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22 THISDAY • WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015 IMAGES Photo Editor Abiodun Ajala Email abiodun.ajala@thisdaylive.com L-R: President, Offa Descendants Union, Alhaji Najeem Yasin; Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold; Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed; and Chairman, Offa Local Government, Prince Waheed Olanipekun, during the governor’s inspection to Owode market, Offa gutted by fire...recently Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State Council, Mr. Deji Elumoye ( left ), and Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), during a courtesy visit by Lagos Council of NUJ to the governor in Lagos...recently L-R: Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, Hon Ude Okochukwu; wife of the Governor-elect, Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu; her husband, Dr. Okezie lkpeazu; Abia State Governor Theodore Orji; and his wife, Mercy, during the valedictory thanksgiving service at the new Int’l Conference Centre in Umuahia...recently L-R; Chairman, Omenka Foundation, Chief Uche Onwude; Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige; and Chief Uzoma Igbonwa during their arrival in Lagos...recently L-R: Brand Ambassador Omo, Funke Akindele; Brand Building Director, Unilever Nigeria, Mr. David Okeme; Brand Ambassador Omo, Chioma Akpotha; winner of N1 million from Army Children School, Abule Egba, Lagos, Imurang Salisu; and Brand Ambassador Omo, Ali Nuhu, during the Omo Imagine and Achieve competition grand finale in Lagos...recently L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Ogun State, Mr. Lanre Bisiriyu; Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Ronke Shokefun; a beneficiary, Mrs. Elizabeth Oyelude; and GM, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF), Ms. Abimbola Okoya, during the presentation of poultry production training certificates to women poultry farmers in Abeokuta, Ogun State...recently L-R: Executive Director, SystemSpecs, Deremi Atanda; Brand Ambassador, Remita Corporate Champions Cup and former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Peter Rufai; and Managing Director/CEO, SystemSpecs, John Obaro, at the Season 2 of Remita Corporate Champions Cup in Lagos...recently etop ukutt L-R: National Retail artiste, House of Tara, Rhema Akabuogu; ace photographer and L’Original judge, Kelechi Amadi Obi; L’Original judge, Kunbi Oyelese; Senior Brand Manager, Fayrouz, Nnenna Ifebigh-Hemeson; and designer, Mai Atafo, at the Fayrouz L’Original 2 auditions in Ibadan, Oyo State...recently
THISDAY • WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015 23 BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S A S A T M A Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 5 NIBOR NITTY EXCHANGE RATE OVERNIGHT 9.2917 3-MONTH 14.4157 1-MONTH 10.5889 6-MONTH 12.5641 N197.00 US DOLLAR* 1-MONTH 13.1585 6-MONTH 15.7848 2-MONTH 10.8806 9-MONTH 14. 7648 *AS AT LAST FRIDAY 3-MONTH 10.9226 12-MONTH 14.9792 Quick Takes FOR ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION L-R: Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council, Dr. Abdul-Latif Busari; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; and Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, during the inauguration of Nigeria’s first Sugarcane Bio-factory in Zaria, Kaduna State ...recently New Task for SEC as Unclaimed Dividends Rise to N55 Billion Goddy Egene The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) needs to move faster in the implementation of strategies to reduce unclaimed dividends in the nation’s capital market, as the amount of unclaimed dividends rose by 8.5 per cent in 2014. THISDAY checks revealed that unclaimed dividends returns filed by 112 companies as at December 2014 showed a figure of N55.22 billion, up from the N50.9 billion in 2014. This was contrary to a reduction witnessed in 2013. The issue of unclaimed dividends has been a thorny one in the market over the years with stakeholders Federal Government’s Domestic Debt Rises by N610bn Eromosele Abiodun The quarterly data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed that the Federal Government of Nigeria’s (FGN’s) domestic debt as at ending of March 2015 stood at N8.51trillion ($42.8 billion), an equivalent of 9.4 per cent 2014 gross domestic products (GDP). The increase in naira terms in the first quarter was N610 billion, of which FGN bonds accounted for N580 billion. The DMO data also showed CAPITAL MARKET trading blames. SEC had to introduce electronic-dividend that facilitates direct payment of dividends into shareholders’ bank accounts instead through dividend warrants. However, many shareholders are yet to embrace e-dividends, a development that has made unclaimed dividends to remain high. The Director General of SEC, Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, last February called on Registrars to ensure 100 per cent compliance on e-dividend as one of the ways of reducing unclaimed dividends. He also charged them to ensure efficient service delivery, and total support for ECONOMY that Nigeria’s total debt stock (addition of external and domestic debt) as at March 2015 stood at N12.06 trillion, representing an increase of 11.95 per cent from the December 31, 2014 figure of N11.24 trillion. A breakdown of the debt stock showed that external debt accounted for 15.46 per cent of the total debt stock at N1.86 trillion ($9.46 billion at an average exchange rate of $1/N197), while domestic debt stock accounted for 84.54 per dematerialisation. Besides the call, SEC had given a directive that unclaimed dividends be returned to companies after 15 months of declaration. Gwarzo said the directive was in compliance with the existing law on dividend declaration, had also urged Company Secretaries and Legal Advisers of Manufacturing Companies, to be in the vanguard of supporting the directive to Registrars to return unclaimed dividends to the companies after the stipulated period, insisting that there is no reason why Registrars should keep the unclaimed dividends beyond the period stipulated by law. He said the companies should cent of the total debt stock at N10.20 trillion ($1/N188.70 billion). The debt-to-GDP for 2014 stood at 12.47 per cent. Analysts at FSDH Research estimate a debt-to-GDP ratio of 12.89 per cent to end year 2015. This, they stated, means that Nigeria’s debt portfolio still has wide fiscal sustainability space; “as the debt-to-GDP ratio is below the applicable critical limit of 40 per cent set for the economy by the government.” On their part, analysts at FBN Capital posited that the ratio be in the vanguard of supporting the position of the law on dividend return, insisting that SEC is interested in the movement of the funds from the Registrars to the companies According to him, the Commission would soon embark on massive a public enlightenment programme to educate the public at the grass root so as to ensure that they get the full benefits of their investment. He said the public enlightenment will not be limited to dividend payment alone, but will include other recent issues in the market, like dematerialisation, straight through processing and Complaints Management Continued on page 24 for federal domestic debt was transformed by the rebasing of the national accounts published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in April 2014. The analysts however stressed that FGN’s domestic debt stock is still manageable. According to them, “These are the sovereign obligations of the FGN, and therefore exclude the obligations of AMCON (now solely held by the CBN), the NNPC and other public agencies, and the Continued on page 24 Elumelu Speaks on Power, Africapitalism Following his advocacy for entrepreneur led development for Africa at the White House and Georgetown University, African business leader and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu spoke on African energy issues at the Sustainable Energy For All (SE4ALL) Global Advisory board meeting in New York, yesterday. The event was co-chaired by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim. Elumelu, the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa and the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, is on the Advisory Board of SE4ALL along with global leaders such as US Secretary of State John Kerry, and the Directors General of the UNDP and UNIDO. The initiative brings together leaders from all sectors of society to collaborate to help increase energy access and build a more prosperous and safer world. Following the energy meetings, Elumelu is in Paris, France at the invitation of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius today take part in a global business dialogue focused on influencing the agenda for the 2015 Conference of the Parties (COP 21), the leading annual negotiating summit on climate issues. Elumelu, the only business leader invited from West Africa, has been invited along with an exclusive group of 40 Global Business leaders, including: the Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, and the CEO of Tesla,Elon Musk. Also, Elumelu will on Friday deliver the closing keynote address on the topic “Africapitaliam as a Catalyst for the Development of Africa” at Oxford University courtesy of the Oxford Africa Society. Goldman Sees Oil at $50 As oil prices fell from more than $100 a barrel to a low of $43.46 over the past year, analysts and economists constantly tried to pick a bottom and had little success. Now, they are trying to forecast a recovery, but Goldman Sachs has predicted oil will stay at lower levels for the rest of the decade. “We see potential for OPEC/the US to gain share longer term, even as WTI falls from $60 to $50 by the end of the decade,” Bloomberg reported. They forecast that companies are poised to do well in an environment with lower oil prices. Other market analysts have made predictions for oil to move at least slightly higher over the longer term, as they forecast that non-OPEC related supply will start to shrink. Goldman, on the other hand, reckons that the shale boom will continue even as OPEC refuses to cut back on production. Goldman analysts led by Brian Singer stated: “While the sharp reduction in US drilling activity is likely unsustainable, greater productivity in shale, start-ups of already sanctioned other non-OPEC projects and a greater willingness of OPEC to keep production levels elevated create a confluence of deflationary pressures for both oil and North American natural gas prices.” IITA, AfDB Target Rice Cultivation in Nigeria The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) are on the verge of increasing rice production in Nigeria and striking its name away from the list of countries that import huge amount of rice. Both organisations are aiming to achieve their goal through a project, Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa, instituted to help boost production of cassava, maize, rice and wheat in African countries. After a stakeholder consultation workshop hosted by the institute in Ibadan, the Coordinator of the project, Dr. Chrys Akem, said Nigeria would benefit hugely from the programme in the area of massive rice cultivation and exportation, owing to the vast agricultural potential it possessed and the Federal Government’s willingness to develop its agriculture base. According to him, “The major objective is to ensure food and nutritional security. Another aim is to raise the income level of the farmers so as to better their livelihood. At inception in 2013, our modest goal was to attain 20 per cent yield increase in each of the communities we are working.” The decision to amend our national definition of unemployment is not something we take lightly at the NBS DG, National Bureau of Statistics, Yemi Kale
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