdoer. 

“It is an unfortunate fact that 

some lawyers continue to misappropriate 

client or third person 

funds,” the report says. According 

to the most recent information collected 

by the ABA, lawyers’ funds for 

client protection paid out claims of 

about $96.4 million between 2011 

and 2013. 

Ten-minute rule: Law firm’s billing 

‘unusual’, costs judge declares 

letter is not the end of the matter. 

The claimants needed to be told that 

routine items claimed at 10 minutes 

were unlikely to be recovered on 

that basis.’ 

The judge considered a number 

of other preliminary issues relating 

to the costs in the case, in which the 

claimants are bringing Solicitors 

Act 1974 proceedings against their 

former solicitors. In relation to the 

amounts charged for ‘incoming’ 

correspondence, the judge adopted 

a ‘broad brush’ approach, reducing 

the amount the defendants could 

charge to half the rate permitted for 

outgoing correspondence. 

Master Rowley also addressed 

the issue of the defendant’s departure 

from the estimated costs it gave 

to the claimants during the course 

of proceedings. He concluded that 

the defendant’s costs should not be 

capped at the level of the estimates, 

as the claimants had not relied on 

these enough to justify limiting the 

costs. 

---LAW SOCIETY GAZETTE 

Appeal to proceed in £14bn 

landmark Mastercard action 

Record-breaking £14bn collective 

action against Mastercard is set 

to rumble on after the former 

ombudsman who brought the case on 

behalf of 46 million consumers seeks 

to appeal last month’s Competition 

Appeal Tribunal ruling. 

Law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart 

& Sullivan, which represents Walter 

Merricks CBE, announced today it has 

applied to the tribunal for permission 

to appeal last month’s decision. Mastercard 

has until 8 September to file 

submissions in response. 

Boris Bronfentrinker, a partner at 

the firm, said: ‘Together with Merrick’s 

team of highly experienced barristers, 

we have carefully analysed and considered 

the tribunal’s judgment and 

identified a number of manifest errors 

in the reasoning and approach of the 

tribunal. 

‘As the first mass consumer collective 

action, and given the size of the 

class, complex issues have been raised 

that the English courts have not had to 

consider previously.’ 

Ruling in Walter Merricks CBE v 

MasterCard Inc and Others, Justice Peter 

Roth dismissed the claimant’s application 

to certify the proceedings under 

the Competition Act 1998. The tribunal 

THEBAR 

NBA partners with UNECA to support 

capacity building for young lawyers 

In furtherance to the “Public Interest” 

programme encapsulated in 

the “3Rs-P” Agenda of the vision 

for #ABraveNewBar and in fulfillment 

of the mandate to ensure a world 

class conference and participation 

by Young Lawyers, the Technical 

Committee on Conference Planning 

(TCCP) of the Nigerian Bar Association 

(NBA) has announced the 

partnership with the United Nations 

Economic Commission for Africa 

12,000 lawyers to storm Lagos this weekend 

for the world’s largest gathering of lawyers! 

Lagos is a beehive of activities 

as lawyers are gradually 

moving into the city for what 

is considered the largest gathering 

of lawyers in the world - the 

2017 Annual General Conference 

(AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association 

(NBA). 

In an exclusive chat with BusinessDay, 

the Secretary of the Technical 

Committee on Conference 

Planning (TCCP) and Head of the 

Conference Media Subcommittee, 

Abdulrasheed Muritala confirmed 

that the planning committee so far 

has a record of 12, 000 registered 

delegates for the conference, 

though the initial plan was to host 

8,000 lawyers. 

“As we speak, the conference is 

over-subscribed with 12,000 lawyers 

duly registered and ready for a 

accepted Mastercard’s arguments that, 

even if loss had been suffered and could 

be estimated across the whole class, 

there was no way of ensuring that a class 

member would receive distribution of 

an amount compensating any actual 

loss suffered. 

The case was one of the first to be 

brought under the Consumer Rights Act 

2015, which provides for so-called ‘optout’ 

collective proceedings on behalf of 

a class of individuals. 

Quinn Emanuel said today there was 

‘legal uncertainty’ on whether there is 

a direct right of appeal to the Court of 

Appeal or whether the case needs to go 

to the administrative court for a judicial 

(UNECA) to sponsor 25 (Twenty- 

Five) members of the Young Lawyers 

Forum (YLF) comprising 20 young 

lawyers from the North-East and 5 

Secretary TCCP, Muritala Abdulrasheed 

fully packed week,” Muritala said. 

According to him, this number 

could have easily gone up if the 

conference site, had not been programmed 

to shut down on given 

date. For this reason and more, the 

TCCP had announced that there 

review. 

Former financial ombudsman Merricks 

said he is ‘pleased’ that the fight 

will continue. ‘In filing the application, 

the next step has been taken in what 

could be a long fight,’ he said. 

Mastercard told the Gazette: ‘We 

believe that any appeal or review by 

Walter Merricks is without merit and 

that the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s 

judgment to refuse certification for the 

proposed collective action was the correct 

decision. Mastercard maintains 

that this claim is completely unsuitable 

to be brought under the collective actions 

regime.’ 

---LAW SOCIETY GAZETTE 

representatives of the of the Association 

of Lawyers with Disabilities in 

Nigeria (ALDIN). 

This is part of the promise by the 

President of the Nigerian Bar Association, 

Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, 

OON, SAN to sponsor at least 100 

young lawyers to participate in the 

conference. This sponsorship covers 

registration, transportation and accommodation. 

would be no on-site registration 

at the conference venue. 

There are strong indications 

that the huge interest in the conference 

was stirred by the TCCP offer 

of tablets packed with updated 

Law Reports to every conference 

participants for next to nothing. 

This was achieved in partnership 

with Airtel and several lawyers various 

pick-up centers for their tabs 

and other conference materials. 

Other partners for the conference 

include, Zenith Bank, Access 

Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank, Arik 

Air and a host of others. 

The event, which opens in Lagos 

on Friday August 18th, 2017 

through to the 24th will be fully 

secured and only those with Access 

Cards will have access to the 

venue.

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

25 


TechTalk 

In association with 

Innovation Apps Fin-Tech Start-up Gadgets Ecommerce IOTs Broadband Infrastructure Bank IT Security 

‘Making micropayments with airtime 

eliminates concerns on card security’ 

CALEB OJEWALE 

FinTech has become 

a major disruptor in 

how people make 

payments in Nigeria, 

but today, one 

service provider is taking it a 

‘notch lower’ by focusing on 

micropayments. Hugo Obi, 

Founder, Maliyo Games and 

MonaPay, had a chat with Caleb 

Ojewale on the future of making 

payments for digital content 

across different platforms. 

What is Monapay all about? 

Monapay is an airtime payment 

solution for digital content. 

It enables digital content 

producers to monetize or get 

people to pay for their content 

using their airtime. 

Can you give some examples 

of this? 

A great example is a video 

game. If you’re a video game 

producer, and you want to 

charge people N100, N200 etc 

for your game, any transaction 

below N1000 is what we classify 

as micropayment. So, if you 

want to charge people that kind 

of low amount, they are not going 

to want to use their cards, 

and the most ideal medium 

for charging people for such 

is through their airtime. Our 

system also allows a developer 

to integrate a payment gateway 

into their app, and bill in-app. 

On one hand you have content 

producers who want peo- 

ple to pay for their content, with 

the price point for their content 

as N1000 and below, and they 

know most people who want 

to make payment in hundred 

naira values are not going pay 

using their cards. So we solve 

a problem by providing a tool 

they can integrate and charge. 

The flipside of that are the 

customers. So you’re listening 

to a music track which costs 

N50 to download, or you want 

to watch a movie which would 

cost N100. You’re not about 

to bring out your ATM Card 

to be punching numbers. Or 

perhaps, your child is playing 

games on your device and 

wants to buy a character, and 

asks ‘mommy can I buy this’; if 

it costs N50 and they will take 

the money from your airtime, 

you are likely to allow it so as 

to make your child happy. But 

if the child says it costs N50 

then asks for your card to make 

payment, you become more 

conscious and would rather 

have the child end such a video 

game. 

So the two sides are; making 

it easier for customers to pay 

for micro transactions, and for 

the developers, using airtime to 

charge for their goods/services. 

What has the response 

been so far? 

It has been greatly positive. 

We’ve been talking with a lot of 

game developers, people who 

are building mobile applications 

and they are delighted 

that this solution has been 

Hugo Obi, Founder, Maliyo Games and MonaPay 

created. We can’t wait for the 

solution in itself to scale to the 

market place. 

Are you focusing on just 

this category of people? 

We are looking at music, 

ringback tunes, comics, images, 

videos. Any content that is digital, 

and in the context of what 

we are doing, digital is key. It is 

for digital content accessible 

via mobile phones, websites or 

apps, this is important to note. 

The second thing is that you 

have to be charging less than 

a thousand naira. People will 

load lower denominations like 

N500 and when they are being 

charged for services in that 

range, it feels a lot easier for 

them to just say, no problem, 

I’ll use my airtime to pay for it 

(instead of a card). 

All of this suggests you have 

an arrangement with the Telcos, 

is that the case? 

At the moment, we are in- 

tegrated with 9mobile, and we 

are still building our integration 

with the other networks. For 

now, customers on other networks 

cannot make payments 

because we have not integrated. 

Obviously it takes time 

to build a business relationship 

and sign agreements, contracts 

etc, but once we integrate, it is 

for good. 

Lastly, what informed your 

decision to develop Monapay? 

The reason why we built 

this product is because; ask a 

developer today, if they want to 

do airtime billing for any digital 

product, they needed to meet 

Telcos, VAS providers etc and 

have series of meetings, agreements 

and contracts, without 

even validating or testing the 

service. What we have built is 

a solution that will enable testing 

and validating of products/ 

services, without talking to any 

network, not even needing to 

talk to us, as you can simply 

visit our website, copy the code, 

integrate it, and that’s it. People 

can then give you feedback, 

and it is also possible to see if 

they are paying for the services. 

We built this solution because 

as content developers 

ourselves, when we wanted to 

experiment with airtime billing, 

it was very cumbersome. 

It wasn’t a self-service/do it 

yourself system, instead, meeting 

several people. Now, we 

have built a solution that will 

enable people to freely implement 

airtime billing. 

Sage positions payroll software for online tax administration in Nigeria 

FRANK ELEANYA 

Payroll and accounting 

technology firm, Sage 

has said that it is willing 

to work with the Nigerian 

government in its efforts to 

automate tax administration in 

Nigeria. 

The company made this known 

in Lagos at a recent launch of Sage 

One updated version. 

Speaking to BusinessDay at a 

media parley, senior representatives 

of the company’s subsidiary 

in Nigeria commended the federal 

government for the steps it has 

taken so far to bring millions of 

Nigerians under the tax net. 

The Federal Inland Revenue 

Service (FIRS) recently an- 

nounced the introduction of six 

new electronic tax services aimed 

at ensuring that key tax processes 

are automated in order to improve 

transparency, ease and speed of 

tax administration for both tax 

payers and tax administrators. 

Sage One, it explained, is an 

easy to use online accounting and 

payroll software that supports entrepreneurs 

and small businesses. 

The new version comes with Sage 

One Accounting and Sage One 

Payroll. 

“Sage One is our cloud solution 

for administering payroll and payroll 

taxes for start-ups and small 

businesses in Nigeria. It is truly a 

cloud solution from end-to-end,” 

said Magnus Nmonwu, Regional 

Director Sage West Africa. 

Nikki Summers, Director SageOne 

East Africa & West Africa 

noted that although other countries, 

particularly in Africa, were 

light years ahead of Nigeria in 

terms of payroll legislation, Nigeria 

can still catch up. 

“If and when the government 

does roll out the platform where 

they want people to do online tax 

submissions, we have the functionality 

within the product to 

be able to do that. We are already 

doing that in Kenya. 

“We launched the payroll and 

the accounting and they have 

similar a platform - the iTax platform, 

which is exactly what the 

Nigerian government is trying to 

adopt. That functionality is there 

and when the government is ready 

to roll that up we will be able to 

make it available,” she said. 

The company outlined several 

benefits that users of Sage One 

platform can get. For instance, 

on Sage One Accounting there is 

the ease of invoicing. A company 

can make their invoice look more 

professional by creating quotes 

and invoices in a flash. Customers 

can also track their business using 

the customised dashboards. 

Furthermore, users can easily 

link their bank account to Sage 

One Accounting where their bank 

transactions will be updated daily. 

Sage One Payroll on other 

hand helps businesses generate 

tax certificates in one simple step 

– generally stay FIRS compliant. It 

also gives a clear picture of a company’s 

monthly leave transactions 

in a calendar view. 

Companies can also generate 

NHF, NHIS, Pension and PAYE 

reports electronically for quick 

and easy submissions using Sage 

One Payroll. 

“This product is very secure 

and we have got over 500 users 

on Sage One Accounting at the 

moment and since the launch of 

Sage One Accounting in Nigeria 

we have not had any case of data 

breach. There are heavy security 

built around it and Sage in itself 

has taken steps to ensure that it 

has the necessary security around 

its data infrastructure. The escalation 

protocols are available in the 

event of one data centre failing,” 

Nmonwu said. 

Team: Frank Eleanya, frank.eleanya@businessdayonline.com; Caleb Ojewale , caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com

26 

BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday 17 August 2017 

Retail & Consumer Business 

Luxury Malls Companies Deals Spending Trends 

Retail giants are now flocking to Iceland 

Bloomberg 

H&M to follow Costco in opening 

stores amid economic boom 

Consumers rejoice 

as local retailers are 

forced to cut pricess 

A common complaint 

heard on the 

streets of Reykjavik -- apart from 

the weather -- is about prices. A 

standard burger will set you back 

as much as $20, while branded 

sneakers cost double what they 

sell for in the U.S. 

That’s about to change. 

Nearly eight years after Mc- 

Donald’s pulled out of Iceland 

due to spiraling costs, international 

retail giants are now 

flocking to the north Atlantic 

island, attracted by a booming 

economy and a surge in purchasing 

power. Costco Wholesale 

Corp., the U.S.-based chain, 

inaugurated its first Icelandic 

store in May. Swedish clothing 

colossus Hennes & Mauritz AB 

plans to open two shops there 

by the end of the month. Dunkin’ 

Donuts jumped the gun in 2015. 

Consumers are loving it. The 

central bank, which is eager to cut 

rates to prevent the krona from 

appreciating, is welcoming the 

competition as a potential counter 

to growing wage pressure on inflation. 

Local retailers are a little less 

impressed. 

Love-Hate Relationship 

Costco has already sold more 

than 80.000 membership cards, 

meaning one in four Icelanders 

have snapped one up. Some 

established rivals are already cutting 

prices, others are pulling out 

altogether. The combined sales of 

Costco’s traditional competitors 

in Iceland fell 3.6 percent in June 

compared with the same month 

last year, according to the Center 

for Retail Studies. 

Iceland’s biggest retailer, Hagar, 

which in 2016 controlled about 

half of the country’s convenience 

goods market, has seen its share 

price drop by a third over the past 

three months. Hagar has already 

closed a number of clothing stores 

in anticipation of H&M’s arrival, 

with its stock falling as much as 

7 percent on August 8 after it reported 

reduced sales in its interim 

financial statement. 

A reliance on imports from 

far flung places (the closest European 

capital, Dublin, is 1,500 

kilometers away) means generations 

of Icelanders have grown 

accustomed to high prices. Its 

relatively small size (the population 

totaled 344,000 in the 

second quarter) also hampers 

competition among retailers. 

“We’re used to just paying up 

because we can’t go anywhere 

else, and that is why people welcome 

Costco,” said Brynhildur 

Petursdottir, chief editor of the 

Consumer Association’s newsletter. 

Right Timing 

Now that the Icelandic crisis is 

officially over -- capital controls 

that were introduced in response 

to the 2008 collapse of the its 

main banks have been removed 

-- foreign retailers are sensing 

an opportunity. Not only is the 

economy predicted to grow at a 

rate close to 6 percent this year, 

having expanded at more than 7 

percent in 2016, the strong krona 

also makes foreign products more 

competitive. Christmas online 

sales, spearheaded by Amazon, 

surged 14.6 percent on the previous 

year. 

“The time is right,” said Kristin 

Fjeld, a local H&M representative, 

of the company’s expansion plans 

in Iceland. 

Opening up the market to more 

competition may shake Iceland in 

other ways as well. 

Asta S. Fjeldsted, the managing 

director of the Icelandic Chamber 

of Commerce, said she welcomes 

international competition as a 

healthy development but notes 

that local companies are at a disadvantage 

since “it is difficult for 

them to reach the same economies 

of scale.” Fjeldsted said local rules 

need updating to reflect a globalized 

world after the country’s 

competition authority blocked a 

proposed merger between Hagar 

and one of the big local pharmacies. 

My four months experience using Infinix hot S smartphone 

CHINWE AGBEZE 

I 

woke up this morning and 

reached out for my phone. 

I had an urgent call to make 

but lo and behold, my infinix 

Hot S phone had gone blank! 

‘Not again!,’ I cried out. ‘Not 

today, please,’’ I begged the phone 

as if it were human, hoping the 

phone would come up again but 

deep down inside me, I knew that 

was not going to happen. 

As I held the phone, I heard 

messages, mails, chats drop in 

but I could not see or read them 

because the phone was blank. 

The only good thing was I could 

receive calls. 

This was not the first time the 

phone was going blind. The first 

time it did was on Friday. I was 

getting set for work when a message 

dropped in and I picked up 

my phone to read but saw my 

phone was blank. I thought it 

would come up later but it never 

did until the battery was drained. 

When I could no longer hear any 

sound, I plugged the phone and 

charged it. After charging, the 

My blank Infinix Hot S phone 

phone came up but it went blank 

in less than an hour. Since, I was 

busy at work, I couldn’t do anything 

about it. 

The following day, the phone 

went again around 11am and I angrily 

dashed to SLOT retail outlet 

at computer village where I bought 

the phone four months ago. On 

getting there, I was referred to Carl 

Centre at 77 Opebi road in Ikeja. 

‘‘It’s a software problem. They 

will fix it for you for free if it has no 

physical damages. I’ll advice you 

to go there on Monday with your 

receipt because they close at 2pm 

on Saturdays,’’ a staff of Slot said. 

‘‘What kind of nonsense is 

this,’’ I said furiously. ‘‘I have been 

managing the short battery life 

and now, this!’’ I said as I turned 

to leave. 

Another staff at Slot who sat 

watching me all the while I spoke 

said, ‘The brand is not good. 

People have been coming here to 

complain about Infinix phones. 

Next time, ask those who know 

more about phones before purchase. 

Infinix phones are not 

reliable.’’ 

On Monday, I was at Carl Care 

service centre around 1pm. I was 

given a piece of paper and was 

asked to wait. When it got to my 

turn, I handed the phone to the 

customer service agent and told 

her about my experience. 

She examined the phone for a 

while and said, ‘Is that all?” and I 

nodded. 

‘‘You have to drop the phone 

and come back after one week but 

all the information on the phone 

will be wiped out,’’ she said. 

‘‘Will I have to pay for that?’’ I 

asked. 

‘‘If you are dropping it, it’s free 

but before collection, we will notify 

you if you via SMS if you are to 

pay or not,’’ she said. 

I thanked her and said I would 

drop the phone the following day. 

The following day, the phone 

went blank again! 

I have used some many phones 

in my life and I must confess most 

of them are not as expensive as Infinix 

Hot S phone but they never at 

any point in time gave me half the 

headaches this phone has given 

me in just four months! The battery 

drains so fast, the pictures and 

videos are not of good quality and 

to make matters worse, it switches 

on and off when it pleases.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

27 

Retail & Consumer Business 

Global retail update 

Store openings 

Albania is due to get 

another four Spar 

supermarkets, 

bringing the total 

to 23 Spar supermarkets 

and three Interspar 

hypermarkets. French grocer 

Auchan is making its next 

play in Romania, with plans 

to open its first supermarket 

there. It currently operates hypermarkets 

and convenience 

stores in the country. 

Alibaba eyes rentals 

The e-commerce giant has 

signed an agreement with its 

hometown, Hangzhou, to use 

its technology in an official 

online platform for property 

rentals. The deal covers apartments 

across all sources – 

government, individuals, real 

estate developers and agents. 

It is hoped the project will 

help resolve fraudulent deals 

and volatile disputes, which 

are rife in the sector. 

UK grocery games 

Sainsbury’s has put its 

takeover talks with Nisa on 

hold until it gets a better feel 

for how the local competition 

authority would handle the 

deal. The decision comes following 

concerns expressed by 

the authority over the Tesco- 

Booker merger. Waitrose has 

joined Tesco in covering the 

‘tampon tax’ on women’s 

sanitary products. 

Pleasing results 

Australian electronics 

chain JB Hi-Fi exceeded its 

own expectations, enjoying 

a 13% boost in profit. Strong 

sales in phones, computers, 

audio equipment and home 

appliances are behind the 

result. Chinese e-commerce 

giant JD.com also surprised, 

with a 43.6% jump in revenue 

for Q2. 

KFC gets busy 

The fast food giant is capitalising 

on the rising appetite 

for fried chicken in Asia, with 

plans to more than double 

the number of stores in South 

Korea over the next six years. 

Over in Thailand, Chasng beer 

maker Thai Beverage will buy 

more than 240 KFC outlets for 

US $340 million. 

Let’s get digital 

US fashion retailer Gap 

has launched its newest 

digital flagship store on Yahoo! 

Taiwan. The company 

says the move reflects the 

growing shift online in the 

region. Customers will have 

the option to pick up orders 

at nearby stores or local fulfillment 

locations. 

Aldi US teams up for delivery 

The German discounter 

has entered a partnership 

with Instacart to deliver groceries 

in three US cities, a 

move that comes amid intense 

competition and disruption 

in the industry. Aldi 

will launch a pilot starting 

the end of this month with 

the potential of expanding to 

more cities in the future. 

Cool down 

Amazon continues to 

close in on the lucrative grocery 

market, with ready-made 

meals that don’t require refrigeration. 

If the technology 

is a success, it would be a big 

step forward for the company’s 

food ambitions. On 

the flip side, Kraft Heinz says 

refrigerated foods are on the 

way up, and has teamed up 

with Oprah Winfrey to launch 

a line of retail comfort foods. 

More job cuts 

High street homewares 

chain Wilko has become the 

latest UK retailer to make 

staffing cuts. The company 

has placed nearly 4,000 employees 

under consultation 

as it looks to simplify its team 

structure, following claims 

the government’s minimum 

living wage has dented its 

profits. 

NBL appeals to local tastes with ACE Desire 

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU 

Ifeanyi, 33 years old, sauntered 

into his custom 

pub a street away from 

his office. It was 18:30. It 

was Friday. He is happy and 

needed to unwind before he 

rode in his Toyota Corolla 

back home to meet his charming 

wife and two daughters. 

When the waitress, thin, 

delicately built but agile noticed 

he had leisurely walked 

in she also realised that is his 

mood, any time he wanted to 

experiment with something 

new. Would he be receptive 

to what she has to offer today? 

Bose, the waitress asked herself. 

But where are his friends? 

As she continued to query 

herself, Ifeanyi’s mobile 

started ringing. He answered 

the call and waved at Bose 

to come. My friends are on 

their way here. What do you 

have? Perfect moment, Bose 

thought told herself. 

Sir, she started. We have 

a new product from the Nigerian 

Breweries called ACE 

Desire. You will like it. It’s 

like your normal Zobo drink 

but mixed with some spirit. 

Ifeanyi, didn’t know what 

to think. True, he enjoys his 

larger beer but has lately been 

reminded by his wife to do 

something about his bulging 

stomach. Okay, he said let 

me have a bottle. Sounds like 

something that will help my 

situation. 

He tasted, like it and introduced 

it to his friends when 

they arrived, four of them. 

However, only two liked it. 

They others preferred their 

usual brands, but agreed 

to taste it at a later, since it 

combines zobo, a local drink 

with spirits. 

Ace Desire is a sophisticated 

blend of spirit and the 

zobo extracts which offers a 

tingling sensation because 

of the 5.5 percent alcohol by 

volume available in the 33cl 

bottle. The brand has always 

been informed by the need to 

satisfy the taste desire of the 

consumers as well. 

The Ace Brand was 

launched in December 2004, 

with an apple flavoured alcoholic 

drink called Ace Passion 

stiffing competition in Nigeria’s 

Ready-to-Drink market. 

According to Mordor Intelligence, 

a market research 

organisation, which supports 

every level of business, 

ready to drink food and drink 

industry in Nigeria is a fast 

growing sector and an important 

source of earnings 

for the nation. Domestic 

Ready to drink food Market, 

focuses on the development 

and enhancement of plants, 

factories and market (storage 

and distribution) in the 

country. There has been a 

remarkable progress in the 

field of Ready to drink food 

in the past 5 years. Nigeria’s 

focus on improving Ready 

to drink food facilities has 

resulted in growth of Ready 

to drink food in the country. 

International drinks festival to hold in December 

CHINWE AGBEZE 

This December promises 

to be an exciting 

one for all drink lovers 

as Lagos gets set 

to host the maiden edition of 

International drinks festival. 

The festival which is 

scheduled to hold from 1st 

to 3rd of December, 2017 at 

Federal palace hotel in Victoria 

Island is put together by 

Balmoral, a 360 events solution 

company. 

Speaking during the unveiling 

of the international 

drinks festival recently in 

Lagos, Ezekiel Adamu, CEO, 

Balmoral group said the festival 

is designed to showcase 

Nigeria’s drinking culture to 

the world. 

‘‘We have created an 

international platform for 

everyone interested in the 

business and pleasure of 

drinks to look forward to. The 

festival will provide insights 

on current trends in beverage 

production, marketing, 

government policies and 

distribution,’’Adamu said. 

According to the organisers, 

the festival will bring 

the top-notch professionals 

in the beverage industry 

and consumers together in a 

groundbreaking experience 

geared towards growing the 

drinks business. 

‘‘The festival is not just an 

alcoholic drinks festival but 

its all drinks festival. More 

than 10,000 consumers and 

5,000 professionals will get 

the chance to meet over 200 

exhibitors at the festival,’’ said 

Akin Eso, COO, Balmoral 

group. 

Life in Recession 

How Nigerians are struggling to survive 

If you want to contact the writer of this story 

call: +234(0) 803 889 1567, +234(0) 802 223 8495. 

chinwe.agbeze@businessdayonline.com 

Petty trader in need of capital to start tailoring business 

CHINWE AGEBZE 

Name: Christiana Ude 

State of origin: Enugu 

Dependents: Husband 

and child 

Business: I was dealing 

in fruits. I quit fruit business 

February last year to sale 

‘fufu’ when fruits became 

very expensive and since 

fruits is perishable, I made 

losses than gain some days. 

Profit: I make N900 profit 

on every N3,000 worth of 

‘fufu’ I sell which is 75pieces. 

Effect of recession: Last 

year, it could sell 75 pieces of 

‘fufu’ within three days but 

these days, it takes me almost 

a week to sell the same 

quantity of ‘fufu’ because 

customers are no longer 

buying as much ‘fufu’ as 

they were buying last year. 

Before now, we ate thrice 

a day and paid our bills but 

this year has been the worst 

for us so far and it appears to 

be getting worse by the day. 

My husband’s business 

has been doing badly. The 

little money he makes from 

Christiana Ude 

his motorcycle business is 

used for repairs because 

the motorcycle spends more 

time in the mechanic than 

on the road. This my ‘fufu’ 

business is our only reliable 

source of income. 

Survival strategy: We 

eat whatever we can afford 

for the day, hoping the next 

day will be better. 

School fees: I have not 

paid my daughter’s school 

fees since first term. We owe 

the school N45,000 now. 

House rent: Our house 

rent expired last year and 

we were given quit notice. 

Last month (July), the lawyer 

in charge of the house 

came to drive us away but 

my husband pleaded with 

him. We rallied around and 

was able to raise N15,000 

which is five months’ rent. 

The lawyer collected it but 

told us to pay up or vacate 

the room before they throw 

us out. 

Challenge: I want to go 

into tailoring. I have learnt 

how to sew but I have not 

been able to save up money 

to buy a sewing machine. 

Analysts: Chinwe Agbeze, Stephen Onyekwelu



C002D5556 

GARDEN CITY BUSINESS DIGEST 

Violence or dialogue? 

SPDC pumps N6.4 trillion to FG coffers 

in 4 years, but feels heat 

- Top official warns of more investment flight if hostility persists in oil region 

- Says its development impact is beyond CSR 

- $29.8Bn in 4 years to FG 

- $1.8Bn to NDDC in 14 years 

- Over N14Bn to host community project funds 


As host communities 

shut down oil 

fields belonging 

to Shell Petroleum 

Development 

Company (SPDC) accusing 

the oil giant of doing nothing 

for the hosts, the company 

has pointed to over N6.4 trillion 

contributed to the federal 

covers in just four years. 

The oil major also wants the 

communities to realise that 

corporate social responsibility 

projects were not the only 

contribution expected of it to 

the communities. 

Shell says its equity in an oil 

well is mere 30 per cent while 

the FG through the Nigeria 

National Petroleum Corporation 

(NNPC) owns 55 per cent, 

before other stakeholders own 

the rest 15 per cent. 

An oil region indigene and 

general manager in Shell, Igo 

Weli, (GM External Relations) 

last weekend however poured 

lamentations over fears that 

continued hostility devoid of 

dialogue could further drive 

away local and foreign investors 

from the oil region. This 

added to fears that the oil 

economy was slimming down 

in the face of more countries 

banning diesel vehicles and 

more countries pumping out 

their oil reserves while the sun 

shines. 

Giving insight into what 

SPDC has so far contributed to 

the coffers of the FG in recent 

years, the Port Harcourt-born 

GM said SPDC operations add 

value to the community and to 

Nigeria as a whole. « We pay 

into the FG accounts which is 

in turn distributed. From 2012 

to 2015, SPDC JV paid $29.8Bn 

; We contribute 3 per cent of 

annual operations budget 

to NDDC and in 14 years, it 

amounted to $1.8Bn (2002 

– 2016). Coorporate Social 

Responsibility (CSR) is not the 

only measure of contribution. » 

The GM said it is rather 

Shell that is appealing to host 

communities to reduce infighting 

and draw down huge 

funds available for GmoU 

projects. « There are numerous 

court injunctions hampering 

drawing funds from GmoU 

projects. We have N7Bn so 

far hanging in some of those 

GMoU Cluster accounts ». 

The GMoU system allows 

communities to form development 

clusters, appoint their 

leaders, nominate projects 

within their annual budgts 

based on oil produced in their 

area, appoint the contractors, 

and draw down funds in 

their accounts and pay for the 

projects. Some communities 

have used the method to build 

world class hospitals, trained 

Osagie Okunbor, SPDC, CEO 

people abroad, built roads 

and water systems, etc. Some 

other are said to have rather 

engaged in disputes with attendant 

court cases that led 

to accounts being in limbo. 

Often, these afflicted communities 

bounce back to invade 

oil facilities in frustration. 

Weli said resort of violence 

and blockage despite numerous 

channels of dialogue was 

not only going to destroy the 

oil economy but could scare 

away for investors in a season 

when many have since fled. 

Sources said even Niger Delta 

indigenes have shunned the 

region while investing and that 

top ex-militants have rather 

invested outside the region or 

outside the country. 

Supported by the Alice 

Ajeh, Stakeholders Relations 

Manager, the GM condemned 

the continued invasion of OML 

25 Belema community in Akuku-Toru 

local council area of 

Rivers State. « There is pressure 

on Belema asset (OML 25), and 

the potestors say, hand it over 

to this person. This was the 

same trend on OML 11 some 

years back and the community 

also said, hand it to same person. 

We ask, is it how oil wells 

are acquired ? This is a threat to 

investments, threat to foreign 

investors, ordering an investor 

to sell off ; this is how it started 

in Nazi Germany. This kind of 

scenario heightens tension. » 

Saying there were processes 

for handover, Weli warned 

of the crisis of expectation. « 

The problem is that of expectation 

and reality. Expectation 

must be realistic. Look, societies 

that progress are those that 

follow order and due process. 

In Belema oil field, there is the 

danger of illegal access. The 

community people are occupying 

the place and we hear 

they are cooking and all of that. 

The place is prohibited. Invasion 

is bad because of danger 

of explosion ». 

The concerned indigene 

said sending villagers to invade 

a facility does not win 

oil well to anybody. « It’s time 

for Niger Delta people to act 

differently ; investments are 

fleeing. There is something 

wrong, not just in the oil/ 

gas sector but everywhere in 

the region. See how deserted 

Trans-Amadi is, businesses 

have fled, businesses are leaving 

the Niger Delta. That is the 

bigger issue. » 

He talked about choices. 

« There are consequences for 

choices made. The people of 

Niger Delta must know that 

always shutting down companies 

and oil fields does not 

attract investments and investors 

have choices too. Follow 

the rules : there is need for 

people to follow the rules even 

in expressing grievances. Shell 

workers have evacuated from 

OML 25 and shut down due 

to threats, safety is uppermost 

in our minds. We try to even 

help communities to resolve 

their own disagrements so we 

can deliver projects to them. 

The people are always fragmented. 

» 

He warned of what he 

called high speed to doom 

(Divestment). « What about 

Lagos, if we say things are not 

normal in Nigeria ? They still 

pursue economic prosperity. 

They have touts there too but 

they do not shut down companies 

to make a point. » 

Many wonder if this means 

Shell is being scared away, but 

he said Shell is here on a long 

term but that the comapny is 

part of the global energy transition 

process. « Our people 

must reflect on the warning by 

the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, 

who asked the people 

of the region to consider the 

long term impact of destroying 

oil assets without thinking 

of diversification of their 

economy with oil proceeds. 

When investments flee and oil 

loses power, how would the oil 

region look like. Already, most 

Niger Delta rich people are 

investing outside the region. » 

Ponder these things, he 

told his kinsmen. 

Is everyone now a kidnapper, robber as Rivers State Police nabs 70? 

Port Harcourt by Boat 

With 


Is everyone in Rivers 

State now a militant, 

kidnapper or robber? 

Or, is everyone now a 

cultist? Over 22,000 persons 

steeped out to ask for pardon 

when the Rivers State 

government launched fresh 

amnesty programme late 

last year. This is compared 

with less than 25 and later 

36 when Yar’Adua did his for 

the entire Niger Delta. Now, 

70 suspected armed men 

allegedly causing mayhem 

in Rivers Sate have been 

arrested between July and 

August 2017 by the state’s 

police command. If 70 persons 

could be arrested in 

one month, how many thousands 

more are roaming 

there in the days and nights? 

Little wonder everywhere 

someone pokes his nose, 

hoodlums would halt and 

hush him. 

Despite all the amnesty, 

all the arrests, the region is 

still reeking with armed persons, 

hoodlums, criminals 

and militants. Kidnap is on 

every street now in the region 

and in the east and this 

is spreading fast. Many top 

persons and industry leaders 

warn everyday that the 

atmosphere is getting to a 

point of crisis when investors 

are fleeing and new ones are 

diverting. Forget what the 

various state governments 

tell you. Crime has taken 

over in the south-south and 

east. 

The command said it is 

on the winning path of its 

war against crime in the 

state following the massive 

arrests. The new Commissioner 

of Police, Zaki Ahmed, 

who briefed the press over 

the week-end at the Police 

Headquarters along Moscow 

Road, said 30 of the suspects 

were cultists, out of which 12 

had been prosecuted, and 

18 suspected kidnappers 

had also been prosecuted, 

while 22 two armed robbers 

nabbed and also prosecuted 

respectfully. 

The CP also disclosed 

that five armed robbery incidents 

were foiled, four 

foiled kidnapping attempts, 

11 kidnapped victims rescued 

and six fatalities were 

recorded while 27 arms were 

recovered. The recovered 

arms include two Ak 47, five 

pump action guns and 619 

ammunition and two dane 

guns including single and 

double barrels and 40 cartridges 

were recovered. 

Ahmed said the litany of 

achievements recorded by 

the command was between 

the month of 1st of July till 

date, With optimism of his 

command to maintain a 

tempo of zero criminality in 

the state. 

The police force savvy 

said, “We are prepared to go 

the whole hug to fight crimes 

to achieve the goal with 

unwavering resolve to deal 

with all criminal elements 

in the state”. 

In his detailed account, 

the commissioner revealed 

that the Anti-Kidnapping 

Unit of the command arrested 

one Sunday Jackson 

on November 11 2017, who 

allegedly kidnapped one 

Eke Ikechukwu and disposed 

him of his Toyota Camry 

car and other valuables, 

confessing his operations 

he carried with his gang at 

Bori, Eleme and Akpjo area 

of the state. 

Also the command’s 

Anti-Kidnapping Unit rescued 

one 35-year old female 

called Favour Udochukwu, 

Lucky Orji and Innocent 

Chigozie, who confessed to 

the crime, and efforts are on 

to arrest more members of 

the gang. 

One Emmanuel Iyekine, 

Alias Boyoyo was also ar- 

rested from his hide-out for 

kidnapping a Medical Doctor 

at Degma community 

and one other Godspower 

Nwae at Kpite Tia who was 

among other criminals terrorizing 

the Ogoni community 

axis. 

More on kidnapping, 

Ahmed disclosed that his 

crack squad on a tip-off arrested 

one David John, Alia 

tito boy, who confessed to 

the kidnap of a civil commissioner 

in the state and a 

traditional ruler at Okporo 

mini in the state. 

Again, the Anti-Kidnapping 

Unit stormed Agbon 

China community in Eleme 

local government area, 

where six kidnapped victims 

were held hostage but were 

rescued in a combat operation 

among other successful 

operations. This is sad.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

29



C002D5556 

Read Ambitiously 

Eurozone growth 

spreads, helped 

by Dutch, Italian 

economies 

PAUL HANNON 

The eurozone’s recovery was 

more rapid than first estimated 

in the three months 

to June as a pickup that started in 

Germany and Spain has spread to 

other parts of the currency area, 

aiding a comeback that is proving 

vital to the world economy. 

The European Union’s statistics 

agency Wednesday raised its 

measure of eurozone economic 

growth during the second quarter 

to 2.5% annualized from its 

first estimate of 2.3%, bringing 

it closer to the 2.6% recorded by 

the U.S., which it outpaced in the 

first quarter. 

That upgrade comes at an opportune 

moment, since the U.S. 

is growing more weakly than expected 

and there are signs China 

may be set for a slowdown. 

Separate figures showed the 

Dutch economy surged during 

the period as exports jumped, 

while Italy recorded its strongest 

six months since the second 

half of 2010. 

“The eurozone recovery continues, 

and seems to be broadening 

out,” said Fabio Balboni, an 

economist at HSBC . 

The bloc’s strength during 

the first half of 2017 has come as 

a surprise to most economists, 

who had expected growth to 

slow in response to rising energy 

prices and heightened political 

uncertainty as voters in the Netherlands, 

France and Germany 

chose new governments. 

However, the rise in energy 

prices didn’t last long and elections 

in the Netherlands and 

France—in March and May respectively—produced 

wins for 

pro-euro centrists and reduced 

the threat of a breakup of the currency 

area. German Chancellor 

Angela Merkel has a large lead in 

opinion polls ahead of September’s 

elections. 

As Dutch Prime Minister Mark 

Rutte worked to form a new government, 

the country’s economy 

surged in the second quarter, 

recording its fastest expansion 

since the final three months of 

2007. According to the Dutch 

statistics agency, gross domestic 

product—the broadest measure of 

the goods and services produced 

by an economy—was 1.5% higher 

than in the three months through 

March and 3.8% up on the comparable 

period a year earlier. That 

was largely the result of a jump in 

exports, with overseas sales 11% 

higher in June than a year earlier. 

Stocks advance ahead of Fed minutes 

JUSTIN YANG & KENAN MACHADO 

Global equities continued 

to rebound 

Wednesday after last 

week’s declines. 

The Stoxx Europe 

600 rose 0.8% Wednesday, while 

futures pointed toward the S&P 

500 opening 0.2% higher. 

Investors were on watch for 

the release later Wednesday of the 

Federal Reserve’s minutes from 

its last meeting for indications on 

where interest rates are headed. 

Federal Reserve Bank of New York 

President William Dudley said another 

rate rise is still likely in 2017. 

“I’m interested to see what the 

Fed has to say about the inflation 

landscape,” said David Rosenberg, 

chief economist and strategist at 

Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc. 

Weak inflation in the U.S. had 

Fed officials debating whether it 

was a temporary phenomenon or 

a sign of an underlying economic 

weakness in the last round of 

meeting minutes. 

Shares of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 

NV were up 2.5% after the 

company announced Wednesday 

it was joining a BMW-led selfdriving 

car technology alliance. 

Apple readies $1 billion war chest for 

Hollywood programming 

TRIPP MICKLE 

Apple Inc. has set a budget 

of roughly $1 billion 

to procure and produce 

original content over the 

next year, according to people familiar 

with the matter a sign of how 

serious the iPhone maker is about 

making a splash in Hollywood. 

Combined with the company’s 

marketing clout and global reach, 

that immediately makes Apple a 

considerable competitor in a crowded 

market where new media players 

and traditional media companies 

are vying to acquire original shows. 

The figure is about half what Time 

Warner Inc.’s HBO spent on content 

last year and on par with estimates 

of what Amazon.com Inc. spent in 

2013, the year after it announced its 

move into original programming. 

Apple could acquire and produce 

as many as 10 television shows, according 

to the people familiar with 

Chemical company Akzo Nobel 

NV climbed 1% after it reached 

a truce with activist investor firm 

Elliot Management. 

In the U.S., retail giant Target 

Corp. rose 5.3% in premarket trade 

after its second-quarter earnings 

report beat analyst expectations. 

Equities were broadly higher 

in Asia, as short positions over 

tensions in the Korean Peninsula 

unwound. However, caution remains 

ahead of joint U.S.-South 

Korean military exercises next 

week, analysts say. 

Stock benchmarks in China, 

Australia, South Korea and 

Hong Kong were up so far this 

week, as investors found value 

the plan, helping fulfill Apple Senior 

Vice President Eddy Cue’s vision of 

offering high-quality videosimilar 

to shows such as HBO’s “Game 

of Thrones”—on the company’s 

streaming-music service or a new, 

video-focused service. 

Apple’s co-heads of video 

programming, Zack Van Amburg 

and Jamie Erlicht, then with 

Sony, flanking their new hire Matt 

Cherniss, then with WGN America, 

and singer John Legend in March 

of 2016 in Los Angeles. 

The budget will be in the hands 

of Hollywood veterans Jamie Erlicht 

and Zack Van Amburg, poached 

in June from Sony Corp. to oversee 

content acquisition and video strategy. 

They exited their Sony contracts 

a month early and started working 

this month from Apple’s Los Angeles 

offices, where they are taking over 

programming responsibilities from 

the Apple Music team, according to 

the people familiar with the matter. 

in high-growth stocks following 

last week’s pullback, which many 

analysts believed was overdue. 

The Shanghai Composite Index 

pared early losses to trade 0.2% 

lower, with large caps succumbing 

to selling pressure after recent gains. 

Stocks were higher in Hong Kong, 

with the Hang Seng Index up 0.9%. 

“We have had an uncharacteristic 

bull market in the past few 

months,” said Michael Parker, 

Asia-Pacific equity strategist at 

Bernstein. “During a bull market, 

the sharper the one-day selloff, 

the better the buying opportunity.” 

Gold continued to come under 

pressure as the geopolitical 

environment relaxed, falling 0.3%. 

A bull statue outside the Frankfurt 

Stock Exchange in Germany. 

Global equities continued to 

rebound after last week’s declines. 

A bull statue outside the Frankfurt 

Stock Exchange in Germany. Global 

equities continued to rebound after 

last week’s declines. Photo: Krisztian 

Bocsi/Bloomberg News 

On Tuesday, South Korea’s 

president called for renewed talks 

with the North, saying the U.S. 

would need Seoul’s consent for 

any military action on the Korean 

Peninsula, which helped to ease 

tensions. 

The South Korean Kospi outperformed 

as traders returned 

from a public holiday to catch up 

with the region’s earlier gains. The 

benchmark index was up 0.6% 

after opening about 1% higher. 

In Hong Kong, improved risktaking 

appetite prompted strong 

buying among Chinese banking 

and casino gambling stocks. 

In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average 

edged down 0.1%, even as the 

U.S. dollar was up 0.1% against the 

yen. The WSJ Dollar Index, which 

measures the greenback against a 

basket of currencies, edged up 0.1%. 

Broad gains in the dollar came 

after data from the U.S. Commerce 

Department showed retail sales 

rising 0.6% from a month earlier, 

the biggest jump since December, 

with much of that coming from 

internet sales. 

Frankfurters aren’t rolling out the 

welcome mat for Brexit bankers 

WILLIAM WILKES & PATRICIA KOWSMANN 

A 

bigger tax base, greater 

clout and a boost for the 

local economy: The city 

that hosts the European 

Central Bank has several reasons 

to welcome London bankers 

looking for a new post-Brexit 

home. 

Residents, however, aren’t 

happy. 

Many longtime Frankfurt 

locals see a potential wave of 

deep-pocketed bankers driving 

up housing costs and even 

driving them out of a city that 

is already struggling to meet its 

housing needs. 

The U.K.’s 2016 decision 

to leave the European Union 

sparked a race among the bloc’s 

capitals to lure banks and its 

employees who want to keep the 

ability to sell their services across 

the EU if Britain leaves the single 

market. 

Frankfurt’s charm offensive 

on the banks is working, and 

several have said they would 

shift operations to the city. 

But as Germany’s financial 

hub steps up its campaign to 

attract bankers from London, 

residents—already faced with 

rising property prices and many 

construction projects around the 

city—are starting to say “nein.” 

“The city shouldn’t be spending 

my taxes to get bankers from 

London,” said Almuth Mayer, a 

nurse who lives in central Frankfurt 

and has joined one of several 

protest groups that have sprung 

up demanding city officials act 

to curb spiraling housing costs. 

Demonstrations are being 

planned outside luxury housing 

blocks to coincide with the 

national election campaign in 

September in which Angela 

Merkel’s Christian Democratic 

Union seeks reelection. 

Ms. Mayer said her landlord, 

property company Rohleder and 

Paz GbR, has refused to fix leaks 

and holes in the roof to encourage 

middle-class tenants to leave 

and make way for bankers. She 

also has criticized Frankfurt’s 

mayor, Peter Feldmann, for 

personally going to London to 

woo banks. 

“It’s close to criminal,” Ms. 

Mayer said. 

A spokesman for the mayor 

declined to comment. 

Edwin Rohleder, partner at 

Rohleder and Paz GbR declined 

to comment on the dispute with 

the company’s tenants. 

Development of middle-class 

housing is rising in Frankfurt, 

but the pace isn’t fast enough to 

meet booming demand.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

31



Live @ the Stock exchange 

Year-to-date return hits new low as 

investors lose over N700bn in 3 days 

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, 

Hezron Atunde and 

Bunmi Banjo 

The Year-to-Date 

(YtD) return from 

the Nigerian stock 

market has nosedived 

further to a 

new level of 34.34percent 

following a record N723billion 

which the market lost 

in the past three day. Stock 

investors began last week to 

take profit from recent gains 

after the market reached record 

high and some stocks 

entered overbought regions. 

The market cap of listed equities 

dropped from week 

open level of N13.166trillion 

to N12.443trillion yesterday. 

Trading closed Wednesday 

on the Nigerian stock 

market with yet another decline 

in the market benchmark 

indicator- All Share 

Index (ASI). The ASI dipped 

by 2.68percent, that represents 

994.22 points, to close 

at 36,102.38 points against 

337,096.60 points on Tuesday 

as the market responds to 

profit taking. 

Sewa Wusu, Head, Research 

& Investment Advisory, 

SCM Capital said that 

the market is responding to 

whims of profit-taking by 

investors. 

“Investors have positioned 

themselves before hand and 

now despite the recent positive 

results of the likes of Zenith 

Bank and GT Bank investors 

are getting weary and are 

taking profit. The fatigue is 

waning the market as it hits 

the overbought zone, while 

investors are reaping gains 

Top Gainers/Losers as at Tuesday 16 August 2017 

GAINERS 

Company Opening Closing Change 

NESTLE 1208.1 1220 11.9 

NASCON 11.69 12 0.31 

UBN 5.79 6 0.21 

DANGSUGAR 12.67 12.8 0.13 

VITAFOAM 2.71 2.83 0.12 

LOSERS 

from previous appreciation 

in price”. 

The analyst noted that the 

outlook for the market is still 

positive despite the present 

negative trend. 

He said: “the outlook 

is positive because the exchange 

rate of the Naira is 

improving, also the price 

of crude oil is also looking 

up and this improvement 

will culminate in economic 

recovery which will directly 

impact the market. In the 

immediate we will see an 

intermittent performance 

in the market until the next 

major catalysts when the 

third-quarter (Q3) results are 

released”. 

At the close of trading on 

the floor of the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (NSE) Wednesday, 

the value of listed equities lost 

about N342.677billion in one 

day to close at N12.443trillion 

as against N12.786 trillion recorded 

Tuesday. At the close 

of trading, a total of 224.773 

million units of listed companies 

shares valued at N5.090 

billion were transacted by 

investors in 4,822 deals. Yesterday, 

ten (10) companies 

gained against 30 losers. 

Company Opening Closing Change 

DANGCEM 225 214 -11 

TOTAL 236.55 227 -9.55 

NB 190 185 -5 

GUINNESS 89.89 87.96 -1.93 

STANBIC 38.95 37.03 -1.92 

FBN Holdings Plc led 

yesterday activity chart as 

stock traders exchanged 

34.466million shares worth 

N206.834million. Access Bank 

Plc followed by less than half 

trading 27.425million shares 

worth N276.911million. Guaranty 

Trust Bank Plc followed 

with 25.150million shares 

valued at N970.777 million; 

while 15.082 million units of 

Jaiz Bank Plc shares worth 

N11.992 million were traded. 

Also traded were 12.655 million 

units of Zenith Bank Plc 

shares valued at N284.670 

million. 

Nestle Nigeria Plc, led the 

gainers’ table adding N11.9 to 

close at N1220, from N1208 per 

share recorded Wednesday. 

Nascon Allied Industries Plc, 

followed with a gain of N0.31 

from day open level of N11.69 

to close at N12, while Union 

Bank Nigeria Plc appreciated 

by N0.21 to close at N6 per 

share, up from N5.79. Dangote 

Sugar Refinery Plc gained 

N0.13 to close at N12.8 from 

N12.67. Vitafoam Nigeria Plc 

increased by N0.12 to close at 

N2.83 per share, from N2.71. 

Conversely, Dangote Cement 

Plc, Total Nigeria Plc, 

Nigerian Breweries Plc, Guinness 

Nigeria Plc and Stanbic 

IBTC Holdings Plc led the 

losers as Dangote Cement Plc 

share price declined by N11 to 

close at N214 per share, down 

from N225; Total Nigeria lost 

N9.55, from N236.55 to N227; 

while Nigerian Breweries declined 

by N5, from N190 to 

N185. Guinness declined by 

N1.93 to close at N87.96 from 

N89.89; while Stanbic IBTC 

Holdings depreciated by N1.92 

to close at N37.08 per share, 

down from N38.95. 

NIBSS confirms over 2 million e-dividend registrants 

Iheanyi Nwachukwu 

No fewer than 2.1million 

investors have 

registered for e- 

dividend which 

enable them collect subsequent 

dividends electronically 

as well as allows all accrued 

dividends to be credited to the 

investors’ bank accounts. 

Samuel Goriola Oluyemi, 

head, Vertical Markets Group, 

Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement 

System (NIBSS) Plc in his presentation 

during the Capital 

Market Committee (CMC) 

meeting disclosed record 2.1 

million total e-dividend registrants. 

While giving further update 

on e-dividend mandate 

registration, NIBSS disclosed 

a record 838,671 unique 

investors by account, and 

433,164 unique investors 

by BVN. Analysis by gender 

shows 65percent of investors 

are male while 35percent of 

investors are female. 

Statistics by state of residence 

show 38 percent of 

investors are based in Lagos; 

8percent based in Abuja; 

6percent based in Rivers 

State; 5percent in Oyo State; 5 

percent of investors are based 

in Ogun State; while 0.4percent 

of investors are non-residents. 

Statistics by state of origin 

indicates that 10percent of 

investors hail from Anambra 

State; 9 percent of investors 

are from Ogun State, 9 percent 

from Imo State; 6percent of 

investors hail from Edo State; 

while 7percent of investors hail 

from Delta State. Following numerous 

requests received from 

the investing public, the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(SEC) on June 29 extended to 

December 31, 2017 the deadline 

for discontinuance of issuance 

of physical dividend 

warrants. 

ASI (Points) 36,102.38 

DEALS (Numbers) 4,822.00 

VOLUME (Numbers) 224,773,695.00 

VALUE (N billion) 5.090 

MARKET CAP (N Trn 12.443 

Market analysis 

Iheanyi Nwachukwu 

The economy 

The year 2016 would 

not be easily forgotten 

by economic 

analysts, market 

watchers and operators 

in capital market because 

Nigeria as Africa’s biggest 

economy and the world’s 

sixth largest crude oil producer, 

experienced economic 

meltdown. 

Most macro variables 

worsened significantly, GDP 

growth slumped to -1.56percent, 

inflation reached record 

high of 19percent, 

the naira exchange rate 

hit N465/$ and market 

capitalisation of the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange (NSE) 

contracted to N8.6 trillion 

from N11.658 trillion. 

The operating environment 

was indeed very challenging 

for companies, industries 

and manufacturers 

who battled hard with high 

cost of doing business as 

well as the poor state of infrastructure 


Consequently, companies 

employed various 

strategies to survive and 

deliver impressive returns 

to shareholders who were 

daily seeing their investments 

being eroded as the 

economy spiralled downwards. 

Conoil weathered the 

storms evidenced in its 

scorecards 

Conoil Plc is a prominent 

player in the petroleum 

downstream subsector 

of the economy. 

Amid the serious challenges 

in 2016, characterized 

by foreign exchange 

scarcity, prohibitive cost of 

funds and the reluctance of 

commercial banks to give 

credit lines which hindered 

marketers’ bid to aggressively 

import petroleum 

products, Conoil made 

good its pledge to weather 

all storms in order to put 

smiles on the faces of its 

teeming shareholders with 

guaranteed returns on investments. 

Analysis of the company’s 

financial results 

for the year under review, 

attested to the fact that it 

adequately prepared for 

the challenges, focused on 

Market Statistics as at Tuesday 17 August 2017 

Shareholders’ applause for Conoil 

achieving impressive growth 

and was ready to consolidate 

its leadership position in 

the downstream petroleum 

business. 

Conoil’s result showed 

growth across all key financial 

indices. Its profit after 

tax increased from N2.30 billion 

in 2015 to N2.84 billion, 

representing a 23percent 

rise. Its revenue increased 

from N82.9 billion to N85.02 

billion. Its profit before tax 

also rose from N3.45 billion 

to N4.28 billion, showing 

an increase of 24 percent. 

The company’s earnings per 

share increased sharply by 

23 percent from 333kobo in 

2015 to 409 kobo in 2016. The 

frontline major oil marketer, 

in line with its history of 

progressive dividend policy, 

rewarded its shareholders 

with a total dividend payout 

of N2.15billion. 

Applause from shareholders 

It was not surprising that 

the teeming shareholders 

of the company, at its 47th 

Annual General Meeting 

held in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom 

State capital recently, poured 

encomiums on the Board 

and Management for the 

impressive growth recorded 

in all key areas, boosting 

turnover and maximizing 

profitability. 

“Conoil’s performance 

for the year ended 31 December, 

2016 was very encouraging. 

Against the backdrop 

of a volatile and tough 

operating environment, 

the company still recorded 

strong margins which in 

turn impacted shareholders 

positively,” Olufemi Timothy, 

President, Renaissance 

Shareholders’ Association, 

remarked. 

He also remarked that 

shareholders were elated 

that despite the downturn 

in the economy; with the 

attendant sharp increase in 

operating costs, Conoil still 

recorded impressive growth 

in all key areas. 

“Conoil’s performance 

for the year ended 31 December, 

2016 was very encouraging. 

Against the backdrop 

of a volatile and tough 

operating environment, 

the company still recorded 

strong margins which in 

turn impacted shareholders 

positively,” Timothy added. 

Kazeem Olayiwola, 

Chairman of kaduna-based 

Alheri Shareholders’ Association, 

summed up the 

feelings of the shareholders 

thus: “Conoil has continually 

set standards in fuel retailing 

with world-class facilities 

and groundbreaking marketing 

initiatives that endear 

it to customers and place it 

far ahead of competition. 

I am therefore delighted 

that this has translated to 

good dividends to shareholders 

at a time like this, 

we sure do have a bright 

future.” 

Timothy Adesiyan, Grand 

Patron, Nigerian Shareholders’ 

Solidarity Association in 

his reaction, stated that “the 

management and Board 

of the company have not 

only performed excellently 

well but have also fulfilled 

their promise of maintaining 

consistent returns to 

shareholders”. 

“Given the tough operating 

environment in 2016 

characterized by tight liquidity, 

rising cost of funds and 

the inability of petroleum 

marketing companies to import 

fuel in the face of little or 

no supply from the domestic 

refineries, Conoil still braved 

the odds, recorded profits 

and is able to pay dividend 

to its shareholders,” said 

Adesiyan.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

33 

Live @ the Stock exchange 

Prices for Securities Traded as of Wednesday 16 August 2017 

Company 

Company 

Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume 

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities) 

BANKING 

ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC 706,421.11 22.50 -3.27 429 12,655,749 

429 12,655,749 

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 

FBN HOLDINGS PLC 214,294.90 5.97 -0.67 337 34,466,858 

337 34,466,858 

766 47,122,607 

BUILDING MATERIALS 

DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 3,646,668.58 214.00 -4.89 36 154,408 

36 154,408 

36 154,408 

802 47,277,015 

CROP PRODUCTION 

FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 1,100.00 0.50 - 0 0 

OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 69,368.34 72.72 - 8 10,245 

PRESCO PLC 71,980.00 71.98 - 15 66,556 

23 76,801 

FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING 

ELLAH LAKES PLC. 511.20 4.26 - 0 0 

0 0 

LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES 

LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 2,430.00 0.81 -4.71 24 770,392 

24 770,392 

47 847,193 

DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES 

A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 1,906.05 0.72 - 2 4,000 

JOHN HOLT PLC. 206.25 0.53 - 0 0 

S C O A NIG. PLC. 2,332.87 3.59 - 0 0 

TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC 55,293.58 1.36 0.74 179 10,727,323 

U A C N PLC. 31,982.39 16.65 -1.19 54 795,088 

235 11,526,411 

235 11,526,411 

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 

ARBICO PLC. 711.32 4.79 - 0 0 

0 0 

INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION 

JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 47,506.80 35.99 - 9 145,378 

ROADS NIG PLC. 165.00 6.60 - 0 0 

9 145,378 

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT 

UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED 4,984.37 2.90 - 14 256,071 

14 256,071 

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) 

SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC 2,000.00 100.00 - 0 0 

UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) 11,305.89 45.22 - 1 724 

UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 26,682.70 10.00 - 2 117 

3 841 

26 402,290 

AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS 

DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 2,386.33 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS 

CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 18,555.91 2.37 - 9 16,712 

GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. 242.22 0.89 - 2 49,000 

GUINNESS NIG PLC 132,457.93 87.96 -2.15 87 1,257,140 

INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 112,004.48 34.00 - 22 378,493 

NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 1,466,883.66 185.00 -2.63 179 8,533,824 

299 10,235,169 

BEVERAGES--NON-ALCOHOLIC 

7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. 62,111.64 96.96 - 9 4,997 

9 4,997 

FOOD PRODUCTS 

DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 30,500.00 6.10 -3.33 219 8,294,079 

DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 153,600.00 12.80 1.03 96 3,105,846 

FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 72,245.25 27.53 -0.25 69 604,758 

HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 15,939.70 2.01 -0.50 15 631,557 

MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC 1,861.25 0.50 - 0 0 

N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 980.10 5.50 - 0 0 

NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC 31,793.26 12.00 2.65 64 1,339,774 

UNION DICON SALT PLC. 3,676.41 13.45 - 0 0 

463 13,976,014 

FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED 

CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 23,853.17 12.70 - 33 123,075 

NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 967,040.63 1,220.00 0.99 81 753,145 

114 876,220 

HOUSEHOLD DURABLES 

NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. 1,765.84 27.87 - 0 0 

VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 2,949.91 2.83 4.43 29 701,179 

29 701,179 

PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS 

P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 101,842.74 25.65 - 50 446,688 

UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 172,102.15 45.49 -0.31 103 1,787,023 

153 2,233,711 

1,067 28,027,290 

BANKING 

ACCESS BANK PLC. 287,254.76 9.93 -4.98 211 27,425,058 

DIAMOND BANK PLC 27,560.86 1.19 -4.03 82 7,223,102 

ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 330,291.92 18.00 - 65 729,871 

FIDELITY BANK PLC 37,377.49 1.29 2.38 74 4,375,776 

GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 1,091,896.75 37.10 -4.68 389 25,150,538 

JAIZ BANK PLC 22,392.83 0.76 -5.00 46 15,082,410 

SKYE BANK PLC 9,299.80 0.67 -2.90 43 4,657,813 

STERLING BANK PLC. 29,942.03 1.04 -0.95 397 9,910,054 

UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 101,614.84 6.00 3.63 69 1,711,750 

UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC 344,655.50 9.50 0.96 244 8,441,021 

UNITY BANK PLC 6,662.92 0.57 -3.39 21 1,100,188 

WEMA BANK PLC. 19,672.98 0.51 -3.77 25 1,185,700 

1,666 106,993,281 

INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES 

AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 10,292.50 0.50 - 0 0 

AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 3,950.22 0.57 3.51 28 4,122,776 

AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC 21,525.00 2.05 - 6 240,320 

CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC 3,000.00 0.50 - 0 0 

CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 12,862.20 1.24 - 4 42,000 

CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. 7,364.75 0.50 - 0 0 

EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. 7,000.00 0.50 - 0 0 

GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 2,411.47 0.53 - 0 0 

GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC 1,913.74 0.50 - 0 0 

GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 3,070.00 0.50 - 0 0 

INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 642.04 0.50 - 1 2,000 

LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 3,661.72 0.50 - 0 0 

LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 4,167.44 0.97 - 0 0 

LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 6,160.00 0.77 -1.28 2 570,400 

MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. 4,000.00 0.50 - 0 0 

N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. 5,280.50 1.00 2.00 14 1,341,700 

NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. 3,869.74 0.50 - 2 5,970 

PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. 2,759.15 0.50 - 3 189,951 

REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 3,334.38 0.50 - 0 0 

SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 4,170.41 0.50 - 0 0 

STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. 5,996.59 0.50 - 0 0 

STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC 4,670.54 0.50 - 0 0 

UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 6,933.33 0.50 - 0 0 

UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 8,000.00 0.50 - 0 0 

WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 6,691.37 0.50 - 31 1,890,956 

91 8,406,073 

MICRO-FINANCE BANKS 

FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 11,799.67 2.58 - 0 0 

NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 2,583.90 1.13 - 3 55,500 

3 55,500 

MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES 

ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC 5,460.00 1.30 - 0 0 

ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 7,370.87 0.50 - 0 0 

INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC 6,005.46 1.44 - 0 0 

RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 5,664.87 0.50 - 0 0 

UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. 2,949.22 3.02 - 0 0 

0 0 

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 

AFRICA PRUDENTIAL PLC 6,220.00 3.11 -0.32 44 1,086,744 

CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC 22,056.99 3.75 -4.80 18 429,910 

DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC 750.00 0.50 - 0 0 

FCMB GROUP PLC. 22,773.12 1.15 -4.96 44 3,868,373 

NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND 411.91 552.20 - 1 25 

ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 2,572.69 0.50 - 0 0 

SIM CAPITAL ALLIANCE VALUE FUND 3,313.67 103.24 - 0 0 

STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC 370,300.00 37.03 -4.93 58 804,398 

UNITED CAPITAL PLC 18,180.00 3.03 -0.98 66 1,348,609 

231 7,538,059 

1,991 122,992,913 

HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS 

EKOCORP PLC. 1,680.29 3.37 - 0 0 

UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 1,776.57 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

MEDICAL SUPPLIES 

MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 136.96 0.90 - 0 0 

0 0 

PHARMACEUTICALS 

EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 366.17 0.50 - 0 0 

FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 4,500.00 3.00 - 7 71,700 

GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. 25,113.41 21.00 - 22 60,350 

MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 2,753.80 2.81 -4.75 16 211,799 

NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 1,381.21 0.80 - 8 73,000 

NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. 556.71 3.62 - 0 0 

PHARMA-DEKO PLC. 487.85 2.25 - 0 0 

53 416,849 

53 416,849 

COMPUTER BASED SYSTEMS 

COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC 1,776.00 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS 

OMATEK VENTURES PLC 1,470.89 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

IT SERVICES 

CWG PLC 6,413.06 2.54 - 0 0 

NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 791.64 7.33 - 4 11 

TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. 564.25 1.14 - 0 0 

4 11 

PROCESSING SYSTEMS 

CHAMS PLC 2,348.03 0.50 - 0 0 

E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 21,000.00 5.00 - 0 0 

0 0 

4 11 

BUILDING MATERIALS 

AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) PLC. 865.88 2.35 - 0 0 

BERGER PAINTS PLC 2,069.34 7.14 - 6 32,320 

CAP PLC 24,080.00 34.40 - 7 12,750 

CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 12,755.28 10.15 - 21 101,725 

FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC 1,329.53 0.63 - 0 0 

LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 323,940.33 59.00 -1.68 97 965,450 

MEYER PLC. 387.80 0.73 - 0 0 

PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC 515.39 0.65 - 0 0 

PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC 1,666.17 2.10 - 0 0 

PREMIER PAINTS PLC. 1,277.97 10.39 - 0 0 

131 1,112,245 

ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS 

AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC 2,256.91 2.09 - 0 0 

CUTIX PLC. 1,928.65 2.19 -4.78 4 143,964 

4 143,964 

PACKAGING/CONTAINERS 

AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS 807.09 1.18 - 0 0 

BETA GLASS PLC. 28,663.39 57.33 - 1 50 

GREIF NIGERIA PLC 387.60 9.09 - 0 0 

1 50 

136 1,256,259 

CHEMICALS 

B.O.C. GASES PLC. 1,502.64 3.61 - 2 12,204 

2 12,204 

METALS 

ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. 2,124.77 9.66 - 0 0 

0 0 

MINING SERVICES 

MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC 2,130.97 0.50 - 1 1,000 

1 1,000 

PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS 

THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. 110.00 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

3 13,204 

ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES 

JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC 3,131.35 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES 

OANDO PLC 88,635.97 7.13 -0.97 101 1,649,343 

101 1,649,343 

PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS 

11 PLC 85,425.02 236.90 - 10 712 

CONOIL PLC 23,518.04 33.89 - 11 23,191 

ETERNA PLC. 4,773.17 3.66 - 19 190,820 

FORTE OIL PLC. 65,124.06 50.00 -2.91 135 2,933,615 

MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 9,001.36 35.44 - 12 8,513 

TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 77,071.46 227.00 -4.04 20 33,032 

207 3,189,883 

EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION 

SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD 271,580.28 482.00 - 2 4,010 

2 4,010 

310 4,843,236 

ADVERTISING 

AFROMEDIA PLC 2,219.52 0.50 - 0 0 

0 0 

AIRLINES 

MEDVIEW AIRLINE PLC 14,820.99 1.52 - 1 1,500 

1 1,500 

AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS 

R T BRISCOE PLC. 588.18 0.50 - 5 1,498 

5 1,498 

COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY 

RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 2,582.00 4.38 - 20 182,511 

TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. 159.06 0.80 - 0 0 

20 182,511 

HOSPITALITY 

TANTALIZERS PLC 1,605.81 0.50 - 0 0



C002D5556 

NEWS 

Eko Atlantic City, Fine & Country partner 

to showcase Nigeria in London 

CHUKA UROKO 

South Energyx Nigeria 

Limited, the developer 

and planner of Eko Atlantic 

City, Nigeria’s premium 

smart city situated adjacent 

to Victoria Island, has partnered 

Fine & Country West Africa to 

showcase Nigeria as a viable real 

estate investment destination leveraging 

Refined Investors Series 

2017 scheduled for October 6 and 

7, 2017 in London. 

The event, a leading premium 

real estate forum with 

the theme, ‘Taking Nigeria to 

the World,’ is targeted at Nigerians 

in Diaspora and other 

international investors. 

The event is focusing on 

unique real estate opportunities 

in Nigeria that are safe, 

secure and highly sustainable. 

It also targets affluent and high 

net-worth individuals and astute 

investors in the Diaspora. 

The series also aims to celebrate 

the best of Nigerian real estate. 

During the forum, Eko Atlantic 

City will be exhibiting 

to showcase the expertise that 

ELIZABETH ARCHIBONG, Abuja 

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja 

have been put into building of 

the global city of world class design 

which has been predicted 

to be the next financial capital of 

Africa. Also, a documentary video 

that depicts milestone of the 

city as a blend of infrastructure, 

engineering and technology 

will be shown to the audience. 

Ronald Chagoury Jr, vice 

chairman of South Energyx 

Nigeria Limited, observed in 

a statement obtained by BusinessDay, 

“Eko Atlantic City is 

excited to be part of the Refined 

Investors Series in the United 

Kingdom. The road show will 

grant investors in Diaspora the 

opportunity to invest directly 

in Eko Atlantic City. The road 

show will certainly restore the 

confidence of Nigerians in 

Diaspora who are unwilling 

to invest in the country’s real 

estate sector.” 

Eko Atlantic’s smart planning 

showcases the best in 

urban design and is divided 

into 10 districts, for phases 1 

and 2 only, and connected 

with modern and efficient 

transport systems integrated 

… insists universities will not be exempted from TSA 

Federal Government 

on Wednesday admitted 

that it failed in 

not keeping its own 

side of the bargain in agreements 

with the Academic 

Staff Union of Universities 

(ASUU), causing them to 

embark on industrial action. 

It however insisted that it 

would not exclude universities 

in the country from it 

Treasury Single Account 

(TSA) as requested by the 

Union. 

This was disclosed by the 

minister of education, Adamu 

Adamu, while briefing 

newsmen after the weekly 

Federal Executive Council 

meeting, at the State House 

Abuja, saying the tertiary 

institutions would only be allowed 

to spend directly from 

their endowment funds collected 

from the government. 

The government also 

awarded a $122 million rail 

with the Lagos waterways. The 

Business District is home to the 

future financial hub of Africa, 

and covers 700,000 square 

meters of prime real estate. 

The city will fulfil the residential 

needs of Lagos state, 

while also catering to her commercial 

needs. Other highlights 

of development in the 

city at the moment include the 

completion of 14 bridges, the 

Great Wall of Lagos, which has 

reduced the ocean surge into 

Victoria Island and environs, 

and the completed Eko Pearl 

Towers, amongst others. 

The City has a state-ofthe-art 

24/7 infrastructure 

network, including 21st Century 

communications system, 

quality road network and uninterrupted 

electricity supply, 

making it a compelling place 

to live and work. 

Upon completion, Eko Atlantic 

will accommodate about 

300,000 people as residents 

while 200,000 individuals are 

expected to commute to the 

city on a daily basis either for 

work or business transaction. 

ASUU strike: We failed on our part, FG admits 

Nigeria’s oil production cost down 70.5% to $23/barrel 

… saves $3bn annually as NAPIMS inaugurates anti-corruption committee 

Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation 

(NNPC) 

says it has driven 

down the cost of crude oil 

production from $78 per barrel 

as of August 2015 to $23 

per barrel, representing 70.5 

percent reduction. 

Group general manager of 

National Petroleum Investment 

Management Services 

(NAPIMS), a unit of NNPC, 

Dafe Sejebor, who disclosed 

this in a statement during 

the inauguration of the Anti- 

Corruption Committee of the 

unit, said the move had saved 

a minimum of $3 billion per 

annum for the nation. 

Sejebor said NAPIMS ar- 

contract to China’s CCECC 

for the rehabilitation of 

Itapke-Ajaokuta rail line. 

Track laying and permanent 

way works and railway 

ancillary facilities area. The 

government also assured 

that by October this year new 

locomotives would be in use 

to remove at least a million 

tons of goods from the road. 

Briefing alongside the 

Minister of Information and 

Culture, Lai Mohammed, the 

minister was speaking on the 

heels of the ongoing strike 

action by the ASUU grounding 

academic activities in the 

country. 

According to Mohammed, 

the ASUU had made 

some eight demands that the 

government were working 

on. The union, on Monday 

embarked on an indefinite 

industrial action citing government’s 

refusal to meet its 

demands and subsequent 

agreements reached with the 

government. 

ing at the difference between 

the $78 and $23, which represent 

the old and new cost of 

production in relation to the 

present daily average production 


“If you knock down your 

cost of production from $78 

per barrel to $23, take the 

difference and multiply by 

the average daily production, 

you will discover that 

we are saving a minimum 

of $3billion in the upstream 

for both Production Sharing 

Contracts (PSCs) and Joint 

Ventures (JVs),” he said. 

The GGM informed that 

the target was to bring the 

cost of production to between 

$17 and $19 for onshore and 

offshore production respectively. 

“It is very sad that I am 

here and ASUU is on strike, 

late last year we had a meeting 

because ASUU gave one 

week notice of strike and 

we were able to work out 

some agreement. I must 

confess government has not 

fulfilled its part of the bargain, 

even though we are 

unhappy that ASUU went on 

this strike without following 

due process and giving us 

good notice, we realised that 

we promised something 

and we didn’t fulfil it,” he 

said, adding that he hoped 

that after negotiations later 

today the union would call 

off the strike. 

“They have requested 

that they should be allowed 

to stay off TSA and I think 

government will not do this 

but there are some peculiar 

funds in the university like 

endowment which are monies 

kept and all the interest 

they generate, prices and so 

on are given. 

Federal Government for its 

support to the NNPC management 

in tackling the 

challenges in the petroleum 

industry, especially the cash 

call exit agreement signed 

in 2016 and the reduction of 

contracting circle from three 

years to six months. 

On the new Petroleum 

Policy, Sejebor said it was 

necessitated by the increasing 

difficulty in operating 

the petroleum industry 

within the framework of 

the old Petroleum Act in the 

face of the delayed passage 

of the Petroleum Industry 

Bill (PIB). 

He said the policy would 

restore investors’ confidence 

in the industry pending the 

full passage of the entire PIB


CRC appoints Jobome as chairman 

HEZRON ATUNDE 

The board of CRC Credit 

Bureau Limited has 

appointed Gregory 

Ovie Jobome as the 

new chairman, to replace Dele 

Alabi whose two-year tenure 

expired in May 2017. The board 

also appointed three non-executive 

directors - Messers Kyari 

Bukar, Shuaib Audu and Biyi 

Olagbami 

Jobome is currently the 

Executive Director, Risk Management 

Division at Access 

Bank Plc. He is a thorough 

bred professional with strong 

academic credentials. He obtained 

a First-Class Degree 

in Economics from the University 

of Maiduguri in 1986 

and a Distinction in Master of 

Business Administration from 

Obafemi Awolowo University 

in 1990. Jobome also obtained 

a Master of Science Degree 

(1994) and a Doctorate Degree 

(2002) both in Economics and 

Finance from Loughborough 

University, UK. He has over 

25 years of work experience 

obtained from Guaranty Trust 

Bank Plc, University of Liverpool 

Management School, 

Manchester Business School 

and Access Bank Plc. He was 

Budding entrepreneurs latch unto 

co-working models to boost business 

OBINNA EMELIKE 

In a bid to thrive amid the 

harsh business climate in 

Nigeria, business owners, 

especially start-ups, are now 

latching unto co-working models, 

which provide soft landing, 

networking opportunities and 

synergy that reduce their risks and 

improve business profitability. 

The co-working model 

provides spaces outside the 

conventional corporate office 

where budding business owners 

converge to do their business, 

sharing and innovating ideas, as 

well as, using same facility. 

The imperative of the model 

was brought to the fore at the 

long-awaited Co-working Conference, 

which held for the first 

time in Lagos recently. The 

Nigeria edition of the global 

conference themed ‘The Nigerian 

Co-working Industry: Opportunities 

and Benefits,’ which 

held at Lekki, Lagos, brought 

together global experts, entrepreneurs, 

investors, service 

providers, and leading figures 

in Nigeria’s co-working industry, 

to explore the drivers of the 

growth in co-working spaces in 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

appointed director representing 

Access Bank on the board 

of CRC Credit Bureau limited 

in December 2013. 

Kyari Bukar, appointed as 

independent director, is the 

Chairman of the Board of the 

Nigerian Economic Summit 

Group. He was the MD/CEO 

of the Central Securities Clearing 

System Limited (CSCS) till 

December 2016. Bukar holds 

a B.Sc. degree in Physics from 

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 

Nigeria and an M.Sc. degree 

in Nuclear Engineering from 

Oregon State University, USA. 

He is an alumnus of the 

Lagos Business School (LBS), 

Wharton Business School and 

Harvard Business School, USA. 

Bukar’s professional experience 

traverses the financial services, 

IT Services, IT/financial infrastructure 

and the public sector. 

Nigeria, and the opportunities 

and value being created. 

In his opening remarks, 

Kola Oyeneyin, creator, Co- 

Working Conference Nigeria 

and founder/CEO, Venia, noted 

that co-working spaces were 

the future of work places in the 

world because by being a coworking 

space, entrepreneurs 

could identify, network, and 

create funding opportunities 

for their businesses. 

For him, about 40 percent of 

the world’s workforce will be entrepreneurs 

and freelancers by 

2020, and this is a major driver 

in the rise in demand for coworking 

spaces even in Nigeria. 

Explaining further, Oyeneyin 

said, “The impact of 

co-working spaces can be far 

reaching as young people, who 

are also called the millennials, 

can now work from anywhere. 

They are the digitally nomads. 

That is the future of work. You 

see a guy in a café, buys a cup 

of coffee and doughnut working 

away on his PC. In the new 

co-working spaces, there are no 

more receptionists rather community 

managers because they 

manage different businesses.” 

BBC News broadcasts a week of special 

programming on Africa’s rising population 

UK Department 

for International 

Trade (DIT) in 

Nigeria, and the British 

Deputy High Commission 

in Lagos, welcome the new 

West Africa trade director, 

Kate Rudd, to spearhead 

bilateral trade activity in 

the region. 

Kate is based in the 

financial capital, Lagos, 

covering UK-Africa trade in 

the coastal countries from 

Senegal to Gabon. She is 

looking forward to become 

more acquainted with the 

culture and business of Nigeria 

and the wider region. 

After beginning her 

career in the private sector 

at KPMG, Kate has served 

in Her Majesty’s Government 

for over 14 years and 

comes to Lagos directly 

from Khartoum where she 

was Deputy Ambassador. 

Over 70% of Nigeria’s printing jobs done abroad 

… development puts pressure on naira, employment 

DANIEL OBI 

In spite of the enormous 

quality and growing 

printing industry in Nigeria, 

over 70 percent of 

printing jobs by Nigerians 

are executed overseas, a development 

that costs Nigeria 

billions of naira annually 

and puts pressure on foreign 

exchange, stakeholders in 

the printing business say. 

This development has 

pushed the Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN) to mull the 

idea of shutting out foreign 

companies in the printing 

of security documents. Also, 

Lai Mohammed, minister of 

information, recently said 

the Federal Government 

was taking steps to amend 

the Nigeria Broadcasting 

Code to discourage the production 

of Nigerian movies 

and music outside the 

shores of the country. 

But stakeholders are not 

sure how government wants 

to discourage printing of 

other paper and large format 

materials abroad. 

Speaking with Business- 

Day Tuesday in Lagos, Talal 

Akar, business controller, 

Tenaui Africa, representative 

of Canon Equipment in 

Nigeria, said from a research 

the firm conducted this year 

70 percent of printing jobs 

were being printed abroad. 

Akar blamed this on attitude 

of Nigerians who have 

penchant for foreign things 

and do not believe that there 

were printers at home that 

could give them the quality 

they want. 

Akar, who spoke at Canon 

Equipment exhibition 

in Lagos, said Canon had 

come with quality printers 

in Nigeria for quality printing 

of any material. 

Regretting the printing 

of jobs abroad, Olu Adefowope, 

president, Printers 

Association of Nigeria, said 

this development was costing 

Nigeria huge amount of 

money annually. 

C002D5556 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU & MERCY ENOCH 

Drug shops in Delta 

State are selling 

drugs outside 

their licences, 

such as gentamycin, the 

National Agency for Food 

and Drug Administration 

and Control (NAFDAC) has 

cried out. 

The agency has therefore 

called on patent medicine 

dealers in the state to desist 

from selling unauthorised 

drugs and vaccines in their 

premises. 

The state coordinator, 

Jude Ndekile, who is an 

assistant director, stated 

this in Asaba while displaying 

some unwholesome 

products confiscated by the 

agency. He said, “In course 

of our routine inspection 

we have observed that some 

patent medicine stores sell 

drugs that are beyond their 

mandate.” 

He said that “drugs such 

as high dose tramadol of 

BUSINESS DAY 

35 

NEWS 

As Belema oil community boils: Shell raises 

fresh concerns over investments in Niger Delta 


… OML-25 still shut down, workers evacuated 

By Saturday, August 

12, 2017, Nigeria’s 

oil field near the 

Atlantic Ocean, 

Oil Mining License 

25, remained shut and 

Shell workers evacuated as 

the host community, Belema, 

continued to occupy the area. 

Top officials of the Shell 

Petroleum Development 

Company (SPDC) in Port 

Harcourt, Rivers State, expressed 

fears that the continued 

use of hostile methods to 

make a case would continue 

to put the Niger Delta area 

in disadvantage over investment 

decisions. 

Reacting earlier on Friday 

over the invasion of OML 25, 

a spokesman for SPDC said, 

“Some persons illegally occupied 

SPDC’s Belema Flow 

Station and Gas Plant today 

(August 11, 2017). The facilities 

were not manned at the 

time as they had earlier been 

shut down following security 

threats. We have notified the 

authorities of the incident 

and are working towards safe 

resumption of operations. 

“SPDC will continue to 

take all necessary steps to 

ensure the safety and security 

of staff and contractor 

personnel in our operations.” 

SPDC said it restated commitment 

to development of 

host communities, and debunked 

allegations of neglect 

of Kula, Belema communities. 

Belema community leaders 

had said earlier that they 

had got no benefits in 37 

years of Shell in their area 

and demanded for the exit of 

the Anglo-Dutch oil firm for 

others to take over. 

In response, SPDC said 

its commitment to the welfare 

of host communities in 

the Niger Delta remained 

unshaken, even as it decried 

the occupation of Belema 

Flow Station and Gas Plant by 

some persons as illegal. 

“SPDC has informed the 

authorities of the illegal occupation 

and is working towards 

resuming safe operations. 

Debunking allegations 

of neglect of communities in 

Kula kingdom and Belema in 

Rivers State,” the SPDC said, 

noting it had implemented 

a global memorandum of 

understanding (GMoU) in 

the area that led to a wide 

variety of social investment 

projects, including university 

scholarships awards. 

It explained that the Rivers 

State government initiated a 

mediation process for the resolution 

of the disagreements 

in the community, which had 

resulted in the creation of the 

Kula Project Implementation 

and Monitoring Committee 

(PIMC) in 2012. 

“The PIMC served as an 

interim platform for the delivery 

of social investment 

initiatives and programmes 

worth N263 million in the 

Soku-San Berth Project. 

These projects are separate 

from the GMoU projects initiated 

by communities using 

funds provided by the SPDC 

JV,” the company said 

The statement by general 

manager, external relations, 

Igo Weli, said, “A GMoU was 

eventually signed in 2014 for 

the Kula Cluster but has not 

been implemented because 

of continuing intra-community 

disagreements. 

L-R: Abdullahi 

Ibrahim, 

executive 

director, retail 

banking north, 

FirstBank; 

Adesola 

Adeduntan, 

MD/CEO, First 

Bank of Nigeria 

Limited and 

Subsidiaries, 

and Charles 

Inyangete, 

MD, Nigeria 

Mortgage 

Refinance 

Company Ltd, 

at FirstBank’s 

Voice of the 

Customer 

Forum in Abuja 

recently. 

NAFDAC cries out as drug shops in Delta sell 

gentamycin, other banned drugs 

120ml, 200ml and 250ml 

were been sold in patent 

medicine stores while 

banned drugs like analgen 

injections, gentamycin 20 

injections and other injectables 

were found in some 

stores.” 

He further stated that 

some stores were found to 

be selling oxytocin, tetanus 

toxoids and other vaccine 

drugs that are supposed 

to be refrigerated but were 

displayed in shelves. 

He warned patent medicine 

dealers in the state to 

desist from selling unauthorised 

and banned drugs and 

sell only OTC drugs which 

their license cover adding 

that those contravening the 

law will no longer be made 

to pay administrative fine 

but face prosecution. 

He said that some pharmacy 

stores were also sanctioned 

for offences such 

as inappropriate storing of 

drugs, sells of banned and 

expired drugs.

C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 


FT FINANCIAL TIMES 

A1 

Maersk puts up 

to $300m cost on cyber attack 

Page A3 

World Business Newspaper 

Cargill warns US 

against Nafta retreat 

amid tense beginning 

to renegotiation 

SHAWN DONNAN 

The head of Cargill has 

warned Donald Trump 

that he risks making a 

“destructive” mistake 

for the US economy 

and its workers if he walks away 

from the North American Free 

Trade Agreement. 

David MacLennan, chief executive 

of the biggest agricultural 

commodities supplier, urged 

the US to focus on improving a 

23-year-old trade deal that he 

said had been of great benefit to 

the US and neighbours Canada 

and Mexico. 

His warning came as talks to 

renegotiate the pact that underpins 

business in a quarter of the 

global economy made a tense 

start yesterday. 

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s 

foreign minister, took a swipe at 

the Trump administration’s focus 

on trade deficits with its neighbours, 

saying trade deals were 

“not a zero-sum game”. Mexico’s 

Ildefonso Guajardo said any deal 

When Kim Yong-nam, 

North Korea’s ceremonial 

leader, attended 

the Iranian 

presidential inauguration this 

month, he flew via Moscow, even 

though a flight via Beijing would 

have been much more convenient. 

To some observers, the choice 

of stopover is emblematic of a 

North Korean regime that seems 

increasingly estranged from its 

Chinese ally over its nuclear ambitions 

and more reliant on longstanding 

ties with Russia. 

Pyongyang’s shift of attention 

also creates a potential opening 

that US diplomats are keen to 

explore as they search for ways to 

curb North Korea’s fast-developing 

nuclear missile programme. 

“The North Koreans are offended 

with China, and many of 

their political contacts are either 

frozen or seriously narrowed,” said 

Valery Sukhinin, Russia’s former 

ambassador to Pyongyang. 

“has to work for all parties” and 

not just the US. 

Robert Lighthizer, US trade 

representative, said Nafta had 

“fundamentally failed many, 

many Americans and needs major 

improvement”. 

In April, Mr Trump decided 

against withdrawing from Nafta 

after intense lobbying by business 

and from within his own cabinet. 

But the president has since repeatedly 

threatened to pull out if 

there is not a deal that he deems 

“fair” for American workers. 

“I think that would be a big 

mistake,” MacLennan said of a US 

exit from Nafta. “I don’t see that 

as an option, as a viable option. 

“For an administration that 

has talked about their support 

of the American economy and 

support of the American worker 

and support of American jobs . . 

. to walk away from Nafta would 

be in diametric opposition to 

those goals,” he told the Financial 

Times. “It would be destructive 

to the American worker and 

manufacturing [and agriculture]. 

US looks to Russia 

for North Korea solution 

KATHRIN HILLE 

North Korean government 

officials have made several visits 

to Russia over the past year and 

sometimes meet at events in 

Moscow. Some western observers 

believe that inside North Korea, 

contacts between Pyongyang officials 

and Russian diplomats now 

surpass those with China. 

The Trump administration has 

become frustrated with China’s 

reluctance to use its economic 

leverage - it accounts for 90 per 

cent of North Korea’s trade - to 

lean on North Korean leader Kim 

Jong Un. Even though relations 

between the US and Russia are 

poor, Washington has begun to 

look to Moscow to hold sway in 

Pyongyang. 

“You can see the US testing 

Russian access and influence in 

North Korea,” said a western diplomat. 

“In March and April [US 

secretary of state Rex] Tillerson 

was testing Chinese access and 

influence and that’s being tested 

now with Russia.” 

This month, Tillerson spoke 

Continues on page A4 

Equities - The perils of calling the peak 

Page A4 

Valery Sukhinin, Russia’s former ambassador 

State protection stifles China’s internet titans 

JAMIL ANDERLINI 

Are China’ s internet titans 

about to conquer the 

world? Listen to the talk 

in Beijing and in some 

circles in the west and the triumph 

of Chinese tech is all but certain. At 

the very least it will compete on an 

equal footing with the world-beating 

incumbents headquartered in 

Silicon Valley. 

Take Richard Liu. The founder 

and chief executive of JD.com, 

China’s second-largest e-commerce 

company and the world’s 

third-largest internet company by 

revenue, believes his business and 

competitors such as Alibaba, Tencent 

and Baidu will one day pose 

a serious challenge to the likes of 

Google, Facebook and Amazon - 

but not for at least another decade. 

Instrumental in this is the support 

of the Chinese state. To a 

greater or lesser extent, all of China’s 

big and successful internet 

companies have benefited from 

the communist party’s efforts to 

exclude Silicon Valley’s finest. 

Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram 

and YouTube are all blocked 

in China. 

On top of that, the government 

has announced plans to shut down 

all non-official virtual private network 

services that allow paying 

customers to circumvent the “great 

firewall” censorship system and 

access overseas websites. 

Beijing claims foreign websites 

must be blocked under censorship 

and “national security” laws but the 

bans are effectively non-tariff trade 

barriers that potentially violate 

World Trade Organisation rules. 

The results in commercial terms 

for the companies have been outstanding, 

as shown until recently 

by the performance of Baidu, 

China’s most protected internet 

champion. The company, often 

referred to as the “Google of China”, 

was the direct and immediate 

beneficiary of Beijing’s decision to 

block Google in 2010 after the US 

group refused to censor its search 

results. 

In the absence of serious international 

competition, China’s internet 

companies have been left to 

capitalise on the emergence of the 

world’s largest online market. The 

number of internet users in China 

has doubled since 2010 to reach 

750m today, according to official 

government figures. The growth of 

e- commerce has been especially 

impressive - China is by far the 

largest online retail market in the 

world, accounting for nearly 40 

per cent of all online sales globally. 

Transactions through Alibaba’s 

online platforms alone totalled 

$500bn last year, equal to the gross 

domestic product of Argentina and 

more than the combined transactions 

of Amazon and eBay. 

Yet state protection brings 

downsides that may end up harming 

the companies it seeks to help. 

In a recent interview Mr Liu said 

the fact that the Beijing government 

blocks most major US internet 

companies from its enormous 

market stops Chinese enterprises 

from being truly competitive. “It’s 

like people - if you are put into a big 

sterile box on the day you are born 

and not exposed to any microbes 

or diseases and only given purified 

air and water then when you come 

out you will get sick very soon,” he 

noted morbidly. “You will die very 

soon out in nature.” 

Baidu is a case in point. Despite, 

or perhaps because of, its privileged 

position as the dominant 

search engine in China since the 

decision to block Google, it is flailing. 

Its market capitalisation is just 

one-fifth that of Alibaba and Tencent 

and its growth has been subdued. 

It appears to be ailing even 

before it is let out of the sterile box. 

Success within the state-censored 

“intranet” of China has 

also made some of the sector’s 

champions arrogant, complacent 

and liable to hugely overspend on 

acquisitions abroad. 

Yes, some of the services they 

provide within China are impressive. 

Tencent’s WeChat messenger 

app is better than most similar 

services, widespread adoption 

of online payment systems are 

moving China towards a cashless 

society and e-commerce delivery 

services are exceptionally reliable 

and fast. But none of these services 

are unique or “game-changers” 

and there is no way the Chinese 

companies can replicate their domestic 

prowess or scale outside the 

walled garden of China’s internet. 

At home their services are grafted 

on to the state-owned banking 

and logistics industries. They also 

receive preferential regulatory 

treatment in the form of cheap 

loans and land from a party-state 

that relies heavily on them for tax 

revenues, employment growth and 

online surveillance of citizens.


A2 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

FT 

US looks to Russia... 

NATIONAL NEWS 

America’s solar eclipse will be the greatest show on Earth 

ANJANA AHUJA 

It promises to be one of the 

most watched natural spectacles 

of all time. On the 

morning of August 21, a band 

of darkness will race across 

American skies as the Moon glides 

smoothly and perfectly across the 

face of the Sun. 

Continued from page A1 

of China and Russia in the same 

breath when he said the pair 

had “very good, open channels 

of communication” with Pyongyang. 

“I’m hopeful that they can 

use their influence - and I think 

they do have influence with the 

regime - to bring them to a point 

of dialogue,” he said. 

Moscow has in recent months 

tried to appear reasonably neutral 

as tensions rose. Alongside China, 

it is pushing for talks based on a 

simultaneous suspension of North 

Korea’s nuclear and missile testing 

and of joint military exercises by 

US and South Korean forces. 

Recommended 

• China has a vested interest 

in keeping the peace between 

Trump and Kim • Creative diplomacy 

is vital to defuse Korean 

crisis 

• China urges restraint over 

North Korea in call with Trump 

“The US is waiting to see if 

there’s a positive response from 

Pyongyang or if it’s dismissive, to 

see how much leverage Russia has 

in terms of bringing them to the 

table,” said the diplomat. 

But US expectations that Russia 

could become a mediator 

are treated with scepticism in 

Moscow. Russian experts warn 

that Moscow’s support, alongside 

China, for the latest UN Security 

Council sanctions on North Korea 

has undermined what little leverage 

it had left on its former ally. 

More than 17 years ago, Russia replaced 

the Soviet Union’s alliance 

treaty with North Korea, under 

which it was required to come to 

Pyongyang’s aid in the event of a 

military attack, with a friendship 

treaty without this clause. 

“North Korea had therefore 

long lowered its expectations 

towards us,” said Sukhinin. He 

added that US president Donald 

Trump’s public expression of 

thanks to China and Russia for 

supporting the last UN Security 

Council resolution had been 

particularly unhelpful. “If this 

continues, they may distance 

themselves from us, too. They feel 

isolated, and their response to 

that is to ratchet up their nuclear 

programme.” 

Perhaps most importantly, 

the Kremlin has a radically different 

assessment from the US of 

the stand-off over North Korea’s 

nuclear programme. 

“From the Russian government’s 

point of view, the disruptive 

power in this crisis is still the 

US,” said Alexander Gabuev, an 

Asia expert at the Carnegie Moscow 

Center. 

Millions of people, including 

me, will be treated to a total solar 

eclipse lasting no more than two 

minutes and 40 seconds. Such 

events are fleeting moments of 

astronomical coincidence: it so 

happens that, roughly every 18 

months, the Moon and the Sun 

are exactly aligned so that, as seen 

from somewhere on Earth, the former 

obliterates the solar disc. That 

Stanley Fischer 

JOSEPH COTTERILL 

Zambia’s main opposition 

leader was released from 

prison yesterday after the 

government dropped treason 

charges against him, marking a 

climbdown in a political crisis that 

erupted after disputed elections 

last year. 

State prosecutors said they 

were unwilling to pursue the case 

against Hakainde Hichilema, who 

had spent months in jail. He and 

five others were charged with 

treason in April after his convoy 

allegedly refused to pull over for 

President Edgar Lungu’s motorcade. 

“We have been innocent and 

shall be,” Mr Hichilema said on 

social media after he was released. 

“The state has decided to discontinue 

the matter and release us . . . 

we want a better Zambia.” 

His detention deepened a political 

crisis in Zambia, Africa’s 

second-biggest copper producer, 

with critics accusing Lungu of 

becoming increasingly autocratic. 

The opposition said the arrest 

was intended to force Hichilema 

to recognise Lungu’s narrow victory 

at the presidential elections. The 

veteran opposition leader, who is 

one of the southern African nation’s 

richest businessmen, has refused, 

alleging the result was rigged. 

Lawyers close to the treason 

case said the government lacked 

witnesses or evidence, forcing it to 

suspend the charges. 

“The DPP [director of public 

prosecutions] has decided to terminate 

these proceedings by virtue 

of her constitutional powers. Therefore, 

you’re hereby discharged,” 

said Charles Chanda, the High 

Court judge. 

The crisis has stoked fears that 

Zambia opposition leader freed in climbdown 

One of the Federal Reserve’s 

top policymakers 

has attacked attempts 

to reverse the post-crisis 

drive for tougher regulation, calling 

efforts to loosen constraints on 

banks “dangerous and extremely 

short-sighted”. 

Stanley Fischer, the vice-chairman 

of the Fed’s board of governors, 

said in an interview with the 

Financial Times that 10 years after 

the crisis there are troubling signs 

of a drive to return to the status quo 

that preceded it. 

“It took almost 80 years after 

1930 to have another financial crisis 

Mr Lungu is leading one of Africa’s 

most vibrant democracies down 

an authoritarian path by crushing 

dissent and intimidating civil 

society groups. 

He invoked emergency powers, 

which allow the government to 

stop public gatherings and increase 

powers of detention, last month 

after a series of mysterious fires, 

including one in the main market 

in Lusaka, the capital. The president 

blamed the opposition but his 

critics said he was using the fires to 

pursue a vendetta against rivals. 

International pressure had been 

mounting on Mr Lungu to release 

his rival. Patricia Scotland, the 

Commonwealth secretary-general, 

met Mr Hichilema in his high-security 

prison last week and held talks 

with Lungu. The two men “agreed 

to a process of dialogue” on political 

reforms ahead of elections due 

in 2021, said Baroness Scotland. 

Fed policymaker blasts ‘dangerous’ bid to loosen restraints on banks 

SAM FLEMING 

that could have been of that magnitude,” 

Mr Fischer said. “And now 

after 10 years everybody wants to go 

back to a status quo before the great 

financial crisis. And I find that really, 

extremely dangerous and extremely 

short-sighted.” 

He endorsed efforts to ease up 

on small banks but said political 

pressure in Washington to curtail 

regulatory burdens on big lenders 

was very hazardous. 

Republican politicians have been 

urging a loosening of some capital 

and liquidity requirements on financial 

institutions, arguing that they 

are hampering firms’ ability to lend. 

The US Treasury in June issued a 

147-page report that recommended, 

among other things, changing the 

frequency and severity of the Fed’s 

process of stress-testing the big 

banks, scrapping the “gold-plating” 

of global capital and liquidity standards 

for the biggest US lenders, and 

implementing a looser interpretation 

of the Volcker ban on banks 

making speculative bets with their 

own capital. 

Fischer criticised calls to ease up 

on stress testing, saying pressure to 

loosen standards on big banks was 

“very, very dangerous”. He argued 

that the US had yet to deal with the 

so-called shadow banking system, 

which operates outside mainstream 

lenders, calling this a “terrible 

mistake”. 

brief arrangement - the cosmic 

equivalent of three billiard balls in 

a clean line, with the Moon in the 

middle - allows the solar corona, 

the halo of light surrounding the 

Sun, to emerge in all its sparkling 

glory. 

It is rare for the path of totality to 

cross inhabited land so generously: 

this is a coast to coast affair, from 

Oregon to South Carolina. Monday’s 

skyshow promises to have 

more spectators than any other 

since the American Revolution, 

which is why it has been nicknamed 

the “Great American Eclipse”. 

The planets certainly aligned 

when it came to deciding on our 

summer family getaway. An eclipse 

in the US - which our children have 

always longed to visit - during the 

school holidays, within a reasonable 

drive of Yellowstone? So much 

more convenient than an eclipse 

over the middle of the ocean (which 

means the wallet-emptying options 

of a cruise or chartered boat), or 

a desert (hard to arrange without 

local contacts), or a conflict zone 

(we’re not that adventurous). Our 

assessment was obviously shared: 

by the time we booked in January, 

most lodging had been reserved. 

Central Europe 

records strong 

growth 

JAMES SHOTTER 

Central Europe’s economies 

have continued 

their rapid expansion, 

outpacing their western 

peers as rock bottom interest rates 

and record low unemployment 

fuel consumer spending. 

With the eurozone’s recovery 

also pushing up exports from 

the region, Romania’s economy 

grew at the fastest annual rate in 

the EU in the second quarter. The 

Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia 

and Hungary also reported strong 

growth, according to preliminary 

data yesterday. 

“Obviously we need to get 

the detailed breakdown but the 

economies in central Europe are 

close to being in boom territory,” 

said Piotr Kalisz, an economist at 

Citi Handlowy in Warsaw. 

The strength of central and 

eastern European economies is 

part of the broader recovery in the 

EU, after years of financial crisis in 

the continent. 

Underscoring the recovery, the 

Netherlands matched its highest 

quarter on quarter growth rate 

since it joined the eurozone 18 

years ago. The economy expanded 

1.5 per cent in the three months 

to June - “a rate more commonly 

seen in booming developing 

economies”, according to analysts 

ING. 

Italy, which has been one of the 

trouble spots for the eurozone as it 

has struggled to shake off its debt 

crisis, also posted its best annual 

growth in gross domestic product 

since 2011. With a quarterly economic 

expansion of 0.4 per cent, 

the annual growth rate reached 

1.5 per cent. 

Central Europe is growing even 

more strongly. Romania grew by 

5.7 per cent year on year in the 

second quarter. The Czech Republic 

grew by 4.5 per cent, Poland by 

4.4 per cent, Hungary by 3.6 per 

cent and Slovakia by 3.1 per cent. 

Annual eurozone growth was 

revised upwards to 2.2 per cent 

yesterday. The EU grew by 2.3 per 

cent year on year. 

Part of the reason for central 

Europe’s surge has been increased 

demand from the rest of the eurozone. 

Countries such as Slovakia 

and Hungary are closely integrated 

into the German industrial 

supply chain, and have profited 

as the EU’s biggest economy has 

accelerated to its fastest rate of 

expansion since 2014.


@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 2015 

Maersk puts up 

to $300m cost 

on cyber attack 

A 

cyber attack on AP 

Moller-Maersk will 

cost $200m-$300m but 

container shipping 

conditions are the best 

since the financial crisis, the Danish 

conglomerate said. 

The bulk of the impact from the 

so-called NotPetya attack will be 

felt in the third quarter, due to lost 

revenues in July after the company’s 

IT system, including booking 

applications, was brought down 

by malware hidden in a document 

used to file tax returns in Ukraine. 

But Soren Skou, Maersk’s chief 

executive, struck an upbeat note. 

“We have the strongest fundamentals 

for container shipping 

since the financial crisis, or at least 

2010,” he told the Financial Times. 

International container demand 

- a proxy for trade growth 

- had increased 6 per cent in 

the first half, about twice as fast 

as Maersk’s estimates for global 

economic growth. However, he 

expected growth to “taper off” in 

the second half, and forecast fullyear 

demand would increase by 

close to 4 per cent. 

Maersk was hard hit by a price 

war last year that led to record-low 

RICHARD MILNE 

FINANCIAL TIMES 


rates for container shipping and a 

plunge in oil prices. The company 

decided last summer to split, focusing 

on transport and logistics 

and selling its energy business. 

Yesterday, it reiterated its fullyear 

guidance of underlying profits 

above last year’s, despite the 

cyber attack and second-quarter 

results that were not as good as 

analysts had expected. 

Underlying profits in the quarter 

were $389m against $134m 

a year earlier but the average 

of analyst forecasts was $554m. 

However, the company reported 

an unexpected net loss of $264m 

due to $700m of writedowns in its 

port terminals, and the oil tanker 

business it is planning to sell. 

The rise in profits was due 

largely to Maersk Line, which carries 

about 15 per cent of seaborne 

freight. It reported an underlying 

profit of $327m compared with a 

loss of $139m a year earlier, thanks 

to a rise in freight rates in recent 

months as shipping lines have 

done deals and stopped ordering 

vessels. 

Maersk Line had suffered losses 

in each of the four previous quarters 

and a year ago said that business 

conditions were their worst 

since the financial crisis. 

PwC hit by record UK audit fine over 

‘extensive misconduct’ on RSM Tenon 

MICHAEL HUNTER & PAUL MCCLEAN 

Sterling earned a reprieve 

after better than expected 

UK jobs figures eased pressure 

that briefly drove the 

currency to a seven-year low against 

the euro. 

Before the release of the employment 

and wages data yesterday, the 

UK currency hit a milestone in its 

decline this year against the shared 

currency, as it touched £0.9142 per 

euro. That is its weakest level since 

2010, excluding the nadir it touched 

during October’s flash crash. 

Anxiety over the effect on the 

economy of the UK’s exit from the 

EU has left sterling exposed to the 

twists and turns of data, and how 

they shape the outlook for monetary 

policy at the Bank of England. The 

weakness of the pound has also 

boosted shares in London-listed 

companies with significant export 

earnings, lifting the FTSE 100. 

Analysts said the buoyant jobs 

data, which showed the jobless rate 

C002D5556 

for the three months to the end 

of June falling to 4.4 per cent, the 

lowest since 1975, could offer the 

pound the chance of more sustained 

relief after a near-9 per cent decline 

against the euro since April. 

Kallum Pickering, senior UK 

economist at Berenberg, said: “For 

the UK monetary policy outlook, 

today’s upside surprise for labour 

demand and acceleration in wage 

growth matters far more than yesterday’s 

downside surprise for headline 

inflation. 

“The current period of abovetarget 

inflation is mostly driven by 

the fall in sterling since the Brexit 

vote. This effect will fade as the annual 

change in import prices washes 

out of the consumer price index . 

. . an acceleration in wage growth 

today will cause underlying inflation 

to rise in the future. [It] raises the 

chances of a policy tightening soon.” 

While sterling has acted as a 

lightning rod for investors’ view on 

Brexit, the currency market is paying 

far more attention to the flow of 

BUSINESS DAY 

Pound boosted by jobs and wages data 

A3 

economic data. 

Inflation figures released on 

Tuesday hit the currency, as they 

only highlighted the squeeze on 

consumers’ incomes coming in part 

from higher import costs that have 

followed the decline in sterling since 

the Brexit vote last year. 

Dean Turner at UBS Wealth Management 

argued that there are other 

positive signs for sterling. “Indicators 

for the manufacturing sector 

show that the weaker currency is 

boosting export demand. It should 

also make the UK a relatively attractive 

place for foreign companies to 

invest. Political noise ebbs and flows 

and, with it, exchange rates. 

“Eventually, economic fundamentals 

assert themselves, and they 

suggest that the pound’s journey 

south against the euro is probably 

closer to the end than the beginning.’’ 

However, Mr Turner’s view 

remains a minority one with several 

investment banks forecasting 

further weakness for the pound, 

particularly against the euro. 

HANNAH MURPHY 

PwC has been fined a record 

£5.1m by the UK’s 

accounting watchdog 

for “extensive misconduct” 

over its audit of RSM 

Tenon, a professional services 

group put into administration 

in 2013. 

The Financial Reporting 

Council said it had issued PwC 

with a “severe reprimand” and 

an initial penalty of £6m, which 

was reduced to £5.1m following 

a settlement discount. The fine 

is the largest ever issued by the 

FRC. 

The watchdog also imposed 

a fine of £114,750 on Nicholas 

Boden, the PwC audit engagement 

partner for RSM Tenon, in 

relation to the collapsed group, 

which was forced to restate 

its 2011 accounts after finding 

“significant errors”. PwC and Mr 

Boden admitted to five separate 

instances of misconduct in their 

2011 audit of RSM Tenon, the 

FRC said. These include accounting 

for the cost of employee 

bonuses, determining amounts 

recoverable on contracts, accounting 

for a lease and the 

calculation of goodwill of a 

subsidiary. 

Rectifying the errors cut RSM 

Tenon’s 2011 pre-tax profits by 

£12.1m. The accountancy firm, 

which was once the UK’s tenthbiggest 

auditor by fee income, 

was later put into administration 

and sold to rival Baker Tilly. 

“The admitted acts of misconduct 

[by PwC] include failures 

to obtain sufficient appropriate 

audit evidence and failures to 

exercise sufficient professional 

scepticism,” the FRC said. 

“We are sorry that aspects of 

the audit carried out in 2011 fell 

short of professional standards. 

We co-operated fully with the 

FRC during its lengthy investigation 

and accept its findings,” 

PwC said. The ruling is the latest 

action taken by the FRC against 

the professional services group 

and its Big Four rivals, as the 

watchdog flexes its muscles in an 

attempt to drive up audit quality. 

PwC has also suffered regulatory 

setbacks overseas. Earlier 

this month, the US watchdog 

fined the firm $1m over a compliance 

failure relating to an audit of 

Merrill Lynch. It also had its bank 

audit licence pulled in Ukraine 

by the central bank after it allegedly 

failed to detect a $5.5bn 

balance-sheet hole at Privat- 

Bank, Ukraine’s largest lender. 

Soren Skou, Maersk’s chief executive 

Target lifts outlook as it returns to sales growth 

PAN KWAN YUK 

The company, whose cheapchic 

offerings have gained 

a following among middle-class 

shoppers, saw its 

shares bump up nearly 3 per cent in 

early trading in New York yesterday 

after it reported a return to sales 

growth and lifted its full-year earnings 

guidance. 

Like-for-like sales rose 1.3 per 

cent in the three months to the 

end of July as shoppers flocked to 

its stores. 

The gain was Target’s first in five 

quarters and helped lift total group 

sales 1.6 per cent higher to $16.4bn, 

ahead of estimates for $16.3bn. 

As a result of the strong performance, 

the company said it 

expected 2017 adjusted earnings 

per share to come in between $4.34 

and $4.54, compared with prior 

guidance of $3.80 to $4.20. 

The rosier outlook makes Target 

one of the few retailers to lift - rather 

than cut - guidance. 

It should add to optimism 

over the company’s audacious 

turnround plan, announced in 

March, to sacrifice $1bn of profit 

margin this year to better compete 

against Amazon on ecommerce, 

and against Walmart and TJMaxx 

on price. 

While rival retailers have been 

shuttering shops and selling off 

real estate to cope with the unprecedented 

upheaval in the US retail 

space, Target is pouring money in 

to revamping its business. 

The company has expanded its 

range of in-house brands in highermargin 

categories such as furniture, 

children’s decor and clothing, 

improved its supply chain so that it 

can turn its stores into mini distribution 

centres to boost its two-day 

delivery services, and cut prices 

permanently on a range of everyday 

household goods to drive traffic. 

It has also opened smaller stores 

to better meet demand of urban 

clients. 

While hefty discounting and 

promotional activities have been 

blowing holes through the margins 

of rival retailers, Target’s gross 

margin rate has held up relatively 

well, dipping to 30.5 per cent in the 

second quarter, from 30.9 per cent 

a year earlier. 

Net income fell 1.2 per cent to 

$672m during the quarter largely as 

a result of income lost from discontinued 

operations. 

Excluding this, adjusted net 

income was $1.23 per share, 0.1 

per cent higher than the prior year 

period and confounding market 

expectations for a drop to $1.19 a 

share.

C002D5556 

A4 BUSINESS DAY 


FT 

ANALYSIS 

Equities - The perils of calling the peak 

DAN MCCRUM 

By many measurements, 

today’s stock markets 

are overvalued. Yet 

amid the flood of central 

bank money, investors 

are struggling to work out 

when or if a crash will come and 

have rationalised the high prices. 

As share prices tumbled on 

that infamous Monday in October 

1987, a chain of dominoes stretching 

from Tokyo to New York, Tim 

Hammett was more stunned by 

the reaction of his new colleagues 

at an investment fund in the City. 

The value of household names 

was collapsing, yet they were 

cheering. “Out came the drinks,” 

says Hammett, who had just 

started working at CIN Management, 

a fund responsible for the 

pensions of Britain’s coal miners. 

While they celebrated, the 

Dow Jones Industrial Average 

recorded its largest-ever one-day 

drop, causing panic to deepen in 

London when markets reopened 

on Tuesday. At CIN, however, the 

young investor was allowed to 

make his first trade for the £10bn 

pension scheme. “Everyone on 

the phone, just buy everything, 

buy everything, and we did,” says 

Mr Hammett. 

The fund could pounce because 

it had spent months moving 

more than a tenth of its capital 

out of the equity market, having 

judged stocks too expensive when 

compared with bonds. 

“We spent, I hate to think how 

long - it went on for weeks. We 

bought everything in the market 

for two or three weeks. And then 

the market recovered, and we had 

another celebration,” he says. 

Three decades later and many 

investors might be tempted to try 

a similar trick, as one of the longest 

stock market rallies in history 

means share valuations have long 

been more expensive than when 

“Black Monday” hit. 

The problem is that what 

worked in the 1980s does not 

appear to work any more. Bonds 

are also expensive - their price 

inflated, like many other assets, 

by years of extraordinary stimulus 

measures as central banks have 

tried to reduce borrowing costs 

for businesses, governments and 

consumers. 

Stock market pessimists have 

been left by the wayside, with any 

dip in prices treated as an opportunity 

to buy. The long rally has 

also shown fresh global momentum 

this year as the MSCI World 

Index, the broadest possible 

gauge of shares, has risen in value 

for eight consecutive months. 

Investors who have prided 

themselves on the rigour of their 

approach, spurning markets that 

do not meet long-held definitions 

of value, find themselves 

unmoored. 

Even Ben Inker, chief investment 

officer at GMO - the Boston 

asset manager famous for refusing 

to buy internet stocks in the late 

1990s dotcom boom and calling 

an asset bubble ahead of the 

2008 crisis, has started to think 

Amin Rajan, chief executive of Create Research 

something fundamental may have 

changed in the world economy. 

“Are things going to revert to 

the old normal? To me that is the 

biggest question. These markets 

are really quite different from 

bubbles that we’ve seen in the 

past.” 

Pension scheme trustees, savers 

and policymakers, wary of 

the destabilising results a market 

plunge can bring, are left with two 

interrelated issues - whether asset 

prices can be justified and, if not, 

what might make them crash. 

Expensive equities 

Judged by a popular longterm 

valuation measure that 

compares the worth of a stock 

market with the average size of 

corporate profits over the previous 

decade, the S&P 500 index is 

deep into bubble territory. “Only 

twice since 1881 have equities 

been this expensive,” says Russell 

Napier, founder of the Electronic 

Research Interchange and author 

of a book on market downturns, 

Anatomy of the Bear. 

As at the peak of the dotcom 

boom, the last time valuations 

were higher, technology stocks 

have been prominent in sustaining 

the eight-year US bull market. 

Five companies - Amazon, Facebook, 

Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft 

- are collectively worth $3tn, 

more than the value of the entire 

equity market of many countries. 

Private start-ups such as Uber, 

the ride-hailing group, Xiaomi, 

the Chinese phonemaker, and 

Airbnb, the rental accommodation 

company, have also attracted 

billions of dollars in funding 

based on more stratospheric 

valuations. 

Looking for signs of fragility, 

some point to the experience of 

Snap, the much-hyped messaging 

app group offered to the public in 

March, whose shares have since 

fallen a third below its listing price. 

Yet such discernment can also 

be seen as a sign of a healthy 

market. When exuberance has 

become irrational, the reassessment 

tends to be a sudden jolt 

- like lights turning on at the end 

of a party - rather than investors 

gradually cooling on individual 

stocks. 

Amin Rajan, chief executive 

of Create Research, pinpoints the 

UK flotation of Lastminute.com in 

March 2000 as a jarring moment. 

Markets had for years been propelled 

by initial public offerings 

of tech stocks, minting fortunes 

that created a frenzy for whatever 

might be the next big thing. 

Lastminute’s IPO fits the pattern 

of a bubble. On day one 

shares in the lossmaking travel 

website, with a business equivalent 

in size to a pub, jumped almost 

30 per cent to a $900m valuation. 

Then it collapsed. “That for 

me was the signal the tech boom 

was over, a total loss of conviction,” 

says Rajan. “A darling of the 

stock market one day to a pariah 

the next.” 

It is hard to pop a bubble of 

financial exuberance, however, 

when the predominant investor 

sentiment appears to be grudging 

rationalisation of high prices, 

absent much enthusiasm. Dhaval 

Joshi, chief strategist for BCA 

Research, says: “At our client 

meetings, almost everybody disbelieves 

that current valuations 

allow developed market equities 

to generate attractive long-term 

returns. Yet many investors are 

willing to suspend this disbelief, 

at least for the time being.” 

The principal explanation for 

this is the behaviour of the world’s 

central banks, which, in a decade-long 

effort to fight deflation, 

have suppressed borrowing costs 

through very low interest rates 

and programmes of bond buying, 

known as quantitative easing. 

For bonds, lower yields mean 

higher prices. For stocks, an environment 

of slow economic growth 

and moderate inflation means 

corporate profits become highly 

prized: investors buy them less 

in expectation of rapid growth, 

but because income of any sort is 

hard to find. Analysts expect the 

five big American tech companies 

to report $109bn of earnings 

for 2017, a tenth more than the 

$99bn reported the year before, 

for instance. 

If interest rates remain low 

for years to come, future investment 

profits will probably be 

lower than in the past, but such an 

outcome also supports the argument 

that high valuations could 

be sustained. “There’s nothing 

which makes that an impossible 

solution,” says Mr Inker, who adds 

there is no law requiring interest 

rates and inflation to rise. 

He says GMO is trying to craft 

a portfolio that tries to avoid very 

expensive stock markets but will 

prosper even if the status quo persists. 

That involves decisions such 

as “owning as little as possible in 

the US, and as much in emerging 

markets as we can stomach”. 

So while high valuations increase 

the chances of a market 

crash, they are not sufficient to 

cause one. In a stable economic 

environment, periods of low 

volatility, where stock prices show 

little daily movement, can last 

for years. What is required to end 

the calm is some form of shock. 

Goldman Sachs has identified 13 

occasions since the 1950s when 

the S&P 500 has lost more than 

a fifth of its value in real terms, 

taking inflation into account - a 

so-called bear market. 

Christian Mueller-Glissmann, 

a Goldman strategist, says: “After 

world war two, most recessions 

are driven by price shocks and 

central banks trying to tighten to 

prevent inflation running away.” 

Recession, or some geopolitical 

event, hits earnings and the valuations 

investors are prepared to 

pay. 

A foretaste of what that could 

feel like was provided by the sudden 

devaluation of the Chinese 

renminbi in August 2015, says 

George Magnus, associate at 

Oxford university’s China Centre. 

“What markets hate more than 

anything else is discontinuity,” he 

adds, and the move by the Chinese 

authorities, without warning 

or explanation, prompted turmoil 

in global markets. Fears over the 

strength of Chinese demand for 

raw materials translated into 

tumbling prices for commodities 

and the stocks and bonds linked 

to them, reaching a peak in early 

2016 as the price of crude oil hit 

a 12-year low. 

Confidence in the competence 

of the Chinese authorities, and 

general calm, was restored only 

after Beijing announced a substantial 

stimulus programme to 

boost lending. 

A year and a half later the lesson, 

again, was to use any dip in 

prices as an opportunity to buy. 

Look around the world and the 

threat of recession, or even a 

substantial slowdown, is hard to 

find. Venezuela, descending into 

chaos, is one of the few nations 

where economists do not expect 

growth in 2017 and 2018. Projections 

for the UK economy are less 

robust than before voters chose 

Brexit in the referendum on the 

EU last year, but economists still 

forecast further expansion. 

Central bank manoeuvres 

For those investors who believe 

the bull market cannot last, 

their warnings tend to focus on 

factors that will aggravate any 

turn in the business cycle when it 

does arrive, such as a build-up in 

corporate indebtedness, and the 

limited room for central banks to 

respond. 

“Having studied every one of 

these [bear markets] in some detail, 

I’m not sure there is a parallel 

for today. We just don’t have precedents 

for going into a recession 

with interest rates at this level and 

inflation so low,” says Mr Napier. 

Indeed, according to a regular 

survey of professional investors 

around the world conducted by 

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 

an error by central banks tops the 

list of risks to the status quo playing 

on minds. It comes as central 

bankers have begun to discuss 

attempts to normalise monetary 

policy, by raising interest rates 

and retreating from bond-buying 

programmes. 

The Federal Reserve will soon 

stop reinvesting the money it 

receives when Treasury bonds it 

holds matures, and the European 

Central Bank could announce 

plans to reduce, or “taper”, the 

€60bn of securities it buys each 

month as soon as September.

BUSINESS DAY 

Fact Check 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I THURSDAY 17 AUGUST 2017 C002D5556 

TopfiveFacts 

Trivial 

N3 trillion 

Ayuba Wabba, President of the Nigeria Labour 

Congress (NLC), said that contrary to insinuations 

that the accumulated funds of the Nigerian 

pension industry are lying idle, the Federal 

Government has borrowed N3 trillion from the 

fund through bonds and treasury bills by. In 

Wabba’s view, the pension money has been 

over-borrowed. 

Are Pension Fund assets sitting 

idle or over borrowed? 

The President of 

the Nigeria Labour 

Congress 

(NLC), Ayuba 

Wabba recently 

set out to debunk insinuations 

that the N6.4 trillion in 

accumulated pension fund 

assets under the contributory 

Pension Scheme is lying 

Idle. 

Wabba said an excess of 

N3 trillion had been borrowed 

from the fund through 

bonds and treasury bills. 

According to Wabba “It is 

not true that pension funds 

are lying idle. I think there is 

a misconception. Let me tell 

you the money has been over 

borrowed through bonds 

and treasury bills by the government. 

The money is not 

idle. The money is someone’s 

money. The workers own the 

money and on retirement 

would access the money.” 

Wabba added: “You just 

from N265 billion or about 

1.4 percent of Gross Domestic 

Product (GDP) following 

the reforms in 2006 to 

today’s level, equivalent to 7 

percent of GDP. 

A fact check of the claims 

that assets are idle suggests 

that the statement is not 

correct. 

Data from the National 

Pension Commission or 

PENCOM shows that as at 

April 2017, the net asset 

value of total pension fund 

assets stood at N6.49 trillion 

with 7.4 percent invested in 

domestic ordinary shares 

or stock, 55.7 percent in 

FGN bonds, 15.66 percent in 

Treasury Bills, 6.26 percent 

in banks money market securities, 

4.79 percent in corporate 

debt securities and 

3.38 percent in Real Estate 

properties. 

Together these asset 

classes make up 93 percent 

You just can’t dip your hands and think its free 

money. You can only access the money through 

very clear guidelines provided by PENCOM. 

I think over N3 trillion has been utilised through 

this process. This is the reality and we 

must face this fact 

can’t dip your hands and 

think its free money. You 

can only access the money 

through very clear guidelines 

provided by PENCOM. 

I think over N3 trillion has 

been utilised through this 

process. This is the reality 

and we must face this fact.” 

Pension assets in Africa’s 

largest economy have surged 

of pension fund investments. 

From the data it can be 

seen that charges that assets 

are sitting idle is spurious 

at best. 

Looking at the NLC President 

Wabba remarks that 

pension funds are over borrowed 

what can be deduced 

from the data is that at least 

71.3 percent of Pension as- 

sets or N4.63 trillion as at 

April, 2017 is invested in 

fixed income securities issued 

by the sovereign or 

Federal Government. 

Now whether a case can 

be made that this is excessive 

on face value, it is still a fact 

that pension funds are underweight 

most other asset 

classes like equities. 

This is largely because 

the Federal Government or 

sovereign is seen as risk free 

and with elevated yields (between 

15% and 20% per annum) 

for bonds and Treasury 

Bills, Pension Funds 

can be forgiven for being 

conservative. 

The issues around opening 

up of more asset classes 

such as infrastructure 

bonds for Pension Funds to 

invest in and help develop 

the country at the same 

time, is probably something 

that should be championed 

by the Federal Government 

and other key capital market 

operators. 

PENCOM has however 

taken a first towards getting 

pension funds to be less 

conservative or more aggressive 

in asset allocation. 

In a recently released circular 

titled ‘Amended Regulation 

on Investment of 

Pension Fund Assets’, PEN- 

COM introduced a multifund 

structure for Pension 

Fund Administrators (PFA) 

and Retirement Savings Account 

(RSA) funds. 

The multi-fund structure 

shall comprise of Fund I, 

Fund II, Fund III and Fund 

IV and will differ according 

to their risk profile and 

overall exposures to variable 

income instruments 

such as Equities, Real Estate 

Investment Trusts (REITs) 

and Private Equity funds. 

Fund I of the new structure 

has the most risk tolerance, 

and allows maximum 

exposure to variable 

income instruments of up 

to 75 percent of portfolio 

value. 

PENCOM defines variable 

income instruments 

as the sum of a PFA’s investments 

in Ordinary Shares 

and participation units of 

Open Close - ended and 

Hybrid Funds; Real Estate 

Investment Trust; Infrastructure 

Funds; and Private 

Equity Funds. 

The new Multi - Fund 

structure specifically allows 

a maximum of 30 percent 

exposure to equities for 

Fund I, up from a 25 percent 

cap under the old structure. 

PENCOM also moved to 

make PFAs more transparent 

regarding their performances. 

According to PENCOM 

the annual Rates of Return 

on all RSA Funds shall be 

publicly disclosed by the 

PFAs on their websites. 

“The annual Rates of Return 

shall be based on the 

audited financial statements 

of the Funds; and on a 3-year 

Compound Annual Growth 

Rate (CAGR) of the Fund,” 

the PENCOM guideline said. 

We believe that implementing 

these new set of 

reforms will help the contributory 

Pension Scheme 

get to the next level while 

effectively serving the 5 million 

plus contributors of 

all ages and risk tolerance, 

as well as the country as a 

whole. 

7% 

Nigeria’s pension assets have risen from N265 

billion, just 1.4 per cent of the country’s total 

economic output (GDP) before the industry reforms 

in 2004 to N6.49 trillion as at April 2017, 

which is equivalent to 7 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP. 

The Pension Reform Act of 2004 changed the 

standard pension model in Nigeria from defined 

benefit schemes to defined contribution 

schemes. The objectives of the reforms were to 

encourage long term savings amongst employ- 


Data from PENCOM shows that as at April 2017, 

the net asset value of total pension fund assets 

stood at N6.49 trillion. 93 per cent of these are 

invested in domestic ordinary shares, Federal 

Government T-bills, money market securities, 

corporate debt securities, and real estate. 

17.5% 

Nigerian government has been borrowing at 

average rate of 17.5% this year, a rate viewed 

as ‘elevated’ by economy watchers. Given the 

absence of default risk on the bonds, pension 

fund managers have fallen over themselves 

in pursuit of come piece of action, leading to 

an alleged crowding-out effect on the private 

sector of the economy. Some people say that 

pension funds managers can be ‘forgiven’ for 

being conservative. 

5 million 

The number of contributors to the Nigerian pension 

scheme now stands at over 5 million. Pencom 

has initiated moves that will ensure that 

these contributors are served more effectively. 

Following implementation of on-going reforms 

in the industry, according to PENCOM, the annual 

rates of return on all RSA Funds shall be 

publicly disclosed by the PFAs on their websites 

based on the audited financial statements and 

3-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) 

of the funds. 

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana Office: Business Day Ghana Ltd; ABC Junction, near Guinness Ghana Limited, Achimota – Accra, Ghana. 

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Editor: Anthony Osae-Brown. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

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