The Nation Newspaper

Category: Business

  • Banks targeting 10% loans to agric, says bank CEO

    Banks are currently inching to grow their agriculture loans from 3.5 per cent to 10 per cent, the Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Mrs Sola David-Borha has said.

    Speaking yesterday at the Fourth Christopher Kolade Symposium hosted by the Nigerian Leadership Initiative (NLI) in Lagos, she said agriculture remains a game changer for the country as the sector gets priority and attention from government and individuals.

    According to her, Nigerian economy is growing but not as fast as expected because of inadequate infrastructure.

    She said that subsidy for agriculture has not benefitted farmers as many farmers pay the market price for fertilizer, a practice which only benefits those involved in the project.

    David-Borha said Nigeria can achieve 30 per cent efficiency by getting the power sector right. According to her, there is need to increase funding for infrastructure adding that the setting up of Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) would also support government’s infrastructure drive. “Infrastructure is enabler for growth and the sooner we learn about that the better,” she said.

    She explained that corporate governance in Nigerian banking system has improved, adding that there is no country that has a perfect system.

    According to her, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken bold steps in that direction, adding that although more still needs to be done to get better results.

    “Corporate governance practice has improved in the country. Although more work still needs to be done, but there has been great improvement,” she said.

  • Sterling Bank rewards more customers

    Sterling Bank yesterday gave out cash prize of N2 million to four of its savings customers in the fifth monthly draw of the ongoing Savers’ Promo held in Lagos. The winners, who won N500, 000 each, were Sobukunola Olusola (Ilupeju Branch), Nnorom Victor Ugochukwu (Garki Branch), Okoro Chukwunonyerem (Ilorin Branch) and Adinna Geoffrey (Olu Obasanjo Street Branch).

    Ten other customers also won home theatres and refrigerators as consolation prizes. Those that won home theatres were Aloji Onyemaechi, Andrew Abba, Babalola Eno and Obot Sunday. Also, Olufemi Adenaike, James Buremo, Sunny Duke Okosun, among others won refrigerators.

    Some of the winners expressed their happiness with the bank for offering them opportunity to grow their businesses and improve on their income. Ugochukwu who won N500, 000 expressed his excitement adding that the bank has demonstrated its commitment to integrity by fulfilling its promises.

    Likewise, Okosun who won a refrigerator said he has come a long way with the bank. “The one customer bank pay off has positioned the bank as a listening one which is part of what I have benefitted from today,” he said.

    All the winners emerged after electronic draws witnessed by Consumer Protection Council (CPC), National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), the media and members of staff of the bank.

    All the 14 winners emerged from 21,187 qualified entries pooled electronically during the draws. The CPC and NLRC said they are happy with the progress made so far in the draws. They explained that all the previous winners have been contacted during which they confirmed to have received their prizes. Director at NLRC, Obi Iregbu said the bank’s effort at rewarding its customers is commendable and encouraged customers to participate in the promo and win more prizes.

    The bank’s Group Head, Liability Products and Bancassurance, John Akingbade, said the excitement that came with the promo is still on after five draws in which the bank gave out N10 million both in cash and gifts and will be giving out SUV Car to the star prize winner at the end of the promo in January next year.

    Akingbade who was represented by John Okon, also of the Liability Products and Bancassurance unit of the bank, said winners have emerged from different regions. He said that there is need for bank customers to cultivate savings culture as such would enable them achieve whatever they wanted. “There is need to save for the rainy day and the bank has several products that would enable them meet their immediate and long-term needs,” he said.

    According to him, the promo has assisted the bank to grow its deposits and has equally enabled the bank to reward its customers. He said the bank would consider doing similar promos in 2013 because of the positive feedback from customers, adding that the momentum cannot be dropped at this time.

  • Nexim, miners association renew pact

    The Managing Director/CEO of Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Mr. Roberts U. Orya met with the Patrons of the Miners’ Association of Nigeria to discuss areas of collaboration on a strategic framework both parties are developing.

    The bank said in a statement that the pact was meant to structure and attract sustainable investments to the solid minerals sector.

    The bank said meeting with the group was a gesture by its patrons to discuss issues of mutual cooperation with NEXIM. It was also a follow-up to the interactive business dinner organised by the association in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Mines & Steel Development.

    Presenting the bank’s initiative and market focus to the association, Mr. Orya said that Solid Minerals is a critical sector for the bank under its MASS Agenda.

    He said the bank has committed more than N2.5 billion or nine per cent of its total portfolio since August 2009 to the sector.

    “This does not scratch the surface of the sector’s requirement if Nigeria is to take advantage and benefit from the huge mineral deposits the country is endowed with,” he said.

    He explained that solid minerals mining is a capital intensive area and requires strong government intervention to unlock its huge revenue and job creation benefits for the country.

    He said that using statistics from theMining Cadastre Office and the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency factsheets, Nigeria is endowed with more than 33 commercially viable solid minerals.

  • EU strengthens trade, investment ties with Nigeria

    Policy makers in European countries have said that in spite of the slow growth in the advanced economies, the Nigerian economy, which has continued to grow at about seven per cent in the last 10 years, present huge opportunities for savvy investors to leverage on.

    The leaders of some of the strongest EU countries agreed after meetings with the Nigerian Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, that trade and investment ties between their countries and Nigeria must be strengthened at this critical phase of the world economic history for the benefit of Nigeria and their countries alike.

    The President of the Republic of Finland, Mr. Sauli Niinisto, who received Aganga in Helsinki, Finland, said there was a new world emerging in favour of African economies, noting that Nigeria’s indices were particularly impressive.

  • Nigeria loses N4b to illegal mining, says NEITI

    Nigeria loses N4b to illegal mining, says NEITI

    The Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) released its inaugural solid minerals sector audit report yesterday, saying Nigeria lost N4.048 billion in royalties.

    According to the report covering 2007-2010, the losses were due to illegal mining and lack of capacity to monitor production in the quarries by the regulator, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.

    The Chairman of the NEITI National Stakeholders Working Group, Mr Ledum Mitee, who presented the report in Abuja, said information gathered from scoping studies that were conducted earlier in the sector revealed that there are discrepancies between government receipts and operating firms payments in the period.

    The audit, which excluded the production by the artisanal and small miners focused dominantly on the operations of the construction companies across the country.

    Meanwhile, the four-year audit, which was specific on operations in the sector, also indicted Federal Government agencies saddled with regulating the sector of negligence and disregard for the laws guiding operations in Nigeria’s solid mineral sector.

    Mitee noted that prices used for the calculation of royalty payments in the sector were not in tune with the market value of excavated mineral components, thus leading to huge loss of revenue to Nigeria.

    He said: “For example, royalty for a tonnage of granite is still a pittance of N800, which is the price as at 2002. Today, in 2012, the minimum market price on royalty per ton is N2,500. The prices used for the calculations on all mineral deposits are long overdue for review. We calculate that about N4.048 billion is total revenue lost as a result of these outdated rates that have been used for royalties in the sector.”

    He noted that several factors, including illegal mining, inadequate investments and lax regulatory and monitoring framework or measure, have for decades prevented the solid mineral sector from attaining its full potentials, adding that the report as hoped would help Nigeria embrace the potentials in the sector.

    Accordingly, a total of 78 firms were covered in the audit, which spanned physical, financial and process audits; the companies were found to be majorly engaged in construction, manufacturing, artisanal mining and mineral buying centres.

    “Between 2007 and 2010, the audit reports show government receipts was N54.56 billion while remittances from the companies was N53.87 billion reflecting a little over N687 million discrepancies, which is 1.25 per cent of total government receipts over companies’ payments.

  • NCC blames operators for SIM number portability delay

    NCC blames operators for SIM number portability delay

    Regulator of the telecoms sector, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), yesterday blamed telecoms operators for the undue delays in the take-off of the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) number portability, warning that if moral suasion fails, it would not hesitate to wield the big stick to whip them into line.

    Speaking at the Telecoms Executives and Regulator Forum 2012, organised by the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) at Ikoyi, Lagos, NCC’s Executive Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Dr Eugene Juwah, accused the operators of delaying the implementation of the scheme, arguing that none of them has upgraded their billing system, pre-requisite for the take-off of the scheme.

    He warned that when appeal fails, sanction would be inevitable.

    Juwah however assured that SIM number portability will happen first quarter next year, adding that it is going to be implemented after thorough test so that it does not end In a fiasco.

  • NIMASA to remit N3b unpaid arrears

    NIMASA to remit N3b unpaid arrears

    The House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance has asked the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to pay N3.4billion to the Federal Government as arrears of unpaid independent revenue.

    Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has promised to pay up N30billion as balance of its operating surplus for 2012.

    The apex bank has paid N50billion to the coffers of government this year, as part of its N80billion as its independent revenue,

    The CBN Governor, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Service, Suleiman Barau, got the commendation of the Committee when it was disclosed that the apex bank’s remittance alone constituted over 80 per cent of remittances by revenue-generating agencies of government for this year.

    NIMASA pleaded with the Committee to pay whatever was regarded as its arrears of independent revenue despite remitting N44.9billion

    However, from records of Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) and the Accountant-General, the agency failed to remit any money in 2010, although it remitted N450million in 2011.

    The Committee mandated the agency to pay N3billion from the N8billion it has generated this year into the coffers of Federal Government.

    The summary of the operating surplus as presented by Otunla showed that Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria LNG Limited, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), National Film and Censors Board, West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Federal Housing Authority (FHA), NESREA and National Hospital reflecting zero remittance from 2009 to date.

    He said: “When we were pressed to get money in the third quarter to source money for the fourth quarter, from about N145billion operating surplus we got, CBN paid N114billion as operating surplus for 2011 representing about 70 per cent”.

    Otunla also commended the CBN and Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) have complied in the payment of operating surplus into the Consolidated account as and when due”.

    The OAGF document showed that NPA paid N15b in 2012, N6.802b paid by NCC, N5.031b by NDIC while total sum of N185m was paid by NAFDAC.

    Dividends paid by Federal Government owned companies between January 2009 to October 2012 indicated that Bank of Industry generated N3,978,288.78; Transcorp Hilton generated N5.5 billion while Capital Hotels generated N844,578.07.

    NCC paid N26,852,469,732.31 to the government between January and October 2012 generated from spectrum fees ; BPE generated N20,110,764,577.48 from privatisation proceeds and additional sum of N21,741,500 from rent on a property in Lagos within the period under review.

  • House uncovers N100b unremitted funds

    House uncovers N100b unremitted funds

    House of Representatives Committee on Finance has uncovered over N100 billion independent revenue by 15 agencies not remitted to the Federal Government.

    The agencies are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)

    Others are the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and National Pension Commission (PenCom)

    Consequently, the Committee has summpned the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi and the Accountant-General of the Federation appear before the House today.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, said the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal gave the approval on Tuesday that Sanusi, with Chief Executives of the 14 revenue-generating agencies have been officially summoned over remittances of their operating surplus between 2009 and 2012.

    “They are expected to appear tomorrow (today) with the Minister of Finance, Accountant General of the Federal and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission”.

    Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Michael Ogunnusi however explained that the panel was not out to malign agencies, but to ensure that the country was not unduly short-changed.

    Jibrin said it would be a great mistake on the part of the affected agencies and skeptic Nigerians to see the development as an empty threat.

    “The essence of the appearance of these agencies is for Nigerians to see the books of these agencies, their annual projections and to know actual remittances to government coffers.

    “That way, it is in the public domain, not just in the parliament, so that Nigerians can judge what is happening, so that by the time people will go public and start to criticize others, Nigerians would have known better from informed perspective and what people are doing with people’s money in such organizations.

    “This is unacceptable to us. If any money is raised and it belongs to the government, it must be remitted. The committee is determined to ensure compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) on remittances of independent revenue to the government”.

    Besides, he lamented the consistent manipulation of independent revenue component of the country’s revenue framework by agencies of government.

    He expressed concern that in spite of the fact that the independent revenue is wholly owned by the Federal government, officials keep complaining of huge deficit in our budget every year.

    “So it is important for us to look inward. It is just appalling that these monies are there hanging. That is why this Committee decided that, this year it is going to lay more emphasis on the money that is within the system that is supposed to be remitted to the Federal Government account”.

    Jibrin said it is evident that the 15 agencies have more of the unremitted revenue with them, warning that the appearance of the agencies cannot be compromised.

    He said: “In the last few days, we have discovered that lots of money is hanging with these agencies that belong to the country. Why are they keeping it? he asked, adding that of the 60 agencies x-rayed, no single agency is complying.

    “Already, we have discovered in excess of N100billion that is supposed to go to the federal government coffers that wasn’t paid,” he added.

  • Nigeria’s oil production down by .5mb, says OPEC

    Nigeria’s oil production down by .5mb, says OPEC

    Nigeria’s oil production has experienced a general decline for much of the year because of flooding, oil theft and sabotage, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has said.

    Nigeria is among the top oil exporters in the region. The U.S. Energy Information Agency, however reported recently that crude oil deliveries from Nigeria were down for the summer, by about 500,000 barrels, compared to the same time last year.

    Flooding in states in the oil-rich Niger Delta prompted Shell and French supermajor, Total to hold back on exports from the country.

    OPEC reported that Nigerian crude oil production for November stood at around 1.85 million barrels per day, down from the 2.1 million bpd on average for last year.

    “Nigerian crude production suffered from a combination of natural disasters, oil theft and sabotage to the oil infrastructure,” OPEC stated in its December report.

    Nigeria, which gets over 75 per cent of its revenues from oil, is the seventh oil producer among the 12-member OPEC cartel. The recent wave of tragic floods in most states of the country has drastically reduced Nigeria’s crude oil production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) stated.

    The Director of DPR, Osten Olorunsola, also confirmed in a statement, that the floods in oil-producing areas had led to a sharp drop in the country’s production , explaining that production has begun to ramp up and has peaked at 2.3mbpd.

    He said both big and small oil producers were affected by the floods, but noted that smaller producers, particularly the marginal fields’ operators, were the worst hit, with quite a number of firms completely shutting in oil production.