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Tag: Africa

  • LASU can become Harvard of Africa

    LASU can become Harvard of Africa

    Fatai Olateju Sonoiki was one of the pioneer students of the Lagos State University (LASU) in 1984.  The graduate of Political Science was also the first National President of the LASU Alumni Association as well as the first Chairman of its Board of Trustees. In this interview with ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, Sonoiki is optimistic that his alma mater can rule Africa if everything falls into line.

    Despite her challenges, do you think LASU can wriggle out and emerge one of the best universities in Nigeria in 20 years time?

    With due respect, 20 years is too long. LASU can be the best in Africa within the next five years and in that 20 years be the ‘Harvard of Africa’. LASU was founded on the foundation of excellence and integrity. That culture is what we need to restore now. Once we do that our aim then is to be the university that will be ranked first in Africa, and it is achievable.

    Could you relive some good memories of the past?

    For instance, in the whole federation, you know it is only in the University of Lagos that it is competitive to do a masters Degree. But I led those who wrote entrance examination to the Faculty of Social Sciences to the University of Lagos in 1989 and I remember the Senate of LASU congratulated me on that feat. The good thing there is that all LASU candidates that went to that university were taken purely on merit. The result of that effort was nothing short of excellence from all parameters of assessment.

    It might interest you that one of the first graduates in the Faculty of Law had a First Class at the Nigerian Law School. Another interesting thing is that about 50 of them went there and none of them came out with Third Class. If LASU Faculty of Law can become the seventh best in the world in 2011 by the global ranking of faculties of law, then what stops us? It is just the determination of stakeholders to make a difference and prove to the founding fathers that something good can come out of LASU.

    As pioneer students, we all did our NYSC in 1989. I did mine in Benue State. That was the year pioneer graduates of LASU did their service year. You need to see the way other students were looking at us as if we were from the moon. The reason is: that particular year, LASU participated in NUGA games for the second time and emerged second best. Do not also forget that the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria was a former Miss LASU.

    So where did LASU get is wrong?

    Where we got it wrong was the politicisation of appointment in that university coupled with the Nigerian factor. There is a class of people who believe that whoever is the vice chancellor must do their bidding, failing which he is shown the door. You will recall that the first Vice Chancellor, Prof Afolabi Olumide, left unceremoniously. His successor Prof Jadesola Akande spent only one term which was ridden in crises. Akande’s successor, Prof Bababunmi too only managed to complete his tenure amid crises and that tradition has remained till date.

    Would you proffer a solution?

    I think the government should do more in the appointment of vice-chancellors. Second, workers and students alike should realise that there can only be one captain in a ship. Workers should realise that the continuous existence of LASU would ensure their garri. The interest of the system must be their priority. All these protests especially by workers would not help but ground the system. Even in overseas, there is a system in place in which crises are resolved

    With this anniversary, is there a plan by the alumni association to galvanise past graduates to attain the LASU dream within record time?

    Last Thursday of last month, the alumni from Nigeria met with the UK chapter of the association in UK. We had a conference courtesy of the UK chapter on Higher Education in Nigeria with special reference to LASU. A good number of our colleagues over there are aware of what is going on at the home front.

    The effort of that conference is that as I am talking to you, plans are now at the advanced stage to start an exchange programme with the University of Kingston, UK. Their vice chancellor and president of the alumni have agreed to an exchange programmes for lecturers in LASU. Two, we hold our AGM annually, and we always publish it in the media inviting everybody. There is a difference between you being an ex-graduate of LASU and being a member of the alumni.

    As an alumni member, you must pay your N5,000 annual dues. Before, it was N250. The painful thing is that very few people turn up. We keep telling them that alumni associations is a charitable organisations; and that aside the money and time there is an opportunity for networking among members. It’s a platform where members can assist one another.

  • $2b investments coming to Africa

    General Electric Co. (GE) will invest about $2 billion in Africa by 2018 to expand in what Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt calls one of the world’s most-promising markets.

    “Africa is one of the most important growth areas, purely from an economic standpoint,” Immelt said at a media event for the start of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington being hosted by President Barack Obama. “It’s early. It’s in very early days for Africa, so there’s still a lot yet to be done and the notion of having the summit here says that it’s important.”

    GE won about $8.3 billion in orders in Africa over the last year as it accelerates operations in a continent where Immelt said sales were “almost zero” in 2000. Revenue there last year was $5.2 billion, according to GE, which estimates that Africa’s basic infrastructure needs could generate $90 billion in investment opportunities.

    The Africa spending planned by GE will go to develop facilities, improve supply chains and train workers, according to a statement from the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company.

    GE’s Africa business includes supplying locomotives for Nigeria and aircraft engines for Kenya Airways Ltd.

    Last year, GE announced one of its largest-ever power-plant orders when it signed gas-turbine deals totaling $2.7 billion from a unit of Sonelgaz, Algeria’s national electricity and gas company. Algeria is one of the biggest countries in Africa for GE investment, Immelt said.

    “There’s still tremendous opportunities in the future,” said Immelt, who toured Africa in January. “There’s still huge deficits of electricity and infrastructure that we can invest in.”

  • AfDB moves to boost agribusiness in Africa

    Increasing agribusiness in Africa was the focus of a panel discussion moderated by African Development Bank (AfDB) Group President Donald Kaberuka at “Believe in Africa Day,” at a  forum to herald the United States/African Leader’s Summit this week in Washington, DC.

    “How do we work together to increase agribusiness investments now that the policies are in place? That is the question,” Kaberuka said. As part of the panel on realising a new vision for Africa’s development, African agricultural leaders from Cameroon, Madagascar and Guinea, along with industry executives, fielded pointed questions from Kaberuka on food security, the use of subsidies to fuel growth and the need for regional integration when it comes to agricultural expansion on the continent.

    Kaberuka questioned Guinea’s Minister of Agriculture, Jacqueline Sultan, about why her country is not a more successful model for agribusiness growth given its rich resources including land and people. She replied that “the willingness is there,” but land and water coordination has proved to be a stumbling block. “Other than the water,” Sultan said, “infrastructure and roads are expensive to build” and that, along with “a lack of financing, prevents agricultural growth.”

    When asked about how harmful or helpful subsidies to farmers in Africa have been over the years, International Finance Corporation Vice-President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Jean Philippe Prosper, told Kaberuka that there have been some missteps in administering them.

     

  • U.S.–Africa Summit opens in Washington

    U.S.–Africa Summit opens in Washington

    The United States-Africa Leaders Summit opened yesterday in Washington, D.C. and will end tomorrow.

    Bringing together nearly 50 leaders from across Africa, it is being hailed by the White House as “the largest event any U.S. President has held with African heads of state and government”.

    Ben Rhodes, the White House Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications, spoke during a teleconference on the rationale for hosting the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.

    He said: “We chose to do this summit to send a very clear signal that we are elevating our engagement with Africa. We see enormous opportunities in Africa as it continues to advance its economic development and continues to develop capabilities as African countries continue to develop their capabilities as security partners of the United States and as democratic partners of the United States.”

    The theme of the three-day summit is: Investing in the Next Generation.

    That future-oriented view reflects, said Rhodes, “our focus on African capacity-building and integrating Africa into the global economy and security order”.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry convened yesterday the “Civil Society Forum” at the National Academy of Sciences to discuss the role of civil society in Africa.

    In his opening remarks, Kerry said the summit seeks to support the “empowerment of people, through their government, through their civil society” and noted that “we need to invest in relationships with not just those who are in charge today, but those who are pushing for change”.

    Lagos lawyer Mr. Femi Falana has urged African Heads of State and Governments to challenge the alleged manipulation of the continent’s economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as a summit of the United States (U.S) and African leaders opened in Washington, DC, this week.

    American President Barack Obama is expected to host the summit, which focuses mainly on trade and investment in Africa. The theme of the summit is: Investing in the Next Generation. A number of signatures and side events have been organised to acknowledge the role of civil society, women and youth in the development of Africa.

    Forty African Heads of Governments are in Washington, DC for the summit.

    As part of the run-up to the summit, 15 civil society organisations (CSOs) from Africa, in an open letter on August 1 by Pamela Timburwa and addressed to the U.S. and Heads of African State and Governments, urged the leaders “to ensure that serious consideration is given and firm commitments are made to ensure an enabling environment for the participation of civil society, women and youth in Africa’s development”.

    The 15 CSOs include Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Africa Regional Program, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Lawyers for Human Rights, Regional office; Liga Moçambicana dos Direitos Humanos (LDH), Mozambique, Liga Guineense dos Direitos Humanos (LGDH), Guinea Bissau.

    Others are: Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA); Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC), South Africa; Swaziland Coalition for Concerned Civic Organisations, Swaziland; Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA), Malawi; Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA), Mozambique; Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA), Regional office and Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), Zimbabwe.

    Reacting to the letter, which was copied to him by Ms Timburwa, the Lagos lawyer disagreed with the issues tabled by the civil societies before U.S. and Heads of African State and Governments.

    The activist said the letter was silent on the economic system in the 54 member-states in Africa.

    He said the African Union (AU) and the regional economic groupings had not addressed the empowerment of Africans, adding that without addressing unemployment, poverty and insecurity, majority of Africans cannot enjoy any human right.

    Falana said: “Africa must challenge the manipulation of the economy of the continent by the IMF and the World Banký. The lower interest rates in the West and the very high interest rates in Africa, being endorsed by the Bretton Wood institutions, should be seriously challenged. Instead of aid, the emphasis should be on trade. After hundreds of years of crude exploitation of her resources, Africa should no longer be a dumping ground. Having been on the receiving end, Africa should champion the struggle for a new world economic order based on justice and fair play.”

    The frontline lawyer noted that apart from condemning the level of corruption in Africa, the U.S government had not deemed it fit to ensure that the stolen wealth is repatriated.

  • U.S. may give Africa $1b business deals at summit

    U.S. may give Africa $1b business deals at summit

    The United States will announce nearly $1 billion in business deals, increase funding for peacekeeping and commit billions of dollars to expanding food and power programmes in Africa during a summit this week, U.S. and development officials said at the weekend.

    U.S. officials said the summit billed for today till Wednesday in Washington of nearly 50 African leaders hopes to showcase US interest in the fast-growing region through a series of government-private partnership deals to boost trade and investment.

    The spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone is also a reminder of the vast development needs that persist in some of the region’s poorest countries despite rapid economic growth and investment.

    Administration officials have played down questions over whether the summit is in response to China’s growing presence in the region. Instead, they have emphasized American interests go beyond Africa’s oil and minerals, where China is focused. “You will see a series of announcements on agriculture and food, and power and energy,” Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), told Reuters. “We will make big announcements that demonstrate these are big ambitions we can take on with our African partners and the private sector.” Shah said there will be new support for Power Africa, a privately-funded program launched by US President Barack Obama last year to install 10,000 megawatts of new generation capacity and connect 20 million new customers across Africa by 2018.

    The programme had already met that goal after just one year, Shah said. “Next week we will announce a more than doubling of our aspirations,” he added. Shah said while companies pledged $7 billion to the program last year, next week “we will be in excess of $20 billion” in new investments. The World Bank is expected to make a major contribution toward the program, according to Bank officials. The programme is also likely to be expanded from the six nations – Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania – that currently benefit from Power Africa.

    There will also be significant increases in private sector support for US-backed food and agricultural programs in Africa, including the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, US development officials said.

    The programme was launched in 2012 to bring together African governments, the private sector and donors to boost investment in agricultural production after a massive 2008/09 food price crisis, which sparked unrest in developing nations.

    An announcement worth billions of dollar by a large U.S. beverage company is expected to boost purchases from African farmers, according to one official, who declined to elaborate. The summit will include a business conference on Tuesday bringing together African leaders and American CEOs. US commerce officials said close to $1 billion in various business deals will be announced covering different sectors and involving several African countries.

    Trade ministers will spend a day discussing ways to improve the US trade program with Africa, known as the African Growth Opportunity Act, or AGOA, which gives African countries duty-free access to US markets. AGOA expires in September next year and will need congressional approval for renewal.

    In other funding increases, the State Department is expected to announce a further $60 million a year for peacekeeping training in six African countries, according to U.S. officials

  • Africa Under-17 qualifier: Ikhana offers Eaglets winning tips

    Africa Under-17 qualifier: Ikhana offers Eaglets winning tips

    Foremost football coach, Kadiri Ikhana, has commended the Golden Eaglets coaching crew in the task of building a strong team and has given tacit support to the team’s quest for a ticket for the 2015 African Under-17 Championship in Niger.

    The Golden Eaglets take a 1-0 lead into this weekend’s decider against Les Leopards of Congo Democratic Republic in Abeokuta and Ikhana is backing them to go all the way. The 62-year-old -coach who broke the jinx by winning Nigeria’s CAF Champions League trophy with Enyimba in 2003, said he was impressed  with the choice of players selected by Coach  Emmanuel Amuneke-led crew since it would on the long run help the growth of the national in the future.

    “I want to really commend you (coaching crew) for the kind of players you have picked because they are very young,” said Ikhana, a 1980 African Cup of Nations winner with the Green Eagles.

    “It is important we get things right from this stage because this is the foundation for other national teams and be assured of my support because I’ve seen that you are doing the right thing.”

    The vastly experienced manager was able to see the national Under-17 team at close quarters since his team, Enyimba, who were in Abeokuta for their Federation Cup match against Giwa FC, lodged in the same hotel with the Golden Eaglets. He advised officials to continue to instill discipline on the players both on and off the field.

    “I’m really impressed with the conduct of your team,” he further remarked after watching their training session on Wednesday at the MKO Abiola Stadium. “The coaches are imparting real knowledge into the players and I strongly believe, they have what it takes to play against any team.”

    The former Super Falcons’ coach said he has passed useful information to the coaching crew as they gear up preparations towards their second round-second leg fixture against their counterparts from the Central African region.

  • A model for Africa’s growth

    A model for Africa’s growth

    Students from some African countries were at the University of Ibadan (UI) last weekend for the maiden conference of the African Students For Liberty (ASFL). It was organised to propagate  development, liberty and wealth creation among youths. OLUWAFEMI OGUNJOBI (Language Arts) reports.

    What is the best economic model that would hasten Africa’s development? A model that encourages the rule of law and wealth creation is most suitable, said speakers at the maiden African Students For Liberty (ASFL) Conference held last weekend at the University of Ibadan (UI).

    The participants, who are mainly students, came from Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania, among others countries. They share the belief that Africa can be liberated from poverty.

    Trenchard Hall of the university was draped in ASFL banners and emblems to suit the mood of the occasion.

    ASFL is an offshoot of Students For Liberty (SFL), a non-profit organisation founded in the United States, aimed at empowering students to become leaders and change agents in their communities.

    Speakers at the event included the co-founder of SFL, Alexander McCobin; a social media entrepreneur, Japheth Omojuwa; a renowned writer, Dr Wale Okediran; Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Ghana, Mr. Kofi Bentil, and a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Farouk Aliyu, among others.

    Okediran, who spoke on the Role of literature in sustainable democracy and good governance, said literature was vital to good governance. He noted that writers played the role of social critics and conscience of any nation.

    Okediran, a former House of Representatives member, said the literary works of the likes of Wole Soyinka, the late Chinua Achebe, Femi Osofisan, Prof Niyi Osundare and the late Festus Iyayi are a moral compass for the nation in search of good governance and development.

    He told the participants to uphold ideologies that could bring development and get themselves involved in politics.

    McCobin spoke on SFL and the global movement for liberty. He went down the memory lane, saying liberty had come a long way in the course of human history. If people want desired change, he said, they should espouse an economic model that can bring about prosperity within a short period.

    He condemned political systems that do not lead to social change but only respond to giving out handouts and incentives to lazy people.

    He said: “I challenge you to rise as leaders in your countries and change the lives of the people through progressive ideas. You must know that leaders see the end as the most valuable; values define them more than temporary pleasures.”

    Societies must not be subjected to the whims and caprices of individuals who are likely to manipulate social order to benefit their interests, Hon. Aliyu said.

    The ex-lawmaker, who spoke on Importance of rule of law to Nigeria’s development, said the society must be governed by a predetermined set of laws subscribed to by members through democratic processes.

    Does the rule of law rule work in Nigeria? Hon. Aliyu said decades of military rule in Nigeria saw the citizens suffer executive lawlessness, human rights abuses and violence, which, he said, were caused by disobedience to the rule of law.

    “Under military rule, the rule of law was sent to the gallows, while the soldiers used decrees, which were followed arbitrarily by the ruling military elite and imposed on citizens,” he said.

    He said without the rule of law, there could be no meaningful development in the country. The supremacy of the law, he said, is not a luxury that democracy offers but a platform on which democratic principles stand.

    Omojuwa, who spoke on Information and Communication Technology and liberty as catalysts for social change and wealth creation, said there was never an era in which humanity was blessed than in the age of social media. He told the students how social media had help improve the condition of living in developing countries. He said, despite bombs and bullets, the youth must embrace the opportunity to create wealth and achieve prosperity.

    Gone are the days when telecommunications were luxuries and access to home videos was the exclusive preserve of the rich. The advent of social media, he said, has broken economic barriers and generated unimaginable wealth for young people, who embraced the opportunity.

    Omojuwa said: “Liberty has led to the advent of the internet and social media, which you must use to propagate ideas of liberty. Technological innovations across Africa must be embraced to take the continent out of poverty.”

    Highlight of the event included panel discussion on how students could benefit from opportunities offered by liberty and free markets. There was also an activism panel, which comprised pro-liberty students across Africa and presentation by Frederick Roeder, SFL’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications, and Peter Goetler, former Managing Director of Barclays Capital.

  • Varsity to reduce hunger in Africa

    Purdue University researchers will lead a $5 million, five-year effort to help countries in sub-Saharan Africa reduce hunger and poverty fuelled by food waste.

    By improving processing and marketing of key crops, those in developing countries can make better use of food that already is being produced but is simply lost through poor storage or processing technologies and management practices.

    The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Processing and Post-Harvest Handling was announced by the United States Agency for International Development administrator Rajiv Shah at the Chicago Council’s Global Food Security Symposium.

    It is funded by Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative led by USAID.

    “This award from Feed the Future will enable Purdue to help smallholder farmers make available not only more food in a region of the world where it is greatly needed but also more nutritious food,” said university President Mitch Daniels.

  • Dangote is Africa’s first $20billion man

    Dangote is Africa’s first $20billion man

    Nigerian billionaire and Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has become the first African entrepreneur to lay claim to a $20 billion fortune as the stock value of his largest holding,Dangote Cement, leaped just about three-fourths since March when Forbes released its annualranking of the world’s richest people.

    Aliko Dangote’s 93 per cent  stake in the cement company is now worth $19.5 billion. Add this to his controlling stakes in other publicly-listed companies like Dangote Sugar and National Salt Company of Nigeria and his significant shareholdings in other blue-chips like Zenith Bank, UBA Group and Dangote Flour; his extensive real estate portfolio, jets, yachts and current cash position, which includes more than $300 million in recently awarded Dangote Cement dividends, Dangote is now worth more than $20 billion.

    Put into context, the Nigerian billionaire is now among the top 25 richest people in the world, richer than Russia’s richest man, Alisher Usmanov, richer than India’s Lakshmi Mittal and running neck and neck with India’s Mukesh Ambani. He is catching up to such Americans as Google’s billionaire founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

    The unprecedented surge in Dangote Cement’s share price is largely a market response to the company’s impressive 2013 Q1 results.

    The cement manufacturer’s unaudited results for the three months ending March 31 showed that the company’s pre-tax profit rose to $339 million, representing an 80.6% increase from last year and a strong indicator of the company’s future earning potential. The results also indicate a 79.5 % rise in its earnings per share over the corresponding period last year.

    Explaining the company’s share price boost in an email to Forbes, Carl Franklin, Dangote Cement’s Head of Investor Relations in the U.K said that in the first quarter of 2013, the company had a huge increase in demand across Nigeria, gas supply improved considerably and the capacity was much more ramped up.

    “So Q1 was the first sign of just how profitable we can be in Nigeria. The amazing thing is that 66% of our gas-fired production in Q1 was done at 84% gas. Imagine what would happen to margins if we did the same amount at 95%. This has given investors a good sense of what we can really do when everything goes in the right direction,” Franklin said.

    With a current market cap of $20.5 billion, Dangote Cement becomes the first Nigerian company to achieve a market capitalization of over $20 billion.

    “It’s certainly a landmark for a Nigerian company and we’re proud to be the first to achieve it. Obviously we are focusing on building long-term and sustainable value for shareholders through our investments in Nigeria and Africa. Nigeria is a very entrepreneurial country and I can assure you that other companies will follow us in achieving this.”

    Other companies might eventually achieve this, but it’s going to take a bit of time. Dangote Cement currently accounts for more than a quarter of the total market capitalization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The second largest company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is currently Nigerian Breweries, West Africa’s largest manufacturer of Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The company has a market cap of $8.5 billion.

    Dangote debuted on the FORBES billionaires list in 2008 with a fortune we pegged at $3.3 billion. His fortune dropped to $2.5 billion in 2009 and plunged further to $2.1 billion in 2010. His fortune surged  557% in 2011 to $13.8 billion after he took Dangote Cement public. He dropped to $11.2 billion in last year’s rankings, but rebounded at $16.1 billion this year. Since March, his fortune has jumped another 30%.

    Dangote was destined to shine in business. At age 8, he apparently gave packets of sweets he had made to the house servants to sell for him. His father Mohammed Dangote was a successful businessman and an associate of his maternal uncle Alhaji Sanusi Dantata. Dantata and his brother controlled the trade in kola nuts and livestock conducted by 200 agents. Dangote started building his fortune over three decades ago after taking a loan from Sanusi Dantata. He started trading in commodities like flour, sugar and cement.

    He became a billionaire by later manufacturing these items. He started making pasta, salt, sugar and flour in 1997. But he found his gold mine in cement, when he was awarded a government’s state owned cement business in 2000 and began building his own plant in 2003. He listed Dangote Cement in 2010.

    Today, it is Africa’s largest cement company providing cement to Nigeria and other African countries that otherwise would likely have to pay to import much of the materials.

    Dangote still likely has bigger ambitions. He told Forbes Wealth Editor Luisa Kroll at Davos in 2011 that he expected his firm to have a market cap of $60 billion within five years. At $20.5 billion, Dangote Cement still has a long way to go to live up to that dream, and while it is quite unlikely that Dangote Cement could hit a $60 billion Market Cap by 2016, don’t write it off as ‘impossible’. With Dangote, you never know.

  • Africa set to utilise pension funds for growth

    Africa set to utilise pension funds for growth

    Pension professionals, stakeholders and regulators in Africa and from other parts of the world gathered last week in Nigeria for the World Pension Summit, ‘Africa Special,’ co-hosted by the National Pension Commission (PenCom). The agenda was to brainstorm on how best to harness the continent’s pension fund assets as catalysts for economic development and prosperity. OmobolaTolu-Kusimo, who was at the summit, reports.

    Within 10 years, the pension industry in Nigeria has experienced phenomenal growth from a deficit of N2 trillion in form of pension liabilities in 2004, to accumulation of pension fund assets worth N4.3 trillion by the end of last year.

    The achievement in the industry will further grow with the recent passage of the new Pension Reform Act, 2014 by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    These developments and more were showcased at the just concluded World Pension Summit ‘Africa Special,’ hosted by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) which held for the first time in Africa.

    Thoughts and experiences were shared among African countries in particular, and the world in general on how pension funds can evoke pragmatic, sustainable and most effective initiatives for pension fund governance and regulation in the continent.

    According to PenCom, the summit was also held in recognition of the increasing significance of pension funds in shaping Africa’s future.

    Speakers, panelists and other discussants dissected many of the issues and proffered solutions that will ensure that Africa remains at the cutting-edge in the conception  and implementation of sustainable pension policies.

    They also deliberated on strategies for developing an appropriate framework for leveraging pension funds across the continent to accelerate the implementation of critical high-impact infrastructure projects.

    Prior to pension reform and the establishment of PenCom in 2004, pension schemes in Nigeria had been bedeviled by many problems. The public service operated an unfunded Defined Benefits Scheme and the payment of retirement benefits was budgeted for annually.

    The annual budgetary allocation for pension was often one of the most vulnerable items in budget implementation in the light of resource constraints. In many cases, even where budgetary provisions were made, inadequate and untimely release of funds resulted in delays and accumulation of arrears of payment of pension rights. It was obvious therefore, that the Defined Benefits Scheme could not be sustained.

    In the private sector, many employees were not covered by the pension schemes put in place by their employers and many of these schemes were not funded.Besides, where the schemes were funded, the management of the pension funds was fraught with malpractices carried out by the fund managers and the trustees of the pension funds.

    This scenario necessitated a re-think of pension administration in Nigeria by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Accordingly, the administration initiated a pension reform in order to address and eliminate the problems associated with pension schemes in the country.

    The outcome of the reform was the enactment into law of the Pension Reform Act 2004 and the establishment of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to regulate, supervise and ensure effective administration of pension matters in Nigeria.

    At present, there are 20 Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and four Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) under PenCom.

    Since its establishment, PenCom has been able to implement the contributory pension system that has pension administration and custodianship intertwined; duly licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) open Retirement Savings Accounts for employees, invest and manage the pension funds in a manner that the Commission may from time to time prescribe, maintain books of accounts on all transactions relating to the pension funds managed by them, provide regular information to the employees or beneficiaries of the fund and pay retirement benefits to employees . The Pension Fund Custodians, on the other hand, are responsible for the warehousing of the pension fund assets. The employer sends the contributions directly to the PFC, who notifies the PFA of the receipt of the contribution and the PFA subsequently credits the retirement savings account of the employee.

    Meanwhile, the new Pension Reform Act 2014, which repeals the Pension Reform Act, No.2, 2004, is meant to further fortify the pension assets against mismanagement and systemic risks, govern and regulate the administration of the uniform pension scheme for both public and private sectors in Nigeria.

    The 2014 Act also empowers PenCom, subject to the fiat of the Attorney-General of the Federation to institute criminal proceedings against employers who persistently fail to deduct or remit pension contributions of their employees within the stipulated time. This was not provided for by the 2004 Act.

    Similarly, the new law allows PenCom to revoke the license of erring pension operators.However, the huge pool of funds that the contributory pension scheme has put together has been identified by analysts and other stakeholders as a firm backing to the economy.

    The Acting Director-General, PenCom, Chinelo Anohu-Amozu, while speaking at the summit, said the outcome of the event has set modalities that can address the challenges of infrastructure gaps in Africa, which will indeed help in creating the economic pre-conditions needed for longer-term growth as well as to foster poverty alleviation.

    She said in achieving the set goals, African government must be mindful of the fact that our hopes and aspirations as a continent are primarily hinged on the evolution and development of retirement benefits into a veritable instrument of social change, not in a theoretical or abstract sense, but in terms of an intrinsic transformation of our institutions, and our operators.

    She said: “We need to attempt to set out what could be considered a set of challenges that pension professionals and regulators around Africa must surmount, in order to engender the evolution of a retirement pension system that will be rooted in our collective social consciousness.

    “We also need systems that are relevant to the fundamental needs of our continent, which are dynamic enough to initiate and also respond to developmental challenges facing the continent in an increasingly interdependent global economy.

    “Infrastructure development remains a key driver and a critical enabler of sustainable growth in Africa and the current favourable economic landscape on the continent provides a unique opportunity for the public and private sectors to collectively address the infrastructure gaps. Focusing on Africa’s infrastructure challenges will indeed help in creating the economic pre-conditions needed for longer-term growth as well as to foster poverty alleviation.

    “Given the size of pension fund assets across Africa, there is a real opportunity for policymakers to collaborate with pension professionals so as to effectively leverage these assets for sustainable progress.”

    Mrs Anohu-Amazu stressed that as the proportion of retirement income provided by private pensions continues to grow, the regulatory framework designed to protect those funds becomes even more crucial.

    She noted that the theme of the summit, ‘Shaping the Future’ underscores the imperative of institutionalising a risk-based approach, which ultimately allows the regulatory agencies to channel their resources towards, issues that pose the greatest threat to the stability of the industry.

    The Chief Executive, Kenyan Retirement Benefits Authority, Edward Odundo, while citing the Kenyan example, said pension operators in Kenya are not attracted to private equity and venture capital.

    He said they rather tilt towards lending to workers for housing purposes.He said: “One of the ways that pension fund could put to good use to the benefit of contributors is to allow Retirement Saving Account holders to borrow from the scheme.  If one has N10 million accumulated savings, instead of going to the bank to borrow at 21 per cent interest rate, he could be allowed to borrow from his accumulated fund and repay at a friendly interest rate while his savings serve as collateral for the credit.  This is the case with Kenya, he added.

    “Pension Reform in Kenya has resulted in a sea of change in the operations of retirement benefits schemes in the country. This has led to rapid growth of the industry coupled with enhanced member protection and security. Building on this success, the government has introduced further reforms aimed at securing and consolidating these gains.”

    Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole who spoke on investment of the pension assets in capital market, faulted the investment of pension assets in the capital market saying the fund should rather be deployed to areas that would benefit contributors directly.

    He observed that the fund is largely being invested in government bonds and quoted stock in the capital market, saying it wasn’t the poverty of government that informed the scheme but old age poverty.

    He added that the instruments benefit the rich who have the capacity and connections to access the fund to do business and make profit while the workers who are contributing the fund don’t have access to it noting that investing pension assets in the capital market is tantamount to pooling the resources of the poor for the benefit of the rich.

    The Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Issa Aremu, concurred with the Kenyan regulator, that pension assets should be used to provide houses for the working people. He charged pension stakeholders to deploy pension asset to financing home ownership schemes for workers. This is one of the ways to deploy pension funds for the benefits of contributors directly, he added.

    He said houses are expensive when mortgage institutions and other intermediaries build for sale to workers stating that Kenya workers are allowed to borrow from their retirement savings to build houses.

    Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Service, Mr. Aloysius Etok on his part identified some lacuna in the new Pension Reform Act, 2014.He said the National Assembly was discovered though belatedly that the pension law left out employers and political appointees.

    He advised that the pension stakeholders should do everything possible to ensure that the law is returned to the National Assembly to be upgraded with a view to bringing both employers and government appointees under the contributory pension scheme.

    Niger State Governor, Alhaji Babangida Aliyu raised the issue of non-compliance by some states of the pension reform law.He said it is important that PenCom ensures the law permeates the states.