The Nation Newspaper

Category: Business

  • Keystone Bank MD resigns

    Keystone Bank MD resigns

    The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Keystone Bank Limited, Mr. Oti Ikomi has resigned his appointment.

    Ikomi according to a statement by the Head, Corporate Communication of the bank, Dafe Iwvurie resigned on Thursday based on personal reasons.

    A seasoned professional banker with a wealth of experience spanning over two decades, Ikomi was appointed CEO of Keystone Bank in August 2011.

    The Chairman of Keystone Bank, Mr. Moyo Ajekigbe has convened a meeting for friday to review the development and appoint a successor.

    Keystone Bank is an insured, full service commercial bank granted banking licence on 5 August 2011 by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and wholly owned by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

     

     

  • Losses from natural hazards hit $3.5tr, says World Bank

    Losses from natural hazards hit $3.5tr, says World Bank

    Economic losses caused by natural hazards have more than tripled over the last three decades, the World Bank Group disclosed yesterday.

    The multilateral institution, said at a discussion forum, tagged, ‘The Sendai Dialogue,’ hosted by the Japanese government and the World Bank Group at the on-going 2012 World Bank Group/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings, that about $3.5 trillion has been lost to natural disaster.

    The World Bank and the host government, together with global policymakers, at the forum, which featured government officials, multilateral institutions, and civil society with the goal of sharing knowledge that would advance the integration of risk management into development planning, called for greater efforts to integrate disaster risk management into national development planning and international development assistance.

    A joint statement, issued by the stakeholders, urged national governments and development partners to accelerate efforts to pro-actively manage growing disaster risks, by incorporating disaster risk management in all development policy and investment programmes.

    The statement, said: “We need a culture of prevention. No country can fully insulate itself from disaster risk, but every country can reduce its vulnerability. Better planning can help reduce damage and loss of life from disasters, and prevention can be far less costly than disaster relief and response.”

    Japanese Finance Minister, Koriki Jojima, said: “I hope that lessons derived from Japan’s long-established disaster management culture, as well as the Great East-Japan Earthquake and its reconstruction process, will be globally shared. I expect the Sendai Dialogue, to help form a consensus on the need to mainstream disaster risk management in all aspects of development processes.”

    The dialogue was informed by the Sendai Report: “Managing Disaster Risks for a resilent future,” which is an official Development Committee paper for the 2012 Annual Meetings, incorporating 32 knowledge notes produced by the World Bank in cooperation with the Government of Japan.

    Dialogue participants, who included World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, Japan’s Minister of Finance, Koriki Jojima, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde and EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response,Kristinalia Georgieva and President Haruhiko Kuroda of the Asian Development Bank, reaffirmed their commitment to providing technical and financial support for building resilience to disasters in vulnerable countries.

    Disaster risk management is increasingly central to World Bank business. Over the last 10 years, the Bank said it financed nearly $18 billion in activities focusing on natural disasters, which has helped to protect the lives and livelihoods of people in 92 countries. “More than two-thirds of the World Bank’s country partnership strategies have already started to incorporate disaster risk management, and the goal is to bring that figure to 100 per cent,” the World Bank added.

    Sendai is the largest City in the Tohoku Region along the Pacific coast of Japan, which bore the brunt of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

  • Toyota recalls 7.43m vehicles

    Toyota recalls 7.43m vehicles

    Toyota Motor Corporation is recalling 7.43 million vehicles in the US, Japan, Europe and elsewhere around the world for a faulty power-window switch — the latest, massive quality woes for Japan’s top automaker.

    The recall announced yesterday affects more than a dozen models produced from 2005 through 2010. The power-window switch on the driver’s side didn’t have grease applied evenly during production, causing friction in the switch and sometimes smoke, according to Toyota.

    No crashes or injuries have been reported related to the defect. But more than 200 problems were reported in US and a fewer number of problems were reported elsewhere, including 39 cases in Japan, Toyota spokesman Joichi Tachikawa said.

    Recalled in North America are the Yaris, Corolla, Matrix, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, Tundra, Sequoia and Scion models XB and XD, spanning 2.47 million vehicles.

    Some 460,000 vehicles are being recalled in Japan. The models are the Vitz, Belta, Ractis, Ist, Auris and Corolla Lumion.

    Another 1.39 million vehicles such as Yaris, Corolla, Auris, Camry and Rav-4 are being recalled in Europe, China and the Middle East, among other places.

  • Appeal Court reserves judgment in sacked CBN staff’s suit

    Appeal Court reserves judgment in sacked CBN staff’s suit

    The Court of Appeal, Lagos has reserved judgment in the appeal filed by 1,132 former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) workers who were retrenched in 1996 and 1998.

    The retrenchment was in compliance with the orders of late General Sani Abacha’s military government in a Staff Rationalisation Exercise.

    The appellants are asking the court to reinstate them and declare that their appeal is not statute-barred.

    The presiding Justice, Ibrahim Saulawa said the judgment date would be communicated parties after they adopted their briefs.

    Counsel for the appellants, Mr. Fred Agbaje, represented by Mr. Sesan Dina, said based on the circumstances and the evidence before the court, the matter could not be said to be statute-barred.

    He further stated that in view of the fact that the Court of Appeal had in its earlier judgment of July 19, 2004 held that the matter was not statute barred and had directed the trial court to “hear the substantive matter on the merits” -devoid of the technicalities, it was therefore totally wrong for it to hold otherwise.

    On the issue of statutory flavour, he drew the attention of the Justices to the fact that the Supreme Court had in a judgment delivered on May 14, 2007, in a matter between the CBN and one of its retrenched staff, Dr. Igwilo, held that the employment of all CBN staff enjoyed statutory flavour.

    The appellants’ counsel also urged the Court note the fact that the CBN had already reinstated two of the affected workers.

    He said it would amount to double standards if the rest are left to suffer and therefore pleaded that the appeal should be upheld by reinstating his clients without loss of seniority and benefits.

    CBN counsel, Chief E.A Oshe (SAN), urged the Court to dismiss the appeal, insisting that the matter was statute barred.

    The suit was filed on May 19, 2003, by the aggrieved ex-workers through eleven of their named colleagues as plaintiffs.

    The House of Representatives had organised a public hearing in Abuja on the matter on November 16, 2000.

    The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) then under the leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and some human right groups failed in their bid to make the CBN to significantly shift grounds.

    The CBN set up the Dr. A.Z. Musa led panel between 2001 and 2002 to review the entire staff rationalisation exercise of 1996 and 1998.

  • Industrialists raise alarm over decline in bank loans

    INDUSTRIALISTS have picked holes in the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), condemning what they call the decline in aggregate credit to the economy, especially the private sector.

    Aggregate credit is the amount of loan available or given to industries.

    In a report made available to The Nation, the CBN said the aggregate net credit by banks to the domestic economy fell by 0.1 per cent and 2.7 per cent in the first and second quarters of the year.

    In a statement, Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerceand Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, attributed the decline to CBN’s sustained monetary tightening, significant rise in government’s domestic borrowing and attractive yield of government’s bonds and treasury bills.

    It said the tight monetary policy is keeping funds out of the reach of the private sector, adding that with the planned issuance of Treasury Bills to absorb all maturing instruments in the fourth quarter, liquidity is expected to remain tighter with the private sector at the receiving end.

    “Over the last nine months, we have seen a steady decline in discretionary spending by households and firms, weaker uptake from suppliers and distributors and softer operating performance among consumer goods companies.

    “While we hope that our concerns do not degenerate before the next MPC meeting scheduled to hold in November, it is important for the monetary authority to commence an adjustment of monetary policy course, towards boosting private sector credit, domestic demand, employment and growth,” Muda said.

    He said contrary to industrialists’ yearnings for a relaxed monetary regime, the MPC kept all the key monetary policy variables unchanged at its last meeting in September.

    He said the committee affirmed that its decision at its meeting in July, had the desired effects on inflation, stability of short-term interest rates, build-up of the external reserves and the stability of the exchange rate.

    “MPC held MPR unchanged at 12 per cent, sustained the symmetric corridor at 200 basis points, retain Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 12 per cent and minimum liquidity ratio is retained at 30 per cent. Since July 2010, the MPC has adjusted the MPR by 100 per cent, from six per cent to 12 per cent currently,” Muda said.

  • APCON to withdraw certificates of unregistered members

    Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria(APCON) has threatened to withdraw the certificates of unregistered practitioners to stem quackery.

    Speaking at the inauguration of new members in Lagos, APCON Chairman Mr Lolu Akinwunmi said most advertising agencies had been operating illegally, adding that it is a criminal offence to practice without registration by APCON.

    He said there was need to bring all stakeholders together so that the industry could come up with a workable and strategic road map.

    The body, he said, would continue to review the practice and regulation of outdoor advertising in order to identify grey areas.

    On integrity, Akinwunmi said APCON wants to be seen as fair.

    “APCON encourages quality and versatile of information because with every approval given by the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP), APCON must be able to substantiate it,” he said.

    He urges the new members to ensure that all adverts abide by the code of advertising practice.

    New members committee include ADPC Chairman Mr Funmi Onabolu, APIP Chairman, Mr Gabriel Abah, Practitioners Devepment and Training Chairman, Mr jimi Awosika.

  • Delta told to partner OPS on industrialisation

    Delta State Government has been asked to improve the business environment, tackle unemployment and enhance industrialisation.

    To realise this, the government is expected to work with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and other professionals to set up microfinance banks to close the financing gaps that hinder enterprise development.

    This is contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a symposium organised by Delta North Think Tank, in Asaba, the state capital.

    The communiqué, signed by the Chairman/Vice-Chairperson, Executive Committee, Delta North Think Tank (DeNoTT), Prof Eric Eboh and Prof Josephine Alumanah, said there was need to improve entrepreneurship training and technical assistance to enterprises and disseminate simple and affordable enterprise models, involving youth groups as training avenues for their members.

    The group urged the government to consider setting up microfinance banks to close the financing gaps that hinder enterprise development. The group called for stock taking of oil and gas resources and potentials in Delta North to guide and facilitate exploitation.

    DeNoTT noted that relevant agencies of government at the federal and state levels should be engaged to undertake comprehensive inventory and update of the assessments of the oil and gas resources in the constituent communities and local communities should co-operate assist to make these inventories successful.

    It said: “Delta North communities have relative comparative advantages in many agricultural commodities/enterprises including arable crops (cassava, yam), tree crops (rubber, oil palm), and vegetable crops (tomato, pineapple), livestock (goat), aquaculture and fish farming, among others. But, these commodities are poorly developed and currently underperforming in terms of productivity, profitability and competitiveness.”

    “The agricultural post-harvest subsector, particularly processing, storage, distribution and marketing are very weak, thereby subduing the agricultural commodity value chains. As a result, the full benefits of value addition to raw agricultural produce are not realised by the farmers, agribusiness operators and local communities.

    “The development orientation should shift away from driving agriculture from the production (supply) side, to triggering change from the processing, market and industry sides. Using the market-side approaches to accelerate agricultural production is the key to unleashing the value chains and ensuring sustainable increases in production efficiency and farm output.”

    On how to develop commodity processing corridors (CPCs) in the zone, the group charged the community (town) unions, cooperative societies and farmer groups to identify possible processing and marketing hubs and engage local government and state government authorities for partnering.

  • Nigeria to increase cocoa production to 500,000mt by 2015

    MINISTER of Agriculture Dr Akinwumi Adesina has unveiled plans by the Federal Government to double cocoa production from 250,000metric tonnes by 2015.

    Adesina, who delivered a keynote address in Ibadan at the 1st International Cocoa Conference, said 3.6 million hybrid cocoa pods would be distributed free to cocoa farmers to meet the target.

    The minister, represented by Dr Talabi Odeyemi, a director in the ministry, said this would lead to the cultivation of 114,000 hectares of cocoa.

    Adesina said it was gladdening that the new hybrid cocoa pods were developed by researchers for local farmers.

    He, however, called on the private sector to partner with the government in exploring the opportunities in cocoa production.

    Adesina called for intensification of efforts toward adding value to cocoa for the country to be a global player in international arena.

    In his welcome address, the President, Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), Mr Sayina Riman, announced plans to create a data base for the industry and farmers.

    Riman said CAN’s vision was to initiate a robust “bean-to-bar database of the cocoa economy.’’

    “In a networked and global economy, where traceability has become a major determinant for service delivery provision, policy making and customer experience, we cannot and must not continue to operate in the dark.

    “It is, indeed, an embarrassment that we have different accounts or sources of the cocoa output in Nigeria; embarrassing the even more that we do not know for sure how many producers are actively involved in production, indeed, how many are sharecroppers, lien croppers, tenants etc and indeed how many farmlands are under active cultivation and by what farmer,“ he said.

  • FIIRO boss urges firms on food fortification

    The Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), Oshodi, Lagos, has called on industries manufacturing fortification for sugar, salt, flour and vegetable oil to consider their food processing methods to avoid losing Vitamin A nutrients during production.

    FIIRO’s Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Gloria Elemo, gave this advice at a lecture entitled: Consumer acceptance of foods containing carotenoids, in Lagos.

    She said despite Vitamin A fortification of some products, the country is still regarded as Vitamin A deficient, adding that the status of the mineral should be monitored to know where things went wrong.

    She added that it was high time people changed their attitude towards some foods and drinks and endeavoured to accept and consume functional foods developed for their health benefits, such as foods that contain carotenoids.

    She said: “We need to also go back to our vanishing foods because we have virtually lost most of our core foods. These foods are nutraceutical that is they are both nutritional and medicinal duplication. We should recall them back and do more work. This will build new product development and upgrade indigenous technology that has been used previously and to set up consumer acceptance and sensory properties to get people into buying the goods”.

    The Chairman of the occasion, who is also the Head of Department, Biochemistry, University of Lagos, Prof. Albert Ebuehi, said one of the biggest challenges in creating a new food product is predicting how it would be accepted by consumers, adding that price and packaging are factors that determine acceptance.

    He said some consumers should accept foods that contain carotenoids despite their tastes since their health benefits are important to the body.

  • EU invests N6tr in Nigeria

    The Trade Investment of European Union (EU) in Nigeriia is worth about N6 trillion (30billion euro), its Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. David MacRae, has said.

    The Union is also set to partner with the Federal Government on a project tagged, “Energy for all initiative,” as part of efforts to tackle power supply challenge in Nigeria.

    Briefing reporters in Lagos, MacRae, said the EU Energy programme, which is a new initiative, is designed for the federal and some state governments to meet the energy needs of the country, adding that the project would be unveiled soon.

    He said improved power supply would enhance business activities for small and medium-scale enterprises and create additional opportunities for employment.

    MacRae said: “EU is committed in the negotiation of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Nigeria.

    “Nigeria constitutes around half of the EU exports to the region and nearly 70 per cent of the imports. Of course, oil takes the biggest share, but the EU also attracts more than 50 per cent of the Nigerian non-oil exports, and is a key partner, through trade and investments in the industrialisation of the country. Stocks of EU investments in Nigeria alone amounted to no less than 30billion euro in 2010.

    “ We see EPA as a development tool to reinforce regional integration process and foster growth and development. The EU believes that the EPA represents an opportunity to Nigeria in terms of attracting investment to the no oil sectors, improved access to the EU market and economic governance”.

    He said Nigeria has remained EU’s key partner in Africa.

    “For these and associated reasons, EU’s commitment to Nigeria has been on the ascendancy in recent years. Our unwavering commitment to make this country better, a safer place, firmly anchored on the ideals of democracy and good governance has remained on course,” he said.

    He said the Union and the National Planning Commission have signed the Financing Agreements for two European Union- funded projects valued at N12billion( 62 million euro) to support the Federal Government’s efforts in the fight against drugs and related organised crime and the justice sector reform in the country.

    In a related development, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, has said about 18 countries have declared their intentions to invest in the country.

    Aganga spoke in Lagos at the second Nigeria International Investment Forum organised by his ministry.

    He said: “Out of the 20 countries I have visited in the last one year, about 18 countries have shown intentions to invest in Nigeria’s economy.

    “ Japan and 17 other countries were keenly interested in investing in different sectors of Nigeria economy.

    In a related event, the bilateral trade between Nigeria and Brazil recorded an overall balance of $9.6 billion (N1.5 trillion), in 2011.

    Speaking at the Nigerian Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (NBCCI) Thirrd Anniversary cocktail in Lagos, its President, Emmanuel Ibru, said the bilateral trade has been in favour of Nigeria, mainly because of the value of its crude oil export.

    He said: “The total figure of bilateral trade between Nigeria and Brazil for 2011, stood at $9.6 billion. Nigeria’s import was $1.2 billion, while her export was $8.4 billion.”

    To correct the unfavourable trade balance against Brazil, he emphasised the need for increased trade between both countries to achieve a reasonable balance of trade.