Category: Money

By Collins Nweze

Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member of Standard Bank Group, is set to showcase its potential at the Global Trade Review (GTR) West Africa Conference themed ‘Connecting the region’s trade experts’.

The financial organisation is a platinum sponsor of the two-day virtual event, which will hold today and tomorrow.

A yearly regional event for trade discussions and networking among leading practitioners in trade, the conference is expected to attract over 600 participants from 300 organisations.

Some of the topics to be tackled include market volatility and Decarbonisation, Mobilising development finance, Digitisation of trade finance, Counter-cyclical financing support.

Head, Trade, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Jesuseun Fatoyinbo, is expected to moderate the session on Mobilising development finance: A necessity for Africa’s economic resurgence.

Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Wole Adeniyi, said: “As a leading end-to-end financial services organisation with solid trade financing footprints across Africa and beyond, we are constantly exploring opportunities to leverage our knowledge, expertise and extensive connections to deliver world class services to our clients in ways that will help them stay ahead of the curve.”

By Collins Nweze

The Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Adesola Adeduntan, has said technology, innovation and enhanced capabilities are keys to achieving significant business growth in the post-COVID-19 era.

Speaking at a Digital Disruption Series webinar organised by the Surrey Business School of the University of Surrey, England, the bank chief said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has for years encouraged innovation of the financial sector and that has reflected on the positive growth seen in the sector.

He said if there is any part of the  economy, where there is significant progress in terms on innovation, it is in the financial services sector, and that has allowed the Financial Technology (Fintech) firms to thrive.

The webinar was themed: “Digital disruption: How can companies thrive in Africa post-COVID-19.”

According to Adeduntan, there was need to study the environment and leverage the digital space to meet the needs of the public.

He said FirstMobile, the bank’s mobile banking and *894# USSD platforms, remained some of the digital disruptions that had impacted positively on the financial institution, the industry and the financial ecosystem.

“We have the largest bank agents – close to 90,000 – of them spread across the country, helping to bring in people that were financially excluded into the financial system,” he said.

On barriers to growth in creating innovative and indigenous knowledge, the CEO cited capital constraint, social infrastructure and cultural approach as some of the  factors.

“In Nigeria, to solve the capital constraint, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Banker’s Committee contribute certain percentage of our profit to a pool of fund to serve as equity for entrepreneurs,” he said.

According to the FirstBank CEO, the absence of social infrastructure in African countries has denied citizens the ability to lead better and quality life, thus leading to the migration of many young and brilliant minds from the continent.

He said the bank evolved a deliberate approach in its employment, remuneration, exciting work roles and talent development to inspire and retain its young workforce..

Also,  Thought Leader, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, Prof. Kenneth Amaeshi, said the pandemic has unravelled the need to realign Africa’s institutions, and convert challenges to opportunities.

Amaeshi said African governments should evolve more favourable policies and incentives that would encourage renewed innovation, increase investment in education, research and development and intellectual property protection.

“As much as we want to celebrate technology development in Africa, we need Africans to participate and contribute to the knowledge going on in the digital space,” he said.

Ecobank Nigeria has launched the Super Rewards Scheme, which gives 200 of its customers an opportunity to earn  cash monthly, with four of them becoming millionaires at the end of the four-month campaign.

Head, Consumer Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Korede Demola-Adeniyi, who announced the campaign in Lagos , said the scheme was designed by Ecobank to reward customers’ loyalty.

He explained that 50 customers with the highest deposit would be rewarded with prizes worth N25,000 weekly. The campaign runs between this month and July 2021.

Demola-Adeniyi stated that participation was open to new and existing customers of the bank, adding that this was the time to open an Ecobank account or reactivate and fund  a dormant account to qualify for the reward and enjoy a first-rate banking experience.

“Fifty customers with the highest deposit will be rewarded with N25,000 every week.  And four customers with the highest deposit and transaction value within the campaign duration will be rewarded with N1 million naira each.”

Head, Consumer Products, Ecobank Nigeria, Daberechi Effiong, said the qualifications for the scheme are simple to ensure both new and existing customers take part in it.

According to her, new customers are expected to open an account with a minimum of N5,000 and maintain the deposit for a 30-day period; same she noted applies to existing customers, who only need to fund their active account with a minimum of N5,000 or reactivate their dormant account with a minimum of N5,000 and maintain the deposit for a 30 day period.

Other conditions she noted are listed on Ecobank’s website, she also explained that customers can withdraw funds from their account during the campaign period but will  only be qualified for the reward when they maintain at least a balance of N5,000 in their account.

Further, Mrs. Effiong noted that the beneficiaries of the reward will be announced every week  on different platforms, including the Bank’s  social media handles.

She stated that “the bank will also send congratulatory SMS/email to the beneficiaries of the reward. She further explained that a customer can be rewarded more than once. “However, they will be required to make additional deposits and fulfill the other conditions for eligibility.” She advised those seeking further enquiry to do so via the Bank’s social media platforms and contact centre.

By Collins Nweze

Foreign investors should have long-term investment plans for Africa, because it boasts of huge returns on investment, Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has said.

Speaking at the virtual World Global Summit (WGS), Elumelu said there was no place investors could get the kind of returns on investments like Africa.

He said returns on investment in Africa were huge, but that most people see only the risks in investing in the continent. “For me, it is a combination therapy. We need to  democratise prosperity in Africa. When we make investment, we catalyse others to begin to think along that line. Poverty everywhere is a threat to our family and business,” he said.

On the $100 million support provided by the Tony Elumelu Foundation for African entrepreneurs, he said the fund would enable the beneficiaries take off with their ideas, before other investors could come in.

“We want to have more entrepreneurs out of Africa. We just need to identify the African entrepreneurs and help them to grow.

“We need our government to ensure that enabling environment to succeed is provided. We are happy that a tax regime that is favourable to small and medium businesses, which we advocated, is now in place in Nigeria,” he said.

Advising investors on Africa investment, Elumelu said: “What we support is medium-to long-term investment plan. Look for and identify credible local partners and invest in their ideas, or invest in the business with them. Stay with them on that journey, do not think about three years, five to 10 years is the right time. Then, capacitise them, so that when they achieve success, they stay successful.  We have certain solid principles that guide our group. For us, the $100 million for Tony Elumelu Foundation beneficiaries is not the principal thing. It is the training that the entrepreneurs go through that is the biggest achievement for us.”

On the group’s investment, he said Heirs Holdings recently bought a 45 per cent stake in an onshore oilfield as part of a deal that included $1.1 billion in financing from a consortium of global and regional banks and investors.

Shell, Total and Eni each had sold stakes in the OML 17 field, which has production capacity of 27,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily and estimated reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, he said.

TNOG Oil and Gas Limited, which Heirs Holdings owns alongside Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, took the stake.

“The acquisition of such a high-quality asset, with significant potential for further growth, is a strong statement of our confidence in Nigeria,” Elumelu added.

By Collins Nweze

 

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the recruitment of the asset manager for the  N15 trillion Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria Limited (InfraCorp) by two weeks to March 30.

A statement yesterday on behalf of the promoters- the Africa Finance Corporation, and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority – the CBN Deputy Governor, Kingsley Obiora, said: “Reference is made to the request by the promoters (the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Africa Finance Corporation, and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority), for Expressions of Interest from qualified asset managers active in the infrastructure sector to manage the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria Limited (InfraCorp)”.

Contiuing, he said: “This communique is to convey an extension to the deadline for receipt of final proposals in response to the detailed Request for Proposals (RfP) from 12 noon Nigerian time on 16 March 2021 by two weeks to 12 noon Nigerian time on 30 March 2021.’’

According to CBN data, the InfraCorp vehicle would enable the use of private and public capital to support infrastructure investment that will have a multiplier effect on growth across critical sectors.

Read Also: CBN depriving Rivers of agric loan, says Wike

The InfraCorp, which takes off in the second quarter of this year, has a combined debt and equity take-off capital of N15 trillion, and will be managed by an independent infrastructure fund manager.

The dedicated privately-managed infrastructure and industrial vehicle will harness opportunities for Nigeria’s infrastructure development by originating, structuring, executing and managing end-to-end bankable projects in that space.

The CBN and other promoters, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) are now requesting for expression of interest proposals from qualified asset managers active in the infrastructure sector to manage a newly-created world class institution.

The successful asset manager, the apex bank said, will be responsible for establishing a General partner/Asset Manager organization, develop the consolidated business plan and financial model for InfraCorp and its subsidiaries.

By Taofik Salako, Deputy Group Business Editor

Benchmark indices for the Nigerian equities market showed average decline of 1.74 per cent at the weekend, equivalent to net capital depreciation of N358 billion for the week.

Investors appeared to have found new opportunities in increasing yields in the fixed-income market, especially in sovereign issues with almost zero default risk. Portfolio adjustments in recent weeks have seen equities trading mostly in the red, in spite of the onset of earnings season.

Under the extant rules, quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) are required to submit their annual results not later than 90 days after the end of the business year. Most quoted companies use the Gregorian calendar ending December 31 as their business year. Thus the deadline for the submission of the 2020 audited report and accounts is March 31, 2021.

Several companies have submitted their results and dividend recommendations showing resilience and steady performance, a trend that market pundits had expected to stimulate price rally during the earnings season. However, the yields at the debt market, especially on sovereign debt issues have been rising steadily in recent months, counteracting the positive impact of the earnings season.

Analysts at Cowry Asset Management said they expected the market to continue on the decline as investors stay on the side lines to target new support levels.

“However, a decline in stop rate, especially for 364-day at the primary market auction, in the new week, may change trading dynamics in equities towards the end of the trading week,” Cowry Asset Management stated.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities said the sell-offs was due to profit-taking in stocks that had rallied significantly before the beginning of the earnings season, with investors opting to take their funds to fixed-income market.

“With investors leaning towards the fixed income space, sentiment is expected to remain bearish in the near term. However, we believe this presents investors with attractive entry opportunities in the equities market, Afrinvest Securities stated.

Analysts at Cordros Securities also expected the bearish trend to continue noting that investors were cherry-picking dividend-paying stocks and, at the same time, exhibit reluctance in leaving gains in the market.

“With uncertainties about the direction of yields in the fixed income market still bugging investors’ minds, the bears are likely to retain dominance in the market. Notwithstanding, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the unimpressive macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings,” Cordros Securities stated.

The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based common index that tracks share prices at the NSE, closed weekend at a recent low of 38,648.48 points as against its opening index of 39,331.61 points for the week. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also dropped correspondingly from the week’s opening value of N20.578 trillion to close weekend at N20.221 trillion. The decline worsened the average year-to-date return to -4.03 per cent.

The momentum of activities also slowed down considerably with total turnover dropping to 1.675 billion shares worth N23.541 billion in 21,732 deals last week as against 2.092 billion shares valued at N29.744 billion traded in 24,238 deals two weeks ago.

The financial services industry led the activity chart with 1.20 billion shares valued at N10.272 billion traded in 12,518 deals; thus contributing 71.64 per cent and 43.64 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The consumer goods industry followed with 110.564 million shares worth N3.577 billion in 3,234 deals. The third place was industrial goods industry, with a turnover of 99.761 million shares worth N5.322 billion in 1,309 deals.

Banks dominated the top activities chart with trio of United Bank for Africa Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Zenith Bank Plc leading as the three most active stocks. The three most active stocks accounted for 524.548 million shares worth N5.957 billion in 5,346 deals, contributing 31.32 per cent and 25.30 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Also, a total of 217,600 units valued at N3.699 million were traded last week in six deals compared with a total of 56,069 units valued at N411.581 million traded in 12 deals two weeks ago.

At the debt market, a total of 9,192 units valued at N10.671 million were traded in six deals compared with a total of 4,550 units valued at N4.857 million traded in eight deals penultimate week.

Sectoral analysis showed that the negative overall market position was largely due to losses in the highly influential banking sector. The NSE Banking Index dropped by 5.75 per cent, neutralising gains recorded in the insurance, oil and gas and consumer goods sector. The NSE Industrial Goods Index declined marginally by 0.05 per cent. Losses in the banking and industrial goods sectors depressed the NSE 30 Index- which tracks 30 largest stocks, to close the week with negative return of -2.20 per cent.

Meanwhile, the NSE Insurance Index rose by 2.84 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 2.18 per cent while the NSE Oil and Gas Index inched up by 0.59 per cent.

There were 35 gainers against 38 losers last week compared with 14 gainers and 71 losers recorded in the previous week. Champion Breweries led the gainers with a gain of 45.24 per cent to close at N2.44. Regency Assurance followed with a gain of 22.22 per cent to close at 33 kobo while Smart Products Nigeria placed third with a gain of 20 per cent to close at 24 kobo per share.

On the negative side, Eterna led with a drop of 18.95 per cent to close at N4.62. Meyer followed with a loss of 18 per cent to close at 41 kobo while African Alliance Insurance declined by 16.67 per cent to close at 20 kobo per share.