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Tag: Nigerian economy

  • Nigeria’s economy cannot sustain Lake Chad water transfer project – Minister

    Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Adamu says the Nigerian economy cannot sustain the demands of the proposed inter-basin water transfer from the Congo River Basin to the Lake Chad Basin.

    The minister said this in Abuja on Tuesday during an interactive session with newsmen.

    Adamu said that the inter-basin water transfer project could not be funded by the Federal Government alone, adding that the process might not be sustainable even if it commenced.

    He said the Federal Government and the Lake Chad Basin Commission were, therefore, seeking alternative ways of channelling the water from the Congo Basin into the lake so as to reduce cost and unforeseen circumstances.

    “I told experts in the Lake Chad Basin Commission that we should consider the water channelling option that will allow the water to flow by gravity; it is something we will work at.

    “Presently, I don’t think the economy of this country can support water transfer yet,’’ he said.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the minister once said that the Federal Government was discussing modalities with relevant stakeholders on how to save Lake Chad from drying up.

    The minister underscored the need to draw international attention to the desiccation of the lake in order to save 47 million people whose livelihoods depended on the lake.

    Adamu said that eliciting international support for the project was imperative since more than 47 million people depended on the resources of the lake for farming, fishing and livestock production as well as water supply for drinking and sanitation.

    NAN reports that the Global Resource Information Database of the UN Environment Programme said that Lake Chad had shrunk by over 95 per cent from 1963 to 1998.

    “However, the 2007 satellite images show significant improvement over previous years,” it said.

    Lake Chad is economically important, as it provides water for more than 68 million people living in the four countries adjacent to it — Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

  • Ajaokuta: $5bn Railway maintenance bill to be saved annually

    A total sum of $5 billion spent annually on importation of railway expansion and maintenance materials would be saved when Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) begins full operation, Minister of Mines and Steel, Abubakar Bwari told House of Representatives members Monday.

    The minister made the disclosure during the 2016 budget defence session before the Hon. Lawal Idirisu- headed House Committee on Steel.

    According to him, ASCL also has the capacity to generate 100,000 direct and 500,000 indirect employment opportunities in both Downstream and upstream industries.

    He said: “I will not conclude the presentation to this honourable committee without re-emphasising the benefits of a functional steel sector will have on the recessed Nigerian economy.

    “For the construction industry, imports of over four million tons of rolled steel products and over 12 million tons of other steel products at the present rate will stop, leading to savings of several billions in foreign currency per annum.

    “In the transport (rail) sector, with rail track production in ASCL, more than $5 billion imports of rail for railway expansion and maintenance will be saved per annum. Likewise, in the transportation (road) sun-sector, availability of flat sheets, spares for automobile industries will
    significantly reduce foreign exchange, reduce unemployment, increase technology acquisition, etc.”

    The minister told the lawmakers that due diligence exercise has been concluded on the modified concession agreement signed between Federal Government and Messrs. GINL/GSHL, in October 2016.

    The concessionaire, Bwari said, has scheduled to carry out cold/hot tests to enable preparation of NIOMCO business plan and immediate commencement of operation.

    To this end, stakeholders, according to him, are in constant meeting with the concessionaire to address the issues of logistics and completion of other relevant schedules of settlement agreement.

    Collaborations, he revealed, are ongoing with Federal Ministry of Transportation for the development of Central Rail Corridor through Itakpe and Ajaokuta.

    He said his ministry is also cooperating with Federal Ministry of Power for the development of Coal Power projects for increase economic activities in the sector.

  • DMO raises N1.18tr from domestic borrowing to fund economy

    DMO raises N1.18tr from domestic borrowing to fund economy

    The Debt Management Office (DMO) says it has raised the entire N1.18 trillion domestic component of the 2016 approved borrowing to fund the Nigerian economy this fiscal year.

    Addressing members of the senate committee on local and foreign debts, the Director General of the DMO Dr Abraham Nwankwo of the N1.8trillion approved to be borrowed in 2016, the DMO has been able to N1.18 trillion representing the entire stock of funds to be borrowed domestically in 2016.

    By raising the entire domestic stock, Nwankwo noted that “Nigeria has successfully developed a strong domestic market.”

    The remaining N635 billion which is to be borrowed from external sources he said, the country expected US$1 billion from the African Development Bank (AfDB) “but AfDB released $600 million.”

    The Ministry of Finance he said is working to secure the balance but the current economic situation was making the realization a Herculean task. However, Nwankwo noted that there is some good news because the government “can fall back on domestic borrowing.”

    Nwankwo also told the senators that the “DMO is working to see that the $1 billion Eurobond is mobilized by second quarter of 2017.”

    The DMO boss also revealed that the federal government is servicing its debt as at when due. According to him, of the N1.161 trillion to be serviced in 2016 the federal government he said has serviced N1.09 trillion.

    Nwankwo stated that “Nigeria is in a very strong position to service its debts because of our debt sustainability analysis which ensures that we make sure to we do not go near threshold of borrowing and to avoid unsustainable debts so we are operating miles away from the threshold.”

    Giving this development, Nwankwo assured the legislators that “we will build sustainable economy in the next 3-5 years.”

    Speaking on the proposed and controversial $29.9 billion loan, Abraham Nwankwo told the senators that “the $30 billion loan will be borrowed over a three year period not at once. Drawdown of the loan will be done based on the progress of the work and it is essentially for infrastructure because we don’t have revenue at hand to provide infrastructure.”

    These infrastructures he said “will help reduce poverty. There must be no leakages, that should be our focus and there must be accountability. Investment of $30 billion should be in infrastructure that can repay itself.”

    Internally, Nwankwo said the DMO has only received overhead allocations up to August  this year “because of recession, so we are making sacrifice.” He also said that of the DMO’s capital expenditure (Capex) for 2016, amounting to N87.3 million, only N33.79 million has been released approximately half.

    According to Nwankwo, “we are doing what we can with what we have to support the economy. We have advertised for tender to execute some capital items hoping that the balance will be released” he said,

    Senator Shehu Sani Chairman Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts in his remark urged the DMO to rigorously pursue robust and effective debt management measures.

    In this regards, the committee the senator said “is suggesting a holistic review of the Debt Management Office Act to address current challenges of Debt Management in the country. For example, an accounting officer who borrows money and misapplies such fund should be held accountable. There should be consequences for such misdemeanors.”

    On the issue of loan terms and conditions, the senate committee he said “will henceforth pay attention to the agreement on terms and conditions for loans obtained by government to forestall a situation where Nigerians are unnecessarily shortchanged.”

    Senator Shehu Sani lamented that “a casual observation of construction sites of projects funded from EXIM Bank of China reveals that only foreigners are the engineers, architects and other professionals. Nigerians are only engaged as unskilled workers. This situation is unacceptable. Such agreement must be in tandem with our laws and should serve our collective interest ultimately.”

    On the timeliness of receiving drawdowns from loans contracted by governments, senator Sani expressed shock “to discover that Lagos state is yet to receive drawdown from the DPO lll the National Assembly approved since December 2015. The executive must streamline the process and eliminate unnecessary bottlenecks.”

  • Nigerian economy, not in confusion – Finance Minister

    Nigerian economy, not in confusion – Finance Minister

    The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Wednesday declared that the Nigerian economy is not in confusion.

    Noting that the Nigeria economy has been heading to recession in the past six years, she however said that the economy is presently in the right hands.

    She spoke with State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Adeosun was accompanied to the briefing by the Ministers of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh; Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi; Information, Lai Mohammed and Education, Adamu Adamu.

    Responding to questions on the new economic statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), she said: “It’s the worst possible time for us. Are we confused? Absolutely not. How are we going to get ourselves out of this recession. One, we must make sure that we diversify our economy. There are too many of us to keep on relying on oil.

    “We can see what happened at the output data of the oil and gas sector. What’s happening in the Niger delta has dragged down the GDP of the entire economy. We’re too dependent on oil whereas 87 percent of our GDP is oil. So let us drive those other areas

    “We have to invest in capital projects. No, we are not confused, the time is confusing but we are not confused. We are extremely focused. We know that if we can just bare and get through this difficult period, Nigeria is going to be better for it.

    “If we rely on oil and the price of oil remains low and the quantity of oil remains low, we can’t grow. We have to grow our non-oil economy. I think we that we have a long way to go.

    “We’re not confused and we’re not deceiving ourselves that everything is rosy. It’s not. It’s a difficult time for Nigeria but I think Nigeria is in the right hands and if we can stick with our strategy. We still have some adjustments to make. I think we need to make some adjustments in monetary policy. It’s quite clear we do and we will do that. We’re working on that. We need to try and find a way to support the manufacturing sector better and we will do that.” She added

    She pointed out that the high inflation rate in the country is cost-pushed.

    “And when you have cost-push inflation, it is structural inflation. It is not going to respond to monetary policy tools such as increasing the rate of interest. We have to address the structural causes of the inflation,” she said

    But, she however said that the high rate of inflation has slowed down, which is a good sign for the economy.
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    ‎According to her, the FEC on Wednesday approved external three-year rolling borrowing plan.

    The plan, she said, will be transmitted to the National Assembly for the approval.

    She said: “Recall when we came in we said our external borrowings strategy will be focused on confessional debts, low cost loans particularly from the multi-lateral agencies‎.”

    The conditions of the borrowing, she said, included concessional loans average interest rates‎ 1.25 per cent, four to seven year moratorium, and 20 years to pay.

    According to her, the loans will come from agencies like the World Bank, African Development Bank, China Exim Bank, and other development agencies like Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

    She added: “The sectors in particular that‎ these concessional loans will go to are the strategic sectors of the economy that will help to revive the economy. ‎There is Power. Significant amount of money are located to power projects particularly transmission. This is long term money that will enable us solve some of the problems in that sector.

    “There are projects around polio. There are some money that have been allocated to us to help us do some massive immunization, in order to control this recent outbreak. This is being provided by the World Bank.

    “There is provision for solid minerals and of course I’m very excited about the discovery of nickel. World Bank is supporting the project by the Ministry of Mines and Steel with $150 million to enable them strengthen their capacity in that area.

    “The largest beneficiary of our borrowing is agriculture because its equally strategic and we have programmes by the minister some of which he inherited and is going to restructure and reform and some are new to the ministry.

    “The balance will come from the Eurobond we had indicated.” She said.

    According to her, the FEC sent a strong signal on the need to reach out to the National Assembly to get the borrowing plan approved as soon as possible.

    “Because a lot of this money is for developmental projects. We need this money to be made available for us. Remember these are foreign exchange coming to our country that will help our economy.” She added

    Fayemi disclosed that the Council approved a new roadmap for mining to boost the growth and development of the industry.‎‎

    He said: “What the roadmap seeks to do is to grow the contribution of mining to the GDP on the back of the President’s vision to diversify the economy.  It is to build on the old roadmap of 2012.

    “What distinguishes this roadmap is its determination to build a regulatory agency – an independent regulatory agency in the mining sector. Stakeholders have been insisting that the ministry should not also be the regulator of the industry. ‎

    “We will now have Mining cadastral zonal offices which issue the licenses together with the mining inspecting directorate, mining environment compliance unit as well as the nautical mining units. These are directorate within the ministry but will form part of the independent regulatory agency.

    “The second point that is very critical is the ‎partnership with states. One of the challenges in mining is the tension between the federal government and the states. ‎The Federal Government owns the minerals in the sole but the states government owns the land. ‎

    He stressed that there won’t be any headway without a robust partnership between the two critical components of mining, adding that mining has not been thriving because of the tension between the Federal Government and states.‎‎

    “In this regard, minning cadastrail and zonal offices will also be created in the states to work on this.” He added

    He said that the roadmap is to also change the name of the Ministry from Ministry of Solid Minerals Development ‎to Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in line with glob‎al standard.

    The roadmap, he said, will also
    make it easier for foreign direct investment to come into the country by improving on Nigeria’s geo-sciences data.

    “Mining is about science and if you don’t search you won’t find. Council recognizes that and agreed that a lot of money be put into exploration.

    “The roadmap also focuses on financing the industry, the financial institutions don’t know much about mining and have not invested a lot in it‎.

    “One of the ways the President wants to re-energise the sector is to ensure it gives access to the Natural Resource Fund of the Federation Account which is really meant for agriculture, mining and water resources. But mining has never benefited from the fund. This is similar to ecological fund 1.8 per cent of federation.

    “Another focus is to ensure that value‎ addition is gradually being invested to and reduce the manner in which raw minerals are exported from Nigeria. It is to emphasize beneficiation and processing, so that what we produce is also improved upon before we embark on exportation.

    “We also want to ensure it is utilize here, we have granite, Marbel, bitumen yet we import the bulk of those products into Nigeria because processing does not take place here
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    Above all, it focuses ‎to increase the contribution of mining to the GDP of the country. Mining has gradually declined from 4.5 per cent of the GDP at independence to 0.33 per cent of the GDP as at today.

    “Given the new focus we can begin to scale that up again. Within the next decade, it’s readily expected that it will begin to climb up to about five per cent of the nation’s GDP.‎

    ‎”The roadmap gives a sense to how the country is paying attention to mining development which is more of an employment generator and wealth creator unlike oil, which recruits fewer people.

    “We want to upscale it and improve the skills of the people, making access to finance available and making technology available to them,” he stated
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  • Nigeria slides into recession, economy shrinks by 2.06%

    Nigeria slides into recession, economy shrinks by 2.06%

    Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, officially slid into recession for the first time in more than 20 years as the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday announced a further contraction in the second quarter of the year.

    The NBS said that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 2.06 percent after shrinking 0.36 in the first quarter.

    It said the non-oil sector declined due to a weaker currency, while lower prices dragged the oil sector down.

    A slump in crude prices, Nigeria’s mainstay, has hammered public finances and the naira currency, causing chronic dollar shortages.

    Crude sales account for around 70 percent of government revenues, Reuters reported.

    Compounding the impact of low oil prices, attacks by militants on oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta since the start of the year has cut crude production by about 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.56 million bpd.

    The government’s 2016 budget assumed 2.2 million bpd.

    On Wednesday, the NBS said annual inflation reached 17.1 percent in July from 16.5 percent in June – a more than 10-year high – and food inflation rose to 15.8 percent from 15.3 per cent.

    Nigeria’s sovereign dollar bonds fell across the curve to their lowest value in more than two weeks after the NBS released its data.

    “The Nigerian economy contracted more deeply than we had expected in the second quarter,” said Razia Khan, chief economist, Africa at Standard Chartered bank.

  • Dogara insists on NSE listing of companies operating in Nigeria

    Dogara insists on NSE listing of companies operating in Nigeria

    In order to deepen and make the Capital Market progress, key players in the Nigerian economy must list their businesses on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has said.

    Dogara made the remark while receiving members of the Capital Market Master Plan Inplementation Council in his office.

    The House of Representatives, he said, is willing to provide all necessary support, through legislations, incentives and any other instruments to compel all major companies in the country get listed on NSE.

    His words: “One of the deepest issues that we have to address is that of value that is being created and completely taken away by corporations. In other words, in some jurisdictions, they refer to it as corporate greed; where many companies are generating value investing in Nigeria, reaping profits but you find out that nine people will sit and just share billions of profit. I’m not exaggerating, it is happening right now in Nigeria and I am glad you listed one of them.

    “But by listing in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, it even helps in the income improvement of the ordinary citizen because they can invest in that company and whatever profits the company makes goes round and that reflects on the economy. But that is not what is happening.”

    The Speaker, however applauded the council for being focused and having a vision and plan for moving the Nigerian Stock Market ahead, adding that if democracy cannot deliver on the goods to Nigerians, then democracy is on trial.

    He further urged the council to look into tightening the regulatory power of Securities and Exchange Commission to ensure that manipulators of the NSE are properly sanctioned as a deterrent to future misdeeds, and to restore investors’ confidence in the market.

    Dogara said there is a need to define timelines for achieving set objectives in revamping the sector, while explaining that that is the only way to ensure that the whole process does not become another talk shop.

    Mr Olutola Mobolurin, head of the council, in an earlier remark urged the Speaker and the House to partner with the council to rebuild the NSE in order to grow the economy and diversify it.

    Mobolurin said the roles of the Investment and Securities Tribunal, should be defined by law, and sought an amendment to the law with regards to mutualisation of NSE, and clear legislation on unclaimed dividends, crowd funding, price stability in Commodities Market,  Trustees Act and the Housing sector through mortgage bank securities.

  • The worrisome state of Nigerian economy

    I am prompted to write after reading the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) as released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the month of April 2016. The report was released on May 2nd. For the purpose of education and enlightenment, The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI),  is an indicator of the economic health of the manufacturing sector. The PMI index is based on five major indicators: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and the employment environment. Going through latest figures, we will all agree that the federal government under President Mohammadu Buhari need to act swiftly to avoid the country going into recession. I am not here to apportion blame, but it is always necessary to point fingers at the man at the helm of affairs.

    Manufacturing industries represent a vital part of any economy. Bigger and more powerful nations across the world feel jittery whenever figures are rolled out probably it might not be favourable. I expect our leaders to do same after they should have gone through CBN’s PMI for April 2016. As a matter of fact, the document showed that Nigeria’s PMI went down to record low. Again, for more insight, a composite PMI reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing/non-manufacturing economy is generally expanding, 50 percent indicates no change, and  below 50 percent indicates that it is generally declining. Alas! Our economy is now clearly declining and at a faster rate. This should raise concern among everyone irrespective of party affiliations.

    How do we describe a situation where the economy has declined so low to 43%? This is the same economy that was at 54% in September 2014, I am concerned, out of the 16 manufacturing sectors chosen by CBN during the period of the research, only 4 industries shows a growing tendency. As a matter of fact, only cement industry shows a serious sign of growth on our economy, no thanks to Dangote Cement Plc and Larfarge/WAPCO who invested a lot in the sector for for mass production for local consumption as well as exportation. Contrarily, all other sectors including petroleum & coal, chemical and pharmaceutical products, furniture & related products, textile, apparel, leather and footwear and host others are declining faster.

    Since we all know what can be the last implications of these trends, it is high time we call on the leadership of our dear nation to rise to the task. Nigeria cannot afford a recession, as it is.  Poverty is already ravaging the land, hunger and anger have become the nature of the man on the street, homelessness, lack of access to good health and education etc. In all honesty, the new administration is trying in its efforts, but is it enough?

    To stem this economy from further declining, we need stimulus to aid growth. A number of jobs lost in recent months need to be absorbed back into the system. It is clear that the price of crude oil might end up fluctuating as it is today, why could our government not  spell out their plans for us at least to give Nigerians a hope of a better tomorrow. The major issue with any government across the world is the distance between them and those that they governed.

    The unnecessary gulf always leads to the non-balance of information, at  long last, the leaders themselves always pay but in a hard way. I hope President Mohammadu Buhari and his team will be humble enough to listen to know the feelings of their citizens and act fast before the silent dogs start barking.

    • Ogunseye is a UK based social commentator
  • Nigerian economy and its undertakers

    Nigerian economy and its undertakers

    Merely by the strength of the forces arrayed against the naira at the moment, it seems a matter of time before the currency is taken to the Golgotha. It’s the morbid season hence the swooning of the vultures for the proverbial carcass.  As it seems, not even the valiant efforts of Godwin Emefiele and his men at the apex bank would suffice to stave off the cataclysm in the face of the reprobate forces massed against the Nigerian economy.

    Ask anyone about the factors responsible for the current travails of the naira. You’d be surprised at the range of answers you get. Oil would of course remain the chief culprit. With a barrel of crude at sub $30, the economic Armageddon, surely is set upon us. With barely enough left after paying wages, the exotic tastes of our over-pampered elites would seem for now out of the consumptive equation.

    For many however, the problem simply begins and ends with Emefiele and his colleagues at the apex bank. This position appears to have gained some traction in the weeks following the restrictions placed on the forex market. I perfectly understand the angst of traders in the 41-odd items precluded from Emefiele’s naira auction. I guess it would also apply to manufacturers and operators in the real sector who can’t seem to find forex in the official window despite Emefiele’s grand promise to meet all of their legitimate demands. Add to the group, the operators of bureau de change who were only last week ousted from accessing Emefiele’s greenback trove – never mind their protestation that their segment is a mere five percent of the market; all of them have just about something to say about the Emefiele wahala!

    Unfortunately, if we aren’t so eager to embrace simplistic solutions even at the risk of fatal misdiagnosis; or put in another way – if we are not so enamoured about placebos to the point of misplacing them for the curative drug, it seems to me the best time – if ever there was – to take a hard look at what fundamentally ails the Nigerian economy and by extension the naira.

    I have followed with amusement the argument of those who insist that the currency be left to float as indeed some of the other related jargons about letting the naira find its true value. Well, yours truly is still waiting to be ‘educated’ on the ‘true value’ of a product known to be finite in supply and indeterminate in demand –  short of making the argument for the speculators to overrun the market since their price, arguably approximates the so-called real value of the naira!

    That is however a different matter. Today, I talk of a more insidious threat to the national economy. I speak of the enemies adorned in the garb of friends.  I speak of the tragedy of a nation hung on so-called foreign investment while local initiatives are left to flounder. Today, if we have learnt our lessons from the exit of foreign portfolio investors at the first signs of the global credit crisis in 2008/9, it is how barely we have taken in the hard lessons. Remember that the singular exit cost the Nigerian bourse $5 billion from which the market is yet to recover. Five years on, it took the long-predicted rumble in global oil prices for the shacks to cart away $4 billion overnight; our bourse has been reeling in the aftershock ever since.

    Of course we are back to the same ruinous path. Today, only few Nigerians know about the multiple billions of dollars carted away in remittances, charges, patent and royalties and other sundry charges by our do-gooder foreign investors. By the way, that is hardly a crime particularly when values are delivered to the economy. The problem is when the so-called foreign investors increasingly become mere conduits for repatriating billions of our limited foreign cash through their dubious mechanisms of over-invoicing. Guess you know by now who gets to benefit the most when the patron saints of the IMF come calling with their demands for greater liberalisation of the forex market! Never mind that it is the surest path to their usual policy support instruments (PSI), a euphemism for the bitter pills of adjustment that our citizens have come to loathe when things go critical wrong!

    The point I seek to make is that economic nationalism has gone beyond the textbook stuff. Whatever may be said of the cement manufacturing sector at the moment, it is adjudged a success story by any standards. With combined capacity of the nation’s cement plants in excess of local requirements, it is little wonder that Emefiele and co can dare to call the bluff of cement importers!

    Contrast with the cartel of fuel importers that continues to insist on holding the nation by the jugular. The story of the billions spent on the racket of fuel imports and its multiple industries of rent along the value chain are by now familiar. What is little known is that Oil Cartel Inc. actually consumes 34 percent of the entire demand for foreign exchange.

    Still want to know why the naira will not recover in near term?

    Now, if that seems a stiff price to pay to get Africa’s largest economy moving, there is at least some good news that our ordeal will soon be over. I speak of the day when the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refineries and Petrochemical Complex would finally come on stream – in 2018. Should things go as planned, the country would from that date save a third of its current forex requirements used for fuel imports!

    As it appears, there is no end to the milking of the Nigerian cow. Late last year, many newspapers gleefully reported on the threat by foreign airlines to reduce their flights to Nigeria. The reason – as you might guess – is said to be the difficulties being encountered in remitting their sales abroad.

    Of course, save for the tinge of blackmail, the issue of what they choose to do or not to do is entirely their prerogative. And while we are at it, one of the more notorious of the airlines has since laid off its half-dozen Nigerian crew. And if it seems sufficiently galling that Nigerian passengers pay about 76 percent more in the premium class of European carriers on their West African route, what about their sworn opposition that have rendered the principle of reciprocity embedded in the various Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) nugatory?

    It couldn’t get more bizarre that the biggest economy on the continent is expected to catch cold because a cartel of foreign airlines dared to sneeze over difficulties being experienced in their attempts to cart home $470 million –the value of third quarter 2015 ticket sales.

    Still wondering about the beneficiaries of the tutorials on forex liberalisation?

    I close. The old saying that soldier go, soldier comes but barrack remain holds true. The nation’s economy to which its fate is inextricably tied, is for us to make or mar. While our home-grown experts junket foreign capitals in search of foreign investment of dubious values, yours truly merely ask that they spare a thought to local entrepreneurial efforts. With a fraction of the support given their foreign counterparts, and with massive investment in infrastructure, I wager that the local business will soar like the eagle.

    Trust me.

  • Nigerian economy has bright prospects, says Adenuga

    Nigerian economy has bright prospects, says Adenuga

    Chairman, Conoil Plc, Dr. Mike Adenuga, has said Nigerian economy has intrinsic value-adding potential that would create future opportunities for growth and returns on investment.

    In his address at the 45th annual general meeting of the oil firm at the weekend in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Adenuga assured that in spite of the myriad of problems confronting the downstream sector of the oil industry, Conoil has been positioned to reward shareholders with better returns on their investments in the years ahead.

    He said the future of the company was bright and secure, while also predicting a brighter future for the nation’s economy.

    “Our company’s long term future is assured beyond any doubt, conscious efforts will be directed at achieving better execution, especially in the areas of marketing and customer management. Greater attention would be devoted to cutting costs of operations in the different segments of the company’s business, while maintaining and improving on the quality of its products and services,” Adenuga said.

    He explained that the operating environment last year was very difficult for operators in the downstream sector as they relied mostly on importation of petroleum products to meet domestic demands due to lower output from the local refineries. This, he stated, came at a high cost due to depreciation value of the naira and high bank charges.

    Reiterating the challenges all major marketers are battling with, Adenuga highlighted that N264 billion, as at the end of last year, was outstanding subsidy claims, adding that it also comprised of foreign exchange differentials and bank interests.

    As part of the strategy to shore up its bottom-line, the Chairman revealed that the company would consolidate its leadership position in the lubricant market by offering bouquet of quality lubricants to consumers as well as building new production lines to increase capacity.

    “As the leader in the aviation jet fuel market, we are boosting our fuel dispensing capacity by acquiring additional state-of-the-art bowsers to meet the growing list of our local and international clientele of airlines,” Adenuga said.

    He  also assured shareholders that the firm would remain committed to its goal to be in the forefront of refined petroleum products marketing with double-digit growth. He promised that the company will leverage on its well-established distribution strength, bringing delightful innovations into marketing and distribution of its products by giving greater value to its teeming customers and shareholders.

    He praised the company’s workers and urged them to continue to move the company forward, noting that a performance driven culture, engendered by improved and structured management system has been established by the company in all areas of its business.

    “As we look forward to our employees’ unrelenting dedication to our corporate goals, we will continue to give priority to their professional fulfillment, their work-life balance and their ability to contribute equally as part of a diverse workforce,” Adenuga assured.

     

  • Group inaugurates economic team for Africa

    Group inaugurates economic team for Africa

    Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs (A.Y.E) has inaugurated an Economic Development Team as part of the effort to improve the economy of African countries.

    The team was inaugurated in order to effectively harness the windows of opportunities created by the group so as to add economic value to the African Nations by facilitating investment opportunity for global entrepreneurs and investors.

    In his remark, Summy Francis, President of Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs, observed that A.Y.E. has been waxing stronger since 2012 when it started, to be able to record the height of achievement and progress that it has so far.

    According to him, the economic development team is one of the earliest visions of the organisation when it started in 2012 and it is being realised three years after.

    He noted that the organization does not only identify brilliant minds in Africa, it also empowers these individuals in order to have significant impacts on the economy of the continent.

    “This is not only important for the sake of profit, but it will lead to the development of our continent, it will also help drive the continent into prosperity, hence the need to set up the economic development team.

    “This team is expected to work in partnership with several governments across Africa, from state governments to federal governments, for the growth of the continent.

    “Today we are inaugurating the Nigerian team who will work closely with all levels of government in Nigeria to create solutions to problems in the country.

    “Taking power supply for example, one of the attendees at Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs Empowering Nigeria (AYEEN) programme held last year, submitted a brief on power generation. The brief was so big that we could not handle it alone, but we have linked him up with an international investor.

    “He may end up providing up to 40 – 50 percent of the power supply and that is just one out of the so many solution providers that we have who can help solve problems instead of waiting on the government.

    “I am so happy that it took our generation, first to experience, to initiate and to achieve this particular movement that we see now – we are a team of people that the future generations will refer to for what we are able to do.

    “I like to remind us that it is not going to be easy to take on Nigeria being a country with over 170million people. Then it is logical for us to assume it is also 170million problems because every household has a need. If it is not power supply, it would be healthcare, or water supply or bad roads, traffic,” the President stressed.

    Similarly, the Vice President of A.Y.E., Ibada Ahmed noted that A.Y.E remains at the forefront of facilitating intra trade and bringing investments to Nigeria and Africa.

    She added that the newly inaugurated team will accelerate that investment in Nigeria for Africa.

    “With our network of more than 12million members and our presence in 19 countries, we offer a platform for the average entrepreneur to succeed. 700million of Africa’s populations are youths, that means 700million brain power and 700million man powers, our potential is unrivaled.

    “We are the only organization that allows African entrepreneurs to connect with each other financially and socially regardless of our borders. We cannot influence immigration policies of independent states, but we can influence economic policies through direction and growth.

    “We must continue to work together on ensuring every household in Africa is financially stable, community by community, region by region and Country by Country.

    “We have been given A.Y.E as a one-stop financial and social platform to accelerate viability of businesses through private entrepreneurship and innovation; you must not exclude yourself from this opportunity.

    “The future of our continent is very bright and in financial terms we see an acceleration of developing nations into developed nations,” she said.

    Expressing readiness to take on the task ahead, Chairman of the team, Olubunmi Oluwadare thanked the board of A.Y.E ‘for giving us this great opportunity to constitute an economic team for this great Organization and also to package an investment framework that will allow entrepreneurs and investors to channel their funds and their intellectual endowment for the development and the advancement of African nations.’

    According to Oluwadare, the vision is clear, the mission is well defined and the time is also ripe for its actualization.

    “Once again, I must also salute the courage and doggedness of the A.Y.E leadership for creating enabling platforms for us to thrive on this great mission of creating a new path to bring economic prosperity to Africa.

    “From the African perspective, development is a matter of realizing our potential and making the progress that we know is humanly possible because others have gotten there.

    “It is a matter of dignity and self-reliance, a matter of creating the opportunities that will empower individuals and communities and of course, it means the beginning of the end of aid,” he said.

    The chairman promised that his team will add economic values through active private-sector-driven participation and a strong entrepreneurship drive to enhance good governance in Africa.

    “In 1990, the amount of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) received by Africa was $26 billion and Foreign Direct investment (FDI) was only about $1 billion.

    “In 2013, ODA received by Africa was $56 billion and FDI was $57 billion.  So while ODA has been growing and almost doubled since 1990, FDI which was less than 5% of ODA in 1990 has grown so quickly it has overtaken ODA. Now, ODA is easily and directly linked to development objectives.

    He quoted the World Bank, saying that Africa provides the greatest return so, Africa is moving towards becoming the engine of global economic growth.

    “Aside what African capital has been doing on the continent, over the last decade, FDI has been simply stunning. For many African countries, the largest levels of FDI are from Nigeria and South Africa rather than from outside the continent and there are a few examples of this increasing trend of Africans investing significant resources in their own countries and across the continent.

    “So when we talk about the growth of the private sector in Africa, we are talking about the growth of infrastructure, housing, financial inclusion and stability etcetera. These all add up to increased development based on economic opportunity.

    “This is a model that empowers individual African and harnesses the power of innovation, personal initiative, hard work, and collective market driven ingenuity to address previously intractable problems and change our continent forever.

    “So, I conclude by urging policy makers and the international development community to recognize and embrace entrepreneurship as a new model for the development of Africa, and beyond.

    “Finally, On behalf of my humble self and A.Y.E Economic Team, we thank the AYE leadership for the great opportunity and we are assuring you that we won’t fail in this assignment and we would put our best to create a better and prosperous Africa,” he summed.