The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MARKET

  • SEC moves to deepen market with rules on crowdfunding

    Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has started arrangements to introduce crowdfunding into the Nigerian capital market as part of efforts to deepen the market and enhance its global competitiveness.

    Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, said the commission was partnering with the Ontario Stock Exchange to develop framework and rules on crowd funding for the Nigerian capital market.

    Crowdfunding is a means of raising money from a large number of people to fund a project or venture. It is usually undertaken through online medium and it has gathered steam as a form of alternative finance. The crowdfunding model is based on three actors: the project initiator who proposes the idea, individuals or groups who support the idea and the platform that brings the parties together.

    Gwarzo said the commission was interesting in developing Nigeria’s crowdfunding framework as another way of deepening participation in the Nigerian capital market and ensuring that businesses and entrepreneurs have many channels of accessing funds.

    He said the apex capital market regulator has been implementing initiatives that would strengthen investors’ confidence in the capital market.

    According to him, SEC believes that retail investors will return to the capital market once their concerns are properly addressed.

    He noted that the commission has inaugurated the board of Investors Protection Fund (IPF) and from next year, proceeds of shares sale will be paid directly into the account of investors as part of efforts to address the investor concerns.

    He pointed out that dematerialisation is very important to the growth of the market and by 2016 more shares would be dematerialised.

    Gwarzo said the introduction of the over-the-counter (OTC) platforms- FMDQ OTC Plc and NASD Plc, have transformed the way the capital market is perceived in Nigeria.

    According to him, the level of liquidity and price of unlisted securities in Nigeria has been greatly enhanced by the operation of the two OTC platforms.

    “On our part at the SEC, we will continue to ensure that these platforms are optimally regulated so that they can continue to add value to investors. As you are aware, the SEC is currently leading the capital market in implementing the 10-year master plan for the growth and development of our market,” Gwarzo said.

     

  • ‘Nigeria remains highest market for e-waste’

    Nigeria remains a major receptacle for electronic waste from developed countries of the world, Amb. Ayo Olukanni, a former Nigerian High Commissioner to Australia has said.

    Olukanni made this disclosure at the weekend while delivering 30th year Alumni lecture of Master of International Law and Diplomacy, in the University of Lagos.

    According to him, the scale and size of electronic business is so massive with Nigeria at the receiving end.

    “Nigeria has been literally turned into an international dumpsite for e-waste as over 500 containers of discarded appliances from developed countries enter the country on a monthly basis.”

    The diplomat who spoke on the lecture: ‘International Law and Development process in Developing countries: Reflections on the Nigerian Experience,’ recalled that “The issue of e-waste in Nigeria was a focus of the then Eight Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties, COP 8 of the Basel Convention in the early 70s, which inspired our national e-waste policy, a case of taking a cue for international environmental law.”

    Pressed further, he recounted that there was need for development in the international arena for a new international economic order which had tremendous impact on the then Nigerian military government that inspired the process of indigenisation of Nigerian economy as epitomised in 1972 and 1974 decrees of Nigerian Enterprise Promotion, to place the commanding heights of Nigerian economy in the hands of Nigerians and thus restricted foreigners from investing in specific enterprises and reserved those enterprises for Nigerians only.

    “The decree barred foreigners from investing in specific enterprises and reserved those enterprises for Nigerians. During this period the government also controlling shares in major oil companies and other foreign owned companies. Of course fast forward to today in the era of neo-liberalism, the exact opposite is what we see, the private sector is now glorified as king,” he stated.

    Olukanni said the New International Economic Order, NIEO, a set of proposals put forward during the 1970s by some developing countries through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD, brought about a paradigm shift in the international cooperation as indicated under the Lome Convention, which resulted in the North-South dialogue.

    “I can confirm from my own experience that the knowledge I gained went a long way on aiding my work on the multilateral circuit, especially at the four UN headquarters New York, Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna, where I spent the better part of my life as I run around the capitals of the world in pursuit of Nigeria’s interest as a Nigerian Foreign Service Officer,” he disclosed.

     

  • Idle in the market place

    Idle in the market place

    My darling sisters and every wonderful fan of this page-God’s page,
    I am delighted to be with you again today and my greatest wish and prayer for you is to discover God’s wonderful purpose for your life and move there with speed even before the end of this year in Jesus name. AMEN!

    During the week, I got a distress call from a mother who is very unhappy about the state of her 39-year- old daughter’s life. The single lady – a graduate who happens to be her first child is the least accomplished amongst all her children and doesn’t seem to be doing well. Though she has a job, her mother wants to get her a better accommodation because the lady can’t afford to get a good one. According to her mother, her pay package is not sufficient for her. Her mother thinks she’s not doing well because she would rather do things her own way than listen to her but I think there’s more to this lady’s predicament. A year ago, her mother told me about her latest broken engagement and how she had to pay for her flight ticket abroad to cool off. My worry is if at 39, she’s yet to be independent and fulfilled or accomplished in one way or the other, at what age would she make a meaning out of her life? Here’s a beautiful lady who was so bright and sharp in her adolescence and knew exactly what she wanted from life. I know another single lady whose business acumen from a rather young age fetched her so much money such that one could say she was too wealthy for her age when she was in her 20s. And being a prudent and smart lady, by now in her mid 30s she ought to have made enough money and saved enough such that buying an aircraft wouldn’t be a difficult task for her but, strangely, she’s been practically living from hand to mouth in the last two years. I know yet another 43-year-old single lady who was suddenly laid off in the company where she worked and earned well because of a change of management. When all attempts to get a good job failed, she decided to go into event planning and I tell you in the last four years, life has been so hard for her. There’s always one trouble or the other with the very few jobs that come her way. It’s either she’s underpaid or not paid for months after working so hard. Her business frustration made her settle for the job of a receptionist in a 2-star hotel, yet her salary is not sufficient for her needs. Now, she has to depend on a younger sibling who gives her a monthly allowance. This lady has always wished to be married but no good man comes her way. My question is, when will these ladies become fulfilled in life when their destinies seem to be idle in spite of their efforts?

    Idle means inactive and not at work, without purpose or effect; pointless. There are too many destinies like that in the world today practically rendered useless either due to lack of focus, wrong association, wrong priorities, lack of sense of responsibility, sin or outright satanic attack. Yes, the devil loves to truncate the destinies of great stars and bombard them with different problems such that they get so confused and just slump in the race of life. There are spiritual deposits in our lives planted by God to make us great but it has been suppressed by the devil in so many lives. Some children of the devil who are destiny traders know how to transfer virtues and render the original owner of the virtues useless for life unless God intervenes. You come across people who are loaded with talents, unusual skills and fantastic ideas yet they lack patronage and have become liabilities to others when they are meant to be great assets simply because something has been killed or stolen from their lives. It is indeed a tragedy for anyone not to be accomplished in life and celebrated because we were all created to manifest God’s glory.

    Sisters, our adolescence/youth is indeed the best time of our lives when we want to live out our lives and enjoy life to a hilt. But if I were you, I’d rather focus on my future and lay a solid foundation for all my aspirations and arm myself well enough to journey through life. We all have a common enemy which is the devil who has only come to kill, steal and destroy God’s beautiful plans for our lives.

    The energy wasted on clubbing/partying endlessly and other inanities in your youth could be better spent in equipping yourself with ammunition for your future. You never can tell the sort of destiny/star you have. It could be one the devil has made up his mind to destroy right from when you were in your mother’s womb. Your destiny/star could be one that the African continent has never experienced before. God’s plan for your life could be for you to become the world’s most influential woman some day. How tragic it would be for such a destiny not to manifest! For everyone who is presently idle- you shall fly from the sky of rejection to the firmament of dominion in Jesus name. AMEN!

    •To be continued.

  • Dubai makes inroad into Nigerian market, promotes shopping festival

    Dubai’s debut presence at this year’s African Travel Market (ATM), taking place in Lagos, Nigeria is to highlight the emirate’s interest in the continent.

    Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) is promoting the emirate as a must-visit destination for African travellers in 2016.

    Speaking at the ATM, Stella Obinwa, Head of Africa Region, Dubai Tourism, said: “Dubai already holds great appeal among African travellers, particularly those who love shopping, entertainment and family fun. We are here to show that Dubai is going to out-do itself in this regard in 2016, with incredible new attractions and opportunities that can’t be missed.”

    Nigeria is one of Dubai’s best-performing African markets, with over 300,000 visitors arriving in Dubai from the region in 2014. Emirates operates three flights daily out of Nigeria, augmented by additional flights from within the region operated by Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad Airways, Rwandair, Kenya Airways, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Royal Air Maroc.

    Shopping is a major attraction among African travellers, and Dubai is highlighting its incredible retail offering to Nigerians in several innovative ways. Dubai Tourism recently rolled out an advertising campaign in Nigeria, highlighting Dubai Shopping Festival in January  the month when shopping bargains and festivities can be found across the city, including the world’s most-visited mall, The Dubai Mall. Furthermore, Dubai Tourism is running an incredible prize giveaway for consumers, on radio with Soul & Liquid Lounges and with travel partners Tour Brokers International and World N Travel, offering 200 people the chance to win a trip to Dubai Shopping Festival 2016.

    Stella Obinwa commented: “The scale of the competition is unprecedented and hasn’t been done by any other tourism board or company. We are working with our top travel agencies and radio stations to give Nigerians an amazing Dubai experience. When it comes to shopping, nobody does it better than Nigerians.”

    Dubai Tourism is also enlisting style leaders to highlight its status as a fashion capital, and the Department recently worked with Nigerian-American artist Jidenna to highlight the city’s shopping and destination offerings.

    The emirate’s ambitious plans to make Dubai the world’s number one family holiday destination will also be demonstrated during ATM, spurred by the openings of four major theme parks in Dubai next year. Opening in early 2016, IMG Worlds of Adventure will be the world’s largest indoor theme park, offering year-round fun and excitement for all ages.

  • Naira crashes to N246 in unofficial market

    Naira crashes to N246 in unofficial market

    The naira, yesterday, fell 1.22 per cent against the dollar on the unofficial market as 1,700 bureaux de change (BDC) operators failed to get dollar supply at a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sale due to incomplete documentation.

    The naira was quoted at 246 against the dollar on the unofficial market, weaker than 243 the previous day.

    About 1,700 BDC agents out of 2,818 operators were denied access to participate in the forex sale on Wednesday, limiting dollar supply, Aminu Gwadabe, president of Nigeria’s bureau de change association, disclosed.

    “The central bank has reduced the amount of dollar sold to bureaux de change at its twice-weekly intervention, which has also been cut to once a week now,” Michael Odoh, a bureau de change operator said.

    He said the reduction in volume of dollar sales by the CBN coupled with year-end surge in demand for foreign currencies by importers have impacted negatively on the naira.

    The naira fall was intensified after the CBN mandated BDC operators to get Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) of customers buying foreign exchange. The policy implementation, which started on November 1, has reduced the volume of dollars sold by BDCs and created dollar scarcity in the market.

    However, the CBN has been able to keep a grip on the local currency movement in the interbank market.

    The CBN has insisted that the adoption of BVN as a condition for the purchase of forex is expected to reduce the incidence of multiple purchases, round tripping and illicit transfer of funds, facilitate enforcement of authorised limits of forex sales to end users, sanitise the retail segment of the market and engender policies that will facilitate better allocation of forex, based on genuine demands.

    It insisted that the BVN provides the unique identity of each customer for the purpose of achieving effective “Know Your Customer” (KYC) principle and fraud prevention.

    It said the BVN is neither a payment instrument nor an account number and could therefore, not be used to access any account by unauthorised users. The banks, BDC operators and regulators use the BVN to validate the identity of a customer, using some biometric information such as finger prints and photographs obtained at the point of enrolment.

  • Nigeria is Africa’s largest auto market, says Ford CEO

    • Firm to launch 30 new vehicles by 2020

    Nigeria’s auto market remains the largest in Africa, and the buying power of her middle class is increasing exponentially thus, presenting a huge opportunity in terms of consumption of auto products. This is despite infrastructure challenges, the President/CEO Sub Saharan African Region, Ford Motor Company, Mr. Jeff Nemeth has said.

    Nemeth while pointing out that vehicle sales in Middle East & Africa are estimated to grow 40 per cent by 2020 added that the company plans to launch at least 30 new vehicles by 2020 in Middle East & Africa. He however, said the auto maker’s ultimate ambition is to corner 50 per cent of the Nigerian auto market, which remains a significant market in Ford’s Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region and accounts for a solid percent of its regional sales.

    He spoke recently in Lagos, on the sideline of the official announcement of the Ford vehicle assembly and unveiling of the first Ford Ranger truck to come off its assembly line in Nigeria. The company’s Semi-knocked Down (SKD) operation in Nigeria was on the strength of its strategic partnership with local Ford dealer group Coscharis Motors Limited. The vehicle assembly line is located in Ikeja, Lagos.

    Mr. Nemeth pointed out that about 54 per cent of Nigeria’s 170 million population constitute the working class whose purchasing power is increasing and this was why Ford was committed to increasing its market share in Nigeria and other key African markets in the future.

    To underscore its commitment in the Nigerian auto market, the Ford CEO said apart from the facility in Lagos, the company plans to establish two new ones in Calabar and Ekiti in 2016. He said the Lagos facility will accommodate one shift and will produce an initial 10 units per day, while a gradually expansion is being planned over time.

  • ‘Revamp agro-export market’

    ‘Revamp agro-export market’

    National Publicity Secretary, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Sotonye Anga, has urged the government to increase agro exports that can generate more employment, foreign exchange and ensure sustainable economic growth.

    He urged the government to remove trade barriers in export and solve the problems in the sector.

    Anga, who spoke at the just- concluded International Cashew Conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, said the association had taken steps to promote cashew farming as a profitable business.

    He said cashew farming has is being done in all geo-political zones of the country. He listed the major cashew growing states to include Enugu, Abia, Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Cross River, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, Delta, Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, Benue, Taraba, Niger and Federal Capital, Sokoto and Kebbi.

    He said there had been a steady increase in Nigeria’s annual cashew nut production.

    Anga, who is also the coordinator Agribusiness, Community of Agricultural Stakehold-ers of Nigeria, said the country had been listed as one of the top 100 Raw Cashew Nut (RCN) producing countries in the world, with a fbout 150,000 metric tonnes of export grade cashew nuts annually.

    Besides, he  said Nigeria has been adjudged the third largest producer in Africa after Cote d’Ivoire and Tanzania, and seventh largest in the world.

    In 2013, he said cashew was  the third largest agricultural export and foreign exchange earner for Nigeria, and about $110 million was earned by exporters from cashew, which represents about 10 per cent  of the agricultural export by the Nigerian Exports Promotion Council (NEPC). Noteworthy, he added that Nigeria’s cashew export was imported by Singapore, India, Vietnam, UAE, and Hong Kong in 2013 and last year, according to NEPC, this year.

    He said the cashew agribusi-ness in Nigeria is worth N24 billion ($160 million) as at last year and over one million people depend on the industry for their livelihood.

    The conference was attended by delegates from Australia, China, India, Tanzania, Malawi, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, and other countries.

  • JETRO confident in Nigerian market

    JETRO confident in Nigerian market

    Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) has expressed confidence in the viability of the Nigerian market as the body successfully ended the Lagos trade fair with two outstanding awards as the Overall Best Pavilion and Best Foreign Pavilion.

    The Japanese government body saddled with promotion of trade and investment between Japan and other nations in its second year of participation engineered a huge foreign attendance of more than 30 Japanese firms and local distributors, who displayed various products including technologies during the 10-day trade fair.

    Taku Miyazaki, Trade Commissioner and Managing Director of JETRO Lagos said: “A number of Japanese companies are keen to expand their businesses in Nigeria, and they have highly advanced technology. Their durable and quality products eventually give customers cost-saving merit as well.”

    He noted that some of the exhibitors have invested and have started producing”. He explained that beyond marketing their numerous goods, jobs are concurrently created, technology transferred and values of Japanese craftsmanship shared.

    Speaking on his exploits, one of the exhibitors, Managing Director of Honda Manufacturing (Nigeria) Ltd., Osamu Ishikawa said: “We received more visitors than last year and their responses were very positive.” Honda has a long history of manufacturing motorcycles at its factory in Ota, Ogun State, and its sister company Honda Automobile West Africa Ltd. It has also started assembling passenger vehicles “Accord” in Nigeria this July.

  • Fire razes market in Warri

    Goods worth several millions of naira were yesterday destroyed by an early morning fire at Pesu market in Warri, Delta State.

    Yesterday’s fire incident happened barely 10 months after a similar tragedy.

    Although the cause of the fire was yet to be confirmed, various sources around the market, including some of the victims, blamed the fire on electrical fault.

    Sources in the market also told The Nation that inflammable materials, such as petroleum products and alcohol, stored in the shops by some of the shop owners contributed to the fire.

    The fire was eventually put out by men of the Fire Service Department of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), who were invited to help battle the inferno.

    Speaking on the fire, Mr Stephen Pessu, a former Chairman of the environment committee of the market, told newsmen that goods lost to the fire included thousands of bags of cement, motor spare parts, assorted drinks, hundreds of cartons of fish and several other food items.

    ‘’ We suspect that the cause is a spark in the electricity or a bridge in the wires. The fire destroyed many items. We plead with the state government to help us rebuild the stores for the traders that have lost everything in the fire,’’ he said.

    One Mrs. Jane Okimigi, the leader of the Ilaje Women Association, said she was not able to rescue any of her wares from the fire.

    ‘’Everything was burnt to ashes, and right now, I feel very bad, confused and I don’t know what to do. We will appreciate if the government can help us rebuild this place and assist us in getting back on our feet,’’ she said.

    Another victim, simply identified as ‘mama PP’, was said to have collapsed after she learnt that her goods, said to have been brought into the market a day before the fire and stored in 14 stores in the market were all destroyed.

  • Gas to flood market soon, says group

    Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will soon flood the market Petroleum Gas Association of Nigeria (LPGAN) president Dapo Adesina has said.

    He said the product is coming from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) based in Bonny, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Adesina said the supply is imperative in order to buoy availability and minimise the stress consumers have gone through in recent times to buy the product.

    Adesina dismissed allegations that the scarcity of the product was caused by technical problems. He said market forces were responsible for the shortage and slight increase in the price of LPG by operators, adding that NLNG has promised to replenish the market with the product.

    He said the scarcity of LPG in the country, was caused by the forces of supply and demand, and not technical issues. “In the past few weeks, the demand for LPG has outstripped supply in the country. The moment LPG vessels berth in Lagos from Port Harcourt, people waste no time in demanding for the product. Consumption of cooking gas has increased in the past few months because more people have seen the need to use it because it is a safer, healthy and friendly source of energy for domestic and industrial purposes,” he added.

    According to him, LPG consumption will exceed 350,000 tonnes in Nigeria before the end of 2015, in view of the fact that the demand for the product has increased.

    “The computation of the volume or tonnes of LPG consumed in a year is normally done at the end of the fourth quarter. By that time, operators must have compiled all the records of LPG supplied by NLNG, and consumed in the country. In 2014, 350,000 tonnes of LPG was consumed in Nigeria. Given the fact that the demand for LPG has increased in 2015, the consumption figure will be more than 350,000 when it is computed,” he added.