www.finabiz.com/nigerias-external-reserves-fall-below-30-billion/
The value of Nigeria’s external reserves, which has been on the downswing in the past few weeks, fell below the $30 billion mark to $29.865 billion as at March 25, 2015, according to latest Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) figures.

Findings show that the current level of the foreign reserves, which is derived mainly from the proceeds of crude oil earnings, has fallen by 13.4 per cent or $4.628 billion this year, compared with the $34.493 billion it stood at the beginning of the year.

This has been attributed to the significant reduction in forex inflow into the country occasioned by the sustained low crude oil prices.

Oil prices however rallied for a second straight day on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies began air strikes in Yemen, sparking fears of a bigger Middle East battle that could disrupt world crude supplies. Brent crude was up $2.45 to close at $58.93 a barrel on Thursday.

Meanwhile, foreign investors on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) sold off N132.68 billion ($667 million) stocks in the first two months of the year, data from the NSE has shown, hurt by a weaker naira currency and jitters over tomorrow’s elections.

Nigeria faces a presidential election with front runners President Goodluck Jonathan and former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari facing off in a contest many think is too close to call.

The electoral body last month delayed the polls by six-weeks to March 28 citing security concerns, sending financial markets into a tailspin, with the naira crashing through a psychological level of 200 to the dollar for the first time.

Foreign investors also increased the pace of outflows from Africa’s biggest economy as global oil prices plunged, according to a Reuters report.

The main share index rose 0.6 per cent to 30,073 points on yesterday, doing little to erase losses on the bourse, down 13.8 percent so far this year.

One of the top decliners at the bourse is Dangote Cement, which accounts for a third of market capitalisation and reported weaker earnings yesterday, has fallen 23.7 percent so far this year.

The plunge in oil prices is having a dramatic effect around the world. Weaker global oil consumption and increasing global oil supply spurred by the US energy boom have conspired to send oil prices to lows not witnessed since 2009. Consumer nations have been smiling all the way to the gas pump while producer nations like Venezuela, Nigeria and Russia are being bruised badly. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), even the previously booming US shale industry is also likely to be tested if sub-$50 per barrel prices persist.

For Nigeria, the fall has ignited a chain reaction which threatens its macro-economic stability. Oil revenues and foreign exchange receipts are on the decline while external reserves have dwindled. These events have forced monetary and fiscal adjustments.

www.finabiz.com/high-cost-of-clearing-forces-importers-to-abandon-goods-at-seaports/

Shippers in the country have attributed cost of clearing of consignments as the reason why importers abandon their goods at the nation’s seaports.

Often times, many importers abandon their cargoes at the nation’s seaports located in Lagos, Koko, Sapele, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Warri and Onne after such goods have accumulated demurrage running into several millions of naira.

Once the consignee, importer or agent fails to take the cargo out of the terminal at the stipulated time, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) may declare such cargo as abandoned cargo and eventually dispose it off as “overtime cargo”.

Giving reasons for this development, the Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS) said importers had been abandoning their cargoes at Nigerian ports, due to high costs of clearing such cargoes.

The President of the association, Mr. Nicol Jonathan expressed dismay that the cost of cargo clearance has become “uncontrollable.”

As a way out, he called for a review of the nation’s import policy so that Nigerians can begin to reap the benefits in the maritime industry.

Jonathan said the sliding naira exchange rate had also slowed down business at the ports. According to him, clearing a 20 feet container is costing as much as N840, 000 while to clear a 40 feet container now cost N1.2 million. He said Customs, shipping and terminal charges, as well as local transportation charges had not changed in spite of the port reforms announced by the federal government.

While decrying the poor state of things in the shipping sector of the economy, he said: “Our tariff management has not changed. Rather it is getting more complicated with incessant queries on goods. Yes, we must comply with international best practices but importers do not have so much money to pay for un-receipted items.

“Diversion of cargo to other African ports has become the option for many importers. The purpose of doing business is to make some profit. The outlets of official and unofficial payments are unbearable. Very soon, car terminals will be empty”.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that congestion is beginning to gather momentum in the nation’s seaports as importers have abandoned their cargoes following the continuous slide of the naira against the United States dollar.

Customs Area Controller (CAC), Tin Can Island Port Command, Apapa, Lagos, Comptroller Zakari Jibrin said recently that the auto policy of the federal government and the 2015 general elections election have caused importers to abandon their cargoes at the port.

Vice Chairman of the Tin Can Chapter of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Mrs. Ada Akpunonu said that the instability in the exchange rate had caused importers to stay away from importation and that imported cargoes have been abandoned at the port.

According to her, commercial banks have equally stopped lending money to potential businessmen.

Speaking on the imminent port congestion, Akpunonu said: “Many goods are trapped at the port. There is bound to be congestion. Most of the importers borrowed money from the banks and before they collect their Bill of Lading they must make the payment. But what is happening now is that with the exchange rate, they are finding it difficult to get the balance and pay back in order to collect the papers and clear their goods.

“Many importers with Bill of Lading are finding it difficult to pay duties. There is no cargo that does not go into demurrage in Nigeria and shipping companies start collecting money immediately the cargo lands at the port”, she said.

Akpononu confirmed that customs is currently implementing an official transaction rate of N199 to US$1 for transactions.

www.finabiz.com/dangote-calls-for-investments-in-real-sector-to-save-economy/
Dangote Group has called on private investors to invest their money in the real sector of the economy, especially in manufacturing and agriculture. Devakumar Edwin, the Executive Director of Dangote Group, who made the call in Lagos, noted that while government has a big role to play in formation of the right policy to encourage investors; the business community has a bigger role to play by moving away from importation to production.

“In this day of unprecedented continuous crash in the crude oil price at the international market and subsequent devaluation of the Naira, massive investment in agriculture and local manufacturing can save Nigeria’s economy.

Nigeria has left its economic fortunes to the vagaries of the international market forces through excessive importation and it was high time private investors latched in on this situation and help the government out by investing seriously in agriculture and manufacturing,” he stated.

Giving a practical insight into how good to invest in Nigeria, he pointed out that Nigeria has been blessed with what it takes for a country to succeed economically because the potential for growth in Nigeria is phenomenon. “The potentials and opportunities for business are phenomenon and Nigeria has a huge population with enough skills, with huge quantity of arable land and water and lots of raw materials and mineral resources, so you have a market because of the population, you have the people to produce, you have a lot of minerals which you can develop for export,” he said.

http://www.finabiz.com/gtbank-gets-175m-loan-from-ifc/

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has lent $175 million to Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) to expand its lending portfolio in Africa's biggest economy, the private arm of the World Bank said on Tuesday.

The IFC said the financing comprises $100 million for IFC's own account and $75 million through an IFC managed co-lending portfolio. GTBank is a top tier commercial lender with 233 branches in Nigeria.

In its 2014 full year results, GTBank grew its gross earnings by 14.8 per cent to N278.5 billion, from N242.7 billion recorded in 2013. Interest income rose by 8.2 per cent from N185.4 billion to N201 billion, while interest expenses rose by 20 per cent from N48.4 billion to N58.2 billion. However, credit impairment charges soared by 146 per cent from N2.9 billion to N7.1 billion. Similarly, operating expenses increased by 14.9 per cent to N95.7 billion, from N82.4 billion in 2013.

Commenting on results released last week, the Managing Director/CEO of GTBank, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said the financial performance attested to the inherent soundness of its strategy and resilience of its earnings.

Watch out everyone this new remix of Ne-Yo’s “She Knows” opens with the best Fabolous verse in quite some time. French Montana and the song’s original guest, Juicy J, also appear on this remix of the Non-Fiction cut....... Download here: http://mordandem.com/2015/02/music-ne-yo-ft-fabolous-french-montana-juicy-j-knows-remix/

American model and actress, Amber Rose could be going through a lot as she’s been in the middle of a rift between herself and the Kardashian family....... See pics: http://mordandem.com/2015/02/wiz-khalifa-releases-pictures-amber-rose-filthy-home-proves-shes-unfit-mother/

We all knew this was coming. Amber Rose finally got wind of Kanye West’s now famed “30 showers” comment, and decided to clap back on Twitter....... Read on: http://mordandem.com/2015/02/amber-rose-comes-kanye-west-twitter/

Off Big Sean’s album titled the Dark Side Paradise, we present to you the Lil Wayne featured cut titled Deep....... Download here: http://mordandem.com/2015/02/music-big-sean-ft-lil-wayne-deep/

The former stripper and mother of one twerks in water and shared the epic video on instagram...... Download here: http://mordandem.com/2015/02/video-amber-rose-twerks-water/

Nigerian singer songwriter Asa spoke to Bloomberg TV Africa about her 2014 album Bed of Stone and how it was made...... Download here: http://mordandem.com/2015/02/video-looking-love-recorded-bed-stone-asa/

www.finabiz.com/cis-ican-nba-sign-5-year-economic-development-agreement/

The Presidents of three major professional bodies, the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have signed a five-year collaboration agreement for overall development of Nigeria’s socio-economic life.
As a prelude to this unique tripartite agreement tagged ‘the project’, the helmsmen of these professional bodies and their top management staff had held several meetings on the terms and conditions of this innovative approach to socio-economic development of the country.
The tripartite agreement called the project covered all areas of mutual interest for enhanced development of the Nigerian Capital Market, the Financial System, the Legal System and the entire Socio-Economic Life of all Nigerians. Under the renewable five- year agreement, each party shall co-operate in the promotion and exploitation of the project and all associated areas of total development. The “collaborative project is considered a joint project under the relevant laws, and will result in an equal split of ownership among the parties.”
Also, each party is obliged to ensure prompt execution of any assignment that would bring about overall development of Nigeria’s economy, for instance, each party has agreed to contribute to the efficient flow of information and access to relevant data, according to the agreed access rights without prejudice to confidentiality rules.
In order to sustain the culture of transparency, each party shall inform others in the project, of relevant communications it receives from third parties in relation to the project.Commenting on the collaboration agreement, the President, Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Augustine Alegeh described it as unique and highly history-making. Alegeh said the uniqueness is better appreciated against the background of three professional bodies coming together to create synergy to serve Nigerians better and yield bountiful results rather than exploit the oneness to fester the nets of each association. He commended the Presidents of CIS, Mr. Albert Okumagba and that of ICAN, Mr. ChidiAjaegbu for ensuring that the agreement became a reality.
The President, CIS, MrOkumagba expressed joy that the collaboration agreement would bring about rapid development of the Nigerian economy given the strategic importance of each party to the overall economic growth and development.
“Each party should draw inspiration from its structure and expertise to contribute effectively to the collective aspiration of the three bodies”, Okumagba said.
On his own part, the President, ICAN, Mr ChidiAjaegbu who is also a chartered stockbroker described the new agreement as a milestone in the annals of the Nigerian financial system. Ajaegbu noted that each party has a lot to offer to the common pool

www.finabiz.com/messi-admits-leave-barcelona/

Lionel Messi saw arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo beat him to the Ballon d'Or in Zurich on Monday and then reignited speculation over his own future by saying: "I don't know where I'll be next year."

Barcelona and Argentina superstar Messi appeared to row back on his own comments made 24 hours earlier that rumours that he could leave the Camp Nou for Chelsea or Manchester City were "all lies".

"I always said that I would finish my career at Barcelona and then at (his home town club in Argentina) Newell's," Messi told reporters after Real Madrid's Portuguese icon Ronaldo lifted the world footballer of the year title for the second year in succession at a glittering FIFA awards ceremony.

"But I don't know where I'll be next year.

"As Cristiano (Ronaldo) said recently, football has many twists and anything can happen," added the Barca talisman, who himself won the Ballon d'Or four years in a row from 2009.

After a superb performance in Barcelona's 3-1 win over Spanish champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday, Messi had angrily dismissed talk that he wanted to leave after clashing with Barca's manager Luis Enrique and the club's board.

"I have never demanded anything to ensure that I stay because I never had any intention of leaving," he told Barca TV after the match.

Messi's relationship with Enrique had come under scrutiny after the forward was benched for the 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad a week earlier. The rumours grew after Messi missed the first training session after that match, citing a stomach bug.

"I have heard it said that my dad has spoken to Chelsea or Manchester City. It is all lies. I have taken this chance to deny it so that everyone knows the truth," Messi said Sunday.

But his latest comments are sure to regenerate interest from a number of cash-rich English Premier League clubs.

Manchester United are reportedly one of the few that could afford the buyout fee from his contract, reportedly set at 250 million euros (195 million pounds, $296 million), without falling foul of UEFA's financial fair play rules.

With Messi commanding a reported salary in the region of 20 million euros a year the total cost of acquiring his services on a five-year deal could be a world record-shattering 350 million euros.

www.finabiz.com/facebook-likes-predict-personality/


You think no one knows you better than your family and friends? Wrong.

There's something else that "gets" you better than your inner circle, according to a study from Stanford University and the University of Cambridge.

Computers, or artificial intelligence, can judge a person's personality traits just as accurately as their spouse -- sometimes even more precisely.

From 2007 to 2011, researchers collected and studied online personality questionnaires answered by 86,220 U.S. respondents. The 100-item questionnaire evaluated individuals on five basic traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

For each question, participants were asked to answer on a five-point scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Respondents also gave researchers access to their Facebook (FB, Tech30) "likes" on things such as articles, videos, artists and movies.

"First we trained the computer to match 'likes' to certain personality traits," said Michal Kosinski, co-author and a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford's computer science department. "If someone, for example, liked 'Pulp Fiction,' it would assess that he or she has an 'openness' score that is maybe higher than average."

"Liking" a program like "The Daily Show" would indicate liberal and artistic tendencies; "liking" "The Apprentice" would indicate a person is well organized, while "liking" Nikki Minaj would point to you being outgoing and active.

Separately, family and friends answered a 10-part questionnaire to evaluate participants on the same five personality traits.

Using the combined data, the researchers created an algorithm to see how closely a computer could predict a respondent's personality compared to the assessments from family and friends, said Kosinski.

Turns out the algorithm, which analyzed 10 "likes" of each respondent -- produced a much more accurate match than those closest to the individual.

People's judgments were based on their familiarity with an individual, while the computer used a person's digital signals.

"It shows that machines can get to know us better than we'd previously thought," Kosinski said, adding that this could lead to "emotionally-intelligent" computers in the future.

"In this context, the human-computer interactions depicted in science fiction films such as 'Her,' seem not to be beyond our reach," he said. In the film, a man strikes up a relationship with a computer operating system that functions much like a person, with intuition and emotions.

Still, detecting personality traits that are more emotion-driven, like intuition, might be best left to humans, said Kosinski

In terms of real-life applications, such "socially skilled" computers could one day help with job placement and product development -- it could even help you find your soul mate, he said.

It saves time and could likely surface more "honest" matches.

"You ask someone in a job interview questionnaire if they are interested in art and poetry, for example. If it's a requirement for the job, of course the person will answer that they are, regardless of the truth," said Kosinski.

While this could be good news for employers, the study acknowledged that it might also introduce privacy concerns.

"With the algorithm, it's much more difficult to be dishonest because you can't fake your digital footprint," Kosinski said.

www.finabiz.com/falling-prices-nigeria-oil-revenue-dips-n77bn/

Continuous decline in the price of crude oil has caused Nigeria to lose as much as N77.2 billion from oil revenue in one month, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Specifically, the CBN in its October 2014 Economic Report, disclosed that oil revenue for the month dropped by 14.11 per cent to N470 billion from N547.2 billion recorded a month before.

similarly, non-oil revenue also declined by N11.1 billion or 3.9 per cent from N284.6 billion in September 2014 to N273.5 billion in October.

As a result, gross federally-collected revenue depreciated by 10.6 per cent or N88.2 billion from N831.8 billion in September to N743.6 billion in October.

Giving a breakdown of gross oil revenue components for October, the CBN stated that crude oil/gas sales dropped to N117.8 billion from N160.4 billion recorded in the previous month, while domestic crude oil/gas sale appreciated by N6 billion or 6.4 per cent to N99.6 billion from N93.6 billion recorded in September.

Petroleum Profit Tax, PPT/Royalties, according to the CBN, also dipped by N25.5 billion or 9.19 per cent to N251.9 billion in October, from N277.4 billion recorded in the previous month.

The CBN attributed the drop in the country’s oil revenue to a decline in crude oil and gas exports receipts due to the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market.

The CBN said, “At N470.04 billion, gross oil receipts, which constituted 63.2 per cent of the total revenue, was lower than both the monthly budget estimate and the preceding month by 21.3 and 14.1 per cent, respectively.

“The decline in oil receipts relative to the monthly budget estimate was attributable to fall in receipts from crude oil and gas exports due to the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market.”

Continuing, the CBN said that of the gross federally-collected revenue, about N457.12 billion less all deductions and transfers was transferred to the Federation Account for distribution among the three tiers of government and the 13 per cent Derivation Fund.

According to the CBN, the Federal Government received N217.77 billion; the state and local governments received N110.46 billion and N85.16 billion, respectively, while the balance of N43.73 billion was distributed to the oil-producing states as 13 per cent Derivation Fund.

“From the Value Added Tax (VAT) Pool Account, the Federal Government received N9.37 billion, while the state and local governments received N31.25 billion and N21.87 billion, respectively,” the CBN added.

A further analysis of activities in the oil sector during the period in review, the CBN put Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids, at an average of 2.0 million barrels per day (mbd) or 62 million barrels for the month.

This, the CBN said, was 0.05 mbd or 2.4 per cent lower than the 2.05 mbd or 61.50 million barrels produced in the preceding month.

The CBN said, “Crude oil export was estimated at 1.55 mbd or 48.05 million barrels for the month. This represented a decline of 3.1 per cent below the level recorded in the previous month. Deliveries to the refineries for domestic consumption remained at 0.45 mbd or 13.95 million barrels in the review month.

At an estimated average of US$88.78 per barrel, the price of Nigeria’s reference crude, the Bonny Light (37º API), fell by 9.9 per cent below the level in the preceding month.”

www.finabiz.com/oil-prices-headed-35-barrel/
It's getting serious now: On Wednesday, West Texas Intermediate futures tested a low of $46.83 a barrel before rebounding.

That's down nearly 57 percent from the summertime high of $107.68 and pushing toward the depths last seen during the 2008 financial crisis and recession that followed. Wholesale gasoline futures tested a low of $1.31 a barrel.

The wipeout in energy prices has been covered on all angles in recent months — including my recent piece on the negative repercussions for the U.S. economy, corporate earnings, and energy independence. Now, the focus is increasingly turning to how bad the damage could get.

New estimates from Bank of America Merrill Lynch put the short-term floor somewhere below $35 a barrel — a drop that would represent a decline of nearly 30 percent from here as the market is oversupplied by about a million barrels of oil per day. Options traders are starting to place bets that prices could fall into the $20s in the months to come.

It's clear that a quick reversal isn't coming. OPEC is showing steely resolve in its effort to recapture market share from U.S. shale oil producers. Most oil exporting nations are trapped in a prisoners' dilemma: They all want higher prices as their national budgets feel the pinch. For the likes of Russia and Venezuela, the pain is acute and could well result in an outright currency crisis. But none of them want to make the production cuts needed to align supply with the depressed demand that has resulted from economic weakness across much of Europe and Asia.

Saudi Arabia is best positioned to turn down the taps, but it appears to have spearheaded the oil price war in the first place for both financial and geopolitical gains. Comments from Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi that prices as low as $20 a barrel would be tolerated suggests that Riyadh — despite some palace intrigue surrounding the poor health of King Abdullah — is enjoying the spectacle.

Oil demand is unlikely to soak up the excess supply anytime soon, with Europe stalled, Japan picking up the pieces from its recent sales tax hike and China still trying to control its runaway housing and fixed-asset investment bubbles without pricking its bad debt problem.

The demand situation also has an element of negative self-reinforcement: Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts note that 50 percent of the global oil demand growth of the last decade has come from oil producing countries. That's a problem, with Russia heading into recession and sovereigns in the Middle East drawing down currency reserves. And besides, they estimate that any response on the demand side would occur with a six month lag anyway.

So to find a price floor, supply will need to be cut from somewhere outside of OPEC. The big state-owned oil producers are an unlikely source, according to the analysts, because they find production is not price sensitive due to price hedging, low cash production costs, tax breaks and currency benefits. At this point, only Canada’s Kearl oil sands project — with a breakeven oil price around $55 a barrel — is at risk. Yet its operator said it would not shut down even if it were cash flow negative. It's all about who can bleed the longest. Brazilian pre-salt fields need just $23 to cover cash costs.

That leaves U.S. shale producers to carry the burden as operating cash flows dry up. But the experience of the natural gas glut of a few years ago, also driven by the success of shale, suggests that operators will at first shift rigs to more profitable fields before cutting output. You can see this in the way rig counts have come down, but production has kept climbing as shown in the chart above.

As a result, U.S. production cuts probably won't happen until the drop in new investment, new wells and new rigs starts to flow into current production numbers. All this takes time. But it will happen, with energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie estimating short-term breakeven prices for U.S. shale at around $70 a barrel.

Another wrinkle to the story is that Saudi Arabia is producing less than 10 million barrels a day, holding about 2.8 million barrels a day of production capacity in reserve. If the Kingdom really wants to crush the U.S. energy industry and secure its position as the world's dominant provider of energy well into the future, it could slowly increase production to offset the pullback in U.S. shale oil.

At 12.5 million barrels per day, its budget would come into balance with crude at $77 a barrel, according to estimates by BofA ML. But it can afford to be patient, with $740 billion in foreign exchange reserves (worth 98 percent of GDP), zero debt, and $450 billion in government deposits.

That would keep prices down long enough to drive many marginal, high-cost U.S. producers out of business, with negative results for the U.S. economy, jobs market and high-yield bonds. Those that remained would face a low-return future with oil prices stuck near their cash breakeven costs.

Long story short: In the short-term, prices could very well drop below $35 a barrel to incite U.S. production cuts before recovering into the $70s as Saudi Arabia opens the spigots and captures market share.

In other words, get used to lower gas prices. They'll be here for a while.

www.finabiz.com/jonathan-solicits-youth-support-second-term-quest/
President Goodluck Jonathan flagged-off his campaign for a second term in office, in Lagos yesterday, with a strategic focus on Nigerian youth who constitute about 70 percent of the population and form the bulk of the nation’s voting bloc.

Jonathan, who is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate, appealed the youth to vote en masse for him and all those vying on the same platform.

Deploying the support of celebrities in the entertainment and sports industry who are a big attraction for the country’s teeming youth, the President said: “2015 is about the young people; either you vote to advance the political history of Nigeria, or you vote to become irrelevant. I believe all of you want to be relevant? We have presented our gubernatorial candidates and some of them are within your age bracket.”

Among celebrities present at the rally were actors and actresses including Ibinabo Fiberesima, Segun Arinze, Omoni Oboli, and Monalisa Chinda. Joseph Yobo, captain of the Super Eagles, spoke on behalf of the Nigerian youths, urging support for Jonathan’s return.

Their presence on the podium caused excitement among the teeming youth who hold them (the celebrities) in high esteem.

President Jonathan, who flaunted his scorecard at the rally, held at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos, at the flag off of the Presidential campaign for the 2015 election, said his concern was for the youth who still have many more years ahead of them.

The President also said that contrary to the impression that the PDP government was not being decisive enough on the fight against insecurity, his administration had been up and doing in that regard.

Apparently reacting to the allegation by the candidate of a major opposition party that his government was sleeping on guard, Jonathan said: “Ask him when he was the head of government if he bought one rifle for the military. Ask them what they did with their defence votes. They could not improve the capacity of the Armed Forces and now they are telling us they are coming to fight insecurity and insurgency.”

On the fight against corruption, the president said: “If anybody comes to tell you that the best way to fight corruption is by arresting your uncles and showing them on television, we don’t believe in that. The best way is to stop corruption from ever happening. This is being done, by plugging all the avenues through which that can occur.”

Debunking the allegation that he was a weak leader and had no plan, Jonathan explained that his administration had also put in place procurement processes to check fraud in the system, adding that corruption, which was the order of the day in the previous administrations, noticeable in fertilizer distribution and the purchase chain, has become a thing of the past through his transformation agenda.

Scoring his administration highly on the containment of the perennial fuel scarcity across the country, he said that unlike in the past, “you are no longer queuing up and leaving your cars in filling stations.”

He said his administration has scored highly in the power sector, adding that although there was much left to be done, there had been a remarkable improvement in that regard.

The PDP presidential candidate also spoke on his administration’s exploits in job creation for the youth through the YOUWIN programme, transformation in the railway system, establishment of new universities in about 12 states, giving hope to the Almajiris of the North by establishing a special school programme for them.

“We have built nursery schools, primary, secondary schools and universities. Ask those deceiving you now if they built nursery schools for you. They built prisons for you…Any country that does not obey the rule of law is a jungle. If I suspect you for anything and I arrest you and put you in prison for 300 years, is that how to go? Do you want to return to the enslavement of the past?” he asked.

He called on womenfolk in the country to vote the PDP, saying, “Nigerian women, you must not cast your votes to go back to the kitchen. A vote for them is for you to go back to the kitchen. Do you want to do so, or vote to liberate yourselves? We are going to liberate women.”

Earlier, Joseph Yobo, captain of Nigeria’s senior national football team, the Super Eagles, speaking for the Nigerian youth, had urged re-election of President Jonathan.

Also, members of the Actors Guide, led by Ibinabo Fiberesima, were on the stage to show solidarity, calling on the voting masses of the country to return Jonathan in the February 14 poll.

www.finabiz.com/coca-cola-cut-1800-jobs-worldwide/

Drinks giant Coca-Cola is set to cut up to 1,800 jobs worldwide as it continues cost-cutting efforts.

Coca-Cola reported a 14% fall in earnings for the July to September quarter last year and sluggish revenue growth.

The job cuts will affect the firm’s Atlanta headquarters, as well as its international operations.

The firm said it had already started to inform those workers who will be affected by the cuts.

“[We have begun] the process of informing associates in the United States and in some international locations about the impacts to their departments,” a spokesperson from Coca-Cola said in an emailed statement to the BBC.

The firm said further cuts would be made by different departments at various times.

“We have identified 1,600 to 1,800 positions in Corporate, Coca-Cola North America and Coca-Cola International that will be eliminated in the coming months,” the spokesperson said.

Coca-Cola has a global workforce of about 130,000.

In October last year, Coca-Cola’s chief executive officer Muhtar Kent said the firm was aiming to save some $3bn (£1.98bn) in annual costs by 2019, which would include job cuts.

At the time, Mr Kent said he recognised the need for the company “to increase the scope and pace of change” as it continued to face a challenging economic environment.

He said the firm was focused on “streamlining and simplifying” its operations and that it was proceeding with plans “for refranchising the majority of company-owned North American bottling territories by the end of 2017″.

www.finabiz.com/nigerian-stock-exchange-delists-oasis-insurance/
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has delisted Oasis Insurance Plc from its daily official list following the acquisition of the company by FBN Insurance Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc.

According to NSE, following the conclusion of the acquisition, Oasis Insurance applied for voluntary delisting from the exchange.

FBN Insurance had acquired 71.2 per cent equity interest in Oasis Insurance through a block divestment in February 2014.

In accordance with Rules of the Securities & Exchange Commission, FBN Insurance Limited made a mandatory take-over bid for the remaining 28.8 per cent equity interest in Oasis Insurance Plc. By the close of the takeover bid on 31 July 2014, FBN Insurance Limited received a total of 1,289,493,953 ordinary shares bringing its shareholding in Oasis Insurance Plc to approximately 91.1 per cent. However, FBN Insurance Limited elected to exercise its rights under Section 146(2) of the Investments and Securities Act to compulsorily acquire shares belonging to the minority shareholders having crossed the 90 per cent threshold.

At the end of the 20-day statutory notice period FBN Insurance Limited increased its holdings by an additional 22,603,617 shares bringing its holdings in Oasis Insurance Plc to approximately 91.4 per cent. The company thereafter transferred the sum of N310,649,730 to FBN Registrars (as consideration for the outstanding 560,808,895 shares or 8.6 per cent)to keep in trust for shareholders who are yet to tender their share certificates By this action, FBN Insurance Limited hold 100 per cent equity interest in Oasis Insurance Plc, hence its application to NSE for delisting.

The acquisition would enable the FBN Holdings to deepen its insurance business as FBN Life seeks to harness Oasis Insurance’s relative strengths, thereby creating synergies for the development of the insurance business.

Also, Oasis Insurance is expected to leverage FBN Holdings’ wide network, including the international spread of its flags.

Speaking on the acquisition, the Group Chief Executive Officer, FBN Holdings, Mallam Bello Maccido, had the group would leverage on its acquisitions to consolidate its performance.

He said the group has increased investments across its business lines with a view to strengthening its leadership positions pointing out that the recent acquisitions of ICB banks across four West African countries, the acquisition of Oasis Insurance and on-going efforts to strengthen the investment banking and asset management would help to enhance benefits to all stakeholders, especially the shareholders.

www.finabiz.com/prince-ali-challenge-sepp-blatter-fifa-presidency/
Fifa vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein will challenge incumbent Sepp Blatter for the leadership of world football's governing body.

The Jordanian Prince, 39, will stand as a candidate at Fifa's presidential election on 29 May, where Blatter, 78, will seek a fifth term of office.

Prince Ali said: "It is time to shift the focus away from administrative controversy and back to sport.

"The headlines should be about football, not about Fifa."

Who is Prince Ali?

The son of the late King Hussein and the late Queen Alia, who died in a helicopter crash in 1977, he attended Sandhurst military academy before joining his country's armed forces. He is the brother-in-law of leading racehorse owner Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai. Prince Ali successfully championed the lifting of Fifa's ban on the hijab in women's football.

Prince Ali, president of Jordanian football since 1999, said he had been encouraged to stand by colleagues.

"The message I heard, over and over, was that it is time for a change," the Asian Football Confederation's vice-president said.

"The world game deserves a world-class governing body - an international federation that is a service organisation and a model of ethics, transparency and good governance."

Prince Ali, also head of the West Asian Football Federation, was one of a number of officials who called for the publication of ethics investigator Michael Garcia's report into allegations of corruption surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.

Uefa president Michel Platini is said to be "pleased" that Prince Ali has decided to enter the race and will attempt to get the Jordanian as many votes as possible in Europe.

In a statement, Platini said: "I know Prince Ali well. He has all the credibility required to hold high office. We now await his proposals and his programme for the future of football."

"I know Prince Ali well. He has all the credibility required to hold high office. We now await his proposals and his programme for the future of football."

Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce added: "I got a big surprise when I heard that Prince Ali had decided to stand.

"I think Prince Ali is probably his own man and maybe he feels it's something he wants to do and gives people an alternative for the presidential election."

Fifa has suffered a number of damaging corruption allegations during Blatter's 17-year reign.

Last month, former England captain Gary Lineker described the way Fifa was running world football as "a farce" after the governing body became embroiled in more allegations of World Cup bidding corruption.

"Prince Ali is very much the favoured candidate of Uefa, the European governing body, which does not want the incumbent Sepp Blatter to run again. He will know that he has got a chance. We're talking about a royal Arab prince who would not stake his reputation on a flier. But Blatter has been Fifa president since 1998. Others have tried to overcome him but they have failed."

Garcia resigned last month in protest over the handling of his report into bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar.

Fifa cleared both bidding teams of corruption following a series of allegations and said the tournaments would be staged in the countries chosen.

Meanwhile, BBC Sport revealed that secret talks between Fifa officials and Blatter, who has been president since 1998, took place over his future as leader of football's governing body.

Former diplomat Jerome Champagne, 56, who joined Fifa in 1999, is the only other challenger to have confirmed his intention to run for the presidency.

Candidates must declare their interest before 29 January.

www.finabiz.com/lg-tries-curved-smartphone/
Electronics firm LG has shown off a second version of its curved smartphone at the Consumer Electronics Show.

The LG G Flex 2 is smaller than its predecessor and its display can now handle high-definition images.

The "self-healing" coating on its rear has also been improved to quickly repair any scratches it suffers.

Gadget-watchers were divided over the phone, with some praising its performance while others were unimpressed.

LG has not said when the phone will go on sale nor said how much it will cost.

Curved questions

The updated G Flex has an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display 5.5in (14cm) in size - a half-inch smaller than the original - and the curve of the whole device is less pronounced than the first version.

LG said the self-healing coating covering the back of the phone will now seal scratches in 10 seconds or so. Earlier versions took minutes to do the same.

The OLED screen also helps make the phone very resistant to damage from being inadvertently sat or stepped on, said the firm.

Also onboard are a 13.1 megapixel camera on the handset's rear and a 2.1 megapixel camera facing forwards. Inside the phone is the latest Qualcomm 810 processor and the gadget runs LG's version of Google's Android operating system.

LG's new flexible phone is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. No great surprise since smartphone news from the big tech firms is usually held back until Barcelona's Mobile World Congress or one-off events.

While the firm focused on the new handset's faster healing skin and protection against falls, I suspect its ability to recharge quicker than before will be the advance consumers appreciate most.

But LG - like arch-rival Samsung - faces a pressing problem. Chinese manufacturers including Xiaomi, Huawei and ZTE are releasing budget-priced high-quality models that play well to the home crowd - and China is the world's biggest smartphone market. That means that average selling prices are dropping putting a squeeze on profits.

LG may have burnished its reputation for innovation with the G Flex 2, but ultimately its mid-range models are likely to prove more important to its bottom line.

Vlad Savov from tech news site The Verge liked the phone, saying the smaller size of the gadget meant it was now much easier to reach the buttons on its rear, making the whole device more usable.

Analyst Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel, said the original Flex did "okay" and the revision should mean it gets more attention.

However, she said, the phone's self-healing coating and its OLED screen were hard for staff to explain to customers, making it a tough sell in shops.

"The G3 has done much more for LG than the Flex has done," she said, adding that the Flex was more about showing how LG can be different, than anything else.

Ron Amadeo from tech site Ars Technica was underwhelmed with the Flex 2, saying although it was an improvement; it still did not answer any pressing consumer need.

"Every time we see a curved device, we ask 'why is it curved?' But we have yet to get a satisfactory answer," he wrote in a hands-on review.

www.finabiz.com/naira-opens-trading-marginal-decline/
The naira depreciated against the dollar by 1.9 per cent to close at N185 at the interbank forex market on Monday, which was the first trading session of 2015.

Also, trading at the Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS), which is the official arm of the forex market resumed yesterday. The total amount offered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was yet to be disclosed.

The naira had closed 2014 as the third worst performing currency in Africa in 2014 against a basket of fairly liquid currencies.

President Goodluck Jonathan had while delivering his New Year message, said that the federal government would this year continue to ensure stability in the value of the naira by striving to take away speculative behaviours that cause market exchange pressures.

Analysts at the Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC) predicted at the weekend that Nigeria' currency would fall to N200 to a dollar at the parallel market this year.

Oil prices fell by over 50 per cent last year.

“Our findings reveal that the Nigerian macroeconomic environment will continue to be vulnerable to exogenous shocks in 2015.

“This is mainly because oil prices and international capital flows will continue to be dominant features in the Nigerian macroeconomic equation.

“Will the Naira Cross N200/$? Yes. The parallel market rate is expected to cross N200/$ as dollar demand pressure persists,” the Lagos-based research and financial advisory firm stated.

Provisional data had indicated that foreign exchange inflow through the CBN in the third quarter of 2014 amounted to $13.09 billion, representing an increase of 3.4 and 10.4 per cent above the levels in the preceding quarter and the corresponding quarter of 2013, respectively. The development then, was largely due to increase in the non-oil component driven mainly by increases in swaps transactions and inflows through other official receipts, respectively.

On the other hand, foreign exchange outflow amounted to $11.80 billion, showing a decline of 7.8 and 6.8 per cent below the levels in the preceding quarter and the corresponding quarter of 2013, respectively.

Meanwhile, data from the FMDQ OTC market showed that while the overnight tenor of the Nigerian Interbank Offered Rates (NIBOR) climbed to 11.20 per cent yesterday, from the 10.96 per cent it stood last Wednesday, the 1-month tenor fell to 14.12 per cent, from 14.52 per cent. Also, the 3-month tenor reduced to 14.86 per cent yesterday, from 15.24 per cent, while the 6-month fund also dropped to 15.61 per cent, from the previous day close of 15.93 per cent.

On the other hand, Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills True Yield (NITTY), the 1-month yield closed at 12.98 per cent, the 2-month yield at 13.14 per cent, the 6-month yield at 13.84 per cent, the 9-month yield at 13.87 per cent and the 12-month at 15.86 per cent.

www.finabiz.com/oprah-no-longer-richest-black-woman-replaced-folorunsho-alakija/
OK, put it like this. Oprah had a nice run as the world’s richest black woman, but as they say, all good things must come to an end.

O, move over ’cause Folorunsho Alakija is now the richest black woman in the world. Ventures Africa says she bested Oprah by $500 million. Alakija is estimated to worth $3.3 billion and at last count, Oprah’s in the neighborhood of about $2.7 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.

Would you believe the now billionaire Nigerian oil baroness and fashion entrepreneur started her career as a secretary at a bank in Nigeria? Yes, she most certainly did.

When she moved to England in the 80’s she studied fashion and eventually ended up starting her line called “Supreme Stitches”.

The 62 year old did well with her fashion brand but the bulk of her fortune comes from the oil business. Her company Famfa Ltd got an oil exploration license and they attained a 617,000-acre oil block which was highly lucrative.

Ventures Africa stated that her assets include a $46 million jet and a portfolio over $100 million.

“We have no idea on how much debt (if any, the company [Famfa Oil] has), but even if we take the high side, and subtract 50 percent of the value of her stake for debt, that still gives her 60 percent stake in OML 127 a market value of $3.2 billion, which makes her [Alajika] richer than the $2.7 billion Oprah Winfrey is worth, according to Forbes Magazine’s last rankings,” reported Ventures Africa.

www.finabiz.com/top-10-performing-stocks-3/
On the top 10 performing stocks were the shares of Vono Products Plc, Champion Breweries Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc, R.T Briscoe Nig. Plc, Caverton Offshore Support Services Plc and Seplat Petroleum Dev Co. Plc. Others were Omoluabi Savings and Loans Plc, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Aiico Insurance Plc and Guinness Nigeria Plc.

Vono Products Plc led the pack with 24.44 percent or N0.22 gains, closing at N1.12 from N0.90 per share. Following years of low-key performance, the company recently launched a new brand identity, a move that was aimed at helping the company reclaim its market share in the mattress and furniture business.

The Vono brand was before two decades ago, a household name for beds and mattresses in Nigeria, but lost its bearing in the market due to some factors ranging from poor management to government neglect of institutions and economic downturn in the country which took its turn in reduction of purchasing power of con­ sumers.

Today, the brand is back in the market with new packaged beds, headboards, unique relaxing and confer­ ence chairs to cater for the needs of hospitality, offices and homes and institutions (HOI) businesses. Despite this, the company relapsed back to loss position after returning to profitability in 2013.

It had in 2013 returned to profitability after recording losses a year earlier. Breakdown of its nine months financial statement to September 2014 showed that Vono posted 5.7 percent growth in revenue to N889.67 million from N841.41 million in 2012. It reported loss after tax of N5.16 million from another N4.88 million losses in 2013. 2014 Vono Product is involved in the manufacturing of mattresses and bedsprings. The company provides metal furniture, beds, interior spring mattresses, foam and foam products, vehicle seats, and rests chairs.

Champion Breweries Plc followed with 18.31 percent or N1.08 increase, closing at N6.98 from N5.90 per share. The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, last week admitted 6.3 billion ordinary shares of the company for trading, following the conclusion of N11.65 billion rights issue on September 2014. The company had offered seven new ordinary shares for every ordinary share held as of the close of business on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at N1.85 per share to its existing shareholders.

According to the distiller, the net proceeds of the issue will be used to repay the existing debt and reduce the interest burden which will potentially enhance the company’s operations and reposition it for profitability and growth. Two years ago, Heineken, the parent company of Nigerian Breweries Plc, bought controlling interest in Champion Breweries. Before the acquisition, Champion was struggling with problem of inadequate working capital, low productivity, poor market share and low employee morale.

Continental Reinsurance trailed closely behind with 17.24 percent or N0.15 appreciation to close at N1.02 from N0.87 it started the week at. The NSE last year fined the underwriter N900, 000 (Nine Hundred Thousand Naira) as a result of its failure to file its 2013 financial statement on time though it was one of the 39 insurance companies that scaled the International Financial Reporting Standard, IFRS, as listed by NAICOM.

R.T Briscoe garnered 16.67 percent or N0.11 increase to close at N0.77 from N0.66 per share; Caverton advanced by 16.33 per cent or N0.49 to close at N3.49 from N3.00 per share; Seplat, which was last week included in the NSE 30 Index, appreciated by 15.18 percent or N48.90, closing at N371.01 from N322.11 per share.

Omoluabi Saving, an ASeM listed security that has been enjoying investors’ patronage for some time now, recorded 15 percent or N0.15 price appreciation to close at N0.92 from N0.80 per share; Fidson followed with 14.71 percent or N0.50 gains to close at N3.90 from N3.40; Aiico went up by 12.50 percent or N0.09 kobo to close at N0.81 from N0.72 per share, while Guinness Nig advanced by 10.72 percent or N16.28 to close at N168.15 from N151.87 per share.

www.finabiz.com/nigeria-may-miss-cocoa-output-target-disease-takes-toll/

Nigeria may miss its cocoa output target of 500,000 metric tons in the 2014-15 season after an outbreak of fungal blackpod disease devastated farms following heavy rains, a farmers association said, reports Bloomberg.

“The devastating effect of the excessive rains last August and September is now telling on the overall tonnage of cocoa beans harvested,” Adeola Adegoke, coordinator of the Cocoa Farmers Association in Ondo State, said in a phone interview from Akure on December 24.

“The season virtually ended in November. There are no more ripe cocoa pods on the trees to harvest.”

Nigeria, the world’s fourth-largest producer of the chocolate ingredient behind Ivory Coast, Ghana and Indonesia, set a target to produce at least 500,000 tons of cocoa by the end of the season running through September 2015 on account of newly maturing trees. The nation produced 350,000 tons of cocoa in the 2013-2014 season, according to the Agriculture Ministry. The International Cocoa Organisation assessed Nigeria’s production for that season at 240,000 tons.

Farmers from Nigeria’s South West region that accounts for two-thirds of the country’s output, are reporting the absence of the “December cocoa harvest boom” that usually supplies 35 percent to 40 percent of output, according to Adegoke. “We lost this to the heavy rains,” he said.

In the South South growing areas around the town of Ikom, which accounts for about 30 percent of Nigeria’s output, there is less impact of blackpod disease and mold, according to Godwin Ugwu, a cocoa trader based in the town. The harvest in the region is expected to continue until the middle of January, he said by phone.

The nation’s two cocoa harvests include the main crop from October to December, and the smaller light crop from April to June. Most of the country’s output is from farmers working on small plots in the Southern cocoa belt.

Cocoa futures in London have advanced 14 percent this year to 1,980 pounds ($3,081) a metric ton.

www.finabiz.com/world-bank-approves-170m-females-africa/
Models wear creations by Malian designer Maria Bocoum backstage during the 10th anniversary of Dakar Fashion Week
The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors has approved $170.2 million for women and adolescent girls to expand their access to reproductive, child and maternal health services in five countries in Africa’s Sahel region and the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS).

The Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project would also help promote regional knowledge and data on proven gender development programmes.

“To end poverty across Africa and promote greater prosperity for families, we know that the answer involves improved access to health services for women and educating adolescent girls,” World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region, Makhtar Diop said.

“Meeting these objectives is even more critical for countries in the Sahel, which have some of the world’s highest birth rates. Improving access to maternal and child health, and family planning services, will create more economic opportunities for women and girls in the region.”

The approval came one year after World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim visited the Sahel with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and pledged $1.5 billion for regional development priorities such as social safety nets to help families weather the worst effects of economic adversity and natural disasters, infrastructure development and creating increased economic opportunities for families living in rural areas.

Africa’s Sahel region suffers from multiple development challenges: too little economic growth and opportunity, a harsh climate, hunger, high fertility rates, and the world’s highest number of maternal and child deaths.

The Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project would work across the sub-region to improve the availability and affordability of reproductive health services, strengthen specialised training centres for rural-based midwives, improve nursing services, and pilot and share knowledge on adolescent girls’ initiatives.



“High fertility, rapid population growth and poor health services are preventing Sahelian countries from taking advantage of their demographic dividend which could bring greater prosperity. “This project supports a much-needed multi-sectoral approach to women and girls’ empowerment and their access to health services. It will work across borders to help overcome barriers to empowering women and girls, and give them the tools to shape their own future,” Task Team Leader for the project, Christophe Lemière added.

He pointed out that empowering women and girls means helping them to continue their education, improving their knowledge of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child health, nutrition and increasing the number of young women who participate in life-skills programs.

www.finabiz.com/poor-financial-reporting-undermining-oil-sector-growth-nnrc/

Growth in the Nigerian oil and gas industry will remain elusive over the next couple of years, unless issues of poor financial reporting, insufficient audits and inadequate information are addressed.

The 2014 Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) Benchmarking Report, which disclosed this, further stated that, “Scarce or inadequate information, insufficient audits, and poor financial reporting standards for public entities like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, have helped in no small measure in undermining processes in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.”

The report noted that the level of confusion generated by the allegations of financial misappropriation against the NNPC has brought about the need for the adoption of best-practices in financial reporting standards, such as the International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS.

The report further called for increased information sharing both across government and with the public, adding that complexity and opacity in public revenue procedures also continue to undermine the oversight efforts of civil society actors.
Continuing, the report, presented by the Nigerian Resource Governance Institute, NRGI, the Centre for Public Policy and Alternatives, CPPA among others, said, “Oil account payments including remittances to the federation account are not publicly available. Nor is there accurate measurement of the total volume of oil produced.

“The commencement of oil metering by an adequate flow control system has yet to occur. While the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has produced valuable reports that have expanded transparency in the sector, the initiative has struggled to deliver accountability as government agencies have not addressed many of the problems and recommendations revealed in the reports.”

The NNRC is led by a 14-member independent, multidisciplinary expert advisory panel, comprising Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, former Minister of Petroleum and Foreign Affairs; Mr. Adeola Adenikinju, a Professor of Economics from the University of Ibadan; Mr. Bode Agusto, former Director General of the Budget Office and Professor Akpan Ekpo, Director General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, among others.

Furthermore, the report lamented that weak cost regulation is causing huge revenue losses to the country and undermining the development efforts of stakeholders.

It said, “For instance, at the time of signing the 1993 Production Sharing Contracts, PSCs, industry costs were much lower than they have been in the past decade. Investment tax credits (ITC) were given at a 50 per cent rate in 1993, and transmitted the wrong signal to petroleum sector investors.

“To date, the country is yet to overhaul these fundamental components to reflect contemporary market conditions, resulting in revenue losses to the state.

“Other elements of the prevailing fiscal system for assessing and collecting oil revenues, such as the K-factor computations contained in MOUs between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its partners, also remain either outdated or too complicated for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, to effectively administer.”

In general, the report disclosed that situation in the Nigerian oil sector did not record any significant change from when the last report was presented, noting that all the indicators used in measuring Nigeria’s performance remained the same.

“Since 2012, there has been no progress made with respect to the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB. The Bill’s provisions are not in the most ideal form, and it is stalling for a number of reasons including disagreements over its fiscal provisions.

www.finabiz.com/ghanas-kasapreko-halts-n8-2bn-investment-nigeria/
Kasapreko_bar
Ghana’s Kasapreko Company has suspended its planned $50 million (about N8.2 billion) investment in Nigeria due to adulteration of its product, Alomo bitters.

The company’s Group Managing Director, Kwabena Adjei, disclosed this during the familiarization tour in its factory in Accra, Ghana, where he said that the company was on the verge of etsbalishing its manufacturing plant in Nigeria but put the investment on hold because of threats from adulteration which has reduced the brand equity of Alomo Bitters.

“We wanted to make a strong foot print in Nigeria and we have not cancelled the ambition but once we are able to get rid of those destroying the market and harming the lives of the people through faking of our product then we can decide to put the factory in place”, Adjei told Vanguard in Accra, Ghana.

The Group Managing Director who started the production of the bitters brand in his garage 25 years ago regretted that the faking of the product because of its success and health benefits has reduced the equity of the brand. “If we don’t fight the fake, we are hurting the government because fakers don’t pay tax. We are harming the consumers because fakers don’t use good product. Some of these fake products have been tested in our laboratory and I tell you that the result is shocking and unhealthy to consumers”, he said.

Adjei who recognized Nigeria as a big market in Africa said the brand’s dominance of the market has been greatly diluted not by genuine competition but by fake market. He however said that the company which is now exporting to European and Western countries and other African countries is presently collaborating with Nigeria’s regulatory agencies and distributors to tackle the fake market.

Adjei welcomed genuine competition in bitters market as it will create healthy market for consumers and employment for Africans but frowned against importation of herbal products when Africa is rich in herbs.

The Alomo founder is also considering partnering with a Nigerian firm to produce the product in Nigeria.

Nigeria is a big market for products and as analysts say “If you look at Africa, anyone who does not see the Nigerian market is really blind. You can’t miss Nigeria; it is a powerhouse in Africa. From the GDP stand point and population, Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa”

In order to still offer the quality product to Nigerians who have accepted the product and checkmate faking which is affecting the brand and has the potential of creating health consequence on consumers, Adjei and his team are introducing security seal on the Alomo brand.

“Two years ago we embarked on a journey to protect our brand and consumers. That journey took us to Germany where we partnered with a hologram company”. According to him, the security will involve four levels all in an attempt to ensure that the consumer gets the right quality product. “We know that fakers will try to confuse the consumers with fake holographic seal but ours is so sophisticated and consumers will be able to identify the original from the fake” he said.

www.finabiz.com/electricity-consumers-lament-crazy-bill-in-kano/
Electricity consumers in Kano State have said that less than 3,000 consumers have received pre-paid meters since the distribution company, the Kano Electricity Distribution Company, KEDCO, took over in November, 2013.

The customers who made this known at the consumers’ consultation on Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation, CAPMI, in Kano State, however lamented that they are still exposed to crazy billing as a result of none metering.

Chairman of Kano Electricity Consumer Forum, Mallam Suleiman Bello said at the forum that although electricity supply has improved, consumers are still exposed to crazy billing and non metering.

Bello said ý “KEDC metering is very low. It has estimated 3ý00,000 customers, I assure you that they have not metered up to 50,000. Since they took over, they have not disbursed up to 3,000 units.”

He also echoed consumers’ voices on the high cost of meter for N20,000 noting that multiple shop owners may not raise the cost in bulk to pay for metering. “There should be a means for instalment payment where willing consumers could pay half and after installation, pay the rest,” he added.

The consultation which was organised by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, was to probe metering progress of DISCOs especially under the CAPMI following outrages of “crazy” billings by electricity consumers nationwide.

NERC Commissioner for Market Competitions and Rates, Dr. Eyo Ekpo said those who paid for meters will enjoy an 11percent interest rate while they will have a rebate from the Fixed Charge till the money is cleared.

MD of Kano DISCO, Jamil Gwamna said it is planning to meter its customers within two years while it is working on embedded power generation to improve supply in its service area.

A customer, Engr. Maude Ado who decried the DISCO’s negligence of CAPMI said “It has not even started the CAPMI when sister DISCOs like Kaduna has 8,000 installed meters already.”

Meanwhile, the DISCO staff, Ismail Aliyu accused NERC of not allowing DISCOs to select meter vendors ýsaying it does not guarantee competition for reduced meter pricing.

NERC Commissioner for Government & Consumer Affairs, Dr Abba Ibrahim said the Commission does not restrict DISCOs on picking metering contractors, but said meters supplied must meet with the metering code standard as endorsed by NERC.

www.finabiz.com/worlds-largest-bottle-tree-built-in-lagos/
Nigeria’s first indigenous beer brand, Star Lager has completed the building of the world’s largest bottle tree at the venue of the Lagos Countdown in Victoria Island.

The record-breaking tree is made with a total of 8,000 star bottles as against 3,000 announced during the commencement of the project.

This development was as a result of the excitement the project elicited in the minds of consumers.
Attention grabbing and beautifully made, the Star Bottle Tree sits proudly at the Star Beer Village, Eko Atlantic City.

The bottle tree is a first of its kind in the country, symbolizing greatness and the enterprising Nigerian spirit.

www.finabiz.com/graphene-stronger-steel-material-change-world/
Graphene is just one atom thick, but it’s poised to cast a wide shadow over the future of business. Some 200 times stronger than steel yet lighter than paper and more flexible than a contortionist, graphene is hailed as a miracle material with the potential to revolutionize products and processes across industries from consumer electronics to biomedicine.

First isolated in 2004 by physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who won a Nobel Prize for their efforts, graphene is essentially a crystalline carbon allotrope with two-dimensional properties. Its atoms are packed in a hexagonal pattern that resembles chicken wire, and it’s so thin, it’s virtually transparent. The unique structure translates to thermal, electrical and magnetic properties no other material can match, and the commercial applications are almost limitless. For example, graphene’s flexibility could lead to breakthroughs in wearable devices, and its feather-light weight could yield more streamlined, fuel-efficient aircraft. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has even donated $100,000 to the University of Manchester to help fund development of graphene-based condoms.

“Graphene has so much potential for use in many different businesses and many different areas,” says Elena Polyakova, CEO of Long Island, N.Y.-based Graphene Laboratories, whose Graphene Supermarket supplies nanocarbon and graphene products to more than 7,000 enterprise and academic customers. “It can replace many materials that are currently on the market.”

Graphene R& far eclipses commercial activity, at least for now. Technology consultancy Cambridge IP states that developers and manufacturers have filed 13,000 graphene-related patents in the past five years alone, and in late 2013 the European Commission launched a billion-euro, 10-year graphene research initiative that brings together academic institutions and industrial groups from 17 nations.

An Allied Market Research forecast says the graphene market will reach $149.1 million worldwide by the end of the decade, experiencing a compound annual growth rate of 44 percent between 2014 and 2020, thanks largely to surging interest from the electronics and automotive sectors. Case in point: In April, Samsung Electronics, working with South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University, announced a graphene synthesis method that promises to speed the material’s commercialization, touting its potential for use in flexible displays and other cutting-edge products. IBM has also unveiled a graphene-based integrated electronic circuit designed to boost wireless data transmission speeds.

But just because graphene is a miracle doesn’t mean it’s perfect. For starters, it lacks the “band gap” present in other semiconductor materials, meaning its conductivity can’t be switched on and off. Possible solutions include building in artificial breaks to open and close circuits or altering graphene’s core makeup with chemical additives. The problem is further compounded by high manufacturing costs and quality-control issues that limit the volume of defect-free graphene that’s available to researchers.

Startups like Ottawa, Ontario-based Grafoid, a graphene-focused business development firm, are tackling the production challenge head-on. Grafoid has invested in the patent-pending MesoGraf process, which generates pristine graphene from raw graphite ore, a cost-effective, single-step production method that eliminates harsh chemicals that could hamper the material’s fundamental properties.

Such processes have the advantage of being better for the planet. In fact, graphene’s low environmental impact may turn out to be its true legacy. Researchers at Rice University have proved that adding graphene oxide to water-based drilling fluids can improve oil extraction by minimizing potential leakage. Graphene may even replace some metals and other natural resources mined for manufacturing, says Gordon Chiu, founder, president and CTO of Grafoid and co-inventor of MesoGraf.

“Imagine taking something that was 100 percent oil-dependent and making it only 50 percent oil-dependent by mixing in graphene. Not only is the product lighter and stronger, but it’s also safer for the environment,” Chiu says. “I’ve always believed in new materials that can change the way we do things. Graphene has the ability to fundamentally impact how we operate as a species while still being technologically advanced.”

www.finabiz.com/construction-firm-sues-unity-bank-n100bn/

A construction firm, Bulet International (Nig) Limited has dragged Unity Bank Plc before an Abuja High Court, seeking N100 billion for damages for libel.

The first plaintiff is a building and civil engineering construction company while the second plaintiff is its Chief Executive, Alhaji Ismaila Isa, former Minister of Water Resources and former President of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN).

In 2013, Unity Bank commenced a debt recovery action against Bulet before an Abuja High Court. However, the case was dismissed on February 24 this year for lack of reasonable cause of action.

While the said suit was still pending, Unity Bank through its lawyer, I. H. Yamah, wrote letters to Bulet’s tenants and clients , including the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Australian and American Embassies as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveying an auction sale notice (threatening to sell the property being occupied by the tenants).

The plaintiffs said these letters were false, malicious and baseless and calculated to mislead the public.

In the letters, Unity Bank alleged that it loaned the plaintiff N6.856 billion, adding that the bank was in possession of the perfected legal mortgage over the landed properties occupied by the tenants, warning them not to have any commitments to their landlord.

In 2014, the bank further instituted another suit which is still pending in court and is being challenged by Bulet for non-disclosure of reasonable cause of action, in which ruling has been fixed for February 2015.

The plaintiffs said while awaiting the ruling, the bank went ahead again to publish public notices and articles in numerous newspapers as well as on its internet outlets specifically addressed to the CBN containing list of alleged debtors of which the plaintiffs’ names were falsely and maliciously added.

According to the plaintiffs, the letters, newspaper reports and public notices by the bank meant that the plaintiffs are bankrupt and irresponsible and took bank credit with intent to defraud the bank.

The plaintiffs said the letters and public notices were understood by the public to mean that Unity Bank gave N6.8 billion credit facilities and was in custody of the perfected mortgage instruments which exposed the plaintiffs’ tenants to auction their homes and offices.

In a 17-paragraph statement of claim, the 1st plaintiff stated further that it has been portrayed as a rogue company and a failed enterprise.

According to the plaintiffs, the defamatory publication which are false, malicious, baseless and calculated to mislead the public while injuring the reputation of the 1st plaintiff brought the 2nd plaintiff into scandal and ridicule his character as a statesman.

The plaintiffs stressed that the bank never granted them any N6.8 billion credit facility as alleged.

As at the time of filing this report, Unity Bank was yet to file a defence and efforts at getting the bank to comment on the matter proved abortive.