The Nation Newspaper

Tag: investments

  • Making core love investments

    IT was her birthday and she had planned an outing with the one she loved. Ibidunni had invested so much on her hair, outfit and the other accessories that made the total package. The environment for the dinner was also great and exciting. The date, however, turned out to be a nightmare because the dude who was supposed to make it romantic failed to turn up.

    What a nightmare! Now that it has happened, the whole relationship and memories come flowing with stark realities. “I realised at this point that I had been wasting my time investing on a guy who did not deserve my emotions. Along the line, I had noticed that he was not sincere with me. I had suspected at different times that he was seeing other ladies but somehow I kept thinking that he was going to change. I kept thinking that he was going to get tired of his bad habits and then we would live happily together forever.”

    Dreamer! The truth of the matter is that you cannot give what you do not have. This is why relationships that are unplanned most often fail. Even though every relationship has its peculiar strengths and weaknesses it is better to plan and invest in your emotional future. The next question would be how to you make core love investments. Are you sure that your investments would be appreciated as well as reap emotional dividends at the right time?

    Here we must think of the type of emotional investment that we need to make, responsible investing as well as the costly mistakes that emotional investors make before forging ahead. Next, you need to define and understand the kind of investments you need to make as well as how to go about doing it in the right way.

    The love arena comes with a lot of complications and what you think is important may not necessarily be cool for the other party. In economics, investment is the accumulation of newly produced physical entities, such as factories, machinery, houses, and goods inventories.

    Interestingly, in finance, investment is a different ballgame entirely. Here it is putting money into an asset with the expectation of capital appreciation, dividends, and interest earnings.

    However, these parallel lines meet at some point. Like financial investments, emotional investments also involve some risk. This includes investment in equities, property, and even fixed interest securities which are subject, among other things, to inflation risk.

    Investing in your emotions as well as in the emotions of the one you love is not a short time strategy. It is about making a success about the relationship in the long run and you must have the goal of wanting it to work out. It is only when you are sincere with the heart that you treasure that you would be ready to make core love investment.

    To have your emotions given, or “invested,” towards someone or something sounds like a great idea but it requires a lot of hard work, dedication as well as perseverance. It requires focusing your emotions on something or someone that you care a lot about.

    No matter how hard we try we are still likely to run into emotional and economic depressions. They are phases that we pass through in our finances and our emotions. The phase should not be a hindrance, setback or stumbling block. The most important thing is to understand the tools to make use of as you pass through the phase. On the other hand, the assets and investments that you have stored up over time would definitely help you to pass through the rainy day without tears.

    Experts would readily tell you that it is only the rare couple that doesn’t run into a few potholes as the journey through and from the emotional road. Some even run into emotional gutters, somersault on the emotional flyovers many times and still survive because they have saved lots of emotions which they use to replenish each time they are in emotional distress.

    So, if you recognise ahead of time, what those relationship problems might be, you’ll have a much better chance of getting past them when they finally show up.

    In spite of the fact that every relationship has its ups and downs, successful couples have learned how to manage them and keep their love life going strong. Some actually use the problems as a stepping stone, launching themselves to emotional heights they never imagined existed when they started out together.

    They gain success in marriage by hanging in there, tackling problems, and learning how to maneuver through the complex issues of everyday life. Others also get assistance by reading self-help books and articles, attending seminars, going to counselling as well as observing what other successful couples do to enrich their emotional bank.

    It is also good to set up some rules that would guide your relationship with one another. Even partners who love each other can be incompatible sexually. Mary Jo Fay, author of Please Dear, Not Tonight, says a lack of sexual self-awareness and education compounds these problems.

  • Govt expects influx of foreign investments

    Govt expects influx of foreign investments

    The Federal Government is confident that the country will be drawing more foreign direct investments given increasing competitiveness and desirability to become an investment destination.

    The Minister of State for Industry ,Trade and Investment,Dr Samuel Ortom said the government wa s determined to turn the country’s enormous investment potential into a real flow of foreign capital.

    Ortom was addressing the Ist National Trade Compliance Summit in lagos Yesterday.

    The minister,who spoke through his Special Assistant,Mr David Bigila said the government s determined to create conditions for investment sell it to investors and o persuade them to channel their capital towards the country.

    To this end ,he said the government wants to work with the private sector to improve the perception abroad of the nation’s investment climate.

    Measures to improve the business climate, and remove administrative and corruption hurdles ,he saud are at the top of the government’s economic agenda, adding the government was concerned over slowing economic growth .

    The minister expressed hope, the nation s will be drawing more foreign direct investments , given the country’s increasing competitiveness rating and desirability as an investment destination.

     

     

     

  • ‘Cheap imports kill palm oil investments’

    Local investors in palm oil produce and processing have complained that cheap importation of palm oil will kill local industries, cripple the agricultural transformation agenda of the Federal Government and turn Nigeria into a dumping ground for imported palm oil unless something urgent and drastic was done.

    Representatives of key associations in the oil palm sector spoke at a meeting with the leader of the Oil Palm Transformation Team, Dr. Dickson Okolo in Abuja.

    The National Chairman of Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN), Igwe Hilary Uche, accused Nigerian collaborators of ‘driving’ the importation initiatives in collaboration with their foreign counterparts.

    He lamented that local producers were the worst hit.

    He expressed confidence in that Nigeria has the resources to produce palm oil for local consumption.

    The groups expressed dissatisfaction with PZ Wilmar, a company they accused of trading duty-free Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in Nigeria.

    Mr Fatai Afolabi, representing the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria (POFON), noted that in the past 10 years, some Nigerians have been working with some Asians and Malaysian investors to “sabotage our local efforts to grow the oil palm industry.”

    Wilmar International, Afolabi said, is the largest plantation owner in Malaysia and Indonesia it is partnering PZ, its Nigerian ‘trade agent,’ to form PZ Wilmar, to sell Wilmar’s CPO in Nigeria.

    He was specific that PZ has established a refinery in Ikorodu, Lagos, “without due regard to the fact that there are no major plantations around to supply its raw materials, which is, indeed, a ploy for massive import of duty-free and cheap CPO from Malaysia under ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).”

    Afolabi criticised the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), describing it as “working to achieve policy changes in favour of PZ Wilmar” and MAN’s position in “the past,” which did not favour local plantation developers and processors, such as pursuing downward review of CET from 35 per cent to five per cent in 2012.

    He frowned at what he described as ‘unacceptable proposal from MAN that any plantation owner that has up to 200 hectares and above should be given a concession to import CPO at zero tariff while some companies are “serving as pipelines to pump CPO from Malaysia and Indonesia to Nigeria.”

    Afolabi recalled the refusal by the Federal Government in 2000/2001 of a proposal to set up tank farms in our major ports.

    These tankfarms, he said, had been established in other West African countries from where cheap and duty-free CPO is imported under ETLS.

    He said available reports show that the West African countries exporting palm oil to Nigeria are net importers of the products and were unjustly trading against Nigeria.

    Chairman, Vegetable/ Edible Oil Producers’ Association of Nigeria (VEOPAN), Okey Ikoro, presented a grim outlook as he said “many processors are taking inventory of their stock as a result of the fact that they produce and can no longer refine as there is no market to sell.” He said the customers now prefer to go to the ports and borders to buy cheap CPO.

    Ikoro underscored the hopelessness of the situation by pointing out that there are cases of alteration of the documents relating to ‘country of origin’ and that “products such as vegetable oil under prohibition were being freely brought into the country” just as

    “multipurpose ship not meant to transport CPO now brings it into the country, and even though NAFDAC has complained in the past, the practice persisted.”

    He accused MAN for decisions which are “now in conflict with what the local operators are demanding for the industry.”

    Continued importation of crude palm oil into Nigeria, it was reasoned, will lead to loss of profit to the local producers and of revenue to the government.

    Operators are likely to begin to lay off staff, leading to increase in unemployment, suspension of expansion drive along the value chains, compromise in the quality of crude palm oil consumed, while the stocks of publicly quoted firms in oil palm business would take a plunge.

    The efforts under oil palm transformation agenda might end up in nullity.

     

  • $100m foreign investments coming

    $100m foreign investments coming

    A consortium of foreign investors has told the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that it plans to invest $100 million in Nigeria soon.

    The news was broken when the team and their Nigerian technical partners visited the CBN in Abuja.

    The ten-man delegation led by Chief Tony Osagie Hicks of Anita Energy limited, told the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability (FSS), Dr. Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu, that the visit would bring massive investments in the region of $100 million to the country.

    He said the investment “is expected to add value to the transformation agenda of the oil and gas infrastructure, power generation, fast speed train, telecommunications and the establishment of a Merchant Bank.

    “This would be done in partnership with APEC Logic Investment Limited, an Australian funding investment partner and SINOPEC, one of the largest oil and gas corporations in China,” he added.

    Moghalu told the investors that foreign investments in Nigeria could only be useful if they address skills and infrastructural development.

    He said the CBN had undertaken far reaching reforms of the banking sector to make it strong, resilient and be able to serve the needs of the real economy, adding that this is a departure from the past where some individuals enriched themselves to the detriment of the economy.

    He said one of the four pillars of the banking reforms, is to enhance the quality of banks and also establish financial stability through the creation of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) which absorbed the toxic assets of the deposit money banks.

    He observed that the banks today have clean balance sheets and are able to lend to the economy once again.

    Moghalu, said the reforms are also intended to facilitate the evolution of a healthy financial system through the new banking model that categorises them into commercial, merchant and specialised banks. The merchant banks, he said “were established to ring – fence depositors funds from trading, while the fourth ensures that the banks contribute to real economy.”

    He told the team of investors that there was a meeting point between the banking reforms and the desire of the investors to establish merchant banks expected to facilitate concrete investment in Nigeria, observing that this would strengthen the relationship between the financial sector and real economy.

    Moghalu assured the delegation that the CBN would provide the needed support to ensure that the investment plans bear fruits and process the banking license application, provided the requirements, were met.”

  • Africa is virgin land for investments, says Obi

    ANAMBRA State Governor Peter Obi has described Africa as a virgin land for investment in Information Communication Technology (ICT), agriculture and sectors of life. He spoke at the Canadian High Commission in Abuja during a meeting with the visiting Canadian Minister of International Trade, Hon. Ed Fast.

    Obi, said the country perception by outsiders was worse than the realities on ground.

    He said the country, under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan was making significant progress in all areas, adding; “President Jonathan took over the reins of government when things had already gone bad, he is striving to correct the anomalies and I can tell you that he is succeeding. The opposition he has today is the by-product of any reform movement, whereby those that benefited from the past being reformed are fighting back.”

    He described Nigeria as a place that ensures return on investment because of its large market. Obi said there were deposits of one natural resource or the other in all the states.

    He spoke about his state , explaining to Fast the opportunities there for investment and trade. “The South-East, which Anambra belongs to boasts of the highest concentration of entrepreneurial people in sub-Saharan Africa. Nnewi in Anambra State is the leading industrial town in the country. It is the only place where motor vehicles are manufactured, I mean manufactured, not assembled in the country. The people of the State are ingenious and have the capacity to market products everywhere in the world. Investing among such people is always an instant success as with SABMiller that started operations a few months ago in Anambra State.”

    Earlier, Fast said Canada was interested in increasing the volume of trade in Nigeria and investing in ICT, health, education, oil and gas.

    The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Chris Cooter said Obi was invited to the meeting of his commitment to Nigeria and the people of Anambra.

    The event was witnessed by the Nigerian Ambassador to Canada, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Senator Bala Mohammed, Hon. Chris Azubogu, the Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Uju Okonkwo, among others.

  • ‘Firms should seek profitable investments’

    Insurance companies need to seek viable and profitable investments that will protect their premiums and safeguard their balance sheet to make returns for shareholders.

    Head, Research and Investment Advisory Services, Sterling Capital Markets, Mr Sewa Wusu, gave this advice during a chat with The Nation.

    He said reinvestment into more profitable instruments would help the recovery of insurance firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Noting that many investors burnt their fingers during the stock market boom, he said insurance firms were not left out and are still leaking their wounds five years after.

    He noted that invested premiums, which usually yield profits for the insurance companies to pay claims to their clients went away with bad investment that never brought back anything to the companies.

    He said that since the market is coming back and recovering gradually, the companies should be wise enough to seek better instruments that will enable them to make much profit.

    The insurance sector is recovery at the exchange. Most of the firms couldn’t pay their claims and as such, the number of operators dropped from over 70 to 50.

    At present, 29 companies are listed on the floor of the NSE; out of this 25 have been active this year while three out of the remaining four non-active companies where last traded in December last year. The other traded in July 2010.

    The stocks in the insurance sector has been struggling to break off from the nominal value (N0.50). As at Friday, 72.41 per cent were selling at N0.50 while 20.69 per cent had their price value between N0.51 and N0.82. The remaining 6.90 per cent were valued between N1.57 and N2.00 per share.

    Specifically, Mansard Insurance is the most priced in the sector with N2 followed by Custodian and Allied insurance at N1.57 per share.

    The insurance market between September 5, 2005 and February 28, 2007, deployed sundry means, including private placements, initial public offering of shares, mergers and acquisitions and formation of strategic alliance to comply with the new capital regime.

    Minimum capital requirement for life insurance capital rose by 1,233 per cent from N150 million to N2 billion; general insurance increased by 1,400 per cent from N200 million to N3 billion; while reinsurance capital rose by 2,757 per cent from N350 million to N10 billion.

    Fourteen companies were liquidated for failing to meet the recapitalisation requirement in 2004. The minimum capital requirement was raised from between N20 million and N90 million to N150 and N350 million for their classes of business.

  • Promises of foreign investments as Entrepreneurship Organisation is launched

    The international group, Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) yesterday launched its 122nd chapter in Lagos, promising to be the trustworthy link for global business exchange.

    The event, held at the Lagos Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja climaxed the one-year efforts it took to establish the organisation, which has an uncompromising ethical and integrity standards in Nigeria.

    According to the group’s President, Abdulrazaq Ayodeji Shittu, yesterday’s inauguration portends great prospects for the country. He said the group is coming at an auspicious time when Nigeria is taking the leap to become one of the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020.

    The group, he said, will serve as the conduit for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), which up till now have eluded Nigeria because of the “trust factor.”

    Shittu said: “I have had the opportunity to participate in some global EO events where more than 700 entrepreneurs showed persistent thirst to invest and network with Nigerian businessmen.”

    “I have no doubt therefore that genuine global business handshakes await any Nigerian entrepreneur who desires to enhance his business horizon by becoming a member of EO, Nigeria chapter.”

    The organisation’s Director of Communication, Dele Agekameh said: “The selection process is rigorous because there is emphasis on integrity and proper record keeping. We do background checks because we have seen that many business people are not entrepreneurs but only portfolio contractors.”

    According to Vincent Brown Molokwu, who was dubbed “Father of EO Nigeria,” more than 300 applications were received from prospective members but only 16 people, who passed the integrity test were registered.

    Molokwu told The Nation he suffered discrimination in South Africa’s oil and gas industry because “they just do not want to do business with you once they know you are a Nigerian.” However, he broke through after consistent ethical practices and integrity.

    “I am happy to have brought EO to Nigeria and it means I can come back to Nigeria now because I have 16 brothers I can trust. I am not in South Africa now, but EO members are there watching over my business. That is what EO stands for,” he said.

    The guest speaker, Hannah Oyebanjo said EO is the missing link needed to maximise Nigeria’s entrepreneurship potential because it brings issues of integrity to the front burner.

    “EO members are going to act as a bridge between foreign investors and Nigerian environment because they are trustworthy,” she said.

    Already, investments running into billions of Naira have started flowing into the country through the 16 registered members. An EO member, Maarten Turkstra, has been planning to do business in Nigeria for the past 10 years but has met dishonest people.

  • Amosun seeks investments

    Amosun seeks investments

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday urged well-placed indigenes to use their positions to attract investments to the state.

    Amosun said a number of indigenes, like Dr. Mike Adenuga and Dr. Adesegun Akin-Olugbade, have followed the footsteps of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late Dr. Tai Solarin, the late Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and Prof. Wole Soyinka, among others.

    He said a lot was required of indigenes in developing the state.

    Amosun spoke yesterday at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta, during the nation’s 52nd Independence Anniversary.

    He said Adenuga and Akin-Olugbade, who are recipients of this year’s national awards, have made the state proud.

    The governor said: “As sons and daughters of Ogun State, we expect you all to contribute to the development of our dear state. Your contributions to the fulfilment of our five-cardinal programmes, as encapsulated in our ‘Mission to Rebuild’ our state, will promote its development.”