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  • Rotary raises fund for community projects

    Rotary raises fund for community projects

    It was a gathering of families, friends, well-wishers and members of the Rotary Club of Agege District 9110, Nigeria. They gathered to raise funds for its various community projects. The event was also used to install Rotarian Kolawole Ojelabi, President, Christ Ambassador Society of Christ Church, Elere-Agege, as the 32nd president of the club for the Rotary year 2015 to 2016.

    The event began with recitation of some lines of rotary anthem. After the recital, Mr Ojelabi, his wife, Olumuyiwa and some other dignitaries, including the outgone President, Rotarian Adeniji Agboola, his wife and Mrs Lydia Ojelabi (mother of the new president) were invited to the top table amid applause.

    Rotarian Seyi Martins presented Rotarian Ojelabi to the gathering after which Mr Agboola installed him as President of the club.

    He removed the rotary neck tag and hung it on Mr Ojelabi and inducted him as a world-class President of Agege amid ovation by guests. Agboola and Ojelabi hugged each other after.

    Mr Agboola described the new President as someone to be proud of anytime.

    The club’s past presidents, members’ families and well-wishers embraced and congratulated the new president on his achievement.

    In his speech, Mr Ojelabi said he was happy that members of the club are rejoicing with him. He recalled his past challenges as a Rotarian, saying Rotarian Agnes Olatunmi later brought him back to rotary after five years of nonattendance.

    Reeling off some projects he intends to execute during his tenure, Ojelabi said: “During my tenure, I will assist children in orphanage homes; provide relief for internally-displaced persons (IDPs); support post-graduate students; carry out health education programmes; provide six-room toilet facility and water at Central African Primary School, Oniwaya Agege; promote breastfeeding campaigns in selected government hospitals in Agege; renovate dilapidated six-classroom block at Anwar-Ul-Islam Nursery and Primary School, Ogba and provide micro-credit loans to members of the community, among others.”

    In his speech, the guest speaker, Mr Sam Omatseye emphasised on volunteerism in the society. He said volunteerism comprises people who have ambition and passion for the less-privileged people.

    Mr Omatseye, who is the Chairman, Editorial Board, The Nation Newspaper, defined the less-privileged as people who are in need of water; skills; academic enlightenment and shelter, among others. He said a group of church members built a library and provided books for inmates of Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Apapa.

    He recalled how he learnt how to nail a wood to the wall to prevent it from being blown off by windstorm or rainstorm. This, he said, was for members of a family who were living in dilapidated house in the United Kingdom. He added that there is a bad form of volunteerism that is made up of people who take pleasure in destroying people’s lives through killing, embezzlement of government funds, thereby causing increase in poverty.

    Mr Omatseye said: “The club is one of the good forms of volunteerism, as the members are always ready to cater for the poor, eradicate poverty and enhance the well-being of the less-privileged in the society.

    Quoting copiously the eight verse of the sixth chapter of Isaiah, he said members of the club had made themselves available towards reaching out to the poor; an assignment he said is quite taxing.

    The District Governor, Mr Bolaji Onabadejo congratulated the mother of the president, Mrs Ojelabi for witnessing her son’s investiture, adding that some mothers were not opportune to celebrate with their children when they had attained some enviable heights.

    Mr Onabadejo also spoke about development of the club, saying without recruitment of new members, no club would be able to receive a trophy.

    He inducted Mr Bayo Oke as a new member of the club.

    Highpoint of the event was an award of excellence presented to Mr Omatseye and other special guests by the new president.

  • Perm Sec seeks fund for Labour ministry

    Perm Sec seeks fund for Labour ministry

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Clement Illoh has called on the Federal Government to strengthen the ministry for optimal performance in view of its contribution to the growth and development of the country.

    Illoh made the request at the State House, while briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the activities of the ministry.

    He said the need to place this ministry within the economic and security category with appropriate funding of its activities cannot be over-emphasised as ministries of labour all over the world are key to national survival, growth and development, adding that it is the nation’s human capital resources that are responsible for the attainment of these critical objectives.”

    Illoh assured that his ministry will continue to deploy globally accepted strategies, involving social dialogue, rule of law, due process, accountability, transparency and diplomacy in contributing to the process of national growth and development.

    He affirmed his commitment to re-positioning the ministry for employment generation, enhanced national productivity, industrial relations harmony and social security protection for all Nigerians in line with the present administration’s change mantra.

    In a related event, the Permanent Secretary  has said industrial peace and harmony is inevitable for economic growth and development, as no nation can thrive where its industrial climate is saturated with industrial disharmony.

    Illoh stated this  in Abuja at a two-day refresher course organised for labour and factory officers on grade levels 10-14 in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity Headquarters and the 36 state offices.

    He said the development of Nigeria depends on the labour force, which he described as the bedrock that creates the wealth of any nation, adding that it is the labour force in a society that determines the direction of that society.

    Dr. Illoh decried the insufficient number of both labour and Factory Inspectors to supervise the large number of factories all over the country in accordance with international standard to be achieved as set up by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

    To address this situation, he said: “the ministry is recruiting Factory Inspectors and Labour Officers, saying that the ministry has been able to recruit up to 400 factory inspectors and labour officers in the last three years which is inadequate, compared to the number of factories that are liable for inspection. He said one way of solving this problem is through capacity development.

    Illoh recalled that during the ministry’s briefing to Mr. President, establishment promised to increase the number of inspections to at least 25,000 per quarter, which according to him will bring the number to 100,000 in a year.

  • How Nigeria can fund newly adopted development goals, by UN chief

    How Nigeria can fund newly adopted development goals, by UN chief

    Nigeria may need to find innovative ways of funding the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it has been learnt. Unlike in the  past when the country received international aid to implement the Millennium Development Goals, that the country might have to look inwards to fund the global goals adopted by world leaders on Friday at the United Nations headquarters.

    Thomas Gass, an assistant secretary general of the United Nation, who spoke with The Nation at the United Nations Headquarters in New York said it was important for government of developing countries as Nigeria to ensure the flow of funding within the country to support the goals.

    “It is very clear that this new agenda cannot be paid for only by Development Corporations. It would be important that the developed countries raise their Official Development Assistance (ODA ) to 0.7 of Gross National Income (GNI)  and many countries are still far from that. Government needs to ensure that all the flows of funding within the country actually support sustainable development. They need to ensure that all the companies operating are paying their taxes properly and see to it that international companies do not  shift their profits to other countries where they don’t have to pay for taxes”, said Gass.

    Asked if the United Nations would compel developed countries to pay compensation to African countries hit by the effects of climate change, he affirmed that the organisation was working towards a green climate fund through which countries can be supported in adapting and mitigating the effect of climate change.

    “There is work on a green climate fund  through which countries could be supported in adapting and mitigating the effects of climate change but compelling countries to do something never works very well. We have lots of experience of that in the United Nations.  It needs to be about convincing them that is in the best interest of the whole community for everyone to be able to shoulder the weight that they can carry, and that weight is heavier for some countries that it is for others.  The importance of climate change is that every country participates in a way that is based on the solidarity between people and between nations.

    The UN chief also reacted to the insinuation that 17 goals might be a long list for developing countries than are faced with other constraints, stating that although countries may set priorities where they would start, it was important they have a commitment to achieve all the goals as the 169 targets are closely linked and indivisible.

    “It is a long list because the needs and aspirations of the people are very complex and diverse.  The global goals are a new contract between government and their people and therefore must include all the issues that people need.   Of course countries will set priorities where they will start but it is very important that they have the commitment to achieve all the goals at all the time”.

    Acknowledging the fact that countries in the Lake Chad basin facing the Boko Haram menace might have more difficulties in achieving the SDGs; he  hoped that the conflicts in the region could be resolved using the right approach and strategies, especially as the new goals points to some of the  root cause of the crisis, such as poverty and inequality.

  • How to fund economy, by AfDB

    How to fund economy, by AfDB

    The Africa Development Bank (AfDB) has advised the Federal Government to develop multiple financial instruments to get funding for the basic sectors of the economy.

    Its Country Director, Dr. Ousmane Dore said the move is important to boost and sustain Domestic Resource Mobilisation (DRM) of the nation.

    In a document titled, Domestic Resource Mobilisation for Nigeria’s Development: Need for National Compact against Illicit Financial Flows, made available to The Nation yesterday in Abuja, Dore said the country has abundant resources, adding that what is needed  is supervision of how funds are used.

    Dore said: “DRM in Nigeria is characterised by several stylised facts that reinforce the need for renewed focus on the issue. First, the economy exhibits narrow tax base, with oil and gas sector accounting for 75 per cent to 80 per cent of total tax receipts.

    “So, it is constrained by poor financial market instruments. For example, Nigeria sits on large financial resources such as the Pension Fund with N4.7 trillion assets, but financial instruments for deploying these funds to the needed sectors in the economy are very limited.

  • MAN urges govt to accelerate disbursement of N300b real sector fund

    As funding challenge continues to confront real sector players, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to expedite action that will facilitate the disbursement of N300 billion Real Sector Fund launched earlier in the year.

    Manufacturers in Africa’s largest economy face poor funding access, particularly long-term finance, which prevents them from producing to an optimum capacity and creating sufficient jobs.

    Speaking in Lagos at  a press briefing, the President, MAN, Dr Frank Udemba Jacobs, said this call had become necessary given the key role played by finance in propelling manufacturing and economy.

    “The CBN should expedite actions that will facilitate the disbursement of the Real Sector Fund, as no loan has been granted under this financial window despite huge applications for it,” Jacobs said at a press conference held in Lagos.

    “The CBN should also make operational the Development Bank of Nigeria launched early in the year by the former president, Goodluck Jonathan,” he said.

    According to MAN’s president, the Federal Government should issue a statement on policy consistency to give confidence to the private sector that is propelling the economy, while bearing huge burdens.

    He said the policy should be backed by appropriate gazette that would put the implementation into phases over a reasonable period of time to safeguard the huge capital investment associated with manufacturing.

    “The CBN should remove raw materials that are not available locally from the list of items not valid for foreign exchange and allow reasonable time for affected manufacturers to embark on backward integration process before relisting the affected raw materials,” Jacobs said, in response to the apex bank’s exclusion of importers of 41 items from accessing foreign exchange from the Nigerian markets.

    MAN helmsman further recommended an appropriate mix of monetary instruments to promote reduction in lending rates to single digit while also effectively managing exchange and inflation rates.

    The association of Nigerian manufacturers’ president admitted that real sector players are aware of the need to arrest the dwindling value of the national currency and the role of the CBN in addressing the situation by taking deliberate steps to shore up the naira, but said it is also necessary that genuine cases presented by manufacturers be given some level of consideration.

    “This is to avoid creating more socio-economic problems of unemployment and crime that could emanate from the closure of factories. If the productive sector continues to find it difficult to procure necessary raw materials and spare parts within the next few weeks closure and retrenchment may become inevitable,” he said.

  • BoI denies custody of $200m entertainment fund

    BoI denies custody of $200m entertainment fund

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) has debunked insinuations that it is in custody of any fund announced by former president Goodluck Jonathan, as grant to a the Nigerian motion picture industry.

    The Bank was reacting to reports credited to veteran actor, Larry Williams, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to probe a certain $200 million purportedly placed under BoI’s management by Jonathan, for disbursement to practitioners in the entertainment industry.

    “BoI would like to state for the records that it is not managing any $200 Million Entertainment/Nollywood Fund and at no time did the Bank receive any such fund from the government for the Entertainment/Nollywood sector,” the Bank said in a statement.

    According to the statement, “the Bank has been making investments in the industry from its own resources since 2011. It has provided financial and advisory support to the following sub-sectors of the industry:  movie production, cinemas, amusement/theme parks, production studios etc. Recently, the Bank launched the NollyFund with a Fund size of N1.0 billion to support movie production and distribution.”

    There are indications that the reported $200 million was mistaken for a N3billion fund in custody of the Ministry of Finance, and issued as grant for the motion picture industry, under the Project ACT Nollywood.

    Recall that in March 2013, the former president, during the 20th anniversary of Nollywood, announced a Project ACT Nollywood fund of N3 billion, to build the capacity of filmmakers and actors, as well as the establishment of film distribution platforms. Williams is asking for a probe into how the grant, which is being managed by the Ministry of Finance, headed by former Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been disbursed so far.

    Williams told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that, “we need to know how the funds given to the sector is being disbursed because the growth of Nigeria’s entertainment industry will be enhanced by such money if well utilized.”

  • ‘ It’s illegal for states to hold councils’

    ‘ It’s illegal for states to hold councils’

    The Chairman of Nigeria Governor Forum (NGF) and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari on Friday said it was illegal for state governments to withhold Local Government Council funds.
    While stating that no such unconstitutional breach was in practice in his state, he said that local governments could work together with the state and contribute towards a particular project.
    Yari spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
    He said: “This is a constitutional matter, section 7 has given power to the Assembly to manage finances of the state. And if you could remember, so many attempts have been made to the National Assembly to amend the section but it failed.
    “But the essence of joint account to my understanding as governor is not to hold the money. As the money is coming, as the constitution spells out, the House of Assembly has to oversee the administration and finances of the state so therefore, that is the meaning of joint account. If it is done properly, nobody should hold any local government money.
    “I doubt if there is any state that is holding any local government funds. But I think what used to happen in my own case is may be if we are having a development project, we vote together on percentage basis, maybe 60-40.
    “This is the only thing that could make a state touch the monies of local government otherwise all the monies to go the local government. So, no one as a governor has the right to touch local government money.
    “Although there are speculations that some states are holding local government money, maybe because there are no elections in those local governments. It’ is administrators, but constitutionally, it is the right of local government which must be exercised.” He added
    According to him, efforts by state ‎governments in the Northwest, particularly Kaduna and Zamfara to curb criminal activities and communal clashes between cattle herders and farmers were yielding good results.
    He gave as example recent arrest by security agents of cattle rustlers and recovery of stolen cattle in the area as the result of improvement in coordinated response to security threats in the region.
    He said: “We have been making serious intervention through the security agencies. Lastly, five front lines states Niger, kastina, Kaduna, Kebbi and Zamfara met with the GOC and other security agencies under the leadership of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai which we have made serious progress.

  • Investors’ Protection Fund to pay N42.2m compensation to 158 investors

    The Investors’ Protection Fund (IPF) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is set to pay about N42.23 million as compensation to 158 investors that had suffered pecuniary losses from infractions by stockbroking firms.

    The IPF is a statutory fund established pursuant to Part XIV, Section 197 of the Investment and Securities Act 2007 (ISA) to compensate investors who suffer pecuniary loss arising from the revocation or cancellation of the registration of a dealing member firm by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), insolvency and bankruptcy or negligence of a dealing member firm of the Exchange.

    The IPF also compensates for defalcation committed by a dealing member firm or any of its directors, officers, employees or representatives in relation to securities, money or any property entrusted to, or received or deemed received by the dealing member firm in the course of its business as a dealing member firm.

    The board of the IPF yesterday stated that a total of 158 claimants for pecuniary losses suffered by them as a result of wrong doing by certain dealing member firms of the Exchange.

    According to the IPF, the 158 claimants due to be compensated are investors whose claims were verified by the Exchange, approved by the board of trustees of the IPF, and whose identities were verified by an identity verification consultant engaged by the IPF.

    The 158 investors would shares N42.23 million, with the maximum compensation capped at N400,000 in line with the approved rules of the IPF.

    “These 158 investors are being compensated for defalcation committed by 29 dealing member firms of the Exchange who are either inactive or have been expelled as members of the Exchange,” the IPF stated.

    The claimants had been screened and found to be eligible for compensation in accordance with the relevant provisions of the ISA and the IPF rules. The IPF will advise all 158 claimants about the processes to receive their compensation payments.

    Vice chairperson, board of trustees, Investors’ Protection Fund (IPF), Mr. Fubara Anga, said the fund had gone through a long, rigorous and transparent process and had worked in line with global best practices in reaching decisions on various issues regarding the IPF.

    “First of all, we put in place an appropriate corporate governance structure for the Fund; we adopted Rules for the IPF and then following transparent and auditable selection processes, we appointed auditors as well as identity verification consultants. We then commenced the process of identifying claimants and verifying their claims. We must thank the claimants for their patience,” Anga explained.

    Chief executive officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema, who is also a trustee of the IPF, described the maiden payment as a milestone pointing out that the payment affirmed commitment to the continuous development of initiatives that will bolster confidence in the capital market.

  • ‘Why Niger ‘ll not release fund for MSME’

    ‘Why Niger ‘ll not release fund for MSME’

    Niger State government has expressed condition for the release of the balance of N200million commitment to the N1billion counterpart fund for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) development fund programme with the Bank of Industry (BOI).

    Governor Abubakar Sani Bello spoke when he inaugurated the Bank of Industry (BOI) office in Minna, the Niger State capital.

    He said government was not in a hurry to release the outstanding balance until a proper evaluation of the N300 million earlier contributed was made to ascertain the utilisation of the joint contribution by the government and the bank.

    Bello, who spoke through his deputy, Mohammed Ahmed Ketso, said the government was committed to the programme, which he noted was in tandem with its economic policy.

    He added: “We are committed to releasing our counterpart fund for the MSME States’ Matching Fund Programme we entered with the Bank of Industry, but this will be after proper evaluation of beneficiaries of the funds earlier contributed.

    “We have to ascertain the disbursement of earlier fund, verify and ascertain the beneficiaries before the N200 million balance is released.”

    The governor said the government, in collaboration with BOI, through the matching fund, improved MSME in polythene production, rice milling, yoghurt production, quick service restaurants and cattle fattening.

    The Managing Director of BOI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, said from the N600million raised under the matching fund programme, the bank approved and released N497 million for 116 loan applications.

    He said the bank received 263 loan applications, amounting to N2.5billion through the Ministry of Investments, Commerce and Co-operatives.

    Olaoluwa said the partnership led to the creation of over 615 direct and 683 indirect jobs.

    The managing director urged the government to release the outstanding N200 million contribution, as the N600million contributed was almost exhausted.

     

  • Nigerian Content Fund to hit $700m

    Succour is coming for players in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, as the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) meant to assist Nigerian operating firms’credit needs rises to about $700 million.

    The Fund is intended to address  financial and liquidity challenges of  Nigerian companies by offering partial guarantee on bank loans and 50 per cent interest rebate on performing bank loans under the partial guarantee scheme.

    The Fund, estimated to be just above $540 million at the end of April, it was learnt, is growing gradually and would likely hit  its projected target of $700 million by the end of the year.

    A source at the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) told The Nation that the Fund’s growth is impressive as it was started with only $50 million in 2010. “The projected growth chart was that by 2011, it would rise to $70 million and $150 million by 2012 and to $350 million by 2013, while we were looking at $450 million and $700 million by end of 2014 and 2015 respectively. But you know that these targets were mere aspirations and the expectation was that if we would be able to achieve 70-80 per cent of these targets, it would be gratifying results,” he said, adding: “But fortunately the Fund has been growing beyond expectation and may attain the planned target of $700 million by year end.”

    The source continued: “Considering the current growth potentials of the Fund, we expect a continuous increase in its size and capacity to attract other sources of funds both locally and internationally to support Nigerian oil and gas content development,” he said.

    The  Fund, according to the source, could have helped a lot of Nigerian firms, but for the challenges encountered in its formative year, adding that banks willing to lend under the programme inserted few terms and conditions that could not be met by the emerging/growing Nigerian companies.

    This resulted in consistent delays in concluding transactions and often stalled some applications. Some bankers demonstrated limited understanding of oil and gas business and the peculiarities of the sector. The limited understanding also resulted in delays in concluding credit packages and structure.

    “On the part of Nigerian companies, some challenges identified then were their inability to package and collate transaction documents for bankable deals, low response time to bank requests during credit processing, and lack of verifiable cash flows to support and sustain repayments,” the source added.

    To ensure that the Fund is not depleted, three levels of custodian monitor remittances – fund managers such as BGL/UBA global, other commercial banks participating in the programme, and Industry Advisory Committee & special purpose vehicle (SPV), are on ground to strengthen governance.

    According to the source, the NCDF was established by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act (NOGIC Act), 2010 to address financial and liquidity challenges of the Nigerian companies that operate within the Nigeria oil and gas industry. The Fund is built through the deduction of one per cent from every contract awarded to any operator, contractor, subcontractor, alliance partner or any other entity involved in any project, operation, activity or transaction in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. It is deducted at source by contract awarding entities and remitted into the Fund’s designated accounts, which are kept with Custodian Banks including BGL/UBA global and other participating commercial banks under the programme.

    The Fund is structured in such a way that 30 per cent goes for direct intervention in the beneficiary company’s operation. It is meant to identify areas with gaps and plug loopholes through trainings, technical support such as research, studies and possible temporary acquisition of stake, and  critical intervention in infrastructure development, among others.

    The other 70 per cent is for commercial intervention of which 30 per cent  is set aside as partial guarantee on bank loans to local operators in order to grow local capacity and give 50 per cent interest rebate on performing bank loans under the partial guarantee scheme.

    To benefit from the Fund, the Nigerian oil and gas company approaches its bank to discuss funding needs; backed up with a loan application and must notify NCDMB and/or its accredited financial advisers on the engagement with the bank to facilitate appropriate follow-up. If successful, the lending bank submits executed offer and loan facility agreement to NCDMB or its accredited agent. NCDMB reviews the Loan facility agreement for compliance and notifies lending bank of any approval, rejection, or suspension pending submission of additional information on the application.

    Where the application is suspended, the approval period will start to run from the date the required information is re-submitted. If approved, the NCDF will issue the Partial Guarantee Agreement to be executed between the bank and the Fund. But the company must be duly registered under the Companies and Allied Matter Act (CAMA) of 1990, and registered with the Nigeria Joint Qualification System (NJQS). The company also must be carrying out businesses within the oil and gas industry upstream value chain and must scale through their bank’s minimum credit appraisal test, which will facilitate the Bank asking for the NCDF Guarantee Appointment of independent advisers to provide financial advisory assistance for the Fund’s implementation.