The Nation Newspaper

Tag: achieves

  • Nigeria achieves 70% broadband penetration

    Telecoms sector regulator Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said going by the long and short term targets of the National Broadband Plan (NBP), the country has achieved 70 per cent broadband penetration.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Prof Garba Umar Dmanbatta, who spoke in Abuja with IT editors during a media interaction, said though the country has gone beyond the 20 per cent minimum broadband penetration as envisaged by the NBP, it is yet to hit the maximum target of 30 per cent.

    He said: “Our performance shows that we as a nation have achieved 70 per cent broadband penetration. To meet the maximum target of 30 per cent broadband penetration, all other agencies that have roles to play, must perform the roles assigned to them by the NBP document.

    “The NBP stated that the country must achieve five-fold in broadband penetration, but this of course depends on the minimum and maximum threshold.

    “By multiplying four per cent minimum level of broadband by five, which represents the five- year broadband plan, it will give 20 per cent minimum broadband target and by multiplying six per cent maximum broadband penetration as at 2012 by the five years broadband plan, it will give 30 per cent broadband penetration, which is maximum target at the end of 2018.

    “Nigeria had in 2017, surpassed the minimum target of 20 per cent, working towards achieving the maximum target of 30 per cent by the end of 2018. This is according to the NBP.

    “As of today, Nigeria has achieved 22 per cent broadband penetration, which is close to achieving the 30 per cent.

    “The achievement in broadband penetration gave rise to the first phase licensing of Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) to drive broadband infrastructure deployment that will enable broadband penetration.”

    According to CEO, the licence was planned to cover six geopolitical zones of the country, as well as Lagos that was mapped out as a zone for the purpose. MainOne was licensed to cover Lagos Zone, iConnect, a subsidiary of IHS was granted licence to cover Northcentral zone.

    “These two zones were licensed before I came on board as NCC’s EVC, and it was during my tenure that we licensed additional five zones. They include Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast, Southsouth.

    “The beauty of the licence is that it is cheap because the NCC is not keen at making so much money in licences. We are building a system that will make Nigeria Inter and interconnected,” he said.

    He recalled that on assumption of office in 2015, the management of the Commission unveiled the Eighth-Point Agenda for the industry, among which is broadband penetration, stressing that Commission, under his leadership, is keen at driving broadband penetration in the country.

    “Before we came on board in 2015, there was a Presidential Broadband Committee set up by the Federal Government and the committee was chaired by the former NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe and Zenith Bank Chairman, Mr. Jim Ovia. The committee did a good job in coming up with a detailed five-year National Broadband Plan (NBP) from 2013-2018 for the country.

    “On Page 9 of the NBP, it stated that broadband penetration as at 2012 was between four and six per cent and there were measure through which broadband penetration could be achieved,”  Dambatta said, adding, however, that the achievement of broadband penetration is not the responsibility of NCC alone, but a combined responsibility of agencies, such as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), NigComSat, Galaxy Backbone, and other critical stakeholders, such as telcos. “NCC and other agencies of government were given their roles to play in other to achieve faster broadband penetration,” he insisted.

    On the challenges facing the achievement of NBP, he said there are national and regional challenges to broadband penetration. “In these two broad areas of challenges, there are backbone infrastructure challenges as well as challenges of broadband access in underserved and unserved areas of the country.

    “In the area of access, we have about 200 access gaps but through the effort of NCC, we have been able to reduce them to about 190. Nigerians living within the 190 access gap areas, are not experiencing telecommunications services and this is a challenge we need to address as a country.

    “It addresses the challenges, there is need for capacity building in order to leverage ICT to do greater things and in better ways. So, we need to sensitise the people and empower them with ICT tools that will make them achieve their dreams.

    “NCC for instance, is pioneering the Advanced Digital Acquisition Programme for tertiary institutions, where we have the highest concentration of talented youths. “By the time they acquire the skills, they will be able to develop ICT Applications. NITDA is also involved in ICT training and skills acquisition through its sponsored scholarship programme for students studying ICT related courses up to doctorate level.”

  • Law Union achieves 17% growth in gross premium

    Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc has recorded a gross premium written of N2.76 billion in the half year ended June 30, 2017, an increase of 17 per cent against N2.37 billion recorded in June 30, 2016.

    Similarly, the company’s profit after tax rose by  four per cent in the second quarter from N307. 33 million last year to N318,74 million this year.

    Its Managing Director, Jide Orimolade during a CEO Forum with national insurance correspondents in Lagos.

    Orimolade said there was a high increase in the claims report due to the flooding in the half quarter adding that gross claim paid stood at N622.51 million in the half year ended June 30.

    He said: “Law Union is now committed and strategically positioned to consolidate on her profit earned this year to delight our shareholders and all other stakeholders. Our overall goals for 2017 is to grow our gross premium written by 50 per cent, retain 90 per cent of our existing customers, grow our direct and retail businesses, improve relationship with brokers and other channels, achieve an improved credit rating from A- to A+ by GCR and become the preferred first choice underwriter amongst the general insurance business providers in Nigeria.

    “We have developed and released four products in 2017. They include I-Salute designed to provide support and relieve to officers and their families in event of accidents that result in any or a combination of Bodily injury requiring resulting in medical expenses; Doctor-on-Cover designed to help medical doctors comply with the law as well as  protect them from unforeseen legal liabilities that could prevent them from practicing what they love; GPA is a Group Personal Accident product designed for Schools and Students/Pupils at all levels of education – kindergarten, nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary and SurePAY, an e insurance product that provides some  level income security in event of loss of employment. It guarantees the payment of an agreed amount of monthly income up to six months after job loss. These products fit in to insurance for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and we hope they will contribute to the company gross premium in 2017.’’

    Orimolade continued: “The company is a well-known underwriting firm with a stable outlook and result oriented management. We have numerous strategic initiatives which have contributed immensely to the growth of our financials. The company is not only determined to meeting all her obligations to the policyholders and committed to continue adding values to her esteemed customers through disruptive innovation that delivers seem less, convenient and stress free business ecosystem.’’

  • Lafarge achieves 40% use of alternative fuels

    Lafarge achieves 40% use of alternative fuels

    •Records increase in profit in Q4 2016

    WITH a record level of fuel flexibility at its Ewekoro I and Sagamu plants, the turnaround plan of Lafarge Africa Plc is yielding results.

    The cement manufacturer and building solutions provider announced in statement yesterday that its plants not only operate optimally but the company recorded a significant leap in profit after tax in the last quarter of 2016

    On power supply, the statement said from 100 per cent dependence on gas and Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO), the company has achieved about 40 per cent use of alternative fuels.

    “Consequently, all plants are operating at optimal levels, with Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) provisions for 2017 aimed to consolidate energy optimisation at Ashaka, Ewekoro 2 and Mfamosing”, the company said in its financial report for last year.

    According to it, the Mfamosing 2 line, which came on stream on time and below budget, contributed to group cement production in Q4 2016, with cost-saving prospects in the future.

    Lafarge Africa said the record level fuel flexibility was attained at its Ewekoro I and Sagamu cement plants amid country-wide gas shortages.

    The report also described the company’s financial performance as sterling, saying that last year’s results of the company showed all its plants operating at optimal levels, recording profit increase after tax in Q4 2016.

    “Net sales and operating Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) also increased respectively by 12 per cent and by 288 per cent in Q4 2016,” the statement said.

    The company said that within the quarter, third-party syndicated loan of $88.4 million was pre-paid, through a loan refinancing arrangement with LafargeHolcim Group.

    “This inter-company loan was hedged through a Non-Deliverable Futures (NDF) transaction. Consequently, overall $581 million debt was restructured, which removed the FX impact on Lafarge Africa’s results,” the financial report made available to The Nation, said.

    It also added that net debt was reduced to N108.3 billion, below the N120 billion announced, notably supported by CAPEX control and solid cash flows.

    Operating EBITDA for last year’s financial hit N29.0 billion from N67.3 billion in 2015 and profit after tax for 2016 financial year came to N16.9 billion.

    Commenting on the company’s 2016 performance, Lafarge Africa Chief Executive Officer, Michel Puchercos, said: “Our turnaround plan delivered solid results in Q4 2016 in spite of the challenging environment in Nigeria and South Africa.

    “Technical challenges have been resolved with all our plants operating at high reliability. Our energy optimisation plan has proved successful with increased use of Alternative Fuel (AF) to offset gas shortages.”

    Speaking further, Puchercos stated: “Mfamosing line 2 was delivered ahead of time and above specification, and is now fully operational. The new line contributed 338kt in Q4 2016 to cement production volume and is expected to deliver significant cost savings going forward.”

    Looking ahead, he remarked that the company’s immediate objective was to deliver fully on its turnaround plan by optimising its processes, developing its alternative fuel strategy, reducing operational costs to deliver strong EBITDA margins returning to historic levels.

    “In the quarter, a tax credit of N39.7 billion was reported mainly resulting from deferred tax assets generated from UNICEM operations. This contributed significantly to profitability in Q4 and for the full year 2016,” Puchercos said.

    The Company proposed a dividend of 105 kobo for approval at the Annual General Meeting scheduled for June 7.

    Lafarge Africa Plc’s performance comes on the heels of 2017 outlook, an indication that local cement demand would grow between 0 and +2 per cent on account of the macroeconomic environment.

    In addition, business turnaround actions will be further consolidated in 2017 through energy optimisation plan, local sourcing of production inputs, and logistics as well as commercial excellence initiatives to deliver tangible results going forward.

    “We expect cement demand in South Africa to be stagnant, with 0 to -2 per cent decline for the full year. South African operations will intensify on its cost containment programme and commercial transformation plan, to deliver in the short term,” Puchercos said.

    He added that for 2017, Lafarge Africa specifically expects to return operating EBITDA margin back to historical levels, capital expenditure of N31 billion for Nigeria and South Africa operations.

  • Zenith Bank achieves three ISO certifications

    Zenith Bank achieves three ISO certifications

    Zenith Bank Plc was yesterday awarded three certifications from British Standards Institution (BSI) for Information Security Management System ISO/IEC 27001:2013, IT Service Management System ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 and Business Continuity Management System, ISO 22301:2012.

    The certificates were presented to the bank’s Chairman, Jim Ovia and the Group Managing Director/CEO, Peter Amamgbo graced by the Deputy British High Commissioner, Mike Purves, top management of the bank and other employees.

    Ovia said the bank’s commitment to these internationally accepted standards, stemmed from its resolve to deepen customer experience through greater information security, an efficient IT management system and a robust business continuity plan, adding that these are targeted at protecting customers and investments in an increasingly unpredictable business environment.

    He said certifications remain strong proof of the lender’s commitment to implementing policies and practices that meet globally recognised principles.

    Amamgbo said the bank is proud to have achieved these milestones, adding that technology is at the core of its business strategy in meeting the needs of its customers.

    “For us, the customer is the reason we are in business, therefore it is essential that we deliver exceptional customer services. Certification to these standards will assist us in doing this,” he said.

    He stated that becoming certified to these three standards, provides evidence in the lender’s efforts to comply with local and international regulations relating to data protection, privacy and IT governance.

    “We hope, implementing ISO/IEC 27001 will give greater confidence to our customers and other stakeholders that the security of assets, such as financial information, intellectual property, employee details and information entrusted to us is protected securely.

    “ISO/IEC 20000-1 acknowledges our high level of efficiency in IT service provision and our ability to continuously improve the delivery of IT services,” he said.

  • Nigeria achieves 7.1% growth in Q4

    Nigeria’s economy grew by 7.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said.

    Growth was 6.9 per cent in the previous three months and 7.7 per cent in the same period the previous year, the bank said in a report on its website, citing figures from the National Bureau of Statistics.

    The pick up was largely driven by industrial growth, with the non-oil sector expanding 8.2 per cent and accounting for 87 per cent of all output, the bank said. Agricultural “areas adversely affected by the floods during the second half of 2012 were yet to recover fully from the impact.”

    The fiscal deficit of the country rose to N420.8 billion or 3.9 per cent of economic output, in the fourth quarter. That compares with a targeted deficit of N284.1 billion for the period and a gap of N489.5 billion in the previous three months, the bank said.