Financial Vanguard

By JONAH NWOKPOKU

CMYK

JULY 28, 2014

Continues on page 19

FOLLOWING therehabilitation of therailway by the Federal

Government 30 years after it wasabandoned, the NigerianRailway Corporation resorted tothe refurbishment of old rollingstocks to return to tracks.

The locomotives and coacheswere vestiges of colonial railinfrastructure. And so, despitetheir efforts, the rolling stockssimply fell short of theexpectations of modern trainusers. The trains were far behindin terms of technologicalinnovations in modern railtransportation. The implicationwas that despite the noble efforts,the use of archaic rolling stocksmeant that technical hitchesbecame unavoidable, resulting inuntold suffering by commuters. ALagos to Kano journey whichordinarily should last 24 hours,lasts for 35 hours and sometimes,40 hours. In addition, due to thenature of the trains andovercrowding resulting fromlimited rolling stocks, the trainscould not help but be brazenlyunhygienic and so patronage hadto be limited to certain class ofpeople.

In a bid to address thischallenge, management of theNigerian Railway Corporation,NRC, recently acquired two setsof modern trains, DieselMultiple Units (DMU) and six68-seater coaches. Vanguardinvestigations revealed that eachset of the DMU is made up ofthree cars and one motor car ateach end. The DMU is poweredby two sets of 1200 HP CumminsDiesel Engine and one 166HPCummins Generator for auxiliarypower. The trailer cars are fully

automated with electroniccentrally controlled doors, and apassenger information systemcomprising cameras, LEDInformation Display andloudspeakers. They are alsoequipped with roof-top integralair-conditioning system whichproduces effective cooling in allcabins. They are also designedfor a maximum speed of 100km/hr with an air brake system andcarrier-type couplers.

The corporation said it invested

about N4.1 billion in theacquisition of the train sets.

NRC Managing Director, Engr.Adeseyi Sijuade described theinvestment as a major milestonein the corporation’s strategicquest for modern railtransportation in the country. Healso disclosed that five of suchcoaches are expected by Augustthis year and would be used toflag off the first segment of theEastern line, running from PortHarcourt to Enugu.

However, industry analysts fearthat at the speed with whichevents are unfolding, thecorporation may soon beoverwhelmed and relapse toinefficiency which characterisedthe railway will becomeinevitable. Their argument boilsdown to the fact that without aconscious effort to maintain theinfrastructure, the investmentwould have amounted to

MODERN RAIL: Nigeria Railwaysbids to sustain N4bn investment

CMYK

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014 — 19

Cover StoryContinues from page 17

RRRRReconcile, publish goeconcile, publish goeconcile, publish goeconcile, publish goeconcile, publish govvvvvernmenternmenternmenternmenternmentaccount regularlyaccount regularlyaccount regularlyaccount regularlyaccount regularly

NIGERIA is a nation where everybody is an expert. Experts in football coaching, experts in financial matters and economy, just name it. It is a nation of garrulous people. Nigerians talk about everything on

mother earth but do nothing about anything. People like to hear themselves talk.Some months ago, the nation was awash with the fact that about $49.8 billion

was not remitted into the federation account. The mere fact that it came from theformer CBN governor was enough for it to count as true. Everybody that was

anybody in Nigeria wanted tobe heard on how to deal withthe situation. Months after, theSenate committee that wasraised to investigate the mattersubmitted the report of itsfindings with the conclusionthat no money was missing butthat about $20 billion was yetto be reconciled.

Nigerians since the Chibokunfortunate incidence havepretended that the issue of$49.8 billion un-remitted fundsby NNPC has ever occurred.

Why are we a nation ofpeople who take pleasure intalking and not finding apermanent solution toproblems before jumping intoanother? The Senatecommittee recommended thatthere should be a periodic andinter-agency reconciliation ofthe inflow and outflow fromthe federation account to avoidthe annual bickering over theNNPC not making fulldisclosures of how much itearned on behalf of the nationand shortchanging Nigeriansof their legitimate income.

This column had, before theSenate committeerecommendation, asked thenew CBN governor to set upa machinery to ensure that allrevenue- generatingministries, departments andagencies of government meetregularly with the CBN toreconcile the federationaccount before the FederationAccount Allocation Committee

meeting. Such inter-agencymeeting will allow each arm ofthe revenue-generating bodyto table what it earned, whathas been remitted and what isoutstanding. This will ensurethat no agency is having anybacklog of receipts unattended.

The CBN as the bankerto the FederalGovernment is in a

good stead to carry out thisassignment as it is the body thatkeeps government fund, localand international.

In the ordinary run ofbusiness, account officers onmonthly basis undertake bankreconciliation with theirbankers to know the true cashposition of the company. Bankreconciliation is undertakenbecause there may have beencheques drawn by the companyto its customers that may havenot been presented to the bank,cash payments lodged with thecompany that may not havebeen presented to the bank orsome customers may have paidinto the company ’s bankaccount that are not reflectedin the company’s cash ledgeramong other reasons.

Nigeria as it is today, does not

know how much it earns fromthe various sources ofrevenue. All the Presidentknows about the nation’sfinances is what thosehandling and manning thevarious revenue posts wanthim to know. The process isneither transparent nor open.This gives room for massivecorruption and ripping off ofthe nation. But thegovernment in an attempt tosafeguard the interest ofinvestors, set up the FinancialReporting Council to monitorand regulate the privatesector accounting procedure.This council recently allegedthat the CBN account is in a

shambles and not preparedaccording to InternationalFinancial Reporting Standard.

That was what broughttrouble to LamidoS a n u s i - l e d

management of the CBN. Thequestion is; why are allministries, departments andagencies of government atfederal, state and localgovernment levels made torender account in IFRS? Whyare Nigerians not insistingthat federal revenue be madeknown to the public? Why is itthat government, every year,states how much it intends tospend but never render full

Nigeria Railways bids to sustain N4bn investment

account of how much it earnedand how it is spent? AreNigerians not entitled toknow? If this government isserious about fightingcorruption, the first place tostart is in rendering accountto Nigerians of its income andexpenditure. It is in preparingits account in aninternationally acceptableformat. This government mustinsist that the Nigerian publichave the right to know howmuch came into the nation’scoffers and how therepresentatives of the peoplespend the money.

Just like in a company wherethe board and managementgive account to shareholders,the elected and non-electedofficers of government mustgive account to the electorate.It is the ordinary Nigerianswhose voted were sought bythe president, governors andlocal government chairmen tobe elected that are thestakeholders and masters, notthe other way round. Those inposition of governance are notthe masters; they mustregularly give account toordinary Nigerians. Nigeriansmust stop talking abouteverything and doing nothingabout anything. Nigeriansmust stand up for their rights.Government must give thenation a detailed auditedaccount published on regularbasis.

,

,Those in position of

governance are not the masters;they must regularly give accountto ordinary Nigerians. Nigerians

must stop talking abouteverything and doing nothing

about anything

nothing; as fleetinginvestment always meantthat little room is left forsustainability. These fearsare not unfounded. Overthe years, investments inthe rail sector have beenbereft of any sustainabilityplans. The implication isthe poor technical skillswhich results in poormaintenance of rollingstocks. These further leadto poor service delivery,leaving a situation thatmakes it obvious thatalthough the corporationdesires huge investments,they are not entirelyprepared for the businessof rail transportation.

But speaking toVanguard recently,Sijuade allayed suchfears. He argued thatstrategic initiatives arebeing adopted by thecorporation to ensuresustainability of its

current investmentespecially in the modernrail infrastructure. Whileacknowledging that nosubstantial arrangementshad been made in the pastto sustain investmentsafter cutting the red tape,he said part of thearrangement for thesustainability of its recentinvestment, is the retentionof technical skills neededto maintain the newlyacquired trains.

According to him, “Wehave a two-yearmaintenance deal with themanufacturers of theseDMUs and the six coaches,that is, the China SouthernRailways, CSR. We have atwo-year deal with them formaintenance of thesecoaches and the DMUs.What makes this dealunique is that it is aresidential deal. This

means that the companyhas posted six techniciansto NRC to live here withus.

“This is very innovativein that I can tell you thatone of the major problemsthat Nigerian Railway,not just Nigerian Railway

but all other sectors thatare doing similar things inNigeria have had, is thatin this country, we takedelight in celebration ofprojects. However, wedon’t put much emphasison maintenance. Whathappens after? So, you

find out that when youmove around the variouslocations of NigerianRailways all over thecountry, you see all ourrolling stocks littered allover the place. Most ofthem were purely on two

Continues on page 21


CMYK


Continues from page 19 ,,

Cover Story

Nigeria Railways bids to sustain N4bninvestment

*From left; Group Head, Coral Banking, Heritage Bank, George Oko-Oboh; ExecutiveSecretary/ CEO, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr. Femi Thomas and ExecutiveDirector, Heritage Bank, Niyi Adeseun during the launch of the NHIS Mobile Health InsuranceScheme in Lagos.

ALBERT Einstein once defined insanity as doing the samething over and over and expecting different results, while

the French classical author, Francois de la Rochefoucauld said ‘ theonly thing constant in life is change’.

This paper stresses the importance of entrepreneurship educationtowards enhancing sustainable development in Nigeria. Theproblems facing the country ranging from incessant strike action inour academic institutions, high rate of poverty, youth and graduateunemployment; overdependence on foreign goods and technology;Low economic growth and development; among others. This papertherefore argues that entrepreneurship education will equip thestudents with the skills with which to be self-reliant. The objectivesand strategies for re-designing entrepreneurship education are alsodiscussed. The paper also recommended that educationalprogrammes at all levels of education should be made relevant toprovide the youth the needed entrepreneurial skills. It is alsorecommended that the government should give adequate attentionto entrepreneurial development in the country through the provisionof good economic environment.

So it is on this premise I would like us to see the Nigerianeducational system in light of current realities in the 21st century. Acareful look of the current state of affairs in Nigeria reveals that weare in a 21st century economy with a 19th century education system.A system whereby much emphasis is still placed on the conventionalclassroom environment with much reverence for certificate forgraduates who in most cases are trained to be job seekers asevidenced in present high unemployment rate in the land. However,we must accept the fact that times have changed and we must adjustby transiting from the old styled era of Adam Smith inspired conceptof the ‘industrialized specialist’ which has outlived its usefulness toa more dynamic, resourceful and I.C.T based model where skillsand creativity takes precedence. Without deviating from the topic ofmy article which is Entrepreneurial Education Revolution in Nigeria,I would like to briefly define some of the concept in the topic.

WHO IS AN ENREPRENEUR?

An entrepreneur is a person who is driven to establish a businessto take advantage of the financial opportunities and

personal fulfilment offered, by pursuing their own dreams andshaping their own destiny in local, national and global economies.I personally define an entrepreneur as anyone who can convertwhat he loves doing to a moneymaking venture.

Entrepreneurship on the other hand is said to be the process ofplanning, operating and assuming the risk of a business. It hasalso been seen as a process of creating a unique value. For thepurpose of this speech, I would be limiting education to the activityof teaching about a particular subject.

Revolution on the other hand has been defined by The MacmillanEnglish dictionary as a sudden or major change, especially in ideasor methods. A revolution signifies a drastic turn around, a new wayof thinking and acting.

So at this juncture, what then is Entrepreneurial Education?Entrepreneurial Education is a lifelong learning process, startingas early as elementary school and progressing through all levels ofeducation, including adult education. Entrepreneurial Educationfocuses on developing understanding and capacity for pursuit, ofentrepreneurial behaviours, skills and attributes in widely differentcontexts. It can be portrayed as open to all and not exclusively thedomain of the high-flying growth-seeking business person. Thepropensity to behave entrepreneurially is not exclusive to certainindividuals. Different individuals will have a different mix ofcapabilities for demonstrating and acquiring entrepreneurialbehaviours, skills and attributes. These behaviours can be practiced,developed and learned; hence it is important to expose all studentsto entrepreneurial education. Therefore, from the above definitions,we can safely deduce that entrepreneurial education revolution isa change in educational system which embraces an all encompassingstrategy in introducing and instilling entrepreneurial attitudes intostudents. Just as we had the G.S.M revolution in Nigeria, anentrepreneurial education revolution is aimed at makingentrepreneurial studies readily available anywhere with relativeease. Our educational institutions keep churning out graduates’year in- year out and close observers have questioned the kind oftraining and education these young people are receiving in this21st century. Recent statistics from the Nigerian bureau of statisticsshows that the unemployment rate in Nigeria is 23.9%.

Entrepreneurial Education Revolution:An Imperative for SustainableAn Imperative for SustainableAn Imperative for SustainableAn Imperative for SustainableAn Imperative for Sustainable

DeDeDeDeDevvvvvelopment in Nigeria: elopment in Nigeria: elopment in Nigeria: elopment in Nigeria: elopment in Nigeria: Part 1

Things are movingrapidly and werealised that we

need to be on top ofthe game; I say

things are movingrapidly in terms ofpassenger traffic,

types of trains andeven cash handling

and security

factors; inadequateprovision of spare partsand inadequate provisionfor maintenance and thatis poor maintenanceculture. So we all come, eatand dance and then cut thered tape and the project isnot given a thought as tohow it could bemaintained. It is not justthe railways; it applies toroads and otherinfrastructural projects.

"But we have learnt a lotof lessons from suchfailures and that is why onthis particular occasion,we are engaging thecompany on two-year dealfor those six technicians.

“Their duties are simple,they wake up everydayand go into our carriageand wagon workshop, mixup with our techniciansand any issues they mayhave would be attended toby them while ourtechnicians learn. Thebottom line is that it is aday-to-day transfer oftechnological skills,” headded.

He explained that thecorporation is workingseriously to establish amaintenance facility bypartnering withmanufacturers who arewilling to establish a basein Nigeria. He said theyhave been in discussionswith General Electric anda number of Chinese firmsthat are also interested inpicking any of theirworkshops that areunderutilized andupgrading them to astandard where they

cannot only maintain butalso commenceassembling of rollingstocks in Nigeria.

He further explainedthat with the rate at whichevents are unfolding, thecorporation may easily beoverwhelmed withchallenges but they areadopting an outsourcingstrategy that would enablethem concentrate on corecompetencies andleverage expertise outsidethe corporation to delivermore efficient service.

“Things are movingrapidly and we realisedthat we need to be on topof the game. I say thingsare moving rapidly interms of passenger traffic,types of trains and evencash handling andsecurity. There are somany things, and it is onething to say we are makingprogress but that comeswith a lot of challengesthat need to be addressedand managed. And that is

why we are not restingon our oars and on dailybasis, there are strategicmeetings where how tocope with thesechallenges arediscussed. We also havetink-tanks who areengaged to conduct somekind of risks analysisand management.Otherwise we maybecome overwhelmed.

“One of the strategieswe are adopting isoutsourcing. Before now,how we handle securityand ticket is throughraiders who move fromcoach to coach checkingtickets but we haverealised that the waythings are going, thingscan no longer be left inthe hands of NRC staffbecause it is not our areaof core competence. Sowhat we did was that allthe areas that are not ourcore competence areoutsourced,” he said.

He added that theoutsourcing strategy isalso the corporation’stransitional strategy intoconcession. “We haveconstraints with therailway bill that is stillin the NationalAssembly, hinderinginstant concession butwe have realised thatrailway bill or not,concession or noconcession, we can’t justfold our arms, things areunfolding very fast andwe need to adopt anystrategy that we could tokeep delivering betterservices,” he said.


Banking & Finance

The Central Bank ofNigeria (CBN) hasordered the Asset

Management Corporation ofNigeria (AMCON) toconduct fresh final bids for thesale of Enterprise Bank.

Investigation revealed theapex bank doubted theintegrity of the process thatled to the outcome of the finalbids submitted by the fiveshortlisted financialinstitutions last month. It wasgathered that some top CBNofficials believe that the resultof the final bids submitted byAMCON to the CBNGovernor was interrupted tofavour a particular local bankwith strong ties with a formerGovernor of a South Easternstate.

This suspicion wasaggravated when AMCONsuddenly changed one of therules for the sale of the Bankshortly after the final bidswere submitted. It wasgathered that the result of thefinal bid submitted byAMCON was inconclusive,with attempt to focus oncriteria that would influencethe outcome in favour of theparticular bank. This, it wasgathered, in addition toearlier changes, tantamountto changing the goalpost inthe middle of the game,observed by the managementof the apex bank, promptedthe CBN Governor to orderAMCON to conduct freshfinal bids, based on somespecific criteria that would beused to adjudge the bidssubmitted by the contesting

*PARLEY: Mr. Philip Ikeazor, Managing Director/CEO, Keystone Bank (middle) flanked by Dr. Shehu Muhammad,Executive Director, North (l) and Mr. Hafiz Bakare, Executive Director, Corporate Bank and Treasury during a press parleyheld in Lagos.

CBN orders AMCON to conductfresh bids for Enterprise Bank

institutions. Investigationsrevealed that three banks arein top contention for EnterpriseBank. Two of them are localbanks with head offices inVictoria Island, Lagos. One ofthe local banks, it was gathered,had been using its strongconnections to the formerGovernor of a South East Stateto sway the outcome of the salein its favour.

Investigation further revealedthat the decision of the CBNrattled the board of the bankand this prompted the formergovernor to visit the CBN

Diamond Bankdonates officeblock toNigerian army

Diamond Bank Plc, hasdonated a ten-room, fully

furnished, office block to theNigerian Army, as part of itsCorporate SocialResponsibility drive to assistthe Army carry out its task of safeguarding the nation.

Speaking during the handoverof the Charlie & SupportCompany building donated bythe Bank to the 65 Battalion,Bonny Cantonment of theNigerian Army in Lagos, Dr.Alex Otti, Group ManagingDirector and CEO, DiamondBank, said that the donation wasa corporate social responsibilityintervention to support theefforts of the Nigerian Army.

According to Otti, “One day,the Commanding Officer of the65 Battalion showed up at myoffice with pictures of thestructure that used to be here.My colleagues and I weresurprised at the state of thebuilding and decided to helpout. I must commend thecourage of the CommandingOfficer in reaching out becausethis place is not readilyaccessible to the public socharitable minded citizens maynot readily consider it in theirinterventions.

ReserveBank ofIndia fines12 banksover loand e f a u l t

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has fined 12 banks,

including ICICI Bank, AxisBank, Canara Bank andCorporation Bank, a total of Rs1.5 crore in relation to theDeccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd(DCHL) loan default case. Thisfine has been levied as a resultof not following properprocedures while lending toDCHL.

“After considering the facts ofeach case and the individualbank’s reply, as also, personalsubmissions etc., by some of thebanks before its Committee ofExecutive Directors, theReserve Bank came to theconclusion that some of theviolations were substantiatedand warranted imposition ofmonetary penalty asdetermined above,” RBI said.

The banks collectively had atotal exposure of around Rs4,000 crore. ICICI Bank, thesecond largest lender of thecountry, has been slapped witha fine of Rs 40 lakh, the highestpenalty in this case.

By BABJIDEKOMOLAFE

Headquarters last weekThursday to argue the case ofthe bank as the best forEnterprise Bank. AMCONcommenced the sale ofEnterprise Bank on September22nd, 2013 last year when itformally invited interestedbuyers to express interests inacquiring its 100 per cent stakein the Bank. The auditedfinancial statement of theEnterprise Bank Group as at 31December 2012, show that theGroup’s Total Assets stood atN263.5 billion, CustomerDeposits at N208.4 billion and

Total Equity at N31.9 billionThe invitation by AMOCN

prompted interests from someNigerian banks namelyDiamond Bank Plc, FidelityBank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc,Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc,Standard Chartered Bank, SkyeBank, Heritage Bank Limitedand other investment groups.

Others include investors likeTaunus Holdings, SaharaEnergy, Obat Oil and about 12private equity firms backed byexperienced bankers as well asfinancial and investmentanalysts.

Sterling Bank Plc has recorded grossearnings of N48.7 billion in the half

year period ended June 30, 2014,representing a growth of 16.3 per cent overN41.86 billion recorded in thecorresponding period of 2013.

The interim report and Accounts of theBank for the six-month period ended June30, 2014 released at the Nigerian StockExchange, NSE weekend shows that netinterest income rose by about 40.2 per cent,underlying significant improvement in itscore banking operations. This alsoimpacted on the operating income, whichrose by 25.4 per cent. The top-line wasdriven by interest income, which rose fromN31.08 billion in the first half of 2013 toN37.44 billion in half year 2014. Netinterest income leapt to N21.28 billion in2014 as against N15.17 billion in 2013.Non-interest income also increased toN11.3 billion in first half 2014 comparedwith N10.8 billion recorded in thecomparable period of 2013. Operatingincome thus rose from N25.95 billion toN32.54 billion. However, the Bank’s

operating expenses increased by 28.5 percent to N23.8 billion in first half 2014 asagainst N18.5 billion in first half 2013, drivenby on-going investments in branch refits andexpansion, and rollout of alternativechannels. This moderated the bottom-line.Profit before tax rose slightly from N6.27billion in 2013 to N6.34 billion in 2014. Witha 131 per cent increase in income tax fromN350.15 million to N809.73 million, net profitafter tax stood at N5.5 billion.

Commenting on the results, the ManagingDirector/ CEO of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. YemiAdeola, said that the performance in the firsthalf of the year further demonstrated theunderlying strength of the Bank’s corebusiness.

He noted that in spite of the challengingoperating environment, the Bank achieveda 130 basis points improvement in netinterest margin to 7.7 per cent resulting froma 60 basis points reduction in cost of fundsand a 70 basis points increase in asset yield.

He explained that the increase in cost-to-income ratio by 180 basis points to 73 percent due to ongoing investments in theupgrade of the bank’s physical infrastructureand the rollout of alternative channels.

Sterling Bank posts N48.7bn halfyear earningsB y PETER EGWUATU


Banking & Finance

The economicperformance ofcountries within the

Economic Community of WestAfrican States (ECOWAS) isinadequate for the proposedsingle currency for the region.

Governor, Central Bank ofNigeria (CBN), Mr. GodwinEmefiele disclosed this at the31st meeting of theCommittee of Governors ofthe West African MonetaryZone (WAMZ). He said arecent study to appraise thepreparedness of MemberStates has revealed lack ofperformance.

In his keynote addressdelivered at the meetingEmefiele said, “The results ofthe state of preparednessstudy commissioned by the32nd meeting of the

Convergence Councilshowed that the performanceof Member States’ on theconvergence scale relative tothat required for theestablishment of a monetaryunion is still inadequate.

“Also member countries’business cyclesynchronization in terms ofreal GDP, inflation, broadmoney and interest ratesremained weak, and theirlevel of institutionalpreparedness for themonetary union remaininadequate.

“The study, noted thatmember countries continuedto make remarkable progresstowards the establishment ofa common market and theimplementation of theECOWAS Trade IntegrationProtocols and Convention aswell as significant progresstowards the reforms of their

financial systems.“Over the years, our

appraisals have continued toshow that the level ofmacroeconomic convergencein the Zone remainedinadequate relative to the settargets. Since 2009, no twocountries satisfied all the fourprimary convergence criteriaconsistently for twoconsecutive years.Accordingly, we have missedseveral launch dates for themonetary union.

“This may have informedthe decision of the Heads ofState and Government toapprove the ModifiedGradualist Approach tomonetary integration by2020. Our role, therefore, isto honestly appraise thisdirective and designstrategies to ensure asustainable monetary unionin the zone . In doing this,

we may have to think outsidethe box realistically assessingand providing innovativeoptions as well as the costsand benefits of Implementingthe Modified GradualistApproach.

“It is important that weremind ourselves of the needfor the buy-in of all MemberStates in the WAMZ Project.We need to constantly updateourselves with the level ofprogress made, challengesand level of cooperationrequired. In this regard,there is need for theintensification of efforts in thearea of sensitization of allstakeholders.

"We must individuallyendeavor to evaluate, signand ratify the various WAMZProtocols and strive toimplement them accordingly.”

Bank ofRussia raiseskey interestrates

The Bank of Russia hasraised it key interest rate

to 8.0 percent annual citingrisks arising from aggravationof geopolitical tensions.

A statement issued by theBank said, “Inflationdeceleration in July 2014has been slower thanexpected. At the same time,inflation risks have increaseddue to a combination of factors, including, inter alia,the aggravation of geopolitical tension and itspotential impact on the rubleexchange rate dynamics, as well as potential changes in tax and tariff policy. Thebuild-up of these risks willlead to inflation expectationsremaining heightened andcreates threats of inflationexceeding the target in thecoming years. The adopteddecision is aimed at slowing the consumer pricegrowth to the 4.0% targetlevel in the medium term. If high inflation risks persist,the Bank of Russia willcontinue raising the key rate.

Access Bankrewardscustomers inmobile bankingapp promo

BY WILLIAM JIMOH

Access Bank Plc hasrewarded the first set of

winners in its mobile bankingapplication promo, in a bid topromote the use of mobilebanking applications by itscustomers. The 18 winnersemerged most active users ofthe platform, form the six geopolitical zones of the countryhaving performed differentactivities including moneytransfer, purchase of air ticket,payment of bills among othertransaction between May andJune 2014.

Head of Mobile MoneyServices of the bank, RitaEromosele who presented thewinners with their prizes saidthe promo was born of a desireto ensure all customers signup for the mobile bankingapplication, which providethem convenient transactions,once they have Wifi enabledmobile phone.

Her word, “We encourageour customers to downloadand activate Access MobileBanking App to win phonesand instant airtime.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) isset to impose a six year time bar on

customers' complaints.This was disclosed in circular to banksand other financial institutions onExposure of Draft on Recommendationfor Time Bar on Consumer Complaintsissued by the apex bank on Friday.

“Pursuant to the inputs received fromstakeholders, study of what obtains insome other jurisdictions, some regulatoryagencies in Nigeria and the provisionsof relevant Nigerian Legislations inrespect of document retention andcommencement of legal action, a time barof six (6) years from date of transactionwas recommended, after whichcomplaints against FSPs would not beentertained. The proposed time limit

Stories by BabajideKomolafe

Performance of ECOWAS economiesinadequate for single currency, says Emefiele

does not preclude the right of acomplainant to seek redress in the courtof law”, the CBN said.

According to the circular, “The CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN) in implementingits consumer protection initiativesobserved that timely resolution ofcomplaints from consumers againstFinancial Service Producers (FSPs)within the regulated timeline has beena major challenge for the Bank, FSPsand consumers. Amongst other issues,availability and access to supportingdocuments were identified bystakeholders as a major setback for thetimely resolution of complaints.

The CBN identified the need to havein place, adequate measures to ensurethat consumers are diligent in theirfinancial transactions by making\promptclaims on transactions as they occur, to

ensure that FSPs are able to resolve samewith the required resources.

Accordingly, vide a letter dated 1stNovember, 2013 stakeholders wererequested to make submissions on thedesirability of placing a time bar formanaging complaints in the industry. Inline with the tradition of the CBN to carryits stakeholders along as developmentsevolve, we are exposing the aboverecommendation for your comments. Thesecan be forwarded in hard or soft copies.Hard copies should be addressed to theDirector, Consumer ProtectionDepartment, Central Bank of Nigeria,while soft copies captioned “Commentson the proposed recommendation for timebar on consumer complaints” should beemailed to [email protected] [email protected] within two (2)weeks of the date of this letter.”

CBN slams six-year time bar on consumercomplaints

LAUNCH: From left: Mr Tola Adeyemi, Partner and Head, Audit Services, KPMG; Dr Babatunde Fowler, Executive Chairman,Lagos State Internal Revenue Service; Madam Onene Obele-Oshoko, Rivers State Internal Revenue Service and Mr SundayOgungbesan, Coordinating Director, Standards and Compliance Group, Federal Inland Revenue Service at the KPMG CFOSurvey Launch in Lagos. Photo Lamidi Bamidele


Corporate Finance

Diamond Bank toraise N50.4bnrights issue

Diamond Bank Plc hasconcluded plans to raise

N50.4 billion by way of rightsissue to boost its working capitaland operations.

The Bank released details ofits long awaited rights issue onthe Nigerian Stock Exchangeand subsequently its website.The bank is looking to issue8,685,145,863 ordinary shares of50 kobo each at NGN5.80/share.Qualification date for the rightsissue was 13 June. In total, thebank is looking to raiseN50.4billion to improve itscapital adequacy ratio andsupport business growth. In itsanalysis of the offer, RenaissanceCapital stated: Factoring in therights issue we cut our TargetPrice, TP 9 per cent to N8.24. Weview this as a step in the rightdirection by Diamond, thefastest-growing Nigerian bankover the past three years, andrecommend qualifying investorsshould take up their rights.”

On deal dynamics,Renaissance Capital add“Diamond Bank is in effectlooking to issue 60 per cent ofcurrent shares (50% ifconvertibles are included).

Customer servicecannot be faked -CUSPA

Customer ServiceP r a c t i t i o n e r s

Association,CUSPA, an umbrellabody of customer serviceproviders in Nigeria has saidthat there is no hiding place forany service provider fakingcustomer service.

The association stated thatcustomers' experience is theblueprint to any organisationalculture that makes it customerfriendly or not.

This was the opinion ofstakeholders at a recent forumon Customer Service Experienceacross industries held in Lagos.

Mr. Nduka Mba-Uzuokwu,Head, Customer ServiceManagement, Enterprise Bankrepresenting the CustomerExperience function during thedebate stated that not allorganizations’ truly understandCustomer Service. Mostbusinesses mimic customerservice and customersatisfaction, to them CustomerService is just one of those thingsand not a culture and this reflectsin the way they manage thecustomers and the customer’scomplaints. He pointed out thatmost organizations are driven byprofit making and not by creatingpositive Customer Experiences.

ANNIVERSARY - From left: Chairman, Board of Directors, Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr. ChristopherEzeh, former Governor of Anambra State, His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi, former President,Nigeria Stock Exchange, Dr. Raymond Obieri and the MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc. NnamdiOkonkwo at an event to mark the 53 birthday anniversary of Obi in Lagos.

KEYSTONE BankLimited has

concluded plans to divest itssubsidiaries before the sale ofthe bank to core investor, evenas it returns to profitability.

The bank is divesting itssubsidiaries in Uganda,Sierra Leone and Liberiabecause of the bad loans ontheir books

Managing Director,Keystone Bank Limited, Mr.Philip Ikeazor, revealed this

country for a company like R.T.Briscoe.

Olowokande observed thatcontrary to prior economic databefore the rebasing, that the oiland gas sector represented 32percent of the economy, underthe new set of data, that sectoronly contributed 14 percentwhile much of the balancecame from previouslyunreported, consumer-drivensectors.

He also said that a report bythe World Bank that theNigerian had expanded by anaverage of six percentannually since 2006 and whichaccording to IMF data isexpected to achieve a rate ofseven percent this year, givesmuch room for optimism andconfidence in the businessoutlook, adding that this isfurther bolstered by reports thatthe population is growing bymore than two percent per year,indicating a growing marketfor the company’s goods andservices.

He enjoined theshareholders to support theresolution empowering theboard to implement theinitiative which will be tabledbefore at the meeting.

The chairman also observedthat, “the automobile industryin Nigeria, particularly formotor dealers and distributorslike us (R.T. Briscoe), iscurrently in a developmentphase that requires significantcapital outlay for stock, aftersales infrastructure andimplementation ofdevelopment phase for thefuture.”

He said the competition inthe market place has becomemore severe as all major brandsin the world are now presentin the country.

On the future prospect of thecompany, the chairman therecent rebasing of Nigeria’sGDP confirmed enormousbusiness opportunities in the

N3.250 billion divided into sixbillion, five hundred thousandshares of 50 kobo each.

Addressing the shareholdersat the meeting, the chairmanof the company, Mr. ClementOlowokande said, “Ratherthan dwell on the handicapsthat the company had to facein the current difficult businessenvironment, your board hasbeen strategising on how tooptimize the use of availableresources and opportunities formaximum returns.

“In order to raise the muchneeded capital for businessexpansion and working capital,your board is exploring thepossibilities of recapitalizingthrough debt instruments,additional equity or acombination of both,” addingthat the board will on behalf ofthe shareholders, carefullyselect auspice time andmodality for implementingthese options.

to newsmen in Lagos, saying“ We don’t have N50 billion inthe head office to maintainsubsidiaries as required by theCentral Bank of Nigeria, CBN.So we have to divest tomaintain our core businesswhich we have the capitalrequirement.”

Ikeazor stated that AssetManagement Corporation ofNigeria, AMCON plans tobegin the sale of KeystoneBank before the end of the yearafter new owners take overMainstreet Bank and

Enterprise Bank. Before thecore investor comes in wewould be divesting frominsurance healthcare unit, andother non-core businesses.

Continuing, the KeystoneBank boss said, “We aretargeting an increase of about15 per cent growth in loan bookthis year. We intend to achievethis by aggressive customeracquisition and loyaltyprogramme, use of technologyvia Point of Sale, POS Terminal,Debit and Credit cards, internetbanking etc. We already have

2000 customers, 229 locationsand 384 POS. The core bankhas returned to profitability,while we are planning todiversify from non banking coreand African subsidiaries whichis currently impactingnegatively on the groupperformance.”

While commenting on thefinancials, Ikeazor stated “ Thebank’s gross earnings grew by3 per cent from N40.2 billionin 2012 to N41.5 billion in2013. A testimonial to theimproved operational activitiesis the increase on risk assetsby 28 per cent. The bank’sdeposit liabilities increased by13 per cent from N267 billionin December 2012 toN301billion in December 2013.This indicates an increasedmarket share and improvedcustomer service. Loans todeposit ratio is 22 per centwhile industry average is 65per cent. “

It will be recalled that theCBN fired the Chief ExecutivesOfficers ,CEOs of eight of thecountry’s lenders and bailedthem out with 620 billion naira($3.8 billion) after a debt crisiscaused by loans to stockspeculators and fuel importersthreatened the industry in 2008and 2009. The government setup Asset Management Corp.of Nigeria to take over KeystoneBank, Mainstreet Bank, andEnterprise Bank in August 2011after regulators deemed themunable to meet requirementsfor banking.

SHAREHOLDERS of R.T.Briscoe (Nigeria) Plc

have authorised the board ofthe company to raise N10billion fresh capital throughdebt instruments, preferenceshares, ordinary shares or acombination of these optionsby way of rights issue, privateplacement or offer forsubscription.

The shareholders endorseda special resolution proposedby the board to raise the freshcapital at the 2014 yearlygeneral meeting of thecompany held last week inLagos.

In a bid to accommodate theimpending fresh capital, theshareholders also increasedthe authorised share capitalof the company to N2 billiondivided into four billionshares of 50 kobo each to

KKKKKeeeeeystystystystystone Bank tone Bank tone Bank tone Bank tone Bank to divo divo divo divo divest subsidiaries befest subsidiaries befest subsidiaries befest subsidiaries befest subsidiaries beforeoreoreoreoresale tsale tsale tsale tsale to core ino core ino core ino core ino core invvvvvestestestestestororororor

BY PETER EGWUATU

BY PETER EGWUATU

Briscoe shareholders okayN10bn fresh capital issue


Corporate Finance

AFRICAN portfolioinvestors' patronage of

shares of multinationalcompanies trading on AfricanExchanges has over time aidedin driving their share prices toan undeserving high, said Mr.Jude Fejokwu, Principalanalyst at Thaddeus AfricanResearch.

In a research report titled,“The craze for multinationalsby institutional investors inAfrica: Lazy or Smart?”,Fejokwu noted that the pricesurge usually recorded on theshares of the multinationalcompanies rarely reverse, evenwith their disappointing resultsin recent years.

Regretting the high demandby portfolio managers for theshares of multinationalsdespite their poorperformances in relation totheir PE ratios, he stated thatthe local stocks get punishedmore when they disappointand get rewarded miserly ornot at all when they performcreditably.

He argued that local stockssupported by retail investorsoffer more return than themultinationals, saying, “This iswhy in Nigeria the companiesranked by market capitalisationfrom 26 - 50 will generatebetter price performances onaverage than companiesranked one - 25 every yearbarring the negligibleanomaly. Most of themultinationals in Nigeria arein the top 25.”

He said, “Africa and Frontierfunds have continually overthe years invested their fundsin multinational companiesoperating in Africa and notAfrican companies operatingin Africa in comparison. Thisphenomenon is even morestrongly felt once you excludethe banking industry from theequation across the continent.

“By continually purchasingthe shares of multinationalsover the years because they arefamiliar with the parentcompanies, Africa institutionalinvestors have driven up theprices of these stocks toexpensive levels.

“Their repetitive andpersistent actions over timehave led to overly generousand sincerely undeservingstock price increases in thesestocks across African stockmarkets; this furtherstrengthens their desire tocontinue investing in moremultinational companies.”

Accessing the performance ofsome multinational companieslisted on the Nigerian StockExchange, NSE, and GhanaStock Exchange, GSE, basedon their P/E multiple, year-to-

African portfolio investors driving shares ofmultinationals to undeserving high — Report

date price performance andyear-on-year net incomechanges for each company’smost recent earnings release asat July 21st, 2014, he statedthat Unilever Nigeria andUnilever Ghana, which havePE ratio of 39.5x and 78.2x, areboth doing poorly presently.

“Despite this, their priceperformances are much betterthan their net incomeperformances. UnileverGhana has even performedbetter than the Ghanaian stockmarket index whoseperformance is in the red indouble digits and has a P/E of78X and a net income declineof 211 percent.

Its stock price has onlydeclined 2.8 percent as at July21st, 2014. Unilever Nigeriahas declined only sevenpercent despite its net incomedeclining 47 percent at thehalf-year mark.”

“In reality, our analysesreveal that Unilever Nigeriashould be trading belowN33.22 presently for its fairvalue and at N33.22 during Q12014 based on its actual 2013audited performance,” hestressed.

Continuing, he said, “FlourMills is not a multinational aswe know it and in the contextof the others we assessed but,it is majority owned by a Greek

THE Securities andExchange Commission,

SEC, has issued new rules thatwill govern complaintmanagement in the Nigeriancapital market, mandating allthe SEC recognised capitalmarket trade groups andCapital Market Operators(CMOs) including listed publiccompanies to establish aclearly defined complaintsmanagement policy to handleand resolve complaints fromtheir clients.

According to the SEC in therules published weekend, itstated that complaints againstunlisted, delisted, wound up,liquidated or ailing companiesare not covered by the newrules. The Commission further

company. Despite this, it stillreflects the behaviour of theother multinationals. Netincome has declined by 32percent and its priceperformance has only declinedby 10.5 percent.”

On the contrary, he said thatCCNN’s net income rose 87percent during Q1 2014 (32percent tax rate) and its stockprice has only risen 2.5percent; Lafarge WAPCO’s netincome rose 34 percent (fivepercent tax rate) and its stockprice was still able to rise 3.5percent. Lafarge WAPCO hasstill done better than CCNNbased on year-to-date priceperformance despite, CCNNhaving better net incomegrowth and a lower P/E.

SEC issues new rules on complaintsmanagementBy NKIRUKA NNOROM

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

Unilever Nigeriarewards promowinners

As a way of expressinggratitude to

consumers who are loyal to it,Unilever Nigeria Plc hasredeemed its promise towinners in the just concluded‘Naija Shopper Reward’activity in collaboration withShoprite.

At the prize draws andpresentation ceremony held atUnilever’s Ikeja Office, ManojDadcani, an Indian nationalbased in Lagos, emerged fromthe South draws (ShopriteLagos, Ibadan and EnuguStores) as the winner of a brandnew Mitsubishi car. Also,another shopper in Abuja,David Matthew Ochola, asecurity operative in Abujaemerged from the North drawsto win a car too.

Kalpesh Parmar, CustomerMarketing Director, said theprogramme was a way ofrewarding loyal customers.“The shopper reward activity isto celebrate ‘Naija Shoppers’reward and excite our shoppersand deliver great value formoney,” he said.

Allegations ofGSK corruptionspread to Syria

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L)faces new allegations of

corruption, this time in Syria,where the drugmaker and itsdistributor have been accusedof paying bribes to securebusiness, according to awhistleblower ’s emailreviewed by Reuters.

Britain’s biggest drugmakersaid on Thursday it wasinvestigating the latest claimsdating back to 2010, whichwere laid out in the emailreceived by the company onJuly 18. The allegations relateto its former consumerhealthcare operations in Syria,which were closed down in2012 due to the worsening civilwar in the country.

“We have zero tolerance forany kind of unethicalbehaviour. We will thoroughlyinvestigate all the claims madein this email,” GSK said in astatement.

GSK has been rocked bycorruption allegations sincelast July, when Chineseauthorities accused it offunneling up to three billionyuan ($480 million) to doctorsand officials to encourage themto use its medicines.

stated that complaints that areincomplete or not specific,allegations without supportingdocuments, disputes arisingfrom private agreement withcompanies or intermediaries,non-listing of private offers ofsecurities by privatecompanies, as well ascomplaints seekingexplanation for non-trading ofshares or illiquidity of sharesshould not be considered ascomplaints for deliberation by‘Competent Authorities’ withinthe capital market.

Under the proposedcomplaint managementframework, complaints againstCompetent Authorities,operators by SROs/Regulatorand trade manipulation,accounting frauds, Ponzischeme should be lodged atfirst instance with the

Commission.On receipt of complaint from

a client, “CMOs and publiccompanies shall have twoworking days to acknowledgereceipt of complaints receivedby email. Where complaints arereceived by post, the CMO andpublic companies shallrespond in writing within fiveworking days of the receipt ofthe complaint. Copies of thecomplaint and theacknowledgement letter shallbe forwarded to the relevantCompetent Authority.

“All complaints shall beresolved by the capital marketoperators within 10 workingdays from the date thecomplaint was received. TheCompetent Authority shall benotified of the resolution of thecomplaint within two workingdays,” the Commission said.

LAUNCH: From left: Kola Oyeyemi, General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN NigerianLimited, Ernest Ndukwe, Executive Chairman of Salt and Einstein MTS and Kehinde Oyesku,Head, Business Development and Sales, Avon HMO, during the official launch of NigerianMobile Health Insurance Scheme in Lagos.

26 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014


E-Commerce

Technology was launched in2013 and until now about 500girls have finished theirtraining courses. In 2014Huawei has kept expandingthe investment on young ICTtalents education and we areglad to work with AUST toensure the graduates could beICT industry leader in Nigeriaand other Sub-Sahara Africancountries.”

On his part, NMI’s ChiefExecutive Officer, Mr.Bonaventure Mbida-Essama,said, “The African University ofScience and Technology is thefirst of the Nelson MandelaInstitutions (NMIs). It wasestablished as a centre ofexcellence in science andtechnology with a focus onAfrican development. Since itsinception, the AUST has morethan 300 of PhD and M. Scstudents from 19 Africancountries in five disciplines(computer science andengineering, pure and appliedmathematics, theoreticalphysics, petroleumengineering, and materialsscience and engineering).“NMI is willing to collaboratewith Huawei, which is theworld leading ICT solutionsprovider, not just with itsaffiliate in Nigeria, AUST, butalso with the other institutionsaffiliated to NMI in Africa.

Swatch Groupdenies workingwith Apple onsmartwatch

Swiss watchmaker SwatchGroup has denied a

media report saying it wasworking with technologycompany Apple on asmartwatch, a wearable devicewith interactive functions.

Technology websiteVentureBeat said in a report onWednesday that Apple wasworking with “at least onepartner, Swatch” on asmartwatch project, citing anunnamed source.

A spokeswoman for SwatchGroup said on Thursday thereport was unfounded. Shesaid the only businessrelationship Swatch Grouphad with mobile phone makerswas as a supplier of integratedcircuits and other electroniccomponents.

Signs are mounting thatApple, which landed hugesuccesses with its iPhonemobile phones and iPadtablets, is preparing the launchof an iWatch, following thecommercialisation ofsmartwatches by rivals such asSamsung and LG Electronics.

Swatch Group shares rose 2percent to 510 Swiss francs lastweek outperforming a 0.2percent higher Europeansector index.

Microsoft’squarterly profithurt by Nokiaacquisition

Microsoft Corporationreported profit that fell

short of estimates in the fiscalfourth quarter, weighed downby the acquisition of NokiaOyj’s handset unit, whereabout 12,500 jobs will be cut.

Net income in the period thatended June 30 was $4.61billion, or 55 cents a share,including adjustments relatedto Nokia, the company said ina statement today. Analystswere predicting, on average,profit of 60 cents a share,according to estimatescompiled by Bloomberg.Excluding the Nokia-relateditems and taxes, profit wouldhave been 66 cents a share,beating the average predictionfor 64 cents.

Chief Executive Officer SatyaNadella, who took over inFebruary, is struggling to cutcosts at Nokia after Microsoftcompleted its 5.44 billion euro($7.33 billion) acquisition ofthe mobile-phone operationsin April.

Global information andc o m m u n i c a t i o n s

technology, ICT, solutionsprovider, Huawei hasannounced it would invest N80million to empower youngtalents in the ICTindustry.Huawei made theannouncement at an event heldin Abuja recently to mark thisyear ’s Nelson MandelaInternational Day. Out of thisamount, N4 million will beprovided to the Nelson

all about constant evolution. Some months backwe launched the YouTube channel and Androidapp and today we are launching the iOS appmaking certain that we get Lamudi Nigeria in thehands of more than 30 million estimatedSmartphone users in Nigeria.”

A fundamental feature of the app is itscustomized search function that permits users tofilter results simply by country. Additionally, theapp offers match alerts, with users being notifiedas soon as a property that matches their needshits the market. House-hunters can also bookmarktheir preferred properties to access on any deviceat any time. The Lamudi iOS app is also availablein Kenya, Ghana, Morocco, Uganda, Tanzania,Nigeria, and Ivory Coast.

Others are Tunisia, Colombia, Mexico,Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh,Peru and Indonesia.

IN a bid to capture the rapidly expandingSmartphone market in Nigeria, online real

estate firm, Lamudi.com.ng has launched aniOS app for iPhones.

The launch comes after the successful roll-out of the company’s Android app last month.The Lamudi’s Android app is currentlyaccessible on iOS devices in 16 countries –among them in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Speaking at the launch, CEO of Lamudi Westand Central Africa, Allie Morse, said she wasexcited by the prospects of the iOS app, as itwould enable property seekers to surf fromtheir mobile devices of over 1000 propertieslisted by Lamudi.

On his part, Managing Director of LamudiNigeria, Sacha Poignonnec said, “Lamudi is

Mandela Institute, NMI whichwill invest it in its affiliate, theAfrican University of Scienceand Technology, AUST in Abujaas a scholarship for studentswho have been admitted.Theremaining N76 million will beprovided in form of ComputerTraining equipment. NMI willthen put it at the disposal ofAUST on the basis of identifiedneeds of the institution.Huaweiwill also provide access to itsAbuja training center to AUSTfor the computer sciencestudents on the basis ofproposals to be developed

jointly by AUST computerscience faculty and Huaweiengineers. AUST will inviteHuawei engineers andresearchers to organizeworkshops or specific classesto the students.Speaking on themove, Huawei’s DeputyManaging Director, Abujaoffice, Mr. Osita Iweze said,“Bridging digital divide isHuawei’s global strategy.Huawei has set up an ICTscholarship in University ofLagos since 2012. A 1,000 girlstraining program with FederalMinistry of Communication

STAKEHOLDERS in thetechnology sector

have called for a strongercollaboration betweentechnological solutionproviders, the OrganisedPrivate Sector, OPS andIndependent NationalElectoral Commission, INECto improve the electoralprocess in Nigeria.

The stakeholders said INEC,Orgnaised Private Sectors andtechnology solution providersneed to collaborate to ensureeffective communicationbetween the body and theelectorate in order to make fora positive and significantimpact in the conduct of theelections.

The stakeholders whoincluded the representatives ofINEC, civil societyorganisations, youths, politicalparties, traditional and newmedia and ICT experts madethe call during a one-daystakeholder workshoporganised by a tech innovationcentre, Co-creation Hub, inconjunction with NationalDemocratic Institute in Lagos,to explore technologysolutions that will improveelectoral processes in Nigeria,with a particular focus on the2015 general elections.

At the forum, the

stakeholders reviewed theNigerian electoral process witha view to identifying concretetechnology solutions that can bedeployed to identifybottlenecks.

During the boot camp session,the participants were dividedinto different groups and eachassigned to identify problems

with the electoral processes anddevelop solutions to theproblem.

At the end, increasedawareness of existingtechnological solutions beingdeployed for elections inNigeria to drive synergy in thedeployment wasrecommended.

Huawei invests N80m to empowerAfrican youth in ICT

At the end of the event, it isexpected that some newtechnology solutions thatclearly addressed identifiedbottlenecks in the electoralprocess will be built by ICTexperts, with civil societyorganisations stepping forwardto champion the deployment ofthe solutions.

Tech stakeholders advocate increasedcollaboration to improve electoral process

Lamudi’s global property portal nowavailable on iOS

RIGHTS ISSUE: From left: Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Alex Otti;Obi of Onitsha and Chairman, Diamond Bank PLC, HRM Nnaemeka Achebe and CompanySecretary/Legal Adviser, Ms Nkechi Nwosu at the formal signing ceremony for DiamondBank’s N8.68 billion rights issue at the Bank’s headoffice in Lagos

Stories byJONAH NWOKPOKU

28 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

Homes & Housing Finance

RAINBOW TownDevelopment Limited,

RTDL, developers of the newRainbow Town in PortHarcourt, the Rivers Statecapital, has set the thirdquarter of 2015 as thecompletion time for the firstphase of the project.

Managing Director/ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO) of thecompany, Chima Ucheya,disclosed this during theformal unveiling of the project.In a statement, Ucheya notedthat the construction of the firstphase commenced in 2009,with an estimated budget ofN82 billion. He said the projectis already approachingsubstantial completion with

INTERACTION - From left: Ebi Bozimo, Project Manager, RTDL; Ikechi Odigbo, MD/CEO,DDB Lagos; Chima Ucheya, MD/CEO, Rainbow Town Development Limited (RTDL); BodeAdedeji, Principal Partner, Bode Adedeji & Partners; and Cliff Oparaodu, Company Secretary,RTDL, at a Media Interaction hosted by RTDL in Port Harcourt

construction progress at about60 per cent in the three distinctresidential building types,adding that properties aroundthe area are already witnessingrebound and upsurge in value.

Ucheya explained that theproject comprises of 1,181residential units located interraces, detached houses and25 high-rise condominium,with recreational, business,educational, security,healthcare and retail facilities.He said prospective buyers cannow approach a consortium ofreal estate agents and RTDLmarketing groups, adding thata mortgage scheme has alsobeen dedicated for access byinvestors and prospective

purchasers.He pointed out that the

project was anchored on publicprivate partnership aimed atachieving substainable urbanrenewal, housing andeconomic development, notingthat First Bank Plc, which is apartner in the project, hasprovided mortgage facilities foraccess by investors andpurchasers.

The developer asserted thatthe Rainbow Town is creativelypositioned to offer a totalwellbeing experiencecompromising of a medicalclinic, primary school, outdoorrecreational facilities,clubhouse, security post, firestation and shopping arcade.

In addition to these, theRainbow estate is going tobe serviced from Eco-centre,a supply hub of power,water and sewer plant,broadband wireless internetconnectivity, phone and dataservices. According to him,the estate’s master planreflects some of the live-work -play ideals of newurbanism communitiesworldwide. He noted thatthe estate has beendesigned to have lush greenvegetation with trees, lawnsand shrubbery thataddresses the globalwarming challenges andincidence of highgreenhouse gas emissions.

Mortgage bankcreates accountfor DiasporaNigerians

RESORT Savings andLoans (RSL) Plc has

unveiled a mortgage accountfor Nigerians in Diaspora.

Managing Director, RSL, Mr.Abimbola Olayinka, said in astatement that the ResortMortgage Account forNigerians in the Diasporawould cater for the needs ofcitizens who wereeconomically empowered buthad no means of accessingmortgages in the country asthe information about availablemortgage products was notreadily available to thoseabroad. “This product hasunique features and affordableinterest rates based on theaffordability test conducted onNigerians in the UnitedKingdom,” he added.

Olayinka said the target wasthe provision of mortgages forthose in the Diaspora toacquire homes either for theirparents and loved ones orinvest in them for capitalappreciation. “The bank is setto make an introductoryproduct presentation duringthe Nigeria Trade andInvestment Summit/Exhibition,which is holding in Reading,UK.

US mortgagerates holdsteady

Average U.S. long-termmortgage rates were

stable to slightly higher thisweek, remaining near theirlows for the year. Mortgagecompany Freddie Mac saidthat the nationwide average fora 30-year loan was 4.13percent, unchanged from lastweek. The average for the 15-year mortgage, a popularchoice for people who arerefinancing, edged up to 3.26percent from 3.23 percent lastweek.

Mortgage rates are below thelevels of a year ago, havingfallen in recent weeks afterclimbing last summer when theFederal Reserve began talkingabout reducing the monthlybond purchases it was makingto keep long-term rates low.

The government reportedThursday that sales of newhomes in the U.S. plunged by8.1 percent in June, a sign thatreal estate continues to be aweak spot in the economy.Home sales had beenimproving through mid-2013,only to stumble over the past12 months due to a mix ofrising prices, higher mortgagerates and meager wagegrowth.

Shelter Afrique, REDAN sealN32bn housing deal

Understanding, MoU, betweenthe two organisations lastmonth in Nairobi, Kenya.

He commended the existingrelationship between thecompany and the associationwhile pleading for a strongersynergy in order to help boosthousing delivery in Nigeria.“We have some strongrelationship with REDANwhich has been formalised inthe MoU signed in Nairobi lastmonth. We will continue toimplement the MoU andstrengthen our relationship.Shelter Afrique is spread across44 countries with acommitment to provideaffordable mass housing tomiddle and low income people.We are committing $200million into housing units in

REAL EstateD e v e l o p e r sAssociation of

Nigeria, REDAN, has signed a$200 million (about N32billion) pact with Pan Africanhousing finance institution,Shelter Afrique, fordevelopment of housing unitsin Nigeria within the next fiveyears.

Director BusinessDevelopment, ShelterAfrique, Mr. MouhamadouGueye, disclosed this when hevisited REDAN office in Abuja,following the signing of aMemorandum of

Nigeria within the next fiveyears.

“Also our mission is toactively support Nigeria’sgovernment’s programme ofbuilding 10,000 housing unitsand we cannot do that withoutthe support of REDAN. ShelterAfrique believes that Nigeriais one of the strong markets tohelp the government in theimplementation of the 10,000housing units. We believe thatin this project REDAN is oneof our main partner that willhelp in the implementation ofthis project in Nigeria and thatwas why they were in Nairobilast month to sign the MoU.We are focusing on affordableand mass housingdevelopment. Those are ourtwo key aspects of our strategy

in Nigeria,” he stated.REDAN President, Chief

Emmanuel Afolayan, in hisremarks, said the associationwill render the necessarysupport to the financeinstitution in housingdevelopment in the country. Hesaid it is required for anyinstitution or individual willingto participate actively inhousing development in thecountry to be a member of theassociation to enjoy all thebenefits, support andcooperation that will speed upcollective growth

“Except you are a memberof REDAN, you cannot takeEstate Development Loan,EDL, from Federal MortgageBank of Nigeria, FMBN. Weare working with EFCC andthe Financial ReportingStandard to make sure that ourmembers abide and complywith rules and regulations ofreal estate business in Nigeriaexcept you are a member ofREDAN. We don’t dabble intoindividual business operations,but we guide them in such away that they will not abuse thesystem and as a member of theassociation, it is mandatory andobligatory for us to provide ourmembers with all theassistance required of us. Webelieve that the survival ofindividual members of theassociation is paramount andthe development of the sectoris based on the financialinstitutions that are providingfinancial leverage for membersin the sector hence it is acollective growth,” he stated.

Afolayan disclosed thatREDAN groups its membersaccording to their financialmuscle and capability. “Thecategorisation is basically anappraisal of classifyingdevelopers in line with theirfinancial capacity andcapability. We have thecategory A which are the lowercadre class of developers whoare just coming on board hencethe need to encourage them.

N82bn Rainbow Town:Developer sets 2015 completion date

Stories byYINKA KOLAWOLE &FAVOUR NNABUGWU


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Sim Capital Alliance Plc 103.50 98.33 15,358 103.50 103.50 10.56 9.71Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc 27.26 29.09 11,329,056 15.69 10.64 0.87 18.03UBA Capital Plc 2.24 2.17 5,330,917 1.41 0.03 0.21 6.71

HEALTHCAREMedical SuppliesMorison Industries Plc 1.91 1.91 100 10.54 9.52 0.00 0.00Healthcare ProvidersUnion Diagnostics & Clinicals Services 0.50 0.50 40,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00

PharmaceuticalsEkocorp Plc 3.72 3.72 162 5.31 5.31 88.50Evans Medical Plc 2.31 2.06 509,212 1.45 0.70 0.19 0.00Fidson Healthcare Plc 3.01 3.18 690,907 3.20 0.83 0.44 3.07Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig 69.99 68.99 99,127 23.11 2.58 2.62May & Baker Nigeria Plc 1.72 1.70 405,241 5.61 3.61 0.20 9.05Neimeth International Pharm 1.24 1.21 269,437 1.96 0.95 0.09 14.13Nigeria-German Chemicals Plc 7.36 7.36 17,256 12.91 0.95 0.00 0.00Pharma-Deko Plc 1.50 1.72 51,000 200 4.28 0.00 0.00

ICTComputer Based SystemsCourteville Investment Plc 0.57 0.54 708,905 0.52 0.50 0.10 10.00

Computers and PeripheralsOmatek Ventures Plc 0.50 0.50 200 0.50 0.50 0.00 12.50

IT ServicesNCR (Nig) Plc 15.20 15.20 1,850 9.31 3.25 0.00 1.43Tripple Gee and Company Plc 1.88 1.97 25,449 3.59 3.25 0.01 0.00Processing SystemsChams Plc 0.50 0.50 3,000 50,000

ICTTelecommunicationsStarcomms Plc 0.50 0.50 4,000 1.47 0.50 0.00 0.00

INDUSTRIAL GOODSBuilding MaterialsAshaka Cement Plc 33.00 30.27 832,833 30.00 12.00 2.14 7.86Berger Paints Plc 9.00 8.60 119,231 12.57 8.10 1.09 4.97CAP Plc 40.10 41.00 136,106 43.98 15.16 2.28 8.88Cement Co. of Northern Nig. Plc 14.17 14.17 2,961,810 15.49 4.16 1.47 2.31Dangote Cement Plc 240.00 232.00 87,094,842 132.51 95.00 7.56 13.17First Aluminium Nigeria Plc 0.50 0.50 5,000 0.75 0.50 0.00 0.00DN Meyer Plc 1.20 1.20 24,369 3.51 1.02 0.00 0.00Lafarge WAPCO Plc 119.00 118.95 706,037 48.05 36.58 4.10 42.86Portland Paints & Products Nig Plc 5.40 5.22 428,140 5.28 5.11 0.44 14.19Paints & Coatings Manufacturers 1.40 1.47 50,000 3.36 0.51 0.23 2.89Premier Paints Plc 10.00 11.00 123,564 13.40 10.93 0.00 0.00

Packaging/ContainersAvon Crowncaps & Container 1.69 1.69 2,811 6.91 5.94 0.5 39.60Nigerian Bags Manufacturing Company 2.74 2.70 2,717,101 3.60 1.47 0.25 9.16

Tools and MachineryNigerian Ropes Plc 7.46 7.46 500 8.69 8.26 0.00 0.00

NATURAL RESOURCESChemicalsBOC Gases Plc 5.76 5.76 10,000 9.20 6.80 0.78 7.37

MetalsAluminium Extrusion Ind Plc 10.50 10.50 10 12.39 10.70 0.13 85.77

Non-Metalic Mineral MiningMultiverse Plc 0.50 0.50 200 0.50 0.50 0.01 0.00

Paper/Forest ProductsThomas Wyatt Nig. Plc 0.79 0.79 4,050 1.38 1.38 0.00 0.00

Electronic and Electrical ProductsCutix Plc 1.82 1.90 446,655 2.50 1.62 0.11 13.15Nigerian Wire & Cable Plc 0.50 0.50 10,000 2.58 2.58 0.00 0.00

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and SeAbbey Building Society Plc 1.44 1.44 2,000 1.51 1.33 0.03 28.80INDUSTRIAL GOODSPackaging/ContainersAbplast Products Plc 3.98 3.98 6,888 3.98 3.98 0.00 0.00Beta Glass Co. Plc 16.30 16.30 1,361 15.58 12.71 3.90 3.26

Nampak Nigeria Plc 4.30 4.30 29,198 4.30 3.60 1.22 3.52Poly Products (Nig) Plc 1.05 1.05 200 1.86 1.05 0.30 6.18Studio Press (Nig) Plc 2.92 2.78 84,311 2.92 2.92 0.07 41.71W.A. Glass Ind. Plc 0.63 0.66 2,749,340 0.63 0.63 0.00 0.00

OIL AND GASEnergy Equipment and ServicesJapaul Oil & Maritime Service 0.58 0.51 9,409,406 0.97 0.87 0.19 6.06

Intergrated Oil and Gas ServicesOando Plc 25.65 25.47 17,150,043 78.97 27.99 1.73 4.17

Petroleum and Petroleum ProductsAfrican Petroleum Plc 20.50 20.50 82,191 37.10 0.50 4.93 7.40Beco Petroleum Plc 0.50 0.50 10,000 0.70 0.50 0.00 0.00Conoil 65.60 62.32 173,105 5.59 3.89 0.61 6.99Forte Oil Nig Plc 238.00 216.00 95,646Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc 154.50 161.41 84,543 163.50 141.00 6.11 11.11MRS Oil Nigeria Plc 62.43 61.99 12,880 2,100 63.86 2.98 19.23Total Nigeria Plc 180.20 175.45 93,011 240.00 195.50 14.63 17.07

HospitalityTantalisers Plc 0.50 0.50 100 500 0.01

SERVICESAfromedia Plc 0.50 0.50 30 0.72 0.51 0.00 12.75Automobile/Auto Part RetailersRT Briscoe Plc 1.05 1.00 228,400 3.65 1.30 0.21 8.19

Courier/Freight/DeliveryRed Star Express Plc 4.67 5.00 969,710 3.67 2.65 0.60 4.91Trans-National 2.06 1.97 4,000 0.25 11.12Employment SolutionsC & I LEASING PLC 0.50 0.52 6,479,926 1.64 0.90 0.04 11.25

Hotels/LodgingCapital Hotel 4.50 4.50 100 400 3.00 0.34 34.09Ikeja Hotel Plc 0.75 0.80 1,701,300 2.07 1.33 0.92 2.12

Media/EntertainmentDaar Communications Plc 0.50 0.50 50,000 0.50 0.48 0.00 0.00

Printing & Publishing.Academy Press Plc 1.71 1.71 500 3.68 3.17 0.25 12.19Learn Africa Plc 1.65 1.63 326,799 0.30Studio Press Nig. Plc 2.40 2.40 20 0.00 0.00University Press 4.40 4.32 590,142 6.82 3.60 0.54 27.69

Road TransportationAssociated Bus Company Plc 0.89 0.87 1,255,000 0.80 0.50 0.00 0.00

SpecialityInterlinked Technologies Plc 4.90 4.90 6 5.15 4.90 0.00 0.00

Transport-Related ServicesAirline Services and Logistics Plc 2.23 2.19 430,566 2.78 1.57 0.60 4.22Nigerian Aviation Handling Company 4.87 4.90 947,981 11.75 6.50 12.53 8.75

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

Oil and Gas and ProductsPetroleum Prod ucts

Capital Oil Plc 0.50 0.50 2,500 0.50 0.50 0.09

1st fTier SecuritiesAGRICULTURECrop ProductionFTN Cocoa Processors Plc 0.50 0.50 200 0.50 0.50 0.10 50.00Okomu Oil Palm Plc 33.01 33.01 130,978 24.58 14.53 7.33 2.77Presco Plc 37.50 38.01 275,470 8.30 6.40 2.75 4.37

Livestock/Animal SpecialitiesLivestock Feeds Plc 3.10 3.10 920,371 0.66 0.48 0.11 15.00

CONGLOMERATESDiversified IndustriesA.G. Levents Nigeria Plc 1.33 1.34 193,222 2.54 1.45 0.16 5.18Chellarams Plc 3.95 3.95 876 7.60 6.43 0.31 20.74John Holt Plc 1.20 1.20 43,029 8.82 5.89 0.00 0.00SCOA Nigeria Plc 4.91 4.91 512 8.28 5.52 0.35 15.77Transnational Corporation 5.18 5.51 48,955,544 1.82 0.50 0.24 3.64UACN Plc 62.50 62.40 277,897 42.50 28.70 6.89 4.14

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATEBuilding Construction/StructureARBICO Plc 5.30 5.30 375 4 20Constain (WA) Plc 1.22 1.16 862,780 2,720,390.38

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATENon-Building/Heavy ConstructionJulius Berger Nig Plc 65.00 63.00 125,866 62.26 32.96 4.11 10.11Roads Nigeria Plc 8.46 8.46 200 8.28 3.01 4.73 2.26

Real Estate DevelopmentUACN Property Development 17.90 17.46 549,392 20.15 11.59 1.69 7.33

Real Estate Investment TrustsSkye Shelter Funds 95.00 95.00 93 100.00 97.00 11.75 8.51Union Homes Real Estate Investment 47.59 47.59 70 - - - -

CONSUMER GOODSAutomobile/Auto PartsDN Tyres & Rubber Plc 0.50 0.50 840,712 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00

Beverages-Brewers/DistillersChampion Breweries Plc 9.67 9.17 100,599 4.63 2.23 0.00 0.00Guinness Nigeria Plc 197.10 197.15 407,194 255.00 186.00 9.95 19.98International Breweries Plc 28.05 28.05 313,258 7.10 5.23 0.41 16.29Nigerian Brew Plc 178.20 178.00 1,911,728 100.00 72.50 5.08 22.22Premier Breweries Plc 0.77 0.77 500 1.01 0.93 0.00 0.00

Beverages-Non-Alcoholic7-UP Bottling Company Plc 100.03 100.03 62,495 51.49 ,39.00 2.69 13.92

Food ProductsDangote Flour Mills Plc 8.01 7.61 4,838,723 19.90 4.31 0.00 16.91Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc 9.08 9.20 2,498,279 16.20 4.02 0.91 14.38Flour Mills Nigeria Plc 77.87 73.98 217,815 95.00 57.00 4.09 16.89Honeywell Flour Mill Plc 4.49 4.25 1,607,786 6.60 2.31 0.39 16.92National Salt Co. Nig Plc 10.59 10.59 2,038,397 6.70 3.80 1.01 5.75UTC Nigeria Plc 0.50 0.50 50 0.88 0.50 1.13 8.83

Food Products-- DiversifiedCadbury Nigeria Plc 74.25 74.25 61,473 37.27 8.33 1.35 27.61Nestle Nigeria Plc 1,120.00 1,120.00 75,170 840.10 400.00 25.43 32.84

Household DurablesNigerian Enamelware Plc 32.27 32.27 100, 36.19 33.96 13.89 2.44Vitafoam Nig. Plc 4.15 4.15 412,718 5.54 2.91 0.61 7.07Vono Products Plc 1.44 1.44 100 2.88 2.88 0.00 0.00

Personal/Household ProductsPZ Cussons Nigeria Plc 39.00 39.00 382,682 41.02 21.02 0.82 4.39Unilever Nigeria Plc 53.00 49.00 304,764 47.39 27.60 1.44 32.91

FINANCIAL SERVICESBankingAccess Bank Plc 10.00 9.92 20,356,042 12.39 4.70 1.42 8.73Diamond Bank Nigeria Plc 6.72 6.70 20,382,667 7.51 1.92 0.90 8.34Ecobank Transnational Incorporated 17.23 16.90 1,692,057 14.04 9.90 2.81 5.00Fidelity Bank Plc 2.04 1.98 14,784,464 3.47 1.13 0.43 7.93First City Monument Bank Plc 4.75 4.75 865,336 5.70 2.90 0.00 0.00Guaranty Trust Bank Plc 30.10 31.00 155,222,147 26.09 13.02 2.10 12.39Skye Bank Plc 3.20 3.20 5,437,327 6.50 2.65 0.71 9.15Sterling Bank Plc 2.32 2.26 15,697,526 3.05 0.80 0.54 5.43UBA Plc 7.85 7.90 9,599,673 7.69 1.64 0.67 11.19Union Bank Nig. Plc 9.01 8.91 758,934 10.60 2.34 0.00 0.00Unity Bank Plc 0.50 0.50 814,009 1.22 0.50 0.00 0.00Wema Bank Plc 1.11 1.06 5,942,922 1.75 0.52 1.34 0.43Zenith Bank Plc 24.95 25.23 11,081,618 21.49 11.96 2.09 10.24

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and SectorAfrican Alliance Insurance 0.50 0.50 10 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00AIICO Insurance Plc 0.82 0.81 5,043,697 1.11 0.50 0.50 22.20Continental Reinsurance Plc 1.12 1.13 4,907,667 1.03 0.58 0.14 6.79Cornerstone Insurance Company 0.50 0.50 129,035 0.54 0.50 0.02 27.30Consolidated Hallmark Insurance 0.50 0.50 3,000 0.50 0.50 0.50 10.00Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc 2.00 2.06 9,054,578 2.44 1.08 0.28 7.43Equity Assurance Plc 0.50 0.50 40,733 0.50 0.50 0.01 50.00Goldlink Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 93,000 0.68 0.50 0.00 0.00Great (Nig) Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 1,000,000 0.50 0.50 0.03 16.67Guinea Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 500 0.50 0.50 0.01 50.00International Energy Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 807,433 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Investment and Allied Assurance 0.50 0.50 1,670,890 0.50 0.50 0.02 25.00LASACO Assurance Plc 0.50 0.50 288,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 500 0.60 0.50 0.00 0.00Linkage Assurance Plc 0.50 0.50 24,992 0.50 0.50 0.03 16.67Mansard Insurance Plc 2.56 2.54 1,558,306 2.59 1.06 0.16 16.19Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc 0.54 0.54 1,558,306 0.54 0.50 0.00 0.00NEM Insurance Co. (Nig) Ltd 0.82 0.82 3,853,104 0.81 0.50 0.37 2.19Niger Insurance Co. Plc 0.50 0.50 1,174,650 0.61 0.50 0.02 26.00OASIS Insurance Plc. 0.50 0.52 3,488,000 0.50 0.50 0.03 16.67Prestige Assurance Co. Plc 0.53 0.52 221,110 1.01 0.50 0.06 15.50Regency Alliance Insurance 0.50 0.50 55,000 0.50 0.50 0.04 12.50Sovereign Trust Insurance 0.50 0.50 1,000 0.56 0.50 0.09 5.65Staco Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 1,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Standard Alliance Insurance 0.50 0.50 62,337 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00UNIC Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 25,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Unity Kapital Plc 0.50 0.50 100 0.50 0.50 0.02 25.00Universal Insurance Plc 0.50 0.50 55,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Wapic Insurance Plc 0.89 0.90 13,532,795 1.08 0.50 0.07 15.43

Microfinance BanksFortis Micro-Finance Bank Plc 5.96 5.96 200 6.00 0.00 0.04 150.00

NPF Micro-Finance Bank Plc 1.10 1.00 201,500 1.18 0.92 0.92 10.56Mortgage Carrier, Broker and SectorAbbey Building SOC 1.30 1.35 80 1.57 1.37 0.19 47.6 7Aso Savings and Loans Plc 0.50 0.50 500 0.50 0.50 0.02 25.00Resort Savings & Loans Plc 0.50 0.50 220,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Union Homes Savings Plc 0.50 0.50 16,218 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00

Other Financial InstitutionsAfrica Prudential Plc 3.41 3.26 2,009,573 0.75 0.00 0.19 9.16Crusader (Nigeria) Plc 0.50 0.50 22,000 0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc 0.91 0.91 20 2.02 2.02 0.00 0.00FBN Holdings Plc 16.00 15.22 7,386,805 20.00 8.57 2.03 9.85Nigeria Energy Sector Fund 552.20 552.20 9,930 250 552.20 12.68 43.55Royal Exchange Assurance 0.53 0.52 600,000 0.78 0.50 0.13 6.00

Opening ClosingPrice Price Quantity Year Year P.E.

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

Capital Market Daily Stock Market Report as at Friday, July 18, 2014


Micro-Finance

Association of MicroEntrepreneurs of Nigeria,

AMEN, has called for establishment ofMinistry of Small Businesses in thecountry, decrying unfair treatmentmeted against it by the Bank of Industry(BOI), National Agency for Food andDrug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) and Nigerian Police.

The association has also threatenedto withdraw from the market, productsmanufactured by its members.President, AMEN, Prince Saviour Iche,made the threat during a mediabriefing in Lagos. Some of thetreatments highlighted by Icheincludes; strict requirements from BOI,high cost of registration from NAFDAC,arrest and extortion of money frommembers by the police.

He said, “We are determined toindustrialise Nigeria, but we needsomebody with business background inthe Ministry of Industry, we needMinistry of Small Business that willunderstand what we are facing.

“For the police, Nigerian producerscannot carry ordinary plastic along thestreet without the police harassingthem, asking them to go and bringNAFDAC registration number. But ourmembers in Benin Republic will cometo Nigeria to source for their materials

Capacity building: AMfBpartners Frankfurtbusiness school

As part of capacity building drive,Accion Microfinance Bank,

AmfB has entered into partnership withFrankfurt School of Finance &Management (Bankakademie HfB) totrain management team on businessskills acquisition.

The training is targeted atstrengthening and retaining themiddle management team and it ismade possible through the RegionalMSME Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa (REGMIFA).

The training facilitated by theFrankfurt includes a mini-MBA,business skills acquisition andmanagement training, relevant softskills such as leadership, managementand supervisory skills as well asrelevant technical skills that will enablea sustainable growth plan for theparticipants. The training presentlyongoing, is scheduled to hold over aperiod of three months andparticipants will receive certificates oncompletion.

Group canvasses ministryfor small business...says BOI, NAFDAC, Police, biggest challenge

Stories byPROVIDENCE OBUH

and when the police arrest them theywill show them their resident permit,showing they don’t stay in Nigeria andthey will leave them, if the police arresta Nigerian with the same product, theywill take him to their station.Sometimes they demand for N40thousand where as the product theyare carrying is not up to that amount,as a result, so many have left thebusiness.

“In Lagos alone we have about 300members, we have spread across otherstates, if they refuse to listen to us andby October nothing is done, we willnot hesitate to withdraw our membersproduct from the market and we willbe forced to respond to foreigninvitation.

“NAFDAC is our friend but they arenot friendly to us because whatmultinationals pay for registration iswhat we pay. The condition of rentingfour bedrooms flat before productregistration is not fair to us becausesome of us are leaving either in oneroom or two, we are micro producersnot multinationals.

“We are pleading with Agency to bemicro entrepreneurs friendly, theyshould bring down the cost ofregistration so that we can produce.

He noted that news making therounds shows that BOI has expendedbillions on micro entrepreneurs

The Ovie Brume Foundation, aN o n - G o v e r n m e n t a l

Organisation is set to train youngNigerians on skill acquisition with aview to engaging and improvingcontinued learning during thesummer holidays.

In a statement, Executive Directorof the Foundation, Mrs. Iwalola Akin-Jimoh, said that the initiative is partof efforts to help reduce the numberof youth involved in social vices, andfight the detrimental effect of learningloss that might arise as a result of along holiday and subsequentidleness.

“The Ovie Brume Foundation iscommitted to ensuring that everyyoung person is adequatelyempowered, exposed and has accessto qualitative education to enablethem take their rightful place in thesociety.

“As part of the programme, childrenwill have the opportunity to interactwith other young people within a safeand controlled environment, forincreased learning and networking.

“The Youth Center ’s SummerProgramme will provide a mix ofopportunities from closed camps byHope Youth Corp Camp and YMCAto open camp-based vocationaltraining sessions and excursion allaimed at equipping the youth withpractical skills that they can use toexpress themselves in creative andproductive ways that will ultimatelybring about transformative change intheir communities,” she said.

The summer program is created tokeep the youth engaged during the

Foundation trains youthson skill acquisition

summer holidays and it is targetedat youths between the ages of 12 and18, it will run between July 27 andAugust 31. It is designed to empowerthe youth to acquire vocational andcreative skills for their future.


Aviation

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

President GoodluckJonathan onWednesday swore in

and deployed the former CorpMarshal of the Federal RoadSafety Commission, Mr OsitaChidoka as the newMinister of Aviation. It will berecalled that the Aviationministry has been without asubstantive minister sinceFebruary when the formerminister, Princess StellaOduah was removed. Asupervising minister, DrSamuel Ortom has beenoverseeing the ministry.The appointment of Chidokahas attracted reactions fromaviation stakeholders. TheDeputy General Secretary ofthe National Union of AirTransport Employee(NUATE), Mr OlayinkaAbioye said the unionwelcomes the newlyconfirmed Minister forAviation “ with mixedfeelings”.Speaking in Lagos, Abioyesaid it was the prerogativeof the President to choosewhoever he wants as aminister. He, however, saidthat the Minister shouldcontinue with thetransformation project beingexecuted by the formerminister. According to him: “the new minister shouldcomplete the ongoing projectsstarted by the former aviationminister. We hope funds willbe made available by the

Federal Government for thespeedy completion of theseprojects.”Abioye also said the sectorwould have preferredsomebody from the aviationindustry, adding however thathe hoped the new ministerwould learn quickly from thesector. “An aviationprofessional would havequickly adjusted and get onwith the work at hand. Wehope the new minister willlearn fast and get on with thechallenges in the industry.”Reacting also, the former

Lagos Airport Commandant ,Retired Group Captain John Ojikutu said the newminister should focus less onconstructing or remodeling ofairport terminal buildingwhich is for private investors.He said: “ first, he shouldfocus less on constructing orremodeling of airport terminalbuilding which is for privateinvestors like Babalakin did atMurtala Muhammed Airportterminal 2. It is a waste ofpublic funds.”“ He should focus on criticalsafety and security

infrastructures like airportperimeter and security fences;runway and approachlighting and navigationalaids; aeronautical informationservices communication, fireand rescue equipment and fire personnel , ATCSpersonnel, NCAA inspectorsetc. “ Ojikutu also said the ministershould critically look into theexploitation of BASA byministry officials to benefitforeign airlines and therecent abolishing of royaltiesand commercial agreement. “To deprive the country of a revenue of over $200mfrom foreign airlines that arebenefiting more than we dofrom BASA , are yet, givingthem multiple landingsthereby depriving our privateairlines the benefit of domesticmarket.

New aviation minister:Stakeholders react

support at all times.Commenting on the ward, theExecutive Chairman ofPeacock Group of Companies,Aare Segun Phillips, said hewould like “ to dedicate theaward to the glory of God andto the entire customers of thecompany worldwide”. He said the gesture was a

testimony of the world- classservice that had been thetrade mark of Peacock Travels,both within and outside theshores of Nigeria.Phillips said, “For asubsidiary of the company towin such a reputable awardin the United Kingdom, itmeans the core value of the

Peacock wins corporate travels awardBy LAWANI MIKAIRU

Peacock Travels and Tours,a subsidiary of

Peacock Group of Companies,has won the United Kingdom-based AcquisitionMagazine’s 2014 edition of‘Sustained Excellence inCorporate Travel’ award.According to a statement bythe company ’s office inLondon, the awardpresentation was done by theMayor of London Borough ofRichmond, Cllr. Jane Boulton.The Mayor, the firm said,presented the award duringthe opening of Peacock’s newoffice complex in King Street,Twickenham in London.Other senior travel executivesand players in the travelindustry were in attendanceat the special event. While presenting the award,the statement quoted Boultonas remarking “This award isa result of the hard work ofPeacock Travel staff ”. Sheexpressed happiness inhaving such a forward-looking establishment in herBorough and pledged her

company in renderingqualitative and unparallelservice will continued to bemaintained to the joyoussatisfaction of our local andinternational customers’Peacock Travel’s offices wereformerly in North EastLondon, before it moved tothe High Street.

By DANIEL ETEGHE

Members of the Association of NigeriaLicensed Customs Agents, ANLCA,

on Thursday, declared that the associationwould shut down business activities acrossall the international airports in the countryfollowing the continuous collection ofdocumentation charges from it’s members.According to ANCLA, the decision was borneout of the fact that some of the foreign airlineswere still collecting documentation chargesnoting that the association will soon beginanother round of protest if the situation wasnot resolved. The group noted that despitethe agreement reached last week betweenANLCA, the Association of Foreign AirlinesRepresentatives of Nigeria, AFARN and other

stakeholders in the sector to stop the collectionof the charges, some foreign airlines were stillcollecting the same documentationcharges.Vanguard gathered that while othermajor scheduled international airlinesoperating into the country have suspendedthe collection of the charges, Ethiopia Airlinesstill insists on the collection of N7 perkilogramme as documentation fees, asituation, which did not go down well withANLCA members at all the internationalairports across the country.

Based on this, the Nigerian Civil AviationAuthority, NCAA, was planning to summonthe airline and other international carriers whostill flout the order in concordant with it’s letterto the foreign carriers in 2011, which nullifiedthe charges was still relevant.

Clearing agents to shut down airports across the country

Passengers'demandsdetermineour routes—Dana Air

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

Dana Air has revealed thatits route plans are

entirely a function ofcustomers’ demand andconvenience. The airline'sHead of Commercial, Mr.Obialor Mbanuzuo, statedthis in an interview withAviation reporters on the recommencement of theLagos—Uyo route in a bidto reinforced its domesticflight operations. This is anadditional route to its existingroute network from its hub atthe Lagos MurtalaMohammed Airport Terminal2 (MMA2).Announcing the introductionof the additional routes inLagos, Mbanuzuo, said“Dana Air route plans areentirely a function ofcustomers’ demand and theairline is consolidating itsoperations on the Lagos,Abuja and Port Harcourt axisfollowing extensive marketresearch that has shownstrong customer demand forthe additional Uyo routerecommencement .”It will be recalled that DanaAir was plying the Uyo routebefore the unfortunate crashof one of its planes at Iju-Ishaga on the 3rd of June,2012. What the airline isdoing, according to Mbanuzuo, is to reopen theold routes the airline was flying before the crash . Onthe in flocks of new airlinesinto the market, andconsequent crash of airfare,he said the new airlines havebrought in healthycompetition which is good forthe industry as the alreadyexisting airlines are nowforced to sit upHe however said the entranceof these new airlines has notaffected the passengersvolume of Dana Air as theairline has its selling pointslike prompt departure andgood customer relation.According to Mbanuzuo“with superior performance,services and creativity, DanaAir is uncompromising in itscommitment to excellence andsafety as it is currently theonly Nigerian carrier to havesuccessfully undergone anoperational audit conductedby the Nigeria Civil AviationAuthority Flight Safety Groupin partnership with theirforeign counterparts.”

UNVEILING - rom left: Aggreko’s Managing Director, Nigeria, Mr. Alaba Owoyemi ;Regional Managing Director, David Taylor-Smith and Wole Adeleke Non-Executive ChairmanAggreko Nigeria at the unveiling of Agrreko in Lagos.


“For this reason, I seek theconcurrence of the NationalAssembly for external borrowing ofnot more than $1 billion..” PresidentJonathan in the letter to the SenatePresident, David Mark on July 15,2014.

Although the President of Nigeriahad pointed out the “urgent

need” (underlining mine) to upgradeequipment to fight the Boko Haraminsurgency, the Senate President andthe National Assembly, controlled by thePeoples Democratic Party, PDP, stillproceeded on their annual leave onschedule. Obviously, Senator DavidMark and the National Assembly don’tshare the President’s sense of urgency.They will resume in September and atthe rate Boko Haram is slaughteringpeople in the Northeast, close to 100per day, about 4,000 Nigerians wouldhave been sent to their graves. That tothe NASS is not an urgent matter.

I must state quite clearly thatPresident Jonathan is right to havedescribed the matter as “urgent.” In fact,urgent might be an understatement. Thesituation is near catastrophic as theNigerian Armed Forces are being shownto be facing challenges for which theywere not fully prepared. When one ofthe Service Chiefs, on his appointmenta few months ago, proclaimed that BokoHaram would be defeated in threemonths or so, Nigerians knew we have,as our first line defenders, some peoplewho were living in a world of fantasy.Today, it is over three months sincethose appointments were made andBoko Haram has become moremurderous. The situation had gone frombad to very bad, and now, to desperate.That explains the sense of urgency thePresident attaches to the matter. And, ifindeed, the President nurses a secondterm ambition, he is aware that it wouldbe an uphill task if the insurgency inthe Northeast is not contained by the

$1b loan to procure weapons:Matters Arising

time Nigerians go to the polls next year.For starters, certainly nobody wouldrepresent INEC in those areascontrolled by Boko Haram. The NigerianArmed Forces really need more andbetter weapons to prosecute this war –for the simple reason that what theyhave is not turning the tide of conflictin our favour.

But, having agreed that our armedforces need to be better equipped, thereis still the need to address thePresident’s request to borrow $1 billionfrom abroad. The first and most obvious,of course is: will $1 billion be sufficient,or will it constitute a first installment ina series of loans to fight the war?Second, the President, one hopes,would have provided the detailssupporting the $1 billion (N160 billion)loan – including the interests, terms ofrepayment, sources of the loan, etc.While on the sources of the loan, itwould appear to me to be a cardinalmistake for Nigeria to want to raise aloan for a mere N160 billion and notturn to Nigerian banks, first, to syndicatethe loan and benefit from the interestinstead of foreigners. Surely, Nigeria’stop 10 banks can each provide N16billion without going under.

Second, N160 billion to procureequipment, mostly weapons of

destruction, which can and some ofwhich will also be destroyed, is not aninvestment to promote growth. Thereturns on investment on thisexpenditure are totally negative. We aregoing to repay the loans from fundsgenerated from other sources. Thatmakes it important for us to ensure thatthe entire $1 billion is needed and therehas been no inadvertent or deliberateinflation of the need.

Third, since some of the equipmentwould not be things that can be

taken off the shelf and installed, oneagain hopes that our armed forces will

be adequately trained to use them.Nigeria has for a long time become thegraveyard of equipment and machinesimported to serve particular needs butwhich had never been installed or usedbecause nobody was trained to use themand no spare parts to maintain themwhen they failed. For instance, theLagos State inherited four giantincinerators from the military in 1979which the government of GovernorJakande could not operate. They remain

largely useless till today. Yet, a foreignloan was taken to install them. Most ofthe equipment and systems which ChiefM.K.O. Abiola’s ITT imported, in the1970s, to upgrade Nigeria’s telephonesystem, were never installed – amongother reasons because nobody couldoperate them.

Perhaps the best argument in supportof the request for the $1 billion loan isthe cost/benefit analysis.Unquestionably, the longer the warpersists, the more it will hurt theNigerian economy. And, if Boko Haramsucceeds in spreading its influence toother parts of Nigeria, then the damagewill be immeasurable. Against such aneventuality, $1 billion appears to me likea small price to pay to prevent furtherdamage to the economy, for therestoration of normalcy to a wide areaof Nigerian territory and to bring peaceto those directly involved.

In fact, the continuation of the conflicthas prevented us from assessing therefugee situation, the damage done topeople whose means of livelihood hadbeen impaired or destroyed for ever andfamilies that had been scattered neverto re-group again. Everyday the conflictcontinues represents another day to addto the tragedies which the war hasinflicted on millions of our countrymenand women.

I am aware of the crippling andendemic corruption with which ourcountry had become known. Somewould assume that the N160 billionconstitutes another avenue for self-enrichment, for inflated contracts (overwhich we will argue later). That maybe true. But, as I pointed out to one ofmy friends who took this position, usinganalogy borrowed from medicine, “Thefact that a particular surgeon hadperformed two operations whichresulted in death does not mean thathe cannot perform the next one – if heis the Chief Surgeon.”

Jonathan is our “Chief Surgeon”, atthe moment. Let us give him the supportand the chance to perform his duty. TheNASS should lead by example. Theyshould approve the loan before goingon leave.

Visit: www.delesobowale.com or Visit:www.facebook.com/biolasobowale

,,

•President Jonathan

The fact that aparticular surgeon had

performed twooperations which

resulted in death doesnot mean that he cannotperform the next one – ifhe is the Chief Surgeon

the institute more members will be included toboost and balance the committees, while theinstitute aims to align itself to the status of otherinternational professional bodies.

According to him, “both parties have agreed tointegrate two members of both institute intocommittees as a new council for the institute will beconstituted as a result of the brokered peace betweenboth parties, even as two others will join at the AGMlater in the year.”

Truce has finally come the way of theembattled marketing institutes;

Nigeria Institute of Marketing, NIMN andChartered Institute of Marketing of Nigeria,CIMN, as Memorandum of Understanding,MoU, is signed.

Speaking on what is contained in theagreement, Coordinator of the signingprogramme, Dr. Ify Urai, said that the partieshave agreed that in all the committees of

Embattled marketing institutes sign MoU

BEFORE now, toys wereseen as commodities

meant for children,appreciation material meant toshow love to loved ones, asthey were seen as materialsmeant for children anddisplaying of aesthetics.

Toy business like in previouscenturies did not have anymonetary value in the marketbefore now as brands currentlyplay down the aesthetic natureof it and focus more on thebusiness angle to investingcapital in this form of business.

At the 2nd Lagos StateEnterprise day recently,

organised to send forthgraduating technical andvocational students fromvarious Technical Colleges inLagos state, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Auldon Toys Limited,Mr. Paul Orajiaka, said that asa Toy branding outfit, the brandremains the most respectedand innovative toy company inthe country.

Orajiaka in one of hismessages at the event, advisedthe graduating students toincorporate their skills inbuilding their own brands whileinvesting also investing in it asa profit yielding ventures.

He said toy business isrelatively expensive andadvised the graduants toplough their resources towardssuch an enterprise.

As a brand that has overseventeen years in thecreation of innovative andimaginative products,Oriajiaka said that these toysaids and develop children’s IQin today’s fast changing world.

“Despite the inherent

volatility of the promotionaltoy industry, Auldon Toysremains a market leader,guided by the operatingprinciples of creativity,flexibility and simplicity, thesetoys continue to build upon astrong and focused brand

Toy business, an emerging market — Auldon bossBy PRINCEWILLEKWUJURU &RICHARD UDOFIA

Business & Economy

portfolio”, he said. The CEOadmitted that by maintainingdiscipline, exhibiting qualitycontrol, product mix, andservice delivery, Auldon Toyswould successfully navigatingthe cycles inherent to thepromotion of toy industry inNigeria.

Appointment & [email protected] 08033348923

Berger Paints Nigeria Plchas announced theappointment of

renowned Human Resourcepractitioner, Dr. OladimejiAlo as Chairman of its Boardof Directors.

The appointment wassequel to the retirement ofMr. Clement Olowokandefrom the Board.

Alo, who holds a PhDdegree in IndustrialSociology from the Universityof Ife (now Obafemi AwolowoUniversity, Ile-Ife), is ascholar, managementconsultant and a corporategovernance enthusiast.

His career in academics sawhim serve as Lecturer/VisitingLecturer at the University ofIfe, Nigeria, the University ofBenin, Nigeria, and theUniversity of California, LosAngeles, USA.

“I consider it a greathonour to have beenappointed as the newchairman of this greatcompany. I feel humbled bythe appointment consideringthe great strides the companyhad recorded under some ofthe best minds in corporateNigeria in its 55 years ofexistence. In accepting theappointment, I commit toworking with my colleagueson the Board to give the

Alo named Berger Paints boardchairman

Mordi nowmember ofGACC

A Nigerian and ChiefExecutive Officer,

CEO, of the NationalCompetitiveness Council ofNigeria, NCCN, ChikaMordi, has been appointed tothe World Economic Forum’sGlobal Council onCompetitiveness, GACC.

The GACC is one of themost influential bodies inworld business and policy.The World Economic Forum Founder and ExecutiveChairman, Klaus MartinSchwab, noted that Mordi’sinvitation/appointment wasin the light of his position asone of the world’s mostrelevant and knowledgeablethought leaders inCompetitiveness. Mordi ishonoured by the appointmentand sees it as “a veritableplatform to strengthen theprivate-public policy nexusand drive African growth.”The focus of the GlobalAgenda Council onCompetitiveness in theupcoming term will be: “Highlight and help leverageinnovative competitivenesspractices developed at thecity level so decision-makersin other domains can bettermanage and develop theprincipal drivers of modernglobal growth.”

Bras Marine and YachtServices has been

appointed sole distributoracross the West African sub-region by SeaRay, the luxuryboat builder based inKnoxville, USA.

According to a statement byYomi Sonuga, Chairman,Bras Marine, theappointment will empowerthe company to market, orderand import a range of SeaRayexotic boats on behalf ofdiscerning customers withinthe West African sub region,with special consideration forNigeria.

He explained that SeaRaydesigns, builds, supplies andmaintains a range of boatsfrom a host of officesworldwide.

“Chief among which are itsKnoxville, USA office, whichlooks after the US andCanadian markets, theMerritt Island, Florida, andAmsterdam offices whichoversee operations in LatinAmerica and Caribbean andEurope, African and MiddleEast markets, respectively,” hesaid.

Sonuga assures itscustomers of flawless aftersales services with hugestocks of genuine spare parts.

He noted that with theappointment, SeaRay brand

THE Federal Government andAssociation of Senior Civil Servants of

Nigeria, ASCSN, have reached agreementover the dispute concerning theappointment of Mr. Peter Nwakpa as theSecretary of the Public ComplaintsCommission, PCC.

The umbrella body for senior civil servantsin the country had on July 9, commencedan industrial action at the PCC with anintention to extend the strike nationwide ifthe dispute was not addressed.

After a meeting between the PCC andASCSN called by the Ministry of Labourand Productivity, it was decided to set up acommittee to examine the validity of theappointment of the Commission’s secretary.

According to the communiqué,membership of the committee shall compriseone person each from the Federal CivilService Commission, Office of the Head ofthe Civil Service of the Federation, PublicComplaints Commission, Association ofSenior Civil Servants of Nigeria, andFederal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

company the guidance andthe direction it needs toregain its leadership positionin its sector,” Alo said.

According to Mr.Olowokande, Dr. Alo hadbeen very instrumental to there-engineering of BergerPaints since he joined theBoard in 2012.

He brings to the table, hiswealth of experience in

corporate governance andhuman resourcemanagement whichwill be verybeneficial to the nextphase of growthwhich the companyis currently goingthrough. I have nodoubt in his capacityto steer thiscompany in theright direction,especially at thisperiod.

Dr. Alo has had adistinguished careeras a UniversityLecturer, aM a n a g e m e n tConsultant and aC o r p o r a t eExecutive.

He started hisconsulting careerwith PriceW a t e r h o u s eAssociates in 1985,

from where he moved on toCoopers & LybrandAssociates in 1987.

He rose through the ranksto become an ExecutiveDirector of that firm in 1990.

Dr. Alo became the Director-General of FinancialInstitutions Training Centre,a leading training andconsulting firm owned byNigeria banks in 1996, wherehe contributed actively to the

series of reforms in theNigerian banking sector overa period of thirteen years.

He has had the privilege ofdirecting consultingengagements for a widerange of clients across allsectors of the economy, withparticular emphasis on issuesof strategy, leadership andgovernance. It was from thewealth of this experience heauthored a book – HumanResource Management inNigeria (1999) and editedanother book - Issues inCorporate Governance inNigeria (2003).

Alo was a member of theExecutive Council of theChartered Institute ofBankers of Nigeria, a pastPresident of the West AfricanBankers Association, WABA,and a Director of the NigeriaCapital Market Institute.

He is a fellow the CharteredInstitute of PersonnelManagement of Nigeria(CIPM), and served as thePresident and Chairman ofthe Council of that Institutefor three years.

Presently, he is theManaging Director/ChiefExecutive Officer, MD/CEOof Excel Professional ServicesLtd, a leading managementconsulting firm in Nigeria;and a non-Executive Directorof ARM Life Plc.

The committee shall be given 30 daysfrom the day of the commencement of itssitting; the Federal Ministry of Labourand Productivity shall act as theSecretariat and provide the chairman ofthe committee; the term of reference ofthe committee shall be to look at the

SeaRay appoints Bras luxury boats distributor for West Africaholds a strong promise inNigeria and West Africa,adding that the brand willassume a more focusedmarketing approach andNigerians will be able topurchase their preferredmodels hassle-free.

He said, “We are poised to

satisfy the yearnings of allNigerians who desire thegood life, and a life of luxuryas provided by SeaRay boats.Each boat is built with moderntechnology and parades anarray of creature comforts thatwill delight each customer.

‘Indeed, our boats are a new

breed that breaks the rulesespecially with our verycompetitive pricing andstandard warranty.

“The burgeoning Nigerianeconomy has seen more andmore Nigerians appreciateleisure provided by boatcruises and voyages in the

validity of the appointment of Mr. PeterNwakpa as Secretary of PublicComplaints Commission.”

While communiqué noted that in viewof the development, the ultimatumgiven by the union is hereby suspended,said: “no worker shall be victimized asa result of the present industrialrelations dispute in the PublicComplaints Commission.”

Signatories to the communiqué are thePermanent Secretary of FederalMinistry of Labour and Productivity, Dr.Clement O. Illoh; Secretary-General ofASCSN, Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal;a Commissioner of PCC, Hon. ChijiokeUwa; a Commissioner of FCSC, Rt.Hon. V. A. Olabimtan; and a DeputyDirector (IR) from the OHCSF, Mr.Gideon S. Mitu.

Earlier, the ASCN had, by a letterdated July 9, 2014, commenced anindustrial action at the PCC with anintention to extend the strike nationwideif the dispute was not addressed.

FG, ASCN reach agreement on appointment of PCCsecretary

pristine waters of Lagos andindeed, the West AfricanAtlantic Ocean open seas.

“Thus, the new emergentNigerian nouveau riche whodesire the good life, acquireboats of all kinds of designsand sizes to complement theeleisure lifestyles they crave.

•Chief Emeka Wogu, Minister ofLabour and Productivity


*Dr. Oladimeji Alo


Advertising, Media& Marketing

THINK of any organisation that has excelled in servingcustomers. Wal-Mart. The Container Store.Southwest Airlines. Guaranty Trust Bank.

Nordstrom. Bergstrom Hotels. Amazon.com. Zenith Bank.There are many others. Whatever else they may have incommon, one point sticks out – service orientation is not aslogan meant to drive the frontline. It flows from the verytop and permeates the entire organisation.

At those organisations that have been acknowledged fortheir focus on service, the top leaders themselves get involvedin delivering great service. They create a service-friendlyenvironment. They craft and sustain a service-supportingorganisational culture. They show by their own examplethat customers are very important to the organisation. Infact, the top leaders, including the Chief Executive Officers(CEOs), possess a near-fanatical zeal for serving customers.

And how do they do it? In addition to what has been saidin the foregoing section, leaders in excellent organisationsspend time on the frontline meeting, serving or listening tocustomers. They often read and respond to customer mail.They call customers on the phone. They interact regularlywith customers, using various communication channels.

Leaders with ire service orientation hire staff whose valuesand attitude are in sync with those of the organisation; rewardthem adequately; monitor their performance; train, developand motivate them, while driving a never-ending continuousimprovement programme. Because their companies operateopen and flat organisations, the leaders are usually accessibleto both customers and frontline staff.

Such leaders take time to listen to the ideas, challengesand complaints of the frontline people. More

importantly, they empower their staff to do what seemsappropriate for customers at any point. An emasculated teamis of no use to anybody – neither to the company nor thecustomer.

In great organisations, customer service is not run by theuse of thick rule books peppered with dos and don’ts.Although the rules do have their place, people go beyondrules to imbibe values: those lasting guideposts that remainfirm after the rule books have been revised. It’s not a questionof “you go and do it.” Everybody does it. And servicebecomes a way of life.

Even leadership mindset is different. The top guys knowthat to create an effective organisation, management shouldbe focused on service, not just control. They know thatexternal service mirrors internal service. So they pull downthe bureaucratic walls that hinder service. Everyone is madeto know how their work impacts on service delivery. So thecustomer takes the centre stage.

In the final analysis, an organisation is a reflection of itsleadership. If the leadership is visibly not committed togiving customers a great service experience, it just won’thappen. If, in deed, the key function of an organisation isto create and keep customers (according to Peter Drucker),who is best suited to be at the vanguard of it except theleadership?

Delivering long sermons on service, launching petimprovement programmes or knocking people for not “doingit” will not make a difference. That is mere executivegrandstanding. Executives who really want theirorganisations to deliver great service get out of their cosyoffices and lead the charge. They go beyond telling to doing.They walk the talk. They take responsibility for whatevertheir organisations become.

Over time, employees begin to pattern their behaviour aftertheir leaders. They begin to see what is really important totheir leaders – and do it. If they are convinced that theirleaders mean to create a customer-focused organisation, soonenough they will begin to work toward it.

In summary, leaders should•View service as their job.•Create an environment that supports service.•Spend a lot of time with customers.•Model the behaviour they want to see.•Reward excellent service.•Empower their teams if they don’t want zombies.

LeaderLeaderLeaderLeaderLeaders and Sers and Sers and Sers and Sers and ServiceviceviceviceviceGROUP Managing

Director of Yellow Woodcompany, Mr. David Blyth hassaid in a programme in Lagostagged: “The fundamentals ofmarketing across Africa,” thatAfrica remains the new promiseland for marketers.

Blyth admitted that in Africa,and Nigeria exclusively, over54 viable markets exist and aredriven by three fundamentalmarketing principles, price,product and people.

He advised Nigerian brandsto have a sense of purposewhen developing advertisingideas, as consumers are not justmembers, but have heritage,feelings and believe in a goodproduct. The GMD said that

aside firms building on moreinnovations and channels toenlighten consumers, Lack ofinfrastructures in any givensociety would end up slowingdown the rate of productmultipliers in markets.

Chief Executive Officer ofMagna Carta ReputationManagement Agency, Mr.Vincent Magwenya in hispresentation, “effectiveleadership in deliveringeffective communication indigital era,” maintained thatcontroversies in the line ofcommunication is so importantany where in the world.

Carta said that Politicalleaders in Africa do notcommunicate well with thepeople, but business leaderscommunicate better in allspheres of human Endeavour’seven in the market chain. Hesaid that with the penetration

of Internet facility today,people still prefer face-to- faceform of communication as mostconsumers prefer to see andfeel the product they are aboutconsuming.

“However, withcommunication channels,integrity of information is betterenhanced and protected”, hesaid.

Although he admitted that inAfrica, communication is wellmanaged in areas of securitychallenges, political paradigmand social interaction whereaudience could be talkingabout brands differentiation.

Meanwhile, ExecutiveInternational Strategist, Mrs.Jamieson spoke on “More bangfor marketing busk,” in themarketing and advertisingworld, a situation wherebyplatforms are created for othersto work.

Africa, new pride for marketers— Blyth, TBWA GMD

CHIVITA premium fromthe stable of Chi

Limited has changed its nameto Chivita 100%, a reason thecompany says is tocommunicate a clear andeffective brand message thatwill instantly resonate withconsumers.

The company in a self-styledname rechristening andrepackaging said that a clearbrand message is aboutcapturing the right languagethat embodies a brand so thatit distinguishes itself from thepack. For effectiveness, thecompany noted that for a nameto resonate with consumers itmust be simple, short andabove all memorable, and mustalso parade instantly attractivepackaging.

Speaking with a distributorof product and ManagingDirector of Global investmentsLimited in Lagos, whileconducting a survey on whybrands change their names,Mr. Maxwell Iwunna, said thechallenge of communicating aclear and effective brandmessage that will instantlyresonate with consumers hasalways been an intimidatingtask for brand managers. “Thisis because very few brands areable to effectively match themessage with each and everycomponent of their brand orproduct,” said Mr. Iwunna.

According to ImmersionBusiness Concept, Mr. MikeNze-Opara, said that operatingin a challenging economy likeNigeria where marketing a

brand is a complex and highlycompetitive task, finding aclear message that works withthe consumer may be the mostdifficult part of building a brandidentity. But by renamingChivita to reflect the mostcrucial idea at the heart of thebrand which is the 100% purefruit juice that contains noadded sugar, no preservativeand no added colours, Chivitahas solidified its marketleadership. Continuing, hestated: “truly, in an increasinglyhealth conscious society,consumers are most likely tochoose a brand that laysemphasis on naturalingredients instead of productscontaining synthetic orgenetically modifiedcomponents.

Chivita Premium now Chivita 100%

ENTERPRISE DAY - From left: Deputy Governor of Lagos, Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, GroupManaging Director, Ruff “N” Tumble, Nike Ogunlesi, and Chief Executive officer, AuldonToys Limited, Paul Orajiaka during the 2nd Lagos enterprise day in Lagos.

Stories by PRINCEWILLEKWUJURU &RICHARD UDOFIA


CMYK

Business & Economy


Nigeria seen by McKinsey in World's top 20 economies by 2030

Nigeria has thepotential to be one ofthe world's top 20

economies by 2030 with aconsumer base exceeding thecurrent populations of Franceand Germany, according toMcKinsey & Co. Africa'sbiggest economy may expandabout 7.1 per cent a yearthrough 2030, boosting grossdomestic product to $1.6trillion, possibly pushing itabove Netherlands, Thailandand Malaysia , the New York-based company said in areport weekend.About 60 percent of Nigeria'sestimated population of 273million by then may live inhouseholds earning morethan $7,500 a year, fueling aconsumer boom, McKinseysaid."Nigeria has a very positiveoutlook," Acha Leke, co-author of the report, said inan interview withBloombergTV Africa inJohannesburg. "The mostimportant thing that needs tobe done to get it there isexecution of governmentpolicies.As Africa's largest oilproducer with a population ofabout 170 million, Nigeria hasconsistently posted annualgrowth rates in excess of 4percent over the past decade.That's spurred foreigninvestors such as Unilever Plc, Nestle SA and Shoprite

Holdings Ltd. (SHP) toexpand operations despite anupsurge in violence bymilitants in the north.Based on McKinsey's growthestimates for the economy,annual sales in consumergoods could more than tripleto $1.4 trillion by 2030 from$388 billion currently, it said.The retail and wholesale tradeindustry will probably becomethe largest contributer toNigerian growth by then and35 million households areexpected to earn more than$7,500 a year, according to thereport.While oil accounts for 70percent of government

revenue and most ofNigeria's export earnings, itsshare of the economy haswaned. After the statisticsoffice overhauled its GDPdata in April, oil 'scontribution to economicgrowth between 2010 and2013 was 5.1 percent,compared with 14 percent formanufacturing and 20percent for trade, accordingto McKinsey.The Nigerian StockExchange All-Share Indexhas gained 2.9 percent thisyear, adding to its 47 percentsurge in 2013. The naira hasdropped 1.1 percent againstthe dollar since January.

McKinsey's estimate ofNigeria's growth potentialcomes with significantcaveats. The governmentneeds to address poverty,lower the cost of basicservices, such as housing andenergy, expand electricitysupply and boost productivityin farming, according to thereport. "If execution doesn't happenthere's actually a big risk forthe country, even from asecurity stability perspective,to create jobs and lift millionsof people out of poverty," Lekesaid. "That has to be a bigfocus, to grow in a way that isinclusive."

The most recent povertysurvey by Nigeria's statisticsagency, published in 2012,showed that 61 percent ofNigerians were living on lessthan a dollar a day in 2010,up from 52 percent in 2004.Life expectancy is 54 years,eight years lower than inGhana and 20 years belowBrazil , according toMcKinsey."In the policy world,economists can build allmanner of scenarios," FolarinGbadebo-Smith, ManagingDirector for Lagos-basedCenter for Public PolicyAlternatives, said.

BOI rejects funding SMEs cluster

The Bank of Industry, hasturned down request by

the Nigerian Association ofSmall and MediumEnterprises (NASME) tofund its proposed SMEscluster at Imota in Ikrodu areaof Lagos State, saying “it isnot part of our coremandates.”The bank, however, reaffirmedits commitment to increasefunding of genuine SMEs,especially those that areadding value to the economy

in terms of jobs creation.NASME led by its NationalDeputy President, PrinceOrimadegun Agboade, hadduring a courtesy visit to thenewly constituted Board ofBOI, requested among otherthings, funding of its clusterproject and assistance toimplement its programmescapable of transformingSMEs in the country.In his response, RasheedOlaoluwa, ManagingDirector /CEO, BOI, said, “Wewill be part of yourinternational conference and

we will see how we cansupport you.Like I said earlierfunding cluster is not whatwe do; the bank financeslong-term plants andmachinery while the SMEsfriendly banks provide theworking capital loans.“For SMEs, our emphasis ison the genuine SMEs thatadd value in Nigeria.Experience has shown us thatwe have a lot of SMEs thatare not really genuine. Thatis the truth. There are SMEsthat just incorporated to chasecontracts in various

ministries; there are SMEsincorporated to chase supplycontracts, constructioncontracts, SMEs that are intotrading and exportingactivity.“We are very keen to supportonly SMEs that will add valueto the economy by addingvalue I mean, by going intoprocessing andmanufacturing activities. Thatis how we can really increasethe contribution ofmanufacturing to Nigeria’sGDP.That ration is currentlypeaking at 6.8 percent in therecently rebased GDP

By Franklin Alli

CMYK

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


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

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

Business & Economy

The Federation AccountsAllocation Committeelast week approved

the sum of over N755bn forsharing among the three tiersof government. Ordinarily,the distribution of thisrelatively sizable revenuewould elicit hope that theeconomy will becomepositively impacted, as thevarious tiers of governmentwould be funded to achievetheir budget expectations.

In reality, however,Nigerians may notunderstand why thedisbursement of thisallocation would bring in itstrain, a host of adverseconsequences to oureconomic and social welfare.Indeed, the economicdislocation attributable tosuch allocations begins withthe deposit of the allocatedsum of N755bn into the bankaccounts of the federal, statesand local governmentincluding, ministries,departments and otheragencies.

Invariably, the governmentdeposits become fresh Nairasupply which swells the cashlevels in the banking sector;expectedly, the bountiful cashinflow is sweet music to thebanks as it enables them toleverage on the fresh Nairainflow to expand theircapacity to give loans to theircustomers. The extent ofadditional credit expansionwill be determined by theprevailing ratio of cash to totalassets specified from time totime by the Central Bank inline with its mandate tomaintain benignly stableprices and exchange rates inthe economy.

Thus, if for example, themandatory cash reserve ratiospecified by CBN is 10%, thenevery Naira above this limitbecomes surplus cash onwhich a bank could leveragealmost tenfold to expandcredit to its customers ifrequired. Inevitably, however,such expansion in bank creditwould promote increased

spending within the economyand expectedly triggerinflation as more moneybecomes available forrelatively less goods andservices; clearly, unbridledinflation spells doom for allincome earners;consequently, the CentralBank would step in to reducethe cash balances with banksso as to constrain their abilityto liberally expand credit totheir customers.

Thus, the larger the Nairaallocations to the three tiersof government, the morebuoyant also will be the cashpositions and credit capacityof banks and the more urgentwill therefore be the need forCBN to subsequently removethe excess cash in order toreduce credit expansion andrestrain spending and thethreat of inflation. Ironically,part of CBN’s strategy forreducing the systemic surpluscash is to offer to borrow someof the perceived excess Nairaby selling treasury bills onwhich it offers to payunusually high interest rates,which are consideredinappropriate for risk freesovereign debts.

Late in June 2014, the CBNborrowed over N134bn withtreasury bills; similarly, theCBN again borrowed N70bnand another tranche of overN134bn between the 9th and23rd of July, 2014. It needsemphasizing that the N340bnloans incurred by the CBNwithin three weeks will not bedeployed towards theremediation of our severeinfrastructural deprivationsnor indeed, can these fundsbe applied to remediate anyshortfall in the recurrentexpenditure of government,because such spendingwould only increase thepressure of already surplus

cash in the money market. Technically, therefore, the

N340bn loan would simply bewarehoused as idle funds inthe accounting records ofCBN, notwithstanding thatthe banks would still receivean average interest rate ofabout 10% on the sumsborrowed by the CBN. Inrecognition of this recklessand destructive practice,former CBN Governor,Lamido Sanusi, last year,belatedly decried thisinexplicable strategy andgovernment’s apparent follyfor placing its deposits at zeroper cent with banks only forthe same government toreturn thereafter to borrowfrom the banks and payoppressively high interestrates.

Ironically, in better managedand more successfuleconomies elsewhere, suchpractice would be totallycondemned; for example, the

European Central Bankactually charges banks about0.25% rather than pay intereston any surplus cash held bybanks. Conversely, in view ofour CBN’s feeding bottlestrategy for addressing excessliquidity, it makes eminentbusiness sense therefore forbanks to shun lending to therisk prone private sector withits myriad challenges ofinfrastructure, multipletaxation, constrainedconsumer demand, etc and forbanks to readily embrace thefarcical business model wheregovernment borrows back itsown money at such generouscost.

Incidentally, the CBN’sMonetary Policy Committee(MPC) recently maintainedits monetary policy rates(MPR) at 12% for theumpteenth consecutive time.The MPR is another majorCBN weapon for controllingbank lending so as to curtailspending and also controlinflation. The MPR istherefore a ‘punitive’ rate atwhich banks will be forced toborrow from the Apex bank tocover their occasional cashshortfalls.

Invariably, like CentralBanks everywhere, the CBNwill set its monetary policyrate at the level that wouldengender the objective ofminimal inflation. Thus,CBN’s MPR will be high ifthe objective is to makeborrowing expensive andreduce spending; conversely,the MPR would be set muchlower if CBN decides toencourage banks’ creditexpansion in order to induceboth capital and consumerspending to stimulateproduction and increasing jobcreation in the economy. Insuccessful economies inEurope and America, Central

Bank controls rates are usuallyless than 2%, so thatcommercial banks could alsolend to their customers atsingle digit interest rates.Conversely, if Nigerian banksborrowed from the CentralBank at 12% MPR, theywould in turn have little optionthan to lend to their owncustomers at the economicdestabilizing rate of over 20%as is currently the case.

The question therefore, iswhy CBN’s MPR is so high,especially when its product ofhigh cost of loans is bad forthe growth of all economicsubsectors and the attendantneed for increasing jobopportunities. From thepreceding narrative, it isevident that so long asmonthly allocations continueto instigate the spectre ofsurplus Naira, it would beinappropriate for CBN tofurther stimulate spendingwith low interest rates or thepromotion of liberalexpansion of commercial bankcredit because of the dangerof inflation getting out ofhand.

Instructively, however, ifCBN restrains itself fromcreating fresh Naira supply asallocations for the dollarderived portions of monthlydistributable revenue, theerstwhile shackles ofunyielding excess liquiditywill be broken, and a newdawn of rapid and inclusiveeconomic recovery will begin.If however the MonetaryPolicy Committee remains indenial of this reality,unfortunately, not even athousand more of its meetingswill burnish their legacy ofcomplicity and failure to do itright for our fatherland!

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVE

NIGERIANS

The strategic blunders of CBN’sMonetary Policy Committee,

,

Micro, Small and MediumE n t e r p r i s e s

(MSMEs) have the potentialsto boost production, create jobs,reduce poverty and ensureinclusive economic growth anddevelopment in the country.The Governor of the CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN), MrGodwin Emefiele, said this atthe signing of Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with the36 State Governments on“MSMEs Development Fund”in Abuja.

The CBN boss said that inspite of global recognition,MSMEs in Nigeria had notreceived adequate financingneeded to play their pivotalroles as developmenttrajectories. He said a joint

Emefiele promises adequatefunding of SMEs

report by the InternationalFinancing Corporation andMcKinsey indicated thatfinancing gap of the criticalsector of the Nigerian economywas N9.6 trillion as at 2010.

Emefiele said CBN initiatedthe funds as an innovative wayof improving access to financesat single digit interest rates byMSMEs in order to unlocktheir potentials.

He said the stategovernments would be able toaccess up to N2 billion each foron-lending to eligiblebeneficiaries throughparticipating financialinstitutions in their states.

Emefiele said CBN wouldensure that the funds got topeople at the bottom of the

country’s economic and socialpyramid at a maximum of nineper cent interest rate.

He also said 60 per cent ofthe funds would be given towomen, adding that they turnedout better yields than men.

According to him, the CBNwill be committing considerablehuman and material resourcesto monitoring the disbursementand utilisation of the funds ina robust and verifiable manner.“Participating financialinstitutions will be required tosubmit periodic returns ondisbursement as well asanalysis of the social impact ofthese funds on our people”, hesaid. The CBN boss imploredthe state Governors to assist theapex bank to achieve its goalsby ensuring that the fundswere deployed in an efficientmanner.

The larger theNaira allocations tothe three tiers ofgovernment, themore buoyant alsowill be the cashpositions and creditcapacity of banksand the moreurgent willtherefore be theneed for CBN tosubsequentlyremove the excesscash

CMYK

Financial Vanguard

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