The Nation Newspaper

Tag: gain

  • UBA leads as equities rally N214b gain

    UBA leads as equities rally N214b gain

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc jumped to the front of the counter at the stock market as quoted equities sustained their upswing with a gain of N214 billion last week. In a tight market with nearly one gainer to every loser, significant rally in the banking sector led by UBA boosted the overall market position.

    Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated a week-on-week gain of 2.55 per cent. The NSE Banking Index recorded average return of 6.60 per cent, with UBA leading the charge with a gain of about 22.6 per cent.

    The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based index that serves as sovereign index for the Nigerian equities market, crossed another level to close at 27,116.45 points as against its week’s opening index of 26,441.03 points, representing an increase of 2.55 per cent.

    Aggregate market value of all quoted companies rose from the week’s opening value of N9.099 trillion to close at N9.313 trillion, showing an increase of N214 billion or 2.36 per cent. The difference between the ASI and total market capitalisation was due to the delisting of eight companies during the week.

    There were 35 gainers to 37 losers last week as against 54 gainers against 17 losers recorded in the previous week. A total of 109 equities closed flat last week compared with 118 equities that closed unchanged in the previous week.

    UBA led the gainers with a gain of 22.59 per cent to close at N4.45 per share. Conoil followed with a gain of 20.67 per cent to close at N23. Oando rallied 13.42 per cent to close at N6. Trans Nationwide Express rose by 12.71 per cent to close at N1.33 while Access Bank appreciated by 10.77 per cent to close at N5.35.

    Turnover also showed improved investors’ appetite as investors scrambled for undervalued bargain stocks. Total turnover stood at 2.45 billion shares worth N13.145 billion in 23,680 deals last week as against a total of 1.83 billion shares valued at N14.47 billion traded in 20,058 deals two weeks ago. The financial services sector led the activity chart with a turnover of 2.01 billion shares valued at N9.49 billion in 14,200 deals; representing 82.3 per cent of the total equity turnover volume. Conglomerates sector followed with 208.48 million shares worth N268.05 million in 1,134 deals. The oil and gas sector placed third with a turnover of 80.27 million shares worth N692.61 million in 2,826 deals.

    The trio of Wema Bank Plc, Zenith International Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc were the most active with the three stocks jointly accounting for 871.33 million shares worth N5.30 billion in 3,956 deals, representing 35.6 per cent of the total equity turnover volume.

    Also, a total of 307,411 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N21.406 million were traded in 38 deals last week compared with a total of 382,448 units valued at N10.288 million traded in 43 deals two weeks ago.

    In the bond market, a total of 4,143 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N4.248 million were traded in eight deals as against a total of 8,033 units of Federal Government valued at N8.923 million traded in six deals in the previous week.

    On the downside, Vitafoam Nigeria recorded the highest loss of 20.85 per cent to close at N4.29. Tiger Branded Consumer Goods followed with a drop of 19.87 per cent to close at N4.80. NCR dropped by 14.14 per cent to close at N8.99. Unilever Nigeria declined by 13.89 per cent to close at N31 while Ikeja Hotel depreciated by 13.88 per cent to close at N2.11 per share.

    “As positive sentiments have thrived in the market on account of government reforms which have been implemented, investors now look forward to the outcome from the deliberations at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in the coming week and this is expected to drive market performance,” Afrinvest Securities, a Lagos-based dealer at the NSE, stated in a weekend note on the outlook of the market this week.

    The MPC is expected to begin a two-day meeting today to review global and economic developments within the last two months and the impact on the Nigerian economy.

    Analysts at Afrinvest Securities stated that while predicting the actual line of action of the MPC appears dicey, the most probable option for the MPC may be to adjust the peg on foreign exchange rate close to the N285 per dollar rate as guided by Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

  • Equities sustain modest rally with N70b gain

    Nigerian equities surmounted a mid-week increase in benchmark interest rate to sustain a modest rally last week as investors continued bargain-hunting for dividend-paying and undervalued stocks.  Key indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated a week-on-week gain of 0.80 per cent, equivalent to about N70 billion.

    The market faltered on Wednesday, the first trading session after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increased interest rate, but equities rallied back on Thursday after investors discounted the double-digit yields for fixed income securities against the mid-to-long-term values of mostly undervalued equities.

    The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the apex bank had on Tuesday announced the increase in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 11 per cent to 12 per cent.

    Equities have sustained a largely positive outlook this month, riding on the back of announced and prospective earnings. Not less than five companies announced their audited annual reports and accounts last week, with dividend recommendation in most instances running around double-digit dividend yields.

    The considerable dividend yields and prospects of capital gains have quickened investors’ appetite in recent trading sessions. The rally has however remained around influential highly capitalised stocks while underlying selling sentiments continued to depress several stocks.

    Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from its week’s opening value of N8.839 trillion to close the four trading-sessions week at N8.909 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)- the common index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, closed the week at 25,899.91 points as against its week’s opening index of 25,694.79 points.

    There were 22 advancers against 38 decliners last week as against 20 advancers and 41 decliners recorded in the previous week. The larger chunk of quoted equities, especially in the insurance and information and communication technology sectors, remained dormant. A total of 129 stocks were unchanged last week as against 128 stocks that closed flat in previous week.

    Sectoral analysis underlined the continuing widespread selling pressure in spite of the positive overall market position. While gains by highly capitalised stocks boosted many indices, most indices closed on the negative. The NSE Main Board Index, which tracks all quoted equities on the main board, rose by 1.68 per cent. The NSE 30 Index, which tracks the 30 most capitalised stocks, recorded a week-on-week gain of 1.47 per cent. The NSE Banking Index appreciated by 1.37 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index increased by 4.96 per cent.

    On the negative side, the NSE Premium Index, which tracks the trio of Dangote Cement, FBN Holdings and Zenith Bank Internationals, dropped by 0.66 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index depreciated by 1.65 per cent. The NSE Oil and Gas Index recorded the highest loss of 3.69 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index declined by 0.37 per cent. The NSE ASeM Index, which tracks emerging stocks, dropped by 0.21 per cent. The NSE Lotus Islamic Index, which tracks stocks that comply with Islamic investment rules, slipped by 0.90 per cent while the NSE Pension Index, which tracks some 40 stocks specially screened in line with pension investment rules, depreciated by 0.31 per cent.

    United Capital recorded the highest percentage gain of 17.65 per cent to close at N2. Fidelity Bank followed with a gain of 14.17 per cent to close at N1.37. Nigerian Breweries rose by 12.10 per cent to close at N117.70. Vitafoam Nigeria rallied 10.02 per cent to close at N4.72 while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria rose by 6.25 per cent to close at N1.19 per share.

    On the other hand, African Prudential Registrars dropped by almost a quarter with a loss of 21.56 per cent to close at N2.51. Nascon Allied Industries dropped by 14.21 per cent to close at N6.52. Cadbury Nigeria declined by 14.13 per cent to close at N14.77. Tiger Branded Consumer Goods dropped by 12.07 per cent to close at N2.55 while Honeywell Flour Mills dropped by 11.11 per cent to close at N1.44.

    Total turnover stood at 1.55 billion shares worth N10.45 billion in 14,994 deals last week as against a total of 11.91 billion shares valued at N18.34 billion traded in 19,508 deals. Financial services sector led the activity chart with 1.19 billion shares valued at N7.30 billion in 10,457 deals; representing 76.5 per cent and 70 per cent of total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The consumer goods sector followed with a turnover of 160.33 million shares worth N1.55 billion in 2,167 deals. The conglomerates sector recorded a turnover of 79.55 million shares worth N122.75 million in 527 deals.

    The trio of Zenith Bank International Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and United Capital Plc were the most active with a joint turnover of 536.25 million shares worth N5.85 billion in 4,735 deals, representing 34.55 per cent and 55.98 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

    Also traded during the week were a total of 118,976 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N1.267 million executed in 20 deals compared with a total of 294,047 units valued at N3.209 million traded in 42 deals in the previous week.

    In the bond segment, a total of 91,918 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N100.479 million were traded in seven deals compared to a total of 12,470 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N14.348 million traded in eight deals in the previous week.

  • Buhari: PDP govt ruined economy for personal gain

    Buhari: PDP govt ruined economy for personal gain

    Opposition accuses President of ‘demarketing’ Nigeria

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday knocked the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration for wrecking the economy for “personal gain”.

    He repudiated the party’s claim that he is “demarketing” Nigeria with his public speeches on corruption by former public officials, saying he won’t lie to cover up the truth.

    “Nigerians will hear only the truth on the economy and the state of the nation from President Muhammadu Buhari”, the Presidency said last night.

    It alleged that the Jonathan-led PDP government lied to Nigerians on the state of the economy which was found to be in dire straits contrary to that government’s claims.

    “President Buhari will remain true to the virtues of honesty, integrity, sincerity, incorruptibility and plain-speaking which endeared him to Nigerians and made them prefer his leadership to that of a lying and deceptive PDP administration.

    “The President will not, in the guise of ‘marketing’ the country, refrain from telling Nigerians and the world, the emerging truths about the abject state in which years of plundering by a PDP leadership has left the Nigerian treasury and economy.

    “President Buhari will not in the name of ‘marketing’ or ‘attracting’ investors, follow in the footsteps of the ousted PDP Administration and its discredited officials who shamelessly lied to Nigerians and the world about the buoyancy and vibrancy of an economy they had bled dry for personal gain, when it was very obvious to the discerning, that the Nigerian economy was headed for serious trouble,” Presidential Spokesman Femi Adesina, said in a statement.

    The Presidency condemned PDP spokesman Olisa Metuh’s statement that the President has been “demarketing Nigeria “with his public stance on corruption.

    “We restate for the umpteenth time to Mr. Metuh and his ilk that their attempts to distract President Buhari from the job he has been elected to do will fail,” the Presidency said, adding: “It is  most unfortunate that instead of showing some remorsefulness for the harm done to the nation by his party, and giving genuine support for President Buhari’s efforts to salvage and revamp the national economy, Mr. Metuh persisted in a vain attempt to remain relevant on the national stage by unjustly denigrating the President who continued to strive with all his might to alleviate and reverse the harm done to the nation by PDP misrule and corruption.”

    Mr. Metuh’s antics, the statement said, were futile.

    “President Buhari cannot be distracted by a broken record. If the PDP spokesman ever has serious matters to bring to our attention, we will be prepared to listen,” it stated

    In his party’s statement Metuh claimed that recent statements on the state of the economy credited to President Buhari were capable of harming Nigeria’s image.

    PDP observed that instead of making efforts to harness resources and grow the economy, Buhari has continued to scare away investors.

    According to the opposition, the President has continued to apply himself perhaps unwittingly, to demarketing the nation through negative labelling of Nigerians and unwarranted unhealthy portrayal of the economy.

    The party added that the President’s “unwary statements” have become very serious clogs in the wheel of progress, eroding the confidence of both domestic and international investors in Nigeria’s socio-economic system.

    The statement reads: “It is worrisome that in the last six months, the President, instead of making efforts to harness resources and grow the economy, has rather continued to apply himself, perhaps unwittingly, to demarketing the nation and scaring away investors through negative labeling of Nigerians and unwarranted unhealthy portrayal of the nation’s economy.

    “In the last six months, our President has only succeeded in discouraging foreign investors with his continued misrepresentation of our country as a business unfriendly environment, where most of the citizens are basically corrupt, dishonest, and cannot be trusted.

    “Whereas we have restated our total support for the war against corruption, we insist that Mr. President’s unceasing blanket negative labelling of citizens, in a country where millions of honest and hardworking individuals/firms are genuinely contributing daily to the development effort, is indeed a disservice and injurious to the nation and the people.

    “Furthermore, Mr. President’s recent announcement to the world that the nation, with its abundant human and natural resources, is broke and cannot pay cabinet ministers not only sends a discouraging signal to the domestic and international business community, but also exposes the ineptitude of the present administration to meaningfully and sincerely exert itself and work with industrious and innovative investors to create and manage wealth.

    “We ask; how can any reasonable investor still have the confidence to invest in a country where the President himself continues to alert that his country reeks of corrupt people and that the government is broke to the extent it cannot pay cabinet ministers?

    “Is the President not directly advising investors against having confidence in Nigeria and the system, and that they risk not being paid for jobs awarded by government at any level?”

  • Equities record modest gain after JP Morgan’s scare

    Nigerian equities stabilised and ended the week with a modest gain of N56 billion, riding over the initial knee-jerk reaction to the decision of JP Morgan to exclude Nigerian sovereign bonds from the JPMorgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets Indices (JP Morgan GBI-EM Index) by the end of October.

    After the JP Morgan announcement on Tuesday, quoted equities lost N312 billion on Wednesday and moderated with a loss of N18 billion on Thursday. The market rallied N92 billion on Friday to fully neutralise the mid-week meltdown, closing the week with a modest gain of N56 billion.

    The benchmark index at the stock market, the All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), recorded average week-on-week gain of 0.60 per cent to close at 29,689.08 points as against the week’s opening index of 29,511.08 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the NSE rose from N10.148 trillion to close at N10.204 trillion, representing an increase of 0.54 per cent. Average year-to-date return remained negative at -14.33 per cent.

    Price trend analysis showed a stable but tight market situation as bargain-hunting combined with intermittent profit-taking transactions. There were 32 advancers against 37 decliners while 121 stocks closed flat. Trans Nationwide Express recorded the highest gain, in percentage terms, with a gain of 23.36 per cent to close at N1.32. Guinness Nigeria followed with a gain of 18.90 per cent to close at N152.19. Okomu Oil Palm Plc rose by 14.19 per cent to close at N27.12. Evans Medical chalked up 12.50 per cent to close at 72 kobo while Costain (West Africa ) rose by 12.28 per cent to close at 64 kobo.

    Total turnover stood at 1.41 billion shares worth N13.51 billion in 19,950 deals last week as against a total of 2.44 billion shares valued at N21.07 billion that were traded in 22,736 deals in the previous week. The financial services sector led the activity chart with 1.16 billion shares valued at N8.63 billion traded in 11,999 deals; representing 82.24 per cent and 63.90 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The conglomerates sector followed with a turnover of 87.04 million shares worth N474.66 million in 946 deals. The third place was occupied by the information and communication technology sector which recorded a turnover of 49.82 million shares worth N28.9 million in 50 deals.

    The trio of United Bank for Africa Plc, Zenith International Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc were the most active stocks, jointly accounting for 588.314 million shares worth N4.667 billion in 4,235 deals, representing 41.77 per cent and 34.55 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

    Also traded during the week were a total of 1,526 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N695,885.40 million executed in 17 deals compared with a total of 11,357 units valued at N5.868 million transacted in 24 deals two weeks ago. A total of 3,675 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N3.611 million were traded last week in eight deals compared with a total of 3,489 units valued at N3.674 million traded in similar eight deals two weeks ago.

    “While we observed a knee-jerk reaction in the Nigerian capital market since the announcement, we expect this to stabilize in the medium to long term as we await policy direction from the Buhari’s administration,” Afrinvest Securities stated at the weekend.

    Afrinvest Securities projected that cautious trading would pervade the market for most of this week as the United States Federal Reserves’ highly anticipated September FOMC meeting is scheduled for 16th and 17th of September amid unrelenting instability in crude oil market as Saudi rejects calls to defend market price.

    Analysts at Afrinvest Securities however noted that the JP Morgan’s exclusion could lead to further depreciation in the capital market but this may not be significant.

    “We imagine that the mild reaction that greeted the JP Morgan’s announcement suggests that the risk had already been priced as most risk-averse foreign investors may have already exited the market before now. It also suggests that the level of domestic institutional investors’ participation in the market is higher than commonly acknowledged. Nevertheless, we expect borrowing cost of government to rise at the next auction as subscription level may likely reduce while investors will seek additional premium to compensate for the increased risk perception and liquidity,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

    According to analysts, a further impact is expected to be felt as the exit of foreign investors is expected to increase government’s dependence on domestic investors thereby narrowing the pool of funds in the bonds market. Ultimately, this may increase the risks of government borrowing crowding out private sector investment due to higher borrowing cost.

    “The financial market sentiment is still likely to continue to feel the impact of this news flow as the domestic investor sentiments will seem to be the new major force driving the Nigerian fixed income market whilst the equities market may still continue to enjoy a mix of foreign and domestic sentiments as Nigerian equities still remains in the MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital Index) for frontier markets,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

    Analysts pointed out that with a weight of 1.5 per cent out of $183.8 billion in the index, $2.8bn worth of foreign holdings of Nigerian government bonds is expected to exit the market, but this is significantly lower than a total of $8.0 billion in September 2014.

    This is expected to further pressure the external reserves as these funds, which have been gradually exiting since 2014, will be expected to leave the financial system; although the effect may not be noticeable on interbank foreign exchange rate given the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s managed peg of N199/$1.

     

     

  • Equities recover with 0.14% weekly gain

    Nigerian equities posted their first week-on-week gain this second half last week as gains by highly capitalised stocks helped the market to a weekly average gain of 0.14 per cent within the four-day trading session.

    The All Share Index (ASI), the common value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), closed the week at 31,091.69 points as against its week’s opening index of 31,047.99 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted companies rose from its week’s opening value of N10.628 trillion to close at N10.657 trillion. The average year-to-date return moderated to -10.29 per cent. There were 28 gainers against 44 losers during the week while 118 stocks remained flat.

    Total turnover stood at 1.73 billion shares worth N23.39 billion in 15,043 deals last week as against a total of 1.19 billion shares valued at N20.26 billion that were traded in 14,349 deals in the previous week. Financial services sector remained the most active with 1.34 billion shares valued at N17.98 billion in 7,612 deals; representing 77.8 per cent and 76.88 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The healthcare sector followed with a turnover of 184.01 million shares worth N109.61 million in 358 deals. The conglomerates sector accounted for 71.32 million shares worth N276.503 million in 937 deals.

    The trio of Zenith International Bank Plc, Union Diagnostic & Clinical Services Plc and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc were the most active stocks, jointly accounting for 1.03 billion shares worth N14.01 billion in 1,467 deals, representing 60 per cent and 59.89 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

    Also, a total of 1,703 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N540,319 were traded in 15 deals compared with a total of 35,774 units valued at N1.055 million traded in 14 deals in the previous week.

    On the debt market, a total of 1000 units of Federal Government bonds valued at N1.08 million were traded in a deal compared with total 505 units valued at N514, 265 traded in a deal in the previous week.

     

     

  • Equities break 11-day downturn with N51b gain

    The Nigerian stock market heaved a sigh of relief yesterday as bargain-hunting transactions rallied the market against the downers that had dominated the market all through the early days of the second half. After 11 days of recession, investors looking for undervalued stocks helped the market to a modest recovery, although the lingering selling sentiments remained.

    The All Share Index (ASI), the value-based common index that tracks all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), rose by 0.25 per cent to close at 31,047.99 points as against its opening index of 30,970.51 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also rose by 51 billion from N10.577 trillion to close at N10.628 trillion.

    The modest recovery moderated the negative average year-to-date return at the stock market to -10.41 per cent. With 20 gainers to 29 losers, the market recovery was boosted by gains recorded by several highly capitalised stocks, especially in the banking, breweries and oil and gas sectors.

    Guinness Nigeria led the gainers’ list with a gain of N2 to close at N142. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated followed with a gain of N1.66 to close at N22. Total Nigeria rose by N1.30 to close at N160.90. Oando added 50 kobo to close at N12.60. Guaranty Trust Bank rallied 44 kobo to close at N26. Stanbic IBTC Holdings gathered 40 kobo to close at N23.95. Access Bank gained 23 kobo to close at N5.03. Vitafoam Nigeria rose by 18 kobo to close at N5.78 while Nascon Industries and Ikeja Hotel chalked up 17 kobo and 16 kobo to close at N6.90 and N3.99 respectively.

    On the downside, Forte Oil led the losers with a loss of N8.77 to close at N188.10. Mobil Oil Nigeria dropped by N4.35 to close at N150. Unilever Nigeria declined by N1.99 to close at N37.91. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria depreciated by N1.08 to close at N10.42. Nigerian Breweries and UACN Property Development Company dropped by 40 kobo each to close at N128.20 and N9.80 respectively. Champion Breweries declined by 27 kobo to close at N5.31. Dangote Sugar Refinery and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company dropped by 21 kobo each to close at N5.71 and N4.76 respectively while Okomu Oil Palm lost 19 kobo to close at N25.82 per share.

    Total Turnover stood at 222.22 million shares worth N2.83 billion in 3,701 deals. Financial services sector remained the most active with a turnover of 159.49 million shares worth N1.11 billion in 2,084 deals. Fidelity Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 23.25 million shares worth N36.17 million in 112 deals. Guaranty Trust Bank followed with a turnover of 20.53 million shares worth N525.23 million in 265 deals. AXA Mansard Insurance placed third with a turnover of 20.30 million shares worth N55.83 million in 16 deals.

    The overall market situation remained cautious as investors continued to weigh macroeconomic outlook and corporate earnings.

    “Given the market reversal witnessed today, we anticipate a mixed trading pattern next week as the unfolding weak macroeconomic dynamics have slowed investment decisions. The unimpressive half-year 2015 results released so far have also not excited the market,” said analysts at SCM Capital, formerly Sterling Capital Markets, after the trading session yesterday.

  • GAIN urges more action to tackle malnutrition

    GAIN urges more action to tackle malnutrition

    To commemorate this year’s World Food Day marked yesterday, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Nigeria has called on the federal and state governments to scale up nutrition intervention programmes in the country as a panacea for the prevalent micronutrient deficiency.

    Its Country Director, Larry Umunna, in a statement issued lamented that micronutrient deficiencies remain a major public health issue in Nigeria as more than half of women of childbearing age are anaemic (62 per cent) and almost a third (29.5 per cent) of children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, a leading cause of childhood blindness.

    Umunna lamented that despite a slight reduction in stunting levels of children under the age of five, 10 million children (two in five) still fail to achieve their full potential height, resulting in lifelong impacts on their health, their ability to learn and their potential to earn a living.

    According to him, to combat high levels of malnutrition, GAIN has provided technical and financial assistance to Nigeria to ensure that food fortification regulations are monitored and enforced.

  • Politics solely for material gain

    The Nigerian political landscape has continuously manifested a dangerous pandemic. That is the intractable struggle for power solely for material gain. Among the present contenders for power the constitutional admonition in section 14(2)(b) “that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government” is of lesser import. Instead the majority of the power-mongers are ensconced in an unconscionable struggle for power at all cost, even at the detriment of the very survival of the nation itself. This political disease is akin to the dreadful Ebola virus, which is highly contagious and with infinite capacity to annihilate.

    Unfortunately instead of isolating those already infected by the disease, we have reminiscent of the Liberian Ebola virus export to Nigeria, Mr. Amos Sawyer, carelessly allowed the intermingling of the contagious and the innocent, thereby expanding the carriers of that deadly affliction. The result is that as the 2015 elections approach, our country may already be experiencing her death pangs, unless a miracle happens. What with the multiple symptoms of this dreadful disease, with corruption as the most manifest. Another is the polarisation of armed insurgency; while the most recent is the demoralization and demystification of our national army. Now, unless a miracle happens to stem the pandemic, the next manifestation may be total anarchy.

    As I said, the root symptom of this political disease is corruption. Unlike other successful democracies, ours have become not significantly different from a conundrum of organized robbery. From local council administrators to governors, to the presidency, there is total lack of accountability, which democracy espouses. Tragically, whether in the public or private sector, there is no substantial difference. And like the Ebola virus which spreads without warning; despite the pretences and fraudulent claims of the political actors, the recent West African School Certificate examination has shown manifestly that our educational foundation is a travesty of the false claims of huge investment in that sector.

    So, while those in authority set up a special purpose vehicle, called State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to improve our education; for many of those entrusted to deliver the dividends, it is actually a conduit to steal the nation blind. So, instead of the fund intervening to gift our nation qualitative and sound primary and secoundry education, those entrusted with the intervention funds, cynically use it to better their personal lives. Thus the recent WAEC results show that just a little above 30% of the candidates have been successful in their exams, meaning that we are merely training those who will be permanently incapacitated to take to the different professions, and will as an alternative take to all manner of economic shenanigans to ‘succeed in life’.

    Of course the effect of corruption is also at the root of the failed national infrastructure that we perennially lament about. So whether it is the bad roads that wreck our lives and our cars; the supply of darkness in exchange for electricity bills by companies protected by institutional authority; the dreadful public hospitals, that see health providers engaging in a relay of strike actions, like those contending for medals or the fake but yet regulated products that you unsuspectingly buy for huge costs at your own detriment, the simple cause is corruption. Most probably for every kobo of our loss, one public official or a private citizen has seized a reward, in one form or another. And in several of those cases, the institutional authority set up to protect the citizens, despite the private accumulation of bribes in lieu of service, also deep their hands again into the state funds as salaries and emoluments.

    Corruption is also at the root of the latest manifestation of our endangered polity, that is, the despondency of our army in the face of armed insurgency by members of the Boko Haram. If truly as the protesting wives of the army officers and men recently claimed, their spouses are not supplied with efficient fighting ammunitions and machineries, and yet they are ordered to the war front, to defend our country, the reason can only be a result of corrupt tendencies within our defence establishment. Indeed, the Boko Haram insurgency, like her predecessors in the country, is a product of politics sorely for material gain. As has been claimed without substantive contradiction; those who started the armed groups that eventually metamorphosed into the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, where merely desperate to keep power as the means to personal aggrandizement.

    The road to our political redemption can only come from our political actors making a determined effort to practice democracy as other democratic nations across the world do. To attempt as we are currently doing to pretend to be practicing democracy, while we ignominiously ignore the universal tenets of democracy, is only an invitation of ruin into our lives. For the sake of clarity for our practitioners who are either hard of hearing or are completely ignorant of what they signed up to, democracy can only thrive in an atmosphere of accountability. That is the defining content, when we define democracy as government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

    Luckily for us, the demands of democracy are not rocket science. Even our constitution, with all its challenges, contains the basic requirements of an accountable society. Indeed between chapters 2 and 4 of the 1999 constitution as amended, the basic requirements of a republic “based on the principles of democracy and social justice” is clearly provided. What has been lacking is the political will to enforce the provisions of the laws. Unfortunately instead of our political actors struggling to have the opportunity to outdo one another to promote such a society, we are entrusted with a class, who see politics only as a means to criminal aggrandisement.

     

     

     

     

  • ‘What Nigeria stands to gain from WTO’

    ‘What Nigeria stands to gain from WTO’

    Nigeria’s new Ambassador to World Trade Organisation (WTO), David Adejuwon, explaines the strategic trade brief handed to him by the Federal Government, the politics in WTO and how developing countries can negotiate better deals in the global trade body. He spoke with Assistant Editor, Bola Olajuwon. Excerpts: 

    With your appointment, what do you think are the expectations of the federal government in view of the current investment drive?

    The expectations of government include taking advantage of Nigeria’s membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to impact positively on our national economies through increase in the volume of trade, Foreign Direct Investment inflow, increased technical assistance and support from the multinational trading system and donor countries in the areas of capacity-building, infrastructure development, enhanced foreign exchange earnings, and market access for the countries’ exportable commodities through removal of technical and non-technical barriers to trade.

    This is by highlighting the various government policies and programmes that are geared towards stimulation of sustainable, all inclusive economic growth; sharing of information and experiences on trade and investment opportunities in Nigeria; harvesting the available technical assistance and support from the multilateral trading system and other international trade and investment-related organisations in Geneva; promoting bilateral trade relationship with some of the Nigerian trading and potential trading partners on a win-win situation; providing critical information on the trade and investment policies, including the regulatory frameworks to fellow ambassadors of the WTO with a view to attracting Foreign Direct Investment into the critical sectors of the economy, including mining, power, energy, transport, agriculture, communication, aviation, banking, manufacturing.

    The expectation is also to ensure that our national, sub-regional and continental interests are well-advanced and protected in the ongoing Doha Development Agenda (DDA) Negotiations. It is to ensure the integration of the Nigerian economy into the multilateral trading system so as to enable Nigeria have its good share of the global market in terms of export of value-added product.

    How do you want to go about achieving these expectations?

    I intend to achieve these expectations through a focused and regular dialogue/engagement with some of the strategic trading partners of Nigeria who are members of the WTO both at bilateral, pluri-lateral and multilateral levels. I also intend to establish a very strong working relationship as well as  collaborate effectively with some of the multilateral organisations in Geneva such as UNCTAD, WIPO, ITC and by so doing, explore and harvest all available technical assistance and support that can be given to Nigeria to achieve the objective of sustainable and all inclusive economic growth with emphasis on export product development, export competitiveness, capacity-building in the area of negotiation skills, implementation of some of the protocols to which Nigeria is a signatory, including legislation and domestication requirements; organising national and regional workshops, seminars/training programmes in Nigeria with the support of the international organisations; workshops for the parliamentarians, executives, judiciary, civil society organisations (CSOs), the organised private sector (OPS), media on the activities and benefits of being a member of the multilateral trading system and the expected roles of the target participants in actualising the objective of stimulating sustainable growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through provision of an enabling environment.

    I also plan to engage the international organisations in discussions and secure support to some of the country’s flagship projects, including the SMEs Development Plan; Train-to-Work Skills Development initiative in close liaison with Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to assist the SMEs; capacity-building programmes for the African Women Development Programme (AWEP), Nigeria chapter, to enable them take advantage of the opportunities provided by AGOA in terms of product development, packaging, labelling and export competitiveness; establishment of the Transnational Border Markets and border development in some of the geo-political zones as part of the efforts to promote intra-regional trade with Okerete Transnational Border Market as a Pilot; enlist support on how to facilitate the movement of goods and people through removal of border crossing barriers at the airports and border posts.

    I also intend working in concert with the Task-force on Trade Facilitation of which I happened to be the chairman before my appointment as an Ambassador to the WTO and thereby reduce the cost of doing business, establishment of joint border posts; establishment of modern and accredited quality laboratories in Nigeria as a precursor to the realisation of economic diversification objective of the federal government from crude oil export to export of value-added oil and non-oil export products. I look forward to securing commitments to assist and support plans to set up more quality infrastructure in Nigeria to facilitate international trade and competitiveness of Nigerian goods in the international markets.

    To achieve these will definitely require formulation of trade and investment friendly policies that will enable the local and foreign investors see Nigeria as an investors’ haven. The launching of the National Industrial Revolution Plan by Mr. President in February is a very welcome development. This policy document, which is a five-year plan that aims at rapidly building up industrial capacity as well as improving competitiveness in Nigeria, will be distributed to some of the targeted countries that will support Nigeria in realising the dream. The policy document will drive both domestic and foreign direct investment into Nigeria on a sustainable basis, especially in the areas of agro-processing and agro-allied business; metals and solid minerals processing, oil and gas-related industries, construction, light manufacturing (automobile) and services.

    It is generally believed that the developing countries and their emerging markets are not being treated fairly by main actors in WTO. What is your stance on the issue?

    We must first of all understand that the WTO is a rule-based organisation and member states driven. All agreements are negotiated based on bottom-up all inclusiveness principle. We should also expect that in all trade negotiations, you do not get all you want as negotiation is “give’ and ‘take’. What you get depends on your offensive, rather than defensive negotiation skill. It is within this context that the developed countries and some developing countries have fared well in the WTO. In Africa, some countries and blocs are doing well in the negotiations. Every member country is expected to first of all define its national/regional interest and priorities on the basis of which its position on the various issues being negotiated would be defended. Due to serious gaps in the negotiation skills of LDCs and developing countries, majority of the countries go to the negotiation table not well-prepared, thereby resulting into defensive rather than offensive negotiation. It is important that we properly define our national and regional positions before going to the negotiation table. It is also important to negotiate as a regional bloc like EU, negotiating on behalf of its 28 members instead of the African member countries negotiating as individual countries and not as an African Trade Bloc in the WTO on-going Doha Development Round. In unity lies our strength.

    It is also being suggested that developing countries should close ranks and create a better platform to tackle unfair practices in the organisation that are not in their best interests. Do you think this is necessary? How can it be done?

    Yes, I quite agree with you on the need to promote South-South Cooperation as a way of defending or negotiating issues based on commonalities. As I mentioned earlier, in unity lays the strength of the LDC, developing countries as well as countries with small vulnerable economy. The need to close ranks and form a formidable front in the course of negotiations cannot be over-emphasised.

    This is what informed the establishment of the various groupings in the WTO comprising WTO members with common interests and aspirations. Unlike in the previous Uruguay Round where many developing and LDCs did not participate actively in the negotiations, the story has changed in the current DDA negotiations with many of the developing, LDCs, small and vulnerable economies organising themselves into groups based on their shared interests and thereby speaking in one voice in advancing their established economic position.

    These groups include African Group; African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP that have strong economic interest with the EU); G90 (Group of Developing and Less Developed Countries with common interests on the negotiation issues); SVEs (Group of 15 Small Islands that are members of the WTO with common interest in Agriculture, Fisheries and Non-Agriculture Market Access – NAMA);G20 (Group of Developing and LDCs with commonality in agriculture negotiation); G33 (Another Group of 33 countries with interest in agriculture negotiation); C4 (Group of Four West African Cotton Producers with common interest in Cotton).

    I intend to leverage on the existing platform and others to further promote our national economic interest in line with the transformation agenda and the policies of the federal government.

    ECOWAS and EU have finally agreed on the grey areas of EPA. But analysts argued that the contents of the deal which will be ink soon are not in the best interest of West Africa. What is your position?

    The Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment had already made it clear at the last ECOWAS Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting that was held in Dakar on February 17, 2014, immediately after the chief negotiators meeting that there is a need for economic impact analysis of the ECOWAS-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on the national economy and sensitisation of the Organised Private Sector (OPS), CSOs etc. on the outcome. The analysis, according to the HMITI, is important because the negotiation process was stalled and the Authority of Heads of States gave a mandate for the chief negotiators to exercise flexibilities from both sides to conclude the negotiations. We therefore have to analyse the extent of the use of the flexibilities mandate and its implication on our national   and regional economies before the region can ink the agreement. Towards this end, The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has assembled a team of experts from the academia, MDAs and OPS to conduct the study and plans to organise a stakeholder dialogue to enable Nigeria take an informed national position on the agreement.