₦airaland Forum

Gbawe

[quote author=mosun_ade]Why will someone sit for an exam three times, failed all three times and still want to try for a record fourth time? You will tell me it was because the elections were rigged, isint it? Thats one serious serial looser out there. If you are no good, you are no good.[/quote]I hope you're familiar with the history of Abraham Lincoln. Arguably the best president US ever produced.

* In 1832, he ran for state legislator and lost.
* In 1854, he was a candidate for U.S. Senator and lost (he threw his support to Free-Soil Democrat Lyman Trumbull, who became a Republican).
* In 1858, he was a candidate for U.S. Senator and lost.
* On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States

Should I continue?

anulaxad: lets be real his will be good and i wanted him to win the last elections but his an illiterate and his English chy
his not educated enough and you can tell by the video genbuhari posted his English is so bad they have to put subtitles loool.

Really?

Mowire: @courage89, you cannot divorce democracy from intense politics. You know someone reliable said he asked Buhari what strategy he had to win the last election & the baba had none concrete. How will he deal with the NAS if his politics is not good. Being politician does not mean you've to be corrupt & unable to fight same.
Oh! Jonathan in? The man is dull for his position (I guess that's why those who nominated him to be VP, then did. He's serving the purpose of PDP rogu). He's a fraud (for lack word @moment).

While I agree with you that you cannot divorce democracy from intense political/kickback negotiation. However, Its easy to negoatite with crooked politicians, because they have something they're hiding. They will do everything in their power to ensure their evil deeds doesn't see daylight, including selling out their family. It is more dificult to negotiate with an upright man, because the man will not concede what he doesn't have and people will not ask him for what he cannot concede. Negotiation will based on how people perceive you and how well each party do their homework.

I'm convinced that under Buhari's administration, decisions will be in the interest of the masses. There will be accountability, transparency, focus, cabinet members will be reliable, and i believe all these factors will ensure smooth sailing of the negotiation process.

[quote author=yohanna zack][/quote]Port Harcourt Refinery

Kaduna Refinery

TroGunn: Key questions will always follow him:

Is a 70-73yr old President really the best Nigeria can do, when there are younger people like Fashola (if he can be redeemed from clutches of Tinubu)?

Ronald Raegan was arguably 73 years old when he ran for president. He's one of the best president US ever produced. His economic achievement as a president still stand as one of the best, if not the best in US history.

Nashville: If he truely means well, he should find a credible person within his party or another party to support - someone more electable than him and who carries his vision. Presidency is not about personal ambition, it is about serving the people and if they have rejected you, then you need to accept it and move on.

I also wouldn't vote for him if he contested. Although he says he will fight corruption, I do not think he has a great understanding of 21st century issues. I personally will not support anyone with a military background as I think we have had enough of them. And we have had enough of GEJ too. Let's see

In the 21st when we're trying to get rid of political godfatherism, you want him to be one. Is that the kind of Nigeria you want?

How has our president with no military background fared in terms of tacking security? How is he doing on corruption?

I could care less, the background of our next leader. What matters to me is their antecendents (based on action) on issues that threathens our collective existence as a country including; corruption, economic policies, profligacy, infrastructure development, education and other progressive issues.

Mowire: NO. He's not likely to win. The baba may be a good person but he's just not a politician & does not know politics. You need to know politics to rule successfully in a democracy. &I, personally, think he's become stale.

I disagree with your analogy and conclusion that he "may not win" because "he's not a politician".

We don't need core politician to spearhead the leadership of this country. Why, those core politicians have too many people to settle. And in the means of settling too many people, nothing gets done. That system breathe corruption, create room for nepotism, profligacy, injustice, and all other regressive culture.

Example of that system is what Johnathan is going through right now. The primary reason why nothing has been achieved so far, and nothing will get done before 2015 is that he has too many people to settle. Political Godfathers, election financiers and others.

We need a discipline leader who will not compromise his sense of judgement because of political settlement. Someone who is rigid enough to do the right thing even when all odds are against him. Patriotic leader who will make decision in the interest of the Nigerian masses and not in the interest of our colonial masters. I think Nigerians are ready to elect that person in respective of his state of origin and religious believe.

1. War Against Indiscipline (Clean Nigeria)

2. Reduced inflation from ~20% to ~4%

3. Reduced corruption

4. Facilitated the building of refineries

5. Reduced wasteful spending

WOW...RIP ZIG

Agreed with OP

Corruption

Fresh intrigues over electricity reforms .

• ‘Power brokers frustrate Manitoba’

• Contract not revoked

• Anti-privatisation forces, others clash

A COCKTAIL of intrigues is brewing in the nation’s seat of power, the presidency, for the soul of the electricity industry, especially the juicy transmission sector.

There is but one aim in all this: To cancel Manitoba’s contract at all cost. It was learnt Thursday night that contrary to the spate of publications in a section of the media, the Manitoba’s contract has not been revoked.

The nation’s capital Abuja is awash with meetings and intrigues as various pro- and anti-privatisation groups battle over the fate of the three-year management concession contract won by the Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International (MHI) to manage the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

The influential power brokers in the power sector that are fingered to have underdeveloped the sector through official manipulations are at work to send the Canadians away to have their way.

It was learnt Thursday night that some minority groups are fighting too to ensure that the powerful forces bent on driving Manitoba away are frustrated. The doves are said to be persuaded that whether the management contract won by MHI is annulled or the company given the execution letter to begin the restructuring and revitalisation of the TCN will determine whether the power sector reform privatisation programme is on course or gets to a crushing stop.

Even through the anti-privatisation forces on Wednesday declared victory as they manipulated the media to announce the annulment of the management concession contract, the day of long knives is still on between Nigeria’s privatisation agency, the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), Federal Ministry of Power and the Presidency. The situation is simple the issue of MHI managing the TCN is inconclusive.

The worry of power sector stakeholders in Abuja yesterday is that the Federal Government has refused to issue a definite statement on the state of affairs nor has it communicated to the firm the way forward. Yet the anti-privatisation forces have gone ahead to dismantle communication facilities including the telephone lines of MHI at the headquarters of the PHCN, where they are sharing offices with the TCN. Investigation by The Guardian yesterday shows that their telephone lines have been disconnected, limiting their official communications.

The TCN is one of the 18 successor firms unbundled from the former PHCN. But unlike the 17 others slated for either outright privatization or sale of equity, it was slated for management contract, meaning that it is firmly in government control but managed by a world-class power sector firm.

Nigeria’s power reform roadmap is anchored on the setting up of an independent regulator for the sector (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), setting up of the commercial framework for the sector (via cost reflective electricity tariffs) and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (bulk trader), privatisation of PHCN six successor generation companies and 11 PHCN successor distribution companies, and the continued strengthening of the fuel-to-power segment.

Manitoba Hydro International was scheduled to take over TCN on September 1, 2012 in the management contract worth $23 million (N3.68 billion). But up till yesterday, the government has not named a supervisory board of about seven persons that will work alongside the incoming TCN expatriate firm’s management. Yet, MHI had been in Nigeria since the end of July, already drawing funds from the contract through the advance payment of commitment sum of $2.5 million (N400 million) with the signing of the contract between the Director General of BPE, Bolanle Onagoruwa and Mr. Lonrne Halpenny, Managing Director of MHI on July 23, 2012.

But instead of working to constitute the supervisory board of the new TCN, some interest groups are scheming for a review of the management contract between Nigeria and MHI. Under the contract, MHI will have on ground eight expatriate principal management workers who would be in charge of the offices of the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and directors of Transmission Service Provider, System Operations, Market Operations, Finance Director, ICT, National Control Centre and Human Resources.

Some who are opposed to the management concession contract with MHI including union and senior officials of the Ministry of Power initially wanted the contract reviewed so that Nigerian officials of the old order in TCN can provide directors for the departments of Market Operations, Finance Director and National Control Centre. As one of them told The Guardian, “yes, it is our view that the position of Market Operator position under the MHI contract should not be held by the Canadians. We want a Nigerian appointed to the position. In fact, market operations and systems operations under the TCN should not be part of the management contract. The positions should be held by Nigerians.”

With the current campaign and reports, it is clear that unless President Goodluck Jonathan disannuls the annulment of the MHI contract, victory is sure for the anti-privatisation forces.

Already, they have positioned “a management contractor” like Power Grid of India whose technical proposal was initially found inadequate as it failed to meet BPE’s benchmark to have its financial bid opened. That was why the financial bid of Manitoba was opened at the bids opening event. Still, some others are angling for the Chinese transmission firm.

But the fear is that being a government institution that manages a centralised market in China, the Chinese firm may not have the required experience in a market driven operation as envisaged in Nigeria. For the Power Grid of India, for now, the fear is that it has no international experience as it has only operated in India. This is in contrast to Manitobia, which has varied international experience. There is also another issue bothering some stakeholders spoken to in Abuja. This is the issue of the 30-day directive given to the Ministry of Power, not the BPE to organise a new management contract bidding process and get a winner. One source said:

“The fear is that the BPP is inadvertently working with anti-privatisation forces in misleading the President in claiming a management contractor can be procured in 30 days. This may be a tall order. It is not as easy as it sounds. The most feasible period could be six months.

“Another issue is that the BPP complained that BPE shortlisted from its data base of world class management contractors. Yet it recommended to the President that a shortlist of five management contractors be undertaken. One wonders if this is not its own goal. Again, the Ministry of Power, which is saddled with the job of conducting the bidding has no experience of privatisation as the management contract is a form of privatisation. The BPE, despite its experience in privatisation spanning over two decades, still needed the expertise of foreign consultants. And check the records, BPE worked for over a year with British Power International, a reputable consultancy, as advisers in procuring a management contractor. I think someone may be deliberately misleading Mr. President in order to halt any progress in ensuring regular supply of electricity in the foreseeable future.

“The other issue Nigerians should worry about is this: What is the signature of a Nigerian official worth? Perception they say, is reality. If the international investor perceives that the contract he won could just be annulled with a technicality, how many reputable firms could come in here to invest? I think the issue before Mr. President is whether we as a nation can sign a document and ignore the document and initiate another issue on the same issue. Where is our credibility? This issue goes beyond the Canadian firm. This is about who we are as a people. Can we be trusted in a contract situation?”

The Guardian had last week reported on the moves to dispense with the contractual agreement between the BPE and the MHI on the management of the TCN. And Wednesday, the fate of the contract hung in the balance following the confirmation by Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Dr. Reuben Abati that the contract had been cancelled. Abati confirmed to a foreign news agency that President Jonathan had cancelled the Manitoba power contract with immediate effect because due process was not followed in the award of the contract.

According to him, “the President would not want to compromise due process in anyway. I assure you that this does not in any way affect the ongoing privatisation of the power sector.”

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Don Priestman told The Guardian that his firm was confused at the situation. He said: “Well, I heard about the cancellation of the contract through the media. There has been no form of communication. We are disappointed. We are here to do a job and we have not been given the authority we need. The transmission is essential in the privatisation process. If the privatisation process is to succeed, the transmission system is very important. And we have the expertise and what it takes to do the job. We do not want to be caught between the conflicts between government organisations. We are still hopeful that common sense will prevail and we will be asked to do the job for which we came here. We are watching and waiting for what government is saying.”

Asked the options before his firm, Priestman said, “we will for now watch and see how things unfold.”

This is a big blow to the power reform, and all other reforms due to follow. If we cannot honor an established contract, how are the international companies supposed to take us serious. These companies spent significant amount of money on due dilligence, and for what...for the contract to be scrapped due to incompetency of the handlers.

We need to get our act together or else; everytime we call for these kind of investments and expecting credible companies to participate, they'll never come.

Buhari

abbeycial: yeah yeah....brained she is but wld ve been more int_resting if u weren`t from Borno...gbam

Was that really necessary

Considering your situation, I will advice you invest your money in the bond market. At least you'll get more than cost of inflation.

A - Armed Robbery
B - British Invasion
C - Crime
D - Drug Peddlers
E - Elephant projects
F - flamboyant (spending)
G - Greed
H - Haughty
I - Inferiority complex
J - Jurisdiction
K - Killer elite
L - Loud
M - myself mentality
N - Naive
O - Oil
P - Party
Q -
R - Religious fanatics
S - Sectionalist
T - Traitor
U - Unpatriotic
V - Vile
W - wasteful
X -
Y -
Z -

Logicboy03: Wrong wish. I wish the govt and the wealthy elite could invest in the film making industry to make better films. Proper acting schools and movie producing courses.

Then, we will have better Nigerian movies and more promotion of the movies

Agreed...people will not continue to support inferior products out of sentiment.

I think by now, the economic, social and financial incentive of promoting this industry should be glaring to our government and elites. So, why are they not investing?

How i wish we can passionately talk about Nigerian movies in these manner

noblezone: As far as I know.

Coup is a criminal act.

A disciplined soldier will never carry out a coup.

Buhari and his gang are criminals who deserved the jails.

While i am not a supporter of coup plotters, but sometimes thats exactly what we need in the land of lawlessness, injustice, corrupt riddle society such as ours if done by patriotic people and for patriotic reasons. If the trend, culture brewing at that time was never arrested, our economy would have been worse off. And, only God knows what role Nigerian economy would be playing in the global world, if those measures taken by buhari's administration has never been taking.

On the coup plot, i commend Buhari's courage and vision to act. Because it was what was necessary at the time. Difficult times calls for difficult measures. Great man, Haile Selassie of Ethiopia once said, and i quote "Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph". and another quote from Ebenezer babatope from one of his book, "The greatest punishment to a wise man who refuses to rule, is for him to suffer the misrule of idiots". If we're in a position to make positive changes when it matters why not do it.

I know Nigerians will forever remain grateful for the actions taken during Buhari's reign as the president of Nigeria and for the character of the man.

TopAnalyst: Undoubtedly it is a buy call. The PBT and PAT growth is a very good indicator. We should also note that the company has suffered a lot of haircuts and provisions to get to where they are today. the future is bright and at a price hovering around N5.00, it a good bargain to hold for the next 365days. thanks

While i agree with you that UBA is a good stock to hold for the next 1 year based on their strong PBT and PAT, and also based on reduction of bad assets from their balance sheet. My question is how is the Virgin Nigeria loan exposure going to affect UBA FY PAT and share price going forward? Plus, with the exposure in mind, would you still pick UBA ahead of Access, GTB, First Bank and Zenith at their current prices?

Citigroup to launch new commodity trade finance business unit

Citigroup is all set to launch a commodity trade finance business unit to exploit and gain from commodities markets in Europe after the exit of European lenders such as BNP Paribas.


After the pullback of BNP and Crédit Agricole from commodity trade finance business, obtaining finance had been very limited for exporters, importers and traders, as reported by the Financial Times.

Citi global trade head John Ahearn was quoted by Financial Times as saying that the bank would start by financing energy deals before considering metals and "soft" commodities such as wheat.

In the next three years, the bank aims to fetch over $200m in net income from the unit and has also appointed Kris Van Broekhoven from Deutsche Bank to serve as its head.

As Citigroup tries to revive its market share, other US investment banks such as Jefferies has also ventured into commodities markets and begun trading on the London Metal Exchange.

Government of Nigeria to Launch VC Fund for ICT Sector

In a press conference, Nigeria’s Minister for Communication Technology, Omobola Johnson, announced that the Nigerian government planned to launch a USD15m venture capital fund. The Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) would contribute USD3.6m, and the remainder would be raised both from local and international private-sector investors. According to Johnson, the fund would finance innovative ideas and technologies to commercialisation.

A fund size of USD15m is relatively modest in the Nigerian context. The country’s market size undoubtedly renders it extremely attractive. However, even though Johnson emphasised that the fund would be managed by an independent fund manager, it is doubtful whether investors would not prefer a fund that is run without the interference of government – and even though the venture capital industry is still very underdeveloped across the continent, there are a number of VC funds that focus on the technology space.

Actis Closes Africa Real Estate Fund 2 at USD278m

Emerging markets PE firm, Actis has closed its second Africa real estate fund at USD278m. Actis says this makes them the largest private equity real estate investor on the continent ‑ and we can’t think of anyone from the PE world who has raised or invested more. Real estate investing is often seen as a different asset class than PE and is typically dominated by non-PE investors. However, Actis does have an impressively active track record in the sector. (The firm recently won Euromoney’s ‘Best Developer in Africa’ award for its real estate work.)

Actis Africa Real Estate 2 will focus on retail and office developments in East, West and Southern Africa excluding South Africa. Actis’s ten-person real estate team has already established a substantial portfolio for the fund with developments in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia; these include Ghana’s first green office building One Airport Square in Accra, and East Africa’s largest retail centre, Garden City in Nairobi.

Chinese PE Firm Cathay Fortune Bid USD848m for Botswana Copper Mine

Not strictly speaking an African PE deal, but interesting for China’s interest in one of the more old-school African investment targets – which is, of course, necessary to feed the country’s incessant demand for raw materials:

Shanghai-incorporated private equity firm Cathay Fortune Corp (CFC) and the China Africa Development (CAD) Fund have made a USD848m offer for Australian Discovery Metals. Discovery own mines in Botswana and are listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE). State-owned China Development Bank have committed to making a USD600m credit line available to help finance the transaction.

If the deal goes through, Cathay will increase their stake from currently 13.7% of Discovery Metal’s ordinary shares to 75%, and the CAD Fund will own 25%.

CAD Fund is China’s largest Africa-focused private equity fund and was set up in 2007, following its 2006 announcement Beijing at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) by President Hu Jintao. China is spreading the net wider for mining acquisitions. Not all of these will be done through PE funds, but the size of this transaction indicates that the PE industry on the continent will be given a boost.

XSML Acquire Stake in Pharmaceuticals Company

XSML are clearly on a roll: through their Central Africa SME Fund, the PE firm will acquire a stake in Promed, the third-largest domestic generics producer and distributor in DR Congo. Promed manufacture around 80 generic medicines in the capital Kinshasa and currently have distribution centres in Matadi, Kikwit and Lubumbashi as well as a sales force. The pharma firm intends to use the XSML funding for a new production facility in Lubumbashi to improve the availability of drugs in Katanga Province.

XSML make investments in the range of USD100,000 to USD500,000 and have recently invested in the telecoms sector in the Central African Republic (CAR), in river transport in the DRC and in a school group, also in DRC.

Citadel Eyes Ugandan Oil Refinery

Citadel Capital may be mulling a stake in Uganda’s first oil refinery, Reuters reports. The USD2.5bn project would be built in Hoima, 220km west of the capital Kampala just next to the Lake Albert basin where most of Uganda’s 3.5bn barrel reserves lie.

Uganda has been talking about building a refinery since the oil first began pumping. The country's transport infrastructure is still poor - although Citadel are also working on that with their investment in the Rift Valley Railways that connect Uganda and Kenya (RVR). Pipeline discussions have only progressed slowly and were made more complicated by the fact that such cross-border infrastructure has to take into account the regional situation, including Southern Sudan's desire to free itself from the dependence on the pipeline going through northern Sudan. If Kenya has commercially viable oil reserves - which appears likely -, this will equally have to be considered in this regional oil puzzle.

This also affects the refinery debate: Oil exploration firm Tullow had, from the beginning, argued in favour of a small refinery to produce only for local consumption, but President Yoweri Museveni has always insisted on a large refinery, and the plans have become steadily bigger, which makes even less sense that Kenya is reporting oil finds. Kenya already has a refinery, albeit an outdated one that is behind schedule on its modernisation plans. But refineries are such large investments that it makes little commercial sense to build several ones across the region, and a location at a sea port is far more advantageous.

And if the refinery is built, the government will want a 40% stake. Working with the Museveni regime has not been a walk in the park. But Citadel have already shown they have the gumption to do it through their RVR deal. The firm also recently secured USD3.7bn in financing for an oil refinery in Egypt.

Angola Sets up Sovereign Wealth Fund

Angola has set up a sovereign wealth fund, the Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSEDA) with an initial USD5bn from its oil revenues. Chairman Armando Manuel was quoted saying that the fund would invest both in national infrastructure and in international assets, and would aim for both financial and social returns. José Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos, the son of Angola’s president, is one of the fund’s three directors.

We are curious to see whether the FSEDA will also consider investing in private equity as an asset class – something that has made only very little progress with Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund.

Private Equity Investor Consortium Recapitalise Nigeria’s Union Bank

A consortium of international and Nigerian investors was formed to recapitalise Nigeria’s Union Bank with USD500m in return for a 65% stake in the bank’s outstanding common shares. The Union Global Partners consortium members include African Capital Alliance, German African Development Corporation (ADC), Corsair Capital, Dutch development bank FMO, the Richard Chandler Corporation, and Standard Chartered Private Equity. Corsair and ADC focus on financial services investments.

Union Bank is one of Nigeria’s most established financial institutions and has a network of more than 400 branches throughout the country.

If we continue to reason along the line of thinking proposed by majority of commenters on this forum, im sorry for our future as Nigerians. Whats wrong in suing a company that fails to discharge on its corporate, social and moral responsibilities? If a company fail to train its workforce properly, or fail to recruit the right professionals on how to discharge its corporate responsibility, which later results in additional liability to the company. Why should they not be sued?

Why is it that majority of Nigerians are so quick to kill the messanger, and let go the message? Would we be making the same comments if "God Forbid" our family members were victims who Falana and other lawyers are supporting?

In my opinion, this is a commendable act of social justice and should be supported. We need more of this type of initiative to force our corporate bodies to consistently do the right thing.

Hate him or love him for reasons known to you, the man is a rare gem. The man has carved a great niche for himself that will take years for many to fill. The only reason why we have political opposition in Nigeria today is because of Tinubu, with the judicial use of resources at his disposal. Lets assume the funds at his disposal are scattered around, in the pockets of different politicians. Would we be witnessing the level of development going on in the southwest today? Would we be enjoying the likes of Fashola, Fayemi, Adams Oshiomhole and others today. Would the speculation surrounding southwest integration be possible? The man has single handedly changed the political culture, in terms of how the game is being played.

When i hear people saying the man is a thief, rogue, fraud...i have to ask myself which one of the Nigerian politicians does not fit that profile. Calling one person names while portraying others as angels is not only wrong, its criminal.

What Industry are you targeting? Water, Paint, Food, Oil and Gas, and others. I will advice you segment your industry, and target them accordingly.