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Tag: firms

  • Lagos seals six firms for N6.2m tax evasion

    The Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) has sealed six firms for failing to remit N6.197 million Personal Income Tax of their workers to the state government.

    Mrs Ajibike Oshodi-Sholola, Head of the Distain Unit of LIRS, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, that the companies were sealed during a state-wide tax law enforcement exercise

    Oshodi-Sholola, who led the enforcement team, said that the affected companies’ tax liabilities were between 12 months and four years.

    Oshodi-Sholola said most corporate organisations usually evade the remittance of the previous year’s tax only to remit taxes of current years, adding that the six companies’ tax debts were basically for 2011 tax-audit year.

    According to her, some companies think that jumping the previous years’ tax to pay off the current year tax will make the LIRS exempt them from paying the outstanding debts.

    “It is very wrong to overlook tax payment of any certain year and a misconception to think that government will forfeit tax payment of any registered organisation in the state.

    “Despite how long the tax of an organisation has lingered, the truth remains that the government will someday come for it,” she said.

    The team leader noted that the enforcement would continue until Nigerians imbibed the culture of voluntary tax compliance, adding that tax evasion was a criminal act.

    According to her, the companies that were affected by the recent tax enforcement include; pharmaceutical companies, a security management company, paint manufacturing firms and a media company.

    Oshodi-Sholola urged companies operating in the state to ensure that their tax files and documents are always up-to-date to avoid been shut by the LIRS.

    She said the poor administration and compliance to taxation system had resulted to low generation of revenue from tax.

    According to her, the poor taxation system was responsible for the poor maintenance of the nations’ infrastructures.

    “In western countries where everything is taxable, tax is government’s key source of income. The government can still streamline Nigerian taxation system to make it more rewarding.

    “I believe that effective taxation will boost government’s revenue and that is the only way the nation’s infrastructures can be maintained and sustained,” she added.

    Meanwhile, some of the affected companies complained of not being given notification by the state government before coming to shut down their firms.

     

  • Experts push for airport management firms

    Experts push for airport management firms

    Aviation experts  have called for the setting up of management companies to improve the profitability of the over 22 airports managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) .

    The Chief Executive Officer of Bi- Courtney Aviation Services Limited, Mr Christophe Pennick; the Chief Executive Officer of Belujane Konsult, Mr Chris Aligbe and the Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Securities, Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd), in separate interviews, said airport management companies have become imperative in the face of inefficient running of the airports by the FAAN.

    The 22 airports, according to them, sre too humongous to be managed by FAAN, which doesn’t have sufficient expertise to run them and make profit for the government as is the practice in other parts of the world.

    According to Aligbe, pairing some airports for effective management by the proposed companies will ensure better services and development for some terminals hitherto described as unviable.

    FAAN, he said, is saddled with too much task that it may not be able to focus on providing the required services, and at the same time run the terminals to return profit to government.

    The management companies, he said, would focus on enhanced non aeronautical sources of revenue for the airports while FAAN would focus on operational and technical areas.

    Aligbe said : ”There is an urgent need to fix the entire airports in Nigeria to make them viable. One of the ways of achieving this is for the government to install the relevant air navigation equipment to enable airlines fly into them even at nights. This is one of the ways to better run the airports if the facilities are in top gear.

    “The next major problem is the way the airports are run. We need the right model on how to run the airports. The decision by FAAN to acquire more airports including the 22 it is currently managing is wrong. What FAAN needs to do is stop the central managing of the entire airports. This is not the best approach.”

    He continued: ”That is not what FAAN should do. Even if you fly 10 management experts into FAAN, it cannot centrally manage 22 airports. The central management system cannot bring about efficiency in  airport management , even if they say they have a regional structure, they all still report to the headquarters . It is facade,  the airports cannot be freed from the stranglehold of centralised management.

    “Where the regional manager of an airport takes decision on what he wants to do in terms of development of such an airport. When a manager tries to utilise any means to earn revenue and utilise it for that airport, it will not work.

    “These are issues of internally generated revenue. Airports are not run that way, if we need to have good airports in this country, we must concession them. It must be done in a way that government will take concession revenues and royalties from where it will reorganise the system.

    “Then FAAN, will be restructured to be one, a holding company, the holding company will oversee government interest in the concessioned airport and to ensure the implementation of the terms of the concessions. This will involve terms. There are various strategies to airport concession. The airports need to be paired for income generation and development. You pair the airports. For instance, you take Benin and Lagos as one. You take Kano and Maiduguri  and other airports.”

    Pennick on his part said it is better to allow an independent airport management company to manage the airports because It is not proper to allow FAAN play the role of service provider and regulator of airport services .

    He said allowing FAAN to become airport operator, regulator and competitor is not healthy for the business of air travel.

    He said: ”I think FAAN should be an airport management company and NCAA should be the only authority. FAAN should be more focused to regulate services and manage the airports. FAAN should only provide framework for how the airports should be managed by private companies. It would not make sense for FAAN to become both regulator of the airport and service provider it would be unfair as a competitor.”

     

  • Upstream firms face uncertain future over oil glut

    Upstream firms face uncertain future over oil glut

    The downturn in the global oil market is adversely affecting operations of Nigerian upstream companies, the exploration and production (E&P) and service companies. Level of jobs has dropped abysmally, compelling these firms to drastically scale down on their investment and workforce. EMEKA UGWUANYI looks at the situation.

    The global oil glut has continued to send economic shocks around the world. The hardest hit have been countries whose economies depend heavily on oil for a significant percentage of their foreign exchange earnings, such as Venezuela, Angola, Azerbaijan and Nigeria among others.

    An energy expert, Mr. Kazeem Bello, said the fluctuation of price in the oil market is a normal occurrence, but the concern now is that the current slump in price might last longer than usual following the discovery of crude oil in many parts of the world and the new wave of alternative energy sources, particularly shale oil, which will have adverse effect on Nigeria.

    He said the country’s failure to take cushioning measures against volatility risks by implementing fiscal buffers and hedging mechanisms has left it at the mercy of the crisis. He noted that Nigeria didn’t save for the rainy day by investing in the oil and gas sector or putting substantial part of proceeds from oil sale in period of boom in its sovereign wealth fund like other producer countries. Money is drawn from such funds in times of downturn like the one currently being experienced for reinvestment into the oil industry for more output and for capital projects.

     

    Significant drop in revenues

    Bello said the likes of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have over $2 trillion in their Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) accounts; one of their numerous fiscal buffers, hence the oil crisis has so far had very little impact on their respective economies. Also laudable is Mexico’s adoption of a hedging mechanism before the oil downturn at $76.40 per barrel, saving the country an inevitable exponential loss in the wake of the free fall in price.

    The Chair of the Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) and former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia noted that crude oil prices had fluctuated over the years, but the current decline highlighted the importance of planning. Speaking at a policy dialogue entitled ‘Implications of the Falling Oil Price for Policy in Nigeria,’ organised by the Centre for Public Policy Alternatives, a Lagos-based think-tank, he commented on the need for a hedging mechanism, saying, “because we don’t have a hedging mechanism, we are completely left at the mercy of the oil price.”

    Inevitably, oil and gas companies globally have been adversely affected by the falling oil prices with their revenues and profits on the decline.  Seplat Petroleum Development Company’s profit after tax amounted to N4.83 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2015, which represents a drop of 33.4 per cent year-on-year. Full year outlook indicates after tax profit in the region of N20.21 billion for the company in 2015. The company may therefore, lose as much as half of the profit figures of N40.48 billion it reported in the preceding year. In April 2015 the Wall Street Journal reported that BP’s UK version of net income fell 40 per cent from a year earlier and its cash flow plunged by more than 75 per cent, while Total SA of France net profit fell by 20 per cent. Both companies reported lower revenue from oil sales as crude traded for about $54 a barrel in the first quarter of 2015, half its price a year earlier.  The publication further stated that, to demonstrate how challenging the market has been for big oil companies, these numbers were considered better than expected by analysts. In January, Total reported a $5.7 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2014, while BP’s losses totalled almost $1 billion.

    Companies have taken to proactive measures to cushion the effect of the downturn including cuts in capital expenditure (capex), downsizing of operations and cancellation or suspension of contracts.  At the end of 2014 Shell said it was deferring spending in many areas and this would result in a reduction in capital investment from 2015 to 2017 of over $15 billion.  Chevron Corporation announced a $35 billion capital and exploratory investment programme for 2015; 13 per cent lower than the total investments for 2014. ExxonMobil said it would slash its capital spending by 12 per cent to $34 billion from about $38.5 billion last year, while French oil major, Total cut capital spending by $2 billion to $3 billion from last year’s total of $26.4 billion.

    “Companies have taken to proactive measures to cushion the effect of the downturn including cuts in capital expenditure (capex), downsizing of operations and cancellation or suspension of contracts”

    In Nigeria, there have been cuts in Joint Venture budgets. In third quarter of 2013, the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the national oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which foresees government’s investments in the upstream sector of the industry, ordered a 30 – 40 per cent cut in the Joint Venture (JV) budget followed by a similar directive in first quarter of 2015.  This has led to the stalling and suspension of several ongoing projects.  New opportunities have been deferred or completely cancelled. This singular move led to a significant drop in the Nigerian rig count from 51 in September 2013 to 27 in June 2015 – a 47 per cent reduction.

    The drop in rig count has had a negative effect on other manufacturing and services businesses such as drilling fluids and chemicals, drill bits, casing services, and marine vessels, among others, leading to multimillion dollar losses to indigenous services companies who have made substantial investments towards acquiring assets, technologies and capacity to execute projects. The President, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), an umbrella body of Nigerian firms that play in the upstream, Mr. Emeka Ene told The Nation that over  6,000 jobs were lost  in the oil services segment of the industry as at first quarter of 2015. He said many oil firms have lost their expatriate workers to recession because they are unable to raise enough money to maintain them. He said with the lingering downturn in the industry, companies may be compelled to further reduce their capital expenditure and personnel. He said even highly technical workers such as geologists, engineers and others have lost their jobs.

    Ene advised that if Nigeria will not face this kind of situation in the future, the Federal Government should start investing in the industry now and encourage investors to come in now that oil price is low and help produce cheap barrels, which will be sold in period of high price.

     

    Negative impacts of the downturn

    However, the highest losses are indigenous rig owners who are stipulated by the Nigerian Content Act of 2010 to acquire by direct purchase at least 50 per cent of deep water assets, which can be valued at as much as $650 million and above.  These local companies are expected to demonstrate this ownership at the tendering stage with no guarantee of contract commitment.  Tendering is unusually lengthy because of bureaucracy and outdated manual processes with cases of tendering going on for over five years with no conclusion in sight. Acquisition of these assets usually requires these companies to borrow from local banks at interest rates averaging 20 per cent or more.  These rates make the indigenous companies uncompetitive especially when compared to foreign oilfield service companies that have access to finance at significantly reduced interest rates and grants from their governments.

    A combination of falling demand for rigs and cheaper foreign options has led to local rigs being left idle – according to a February 2015 BBC report. Industry analysts have said this is the worst oil rigs market they have seen globally since 1985.

    Idle rigs are in themselves cost centres as there is a daily maintenance cost of several thousands of dollars to ensure they don’t deteriorate and are ready to use as and when required.  Consequently, companies have to invest on manpower that supports every oil rig idling by- from staff on board the rigs to office support and supply related companies.

    The Group Lead of the NNRC Expert Panel Core Sector group, Mr. Gbite Adeniji, said oil companies were beginning to renegotiate contracts, adding that some clients were delaying payments. According to him, “there is a general waiting game in the industry. In the service sector, several companies will go out of business. Borrowing from the banks in this kind of environment is almost suicidal. Contractors are beginning to lay off staff. The implications remain that projects will be cut, while the optimism that heralded those indigenous companies in the industry is dampening.”

    Examples of indigenous companies that have caved in to the pressure are Seawolf Lonestar and NRG Drilling to mention a few. Seawolf has since gone out of business with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) seizing its three rigs. The company terminated the contracts of its 450 employees who are presently being owed 22 months outstanding salaries and the company has been unable to service its loan agreement with First Bank of Nigeria.

     

    Govt not helping matters

    Besides the lack of investment in the oil and gas industry, which has led to diminishing reserves and production, government’s failure to put in place measures that will fast-track implementation of projects as well as payment of its counterpart funding of Joint Venture (JV) projects operated by the international oil companies (IOCs), has significantly stalled growth of the oil industry.

    Nigeria is said to have the longest contracting process in the world. It takes between 18 months to three years to conclude a process of awarding contract for a project. As a result of the length of time, initial budgets of most projects are altered and reviewed upwards, making projects costs in Nigeria very high.

    The Federal Government runs joint venture projects with the multinational oil firms in Nigeria, where it holds 60 per cent interest. Unfortunately, it has been a challenge over the years to pay its part of financing operation of those JV projects.

    According to an industry operator, the plunge in crude oil prices has further aggravated the Federal Government’s inability to fund Joint Venture (JV) agreements with international and indigenous oil companies. Prior to the oil glut, payment of cash calls and requests for payment for anticipated future capital projects sent by Joint Venture operators to the Government as non-operating partners had always been a challenge, with payments either being partially made or not at all.

    In the Joint Venture operation, the ownership of assets is between Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on behalf of the Federal Government and international oil companies (IOCs) such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, Eni and some local oil firms, among others. In the arrangement, all parties contribute to funding oil exploration and production operations in the proportion of their JV equity holdings and receive crude oil produced earnings in the same ratio.

    As at January 2015, NNPC owed $5bn in cash calls to its Joint Venture partners. The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Total E&P Nigeria, Elizabeth Proust, buttressed the need for prompt payment of cash calls (counterpart funding). She said: “Resolving JV funding could increase production by 2.8 billion cubic feet per day by 2020. Government and industry need to implement a sustainable solution to deliver vital funding.”

    This particular challenge, according to operators, has adversely affected production output by 200,000 barrels per day. Production from Joint Ventures, which in the past accounted for about 95 per cent of Nigeria’s crude oil output, has continued to decline yearly as international oil companies increasingly shift offshore due to onshore risks including funding, oil theft and sabotage.

    According to the Public Relations Officer of PENGASSAN, Emmanuel Ojugbana, “Oil companies are owed billions of dollars in cash call arrears putting the jobs of our members and other workers in the industry in jeopardy as companies easily rationalize disengagement of staff and reduction in welfare packages due to lack of funds.”

    Evidently, with the continued oil crisis, the NNPC will be unable to meet their JV funding obligation this year. Platts, a US-based publication that provides information on energy and metals data recently quoted sources at the NNPC as saying “The NNPC has informed its Joint Venture partners that this year’s capital expenditures will be cut by 40 per cent from the initial proposed budget of $13.5 billion. The $13.5 billion has been the level that has been maintained in the past three years, but because of the drastic decline in oil prices, that level cannot be sustained this year.”

    The government has also come to the realisation that the current JV funding model isn’t working; over the years a series of models have been adopted as a source for alternative funding proving futile. In 1993 the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) model was adopted as the preferred petroleum arrangement with IOCs. Under this arrangement, the concession is held by NNPC and it engages the IOC or the indigenous company as contractor to conduct exploration and production on behalf of itself and NNPC. The contractor takes on the financing risk and if exploration is successful, the Contractor is entitled to recover its costs on commencement of commercial production. If the operation is not successful, the Contractor bears the loss.

    The second model adopted was the service contract. Under this model, the contractor undertakes exploration, development and production activities for, and on behalf of NNPC, at its own risk. The concession ownership remains entirely with NNPC, and the contractor has no title to the oil produced. The contractor is reimbursed the cost incurred only from proceeds of oil sold and is paid periodical remuneration in accordance with the formulae stipulated in the contract. The contractor has the first option to buy back the crude oil produced from the concession.

     

    Proposed models

    Industry experts have suggested more appealing alternatives for all concerned parties such as a Modified Carry Arrangement (MCA). The MCA is a financing agreement whereby the IOC will advance a loan to NNPC for the purpose of investing in upstream projects with an understanding that the IOC will be reimbursed through a combination of tax relief and incremental oil production derived from the JV operations.

    Another option is reducing the percentage of government equity (usually 60 per cent) in the operations and letting the IOCs and indigenous companies cover exploration and development costs.

    Suggesting a way forward, the Head of Energy, Ecobank Capital, Mr. Dolapo Oni said: “The best option will be to incorporate these Joint Ventures and list them on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), so that they can raise their funds through equity or debt directly, and also pay dividends to investors.”

    To date, alternative funding models adopted by some IOCs has witnessed some success. ExxonMobil has successfully generated about $15 billion of alternative capacity through external financing and Modified Carry Agreement. This has accounted for about 70 per  cent of current JV production. ExxonMobil’s model of external financing entails that commercial banks provide funding for approved JV work programme at cost-effective, market driven borrowing rates; the lenders have no recourse to JV assets and the loan is secured by revenues from forward sale of incremental production volumes.

    “In the service sector, several companies will go out of business. Borrowing from the banks in this kind of environment is almost suicidal. Contractors are beginning to lay off staff”

     

  • Shareholders blame regulators for imposing fines on firms

    Shareholders blame regulators for imposing fines on firms

    Shareholders in the insurance industry have expressed displeasure over the huge sum deposited at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as statutory deposit by firms.

    The shareholders are also not happy with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) over fines imposed on operating firms in the industry for various offences especially failure to meet deadline for submission of  annual accounts and financial reports.

    The shareholders made this known at the 23rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Cornerstone Insurance Plc in Lagos.

    The Cornerstone shareholders said it was painful to them to see record of N128million fine paid by the company to NAICOM and other related regulators because of various offences recorded against them.

    One of the shareholders, Akinsonya Solomon,  said the incessant fines heaped on operating firms by the regulators are becoming unbearable observing that virtually all insurance firms in Nigeria have been fined for one offence or the other this year.

    Mr Robert Igwe another shareholder of the company wants the NIA as the umbrella body of insurance underwriters to take up the issue of statutory deposit of the industry lying idle with little or no interest with the CBN to the law makers.

    He posited that the huge amount could yield good interest to the various firms if used in business adding that on the alternative, the CBN should pay interest commensurate to the quantum of money deposited by the various companies.

     

  • Why infant mortality of firms is high, by Aladekomo

    Retiring Group Managing Director, Chams Plc, Sir ‘Demola Aladekomo, has identified the refusal of businesses to list on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) as one of the reasons many of them die in infancy.

    Speaking with The Nation, he said most firms refuse to list on the NSE because they don’t want to open their books to members of the public.

    He said this development stalls the institutionalisation of corporate governance and inevitably leads to the early demise of businesses.

    He said: “One of the major advantages of listing is reporting your results. If you are not messing around with your books, if you do not have anything to hide, if you want to be very transparent,  if you want to be held on to your projections, your budgeting performance by the public, then you should list.

    “For us in Chams, we decided to be open, more because we do not have anything to hide. We believe that it is by exposing ourselves, by letting the whole world knows what we are doing that we can improve.

    “You would have seen it in our results. In 2010, 2011 and even 2012 when things are really tough and bad, we were declaring results that were like a disgrace to us, but faithfully every quarter, I think it was only in a period that we didn’t report for some three quarters, I think it was in 2010 and immediately we corrected that, we were reporting all our results and it really helped us,” he said.

    He said the independence of the Accounts Department ensures transparency, arguing that if there is no independence, some people will be messing up things. He said opening up the business for the public has helped the firm to achieve its enviable position.

    He said: “Because our accounts department is highly independent, exactly what you do is what you report, so nobody is messing around with any figure.

    “For us, being opened has really helped us. For one, our stakeholders can trust us knowing that we are not hiding any figure. It also makes corporate governance very easy for us. If we had been a private company during those periods of turbulence, if we didn’t publish our results, it would have been so easy, even the members of staff we won’t need to declare anything to them,” he said.

    He added that everybody would have been wondering what is happening, the results would just be may be between the managing director, the chairman, a couple of board members and the head of finance.

  • New pricing rule: 60 firms may slip to one kobo

    Not less than a quarter of quoted companies may drop to as low as one kobo under a new pricing rule recently approved for the Nigerian stock market by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week said it was considering the appropriate time to begin the implementation of the new pricing rule.

    The new pricing rule will remove the stopgap that had supported several stocks at their nominal value of 50 kobo and allow stocks to drop as low as one kobo.

    The Nation’s check at the weekend indicated that not less than 60 companies, especially in the non-bank financial services subsectors, may be affected by the new pricing rule, which favours market forces to determine share price, irrespective of the nominal value of the company.

    Nearly all the 60 companies have been stagnant at their nominal value for more than a year and are currently on supply, a market euphemism for shares glut and sell pressure.

    Quoted companies on the main board of the Exchange are currently not allowed to trade below their nominal value or par value of 50 kobo. This had supported and stopped the share prices of the companies at their nominal values.

    But under a new amendment to the stock market rules, the management of the NSE has proposed a change in the minimum pricing level from 50 kobo to one kobo. The draft rule is undergoing the final-phase of the rule-making process at the NSE, upon which it will be sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for final approval.

    Many stakeholders have expressed supports for the new rule, which they said is in tandem with the market’s principle of demand and supply as price-determinant at the stock market.

    The companies that may initially be affected by the new rule include Unity Bank, UTC Nigeria, Mutual Benefits Assurance, Niger Insurance, Omatek Ventures, Japaul Oil Maritime & Services, Tantalizers, Daar Communication, Secure Electornic Technology, C & Leasing, Afromedia, Beco Petroleum, Multiverse, Stokvis Nigeria, Nigeria Sewing Machine Manufacturing Company, Nigerian Wire and Cable, IPWA, First Aluminium Nigeria, Mass telecommunication Innovation, Chams, Union Diagnostic & Clinical Services, Union Homes Savings and Loans, Resort Savings and Loans and Aso Savings and Loans Plc.

    Most insurance companies, which have so far stagnated at 50 kobo, will be affected. These include African Alliance Insurance, Cornerstone Insurance, Equity Assurance, Great Nigeria Insurance, Guinea Insurance, Consoldiated Hallmark Insurance, Investment and Allied Assurance, International Energy Insurance, Lasaco Assurance, Law Union & Rock Insurance, Linkage Assurance, Oasis Insurance, Prestige Assurance, Regency Alliance Insurance, Sovereign Trust Insurance, Standard Trust Assurance, Standard Alliance Insurance, Unic Insurance Unity Kapital Assurance and Universal Insurance Company.

    Other companies that are relying on the current stopgap included Multi-Trex Integrated Foods, DN Tyres & Rubber, Ellah Lakes, FTN Cocoa Processors, Rak Unity, Capital Oil, Anino and Afrik Pharmaceuticals.

    According to the new par value rule, notwithstanding the par value of a company, the price of every share listed on the Exchange shall be determined by the market, except that no share shall trade below a price floor of one Kobo per unit.

    Par value is the nominal value of a share as stated in the Memorandum of Association of an issuer while the price floor means the amount below which the price of one unit of a share shall not be permitted to trade, and the minimum amount which must be paid for a share in the event of a drop in the unit price of that share.

    The NSE had earlier institutionalized a dual pricing model that categorises and prices stocks according to their initial or subsisting share prices. It grouped stocks into “Group A” and “Group B” stocks. As a “Group B” security, a trade of 10,000 shares will lead to a change in the published price of the stock. Other stocks will require a trade of 50,000 shares for any price change.

    According to the categorization, for purposes of calculating price movements and price limits, “Group A”-consists of equities with a primary market maker that are not classified in Group B; and “Group B”- consists of equities with a primary market maker, that are priced above N100 per share for at least four of the last six months; or new security listings that are priced above N100 at the time of listing on the Exchange.

    The “Group A” stocks now included Dangote Cement Plc, Guinness Plc, Mobil Plc, Nestle Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, SIM Capital Fund, Skye Shelter Fund, Nigerian Energy Sector Fund (NESF), Total Nigeria Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Forte Oil Plc and Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc.

     

     

  • Be safety-conscious, firms advised

    The state Controller, Federal Ministry of  Labour and Productivity, Mr. Clement Fatoki has urged industries operating in Ogun State to commit themselves to “safety culture and standards” in their work places.

    Fatoki said strict adherence to occupational safety and health would reduce accidents in work environments among staff and management.

    The Controller, who spoke in Sagamu, Ogun State, at this year’s “Health and Safety Month” of Lafarge plant said industrial accident is preventable if people commit themselves to health and safety culture.

    He praised Lafarge for its safety standard, saying the cement manufacturing firm “has operated the Sagamu plant for 1, 237 days running with zero-accident while Ewekoro plant also recorded 506 working days without accident.”

    Fatoki, who was represented by the Honorary Secretary, Industrial Safety of Nigeria (ISN), Jacob Oni, urged industries to take the safety and health of members of staff seriously.

    Contributing, the Managing Director of Lafarge Africa Plc (WAPCO Operations) , Adepeju Adebajo, said the event was meant to create safety awareness and control among the company’s truck drivers.

    According to Adebajo, measures have been taken to reduce trucks-induced accidents on the Nigerian roads, even as he revealed that Lafarge has installed monitoring systems to control over-speeding and behaviours of its drivers on the roads.

  • NSE places 29 firms on watch list

    NSE places 29 firms on watch list

    Authorities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) have placed some 29 companies on their watchlist over poor corporate governance, according to a report obtained by The Nation at the weekend.

    The report indicated that 19 companies are on red alert for possible compulsory delisting if they failed to complete extensive restructurings to remedy their faulty corporate governance and operations while the NSE is also monitoring the restructuring exercises by 10 other companies.

    The 19 companies under the “delisting watchlist” included UTC Nigeria, Daar Communications, the owners of Ray Power and African Independent Television (AIT) media networks; FTN Cocoa Processors, Beco Petroleum, Investment and Allied Insurance,  Aluminium Manufacturing Company of Nigeria and Unic Insurance.

    Other companies on the “delisting watchlist” included MTI Plc, Adswitch Plc, Jos International Breweries, Stokvis Nigeria, West African Glass Industries, Mtech Plc, Nigerian Sewing Machine Company, G.Cappa, Goldlink Insurance, Golden Guinea Breweries, IPWA and Nigerian Wire and Cable Plc.

    The NSE is also monitoring restructuring exercises by 10 other companies including Afrik Pharmaceuticals, Union Dicon Salt, Anino International, African Paints (Nigeria) Plc, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria, Rokana Industries, Navitus Energy, Capital Oil, Juli and Nigerian German Chemical.

    A source at the NSE said the companies have been given timelines to complete approved restructuring exercises and are expected to submit periodic implementation reports to the Exchange. The source said the failure of the companies to effect major corporate changes on agreed timelines could trigger final delisting process.

    The 19 companies under “delisting watchlist” were first flagged alongside other companies in 2014 for falling below listing standards. The NSE then in November 2014 delisted Starcomms Plc, Big Treat Plc, Afroil Plc, and Pinnacle Point Group over their failure to restructure their operations and improve their corporate governance.

    The Exchange had in June 2014 issued a three-month notice of compulsory delisting to 24 companies. Out of the list, one company had fully complied with the NSE’s listing status while 14 companies had taken some steps to redress their situation. On October 14, the Exchange also issued a one-month final delisting notice to nine companies that failed to regularise their listing status after the initial notice of compulsory delisting.

    According to the NSE, the four companies were delisted because they failed to take any appropriate steps to regularise their listing status.

  • Firms boost maternal health in North

    Airtel Nigeria has renewed its partnership with Millennium Promise (MP) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University to provide quality healthcare to expectant and nursing mothers, and children under five years in Pampaida, Kaduna, Northern Nigeria, under Millennium Villages Project.

    The project, an initiative of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, is a science-based bottom-up approach to lifting rural villages out of the poverty trap that afflicts more than a billion people worldwide. The community-driven initiative operates in 12 sites in 10 sub-Saharan African countries where it tackles challenges related to health and nutrition, education, agriculture, livelihoods, gender equality and other vital issues.

    Under the new agreement with Millennium Promise, Airtel is leveraging on its robust 3.75G Network to deploy a sophisticated mobile-phone platform dubbed CommCare to help support Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Home Based Care Providers to provide better, more efficient healthcare to the targeted beneficiaries.

    The CommCare platform will also aid better supervision and coordination of community health programmes, providing a guide to Community Health Workers and assisting them with an electronic questionnaire to collate data on the pregnancy, birth and condition of the infants as well as wellbeing of mothers.

    The system will also guide Community Health Workers to refer infants or mothers that are in need of medical attention, thus addressing one of the key barriers to reducing neonatal and maternal mortality.

    Pampaida is located in Kaduna State and it comprises 57 settlements/villages with a total population of about 27, 000 divided into about 4, 050 households. It has four health centres in Saulawa, Kwari, Fadama Kale and Pampaida, located in Saulawa district Ikara Local Government Area, where the Village Health Workers serve.

  • Firms to build N1.2b Marvel Heights

    Two firms, American Chinese (AC) Yafeng and AG  Homes, have signed a N1.2billion agreement to build 44 housing units at Isheri North, a suburb of Ogun State.

    The project, which will comprise  four-bedroom terrace houses, is designed for the middle and upper class in the society, and will sit on 1.6 hectares of land.

    According to the Chairman, AC Yafeng Africa, Mr. Emeka Okoye, the project is a collaborative effort to help solve housing problems in the state.

    He said AG Homes’ building and development arm, Evangel Properties, a mortgage bank, would fund the project, while his company will build the houses.

    The housing units, christened Marvel Heights, will be completed in 12 months.

    The Executive Director, AG Homes, Mr. Ngozi Anyogu, expressed the company’s gladness to be involved in such partnership, especially one aimed at finding a solution to the housing needs of Nigerians. Discussion, he said, was  ongoing to build houses in Enugu and Abuja.

    He said his company was satisfied with the partner’s output, adding that it shared in the vision to provide habitable and affordable housing to Nigerians within their incomes.

    “Our interest still remains the best shelter that is affordable,” he said.