Experts split on using reserves to defend Naira...As external reserves falls below 18mths low

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MARCH 24, , , , , 20142014201420142014

Continues on page 18

...As external reserves falls below 18mths low

Experts split on usingreserves to defend Naira

BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

With then a t i o n ’ se x t e r n a l

reserves falling below itslowest level in eighteenmonths, economicexperts are divided overthe policy of using thereserves to defend thenaira.

A snap poll of foreignexchange dealers andeconomic expertsconducted by FinancialVanguard on the likelyoutcome of the meetingof the Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) of theCentral Bank of Nigeria(CBN) holding today andtomorrow revealeddivergence of opinionson the policy of using thereserves to defend thenaira.

The poll revealed thatwhile foreign exchangemarket operators preferthat the CBN suspendsthe policy by allowingdepreciation of the naira,other operators howeverprefer that the apex bankmaintain the status quo.

Last week, the externalreserves fell further to$38.13 billion,representing the lowestlevel since August 2012.The decline in reservesstarted May last yearafter a peak of $48.85billion in April. This

implies that the reserveshave shed $10.72 billionbetween May, 2013 andlast week while it hasdeclined by $5.48 billionthis year.

The decline in reservesis attributable to depletionof the excess crudeaccounts and increasedsales of dollars by theCBN in its quest tostablise the exchangerate. This year, the apexbank has sold $8.7 billionthrough the bi-weeklyforeign exchange auction,representing 33.1 percent of the $25.37 billionsold last year. The fear isthat, if the apex bankmaintained the policy ofusing reserves to defendthe naira, the externalreserves might continue tofall further.

Foreign exchangedealers who participatedconfidentially in the pollargued that with thecurrent levels of reserves,the focus of the MPCshould change toprotecting the reserves.Hence they predicted thatthe MPC would shift themidpoint of the officialexchange rate from N155per dollar to N160 or N165per dollar.

“No Naira should bedevalued”, said a seniorbank treasurer, who

spoke on condition of anonymity. Hebelieves that the MPC would raise theofficial rate to N165 per dollar fromN155. A senior economic analystwith one of the banks, who does notwant his name mentioned, argued fordepreciation of the naira.

He told Vanguard, “There is abalanced outlook between the currentefforts to support the naira and keepdepleting the reserves or to preservethe reserves and move the midpointto N160 per dollar plus/minus threepercent. The latter will allow nairaexchange rate in the interbank tooscillate to N164.8 per dollar.Interestingly, there is a resistant aboveN165 by the CBN, and also a resistantbelow N164 by the operators.Whichever is the case, the latteroption will suit all parties. Althoughthis could be seen as indirectdevaluation, but it might not, if we

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 21/03/2014

107.20 +0.75

-99.55 +0.56

171.0 -3.152,951.00 -23.00

16.86 -0.19

DOLLAR 154.74 155.24 155.74

STERLING 255.3829 256.2081 257.0333

EURO 213.4793 214.1691 214.8589

FRA 175.2236 175.7898 176.356

CFA 0.3057 0.3157 0.3257

WAUA 238.1654 238.9349 239.7045

RENMINBI 24.8557 24.9365 25.0173

RIYAL 41.2607 41.394 41.5273

KRONA 28.5941 28.6865 28.7789

SDR 238.934 239.7061 240.4781

YEN 1.5128 1.5176 1.5225

Cover Story

CMYK

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014

Continued from page 17

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An entrepreneur is aperson who makesplans for a business

or a piece of work and gets itgoing. Anyanwuocha (2001)observes that theentrepreneur is the chief co-ordinator, controller andorganizer of the productionprocess. The entrepreneurcombines other factors ofproduction (land, capital andothers) in such a way as toobtain maximum productionof goods and services atminimum costs. In order toeffectively enhanceoccupational skills in thepresent day, entrepreneursneed also to acquireinformation andcommunication technologyknowledge and skills. Mkpozi(1996) observed that acountry that is developingand manufacturing its owngoods either from Hi-Tech orsmall/medium scaleindustries using indigenousskills and exports some ofthose goods to other countriesis usually economicallystable. This could be betterachieved through theacquisition of entrepreneurialand occupational skills intechnology and vocationaleducation. Individuals withtechnical and vocation skillsand good knowledge of ICTare characterized by self-reliance, self-employmentand fit properly into today’stechnical, entrepreneurialand business world.

The entrepreneur shouldtherefore possess technicalskills, ideas and managementskills which are necessary forthe success of the venture.One of such skills isinformation andcommunication technologywhich is characterized byemployee empowerment andinvolves the making ofunskilled and semiskilledworkers to be skilful andfunctional in today’s world ofwork. It also involves thedevelopment of task orientedteam of workers who nolonger depend on individualmanagers for all theirdecisions to achieve targets.Technical process re-engineering are also requiredto redesign technical workprocesses, jobs,organizational structure,management system, and

,

,

also in process designs usingin manufacturing industries.

These components of ICThave great implications forthe enhancement ofentrepreneurship educationin technology and vocationaleducation field of work.According to Azuka, Nwosu,Kanu and Agomuo (2006),classroom behaviour mustalign with ICT- drivenenvironment which isconstantly shaping and re-shaping the work place andconsequently, what is learntand how learning takes place.

There are various numbersof opportunities fortechnology and vocationaleducation graduates withentrepreneurship skills in ICTdriven technical andvocational educationenvironment. Theseopportunities exist in variousforms for the enhancingentrepreneurship skills.

Nwabuona (2004) viewsentrepreneurship educationas the identification of thegeneral characteristics ofentrepreneurs and howpotential entrepreneurs canbe trained in managementtechniques needed foreffective performance ofpersons for long time survivalof an organization after theacquisition of occupationalskills. Therefore, the rolestechnology and vocationaleducation in enhancement ofentrepreneurship skills is toidentify and equippedgraduates with critical wealthof skills, technicalknowledge, and a goodmeasure of self-confidenceusing information andcommunication technologycompetence.

The entrepreneur shouldtherefore possessentrepreneurial andmanagement skills which arenecessary for the success ofthe venture.

Individuals withtechnical and vocationskills and goodknowledge of ICT arecharacterized by self-reliance, self-employment and fitproperly into today’stechnical,entrepreneurial andbusiness world.

Vocation and technicaleducation – A Key To ImprovingNigeria’s Development (3)

Reception: General Secretary, Emeralds Club of Lagos, Eng. Bolaji Williams; Lagos StateHead of Service, Mrs. Seyi Williams; Former Chief of Naval Staff and President of EmeraldsClub, Admiral Mike Adelana and Retired Air Vice Marshal Funsho Martins during a recentreception by Emeralds Club in honour of the newly appointed Lagos State Head of Service.

consider that the 2014Budget benchmark is N160.”Supporting these views,Opeyemi Agbaje, ChiefExecutive Officer of RTCConsulting Limited, said,“sensible policy will be somedepreciation”.

Some operators howeverdiffer. These includeManaging director/ChiefExecutive, PartnershipFinance and InvestmentCompany PLC, Mr. VictorOgiemwonyin and President,Finance House Association ofNigeria (FHAN), Mr. SamuelDurojaiye. “We cannot affordto devalue the Naira now, thenegative fallout has too manyunpredictable outcomes. Ibelieve CBN will keepsupporting the currencybecause it will cost us lessthan wholesale devaluationthat will have no end.Though, our foreign reservesare below $37b now. Myfeeling is that as the westerneconomies recover, oil priceswill gradually rise to boost thecurrent reserves level”,Ogiemwonyin.

According to Durojaiye,“The issue is what will supportour economy. Our economy isimport dependent. If youdevalue our currency, importswill become expensive cost ofproduction will increase. Theargument that such a step willpromote export will bringonly little gains. What do wehave to export?

Furthermore, two majorinvestment firms FinancialDerivatives Company (FDC)Limited and Bank of Americaexpressed different opinionson whether the CBN shouldcontinue to defend the naira.

Experts split on using reservesto defend Naira

While the FDC in a monthlyreport issued last week aguedfor depreciation of the naira,the Bank of America said thatthere is no need for suchdepreciation now.

According to the FDCreport, “We anticipate twopossible scenarios alongsidethe hike in CRR. The firstscenario is a shift in theexchange rate midpoint fromN155 to N165 per dollar,which is estimated 3-5 percentdepreciation in the naira. Therationale for this is theincreased volatility recordedat the interbank and parallelmarkets, and the CBN’scontinued support of the nairaat a cost to external reserves.

The premium between theofficial and parallel marketremains wide at N16.26compared to N8.25 inOctober, 2013. Our secondscenario is an increase in theMPR to 13 percent perannum to tighten liquidityconditions in the moneymarket.”

The Bank of Americahowever stated, “We expectthe MPC to keep theMonetary Policy Rate (MPR)on hold at 12.00 percent perannum given that the recentelevated levels of dollar salesby the CBN havesuccessfully brought theNaira down from last month’shighs. This means there is noimmediate need for a ratehike, in our view. However,there is a small chance theexchange rate band could beslightly adjusted.

The CBN has been sellingroughly $400 million perauction for the past month,compared with an average of$300 million per auction in2013. Its interventionbrought the Naira down bythree percent from N169 on20 February to N163 in justtwo weeks. Reservescurrently stand at $39 billion.Clearly the CBN can sustainnet outflows for some timebefore reserves fall to the $32billion level seen at the timeof the last devaluation inNovember 2011. This wasequivalent to five months ofimport cover compared withjust under nine months ofimport cover currentlyavailable.

Reserves are clearlysufficient to defend the Nairaband in the medium term,and we believe exchange ratestability continues to be at thecore of MPC policy given thehigh degree of exchange ratepass-through into inflation.This is especially true giventhat the February core CPIticked up slightly to 8.0percent year-on-year.Therefore, we see only asmall chance that the currentexchange rate band will bemoved.”

We anticipatetwo possiblescenariosalongside thehike in CRR. Thefirst scenario isa shift in theexchange ratemidpoint fromN155 to N165 perdollar, which isestimated 3-5percentdepreciation inthe naira

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014 — 19

Business & Economy

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When some of us werein secondaryschool, a grade one

WAEC certificate will make youunacceptable for employmentin a Nigerian bank and mostcompanies in Nigeria. Thethinking then was that withgrade one, the holder will in amatter of one year gainadmission into the university.There was no need to wasteresources training him. Thosewho got jobs easily in banks inthose days were WAECcertificate holders of gradethree. Also during the sameperiod, a degree from anyNigerian university was aprecious possession.Employers of labour in Nigeriaquestioned many of thecertificates obtained by thosewho went abroad especially tothe USA to study.

While at the University ofBenin in the late 70s to early80s, a lecturer who had his PhDfrom an American universitywas forced out of our classbecause he could not stand thedemand for advanced macro-economics. She entered theclass one fateful Monday andsaid; ‘You know all of us cannotbe good in calculation. Beforeshe finished the sentence, theclass rose in unison and askedher what she was doing thereif she could not express herknow-how in figures. That day,the class met with the HOD andshe was removed from theclass.

Twenty-five years down theline, the situation has changed

When will the drum beatsof revolution start inNigeria?

dramatically and the reverseis the case. Banks are nowasking for second class upperor first class degrees asminimum job entryrequirement. They are alsodemanding that suchgraduates should not be olderthan 26 years. Now, Nigeriangraduates are not evenacceptable for employment inNigeria. American degreesthat were looked down upon25 years ago are what mostemployers are now searchingfor.

It is not that there are nojobs in the country; it is thelack of the required skills thathas prevented manyNigerians from accessingjobs. There are several banksand companies employingpeople with requisite skillsfrom abroad. The question is;how did we come so low invalue while others haveimproved so much? So muchthat jobs are now onlyavailable to relations of thedead? What a tragedy! Eachyear, Nigerian leaders toutfigures of economic growth ofabout six or seven per cent,but the level of unemploymentkeeps rising by the day.Perhaps, many have thoughtthat the unemploymentsituation was exaggerated bymedia harp until Saturdaywhen for 4,000 job openingsin Nigeria ImmigrationService, attracted over 60,000applicants for a written test inAbuja alone. Maybe theMinister of Internal Affairs

wanted this government to seethe magnitude of theunemployment issue inNigeria, by allowing all theapplicants to show up the sameday for the test. Or how elsecan it be explained that anyreasonable employer willgather that number in astadium to write a test? Did theminister have any sense ofcrowd behaviour?

The unfortunate event bringsto mind the 2012 lamentationof President GoodluckJonathan. On that occasion,he had lamented the growingunemployment situation inthe country stating that it may

lead to some social unrest inthe near future. EveryNigerian, in low or high

places, knows this simple fact.This government has notshown to the people anythingthat will suggest that it istackling unemployment. WhatNigerians need to see is howfar this administration hasgone to tackle the problem.Since the days of the ill-fatedStructural AdjustmentProgramme, or the ShehuShagari Austerity Measures of1982, unemployment has beena phenomenon that hasrefused to go away in Nigeria.

Unemployment in Nigeriahas become one of the mostcritical problems the countryis facing. Many years ofcorruption, mismanagement ofthe economy, civil war, militaryrule, etc., have hinderedeconomic development of thecountry. Nigeria is endowedwith diverse and infiniteresources, both human andmaterial. However, years ofnegligence and adversepolicies have led to the under-utilisation of these resources.This is one of the primarycauses of unemployment inthe country.

Analysis of employment datashows that the rate of newentrants into the labour markethas not been uniform. The ratewas on the increase from 2007to 2009 but declinedsignificantly between 2009 and2010. The rate increased againfrom 2010 to date. Within theperiod, there has been anaverage of about 1.8 millionnew entrants into the activelabour market per year. In2011, Nigeria’s estimatedpopulation stood at 164.3million, 92.3 million are said

to be economically active,labour force - 67.25 million,employed - 51.18 million,unemployed - 16.07 millionand newly employed - 2.13million. 2010 statistics showedthat about 10 million Nigerianswere unemployed in Nigeriaat March, 2009. The 2011survey showed that thenational unemployment rate is23.9 per cent compared to 21.1per cent in 2010 and 19.7 percent in 2009.

The Federal Governmentsince 2009 has been singingthe tune of tacklingunemployment but so far,there has been no serious signof improvement. Today inNigeria, almost half of 15-24year olds living in urban areasare jobless, yet reducingunemployment andenhancing economicproductivity are top prioritiesfor the National EconomicManagement team.

It is sad that year in, year out,billions are budgeted forrecurrent with little for capitalexpenditure that will lead tojob creation. Fortunately, thebuck stops at the President’stable. He is the one who hasthe key to unlock and unleashthe nation’s economicpotentials for the benefit of allNigerians. The President hasno one to cry to other thanputting on a thinking cap andgetting the job of the office ofthe President done creditably.

With what happened thatSaturday, Nigeria is ripe for achange, a revolution. Who willcast the first stone for the drumof revolution to sound?

It is not thatthere are nojobs in the

country; it is thelack of therequired skills thathas preventedmany Nigeriansfrom accessingjobs. There areseveral banks andcompaniesemploying peoplewith requisiteskills from abroad

Nigeria's manufacturing real content capacitystill 18% —NCDMB boss

Real local content inNigeria industries is

alarmingly low at about 18percent, Executive Secretary,Nigeria Content DevelopmentBoard (NCDMB), Mr. ErnestNwapa, has disclosed.

He lamented that Nigeria hasfocused on revenue derivedfrom oil and gas and hasneglected the humandevelopment needed to growthe economy.

Nwapa stated this in Abujaat the 2014 Nigeria Oil andGas Conference andExhibition.

He said: “Our partialNigeria content is at 70 to 87percent, while our realcontent, which is based onproportion of contract sumsspent on Nigerian madeproducts, is from 12 to 18percent. This is considerablyvery low, and it is a majorfactor to lack of investmento p p o r t u n i t i e s ,underdevelopment andunemployment.

“We have decided to neglecthuman capacity development,which is essential to thedevelopment of the sector, and

we have focused on revenuederived. Presently, we stillseek foreign partners in re-building our refineries,” hesaid.

He said that the majorchallenge of the industry wasnon-development of itsmanufacturing sector.

“The greatest problem wehave is that Nigeria procuresvirtually all it needs fromabroad. No matter how we try,if we don’t raise the level ofmanufacturing, we will not.

He said that the localcontent was still low in spite

of efforts by the FederalGovernment to ensure that themanufacturing industry inNigeria improved andcompeted favourably withindustries in the internationalcommunity. He said that theNigerian manufacturingindustries were currentlybeing run with machinesbrought in from different partsof the world.

“That is why we aredesigning product andstrategies starting fromcomponent and we believethat this is the area we can

explore.”He said that it has become

compulsory for foreign andlocal investors interested inestablishing business placesin Nigeria to patronise localindustries. Nwapa decried themis-interpretation of thecontent act by foreigninvestors, saying that the lawwas not meant to drive outforeigners but to attract andencourage bettercollaboration.

“What makes a great oilproducing nation is the abilityto manufacture all necessaryequipment needed, assetownership and human capitaldevelopment,” he said.


CMYK


CMY

Business & Economy

Africa accounts for 10% globalAfrica accounts for 10% globalAfrica accounts for 10% globalAfrica accounts for 10% globalAfrica accounts for 10% globalcybercrime incidents - cybercrime incidents - cybercrime incidents - cybercrime incidents - cybercrime incidents - IDC, NUSIDC, NUSIDC, NUSIDC, NUSIDC, NUS

BY EMEKA AGINAM

While governmentsare increasinglypartnering with

local associations andvendors to combat thescourge of piracy and theassociated risk of cybercrime,a joint new study by IDC andthe National University ofSingapore (NUS), hasrevealed that Africancontinent accounts for 10 percent of global cybercrimeincidents.

The study was released aspart of Microsoft’s Play ItSafe campaign, a globalinitiative to create greaterawareness of the connectionbetween malware andpiracy.

According to the report,enterprises worldwide areexpected to spend nearly$500 billion in 2014 to dealwith issues caused bymalware deliberately loadedonto pirated software, $127billion dealing with securityissues, of which $8 billionaccrues from the MiddleEast and Africa, and $364billion dealing with databreaches respectively.

“Using pirated software islike walking through a fieldof landmines: you don’tknow when you’ll come uponsomething nasty, but if youdo, it can be very destructive.

“The financial hazards areconsiderable, and thepotential losses could leaveonce-profitable businesseson shaky ground. Buyinglegitimate software is lessexpensive in the long run, atleast you know that you won’tget anything ‘extra’ in theform of malware.” JohnGantz, chief researcher atIDC.

This is even as MicrosoftNigeria has alreadypartnered with the NigerianCopyright Commission(NCC) to combat piracy,which according to the 2011BSA Global Software PiracyStudy, currently sits at 83 percent across the East andSouthern Africa region.

Microsoft said it wascommitted to protecting itsunsuspecting consumersfrom downloading orpurchasing nongenuinesoftware that exposes victimsto malware that can lead toidentity theft, loss of data andsystem failures.

According to the report,global consumers areexpected to spend $25billion, including MiddleEast and African consumerswho will pay $2 billion on

security threats and costlycomputer fixes stemming frommalware on pirated software.This will also amount to 1.2billion hours of wasted timein 2014.

The study entitled: The LinkBetween Pirated Softwareand Cybersecurity Breaches,also revealed that 60 per centof consumers surveyed saytheir greatest fear frominfected software is the lossof data, files or personalinformation, followed byunauthorised internettransactions (51 per cent) andhijacking of email, socialnetworking and bankaccounts (50 per cent).However, 43 per cent of thosesame respondents do not

install security updates,leaving their computers opento attack by cybercriminals.

“There is now a firm linkbetween the detected malwareon illicit software and criminalorganisations, for whommalware in pirated softwarecan be a lucrative vector forcyberattacks. With many ofthese criminal organisationsalso behind the distribution ofinfected software, it meansthat an increase in softwarepiracy translates to anincreased vulnerability tocyber attacks.

“In the sub-Saharan region,the internet population is fastgrowing, meaning a large andunsuspecting base of targetsto cybercriminals. Combinethis with the lack of strong

cybercrime laws and highpiracy rate on the continentand its clear why we’re seeingmore and more people fallvictim to attacks,” DanielKamau, Anti-piracy lead forsub-Saharan Africa said.

While government officialsexpressed concern about thepotential impact ofcybersecurity threats to theirnations, the survey furtherrevealed that governmentswere most worried about theloss of business trade secretsor competitive information (59per cent), unauthorised accessto confidential governmentinformation (55 per cent) andthe impact of cyberattacks oncritical infrastructure (55 percent).

Determined to enhancee d u c a t i o n a l

development in Nigeria, theNigeria Liquefied NaturalGas Limited, NLNG, hasannounced a donation of $12million for construction ofmodern engineeringlaboratories in six selectedNigerian universities.

Managing Director ofNLNG, Mr. Babs Omotowawho disclosed this at a mediabriefing Wednesday in Abuja,explained that each of theuniversities selected from thesix geo-political zones will get$2 million to execute themodern laboratories projectwhich will be equipped with

NLNG to build $12m engineering labsNLNG to build $12m engineering labsNLNG to build $12m engineering labsNLNG to build $12m engineering labsNLNG to build $12m engineering labsin 6 varsitiesin 6 varsitiesin 6 varsitiesin 6 varsitiesin 6 varsities BY CHRIS OCHAYI cutting-edge equipment.

Omotowa, who said theprojects would be completedin the next one year, addedthat the NLNG will partnerwith the benefitinguniversities to ensureeffective joint monitoring ofthe construction projects.Beneficiary universities underthe project entitled, NLNGUniversity SupportProgramme, USP, accordingto Omotowa, include,University of Ibadan,University of Ilorin, UniversityPort Harcourt, University ofMaiduguri, Ahmadu BelloUniversity, Zaria andUniversity of Nigeria,Nsukka.

He said: “No Nigerianuniversity is ranked amongst

the 500 best universities in theworld today; neither is ourranking amongst Africanuniversities impressive. TheMD explained that, “the sixuniversities were selectedbased on their top positionwithin their geo-politicalzones, in the ranking by theNational UniversitiesCommission, NUC, and otherinternational bodies. Inaddition are their long-standing contributions to thedevelopment of local capacityin Nigeria, especially ingrooming notable Nigerianswho have contributed tonational development.

“All the predictions aboutNigeria’s ascent as adeveloped country will onlycome true if and when we alsotake firm steps to fix oureducational system."

CBN to sellCBN to sellCBN to sellCBN to sellCBN to sellTreasury billsTreasury billsTreasury billsTreasury billsTreasury billsworth N313bnworth N313bnworth N313bnworth N313bnworth N313bn

The Central Bank ofNigeria (CBN) said it

will sell N313.88 billionworth of treasury bills. TheCBN posted theinformation on the sale of thetreasury bills for the secondquarter of the year on its website. It said the bills wouldhave 91-day, 182-day andone year tenor and would bere-opened at the regular debtauction. The apex bankexplained that the 91-daytreasury bills would be worthN50.28billion, 182-day worthN33.27 billion and the oneyear bills were worth N63.73billion. It also said it wouldsell new bills including 91-day Treasury bill worthN33.27 billion, 182-day billsworth N50.28 billion and oneyear bills worth N83.05billion.

COREN callsCOREN callsCOREN callsCOREN callsCOREN callsforforforforforprofessionalismprofessionalismprofessionalismprofessionalismprofessionalismin buildingin buildingin buildingin buildingin buildingconstructionconstructionconstructionconstructionconstruction Kashim Ali, the President

of the Council for theRegulation of Engineeringin Nigeria (COREN), hasadvised developers to alwaysengage the services ofprofessional engineers inbuilding construction. Aligave the advice in Abuja ata send-off party for threeretired members of thecouncil. He urged the retiredmembers to continue tosupport the activities andprogrammes of the council.He said that a lot ofresearches were required toproduce mix designinformation that would guidethe construction industry.

The correct mixture ofcement would help toachieve strength of sand andconcrete used in differentgrades of cement available.

Ali said it had becomenecessary for COREN, asstakeholders, to cautionindividuals and organisationon the “misguidedutterances” on the quality ofcement in circulation in thecountry. Ali said that thequality of cement in thecountry was not responsiblefor building collapse. Hesaid the engagement ofquacks in constructions in thecountry had led to buildingcollapse and stressed theneed for professionalism.

Briefing: President, White House Group, Mr. Austin Eruotor; Principal Consultant, Rare GemConsulting UK, Miss Chinwe Maduike and Chief Executive Officer, White Waters Limited,Mr. Nsikak Daniels, during a Press conference to announce the forthcoming Foreign BusinessInvestment held in Lagos.


CMYK

Banking & Finance

Forum: Managing Director & CEO, Citibank Nigeria Limited, Mr. Omar Hafeez; (right)Executive Director/Secretary to the Board, Centre for Petroleum Information, Mr. VictorEromosele (Centre) and Board Member, Centre of Petroleum and Information, Dr. ArinzeAgbim (Left) at the justconcluded Energy Finance Conference powered by Citibank in Lagos.

Naira: Critical moment forcurrency on life support

The only basisfor a decisionto continue todefend thenaira andmaintainofficial rate atpresent level ishope, nothingbut hope thatthe price ofcrude oil willcontinue to befavourable

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BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

Today is a criticalmoment for theNaira. Its fate, at

least for the next two months,will be decided by eleveneconomic experts who meetregularly to review and takedecisions on policies thatinfluence money supply inthe Nigerian economy. Forthe past three years or so,members of the MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC) ofthe Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) have consistentlydecided to defend the naira.Though the main objective isto ensure stable prices ofgoods and services, bycurtailing the rate of increasein these prices (known asinflation rate), they reasonedthat since most of the thingswe consume in Nigeria areimported, it is critical that theamount of naira we spend toobtain a dollar (nairaexchange rate) should bestable. The belief is that if thenaira exchange rate isallowed to increase, the priceat which we buy theseimported goods will increaseand thereby increase theinflation rate.

But the amount of dollarsavailable to the country, fortransactions with other partsof the world (externalreserves) has been decliningsteadily. From a peak of $48billion last year....it droppedto $38.2 billion as at lastweek. If this trend continues,we may not have enoughdollars to import and meetother foreign obligations.When a commodity is scarceor would soon become scarce,its price will definitely go up,and people will begin tohorde the commodity eitheragainst future use, or to sellwhen the price goes up andhence make huge profit.

That is already happeningwith respect to the dollar. Individuals andorganisations are buying thedollars today for their future needs. Foreign exchangetraders are also buying to sellwhen the price (the nairaexchange rate) will be higherthan what it is today.

But the CBN has kept theprice at which it sells thedollar (naira exchange rate)or official exchange ratestable at N155.74 per dollarfor some time now, though therate at the open market on thestreet is N170 per dollar, andthe rate at which banks selldollars among themselves

(interbank rate) is N164..dollar.

The decline in the nation’sexternal reserves isunprecedented.

Since it recovered from thehuge decline promoted by theglobal financial crises in 2008,the reserves have not gonebelow $38 billion. Andwithout a sharp increase inthe price of crude oil, whichgenerates ...per cent of thenation foreign exchangerevenue, or increase involume of crude oil producedby the country (especiallycourtesy of drastic reductionin crude oil theft), inflow intothe reserves will not be

enough to offset outflow,hence the reserves willcontinue to fall.

Thus as the MPC meetstoday, its members wouldhave to decide whether tocontinue to defend the naira,and maintain the currentexchange rate or they willdecided not to defend thenaira by adjusting the officialexchange rate upward indeference to the law of demand and supply.

There is little or noconsensus among economicoperators on what should bethe decision of the MPCmembers. Most people in thebanking industry especiallyforeign exchange dealers,recommend that the MPCshould allow the naira todepreciate (lose some valueby raising the exchange rate).They argue that the focus nowshould be to protect thenation’s external reserves andnot to protect the naira. “NoNaira should be devalued,"said a senior bank treasurer,who spoke on condition ofanonymity. He believes thatthe MPC would raise theofficial rate to N165 per dollarf rom N155. A senioreconomic analyst with one ofthe banks, who does notwant his name mentioned, also routed for depreciatingthe naira. He told Vanguard,“There is a balanced outlookbetween the current efforts tosupport the naira and keepdepleting the reserves or to

preserve the reserves andmove the midpoint to N160per dollar plus/minus threeper cent. The latter will allownaira exchange rate in theinterbank to oscillate to N164.8 per dollar. Interestingly,there is a resistance aboveN165 by the CBN, and also aresistance below N164 by theoperators. Whichever is thecase, the latter option will suitall parties. Although thiscould be seen as indirectdevaluation, but it might not,if we consider that the 2014Budget benchmark is N160.”According to OpeyemiAgbaje, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of RTC ConsultingLimited, sensible policy willbe some depreciation.

There are however someexperts who believe the MPCshould maintain the policy ofdefending the naira. Theseinclude Victor Ogiemwonyin,Chief Executive ofPartnership InvestmentCompany, and SamuelDurojaiye, President FinanceHouses Association of Nigeria(FHAN).

“We cannot afford todevalue the Naira now, thenegative fallout has too manyunpredictable outcomes. Ibelieve CBN will keepsupporting the currencybecause it will cost us lessthan wholesale devaluationthat will have no end.Though, our foreign reservesare below $37b now".

FCMBsubsidiarycommencesoperations inLondon

First City MonumentBank Limited

announced it hascommenced commercialbanking operations at itsLondon subsidiary, FCMB(UK) Limited, followingapproval by the regulatoryauthorities in late 2013 tobegin wholesale deposittaking for businesses andcorporate organisations.These activities represent anexpansion of its existingstock broking and corporatefinance activities, whichcommenced in 2009.

A statement by the banksaid, FCMB (UK) Limitedhas received approval fromthe Prudential RegulationAuthority, the UK financialservices regulator, to carryout deposit taking andcommercial bankingoperations. This representsthe next step in FCMB’splans to furtherinternationalise its activitiesin the area of commercialbanking.

Mr. Ladi Balogun, theChief Executive Officer of theUK banking subsidiary ’sparent company, First CityMonument Bank, said. “Weare pleased to becommencing bankingoperations in ourUKsubsidiary."

Ecobank, MTNEcobank, MTNEcobank, MTNEcobank, MTNEcobank, MTNpartner onpartner onpartner onpartner onpartner onmobile financialmobile financialmobile financialmobile financialmobile financialservicesservicesservicesservicesservices

MTN Mobile Moneyusers, who are also

Ecobank customers in 12African countries, will soon beable to withdraw cash fromEcobank ATMs. They will alsobe able to transfer moneybetween their Mobile Moneyand Ecobank accounts.

The service was piloted inGhana last month, and willsoon be launched in Benin,Cameroon, Ivory Coast,Ghana, Guinea Bissau, theRepublic of Guinea, Liberia,Congo Brazzaville, Rwanda,South Sudan, Uganda andZambia.

MTN and Ecobank havepartnered to improve accessto mobile financial services inthe African continent. Bothpan-African multinationalshave vast experience inextending financial servicesin several of their markets,with MTN’s Mobile Moneyregistered subscriber basegrowing 57,3 per cent to 14,8million in 2013.

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Corporate Finance

Turkish assets dropped onFriday after Turkey ’s

courts blocked access toTwitter, unnerving investorsand raising uncertainty justdays before local elections.

The lira weakened to 2.2387against the dollar by 0951GMT, from 2.2371 late onThursday.

In the aftermath of thelaunch of a corruption probe,social media platforms inTurkey have been awash withalleged evidence ofgovernment wrongdoing inwhat Prime Minister TayyipErdogan has cast as a plot tounseat him before municipalpolls on March 30.

“It remains to be seenwhether (the ruling) AK Partywill benefit or suffer from theTwitter ban in the upcomingelections,” said Inan Demir,chief economist atFinansbank.

SEC won't permit wrong-doingin our market — Oteh

SEC DG, Arunma Oteh

By PETER EGWUATU &FAVOUR NNABUGWU

The Director General,Securities andE x c h a n g e

Commission, SEC, Ms.Arunma Oteh, who was aguest speaker at the recentlyconcluded annual lecture ofWomen in Business in Lagosspoke on a lot of issuesaffecting the Nigerian capitalmarket as well as issuesaffecting women’sinvestment in the capitalmarket.

Excerpts:Few years ago people lost

a lot of money in the capitalmarket. How have you beenable to stabilize the market?

I have been at this job forfour years. First and foremost, please don’t go intosomething you are notfamiliar with, the financialliteracy agenda is big. Secondand more importantly is thatas the apex regulator, we willnot permit wrong doing inour markets; we will take thenecessary steps to ensure thatpeople who do the wrongthings are brought to book.There were a lot of thingsthat were done wrong in thepast and that is a signal, sothose who are in this markettoday know that you cannotdo the wrong thing. Third isgoing back to the financialliteracy agenda. It is to reallymake sure that peopleunderstand that investingparticularly in the stockmarket is not something youdo with money that you needto feed with tomorrow. It iswhat you do with savings thatyou are going to use in thefuture and therefore therewill always be volatility in themarkets, you will not feel ashurt as if you understood thatthis money is not money thatwe need immediately. Theother thing is just to makesure that the market isdeeper, that there are manymore companies listed, that

there are other instrumentsother than equity, so thebond market is one of thethings that we havesupported.

Why are there issuesregarding the newminimum capitalrequirement?

The SEC is verycomprehensive when it doesanything. Many of you mayknow that in 2007, I had notjoined the commission butI read some of whatjournalists had written. TheSEC had asked for capitalrequirement to be raisedand that was foiled. When I

joined in 2010, as fallout ofthe global financial crisis, theSEC staff felt that we needto raise the capitalrequirement primarilybecause there wereaccusations of people sellingcustomer shares withoutauthorization, peopleholding on to the proceedsof sale and all kinds ofaccusations. So, mycolleagues were like we needan immediate response. Butbecause I was new, I wantedto study the issues; I alsowanted the circumstance tobe much easier for all of themarket participants, whether

brokers, fund managers or inwhatever capacity an operatoroperates . So I took some timeto study the issue, after doingthat, I then set up a committeethat was chaired by our thenCommissioner for Operationsand had representations fromthe Chartered Institute of StockBrokers, from the Owners ofAssociation of Stock brokingHouses of Nigeria (ASHONfrom the Nigerian StockExchange ,NSE and others.And they came up with aproposal. They completedtheir work at the end of 2012,we studied the work that theydid, and we also had aninternational expert who wasDeputy CEO of the TorontoStock Exchange comment onthat work. We reviewed itinternally, and then madeproposals on the basis of thatwork. Essentially, the issuesare first we want ourinstitutions in Nigeria to be asstrong as institutionseverywhere. As the market isevolving and we are buildinga world class, you are notgoing to be world class if youdo not build institutions. Youdo not want people to come

from outside Nigeria and takethe benefits of what ishappening in Nigeriabecause our own firms are notprepared.

The NSE is getting advisersfor demutualization. Whatrole is SEC playing in this?

On demutualization, weagree with you about theimportance to Nigeria and thatis why we started very early.If you remember in 2011, weset up an industry committeeon demutualization chaired byMr. Asue Ighodalo a wellknown corporate lawyer; theydid an excellent work whichthey made a submission to us.

Lafarge WAPCO profit up by 30% to hit N27.7bnBy PETER EGWUATU

Lafarge Cement WAPCO NigeriaPlc has recorded announced a

Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N27.7billionfor the year ended December 31, 2013.This represents a growth of 30 per centwhen compared to N21.3 billionrecorded for the corresponding periodin 2012.

Other performance indicators showthat revenue increased by 12 per centto N98.8billion for the year endedDecember 31, 2013 compared toN87.9billion for the year ended

December 31, 2012.Operating Income also increased to

N31.6billion for the year endedDecember 31, 2013 compared toN26.7billion for the year endedDecember 31, 2012, thus representingan 18 per cent increase in the yearunder review.

Profit After Tax (PAT) was N28.2billionfor the year ended December 31, 2013compared to N14.7billion for thecorresponding period in 2012; a growthof 92 per cent in the period underreview.

Reduction in the Net Finance Costfrom N5.5billion to N3.8billion was as

a result of the reduction in interestcharges due to the full repayment ofthe Naira syndicated bank loans.

Consequently the Basic Earningsper share grew from 490kobo to942kobo; a growth of 92% in the yearunder review.

Commenting on the results, theChairman, Board of Directors, ChiefOlusegun Osunkeye said “the resultsshows a steady growth anddemonstrates the strength of thecompany in delivering value toshareholders and to otherstakeholders.”

USTDA,Honeywell, sign$514,000budget for gas-based complex

BY VERA SAMUELANYAGAFU

United States Trade andDevelopment Agency

(USTDA) and NigerianHoneywell Group, havesigned a budget worth$514,000 dollars for theconstruction of a gas-basedindustrial complex to be builtin country.

The grant signingceremony officiated by USDeputy Chief of MissionMaria Brewer alongsideHoneywell Group Head,Corporate Development andInvestment, Dr. Teddy Ngu,is a part of the US efforts topromote economicdevelopment andemployment across Nigeria.

In his key note address,US Consul General, JefferyHawkins said that the US isready and willing to offersupport for Nigerianentrepreneurs and throughthe grant, Honeywell Groupwould be able to completethe feasibility study for thegas-based industrialcomplex project.

“Our goals are to ensurethat the US and Nigeriangovernment remain incommitted partnership thatwould bring aboutprogressive bi-nationalrelationship both in thetrade and investment sectoras well as other key sectorsof the two countrieseconomy”. Hawkins added.

Turkish assetsfall as Twitterban raisespolitical tension

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Sim Capital Alliance Plc 103.50 103.50 103.50 103.50 10.56 9.71Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc 20.07 21.00 956,048 15.69 10.64 0.87 18.03UBA Capital Plc 2.08 2.28 3,032,802 1.41 0.03 0.21 6.71

HEALTHCAREMedical SuppliesMorison Industries Plc 1.91 2.23 785 10.54 9.52 0.00 0.00Healthcare ProvidersUnion Diagnostics & Clinicals Services 0.50 0.50 387,550 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00

PharmaceuticalsEkocorp Plc 3.72 3.72 30 5.31 5.31 88.50Evans Medical Plc 2.22 2.22 49,814 1.45 0.70 0.19 0.00Fidson Healthcare Plc 2.83 2.81 1,084,416 3.20 0.83 0.44 3.07Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig 70.00 70.00 23,641 23.11 2.58 2.62May & Baker Nigeria Plc 1.85 1.94 278,777 5.61 3.61 0.20 9.05Neimeth International Pharm 1.60 1.60 34,200 1.96 0.95 0.09 14.13Nigeria-German Chemicals Plc 7.36 7.36 2,000 12.91 0.95 0.00 0.00Pharma-Deko Plc 1.57 1.57 354 200 4.28 0.00 0.00

ICTComputer Based SystemsCourteville Investment Plc 0.71 0.71 118,000 0.52 0.50 0.10 10.00

Computers and PeripheralsOmatek Ventures Plc 0.50 0.50 2,600 0.50 0.50 0.00 12.50

IT ServicesNCR (Nig) Plc 15.99 16.83 5,098 9.31 3.25 0.00 1.43Tripple Gee and Company Plc 1.97 2.07 360 3.59 3.25 0.01 0.00Processing SystemsChams Plc 0.50 0.50 511,000 50,000

ICTTelecommunicationsStarcomms Plc 0.50 0.50 4,000 1.47 0.50 0.00 0.00

INDUSTRIAL GOODSBuilding MaterialsAshaka Cement Plc 14.23 14.00 1,042,447 30.00 12.00 2.14 7.86Berger Paints Plc 9.01 8.56 183,627 12.57 8.10 1.09 4.97CAP Plc 45.00 45.00 6,466 43.98 15.16 2.28 8.88Cement Co. of Northern Nig. Plc 8.75 9.15 119,870 15.49 4.16 1.47 2.31Dangote Cement Plc 228.51 228.00 777,318 132.51 95.00 7.56 13.17First Aluminium Nigeria Plc 0.50 0.50 11,600 0.75 0.50 0.00 0.00DN Meyer Plc 1.41 1.28 7,016 3.51 1.02 0.00 0.00Lafarge WAPCO Plc 112.50 109.10 104,382 48.05 36.58 4.10 42.86Portland Paints & Products Nig Plc 4.41 4.19 595,377 5.28 5.11 0.44 14.19Paints & Coatings Manufacturers 1.90 1.90 10,000 3.36 0.51 0.23 2.89Premier Paints Plc 10.00 11.00 123,564 13.40 10.93 0.00 0.00

Packaging/ContainersAvon Crowncaps & Container 1.55 1.63 3,081 6.91 5.94 0.5 39.60Nigerian Bags Manufacturing Company 2.74 2.70 2,717,101 3.60 1.47 0.25 9.16

Tools and MachineryNigerian Ropes Plc 7.46 7.85 40 8.69 8.26 0.00 0.00

NATURAL RESOURCESChemicalsBOC Gases Plc 6.66 6.66 1,000 9.20 6.80 0.78 7.37

MetalsAluminium Extrusion Ind Plc 10.50 10.50 20 12.39 10.70 0.13 85.77

Non-Metalic Mineral MiningMultiverse Plc 0.50 0.50 33,333,333 0.50 0.50 0.01 0.00

Paper/Forest ProductsThomas Wyatt Nig. Plc 0.83 0.83 10 1.38 1.38 0.00 0.00

Electronic and Electrical ProductsCutix Plc 1.74 1.82 50,000 2.50 1.62 0.11 13.15Nigerian Wire & Cable Plc 0.50 0.50 200 2.58 2.58 0.00 0.00

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and SeAbbey Building Society Plc 1.44 1.44 2,000 1.51 1.33 0.03 28.80INDUSTRIAL GOODSPackaging/ContainersAbplast Products Plc 3.98 3.98 6,888 3.98 3.98 0.00 0.00Beta Glass Co. Plc 19.02 18.25 10,600 15.58 12.71 3.90 3.26Greif Nigeria Plc 12.68 12.68 10 15.03 13.97 0.90 0.00Nampak Nigeria Plc 4.30 4.30 29,198 4.30 3.60 1.22 3.52Poly Products (Nig) Plc 1.05 1.05 200 1.86 1.05 0.30 6.18Studio Press (Nig) Plc 2.92 2.78 84,311 2.92 2.92 0.07 41.71W.A. Glass Ind. Plc 0.63 0.66 2,749,340 0.63 0.63 0.00 0.00

OIL AND GASEnergy Equipment and ServicesJapaul Oil & Maritime Service 0.50 0.50 571,500 0.97 0.87 0.19 6.06

Intergrated Oil and Gas ServicesOando Plc 14.56 16.04 2,132,125 78.97 27.99 1.73 4.17

Petroleum and Petroleum ProductsAfrican Petroleum Plc 20.50 20.50 82,191 37.10 0.50 4.93 7.40Beco Petroleum Plc 0.50 0.50 2,000 0.70 0.50 0.00 0.00Conoil 51.90 51.90 16,356 5.59 3.89 0.61 6.99Forte Oil Nig Plc 93.86 93.86 111,325Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc 124.86 124.86 47,385 163.50 141.00 6.11 11.11MRS Oil Nigeria Plc 54.44 54.44 100 2,100 63.86 2.98 19.23Total Nigeria Plc 148.00 153.00 94,935 240.00 195.50 14.63 17.07

HospitalityTantalisers Plc 0.50 0.50 5,000 200 0.01

SERVICESAfromedia Plc 0.50 0.50 30 0.72 0.51 0.00 12.75Automobile/Auto Part RetailersRT Briscoe Plc 1.35 1.35 2,000 3.65 1.30 0.21 8.19

Courier/Freight/DeliveryRed Star Express Plc 4.47 4.47 45,000 3.67 2.65 0.60 4.91Trans-National 2.62 2.49 393,194 0.25 11.12Employment SolutionsC & I LEASING PLC 0.50 0.50 182,250 1.64 0.90 0.04 11.25

Hotels/LodgingCapital Hotel 4.55 4.55 1,000 400 3.00 0.34 34.09Ikeja Hotel Plc 0.63 0.63 24,500 2.07 1.33 0.92 2.12

Media/EntertainmentDaar Communications Plc 0.50 0.50 2,200 0.50 0.48 0.00 0.00

Printing & Publishing.Academy Press Plc 1.80 1.72 60,000 3.68 3.17 0.25 12.19Learn Africa Plc 1.64 1.56 602,671 0.30Studio Press Nig. Plc 2.40 2.40 1,080 0.00 0.00University Press 3.34 3.88 489,461 6.82 3.60 0.54 27.69

Road TransportationAssociated Bus Company Plc 0.91 0.93 8,000 0.80 0.50 0.00 0.00

SpecialityInterlinked Technologies Plc 4.90 4.90 1,995 5.15 4.90 0.00 0.00

Transport-Related ServicesAirline Services and Logistics Plc 2.93 2.93 15,785 2.78 1.57 0.60 4.22Nigerian Aviation Handling Company 4.73 4.96 735,889 11.75 6.50 12.53 8.75

Opening Closing Quantity Year Year P.EPrice N Price N Traded High Low E.P.S Ratio

Oil and Gas and ProductsPetroleum Prod ucts

Capital Oil Plc 0.50 0.50 5,000 0.50 0.50 0.09

1st fTier SecuritiesAGRICULTURECrop ProductionFTN Cocoa Processors Plc 0.50 0.50 353 0.50 0.50 0.10 50.00Okomu Oil Palm Plc 42.00 42.00 683 24.58 14.53 7.33 2.77Presco Plc 38.80 38.80 46,520 8.30 6.40 2.75 4.37

Livestock/Animal SpecialitiesLivestock Feeds Plc 3.38 3.23 1,965,834 0.66 0.48 0.11 15.00

CONGLOMERATESDiversified IndustriesA.G. Levents Nigeria Plc 1.34 1.34 55,350 2.54 1.45 0.16 5.18Chellarams Plc 3.95 3.95 4,500 7.60 6.43 0.31 20.74John Holt Plc 1.21 1.21 1,796 8.82 5.89 0.00 0.00SCOA Nigeria Plc 5.06 5.32 5 8.28 5.52 0.35 15.77Transnational Corporation 3.78 3.98 11,635,850 1.82 0.50 0.24 3.64UACN Plc 58.90 59.99 518,704 42.50 28.70 6.89 4.14

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATEBuilding Construction/StructureARBICO Plc 5.30 5.30 31,443 4 20Constain (WA) Plc 1.33 1.27 384,466 2,720,390.38

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATENon-Building/Heavy ConstructionJulius Berger Nig Plc 75.00 75.00 9,133 62.26 32.96 4.11 10.11Roads Nigeria Plc 8.46 8.46 125,934 8.28 3.01 4.73 2.26

Real Estate DevelopmentUACN Property Development 19.75 19.25 20,750 20.15 11.59 1.69 7.33

Real Estate Investment TrustsSkye Shelter Funds 100.00 100.00 250 100.00 97.00 11.75 8.51Union Homes Real Estate Investment 50.00 50.00 20 - - - -

CONSUMER GOODSAutomobile/Auto PartsDN Tyres & Rubber Plc 0.50 0.50 50,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00

Beverages-Brewers/DistillersChampion Breweries Plc 14.51 14.51 2,000 4.63 2.23 0.00 0.00Guinness Nigeria Plc 165.00 163.85 921,518 255.00 186.00 9.95 19.98International Breweries Plc 24.00 23.14 300,787 7.10 5.23 0.41 16.29Nigerian Brew Plc 146.00 152.89 2,649,897 100.00 72.50 5.08 22.22Premier Breweries Plc 0.77 0.77 10,000 1.01 0.93 0.00 0.00

Beverages-Non-Alcoholic7-UP Bottling Company Plc 91.00 91.00 184,638 51.49 ,39.00 2.69 13.92

Food ProductsDangote Flour Mills Plc 8.99 8.99 213,915 19.90 4.31 0.00 16.91Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc 8.80 8.81 6,020,789 16.20 4.02 0.91 14.38Flour Mills Nigeria Plc 74.50 67.25 885,698 95.00 57.00 4.09 16.89Honeywell Flour Mill Plc 3.65 3.70 470,952 6.60 2.31 0.39 16.92National Salt Co. Nig Plc 11.48 12.00 239,392 6.70 3.80 1.01 5.75UTC Nigeria Plc 0.54 0.56 137,422 0.88 0.50 1.13 8.83

Food Products-- DiversifiedCadbury Nigeria Plc 78.00 78.00 291,344 37.27 8.33 1.35 27.61Nestle Nigeria Plc 958.80 973.00 216,547 840.10 400.00 25.43 32.84

Household DurablesNigerian Enamelware Plc 32.27 32.27 60 36.19 33.96 13.89 2.44Vitafoam Nig. Plc 4.11 4.11 37,450 5.54 2.91 0.61 7.07Vono Products Plc 1.66 1.66 2,000 2.88 2.88 0.00 0.00

Personal/Household ProductsPZ Cussons Nigeria Plc 32.30 30.69 1,482,271 41.02 21.02 0.82 4.39Unilever Nigeria Plc 45.00 45.10 756,618 47.39 27.60 1.44 32.91

FINANCIAL SERVICESBankingAccess Bank Plc 7.60 7.61 23,856,692 12.39 4.70 1.42 8.73Diamond Bank Nigeria Plc 6.50 6.50 6,655,042 7.51 1.92 0.90 8.34Ecobank Transnational Incorporated 13.25 13.38 1,667,183 14.04 9.90 2.81 5.00Fidelity Bank Plc 2.01 2.15 2,643,320 3.47 1.13 0.43 7.93First City Monument Bank Plc 4.75 4.75 865,336 5.70 2.90 0.00 0.00Guaranty Trust Bank Plc 25.00 25.65 57,919,849 26.09 13.02 2.10 12.39Skye Bank Plc 3.40 3.57 3,992,600 6.50 2.65 0.71 9.15Sterling Bank Plc 2.22 2.22 4,575,912 3.05 0.80 0.54 5.43UBA Plc 6.99 7.10 40,619,528 7.69 1.64 0.67 11.19Union Bank Nig. Plc 10.00 10.00 568,435 10.60 2.34 0.00 0.00Unity Bank Plc 0.50 0.50 46,285 1.22 0.50 0.00 0.00Wema Bank Plc 0.98 1.02 3,154,339 1.75 0.52 1.34 0.43Zenith Bank Plc 20.79 22.00 56,415,431 21.49 11.96 2.09 10.24

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and SectorAfrican Alliance Insurance 0.50 0.50 500,380 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00AIICO Insurance Plc 0.80 0.84 1,755,953 1.11 0.50 0.50 22.20Continental Reinsurance Plc 1.00 0.96 904,691 1.03 0.58 0.14 6.79Cornerstone Insurance Company 0.50 0.50 3,278,858 0.54 0.50 0.02 27.30Consolidated Hallmark Insurance 0.50 0.50 30,000 0.50 0.50 0.50 10.00Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc 2.00 2.06 9,054,578 2.44 1.08 0.28 7.43Equity Assurance Plc 0.50 0.50 32,000 0.50 0.50 0.01 50.00Goldlink Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 93,000 0.68 0.50 0.00 0.00Great (Nig) Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 2,750 0.50 0.50 0.03 16.67Guinea Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 2,000 0.50 0.50 0.01 50.00International Energy Insurance Plc 0.57 0.56 1,681,525 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Investment and Allied Assurance 0.50 0.50 1,670,890 0.50 0.50 0.02 25.00LASACO Assurance Plc 0.50 0.50 500 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 3,200 0.60 0.50 0.00 0.00Linkage Assurance Plc 0.50 0.50 10,000 0.50 0.50 0.03 16.67Mansard Insurance Plc 2.04 2.10 2,781,400 2.59 1.06 0.16 16.19Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc 0.50 0.50 40,000 0.54 0.50 0.00 0.00NEM Insurance Co. (Nig) Ltd 0.74 0.74 1,179,900 0.81 0.50 0.37 2.19Niger Insurance Co. Plc 0.50 0.50 10,000 0.61 0.50 0.02 26.00OASIS Insurance Plc. 0.56 0.58 1,500,693 0.50 0.50 0.03 16.67Prestige Assurance Co. Plc 0.58 0.56 102,444 1.01 0.50 0.06 15.50Regency Alliance Insurance 0.50 0.50 200 0.50 0.50 0.04 12.50Sovereign Trust Insurance 0.50 0.50 1,000 0.56 0.50 0.09 5.65Staco Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 1,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Standard Alliance Insurance 0.50 0.50 3,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00UNIC Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 1,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Unity Kapital Plc 0.50 0.50 2,000 0.50 0.50 0.02 25.00Universal Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 21,600 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Wapic Insurance Plc 0.68 0.71 6,460,781 1.08 0.50 0.07 15.43

Microfinance BanksFortis Micro-Finance Bank Plc 6.60 6.60 4,100 6.00 0.00 0.04 150.00

NPF Micro-Finance Bank Plc 0.71 0.74 443,942 1.18 0.92 0.92 10.56Mortgage Carrier, Broker and SectorAbbey Building SOC 1.35 1.35 500 1.57 1.37 0.19 47.6 7Aso Savings and Loans Plc 0.50 0.50 2,177,655 0.50 0.50 0.02 25.00Resort Savings & Loans Plc 0.50 0.50 20 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Union Homes Savings Plc 0.50 0.50 109,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00

Other Financial InstitutionsAfrica Prudential Plc 2.63 2.78 4,535,971 0.75 0.00 0.19 9.16Crusader (Nigeria) Plc 0.50 0.50 22,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc 0.99 0.99 500 2.02 2.02 0.00 0.00FBN Holdings Plc 11.99 12.45 23,083,714 20.00 8.57 2.03 9.85Nigeria Energy Sector Fund 552.20 552.20 250 552.20 12.68 43.55Royal Exchange Assurance 0.61 0.61 30,000 0.78 0.50 0.13 6.00

Opening ClosingPrice Price Quantity Year Year P.E.

Company (N) (N) Traded High Low E.P.S. Ratio

Capital Market Daily Stock Market Report as at Friday, March 21, 2014


CMYK

Micro-FinanceCommodity index

Mar 14-Mar 20, 2014

The Federalgovernment has

disclosed plans to set upNational Council onPublic Procurement(NCPP) to enhance bestpractices.

Speaking during theAnnual Conference/Award Dinner of theChartered Institute ofPurchasing and SupplyManagement of Nigeria(CIPSMN) with theme:“Mainstreaming TheProcurement Practice InNigeria: Its ImplicationOn The TransformationAgenda Of The FederalGovernment,” SenatorPius Ayim, said that thecouncil will beinaugurated as soon asthe militating barriersare removed.

Ayim assured theinstitute that theg o v e r n m e n tacknowledges itscomment, stating, “Thisis a sign that theinstitute is veryproactive. Let me alsoassure you thatGovernment iscommitted and on thesame page with you onthis subject and isworking assiduously toresolve one or two issuesmilitating against theinauguration of thecouncil.

A cross section of student of Education District 1, Agege, during theInstitute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria’s “Catch the Young”programme in Lagos.

Consumer right not observedin Nigeria —CPCStories byPROVIDENCE OBUH

The ConsumerP r o t e c t i o nCouncil (CPC)

has said that consumer’sright is not observed inthe country.

Head of CPC, LagosOffice, Mr. TamTamunokonbia, said thisat the World ConsumerRight Protection Dayheld in computer villagewith the theme: “Fix yourphone right.”

Tamunokonbia said,“Consumer right is notobserved in Nigeriawhere there should bevalue for money on everyproduct purchased orservice rendered.”

He said that theliteracy level in thecountry is notencouraging, given thatso many people whocome to complain do nothave e-mails.

According to him, “Ouractivities are not limitedto road shows alone butwe do it once in a year.It is sensitization thatdrives the message morethan enforcement, withenforcement you canscatter a place and intwo weeks they are back,but if we sensitize thepublic and Nigerians areno more buying theproduct, you will seethat they also will be outof the market, we believein sensitization and notjust road shows.

“Our job depends onthorough investigation,people do notunderstand the role ofthe CPC, we are not forfood and drugs,computers and phones,not just appliances, butservices as well.

“Government at all

levels and regulatoryagencies shouldunderstand the role ofCPC. We have come upwith a bill of right for theconsumer, for example, ifyour flight is delayed atthe airport, at some pointyou are suppose to begiven accommodation bythe airline, if your flight

is delayed for one hour,you are suppose to begiven snacks and drinksat the airport.

“The law stipulates thatCPC must enforce everylaw that protects theconsumer, which is whywe are working out acompendium for theaviation industry.

FG to set up council onpublic procurement

“Once the issues areresolved, I can assureyou, the Council will bei n a u g u r a t e dimmediately. This maycome even sooner thanyou have envisaged.

“Procurement is centralto good governance andgood governance willnaturally lead totransformation, which iswhy government hascontinued to support theBPP in the discharge oftheir responsibilities.

“Even though a lot ofprogress has been madein the ongoingprocurement reforms, alot of work still needs tobe done. Governmentwill not hesitate toinvoke all the sanctionprovisions of the publicprocurement act 2007against any public officeror contractor orconsultant whocontravenes anyprovisions of the law,” hesaid.

To this end, he urgedthe institute to prevail onall its members involvedin the publicprocurement process,saying that they conductthemselves with thehighest sense ofr e s p o n s i b i l i t y ,accountability, ethicsand integrity.


CMYK

Interview

John Obaro is the ManagingDirector/Chief Executive,Systemspec Limited, an

indigenous I.T firm that developedRemita, an information technologyplatform used by the banks, federalgovernment and some states for e-payment, e-collection and e-payroll.In this interview, during a conferenceon, Winning Big With E-Payment,organised by the company, Obarospoke on the state of the e-paymentindustry in Nigeria and the role ofRemita in future of the industry.Excerpts

What is your assessment of e-payment in Nigeria presently?

Our assessment is that it issomething that has placed Nigeriawhere we have something to offer tothe world. Especially in the area ofcorporate payment, I personally willbe interested in entering into acompetition with any country that hasbeen able to achieve the kind ofthings we have been able to achievehere in Nigeria. I mean we have avery efficient platform now and it’sproven. Many other countries did nothave the kind of problem that we havesuffered from, and they were not asdesperate to come up with solutionsthat we were forced to come up with.

What is the connection betweenRemita and the cashless policy?

Remitter is an e-payment platformand for quite a while now, we havebeen propagating the gospel that webelieve to a large extent that we canminimise the use of cash but at somepoint in the future I believe the societycan operate without the physical cash.With the kind of rate at whichtechnology is moving, I easily see aday ahead when the society an easilyoperate without cash but at this pointin time what Remitter does is promotepayment electronically, paperless. Forquite a while, we say each time youhand-write a cheque, just know thatremitter could do the same for you.We can encourage people to stophandwriting cheque, use their mobiledevice or computer; they would havethe same thing the cashless way. Thatis where Remita comes in. We wantto reduce people’s need forhandwriting cheque, we want toreduce the need to make paymentusing physical cash.

I heard it said that an individual candecide not to write cheque, can youexpatiate on that?

As I said, our objective is that we donot want to see cash; we don’t wantto see cheques. We believe thesethings can be done in an electronicmanner both from a corporateperspective where you have jointsignatories and from an individualperceptive. An individual can insteadof writing cheques to his father ormother, send an electronic cheque toachieve the same thing. What we haveon our screen is to make it look likethe image of a physical cheque, justcomplete the necessary details aswould have in handwriting a cheque.You achieve the same goalelectronically, you monitor thetransaction yourself even from ahistorical perspective. So even thoughyou are an individual, you will be ableto see all the cheques you have issuedover the last ten years for instance.

Out next challengcashless to paper—Systemspec CEO

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What’s more especially forindividuals, is that they can givestanding order payments. For theirroutine payment, they don’t have tokeep writing a cheque all the time.You just have to write one and thesystem remembers at every recurringdate of the mandate. So, yesindividuals can use it hand-write acheque normally or to issue standingorder payments to clients.

Remita has evolved over the lastseven years; can you trace thechallenges you have faced so far?

The first challenge is that theoriginal project that we intended toaddress in 2005 didn’t quite work outbecause the focus of the PensionOffice then was different. But becausewe had developed what we knew wasa very successful application, we thenhad to redirect the application to focuson payment. Thank God that hasproved to be successful. Now we cando not just payment but we have beenable to get on board to Pension FundsAdministrators (PFAs) and part of thesignificant sums of money are paidtoday through Remita to the pensionindustry. So the first major challengewe had was that all our transactionswere going through the switch andwe had challenges because of thevolume we were simultaneouslytrying to pass through the switch. Thisis because this switch was designedprimarily to serve individualcustomers who want to do onetransaction at a time. They maybemany but they do it one at a time asagainst where we started which wassalary processing and you need to payfifty to one hundred thousand peopleat once through the same file. So wewere having quite some technologyissues. That led us to start thinkingof an alternative approach to the sameproblem and that’s how we ended upcreating the non-switch model. Thisinvolved a lot of technology thinkingand accounting knowledge to be ableto arrive at that model. That’s onemajor challenge we had along theway.

The second challenge we had wasbecause of the way the non switchmodel worked. It has advantages anddisadvantages. One advantage is easeof deployment. Any bank can come onboard, and within one to two hoursyou can set up a new bank ormicrofinance bank, electronic purse orwhatever. The disadvantage was thatsome banks having set up theapplication and it was working did nottake it to our recommended next levelwhich was a full system integrationwith their banking application to do astraight through process. Now that hastaken awhile to resolve but happilyas at today we have about twentybanks that have completed thisstraight through process which meansthat we will now have a far moreefficient processing platform. Anotherchallenge we had was that havingbrought in payroll and all thatfeatures that makes life easier forcustomers and because we tend towork with banks, they would haveagreed some fixed amounts withcustomers and no matter what youcome up with after that, they nowexpect you to reduce your own priceto match whatever random number

you have promised whoever. Thoseare the challenges but we willcontinue to educate that for you tohave premium platforms, you need toinvest in technology financially.

How were you able to convinceNigeria Interbank Settlement System(NIBSS) to the level that they nowtrust you and now want to replace

all of their major software with Remita?I can say that any assignment we are given,

we put our heads into it and make sure itsucceeds. This is because the track record ofRemita in the industry is gradually gainingtraction. Initially people ignored us anddidn’t think that we will succeed. But in timewe have succeeded, especially when we hadthe federal government’s mandate inJanuary, 2012. One of the reasons why theproject succeeded was because those who didnot want it to succeed were so carried awaythat it would not succeed and they just leftus to sink but by God’s grace it has become avisible success to everybody. And because thishas succeeded, it opened the door for moreinterests in what we are doing. And as youare aware, NIBSS has also had a change inleadership, a change in vision and they areequally interested in coming up with industrywide solutions that would add to theefficiency of not only the banking communitybut the economy as a whole. Having seenwhat we are doing, it became very easy forus to talk together and arrive at a partnershipto creating a platform of leapfrogging in termsof efficiency both for the banks and the usercommunity. Hopefully in the coming weeks,the market will be hearing more of what weare doing with NIBSS.

How ready are you for the government,given the plans that it has for e-project thisyear to which you are connected with all ofthem?

One advantageis ease ofdeployment.Any bank cancome on board,and within oneto two hours youcan set up a newbank ormicrofinancebank, electronicpurse orwhatever

John Obaro ...what Remitter does is promote payment electronically, paper


CMYK

Interview

ge is to move fromrless transactions

EO

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One thing that has distinguished us overthe years is that you cannot associate us withany failed project. Having committed to anyproject, if we have to do it at a loss, we do itat a loss, because having committed to theproject we put our neck into it until it issuccessful and in line with our regionalmandate. One thing that God has blessed thiscompany with is very intelligent andenthusiastic workforce which you would haveseen in your interaction with them at variouslevels. That apart, we believe in the passionthat we have in the organisation, that anyassignment we are given, we will deliver.Even for Nigeria, our country, it’s a visioncome true, being given the privilege todeliver those things. So by God’s grace wewill not fail. Where we may have problem isif for some reasons some individuals try tofrustrate this project. We have had two orthree unpleasant situations in the past wherebecause of the level of corruption in thecountry, some people deliberately do not wantthis type of project to succeed. Unfortunatelywe do not always have an answer to confrontthat, because we would rather work in thesociety than succumb to practices that destroyour 22 years investment in this technology.So to your question, if we are ready, yes, weare very ready and by God’s grace we willsucceed.

Which of the factors, ranging fromopportunity, competence to political will, hasmost helped Remita to succeed in the past

seven years?I am not sure I know the difference

between opportunity and competencebecause you may have thecompetence and may not be given theopportunity. On the other hand, youmay have the opportunity and may notdeliver. Also, if you have the

opportunity and do not have thecompetence, you are bound to fail. Somaybe I would put the two of them atthe same place. Thank God we havethe competence and platform, so whenwe had the opportunity it was veryeasy for us to deliver. Political will,unfortunately we don’t do too wellbecause we are a technology firm, weenjoy technology and we have focusedon technology to come up withexcellent and usable technology. Sowhile spending time to developtechnology, I wouldn’t say we haveenough time to develop what youwould require as political will. So inthat order I will say competence,opportunity and then political will.

Being a wholly Nigerian product,what are your plans to take it outsidethe country to sell it to the world andhas there been any competition fromany foreign solution whatsoever?

Like you rightly mentioned, theissue of opportunity comes in and Ibelieve we must prepare to meetopportunity so that when theopportunity comes we would at leastbe able to recognize it. And that’swhat we are trying to do, develop theproduct, now we are here, we arelooking for the opportunity and oneof the reasons we brought this toGhana is to begin to psychologicallyprepare the people. Beyond thehuman managers, Remita too canmove into other countries.

Looking at the way Remita has beenaccepted, where it is going, I am verysure that many people may be havingthe concern that so much of thenation’s payment infrastructure isrelying on this solution. They alsomight want to ask, even yourself, doyou ever think that you are assumingso much responsibility in thecountry’s e-payment space?

As far as we are concerned, thewhole of Nigeria is still one customer.When we have covered maybe thirtyto forty countries, maybe I would thenbe able to think about the questionyou raised. In other words, the Nigeriamarket, it’s a computer that’s runningit, and we are not scared in any way

of the volume and we believe that withwhat we have, we will be able toaddress the issues on ground. Part ofour immediate dreams is how to movebeyond the borders of Nigeria, so weare actually not scared by what wehave on ground now. The otherquestion of what people might say, Iwould say it’s about time we beganto have confidence in ourselves andif a whole nation that can give theiridentity to another, we don’t have todo that. Many of the things that wehave done in this country, we give itto foreigners, that question does notcome out, why is it that when it is anindigenous company that wesuddenly become aware that its onecompany. I think we need to movebeyond that and develop confidencein ourselves as a people. Nobodygave us a chance for this project toget to where it was and there are anumber of projects that foreign friendshave moved into that failed and localfriends have moved in andsucceeded. So I believe thatSystemspec will set that track recordas a company that the nation can feelcomfortable with.

What was your real objective whenyou were designing this e-paymentconference?

The reason is that Remita has beenproven to be a reliable solution, veryeasy to use, set up and operate on acontinuous basis. Having establishedthat it works through interaction withthe customers, we want to reallycreate the awareness for people toknow, because there is no use havingsuch a fantastic solution if the marketis not aware of it. And to get to themarket we believed that one of thefactors would be to work through thebanks who already have accounts ofsome of these customers and that iswhy we said let’s organize aprogramme like this, take the bankersto a place where they cannot be easilydistracted and have their attention.This is so that together we can lookat the solution, understand theproduct better, and they will take itto their customers.

From all the discussions and theinteraction and feedback, whatwould you say is your major takehome from the banks?

My major take home is a clearreconfirmation that there is a gap inthe Nigerian market. We have asolution that clearly addresses theneeds that we set out to resolve andwe knew the enthusiasm on the partof the banks. So all and all, I amoptimistic that the solution has metthe market and now we will just moveon to delivery.

Is this particular event going tobecome a recurring decimal in thehistory of Remita?

That is our dream. Periodically weshould be able to meet with ourprincipal partners and channels andunderstand the direction of theindustry in case we are missing outon anything and continue to createoptimal environment to support theirown operations. Our target is to doeverything we can, gather informationfrom where can including the usercommunity on how to continue tooperate on our platform. We lookforward to a yearly event.

Nobody gave usa chance for thisproject to get towhere it was andthere are anumber ofprojects thatforeign friendshave moved intothat failed andlocal friendshave moved inand succeeded

rless

John Obaro


CMYK

Homes & Housing Finance

Stories byYINKA KOLAWOLE

Lagos Stategovernment is setto introduce new

building regulations thatwill ensure that engineersand architects put their sealon their drawings and giveletters of indemnity onbuildings they handle.

Under the regulations,aimed at stopping thescourge of collapsedbuildings in the state,professionals would beheld if buildings undertheir charge collapse.

This was revealed by theGeneral Manager, LagosState Building ControlAgency (LASBCA), Dr. K.A. Animashaun-Odunayo,at a stakeholders’ town hallmeeting in Ikorodu aimedat ensuring a saferenvironment in the state.Participants at the meetingincluded officials ofLASBCA, chairmen ofIkorodu local governmentand other Local CouncilDevelopment Areas(LCDAs), executives ofvarious artisans groups,block makers, andCommunity DevelopmentAssociations.

Animashaun-Odunayosaid the rate at whichbuildings were falling inthe state was regrettable,adding that government isconcerned about thedevelopment. She notedthat some of the incidentswere caused by the use ofsub-standard buildingmaterials, non-qualifiedartisans and “pseudo-

Building collapse: Lagos tBuilding collapse: Lagos tBuilding collapse: Lagos tBuilding collapse: Lagos tBuilding collapse: Lagos to mako mako mako mako makeeeeeprofessionals accountableprofessionals accountableprofessionals accountableprofessionals accountableprofessionals accountable

professionals” in theindustry.

“This stakeholders meetinghas become imperative in thesense that rainy season isaround and we normallywitness collapse of buildingsduring this period, hence, theneed to sentisise our peopleon what to do and what not

to do,” she said.According to her, it has

become mandatory forbuilders to involve the agencyfrom the beginning ofconstruction to the end toensure that requiredspecifications were followed,and ensure its quality, addingthat every stage of

construction must be certified.She further stated that it has

become mandatory that onlyregistered artisans, such asplumbers, electricians, mason,and others are involved inbuilding construction.Besides, she said contractorshandling such project mustprovide insurance, not onlyfor the building, but also forthe workers, who may sustaininjury.

Osun State government has eased theprocess of issuing Certificates of

Occupancy (C-of-O) to land owners withthe aim of attracting investors to the state.

Commissioner for Lands and PhysicalPlanning, Mr. Muyiwa Ige, said the stategovernment was ready to issue C-of-O towould-be investors in a day as part of itscommitment to lure investors to come tothe state.

“Unlike before, we are now making iteasier for people to get the Certificate ofOccupancy on their land and the processhas been simplified. The process has beensimplified and we can even issue the C-of-O in one day, especially if the land ismeant for investment,” he said.

According to the commissioner, theadministration is opening up a newGovernment Reservation Area at the backof the state secretariat, which will becalled the Oranmiyan New Town. He saidthe new GRA would afford those who did

Osun eases C-of-O issuance to attract investorsOsun eases C-of-O issuance to attract investorsOsun eases C-of-O issuance to attract investorsOsun eases C-of-O issuance to attract investorsOsun eases C-of-O issuance to attract investorsnot dream of owning houses in goodlocations the opportunity to do so, addingthat the area would be opened up verysoon.

Ige said that the ultimatum given toowners of empty plots of land at the GRAin Osogbo injected nothing less than N3.8billion into the state’s economy. He saidthat the GRA had been fully allocatedbefore Governor Rauf Aregbesola cameinto office but that the land was notdeveloped by many allottees.

He said a six-month ultimatum wasissued to the land owners to either developtheir plots or forfeit them to thegovernment. According to him, many ofthe owners immediately started erectingstructures on the land and about 215houses sprang up. “We gave them sixmonths to build and a few of them startedbuilding. About 215 houses were builtfollowing the ultimatum and N3.8 billionentered into the local economy,” he said.

The Federal CapitalTerritory (FCT)

administration hasinaugurated a 14-memberWhite Paper committee toadvise it on whether or not tocontinue with the masshousing scheme in theterritory.

The mass housing initiativewas introduced in 2000 tofacilitate provision of

FCT inaugurates committee on mass housingaffordable houses to meet theincreasing housing demandoccasioned by the populationupsurge in the territory.

But implementationchallenges which confrontedthe initiative prompted thesetting up of a Ministerialcommittee in October 2011 toexamine the issues with aview to making appropriaterecommendations for

improved service delivery inthe sector. The committeesubmitted its report to the FCTadministration forconsideration and furtheraction.

It was on this basis that the14-member committee wasinaugurated to look examinethe document and makerecommendations with a viewto giving the FCT MassHousing Scheme thecharacter it desires inconformity with the AbujaMaster Plan.

Inaugurating thecommittee, FCT PermanentSecretary, John Chukwu, saidthe move is aimed atrevolutionising the Abujamass housing sector. He saidthat part of the terms ofreference of the committee isto critically examine theconclusions andrecommendations of theministerial committee, as itguided the provisions of masshousing developmentguidelines for FCT;guidelines for finalengineering design ofinfrastructure for the FederalCapital City (FCC) andSatellite Towns; FCTdevelopment control manualas well as generateconclusions that willrepresent the position of theFCT Administration.

UK’s Februarymortgage lendingleaps 43%

Gross mortgagelending in the UK

increased by 43 percent in theyear to February, accordingto the latest data from banksand buildings societies,underlining the turnaroundin the housing market overthe past 12 months.

Despite a seasonal dip,which saw lending drop 6percent on January’s figure,the Council of MortgageLenders said its membershad recorded their strongestFebruary performance since2008. A total of £15.2 billionwas advanced over themonth, down from £16.1billion in January, but up onthe £10.6 billion of theprevious February.

It is now a year since thechancellor announced theHelp to Buy scheme in his2013 budget, underpinninga pick-up in housing marketactivity which began with thelaunch of the government’sFunding for Lendingscheme. Help to Buy, the firstpart of which was extendedto offer loans on newbuildhomes until 2020, has givenbuyers increased access to 95percent mortgages, andhelped first-time buyers toenter the market.

US mortgage ratesnear record low

Average US rates onfixed mortgages

declined last week, edgingcloser to historically lowlevels. Mortgage buyerFreddie Mac said that theaverage rate for the 30-yearloan fell to 4.32 percent from4.37 percent recorded in theprevious week. The averagefor the 15-year mortgageeased to 3.32 percent from3.38 percent.

Mortgage rates have risenabout a full percentage pointsince hitting record lowsroughly a year ago. Theincrease was driven byspeculation that the FederalReserve would reduce its $85billion-a-month bondpurchases, which havehelped keep long-terminterest rates low.

Deeming the economy tobe gaining strength, the Fedannounced in December andJanuary - and again lastweek - that it was reducingits monthly bond purchases.The Fed said after its latesttwo-day policy meeting thateven after it raises short-terminterest rates, the job marketstrengthens and inflationrises, the central bank expectsits benchmark short-term rateto stay unusually low.

•Development of affordable housing


CMYK

Insurance

Families of policevictims of thesecurity situation in

the country, particularly inthe North, have not really feltthe impact of loss of lovedones because insurance havebeen responsive to theirplight.

Commissioner forInsurance, Mr. Fola Daniel,who stated this, noted thatthe families have not reallyfelt the impact becauseinsurance claim settlementability has significantlyimproved.

Daniel said, “If you look atthe Nigerian Police claims for2012, as a result of theunfortunate incident that ison-going in the North-East ofNigeria, you could see thatthere has been an upsurge inclaims by the police and thearmed forces. Can youimagine if claims were notsettled, the kind of securitysituation we would behaving? People have losttheir dear ones; they shouldnot be made to suffer. Theyshould not be made to cryagain because they have shedall the tears. The insuranceindustry has been veryresponsive. “

“Also, the Dana crash wasa very big claim. At a time,there were technical hiccupssufficient for some insuranceentity to say we walk awayfrom this business. Insurancepractitioners are not justbusinessmen; they arenationalists, Nigerians,human beings. We sattogether and we said, yes weknow technicalities you candeploy to do this work, wehave lost more people; theinternational community islooking at us, let us rise tothe occasion and I am very

From left: Chairman Activities Committee, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, CIIN,Mr. Shakiru Oyefeso, Chairman of the Occasion, Hon. Lanre Laoshe and the CIIN President,Mr. Fatai Lawal during the 2014 Miss Insurance Dance recently organised by the CIIN.

InsurerInsurerInsurerInsurerInsurers responsivs responsivs responsivs responsivs responsive te te te te to victims ofo victims ofo victims ofo victims ofo victims ofsecurity incidents — security incidents — security incidents — security incidents — security incidents — NAICOMNAICOMNAICOMNAICOMNAICOM

Stories byROSEMARY ONUOHA

happy about what I amabout to say: the claim hasbeen dealt with satisfactorily.Those who have genuinereasons to disagree, we areable to persuade them andsay please let us not deploytechnicalities, we are notgoing to win the argument ifthey call for public opinion,”Daniel stated.

Daniel said that all of thepositive initiatives takingplace in the insurance sectorare meant to entrenchconsumers’ confidence,adding “We also recognisethat even if insurancecompanies have all the cash,some people might still be

needed or might still need tokeep some people out of oldhabits. And so, we said nowthat there is money, what dowe do? We need toreinvigorate our claims tocomplaint bureau which isdedicated to take complaintsfrom members of the public.”

The insuranceCommissioner said that theNigerian InsurersAssociation, NIA,ombudsman the complaintbureau established byNAICOM are working well.

With the no premium nocover mandate of NAICOM,Daniel said that insurancecompanies lost few

businesses thoughinsignificant, but on balance,they had more money attheir disposal.

“Now that insurancecompanies’ have more moneyat their disposal, I can wieldthe big stick because if yougo to the mortuary to flogdead bodies, you aredissipating energy, even Godwill be angry. Why shouldyou do that to the dead? WhatI am saying is that if aninsurance company is broke,if they do not have money atall, I am not required tocancel their licence from dayone, I just look at the gaps,you have insolvency margin,liquidity squeeze; the lawrequires that I give them 60days to make good thatdeficit. Can you imaginewhat damage would havebeen done to people whohave suffered losses and thenyou wait for 60 days beforethey find more money? “

“In practice, those 60 daysis not doable because thereare other regulators thatwould be involved. So really,when you say 60 days,literally, you are talking ofabout five to six months. A lotof damage would have beendone. We now have asituation where companieshave enough cash and theycan pay. It is no longerbeating a dead body. If Iknock at your door, you knowthat I know you have moneyand you will pay. That moneyyou put in a fixed deposit,quickly you will terminate itso I don’t make a public showof you,” Daniel stated.

The Florida Department ofFinancial Services, Chief

Financial Officer, Jeff Atwaterannounced the arrest of DavidGlincher, 47, of Weston oncharges of theft, white collarcrime and fraud for allegedlyfiling car insurance claims onbehalf of consumers who wereeither unaware of the filingsor never received claimpayouts. The Department ofFinancial Services’ Division ofInsurance Fraud workedalongside the BrowardCounty State Attorney toreveal an elaborate schemetargeting more than 270victims. “I am proud of ourinvestigators’ work to stopthis fraudster from takingadvantage of any moreFloridians,” said CFOAtwater. Insurance frauddrives up costs for allFloridians, and we will notallow it to continue.” Glincherallegedly sent letters tovictims of traffic accidents andencouraged them to file claimsthrough his company, AutoLoss Claims Consultants,LLC (ALCC). Regardless ofwhether the victim completedthe claim form or discarded it,claims were still filed andfunds were paid to ALCC byvarious insurance companieswithout the knowledge of thevictims.

Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers raisesawareness on service channels

Stanbic IBTC PensionManagers Limited, has

commenced an awarenesscampaign that will bringpension services to thedoorsteps of existing andpotential customers viamultiple service channels.

Apart from its offices dottedacross the country, the PFAlisted other service channelsavailable to customers toinclude the website, mobileapp, online chat, email, SMSShortcode, mobile offices andStanbic IBTC Bank ATMs.Others are the 24-hourmultilingual call centre,Stanbic IBTC Bank branchesand selected branches ofZenith Bank.

Chief Executive of Stanbic

IBTC Pension ManagersLimited, Dr. Demola Sogunle,in confirming kickoff of thecampaign, which will run onradio, television, and press,described it as another way todeliver value to customers byproviding more choices forthem to interact with the PFA.

“Our central objective inlaunching this awarenessdrive is to enhanceconvenience and accessibilityby providing our customerswith the choice to engageStanbic IBTC PensionManagers the way theyprefer. This is in line with ourcommitment to respond to theever-changing preferencesand needs of our customers

by deploying theappropriate tools andtechnology,” Sogunle stated

Sogunle listed benefitsaccruable to customers fromthe initiative to include easyaccess, time saving, comfort,and professional assistanceand customized pensionsolutions and building robustlong-term relationships.

The Stanbic IBTC PensionManagers mobile office,which was launched lastyear, has proven arevolutionary initiative, DrSogunle emphasized, aspension services are broughtto the doorsteps ofcustomers and prospectivecustomers alike.

Businesstodayonline holdsmaiden insuranceawards

Businesstoday Online, aNigerian Business news

website has concluded plansto hold its maiden edition ofBusinesstoday Insuranceaward 2013.

According to statement bythe Publisher/editorBusinesstoday Newsonline,Nkechi Naeche, the awardwhich is going to be a yearlyevent will help to refocus theindustry for betterperformance and enable theindustry to be a leading voicein the financial sector in thecountry.

She said that the award isaimed at recognizinginsurance companies thathave distinguishedthemselves in 2013 and havecontributed immenselytowards deepening ofinsurance in the country.

She added that the awardis in five categories whichwill be contested byunderwriting and brokingfirms who believed they havedone very well in thesecategories.

Florida manaccused ofdefrauding morethan 270


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ECOBANK TransnationalIncorporated hasannounced the departure

of Group Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Mr Thiery Tanoh witheffect from March 12, 2014..”PUNCH, March 12, 2014 p 29. The report by Oyetunji Abioye,also said that “SECinvestigated the lender after doRego [the Group ExecutiveDirector of Finance and Risk]told the SEC in August thatTanoh and former Chairman,Kolapo Lawson planned to sellassets below market value. DoRego said she was pressuredto write off debts owed by abusiness headed by Lawsonand manipulate the bank’sresults. Tanoh and Lawsonhave denied any wrongdoing,” Once upon a time, there wasa successful and highlyesteemed indigenousconglomerate called theLawson Group of Companiesheaded by Chief AdeyemiLawson, old boy of IleshaGrammar School, Osun State,lawyer, former Lagos CityCouncillor, also known as thefounder of the Grail Movementin Nigeria. Mr Kolapo Lawson,scion of the late Chief, unlikethe Ojukwus, Dantatas andAbiolas, was brought into thefamily business quite early –leaving no doubt in anybody’smind about who the successorto the helm would be. Kolapo,an old King’s College boy,Chartered Accountant andeducated at the best institutionsmoney could make possible,would have been voted as theInheritor Most Likely ToSucceed. Under him, theLawson Group haddisappeared into oblivion.

By his removal, KolapoLawson has joined the ranksof Chairmen and Boardmembers of banks — who wereforced to step down underclouds of allegations regardingpossible fraud or attemptedmismanagement of bank funds.In that connection, he alsojoined his late father, who wasone of the first indigenouspromoters of banks – all but oneof which were later liquidated.Late Chief Lawson’s bank wasone of those which went underduring that era of bank failures– mostly on account of directorsengaging in insider trading,borrowing from their banks andnot repaying the loans andasking Financial Directors tojuggle the books to cover upthe crimes until it wasimpossible to bury the truthanymore. My father, a tin miner in Jos,but with accounts in Lagos, wasamong the hundreds ofthousands of Nigerians,especially Yorubas, whoopened accounts with the so-called tiwa ni tiwa (this is ourown) banks which tried to

The Inheritors (4):Chief Adeyemi Lawson (1)

To some extent, theECOBANK debacle serves asa point of departure for thisarticle on the Lawson Group– which, like all greatestablishments has failed tosurvive the first generation offounders (Edewor,Fajemirokun, Odutola,Ekene Dili Chukwu, etc)

compete with the Bank of British West Africa(now First Bank) and Barclays Bank, D.C.O(now Union Bank). The promise, with whichthe victims were lured into their traps, wassimple – they would extend credit to thosewho were denied facilities by the colonialbanks. Virtually everybody lived to regretbelieving them. Today, off Herbert MacaulayWay, Ebute Meta, one building still carriesthe name Agbonmagbe Bank. It was the Titanicof all the banks that sank in the first sectorwide failure in Nigeria’s banking history. Itremains a monument to a war our fathers lost. The difference between Kolapo and late Chief

and their banks lies in the fact that theECOBANK Transnational has not gone bellyup – at least not yet. But, the lamentation ofthe biggest shareholder, represented by oneMr Elias Masilela, speaking ‘bankese’, whichis the official language of bankers whencovering up the unpleasant truth, points tothe possibility that Tandoh and Lawson hadleft ECOBANK in a bit of a mess. After all,nobody pressures the Chief Financial Officerof a firm to “manipulate results” if they weregood to begin with. Only time will tell ifECOBANK will survive the shock. Otherwise,it will amount to two generations of Lawsonssinking two banks. To some extent, the ECOBANK debacle servesas a point of departure for this article on theLawson Group – which, like all greatestablishments has failed to survive the firstgeneration of founders (Edewor, Fajemirokun,Odutola, Ekene Dili Chukwu, etc). In allfairness to Kolapo, the Lawson Group ofCompanies, like some others we shall betouching upon, was already unraveling – evenbefore his father handed him the baton. Someenterprises in the group of the companies,especially the beverages division (WestAfrican Breweries, North Brewery, Kano, JosInternational Breweries, Sunrise BottlingCompany, Ijebu-Ode and AssociatedBreweries, Agbara), were in a shambles andclose to liquidation. Even the Agbara Estateconceived of originally as the largestresidential/industrial estate in Africa, washeavily in debt and cash was being juggled,sometimes in off balance sheet deals, from onecompany to another to stave off creditors. Kolapo’s baptism of fire occurred when hewas posted to the West African Breweries,Iponri, at a time when the three survivingbrands – TOP lager, BARRON lager andVITAMALT were facing serious challenges.The Ipori Brewery was supposed to be theextension to the main brewery at Abeokuta.But, the Abeokuta brewery had closed downon account of one of the most costly mistakesan extremely brilliant entrepreneur, ChiefAdeyemi Lawson, had ever made. And, beforeChief knew it, the closure created collateraldamage in other breweries, especially, NorthBrewery, Kano, which was making tons ofmoney.


CMYK

The Board of Trustees(BoT) of theAssociation of

Nigerian Licensed CustomsAgent (ANLCA) has urgedthe Nigeria Customs andclearing agents to be sincereand dedicated to their job.

Speaking immediately afterthe first retreat of the ANLCABoT, the Coordinator BoT andCEO, Pyramid QuickerGroup, Alhaji TaiwoMustapha, said for there to beprogress in the industry, allhands have to be on deck andthat the Nigerian Customsand the clearing agents mustbe sincere, dedicated andavoid all forms ofmalpractices.

“The president of ANLCAand the Controller General ofCustoms have been workingwonderfully hard to makesure that things work well inthe ports, but there are stillbottlenecks. Every one

Business & Economy

NACCIMA calls on local manufacturers toimprove packagingThe Nigerian Association

of Chambers ofCommerce, Industry, Minesand Agriculture (NACCIMA)has urged local manufacturersto improve on the packagingof their products in line withglobal standard. Mr. BillyGillis-Harry, National VicePresident of NACCIMA,made this call at the openingceremony of the NigerianCentenary Trade Fairorganised by the AbujaChamber of Commerce,

ANLCA BoT tasks Customs, agents onsincerity

Industry, Mines andAgriculture (ABUCCIMA) inAbuja.

Gillis-Harry said that if localmanufacturers improved ontheir packaging, it wouldenhance their competitivenessboth in the local andinternational markets.

He also called on Nigeriansto encourage the growth oflocal industries andentrepreneurs by patronisingmade-in-Nigeria goods andservices.

He advised potentialforeign investors todisregard exaggeratednegative reports aboutNigeria in foreign mediaand take advantage of thehuge economicopportunities that abound inthe country.

“Nigeria is a great country;the potentials are high andthe opportunities areenormous. Investors shouldcome into Nigeria with themindset to put in their best

and achieve optimum gains.The value chain for Nigeriais very high and returns oninvestment are guaranteed,”he said.

Gillis-Harry emphasisedthat the country has thepotential to be a world leader,but regretted that successivegovernments has failed tomake it a reality.

He, therefore, urged thecountry’s entrepreneurs torise up and be “the people tolead this country to greatnesssince the ruling class is notdoing enough.”

BY NAOMI UZOR

involved in this process hasto be sincere and dedicatedin the progress of theindustry. Just because youare a member of ANLCA doesnot mean you have to getyourself involved inmalpractices and think youcan always call on theassociation to come to yourrescue, or because you need

money, you take all sorts of jobsfrom importers and when youare caught, you start calling onthe association or because youare a Custom officer, you leavethe right thing that you aresupposed to do and do thewrong thing, just because ofyour position as an officer” hesaid.

He said the association will

not relent in issues that haveto do with treating theirmembers in a shady orunlawful manner, addingthat, they will continue tofight for their right in areaswhere things needs to bedone properly.

Mustapha noted that thepresent ANLCAadministration has

performed wonderfully well,especially with the newsecretariat worth N120million amongst others.

“In my personal view, Shittuas ANLCA president hasdone very well. The newsecretariat is going forN120 million and they havepaid for N105 million, leavinga balance of N15 million to bepaid.


CMYK

Tax Matters

BY ASUQUO, RICHARDGREGORY

The Nigerian tax system hasundergone several reforms

geared at enhancing tax collectionand administration with minimalenforcement cost. The recent reformsinclude the introduction of TIN,(unique Taxpayer ’s IdentificationNumber which became effectivesince February 2008), automated taxsystem that facilities tracking of taxpositions and issues by individualtaxpayers, e-payment system whichenhances smooth payment procedureand reduces the incidence of taxtouts, enforcement scheme (SpecialPurpose Tax officers), these arespecial tax officers in collaborationwith other security agencies to ensurestrict compliance in payment of taxes.The tax authority now has autonomyto assess, collect and record tax. Thisenabling environment which cameinto being on the basis of (Section 8(q)of FIRS Establishment Act 2007) hasled to an improvement in taxadministration in the country.

The Nigerian tax system hasundergone significant changes inrecent times. The tax laws areconsistently being reviewed with theaim of repealing obsolete provisionsand simplifying the main ones. Undercurrent Nigerian law, taxation isenforced by the 3 tiers of government,i.e. federal, state, and localgovernments, with each having itssphere clearly spelt out in the Taxesand Levies (approved list forCollection) Decree, 1998.

Despite this improvement, there arestill a number of contentious issuesthat require urgent attention andamong them is the issue of theappropriate tax authority to administerseveral taxes. The crisis betweenLagos State and the federalgovernment on the tax jurisdiction ofVAT in the state is still a contentiousissue that has been taken to thecourts. Other states like Ogun, Oyoand Benue have joined Lagos state,while states like Abia, have goneagainst this. Also, there is the issueof multiple taxes administered by allthe three tiers of government whichsometimes imposes welfare cost.Furthermore, the issue of the paucityof a data base, which contributes totax avoidance in the country. The issueof corruption is still a perennial issuein the country; this reduces theconfidence and trust of the taxpayersin discharging their civic duty. Theissue of infrastructural developmentis also a crucial issue, in Nigeria, thelevel of infrastructural facilities is ina deplorable state, most of thefacilities are often privately sourced,thus a number of people wonder whatthe taxes collected are used for,hence the tendency to evade taxpayment. Furthermore, the problemof the tax language that is legallycodified makes it difficult for anaverage Nigerian to understand.

Policy Recommendations*Disclosure and sharing ofinformation

Tax System in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges

There is a need for mutualcooperation among differentgovernment agencies and parastatals,this collaboration should enhanceexchange of information, and reducethe incidence of tax evasion as wellas fraudulent tax practices.*Beneficial /welfare schemes.

To elicit voluntary compliance, thegovernment should be moreresponsive to the welfare needs of thecitizens. The Nigerian tax system caneffectively generate more revenuewhen the citizens have trust andconfidence in the authority. Lagosstate in recent times is generatinghuge revenue due to the fact that manycorporate bodies and individuals feelthat they can visibly feel thedevelopment impact of theircontributions

*Patriotism and positive tax cultureThere is a need to enhance a positive

tax culture; this can be done throughthe re-branding efforts of the ministryof information. In most developedcountries, tax payment is considereda moral and civic responsibility, thustax avoidance is frowned upon. Thisimplies that our leaders shoulddemonstrate patriotism throughleadership that is worthy of emulationby timely payment of their taxes anddischarging other civic duties.

*Religious education /responsibility:In Nigeria, most of the citizens are

religious and faithful people. Thus,with religious provisions thatexplicitly support fulfilling religiousobligations, tax payment could beenhanced. Therefore, tax educationcan be encouraged to be part ofreligious education among theadherents. Evoking religiousinjunctions could elicit more voluntarycompliance and reduce tax evasionand avoidance. For instance, theBiblical saying of “Give unto Caesar,what is for Caesar and to God what isfor God” is apt and relevant to theChristians while the Qur’an calls onthe Muslims thus: “O you who believe,

the reduction of tax fraud andavoidance.*Harmonization of taxes to reducedouble/ multiple taxation on a singletaxpayer

There is a need to harmonize thedifferent taxes that are being leviedby the different tiers of governmentso as to reduce the negative impacton the taxpayer. A situation where anindividual pays rates and licenses tolocal government, pays sales tax andpersonal income to the stategovernment and at the same time paysVAT is not one that will encouragevoluntary compliance.*Improving our record or database,to be able to track all potentialtaxpayers

In Nigeria, an improvement in ourtax revenue can be enhanced througha regularly updated, comprehensivedatabase. This would enable thecountry to be able to track all potentialtaxpayers as well as to reduceincidences of tax avoidance.

*Elongated tax operation (TwilightShift)

In order to maximize the revenueaccruing from tax collection andespecially to fulfil the principles ofconvenience and economy on the partof taxpayers, collectors of tax shouldbe made to operate on shiftthroughout the day.

*Tax laws should be codified insimple, non-technical language, ifpossible in the three majorlanguages: Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba

*Need for an effective judicialprocess to adjudicate on tax issue

List of approved taxes and levies forthe three tiers of governmentA list of approved taxes and levies forcollection by the three tiers ofgovernment:

(A) Taxes collectible by the FederalGovernment(1) Companies income tax;(2) Withholding tax on companies;(3) Petroleum Profit Tax;

(4) Value-added tax (VAT);(5) Education tax;(6) Capital gains tax - Abuja residentsand corporate bodies;(7) Stamp duties involving a corporateentity;(8) Personal income tax in respectof: - Armed forces personnel;- Police personnel;- Residents of Abuja FCT;- External Affairs officers; and- Non-residents.

(B) Taxes/Levies Collectible by StateGovernments(1) Personal income tax:- Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE);- Direct (self and government)assessment;- Withholding tax (individuals only);(2) Capital gains tax;(3) Stamp duties (instrumentsexecuted by individuals);(4) Pools betting, lotteries, gaming andcasino taxes;(5) Road taxes;(6) Business premises registration andrenewal levy;- urban areas (as defined by eachstate):*maximum of N 10,000 for registrationand N5 ,000 for the renewal perannum - rural areas- registration N2,000 per annum- renewal N 1,000 per annum(7) Development levy (individualsonly) not more than N100 per annumon all taxable individuals;(8) Naming of street registration feein state capitals(9) Right of occupancy fees in statecapitals;(10) Rates in markets where statefinances are involved.

(C) Taxes/Levies Collectible by LocalGovernments(1) Shops and kiosks rates;(2) Tenement rates;(3) On and off liquor licence;(4) Slaughter slab fees;(5) Marriage, birth and deathregistration fees;(6) Naming of street registration fee(excluding state capitals):(7) Right of occupancy fees (excludingstate capitals);(8) Market/motor park fees (excludingmarket where state finance areinvolved);(9) Domestic animal licence;(10) Bicycle, truck, canoe,wheelbarrow and cart fees;(11) Cattle tax;(12) Merriment and road closure fees;(13) Radio/television (other than radio/tv transmitter) licences and vehicleradio licence (to be imposed by thelocal government in which the car isregistered);(14) Wrong parking charges;(15) Public convenience, sewage andrefuse disposal fees;(16) Customary, burial ground andreligious places permits; and(17) Signboard/advertisement permit.

fulfil all obligations” (Q5:1).

*Civic education Civic education was part of

the educational curriculum inthe early 1960s and 1970s;however, this was stopped inthe mid-1980s and 90s. A re-introduction of this into theschool curriculum would notonly improve civicresponsibility but also infuse asense of patriotism andcommitment to national idealsand interests. There should bevigorous enlightenment andpublic awareness about taxpayment and its importance inthe economy.*Hot lines

There can be dedicated linesor emails, where issues,observations and queries canconveniently reach theauthority; this will contribute to

*Ag FIRS Chairman, Mr Kabir Mashi


CMYK

E-Commerce

S t a r T i m e su n v e i l s f r e eviewing bouquet

As the country commencespreparation for its digital switchover with Plateau State capital,Jos as the pilot in June, StarTimeshas come up with a free viewingbouquet that would ensure thattelevision viewers in the state arenot cut off from their favouriteanalogue terrestrial channels.

According to Irete Anetor,Public Relations Manager atNTA-Star TV Network, the freeviewing bouquet is an initiativeby StarTimes to ensure that Josresidents have access totelevision viewership after NigeriaBroadcasting Corporation (NBC)completes the process of thestate’s digital switch-over in June.

She said, “The bouquet allowssubscribers’ access to 10 freechannels for Life. As such, thefree viewing bouquet would grantthem access to their favouriteanalogue channels after thedigital switch over,” he said.

Although the free viewingbouquet is currently an offeringfor Jos, StarTimes would bemaking the bouquet available andapplicable to additional citieschosen by NBC as Nigeriaprogresses in its digital switchover process.

The free to air channels on thefree viewing bouquet includeNTA 24, NTA Jos, NTA Sports,PRTV, Silverbird, AIT, Channels,NTA Hausa, and ITV.

Appdeveloperreleases newsbeatapp

A new smartphone appdeveloped by Tribune DigitalVentures will read aloud apersonalized “playlist” ofnews articles along withweather and traffic updates,as the media organisationlooks for new ways to reachconsumers.

The free Newsbeat appreleased on Thursday is thefirst product developed by theyear-old Tribune DigitalVentures group headed byformer Yahoo Inc executiveShashi Seth.

The app uses text-to-speech technology andrecordings of humans readingnews articles to produce adaily catalog of roughly 7,000articles about everything fromworld news to sports. Similarto the way digital musicstreaming services such asPandora Media Inc operate,

Study reveals positive ratings, privacyconcerns for digital advertisingStories BY JONAHNWOKPOKU

Search marketing firmCovario, recentlyissued its Global Paid

Search Spend Analysis forthe fourth quarter of 2013 andfound that spending on pay-per-click ads by its own globaltechnology, consumerelectronics and retail clientsrose 13 percent from the thirdquarter and 7 percent year-over year. Covario's analysisalso indicated that theaverage cost-per-clickincreased 10 percent versusthe same period one year ago.According to the report’sauthor, Alex Funk, director ofglobal paid media strategy atCovario, “CPC pricing hasbeen fluctuating over the pastfew quarters, something notsurprising after the platformoverhaul that GoogleAdWords went through at themidway point of 2013.”

The study further revealedthat search-based advertisingis doing quite well despitethe near-constant rate ofchange, but displayadvertising has also made acomeback and it’s quicklybecoming bigger than ever.Nielsen’s quarterlyevaluation of the globaladvertising market showedthat Internet display

advertising grew by morethan 32 per cent in the firstthree quarters of 2013.Overall advertising, incomparison, grew just 3.2 percent across all media to hit$243.5 billion at the end of Q32013.

Analysts explain that whatthese data illustrate is thatdespite the immense amountof activity and pace ofdevelopment in the digitaladvertising space, there’s stilla clear direction of progresson the part of enterprises thatare apparently more thanwilling to keep spending toacquire awareness, newusers and stay ahead of thecompetition.

The study further revealedthat privacy presents agenuine challenge for brandslooking to understand asmuch as they can about theirusers and prospects.However, for advertisers, itshowed an even moreinsidious threat whichincludes the waste and fraudthat is caused by bots androgue publishers.

According to the datareleased by Solve Media,some 59 percent of agencymedia buyers surveyed seebot traffic negativelyimpacting campaignperformance.

The study indicates that

based on current levels of bottraffic, the global displayadvertising industry isexpected to waste up to $11.6billion in 2014 advertising tobots, a 22 per cent projectedincrease from 2013.

However some analystsbelieve that while bot trafficis frightening from an ROIperspective it can be stopped.

They argue that marketersand publishers are beginningto take necessarypreventative action inresponse to billions ofadvertising dollars beingwasted. It is thereforeexpected that in the yearahead there will be more

brand safety roles at agenciesand brands alike. Data-drivensecurity measures that ensurehuman audiences, like thosethat Solve Media providesfree to publishers, are a keycomponent to increasingeffectiveness in the digitaladvertising market.

The Interactive AdvertisingBureau, IAB is also hoping tocurtail what some perceive asrampant abuse of theecosystem. The IAB’s Trafficof Good Intent Task Forcereleased a best practicesguide (Traffic Fraud:Reducing Risk to Exposure),which explains and analyzesrobotic traffic and other formsof fraud that can derailcampaigns by producingillegitimate impressions,skewing audience data.

Chinese e-commercegiant, AlibabaGroup Holding Ltd

has invested $215 million ina new 280 million fundingfor the mobile messagingapp-maker, Tango.

Alibaba invested $215million while the remainderof the funding came fromTango’s prior investors,which include AccessIndustries, Draper FisherJurvetson and Jerry Yang, aco-founder of Yahoo Inc,Tango said.

The investment givesAlibaba a minority stake in amessaging service with 200million registered users and70 million active users.Tango claims significanttraction in North America,the Middle East, Taiwan andSingapore.

Alibaba, which viewsChinese rival, Tencent as itsmost serious competitor, haslong recognised the threatposed by Tencent Holding’sWeChat, a massivelypopular messaging app thathas slowly morphed into ane-commerce platform.

Alibaba invests over $200m in messaging appAlibaba recently introduced a

WeChat competitor calledLaiwang, but the service hasso far struggled to the extentthat Alibaba founder, Jack Ma,according to various mediareports, urged Alibaba’s entireworkforce last year to recruit

new users.In an interview, Tango co-

founder, Eric Setton said hebelieved his company, whichoffers games, multimediasharing and other content,would eventually beatWhatsapp, which offers

purely text and voicecommunications.

“The platform approach Ibelieve is the winningstrategy,” Setton said. “We’venow seen it in a number ofkey markets, with Kakao inKorea or Line in Japan.”

Nigeria’s online marketplace hasunveiled an incentive-based platformthat will enable its users earn money

without selling any products.The platform which is called Seller Referral

Scheme and Seller Pathway will also enablesellers to increase their overall performance andthe marketplace to improve its overall traffic aswell as quality.

The Referral Scheme allows sellers togenerate revenue by recommending the servicedriving high quality traffic to the platform.Existing sellers can take part by asking apotential seller to successfully list products onKaymu.

The Pathway Programme on the other hand,encourages vendors to improve theirperformance by helping to increase the numberof orders, delivery times and ensuring alltransactions are completed efficiently.

Basically, it’s a reward system that promotesbetter, greater service overall. Sellers are

Kaymu unveils new platform to boost performanceawarded bronze, silver, gold, andultimately, platinum by going through someperformance rating systems.

Participants go through a step-by-stepprocess in using the Pathway Programmewhere sellers have the opportunity to gainadditional benefits. These includeincreased visibility on the website,competitor analysis, visibility on Facebookadvertisements and newsletters.

Kaymu’s Managing Director,Massimiliano Spalazzi, said he hoped thenew systems would contribute to the greaterNigerian economy.

He said, “Our seller referral scheme andpathway are two great programmes thatwill contribute towards Nigeria’s economy,employment and growth, by providingusers with the opportunity to earn up toN50, 000. 00. We look forward to seeingthe Kaymu community grow after theintroduction of both programmes.”

Summit: Jamil Ampomah, Marketing Director, Sub-SaharanAfrica of the Association of Certified and Chattered Accountants(ACCA) (left) and Head of ACCA Nigeria, Toyin Ademola atthe ACCA annual summit in Lagos.


CMYK

Agric

The management ofOlam rice farm inDoma Local Council

Area of Nasarawa State hasdisclosed that plans by thefarm to cultivate 6000hectares for commercial riceproject will have a farreaching impact on theagriculture sector in thecountry.

Speaking with journalistsrecently, the Farm Manager,Mr. Reji George said the 6000hectares (hct) of land is agreen field project embarkedupon by Olam Farms.

“We have been cultivatingthese areas, this would be thethird farm cycle and by July,we would cultivate 4,600 hct.We intend to have full landdevelopment by 2015 inwhich we would have 6000hctof rice farmland fullycultivated through waterirrigation,

Speaking on the ban on riceimportation, Georgeexplained that this may notbe the right time to do it; “Ibelieve it should be a gradualprocess, before you ban riceor any agriculturalcommodity, you must have todevelop the local strength ofrice production.

“The Federal Government isdoing a lot in transformingthe sector, especially through

Olam set to revolutioniserice production... Cultivates 6,000 hectares, empowers communities

the GES programme. Otherdeveloped countries haveachieved feat in riceproduction through suchprogrammes and I believe ifNigeria continues like this,we should be self-sufficient inrice production in no time.”

Reji George explained thatthe planned ban on riceimportation can come later bythe time commercial riceproject of the company andothers start yielding results.“Companies like Olam areinto commercial production ofrice with 6000hct in twocycles, that would definitelyhelp bridge the demand andsupply gap, and with supportfrom other companies, inaddition to the rolegovernment is playing, in afew years, we would be ableto bridge the demand andsupply gap and we would beable to be self- sufficient inrice production."

He added that before goingfor the complete ban of rice,government should also putinto consideration the amountof investment privateinvestors are willing to putinto local agriculture, moreprominence should be givento this, so that thegovernment can attract moreprivate investors into thesector.

George disclosed that$70million have beenexpended on the company’srice mill project, and theymay expend more than thatwhen the mill is fullyfunctional, disclosing thatthe mill would be fullyoperational by June 1.

He said the mill would beable to produce rice that canfavourably compete withimported rice, adding thatNigeria has a huge marketpotential for rice, so gettingmarket for the milled ricewould not be a problem.

paddy rice and this is one ofthe largest mills in Africa. By2015, we would be cultivating6000hct of paddy twice everyyear.

“The tractors were operatedby Malawians at first but now,we have trained the indigenescurrently operating themachines, and we can fullysay now that most of ourmanpower is sourced fromwithin the local community."

Meanwhile, indigenes of thecommunity have commendedOlam Farms for the impact ithas made on the communitythrough employment andempowerment.

One of the natives willing toshare the story of impact thecompany was making in theirlives and community wasAlhaji Kushunta Adi, thecommunity leader of Ijiwo.

He told our reporter at aninteraction within theexpansive farm: “Before thecoming of Olam to ourcommunity, most people inthis area were idle, which isnot good, but today, the storyis different. In fact, at thatinitial time, most of theexcavators on the project wereforeigners, but today, thecompany has employed manyof our youths and this ishelping many families here.”

He said some of the youthswere working as combinedharvester mechanics, whileothers have found economicempowerment in the otherareas of need in the farm.

According to thecommunity leader, whatOlam is doing in theircommunity is worthy ofemulation by both thegovernment at different levelsand other companies whichhave operations in Nigeria.

•Olam rice mill

Olam rice farm boss hintedthat more than 1000 people areemployed on the farm on dailybasis and more than 90 percent of them are indigenes ofthe community.

He said when the project iscompleted, they intend to mill75,000mt of paddy rice andcommission 3,000 out-growers within and outsideNassarawa State to produce20,000mt of paddy rice by nextyear.

“By June 1, we will startmilling with 105,000mt ofpaddy, and the mill has thecapacity to mill 200,000mt of

Economy

The embattled CBNGovernor, Mr Lamido

Sanusi has never cut apopular figure in the socio-e c o n o m i c / p o l i t i c a lenvironment of the nation’spolity. He has in the pastpitted himself againstunnecessary narcissistindulgences ranging frommeddling in issues of nationalsecurity regarding BokoHaram, to attacks on highprofile and respectableNigerian Christian leaderslike Pastor Enoch Adeboye. Asenraged as I was with hisattack against Adeboye, I mustput away sentiments andpersonal loyalty and mydislike for the CBN governorin considering a burningnational issue of greatinternational dimensions toour nation and its citizens.This is not about Sanusi, thisis about an alleged missing$20b (twenty billion USdollars) from the nation’s

Sanusi and the missing $20bnBY TONY NAVAHOKONMAH

account.Information available from

the parties to the issue stinksto high heavens and theFinance Minister andCoordinating Minister of theEconomy, Mrs Ngozi OkonjoIweala has demanded thewhole truth about the matter.She is not the only one thatwants the whole truth aboutthe matter. All Nigerians wantto know the whole truth aboutthe matter and nothing must beswept under the carpet asusual.

“The Ministry of Financereconciliation showed ashortfall of $10.8bn in NNPCremittances to the federationaccount. After this, theconflicting claim continuedwith new figures such as $20bnbeing mentioned.” The otherconflicting figures here I willpresume, is Sanusi’s $20bnwhistle blowing. It isinteresting to note the reasongiven by the Minister for

Information and NationalOrientation, Mr Labaran Makufor Mr Sanusi’s suspension asgovernor of the CBN. In hisstatement in the Vanguardpublication of 26 February,2014 he said: “Mr SanusiLamido Sanusi made himselfa whistle blower and a voodoostatistician feeding the countrywith unsubstantiated figures ofmissing funds."

The two key statements fromMaku’s tirade were whistleblower and voodoo statisticianfeeding the country withunsubstantiated figures ofmissing funds. Looking atSanusi as a whistle blower,Mr Maku claimed that as themanager of the nation’smonetary policies whoadvised the president onmonetary issues, Sanusishould not have made himselfa whistle blower.Interestingly, Makuacknowledged that there hadbeen a long standing issue

since 2012 regarding the CBNaccount which the tripartiteinvolving the CBN governor,the president and theFinancial Reporting Council ofNigeria (FRCN) had beenlooking into. Mr Maku wasclever enough to deflate MrSanusi’s pin point of the exactaccount where themisappropriation occurred butfailed to tell the nation the exactsource of CBN’s account of 2012that had issues with the auditof the FRCN. He didacknowledge that there hadbeen communications betweenthe CBN governor and thepresident since April 2013. Let’sassume that the greater part ofthe communications betweenthe president and CBNgovernor was on how to resolvethe missing funds from NNPCand the CBN governor was notgetting the necessarycooperation from thepresident, and got increasinglyfrustrated on the next step

forward. It should be expectedthat the next option availableto the CBN governor wascertainly to seek a naturalarbiter, and by all standardsand rule of law, the place hecould only seek a naturalarbiter in a matter involvinghimself as the highestauthority of his departmentand the president of thecountry is the nation’s Senate.In my opinion, Mr Sanusi wasright to go to the Senate toreport his concerns which hecould not privately reach aresolution with the president.

On his cap as a voodoostatistician, no one (includingMaku) could dispute the factthat a certain amount ofmoney was missing from thefederation account, whetherit was actually $20bn as MrSanusi claimed, or it was$10.8bn which Dr NgoziOkonjo Iweala admitted wasshortfall revealed herministry's reconciliation of theNNPC remittances to thefederation account.


CMYK


CMYK

Aviation

Nine airports now have windshear alerts—Anuforom

Stpries ByLAWANI MIKAIRU

The Director Generalof the NigerianM e t e o r o l o g i c a l

Agency , NIMET, Dr.Anthony Anuforom has saidthat no single Nigeria airporthad wind shear alert systemby 2006. The DG made thisrevelation while speakingwith aviation reporters.

It will be recalled that windshear was fingered as causeof the two accidentsinvolving Sosoliso and ADCaircraft on December 10, 2005and October 29, 2006respectively. Those accidentsresulted in the death ofhundreds of passengers andcrew.

“Wind shear refers to achange in wind speed ordirection with height in theatmosphere. Wind shear canalso be referred to as a rapidchange in winds over a shorthorizontal distanceexperienced by aircraft,conditions that can cause arapid change in lift, and thusthe altitude of the aircraft. “

The NIMET DG howeversaid airports have now beenequipped with wind shearinstruments to guide pilots,as according to him weatheris a critical thing in theairspace when a pilot isairborne.

“Since those accidents, andbased on recommendationsfrom the AccidentInvestigation and PreventionBureau (AIPB), governmentswung into action to providefunding to equip moreNigerian airports with lowlevel wind shear alertsystem. Prior to that ADCcrash in 2006, there was nosingle wind shear alertsystem in any Nigerianairport.

“The first wind shear alert

system was installed at Abuja airport. It wasalso part of the safe tower project. Wind shearalert system is not a cheap technology. It costsquite some money to install one, and ofcourse, we had budgetary constraints. But thenews is that presently we have equipped nineairports in Nigeria with wind shear alertsystem."

Anuforom also said the 10th wind shear alertsystem had been installed at the MargaretEkpo International Airport, Calabar.

“A critical thing in the airspace when a pilotis airborne is the weather. Have you noticedthat what the pilot tells you all the time isabout weather? He tells you that the en routeweather is good; when he is approaching hewill tell you the weather is good for landingor he tells you there are a few clouds so youexpect some bumps. All that information iscoming from NIMET. The procedure is thatthe information is passed through the air trafficcontroller. We generate the information andpass it to the Nigerian Airspace ManagementAgency (NAMA),” he said.

Arik Air operates 1stNigerian registeredplane to US

Arik Air, has operated the first Nigerianregistered commercial aircraft to the

United States of America in two decades. LastMonday night, the airline operated itsscheduled Lagos-New York flight using anA330-200 aircraft with registration 5N-JID.The feat by Arik Air is made more outstandinggiven that the operation of the flight wasstaffed by Nigerian crew.

According to Arik Air Senior Vice PresidentOperations/Deputy Managing Director,Captain Ado Sanusi, “the airline’s latestmilestone was the result of almost three yearspreparation, during which time the airlinereceived the Part 129 approval from the USFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) andwas also awarded the Extended Range TwinOperations (ETOPS) approval.”

Arik Air commenced direct flight operationsfrom Lagos to New York in November 2009using its foreign registered A340-500 aircraftoperated by Hi-fly of Portugal and it was thefirst direct flight between Nigeria and theUnited States to be operated by a Nigerianairline in the last decade.

From left: Managing Partner of Norton Rose Fullbright Limited, Mr. ArunVelusani; Executive Director, FCMB Capital Markets Limited, Mr. Tolu Osi-nibi; former Minister of Power and now Managing Director of Geometric Pow-er Limited, Professor Barth Nnaji, and Managing Director of Century PowerGeneration Limited, Mr. Chukwueloka Umeh, at the power investors summitheld from March 20 to 21, 2014 in Lagos..


Advertising, Media& Marketing

CMYK

With the introduction ofLG new Hi-Fi

systems, consumers will beable to experience highaudio-fidelity, clear andpowerful sounds with plentyof innovative features thatwould afford users the libertyto control how they play andlisten to their favorite musicwith no limits.

X-BOOM Pro, CM9540 aswell as ARX 10 wasintroduced into the Nigerianelectronic market to redefinewhat a modern hi-fi system is.Whichever one a user opts for,he is bound to find a hi-fidesigned to take his musicexperience to the next level.

Speaking at the experientialroadshow at Ikeja City Mall,Mr. Jae Sang Lee, GeneralManager, ConvergenceAudio Division, said the LGX-BOOM Pro allows easycontrol and automation inmixing music sound effectssuch as flanger, phaser,chorus and delay while alsocreating beats with backspin,crossfade, and beatbox orusing scratch and voicesampling.

“X-BOOM Pro isinnovatively fitted with state-of-the-art console for sizzlingDJ skills, specificallydesigned for music lovers whoare passionate aboutbecoming Djs in their homes.It boasts of blazing featureswhich enable users enjoymusic with ideal blowoutmood”.

Also speaking in the samevein, the Managing Directorof Fouani Nigeria Limited,

MTN Afrinolly breaksbarriers in indigenousmovie productionBY PETER EGWUATU

African movie industryhas over the yearsreceived world

recognition for its growth anddevelopment. With its arraysof stars ranging fromproducers, directors to actors,actress, screen writers andother elements that completethe production process, manypeople now see prospect inthe African movie industry.

Today, African movies nowserve as a means ofentertainment and relaxation,as it contributes in no smallmeasure to the alleviation ofthe stress and strain of oureveryday life through itscomic movies. Apart fromentertainment and relaxation,African movies contributesignificantly to other areas ofhuman endeavour. However,it is sad to note that thecontribution of African moviesto the economic, social andmost importantly, nationalstability in Africa, isunfortunately bedevilled byseveral challenges. Thesechallenges have hamperedthe success of the creativeingenuity of the productionprocess, ranging fromproducers, directors, actors/actresses, script writers andeditors among others.

Piracy has been seen as amajor bane facing theindustry. Many peoplethrough piracy feed on thecreative sweat of film makerswithout having any form ofempathy. When a producer/director puts out a self-funded, directing,professional recording andeverything needed to get it tothe point of release, manypeople feel no remorse forillegally pirating this creativecontent. The effort to stoppiracy has been a constantbattle in this part of thecontinent. Even though thegeneral public may think ofpiracy as a victimless crime,this form of copyrightinfringement damages thecreative professional’s abilityto earn a living from his workand discourage productivity.

South Africa, like othercountries in Africa faces manychallenges in the areas ofcopyright protection andenforcement, especially incombating movie piracy.According to the InternationalIntellectual Property Alliance(“IIPA”), South Africa fails toreach the mandated levels of

copyright protection under theAgreement on Trade RelatedAspects of IntellectualProperty Rights (“TRIPS”) ofthe Uruguay Round of theGeneral Agreement on Tariffsand Trade (“GATT”),especially regardingenforcement. Manyorganisations have tried asmuch as they can in fightingagainst piracy, including theNigerian CopyrightsCommission and theCopyright Society of Nigerian(COSON).

In other to fight againstpiracy and encourage film

makers reap the reward fortheir creative sweat, leadingICT and telecommunicationscompany in Africa, MTNNigeria, came up with adigital initiative called MTNAfrinolly. The MTN Afrinollyis an online platform wherefilm makers can makeavailable their movies,trailers and short film and getroyalties for their creativesweat. Since its launch, MTNAfrinolly has been able toappreciate African filmmakers and has constantlygiven them their royalties,thus, eliminating piracy.

LG introduces 2014 Hi-Fisystems to redefine soundtechnology

BY PEACE ONYEUKWUA

Mr. Mohammed Fouanidisclosed that LG has decidedto introduce a spectrum of itslatest products by givingconsumers the opportunity tointerface with the productsand that the X-BOOM Pro,CM9540 as well as ARX 10was introduced into theNigerian electronic market formaximum enjoyment of itsteeming consumers,continuing he said that the X-BOOM pro is expected to bea stepping stone for youngmusicians and passionate Djswho want to make a mark inthe vibrant Nigeria musiccommunity.

Mr. Fouani said, XBOOMCM9540 has anunprecedented sound outputof PMPO: 29000w speakerswhich gives it a robust sound,while ARX 10 has a uniqueand blistering features whichmakes users enjoy music withauthentic sound unlike theconventional homeentertainment products whichdo not have DJ features, theLG XBOOM CM Pro musicmachine makes it easy forusers to enjoy real party moodin their living rooms.

,,

X-BOOM Pro isinnovatively fittedwith state-of-the-art console forsizzling DJ skills,specificallydesigned for musiclovers who arepassionate aboutbecoming Djs intheir homes

Today, I write with pains in my heart. As result ofthe tragedy that the recent Nigeria ImmigrationService (NIS) recruitment exercise became, I

have decided to suspend the write-up planned for thisweek.

First, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences tothe families that lost their loved ones and sympathiesto the injured. Sincerely, no job opportunity – no matterhow juicy – is worth dying or being injured for.

The facts The facts indicate that NIS needed to fill 4,556

vacancies. Significantly, over 700,000 Nigeriansapplied for those jobs and NIS charged each of themN1,000 (for God knows what). Because of the numberof applicants and the need to conduct physical fitnesstests, the NIS decided to use stadiums in major citiesas recruitment centres. However, NIS obviously didn’thave a solid plan to receive the huge number ofapplicants as the agency was easily overwhelmed bythe sheer number of candidates – a situation thatresulted in unnecessary stampedes, deaths andinjuries.

I got the first inkling that something was wrong whenone of the applicants told me that NIS had instructedapplicants to report to recruitment venues as early as7.00 am for physical exercise although the main testwould commence at 4.00 pm. Instinctively, I wonderedwhether NIS would provide some refreshment for theapplicants who would have been exhausted before themain test. But then, I remembered that customers(citizens, if you like) who go to NIS offices to obtaininternational passports rarely receive decent orcourteous treatment in the hands of the agency’sofficials. I also recalled that passengers oninternational flights often arrive at our airports as earlyas 5.30 am only to be greeted with insults from moroseimmigration officials. I instantly realised that poor job-seekers would receive worse treatment from NIS, anagency that thrives on rudeness, insensitivity andcarelessness.

The service angle How will this recruitment fiasco affect the image of

NIS as an employer? No doubt, the recruitment snafuspeaks volumes about the organisation’s competencein handling routine administrative issues. It alsobespeaks the value NIS places on its employees, whoexpectedly place similar value on those they serve.Because of their modus operandi, organisations likeNIS end up attracting desperate individuals with lowself-esteem – which, again, have grave implicationsfor the quality of service they deliver. Afterexperiencing such a dehumanising recruitmentexercise, successful applicants are not likely to becomeservice champions soon.

Pray, why should any respectable organisation turna recruitment exercise into a money-making venture?Why didn’t NIS cut down the number of applicantsinvited for the exercise to a manageable size throughproper short-listing? Why didn’t NIS carry out theexercise in phases? Does it make sense to takehundreds of thousands through this kind of ordeal justto hire 4,556? Thank God, the President has cancelledthe charade.

Lessons for all It is regrettable that because of the level of

unemployment in the country, many employers nowtreat job-seekers like scum. They show no compunctionabout keeping job-seekers waiting for several hours.Some conduct recruitment tests in halls that evenreptiles won’t accept. Such organisations need tounderstand that to attract great talent, they mustbecome preferred employers. They must treat peopledecently. They need to woo job-seekers and hire thebest ones among them, because people are theorganisation. If the NIS recruitment tragedy helps uslearn these lessons, it would have served one usefulpurpose.

Competing for Talentthe Wrong Way


Email:[email protected], [email protected] page:www.lesleba.com/blog2Website: www.lesleba.comTel:0805 220 1997

Business & Economy

CMYK

Omoh Gabriel - Group Business EditorBabajide Komolafe - Finance EditorClara Nwachukwu - Energy EditorPeter Egwuatu - Head, Capital MarketYinka Kolawole - Snr Bus. CorrespondentFavour Nnabugwu - Insurance CorrespondentGodwin Oritse - Maritime CorrespondentGodfrey Bivbere - Maritime CorrespondentMichael Eboh - Capital Market ReporterFranklin Alli - Industry/Agric. ReporterEbele Orakpo - Energy ReporterIfeyinwa Obi - Maritime ReporterRosemary Onuoha - Insurance Reporter

CONTRIBUTORSPrincewill Ekwujuru - Media/MarketingNkiruka Nnorom - Capital MarketJonah Nwokpoku - E-CommerceNaomi Uzor - IndustryProvidence Obuh - Micro FinanceLAYOUT - Graphics Department

Backup Networks says itis collaborating with

the National OpenUniversity, NOUN incertificated trainingprogramme to empowerNigerians to developexpertise in smartphonerepairs. This is to be donethrough a newly createdunit of the companyPhoneDoctorService.Com.

The Backup special unit isalso meant to harvesttechnology solutions to meetthe needs of mobile deviceusers in differentorganizations.

PhoneDoctorService.comis a special unit of Backup

NOUN begins certification training on smartphonerepairs

BY EMMANUELELEBEKE

Networks Limited designed toaid in providing all sorts ofprofessional training forNigerian youths onsmartphone repairs.

Speaking on the initiative,the Chief Executive Officer,Backup Networks Limited,

M r. Monday Ogbe,explained that the partnershipwas aimed at empoweringNigerians to leverage the over400 million smartphonebusiness boom in the countryfor worthy employment.

Ogbe saidPhoneDoctorService.Comwould help in curbing thegrowing rate of unemploymentin Nigeria, by providing aplatform for unemployed andother interested Nigerians toundergo a week-training afterwhich, they would be providedwith the tools that enable themto handle any repair works on

any kind of Smartphone. ”Currently, there are over

400 million smartphonedevices within Nigeriacutting across all majormanufacturers and thisnumber is increasing on adaily basis, as there are newermanufacturers coming in andone of the biggest challengesto the manufacturers is howto cope with the increasingdemand for after-salesservices to their customers.This is where we believe ahuge opportunity lies forNigerians,” he said.

On the training module,Ogbe, stated that the trainingis open to both literate andnon literate personsregardless of discipline.

“During the training,trainees will acquireknowledge in troubleshootingand repair of various

smartphone faults such asbroken screens, faultycharging ports and others;

disassembly and assemblysmartphones,” he added.

This column hasc o n s i s t e n t l ymaintained that the

root cause of our economicparadox of increasingincome, with unbridledunemployment rate, anddeepening poverty will befound in the conscious andincorrect adoption of a faultyprocess for the infusion ofour crude export dollarrevenue into the economy.

In order to facilitatereaders’ understanding ofour prescription, we willjuxtapose the relatedconsequences of the CurrentPayment Model (CPM)against the AdvocatedPayment Model (APM) inthe distribution of $1bnexport revenue, for example,to the three tiers ofgovernment! We will rely onthe same eight step relatedscenarios adopted in anearlier article titled“ECONOMY ANDRESERVES: BETWEENTHE TRUTH ANDG O V E R N M E N TCLARIFICATIONS” toexplain the disenablingimpact of the currentpayment model.

Thus, Scene-1, CPM: CBNunilaterally determinesnaira exchange rate andunconstitutionally capturesthe distributable $1bnrevenue and prints/creates(read as monetizes) N160bnas statutory allocations,which are domiciled in thecommercial bank accounts ofbeneficiaries!

Scene-1, APM: The $1bn isnot substituted with N160bn;instead, beneficiaries receivedollar certificates for theirrespective portions ofallocation, and the $1bnremains domiciled with theCBN, while naira exchangerate is determined by marketdemand and supply.

The sensible path toThe sensible path toThe sensible path toThe sensible path toThe sensible path toeconomic prosperityeconomic prosperityeconomic prosperityeconomic prosperityeconomic prosperity

Scene-2, CPM: The banksenjoy almost ten-fold leverageon the fresh naira inflow, withan enhanced credit capacity,which could suffocate themoney market with excessspending power, and fuelinflation!

Scene-2, APM: With strictlydollar allocations, the supplyof naira in the system remainsthe same, and cannot thereforeinstigate the usual disenablingsystemic spectre of surplusnaira.

Scene-3, CPM: In responseto the threat of rising inflation,the CBN ‘altruistically’ steps inwith treasury bills to borrowmoney it does not need at over10 percent from the banks, tocurb inflation. Despite theoppressive cost, the borrowedfunds are simply kept idle!

Scene-3, APM: In theabsence of the usual nairasurplus, CBN does not have toborrow money it does not needat over 10%; consequently, ourincreasingly oppressive debtburden would cease! Bankswould have no choice but to

chase the real sector forbusiness!

Scene-4, CPM: In order tofurther prevent liberal accessto excess cheap funds in themarket, CBN increases itsMonetary Policy Control Rate(MPR) to instigate the banksto increase their own lendingrates, and thereby restrainthe motivation for customersto borrow, in the light ofexisting crushing cost offunds! Consequently,interest rates, often above 20percent, reduce the prospectsof industrial growth and thecreation of increasing jobopportunities whileirrepressible inflation andcontracting consumerdemand prevail nationwide.

Scene-4, APM: In theabsence of the usual excessnaira and heavy governmentborrowing, CBN wouldreduce its Monetary Policy(control) Rate (MPR);commercial banks willconsequently drop theirinterest rates across the boardto single digit, so thatbusinesses can accesscheaper funds to finance newbusinesses as well as growexisting industries withincreasing employmentopportunities.

Scene-5, CPM: Ministriesand State Governments, whorequire imports, areconstrained to buy backdollars from banks who arethe prime beneficiaries of CBNdollar auctions. Ultimately,naira exchange rate comes

under threat as increasinglysurplus naira in the marketchase the rationed dollarsauctioned weekly by theCBN! The market dynamicsof demand and supplyconsequently becomeunfavourably skewed againstthe naira, particularly moreso, whenever CBN’s totalmonthly forex auction fallsbelow the $1bn earlierunconstitutionally captured inScene-1!

Scene-5, APM: The threetiers of government own actualdollar values domiciled withthe CBN; however, thesegovernment agencies canexchange for naira, all orportions of their dollarallocations from time to time,directly through commercialbanks. Thus, the usual nairasurge when CBN prints/creates fresh naira balancesfor allocations of dollarrevenue will cease;inevitably, the naira willbecome stronger against thedollar in the forex market!

Scene-6, CPM: The lessdollars sold by CBN, thelarger are CBN’s reserves, butthe weaker also will be thenaira, as less and less dollarsbecome pitched againstexcess naira in the market. The gap between official andblack market naira ratesconsequently widens.

Scene-6, APM: The usual bi-weekly CBN dollar auctionswill also cease, asconstitutional beneficiariesdirectly trade their dollar

certificates for existing nairabalances with banks; (sincedollar certificates are not legaltender in Nigeria). Thedollars, however, will remaindomiciled with the CBN,irrespective of ultimate buyer!

Scene-7, CPM: In order toreduce the gap between theblack market and the officialrates of exchange, CBNcommits the unforced error ofallocating dollars to Bureaude Change, who in turnfunds the requirements oftreasury looters andsmugglers of contrabands,not minding the adverseimpacts of such misguideddollar supply on theeconomy. Indeed, suchmonetary policy managementmust be far from internationalbest practice!

Scene-7, APM: In theabsence of the usual liberalspectre of surplus naira,banks become wary of overcommitting their nairabalances to just foreignexchange purchases. Theblack market for the dollarwill rapidly contract, whilethe motivation for smugglingand money laundering willsimilarly be curtailed.

Scene-8, CPM: Despite agasping manufacturingsector and deepening povertynationwide, the banks andother speculative foreigninvestors celebrate anotherbumper year!!

Scene-8, APM: The absenceof systemic excess naira willpromote single digit andlower inflation rates withpositive knock-on impact forincreasing consumerdemand, industrialconsolidation and jobopportunities. A strongernaira will drive down fuelprices and ultimatelyeliminate subsidies!

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVENIGERIANS!!

,

,

In the absence ofthe usual liberalspectre of surplusnaira, banksbecome wary ofover committingtheir nairabalances to justforeign exchangepurchases

Experts split on using reserves to defend Naira...As external reserves falls below 18mths low

Documents

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