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NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I ** TUESDAY 02 JUNE 2015 I VOL. 13, NO 108 I NGN300 

Long waits, rude staff, 

bureaucracy, top 

complaints against 

public hospitals 

–BRIU Report 

OBODO EJIRO 

Long waiting hours, bureaucracy 

in hospitals, and 

impoliteness of nursing 

personnel have been identified 

as the most pressing problems 

patients seeking health care in 

public hospital face. 

The findings are part of a 

survey contained in a report 

available from BusinessDay’s 

Research and Intelligence Unit. 

The survey pooled the opinion 

of almost 3,000 Nigerians. 

According to the report, “a 

number of factors are responsible 

for the dissatisfaction respondents 

face with public hospitals. 

The most prominent of 

which is the long waiting hours 

85% of respondents experience 

as they try to access care, also 

prominent is the impolite behaviour 

of nurses and ancillary 

staff at public health institutions 

(61%). Excessive bureaucracy 

was identified as a big problem 

by 53.1% of respondents, while 

unavailability of doctors was 

also pointed to as an issue with 

the system.” 

Least among the concerns 

of respondents who patronise 

public hospitals is pricing of 

services; which respondents 

consider as very cheap and affordable. 

“On the flip side, the 

relative affordability of care in 

the public health system could 

be partially responsible for the 

long waiting hours patients 

CBN balance sheet up 30% 

to N13.7trn in 2 years 

...as loans and receivables surge on interventions 

PATRICK ATUANYA 

Nigeria’s Central Bank 

grew its balance 

sheet by 30 percent 

between 2012 and 

2014 as its intervention 

in various sectors of the 

economy led to a surge in loans 

and receivables. 

The CBNs balance sheet increased 

to N13.7 trillion from 

N10.53 trillion, according to data 

from its financial statement for 

2014 released on Friday. 

The CBNs loans and receivables 

increased by 42 percent to 

N5 trillion from N3.59 trillion at 

the beginning of 2012. 

The Central Bank’s holdings 

classified as other assets, rose to 

N1.29 trillion, from N111 billion 

in 2012. 

The bank defines other assets 

as claims held against other 

entities for the future receipt of 

money. 

The Apex bank carries out intervention 

activities by providing 

below market interest rate loans 

to financial institutions in pursuit 

of its objective of ensuring 

financial system stability. 

The banks loans and receiva- 

Continues on page 4 


Inside 

News 8 

Comment 10 

Editorial 12 

Companies & Market 13 

Media Business 17 

Human Capital 23 

Homes and Property 27 

Market & Finance 31 

Politics 34 

Technology 35 

U.S. President Barack Obama (r) hosts King Willem-Alexander, and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands in the Oval office of the White House in Washington, 

yesterday. 

Reuters 

Investors await Buhari’s economic blueprint 

ODINAKA ANUDU 

As newly sworn-in President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

settles down to work, 

the organised private sector, 

made up investors across in- 

dustries, is awaiting the direction 

of his economic blueprint to determine 

where to put their money. 

“At this time, we eagerly await 

President Buhari’s economic blueprint 

that would define the policy 

direction of his administration,” 

said Remi Bello, president, Lagos 

Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

(LCCI), in a statement made 

available to BusinessDay. 

“This is important for policy 

clarity, strategic planning, investment 

decisions and confidence,” 

Bello added. 

For the past five months, investors 

have kept their money back 

from Nigeria, due to uncertainties 

surrounding the country’s general 

elections. They feared there could 

Continues on page 4

2 

Tuesday 02 June 2015

Tuesday 02 June 2015 

3

4 BUSINESS DAY 


NEWS 

CBN balance sheet up 30% to N13.7trn in 2... 

Continued from page 1 

bles comprise overdraft balances 

and short term advances, staff 

loans, loans to Deposit Money 

Banks on Commercial Agricultural 

Credit Scheme, and advances 

to the Federal Mortgage 

Bank of Nigeria. 

Others include long term 

loans, Bank of Industry Debenture 

and 6 percent Perpetual 

Debentures in Nigerian Export 

Import Bank, Asset Management 

Corporation of Nigeria (AM- 

CON) note, Nigerian treasury 

bonds, as well as trade and other 

receivables. 

The CBN’s total assets as a 

percentage of Nigerian GDP are 

equivalent to 14.8 percent. 

The net income for the year 

was N33.893 billion for the 

group, while the bank did not 

make any payments to the Federal 

Government’s treasury last 

year. 

“In line with the provisions 

of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 

2011, 20 percent of the net 

income of the bank (exclusive 

of unrealised gain) will be credited 

to retained earnings, while 

the balance will be paid to the 

Federal Government of Nigeria. 

After considering the effects of 

the unrealised gains...no payments 

will be made to the Federal 

Government in the financial 

year,” the CBN said in the report. 

The bank’s external reserves 

rose marginally to N5.83 trillion 

from N5.42 trillion in 2012. 

The CBN in developing countries 

often take on the role of 

development institutions. The 

Nigerian Central Bank has intervened 

in the Power, Aviation, and 

Agriculture sectors of the economy 

by setting up intervention 

funds with the aim of extending 

loans at low interest rates. 

Businesses in Nigeria are of- 

ten starved for credit. 

“Formal businesses in Nigeria 

receive only 1 percent of the 

funds they need for expansion 

from bank loans, the rest is obtained 

from retained earnings, 

suppliers credit or borrowing 

from family and friends,” the 

World Bank said in a 2011 report. 

The average branch of major 

Nigerian banks costs about 

$1 million per annum, one of 

the highest in Africa, leading 

to banks charging highinterest 

rates (24 percent and above) in 

a bid to break even. 

Some major intervention 

funds made available by the FG 

and CBN to increase access to 

credit for private sector businesses 

include the N200 billion 

Small and Medium Enterprises 

Credit Guarantee Schemes 

(SMECGS) which was launched 

in April 2010. 

The N200 billion Restructuring 

and Refinancing Facility 

(REF) scheme, approved by the 

CBN in 2010, aimed at fasttracking 

the development of 

the manufacturing sector of the 

Nigerian economy. 

The Nigerian Incentive Based 

Risk Sharing System for Agricultural 

Lending (NIRSAL) was 

launched in 2011 with a view 

to providing farmers with affordable 

financial products and 

reducing the risks of such loans 

to the benefitting farmers. 

There is also the Power 

and Airline Intervention Fund 

(PAIF), introduced in September 

2010. 

Long waits, rude staff, bureaucracy, top... 

Akinwunmi Adesina, newly-elected president of African Development Bank (AfDB) (2nd right); Grace, his wife (right); 

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, and Yetunde Onanuga, deputy governor, shortly after the president paid a 

courtesy visit to the governor, yesterday. 

Investors await Buhari’s economic... 


be pre- or postelection tensions 

which could mar their investments. 

Though there has been relative 

peace after March 28 and April 11 

during which presidential and gubernatorial 

elections respectively, 

were held, investors are yet to make 

major decisions in the first and the 

greater part of the second quarter 

because the present government 

has just been sworn in and is yet 

to get off the ground. 

This is remarkably different 

from the first half of 2014 within 

which Procter &Gamble announced 

an investment of $300 

million at Agbara, Ogun State. 

Within the period in 2014, the 

sugar industry was buoyed by $2.6 

billion investment by Dangote, 

Flour Mills, McNichols and Crystal 

Sugar, among others. 

Total value of investments made 

within this period (H1) 2014 in 

the manufacturing sector alone 

was N483.05 billion, according to 

the Manufacturers Association of 

Nigeria (MAN) data. 

“Buhari says he is keen on 

diversifying the economy. So we 

want to see the card he is holding 

close to his chest on agriculture, 

manufacturing and export. These 

will determine where we will put 

our money,” Ikechukwu Ibeabuchi, 

chief executive officer, MD Services 

Limited, who is also an investor in 

the local chemicals industry, said. 

Investors are keenly awaiting 

government’s decisions on the oil 

and gas sector, power intervention, 

investment incentives and monetary 

policy, including the exchange 

rate, according to analysts. 

They are likewise awaiting policy 

statements on inflation and 

interest rates, as well as how the 

new government will handle the 

automotive policy introduced by 

the immediate past administration. 

Some investors who spoke to 

BusinessDay said they are also 

waiting for how the new government 

intends to handle the cost of 

doing business, an area in which 

the country currently ranks 170 

out of 189 countries. 

Ede Dafinone, chief executive 

officer, Sapele Integrated Industries 

Limited, said investors are 

essentially waiting for Buhari’s appointments 

and are satisfied with 

his inaugural speech which did not 

connote panic. 

“I spoke with an ambassador 

from one of the European countries 

and he plainly told me that 

his investment team is awaiting 

Buhari’s ministers. Appointment of 

credible people will send positive 

signals,”said Dafinone, who is also 

an investor in the rubber industry. 

The Manufacturers Association 

of Nigeria, involving key investors 

in over 77 sectors in the Nigerian 

economy, says they await government’s 

decisions on innovation 

and technology, power, rail system, 

port administration, standards, 

patronage of locally manufactured 

goods and trade issues. 

“We believe the Export Expansion 

Guideline should be reviewed. 

We also believe the operation of 

the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation 

Scheme (ETLS) should be 

addressed,” said MAN, headed by 

Frank Udemba Jacobs. 

Other manufacturers say that 

decisions on key trade issues such 

as the Common External Tariff 

(CET) already agreed to by the 

fifteen member countries of the 

Economic Community of West 

African States would determine the 

direction of the economy. 

They say the new administration 

must not sign the Economic Partnership 

Agreement (EPA) between 

ECOWAS and Europe, as this will be 

a disincentive and also destroy the 

manufacturing industry. 

Tunde Oyelola, chairman, MAN 

Export Group and vice-chairman, 

PZ Cussons Nigeria plc, said exporters 

in the country are awaiting 

the new government’s decision 

on the Export Expansion Grant 

Scheme, which was suspended 

two years ago by the immediate 

past government. 

According to Oyelola, a positive 

disposition to the EEG and 

the Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate 

will enhance investments 

in the export sector, particularly 

the value-adding agriculture and 

manufacturing. 


have to endure. It could also 

explain the behaviour of nurses 

and ancillary workers who have 

to process a long retinue of patients 

daily” the report opines. 

Nigeria’s medical personnelto-patients 

ratio falls far below 

WHO recommendation. As 

at 2013, the doctor-to-patient 

ratio of Nigeria was 1:6,400 as 

against the World Health Organisation 

(WHO) standard of 

1:600. Medical schools in the 

country graduate between 2,500 

and 4,000 doctors annually 

which is low for a country with 

a population of over 170 million 

people. The WHO recommends 

a nurse-to-population ratio 

of 1: 700, but according to the 

Open Journal of Nursing, 2014, 

Nigeria has less than 150,000 

registered nurses. 

Insiders in the public hospital 

system point to such legitimate 

activity as necessary checks of 

samples, blood pressure, etc as 

responsible for the delay which 

patients experience. “There is 

also this notion that doctors in 

government hospitals are more 

experienced” says a doctor with 

a teaching hospital who commented 

on the issue. 

Friday Okonofua, a professor 

of gynecology at the University 

of Benin and a member 

of the Board of Trustees of the 

Women’s Health and Action 

Research Centre, says “the major 

problem is that about 40% 

of doctors we train locally are 

going abroad because of better 

remuneration and better working 

environment. Also, there 

are les recourses devoted to 

training doctors in the country, 

especially in public training 

institutions. What happens 

these days is that even when 

players in the private sector set 

up institutions to train doctors 

when members of the Nigerian 

Dental and Medical Association 

inspect such institutions, they 

are forced to approve it for very 

few students”. 

BRIU’s survey shows a direct 

contrast between the experiences 

of those who patronise 

private and public hospital. In 

reference to services in private 

hospitals, the major turn-off 

for patients is high cost (88% 

of respondents said this). They 

also express concern about 

the unavailability of the right 

drugs within private hospitals 

(patients have to get what is required 

from pharmacies). Also, 

compared to the public health 

system, in the private system, 

nurses are more polite, bureaucracy 

is less, and the state of 

hygiene is better. 

BRIU’s report also focuses on 

key aspects of the health sector 

including HMOs, efficiency of 

NAFDAC’s drug authentication 

system, medical tourism, the 

disease burden, federal medical 

budget, and the economy. 

STANBIC IBTC MUTUAL FUNDS 

28/05/2015 

Stanbic IBTC Nigeria Equity Fund 

Offer price 

Bid price 

Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 

Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed 

Investment Fund 

N8,886.57 

N8,737.53 

Offer price N0.92 

Bid price N0.90 



Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 

Offer price 

Bid price 

Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 

N1,784.49 

N1,769.42 



Annualized Return 9.96% 

Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 



Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 

Closing NAV Per Unit N106.76 

Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 

Yield 13.28% 26/05/15 

www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com 

“Past performance is not an 

Te1: +234 1 2801266 

indication of future performance”


5

6 



7



News 

Intels refutes 

monopoly 

allegation, rift 

with NPA 

ODINAKA MBONU 

The management of 

Integrated Logistics 

Services (Intels) has 

refuted allegations that it is 

attempting to monopolise 

the handling of oil and gas 

related cargo in the country 

through the Onne Port. 

The company also dispels 

insinuations in some 

quarters that it was engaged 

in a brawl with the Nigerian 

Ports Authority (NPA) over the 

port, saying it remains in good 

terms with the port controller. 

The firm adds that in line 

with its existing concession 

agreement with the Federal 

Government, it only 

remains an investor at the 

port, dedicated to providing 

a one-stop shop to support 

oil exploration and production 

in the country. 

Speaking during a recent 

media parley at the firm’s 

premises in Onne, Mike 

Epelle, general manager, legal 

and corporate affairs, Intels, 

said having secured the 

concession right to provide 

terminal services at the port 

for a 25-year period, Intels 

had continued to execute 

its business in-line with its 

agreement with the Federal 

Government and at no time 

hindered any other investors 

from operating in the port. 

Epelle said while his 

firm’s innovative approach 

to service delivery had made 

it the preferred choice by 

most clients, it was totally 

wrong for anyone to label the 

firm as ‘monopolistic.’ 

“There are currently about 

190 companies operating within 

the Onne Oil and Gas free zone,” 

he said, explaining that Intels 

pioneering commitment and 

efforts at developing facilities 

and infrastructure at the port 

attracted a large chunk of operators 

at the port and the subsequent 

declaration of Onne as 

an Oil and Gas free zone. 

The managing director 

disclosed that while only eight 

companies operated at the 

port in 1997, the number had 

surged to 190 with total investment 

pegged at $6 billion. 

He recounted that while 

Intels basically inherited a 

port that did not exist from 

the Federal Government, its 

investment strategy, which 

was hinged on developing 

infrastructure for tomorrow’s 

use, informed its embarking 

on a major upgrade of the 

infrastructure at the port. 

“Intels pioneering effort 

created the platform for the 

development of infrastructure 

and transformation at 

the port,” he said, adding 

that the firm’s investment 

strategy to expand its capacity 

was unfortunately misinterpreted 

by some operators 

as monopolistic. 

L-R: Yemi Akeju, 1st vice president, Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria; Edet Ekerendu, president, Abuja chapter; Henry 

Ajetunmobi, director, Sifax Group, and Eniola Fadayomi, president, IoD Nigeria, during the Institute’s Abuja chapter’s May 

2015 members evening, sponsored by Sifax Group. 

PIPP LVI Genco plans 200mw for Lagos 

…16mw for Ilupeju, 6mw for Surulere 

OLUSOLA BELLO 

As the embedded 

power scheme 

gains ground 

among power 

investors in Nigeria, 

PIPP LVI Genco Limited 

is proposing to build about 

200 megawatts (mw) of electricity 

plant that would be 

scattered around the city of 

Lagos and beyond. 

The company, which has 

already built a $25 million 

power plant at Lekki in Lagos 

which is currently servicing 

some Lagos State public 

utilities, is also set to put 

another 16mw in ILupeju 

and 6mw for Surulere. 

Faruk Agoro, managing 

director/CEO of the 

company in his interaction 

with BusinessDay, said the 

company was currently developing 

other projects at 

Ilupeju, Mushin and Oshodi, 

Surulere and Orile, adding 

that these were areas the 

Nigerians defy FX pressure in N387.5bn imported Chinese goods 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU 

The inability of various 

government policies 

to encourage local 

manufacturers with 

a competitive edge over their 

foreign counterparts has continued 

to reflect on the level 

of foreign exchange (forex) 

outflows due to imports. 

As rising demand for the 

dollar pressured naira exchange 

rate in the first-quarter 

(Q1) of 2015, Nigerians 

spent a whooping N387.5 

billion same period importing 

Chinese products. 

The recent foreign trade 

statistics of the National Bureau 

of Statistics (NBS) revealed 

that the value of Nigeria’s 

total imports stood at 

company could easily take 

opportunity for now, with 

priority being given to Ilupeju 

and Surulere 

The company is looking 

at investing between 

$10 million - $15 million 

in Ilupeju plant, while that 

of Surulere would cost less 

than Ilupeju. 

He however explained 

that such public private 

partnership (PPP) would 

be in different forms. According 

to him, the plant 

in Ilupeju would be for the 

industrial areas while the 

one in Surelere may be with 

Lagos State government, but 

also hopefully that some industrial 

concerns there may 

key into the project. 

“In ILupeju we would 

site 16 megawatts plant and 

6 megawatts plant for Surulere. 

There are more industrial 

concerns in Ilupeju 

than in Surulere. Like I said, 

the idea is to keep replicating 

the project whether it is 

N1.645 trillion at the end of Q1 

2015, though a decline of about 

N385.8 billion or 19 percent 

from N2.031 trillion recorded 

in the preceding quarter. 

While China ranked first 

among the top 10 countries in 

Nigeria’s import origin, United 

States of America followed as 

goods that originated from 

that country to Nigeria were 

valued N133.768 billion in the 

three month period. 

Other countries and 

values of goods Nigeria 

imported from them are 

Belgium (N118.740bn); 

Netherlands (N108.696bn); 

India (N96.605bn); United 

Kingdom (N79.913bn); 

Italy (N74.776bn); Germany 

(N54.664bn); Thailand 

(N46.325bn), and Brazil 

five megawatts here or 10 

megawatts in another place 

by the time you put all these 

together in about five or 10 

years it would add up to 200 

megawatts. 

He said having the participation 

of the Lagos State 

government could be an 

added advantage because 

the government has so 

much facilities that the company’s 

plants can actually 

support. He said anywhere 

the company sited its plants 

it would make as much efforts 

as possible to tap into 

public infrastructure that are 

there, because it is known 

that power is the problem. 

The PIPP LVI Genco boss 

said the most important 

thing is for the plant to be 

sited close to where there 

is gas pipeline because the 

problem of transporting 

compressed natural Gas 

(CNG) to locations where 

the plant are sited from gas 

stations is a bit of challenge. 

(N42.522bn). 

According to the NBS, the 

structure of Nigeria’s imports 

classified by section revealed 

imports of “boilers, machinery 

and appliances” dominated, 

accounting for 27.7 percent of 

the total value in Q1 2015. 

Other commodities that 

contributed considerably 

to the value in the review 

period were “mineral products” 

(13.1%), “base metals 

and articles of base metals” 

(10.2%), “vehicles, aircraft and 

associated parts” (9.6%), and 

“products of the chemical and 

allied industries” (8.7%). 

Also in Q1 2015, Nigeria’s 

import of Premium Motor 

Spirit valued at N181.253 billion, 

followed by other wheat 

and meslin valued at N50.279 

On its expansion programme 

outside Lagos, he 

said they are looking at Oyo, 

Ogun, Edo states. “In Ondo 

State we started discussion 

last year but they did not 

come back. But Ogun State 

is looking more positive. 

Abeokuta and Ibadan are 

the possible places we are 

looking at”, he said. 

Speaking further on the 

Lekki power plant investment 

in terms of how much 

the company actually spent, 

he said that a plant like that 

cannot take the investment 

in isolation. 

The plant, he explained, 

was actually the cheapest 

of those things that are involved 

in the whole project, 

adding that the distribution 

network and all the 

street lights are about 25 

kilometres network which 

stretched to Lekki phase 

one to Ikoyi, Bourdillion, 

Victoria island ,Saka Tinubu 

and Oniru. 

billion and semi-milled or 

wholly milled rice more than 

5kg or bulk (investors with 

rice milling capability) valued 

at N33.439 billion. 

Details also show: imported 

motorcycles and 

cycles, imported CKD by 

established manufacturers 

(above 50cc and less or 

equal to 250cc) valued at 

N29.883 billion, and cane 

sugar worth N24.744 billion. 

Also imported in the Q1’15 

period are: Other vessels, including 

warships and lifeboats 

- rowing boats valued at 

N21.700 billion; electric conductors 

for a voltage exceeding 

1000 Volts (N17.953bn); 

herbicides, anti-sprouting 

products and plant-growth 

regulators (N17.877bn); 

Boko Haram: 

Buhari to visit Chad, 

Niger Wednesday 

…summons Jonathan’s NSA 

KEHINDE ABDULSALAM, Abuja 

In the bid to flush out 

the outlawed Boko Haram 

group, President 

Muhammadu Buhari will 

tomorrow make his first trip 

abroad as he visits neighbouring 

Niger Republic and 

Chad to discuss the best and 

quickest approach to stop 

the activities of the sect. 

Since Buhari assumed 

office the Boko Haram 

group have struck in the 

states of Yobe and Borno 

where heavy casualties 

were recorded. 

Garba Shehu, senior 

special assistant to the 

president on media and 

publicity, disclosed in his 

chat with newsmen on 

Monday that Buhari’s trip 

to the neighbouring countries 

was primed for exploring 

ways of bringing an end 

to the insurgency in the 

northeast. 

“The president has Niger 

and Chad ahead of him. 

This will be his first trip 

outside the country on obvious 

matters of security,” 

he said. 

Shehu added that the 

trip was expected to be for 

one day. 

While the new President 

is yet to name his National 

Security Adviser, he however 

summoned the National 

Security Adviser to the former 

President, Sambo Dasuki 

to his Defence House 

residence in Abuja. 

After a closed door 

meeting that lasted for 

more than three hours, the 

President and the former 

NSA didn’t disclose what 

their deliberations centred 

on but it was gathered 

that they were working out 

the strategies to tackle the 

scourge of BokoHaram crisis 

that has been ravaging 

the country for many years. 

frozen mackerel (Scomber 

Scombrus, Schomber austalasicus, 

Scomber japonicus) 

(N17.868bn); other appliances 

such as taps, cocks and valves 

(N14.847bn); automatic data 

processing machines equal 

of less than 5kg, consisting of 

CPU, keyboard and display, 

CKD (N13.353bn); tubes and 

hollow profiles, used for oil or 

gas pipelines seamless, stainless 

steel (N12.845bn); milk 

an cream in powder above 

1.5 percent fat not contain 

sweetening matter specially 

made for infants (N12.737bn); 

poles with or without light fittings 

of a height not exceeding 

8 metres (N12.399bn); parts 

of machines and mechanical 

appliances having individual 

functions, others (N12.072bn).


9



COMMENT 

TAYO OGUNBIYI 

Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, 

Ministry of Information & Strategy, 

Alausa, Ikeja. 

It won’t be an overstatement 

to affirm that Lagos State is 

one of the few shining lights 

in the country’s democratic 

experience since 1999. The 

state has been blessed with visionary 

and astute governors who had 

piloted its affairs in a laudable fashion. 

Bola Ahmed Tinubu who became 

the third elected governor of 

Lagos State in 1999, no doubt, laid 

the foundation for a virile Lagos. 

His administration gave a unique 

opportunity for young graduates to 

be employed into the mainstream 

of the state civil service as about 

10,000 of them were integrated into 

the service between 1999 and 2007. 

It was also the Tinubu government 

that established agencies 

such as Office of Public Defenders, 

KAI, LASTMA, LASAA, LAMATA, 

to mention just a few. The Tinubu 

administration equally fixed dilapidated 

public infrastructure at 

the Lagos Island Business District 

and many public schools and hospitals 

in the state as well as Kudirat 

Abiola Way, Lawanson-Itire road, 

Ikotun-Ijegun road, Ikotun-Igando 

road, LASU-Iyana Iba road, among 

others. 

Tinubu also worked hard to 

Lagosians have indeed not 

made a mistake by choosing 

to put their trust and 

hope in Ambode in the next 

four years. With Ambode’s 

antecedent as a hardworking 

and visionary public 

administrator, Lagos is 

capable of continuing in its 

well-known tradition of 

excellence 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline. 

Ambode and the burden of expectations 

improve the economy of the state. 

Though he inherited an ailing 

economy from the Marwa administration 

in 1999, by May 2007 

when he was leaving office, his 

administration had put Lagos 

State on a sound economic path. 

Being an astute financial engineer, 

with a professional background 

steeped in highly efficient private 

sector audit, Tinubu left behind an 

economy that could stand on its 

own without depending so much 

on monthly stipends from Abuja. 

When Tinubu left office in 2007, 

he did not only leave Lagos State 

with a sound and solid economy 

and viable democratic institutions, 

he also left behind a worthy 

successor in Babatunde Raji Fashola 

(SAN). Popularly called the 

‘Actualiser’, it was Fashola who actually 

took Lagos State to the next 

level. From the outset, Fashola set 

out to do government business in 

an unusual fashion, completely 

different from what we were used 

to. That is why he always affirmed 

an Albert Einstein maxim that 

“Insanity is doing the same thing 

over and over again and expecting 

different results”. 

Hence, Fashola set out to place 

Lagos among the prime investment 

hubs, not only in Africa, but 

in the whole world. His vision was 

to build a Lagos that is similar to 

reputable international cities like 

London, Mumbai, Istanbul, Sao 

Paulo, Jakarta, Delhi, Dubai, Bangkok, 

Cairo, among others. With 

the relative success of the State 

Security Trust Fund in taming 

crimes in the state, Lagos became 

the preferred point for investors as 

the business atmosphere became 

more predictable and stable. Lagos 

is safer today by any standard of the 

world. The Fashola government’s 

intervention in the work environment 

in the areas of training, equipment, 

logistics and motivation and 

other crime management measures 

yielded positive results. 

The duo of Bola Tinubu and 

Babatunde Fashola were able to 

transform Lagos through institution 

building. Rather than build the 

machinery of government around 

themselves, they decided to build 

enduring government institutions 

that make governance a collective 

responsibility. Hence, in Lagos 

today, we have functioning and 

well thought-out agencies and 

bodies such as Lagos State Advertising 

Agency, Lagos State Building 

Control Agency, Lagos State Traffic 

Management Agency, Lagbus Asset 

Management, Lagos Metropolitan 

Area Transport Agency, among 

others. 

The good thing about these agencies 

and bodies is that their creation 

has made governance in the state 

a well-structured system that 

functions as a unit. Governance 

achieves better and faster results 

when it is anchored on viable and 

enduring institutions. It is only 

then that it is able to function as a 

system in which all the component 

parts depend on each other for 

effectiveness. This is where Lagos 

has got it right in the last 16 years 

of democratic governance. This is 

why Lagos has been working. 

It is, however, crucial to state 

that the legacies of Tinubu and 

Fashola in Lagos State have placed 

upon the shoulder of the new 

governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, 

a huge burden in terms of public 

expectations. That Lagosians and 

indeed the rest of the world are 

likely to benchmark him, in terms 

of the vision and direction of his 

administration, with the performance 

of his illustrious predecessors 

is only natural. In the last 16 

years, people have become used to 

a safer, cleaner and more investorfriendly 

Lagos. Now, Ambode’s 

burden is not only how to sustain 

this creditable trend but also how 

to surpass it. This is why some 

analysts have said they do not, in 

any way, envy the man Ambode. 

It is essential to stress that Ambode 

has all it takes to consolidate 

on the impressive achievements of 

his predecessors and move Lagos 

to greater heights. If brilliance is 

the only item that is required for 

a governor to succeed in office, 

Ambode has it in no small measure. 

At 21, he graduated in style in 

Accounting from the University of 

Lagos, Akoka. At 24, he had earned 

a Master’s degree in Accounting 

and had also become a chartered 

accountant. 

But it is Ambode’s insightful experience 

in the Lagos State public 

service that will serve him in good 

stead with extra mileage as the state 

governor. Ambode has had a vastly 

memorable career as a public sector 

accountant and administrator 

in Lagos State. He rose to become 

the auditor general for local governments, 

permanent secretary 

in the Ministry of Finance, and 

accountant general of Lagos State, 

a position he held till his voluntary 

resignation from the public service 

in 2012. Perhaps more importantly, 

he had been involved at possibly 

the two most critical periods in 

the history of the state within the 

current democratic dispensation. 

The first was the era of spiteful 

financial offensive on Lagos, and 

the other was the period of the 

dramatic financial reengineering 

that gave rise to the ambitious accomplishments 

being witnessed in 

Lagos today. 

Consequently, it would not be 

out of place to assert that Lagosians 

have indeed not made a mistake 

by choosing to put their trust and 

hope in Ambode in the next four 

years. With Ambode’s antecedent 

as a hardworking and visionary 

public administrator, Lagos is 

capable of continuing in its wellknown 

tradition of excellence. This 

was what the people wanted when 

they gave Ambode their mandate, 

and this is what the man is preparing 

to give unto them. 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline.com 

AUSTIN UGANWA 

Dr Uganwa wrote from the National 

Assembly, Abuja. 

Penultimate Saturday, a 

wide spectrum of All Progressives 

Congress (APC) 

senators rose from their 

retreat and endorsed Ahmad Lawan 

as the president of the 8th 

Senate. Led by Senator Gemade 

of Benue State, the senators struck 

an understanding with George 

Akume, former governor of Benue 

State and another top contender 

to the position of Senate president. 

Akume agreed to partner and 

run with Lawan as deputy Senate 

president. 

The approval of Lawan a fortnight 

ago by senators across the six 

geo-political zones of the country is 

instructive of his avowed suitability 

thereby boosting his chances. This 

is more so as many of the national 

leaders of the party have thrown 

their weight behind Lawan. 

It is only incontrovertible that 

the senators who have endorsed 

Lawan are evidently justified. This 

is particularly so because, when 

juxtaposed with other contenders 

especially in integrity, legislative 

experience and accomplishments, 

leadership attributes, erudition 

and forthrightness, Lawan is second 

to none. As many senators 

observed, he is the most desirable 

to redefine and consolidate the 

Senate and National Assembly 

Why Lawan’s endorsement should be transformed into Senate presidency 

vision for the overall interest of 

Nigeria and Nigerians. 

Specifically, apart from untarnished 

political career, Lawan is 

the most experienced in legislative 

business and leadership. A 

bridge builder, he also boasts the 

highest educational qualification 

with a doctorate degree in Remote 

Sensing and Geographic Information 

System. He has the right 

character, candour and stability 

to enthrone a corrupt-free Senate, 

injecting the best legislative 

practices obtained in other upper 

chambers globally. This makes 

it imperative for the senators to 

ensure that the endorsement is 

broadened and sustained for him 

to emerge as Senate president 

this week. 

Since the inception of the National 

Assembly in 1999, Lawan 

has had unbroken chain of 16 

years in the National Assembly 

– eight years in the House and 

another eight years in the Senate. 

Naturally, this uncommon 

feat has intrinsically made him to 

have an encyclopedic knowledge 

of the Nigerian legislature and its 

legislative process. With his recent 

re-election into the Senate on the 

platform of the APC to represent 

Yobe North, Lawan has another 

four years of immense experience 

and thus ought to be elected on 

merit to competently pilot the 

affairs of the Senate. 

A vibrant, visionary and focused 

parliamentarian, Lawan came to the 

National Assembly in 1999 well prepared. 

Apart from his educational 

sophistication, from the outset he 

had a clear vision of his mission 

to the parliament which included 

providing constructive, credible, 

virile and courageous opposition; 

holding the executive accountable 

to the people through effective 

oversight; ensuring quality representation 

through regular interface 

with his constituents; and pursuit 

of better funding of infrastructural 

development. 

Others included ensuring the delivery 

of qualitative and functional 

education; stemming the tide of 

fiscal indiscipline evident in public 

finance management and appropriation, 

and pursuit of legislation 

and policies geared towards good 

governance, peace and the welfare 

of Nigerians. 

He has been able to accomplish 

these through regular, robust, quality 

and intellectual contributions 

during plenary sessions and committee 

activities. He also plays 

leading role during parliamentary 

caucus meetings. He is one of the 

key legislators vociferously opposed 

to extra-budgetary expenditure, low 

level of budget implementation 

and constitutional breaches, especially 

during Olusegun Obasanjo’s 

regime, and arbitrary deployment 

of soldiers. 

Similarly, he added a strong 

voice and rallied opposition lawmakers 

against Obasanjo’s plot for 

tenure elongation in 2006 and thus 

contributing largely to the failure of 

that project. He also moved against 

President Goodluck Jonathan’s 

administration over the snail pace 

adopted in grappling with the Boko 

Haram insurgency which hitherto 

has been ravaging his North-East 

zone resulting in general insecurity 


As House chairman on Education, 

and later Agriculture, Lawan 

injected dynamism and parliamentary 

prowess into the running 

of the committees. He developed 

desirable legislative frameworks 

that brought about unassailable 

reforms in the two sectors. 

Based on the legislative experience 

he amassed from the House, 

he was appointed member, Senate 

ad hoc Committee on Constitution 

Review and has since the past eight 

years been heading the Senate 

Committee on Public Accounts, 

an elaborate committee critical 

to all sectors of the economy. He 

has since the appointment been 

preoccupied with fashioning out a 

more responsible public accounts 

regime. 

The secret behind his rare and 

sustained re-elections evidently 

lies in his humility, accessibility, 

sincerity, kindness and great performance. 

More crucially, he has 

maintained regular interface with 

his constituents, providing him 

the opportunity of identifying their 

needs and aspirations and taking 

concrete steps towards tackling 

such. Lawan’s towering legislative 

feat and governance tinged with 

pursuit of effective opposition are 

also instructive of his extensive 

successes at the polls. 

It is incontrovertible that his 16 

active and pulsating years in the 

parliament playing leading roles 

have earned him vast, profound 

and matchless experience on parliamentary 

politics, procedure and 

administration. To allude that this 

man of great vision has seen it all in 

parliament is an understatement; 

he is indeed an institution on parliamentary 

issues. Having been 

returned for another four years 

and the first of its kind in APC, the 

only way the Senate and the nation 

can benefit immensely from his 

inestimable experience and his 

parliamentary father figure is to 

elect him to lead the 8th Senate. 

Lawan’s Senate presidency is simply 

an idea whose time has come. 


comment@businessdayonline.com


comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline. 

LUCY P. MARCUS 

Marcus, founder and CEO of Marcus 

Venture Consulting, Ltd., is Professor 

of Leadership and Governance at IE 

Business School and a non-executive 

board director of Atlantia SpA. 

©: Project Syndicate 

The arrest of FIFA executives 

on a raft of fraud 

and corruption charges 

has been front-page 

news in recent days. 

But the charges brought by the 

Swiss and American authorities 

focus on bribery and embezzlement, 

and do not address another 

egregious injustice: the treatment 

of the migrant workers in Qatar 

who are building the stadiums for 

the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup. 

Amnesty International recently 

released a report on the abysmal 

conditions in Qatar. The workers 

are subject to unsafe construction 

sites, exploitative recruitment 

agencies, and little recourse to 

formal justice. Recently, Nepal’s 

labor minister publicly spoke out 

about the government of Qatar 

not allowing his country’s migrant 

workers to return home to mourn 

relatives who died in the April 2015 

The FIFA syndrome 

earthquake. 

As Amnesty International 

notes, the responsibility lies primarily 

with the Qatari authorities. 

But FIFA had – and still has – a responsibility 

to act. There have also 

been calls for sponsors, including 

McDonalds, Visa, Coca-Cola, Adidas, 

Budweiser, Gazprom, KIA, 

and Hyundai, to place pressure on 

FIFA and Qatar to improve working 

conditions. 

Such issues have arisen in recent 

years in other sectors as well. 

In April, Human Rights Watch issued 

a report on the treatment of 

garment workers in Bangladesh. 

The report, prompted by the 2013 

Rana Plaza collapse, in which more 

than 1,100 people died and over 

2,000 were injured, highlighted 

poor working conditions, inadequate 

building inspections, weak 

labor laws, and the need for fairer 

wage practices and legal benefits. 

Beyond these examples, there 

have been many others. In technology, 

Apple and Foxconn have faced 

criticism for working conditions 

at their Chinese production sites. 

Even educational institutions, 

such as New York University’s new 

campus in Abu Dhabi, have been 

tainted by episodes of workplace 

exploitation and abuse. 

These are not isolated cases. 

For every disaster and high-profile 

case that hits the headlines, there 

are many more that we never hear 

about. 

Nonetheless, one hopes that 

the treatment of those who make 

the goods, produce the services, and 

build the things that make us happy 

and productive – from clothing and 

technology to sports stadiums and 

college campuses – continues to 

come under scrutiny. Globalization 

should force managers – and all of us 

– to do some serious thinking about 

labor practices around the world. 

Here is where it gets complicated. 

What counts as a company’s 

workforce? Are “its” workers only 

those people on its own payroll? 

Are companies responsible for their 

products’ entire supply chains? To 

what extent can – and should – a 

company be held to account for the 

choices of those who may be several 

links removed? When a serious issue 

has been brought to a company’s 

attention, are its managers obliged 

to address it, even if it involves the 

subcontractor of a subcontractor? 

The larger and more complex the 

company, the harder it is to track 

Companies are made up of 

people. Paying fair wages, 

adopting ethical sourcing 

practices, and upholding 

the dignity of workers 

should be a part of the 

way they calculate their 

success 

all of the firms with which it does 

business, the firms that they then 

subcontract to, and so on. Companies, 

not surprisingly, say that 

their responsibility extends only 

so far. But that is not an answer; 

it is a choice. Organizations can 

decide to extend their reach. They 

can even decide that they want 

to know the full provenance of 

all materials and components in 

their products, and that they will 

hold their extended suppliers to 

account. 

In this sense, the larger the 

company, the greater its responsibility. 

But larger companies also 

have a larger ability to become a 

force for good, both locally and 

globally. If a company the size of 

US retailer Walmart decides that it 

will not allow wasteful packaging, 

its purchasing power will lead to 

changes in packaging for the entire 

retail sector. The same is true of 

wages and labor practices. 

When the world’s biggest companies 

and most well-recognized 

brands take seriously their responsibility 

as buyers, sellers, and 

manufacturers and make a firm 

commitment to act on core values, 

others tend to follow – or risk being 

left behind. Those that operate 

in an ethical manner and seek to 

improve the lives of all who are 

associated with the manufacture, 

marketing, and distribution of 

their products will benefit from kudos, 

more business, or simply not 

being singled out as a bad actor. 

BUSINESS DAY 

11 

COMMENT 

By contrast, companies whose 

managers believe that a competitive 

marketplace is no place 

for ethical behavior will suffer if 

and when consumers take their 

business elsewhere; government 

regulation and fines force them to 

act; or they become unable to attract 

an educated and ever-more 

discerning workforce. All of it – the 

constant scrutiny, the bad press, the 

tarnished reputation – will hit their 

long-term stock prices. 

Much the same is true for organizations 

like FIFA. When sponsors 

like Coca-Cola or Adidas believe 

that their reputations will be tarnished 

by association with an 

organization engaged in corrupt 

practices, they will take their brandmanagement 

dollars elsewhere. 

Companies are made up of 

people. Paying fair wages, adopting 

ethical sourcing practices, and 

upholding the dignity of workers 

should be a part of the way they 

calculate their success. Those who 

disconnect themselves from the 

fate of others, who act without 

conscience or a sense of right and 

wrong, and who spurn ordinary 

human decency have no place 

running organizations or sitting on 

company boards. The things that 

make us happy must not come at 

an unforgivably high price. 


comment@businessdayonline.com 

IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN 

Uwugiaren is an Abuja-based journalist. 

Former President Olusegun 

Obasanjo has never ceased 

to mesmerise me on some 

national issues as they affect 

Nigeria. Recently the national 

dailies and the new media copiously 

placed news reports on how a committee 

set up by the former president 

presented comprehensive reports 

on key sectors to serve as a guide 

to President Muhammadu Buhari. 

Akin Mabogunje, chairman of 

the governing board, Centre for 

Human Security of the Olusegun 

Obasanjo Presidential Library, who 

was quoted as speaking to journalists 

after meeting with Buhari, said 

the committee had been working on 

a number of critical issues, including 

ways to tackle corruption, for the 

development of Nigeria. Imagine 

Obasanjo designing a framework for 

fighting corruption in our country! It 

is amazing. 

Except somebody with a short 

memory, many people still remember 

that under Obasanjo’s civilian 

presidency, Nigeria was severally 

rated the most corrupt nation in the 

world. Under his watch, our nation’s 

treasury was hugely and criminally 

depleted and our common wealth 

diverted for personal and selfish interest. 

And if he could not tackle corruption 

for eight years when he was 

in power – with all the instruments of 

coercion at his control – what tactics 

or strategy can he offer now? 

Well, it is all good. With a nononsense 

Buhari now at the helm 

of affairs, it is fashionable hearing 

people talk about corruption everywhere 

in Nigeria. Indeed, Buhari’s 

campaign was deliberately predicated 

on two issues: corruption and 

Corruption: Can Buhari stop this money-spinning business? 

dinary people and even journalists, 

corruption has become a seemingly 

pandemic in our society. Many government 

officials now openly ask for 

bribe to do the job they are employed 

to do. Police and traffic wardens collect 

bribe from traffic offenders in 

broad daylight and let them go free. 

Politicians have looted and are still 

looting our treasury in billions. The 

sad part is that these corrupt leaders 

drive cheekily expensive cars on the 

streets of our country, pompously 

displaying their ill-acquired wealth 

or loot. Many of them have been 

exposed in the past but nothing has 

happened to them. 

Experts have robustly discussed 

the issue of corruption. And, in their 

estimation, the fundamental factors 

that are engendering and promoting 

corruption, which some people have 

described as “the most lucrative and 

flourishing business” in our nation 

today, are many. 

For sure, there will be corruption 

when political offices at all levels of 

governance have become primary 

sources of acquiring huge dubious 

wealth in our nation. Corruption will 

blossom when the social and governmental 

enforcement mechanisms are 

very weak. Our country will continue 

to celebrate corrupt practices when 

there is swelling conflict between 

changing moral codes and very notable 

lack of strong sense of national 

community. Yes, corruption is not 

peculiar or restricted to our society 

but it is fast and obviously becoming 

a viable business in our nation. Check 

it out: many of us are obsessed with 

material things; we want to be wellknown 

by our material possession; 

we talk about the kind of or how many 

cars we own; we venerate suspicious 

insecurity. And rightly so, because 

there is currently huge perception 

that the outgone government stinks 

when it comes to corrupt practices 

and other related offences. A senior 

diplomat in a chat with me once 

expressed serious alarm about the 

huge corruption enveloping our 

nation. 

And he is not alone in this conception. 

Every extreme critic of our 

country today sees every Nigerian 

as a thief. In their estimation or understanding, 

Nigeria spits out and 

rejects almost every notion of what 

constitutes the word “normal”. And 

based on this notion, some foreigners 

fretfully bite their fingernails 

whenever they step their foot into 

our country or whenever Nigeria 

is cited. 

Come to think of it, can we really 

blame these critics? Hold your gun 

first. Don’t fire yet. I strongly believe 

that there are still some decent and 

incorruptible Nigerians in spite of a 

few dubious ones who have by their 

messy deals damaged our reputation 

both at home and abroad. But 

the perception that Nigeria and 

Nigerians are very corrupt is huge. 

The issue has become a subject of 

much discussion within and outside 

the country. If you are a journalist or 

columnist and you have not talked 

about corruption in the country, 

you are not a renowned columnist. 

If you are a pastor or Imam and you 

refuse to speak against corruption 

in our nation today, you may have 

been compromised. 

I agree that because of the dubious 

activities of some of us, especially 

the political elite, businessmen 

and women, the so-called social 

and anti-corruption crusaders, orwealth 

in public places – including 

in churches and mosques – and sing 

praises of known crooks who make 

colossal donations to us. Some of 

us journalists who are constitutionally 

empowered to at “all time” 

hold public officers accountable 

and expose corruption are progressively 

becoming part of these 

shameful teething-troubles – we are 

increasingly being compromised by 

corrupt political elite and business 

crooks in our nation. 

The consequences are that our 

actions or inactions have destructively 

squeezed the socio-political 

and economic growth of our nation: 

reduced level of investment, 

lower public spending on education, 

healthcare, salary/wages and 

infrastructure. And it has taught us 

many huge wrong lessons – that it 

is not profitable to be law-abiding, 

honest and hardworking. 

For sure, and please find out, 

many political officeholders have 

acquired huge wealth and properties 

within and outside the country. 

Go to the UK, Singapore, South 

Africa, Dubai and other countries — 

some of the big and expensive mansions 

are owned by our politicians, 

especially past governors who have 

today become anti-corruption crusaders. 

And because of corruption, 

politics in our country has become 

a do-or-die affair – we just witnessed 

what some of our politicians did to 

retain power or dislocate their opponents. 

It is criminal and shameful. 

As many troubled people have 

asked, when did we get to this stage? 

How can we tackle the problems? I 

do not have the answer(s). It seems 

to me Buhari and his party APC 

have the magic key to switch off the 

problems, going by their manifesto, 

public utterances in the last few 

months, and the president’s inaugural 

speech last Friday. 

But just imagine if there were no 

corruption in our lovely nation! Nigeria, 

known as “the Giant of Africa”, is 

the most populous country in Africa, 

the seventh most populous in the 

whole world where its oil resources 

have brought great revenues to the 

country. We have been classified as 

a mixed economy emerging market 

in the world and we have already 

reached middle-income status, according 

to the findings of the World 

Bank. We have abundant supply of 

natural resources, emerging communications 

sectors and a stock 

exchange which is the second largest 

in Africa. We were ranked 31st in 

the world in terms of GDP (PPP) few 

years back. 

Just last year, the IMF projected 

a 9 percent growth in our economy. 

Citigroup, a leading global bank, has 

projected that our country would get 

the highest average GDP growth in 

the world between 2010 and 2050. 

We have one of the fastest-growing 

telecommunications markets in 

the world. Our great country also 

has a wide array of underexploited 

mineral resources which include 

natural gas, coal, bauxite, tantalite, 

iron and others. We have vast areas 

of underutilized arable land. Just 

imagine where Nigeria would have 

been without corruption! And the 

question is: Can Buhari stem this 

fast-growing viable and lucrative 

business – corruption? 


comment@businessdayonline.com



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Buhari and the challenge of inspiring MSMEs 

Micro, small 

and medium 

enterprises 

(MSMEs) 

are seen as businesses 

that have less than 200 

employees, assets below 

N500 million or an annual 

turnover of N500 million 

or less, according to Bank 

of Industry, Nigeria’s most 

active development bank. 

By this classification, over 

80 percent of businesses 

operating in the country 

fall into this category. 

The implication of this is 

that it is this category of 

businesses that create the 

most jobs, diversify the 

economy and provide the 

most revenues for various 

levels of government in 

the form of taxes, levies 

and other charges. 

The 2013 National 

MSMEs Survey unveiled 

last month by Olusegun 

Aganga, immediate past 

minister of industry, 

trade and investment, 

shows there are 37 million 

businesses in this 

group, employing 60 million 

Nigerians. The survey 

also shows that MSMEs 

currently accounts for 48 

percent of the nation’s Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP). 

This contribution is miserable 

when compared with 

South Africa’s, China’s and 

India’s, which all are above 

70 percent. 

This underscores the challenges 

facing this class of 

businesses and enunciates 

the fact that more attention 

has been paid to large 

enterprises by successive 

governments at the expense 

of MSMEs. But despite that 

more attention has been paid 

to large enterprises owing to 

their investments strength, 

they, however, have created 

fewer jobs. 

Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s 

newly sworn-in president, 

has started on a good 

note by realising that MSMEs 

are the bedrock of growth, 

job creation and wealth. In 

his inaugural speech last 

Friday, Buhari had said, 

“We intend to attack the 

problem (of unemployment) 

frontally through... credits 

to small- and medium-size 

businesses to kick-start these 

enterprises.” 

Analysts see Buhari’s emphasis 

on financing MSMEs 

as a stimulus and part of 

his plans to stem 24 percent 

unemployment rate 

and crime that pervade the 

country’s landscape. Data 

show MSMEs borrow from 

banks and other financial 

institutions at interest rates 

hovering between 17 and 35 

percent. According to the 

Manufacturers Association 

of Nigeria (MAN) data for the 

first half of 2014, businesses, 

including MSMEs, borrowed 

at an average rate of 22 percent 

within the period. 

In a recent interview with 

the leaders of shoes, bag, 

belt and trunk box manufacturers 

in Aba, Abia State, 

the industrial hub of South- 

Eastern Nigeria, it was gathered 

that some financial 

stimulus could have seen the 

$680 million sector dwarf 

peers in Africa. The talents 

and creativity are there, but 

sophisticated machinery and 

strong adhesives are lacking 

owing to finance gap. Worse 

still, banks’ loans are often 

short-term and do not give 

room for expansion and job 

creation. 

The Buhari government 

needs to therefore fasttrack 

the establishment of 

the Development Bank of 

Nigeria announced by the 

immediate past administration. 

Analysts say constraint 

to finance should be seriously 

addressed through the provision 

of specialised MSMEs 

funding windows at singledigit 

interest rate. 

Apart from finance, most 

MSMEs consume tens of litres 

of fuel and diesel to keep up 

their productive activities. 

This not only diminishes their 

growth trajectories but also 

affects their margins and 

capacity to create jobs. The 

Federal Government must 

financially intervene in the 

power sector situation to 

save the economy. Also, many 

operators of businesses in 

this category lack capacity 

and will require a national 

intervention that will provide 

mentorship and capacitybuilding 

on risk management 

and financial discipline. 

President Buhari must 

also ensure that there is total 

reduction in the number of 

taxes charged to MSMEs. It 

has become a national disaster 

that investors receive over 

15 tax collectors from the 

three tiers of governments, 

departments, agencies and 

parastatals in a month. This 

must stop if Buhari is desirous 

of placing MSMEs where they 

should belong. 

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BALA AUGIE 

Lasaco Assurance 

Plc’s cost control 

mechanisms have 

helped boost profits 

as the company that 

provides Life and non-Insurance 

could not tap into the 

Nigeria large market given its 

sharp fall in premium income. 

For the year ended December 

2014, Lasaco’s net income 

increased by 61.88 percent to 

N445.74 million, from N275.34 

million the same period of the 

corresponding year (FY) 2013. 

Earnings per share EPS 

jumped by 50 percent to 6k in 

2014 from 4k, last year. 

The company’s rising profits 

were as a result of a decrease 

of 37.85 percent in total underwriting 

expenses to N1.74 

billion from N2.80 billion the 

previous year and a 12.0 per- 

cent fall in operating expenses 

to N1.54 billion in 2014 as 

against N1.75 billion last year. 

While Lasaco’s performances 

at the top line were 

impressive due to its cost cuts, 

rising reinsurance and unearned 

premium expenses 

prevented the company from 

making an inroad into the 

Nigeria large markets as premium 

income faltered. 

The company’s net insurance 

premium income shrank 

by 35.18 percent to N2.34 billion 

in 2014 as compared with 

N3.61 billion in 2013. Gross 

insurance premium income 

fell by 9.55 percent to N4.83 

billion in 2014 compared with 

N5.34 billion the previous year. 

Reinsurance expenses increased 

by 43.35 percent to 

N2.48 billion in the review period 

while unearned premium 

expenses surged by 313.32 

percent to a record N804.03 

million. 

Analysts see Lasaco’s premium 

income surging in subsequent 

quarters as regulators 

have formulated policies 

that will deepen insurance 

penetration in Africa’s largest 

economy and oil producer 

Nigeria. 

The National Insurance 

Commission (NAICOM), the 

body that regulates insurance 

business in the country 

has imposed the the ‘No 

premium No cover policy 

which stipulates that Premiums 

must be paid for before 

an insurer can incept cover. 

The National Insurance 

Commission is also making 

property insurance mandatory 

in the nation of more 

than 170 million people. 

These stringent rules are 

expedient given the abysmal 

contribution of the industry 

to the Nigeria economy. The 

insurance sector contributed 

0.56 percent less than 1 percent 

to an economy (N80.22 

trillion) $510 billion. 

Analysts also see the automobile 

policy of government, 

which is aimed at encouraging 

local manufacture of cars 

as pivotal to the growth of 

insurance business. 

Lasaco total assets 

jumped by 6.18 percent to 

N14.24 billion in 2014 compared 

with N13.41 billion, 

while shareholders fund 

moved by 9.20 percent to 

N6.41 billion. 

Return on equity (ROE) 

jumped to 6.94 percent in 

2014, from 4.68 percent, the 

previous year. It means the 

company is using the resources 

of its owners in generating 

higher profit. 

L-R: Ibrahim Dikko, Vice President, Regulatory & Corporate Affairs, Etisalat Nigeria; Mustapha Suleiman, intern of the Etisalat 

Telecommunications Engineering Programme, and Stephane Beuvelet, chief technical officer, Etisalat Nigeria, at the ETEP internship closing 

ceremony held at the Etisalat regional office in Abuja. 

OPEC sees rivals boosting oil output despite weak prices 

The North American oil 

boom is proving resilient 

despite low oil 

prices, producer group 

OPEC said in its biggest and 

most detailed report this year, 

suggesting the global oil glut 

could persist for another two 

years. 

A draft report of OPEC’s 

long-term strategy, seen by Reuters 

ahead of the cartel’s policy 

meeting in Vienna this week, 

forecast crude supply from rival 

non-OPEC producers would 

grow at least until 2017. 

Sluggish global demand for 

oil means the call on OPEC’s 

crude will fall from 30 million 

barrels per day (bpd) in 2014 to 

28.2 million in 2017, effectively 

leaving the group with two options 

- cut output from current 

levels of 31 million bpd or be 

prepared to tolerate depressed 

oil prices for much longer. 

“Since June 2014, oil prices 

have experienced a significant 

reduction, reaching levels even 

lower than the crisis experienced 

in 2008, yet non-OPEC 

supply is still showing some 

growth,” the OPEC report said. 

Brent crude has collapsed 

from $115 a barrel in June 2014 

due to ample supplies amid a 

U.S. shale oil boom and a decision 

by OPEC last November 

not to cut output. 

Instead the group chose 

to increase supply in a bid to 

win back market share and 

slow higher-cost competing 

producers. 

But shale oil production 

has proved to be more resilient 

than many had originally 

thought. 

“Generally speaking, for 

non-OPEC fields already in 

production, even a severe low 

price environment will not result 

in production cuts, since highcost 

producers will always seek 

to cover a part of their operating 

costs,” the OPEC report said. 

“For future non-OPEC production, 

only expectations of 

an oil price environment in the 

long-term below the marginal 

cost of production may deter 

substantial non-OPEC developments. 

Over the very long 

term, the economic threshold 

at which oil companies invest 

in upstream projects likely reflects 

their long-term oil price 

expectations.” 

P.14 

SADE WILLIAMS 

Etihad Airways, the 

national airline of the 

United Arab Emirates, 

which also operates 

daily flights into Lagos, 

achieved its strongest financial 

results to date in 2014, 

posting a net profit of $ 73 

million on total revenues of 

$ 7.6 billion, up 52.1 per cent 

and 26.7 per cent respectively 

over the previous year. 

The record performance, 

which marked the airline’s 

fourth consecutive year of net 

profitability, also saw earnings 

before interest and tax 

(EBIT) up 32.5 per cent to $ 

257 million. Earnings before 

interest, tax, depreciation, 

amortisation and rentals 

(EBITDAR) were up 16.2 per 

cent to $ 1.1 billion, representing 

a 15 per cent margin 

on total revenues. 

Etihad Airways’ financial 

statements are audited by 

KPMG and are in accordance 

with International Financial 

Reporting Standards (IFRS). 

Reacting to the development, 

James Hogan, President 

and Chief Executive 

Officer of Etihad Airways, 

said: “Our shareholder has 

set a clear commercial mandate 

for this business and we 

continue to deliver against 

that mandate. Our focus is on 

sustainable profitability and 

our fourth year of net profits, 

at a time when we continue to 

invest in the new routes, new 

aircraft, new product and 

new infrastructure needed 

to compete effectively, shows 

we are serious about that 

goal. 

“Our performance in 2014 

has cemented Etihad Airways’ 

position as a best-inclass, 

profitable and self-sustaining 

international airline. 

We have continued to grow, 

not just in size, reputation 

and performance, but also 

in maturity, evolving from 

an airline to a diverse global 

BUSINESS DAY 

Etihad Airways profits up 

52% to $73m in 2014 

13 

KBL deploys third party 

insurance online to boost 

consumer purchase 

P.15 

...Airline airlifts 14.8m passengers 

aviation and tourism group. 

This has been achieved 

through a unique strategy 

that combines industry-leading 

organic growth with wideranging 

partnerships and 

minority equity investments 

in other airlines around the 

world”, he said. 

Etihad Airways carried a 

total of 14.8 million passengers 

in 2014, an increase of 

22.3 per cent year-on-year. 

Revenue Passenger Kilometres 

(RPKs) – measuring passenger 

journeys - increased 

by 23.6 per cent to 68.6 billion 

(55.5 billion), while Available 

Seat Kilometres (ASKs) – representing 

capacity - grew by 

21.8 per cent to 86.6 billion 

(71.1 billion). 

The growth in passenger 

demand and revenue over the 

12-month period continued 

to outstrip Etihad Airways’ 

capacity increase, highlighting 

the strength of its longterm 

growth strategy. 

Passenger numbers were 

strengthened by the continued 

enhancement of Etihad 

Airways’ global network last 

year. The airline launched 

services to 10 new destinations 

in eight countries - Los 

Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, 

Rome, Zurich, Medina, 

Yerevan, Jaipur, Phuket and 

Perth - and increased capacity 

on 23 existing routes. 

By the end of the year, the 

average network-wide seat 

load factor was 79.2 per cent, 

compared to 78.0 per cent 

in 2013. 

A key driver of Etihad Airways’ 

growth in 2014 was its 

partnership strategy, based 

on wide-ranging codeshares 

and its unique approach of 

minority equity investments 

in strategically important 

airlines. This has accelerated 

network growth, giving Etihad 

Airways the largest route 

network of any Middle Eastern 

carrier, reaching more 

than 500 destinations.


14 

BUSINESS DAY 

COMPANIES & MARKETS 

HASAL MFB disburses N77m credit 

to over 400 customers 

HASAL Microfinance 

Bank has 

disbursed N77 

million to over 

400 customers under the 

Central Bank of Nigeria’s 

(CBN), Micro, Small and 

Medium Enterprises Development 

Fund (MSMEDF). 

During the disbursement 

of the micro credit 

which formally flagged off 

the bank’s MSMEDF disbursement 

to customers 

on Monday in Abuja, eight 

groups and four individual 

customers received various 

amounts in credit, just as 

thousands of others finalized 

their applications for 

loans. 

Some of the groups that 

benefited from the credit 

are, Correct Women Multipurpose 

Corporative Society, 

Glory Clouds Multipurpose 

Corporative Society; 

and Sylsol Plant & Harvest 

Multipurpose Corporative 

Society, amongst others. 

In the corporate Small 

Medium Enterprises’ categories, 

some of the beneficiary 

companies are Upward 

Waters Nigeria Limited, 

Toprange Bakery Limited, 

Amomaja Global Services 

Limited and Chizel International 

Limited. 

These customers received 

N5 million loan each 

from the fund to enable 

them grow their businesses. 

Commenting on the CBN 

initiative targeted at providing 

credit access to MSMEs, 

managing director/CEO 

HASAL Microfinance Bank, 

Rogers Nwoke described the 

apex bank’s MSME Development 

Fund as a welcome 

development. 

He said: “We at HASAL 

believe in touching people’s 

life for good so this is a great 

opportunity to help small, 

micro business owners grow 

their business and become 

party to development of the 

economy.” 

Nwoke, who sensitised 

the beneficiaries on how 

to repay back the loan, explained 

that the fund was 

not government grant or 

subsidy but rather a “development 

fund for the development 

of business and the 

money must be paid back to 

CBN as and when due. 

With over 400 beneficiaries 

recorded on the flagging 

off of the credit disbursement 

by the bank, Nwoke, a 

seasoned banker, said that 

HASAL would continue to 

create access to credit to its 

customers on a sustainable 

basis to enable them grow 

their businesses and by so 

doing improve their contributions 

to the nation’s Gross 

Domestic Product, GDP, and 

job creation drive. 

Heritage Bank gets recognition 

at CBN’s cashless card expo 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

Having been 

nominated 

for two of 

the Cashless 

Expo Award 

categories Managing Director/Chief 

Executive, 

Heritage Bank Limited, 

Ifie Sekibo will speak on 

‘Innovation in Financial 

Services Delivery’ at the 

annual Cashless Card Expo 

of Central Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN). 

This year’s edition of the 

Expo is scheduled to hold 

from 23rd to 25th June 2015 

at Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos. 

Among other things, 

the expo features various 

awards for outstanding 

payment cards and services, 

in a bid to recognise 

and reward banks and 

financial services efforts 

at promoting the cashless 

policy. 

In addition to the presentation 

by Sekibo, Heritage 

Bank has been nominated 

for two of the Cashless 

Expo Award categories 

namely, “Best Co-branded 

Card of the year” and “Best 

Industry innovation of the 

y e a r ”. 

Since it commenced operations 

in 2013, Heritage 

Bank has distinguished 

itself through innovative 

banking services which 

offer unique customer satisfaction 

and unparalleled 

comfort and convenience 

to existing and new customers 

of the bank. This is 

reflected in the zero COT, 

with no hidden charges, offered 

to its numerous customers 

two months after it 

commenced operations. 

The nomination of the 

Bank for “Best Co-branded 

Card of the year” and “Best 

Industry innovation of the 

year” awards at this year’s 

CBN’s Cashless Expo is in 

recognition of the various 

industry setting innovative 

epayment cards and 

channels introduced by the 

bank since it commenced 

operations in 2013. 

These include: ePiggy 

Card, for collecting change 

at merchants; 7411 Smart 

Travel Tourist Card, which 

enables visiting tourists in 

Nigeria to carry out card 

transactions easily; Mainasara 

Women and Youth 

Card, a scheme card to 

support women and youth 

development; Vineland 

Microfinance Bank Card, 

for customers of Vineland 

MFB to carry out transactions. 

Others are: Royal 

Life Microfinance Bank 

Card, For customers of 

Royal Life MFB to carry out 

transactions, Miliki Living 

Patrons Card: for patrons 

of Miliki lounge to pay 

their bills within the Miliki 

premises only; and PMAN 

Card, For PMAN members 

to receive royalties and 

carry out transactions. 

Last year, Heritage 

Bank introduced the first 

transparent MasterCard 

in Nigeria. The beautiful 

MasterCard is designed to 

be physically transparent 

and to exhibit transparency 

in its service delivery. 

The Bank also introduced 

Nigeria’s pioneer portable 

POS solution christened 

“PortaPOS” to ride on the 

mPOS revolution, which 

is fast gaining acceptance 

worldwide. The PortaPOS, 

which is aimed at providing 

a seamless payment 

channel for merchants, 

was designed to address 

payment challenges within 

the retail payments space 

and also in support of the 

Cash-less Nigeria project 

of the CBN 

FINCA MfB offers credit insurance 

to low-income entrepreneurs 

BEN EGUZOZIE, OWERRI 

FINCA Microfinance 

Bank, a subsidiary 

of FINCA International, 

a global microfinance 

network with 

operations in 23 countries 

across four continents of 

Africa, Eurasia, Latin America, 

Middle East and South 

Asia, and currently serving 

over 1.7 million clients 

worldwide with a global 

microfinance experience 

of over 30 years, is offering 

credit insurance to all its 

clients. 

The MfB, which opened 

its Nigerian operations 

in Owerri, Imo State, has 

dispelled public believe 

that the mandatory loan 

insurance products are 

geared towards increasing 

the profitability of the 

insurance companies and 

financial institutions, with 

no imminent benefit to the 

loan client. 

FINCA recently refurbished 

the Owerri Main 

Market Amalgamated Traders 

Association (OMMATA) 

secretariat, and handed 

over the building to the 

OMMATA leadership led 

by Okwudili Alex Lawrence, 

in which the CEO of FINCA 

Microfinance Bank Nigeria, 

Philip Takyi, said FINCA 

was “committed to its value 

proposition of offering unconventional 

approach to 

banking, which are clientcentric 

and mission-based, 

with simple but innovative 

financial solutions – which 

includes loan insurance, 

savings, term deposits and 

loan products – to help our 

clients effectively manage 

their money, save for the 

future or grow their microbusinesses.” 

On loan insurance, Takyi 

said was very essential that 

loan clients should have 

access to loan insurance. 

The loan insurance covers 

the outstanding loan and a 

payout for funerals in case 

of death to the next of kin of 

the client. 

Unfortunately, death 

visited the home of one of 

FINCA’s loan client. Upon 

confirmation of the death 

of the client, FINCA swung 

into action and within two 

weeks, FINCA presented a 

cheque to the next of kin of 

the deceased which went 

a long way to assist the 

deceased’s family to take 

care of the funeral arrangements. 

L-R: Wole Ogundare, Partner, Phillips Consulting Limited, Tunde Gbajumo, CEO, Symbion Power, Foluso Phillips, Chairman, Nigeria-South 

Africa Chamber of Commerce, Ijeoma Nwagwu, Centre Manager, The First Bank Sustainability Centre of Lagos Business School,Pan- 

Atlantic University, Ebun Sonaiya,Director, Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce, Bayo Adesanya, Partner, Phillips Consulting 

Limited and Iyke Ejimofor, Executive Secretary, Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce. 

Ecobank Group CEO wins ‘African Banker of the Year’ award 

Ecobank Group 

CEO Albert Essien 

has won the African 

Banker of the 

Year award at the 9th edition 

of the African Banker 

Awards in Abidjan, Côte 

d’Ivoire. The ceremony 

took place at Abidjan’s 

Sofitel Hotel Ivoire in the 

margins of the 2015 African 

Development Bank 

Annual Meetings. 

The award recognises 

the contribution of individuals 

in management 

positions, and best practices 

in African banking. It 

is sponsored by London- 

based IC publications 

under the patronage of 

the African Development 

Bank. 

Essien was one of five 

contenders for the African 

Banker of the Year award. 

Others chief executives 

competing with the pan- 

African bank’s CEO were 

Segun Agbaje of Nigeria’s 

GT Bank, Paulo Alexandre 

Duarte de Sousa of Banco 

Comercial e de Investimentos 

of Mozambique, 

Charles Kimei of Tanzania’s 

Cooperative Rural 

Development Bank Bank 

plc and Tariq Sijilmassi of 

Morocco’s Groupe Credit 

Agricole. 

Accepting the award, 

Essien said: “I am deeply 

honoured to receive 

this award. It comes as a 

surprise to me because 

although I have worked 

for Ecobank for the last 

25 years, I have only been 

Group CEO for just over 

a year. I therefore accept 

this award on behalf of the 

staff of Ecobank, for they 

are the ones to whom I 

attribute the real success 

of our institution in its 

service to the people of 

our continent. I also want 

to thank our host, IC publications, 

the organisers 

of these awards, and the 

esteemed panel of judges 

for this distinction.” 

The award is the second 

received within the 

group this month. On 

the 22nd of May Ecobank 

was named African Retail 

Bank of the Year at 

the Global Retail Banking 

Awards ceremony in 

London. 

The bank also received 

a nomination in 

last night’s African Banker 

Awards in the Best Retail 

Bank of the Year category.



KBL deploys third party insurance 

online to boost consumer purchase 

MODESTUS ANAESORONYE 

In line with the need to 

achieve financial inclusion 

and to further 

enable consumers’ 

access to compulsory 

insurance products, KBL 

Insurance has opened an 

online portal for the sale of 

Third Party insurance. 

The portal enables consumers 

anywhere in the 

world to start and finish 

the process of purchasing a 

third party insurance policy. 

This way, members of the 

public are able to buy insurance 

in the comfort of their 

homes, offices and on the go 

using the internet. 

A statement from the 

company also shows that 

the company has settled 

N198.83 million worth of 

claims in the first quarter 

(January-March) of 2015. 

This amount represents 

claims settled in Motor Insurance, 

Fire, Marine, Energy 

and other classes of 

insurance. 

The statement restates 

the company’s resolve to 

settle claims within 48 

hours once documentation 

is complete and urged 

customers to continually 

ensure prompt reporting of 

losses in line with the benefits 

of the insurance cover 

they have. 

Apart from the third 

party online portal which 

can be accessed through 

KBL Insurance’s website, 

the organisation plans to 

further leverage on digital 

and online technology for 

transactions in expanding 

its retail insurance base. 

These alternatives are designed 

to ensure that the 

online community is able to 

access insurance easily. The 

company, recognizing that 

this community is increasing 

daily, hopes to continue 

creating online channels for 

other classes of insurance. 

Business Event 

BUSINESS DAY 

15 

L-R: Prof. Samuel John, Computer System and Network Engineer, Covenant University (CU); Titilayo 

Babaoye, Adviser, Ivory Banking, Heritage Banking Company Limited; Prof. Olawale Daramola, Chairman, 

Planning Committee, and Prof. Chinedu Shalom, dean, College of Science and Technology, CU, during 

the Covenant University’s International Conference on African Development Issues at the University’s 

Campus in Ota, Ogun State, recently 

E-PPAN advocates better awareness 

creation to boost m-payment uptake 

BEN UZOR 

The Electronic Payment 

Providers Association 

of Nigeria (E- 

PPAN) has advocated 

for strategic consolidated 

awareness creation to boost 

mobile payment adoption in 

Nigeria. 

Speaking at the just concluded 

two days Mobile 

Money Africa International 

conference tagged ‘Charting 

Africa’s Cashless Future.” 

Onajite Regha, chief executive 

officer of the Association, 

reminded stakeholders that 

mobile payments is expected 

to foster financial inclusion 

of the unbanked populace, 

facilitate economic activities 

and deliver on employment 

and economic growth on the 

long run. 

Regha spoke on the topic: 

‘Awareness creation: A Strategic 

Approach for the Adoption 

of Mobile Payment System in 

Nigeria.’ She said that, despite 

the ongoing efforts by key 

players such as banks, mobile 

network operators and mobile 

payment service providers 

(MPSP) in promoting and 

offering mobile payment options, 

absence of widespread 

customer acceptance of this 

innovation has resulted in a 

lag in the adoption of mobile 

payments as an alternative 

form of payment mechanism. 

While each of these players 

approaches the market with 

different expectations, she 

advised that collective awareness 

creation is critical to the 

success of mobile payments 

in Nigeria. Drawing on the experience 

with cashless Nigeria 

mobilisation where CBN led 

all industry players on a nationwide 

mobilization, Regha 

opined that no matter how 

great the mobile technologies 

and solutions provided are, 

they are useless if the users 

are not aware of the benefits 

to their lives. She therefore 

encouraged the mobile payment 

service providers to 

come together and launch 

a massive awareness brand 

acoustic campaign to drive 

the message of the benefits of 

mobile payment to the consumers. 

She noted that mobile 

payments face a variety 

of challenges but awareness 

creation can eliminate some 

of the challenges especially as 

it relates to inadequate sensitisation 

techniques; Consumer 

apathy; Illiteracy, formal financial 

services in rural locations; 

Allied fear of fraud 

from online experiences; and 

selective approach of industry 

players, etc. Mobile Payment 

System in Nigeria was created 

as an integral part of PSV2020/ 

FSS2020, and is aimed at migrating 

the Nigerian economy 

from cash-based to electronicbased. 

Mobile payments have 

been suggested as a solution 

to facilitate micropayments 

in electronic and mobile 

commerce transactions and 

to encourage reduced use 

of cash at point-of-sales terminals. 

If efforts in promoting 

the use of mobile payments 

succeed, particularly in the 

area of awareness campaign 

among the potential regular 

and potential users, it will 

boost both e-commerce and 

m-commerce adoption. In 

her speech, Regha stressed 

the importance and need 

for aggressive awareness creation 

as a strategy for the general 

acceptability of mobile 

payment in Nigeria. ‘Awareness 

creation is not only 

done by the use of advertisement 

and radio jingles, effective 

communication of the 

new system through mass 

town-to-town sensitisation, 

city-to-city mobilisation and 

awareness creation, social 

groups gathering sensitisation, 

amongst others is key 

to effectively pass on the 

message to both the banked, 

unbanked and mobile phone 

users.’ She said. 

The CEO, called for closer 

collaboration between 

banks, other financial service 

providers, mobile network 

operators, the Association of 

Licensed Mobile Payment 

Operations and Mobile Payment 

Cooperatives and E- 

PPAN. Onajite commended 

the efforts of the government 

and the stakeholders 

in the payment industry for 

their commitment so far in 

building capacities for the 

propagation of ‘Cashless 

Policy’ in Nigeria, and pledge 

that E-PPAN will continue to 

strengthen its collaboration 

with the appropriate agencies 

of government to advance 

the course of the payment 

industry. 

Rogers Nwoke (l), Managing Director; HASAL Microfinance Bank (in Red) presenting cheque to Correct 

Women Multipurpose Corporative Society, one of the beneficiaries of MSMED Fund during HASAL 

Microfinance Bank/ Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursement of N77M Micro, Small and Medium 

Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) ceremony in Abuja. 

L-R: Mike Dada, Managing Director, PRM Africa and President/Executive Producer, AFRIMA; Simphiwe 

Dana, Co-ordinator, African Re-imagined creative hub; Nde Ndifonka, Creative/Communication Manager, 

ONE Campaign, Africa, and Ibrahim Ceesay, Country Director, AFRIMA, The Gambia, at the African 

Union Commission 4th Pan African Cultural Congress, PACC4, recently held at Sandton Convention 

Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Andrew Ali, CEO Africa Finance Corporation (l) in a warm handshake with Lazarus Agbazo President GE 

Nigeria while Wole Famurewa looks on after a panel discussion at the presentation of the GE Innovation 

Barometer report today in Lagos.



ANALYSIS 

Skye Bank’s N6bn Q1 2015 PBT result 

signposts better days ahead 

tomers and expand its bouquet 

of value adding offerings 

to meet the diverse needs of its 

various stakeholders. 

The IFRS compliant result 

also shows the bank’s total 

assets hitting N1.43 trillion 

as against N1.42 trillion during 

the same period in 2013. 

Similarly, its total liabilities, 

including total deposits, stood 

at N1.3 trillion as against N1.2 

trillion in the preceding year. 

The shareholders’ fund 

also rose to N137.3 billion 

from N132 billion in the period. 

Upon release of the results 

last Thursday, investors rewarded 

the bank by helping 

to shore up the Bank’s stock 

price to N2.7 as of the close 

of trading on the NSE. It was 

a clear 10 kobo appreciation 

over the previous day when 

the stock traded at N2.60. 

The rise on Thursday represents 

a 46 percent rise in 

the Bank’s stock price since 

early January, a sign that the 

investment public is taking 

note of the bank’s strategic 

actions and are stocking up 

on the Bank stocks. 

Analysts had predicted 

the positive growth trajectory 

in the Bank’s financial as 

reflected in the 2014 Full year 

results. 

The Bank’s 2014 Full Year 

results which had a significant 

appropriation to retained 

earnings, suggests a willingness 

to deploy resources to 

growth segments of the Bank’s 

business. 

The results submitted to 

the NSE last week revealed 

that the bank yanked up retained 

earnings in the year 

under review from N19.73 

billion in the 2013 financial 

year to N33.7 billion, a 70.6 

percent growth. 

The huge commitment to 

reserves may not be unconnected 

to the bank’s tier one 

ambitions which requires 

significant investments, analysts 

insist. 

The first quarter results 

already confirms this suggestions 

as it has begun consolidating 

gains from last year towards 

playing big in Nigeria’s 

highly competitive but highly 

rewarding retail sector. 

That playbook can be read 

from the Mainstreet acquisition, 

which the bank plans 

to fully integrate by June this 

year. By subsuming Mainstreet, 

analysts say the bank 

would figure among the first 

four banks in the country. 

Rightly so because it would 

vault the number of branches 

to about 450 branches across 

the country. 

When integration is complete, 

the consolidated bank 

should be able to configure 

Skye Bank’s acquisition 

of Mainstreet Bank 

is beginning to yield 

appreciable results as 

the consolidated result for 

the first quarter (Q1) ending 

March 31, 2015, submitted to 

the Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE) shows a significant 

rise in earnings and profits, 

thus justifying management’s 

strategic decision of an acquisition 

that had led to a bigger 

bank. 

The expanded business 

activities are immediately 

reflected in the rise in gross 

earnings which rose to N42.3 

billion in the Q1 2015 from 

N34.3 billion in 2014, appreciating 

by 23 percent. 

The bank announced pretax 

profits of N6.2 billion, 

representing an increase of 82 

percent over the N3.4 billion 

recorded during the same 

period in 2014. 

The bank’s bottom-line 

followed the growth trajectory 

as net profit or profit after 

tax sprang up to N5.0 billion 

during the review period compared 

to N2.7 billion achieved 

during the corresponding 

period in 2014, an 85 percent 

rise. 

In marginal terms, pretax 

profit margin for the period 

rose to 14.7 percent from 

less than 10 percent in the 

corresponding quarter. In 

percentage terms, this is over 

49 percentage points from the 

equivalent quarter. 

What this means is that 

where the bank used to translate 

every one hundred naira 

put in the business to N9.9, in 

the quarter under review, it 

made N14.7. 

The result is a strong indication 

of a more efficient bank 

that promises to consolidate 

on the gains. 

The rapid improvement 

in the fee based transaction 

of the bank is evident of the 

bank’s strategy of leveraging 

the fee and commission 

income opportunities in the 

Nigerian economy. Fees and 

commissions rose to a whopping 

N10.2 billion from the 

previous figure of N6.2 billion 

in the corresponding period 

in 2014, a 65 percent improvement. 

Fees and commissions 

are complementary to the 

bank’s interest earning assets. 

Timothy Oguntayo, group 

managing director/CEO, 

while commenting on the 

results said that Skye Bank was 

set to deliver superior value 

and returns to shareholders 

as the bank enters its new 

strategic growth phase. 

Oguntayo said that the 

bank would leverage the acquisition 

of Mainstreet Bank 

to take its services closer to its 

current and prospective cuscompetencies 

towards cost 

leadership, business optimisation, 

stronger profit and 

greater ability to offer business 

convenience to retail 

and commercial customers 

across all geographies, analysts 

say. 

The bank had in a statement 

after the acquisition 

said the move, will bring 

valuable synergies from the 

mutual focus areas of commercial 

and retail banking 

of the two entities in a larger 

Skye Bank. 

The bank noted that its 

focus is on retail and commercial 

banking, which are 

also the main focus areas of 

Mainstreet Bank Limited. 

Financial analysts are also 

convinced that the Bank will 

automatically leapfrog other 

banks in the tier 2 category to 

become a major tier-1 player 

in the Nigerian banking industry. 

The 2014 Financial results 

indicate that Operating 

income was up marginally 

to N69.33 billion from N68.5 

billion, which goes to speak of 

the bank’s improving ability 

in efficient cost management. 

This was on the back of a 2.4% 


rise in interest income from 

N105.3 billion to N107.85 

billion. 

Though interest income 

rose only in marginal terms, 

it nonetheless shows that 

the bank is succeeding in 

its maturity transformation 

function. This much is demonstrated 

in the loan deposit 

metric, which slowed in the 

period under review.


This is M NEY 

A daily guide to your Personal Finance 

BUSINESS DAY 

• Savings 

• Travel 

• Debt & Borrowing 

• Utilities 

• Managing your Tax 

17 

How to financially prepare for 

your family’s future 

College, school 

clothes, toys, 

electronics 

— everything 

adds up when 

it comes to providing your 

children with their best possible 

future. What are you 

doing to give them the life 

they deserve? 

Our paycheck-to-paycheck 

society 

Thanks to the wretched 

state of the present economy, 

much of our society 

is living paycheck-to-paycheck. 

Once upon a time, 

our parents scrimped and 

saved to stash all they could 

for their children — even 

if they didn’t have enough 

money to buy themselves 

the things they needed 

most. They’d gladly go without 

in order to provide for 

us, putting away the money 

required to safeguard our 

futures. 

Thanks to the “freedom” 

of credit, we now spend every 

cent, digging ourselves 

a hole that will take years, 

if not decades, to crawl out 

from. 

Spending beyond our 

means has become a 

time-honored American 

pastime. We spend money 

on anything from daily 

stops at the convenience 

store for sodas — because 

we work hard and 

deserve it — to buying 

Three expensive habits that are putting your financial future at risk 

cars because the commercials 

make it easy for 

us to imagine sitting in 

the driver’s seat with the 

wind in our hair. 

The daily stress of work, 

school, and family responsibilities 

drives us to look 

outside ourselves to find 

the instant gratification that 

helps us feel whole. This is 

a habit that can destroy our 

wallets, rather than massage 

our psyches. 

We believe that if we 

spend money on movies, 

we’ll feel better. Buying a 

new car will help us love 

our job. Yet, this is erroneous. 

Our quest for 

happiness drives our financial 

decisions, both for 

ourselves and our future 

families — often right into 

the ground. 

What are you passing on 

to your Kids? 

The worst part about this 

lifestyle is that we pass it on 

to our kids. How can we 

teach our children to discern 

the difference between 

We live in a consumerist 

society. 

Even after 

a long, painful 

recession, most of us still 

feel entitled to consume 

more than we can actually 

afford. Over the years, 

Americans have learned to 

expect a certain standard of 

living that previous generations 

could only dream of. 

We want more of everything, 

we want everything to be big 

and new and shiny, and we 

love to surround ourselves 

with every new gadget possible 

and with daily, expensive 

luxuries that really add 

up. Take a look at the following 

three habits. If you see 

yourself in that list, it’s probably 

time to cut back, save 

more and spend less. 

A sense of entitlement 

We have developed a 

strong sense of entitlement 

when it comes to our standard 

of living. There are certain 

things we have come to 

expect, such as a big house 

with a yard, an SUV as soon 

as we have more than one 

child, a big screen TV, and 

pretty much any new and 

shiny Apple gadget that goes 

on the market. 

Looking at my own family, 

we’ve lived for several 

years in a 2-bedroom apartment, 

which we loved. It 

was bright, spacious, had 

a great downtown location 

and we loved having a pool 

and a maintenance guy at 

our constant service. But 

then our second child was 

need and want if we’re unable 

to do so ourselves? 

Our children look to our 

example, expecting us to 

show them the best possible 

financial road. If we detour 

from it, they’ll never learn 

life’s most valuable monetary 

lessons — at least not 

from us. 

You don’t want your children 

to believe it’s acceptable 

to go around spending 

money you don’t have. 

It’s important for them to 

understand how buying 

born, and by today’s standards 

of living, a family of 

four cannot possibly manage 

in a 1200 SF, 2-bedroom 

apartment. So we moved to 

a big, 3000 SF, 2-story house 

with a large yard. 

The house is beautiful 

and very spacious – we 

have more space here than 

we actually need – but it is 

also very expensive, both in 

terms of the monthly payment 

and in terms of maintenance. 

We’ve been talking 

about downsizing, and 

although we will probably 

hold off with that until our 

youngest heads off to college 

in ten years, I do know 

several young families with 

children who are decidedly 

choosing smaller houses 

that are easier to maintain 

and easier to pay off. 

Keeping up 

I’ll admit it: keeping up 

with the Joneses was part of 

my own family’s decision to 

behavior impacts your bank 

account. 

When children don’t 

understand how daily decisions 

affect their wallets, 

they won’t learn how those 

decisions affect their emotional 

state. We know how 

difficult this can be for us, 

but kids can’t necessarily 

see our internal struggles 

each time we pull out the 

credit card, nor do we want 

them to. 

7 Steps to Recovery 

1. Focus on what you 

have 

Use quiet moments each 

day to sit with yourself and 

reflect on the things you 

have so that you can grow 

more aware. This will help 

you to stop looking outside 

yourself for gratification. 

2. Budget 

Take the time to sit and 

articulate accurate budgets. 

This will help you learn 

to live within your means. 

Funds that are left over after 

paying bills can be set aside 

for savings. 

3. Cherish those moments 

when you do have 

extra money 

When you learn to value 

money for what it really 

means to you, it’ll be easier 

to keep it close. You can 

then budget for affordable 

entertainment on a regular 

basis, rather than restricting 

yourself. 

move from our beloved 2- 

bedroom apartment to a big 

house. My older child started 

Kindergarten in a posh 

private school (we do have 

our reasons for sending our 

kids there), and I admit that 

I just couldn’t stand the horror 

in the other moms’ eyes 

when they realized we were 

living in a small apartment. 

I wanted to keep up, to 

be like everyone else, and 

so we moved into a beautiful 

home and all was well. 

But of course it never stops 

there – there are luxury cars 

and annual vacations to exotic 

locations and expensive 

watches, designer clothes 

and various gadgets. 

If you succumb to the 

“keeping up” mentality, 

it will likely not stop with 

a house, and could easily 

consume way more of your 

resources than it should. 

Those same resources that 

should go towards paying 

4. Learn the difference 

between needs and wants 

If you don’t HAVE to 

have a new sweatshirt with 

your favorite team plastered 

across the front, then don’t 

buy it. Essentials are always 

more important. 

5. Teach your kids about 

money 

Then use the lessons you 

want them to learn most as 

a springboard for your own 

financial life lessons. 

6. Take a long, hard look 

at your habits 

Then trade them off oneby-one. 

If you’re bad about 

budgeting, then get better. 

If you’re bad at looking for 

instant gratification through 

shopping, find another way 

to satisfy that need — maybe 

by taking a trip to the park, 

a walk around the block, or 

spending quality time with 

your family. 

7. Don’t get discouraged 

when you don’t have the 

money to buy the things 

you want 

Consistently stick to 

your budget and you’ll 

eventually climb out from 

under the mountain of 

debt. (Here are some ways 

to help you get out of debt 

even faster.) But even better, 

you’ll be able to teach 

your children from experience 

that it can be done — 

even if it’s better to avoid 

having to do it at all. 

debt, building an emergency 

fund and saving for 

retirement. 

Daily Habits 

Your daily habits make a 

difference too. Many of us 

don’t even think about them 

anymore – we take that daily 

trip to Starbucks, eating 

lunch out with coworkers, 

and takeout dinners, for 

granted. But these do add 

up to hundreds, even thousands 

of dollars, per year. 

This is actually one area 

where my family is doing 

well. Tired of mediocre, 

overpriced food and coffee, 

we brew our own freshly 

ground Illy coffee at home, 

and prepare most of our 

lunches and dinners. 

Eating at home instead 

of dining out is good not 

just for our budget but for 

our health – restaurant food 

is often too fatty and laden



This is M NEY 

A daily guide to your Personal Finance 

• Savings 

• Travel 

• Debt & Borrowing 

• Utilities 

• Managing your Tax 

Reality of being a stay-at-home mom 

Many times 

w h e n 

people 

ask me 

what I do, 

I get mixed responses 

when I explain that I’m a 

stay-at-home mom. Some 

people are a little put off 

by it (which is totally fine), 

while others look at me as 

if I have stumbled upon 

this lucky coin in life. “I 

wish I could stay at home 

with my babies too, but 

we need my income”, is 

usually the response I hear. 

For some individuals, 

staying at home is not a 

choice because they do 

need the extra income. 

However, when another 

mom tells me how lucky I 

am, I can’t help notice that 

they have a nice iPhone, 

new and trendy clothes, as 

well as a pricey SUV. None 

of these things are bad, but 

my point is that staying at 

home and living on one 

income does require a bit 

of sacrifice. That lucky coin 

is not to be attributed to 

luck after-all. 

Here are the two questions 

I asked myself when 

I wanted to stay at home 

with my kids, and still 

make sure the bills were 

paid. 

What are you willing to 

sacrifice? 

My husband and I are 

definitely blessed to live 

comfortably on $61,000 

yearly income, and live 

in an affordable area in 

California. With that being 

said, we don’t have a lot of 

extra fun money, as living 

in CA comes with a higher 

cost of living. We’ve turned 

down travel opportunities, 

fun purchases, and extra 

toys, in order to prioritise 

other spending goals. And 

yes, there are definitely 

months when it feels like 

there are more bills than 

paycheque. 

However, if being a 

stay-at-home mom was 

ever threatened, I would 

sacrifice even more and 

cut back on more costs. I 

would go without a smartphone, 

our Hulu Plus subscription, 

and a second 

car if I had to. I would sell 

as much extra stuff in my 

house and reduce our 

grocery bill as much as 

possible. But I’m willing to 

do all of this because staying 

at home with my kids is 

a huge priority to me. 

If you want to make 

staying at home with your 

kids a reality (and it’s your 

priority), then sacrifices 

will need to be made. 

That’s all there is to it. 

Here are some sacrifices 

you might have to 

make in order to become 

a stay-at-home mom: 

Downsizing your home 

Downsizing your vehicle 

Sharing one vehicle 

Simplifying your grocery 

menu and shopping 

sales 

Cutting cable, internet, 

Hulu/Netflix, and pricey 

phone plans 

Selling extra toys or furniture 

that is not a necessity 

Avoiding purchasing 

new items (opt for used 

instead) 

Cutting kid’s preschool/school 

and extra 

activity costs 

Looking at that list is 

hard. Everything listed 

might be difficult for you 

to cut and do without. 

But I suggest those items 

for those who are serious 

about wanting to stay at 

home. 

Sometimes we look at 

our situation in life and 

complain because things 

can’t change. The reality 

is, we just aren’t willing 

to make the sacrifices in 

order to enable the change 

to happen. 

What are the true costs 

of not being at home? 

Working outside the 

home may be costing you 

more than you realise. 

When my husband and I 

first discussed having me 

stay at home, and what 

that would look like, we 

weighed all the options. 

We talked about what our 

finances would look like 

if I did get a “real job”. We 

would easily be making 

over $100,000 a year as a 

family, and it would be 

nice to live without too 

many financial worries. 

However, if I were to 

break down what it cost 

me to work outside of the 

home, I didn’t find that it 

was worth it. A nice preschool 

or daycare can 

cost you almost $1,000 a 

month! Then you have to 

add in the costs of travelling, 

new work attire, fast 

food splurges, and more. 

After all is said and done, 

I realised I would only be 

making $4-5 an hour. 

The small amount of 

income-per-hour was not 

worth it being away from 

my kids, and I decided I do 

not want to work outside of 

the home. 

I wanted to stay home 

with my children, and 

home school them when 

they’re older. 

If those are not your priorities, 

then you and your 

family have to discuss the 

best decision for everyone. 

However, if you are one 

of the moms wishing you 

could stay at home too, 

don’t just wish it would 

happen — do something 

about it. Take a hard look at 

your finances and find out 

what can be cut and what 

you’re actually making after 

all the added expenses. 

I truly believe that staying 

at home with your 

children, is definitely a 

possibility for those moms 

wishing they could. But as 

I mentioned, it will take 

some work, discussions 

and calculations to get 

there.


Etisalat PR account: Pitch 

fee payment uncertain 

DANIEL OBI 

Media Business Editor 

The PR agencies that 

will fall by the wayside 

at the conclusion of 

the ongoing pitch for 

the multimillion naira 

public relations account for Etisalat 

telecommunication may not 

be expecting payment of pitch 

fee from the telecommunication 

company. 

An official of one of the top 

PR agencies participating in the 

pitch process was not sure the 

telecom firm committed itself to 

payment of pitch fee in the brief 

but said that pitch fee is not their 

consideration for now. “I don’t 

think the PR agencies including 

the creative agencies have been 

receiving pitch fees”, he said. 

This is as the agencies in the 

pitching process are edgy over 

the pitch as to who clinches the 

mouthwatering account. 

Pitch fee is an international 

practice paid to media agencies 

taking part in pitching exercise 

due to their time, engagement 

of resources, non recoverable 

external costs and unquantifiable 

intellectual rights but Nigerian 

agencies have been shortweighed 

on this by clients. 

The nonpayment of pitch fee 

in the Nigerian environment has 

many legs traceable to lack of 

coordination by agencies, earlier 

missed opportunities to maintain 

or stick to standards and the fear 

by any agency of being touted or 

sidelined in the market by clients 

for ‘over -ambition’ 

19 

MEDIABUSINESS 

MB 

BUSINESS DAY 

Substandard products: Dettol, NMA strengthen 

partnership on consumer education 

In furtherance of its commitment 

to consumer safety 

and protection Dettol, the 

foremost antiseptic brand 

from the stables of RB Nigeria 

Limited has further strengthened 

its partnership with the Nigerian 

Medical Association (NMA) on 

consumer awareness and education 

on the harmful effects of purchase 

and usage of substandard 

products. 

To this end, Dettol was at the 

forefront of the renewed consumer 

awareness of the adverse 

effects of substandard and uncertified 

products on human health 

during the just concluded NMA’s 

55th annual conference held in 

Ibadan, the Oyo State. 

Speaking on the subject which 

is also one of the latest cause-led 

initiatives by Dettol brand to promote 

a healthier society, the Marketing 

Director, RB West Africa, 

Oguzhan Silivrili, said Dettol was 

most delighted to strengthen its 

long standing partnership with 

NMA for the furtherance of efforts 

to promote the safety of consumers 

as well as good health among 

Nigerians. 

He said Dettol has been partnering 

consistently with statutory 

bodies in the health sector 

including the NMA, Ministry of 

Health, NAFDAC (National Agency 

for Food and Drug Administration 

and Control) and local governments 

to educate consumers 

on the best hygiene practices and 

to contribute to the health and 

wellbeing of families in Nigeria 

for the past 50 years. 

Silivrili said Dettol’s on-going 

campaign was focused on educating 

more Nigerian families on 

the need for gold standard protection 

against germs. “We see in 

markets newly introduced substandard, 

non-certified antiseptic 

and mainly imported products 

Recently, BusinesssDay reported 

that Etisalat, an innovative 

telecoms firm, has thrown open 

its public relations job, and top 

Nigerian public relations firms 

are said to have lined up for the 

multi-million naira account. 

The agencies are Chain Reactions, 

XlR8, MediaCraft, The 

Quadrant Company and C & F 

that do not deliver the optimum 

germ killing benefit to the Nigerian 

families”, he regretted. 

He warned that the inherent 

risk and cost of repairing the 

damage caused by substandard 

products are usually enormous 

in the long run. According to him, 

Potter Novelli. The sixth agency, 

Brooks and Blake as earlier reported 

may have withdrawn as 

MTN pr account is now in its 

bosom. 

The eventual winner among 

the five agencies will perhaps 

manage not only the corporate 

but the consumer PR activities of 

the telco. 

Airtel partners 

NIPR to deepen 

consumer 

education 

In line with its commitment 

to enriching lives as well as 

providing credible platforms 

to deepen consumer 

education, leading telecoms 

operator, Airtel Nigeria, recently 

partnered with the Nigerian 

Institute of Public Relations 

(NIPR), to host the 2nd NIPR 

Lagos stakeholders’ conference, 

at the University of Lagos. 

The conference, which had the 

theme “The Nigerian Consumer 

– Rights, Duties and Obligations,” 

focused on the critical role public 

relations and its practitioners 

play in protecting the rights of 

the Nigerian consumer. 

The lead speaker, Ralph 

Akinfeleye, professor of Mass 

Communications, University 

of Lagos, noted that Public 

Relations should be used to 

maintain cordial and beneficial 

relationship between buyers 

and sellers, referring to PR 

as a tangible activity that will 

bring about visible changes in 

consumer behavior, education 

and protection. 

According to Akinfeleye, 

effective PR should protect the 

interest of buyers, promote 

the rights of consumers, and 

evaluate the activities of both 

buyers and sellers. 

“PR professionals should 

know that consumer education 

is paramount to consumer 

protection and the development 

of the country. 

‘‘you cannot take the risk with 

your loved ones because at the 

end of the day, half protection is 

no protection. 

‘‘Low price is not enough good 

reason to buy substandard solutions. 

Cheap products might not 

always be a better option considering 

the risk that some of the 

consumers are taking. Dettol is 10 

times better in killing germs compared 

to other brands in the market 

and is the only proven brand 

killing 100 illness causing germs.” 

In a presentation on behalf of 

Dettol at one of the scientific sessions, 

Member, Global Hygiene 

Council, Nneoma Idika, commended 

the Dettol brand for the 

initiative geared towards protecting 

families from the harmful 

effects of substandard and 

non-certified products. She advocated 

an all-inclusive effort to 

overcome the health challenges 

posed by substandard and noncertified 

products in Nigeria. “The 

intervention strategies should be 

private-public participation such 

as it is being championed by RB 

in the ‘Anti-Cheapie’ campaign 

against suboptimal foods, drugs, 

antiseptics and cosmetics in Nigeria 

are highly recommended.



BRANDING 

‘Technology is fastest growing 

category in world’s top 100 brands’ 

DANIEL OBI 

Technology has 

become the 

fastest growing 

category in 

brand value as 

the tech brands in the top 

100 brands increased by 24 

percent to $1 trillion, nearly 

a third of $3.3 trillion of the 

value of all brands in the 

recent 100 brand ranking 

released by WPP and Millward 

Brown. 

The report said Facebook 

is the fastest riser, with 99% 

growth achieved through 

its successful strategy of 

acquiring and integrating 

other social apps such as 

Instagram and WhatsApp, 

and an understanding of 

how to monetise and crosssell 

its platforms. 

The figure of $3.3 trillion, 

according to the 2015 

BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable 

Global Brands report is 

14% increase on 2014 and a 

126 percent growth over the 

10 years since the ranking 

was first launched. 

According to the 2015 

report, Apple is now the 

world’s most valuable brand 

overtaking Google. 

The report said Apple 

has increased its brand value 

to $247 billion, a rise of 67 

percent year on year. Google 

which is now number two 

also grew, achieving a 9 percent 

value increase to reach 

$173.7bn. Microsoft, now 

worth $115.5bn, is the new 

number three, rising one 

position with value growth 

of 28 percent. 

IBM is in the fourth position 

with brand value of 

$93.98 billion, Visa is in the 

fifth position with $91.96 

billion, while AT& T, Verizon 

and Coca Cola are in 

the sixth, seventh and eight 

position with brand values 

of $89.49 billion, $86 billion 

and $83.84 billion respectively. 

The report further said 

that though the AppleWatch 

has proved extremely popular, 

it is the success of the 

iPhone 6 that has been the 

main driver of Apple’s brand 

value growth. 

Doreen Wang, Millward 

Brown’s Global Head of 

BrandZ, comments: “Apple 

continues to ‘own’ its 

category by innovating and 

leading the curve in a way 

that generates real benefits 

for consumers. It meets 

their rational and emotional 

needs, and makes life 

easier in a fun and relevant 

way. Apple is clear on what 

it stands for, and never 

stops refreshing its message 

to sustain the difference 

that makes it so desirable.” 

David Roth, WPP said: 

“Brand value has risen substantially 

despite a disruptive 

decade. This is a pivotal 

moment for brand builders. 

We’re at the threshold of a 

new normal, and a changing 

consumer. The past 10 years 

of valuing brands proves 

that investing in creating 

strong, valuable brands delivers 

superior returns to 

shareholders.” 

Carried out by WPP’s 

marketing and brand consultancy 

Millward Brown, 

the report said the BrandZ 

Top 100 Most Valuable 

Global Brands study is the 

only ranking in the world 

that uses the views of potential 

and current buyers of a 

brand, alongside financial 

data, to calculate brand 

value. 

Nexus brand 

connects 

consumers with 

superior home 

appliances at Ikeja 

Since the formal 

launch of the Nexus 

brand shop located 

at the ever busy Allen 

Avenue road, Ikeja; the store 

has become a beehive of 

activities as lovers of quality 

from different parts of the 

Lagos metropolis have continued 

to throng the Shop to 

purchase their household 

items. 

Brand Shop Manager, 

OladosuOlalekan says the 

patronage from customers 

have been wonderful since 

the shop was opened to 

the public few weeks ago. 

“Our customers have been 

coming to buy their favorite 

items. Some have been 

coming to make enquiries 

about the latest product 

from the Nexus range of 

quality products. So far, the 

responses are encouraging” 

he stated. 

The well-stocked store 

parades the best in home 

appliances ranging from 

Fridges of all sizes with elegant 

designs to meet the 

taste of the discerning individual. 

Also in large quantity 

are: Gas Cookers, Chest 

Freezers, Water Dispenser, 

Industrial Fan, Table Top 

Microwave, Inverters and 

Stabilizers. 

Even as Nigeria’s 

political history recorded 

yet another 

milestone with the 

transition of power from 

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan 

to Democracy day to General 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

for most brands, the event 

presents a huge opportunity 

to connect with their consumers. 

Naturally, brands 

are be expected to seize 

the opportunity to jostle for 

consumer’s attention and 

patronage. 

However, this year’s independence 

celebrations 

came with a unique twist. 

For the first time in Nigeria’s 

some of Nigeria’s biggest 

GMN initiative: Brands’ quest to touch 

consumers in Nigeria’s biggest CSR project 

brands came together to 

initiate one of the biggest 

CSR campaigns in Nigeria’s 

history. The brands comprising 

ARM, Coca-Cola, 

Jumia, Leadway, Mansard 

and Samsung pooled their 

might together to come 

up with the Good Morning 

Nigeria free phone call 

initiative. 

Good morning Nigeria 

(GMN) is advertising-funded 

CSR initiatives that will 

enable subscribers enjoy 

free talk time within the 

hours of 5am to 8am daily. 

The initiative, put together 

by Media Perspective, a 

leading Media buying company 

in Nigeria will kick off 

on Democracy Day, May 

29, 2015. While the Good 

morning Nigeria Free call 

service is free, callers will 

be required to subscribe 

the service to make them 

eligible to enjoy free calls. 

Already it is being heralded 

as the biggest CSR 

initiative of the year. Not 

surprising given the huge 

popularity and coverage of 

telephony in the Nigeria. 

While most CSR activities 

are usually targeted at a 

section of the population 

or a particular geographical 

location, the Good Morning 

Nigeria initiative has the potential 

of touching the entire 

country. According to the 

Nigerian Communications 

Commission (NCC), Nigeria 

presently boasts more than 

120 million telephone subscribers.What 

this translates 

to that every phone owner 

is a potential beneficiary of 

the service. 

Speaking during a press 

conference to announce 

the GMN initiative the MD/ 

CEO, Media Perspectives, 

Tayo Oyedeji stated that the 

campaign will enable phone 

users to make extended 

phone calls. He added that 

for subscribers to enjoy this 

free call, they have to make 

a 3-minute straight call to 

an MTN number and get 30 

minutes FREE to continue 

on the same call. To receive 

this benefit, customers will 

be required to text GMN to 

131. The service which is 

available only on the MTN 

network is an innovation 

that will deploy mobile 

advertising while making 

phone calls free. 

Speaking further, Oyedeji 

said, “We appreciate how 

important communication 

is to the lives of the Nigerian 

people. We also recognise 

that the current economic 

situation has caused a reduction 

in spending power. 

The campaign aims to put 

money back into the pockets 

of subscribers so they can 

use the savings for themselves 

and their families. 

We are happy to collaborate 

with likeminded corporate 

organizations to provide an 

opportunity for phone users 

to enjoy quality talk time 

for free through the GMN 

initiative.” 

For the partner brands, 

ARM, Coca-Cola, Jumia, 

Leadway, Mansard and 

Samsung, the initiative is 

also a practical test case of 

the power and impact of 

mobile advertising. While 

Mobile advertising is increasingly 

becoming popular 

in the country, the GMN 

initiative is the first attempt 

at deploying mobile at a nation 

scale. With a population 

of 170 million, the potentials 

for the reach and impact of 

mobile will be tested to the 

limit. 

While addressing the 

media on the GMN initiative, 

Head, Corporate 

Communications, Leadway 

Assurance, Olubunmi 

Adeleye, represented by 

Victor Achudume, commended 

the partner companies 

for bringing the 

campaign to the Nigerian 

people. In his words: “We 

believe in the potential of 

this country and we are 

always looking for ways to 

better the lives of our customers. 

Democracy Day is 

a key milestone of our evolution 

as a country and that 

is why we are celebrating it 

by partnering with Media 

Perspectives to launch this 

campaign on May 29. We 

hope that this will be the 

beginning of similar partnerships 

that will benefit 

the Nigerian people”. 

Also speaking on the 

partnership, Head, Offline 

Channel Unit, Jumia, Afam 

Anyika, described the GMN 

campaign as a medium for 

the organizers to appreciate 

their teeming customers. He 

stated: “What is significant 

for us is that we appreciate 

the custom and support of 

Nigerians. We represent different 

brands but a central 

factor that binds our customers 

together is the need 

to communicate. So for 

us, this is a platform to say 

thank you to our consumers 

and encourage them to 

support us even more”.


BUSINESS DAY 

21 

Marketing & PR 

‘Our goal at Konga.com is to 

stimulate local economy’ 

Konga.com, Nigeria’s foremost online business founded in 2012, has a mission to become the engine of commerce and trade 

in Africa. Konga has self-fulfil business model initiative to assist other sellers in Nigeria. Kunle Oguneye, Konga’s marketing 

director, with over 1,000 direct and indirect employees, tells BusinessDay that the self-fulfil initiative is to empower other sellers 

to effectively reach more customers, more effectively. He believes that online shops will continue to grow because of Nigeria’s poor 

infrastructure, as operators have only scratched the surface of e-commerce, given the population of Nigerians on internet. Excerpt : 

Could you tell me more 

about Konga.com? 

Konga was 

founded in 

July 2012. 

The founder 

has a vision 

that Africa’s socio-economic 

malaise can be transformed 

if we start trading among 

ourselves. What trading can 

do for the whole continent 

is that it can stimulate economic 

activity. 

It can also foster peace. 

It is highly unlikely for two 

people to fight if they are doing 

business with each other. 

Much more if the business 

can encourage employment 

and economic growth. In 

its business, Konga realized 

that it cannot warehouse 

every product it has in its 

Website. Though we have a 

massive warehouse in Isolo 

but we can’t replicate that 

all over the country. In the 

last one year we have a business 

model where about 

20 percent of the products 

on our Website are owned 

by us. And the 80 percent 

of other products are third 

party sellers. A seller of any 

product can come and list 

with us free. They however 

warehouse their products 

and when the order comes 

through our Website, we 

send it to the seller with the 

buyer’s address. 

When the transaction is 

done, the seller decides on 

how to deliver the product 

which we call Self fulfill. 

Peak Milk has been 

in existence from 

generation to generation 

as most 

people today grew up with 

the brand. It is a brand that 

has really connected with 

Nigerian consumers with its 

unique packaging remaining 

unchanged. 

Images in the package, 

such as palm tree representing 

strength, river a symbol 

of content that never dries, 

canoe that sustains people 

and mountain which shows 

peak all symbolizes what 

Peak Milk represents. 

The brand owners, FrieslandCampina 

WAMCO Nigeria 

PLC recently rolled out 

Under the concept, the seller 

could have interaction 

with the consumer. This 

is because the volume of 

business is too much that 

Konga cannot handle it 

alone. The other sellers can 

use our services to deliver if 

they choose. Today we have 

thousands of free registered 

sellers on the platform and 

the number continues to 

increase. The Konga platform 

has helped many of 

them to transact volumes of 

business. Today the sellers 

are selling to many people 

in far away cities against 

their hitherto sales in their 

shops. Konga has given sellers 

maximum reach. Sellers 

deals are monitored and recorded 

in the Website which 

is an advantage. 

This is a wonderful initiative 

that I believe has empowered 

sellers, but where 

do you make your money 

to run Konga. 

It is through commissions 

on each sale from the 

seller. On the seller’s arrangement, 

the price is set 

by the seller. The seller does 

not necessarily have to have 

stores but the seller could 

have warehouse to store the 

goods. It is important to say 

that Konga prices are cheap 

because we have direct link 

to manufacturers. The third 

party sometimes has direct 

relationship with manufacturers. 

Prices at Konga.com 

come cheap also because 

many of the sellers don’t 

Kunle Oguneye, director marketplace, Konga 

have to own shops, buy 

diesel/ petrol, pay authorities 

and all the logistics of 

owning shops. Because of 

the unpaid costs, they can 

reduce their prices on items 

purchased on Konga. 

How do you monitor 

the registered sellers on 

your platform to ensure 

quality? 

If sellers list certain 

brands for sale on the Konga.com 

Website, they may 

need to send us samples of 

those products, receipts to 

prove that they sourced it 

from original manufacturer, 

pictures and testimonials. 

These are on certain brands. 

At the end, if there is any 

report from buyers that what 

was exactly purchased was 

not what was delivered to 

them or advertised on the 

Website, we can sanction 

the merchant. We accept 

returns in spite of the challenges 

inherent in it. This 

includes tearing the package 

which reduces the value 

among others. 

Apart from the sellers’ 

initiative, what are the 

other features that stand 

you out from competition? 

There is relentless pursuit 

of excellence within the 

organisation. We are a local 

committed organization to 

serve consumers better. We 

also ensure that we get the 

Peak tells 60 years story of nourishing consumers 

red carpets to celebrate top 

brand, Peak milk at 60. The 

colorful milestone celebration 

of 60 years of nourishing 

goodness was staged 

inside the magnificent Zinnia 

hall of the Eko Hotel and 

Suites. 

The event was well attended 

by consumers from 

all walks of life including 

top personalities from the 

media, children and notable 

celebrities led by former 

Nigeria international and 

Olympic Gold medalist, 

Kanu Nwankwo. 

The Managing Director, 

FrieslandCampina WAM- 

CO, Rahul Colaco described 

Peak as “a truly Nigerian 

product to the customer as 

quickly as possible. We are 

constantly working against 

the challenges we face. 

Just recently, we started air 

freighting between cities, 

this is to ensure that packages 

arrive sooner, avoiding 

the complexities of bad 

roads. We have a focus of 

being a one store shop so 

that the consumers can 

find everything they are 

looking for in a store; we sell 

cement, livestock, gravel, 

cars, clothes, phones, shoes 

and home appliances etc. 

we have a wider range of 

products than competition. 

We are not only selling to the 

retail market but to whole 

sale. We are making it easy 

for schools, hospitals and 

institutions that make bulk 

purchases Not only that our 

goal is to stimulate the local 

economy. Very soon we will 

see arts and crafts designers 

in Konga.com platform. We 

have also mobile App where 

you can see prices and discounts. 

How have you fared so 

far in your goal of becoming 

an engine of commerce 

in Africa? 

We are forging ahead. 

But the challenges of Nigerian 

landscape are significant 

which cannot be 

under-estimated which 

include the biggest challenge 

of transporting goods 

from one point to another. 

But beyond that, we have a 

wonderful Website which 

L-R. - Dolapo Otegbayi, marketing manager, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria plc; Tarang Gupta, 

marketing director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria plc; Nwankwo Kanu, Nigeria’s Ex-International 

and Rahul Colaco, managing director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria plc at the Peak 60th Anniversary 

Celebration Event held at Eko Hotel recently. 

is attracting traffic. We are 

communicating our value 

proposition to Nigerians 

and they are embracing it. 

How long does it take 

you to deliver ordered 

goods? 

We commit between 1-5 

days depending on location. 

But Nigerians have expectation 

of same day delivery as 

done abroad, but the issue 

of transportation and associated 

challenges are factors. 

Again if it is beyond the 

within limit time of delivery, 

the customer can cancel the 

orders and their money is 

refunded immediately the 

order is cancelled. 

With Konga.com signing 

on some shops on its 

platform, what forecast then 

do you have for brick and 

mortar shops 

Brick and mortar will 

always be there. The online 

shop is a complement. It is 

like telephone as a means 

of communication which is 

good but at the end we still 

want to see each other. E- 

commerce is another channel 

of commerce which 

allows a distanced person 

to enjoy the same experience 

with consumer at the 

center. Online business is a 

generational thing. People 

below a certain age have 

grown up with the internet 

and they are comfortable 

buying but certain people 

still want to touch and feel. 

The young population embraces 

it. 

iconic brand’’. 

In his opening speech, 

Colaco expressed happiness 

and appreciation of 

Nigerian’s loyalty to Peak 

milk and “particularly those 

who have come from far and 

near for the celebration of 60 

years of nourishing Nigeria 

with quality dairy nutrition.’’ 

He said, “since the presence 

of Peak in the Nigerian 

market, the brand has continued 

to grow despite several 

changes in the market. 

Peak’s success is attributed 

to two things: First, a singular 

focus, which is to nourish 

Nigerians with quality dairy 

nutrition in order to reach 

their Peak.

22 



BUSINESS DAY 

23 

HUMAN CAPITAL 

Weekly Insight on Human Capital Development 

Experts assess education sector 

performance, chat new course for Buhari 

President Muhammadu Buhari 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

Trending 

Thought 

economic development of the 

country. He faulted the creation 

of additional universities, 

saying that the country, at this 

time, did not need additional 

universities, but expansion, 

upgrading and effectiveness of 

the existing ones should be the 

compulsory consideration of 

the Federal Government. 

He called on Buhari to encourage 

the establishment of 

adequate autonomy in tertiary 

institutions instead of creation 

of more tertiary institutions 

that would starved of funds, 

enabling environment and adequately 

effective academic 

staff, saying that the existing 

universities could favourably 

expand to accommodate more 

students than the newly established 

ones. 

The consultant further urged 

the incoming Federal Government 

and National Universities 

Commission (NUC) to enforce 

standards on the Private Universities 

operating in the country 

to ensure that consumers of 

tertiary education are protected 

from sub-standard quality, adding 

that their curricula should 

be made to support developmental 

initiatives and skills that 

are capable of reforming the 

As Muhammadu Buhari 

assumes office, 

industry watchers 

in the education 

sector have x-rayed 

the performances of the outgoing 

administration of Goodluck 

Jonathan as it’s relate to education 

and called on the present 

administration to seek strategic 

steps to address lapses noticed. 

Analysts in their various 

summations on the Goodluck 

Jonathan’s education policy expressed 

different views, while 

some considered the education 

policies of the outgoing administration 

as being fairly good, 

others totally rubbished some 

steps taken by Jonathan on education. 

Dosunmu Babatunde, an 

education consultant considered 

the policy on education at 

present as imperfect and ineffective 

going by the incapacity 

of the policy to proffer practical 

solutions to the encumbering 

developmental malaise. 

Babatunde believed that 

the proliferation of universities 

is nothing if they could not 

positively impact on the sociocountry. 

Another educationist who 

spoke but on the condition of 

anonymity believed that the 

outgoing administration scored 

below average in the Secondary 

School level of Education which 

she referred to as the bedrock of 

tertiary education. 

The educationist declared 

that examination malpractices 

were rampant all through the 

years of Jonathan administration 

because the Federal Government 

lacked in its functions 

to adequately and effectively 

regulate Senior Secondary 

School Certificate Examinations 

such as WAEC, NECO 

and JAMB, saying that Secondary 

School Curricula should be 

restructured in such a way that 

everything needed for effective 

education and training students 

would encompassed. 

She further advocated the 

training and retraining of 

teaching staff in all the secondary 

schools across the 

country to equip them with 

modern teaching skills and 

technology, saying that the 

rate at which Nigeria is moving 

in terms of education and 

training in secondary schools 

is too slow and ineffective 

“Achievement is largely the 

product of raising one’s levels of 

aspiration and expectations” 

(Jack Niklaus). 

compared to other institutions 

that are WAEC members 

in West African Sub-region. 

On his part, Isaac Adeyemi, 

Vice chancellor, Bells University 

of Science and Technology, 

Ota said the low ranking 

of Nigerian Universities in the 

past six years have repeatedly 

counted against the administration 

of Jonathan. 

Adeyemi said none of the 

Nigerian universities would 

be ranked among top ten universities 

in African and in the 

world, except cogent and effective 

solutions were found to 

addressing the challenges. 

The Vice-chancellor stated 

that though the outgoing administration 

tried its best on 

in terms of accreditation and 

quality assurance, he stresses 

that it is required of the incoming 

administration to take 

a pragmatic and effective approach 

to the issue of incessant 

strike ravaging Nigerian institutions 

as well as increasing 

the budgetary allocations given 

the university as that would 

enhance effective learning and 

researches across the universities 


He declared that Nigerian 

universities would favourably 

compete with their counterparts 

in the world if the anomalies 

be-deviling the education 

system, especially university 

education, which had been 

identified as inadequate funding 

and incessant industrial 

action; were effectively addressed, 

just as this would 

boost the university education 

system and make the certificates 

issued compared favourably 

with any university in the 

world. 

“Government should increase 

the funding; we are like 

Oliver Twist. You remember 

I said the quantum has increased 

and so much our problem 

too. So government, apart 

from continuing through the 

National Universities Commission 

(NUC), accreditation of 

programmes, institutional accreditation, 

all the workshops 

they are doing, should fund 

universities more”, the Vicechancellor 

noted. 

Education News 

Vodacom promotes 

e-Learning in public, 

private schools 

Unleash relational 

intelligence! 

Personal 

attitudes and 

workplace 

performance (1) 

Page 24 

Tips on Human Capital 

Personality 

Page 25 

Page 26 

BD HUMAN CAPITAL Team: 

Contact: 

bdhumancapital@ 

businessdayonline.com 

Follow us on 

twitter@BD HumanCapital 

Ikenna Obi - Editorial direction 

Kelechi Ewuzie - Correspondent 

Fifen - Famous - Graphics



HUMAN CAPITAL 

Education News 

Vodacom promotes e-Learning in public, private schools 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

In furtherance of its commitment 

to empower youths 

through effective knowledge 

of information communication 

technology 

(ICT), Vodacom Business Nigeria 

recently hosted 56 students from 

the S.S. Peter & Paul Nursery and 

Primary School, Ikate Elegushi, 

on a special tour of the company’s 

facilities to learn about the cloud 

computing and the technology 

behind e-learning. 

The students of the S.S. Peter & 

Paul Nursery and Primary School 

run by Loving Gaze, an independent 

non-profit organisation, 

that serves the underprivileged 

communities in Lagos State, were 

given the opportunity to learn 

about new communication technologies 

and their importance to 

education. 

As a practical demonstration 

of e-learning, the primary five 

students aged between nine and 

eleven were introduced to virtual 

classrooms and also communicated 

with their classmates 

placed in separate conference 

rooms located on different floors 

of the building. 

Abu Etu, senior manager, 

product portfolio, Vodacom Business 

Nigeria, said, “We promote 

the education and training for 

students at primary level of edu- 

L-R: Barbara Pepoli , Administrator Saints Peter and Paul Nursery and Primary School, Ikate, Elegusi Lekki, Lagos ; Nkechi Newton-Denila, executive director, Legal 

and Regulatory Services, Vodacom Business Nigeria; Prize Winners from Saints Peter and Paul Nursery and Primary School, Ikate, Elegushi Lekki, Lagos; Abu 

Etu Senior, Manager, Product Portfolio, Vodacom Business Nigeria and Olumide Idowu, Senior Manager, Network Engineering, Vodacom Business Nigeria, during 

a one day Information and Communication Technology field Trip to Vodacom Facility in Lagos. 

cation, empowering them at a 

much earlier stage of their lives. It 

is part of our 

responsibility to prepare these 

young ones for the post - digital 

age which will demand technical 

knowledge and skills”. 

Barbara Pepoli, general manager 

of Loving Gaze, who was 

present at the field trip said: “We 

are excited that our students had 

the opportunity and learn new 

things beyond the walls of the 

classroom. Getting children interested 

in technology has been 

very important for our school 

and this field trip is a great way 

to make technology come to life 

for our students.” Vodacom Business 

Nigeria, through its ‘Power to 

You’ project, uses industrial tours 

and field trips to educate students 

from primary, secondary and 

tertiary schools on new telecommunications 

technologies that 

are driving the economy. The programme 

is aimed at empowering 

Nigerian youths through ICT. 

Walden varsity announces information 

session on online learning for Nigeria 

Walden University as 

part of it strategy to 

deepen access to online 

learning among 

Nigeria will be holding an information 

session about its graduate 

programmes in Lagos on Saturday, 

6 June at the Four Points by 

Sheraton in Victoria Island, Lagos 

The event with themed Explore 

Walden University will offer 

participant insight into Walden’s 

unique online learning model 

and extensive range of available 

programmes 

Jonathan Kaplan, Walden University’s 

interim president, while 

announcing this recently said the 

session aims to provide working 

professionals and adult learners 

with information about the opportunities 

available at the university. 

Kaplan said the session will 

bring together representatives 

from the university to map out a 

path that will guide participants 

in expanding their education 

through online learning. 

According to Kaplan, “Participants 

will be able to speak with 

local university representatives 

about their career goals as well 

as determine which degree programme 

best suits their professional 

goals”. 

“The session will also provide 

attendees with the opportunity to 

meet other local working professionals 

who are interested in pursuing 

an advanced degree, in addition 

to helping them establish a 

local network of peers”. 

“Walden University’s online 

degree programmes are designed 

to provide students with cuttingedge 

skills and knowledge that 

are prerequisites for excelling in 

today’s global marketplace,” said 

Kaplan. 

“Consistent with our commitment 

to educational excellence, 

we offer more than 80 accredited 

online degree programmes 

across a variety of industries, including 

public health, management, 

project management and 

public policy. Choosing the right 

degree programme is a critical 

step to future success, and this 

session will equip participants 

with helpful information that will 

enable them to make informed 

choices about their higher education.” 

“It’s important to have an 

idea of where you want to go 

before beginning the journey. 

Walden has helped me to move 

from just measuring my success 

by my technology experience to 

adding value to myself, my organisation, 

my community and 

my country. I am well-equipped 

to influence and advocate for 

social change in my society, 

starting with my family, office 

and the society at large,” said 

John Chiokwe, resident of Abuja 

and a graduate of Walden’s 

Master of Business Administration 

(MBA) program. 

Walden offers more than 80 

degree programs with more 

than 370 specializations and 

concentrations. Areas of study 

include health sciences, counseling, 

human services, management, 

psychology, social 

work, education, public health, 

nursing, public administration 

and information technology. 

Walden University is accredited 

by The Higher Learning Commission 

Walden is the flagship online 

university in the Laureate International 

Universities network a 

global network of more than 80 

campus-based and online universities 

in 29 countries. For more 

information. 

Uni Ilorin, OAU, FUTO teams shortlisted 

for 2015 CIMA Global Business challenge 

CIMA, the Chartered 

Institute of Management 

Accountants, has 

announced the Nigerian 

shortlist for the CIMA Global 

Business Challenge 2015, its international 

business competition 

for university undergraduates, 

organised globally in partnership 

with Barclays. 

They are Dream Team from 

University of Ilorin, Team Galatic 

from the Obafemi Awolowo 

University, N-Ergy from Obafemi 

Awolowo University and 

FUTOITES Business Team from 

Federal University of Technology 

Owerri. 

The teams will now compete 

in a national final on Saturday, 6 

June, with the winning team going 

on to represent Nigeria against 25 

other teams at the global final in 

Warsaw, Poland, in August 2015. 

Ijeoma Anadozie, CIMA 

Country Manager, said: “On behalf 

of CIMA, I congratulate the 

shortlisted teams for their outstanding 

achievement at the first 

stage of the Global Business Challenge 

2015. These students are a 

fine example of the young talent 

identified and nurtured through 

the Global Business Challenge. 

We are pleased to be giving them 

a unique opportunity to experience 

the world of business and 

to build their skills. We wish the 

competitors the best of luck at the 

national stage and look forward 

to welcoming the winning team 

at the prestige global final. 

A total of 95 entries were received 

from 17 institutions of 

higher learning in Nigeria. This 

firmly entrenches the Global 

Business Challenge as the most 

sought after business competition 

among undergraduate business 

and accounting students,” 

concluded Anadozie. 

The CIMA Global Business 

Challenge is a business competition 

for undergraduates around 

the world, designed to showcase 

talent in business management 

and identify young business 

leaders of the future. Competing 

teams are asked to put their business 

skills to the test by analysing 

and solving a real-life corporate 

case study. 

Other countries participating 

in the CIMA Global Business 

Challenge are Australia, Bangladesh, 

China, Ghana, GCC, Hong 

Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, 

Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New 

Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, 

Poland, Russia, Singapore, South 

Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the 

United Kingdom, Vietnam and 

Zambia the challenge promises 

to be bigger and better.


Event and Opportunity 

‘Our focus is to mould leaders of 

integrity through quality education’ 

Irene Okoene, Founder/Proprietor of Heaven of Light Schools, Edo State 

in this interview gives insight into how the school rose from a humble 

beginning to national reckoning. She further disclosed effort to mould 

students of integrity under the right accommodation. 

BUSINESS DAY 

Tips on Human Capital 

25 

HUMAN CAPITAL 

Irene Okoene 

Could you go down memory 

lane on how the school started? 

Haven of Light 

Schools (HLS) 

commenced academic 

activities on 

September 15th, 

2008 with just six pupils in Nurseries 

1, 2 and Primary 1 respectively. 

For the next three years, 

the number slowly increased 

to 28. The Secondary section 

started on September23last 

year. It might interest you to 

know that today we have a total 

of 162 pupils in the nursery and 

primary sections and eight students 

in JSS1. The JSS1 students 

are products of the nursery/ 

primary section. 

What made you contemplate 

the idea of a boarding 

school? 

With the success of the primary 

section, parents had requested 

that we consolidate 

by starting a secondary school 

which they expect their kids 

could continue with especially 

with respect to the upbringing 

and disciplined lifestyle which 

is all HLS stand for. We decided 

that if we are going to start a secondary 

school, it is going to be a 

boarding school. In this way, we 

will be able to monitor student’s 

activities, thus eliminating cult 

and other harmful activities. Day 

students are more difficult to 

manage because once they are 

off the school premises; you have 

no control over their movements 

and activities. 

What are the challenges you 

encountered while putting up 

the project? 

Running a school in a rural 

setting has been very stressful 

that at times in the past I felt like 

just ‘throwing in the towel’. Huge 

amounts of money have been 

invested in building this school 

and we are still building. Half of 

the time we had to get skilled 

workers from out of town; places 

like Benin, Lagos, Abuja - both 

construction workers and teaching 

staff who could help bring 

our vision into reality. 

The classroom block (a 3-storey 

building) and 2 bungalows 

have been completed. Also completed 

are the administrative 

buildings for the primary and 

secondary section, the building 

housing the cyber café and computer 

room, a building for the art 

and Home Economics rooms, 

and a lawn tennis court. Of 

course there is a three-bedroom 

structure to house the Principal, 

as well as two-bedroom apartments 

each for the Vice Principal 

and the accountant. Nearing 

completion are a two storey 

buildings for the boys and girls 

hostels. Each can comfortably 

accommodate 150 students. 

The school has its own water 

borehole, a 200 KVA transformer, 

two stand-by generators, solar 

powered security lightening, and 

trained security guards from a 

reputable company. The street 

on which the school is located 

has been reconstructed by the 

proprietor. 

So who is responsible for the 

financing? 

All these have been made 

possible through the financing 

of the proprietor and by God’s 

grace we have not borrowed a 

dime from external sources. We 

view the running of this school as 

not a project but a lifelong work. 

Our wish is that it will out-live 

us, for generations yet unborn, 

God’s willing. 

What stand you out as an 

educational institution? 

HLS pupils sat for the first 

school leaving certificate examination 

and passed with 

merits. Since the inception of 

this school, no child has either 

failed or died, not even those 

under the care of their parents 

or guardians. We are a praying 

school and a praying family. 

Every Friday night, a Pastor 

who is the brother-in-law to the 

school’s proprietor, gathers staff 

and family members for prayer 

and praise session to thank God 

for His mercies and blessings for 

the week just ended. We also ask 

for God’s favour and protection 

in the coming week. 

What is next after the project? 

The next step is to start the 

Senior Secondary School for 

which a site has been acquired 

and construction work will commence 

in the near future. It is 

our wish that other like-minded 

individuals or organizations who 

are interested in the development 

of the rural areas, will partner 

with us in starting this cause. 

We also have a plan in the short 

to long term period of partnering 

with foreign higher institutions 

to facilitate graduating students 

from HLS into higher institutions 

abroad. 

What is the vision of the 

school and where are you hoping 

to be in the next 10 years? 

Our focus right now is to 

produce future stars, students of 

enviable honesty and integrity, 

who can compete fearlessly with 

other students from other internationally 

acclaimed schools. In 

a society where a lot of children 

are becoming morally bankrupt, 

we aim to produce real princes 

and princesses, who are intelligent, 

beautiful (morally and 

spiritually), and a blessing to 

our country, Nigeria; students 

we will be proud to identify 

with long after they have left this 

school. 

Unleash relational 

intelligence! 

NGOZI ADEBIYI 

So it’s a known fact that 

the higher you go in 

the corporate environment 

the more 

there’s a demand on your 

leadership capabilities versus 

technical expertise. 

These leadership capabilities 

span across various 

genres depending on company’s 

core values, strategy, 

the organisational goals and 

the skills (or lack of) that the 

company is looking to shape 

or develop. 

Relational Intelligence has 

been termed the new way of 

being smart by expanding 

your influence. It is one of 

those skills required of line 

leaders as they navigate the 

growth and leadership terrain. 

In lay man’s terms it’s 

essentially ‘relational knowhow’ 

in the workplace. 

Valérie Gauthier’s translation 

of ‘savoir-relier’ as “relational 

intelligence” aptly 

teaches leaders to tap into 

their senses in the midst of 

strategising, allowing them to 

act intuitively and rationally 

at once. Few leaders dare to 

claim that their “gut feelings” 

are critical to their decisions. 

But, by engaging their intuition, 

they are able to draw on 

experience, better appreciate 

their environment, build 

confidence, and summon the 

courage to tackle the task at 

hand. 

Relational intelligence is 

also defined as a ‘category of 

leadership that is marked by 

humility and intuition. It is 

the capacity and resolve to 

build sensible, positive, and 

trustworthy relationships 

between entities—people, 

ideas, jobs, cultures, generations—that 

are inherently different, 

opposite or antagonistic’. 

A number of leaders reading 

this may be quietly sending messages 

to their brains about ‘relational 

know-how’ not speaking 

to the bottom line and not impacting 

metrics that drive key 

performance indicators. 

Line leaders just need to build 

strong relationships and make 

confident decisions in addition 

to driving the numbers. They 

need to practice listening to their 

gut feeling as much as balancing 

rational decisions. It’s also a 

lot easier to develop relational 

intelligence which is an enabler 

in driving business results, than 

intelligence quotient (IQ). 

Relational Intelligence includes 

skills like self-awareness, 

empathy, understanding the 

others perspective, emotional 

and cognitive accuracy, capacity 

to resonate with others, and 

managing emotions according 

to K Saltzman. 

Actually, there is no numerical 

quotient for relational intelligence. 

Developing relational 

skills is an essential part of leadership. 

Set the tone and resolve 

to build sensible, positive, and 

trustworthy relationships. Find 

your relational blind spot and 

adjust the mirror. 

How do you affect your work 

environment and what energy 

levels would you now start exuding? 

#UnleashRelationalIntelligence 

Ngozi Adebiyi is the lead consultant 

at OutsideIn HR. Our 

focus is practical interventions 

that address the challenges of 

businesses today. We specialise in 

HR Business Partnering, Engagement 

& Retention with the goal of 

“Revolutionising HR in Nigeria”. 

Ngozi@outsideinHRng.com



HUMAN CAPITAL 

Inspiration 

Personal attitudes and workplace performance (1) 

Emmanuel Imevbere, entrepreneur and 

management consultant 

“ 

Your time is limited, 

so don’t waste it living 

someone else’s 

life” (Steve Jobs). 

Dylan Thomson 

is a young South African Internet 

marketer who has in his 

relatively short work career of 

only five years worked for six 

different companies. And, he 

has not just been involved in the 

Internet business, but has also 

been employed and engaged as a 

property agent and even delivery 

van driver. At just 24 years of age, 

he seems to have done so much 

more than a lot of people would 

have done at his young age. 

I met Dylan when he responded 

to a job advertisement placed 

by a company for an Internet 

marketer, and I was on the interview 

panel. For the position 

that he applied for, there were 13 

applicants that were interviewed, 

but his own interview was the 

most entertaining and in fact 

hilarious. The young man was 

simply a treat. He was confident, 

serious about his convictions and 

definitely very passionate about 

his personal beliefs. 

For instance, when he was 

asked what he would most like 

to become, he replied with dead 

pan seriousness that he wished 

to ultimately become an opera 

singer. The natural question that 

followed was this: “What then 

was he trying to achieve by seeking 

employment as an Internet 

market?” In the same serious 

manner, Dylan answered calmly 

that he wanted first to learn how 

to market himself online, before 

launching out as a professional 

opera singer. 

The climax and highpoint 

of our encounter with Dylan 

was when he requested to be 

allowed to sing for us at the 

interview. We jokingly acceded 

to his request, and we all surely 

had a good laugh thereafter. His 

performance would not only win 

him the wooden spoon if he ever 

attempted to participate at the 

South African Idols’ audition, it 

would help relieve a lot of stress 

due to rib-hurting laughter. Of 

course, we did not employ Dylan, 

but we encouraged him to keep 

doing what he felt he had the best 

talents and passion for. We also 

appreciated and commended his 

determination to succeed. 

I have come across a few 

other young people like Dylan, 

who are in employment in an 

organisation, but “they are not 

really there”. Their heart, interests, 

desire and passion are not 

with their body in the workplace. 

They are at best detached, disengaged 

and disinterested in the 

workplace. The question then is 

why are they wasting their time 

and the time of others, doing 

what they do not really want to 

do, or like to do? Moreover, they 

are depriving others who are better 

suited and more interested of 

the opportunity of employment. 

This thought made me to engage 

a few of my friends in corporate 

leadership on the essence of 

organisational and team coaching. 

Apart from obviously seeking 

for coaching opportunities in 

their companies, I was also quite 

keen to assist with identifying 

their personnel that are unengaged, 

disengaged, and passively 

engaged. The importance of this 

kind of exercise is to ensure good 

team spirit and a comfortable 

environment for individuals to 

express themselves, in turning 

their talents to treasures. 

This exercise is actually the 

responsibility of the company’s 

leadership and management 

team. It is not the job of the coach, 

although a good organisational 

coaching process will do much 

to help reposition the corporate 

team for better performance, 

through effective facilitation 

of personal drive, conviction, 

awareness, knowledge and passion. 

In this regard, the coach is 

not merely focusing on improving 

technical skills or knowledge, 

but rather compelling people to 

exhibit true emotional ownership 

in the workplace, as against 

the workplace dichotomy of “we” 

and “them”. 

There is always the danger of 

loss of personnel effectiveness 

where this kind of trend sets in. 

Personal and corporate performance 

will of course also suffer. 

What coaching can do in ameliorating 

this is get people to have 

a mindset of personal growth 

and talent development in the 

workplace. What this means is 

that the coach helps the people 

in the company to focus more on 

their own personal growth, and 

less on their task or duties in the 

company. 

The idea behind this is that 

people will be happier to do what 

is beneficial to them. It is the 

question of “what’s in it for me?” 

A good organisational coaching 

engagement must make it clear 

to the people that their personal 

growth is just as important to the 

company, as every bit of profit 

the company hopes to make. 

After all, they are the real producers 

of profit in the company. It is 

simply a mindset issue. 

You can read more about the 

transformational power of coaching 

at www.ceedcoaching.com. 

MBA in focus 

How not to study for the GRE and GMAT 

OLUWATOSIN OKOJIE 

GRE and GMAT candidates 

are bombarded 

with countless tips on 

how to go about studying 

so that they can achieve desired 

high scores that are a prerequisite 

for admissions into top 

graduate programs and business 

schools. This deluge of information 

can be very confusing, and 

sometimes leads to inadequate 

preparations and suboptimal 

scores. 

It is sometimes easier to understand 

what to do by first getting 

a sense of what not to do. 

With this in mind, Total Ascent 

has put together a list of items 

any candidate for the GRE or 

GMAT should avoid during the 

preparation process: 

Don’t start prepping a month 

(or less) before your exam date. 

Most students require at least 120 

hours of concentrated study to 

get a good understanding of the 

material and achieve their full 

potential. Don’t put off studying 

for the GRE or GMAT till the last 

minute, as there simply will not 

be enough time to assimilate the 

curriculum. 

Don’t study in a disorganised 

manner (i.e. “a little here and a 

little there”). Each candidate has 

a personal optimal study pattern 

– some people are better in the 

mornings, others in the evenings 

and others only after a little bit 

of “shuteye”. Some candidates 

do not have a specific study 

schedule, but study “a little here 

and a little there”, when their 

other obligations permit. While 

everyone has a busy schedule, 

haphazard studying is ineffective. 

Work out a consistent study 

plan for yourself that builds 

stability and consistency…..and 

then stick to it. 

Don’t stop studying once 

you’ve started. The brain takes 

time to master concepts, and if 

you let too much time lapse during 

your preparation period, you 

may have to start again at square 

one when you resume studying. 

Just like an athlete in training, 

once you have stayed away from 

practice for a while, the muscles 

need time to readjust and “get 

back in shape” and it’s like starting 

from scratch. Once you start 

studying for the GRE or GMAT, 

stick to a regular schedule and 

don’t stop. 

Don’t judge your preparedness 

with Practice Questions 

only. The GRE and GMAT are 

lengthy exams and preparing for 

either test is just like preparing 

for a marathon - stamina is essential 

to performing well. Being 

able to answer a few Practice 

Questions correctly is good, but 

the true test of your readiness is 

your performance on a full length 

Practice Test. Taking full-length 

GRE or GMAT Practice Tests help 

build stamina so you can stay 

alert and focused when taking 

the real Test. 

Whether you’re planning 

to take the GRE or GMAT, 

Total Ascent can prepare you to 

ace your exam. 

Tosin has an MBA from Yale 

University and is the CEO of 

Total Ascent (www.total-ascent. 

com), a Test Preparation (GMAT/ 

GRE/ACCA) company.


Real estate sector anticipates 

$13.6bn investment 

value rise by 2016 

Page 28 

LagosHOMS sets to 

partner developers, takes 

42 families off housing 

market 

Page 28 

Experts canvass Africanconscious 

agreement 

at Paris climate change 

summit 

Page 29 

African leaders pledge 

to end inequalities, open 

defecation by 2030 

Page 29 

ODINAKA MBONU 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari may be facing a 

herculean task delivering 

his party’s (All Progressives 

Congress) 

campaign promise of building 

one million housing units yearly 

over the next four years, as the 

2015 budgetary allocation to Federal 

Ministry of Lands, Housing 

and Urban Development is only 

N1.6 billion, representing 67 percent 

drop from that of last year. 

An analysis of this development 

shows that the ministry’s 

capital expenditure has shrunk 

from N15. 7 billion in 2014 to N1.6 

billion this year, reflecting the 

drop in total capital expenditure 

from 24 percent to 9 percent of 

the total budget. 

This allocation can only deliver 

a little over 500 housing units 

of two-bedroom flat at N3 million 

per unit and it is likely to thwart 

the new administration’s housing 

dream or leave the new president 

scrambling for alternative source 

of capital to execute this promise. 

Described as ‘Transition Budget’ 

by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, 

former finance minister, analysts 

say the 2015 budget is targeted at 

effectively managing the country’s 

dwindling revenue in a way 

that protects the most vulnerable 

while safely transiting to 

broader based non-oil sector 

driven economy. 

“I will like to think that Buhari’s 

promise during the election 

does not translate into him literally 

building one million houses 

with government’s resources, 

rather he can achieve quite a 

BUSINESS DAY 

HOMES&PROPERTY 

67% drop in budgetary allocation seen 

challenging Buhari’s 1m houses promise 

lot if he creates an enabling 

environment for private developers 

to help drive his dream,” 

Adetokunbo Ajayi, CEO, Propertygate 

Development and Investment 

Plc, told BusinessDay in an 

interview. 

Ajayi who described the one 

million housing units target 

as ambitious for the incoming 

administration urged Buhari to 

channel his effort towards dismantling 

the bureaucratic land 

acquisition, titling, and documentation 

process that have 

continued to throw spanner in 

the works of private developers. 

“I believe it will be more sensible 

for the new administration 

to empower private developers 

to enable them drive housing 

rather than embarking on such 

massive project with its limited 

resources,” he said. 

Nigeria’s 17 million housing 

deficit, according to the World 

Bank, will cost about N59.5 trillion 

to bridge. The sector’s key 

challenge has always been the 

dearth of affordable housing 

which is worsened by the rapid 

rate of population growth and 

urbanisation in the country. 

Former finance minister was 

quoted in a report as saying that 

“Nigeria’s annual production of 

approximately 100,000 housing 

units per year as against the 

required 800,000 units coupled 

with the lack of a robust mortgage 

financing system has made Nigeria’s 

homeownership rate one of 

the lowest in Africa at 25 percent.” 

According to the National 

Integrated Infrastructure Master 

Plan (NIIMP), eliminating the 

17 million housing deficit will 

require sustainable provision 

of one million units annually 

until 2043, hence, the need for 

the investment of $300 billion in 

the sector over the next 30 years. 

Stephen Jagun, chairman, 

Nigerian Institution of Estate 

Surveyors & Valuers (NIESV), 

Lagos State chapter, in response 

to questions from this reporter, 

affirmed that while the current 

budget casts doubt over the new 

president’s housing ambition, 

he could devise other means to 

finance the project, such as a 

supplementary budget. 

27 

Jagun noted that the country’s 

current land system favours 

the government to do massive 

housing project, pointing out that 

the new president would need to 

take concrete steps in achieving 

his target such as dismantling the 

monopoly in the constructionsupply 

value chain. 

The APC had at the fourth 

edition of the Nigeria Political 

Parties Discussion (NPPD) 

inter-party debate organised by 

the Centre for Democracy and 

Development (CDD) and Open 

Society Initiative for West Africa 

(OSIWA) promised to build one 

million houses yearly if elected, 

adding that it would review the 

Land Use Act and provide infrastructures 

to realise the plan. 

Talion’s homes assembling system gives clients speed, flexibility advantage 

CHUKA UROKO 

Talion American Top 

Quality Homes, a 

division of Talion 

Contractors and Developers 

Limited, has 

said that its building system 

which involves building homes 

piece-by-piece and assembling 

them at client’s process has a 

unique advantage of giving the 

client speed and flexibility in 

homeownership. 

The new building system 

which is used to construct high 

quality, strong, attractive premanufactured 

housing that is 

affordable and customizable for 

the Nigerian family and perfect 

for the country’s environment, 

also has quality and efficiency 

advantage. 

“Our building system also 

gives our customers the unique 

advantage of being able to disassemble 

and reassemble their 

homes at any location they desire 

if the previous site is no longer 

wanted”, Oludare Talabi, the 

company’s MD/CEO, explained 

to BusinessDay in Lagos. 

Talabi said that at Talion, 

there was great effort to create 

perfect homes for clients, 

saying, “whether the client 

is a family looking for a nice, 

decent, comfortable home; a 

developer looking to grow his 

establishment; a government 

official needing some housing; 

an oilfield executive looking 

for perfectly customized housing, 

or a university looking for 

student housing, Talion can 

address his problem”. 

“Our homes are highly customizable; 

we give our customers 

the advantage of choosing 

any options they like in their 

homes; this gives them the 

advantage of having homes 

unique to them while, at the 

same time, giving them homes 

that fit their budget”, he continued. 

The Customized Units/ 

Commercial Units are targeted 

at customers who may not like 

the company’s predesigned 

homes and so, if the customer 

wants something made to his 

exact specifications, to his own 

layout and design, the company 

can also do that using these 

units. 

“You can choose every aspect 

of your house from roof 

style to the number of bedrooms 

and the type of lighting 

you want; some examples of 

commercial units we can build 

include Hotels, Student hostels, 

Government housing and Work 

force housing”, Talabi said. 

According to him, the prices 

for their homes depended on 

customer’s specific request, 

pointing out that “no two homes 

are the same (including the 

standard units); we can build 

any unit you require to your exact 

specifications and to match 

your exact budget; our goal is 

to give a top quality home that 

matches your fiancés. We also 

have payment plan options designed 

to fit your specific needs”. 

Talion America Homes 

come with many benefits 

including high and durable 

homes at affordable prices; 

homes are built to withstand severe 

weather conditions including 

hurricanes and tornadoes; 

homes can be completed within 

three months on site (all things 

being equal); they can be moved 

from their present site to other 

locations on request. 

Other benefits are that the 

homes are energy efficient with 

insulation to provide stable 

temperatures as needed; customers 

have the option of customizing 

their homes to their 

exact taste before the homes are 

built and assembled, and they 

can also get homes designed to 

meet their finances 

Talion offers different categories 

of homes including 

Standard Units which are predesigned 

models that adequately 

provide for all essential home 

needs at affordable costs. An 

example of these units is the 

Manhattan—a one-bedroom 

house that can accommodate 

four to nine people comfortably 

with bath-room, kitchen, 

luxury cabinets and recreation 

and commerce porch.



HOMES&PROPERTY 

Real estate sector anticipates $13.6bn 

investment value rise by 2016 

CHUKA UROKO 

Barring fundamental 

changes in macroeconomic 

indices and 

unforeseen political 

risk, the value of investment 

in real estate sector of 

Nigerian economy is expected to 

rise 4 percent to USD13.65 billion 

by the turn of 2016, up from its current 

value of $9.19 billion. 

The sectors growth of 8.7 percent 

per annum which makes it 

the fastest growing and sixth largest 

sector in the economy is driven by 

a number of factors prominent 

among which are democratic 

boom, strong spending power of 

a rising consumer class, and fastpaced 

urbanization. 

A reputable research, accounting 

and auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers 

(PwC), which gave 

these hints in its latest report titled 

Real Estate: Building the Future of 

Africa, says the reasons for the expected 

growth are not far-fetched, 

explaining that notwithstanding 

the volatility in crude oil price since 

July last year, high networth individuals 

(HNWIs) invest over 20 per 

cent of their assets in real estate. 

The report which also reveals 

that infrastructure spend across 

Africa will grow from US$ 70 billion 

in 2014 to US$180 billion per 

annum by 2025 for same real estate 

growth fundamentals, adds that 

this HNWIs in real estate investment 

is seven per cent more than 

the 18 per cent or less investors in 

this category that invest in equities 

and other instruments. 

“While the continents infrastructure 

currently lags well behind 

that of the rest of the world with 

some 30 percent in a dilapidated 

condition”, there is widespread 

recognition of the vast business 

LagosHOMS sets to partner developers, 

takes 42 families off housing market 

ODINAKA MBONU 

Barring any new development, 

the Lagos State 

Mortgage Board (LMB), 

promoters of the state 

Home Ownership Mortgage 

Scheme (LagosHOMS) will, in 

the next few months, unveil a new 

blueprint that will set the tone for 

a robust partnership between the 

mortgage board and private real 

estate developers. 

The partnership will see the 

LMB delegate its construction 

responsibilities to select private 

Back Row, L -R: Bode Adediji (Past President NIESV), Chudi Ubosi ( President FIABCI 

African Region), Joe Akhigbe ( President FIABCI Nigeria), Tade Akinyemi(Executive Secretary FIABCI 

Nigeria). Front Row, L-R: Mutiu Balogun,Kunle Ogunfile,Gerry Ikputu,Robyn Waters 

(FIABCI World President), Abdel Nasser Taha (FIABCI Egypt), Sunny Nwobi at the FIABCI 66th World 

Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

opportunities on the continent 

as a growing consumer market 

as well as the vast opportunities 

for infrastructure investment and 

development”, the report notes. 

It notes further that in commercial 

real estate, the influx of 

institutional, foreign and private 

businesses into the country and the 

growth of indigenous businesses 

and multinational oil companies 

in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt 

have kept the segment vibrant, 

adding that rents in Lagos are 

among the highest in the world 

with annual achievable rents of 

more than $1,020 per square metre, 

about N200, 000 per square 

metre. 

In an earlier study titled ‘Into 

Africa’ which was a comparative 

research study of 20 African cities 

of opportunity, PwC ranked Lagos 

as seventh while the overall ranking 

of cities by the real estate report 

real estate developers who will 

deliver schemes in different parts 

of the state. 

Disclosing this to journalists at 

the May edition of the LagosHOMS 

draw, Akinola Kojo Sagoe, CEO, 

LMB, explained that the board was 

also looking to embark on Public 

Private Partnerships (PPP) to enable 

it offer products that would 

capture every segment of the property 

market. 

Sagoe was upbeat that even 

in the face of economic downturn 

in the country, the scheme had 

recorded immense success as over 

400 winners who have completed 

placed the top five cities as Cairo, 

Tunis, Johannesburg, Casablanca 

and Algiers in Egypt, Tunisha, 

South Africa, Morocco, and Algeria 

respectively. 

The study, based on the methodology, 

research, and analytical 

framework of PwC’s global Cities 

of Opportunity report – the seventh 

edition of which will be released 

next year, ranked the 20 cities on 29 

variables grouped into infrastructure, 

human capital, economics, 

society and demographics. 

Jonathan Cawood, Capital 

Projects and Infrastructure leader 

for PwC Africa, observed that from 

the study, a strong correlation 

among infrastructure, human 

capital and economics is noticeable, 

saying that cities that score 

well in infrastructure also score 

well in human capital and, expectedly, 

in economics. 

He explained that with city inthe 

necessary documentation have 

successfully been handed keys to 

their respective apartments since 

March 2014. 

He also assured on the sustainability 

of the initiative, explaining 

that rather than terminate the 

scheme, the Governor Akinwunmi 

Ambode administration would offer 

new products that would attract 

more homebuyers to the platform. 

During the May draw, a total 

of 80 applications were received, 

but only 60 pre-qualified for the 12 

schemes on offer. 

The schemes on offer included 

Alhaja Adetoun Mustapha and 

frastructure under pressure, many 

of Africa’s cities cannot maintain 

their current levels of population 

and economic growth without 

enhancing their infrastructure. 

”The demands for infrastructure 

vary from city to city based on 

stage of development, priorities 

and affordability. The basic needs 

for power, water and sanitation, 

transport and logistics, housing 

and ICT top the list for most”, he 

noted. 

Continuing, he said, “the wisdom 

in the choices Africa’s cities 

make in balancing political, 

social and economic agendas 

will become even more critical in 

managing finite financial and environmental 

resources,” adding that 

smart, creative, ambitious human 

beings will congregate and invest 

their labour and capital where it is 

most advantageous and livable for 

them to do so. 

Hon. Olaitan Mustapha estate in 

Ojokoro, Hon. Sontonwa and Oba 

Adeboruwa Estate in Ikorodu, Sir 

Michael Otedola Estate in Epe, 

Chief Anthony Enahoro Estate 

phase I & II Ogba, Igando Gardens 

in Alimosho, Choice Gardens in 

Lekki, Ajah, Mushin Scheme and 

Sangotedo in Ajah 

Suliaman Yusuf, Special Adviser 

to former Governor Babatunde 

Fashola on Project Implementation 

and Monitoring Unit, who 

represented Fashola, reaffirmed 

the state’s commitment to the 

scheme, explaining that construction 

was currently ongoing in 26 

different sites across the state and 

they included Omole Phase I & II, 

Oko-Oba in Agege, Ajara in Badagry 

just to mention a few. 

Yusuf encouraged residents to 

participate in the initiative, adding 

that it was also important that they 

paid their taxes so that government 

could continue to grow the state’s 

housing stock. 

Raqmat Adetutu, winner of one 

bedroom apartment in the Mushin 

Scheme, expressed her excitement, 

noting that the entire process was 

seamless. 

Adetutu urged other residents 

of the state to participate in the 

initiative, adding that the 10-year 

mortgage plan encouraged people 

to cultivate a good saving habit. 

Abuja Housing Show urges 

Buhari to prioritize housing 

for economic growth 

CHUKA UROKO 

The Abuja Housing 

Show, an 

annual gathering 

of housing 

stakeholders 

promoted by Housing 

Development Television, 

has congratulated 

Muhammadu Buhari on 

his inauguration as President 

of Nigeria and also 

urged him to prioritise 

housing as a major step 

to growing the economy. 

The Show, which is in 

its 9th edition with this 

year’s edition already 

slated for this week starting 

from June 6, aligns 

with a strong global consensus 

that housing development 

is important 

for stimulating economic 

growth and job creation 

in any economy. 

Housing alongside agriculture 

have been identified 

as growth areas in 

the Nigerian economy 

and interestingly, real estate, 

going by the recent 

GDP rebasing exercise, 

was discovered to be the 

sixth largest sector of the 

economy and the fastest 

growing. 

“Indeed, housing construction 

is one of the 

most used indices for 

gauging the economic 

situation in most developed 

countries. As a matter 

of fact, housing construction 

indices, such as 

the Case-Schiller index, 

are some of the most 

common measures used 

by analysts to gauge economic 

trends in OECD 

countries and in the US” 

says Festus Adebayo, the 

CEO, FESADEB Communication 

Limited, owners 

of Housing Development 

Television. 

Adebayo, in a statement 

obtained by BusinessDay 

in Lagos, lamented 

however, that 

most African countries 

do not see and treat the 

housing sector as engine 

of economic growth 

which is why housing 

sector contribution to 

GDP are lowest in these 

countries. 

“Looking at the size 

of mortgage finance as 

a share of GDP of various 

countries, in the UK, 

mortgage finance to GDP 

ratio is about 80 percent 

and 77 percent in the US. 

For Hong Kong, this ratio 

is 50 percent, across Europe 

the average is about 

50 percent, and for Malaysia 

it is 32 percent. For 

many African countries, 

the ratio is low at 2 percent 

for Botswana, 2 percent 

for Ghana, and only 

0.5 percent for Nigeria. 

South Africa is the outlier 

with mortgage finance 

at 31 percent of GDP”, he 

posited. 

Advising the Buhari 

administration to recognize 

housing as a major 

economic growth index, 

Adebayo recalled a 

speech by Ngozi Okonjo- 

Iweala, former Minister 

of Finance, at a World 

Bank forum in which she 

listed three crucial roles 

that the housing sector 

could play in national development. 

“According to her, the 

sector could serve as 

an important contributor 

to economic growth; 

support job creation and 

economic inclusion, and 

provide social benefit by 

contributing to community 

and nation building”, 

he disclosed. 

Continuing, Adebayo 

quoted Okonjo-iweala as 

saying that “the housing 

sector can support job 

creation and economic 

inclusion. The job creation 

potential for the 

housing sector is enormous. 

In India, each new 

housing unit generates 

1.5 direct and 8 indirect 

jobs. In South Africa, each 

housing unit creates 5.62 

direct jobs and 2.5 indirect 

jobs”. 

He noted that in South 

Africa, each housing unit 

creates 5.62 direct jobs 

and 2.5 indirect jobs, adding 

that the sector has 

the potential to generate 

employment opportunity, 

increase productivity, 

raise standards of living 

and alleviate poverty, 

thereby reducing the increasing 

level of crime 

rates, insurrection, militancy, 

terrorism among 

other sundry social challenges 


Adebayo informed that 

hosting the 9th Abuja 

Housing Show was part 

of Housing Development 

TV’s own efforts at growing 

the housing sector, 

hoping that the Show 

would bring together 

government functionaries 

at the federal, state 

and local levels, including 

federal ministry of housing 

and states ministries 

of lands and housing. 

Others expected at the 

Show are major operators 

such as the new Nigerian 

Refinance Company 

(NMRC) Federal Mortgage 

Bank of Nigeria 

(FMBN), Federal Housing 

Authority (FHA), Real Estate 

Developers Association 

of Nigeria (REDAN), 

Mortgage Bankers Association 

of Nigeria (MBAN) 

and regulators such as 

Central Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN) to set agenda for 

the new administration.


GOINGGreen 

BUSINESS DAY 

29 

Experts canvass African-conscious 

agreement at Paris climate change summit 

ODINAKA MBONU 

Experts have canvassed 

the need for an 

agreement that takes 

into consideration the 

challenges of African 

states in surmounting several 

climate change woes in their 

region, when the United Nations 

Climate Change sunnit holds this 

December. 

The experts, who spoke at a 

forum during the annual meetings 

of the African Development 

Bank (AfDB), agreed that the 

Paris agreement should also 

propel the continent’s transition 

to low-carbon, climate-smart 

agriculture, and sustainable 

urban development. 

With countries set to approve 

a new climate change agreement 

in December, the experts stressed 

the need to accelerate efforts to 

mobilize funds to aid African 

countries adapt and minimize the 

impact of climate change. 

“What we need are 

mechanisms to ensure that we 

are creating a discourse that 

deals with development; …we 

understand that in the context of 

Africa, if the money is not there, 

the adaptation costs rise and as 

they rise, our ability to provide 

food to the world diminishes,” 

Trevor Manuel, the former 

Finance Minister of South Africa 

said. 

Manuel pointed out that 

African leaders pledge to end 

inequalities, open defecation by 2030 

African leaders at 

a conference in 

Dakar, Senegal, have 

pledged to eliminate 

inequalities and end 

open defecation in their countries 

by 2030, and to work towards 

giving every person access to safe 

sanitation and good hygiene, a 

statement by WaterAid in Lagos 

has revealed. 

Recognising that poor sanitation 

in Africa undermines the continent’s 

social and economic development 

and has serious health impacts on 

the population, including diarrhoea, 

African ministers responsible 

for sanitation and hygiene have 

committed to universal access by 

signing the Ngor Declaration on 

sanitation and hygiene. 

The declaration closes 

AfricaSan 4, a conference of African 

governments, civil society and 

development partners that was 

inaugurated by the president of 

Senegal and held from 25-27 May 

in Dakar 

Ngor – meaning ‘dignity’ in 

Wolof, the Senegalese national 

language – is an ambitious 

declaration highlighting the 

commitment of African countries 

to put the elimination of open 

defecation among their top 

priorities, and advance towards 

countries were falling short 

of both financial and policy 

commitments needed to deal 

with climate change. Specifically, 

he mentioned that actual pledges 

to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) 

are just at approximately $10 

billion, still too far from the 

commitments of industrialized 

nations made five years ago in 

Copenhagen (Denmark). 

They promised that the fund 

would have $100 billion annually 

by 2020. 

The GCF is aimed at helping 

the developing world deal with 

mitigating the effects of and 

adapting to climate change. 

the aspirations of the Sustainable 

Development Goals to reach 

everyone and everywhere with 

clean water and basic sanitation 

by 2030. 

The Ngor declaration also 

emphasises the importance of 

eliminating inequalities, which will 

require redoubled efforts to reach 

the poorest, those living in slums 

or remote rural areas and other 

The experts underscored the 

need for African countries to 

align their contributions to the 

Paris climate agreement with 

their own long-term sustainable 

development priorities. 

In his remarks, Makhtar 

Diop, Vice-President, Africa 

Region, World Bank, pointed 

out that climate finance will help 

expand access to cleaner energy 

sources such as wind, solar and 

geothermal. 

“We need to accelerate the 

renewable energy agenda. 

Today, we have an opportunity 

to have green growth in Africa. 

At the same time we should be 

marginalized groups. 

Sanitation is to be understood 

as a service, rather than simply 

infrastructure – including work to 

change behaviours as well as the 

safe management of faecal sludge, a 

pressing issue especially in informal 

urban settlements. 

These commitments, if followed 

up and monitored, will ensure the 

protection of dignity and health of 

increasing competitiveness of 

our economies,” Diop enthused. 

On his part, Carlos Lopes, 

the UN Under-Secretary General 

and Executive Secretary of the 

Economic Commission for 

Africa, underscored the need 

for Africa to go beyond global 

negotiations on climate change 

in their current format and seek 

solutions that will effectively 

address the continent’s 

concerns. 

“We do not want Africa to 

be part of handouts anymore. 

We want Africa to be part of the 

solution for climate change,” 

Lopes said 

everyone in Africa and, according 

to Mariame Dem, Head of West 

Africa for WaterAid, “we are glad 

to see this commitment from 

African leaders to re-evaluate 

priorities and fast-track progress 

on sanitation, to eliminate open 

defecation and bring better health 

and dignity to their citizens”, 

adding that these were ambitious 

commitments which, given 

political will and financing, were 

Africa, he argued, has the 

potential to leapfrog to a new clean 

techno-economy as it is not locked 

in any technology preferences. 

It could follow a green and clean 

energy pathway and leapfrog old 

carbon-intensive models and 

pursue a low carbon development 

pathway. 

In December 2015, countries 

will meet in Paris to sign a global 

agreement on climate change. 

Countries are aiming to reach a 

global binding agreement in Paris 

on a deal that will come into force 

from 2020. 

achievable. 

“Every man, woman and child 

in the world deserves the dignity 

of a safe, hygienic toilet. Yet nearly 

650 million Sub-Saharan Africans 

are still without access to basic 

sanitation. We know that ambitious 

commitments alone are not enough. 

Leaders need to deliver on their 

promises”, he added. 

The timing of the Ngor 

declaration is critical. Poor sanitation 

in Africa undermines the continent’s 

social and economic development. It 

also carries serious health impacts. 

Diarrhoea kills 400,000 children 

in Sub-Saharan Africa each year 

and causes the loss of an estimated 

1-2.5 percent of GDP annually 

from medical costs and reduced 

productivity. While the proportion 

of people practising open defecation 

in Sub-Saharan Africa decreased by 

11 percent between 1990 and 2012, 

the actual number of people forced 

to relieve themselves at roadsides 

and in fields has actually grown by 

33 million, because of the continent’s 

rapid population growth. WaterAid 

analysis suggests that, at current 

rates of progress, Sub-Saharan Africa 

will not meet even the original 

Millennium Development Goal on 

sanitation – to halve the proportion 

of people without access to basic 

sanitation for 150 years. 

British 

explorer wants 

urgent action 

against climate 

change 

The popular saying that 

experience is the best 

teacher best explains 

Ranulph Fiennes, a 

British explorer’s decision to 

join the call for urgent action 

in tackling climate change. 

Fiennes recently saw the 

effects of warming on the 

planet first-hand during trips 

to the Arctic. 

The explorer, the first to 

cross Antarctica on foot as 

well as to visit both the North 

and South Poles by surface, 

said it would be “suicide” to 

put commercial interests over 

global warming. 

He said that with personal 

experience he now knows 

that the warming climate 

has significantly changed 

the landscape of the Arctic, 

melting the ice and forcing 

changes to the design of the 

sledges he used to set records 

in the region between the 

1970s and the 1990s. 

“In the Arctic Ocean, we 

were travelling over sea ice in 

the mid-Seventies, which in 

some cases obviously breaks 

up under the pressure of the 

current and the wind. This 

meant that when we were 

trying to beat the Norwegians 

at breaking world records up 

there, we designed our manhaul 

sledges in such a way that, 

although we didn’t want to put 

any extra weight on them, 

they were at least waterproof,” 

Ranulph explained. 

“By the time we were still 

trying to break records in 

the mid Nineties we were 

designing them to be like 

canoes. We noticed visually, 

without scientific instruments 

– it was so obvious that there 

was a hell of a lot more water,” 

he added. 

“That one particular 

aspect made it very clear to 

us that things were changing. 

I wouldn’t question [climate 

change campaigner] Al 

Gore. We must put a stop 

to things that we know are 

commercially and industrially 

favourable but are suicide in 

the long-run.” 

“Because of the Arctic 

I’ve gone from ‘I don’t know’ 

to ‘oh dear, it’s not good’ to 

‘we should behave ourselves 

better’, said the adventurer 

who climbed Everest at 65 

and has been named by The 

Guinness Book of World 

Records as the greatest living 

explorer. 

Ranulph is currently 

writing a book called Heat 

about his adventures in hot 

climes – a follow-up to Cold, 

about his expeditions in lowtemperature 

areas. He said he 

feels so strongly about climate 

change as a result of what he 

has seen that he will include 

an appendix about the issue 

at the back of his new book.



Harvard 

Business 

Review 

Tips 

& 

Talking Points 

A Hidden Contributor 

to U.S. Health 

Costs: Companies’ 

Mismanagement of 

Workers 

5% to 8% of health care costs: Health 

care inefficiencies and poor lifestyle 

choices are often blamed for America’s 

high health costs, but what about workplace 

stressors such as job insecurity 

and low social support at work - do 

they have an impact? Yes: More than 

120,000 deaths per year and 5% to 8% 

of health care costs are associated with 

how U.S. companies manage (or mismanage) 

their workforces, according 

to an analysis by Joel Goh of Harvard 

Business School and Jeffrey Pfeffer and 

Stefanos A. Zenios of Stanford. Reducing 

stressors such as these could go a 

long way toward improving outcomes 

and reducing costs of U.S. health care, 

the researchers say. 

Prove 

Yourself Worthy of the 

CEO’s Inner Circle 

In many companies, a lot of 

the decision-making power 

resides with the CEO’s inner 

circle. If you want to break into 

this elite club, make yourself 

stand out with a few strategies: 

- Make your numbers. Your 

CEO wants to know that you 

can achieve the objectives set 

for you - and that you’re accountable. 

Don’t make excuses 

when you fail. 

- Don’t spring surprises. If bad 

news is about to hit, tell senior 

management before it materializes. 

You don’t want to run the 

risk of appearing incompetent 

or unsure of yourself when your 

boss finds out from a board 

member or the media. 

- Prove your loyalty. CEOs 

still feel vulnerable - they know 

that one or more of their direct 

reports want their job. If you 

want to show that you’re loyal, 

be wary of cozying up to board 

members or forming coalitions 

with peers. 

(Adapted from “How to Break 

Into Your CEO’s Inner Circle” 

by Jacques Neatby.) 

Two Steps Forward, 

One Backward 

in Using fMRI to 

Predict Product 

Popularity 

Money Managers Underperform 

Financially During a 

Divorce 

4.3 percentage points lower: 

During the six-month period 

surrounding a hedge fund manager’s 

divorce, his investment 

performance is an annualized 

4.3 percentage points lower 

than previously, on average, according 

to a Wall Street Journal 

report of an unpublished study 

of 98 marriages and 76 divorces 

of hedge fund managers. For 

two years after a divorce, performance 

lags by 2.3 percentage 

points annually when adjusted 

for risk, the Journal says. 

(Source: The Wall Street 

Journal) 

(Source: Management Science) 

CRAFT 

a Strategy for Audience Input During a Presentation 

Asking audience members 

what they think during a presentation 

is a great way to heed 

the pleasure principle. When 

people feel their voices and 

ideas are being heard, they’re 

happy and therefore more likely 

to open their minds to what 

you’re proposing. But you need 

to decide in advance when 

you’ll ask people for input. 

Maybe you want to ensure that 

people are following along as 

you make your argument. Or 

perhaps you want to draw on 

their knowledge to support 

your message. Either can be 

useful. Just avoid empty questions 

aimed at the whole room: 

“Is everyone following? Good.” 

Those don’t captivate anyone 

- people will just nod. Instead, 

directly address individuals: 

“Does that seem like the biggest 

problem with customer 

satisfaction, Mary, given your 

front-line perspective?” 

(Adapted from “Presentations” 

from the 20-Minute 

Manager series.) 

SET 

Aside Time for Your Team to Get 

Real Work Done 

As a leader it’s your job to 

make sure your team doesn’t 

get burned out. One way to 

reduce stress and help people 

focus on what really needs to 

get done is to schedule uninterrupted 

work time. When people 

get distracted, it can take at least 

20 minutes to refocus on the 

task at hand. Encourage people 

to set aside an hour or more 

each morning for quiet, proactive 

work. There should be no 

interruptions during this time, 

unless it’s an emergency - this 

means holding off on meetings 

and limiting email. By making 

this a group goal, you increase 

people’s collective focus and 

prevent backsliding. You can 

also help your team break larger 

projects up into smaller tasks 

that can be accomplished in 

the amount of time you’ve set 

aside for strategic work each 

day. Once they start using this 

time effectively, their productivity 

will improve. 

(Adapted from “Help Your 

Overwhelmed, Stressed-Out 

Team” by Julie Mosow) 

PREPARATION 

Matters When Planning a 

Leadership Summit 

Leadership summits can 

fuel collaboration and lead to 

innovative solutions and new 

strategies - as long as you take 

the right steps to create a coherent, 

focused event. 

- Assign clear roles. You need 

a summit director to oversee the 

agenda, a coordinator to handle 

logistics, an emcee to guide the 

sessions and facilitators to lead 

small-group discussions. 

- Define a clear set of objectives. 

Have an answer to: “What 

do we want the outcome to be 

from an attendee’s perspective?” 

and “What do we want 

them to say when others ask, 

‘What happened?’” 

- Survey attendees to find 

out what’s most important. 

Ask: “What’s the one question 

you would like addressed at 

the upcoming conference?” and “If 

you could tell the CEO one thing that 

would improve the company’s prospects, 

what would it be?” 

Engage participants before the 

summit. Give attendees reading material 

on the objectives a week before 

it starts. 

(Adapted from “Leadership Summits 

That Work” by Bob Frisch and 

Cary Greene.) 

c 

2015 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate


BD 

Markets + Finance 

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market. Published twice weekly, Markets & Finance provides all the key intelligence you need.’ 

BUSINESS DAY 

Ecobank profit surges 179 

percent on diversified 

business model 

31 

35 

Short Takes 

OIL & GAS 

Nigeria Plans to Split Gas From 

Oil Leases to Boost Output 

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, 

plans to issue separate leases 

for gas assets in order to attract 

more investors to boost output of 

the fuel, the state-owned oil company 

said. 

“Gas, over the last few years, 

has become a very prominent 

commodity on its own, which requires 

a life of its own,” David Ige, 

group executive director for gas 

and power at the Nigeria National 

Petroleum Corp., said in a May 15 

interview in Abuja, the capital. The 

nation needs companies such as 

Russian exporter OAO Gazprom 

and Centrica Plc, the U.K.’s biggest 

energy supplier, to enter the market 

to “drive our gas agenda aggressively,” 

he said. 

Almost all of the West African 

nation’s reserves of 184 trillion 

cubic feet of gas, the world’s eightlargest, 

were found in the course of 

searching for crude. The new plan 

seeks to provide opportunities for 

companies specifically exploring 

for gas, according to Ige. 

More than 80 percent of Nigeria’s 

hydrocarbon reserves are in 

leases held by Royal Dutch Shell 

Plc, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil 

Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA, whose 

priority continues to be oil, Ige said. 

These companies run joint ventures 

with the state-owned NNPC that 

pump most of the country’s crude. 

Nigeria currently produces 

about 9 billion cubic feet a day of 

gas, half of which is exported as 

liquefied natural gas. While 1 billion 

cubic feet a day is flared in the 

course of oil production, another 1 

billion cubic feet is re-injected into 

oil wells daily for pressure stability. 

Almost 2 billion cubic feet a day is 

supplied to industries and power 

plants, where demand is estimated 

to more than double to 5 billion 

cubic feet a day in two years. 

Gazprom Withdrew 

NiGaz Energy Co., a joint venture 

created in 2009 between the 

NNPC and Gazprom, Russia’s gas 

export monopoly, couldn’t get a 

foothold because all the acreages 

with significant reserves are held 

by other companies including 

Shell, Chevron and Exxon Mobil, 

Ige said. Gazprom withdrew from 

Nigeria in 2012. 

When current industry reforms 

are completed and a new industry 

law is passed, companies that “are 

not oil players can have access to 

gas, and we will begin to see more 

vibrant interest from players like 

Gazprom,” he said. 

Constraints in emerging markets seen 

as opportunity for innovation – GE 

Problems in emerging markets are now being seen as opportunities for innovation 

and investment, more than impediments, writes Patrick Atuanya 

The constraints experienced 

by some 

emerging countries 

(e.g. lower purchasing 

power, energy 

challenges, lack of infrastructures), 

could turn out to be a 

strong drivers of innovation, 

says the GE in its Global Innovation 

Barometer, a research 

output by multinational firm. 

Emerging markets, which 

have been termed thus as a 

result of the immaturity of their 

societal and market institutions 

when compared with those in 

other developed, are notorious 

for business climates that 

still stifle businesses, and more 

importantly, private sector innovation. 

The GE Innovation Barometer, 

in its assessment of the 

innovation environment of the 

32 countries it surveyed, showed 

that African countries, specifically 

Nigeria, Kenya, and Algeria 

fared the worst in fostering an 

environment which was supportive 

of innovation. 

Its assessment of the innovativeness 

of the Nigerian environment 

stood at a score of 5 percent. 

Kenya achieved a score of 

4 percent, while Algeria scored 

2 percent. This compares with 

an 88 percent score in USA, 84 

percent in Germany, and 82 percent 

in Japan, the world leaders. 

Other emerging countries like 

India scored an innovation environment 

score of 46 percent; 

Russia came in with a score of 37 

percent; Brazil 37 percent; South 

Africa 25 percent; Malaysia 23 

percent, and Mexico 14 percent. 

Although it might take a longer 

time for emerging markets to 

build up a reputation of innovation, 

especially in the technology 

scene, 57 percent of Nigerian 

respondents surveyed believe 

that a new industrial revolution 

is upon us. This new industrial 

revolution is a reverberation 

of the innovation taking place 

on the global scene, led by the 

“Internet of Things”. 

“We are currently in a new 

Industrial Revolution at the 

meeting of hardware and software, 

a historical shift into the 

age of advanced manufacturing 

and industrial internet”, says GE 

in the report. Industrial internet 

is about machines communicating 

with machines, which in 

turn communicate with other 

machines that analyze and optimize 

data in order to perform 

better. 

“Over half of Nigerian executives 

(57%) say they have never 

heard of big data before and 5% 

say that big data is more of a 

buzz word than a reality – in line 

with the global average (6%). 24 

percent of executives in Nigeria 

report that their company is 

either totally or quite prepared 

to make the most out of big data 

– in line with the global average 

of 25%. 37 percent say they 

have not increased their ability 

to analyse large and complex 

amounts of data over the last 

year and won’t (compared to 

29% global average)”, said the 

report. 

Although hugely significant 

constraints still remain, constraints 

are seen as opportunities 

to innovate. As the study 

revealed, 74 percent of surveyed 

executives believe that such 

constraints create innovation 

opportunities for companies 

willing to invest in overcoming 

them, while the rest 26 percent 

believe that such constraints 

make it impossible to innovate 

in such environments. 

Other constraints, According 

to GE, or ‘innovation killers’ 

as it calls them, in an order 

of the frequency of responses 

from respondents include: the 

incapacity to scale up an already 

successful innovation to 

a wider or international market; 

the difficulty to come up with a 

radical and disruptive idea; the 

difficulty to define an effective 

business model to support new 

ideas and make them profitable; 

lack of sufficient investment and 

support; and lack of talent and 

inadequate skillset. 

Main priorities emerging 

countries should focus on, according 

to the report, to efficiently 

support innovation include: 

fighting bureaucracy and 

red tape for companies willing to 

access funds and incentives allocated 

to innovation; ensuring 

that business confidentiality and 

trade secrets are adequately protected; 

better aligning students 

curricula with the needs of businesses; 

facilitating research cooperation 

with other countries; 

actively promoting partnerships 

between the public and private 

sectors; and ensuring that public 

procurement leads the early 

adoption of major innovations 

Thirty nine percent of Nigerian 

executives perceive smaller 

businesses such as SMEs and 

start-ups as driving innovation 

in Nigeria – in line with 

the global average (41%). They 

are followed by multinationals 

(30%), above the global average 

(19%), according to the report. 

Nigerian executives highlight 

several priorities that their companies 

need to master to innovate 

successfully. The necessity 

of understanding customers and 

anticipating market evolutions 

comes in as a clear priority being 

mentioned by 88% of executives 

in Nigeria. The second crucial 

ability is to attract and retain the 

most talented and skilled individuals 

(82%), an ability growing 

in importance for executives in 

the country. 

The appreciation of predictive 

analytics in Nigeria is quite 

high with 60 percent of executives 

saying that to use analytics 

and predictive knowledge is a 

crucial ability compared with 53 

percent globally. 

BD MARKETS + FINANCE (Business Team lead: PATRICK ATUANYA - Analysts: BALA AUGIE, IFEBI EDOZIE, DANIEL OJABO & JOSEPHINE OKOJIE)



Markets & Finance 

Nigeria’s indifference raises 

concern amid global cyber warfare 

DAN OJABO TECH Security Forum (NCSF 

2014) last year was keen 

to highlight the growing 

Ni g e r i a ’ s 

rather indifferent 

position 

to the 

cyber warfare 

brewing amongst nations 

and multinationals 

is stirring fresh concerns 

among industry watchers. 

Analysts, who continue to 

bemoan the presidency’s 

failure to expedite action 

on the final passage of the 

Cybercrime Bill, fear that 

the country could be in dire 

danger in the near future 

if it continues to drag its 

feet towards tightening its 

cyberspace. 

Cyber security experts 

earlier predicted an increase 

in cyber crimes last 

year (2014) in line with the 

growing usage of the internet 

globally – with Nigeria 

ranking 8th behind the 

likes of China, US, Russia, 

Brazil, etc. Taiwo Longe, 

Chief Information Security 

Officer, Central Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN), while speaking 

at the National Cyber 

The discussion 

about unemployment 

in political 

debates around 

the world has finally landed 

in Nigeria. A lot of this 

was seen in the run-up 

to the 2015 presidential 

elections, with a considerable 

part of the fact-based 

debates anchored on jobs 

created as against jobs that 

could be created. 

A lot has been said of 

the definition of an unemployed 

person and how 

unemployment is measured, 

which varies from 

country to country. Some 

countries count insured 

unemployed only, some 

count those in receipt of 

welfare benefit only, some 

countries count those who 

choose (and are financially 

able) not to work, supported 

by their spouses 

and caring for a family, 

some count students at 

college and others use 

household surveys to estimate, 

each with its own 

strengths and weaknesses. 

rate of cyber crimes in the 

country. 

“With the growing threat 

of cyber criminals, the need 

for a policy framework to 

address the menace has 

become more imperative 

now than ever before,” he 

said. 

Cyber warfare is a deliberate 

action by a nation-state 

or international 

organization to attack and 

attempt to damage another 

nation’s computers 

or information networks 

through, for example, computer 

viruses or denial-ofservice 

attacks hit a new 

height in 2014, with the 

huge cyber-attack on Sony 

that crippled the company’s 

film division being the 

most prominent. 

In Nigeria, cyber attacks 

were reported to have targeted 

mostly banks and 

other financial institutions, 

oil and gas firms as well as 

government agencies, as 

the ugly trend continues 

to soar on at an average 14 

Employment in Nigeria: Unemployed or Underemployed 

ANALYSIS 

Nigeria to all intents 

and purposes, aligns with 

the definition of the International 

Labour Organization 

(ILO), which also 

uses household surveys 

in estimating the number 

of unemployed. The ILO 

states that unemployment 

refers to those who are currently 

not working but are 

willing and able to work 

for pay, currently available 

to work, and have actively 

searched for work. This 

definition however puts 

a spin to what the results 

of a job creation survey in 

Nigeria would be; due to 

the social make-up of the 

Nigerians. A recent study 

by the Gates Foundation 

and the Clinton Foundation 

showed that Nigerian 

women lead the pack of 

female entrepreneurs in 

the world and are 4 times 

more likely to become 

entrepreneurs than their 

counterparts in the US. 

The reasons quite frankly, 

are simple, as while the 

US and many developed 

nations have unemployment 

benefits and other 

social security income for 

their citizens, the social 

safety nets in Nigeria simply 

don’t exist; so, it’s down 

to two simple options: to 

work or to starve. 

This easily explains why 

Sub-Saharan Africa has 

the highest labour force 

participation rate in the 

world, according to the 

ILO’s 2015 employment 

trends report, estimated 

at 70.9% – compared with 

a global average of 63.5% 

in 2014. In addition, unemployment, 

at a rate just 

under 8% in 2014, is expected 

to remain stable 

across the region through 

to 2016. The youth-to-adult 

employment ratio is 1.9 

– the lowest of all regions 

worldwide and without a 

doubt, Sub-Saharan Africa 

has the highest rate 

of working poverty and 

vulnerable employment 

across all regions. 

Again, one seeks to ask, 

how this can be so with Africa 

exhibiting the highest 

poverty rates in the world. 

The answers lie in the definitions 

and targeting of 

core unemployed people 

(those who are currently 

per cent on a year-on-year 

basis. 

Between year 2000 and 

2013, Nigerian banks have 

lost an estimated N159 

billion to cyber crimes according 

to reports by the 

Nigerian Inter-bank Settlements 

Systems (NIBSS). 

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s 

report for the first 

half of 2013 indicated that 

there were 2,478 fraud and 

forgery cases involving 

Nigerian banks valued at 

over N20 billion. This represented 

an 8 percent increase 

over the previous 

year volume but a considerable 

increase in value of 

over 200 percent from 2012. 

Cyber specialists 

McAfee Labs in recent report 

claims cyber warfare 

will no longer remain the 

domain of Great Powers, 

with small nation states 

and even terrorist groups 

expected to have a go at 

it more frequently in the 

coming years. 

The report predicts that 

2015’s uptick in cyber warfare 

applications will pose 

a direct threat to governments 

and civilians alike, 

adding that there will also 

be a focus on gathering 

valuable intel on highprofile 

people and intellectual 

property as well as 

operational intelligence’ by 

terrorists and small states. 

Analysts have consistently 

maintained Nigeria’s 

weak legal framework in 

a global village has continued 

to offer a leeway 

for cyber criminals who 

more often than not use 

the country as a base from 

which to target developed 

economies. 

“Many cyber criminals 

use emerging markets like 

Nigeria as a base from 

which to target developed 

economies. This is often 

because while the tools – 

bandwidth and internet 

connections – are in place, 

enforcement agencies 

don’t have the ability to 

regulate these illegal activities,” 

Pfungwa Serima, CEO 

SAP Africa, told Business 

Day in an earlier report. 

Eugene Juwah, executive 

vice chairman, National 

Communication 

not working but are willing 

and able to work for 

pay, currently available 

to work, and have actively 

searched for work) and the 

public’s mental addition of 

the sub-regions underemployed 

population (people 

not having enough paid 

work or not doing work 

that makes full use of their 

skills and abilities). While 

the number of underemployed 

people remains 

high within the region, 

the unemployment rate 

remains low. 

Mr. Oladele, a secondary 

school teacher in Lagos, 

when asked how many 

unemployed people(by 

definition) he knew, responded 

by saying the 

society doesn’t have much 

room for such individuals. 

“If you don’t work, you 

don’t eat” he said, “even 

the bible states that. Of 

course there are a few fresh 

graduates looking for white 

collar jobs who can fall into 

this definition, but hunger 

doesn’t keep them there 

for long, as before long 

they are forced into the 

streets to hustle a living for 

Commission (NCC), who 

spoke at the National Cyber 

security Forum 2014 held 

in Lagos and organised by 

the Office of the National 

Security Adviser, said that 

multi-stakeholder partnership 

was essential to 

the development of robust 

public policies required to 

combat cyber crime in the 

country. He added that the 

global economic loss due 

to cyber crimes and cost of 

system repairs as a result 

of cyber attacks ran into 

billions of Naira annually. 

As the Nigerian economy 

heads towards a cashless 

society, the adoption of 

e-banking is undoubtedly 

necessary. E-banking users 

are a potentially attractive 

customer segment for 

banks in the country. In a 

bid to tap into this potential 

market segment, banks 

must address the issue of 

cyber attacks. An emphasis 

should be laid on the 

deployment of fraud detection 

solutions which could 

help guard against fraud 

and also protect customers 

against e-channel frauds. 

themselves”. 

Yomi Fawehinmi, a pastor, 

says that he encounters 

one unemployed person 

to every five employed 

persons, as he executes his 

pastoral activities. He believes 

that more should be 

done to improve the quality 

of jobs in the region, as 

more and more people are 

falling into the underemployment 

numbers, all in 

the name of finding a job. 

“My driver finished his 

HND since January”, he 

said, “His school has 2 

batches of graduates that 

haven’t served, with his set 

to make the April batch of 

next year, that the definition 

makes him employed, 

even though he is underutilised, 

is just unacceptable” 

Lead Economist and 

Acting Country Manager, 

World Bank, Mr. John Litwack, 

also believes that Nigeria’s 

employment challenge 

is more of underemployment 

rather than 

unemployment. This submission 

which is also contained 

in the World Bank 

report entitled ‘Nigeria 

Accordingly, Bank security 

measures should 

be positioned along the 

domains of preventive, 

detective and response 

measures and in the areas 

of people, processes and 

technology, particularly in 

high risk technical areas 

such as email servers, ERP 

systems, Web application 

servers and several others. 

A number of developed 

economies have created 

a national cyber security 

strategy in the past five 

years. They are also developing 

information-sharing 

mechanisms to detect and 

respond to cyber threats 

swiftly. An example is the 

UK Fusion Cell, which 

brings experts from government 

and the private 

sector together in an information-sharing 

and threatanalysis 

hub. 

Analysts estimate global 

losses to cyber crime to 

be over $400bn annually 

and recent cyber attacks 

on Sony, JP Morgan Chase 

and a handful of other U. S. 

Banks is an indication that 

cyber crime is here to stay. 

Economic Report’ showed 

that poverty reduction in 

Nigeria was primarily an 

urban phenomenon as 

poverty remained high in 

the rural areas. 

What are the realities 

however? It is that both underemployment 

and more 

importantly unemployment, 

be stamped out in 

Nigeria, as contract staffing 

and precarious work is a 

major problem besetting 

decent work and social justice 

in the Nigerian work 

environment. The shift 

away from regular employment 

into temporary work 

or jobs through agencies 

and labour brokers is having 

a deep impact on all 

workers, their families, and 

on the society. Erosion of 

the employee-employer 

relationship, often the basis 

of labour law, is leading 

directly to a growing 

number of violations of 

workers’ rights. So, while 

Nigeria continues to focus 

on reducing the unemployment 

rate, a bigger and 

more pertinent challenge 

of underemployment, continues 

to stare it in the face.


Short Takes 

COMPANIES 

South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria 

Plan More ETF Cross- 

Listings 

South Africa, Nigeria 

and Kenya are planning to 

cross-list more exchangetraded 

funds on their stock 

markets to boost liquidity 

of the securities, according 

to the Johannesburg Stock 

Exchange. 

“We reached out to East 

Africa and West Africa,” 

Tamsin Freemantle, business 

development manager 

of the South African 

bourse, said in an interview 

May 14 in the Kenyan 

capital, Nairobi. The JSE 

is “working closely with 

those markets to develop 

this cross listing,” she said. 

African exchanges are 

looking to increase cooperation 

as companies 

from Botswana to Nigeria 

list their shares on other 

bourses. The JSE, with a 

market value of 10.7 trillion 

rand ($902 billion), has rallied 

8.9 percent this year in 

the best performance after 

Botswana among 14 sub- 

Saharan exchanges tracked 

by Bloomberg. Nigeria’s 

main index has dropped 0.6 

percent, while the Nairobi 

all-share measure is up 3 

percent. 

“There is a clear need 

for them to join forces to 

respond to the need of African 

companies to raise 

funds on a pan-African 

basis,” Boris Martor, Parisbased 

partner and Africa 

expert at law firm Eversheds 

LLP, said Monday 

by e-mail. “Entrepreneurs, 

companies and funds are 

going from a regional to a 

continental approach.” 

In 2011, Johannesburgbased 

Absa Capital, a unit 

of Barclays Africa Group 

Ltd., listed its NewGold 

ETF on the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange. The West African 

nation now has four 

ETFs, while the JSE has 45, 

according to Freemantle. 

The Nairobi Securities Exchange 

is awaiting regulatory 

approval to offer the 

asset class, said Donald 

Ouma, head of market 

product and development. 

Investor Interest 

“Once we have the ETF 

framework, we will be 

ready to have the gold and 

platinum ETFs by Absa 

cross-listed in Nairobi,” he 

said by phone on May 15. 

He didn’t say whether other 

funds would be considered. 

Telecom firms are becoming rivals for banks 

TECH 

The number 

of people 

across Africa 

using mobile 

phones continues 

to grow. 

The increasing volume 

of financial transactions 

made on these phones 

has enabledtelecommunications 

companies 

across the continent to 

set themselves up as major 

competitors in the 

banking business. 

The number of telecommunications 

companies 

offering financial 

payment services, like 

M-PESA in East Africa, 

has pushed these telcos 

into an area of business 

that is usually a core part 

of banking. 

Ahead of the inauguration 

of 

the presidentelect, 

the new 

government is faced 

with the task of fixing 

the economy of Africa’s 

largest economy as power, 

oil, and fragile infrastructure 

remains the 

most pressing economic 

problems the country is 

facing. 

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest 

oil producer and its 

largest economy, but 

fails to feel the benefit 

with nearly half of its 

population living below 

the poverty line. 

Nigerians are facing 

darkness amid a dramatic 

decline in power 

supply across country in 

recent weeks. The ministry 

of power blamed the 

cut on vandalism of gas 

pipelines. 

Most of the country’s 

thermal and hydropower 

plants are dependent on 

gas for optimum performance 

to meet the demands 

of power supply 

across the country. 

According to a wire report, 

Nigerian Gas Company 

(NGC) a subsidiary 

of the Nigerian National 

Markets & Finance 

“I don’t think banks 

should see them as competition. 

We should see 

them as collaborators. 

On a lighter note, I do 

have a word for them – I 

call them ‘disruptors,’ in a 

more positive sense. They 

disrupt the status quo. I 

think banks should work 

more closely with the mobile 

phone companies,” 

saysEcobank‘s Group 

CEO, Albert Essien. 

Given trends in the 

telecommunications industry 

in Africa, mobile 

banking will likely play 

an even greater role in 

financial services across 

the continent in coming 

BUSINESS DAY 

33 

years. 

70% of Africans have 

access to a mobile phone. 

The number of mobile 

subscriptions in Africa is 

estimated to reach one 

billion in 2015. Sales of 

internet-enabled smart 

phones is predicted to 

overtake that of traditional 

handsets within 

the next five years. Annual 

revenues from mobile 

data use across Africa is 

forecasted to reach $23 

billion by 2018, three 

times the current figure. 

Given that development 

of both the banking 

and telecommunications 

industries could boost 

economies across Africa, 

it is likely that there will be 

even more collaboration 

between both industries 

going forward. 

Oil, power, fragile infrastructure pressing economic 

problems as handover date draws near 

JOSEPHINE OKOJIE ECONOMY 

Petroleum Corporation 

(NNPC) said the nation 

had lost a minimum of N8 

billion ($40.4 million) due 

to persistent vandalism 

of the country’s pipeline 

network of the Nigerian 

gas. 

Since the privatisation 

of the power sector, the 

amount of power produced 

has stagnated at 

around half total capacity. 

It has not topped a 

2012 peak of 4,500 MW 

as the grid battles gas 

constraints, plant outages 

and tripped circuits, according 

to the transmission 

company’s report, 

which just showed just 

3,346 MW were sent out to 

consumers on March 23. 

The second pressing 

economic problem is the 

oil sector. Oil and gas 

account for more than 

90 percent of export revenues 

and the government 

relies on them for 

70 percent of fiscal revenues. 

These have roughly 

halved in the past six 

to eight months. The 45 

percent fall in the price 

of Brent Crude since last 

June has wreaked havoc 

on Nigeria’s financial 

health. 

“The economy remains 

heavily reliant on the oil 

sector, which is not likely 

to change postelection,” 

said Angus Downie, head 

of economic research at 

pan-African banking conglomerate 

Ecobank in an 

interview with IB Times. 

Downie explained that 

Nigeria needs serious 

structural reforms to diversify 

the sources of government 

revenue. But this 

won’t come easy. 

“There are various obstacles 

that would likely 

prevent them from being 

successfully implemented,” 

he said, noting that 

these range from weak 

economic policies to bottlenecks 

in infrastructure. 

Nigeria’s foreign exchange 

reserves fell 22.6 

percent year-on-year 

(y/y) to $29.5billion by 

April 28, from $38.14 billion. 

Data from the CBN 

also shows external reserves 

was $34.49 billion 

at the beginning of the 

year has now dropped 

by over $4.9 billion year 

to date. 

The Central bank has 

used its forex reserves to 

support the naira in the 

wake of falling oil prices. 

The dollar has gained 

17.2 percent against the 

naira in the past year, 

making it the third-worst 

performer in Africa. This 

is pushing up the price of 

imports, stoking inflation 

and hurting businesses 

across board. 

The international standard 

for healthy reserves 

is six months import 

cover, which for Nigeria 

should be about $48 billion. 

Before the oil price 

plunge Nigeria external 

reserve had crossed the 

$60billion mark, indicating 

over eight month 

cover. 

According to the latest 

economic data, the 

economy has significantly 

underperformed in the 

first quarter of 2015. 

The International 

Monetary Fund recently 

downgraded Nigeria’s 

economic growth forecast 

for 2015, predicting its 

GDP will increase by just 

4.8 percent, down from 

6.1 percent in 2014. 

Nigeria\’s inflation rate 

rose for the fourth consecutive 

month to 8.5 

percent in February, from 

8.4 percent the previous 

month, partly driven 

by increases in prices of 

imported food items, National 

Bureau of Statistics 

(NBS) states in its report. 

Nigeria, Africa’s largest 

economy, needs $33 billion 

to bride its infrastructural 

gap which emphasis 

must be placed on quality 

human capital development 

to build a strong 

population that can drive 

the economy. 

“Government must 

provide infrastructure; 

households must invest 

in housing, and firms 

should invest in factories,” 

said Paul Collier, keynote 

speaker and professor of 

economics and public 

policy in the Blavatnik 

School of Government at 

the University of Oxford. 

“What the three investments 

will do is to 

bring about the triple 

miracle of productivity. 

When households invest 

in housing, they provide 

liveable density. When 

you have a liveable density, 

you provide a lot of 

opportunities for small 

businesses,” Collier added. 

He explained that 

when government provides 

good infrastructure 

that will enable firms and 

people to cluster, people 

and skills are brought 

close to jobs, while the 

government will have 

the opportunity to levy 

taxes and raise sufficient 

revenue.


43


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BUSINESS DAY 

BDTECH 

35 

Automotive sales to hit $89m, 

buoyed by internet growth 

…83% of car buyers conduct research online before making purchase 

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Driven by the unprecedented 

growth in internet 

and mobile 

penetration, 

global automotive sales for 

2015 is expected to reach close 

to $89 million, a 2.4 percent 

growth from 2014, with an 

emerging market share rising 

from 50 percent in 2012 to 60 

percent by 2020. 

The emerging market region’s 

share of global profits 

is also expected to grow 

by 10 percent, according to a 

Whitepaper on automobile 

by Carmudi, an online marketplace 

for cars. The current 

and future state of the automotive 

industry in Nigeria 

and other emerging markets 

is being propelled by the increase 

in Internet penetration, 

rising GDP (Gross Domestic 

Product), and the emergence 

of a middle class. Titled ‘The 

Booming Automotive Industry 

in Nigeria,’ the Whitepaper 

also revealed that 83 percent 

of car buyers in Nigeria, Africa’s 

most populous nation, 

conduct research on the internet 

before making a purchase. 

“Globally, auto E-Commerce 

has grown at such a 

staggering rate that now as 

many as 80 percent of new 

car customers and almost 100 

percent of used car customers 

begin their car shopping 

experience online. With internet 

and mobile penetration 

growing in emerging markets, 

the rate of moving the car 

shopping experience online 

is beginning to mirror that of 

Western Markets,” said Christian 

Keller, managing director, 

Anglophone West Africa 

at Carmudi, while unveiling 

the Whitepaper to the media 

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30 perform of car dealers in 

Nigeria reported an increase in 

car sales over the past twelve 

months due to the changing 

economic climate, while 50 

percent of the car dealers surveyed 

reported a decrease. 

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including newspaper classifieds 

and auto expos (under 

10 percent), are declining as a 

source for buyers. Nigerian car 

dealers are also getting more 

and more digital when advertising 

their listings. Around 80 

percent of car dealers are now 

primarily focused on advertising 

their car listings online. 

William Anumudu, chief executive 

officer of Globe Motors 

said, the number of people 

turning to the internet for car 

purchases has been on the increase. 

“A lot of people use the 

internet to search for information, 

products or services. Any 

business that wants to excel 

must go digital. This is due to 

the fact that Nigerians like to 

be associated with new trends, 

the internet is accessible anywhere 

and the fact that information 

is at their fingertips”, 

he explained. 

“Since people are embracing 

the internet all businesses 

online will profit”, he said. Nigeria 

has been heavily dependent 

on auto imports, which 

account for the largest share 

of the nation’s foreign reserves 

each year. New vehicle assembly 

plants are expected, and 

the number of imported cars 

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Last month’s historic election 

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chief executive officer at 

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“ 

Nigeria’s Information 

Communications 

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reputed to be one of the 

fastest growing sectors in 

the world. With the current 

contribution of 9.58 

percent to the Nigerian 

GDP, the ICT industry will 

witness the emergence 

of local startups that will 

add significant value to 

the Nigerian economy in 

2015. With sustained government 

interventions 

and programmes specifically 

geared towards 

creating the enabling 

environment needed 

to attract private sector 

investments, ICT contributions 

to the overall 

economy will ultimately 

surpass the oil revenues, 

given the sliding oil prices 

globally 

” 

such as second-hand dealers 

who will lose out from the 70 

percent tax on imports, or who 

would like to see full implementation 

of the policy deferred. 

Buhari could choose 

to reverse all or some sections 

of the automotive policy 

to secure more support with 

these stakeholders. Keller 

said “2015 is the year of online 

car sales in Nigeria. With 

an unmatched growth rate 

in online car searches and a 

rapidly growing middle class, 

Carmudi´s report affirms that 

our investments to become 

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BDTECH 

Internet live stats (31/05/15) 

Internet Users in the world 

Blog posts written today 

Tumblr posts today 

3, 134, 725, 300 

3, 040, 900 

309, 389, 900 

Total number of Websites 

Tweets sent today 

Facebook active users 

950, 424, 500 

626, 470, 321 

1, 416, 964, 030 

Emails sent today 

Videos viewed today 

Google+ active users 

167, 750, 450, 210 

6, 851, 450, 213 

1, 133, 369, 400 

E-mail: technologybusiness@businessday.com 

Google searches today 

Photos uploaded today 

Twitter active users 

3, 300, 425, 121 

GTBank, Etisalat target 55m unbanked 

Nigerians with m-payments 

145, 575, 240 

309, 389, 985 

Guaranty Trust 

Bank (GTB) 

and Etisalat 

have formed 

a strategic alliance 

aimed at connecting 

55 million unbanked 

Nigerians in the next few 

months, through the mobile 

payment system, that will 

enable them open a Tier 1 

bank account, using their 

mobile phones. Announcing 

the initiative in Lagos 

last week, both organisations 

said the partnership 

would drive financial inclusion 

in the country, as 

championed by the Central 

Bank of Nigeria. Given the 

estimated population of 

over 170 million Nigerians, 

and with the recent statistics 

that 85 million out of 

the 170 million Nigerians 

are adults and that only 30 

million out of the 85 million 

adult Nigerians own 

bank accounts with various 

banks, GTB and Etisalat 

have assured Nigerians 

that they would be able 

to connect the remaining 

55 million Nigerian adults 

that are without bank accounts. 

Both firms would 

help them open account 

without stress, in the next 

few months, through their 

mobile payment initiative. 

Bolaji Lawal, head of 

Mobile payments 

eBusiness at GTB, who 

blamed the huge gap that 

exists between the banked 

and unbaked Nigerians, on 

the issue of financial documentation, 

which he said, 

has deprived many adult 

Nigerians from enjoying 

the benefits of banking. He 

however explained that the 

initiative borne of the partnership 

between GTBank 

and Etisalat, would remove 

the barrier of documentation, 

which now make it 

easy for Nigerians to own 

bank accounts via their 

mobile phones, without 

visiting the banks. Guar- 

anty Trust Bank and Etisalat 

Nigeria have partnered to 

introduce GTEasySavers, a 

savings account that is easy 

to open and easy to save, 

designed to enable under 

banked and unbanked individuals 

achieve their financial 

goals, while operating 

a regular bank account, 

via their mobile phone. 

The strategic alliance, 

which will enhance service 

delivery of both brands, will 

offer customers, unparalleled 

lifestyle and loyalty 

benefits. Speaking on the 

partnership, Segun Agbaje, 

managing director of GTB, 

said: “We are passionate 

about driving the CBN’s financial 

inclusion strategy in 

ensuring the under-banked 

and unbanked, begin to 

find the propositions of 

banking services more attractive 

and convenient and 

then take the bold step of 

patronising our numerous 

bank products and offerings, 

a passion which we 

fully share with Etisalat Nigeria. 

“This is a new chapter 

in the continuing growth of 

the banking industry, made 

possible through GTEasy 

Savers by GTB and Etisalat 

Nigeria. 

Why Media Perspectives is subsidising voice calls for Nigerians 

Tayo Oyedeji, managing 

director/chief 

executive officer 

of Media Perspectives, 

has explained that the 

company’s collaboration 

with ARM, Coca-Cola, Jumia, 

Leadway, Mansard and 

Samsung to create the Good 

Morning Nigeria (GMN) free 

calls initiative will enable 

phone subscribers enjoy 

unique phone experience 

without draining their pocket. 

Oyedeji, who was speaking 

during a press conference 

to announce the GMN initiative, 

stated that the campaign 

is a CSR as well as advertising-funded 

initiative that will 

enable subscribers enjoy free 

talk time within the hours of 

5am to 8am daily. Speaking 

further, Oyedeji said, “We 

appreciate how important 

communication is to the 

lives of the Nigerian people. 

We also recognise that the 

current economic situation 

has caused a reduction in 

spending power. 

The campaign aims to put 

money back into the pockets 

of subscribers so they can use 

the savings for themselves 

and their families. We are 

happy to collaborate with 

likeminded corporate organisations 

to provide an opportunity 

for phone users to 

enjoy quality talk time for free 

through the GMN initiative.” 

He added that for subscribers 

to enjoy this free call, 

they have to make a 3-minute 

straight call to an MTN number 

and get 30 minutes FREE 

to continue on the same 

call. To receive this benefit, 

customers will be required 

to text GMN to 131. 

The service which is available 

only on the MTN network 

is an innovation that 

will deploy mobile advertising 

while making phone calls 

free. While addressing the 

media on the GMN initiative, 

Olubunmi Adeleye, head, 

Corporate Communications, 

Leadway Assurance, represented 

by Victor Achudume, 

commended the partner 

companies for bringing the 

campaign to the Nigerian 

people. In his words: “We 

A rural farmer making a phone call 

believe in the potential of this 

country and we are always 

looking for ways to better 

the lives of our customers. 

Democracy Day is a key milestone 

of our evolution as a 

country and that is why we 

are celebrating it by partnering 

with Media Perspectives 

to launch this campaign on 

May 29. 

We hope that this will be 

the beginning of similar partnerships 

that will benefit the 

Nigerian people”. Also speaking 

on the partnership, Afam 

Anyika, head, Offline Channel 

Unit, Jumia, described the 

GMN campaign as a medium 

for the organisers to appreciate 

their teeming customers. 

He stated: “What is significant 

for us is that we appreciate 

the custom and support of 

Nigerians. 

We represent different 

brands but a central factor 

that binds our customers 

together is the need to communicate. 

Diamond Bank, others to raise $100m 

technology intervention fund 

Samsung Electronics, 

Diamond Bank 

and Softcom Limited 

have all entered 

into strategic partnership to 

raise $100 million technology 

intervention fund, to 

drive education in Nigeria. 

The three organisations 

signed a Memorandum 

of Understanding (MoU) 

in Lagos recently, to announce 

the Future Ready 

University conference, 

which is designed to enable 

other Nigerian universities 

across the entire country 

replicate the mobile 

learning programme that 

is already operational at 

Covenant University. The 

$100 million technology 

intervention fund will allow 

interested universities to 

easily procure the solutions 

and secure fast track bulk 

financing from Diamond 

Bank. 

Uzoma Dozie, managing 

director/chief executive 

officer, said the learning 

mobile programme is the 

future of education, which 

has successfully been kickstarted 

in Covenant University. 

He said, “Diamond 

Bank is investing in this 

programme as we realise 

and appreciate this initiative 

as the future of classroom 

learning which fits 

into our strategic road map 

as a leading financial institution. 

We invite interested 

universities who want to 

positively change the face 

of learning within their 

campuses to use this as 

an opportunity to create a 

better and more sustainable 

learning environment 

for their students.” Brovo 

Kim, managing director, 

SEWA, said the company is 

committed to consistent in- 

novation and technological 

development especially in 

the area of education. 

Classroom learning has 

taken a new shape over the 

past years and right now, 

we are convinced that this 

remarkable project will 

help students to have a better 

grasp of what is being 

taught in the classroom, 

help teachers to ensure every 

student is carried along 

in the learning process and 

help parents and guardians 

to regularly monitor 

and evaluate their wards’ 

course work. We recognise 

and appreciate Diamond 

Bank’s understanding of 

this vision and encourage 

Nigerian universities to 

take full advantage of it.” 

Yomi Adedeji, managing 

partner, Softcom, said the 

objective is to extend the 

classroom in a social manner 

without altering the 

behaviour of students. 

The Future Ready University 

conference hosted 

by Covenant University in 

partnership with Softcom, 

Samsung Electronics and 

Diamond Bank is expected 

to have in attendance over 

150 key decision makers 

from 50 invited private and 

public universities across 

Nigeria. Charles Ayo, vice 

chancellor of Covenant 

University, said: “We are 

delighted to host the Future 

Ready University conference 

and look forward to 

sharing our experience on 

how technology is transforming 

the way our students 

learn.” We are also 

delighted to be leading 

in this new way of learning. 

Our partnership with 

Softcom and Samsung has 

helped us achieve our social 

learning dream.”


BUSINESS DAY 37 

BDTECH 

E-mail: technologybusiness@businessday.com 

FVC hosts Polycom partner conference 

to drive sustainable growth 

FVC, Polycom’s authorised 

Value Added 

Distributor and 

training Partner in 

the Middle East and 

Africa region, hosted its West 

African partners conference 

in Nigeria on the last leg of a 

six country partner road show 

that covered UAE, Saudi Arabia, 

Morocco, Kenya, Egypt 

and Nigeria. 

The Partner conference 

which holds annually gives 

FVC’s Polycom partners the 

opportunity to meet the senior 

management from Polycom, 

get a preview of new products 

and network with fellow partners, 

sharing best practices 

and new business development 

strategies. 

Dharmentra Parmar, general 

manager, marketing FVC 

while speaking in Lagos, said 

the annual Polycom Partner 

event gives the company the 

opportunity to share strategies 

with more local partners and 

the opportunity to talk to their 

customers and share some of 

the exciting new technologies 

first hand. Parmar pointed 

out that FVC as Polycom’s 

authorised Value Added Distributor 

and training Partner 

in the Middle East and Africa, 

provides tangible solutions 

across three vital areas of enterprise 

computing – unified 

communications, information 

security and advanced networking. 

With over a decade 

of cross-domain expertise, 

adding that they are passionate 

about creating value in all 

Samsung out with world’s largest capacity air conditioners 

… Brings innovative inverter technology 

BEN UZOR 

Samsung Electronics 

West Africa (SEWA) 

is making a massive 

push into the enterprise 

segment of the Air 

Conditioner (AC) market 

with the introduction of 

the world’s largest capacity 

DVM S VRF system and 

smart inverter systems. The 

company launched the AC 

system at a recently organised 

forum in Lagos. Tagged 

‘The Samsung AC forum’, 

the initiative was aimed at 

boosting the local industry’s 

knowledge of the various 

Samsung cooling solutions 

available in the Nigerian 

market. Speaking at the 

forum, Brovo Kim, managing 

director, SEWA, stated 

that the AC technology and 

solutions are evolving at a 

rapid rate. The forum, he 

L-R: Vikas Verma, FVC, deputy general manager! East & West Africa;Dharmendra Parmar, FVC, general 

manager, Marketing; Chris Prowse, Polycom, regional sales director-Regional Sales Director- Saudi 

Arabia, Levant & North Africa and Davidson Ugen, FVC, Channels Regional Sales Manager at the 

Polycom partners conference in Lagos recently. 

stated will bring Samsung 

partners up to speed on the 

company’s air conditioners, 

in Room air conditioner 

and System air conditioner 

segment.“We want to keep 

our stakeholders abreast of 

the level of market research 

that goes into designing 

and producing Samsung air 

conditioners and cooling 

solutions, which are especially 

suitable for Africa and 

the Nigerian climate. The 

ultimate goal is to provide 

dependable cooling to keep 

consumers comfortable 

at all times,” Kim further 

added. 

that they deliver. 

“Polycom helps organisations 

unleash the power of 

human collaboration. No 

matter how dispersed your 

team. Eliminate the challenge 

of distance and facilitate incredibly 

lifelike and productive 

collaboration for any size 

team across any industry”. “As 

the largest provider of visual 

communication solutions in 

the region, FVC is committed 

to developing business 

in Nigeria and has increased 

its investment locally with 

enhanced local presence and 

skilled resources.” He said 

Parmar further disclose that 

the conference highlights the 

effectiveness of enabling faceto-face, 

remote collaboration 

in real-time; working 

across business functions, 

geographies and vertical markets, 

defying distance. Chris 

Prowse, regional sales director, 

Polycom observe that 

Polycom solutions give the 

flexibility to meet and collaborate 

with colleagues, 

partners, and customers in 

any environment immersive 

theater, conference room, 

work office, home office, or 

on-the-go. On an enterprise 

video network, he noted that 

Polycom solutions deliver 

the same high-quality collaboration 

experience as 

working together on-site in 

the same conference room. 

“Powered by the RealPresence 

Platform, Polycom solu- 

The highlight of the forum 

was the introduction 

of Samsung “DVM (Digital 

Variable Multi) Super” 

system AC, which has the 

world’s first and largest 

single capacity outdoor of 

26HP. It is credited as the 

next-generation modular 

system in the world of highefficiency 

air conditioning 

and has undoubtedly 

changed the face of cooling 

associated with high-storied 

buildings. Samsung, the Korean 

based technology company, 

has also launched air 

conditioners with a 5 year 

warranty on compressors, 

tions deliver a superb collaboration 

experience, regardless 

of network, carrier, protocol, 

application, or device”. 

“Customers today have 

more complex and integrated 

UC&C environments. Environments 

you want to link 

together so they will work as 

seamlessly as possible and 

provide your users an easy to 

use and consistent quality of 

experience. 

The business benefits of 

using Polycom Services include 

end-user and customer 

satisfaction, higher productivity 

and ROI with increased 

user adoption of your voice 

and video communication 

and collaboration solution”, 

he said. 

keeping in mind the energy 

conservation and eco 

friendly standards being set 

in the air conditioning environment. 

These air conditioners 

come equipped with 

R410A gas, which is, ecofriendly 

and Smart Inverter 

compressors capable of reducing 

energy consumption 

up to 40 percent in line with 

global standards. 

The air conditioner can 

handle up to 50mtrs in piping 

length as against the 

conventional 10mtrs. Samsung 

air conditioners will 

also have a 5 year warranty 

period on compressors. 

Also speaking at the forum, 

Sunil Kumar, director, 

Consumer Electronics, 

SEWA, said that Nigerians 

are astute customers who 

are always on the lookout 

for the best that advancements 

in technology can 

offer.



THOMSON REUTERS 

International effort 

rescues over 5,000 

Mediterranean 

migrants 

• Mediterranean migrant traffic heaviest this year-EU agency 

• 17 migrants found dead on Friday arrive in Sicilian port 

GAVIN JONES 

The corpses of 17 

migrants were 

brought ashore 

in Sicily aboard 

an Italian naval 

vessel on Sunday along with 

454 survivors as efforts intensified 

to rescue people 

fleeing war and poverty in 

Africa and the Middle East. 

More than 5,000 migrants 

trying to reach Europe have 

been saved from boats in 

distress in the Mediterranean 

since Friday and operations 

are in progress to 

rescue 500 more, European 

Union authorities said on 

Sunday. 

In some of the most intense 

Mediterranean traffic 

of the year, migrants who 

left Libya in 25 boats were 

picked up by ships from 

Italy, Britain, Malta and 

Belgium, assisted by planes 

from Iceland and Finland, 

the EU’s border control 

agency Frontex said. 

Naval and merchant 

vessels involved in rescue 

operations also came from 

countries including Germany, 

Ireland and Denmark. 

The 17 corpses found on 

one of the boats arrived in 

the Sicilian port of Augusta 

aboard the Italian navy corvette 

Fenice. Italian prosecutors 

are investigating 

how they died. 

Frontex is coordinating 

an EU rescue mission in the 

Mediterranean known as 

Triton, which was stepped 

up after around 800 migrants 

drowned off Libya in 

April in the Mediterranean’s 

A group of migrants walk after arriving in the Sicilian harbour of Augusta, Italy, at the weekend. The corpses of 17 migrants were brought 

ashore in Sicily aboard an Italian naval vessel on Sunday along with 454 survivors as efforts intensified to rescue people fleeing war and 

poverty in Africa and the Middle East. REUTERS 

most deadly shipwreck in 

living memory. 

“This is the biggest wave 

of migrants we have seen 

in 2015,” Frontex Executive 

Director Fabrice Leggeri 

said in a written statement. 

“The new vessels that joined 

operation Triton this week 

have already saved hundreds 

of people.” 

Italy has so far borne 

the brunt of Mediterranean 

rescue operations. Most of 

the migrants depart from 

the coast of Libya, which 

has descended into anarchy 

since Western powers 

backed a 2011 revolt that 

ousted Muammar Gaddafi. 

Calm seas are increasingly 

favouring departures as 

warm spring weather sets in. 

The migrants saved over 

the weekend are all being 

disembarked at nine ports 

on the Italian islands of 

Lampedusa, Sicily and Sardinia 

and on its southern 

mainland regions of Calabria 

and Puglia. 

The latest wave of more 

than 5,000 arrivals will take 

the total of those reaching 

Italy by boat across the 

Mediterranean this year to 

more than 40,000, according 

to estimates by the United 

Nations refugee agency. 

The EU this month 

agreed on a naval mission 

to target gangs smuggling 

migrants from Libya, but a 

broader plan to deal with 

the influx is in doubt due 

to a dispute over national 

quotas for housing asylum 

seekers. 

The plan to disperse 

40,000 migrants from Italy 

and Greece to other countries 

met with resistance this 

week, with Britain saying it 

would not participate and 

some eastern countries calling 

for a voluntary scheme. 

Egypt deploys scholars to teach moderate Islam, but scepticism abounds 

• Sisi believes Islamist militancy is existential threat to Egypt 

• Clerics as well as soldiers used to counter extremists 

MAHMOUD MOURAD 

AND YARA BAYOUMY 

In his battle against militant 

Islam, Egyptian 

President Abdel Fattah 

al-Sisi is relying not just on 

bomber planes and soldiers 

but on white-turbaned clerics 

from Al-Azhar, Egypt’s 

1,000-year-old centre for 

Islamic learning. He wants 

clerics to counter radicalism 

in the classroom. 

In a televised speech 

in January at an Al-Azhar 

conference centre in Cairo, 

Sisi called for “a religious 

revolution” in Islam. Radicalised 

thinking, he told the 

audience of Islamic scholars, 

had become “a source 

of anxiety, danger, killing 

and destruction for the rest 

of the world.” 

That had to change - and 

the scholars had a leading 

role to play, in schools, 

mosques and on the airwaves. 

“You, imams, are responsible 

before Allah. The entire 

world is waiting. The entire 

world is waiting for your 

next word because this nation 

is being torn apart.” 

Surprised by the president’s 

bluntness, the scholars 

went “white as sheets,” 

some of those in the audience 

told a Western official. 

The president’s warning 

is part of a much larger project. 

To contain the radical 

Islamist movement roiling 

his nation, Sisi has most 

conspicuously been using 

the law and brute force. But 

he is also promoting a more 

moderate and less politicised 

version of the faith. 

In that struggle the Al- 

Azhar institution is one of 

the most important fronts 

for Sisi - and for the wider 

region. The outcome of the 

struggle in Egypt, the intellectual 

and cultural capital 

of the Arab world, has 

ramifications far beyond its 

borders. 

The Al-Azhar mosque 

was built in the 10th century 

and is one of the oldest 

in Egypt. It opened a university 

that spread Shi’ite 

Islam until the end of the 

Fatimid Caliphate in 1171. 

It later turned into a Sunni 

mosque and university that 

taught the four schools of 

mainstream Sunni Islam. 

Today the university’s 

various faculties and research 

centres have 450,000 

students, many from countries 

across Asia and Africa. 

It also has a network of more 

than 9,000 schools across 

Egypt attended by more 

than 2 million students. 

Al-Azhar’s teachers, 

preachers, and researchers 

have so far introduced a few 

small changes. They include 

tweaking text books and setting 

up an online monitoring 

centre to track militant 

statements on social media 

so the institute can better 

refute them. But there is no 

detailed reform programme 

yet, and Al-Azhar officials 

openly acknowledge the 

magnitude of the challenge 

ahead. 

To be successful, Sisi 

will need to achieve what 

many before him have not: 

balancing tough security 

measures with education 

to encourage a more moderate 

version of Islam. Past 

experiences in Egypt, Syria, 

Algeria, and Iraq show that 

attempts to crack down on 

extremism can also stoke 

it. So far the results of Sisi’s 

drive have been mixed. 

The president is deeply 

religious and has a mark 

on his forehead from years 

of pressing his head to the 

carpet in daily prayer. His 

wife and daughter wear 

the veil. His reputation for 

piety was so well known that 

his predecessor, Mohamed 

Mursi, a leading figure in the 

Muslim Brotherhood and 

Egypt’s first freely-elected 

president, appointed him 

army chief in August 2012. 

Yet Sisi was also bold 

enough to seize power from 

Mursi after the Brotherhood 

leader became increasingly 

unpopular. Since then, he 

has cracked down hard on 

the Brotherhood. Hundreds 

of the group’s supporters 

have been killed, and thousands 

jailed. This month a 

Cairo court recommended 

the death sentence for Mursi 

in connection with a mass 

jail break in 2011. 

Balancing that sort of 

force with a message of moderation 

is difficult. Some 

students at Al-Azhar say they 

are deeply sceptical of the institution, 

and of the government’s 

plans. Many dismiss 

Al-Azhar as a mouthpiece for 

the state, which favours the 

military and political elites 

over the poor masses where 

militants find most of their 

recruits. 

Some students told Reuters 

the security crackdown 

was counterproductive. 

Cairo’s heavy-handed 

tactics, they say, are radicalising 

people who may have 

been open to a message of 

moderation. 

Western officials praise 

Sisi’s calls for action but 

question whether he has 

any real plan. “There’s a 

kernel of a very big idea 

in what Sisi wants to do,” 

said one. “But his vision of 

it is not exactly clear and 

it’s not clear how it will be 

implemented.” 

OPEC oil output in May reaches 

highest since 2012 - survey 

ALEX LAWLER 

OPEC oil supply in May 

climbed further to its 

highest in more than 

two years as increasing Angolan 

exports and record or 

near-record output from Saudi 

Arabia and Iraq outweighed 

outages in smaller producers, 

a Reuters survey showed. 

The boost from the Organization 

of the Petroleum Exporting 

Countries puts output 

further above its target of 30 

million barrels per day (bpd), 

underlining the focus of top exporter 

Saudi Arabia and other 

key members on market share. 

OPEC supply rose in May 

to 31.22 million bpd from a 

revised 31.16 million bpd in 

April, according to the survey, 

based on shipping data and 

information from sources at 

oil companies, OPEC and consultants. 

The group meets on Friday 

and is not expected to alter 

policy as oil has risen to $65 a 

barrel from a low close to $45 in 

January and there are signs of 

slowing growth in the highercost 

supplies that have been 

eroding OPEC’s market share. 

“Anything but a renewed 

confirmation of the production 

target at the forthcoming OPEC 

meeting would be a major surprise,” 

Commerzbank analyst 

Carsten Fritsch said. 

“The rapid rise in U.S. 

crude oil production has been 

stopped and the oil price has 

recovered considerably.” 

If the total remains unrevised, 

May’s supply would 

be OPEC’s highest since it 

pumped 31.53 million bpd in 

August 2012, based on Reuters 

surveys. 

The biggest increase came 

from Angola, which exported 

58 cargoes in May, more than 

originally planned in April, according 

to loading schedules. 

Top exporter Saudi Arabia 

has not reduced output from 

April’s record high of 10.30 million 

bpd, sources in the survey 

said, as it meets higher demand 

from export customers 

and in domestic power plants. 

Of the countries with lower 

output, Libya posted a decline 

as more supply was disrupted 

by unrest, and production in 

Nigeria slipped because of 

pipeline leaks that prompted 

Royal Dutch Shell’s local venture 

to declare force majeure 

on exports from the Forcados 

stream. 

Iraqi exports, which have 

helped push OPEC output 

higher this year, look set to have 

fallen slightly short of April’s 

record level, according to this 

survey. 

Although Iraq increased 

its northern exports further 

following a deal between 

Baghdad and the Kurdistan 

Regional Government, flows 

declined from the south, which 

produces the bulk of Iraq’s oil. 

Further increases are expected 

in later months, said 

a source familiar with Iraq’s 

exports.


BUSINESS DAY 

39 


Hong Kong democrats intent on vetoing 

vote as talks with China fizzle 

• China wants pro-Beijing leader for Hong Kong 

• Vote in mid-June on electoral blueprint 

JAMES POMFRET 

Talks between Chinese 

officials and Hong 

Kong democrats ended 

in stalemate on Sunday, 

with democrats sticking by 

plans to veto a Beijing-proposed 

election blueprint in 

a mid-June vote that could 

become a flashpoint for prodemocracy 

protests. 

Hong Kong, which returned 

to Chinese rule in 

1997, was roiled by 79 days 

of mass demonstrations and 

street occupations late last 

year over how its next leader 

will be chosen in 2017. 

Democrats want a leader 

chosen by universal suffrage, 

rather than from a list of pro- 

Beijing candidates as China 

is insisting. 

The talks held in luxury 

hotel in Shenzhen represented 

a rare face-to-face 

meeting between the two 

sides before Hong Kong’s 

legislature votes on Beijing’s 

proposal in mid-June. 

But as on previous occasions, 

China refused to 

shift from its blueprint for 

Hong Kong’s next leadership 

election, under which 

a 1200-person committee 

full of Beijing loyalists would 

vet two to three candidates 

before a citywide vote. 

Speaking after the nearly 

four hour meeting with 

democrats on Sunday, one 

of China’s top officials in 

STEVE HOLLAND 

Republican Jeb Bush, 

calling President 

Barack Obama’s 

handling of the Islamic 

State a failure, said the 

United States should embed 

some U.S. troops with 

Iraqi forces to train them 

and identify targets. 

The expected Republican 

presidential candidate, 

in an interview to be aired 

Sunday on CBS’s “Face 

the Nation,” said he was 

not calling for U.S. combat 

forces to be deployed in 

Iraq, in what would be a 

return to the war policy 

run by his brother, former 

President George W. Bush. 

But Jeb Bush said there 

are steps the United States 

can take to counter Islamic 

State’s rise in the region. 

Obama has largely relied 

on U.S. air strikes to attack 

Islamic State targets 

in a policy that has had 

some successes but has not 

stopped the militants. 

Bush’s thinking about 

charge of Hong Kong affairs 

said Beijing could not allow 

a “die-hard” democrat to be 

elected a Hong Kong’s chief 

executive. 

“We cannot let these people 

be elected,” Wang Guangya, 

director of the Hong Kong 

and Macau Affairs Office, told 

reporters, without mentioning 

specific names. 

“Because if they are elected 

as chief executive, it will 

be a disaster for the country 

(China), it will be a disaster 

for Hong Kong.” 

On Sunday 3,000 people 

marched to the Liason Office, 

according to organisers. They 

carried yellow umbrellas and 

ribbons to symbolise democracy 

and planted a white 

statue meant to represent 

the “goddess of democracy” 

in front of the building. 

The electoral blueprint 

requires a two-thirds majority 

in the 70-seat legislature 

to pass, but Beijing failed 

again on Sunday to persuade 

enough of the city’s 27 prodemocracy 

lawmakers to 

back the package. 

“We are left with no choice 

but to veto it, definitely. It has 

made us even more determined 

to veto it,” said Alan 

Leong, one of 14 pro-democracy 

lawmakers who attended 

the talks before taking part 

in an annual pro-democracy 

march to commemorate the 

June 4 massacre in Tiananmen 

Square. 

Jeb Bush says U.S. should embed 

some troops with Iraqis for training 

Iraq is significant since 

earlier this month when 

he was embroiled in a controversy 

over whether he 

would have launched the 

Iraq war in 2003 “given 

what we know now.” Bush 

said he would have done 

so but later disavowed the 

comment, saying he had 

misinterpreted the question. 

WORKING WITH IRAQ- 

IS 

Bush, expected to announce 

a run for the 2016 

Republican presidential 

nomination in coming 

weeks, said the United 

States needs to coordinate 

closely with the Iraqi government 

and military. 

“We need to embed 

American troops, as we’ve 

done successfully in the 

past, to help train them, to 

identify targets, to do what 

we do really well,” he said. 

He said the United States 

also should arm the Iraqi 

Kurds fighting Islamic State 

militants. 

Participants in the Mons Ducasse festival take part in the “Lumacon” fight between Saint George, representing “the good” and the dragon, 

representing “the evil” during the Doudou folkloric event, in Mons, Belgium, at the weekend. More than 100,000 people and 1,800 participants 

dressed in historical costumes, attented The Doudou, dated from the Middle Ages, and recognised as one of the Masterpieces of 

the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO since November 2005. REUTERS 

Israel moves to toughen sentences 

for stone-throwers 

Israeli cabinet ministers 

approved on Sunday 

legislation aimed 

at imposing tougher 

penalties on stonethrowers, 

a measure that 

stemmed from a wave of 

Palestinian protests last year 

in occupied East Jerusalem. 

A draft law that won preliminary 

parliamentary approval 

late last year allowed 

for sentences of up to 20 

years in jail for throwing a 

rock with the intent of causing 

bodily harm. 

But far-right politician 

Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s 

new justice minister, com- 

Egypt began demolishing 

on Sunday 

the building that 

had housed the headquarters 

of former President 

Hosni Mubarak’s 

political party, a symbol 

of decades of iron-fisted 

rule. 

The burnt-out National 

Democratic Party 

(NDP) building, a concrete 

tower block that 

looms over the River 

Nile in Cairo, was gutted 

during the uprising 

against Mubarak’s rule 

in 2011. 

Successive governments 

had discussed 

plans to knock down the 

building since the NDP 

was dissolved in April 

plained that far lighter punishment 

would probably be 

handed down because of 

the difficulty of proving such 

intent, especially in cases 

of stone-throwing in mass 

street protests. 

On Twitter, she announced 

that a ministerial 

committee approved her 

proposed amendments, 

which included an additional 

tier of 10 years’ imprisonment 

without the 

need to prove an accused 

rock-thrower intended to 

harm anyone. 

Currently, legal officials 

said, prosecutors usually 

2011. 

Some activists who 

took part in protests 

have said the headquarters 

should be preserved 

as a monument to the 

uprising. 

“The Egyptian people 

paid the biggest price for 

the corruption at that 

time,” said Ahmed Shahin, 

an acting student 

who passed by the site. 

Rageb Hafiz, one of 

the contractors working 

on the demolition project, 

said it would take 

about three months to 

complete. 

Critics accuse Egyptian 

President Abdel 

Fattah al-Sisi, who as 

army chief removed the 

Muslim Brotherhood 

seek sentences of no more 

than three months in jail for 

rock-throwing that does not 

result in serious injury. 

As a result of the legislation 

committee’s decision, 

the amended draft law can 

now be fast-tracked through 

parliament, where Prime 

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 

government controls 

61 of its 120 seats. 

The original legislation 

was promoted by Shaked’s 

predecessor as justice minister, 

centrist Tzipi Livni, 

after a wave of violent Palestinian 

protests in Jerusalem 

in 2014 that included 

from power in 2013, of 

returning repression to 

the country, an allegation 

he denies. 

While Egyptian courts 

have been gradually absolving 

Mubarak-era 

figures, they have been 

handing down lengthy 

sentences to liberal 

and Islamist activists 

in cases ranging from 

political protests to acts 

of violence. 

The NDP had dominated 

Egyptian politics 

since it was founded by 

Mubarak’s predecessor, 

Anwar Sadat, in 1978. 

In May, an Egyptian 

court sentenced Mubarak 

and his two sons to three 

years in jail without parole 

in the retrial of a corfrequent 

stone-throwing at 

the city’s light railway. 

Those demonstrations 

erupted after the kidnapping 

and killing of a Palestinian 

teen in the city in July. 

Three Israelis are accused 

of murdering him in revenge 

for the deaths of three 

Jewish teenagers killed by 

Palestinian militants in the 

occupied West Bank. 

Confrontations between 

Palestinian youths and Israeli 

police routinely degenerate 

into violent clashes 

and stone throwing in Jerusalem 

and across the West 

Bank. 

Egypt starts demolishing Mubarak-era ruling party headquarters 

MAHMOUD ALI 

ruption case, although 

the trio is unlikely to go 

to jail again. 

Mubarak and his sons 

Gamal and Alaa have already 

spent at least three 

years each in prison for 

other cases, so will probably 

not have to serve out 

the sentence. 

Mubarak’s treatment 

by the courts since being 

toppled from the presidency 

has been perceived 

by his opponents as too 

lenient and raised doubts 

about Egypt’s transition 

towards democracy. 

Charges against him 

of conspiring to kill protesters 

during the uprising, 

centered around 

Cairo’s Tahrir Square, 

were dropped.




A Palestinian bride holds a poster of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a mass wedding for 2000 couples in Gaza City, at the 

weekend. The wedding was funded by the Turkish government. REUTERS 

EU’s Juncker warns against 

Greek exit from euro - paper 

European Commission 

President 

Jean-Claude 

Juncker said on 

Sunday a Greek 

exit from the euro zone could 

damage trust in the single 

currency. 

“I don’t share the idea 

that we will have fewer worries 

and restraints if Greece 

gives up the euro,” Juncker 

said in an advanced copy of 

an interview to be published 

in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung 

on Monday. 

Islamic State pushes back Syria insurgents near Turkey 

• IS advance disrupts rebel supply from Turkey to Aleppo 

• Rebels pull forces from Aleppo to fight militants 

SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI 

AND SYLVIA WESTALL 

Islamic State fighters advanced 

against rival insurgents 

in northern Syria 

on Sunday, capturing areas 

close to a border crossing 

with Turkey and threatening 

their supply route to Aleppo 

city, fighters and a group 

monitoring the war said. 

Islamic State captured the 

town of Soran Azaz and two 

nearby villages after clashes 

with fighters from a northern 

rebel alliance, which 

was formed last December 

and includes both Westernbacked 

fighters and Islamist 

militants. 

This meant Islamic State 

will be able to move along 

a road leading north to the 

Bab al-Salam border crossing 

He told the paper that if 

a country were to withdraw 

from the euro, “it would fix 

the idea in heads that the 

euro is not irreversible.” 

This could prompt international 

investors to pull 

out of Europe, Juncker said, 

adding that Japan’s prime 

minister made clear to him 

during his visit to Tokyo that 

Japan’s investment in Europe 

depended on having confidence 

in the euro. 

Greece and its euro zone 

and International Monebetween 

the Syrian province 

of Aleppo and the Turkish 

province of Kilis, the Syrian 

Observatory for Human 

Rights said. 

The town’s loss is a blow 

to rebels grouped in the socalled 

Jabhat al-Shamiyya 

alliance (Levant Front), because 

the area sits on an important 

supply route to bring 

weapons into eastern Aleppo, 

two fighters said. 

“The main supply line 

between Turkey and Aleppo 

will be severely affected,” said 

Abu Bakr, an alliance field 

commander, said in a online 

message. 

The Levant Front was created 

in Aleppo in an effort to 

forge unity among factions in 

Syria that have often fought 

each other as well as the 

Syrian army and hardline 

tary Fund (IMF) creditors 

have been locked in talks for 

months without any signs of 

a breakthrough. Pressure to 

strike a deal has intensified 

as Athens faces a debt payment 

on June 5 as well as 

the expiration of its bailout 

programme on June 30. 

Juncker will meet with 

German Chancellor Angela 

Merkel and French President 

Francois Hollande in Berlin 

on Monday, and he told the 

paper that Greece would 

be on the agenda, even if it 

jihadist groups, undermining 

the revolt against President 

Bashar al-Assad. 

Rebels said the Islamic 

State gains had upset plans 

for a wider offensive that was 

being prepared ahead of the 

Muslim holy month of Ramadan 

to seize governmentcontrolled 

parts of Aleppo. 

Residents in eastern Aleppo 

said convoys of rebel fighters 

were now heading back 

to areas in the Soran countryside 

to try to repel Islamic 

State. The west of the city is 

held by government forces. 

Islamic State’s next stop 

could be Syria’s Azaz city, 10 

km (6 miles) further north 

east and a gateway to the 

border crossing close by, the 

Observatory added. 

“A small advance by Daesh 

would get them to Azaz,” 

isn’t the official reason for 

their talks. 

He also called for the 

IMF to continue to support 

Greece after its chief Christine 

Lagarde said last week 

it was up to Europe to take 

precautions if the EU wanted 

to avoid the threat of a bankruptcy. 

“It won’t work without the 

IMF,” Juncker said, adding 

the German government had 

made the IMF’s participation 

in 2010 a particular condition 

for aid. 

said another rebel from the 

Nour al-Din al-Zenki brigade, 

which is in the Levant Front. 

Daesh is an Arabic acronym 

for Islamic State. 

GAS EXPLOSION 

The city of Azaz, flooded 

with thousands of refugees 

fleeing violence across northern 

Syria, has also been a 

major arms route and commercial 

thoroughfare for 

hundreds of trucks carrying 

Turkish goods to rebel-held 

areas in Aleppo and Idlib 

provinces. 

U.S-led forces bombing 

Islamic State in Syria and Iraq 

carried out their latest raids 

on Sunday near the city of 

Kobani close to the Turkish 

border and Syria’s northwestern 

Hasaka province, but did 

not hit Aleppo and surrounding 

areas. 

OPEC likely to keep output unchanged 

at June 5 meeting-delegates 

RANIA EL GAMAL AND 

ALEX LAWLER 

OPEC is likely to keep 

its output target unchanged 

when it 

meets on Friday because 

the global oil market appears 

to be in good shape 

and prices are expected to 

firm up from current levels, 

a senior Gulf OPEC delegate 

told Reuters. 

Two more OPEC delegates 

said they expect no 

change in policy on June 5 

when oil ministers from the 

Organization of the Petroleum 

Exporting Countries 

(OPEC) are scheduled to 

meet in Vienna. 

Oil prices have rallied after 

falling to a near six-year 

low close to $45 a barrel in 

January due to a global glut. 

Brent crude settled at $65.56 

on Friday, up $2.98, or 4.8 

percent, on the day. 

“It is unlikely that OPEC 

will make a decision regarding 

its production ceiling 

for two reasons: the first 

one that Russia and other 

non-OPEC producers have 

expressed their non-desire 

to cooperate in any idea of 

a production cut,” the Gulf 

delegate said on Sunday. 

“And the second one is 

that the market is firming 

up. Prices are expected to 

continue at current levels 

and most likely will go 

higher. Demand is also 

strong and the inventories 

are balanced. The market 

seems to be in good shape,” 

the delegate said. 

$100,000 check awaits mystery 

recycler of rare Apple 1 computer 

FIONA ORTIZ 

A 

$100,000 check is 

waiting for a mystery 

woman who donated 

a rare Apple 1 computer to a 

Silicon Valley recycling firm. 

CleanBayArea in Milpitas, 

California, is trying to 

track down a woman in 

her 60s who dropped off 

some electronic goods in 

April, when she was cleaning 

out the garage after her 

husband died. 

In one of the boxes, 

buried under worthless 

keyboards, personal computer 

pieces and wires, was 

a 1976 Apple 1, a groundbreaking 

home computer. 

Apple co-founder Steve 

Wozniak designed and 

hand-built the computers 

and sold them for $666.66 

each. Only a few dozen are 

known still to exist. 

The recycling firm sold 

the Apple for $200,000 in a 

Crude oil inventories 

are above the five-year 

average but oil products 

stocks are within the fiveyear 

average, the delegate 

added. 

“At the end, of course the 

final decision will be made 

by the ministers when they 

meet,” the senior Gulf delegate 

added. 

Two officials from other 

OPEC producers made 

similar remarks. 

“I don’t think there will 

be any changes,” said an 

official from an African 

OPEC member, referring 

to OPEC’s output policy 

decision on June 5. 

“Prices ... are within 

$60-$65, at least they are 

improving from where they 

were at before,” another 

Gulf OPEC delegate said. 

“There is still an oversupply 

in the market, but the oversupply 

is less than what it 

was in November.” 

OPEC refused to cut 

output to shore up prices at 

its last meeting in November 

despite the glut, seeking 

to defend market share 

against higher-cost producers 

such as the United 

States. It left its output target 

at 30 million barrels per day. 

The decision exacerbated 

the price fall from as high 

as $115 in June 2014. 

However, early signs of 

slowing production in the 

United States and higherthan-expected 

growth in 

demand have helped drive 

the rally in prices from January’s 

low. 

private auction. Its policy 

is to split the proceeds 50- 

50 with the person who 

donated the equipment. 

“The body was made 

out of wood. I’ve never 

seen anything like that. 

My first reaction was it was 

a fake. Then we started 

looking at it,” said Victor 

Gichun, vice president 

of marketing for Clean- 

BayArea. 

Gichun declined to say 

who bought the Apple 1, 

only that it was a private collector. 

He’s not sure whether 

the Apple is still operational. 

He said he will recognize 

the woman, who he believes 

is local, when he sees her 

and will write her out a 

check for $100,000. 

The boxes sat in the company’s 

warehouse on a pallet 

for a couple of weeks 

because they didn’t expect 

to find anything valuable, 

Gichun said.


41



NewsXtra 

AfDB Presidency: 

How Buhari, 

Amosun’s phone 

calls prompted my 

emergence - Adesina 

RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta 

Filled with emotion and 

fulfillment, Akinwunmi 

Adesina, newlyelected 

president of Africa 

Development Bank (AfDB), 

has revealed how the phone 

calls he made at the eleventh 

hour to President Muhammadu 

Buhari through 

Governor Ibikunle Amosun 

of Ogun State saved and 

guaranteed the seat of AfDB 

presidency for him. 

Adesina, who disclosed 

this during an unscheduled 

visit to Governor Amosun 

in Abeokuta on Monday, 

said the last hour calls he 

made to Buhari mid-election 

through Amosun were 

the saving grace, saying 

President Buhari personally 

engaged in making calls to 

critical global leaders in the 

last days of the election, secured 

the AfDB seat for him. 

While explaining further, 

the AfDB Presidentelect 

also singled out 

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former 

finance minister for 

commendation as well as 

ex-presidents, Olusegun 

Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan; 

ex-heads of state, 

Yakubu Gowon, Abdulsalami 

Abubakar, and ex-vicepresidents, 

Atiku Abubakar 

and Namadi Sambo, saying 

the support showed that 

Nigeria had advanced politically. 

“I am delighted to be 

here, this is called the Gateway 

State, when you come 

to Ogun State gates open 

and I want to say that now 

that Nigeria has finally won 

the Presidency of AfDB, 

I think my coming from 

Ogun State has something 

to do with the gate that has 

just opened. 

“Let me say that there 

are number of people that 

have been tremendous, first 

of all is the Nigerians that 

have actually supported me 

tremendously as minister of 

agriculture here, all the state 

governors, all the commissioners 

of agriculture, all 

the farmers, National Assembly, 

traditional rulers; 

you all made it easier for me 

to do my work. 

“And I think it was a collective 

effort of everybody 

for the success we were 

able to achieve as minister 

for agric in Nigeria, which 

is being celebrated not only 

in Nigeria, but also globally. 

I am very proud as a 

Nigerian for what we have 

been able to do and I want 

to thank you in particular, 

your excellency, for the 

tremendous amount of support 

you gave me when I 

was the minister.” 

WEF: Global leaders converge on S/Africa 

to discuss Africa as new economic frontier 

DANIEL OBI in Cape Town 

didate, Adesina Adewunmi 

as the President of the African 

Development Bank (AFDB) 

at Abidjan; the capital of Ivory 

Coast is likely to show strong 

presence at the WEF. 

Nigeria recently reassessed 

its gross domestic product 

(GDP) figures, with the new 

data of $510 billion pushing 

the economy above South 

Africa ($370 billion) as the 

continent’s largest economy. 

Nigerian GDP now includes 

new entrants or hitherto uncounted 

industries such as 

film production, music, telecom 

and ICT among others. 

Though, former president 

of Nigeria, Olusegun 

Obasanjo who was billed to 

launch the Africa Progress 

Panel 2015 Report alongside 

other members at the 

WEF will no longer attend 

the WEF, according to available 

information, due to 

bereavement in his family. 

Obasanjo is said to have lost 

his younger sister, Adunni 

Oluniola Eweje-Obasanjo, 

at the age of 76. 

The Africa Progress Panel 

An industrialist, John 

Agboola Odeyemi, 

has called on President 

Muhammadu 

Buhari to prioritise the deregulation 

of the petroleum industry 

and also initiate macroeconomic 

and fiscal policies 

that will stem the volatility 

in the rate at which the naira 

exchanges with the dollar. 

Odeyemi, who made this 

call in a brief interview with 

BusinessDay on the sideline 

of the just concluded Building, 

Construction and Mining 

Mart Exhibition in Lagos, 

said deregulation was the 

only panacea to the intractable 

challenges in the energy 

sector of the economy. 

Reacting to the lingering 

energy crisis in the country 

that literally crippled the 

economy a couple of weeks 

ago, Odeyemi, former president 

of the Lagos Chamber 

of Commerce and Industry 

(LCCI), said what the 

country went through was 

a system collapse, pointing 

out that a situation where 

people could no longer put 

food in their fridge, fuel their 

generators, talk to one another 

on phone, or withdraw 

money from their banks was 

nothing but system collapse. 

The fluctuation in the exchange 

rate was affecting a 

good number of businesses, 

is chaired by former UN Secretary 

General, Kofi Annan. 

The other panel members are 

Michel Camdessus, former 

Managing Director of the 

IMF; Peter Eigen, founder of 

Transparency International; 

Bob Geldof, musician, businessman 

and campaigner; 

Graça Machel, social and 

political activist; Strive Masiyiwa, 

Chairman and Chief 

Executive of Econet Wireless; 

Linah Mohohlo, Governor 

of the Bank of Botswana; 

Olusegun Obasanjo, former 

President of Nigeria; Robert 

E Rubin, former Secretary of 

the US Treasury; and Tidjane 

Thiam, incoming Chief Executive 

of Credit Suisse. 

The 2015 Africa Progress 

Panel report is on “Power, 

People, Planet, Seizing Africa’s 

Energy and Climate 

Opportunities” 

Cocal Cola officials will be 

part of discussions at the forum 

on ‘Catalysing capital for 

Africa’, Women in Business 

and empowering women 

through partnerships. 

BusinessDay Nigeria 

After the World 

Economic Forum 

on Africa 

held in Abuja in 

May last year, international 

attention is again 

focused on the continent 

as the global forum holds 

its 25th conference in Cape 

Town, South Africa, from 

tomorrow June 3 – 5, with the 

theme ‘Then and Now: Reimagining 

Africa’s Future.’ 

All appear set for the 

global forum in the city of 

Cape Town. 

Under the theme, the forum 

is convening regional 

and global leaders from business, 

government and civil 

society to take stock of progress 

over the last 25 years, 

share insights on the present 

landscape and identify innovative 

approaches to accelerate 

inclusive growth while 

bringing about sustainable 

development in the future. 

Nigerian government 

which was strongly behind 

the recent election of its canin 

collaboration with Mail 

& Guardian Africa and the 

Nigeria-South Africa Chamber 

of Commerce will during 

the WEF host an event entitled-’ 

Nigeria- South Africa 

Relations: Turning the wheel 

of progress’ which showcases 

the emerging opportunities in 

Africa’s two largest economies. 

WEF organizers said the 

year 2015 is also significant 

for Africa, as it marks the end 

of global, regional and local 

efforts to meet the Millennium 

Development Goals 

aimed at eradicating poverty. 

Over the past decade 

and a half, WEF said Africa 

has demonstrated a 

remarkable economic turnaround, 

growing two to three 

percentage points faster 

than global GDP. “Regional 

growth is projected to remain 

stable at 4.5% in 2015, 

buoyed by rising foreign 

direct investment flows, 

particularly into the natural 

resources sector; increased 

public investment in infrastructure; 

and higher agricultural 

production. 

L-R: Ibrahim Dikko, vice president, regulatory and corporate affairs; Stephane Beuvelet, chief technical officer, and Plato 

Syrimis, director, customer care, all of Etisalat Nigeria, at the Etisalat Telecommunication Engineering Programme Internship 

closing ceremony, held at the Etisalat main office in Abuja. 

he said, especially the small 

and medium enterprises, 

calling on the new government 

to take urgent steps to 

check the development. 

In his opening remarks at 

the exhibition, Odeyemi noted 

that Nigeria was the fastest 

growing construction market 

globally, unlike the past eight 

years when the focus was on 

Dubai, India, China, etc. 

According to him, the 

shock from oil and gas industry 

has made it necessary 

for governments to focus on 

construction, mining and 

agriculture, which have been 

identified as growth areas in 

the economy, advising that 

the new government should 

focus on these sectors, especially 

agriculture in the 

foreseeable future. 

He lamented the heavy 

debt burden on the local 

construction firms, saying, 

“we have lived with the haphazard 

and lopsided system 

of doing things in Nigeria for 

a long time since independence. 

There is no time you 

will not hear contractors are 

owed by both government 

and individuals.” 

“Our commercial practice 

is not well regulated,” 

he said, explaining that “in 

other countries and even 

here in the early 60s when 

we practised the British system, 

no work was given to a 

contractor until funding was 

secured - saved, borrowed 

Prestige Assurance 

pays $5.7m claim 

on Dana Air crash 

MODESTUS ANAESORONYE 

Underwriting firm, 

Prestige Assurance 

plc, with the support 

of local co-insurers and 

facultative reinsurers, has 

paid out $5.702.098 million 

towards the settlement 

of claims arising from the 

insurance of Dana Air that 

crashed on June 3, 2012. 

The claims, which cover 

passengers liabilities, 

crew member, third party 

property damage, legal/ 

adjusters fees, have been 

agreed with the supervisory 

support of the National 

Insurance Commission 

(NAICOM). 

Management of Prestige, 

who disclosed this 

in chat with BusinessDay, 

yesterday, said as of May 31, 

2015, out of the 153 people 

on board, including 147 

passengers and six crew 

members, the estates of 53 

passengers have received 

interim settlement, another 

69 have been fully compensated, 

while the others are at 

various stages of completing 

their documentation. 

“Of the six crew members, 

five of them, including 

the American pilot, have 

been fully compensated, 

while the other person has 

taken interim payment,” 

says Chandrakant Kale, 

general manager, risk control, 

Prestige Assurance plc. 

“We also acknowledge 

the professionalism of our 

foreign partner and reinsurers 

who reinsurered and 

settled their 70 percent share 

for all claims paid amounting 

to about N13 million 

dollars,” according to Kale. 

As a reputable player 

in the Nigerian insurance 

community, we assure our 

numerous customers and 

the general public that all 

claims will be settled as 

soon as all legal formalities 

are completed in order to 

protect their interest, he 

said. 

Industrialist wants Buhari to deregulate oil sector, stem exchange rate volatility 

CHUKA UROKO 

or syndicated - and after that 

you bring in professionals 

in engineering, architecture 

and quantity surveying, etc, 

to guide you through certification 

and payment as and 

when due.” 

The present system was 

such that when contracts 

were awarded, it took long 

before it was signed “and 

sometimes when someone 

bids for contract, it takes 

long before the contract is 

awarded and so is certificate 

delayed after contract job is 

completed. All these take 

months to come. It also takes 

unnecessarily too long for 

payments to be made. This 

practice kills the industry 

and the contractor,” he said.


CBN dismisses staff involved 

in N8bn mutilated note scam 

ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja 

The Central Bank 

of Nigeria (CBN) 

said on Monday 

that it had since 

October 21, 2014, 

dismissed some of its staff 

allegedly involved in a currency 

fraud running into 

N8 billion, and also placed 

some others on indefinite 

suspension, depending on 

the gravity of their offence. 

The CBN said it had also 

handed all of them, who it 

called ‘middle level officers’ 

of the bank and not top officials 

as being reported, to 

the Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission (EFCC) 

for further investigation and 

prosecution. 

The EFCC said it would 

arraign the six CBN staff 

and 16 others for circulating 

defaced and mutilated notes 

at the Federal High Court, 

Ibadan, Oyo State, today. 

In a statement yesterday 

to clarify issues surrounding 

Poor data connectivity stalls PoS transaction uptake 

As Nigeria gradually 

migrates from a 

cash to an electronic-based 

economy 

in line with government’s 

financial inclusion strategy, 

poor data connectivity delivered 

by Mobile Network 

Operators (MNOs) across 

the nation continues to constitutes 

a significant drawback 

to the adoption of Point 

of Sale (PoS) transactions. 

While this challenge persists, 

it has also been discovered 

that there is still huge 

preference for cash among 

consumers and a low level 

of awareness of the benefit of 

using PoS, especially among 

non-users. As of December 

2014, Nigeria has deployed 

about 350,000 PoS terminals 

across the country, a significant 

increase from the about 

120,191 in 2013, but a report 

by the Nigeria Inter-Bank 

Settlement System (NIBSS) 

shows that 72.5 percent of 

non-users claim to be unaware 

of the benefits of using 

PoS. The report, however, 

put PoS adoption rate in 

Lagos at 62 percent. 

The report also notes that 

62 percent of merchants provided 

PoS payment option 

and 63 percent of individuals 

owned and used debit/ 

credit cards, that is 70.4 percent 

ownership among 90.2 

percent banked adults in 

the scam, the CBN disclosed 

it actually uncovered the scam 

during a routine internal audit 

of the bank’s Cash Destruction 

activities in September 

2014. The CBN Briquetting 

Panel comprising senior bank 

staff from different branches 

noticed some anomalies at 

the Ibadan branch, and immediately 

reported this to the 

management. 

The apex bank explained 

that on further investigation 

ordered by its governor, 

Godwin Emefiele, it was 

discovered that a systematic 

scheme, which has been on 

for several years, was being 

run in which mutilated 

higher denomination notes 

originally meant for destruction 

were swapped with 

lower denomination currencies. 

This practice, known as 

interleafing, basically labels 

a box with a higher value 

than its true content, the 

bank further explained. 

“As soon as the bank’s internal 

investigations concluded 

beyond reasonable 

doubt that some wrong doing 

had occurred, the affected 

members of staff who are 

middle-level officers were, depending 

on gravity of offence, 

either summarily dismissed 

or immediately placed on 

indefinite suspension on 21 

October 2014, and all handed 

over to the EFCC for further 

investigation and prosecution,” 

Ibrahim Mu’azu, CBN 

director of communications, 

said in the statement. 

The CBN said it had also 

conducted a nationwide 

audit of all 37 branches of 

the bank and found that this 

was an isolated scheme at 

Ibadan branch, and assured 

of continuous collaboration 

with the EFCC to ensure that 

affected CBN staff, as well as 

their accomplices in some 

commercial banks, were 

brought to justice. 

Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC 

spokesperson, had on Sunday 

said the suspects would 

be arraigned for circulating 

the state. 

NIBSS observes that PoS 

is the most popular noncash 

payment channel, preferred 

among the non-cash 

payment options by 93.6 

percent of merchants and 

35.8 percent of consumers 

usage, stressing that usage 

of card/PoS is fair with an 

average of three to four out of 

every 10 customers requesting 

to pay for transactions by 

card/PoS. 

However, the report says 

only 3.1 percent of consumers 

cite card/PoS as their 

preferred payment option, 

attesting to the low usage 

of PoS. 

As it relates to connectivity 

challenges, it was learnt, 

defaced and mutilated notes 

at the Ibadan Federal High 

Court today, saying the CBN 

staff, alongside 16 other suspects 

identified as members 

of staff of various commercial 

banks in the country, 

would be arraigned on five 

counts charge. 

He said all the suspects 

now in custody connived 

to recycle the defaced and 

mutilated currencies they 

were asked to destroy by 

substituting the notes with 

newspaper cuttings in naira 

note sizes. 

“The suspects, drawn 

from various business units 

of the apex bank, are to be 

docked by the anti-graft 

agency before a Federal High 

Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo 

State, from Tuesday, June 2, 

2015, to Thursday, June 4, 

2015. The remaining 16 suspects 

are drawn from various 

commercial banks who were 

found to have conspired with 

the CBN executives to swing 

the heist,” Uwajaren said. 

L-R: Mukoro Emomine, MD, Coscharis Technologies; Ozo-Onyali Edward, MD, Proxynet Communications; Marco De Vries, 

business development manager, Africa, and Ojei Charles, director, Enterprise Business, both of Samsung Electronics, 

West Africa, at the Samsung Business Partner Day, 2015 edition, in Lagos. 

BEN UZOR 

through some interactions 

with representatives of popular 

eCommerce firm in 

Nigeria, at different occassions, 

that when customers 

use their credit/debit cards 

on the PoS terminals, which 

are run by commercial 

banks, customers account 

are debited without the fund 

getting to the eCommerce 

platform. This has led to 

disputes between customers 

and merchants. In some 

cases where the customers 

is fortunate, the fund are returned 

to his or her account 

immediately, but should the 

network challenge persists, 

it could take between seven 

and 14 workings days before 

the fund is returned. 

Tension envelopes Ekiti over 

alleged impeachment 

… as Fayose wants Buhari’s intervention 

OLUWASHOLA 

SOLOMON, Ado-Ekiti 

Tension on Monday 

enveloped 

Ado-Ekiti, the 

Ekiti State capital, 

as Police temporarily 

hijacked the House of Assembly 

complex following 

rumour that the 19 All 

Progressives Congress 

(APC) lawmakers were 

coming to the State House 

to commence impeachment 

process against Governor 

Ayodele Fayose. 

Also, hundreds of drivers 

union and commercial 

motorcyclists blocked all 

major roads leading to 

the state capital, just as 

the Peoples Democratic 

Party (PDP) also mobilised 

its members to give 

solidarity and support to 

the governor. 

Many commuters travelling 

in and out of the 

state were turned back 

due to the heavy trucks 

that were used in blocking 

all major roads leading to 

Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. 

The governor, who later 

addressed journalists at 

the Governor’s Lodge over 

the tension elicited by 

the rumour, said all the 

entitlements of the APC 

lawmakers had been paid 

contrary to the allegation 

raised by the speaker, 

Adewale Omirin that they 

were yet to get alerts from 

the bank. 

He, however, displayed 

the copies of Skye Bank 

cheques dated May 26, 

2015, signed and issued 

to the lawmakers as evidence 

to his claim. 

One of the photocopies 

of the cheque obtained 

by our correspondent 

showed one of the lawmakers’ 

name bearing 

Boluwade B. Kehinde, but 

it was received on behalf 

of the lawmaker and had 

a sum of N2,149,052.37 

on it. 

According to Fayose, 

it is illegal to continue 

with any impeachment 

proceeding against him 

in view of the ruling delivered 

by Justice E.S. 

Chukwu of the Federal 

High Court Abuja, which 

ordered that status quo as 

of April 23, be maintained 

pending the determination 

of the motion on notice. 

“As at the date the court 

gave the order, I mean 

April 23, Honourable Adewale 

Omirin was not the 

speaker. It will be wrong 

for the court order not to 

be respected. This is illegality 

and I want to raise 

this for the public to know. 

“Omirin has gone to 

court to challenge his 

impeachment and later 

withdrew such, which 

means he accepted he 

had been impeached and 

a cost of N100,000 was 

awarded against him, So, 

he is not the speaker. 

“I am calling on wellmeaning 

Nigerians, the 

chief justice of Nigeria, 

Justice Mohammed Mahmoud 

and President Muhammadu 

Buhari to intervene 

in this matter,” 

Fayose said. 

“As at 4pm, the PDP 

members were still keeping 

vigil on the Assembly, 

while the policemen were 

yet to leave the vicinity to 

prevent breakdown of law 

and order,” the governor 

said. 

Buhari to appoint ministers after 

inauguration of 8th legislative assembly 

KEHINDE ABDULSALAM, Abuja 

The hope that the 

new president, 

Muhammadu 

Buhari will name 

members of his cabinet 

soon was dashed as it 

bacame clear on Monday 

that the most sort after 

ministerial list will be 

put on hold till the eighth 

legislative assembly convenes. 

There has been serious 

agitation in some quarters 

for the president to name 

members of his cabinet 

in a bid to start the implementation 

of his campaign 

promises. 

Speaking with newsmen 

on Monday, the 

president, through Garba 

Shehu, senior special assistant 

to the president on 

media and publicity, said 

the president will not rush 

BUSINESS DAY 

43 

NewsXtra 

to naming members of his 

cabinet as the eighth legislative 

assembly was yet to 

convene. 

“I have no idea (on 

when the ministerial 

lists will be released) but 

it is not something anybody 

will rush because 

you know that the National 

Assembly has to 

approve. When are you 

going to have National 

Assembly in place? That 

is the question. Unless 

you are governor Fayose, 

you can not take your 

ministerial list to the 

outgoing parliament,” 

Shehu said. 

The eighth legislative 

assembly is expected to 

convene on Friday, June 5, 

but it still remind unclear 

whether screening of ministerial 

nominees will be 

conducted on their first 

day of meeting.

44 



45



LIVE @ THE STOCK EXCHANGE 

Top Gainers/Losers as at Monday 01 June 2015 

GAINERS 

Company Opening Closing Change 

SEPLAT 338 345 7 

GUINNESS 163 164 1 

PZ 29.18 30 0.82 

UACN 41.2 41.5 0.3 

MOBIL 146.8 147 0.2 

LOSERS 

Company Opening Closing Change 

TOTAL 174 161 -13 

FO 176 168 -8 

NB 150.1 147 -3.1 

FLOURMILL 36.2 34.51 -1.69 

PRESCO 35.2 34 -1.2 

Market Statistics as at Monday 01 June 2015 

ASI (Points) 34,044.65 

DEALS (Numbers) 4,184.00 

VOLUME (Numbers) 340,714,123.00 

VALUE (N billion) 5.502 

MARKET CAP (N Trn) 11.568 

Total, Flour Mills, others drive 

stock market southwards 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU 

The Nigerian 

stock market 

opened this 

week on a negative, 

reflecting 

weak sentiment that is 

driven by uncertainties 

trailing the economy and 

financial markets. 

The Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE) All Share 

Index (ASI) declined by 

0.77 percent after 21 stocks 

gained against 35 that lost 

their values. 

The value of listed equities 

dropped by N90.3bn 

to settle at N11.63trn from 

N11.659trn the preceding 

trading day, while the NSE 

All-Share Index dropped 

from a preceding trading 

day level of 34,310.37 

points to 34,231.23 points 

yesterday. The Year-to- 

Date (YtD) return stood at 

-1.77 percent. 

Total Nigeria plc led 

the losers table after its 

share price declined by 

N13, from N174 to N161; 

while Flour Mills Nigeria 

plc declined from N36.2 to 

N34.95, losing N1.25. 

Seplat Petroleum 

Development 

Company plc recorded 

a 51 percent 

rise in gas revenues 

for 2014. Seplat, which is 

dual listed on the Nigeria 

and London Stock Exchanges, 

has always highlighted 

its gas commercialisation 

strategy as a 

key revenue driver for the 

company. The company 

holds its annual general 

meeting today in Lagos. 

During its historic and 

oversubscribed IPO, Seplat 

with an average gross 

gas production of 99 million 

standard cubic feet 

per day in 2013 had projected 

that it would triple 

its gas production by end 

2016 through massive investments 

in processing 

and delivery infrastructure. 

In February, Seplat 

concluded a 10 day tie-in 

on its Oben plant to enable 

the company have 

a “single homogenous 

plant consisting of 2 by 

45 MMSCF and 2 by 75 

MMSCF trains able to 

deliver 240MMSCF/D 

WAGP specification gas 

post-commissioning, 

from the Oben node. 

This facility expansion 

and upgrade will bring 

the company’s overall 

daily gas production capacity 

to slightly over 

Okomu Oil Palm plc 

lost N1, from N29.5 to 

N28.5; Presco dipped from 

N35.2 to N34.45, losing 

N0.75; while Zenith Bank 

plc declined from N21.44 

to N20.98, losing N0.46. 

On the gainers table, 

Seplat Petroleum Devel- 

Seplat’s gas profit soars despite oil revenue slide 

... as firm holds AGM today 

PATRICK ATUANYA 

opment Company plc 

led the basket of stocks 

that gained after its share 

price moved up by N7, 

from N338 to N345. Guinness 

Nigeria plc rallied by 

N1, from N163 to N164; 

followed by PZ Cussons 

Nigeria plc which added 

N0.82, from N29.18 to 

N30. 

Stanbic IBTC Holdings 

plc also gained after 

its share price rose from 

N29.9 to N30.7, adding 

N0.8; while Mobil Oil Nigeria 

plc rose by N0.2, 

from N146.8 to N147. 

The volume of equities 

traded decreased 

by 52.10 percent, from 

711.26million to 340.71 

million, while the total 

value of stock traded 

decreased by 53.8 percent 

from N11.92billion 

to N5.50billion in 4,184 

deals. 

Vitafoam assures NSE, stockbrokers on compliance with post listing requirements 

The management of 

Vitafoam Nigeria 

plc has assured the 

Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE) and stockbrokers 

that the company 

would continue to provide 

timely information to 

shareholders in line with 

the Exchange’s post listing 

requirements. 

Addressing the 

stockbrokers during the 

300mmscf/d.” 

Nigeria, the holder 

of Africa’s largest gas reserves 

with about 182 

Tcf of proven gas, raised 

the price of gas to power 

plants to $2.50 per million 

standard cubic feet plus 

80 cents for transport last 

August. 

In an interview with 

BusinessDay held earlier 

this year Seplat CEO Austin 

Avuru said the company 

could get as much 

as $5 per million standard 

cubic feet for supplying 

industries like cement or 

petrochemical plants. 

“We have materially 

grown our reserve base, 

delivered full year average 

daily production in 

line with guidance and 

exceeded peak rate objectives. 

Expansion plans for 

our gas business gathered 

pace and the new Oben 

gas processing plant will 

allow us to increase supply 

to the domestic market,” 

Avuru said while 

commenting on the results. 

company’s “facts behind 

the figures” presentation 

Monday at 

the Nigerian Stock Exchange, 

Taiwo Adeniyi, 

acting Group Managing 

Director, Vitafoam Nigeria 

plc explained that 

the company would 

continue to sustain 

its culture of ensuring 

shareholder value and 

improved return on investment 

(RoI). 

The company’s gross 

profit was up by 5.4 per 

cent to N5.4 billion while 

profit after tax rose by 

11.8 per cent to N435 

million. 

Meanwhile, the company 

has proposed a 

gross dividend of N246 

million and a bonus 

share of one for every 

five shares held for approval 

by the shareholders 

at the Annual General 

Meeting scheduled for 

this month. 

The foremost manufacturer 

of flexible, reconstituted 

and rigid foam 

products also ascribed its 

impressive performance 

to six major factors, ranging 

from strong brand equity 

to leader and pacesetter 

advantage. 

Memo to Muhammadu Buhari... 

Continued from back page 

Please go ahead and 

reduce the size and cost 

of governance 

It has been pleasing 

to hear that you intend 

to reduce the number of 

ministers. That will be 

good but how will you 

deal with the constitutional 

requirement of at 

least one minister from 

a state? I support scrapping 

the minister of state 

position if feasible. But 

even if this is difficult, 

there is so much that 

can be done to reduce 

recurrent expenditure 

which is ‘eating up’ our 

national budget and getting 

worse year after year. 

First, please do not let the 

Academic Staff Union 

of Universities (ASUU), 

the Non-Academic Staff 

Union (NASU), the Nigeria 

Medical Association 

(NMA) and such other 

“selfish” trade unions 

and professional organizations 

run circles over 

you. They are among the 

unions that drag every 

government down the 

path of extra-budgetary 

spending through 

strikes, blackmail and 

arm-twisting. Second, 

as I had indicated in the 

first part of my memo 

to you last week, kindly 

resist the urge to proliferate 

committees and 

commissions. And in doing 

this, you will need to 

carry along the National 

Assembly that seems to 

attach an administrative 

machinery to every law, 

creating new public bodies 

with virtually every 

new legislation. Please go 

ahead and merge many 

of the existing agencies. If 

an existing agency is not 

delivering its mandate, 

then sack its leadership 

or restructure or reform 

such agency, rather than 

setting new ones. This 

is where your surfeit of 

political will comes into 

play. 

Please do not allow 

abandoned projects 

One of the good 

things that the out-gone 

government tried to do 

in my view was that they 

pursued projects from 

previous administrations. 

I know we have a 

different party in government. 

But it is still 

the same country and 

the same people. Money 

already invested in these 

projects belongs to the 

people. If you wish to 

probe any such unfinished 

projects, please 

do so speedily and punish 

any malfeasance, 

but minimize loss of 

momentum. President 

Umaru Yar’Adua (of 

blessed memory) halted 

several of President 

Obasanjo’s projects (especially 

in the power 

sector), some in concert 

with the National Assembly, 

and after nearly 

two years of enquiry and 

rigmarole, nothing was 

achieved, rather we lost 

momentum and the nation 

suffered for that. I 

believe a critical essence 

of handover notes is to 

show status of ongoing 

projects. Thereafter, it 

will not be difficult to 

prioritize them and pursue 

their early completion 

for the benefit of our 

people. 

Kindly resolve the 

stagnation/decline in the 

petroleum upstream sector 

I do not quite understand 

why the National 

Assembly has failed to 

pass the Petroleum Industry 

Bill after over 

seven years. The 6th Assembly 

failed to enact 

the law. The 7th has finished 

and yet failed to 

enact the bill. Is it political 

intrigue or crass lack 

of understanding of the 

criticality of that sector 

to the national economy? 

I feel pain in my 

heart each time I hear 

that the oil sector majors 

are divesting and selling 

their assets. I feel a sense 

of loss when I read that 

Angola, Ghana, Equatorial 

Guinea and many 

smaller African countries 

have become more 

attractive for oil sector 

investors than my beloved 

nation. I have often 

wondered if no one 

really cared that we were 

imperilling the economic 

future of our country. 

So sir, kindly make this 

a priority to see this bill 

through within the first 

90 days of your administration. 

Or am I tasking 

you too much? Okay sir, 

I will stop here this week 

and complete my memo 

next week. Please enjoy 

your first week in office!


BUSINESS DAY 

47

BUSINESS DAY NEWS 

MAZI SAM OHUABUNWA 

Chairman, African Centre for 

Business Development, Strategy 

& Innovation (ACBDSI). 

Your Excellency, I 

am praying that as 

you have finally assumed 

office as the 

4th democratically 

elected president in this 4th 

Republic, that you will do well, 

much better than the already 

very high expectations. That’s 

why I made the three simple 

recommendations to you 

last week that you choose the 

best lieutenants to support 

the implementation of your 

vision for Nigeria. After you 

have determined what you 

want to achieve for Nigeria 

or where you want to take 

Nigeria to in your four years, 

I believe that you know that 

your next most critical assignment 

is to find the men 

and women to whom you will 

commit the implementation 

of your vision. This is always 

the most critical function of a 

chief executive officer (CEO), 

which you have become, as 

the CEO of the enterprise 

called Nigeria Inc. If you get 

this wrong, sir, you may have 

to carry more burden than 

is necessary and your vision 

may be under-achieved. I 

know that you came to power 

on the platform of a political 

party and you will be ‘sharing’ 

offices and requesting 

governors and other party 

leaders to nominate those 

who will work with you and for 

you in the executive branch of 

government. I know there is 

something called zoning and 

federal character. I really do 

not have much problem with 

that in our type of federation 

and given the level of our 

development as a nation. My 

only suggestion is that only 

the BEST from any zone or 

state or local government area 

should be appointed to any 

given position, whether they 

are professional politicians 

or technocrats. I believe that 

there are excellent people 

everywhere, but many may 

not want to or indeed may not 

know how to lobby. So I wish 

that you do a talent hunt for 

key assignments and please 

interview your appointees, 

especially those that will report 

to you directly. You may 

be disappointed if you depend 

only on recommendations. 

My further humble plea is that 

if you need to hire somebody 

to build a skyscraper for our 

country, we need to know the 

height of the building he has 

built in the past. Learning on 

the job is not bad if we had the 

time to wait or the resources 

to waste in the trial and error 

that happens with learning 

on the job. The work that Nigerians 

expect you to do is so 

important, urgent and Herculean 

that you can neither take 

chances nor outsource your 

key responsibility. 

My second issue of ‘political 

will’ should not be much 

problem. You are famed for 

having that in sufficient quantity 

and I pray that you never 

run short. There are many 

countervailing forces that 

will try to undermine you and 

test your resolve. If you do not 

want anything personally for 

yourself and you have determined 

to make all the sacrifice 

for Nigeria, then the WILL will 

remain intact. 

On my third matter of the 

fear of God, I will remain praying 

and trust that many other 

Nigerians will be praying that 

you enthrone righteousness 

in governance. My Holy Book 

tells me that ‘when the righteous 

are in power, the people 

rejoice, but when the wicked 

bear rule, the people mourn’. 

I pray that Nigerians will not 

mourn during your tenure. 

Your Excellency, permit 

me to turn to a few other 

critical matters in this my 

memo especially as it touches 

on our economy. As a patriotic 

Nigerian (kindly permit 

the boast) and one who has 

spent a reasonable part of my 

adult life in advocacy for good 

governance and accelerated 

economic development of our 

nation, I believe that your suc- 

cess is our collective success 

and therefore anyone who has 

ideas (hopefully good) can 

present them and you may 

accept or reject depending 

on how such ideas support or 

detract from your vision. You 

may therefore wish to consider 

the following suggestions 

(which are in no way novel) as 

you mount the saddle. 

Full deregulation of the 

downstream petroleum sector 

I join those who suggested 

that this should have been 

included in your inaugural 

address. But whether it was 

or not, I believe this should be 

one of your first actions. Luckily 

or fortuitously I may say, 

the nation seems to have been 

fully prepared for this to happen. 

In the last three weeks or 

so, Nigerians across the country 

have confronted the worst 

consequences of lack of a fully 

deregulated downstream petroleum 

sector. The suffering 

we have gone through even 

to buy ‘subsidized’ fuel at up 

to N400 per litre has prepared 

us to accept full deregulation, 

where there will be full availability 

and yet the price will be 

lower than N200 per litre. The 

savings from the subsidy can 

be applied to infrastructure or 

other critical social services 

that will benefit all Nigerians. 

And if we believe that the subsidy 

scheme is fraught with 

corruption, fully deregulating 

refined petroleum prices 

Vicious circle in coastal shipping (2) 

Ownership of vessels 

In this column last week, it 

was stated that the Cabotage 

Act of 2003 is to stimulate 

the development of 

indigenous capacity, conserve 

and generate foreign exchange 

for the nation, engender economic 

prosperity and create 

employment in Nigeria’s maritime 

industry. 

Most of the vessels operated 

by indigenous operators 

for cabotage operations are 

below specifications and not 

seaworthy. It is common to 

find very old vessels in our 

coastal waters as reflected in 

the number of shipwrecks. Although 

an age limit of 15 years 

is placed on vessels operating 

under the Cabotage Act, it is 

argued by some indigenous 

operators that effectiveness 

and performance of vessels are 

not only determined by age. 

They further argue that any vessel 

that is maintained regularly 

is seaworthy. Those who only 

consider maintenance of ships 

as essential requirement for 

seaworthiness are not wrong 

but perhaps ignorant of the 

fact that an old ship will require 

huge funds to maintain. They 

may also be oblivious that 

maritime safety is very key to 

coastal shipping. The view that 

age of a ship does not matter 

in determining her seaworthi- 

ness is flawed. This is because 

seaworthiness of a ship goes 

beyond regular maintenance. 

For a vessel to be categorized 

as seaworthy, the equipment 

must be operational, while the 

skills and fitness of the crew 

must be of acceptable international 

standard. 

Shipwrecks constitute a 

form of waste in our waters and 

indeed environmental pollution. 

When ships for coastal 

business are not seaworthy, 

maritime safety is likely to be 

compromised. There is likelihood 

of environmental pollution 

in the event of an accident 

with severe penalties in accordance 

with the provisions of the 

International Convention for 

the Prevention of Pollution 

from Ships (MARPOL). To 

reduce marine environmental 

pollution in the oil and gas sectors 

of the nation’s economy, 

vessels are now mandated to 

have double hull. As a result of 

shift to double-hull tankers on 

5 April, 2005 by the International 

Maritime Organization 

(IMO), oil discharges and spills 

to the sea have been reduced 

globally by 63 percent when 

compared to the mid 1980s, 

while tanker accidents have 

gone down by 75 percent and 

wastes from industrial discharges 

by 90 percent. The 

dominance of Nigeria’s coastal 

water by single-hull ships, 

YOU CAN TRUST I TUESDAY 02 JUNE 2015 

Memo to Muhammadu Buhari, president, C-in-C (2) 

besides other political considerations, 

is perhaps responsible 

for waiver to enable foreign 

ship owners with double-hull 

vessels operate in Nigeria’s 

coastal water. 

The payment of $50,000 

as waiver by indigenous ship 

owners is exorbitant. This 

amount may need to be reviewed 

downward to enable 

indigenous ship owners break 

even. Granting of waiver is 

technical and its management 

should not be vested in the 

minister of transport alone. 

The granting and management 

of waiver should also 

include industry professionals 

and representatives of ship 

operators. Otherwise the probability 

is high that the minister 

of transport who most times 

is a politician may grant waivers 

alone purely on political 

grounds to cronies in order to 

build indigenous capacity in 

shipping. 

Shipbuilding 

In the past, a few Nigerian 

shipyards built service and 

supply vessels but this was 

not considered profitable due 

to high cost of production as 

it took about two-three years 

or more to build such vessels. 

Available data shows that in 

2012, Nigeria had about 19 

ship repair yards with only 85 

percent of these yards underutilized. 

With the upsurge in de- 

mand for ship repair in Nigeria 

occasioned by the Cabotage 

Act, the management of a few 

shipyards have decided to 

concentrate on ship repairs 

only because of comparative 

advantage over shipbuilding 

in terms of net profit. The few 

shipyards that are utilized for 

ship repair are booked from 

the beginning of the year till the 

end such that some vessels end 

up in countries like Cameroon, 

Ghana and South Africa. 

The shipbuilding nations 

are South Korea, USA, China, 

India and Brazil amongst others. 

Nigeria is not one of the 

countries acclaimed by the 

world to be a shipbuilding nation. 

In Africa, countries such 

as Algeria and Egypt have built 

ships in commercial quantity 

for cabotage operations. 

The newly-commissioned NI- 

MASA shipyard and dockyard 

should be dedicated more to 

shipbuilding. This will enable 

the nation develop capacity 

in shipbuilding while assisting 

indigenous ship operators to 

acquire new vessels which may 

be more expensive than an imported 

vessel of same tonnage. 

If shipbuilding is encouraged 

in Nigeria, one of the pillars 

of the Act which specifies that 

ships must be indigenously 

built would have been satisfied. 

Else, weak shipbuilding 

capacity would be a challenge 

should be seen as a critical 

fight against corruption. 

Please sir, you will need 

to do this now and remove 

this burden from our backs. 

President Goodluck Jonathan 

tried to do it in 2012 but it 

looked as if Nigerians were 

not quite ready and so it was 

only partially successful. I 

believe they are ready now, 

more so that no political party 

seems to be in any position 

to take advantage as was the 

case in 2012. If we do not do 

it now, it may become much 

more difficult if the price of 

crude recovers further in the 

international market. Please 

recollect that we spent close 

to N2 trillion in subsidy payments 

in 2011 and nearly N1 

trillion yearly ever since then. 

Our economy can no longer 

afford this burden and the 

drop in the international oil 

price presents us with the 

best opportunity to end this 

economic travesty. Please take 

this ‘hard’ decision now. 

Resist the temptation to reverse 

or halt the deregulation 

of the electric power sector 

It is true that many Nigerians 

have expressed dissatisfaction 

with the lack of 

significant improvement in 

the power situation since 

the GENCOS and DISCOS 

were sold to private investors. 

Many have questioned the 

benefit to Nigeria and I have 

heard comments suggesting 

that it is not rocket science to 

regarding implementation of 

the Cabotage Act in Nigeria. 

Manpower 

Under the cabotage regime, 

indigenous vessels are 

to be manned by Nigerians 

but unfortunately because of 

the dearth of qualified seafarers 

in the maritime sector, 

this requirement of the Act is 

difficult to implement. The 

training programmes embarked 

upon by NIMASA have 

not made significant impact 

on the level of human capacity 

development for cabotage 

operation. Nearly 3,000 young 

Nigerians are reported to have 

been sponsored for training 

by NIMASA at different maritime 

institutions. This figure 

is inadequate as the standard 

practice is to have three professionally 

qualified staff ashore to 

support one staff onboard any 

vessel. There is manpower gap 

in the industry as Nigeria will 

need to train more seafarers. 

The Nigerian Maritime University, 

Okerenkoko, Delta State is 

a good step in building human 

capacity for the nation’s maritime 

industry. Government 

should ensure that within the 

next five years, the maritime 

university is in the White List 

of the IMO. This will give graduates 

of the maritime university 

pro-industry qualifications required 

in the maritime industry 

as ship owners will not employ 

provide electricity. It will hurt 

our ability to attract foreign 

investment should we do 

anything that may suggest 

a reversal. For many years 

the nation invested so much 

in the power sector and the 

output has not been commensurate 

with investment. 

Having sold the assets, we are 

at least no longer required to 

take money from our national 

purse to run ‘NEPA’. Again, 

every attempt to deregulate 

and privatize publicly-run 

businesses is in my opinion 

a good effort to fight official 

corruption from its root. What 

is advisable is to complete the 

uncompleted power projects 

like that in the Mambila and 

then privatize them. Thereafter, 

we incentivize the private 

sector to take over building 

new plants, including the privatization 

of the Transmission 

Company of Nigeria (TCN). 

Given dwindling government 

revenue, we must be sure that 

we spend the scarce resources 

only in areas exclusive for 

government, like security, 

law and order, regulation and 

where the private sector finds 

unattractive. Your Excellency, 

I am aware that you made a lot 

of promises during the elections, 

but you cannot fulfil all 

of them through public sector 

spending. You will need to 

effectively court the private 

sector to help you in several 

areas. 


Nigerians that are not qualified 

to crew their vessels. These efforts 

will bridge the manpower 

gap created by opportunities 

within the nation’s maritime 

industry. Currently, the manpower 

shortage in the marine 

industry has to be beefed up 

with foreign seafarers. By implication, 

manpower is also 

a challenge exacerbated by 

inadequate training facilities 

and ocean-going vessels for 

sea-time amongst other deficits. 

‘Funding mechanism and 

the way forward’ will conclude 

this piece next week. 

STRATEGY & 

POLICY 

M.A. JOHNSON 

Johnson is a marine project 

management consultant and 

Chartered Engineer. He is a 

Fellow of the Institute of Marine 

Engineering, Science and 

Technology, UK. 

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

Tel: +233243226596: email: mail@businessdayonline.com Advert Hotline: 08116759801, 08082496194. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08022238495 

Editor: Phillip Isakpa. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

BUSINESS DAY 


FT FINANCIAL TIMES 

A1 

Dollar extends rise as data on US manufacturing 

hint at growth 

Page A3 

World Business Newspaper 

US dealmaking smashes 

records set in dotcom 

and debt booms 

• Cheap credit and bullish boardrooms fuel M/A 

• Value amounts to $243bn in May 

UK housing - Property puzzle 

Page A4 

In association with 

JAMES FONTANELLA-KHAN 

AND ROBIN WIGGLESWORTH 

US dealmaking hit a 

monthly record in May, 

surpassing the highs 

seen during the peak of 

the dotcom bubble and 

the zenith of the debt boom that led 

to the 2008 crisis. 

The overall value of deals in US 

bound mergers and acquisitions 

activity amounted to $243bn in May 

compared to $226bn during the same 

month in 2007 and $213bn in January 

2000, the previous biggest and second 

biggest months respectively, according 

to Dealogic data. 

The data underline how frenzied 

US dealmaking has become as cheap 

debt and bullish boardrooms fuel an 

M&A boom of a size not seen since 

just before the last two equity market 

crashes. 

The main drivers were large transactions 

such as Charter’s three-way 

$90bn acquisition of cable companies 

Time Warner Cable and Bright House, 

and Avago’s $37bn deal to acquire 

Broadcom, the largest tech deal since 

the dotcom boom. 

Bankers and lawyers said that they 

expected 2015 to be a record year 

with chief executives under pressure 

to expand their businesses and deals 

constituting the fastest and easiest 

way to achieve that growth. 

Chris Ventresca, global co-head 

of M&A at JPMorgan, said equity 

markets were rewarding deal-driven 

expansion at a time when organic 

growth remained subdued. However, 

prices have risen sharply as the acquisition 

spree has accelerated. 

“As premiums for deals go up 

companies will come under increasing 

scrutiny and will have to defend 

the synergies and rationale of deals,” 

he said. 

The M&A boom has come amid a 

borrowing binge by US companies, as 

treasurers lock in cheap, longer-term 

funding ahead of an expected inter- 

est rate rise by the Federal Reserve. 

Economists believe the US central 

bank will start tightening monetary 

policy in September, a move likely to 

rattle markets that are accustomed to 

low interest rates. 

Average company bond yields 

have halved since 2007 to about 3 

per cent in the US, and there has 

been more than $100bn of corporate 

bond issuance every month for the 

past four months - the longest streak 

of issuance above that mark. Bank of 

America Merrill Lynch predicts June 

will also see more than $100bn. 

“Issuers should realise that the 

window to lock in low long-term 

yields for any purpose is closing,” said 

Hans Mikkelsen, a senior strategist 

at BofA. 

Acquisitions have been mostly 

financed by shares, ample cash reserves 

and bond markets, but some of 

the pre-financial crisis debt structures 

have also staged a comeback. 

Global issuance of collateralised 

loan obligations - bundles of loans 

made to poorly-rated companies that 

are sold in slices to investors - almost 

doubled last year to $99.3bn, according 

to Dealogic. Although below the 

heydays of 2006-07, the market’s 

renaissance has helped lubricate the 

resurgent M&A boom. 

Any Fed moves to increase interest 

rates could dent the plans of corporate 

dealmakers, however, and hurt 

some of the riskier companies laden 

with buyout debt. Standard & Poor’s 

predicted that its gauge of defaults 

for lowly-rated companies would rise 

from 1.8 per cent in March to 2.8 per 

cent by March 2016. 

But most analysts expect the 

frenzy to continue, given the pent-up 

demand for fixed income investments. 

“Short-term rates should rise, 

but long-term yields are likely to be 

more anchored over the next one to 

two years,” said Russ Koesterich chief 

investment strategist at BlackRock. 

Bankers said they expected 2015 

to be a record year 

Novo Banco to be biggest European 

prize for Chinese rivals in €4bn battle 

MARTIN ARNOLD AND PETER 

Portugal’s Novo Banco is set 

to fall into Chinese hands in 

a €4bn-plus deal that would 

be the biggest European financial 

services acquisition by a Chinabased 

group. 

The auction of the “good bank” 

created from the wreckage of Banco 

Espírito Santo has turned into a 

shootout between Anbang Insurance 

and Fosun International, two 

acquisitive Chinese rivals, according 

to several people familiar with the 

situation. 

A Fosun or Anbang takeover of 

Continues on page A2 

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta (R) and his Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni leave after attending celebrations to 

mark Kenya’s Madaraka Day, the 52nd anniversary of the country’s independence, at Nyayo national stadium in Nairobi, 

yesterday. REUTERS 

European energy groups seek UN 

backing for carbon pricing system 

• Six companies include Shell and BP 

• US oil majors shun push for global mechanism 

PILITA CLARK, ED CROOKS 

Six of Europe’s biggest oil and 

gas companies have banded 

together to ask the UN to let 

them help devise a plan to stop 

global warming. 

In a sign of the rising pressure 

on fossil fuel companies ahead 

of a UN meeting in Paris to seal 

an international climate deal, the 

chief executives of groups including 

Royal Dutch Shell and Britain’s 

BP have sought direct talks with 

governments on creating a global 

carbon pricing system. 

“We owe it to future generations 

to seek realistic, workable solutions 

to the challenge of providing 

more energy while tackling climate 

change,” the executives say in a letter 

to the Financial Times revealing 

their plan. 

The six European companies say 

shunning use of coal in electricity 

generation in favour of cleaner 

burning natural gas, a big source of 

their revenues, would sharply curb 

carbon emissions. The chief executives 

wrote to the top UN climate official, 

Christiana Figueres, on Friday 

asking for “direct dialogue with the 

UN and willing governments” on 

designing a carbon scheme. 

“We have important areas of 

interest in and contributions to 

make to creating and implementing 

a workable approach to carbon 

pricing,” said the company chiefs, 

who include the heads of France’s 

Total, Norway’s Statoil, Italy’s Eni 

and Britain’s BG Group. 

Energy companies and their 

trade association representatives 

have typically preferred to lobby 

politicians in private meetings rather 

than via public pronouncements. 

This highly public proposal marks 

a shift in the way they typically approach 

UN climate talks, which they 

usually attend as observers. 

It comes as nearly 200 countries 

prepare to sign a global climate pact 

at a UN conference in December. 

Some countries want the deal to 

include a deadline for phasing out 

fossil fuels that scientists say must be 

curbed to avoid potentially dangerous 

levels of global warming. 

Pressure from politicians and 

some investors for energy companies 

to do more has led to splits 

between European and US energy 

groups. 

The chief executives of Exxon- 

Mobil and Chevron, the two largest 

US oil producers, said last week they 

would not be joining any European 

initiative to forge a common position 

on global warming. 

Rex Tillerson, chairman and 

chief of Exxon, said the company 

would not “fake it” on climate policy. 

“We’re not going to be disingenuous 

about it. We’re not going to fake 

it,” he told the company’s annual 

meeting last week. “We’re going to 

express solutions and policy ideas 

that we think have merit.” 

John Watson, Chevron’s chairman 

and chief, said on Wednesday: 

“We think we can make our statements, 

and our statements speak for 

themselves.” 

The European groups say the 

best way to spur climate-friendly 

investments is for more countries to 

launch carbon pricing moves, such 

as the EU emissions trading system, 

and create a framework linking national 

or regional schemes. 

This would add to costs, they say, 

but also create a level playing field 

and a clearer idea of how to shape 

investment.


A2 BUSINESS DAY 

FT 

Walmart queues up for slice of Kenyan retail 

KATRINA MANSON 

US group hopes Garden City mall 

will help it at last crack coveted 

African hub that is home to a fastgrowing 

middle class 

Even as Walmart raced to open 

its first store in Kenya, there 

were snags. It was forced 

to import the trademark bright 

magenta ink that adorns its brash 

price offers and doorway decor because 

nobody in the country could 

produce it. 

It was one of several obstacles 

the world’s largest retailer has run 

into in Kenya. The US retail group 

has spent the past few years trying 

- and failing - to crack the east African 

hub, whose growth is fuelled by 

aspirational consumption. 

Walmart’s move into Kenya 

highlights the sea change in the 

continent, as a nascent consumer 

NATIONAL NEWS 

class expands and draws in foreign 

investors who had previously 

overlooked the African middle 

class - estimated at 350m by some 

metrics. Accelerating growth in 

the continent, forecast at 4.5 per 

cent this year and 5 per cent next, 

outstrips that of all global regions 

bar developing Asia. 

“We should have been here a 

while ago but we just couldn’t get 

the deal right - unfortunately it’s 

taken us too long,” says Mark Turn- 


er, marketing director at Massmart, 

the South African group in which 

Walmart bought a controlling stake 

in 2011. 

Massmart’s chain Game already 

has 172 other outlets in 11 African 

countries, but Kenya has long been 

the prize beyond its reach. It is also 

a potential pathway for expanding 

Walmart’s existing presence in east 

Africa, a region of 240m people. 

At $53bn, Kenya’s economy is 

far smaller than Nigeria’s $509bn 

economy - Africa’s largest - where 

Game already has stores. But it 

holds the retail crown for the continent. 

While only 5 per cent of Nigeria’s 

retail sector consists of formal 

shopping, rather than open-air 

markets and small kiosks, in Kenya 

the proportion is 30 per cent. 

“The middle class in Kenya is 

really growing. It’s more appealing, 

it’s more sophisticated and 

it’s ready for formal retail,” says Mr 

Turner. 

Novo Banco to be 

biggest European 

Continued from page A1 

Portugal’s third-largest bank by assets 

at the price of more than €4bn 

being mooted by bankers would 

highlight the intensifying pace of 

Chinese investments across Europe’s 

struggling financial services 

industry. 

A report by Rhodium, a Chinafocused 

research group, said Chinese 

foreign direct investment into 

Europe hit $18bn last year, double 

the 2013 level. It said investment 

averaged $10bn annually over the 

past four years. 

Final bids for Novo Banco are 

due by the end of the month. Five 

bidders remain in the process but 

the people said it appeared to be a 

question of which Chinese group 

would pay more. 

A senior Lisbon banker said 

Novo Banco was expected to go to 

one of the Chinese groups because 

they have “the financial capacity to 

make strong bids” and were “the 

most interested in developing the 

bank”. 

The biggest financial services 

investment by a Chinese group in 

Europe to date was the $3bn spent 

by China Development Bank to 

buy a 2.6 per cent stake in Barclays 

in 2007, according to Dealogic. 

Both Anbang and Fosun have been 

buying assets in Europe. Anbang 

this year purchased Dutch insurer 

Vivat in a deal costing as much as 

€1.7bn. Fosun paid €1.7bn last year 

for 80 per cent of Fidelidade, a big 

Portuguese insurer. 

Fosun is best known outside 

China for buying Club Med, while 

Anbang attracted attention when 

it acquired New York’s Waldorf 

Astoria Hotel. 

From 15 initial contenders, five 

groups were selected by the Bank 

of Portugal to go through to the 

final phase of the auction. Apart 

from Anbang and Fosun, the other 

bidders are Spain’s Santander and 

the US private equity groups Apollo 

Global Management and Cerberus. 

BNP Paribas is advising the Bank 

of Portugal on the sale of Novo 

Banco. 

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense David Shear (L) shakes hands with Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu 

Trong as U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (R) and Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius (2nd L) look on, at the Party’s headquarters 

in Hanoi, Vietnam, yesterday. Carter discussed his call for an end to island-building in the South China Sea in talks on Monday with 

his Vietnamese counterpart, who said Vietnam had not expanded its islands but had done work to prevent wave erosion. REUTERS 

Fifa scandal threatens South Africa’s legacy 

• Corruption probe puts 2010 World Cup hosts in spotlight over alleged $10m bribe paid to secure the event 

ANDREW ENGLAND AND 

MALCOLM MOORE 

When a frail Nelson Mandela, 

former South African 

president, was wheeled 

out in a golf buggy at a packed Johannesburg 

stadium for the closing 

ceremony of the 2010 World Cup, 

the roar from the crowd marked the 

culmination of what was deemed 

an overwhelming success for South 

Africa. 

The nation had defied the naysayers 

who warned of poor organisation 

and fretted over the high 

crime rate to host a tournament 

- the first in Africa - that earned 

global praise and unleashed a 

swell of national pride. “We can all 

applaud Africa,” said Sepp Blatter, 

president of Fifa, after the vote. 

“The victor is football, the victor 

is Africa.” 

Mr Blatter had campaigned for 

an African World Cup four years 

earlier, chastising Fifa’s executive 

committee for not having vision 

when they awarded the competition 

to Germany, which held the 

tournament in 2006. 

The corruption scandal engulfing 

Fifa threatens to tarnish the 

legacy as South Africa has been 

thrust into the centre of a storm 

over whether its football authorities 

paid a $10m bribe in its bid to host 

the tournament. 

A central element of the FBI 

investigation into corruption at 

Fifa - which led to the dawn arrest 

of seven senior Fifa officials last 

week - is what the US indictment 

describes as “2010 Fifa World Cup 

Vote Scheme”. Over five pages, the 

indictment outlines what it alleges 

was an example of bribes securing 

votes from Fifa officials for 

countries competing to host the 

World Cup. 

In a robust defence of South 

Africa, Fikile Mbalula, sports minister, 

has denied any bribes were 

paid, describing the allegations as 

“as an attack on our sovereignty.” 

“We refuse to allow the reputation 

of our republic to be tarnished 

unduly without affording 

the republic and its citizens an 

opportunity to respond to any al- 

legations made,” he said in a statement 

on Sunday. “We reject these 

falsehoods with the contempt they 

deserve.” 

The US indictment into the 

2010 World Cup bid alleges that 

Jack Warner, a former Fifa vicepresident 

and ex-chief of Concacaf, 

football’s governing body for North 

and Central America and the Caribbean, 

was initially offered $1m 

in 2004 by Morocco, South Africa’s 

rival, in exchange for his vote. 

But subsequently Chuck Blazer, 

ex-general secretary of Concacaf, 

learned from Mr Warner that 

“high-ranking officials of Fifa, the 

South African government, and the 

South African bid committee were 

prepared to arrange for the government 

of South Africa to pay $10m 

to ‘support the African diaspora’.” 

Mr Blazer, who was allegedly 

paid $750,000 by Mr Warner, “understood 

the offer to be in exchange 

for World Cup votes”, the indictment 

alleges. Mr Warner, who is 

among those indicted, was arrested 

in Trinidad last week in connection 

with the US investigation. 

How Renault embraced 

Indian frugality with 

$4,700 Kwid 

JAMES CRABTREE 

The French group’s bid to crack India’s 

tricky car market involved a rethink 

from the bottom up, writes James 

Crabtree 

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of 

Renault-Nissan, describes his 

latest car in near-miraculous 

terms. “I asked my product engineers 

to develop it. I asked in France and I 

asked in Japan,” he recalls of the early 

days of his quest to build an ultracheap 

hatchback, fit to conquer the 

world’s major emerging markets. “All 

of them said: it is impossible.” 

Despite this early scepticism, the 

61-year-old last month bounded on 

to a stage in the Indian auto hub of 

Chennai to unveil the Renault Kwid 

- the first time a European group 

had launched a new made-in-India 

car, let alone one whose design and 

engineering teams had been based 

in the country too. 

On the outside, the Kwid seems 

unremarkable. It is a compact car, 

with small wheels and styling that 

resembles a mini-sport utility vehicle. 

But its price tag is eye-catching: at 

just Rs300,000 ($4,700), it pits Renault 

against the big guns of India’s 

bargain-basement small car industry, 

notably market leader Maruti Suzuki. 

And that low price was only possible, 

Mr Ghosn contends, because 

of the model’s reliance on “frugal 

engineering”. 

The notion of frugal innovationis 

hardly new. Customers in emerging 

markets want products with plenty 

of bells and whistles, the theory goes, 

but at much lower prices than their 

equivalents in the industrialised 

world. Business leaders such as Mr 

Ghosn and Jeff Immelt of GE have 

promoted frugal thinking as a serious 

response to many of the challenges 

now facing global enterprises. 

Yet if frugal innovation has a 

voguish quality, the problems it tries 

to address are real enough - namely 

the many failures endured by western 

companies in countries such as India, 

because they are unable to churn out 

decent products at the rock-bottom 

prices expected by consumers.


@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 2015 

FINANCIAL TIMES 


BUSINESS DAY 

A3 


Dollar extends rise as data on US 

manufacturing hint at growth 

DAVE SHELLOCK 

Euro and stocks fall as investors track 

mood in Athens, while in China the 

bulls regain control on fresh stimulus 

hopes 

The dollar extended early 

gains and Treasury yields 

shot higher after a moderately 

positive report on US manufacturing 

played to expectations that the 

economy’s weakness in the first 

quarter would prove temporary. 

But US and European stocks 

struggled to establish a clear direction 

at the start of the month, although 

their Chinese counterparts 

resumed strong upward momentum 

as weak data fuelled talk of 

further stimulus measures. 

By midday in New York, the 

dollar index - a measure of the US 

currency against a weighted basket 

of its peers - was up 0.7 per cent at 

97.63, less than 3 per cent short of a 

12-year high struck in March. 

As uncertainties over the outcome 

of Greece’s “cash-for-reforms” 

negotiations with creditors 

weighed, the euro was 0.7 per cent 

lower at $1.0911. 

The latest leg-up for the dollar 

came after the Institute for Supply 

Management’s manufacturing 

index edged up to 52.8 in May from 

51.5, ahead of expectations and the 

highest reading since February. 

Its new-orders component rose 

to a five-month high while the employment 

sub-index came in at the 

highest since February. 

Furthermore, a separate report 

showed that construction spending 

in April reached the highest level 

since November 2008. 

The reports contrasted with 

data showing flat consumer spending 

in April as inflation pressures 

remained muted. “Nonetheless, 

with the labour market continuing 

to make progress and real incomes 

moving in the right direction, we 

suspect that consumer spending will 

make a more positive contribution 

to the growth story in the second half 

of the year with the Federal Reserve 

likely responding in the third quarter 

with tighter monetary policy,” said 

James Knightley, an economist at 

ING. 

The US government bond market 

appeared to agree with the 10-year 

Treasury yield, which moves inversely 

to the price, as it climbed 

6 basis points to 2.15 per cent after 

touching a one-month low on 

Friday. The more policy-sensitive 

two-year yield was 2bp higher at 

0.63 per cent. 

The Treasury sell-off drove some 

late price action in Europe. The 10- 

year German Bund yield ended 4bp 

higher at 0.53 per cent, after earlier 

showing little reaction to final eurozone 

purchasing managers’ indices 

and German inflation data, according 

to traders. 

Uncertainty about Greece was 

viewed as an important factor behind 

a widening of the spreads 

between Bunds and “peripheral” 

eurozone yields. Italian and Spanish 

10-years both rose 9bp, to 1.95 

per cent 1.93 per cent respectively. 

But Divyang Shah, global strategist 

at IFR Markets, said the consensus 

was still that concerns over 

Greece would remain contained, 

especially with the European Central 

Bank “front-loading” its assetbuying 

programme ahead of the 

slower summer trading months. 

Retail sale of Lloyds shares 

within 12 months 

EMMA DUNKLEY 

The government will launch a 

retail sale of shares in Lloyds 

Banking Group within the 

next 12 months as it accelerates 

plans to offload the rest of its 

£13.6bn stake. 

The Treasury yesterday said 

that it was extending a programme 

of drip-feeding shares into the 

market until the end of the year, 

having recovered £3.5bn since 

December. It revealed that it had 

sold a further 1 per cent of its stake 

in Lloyds, reducing the taxpayer’s 

holding to below 19 per cent. 

The government also committed 

to selling off a portion of 

its stake to individual investors, 

stating that it would set out further 

details in “due course”. 

David Cameron, prime minister, 

unveiled plans last month before 

the election for a £4bn retail 

share sale at a discount to market 

price, as part of a push to offload 

another £9bn stake this year. 

Lord Blackwell, chairman of 

Lloyds, said after the bank’s an- 

nual meeting in May that “it’s 

possible and would be very desirable” 

for the government to finish 

selling its holding in Lloyds within 

the next year. 

Chancellor George Osborne 

said that the government was 

“determined to get on with the 

job of returning Lloyds to private 

ownership”. 

The trading plan - of drip-feeding 

shares - was set to finish at the 

end of June. This will be extended 

for six months until the end of 

2015, with proceeds returned to 

the taxpayer and used to pay down 

the national debt. 

The plan differs from the government’s 

previous share disposal 

methods of selling chunks of its 

stake to institutional investors at 

a discount. 

Under the conditions of the 

plan, which allow for a simultaneous 

retail sale, shares will be 

sold only above the 73.6p price 

at which the government bought 

shares in the bank. 

Shares in Lloyds yesterday rose 

1 per cent to close at 88.7p, up from 

76p at the start of the year. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with President of the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia 

Leonid Tibilov during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, yesterday. REUTERS 

Brokers turn to crowdfunding for start-up listings 

JUDITH EVANS 

Individuals given chance to invest 

as little as £100 amid innovative 

website tie-up 

Corporate finance houses including 

FinnCap and Grant 

Thornton are to list earlystage 

equity deals on a crowdfunding 

website in the first tie-up of its 

kind. 

The brokers plan to list a portion 

of investments that have typically 

been available only to wealthy investors 

and venture capitalists, offering 

the same terms to individual investors 

as institutions. People will be 

able to invest as little as £100. 

The arrangement demonstrates 

the extent to which City firms have 

begun to take equity and debt 

crowdfunding seriously as its growth 

accelerates. 

InvestingZone, a crowdfunding 

site backed by venture capitalist Jon 

Moulton, will begin by offering equi- 

BHP sinks after broker raises alarm over 

lack of conventional oilfields 

BRYCE ELDER 

BHP Billitonneeds oil acquisitions 

to avoid going ex-growth, 

according to Deutsche Bank 

analysts. 

With just nine years of proven oil 

reserves remaining, it was necessary 

for conventional fields to replace 

BHP’s US onshore projects that were 

uneconomic at current oil prices, the 

broker said. 

BHP had “not made a commercial 

oil discovery since 2004 despite 

spending $6.8bn” on exploration, it 

added. A Trinidad & Tobago prospect 

set to be drilled next year could 

be significant but, if it failed, BHP 

would need deals to fill the production 

gap, the analysts argued. 

Deutsche reckoned that BHP 

could afford to spend up to $10bn 

on undeveloped prospects, with 

the Gulf of Mexico, west Africa and 

Brazil the most likely locations. But 

after it overpaid for US Fayetteville 

ty in Every Cloud, a UK-based cloud 

computing company, through the 

Manchester-based broker Acceleris. 

“These are deals that the public 

wouldn’t normally get to see, deals 

that have already had quite a bit 

of institutional investment,” said 

InvestingZone chief executive Jean 

Miller. 

Ms Miller said that the brokers, 

which also include Nexus and 

CMR, agreed to take part because 

companies are increasingly turning 

to crowdfunding for finance in their 

early stages. 

“They [the brokers] realised that 

if they don’t have a profile in this 

growing market they could lose out. 

This is a good way to get sensible 

companies in the pipeline and it 

also increases investment capacity.” 

Some £84m was raised through 

online equity crowdfunding platforms 

last year, according to Nesta, 

an innovation charity, while three 

big platforms have between them 

and Petrohawk, the shale producers, 

investors would be wary of more 

mergers and acquisitions activity, 

it said. 

BHP ended 1.5 per cent lower 

to £13.60, a six-week low, after 

Deutsche cut the stock from its 

“buy” list. 

Miners and oil stocks weighed on 

the wider market, leading the FTSE 

100 lower by 0.4 per cent, or 30.85 

points, at 6,953.58. 

Kaz Mineralslost 2.7 per cent to 

244.7p on the first day of a trip to its 

Bozshakol copper project in Kazakhstan, 

which is set to start commercial 

production in the first half of 2016. 

Cash looked tight, analysts said, after 

Kaz set out costs of up to $2.2bn 

against funding in place of $2.5bn. 

An upgrade from RBC lifted 

Cairn Energy 1.2 per cent to 172p. 

The broker expected good news 

from the oil explorer’s low-risk appraisal 

drilling off Senegal. 

Intel’s $16.7bn bid for Altera 

done £38m of deals this year, according 

to the data provider AltFi. 

The Financial Conduct Authority 

has warned that crowdfunding 

is very risky for investors, saying 

“you are very likely to lose all your 

money” in the asset class, as most 

start-ups fail. 

Simon Thorn, corporate finance 

executive at Acceleris - which advised 

on the £15m Aim flotation of 

Redx Pharma in March - said that 

his company expected to offer about 

five deals through InvestingZone 

this year. 

The company is keen to support 

efforts to professionalise crowdfunding, 

he added. “Crowdfunding 

is a fantastic way for early-stage or 

start-up companies to attract a first 

round of funding. But if that’s not 

carried out professionally - if it was 

at, say, a very high valuation - then 

that could be a problem later. It 

needs to be done with a commonsense 

approach.” 

kept chipmakers in focus, helping 

Imagination Technologies gain 6.6 

per cent to 233.7p. The group was 

more likely to be a takeover target 

since Intel’s sale of its stake, said 

Liberum Securities, which saw Synopsys, 

Cadence and Rambus among 

the potential acquirers. 

The stock was trading at a discount 

to its sector and any buyer 

would be able to shut the Pure radio 

business, resulting in an instant 20 

per cent increase to group earnings, 

the broker added. 

Ashtead bounced 2.8 per cent 

to £11.51, having slipped last week 

after United Rentals, its main competitor, 

said that May had been disappointing. 

Merrill Lynch repeated 

“buy” advice, saying: “We believe a 

slightly more cautious rate environment 

is already discounted in our 

forecasts and that Ashtead has a 

more aggressive growth strategy than 

United, which should ensure that it 

continues its rapid expansion.”


A4 BUSINESS DAY 

FT ANALYSIS In association with 

UK housing - Property puzzle 

As more people struggle to buy or even rent a home, critics argue that the new government should shift from 

supporting demand via its costly subsidies regime to cooling prices by ensuring adequate supply. 

KATE ALLEN 

The former bed and 

breakfast hotel close to 

Blackpool’s seafront has, 

like the northern English 

town itself, seen better 

days. 

The owner, Val, has been renting 

its 19 rooms to long-term unemployed 

benefit claimants since 1982. 

Each tenant receives £91 a week in 

housing benefit to subsidise their 

rent - meaning that Val, who likens 

the house to “one big family”, earns 

close to £90,000 a year from the state: 

more than three times the national 

average wage. 

Val is not alone. The seaside 

town’s landlords received £91m 

in housing benefit last year. Of the 

17,500 privately rented homes more 

than 14,000 qualify for housing 

benefit, the highest proportion in 

the country. The situation is being 

repeated around the UK, which paid 

£24bn in rent subsidies in 2013/14, 

double the amount a decade ago 

and the equivalent of £1 in every £4 

in Britain’s budget deficit. 

Iain Duncan Smith, work and 

pensions secretary, has described 

the rent subsidies as part of a “dysfunctional 

welfare system” that often 

traps those it is supposed to help. 

Cutting benefit spending is high on 

the new Conservative government’s 

list of priorities. 

But anti-poverty campaigners 

argue that without the subsidies 

thousands of families would be 

homeless. Opponents counter that 

they ultimately line the pockets of 

neglectful landlords and fuel rising 

house prices by increasing their 

bidding power when buying homes. 

“No one wakes up in the morning 

with the aspiration of living in a 

bedsit,” says Steve Matthews, director 

of housing for Blackpool council. 

“People end up in this accommodation 

because they are vulnerable and 

they have no other choice.” 

Val’s tenants are at the sharp end 

of a housing crisis. A shortfall in 

supply as too few houses are built, 

has been compounded by rising demand 

due to a growing population, 

which increased by 7.6 per cent in 

the 10 years to 2013. Partly as a result 

London house prices per square foot 

are now the second highest in the 

world after Monaco, according to 

the London School of Economics’ 

Centre for Economic Performance. 

The problem is acute: the average 

UK home now costs a first-time 

buyer five times their income, up 

from 2.8 times in the early 1980s. 

That has in turn fuelled demand for 

rented accommodation, pushing up 

the costs and eating up increasing 

amounts of state subsidy. 

According to the Office for Budget 

Responsibility, last year the UK 

spent more than £25bn on rent 

and home ownership subsidies 

but ended up with just 141,000 new 

houses being built - at least 40 per 

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (4th L) is escorted by bodyguards as he arrives at a Likud party meeting at 

parliament in Jerusalem, yesterday. REUTERS 

cent below the level some economists 

argue it needs. 

The political equation 

Britain’s housing crisis is widely 

blamed on too little government 

intervention. But state involvement 

is at its highest level since the 1970s 

- the heyday of mass council housebuilding. 

The situation is “as big a crisis as 

any in the country”, says Sir Stuart 

Lipton, one of Britain’s most experienced 

property developers. “We 

need political leadership,” he adds. 

The crisis is weighing on the 

UK economy. Business leaders cite 

housing costs - particularly in London 

and the surrounding commuter 

belt - as one of the biggest threats to 

growth. People cannot move to more 

expensive areas to find work, making 

it difficult for companies to hire 

skilled staff. Lower income workers 

face high housing costs exacerbated 

by stalled wage growth. 

Business lobby LondonFirst 

says three-quarters of its members 

think housing is a serious threat to 

the capital’s economic competitiveness. 

Its chief executive, Baroness 

Jo Valentine, warns that London 

faces a “brain drain” that, if left unaddressed, 

could be “disastrous”. 

Public concern over housing 

has hit an all-time high according 

to polls. During the general election 

campaign all the main parties promised 

to introduce greater incentives 

for first-time buyers but there was 

little discussion of the extent or effectiveness 

of the state’s role. 

The Conservative party’s victory 

means it must now fulfil its promise 

to get more people into home ownership 

without fuelling a renewed 

property bubble. 

As part of the previous coalition 

government it pushedthe £23.8bn 

Help to Buy scheme to subsidise 

buyers. But the programme has been 

accused of pumping up house prices 

, which have risen 18.3 per cent since 

its introduction . 

Announced with great fanfare by 

George Osborne, UK chancellor, in 

2013 and running until 2020, Help 

to Buy is the biggest government 

boost to home ownership since Margaret 

Thatcher’s 1980s Right to Buy 

scheme - which allowed nearly 2m 

council tenants to buy their homes 

at discounted prices. 

It gives buyers a leg up via mortgage 

guarantees, equity loans and a 

subsidised savings account. Its backers 

argue the scheme helps people 

out of the rental market, reducing 

their likelihood of needing state help, 

and also offers housebuilders greater 

certainty that there will be buyers for 

their properties - thus encouraging 

more supply. 

But critics fear Help To Buy is 

encouraging a generation of lowincome 

households to make sizeable 

financial commitments that they 

may find hard to sustain - as many 

homeowners in the US and UK did 

in the boom days of subprime mortgage 

lending before 2007. 

Despite spending £1.4bn a year 

on home ownership subsidies, funding 

for social housebuilding was cut 

in the last parliament from £2.3bn to 

£1.1bn a year - a victim of austerity 

measures. The new government is 

unlikely to reverse that decision. But 

campaigners argue that the money 

currently being spent on subsidising 

demand for housing through rents 

and ownership schemes - £115bn 

between 2010 and 2014 - should 

instead be spent on new housebuilding. 

The money would be enough to 

build 6.8m new state-backed homes 

at current average rates of subsidy: 

enough to house the country’s growing 

population for 31 years. 

“The government is spending 

so much on housing benefit that it 

doesn’t have any left to spend on 

building new homes,” says Gillian 

Campbell, a Blackpool councillor 

responsible for housing. 

As part of its austerity drive the 

government is trying to cut back on 

rent subsidies by capping benefits 

at £23,000 per household per year. 

But some argue the cuts risk 

discouraging housebuilding. Social 

landlords build around a fifth of 

Britain’s new homes, and more 

than half of their income comes 

from housing benefit. Cutting such 

payments could therefore make it 

harder for these landlords to finance 

construction, according to market 

analysts and credit rating agencies. 

Around a third of households in 

any developed economy need some 

form of financial help with their 

housing costs, experts say. In 1975 

more than 80 per cent of UK government 

involvement in housing was 

focused on increasing supply - building 

new homes. But by 2000 the vast 

majority of Britain’s housing market 

subsidies went towards supporting 

demand, rather than supply. 

The launch of Help to Buy boosted 

the dominance of demand subsidies 

even further, says Christine 

Whitehead, a housing specialist and 

professor at the London School of 

Economics. Affordability campaigners 

want to see a radical reversal of 

this trend. They argue that rent and 

ownership subsidies should be used 

to pay for the construction of hundreds 

of thousands of homes. 

Toby Lloyd, head of policy at 

housing charity Shelter, says the 

private sector will never on its own 

build enough to meet housing needs. 

“Housebuilders are profitmaking developers, 

that’s their job. Why would 

they build more homes to sell them 

more cheaply?” 

The housebuilder’s tale 

The Scotswood area of Newcastle, 

150 miles northeast of Blackpool, 

offers an insight into the economics 

of housebuilding in the UK. A previously 

rundown district dominated 

by terraced council housing, the land 

has been handed to Barratt, one of 

the UK’s biggest housebuilders. It 

and another developer, Keepmoat, 

are building 1,800 homes on the site. 

But the builders have a problem: 

local incomes are low, meaning the 

prices - upwards of £140,000 - that 

they can charge are insufficient to 

make the site profitable. To make 

the scheme stack up financially, the 

council has not charged an upfront 

price for the land and will instead 

receive a payout from the profit the 

company makes, while most prospective 

buyers are using Help to Buy 

to subsidise their purchases. 

Although big housebuilders such 

as Barratt are doing well, swaths of 

small and medium-sized companies 

have gone out of business. This is 

widely blamed on banks’ reluctance 

to lend to small businesses, along 

with an overcomplicated planning 

system. 

As a result the housing market 

is now dominated by a handful of 

big players, which are reluctant to 

increase output. Mark Clare, Barratt’s 

chief executive, says it is risky to 

increase significantly the number of 

homes it builds from the more than 

14,000 constructed last year. 

“What would it take to double 

output? Certainty that we were not 

going to hit a wall at some stage; 

a sound economic environment 

and employment growth,” says Mr 

Clare. “We need to constrain our 

balance sheet, keep fixed costs down 

as much as possible, and there is a 

point in every property cycle where 

the business has to consider the risks 

of continually growing.”

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