The Nation Newspaper

Tag: demand

  • Dollar scarcity persists as demand overwhelms Travelex

    Dollar scarcity persists as demand overwhelms Travelex

    • CBN sells $313m

    Dollar scarcity has been linked to the inability of Travelex, the sole dollar distributor appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to meet increasing demand from bureaux de change (BDCs).

    The three-week-old pilot scheme which allows Travelex to solely sell dollars to BDCs seems to be faltering, it was learnt yesterday.

    Travelex, a global forex dealer, was last month appointed the sole dollar distributor by the CBN but the firm does not have the spread to cover over 3,000 BDCs across the six geopolitical zones.

    A source said Travelex, which sold dollars to a little above 1,000 out of 3,000 BDCs nationwide, was only focusing on the Lagos market, while demands from other regions were not met. The figure was also far less than the 1,600 BDCs within the Lagos market.

    BDCs in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Benin, Maiduguri, Onitsha and other major cities are yet to get dollars since Travelex started the distribution role, the source said.

    Travelex Nigeria General Manager, Anthony Enwereji said the project was a pilot scheme with the policy direction still under study. He, however, said that since Travelex was appointed to sell dollars to BDCs, the naira exchange rate against the dollar has improved.

    The CBN last month stopped banks from accessing Diaspora remittances estimated at $21 billion annually, after it was discovered that the lenders were not playing by the rules.

    A source said despite the pressure from the BDCs for the CBN to approve more independent dollar distributors, nothing is being done about it. “We need more dollar distributors that would serve BDCs outside the Lagos market,” the source said.

    Travelex is the world’s largest foreign exchange bureau. It has in recent months been opening retail shops across major locations in Nigeria, such as airports and highbrow areas to enable it meet the rising forex demand, and fill the vacuum created by the apex bank’s stoppage of the Deposit Money Banks from selling dollars to BDCs.

  • ‘Local firms can meet meter demand’

    Indigenous companies can meet the requirement for meters, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said.

    Fashola, who spoke after he visited Mojec International, a meter manufacturing plant in Lagos, expressed delight that there are Nigerian firms that can meet the metering demand of the country. He, however, wondered why there is still a huge meter gap between demand and supply.

    According to him, all that is required for the indutry to thrive, is for players in the power sector, especially the distribution companies and meter manufacturers, to embrace persuasion and reasoning to be able to play their role, adding that this would make the  sector more competitive in terms of pricing and quality of service delivery in the local market.

    He said: “I think that commercial things should be done by persuasion, reason and the dynamics of the economy. When the market is competitive in terms of pricing and quality, then it will make more business sense to produce and patronise meters locally.”

    Mojec International Managing Director, Mrs.Chantelle Abdul, said the lack of finance to run factories, as well as the inability to provide some kind of vendor financing to off-takers remains a major challenge for meter manufacturing.

    “One of our critical issues at the moment is lack of access to foreign exchange. A lot of our manufacturing inputs rely on goods abroad. My goal as a manufacturer, is to produce much of my products with local inputs so that we can go as far as producing our chips and the PCB which is the brain of the meter and all other components that are required,” she Abdul said.

    She regretted that because the country lacks auxiliary firms that can support bigger manufacturing firms, it is increasingly becoming difficult for the sector to produce with locally sourced inputs, thereby increasing cost of production.

  • Oil price may rise on supply outage, China demand

    Supply outages and growing demand from China are likely to push price of crude oil up in the next few months, an energy analyst has said.

    Jefferies’ Jason Gammel told CNBC the oil market had swung from oversupply to undersupply in April thanks to disruptions in production in Nigeria and Alberta, Canada, taking around two million barrels per day out of the market.

    “I think with continued demand growth over the course of this year and continued declines in non-OPEC supply that we are already seeing in places like the United States, the market actually comes into much better balance by the end of the third quarter and that’s the stage for fundamental price recovery,” he told CNBC in London.

    As global crude output fell, demand from China — a massive consumer of energy — rose in April. Its crude imports reached eight million barrels a day, up 7.6 per cent from a year earlier, according to official Chinese data

    “In the case of China, what is encouraging is that their imports are still very high, because I really think that, from a supply-and-demand standpoint, you need to have strong Chinese demand growth in order for the market to become more balanced by the end of the year,” Gammel said.

    According to a UBS commodity strategists’, Brent crude will trade at around $49 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2016 and then rally further to average $55 through 2017.

    They added that a recovery in WTI oil prices to above $50 per barrel would incentivise renewed U.S. energy exploration and this projected increase in supply would limit price upside.

    Gammel agreed $50-plus prices would spur U.S. rigs back online, but said this increase would be insufficient to offset lower output from shale gas wells. “I think if the U.S. rig count doesn’t go above, let’s say, 500, that the U.S. production is going to continue to decline,” he added.

    Oil exploration in the U.S. is down 51. 7 percent, year-on-year, Baker Hughes reported last week in its widely eyed weekly report on North American drilling activity.

    The U.S. rotary rig count last week was down two at 404, Baker Hughes reported.That was 481 rigs down on last year and the lowest since Baker Hughes started counting rigs in 1949.

  • ’Fed Govt seeking source of Chibok girls’ ransom demand’

    ’Fed Govt seeking source of Chibok girls’ ransom demand’

    Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed has denied reports that Boko Haram is demanding $50 million from the government as ransom for the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

    President Muhammadu Buhari promised to do all he can to ensure the release of the girls, during his recent meeting with their parents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

    The minister said yesterday: “It appears we have several versions of this report. The one that we heard was from a source that (Boko Haram) wants to release 10 of these girls for 1 million euros,” he told the VOA.

    “But the most important thing is that we’ve gone through this route before, and until and when we establish the credibility of this source and the truth behind it, the government will not be in a hurry to make a statement.  However, government is using its own channels to authenticate the credibility of this source.”

    Mohammed said the accusation that the Buhari administration appears not to be doing enough to secure the release of the more than 200 girls is not fair.

    “No day passes without the issue of the kidnapped girls not being at the front burner. But these are highly security and intelligence issues, which cannot always be discussed openly,” he said, adding that: “But I can assure you that for this government, the return of these girls is what is going to bring the final closure on the Boko Haram terrorism and we are working very hard, daily on it.”

    Mohammed’s remarks came after the government announced it has made significant progress in the fight against Boko Haram.

    The administration said it has “technically” defeated Boko Haram. But critics say the militants continued attacks on unarmed civilians, including the use of suicide bombers, shows Boko Haram remains potent, despite the government’s reports.

    “Those who say that are being very unfair to us,” Mohammed said.

    “We inherited a very bad situation where the trail had gone cold, despite that every day we send out reports, we receive [information] some of them are phony, some of them are just there to excoriate government.

    “But the truth of the matter is that it’s not a matter that the government is taking lightly. Those who want a daily report on what we are doing, of course in security that does not happen. But we have channels of information in which we make available on a need-to-know basis,” he said.

    Mohammed said the military has been able to wrest control of territories previously under the control of the Boko Haram militants. He also said the militants have been dislodged from their fortresses, including their main operation centre in the Sambisa Forest.

    “What we have today is cowardly attacks on soft targets. … And Nigeria has moved on from that and we are now concentrating very much on the rehabilitation, resettlement of those who are displaced. And I think the fact that one of the most wanted persons all over the world was captured without even firing a shot last week. … I think, is evidence so far of Nigeria’s success in dealing with terrorism,” Mohammed said.

  • Striking doctors’ demand impossible, says Osun govt

    Striking doctors’ demand impossible, says Osun govt

    •Govt action laughable— Doctors’ spokesman

    Osun State government yesterday described the demand of striking doctors in the state as impossible in the face of the present economic reality of the country.

    Chairman of Osun Special Committee on Health, Dr. Simeon Afolayan, during a press conference in Oshogbo stated that in the face of the current economic realities, it remains unbelievable that doctors would insist that they would not be bound by the modulated payment regime agreed to by over 39,000 other workers of the state.

    Afolayan, a former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and the Hospital Management Board, held that the decision of the state to live within its means in the light of the shortfall in revenue to the state was taken by all stakeholders including all the representatives of labour unions and government.

    He added that the doctors were dully represented on the committee that sits on all the revenues coming to the state and decides what goes into payment of salary and the running cost of government.

    “There is no way we could back down on this because, in the first instance, other professionals had accepted the agreement reached with labour.

    “Doctors were eager to join the general strike called by NLC even though they claim they are not affiliated to NLC but they refused to resume work when the strike was called off. When it is convenient for doctors, they hearken to the voice of labour unions only to claim decisions taken by the same union is not bidding on them.”

    He added: “The doctors have remained recalcitrant despite all entreaties by leading lights of medical profession.

    “They refused the popular agreement, what should government do? How can we reverse a decision accented to and agreed with by over 39,000 workers because about 100 people are dissatisfied.”

    He said because of the seeming emergency situation the abandonment of work has created by the doctors, the state would not fold its arms and watch the health sector suffer any hitch as a result of the abandonment.

    He said the government is deploying doctors from the Ministry of Health, Bowen University, the police, army and others to mitigate what could have been the effect of the works abandonment.

    Afolayan called on well-meaning Nigerians to look at the issues involved in the demands of the doctors and see whether they are in tune with the realities of the current worsening global and national economic situation and how it affects Osun.

    He pointed out that doctors have embarked on different actions bordering on abandonment of their duty post for about 11 months out of which government had even paid them for six month without working.

    He added that by civil service regulation, workers who absent themselves from work beyond certain limit are deemed to have resigned their appointments, adding that the rule has taken effect and those doctors, who still want to render services, have been given fresh opportunity to do so by government.

    He added: “The government cannot be seen to be promoting and encouraging lawlessness by a group or individuals. This is a recipe for anarchy.

    “That the doctors have abandoned their duty post for about 11 months and the state’s healthcare delivery system is still functioning calls to question their relevance.

    “The government commends the civil servants and other workers in the state for their loyalty, sacrifice understanding and commitment to the service of the people of the state in this special time and deplores the selfishness and blackmail antics of the doctors.

    “In the face of the current economic realities, it remains unbelievable that doctors would insist that they would not be bound by the payment regime agreed to by over 39,000 other workers in the state which was arrived at after a rigorous deliberation on the finances of the state within the context of the national economic realities.

  • Women, youths demand cancellation of election in Bayelsa council

    Women, youths demand cancellation of election in Bayelsa council

    Hundreds of women and youths from Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State have demanded the cancellation of the election in the area.

    They said the election in the capital city was marred by irregularities and inconsistencies in the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    According to them, INEC officials refused to listen to the complaints of voters and agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    They said the overall results were not a reflection of the results announced by the collation officer in the council.

    The state Youth Leader of the APC, Edison Sorgwe and a chieftain of the party, Alawei Opukeme-Jonah, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved voters, said the result announced by the INEC’s collation officer were inconsistent with the number of rejected and cancelled votes.

    They said the same cases of ballot box snatching, irregularities and violence which INEC relied upon to cancel the election in Southern Ijaw also played out in Yenagoa and should be depended on to annul the election in the capital city.

    They said over eight members of the party were nursing their wounds in various hospitals after sustaining attacks from political thugs.

    “We have lost confidence in the ability of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barton Kpagih to conduct election. We are against the cancellation of Southern Ijaw Local Government election”,  he said.

    Also, the governorship candidate, APC, Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, yesterday, asked INEC to cancel elections in two local government areas of Sagbama and Ekeremor and parts of Nembe, Ogbia and Yenagoa.

    Sagbama is the local government area of the state governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Seriake Dickson, while Ekeremor is the local council of the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri.

    Sylva, in a statement signed by Sylva/Igiri Campaign Organisation (SICO), said the election should be cancelled following widespread violence, security breaches and manipulation that marred the poll in the councils.

    The former governor alleged in the statement signed by SICO’s Director, Media and Publicity, Chief Nathan Egba, that the breach in security and manipulation were caused by Dickson and PDP leadership.

    He said: “It is now a well-known fact that over 1000 armed men suspected to have been imported from Delta and Rivers states by governor Dickson stormed Ekeremor community where they unleashed terror on the entire community from the wee hours of election day for many hours before they were repelled by the army, only for them to return in the evening when the results were about to be collated.

    “The gunmen we suspect were hired for the sole purpose of assassinating the Hon. Minister for State, Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri as they launched a sustained attack on his residence with grenades, dynamite and gunshots for hours before the army repel them.

    “He was very lucky to have survived that night as they returned in the evening to continue till they were repelled by the army. But in the meantime, they had carted away sensitive election materials to manipulate in favour of PDP and returned for collation.”

    According to Sylva, said in Sagbama, youths imported from neighbouring states hijacked materials that were meant for the riverine communities in the LGA including the ward of the former acting Governor of the state, Nestor Binabo.

    He said there was no election in wards 1 and 2 adding that the violence which swept across the state largely occurred in Sagbama, Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw.

    He further condemned the continuous breach of electoral laws by Dickson who allegedly stormed Yenagoa Coalition Centre to threaten APC agents and went to Oporoma in Southern Ijaw against the police directive.

  • Infrastructure, housing to drive cement demand, says BUA chief

    Demand for cement will  be driven by building of infrastructure and housing development, Executive Director, BUA Group, Kabiru Rabiu has said.

    He said the firm’s target is to increase its capacity to 10 million metric tonnes per year by 2018.

    He said the company acquired a controlling stake at the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc, as well as Edo Cement.This is in addition to being one of the 13 companies given licences to bring in bulk cement into the local market.

    On how the plant is powered, he said the company established 30 kilometres of gas pipeline to power their cement plant in Edo State.

    He predicted that cement price will remain stable in the short term and gradually drop in the medium term.

    Speaking at an investor conference, Rabiu said though BUA started as a trading company, importing rice, cement and flour, it later turned to a major integrated manufacturer of these products locally thereby creating thousands of jobs for in the country.

    “The company started as a trading entity importing rice, edible oil, cement as well as flour into the Nigerian market. Over the years, it began the production of what it previously imported like edible oil as well as rice and flour milling,” he said.

    He said by 2005, the firm established its first flour mill in Lagos, followed by another in Kano with 5.5 million tonnes milling capacity per day.

    Also, in 2008, BUA Group set up the second-largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa, which is situated in Lagos with installed capacity of 720,000 metric tones, he added.

    “At the moment, companies within the group are separate entities within different divisions. We have the Infrastructure division and then we have the foods division. In the infrastructure segment, we have cement, real estate, steel and port operations,” Rabiu said.

    He explained that massive infrastructure projects, commercial and residential housing development will drive cement demand in Nigeria. The BUA boss said he learnt from informed sources that President Muhammdu Buhari’s administration planned to spend about $20 billion starting from next year on infrastructure.

  • Kidnappers of Benue farmer demand N5m

    Prominent farmer and President/Founder, 9-9 Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd, Ihught Mr Iorbee Audu has been kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

    His son, Aseer Iorbee said he was whisked away about 8:30pm local time on Thursday from his residence in Ihugh, a town notorious for armed robbery.

    Although Iorbee’s whereabouts is unknown, the kidnappers called on Friday morning to request that N5 million be set aside ahead of further directives.

    According to his son, Aseer, police in Vandeikya, Benue North East Senatorial District, have warned the family to avoid negotiating with the kidnappers.

    Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Benue State Command Deputy Superintendant of Police, DSP Austin Ezeani said he was yet to be briefed on the incident.

    Iorbee is a leading citrus and tuber crops producer in Ihugh, the commercial nerve centre of Benue.

  • Naira to back foreign exchange demand, says CBN

    Naira to back foreign exchange demand, says CBN

    •Demands 48hrs advance payment 

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in its sustained drive to defend the local currency, has directed that all foreign exchange demand must now be backed by naira cover 48 hours before the request is sent to the apex bank’s intervention window.

    The order which was communicated to the Deposit Money Banks yesterday, The Nation investigation revealed, is to take effect from today.

    Consequently, some of the banks, in implementing the directive, have notified their  customers who intend to purchase foreign exchange through the CBN intervention window, “to make funds available in their accounts two working days before each intervention day.”

    In a document obtained by The Nation, one of the banks said: “Given the effective date of 6th August for this new arrangement, collation for intervention window of  10th August 2015 will be done on 6th August, 2015 when the bank will be expected to move funds to the CBN position.

    “Kindly ensure that all customers’ requests are received in Trade Services  on or before 12noon two days preceding their intended CBN intervention window,” the financial house stated, adding that ”in case of matured obligations that will require the booking of naira IFF (Import Finance Facility) to fund account, booking may be deferred until successful FX (foreign exchange) allocation in which case, Trade will debit customer’s account naira equivalent of FX sold, whether or not the account is adequately funded, while the Branch/Relationship Managers will be required to follow up with the relevant department, or unit for regularisation with same value date as original debit.”

    The document clearly stated that bids supported with incomplete documentation will not be processed.

    It said apart from the exception earlier highlighted for matured obligations,  bids presented on unfunded account will not be attended, it stressed.

  • ‘Local poultry farmers can meet consumers’ demand’

    ‘Local poultry farmers can meet consumers’ demand’

    The importation of frozen poultry was banned by the Federal Government but despite this ban since 2003, the smuggling has remained unabated. Recently however, considering the health issues arising from the consumption of the smuggled meat and the loss of revenue to the Government, Government through the National Agency for Food, Drug, Administration and Control [NAFDAC] and the Nigerian Customs launched Operation Hawk Descend to combat the activities of these nefarious smugglers.

    However, with the Operation Hawk Descend, the price of both the smuggled and indigenously produced poultry has gone almost beyond the reach of the average Nigerians. Many people are asking questions; With the large population of Nigeria, which is still increasing, Can the poultry farmers in Nigeria produce enough poultry to meet demand of consumers?, As the Government is enforcing this ban, what policies has it put in place to grow the Nigerian poultry?.

    In this interview with Dr. Ayoola Oduntan,  National President, Poultry Association  Farmers of  Nigeria, he tried to address these issues including the current price of poultry meat, the many challenges facing the poultry industry, how Government can grow the Agricultural sector through poultry and what is expected from consumers at this transitional period among many things.

    There are so many speculations, we will like to know the exact annual demand of poultry meat in this country.

    Local demand of poultry is about 1.5million metric tonnes, while Nigerian farmers can produce about 700-1million metric tonnes but right now we are only producing about 300,000 metric tonnes.

    So, do the poultry farmers in Nigeria have the capacity to feed the Nation.

    Our capacity as it is, is between 700- 1 milliontonnes and we can grow that capacity quickly as the Government  is willing to support, and determined to grow the poultry industry. Our capacity utilization is about 46% but all that can increase within 2years.

    Within that two years, how do you intend to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of poultry. As you said, the local demand is about 1.5million metric tonnes while local farmers are producing 300,000 metric tonnes now, creating a shortfall of 1.2million metric tonnes of supply.

    We shall activate all the abandoned farms, use the existing major players as hubs around which we would develop smaller farming groups. In the area of trainingwe shall mobilize organized knowledge sharing plateforms and Government will of course come in with infrastructural support targeted at farms. A situation where most farmers in this country are borrowing money at 20%-30% is not encouraging. In most places where Government is determined to turn Agriculture around, farmers borrow money at between 3%-6%.More farmers should have access to development finance initiatives.

    How can poultry industry grow other economies in the country?

    Poultry Industry is so unique because it can stimulate other economies down the line. That is why many countries around the world will actively promote their Poultry Industries. In doing that Government will now need to focus on the activation of Maize, Rice, Soya, and Wheat, farms, Quarries, palm kernel and palmoil because all these industries feed the poultry industry thereby creating millions of jobs. So you can imagine how much jobs will be created if Government focuses on growing the industry.

    Since the campaign of Operation Hawk Descendstarted, has the Government come up with new policies to support poultry farming.

    The response from the Customs, NAFDAC and Ministry of Agriculture has been great. NAFDAC has done a great job in identifying the fact that this imported poultry is in direct opposition to their mandate of safe guarding the health of the Nation.

    But what more can Government do to encourage indigenous poultry farming

    Yes, there is so much more that can be done.  Ministry of Information can launch a campaign encouraging the consumption of eggs. The Health Ministry should educate pregnant women on the impact of egg meals as they can get the needed Folic acid for the growth of the baby. Ministries of Internal affairs, Education should insist  that egg be inculcated in Government school meals. An egg a day is recommended in most countries as part of healthy nutritious diet. Government should use it’s propaganda machinery to increase and generate demands for our products. It will cost them nothing but the impact will be huge in the economy.

    When you say an egg a day is recommend as part of a healthy diet, are you referring to children or adults.

    For everybody. We all know that the egg is probably God’s best gift in terms of food for us because of the nutrient contents. We have one of the lowest per capita egg consumption in the world.

    Maybe the cost is what is discouraging the consumption and the believe that it has high cholesterol content. An average sized egg sells between N25 to N30.

    Egg is not expensive compared to other food items especially when you consider the nutritional contents. The wrong information from the Americans in the 70s that egg is high in cholesterol has been demystified by new scientific facts which says that the cholesterol in egg is the good and healthy one and that there is no direct relationship between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol.

    Since the recent enforcement of the ban on imported frozen chicken, the prices of both the imported ones and the indigenously produced ones have gone up by about 50%.

    The price of the locally produced chicken has not gone up.

    No, from my research the price has gone up. The local producers are taking advantage of the shortage of the smuggled ones to fleece the public.

    I have spoken to the Chief Executives of most of the farmers and we have agreed not to raise prices for now. It is the traders, the Channels that are raising the prices.

    So how do you intend to monitor and control these traders.

    Now that government policy is being enforced and is here to stay, any increase will just be for a while and supply will soon meet with the demand as much as possible. The increase will only be for a short while as a lot of supply will eventually come into the market.

    When exactly should people expect this more supply.

    Is a process and we need to remain committed. The demand for day old chicks has gone up and people have started talking to their banks about reactivating their abandoned farms again.

    Why do you think that smuggled poultry has persisted despite previous efforts to stop it even with the health challenges

    Most people were ignorant of the health implications but now that they are realizing the negative health issues they will desist from patronizing it.

    What parting words do you want to leave with the consumers .

    Right now we have pride to consume made in Nigerian products that are good for our health and our economy and it should continue. What we are envisaging in the Poultry Industry now is only a transition that will stabilize in due course. People should not panic and take the wrong decision when the solution is just round the corner.