₦airaland Forum

Oil-markets on Friday saw Brent crude supported by Saudi Arabia hoping to cut October supplies, while United States crude was curbed by refinery-outages due to Hurricane-Harvey damages, which dented demand.

Focus was shifting to three other hurricanes that are currently tearing through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

Brent crude futures rose to 54.57 dollars a barrel at 0735 GMT, with the benchmark for international oil prices earlier marking its highest since April at 54.79 dollars a barrel.

Saudi Arabia will cut crude oil allocations to its customers worldwide in October by 350,000 barrels per day, an industry source familiar with Saudi oil policy told Media on Thursday.

The United States West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at 48.98 dollars a barrel, 11 cents below their last settlement.

Traders said that the dip was a result of low refining activity following Hurricane Harvey, which hit the U.S. Gulf coast two weeks ago.

It knocked out almost a quarter of the country’s huge refinery industry, cutting demand for crude oil refining lifeblood.

“Most refineries are restarting and we expect a near-full recovery by month-end,” U.S. investment banker, Jefferies said.

Harvey’s impact was also felt in oil production. U.S. oil output fell by almost 8 percent, from 9.5 million barrels per day to 8.8 million bpd, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Port and refinery closures along the Gulf coast and harsh sea conditions in the Caribbean have also impacted shipping.

“Imports (of oil) to the U.S. Gulf Coast fell to levels not seen since the 1990s,” ANZ bank said.

Traders said it would take weeks for the U.S. petroleum industry to return to full capacity, and that under the current conditions it was difficult to identify fundamental market trends.

As the oil industry continues to grapple with the fallout from Harvey, a much bigger Hurricane was lashing the Caribbean islands and heading for the United States.

Hurricane Irma, which has become one of the biggest storms ever measured, on Friday hit the Dominican Republic and Haiti, heading for Cuba and the Bahamas.

It was predicted to hit Florida by Saturday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Irma was still a Category 5 hurricane, with wind speeds of 160-185 miles per hour (260-295 km/h).

On Irma’s heels, Hurricane Jose is heading for the Caribbean Leeward islands, which have just been devastated by Irma, with wind speeds of 120 mph (195 km/h).

With storm Katia about to hit the Mexican Gulf coast, there are three major hurricanes currently active in the region.

http://investorsking.com/oil-rises-55-hurricanes-damage-refineries/

The Nigeria Customs Service, Tin Can Island Port Command, generated N183bn in revenue in the first eight months of this year.

The command said it recorded the highest revenue yield in the month of August with N28bn.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr. Uche Ejesieme, said this on Thursday in a statement. He attributed the revenue yield to the coordinated activities and innovative spirit of the Controller, Tin Can Island Command, NCS, Mr. Bashar Yusuf, as well as officers and men of the command.

Ejesieme stated that Yusuf had introduced measures that blocked all possible areas of revenue loss in the command, adding that as a result, the command has had a sustained high revenue profile since the beginning of the year.

According to him, the N28bn realised in August is the highest in the history of the command, particularly in the corresponding periods of the past years.

The statement quoted Yusuf as saying that but for the exclusion 41 items from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official foreign exchange window, the command would have doubled its revenue profile.

He noted that the command was becoming more thorough in its revenue drive, to the extent that all high yielding revenue consignments were being closely monitored to avoid circumvention of procedures.

The controller extolled the virtues of the Customs management and vowed to sustain and surpass the revenue target of the command in line with the expectations of the NCS management.

Yusuf appreciated the compliance level by stakeholders in the port to fiscal policies of the Federal Government in terms of trade.

Meanwhile, stakeholders have continued to berate the Federal Government on the deplorable state of the Tin Can Island Port access roads.

http://investorsking.com/tin-can-island-customs-generate-n183bn-in-eight-months/

mfm04622:
Price increase is really caused by inflation and not recession. Your economy can be growing while you have inflation. Different things

That is demand pull inflation, what Nigeria is experiencing is called cost push inflation, caused by low forex liquidity due to fall in global oil prices that eroded her foreign revenue used in servicing the forex market.

The economy is out of recession, however, economic growth is not broad-based. Now is the time to support growth with effective monetary policy, knock-off high-interest rate to support local businesses and increase new job creation.

The Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive, National Bureau of Statistics, Dr. Yemi Kale, on Wednesday explained why Nigerians were not feeling the real impact of the positive economic growth rate on their lives.

Kale attributed the non-impact of the exit from recession on the citizens to the structure of the economy, which is still largely driven by oil.

He said while the economy might have recorded a growth rate of 0.55 per cent in overall Gross Domestic Product for the second quarter, not all the sectors did well in terms of productivity.

For instance, the NBS boss explained that out of the 42 economic activities that were used to measure the GDP growth rate, 21 recorded decline in productivity, while the rest performed better than they did in the first quarter.

He said the 21 of those economic activities that recorded slowdown in performance were those that ordinary Nigerians relate with on daily basis.

For instance, the NBS boss said while the manufacturing sector grew by 0.64 per cent in the second quarter, there were some segments of the sector that did not do well.

He gave some of them as manufacturing, which contracted by -10.88 per cent; motor vehicle and assembly, which contracted by -19.72 per cent; electrical and electronics, which contracted by -1.7 per cent; and chemical and pharmaceutical products, which declined by -0.98 per cent.

In addition, wood and wood products contracted by -2.09 per cent; pulp, paper and paper products, -1.85 per cent; and cement, -4.16 per cent.

Kale explained, “Recession is not about the price of your goods, not whether unemployment is going up or down, not whether you have quality education, it’s purely your Gross Domestic Product; your outputs of goods and services in the economy are going down.

“And the GDP is an accumulation of 46 different economic activities in Nigeria and the overall number, whether positive or negative, will determine whether you are in recession or out of recession.

“Now, within those 46 activities, some sectors will do very well and will be positive; some will do badly, some will do worse, and some will stay the same way they are.

“Depending on who you are in the society, what we publish is the aggregated total of everybody. So, even in that same report, you will see that 21 sectors were negative and there are other sectors that did well.”

He advised that with the economy being out of recession, there was a need for the government to work assiduously to ensure recovery by taking the growth rate to where it was before the decline in performance.

After this is done, he said the next stage would be to sustain the growth and take it beyond the rate of recovery.

The NBS boss explained that in as much as the GDP growth rate was still lower than the population growth rate, the real impact of such economic growth would not be felt significantly.

He said that its GDP report, which showed that Nigeria exited recession in the second quarter, was not doctored or politically motivated.

Kale explained that the NBS was an agency of government that was independent to carry out surveys and publish its findings based on international best practices.

The NBS boss faulted those making claims that the outcome of the report might have been influenced by political considerations, adding that none of the reports of the agency was influenced politically.

Kale said even at the risk of not being reappointed at the tail end of his tenure, economic reports that were not in favour of government activities were published by the agency, adding that if he did not doctor reports then, there was no basis to do so now.

He said, “In this administration, I am the one that published that we were in recession, and I am also the one that is saying we are now out of recession.

“I don’t think there is any inconsistency in what the NBS does in terms of politics. The recession announcement came two months to the renewal of my tenure. Now, if it was political, will I come and tell the government that wants to renew my tenure that inflation is in double digit?

http://investorsking.com/nigerians-havent-felt-impact-exit-recession-nbs-boss/

The Naira on Tuesday advanced slightly against the United States dollar after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced the economy expanded at 0.55 percent in the second quarter.

The local currency gained N1 to N364 against the US dollar on the parallel market, up from N365 recorded on Monday. While both the Pound Sterling and the Euro-single currency closed at N470 and N430 respectively.

On the Bureau De Change Window, the Naira closed at N362 to a dollar, while the pound and the Euro-single currency traded at N470 and N430.

At the interbank market, the Naira exchanged at N305.8 to the dollar, while staying in range on the investors’ window, exchanging at N360.39 per dollar.

The economy emerged from recession in the second quarter of the year after contracting for five consecutive quarters.

According to the NBS, the economy grew at 0.55 percent in the second quarter, better than the revised -0.91 percent recorded in the first quarter of the year.

However, some experts have attributed the recovery to increased oil production and better than anticipated average oil prices. Suggesting that any further shock to the economy due to “the unpredictable nature of the global oil market would disrupt growth and render recovery temporary,” said Samed Olukoya, a foreign exchange analyst at Investors King Ltd.

For instance, “while the non-oil (0.45%), manufacturing (0.64%), and agricultural (3.01%) sectors that contributed the most to the economy sustained growth in the quarter, they expanded at a slower pace than preceding quarters. However, oil sector offset the shortfall by rebounding from -15.40 percent recorded in the first quarter to grow at 1.64 percent in the second quarter. Another indication that the economy largely depends on oil to thrive,” he added.

http://investorsking.com/naira-gains-better-expected-economic-growth/

sorzy1:
Actually I wanted him to tell me where he saw that information in the book because I can't see any. that aside, after reading that book my respect for Prof. Achebe kind of declined. I find it highly ethnocentric and full of claims that cannot be authoritatively and genuinely ascertained.

But Achebe doubted Banjo coupe accusation in 'there was a country' and said Obasanjo validated Banjo request to be allowed to pass through Ibadan to Lagos without a fight as he believed it will further weaken his poorly-trained soldiers used in seizing Mid-west. A request Obasanjo declined.

mynd44 this report can not be authenticated and was originally reported by Thisday as a preliminary report which had been embargoed by the NBS at the weekend.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2017/09/05/finally-nigeria-exits-recession-reports-0-55-gdp-growth-in-q2/

NBS is yet to released second quarter report, http://nigerianstat.gov.ng/

The Federal Inland Revenue Service, through tax collection, generated the sum of N2.11tn as revenue from January to July this year.

This is contained in a progress report of the FIRS for the period under review obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday, showing the revenue performance and impact of the new tax regime.

The aggregate revenue projected in the 2017 budget is N4.94tn, out of which oil revenue is expected to contribute N1.98tn.

This is based on an estimated crude oil production of 2.2 million barrels per day at an exchange rate of N305 to a dollar.

Non-oil revenue for the year is projected at N1.37tn, which represents about 28 per cent of the budgeted revenue.

Independent revenues, various recoveries and mining will account for the balance of about N1.58tn.

A breakdown of the report showed that the FIRS collected N720.28bn as Petroleum Profit Tax from January to July this year, while the Value Added Tax revenue collected in the same period was N548.22bn.

The Federal Government had also collected the sum of N679.9bn as Company Income Tax and N91.4bn as Education Tax in the first seven months of the year.

The report also showed that the consolidated tax revenue for the first seven month of the year was N62.3bn, which has already superseded the N59.8bn generated from the area in the entire 2016 financial year.

Also, the service recorded success in boosting its collection of the National Information Technology Development Fund levy, which went from N6.75bn in 2016 to N9.87bn in the first seven months of 2017.

A further analysis of the report showed that the FIRS generated more money from taxing the non-oil sector compared to the oil and gas sector.

The report showed that non-oil tax revenue contribution was at 65.9 per cent, while oil and gas contribution to revenue so far was at 34 per cent.

According to the report, the improvement recorded so far is due to the steps taken by the service to increase tax collection.

The report stated, “The FIRS has adopted e-services as a medium to achieving innovation, convenience and transparency of its operations so as to ensure that every effort is made to improve efficiency in collection and tax administration.

“A 45-day window from October 5 to November 2017 was given to taxpayers with tax liabilities to come forward and pay 25 per cent of the agreed tax liability, spreading the balance liability, while waiving penalty and interest.

“The FIRS, in collaboration with Corporate Affairs Commission, Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Customs Service, undertook a massive nationwide registration exercise of new taxpayers in 2016. We are also carrying out a sector-by-sector tax audit, which has increased compliance across all tax types and taxpayers’ categories. Over N8bn has been recovered through this.

It added, “Also, the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme encourages voluntary disclosure of previously undisclosed assets and income for the purpose of payment of all outstanding tax liabilities to boost revenue collection.

“All this will help improve the low tax ratio from six per cent to 15 per cent by 2020, and curb the use of tax havens for illicit funds flow and tax avoidance.”

According to the report, the service is instrumental to the signing of a Bilateral Taxation Agreement on double taxation on income and capital gains.

http://investorsking.com/firs-generates-n2-11tn-revenue-seven-months/

Atlas Mara Limited, the African investment vehicle of former Barclays boss Bob Diamond, says Fairfax Africa now holds 42 per cent of the company after it subscribed to 70.1 million new shares.

The change in ownership came after Atlas Mara announced plans in June to raise $200m so that it could increase its stake in Union Bank of Nigeria and scale up other businesses.

Fairfax said on Friday it subscribed to around 80 per cent of Atlas Mara’s share issue, with existing shareholders taking the rest.

According to Reuters, Fairfax Africa is part of Canadian investment firm Fairfax Financial, led by Prem Watsa, to invest in African assets.

Diamond teamed up with Africa-based entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar to set up Atlas Mara, a vehicle through which they planned to buy up assets to help build it into a powerful force in African banking.

http://investorsking.com/fairfax-africa-buys-42-stake-bob-diamonds-bank/

PayPal Holdings Inc. is planning to relaunch its old product to extend services beyond the digital realm.

The online payment giant is introducing a credit card that will offer customers 2 percent cash back on purchases, one of the few highest rebate rates, with no annual fee.

In an effort to transform PayPal into a financial tool for everyday use by its 210 million customers. Dan Schulman, the Chief Executive Officer of PayPal, has forged 24 deals in the last 18 months with financial and technology companies including Apple Inc., Visa Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.,

“Not only are they using us to shop outside of PayPal in the physical world but they’re also shopping more on PayPal with this card,” said Darrell Esch, chief commercial officer for global credit at the San Jose, California-based company.

In the last 12 months, transactions per user has risen 10 percent to 32.3, according to a company statement.

However, with Nigerian mobile shoppers spending $610 million in 2015 through the online payment company and an estimated $812 million in 2016. “Access to a globally acceptable credit card and 2 percent rebate might see that number a little above a billion dollar soon,” said Samed Olukoya, a foreign exchange research analyst at Investors King Ltd.

“This could lead to more capital flight and worsen financial woes of local e-Commerce companies,” he added.

It is unclear if PayPal would allow Nigerian users access to its new product or extend withdrawal restriction to the credit card in Nigeria.

Nigeria is currently ranked third largest mobile shopper by PayPal Holdings Inc.

The online payment giant has partnered Synchrony Financial, the biggest issuer of private-label credit cards, to help rollout the cards.

http://investorsking.com/paypal-introduce-credit-card-2-cash-back/ mynd44

The Nigerian Naira rebounded on Tuesday against the United States dollar after the Central Bank of Nigeria injected $250 million into the forex market.

The local currency gained N2 to exchange at N365 to a US dollar at the Parallel market. Up from N367 it closes on Monday and N370 recorded on Friday.

At the Bureau De Change segment, the Naira traded at N362 to the US dollar, while the Pound and the Euro were exchanged at N473 and N433 respectively.

Accordingly, the Naira maintain its stability on the investors’ window, exchanging at N359.67 to the US dollar.

The CBN intermittent forex supply has helped bolster the Naira value and increase market liquidity.

However, traders said patronage at the parallel market was low, suggesting that early surge in demands were temporary.

Bureau De Change Operators got their weekly foreign exchange auction from the CBN, according to the source.

http://investorsking.com/naira-rebounds-one-week-low/ mynd44

The central bank of Nigeria on Monday sold another $250 million to reduce market illiquidity and prop up the Naira value.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said $100 million was injected into the interbank market, while both the Small and Medium Enterprises and Invisible segments were appropriated $85 million and $65 million respectively.

Okorafor further stated that the apex bank would inject more liquidity into the foreign exchange market in the coming days, noting that the intervention was necessary to enhance Naira stability by ensuring that pressures on the market from those seeking forex for school fees and vacation were eased.

The Naira improved by N3 from N370 per US dollar to N367 on the parallel market.

On the Investors’ window, the local currency closes at N359.58 against the US dollar, better than the N366.79 recorded on Friday.

Also, the Naira remain moderately stable against the British pound and the Euro-single currencies, traded at N478 and N433 respectively.

Traders were optimistic that the Naira would remain stable in the days ahead.

“While intermittent intervention is imperative to forex stability, reviving the manufacturing sector through the federal government diversification agenda remains key to long term sustainability and economic growth,” said Samed Olukoya, a foreign exchange research analyst at Investors king Ltd.

Inflation rate declined for a sixth consecutive month in July to 16.05 percent from 16.10 percent in June. The lowest since July 2016.

http://investorsking.com/cbn-sells-another-250m-prop-naira-value/

Cost of goods and services in Nigeria improved slightly in July to more than a year low.

The consumer prices which measures inflation declined from 16.10 percent year on year in June to 16.05 percent in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics report released Monday. This is the lowest inflation rate since July 2016 and sixth consecutive decline.

On a monthly basis, Headline Index rose 1.21 percent in the month under review, a 0.37 percent lower than 1.58 percent recorded in June.

The surge in Headline index has been attributed to the persistent increase in food prices. The food Index rose by 20.28 percent year on year in July, higher than 19.91 percent recorded in June.

According to the report, the rise in food sub-index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, meat, fish, oils and fats, coffee, tea and cocoa, potatoes yam and other tubers and vegetables.

On a monthly basis, Food sub-index increased 1.52 percent in July, a 0.47 percent decrease from 1.99 percent recorded in June.

The inability to rein in prices below 16 percent is likely to affect current progress as the central bank is unlikely to lower its interest rate from 14 percent as widely suggested.

However, the aggressive sales of treasury bills by the central bank to mop up naira could boost the local currency value against the U.S. dollar and help curb rising import and input prices going forward.

“Input costs remain a concern,” said Samed Olukoya, a foreign exchange research analyst at Investors King Ltd. “High cost of goods is due to the high cost of importation.”

The Naira declines by N3 to N370 against the US dollar.

http://investorsking.com/inflation-declines-12-month-low/ mynd44

The surge in foreign exchange demands have started weighing on the Naira value.

The Nigerian Naira plunged N3 to N370 against the United States dollar on Friday as demand for the US dollar unexpectedly jumped.

Bureau De Change Operators across the country have said the apex bank needs to converge the exchange rate to stabillise the Naira.

On investors’ window, the Naira traded at N366.79 to a US dollar and quoted at 306 on the official market window.

The CBN continued to intervene in the forex market, even as the US dollar liquidity swelled with rising investors’ interest in local assets.

However, the overnight lending rate declined to 12 percent on Friday following a 100 percent spike on Wednesday due to a liquidity squeeze as lenders scramble to pay for forex and treasury bills purchased from the central bank.

Also, money market rates improved on Thursday after the Federal Government paid N224.54 billion ($715.10m) in budget allocations to the three tiers of government, boosting liquidity, Reuters reported.

Another N95.7 billion was repaid in matured treasury bills to boost liquidity, according to traders.

Subsequently, the CBN sold around N26.90 billion at an open market treasury auction on Friday to mop up Naira liquidity.

Traders said the money market remained liquid despite the auction.

http://investorsking.com/naira-declines-370-forex-liquidity-drops/

Floyd Mayweather Jr, the undefeated boxing champion once again triumphed in his widely watched fight against U.F.C champion and first-time boxer Conor McGregor on Saturday night.

In the 10th round of a well-matched fight, the undefeated Mayweather backed McGregor onto the ropes with a series of combinations. Tired with his hands down, McGregor's face was bloodied and was almost falling through the ropes before the referee stepped in to stop the fight with about 1:55 minutes remaining in the round.

McGregor who has never fought for so long in a single professional fight was leading the first three rounds before Mayweather turned things around and gradually picked the Irishman apart.

The 40 years old undefeated American boxer said his Irish opponent was a lot better than he thought and uses different angles.

“He’s a lot better than I thought he was ... he used different angles. But I was the better man ... It was our game plan to take our time and take him out down the stretch,” the undefeated champion, Mayweather said during the post-fight interview.

“I gave the fans what they wanted to see,” Mayweather said. “I told them that I owed them for the Pacquiao fight. I must come straight ahead and give them a show.”

McGregor during his post-fight interview said the undefeated champion was a lot more composed.

“I thought it was close ... I get a little floppy when I get tired ... [Floyd] was a lot more composed. You’ve got to give it to him ... I don’t know if I will box again”

Floyd Mayweather who has now won all his 50 career fights, 27 coming by way of knockout and the remaining 23 by unanimous decision just breaks Rocky Marciano 49 undefeated boxing record of 1956 and set a new world record with his 50-0 career fights.

The undefeated champion announced his retirement after the fight.

“I chose the right dance partner for my last dance ... this was my final fight”

http://investorsking.com/floyd-mayweather-wins-conor-mcgregor-tko-round-10/ mynd44

Mayweather wins 5 rounds out of the 8 rounds. Conor would have to KO Money May to win this fight.

This fight reminds me of Ricky Hatton vs Mayweather. Yet May KO him, it has started.

Floyd is coming forward more now and pushing the pace a little. Conor’s punches are starting to look more tired - they’re almost pushed. Conor still leads overall on my card though.

The total amount of stamp duty collected on deposits in bank accounts across the Deposit Money Banks has yielded N13bn to the Federal Government, investigation has shown.

Sources close to the Central Bank of Nigeria where the fund is warehoused confirmed to our correspondent that in the first 12 months of application of the duty (January to December 2016), the banks remitted a total of N3bn into the Stamp Duty Treasury Single Account.

However, remittances into the account have improved significantly as the account witnessed more activities in 2017 with about N10bn recorded during the first seven months of the year.

Although the N10bn so far collected this year through the stamp duty represents a significant improvement on the N3bn collected in 2016, it is a far cry from the N2.5tn which authorities had estimated that government could generate through the deduction of N50 on deposits in bank accounts worth at least N1000.

Peeved by low remittances into the account, the Nigerian Postal Service had between December 2016 and January 2017 advertised to hire auditors to look into banks’ books to determine the compliance level in terms of remitting the deductions from customers’ accounts.

Our correspondent, however, gathered that the postal organisation – the operator of the Stamp Duty Act – had to shelve the idea when the CBN suggested that it could use its supervisory mechanism to monitor the level of compliance of the banks.

Given the assurance by the CBN, NIPOST was forced to stop the process of hiring forensic auditors, which had attracted about 100 applications from auditing firms across the country.

Although remittances into the Stamp Duty Account have improved following the CBN assurance, findings by our correspondent showed that NIPOST authorities had yet to be satisfied and might insist on hiring the auditors if the banks failed to increase their remittances.

The CBN had, through a circular issued on January 15, 2016, directed banks to deduct N50 stamp duty on deposits made into current accounts with a value of N1,000.

In compliance with the Stamp Duty Act 2005, the initiative is meant to boost government revenue drive.

The CBN also anchored its directive on a court ruling obtained by Kasmal International Services Limited in 2014 to the effect that the 22 banks operating in the country should remit more than N6tn to NIPOST through the company as stamp duty.

However, ruling on an appeal filed by Standard Chartered Bank against Kasmal International Services Limited and 22 others, Justice Ibrahim Saulawa and four other justices of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Judicial Division, held that the Stamp Duty Act 2004 did not impose a duty on the DMBs to deduct N50 on bank deposits.

http://investorsking.com/fg-makes-n13bn-stamp-duty/

Gas production in Nigeria has gained more momentum following the completion of a key project in the Niger Delta by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited Joint Venture.

The SPDC announced on Wednesday that production had commenced at Gbaran-Ubie Phase 2, which would help to boost gas supply to the domestic market and maintain supply to the export market.

Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer and largest holder of natural gas reserves on the continent, with about 187 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves and 600 Tcf of unproven gas reserves. The country, which has the ninth largest gas reserves in the world, is only the 22nd largest producer of natural gas.

The Gbaran-Ubie Phase 2 followed the success of the first phase of the Gbaran-Ubie integrated oil and gas development, which was commissioned in June 2010.

Peak production at Gbaran-Ubie Phase 2 is expected in 2019 with approximately 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, comprising about 864 million standard cubic feet of gas per day and 26,000 barrels of condensate per day, according to the SPDC.

“The latest development at Gbaran-Ubie is a powerful statement on the continuing commitment of the SPDC and our Joint Venture partners to harness Nigeria’s oil and gas resources for the benefit of the country and stakeholders,” the SPDC Managing Director and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, said.

He said the project was delivered safely through an integrated team with a significant engagement and empowerment of community service providers and Nigerian companies.

According to a statement, eighteen wells have been drilled and a new pipeline constructed between Kolo Creek and Soku, which connects the existing Gbaran-Ubie Central Processing Facility to the Soku Non-Associated Gas plant.

It said first gas flowed from the wells in March 2016, with the facilities coming on stream in July 2017.

The Vice-President, Nigeria and Gabon, Shell, Peter Costello, said, “This is exciting news for Nigeria as it signals Shell’s continued strategy of deploying investment and expertise in our areas of strength.

“Our aim is to continue to explore areas of partnership in Nigeria where the right conditions exist and where we can add best value.”

Shell said the Gbaran-Ubie Phase 2 would help to process the condensate from Kolo Creek, Gbaran, Koroama and Epu fields, thereby assisting in reducing the volume of flaring from its operations, adding that the project had contributed to economic development in the Niger Delta and assisted the local community and Nigerian companies.

The oil major said during construction, members of the community and local sub-contractors provided goods and services in line with the provisions of a Global Memorandum of Understanding.

It said training was also provided to the community in pipeline maintenance, scaffolding, welding and piping fabrication.

The SPDC is the operator of the JV involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, SPDC, Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Eni subsidiary, the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited.

The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, had recently said that the corporation’s strategic plan for gas was to deliver five billion scfd to the domestic market by 2020, without losing focus on retaining and expanding the country’s share of the global market.

He said the recent drive by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC to create an enabling environment for growth of the domestic gas market could not be overemphasised.

He said based on a projected domestic gas supply deficit of three billion scfd, the corporation had identified seven critical gas development projects, which could be delivered in the short and medium term to bridge the impending gas supply shortfall.

Baru said, “So far, over 1000km of major gas pipelines have been laid and commissioned; an additional 470km is currently in construction phase while a further 1400km is intended for construction before the end of 2017.

“Also, along with the development of physical infrastructure, commercial frameworks are being put in place to support the growth of the domestic gas market. Progress has also been made in the reduction of flared gas volumes from a peak of 2.5bscfpd a couple of years ago to about a current volume of 700MMscfpd.”

http://investorsking.com/nigerias-gas-production-rises-shell-completes-project/

Mayweather

PassingShot:
It's even unfortunate that it's so easy to move money out of the economy by the investors.

It must be reasonably difficult to withdraw huge cash from the economy no matter the ease of doing business strategy/policy employed.

Everything is easy in Nigeria, even Kemi Adeosun said it's too easy to steal in Nigeria.

But I guess this transfer would be done via proxies.

This will further aid second quarter FDI and boost economic activities of non-oil sector.

However, we need the CBN to lower policy rate to encourage local players participation in national building. All these foreign investors, like the MTN that transferred $13 billion illegally out of the country in 2016, will continue to take profit regardless of economic situation, leaving economic deficit/crisis that we will have to deal with continually.

We need people, investors, and businesses that can earn and spend in the economy.

The National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday released the capital importation report, stating that investment inflows into the country rose by 95.02 per cent from $884.1m in the first quarter of this year to $1.79bn in the second quarter.

The bureau in the report which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja attributed the main driver of the quarterly growth in capital importation in the second quarter to 146.7 per cent increase in Portfolio Investments.

This, it added, was followed by Other Investments, which grew by 95.02 per cent, and then Foreign Direct Investment, which increased by 29.8 per cent over the previous quarter.

It stated, “The total value of capital imported into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2017 was estimated to be $1.792bn. This figure was $884.1m more than the figure recorded in Q1 2017, a growth of 95.02 per cent.

“Year on year, this was an increase of 43.6 per cent from the $1.04bn recorded in Q2 of 2016. A month on month analysis of capital importation in the second quarter shows that the month of May recorded the highest of amount of capital importation ($616.5m), followed by June with $612.6m and May with $563.3m.

“The main driver of the quarterly growth in capital importation in the second quarter was Portfolio Investments, which increased by 145.7 per cent, followed by Other Investments, which grew by 95.02 per cent, and then Foreign Direct Investment, which increased by 29.8 per cent over the previous quarter.”

Portfolio Investment, according to the report was the largest component of imported capital in the second quarter of 2017, and accounted for $770.5m, or 43 per cent respectively of the total.

This was closely followed by Other Investments, which accounted for $747.5m, or 41.7 per cent, and then FDI, which accounted for $274.4 or 15.3 per cent during the quarter.

The NBS report said that the state to import the most capital into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2017 was Lagos, as in all previous quarters.

It added, “Lagos is the commercial and financial capital of Nigeria, and home to Nigeria’s Stock Exchange where shares are traded. As such, it accounts for most of the capital imported into the country.

http://investorsking.com/investment-inflow-nigeria-rises-95-1-7bn-nbs/

The total turnover of forex transactions on the Investors and Exporters window stood at US$7.62 billion as at August 11, a report has shown.

The increase, according to the monthly analysis by FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, has been consistent since April 2017.

They projected that the turnover in August 2017 would also be higher than that of July 2017.

The report pointed out that the implementation of the Investors’ and Exporters’ Foreign Exchange (FX) window has increased the supply of foreign exchange into the Nigerian economy.

In addition, it has attracted more investments into Nigeria.

“Consequently, we observed relative stability in the foreign exchange market. Companies and individuals are now able to access more foreign exchange in the market than before to carry out eligible transactions and economic activities are gradually picking up,” they added.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced the special window for investors, exporters and end-users of forex on April 21, 2017 as part of its efforts to deepen the forex market and accommodate all forex obligations.

According to the CBN, the objective of the window is to increase liquidity in the forex market and ensure timely execution and settlement of eligible transactions.

The eligible transactions in the window are: invisible transactions such as loan repayment, capital repatriation, management services fees, consultancy fees, software subscription, technology transfer agreements, personal home remittances and any other eligible invisible transactions.

Another one is the Bills for Collection as well as any other trade-related obligations (at the instance of the customers).

The CBN stipulates that the supply of foreign currency to the window shall be through portfolio investors, exporters, authorised dealers and other parties with foreign currency to exchange to naira.

The CBN is also a market participant in the window to promote liquidity and professional market conducts.

“The introduction of the window has encouraged exporters to bring back their export proceeds to the country and through the official sources, thus increasing the stock of foreign exchange in the country. “Another important gain of the window is that it has attracted more foreign capital into Nigeria for various forms of investment.

“Our analysis of the capital importation data from the CBN between January and May, 2017 shows that there was a growth in capital importation in 2017 compared with 2016.

“The total capital importation in the five months ended May 2017 stood at US$2.09 billion representing a growth of 82.78% compared with the US$1.42 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2016,” it added.

According to the report, Other Investments (OI) – Loans attracted the highest capital of US$886 million between January and May in 2017, followed by Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) – Equity of US$436 million and closely followed by Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) – Equity of US$413 million.

The report also revealed that capital imported into Nigeria increased significantly from US$244 million in March to US$563 million in April 2017, following the commencement of the programme.

The increased supply of forex led to an appreciation in the value of the naira as in the parallel market, the value of the naira appreciated by 7.87 per cent from N396/US$ on April 25, 2017 to N367.50/US$ as at August 11, 2017.

At the I&E window, the naira gained 2.82% from N374.96/US$ on April 25, 2017 to N364.78/US$ as at August 11, 2017. In the inter-bank market it also gained 0.1 per cent from N305.9/US$ on April 25, 2017 to N305.65/US$ on August 11, 2017.

“Although we commend the initiative and note the gains the Nigerian economy recorded since its implementation, we believe that the gains could be short-lived in the absence of complementary measures that will improve the competitiveness of the Nigerian economy.

“There is the need for concerted efforts to improve physical and human infrastructure in order to increase local production to meet local consumption and boost exports to generate diversified foreign exchange earnings,” it stated.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had told Arise TV that the I & E window was opened up for more and more people who are interested.

“That was why we introduced the I & E window. We said if you wanted forex, you can go to that market and buy it once it fits the pricing structure of the goods or whatever you want to do.

“And that has helped to some extent in complementing the flow of forex into the market and has resulted in the appreciation that we have seen. It is the market that determines the direction of the exchange rate,” he had said.

http://investorsking.com/forex-transactions-on-investors-exporters-window-hit-7-62bn/

You all need to visit investorsking.com/forex for detailed forex weekly outlook.

Forex Weekly Outlook August 21-25

Global uncertainties surged to a record high last week after Barcelona was attacked amid the U.S. Charlottesville violence and North Korea missile threat. Nevertheless, global economy remained moderately strong with the U.S. retail sales rising to a 7-month high in July, Euro-area economy growing at 0.6 percent rate and the Japanese economy sustaining its trade surplus for the second consecutive quarter.

http://investorsking.com/forex-weekly-outlook-august-21-25/

The naira closed at 370 per United States dollar at the parallel market on Friday, reversing the modest gain it recorded on Thursday.

The local unit had closed at 368/dollar on Thursday after closing at 370/dollar for most part of last week.

Analysts had warned that the naira would weaken against the greenback on the black market due to rising demand for the dollar.

The local currency had closed at 364/dollar two weeks ago.

Forex traders said surging demand for the dollar by summer holidaymakers and parents paying school fees for their children abroad were making the dollar to gain strength.

On the official interbank window, the local currency traded around 305.65 a dollar on Friday.

The gain on the investor window in recent times was fuelled by increased dollar inflows from offshore fund managers investing in the domestic equity market, traders said.

Meanwhile, the nation’s interbank overnight lending rate fell sharply on Friday to an average of 12 per cent from around 60 per cent a week ago after the Central Bank of Nigeria repaid matured treasury bills and a refund of excess cash deposited by banks to buy dollars.

The CBN sold $100m at its special intervention auction in the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, which was less than the amount requested by banks, leading to a refund of the excess deposited by banks on Friday.

The regulator also injected about N168bn in matured open market operation treasury bills into the system on Thursday, raising money market liquidity levels.

“The interbank rate is seen climbing again this week as the CBN resumes its aggressive liquidity mop up and sustains its intervention in the forex market,” one senior currency trader said.

The overnight lending rate jumped last week to as high as 100 per cent intraday after the central bank tightened liquidity to support the naira currency.

The regulatory bank has consistently issued OMO treasury bills to reduce excess liquidity in the money market and curb speculation on the local currency.

The CBN sold a total of N68.79bn worth of treasury bills on Friday in its bid to further tighten liquidity in the banking system.

The bank’s sales on Friday amounted to N65.5bn of 363-day open OMO treasury bills at 18.55 per cent, and N3.29m of the 174-day paper at 17.95 per cent.

http://investorsking.com/naira-reverses-gain-closes-at-370dollar/

The naira is seen weakening against the United States dollar on the black market in the coming days as demand for the dollar increases.

Stakeholders and industry analysts, however, said the local unit was expected to trade within a range on the investor and exporters forex window and official interbank market.

The local currency weakened to 370 against the dollar on the black market on Thursday, compared with 364/dollar last Thursday, Reuters reported.

This came on the back of surging demand for the dollar by summer holidaymakers and parents paying school fees for their children abroad, forex traders said.

The naira was quoted at 362.39 to a dollar on the investor and exporters forex window on Thursday against 367.49 per dollar last week.

On the official interbank window, the local currency traded around 305.65 to a dollar.

The gain on the investor window was fuelled by increased dollar inflows from offshore fund managers investing in the domestic equity market, traders said.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s shilling is expected to strengthen with commercial banks selling off the greenback, and the Zambian kwacha is set to firm as companies convert forex ahead of month-end salary payments.

Kenya’s shilling will firm, helped by commercial banks selling off dollars, tight liquidity in money markets and political tensions easing after the opposition said it would challenge the August 8 presidential election results in court.

“I still think that it may firm. People are unwinding their long positions pre-elections and also due to money market liquidity,” a senior trader at one commercial bank told Reuters.

The shilling will also get a lift after opposition leader Raila Odinga said he would contest the election outcome in court, calming concerns that further street protests might bring widespread violence.

“That has eased tension. Players were a bit concerned about street protests, and now that is probably behind us,” the senior trader said.

The Zambian kwacha is likely to strengthen in the coming week, buoyed by hard currency conversions by companies preparing to pay salaries and other month-end dues.

Ghana’s cedi is seen firm next week on offshore portfolio inflows for the settlement of a five-year debt to be issued on Friday, according to an analyst.

“Investor confidence in the Ghanaian economy continues – we expect to see high offshore participation in this week’s bond sale and this will support the cedi,” analyst Joseph Amponsah of the Accra-based Dortis Research said.

http://investorsking.com/naira-weaken-dollar-demand-increases/

guterMann:
After years of not paying duty on his imported goods in Nigeria,creating unfavorable policies for his competitors(e.g Ibeto Cement) which took his competitors out of business and gave him a monopoly (I am not taking away his hard work,but clearly the government gave him an unfair advantage)



Now,one of the owners of Nigeria wants to invest in the west.

Investing $50b in the west is a loss to Africa,in terms of employment,infrastructures,foreign exchange reserve etc.

Nigeria will never work until her citizens are given level playing ground to compete.

THE SUN MUST SET FORTH AT DAWN

Well, give it to the man that has built everything from infrastructures to manpower, and be the first in almost all the industries he ventures into.

Go and watch world economic forum 2017, he was complaining about power, forex, poor business policy and government bureaucratic structure that prevent private business owners from assessing even basic things.

After years of navigating headwinds, I guess he is moving on. At least he has shown a lot of young entrepreneurs it can be done right here.

The richest man in Africa and the Chairman of Dangote Group plans to invest up to $50 billion in the U.S. and Europe by 2025.

The 60-year old Nigerian business tycoon said in a Bloomberg interview that he plans to focus on renewable energy and petrochemicals when he moves into these territories in 2020, after completing his $11 billion oil refinery and $5 billion agricultural projects in his home country, Nigeria.

“Beginning in 2020, 60 percent of our future investments will be outside Africa, so we can have a balance,” said Dangote, worth $11.6 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. Dangote Group’s major investment will be in the U.S. and Europe, he said. “I think renewables is the way to go forward, and the future. We are looking at petrochemicals but can also invest in other companies.”

Dangote, who has diversified across broad industries in the last five years. Expanded his Dangote Cement Plc, which accounts for about 80 percent of his wealth, into other nine African countries aside Nigeria.

In 2015, the billionaire commenced a 650,000 barrel a day refinery project in Lagos, Nigeria, and presently building the largest sub-sea pipeline infrastructure in the world to handle three billion SCF of gas per day.

Also, Dangote plans to build a 570 MW power plant in his complex and augment natural domestic gas supply.

“Gas from its pipeline will augment the natural domestic gas supply with an additional 12,000MW of power generation added to the grid from its gas system.

http://investorsking.com/dangote-invest-50-billion-u-s-europe-2025/ mynd44

A total of N400bn was received in bribes by public officials within a period of one year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

The NBS stated this in its National Corruption Report, adding that 32.3 per cent of Nigerian adults who had contact with public officials between June 2015 and May 2016 had to pay bribes to the government workers.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, was prepared by the NBS in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

It said the majority of those who paid bribes to public officials did so more than once over the course of the year.

According to the survey, bribe payers in Nigeria pay an average of six bribes in one year, or one bribe every two months.

By combining the total number of people who paid bribes to public officials with the frequency of the payments, the NBS report estimated that a total of 82.3 million bribes were paid in the 12-month period.

This, the report stated, resulted in an average of almost one bribe paid by every adult Nigerian per year.

The report read in part, “Taking into account the fact that nine out of every 10 bribes paid to public officials in Nigeria are paid in cash and the size of the payments made, it is estimated that the total amount of bribes paid to public officials in Nigeria in the 12 months was around N400bn, the equivalent of $4.6bn in purchasing power parity.

“This sum is equivalent to 39 per cent of the combined federal and state education budgets in 2016.

The average sum paid as a cash bribe in Nigeria is approximately N5,300, which is equivalent to $61 – PPP.

“This means that every time a Nigerian pays a cash bribe, he or she spends an average of 28.2 per cent of the average monthly salary of N18,900.

“Since bribe payers in Nigeria pay an average of 5.8 bribes over the course of one year, 92 per cent of which are paid in cash, they spend an average of N28,200 annually on cash bribes – equivalent to 12.5 per cent of the annual average salary.”

The NBS report said 85.3 per cent of bribery cases in Nigeria were initiated either directly or indirectly by public officials, adding that almost 70 per cent of bribes were paid before any service was rendered.

“With such a large portion of public officials initiating bribes, which are paid upfront, it seems that many public officials show little hesitation in asking for a kickback to carry out their duty and that bribery is an established part of the administrative procedure in Nigeria,” it added.

While money is the most important form of bribe payment in Nigeria, the report stated that other forms such as the provision of food and drink, the handing over of valuables or the exchange of another service or favour also existed.

The report further revealed that 42 per cent of bribes in Nigeria were paid to speed up or finalise an administrative procedure that might otherwise be delayed for a long period or even indefinitely.

According to the report, the second largest proportion of bribes is paid to avoid a fine through frequent encounters with police, while 13 per cent of all bribes are paid to avoid the cancellation of public utility services, an indication that the provision of the most basic amenities, including water and sanitation, can be subject to abuse of power by public officials in Nigeria.

The report stated that law enforcement agents such as the police and judiciary workers such as judges and magistrates were the highest takers of bribe in Nigeria.

It stated, “Police officers are the type of public officials to whom bribes are most commonly paid in Nigeria. Of all adult Nigerians who had direct contact with police officers in the 12 months prior to the survey, almost half paid the officers at least one bribe, and in many cases, more than one since police officers are also among the three types of public officials to whom bribes are paid most frequently in Nigeria.

“At the same time, the average bribe paid to police officers is somewhat below the average bribe size.

“Although fewer people come into contact with judiciary officials than with police officers over the course of the year, when they do, the risk of bribery is considerable: at 33 per cent, the prevalence of bribery in relation to prosecutors is the second highest, closely followed by judges and magistrates.”

Other public officials with a high risk of bribery, according to the report, are car registration/driving licence officers (28.5 per cent); tax and customs officers (27.3 per cent); road traffic management officials (25.5 per cent); public utilities officers (22.4 per cent); and land registry officers (20.9 per cent).

“This shows that corruption takes place across a number of different sectors of the public administration and that certain public officials have a disproportionate impact on the daily lives of Nigerians,” it added.

http://investorsking.com/govt-officials-received-n400bn-bribes-one-year-nbs/

Local rice production in Nigeria has now reached 15 million metric tonnes annually, the government has claimed.

It said the development means the country will now be saving about N300 billion it used to spend annually on importation of the commodity.

The Director of Agriculture at the Kano office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Muhammad Adamu, made the claim yesterday while inaugurating the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria, (RIMAN) in the state.

He said in Kano alone, 1.2 million metric tonnes of rice was produced in 2016.

He said with the significant increase in local productions and the efforts to make the local variety qualitative and more attractive to Nigerians, the country expects to begin exporting rice to West African countries by 2018/2019.

Adamu, according to Premium Times, said about 34 states in Nigeria are producing rice, with many now producing three times in a year.

He disclosed that investigation carried out by the federal government revealed that rice imported to Nigeria are 10-15 years old and are preserved with chemicals which can cause cancer to consumers.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rice Miller’s Association, Peter Dama, said, the association was established to promote local milling of rice that is fresh, healthy and nutritious.

He said the association is willing to collaborate with the Nigeria Customs Service to stem smuggling of expired rice into Nigeria.

Dama added that the association intended to work closely with regulatory agencies and policymakers to ensure standard in local rice milling.

The customs officer in charge of rice enforcement, Ado Hassan, warned that officers caught conniving with rice smugglers would have themselves to blame.

He said in less than one year, the zonal command of the agency confiscated 800,000 bags of rice in Kano and Jigawa States.

He said about 9,000 bags of the rice are still in the stores of the agency, adding that most of the rice were being given to internally displaced persons after been certified fit for consumption by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

http://investorsking.com/local-rice-production-hits-15m-tonnes/