₦airaland Forum

South African based Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. announced plans to enter Nigeria after posting a 26 percent increase in full-year profit.

The company said it agreed to partner with Nigeria Stock Exchange listed AG Leventis & Co. to enter the Nigerian market because of its over 90 years’ experience doing business in Nigeria.

“A key part of the group’s strategy is to establish a second engine of growth in markets in the rest of Africa,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Pick n Pay will hold 51 percent of the operation in Nigeria, “which will roll out a combination of large and smaller formats to meet consumer needs.”

Currently, South African retailers are experiencing weak domestic consumer confidence, a weak currency and rising interest rates. The central bank cut economic growth forecast for South Africa to 0.8 percent this year, the slowest pace since the 2009 recession.

While speaking to the press after the company’s year-end results, CE Richard Brasher said:

“The opportunity presented by Nigeria is well-known: a population of 180m, an economy worth US$500 billion, and GDP growth of around 5% a year. Some analysts forecast that by 2030 Nigeria could have 160m households with sufficient incomes for discretionary spending, and a consumer goods market worth more than US$1 trillion.

“The development of modern shopping malls since 2005 in a few major cities reflects rising incomes and changing lifestyle options enjoyed by middle class Nigerians. Existing formal players in this market have relatively little scale.

“Nigeria is a country and a market which Pick n Pay cannot ignore in its quest for long-term sustainable growth. The challenge of course is how to succeed in Nigeria. We can all point to examples which have not worked.

“I set three pre-conditions for success in the Nigerian market:

First, we need to understand local consumer needs and how these are evolving in the country. We have done an enormous amount of research on-the-ground over the past two years to get this right.

Secondly, given the complexities of the Nigerian market, we believe a joint venture with an experienced local partner is the right approach. I am delighted with our decision to enter Nigeria with AG Leventis, which has nearly 90 years’ trading experience in the country. AG Leventis has huge expertise in supply chain logistics from their activities in the FMCG, motor vehicle, logistics and real estate sectors, and notable FMCG capabilities through Leventis Foods.

Thirdly, as elsewhere in Africa, our growth must take place in a deliberate, planned, and unhurried way, without putting the business under undue risk.

“Leventis is a family business with a similar operating ethos to that of Pick n Pay and I am confident that we have the right decision, the right partner and the right plan.”

AG Leventis Group Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Michael Economakis said:

http://investorsking.com/south-africas-pick-n-pay-to-expand-into-nigeria/

SnakeDoctor2020:
But that was just August 01 2015? Anyways, it's good to know that you have fixed it.

How old are you?

Ubenedictus:
if all forex restriction are removed the country will run out of forex

That is what they made you believe, $20 billion still siting in private accounts because businesses don't trust current policy. With half of that in circulation, it would be better than what we have now. Its basic economics

AZeD1:
This is all speculation.
How did IBB's sap work out for the country?

No, not speculation, CBN said $20 billion idle in private accounts, remember our foreign reserves is just $27 billion now. With additional $5 billion of idle $20 billion in circulation, goodbye to forex scarcity but private businesses are not ready to risk such amount yet.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/-20bn-idle-in-private-accounts-cbn-says/136532.html

NavierStokes:
Zimbabwe was a progressing society, The original plan of the West was to live side by side with the locals, but that old comedian single handedly based on pride and to the detriment of his country changed all of that. We as followers can cheer them on that we have a man giving it to the west, but at the end of the day who suffers inflation on the streets, Mugabe? or the common zimb, who has to carry trillions to buy bread.lol

Everyday gym routine

NavierStokes:
The same west that was instrumental to his getting into power in the 80's. Africans should blame their useless leaders and leave the west alone. They are not perfect but still, one to one, the average western leader still has an accommodating heart than the average African leader. Imagine vexing for a country that they refuse to give you their own Ebola Vaccine. Na wa Oh na Thief you be ?, the same Paranoia that allowed HIV/AIDS to spread to the level it currently is, when African Leaders refused to heed to all the warnings of experts at the time, only for us to still till date be managing it with free vaccines they donate to us. The same way they selectively implemented the SAP and corruptly administered the whole process, today every one has forgotten IBB, but still remember the IMF.

My Woman studied at Oxford, and she had these views of the average Nigerian but when she got in there she had no option than to shake her head in pity at her earlier ignorance and stance,because most times they try to give advice to these African or third world leaders, one well fed ignoramus will be the one stifling implementation not based on any fundamentals other than his miserable opinion. Truth is they look out for their interests, like everyone else, but good thing about them is they also have enough to spare looking out for those who have repeatedly not been able to look out for themselves.

Look at what they did with South Africa, Australia, Israel, etc but look at what our man did with Zimbabwe, even Papua New Guinea, Melanesia after Dutch left. The problem is not the West, all deals have agreement, we have the right to review and make adjustments according to our needs but our issue is lack of knowledgeable leaders.

For instance, UK wants a new deal to continue to be part of EU, the draft was completed since 24 Feb for a June 23 referendum. Currently being reviewed by experts, our FG signed a deal same week in China, if in few years something is wrong with that deal. Nigerians will blame China.

NavierStokes:
I had added a text to the original piece up there. A lot of Nigerians sorry Africans have this paranoia about anything west or IMF . The west have their humanitarian sides and their business sides, and in all they understand one thing that they do what is best for them self and for the group. Nigerians expect the IMF to do the job of the UNO or UNICEF, they are all set up for different reasons.

In all they protect themselves by giving us earnings because when we flip, we will still come to them to borrow or send refugees across or ask for hand outs you see either ways we are their problem.

They like to flex their muscles to exercise their independence, but true freedom comes with greater responsibility not abject poverty.

Imagine Mugabe hatred is so much, he forgets winning the West means achieving more for Zimbabwe and not when inflation rate reached 79,600,000,000%.

AZeD1:
You don't get it. We don't have the dollars to go around. Even if you devalue, we still won't have enough and you know want happens when plenty money chases fewer goods.

Sorry, you don't seems to understand it. We are losing more dollar by selling bellow realistic exchange rate, whereas majority of people buy it at black market rate. Forex policy need to be adjusted before we lose more jobs due to foreign companies leaving the economy.

Current scarcity is what is pushing the exchange rate up on the parallel market, inflation at 4 years high, FDI low, etc. I am sure FG don't want to add more unemployment to all that.

AZeD1:
1) The scarcity of the dollar is not caused by the rate so devaluing doesn't solve the scarcity, rather it would push the black market rate up further.
2) We really don't export anything so the idea of our goods being cheaper is economic theory.
3) You need to understand that foreigners that are calling for devaluation are doing it in there own interest not because they like us?

1) Devaluing would not pushed black market rate up but normalize it. It means instead of majority of us buying it at speculators' price we will be buying at official rate or something closer.

2) By fixing naira at 197 -199, we are losing money because the major means from which we generate foreign reserves is not fixed and has fell more than 70% so far, but we refused to make realistic adjustment to contain such changes. Saudi Arabia is enjoying the Riyal fixed because her foreign reserves is huge, $744,440,558,276 and can cover over $200 billion deficit created by the current oil glut.

3) Not for their own interest but a more conducive working environment.

Note: I am not favouring devaluation at this stage because of current oil price appreciation, but forex policy need to be adjusted to accommodate these foreign companies, if not we will lose jobs and unemployment rate will surge with scaring inflation rate. Our Foreign Direct Investment that is nosediving, will plunge even more, so what is the essence of a policy that can't create jobs, yet losing the ones already created.

If the current oil prices appreciation can be sustained we will be out of this whole devaluation soon, but pending June meeting of oil producers, FG needs to make provisions for these foreign companies in their forex policy.

There is no point adding to our unemployment rate because of rigid policy with no basis in modern economics.

Saudi is the problem, other nations present at the summit said an agreement could be reached without Iran, but Saudi will do anything not to lose market share to Iran.

Oil Plunged to almost two months low as Saudi Arabia and Iran pulled out of oil-freeze discussions to cap production on Sunday.

Currencies of oil exporting nations also tumbled, followed by Global stocks as demand for safe haven assets boosted the yen and Treasuries.

The Canadian dollar and Russia’s ruble posted the biggest losses, while U.S. oil, West Texas Intermediate plunged 6.8 percent during Asia trading session on Monday.

Japanese yen rose to 17 month high against the U.S. dollar after G20 finance ministers oppose restraining the safe haven gains. The Stoxx Europe 600 and U.S. futures declined, with MSCI Asia Pacific index of shares plunging from a four months high.

Global equities rebounded from multi-year lows two months ago amid prospect oil producers would freeze production to address global glut.

“There was an expectation baked into prices that you’d see a production freeze, and with no resolution, it adds to negative drivers for the oil price, commodities and commodity currencies,” said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners in Wellington, which manages about $7.2 billion. “We will probably see equity markets go off the boil as some of that recent strength in the materials and energy stocks unwinds. The reporting season remains in focus this week.”

According to Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Nigerian Oil Minister, the parties would meet again in June for further discussions.

http://investorsking.com/oil-plunges-as-iran-pulled-out-of-oil-freeze-discussions/

This is old news, since last year November. That was when Russia adopted it, followed by Zimbabwe. Two heavily sanctioned nations.

Its percent of the basket is small, 10.92 percent and won't even be effective till 1 October 2016.

caxim04:
I think we should be worried about implementation and sustainability. We already have list of prohibited items if we maintain it, we will only import what we need from China.

You don't seems to grasp the bigger picture, the 41 restricted items are minute to what await us.

ElDaIllest:
thanks bro I'll get it right away...have you read the legendary "think and grow rich" by Napoleon Hill? that book changed my life

You are welcome, yes bro.

Folks, Happy to report that due to eternal vigilance, principled and resilient pressure Abubakar Bukola Saraki has lost the case before Billionaire Justice Abu-Kafarati today, the federal has just delivered his judgement claiming the lawsuit filed by Saraki asking to disqualify Justice Danladi Umar of the Code of Conduct Tribunal amounts to abuse of court process and that most of the reliefs sought have been decided in other courts before now.

Kafarati knew these all along but was hoping to play smart on our people.

Thanks for staying the course. The CCT trial will resume next week Monday -April 18 2016. We'll be keeping an eye on the technicians in charge of electricity in the building as well as Judge Umar.
TGIF...have a pleasant weekend!

This was just posted by Omoyele Sowore on his Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/YeleSowore?fref=nf

Spanish Industry Minister, Jose Manuel Soria resigned on Friday following his contradicting explanations over links to an offshore company listed in the Panama Paper.

Soria came under heavy scrutiny early in the week over his involvement in an offshore firm, U.K. Lines Limited, set up by Mossack Fonseca.

He also resigned as the chairman of the regional Popular Party in the Canary Islands. He is expected to appear before the parliament on Monday morning to explain his version of events.

According to El Confidencial and La Sexta, Mr. Soria was the director of the Bahamas based company for two months period in 1992, while he joined politics in 1995 as the Mayor of Las Palmas (Canary Islands). The said company was wound up weeks prior to his first election 21 years ago.

Media analysts believe the minister handled the media presentation badly – and subsequent public fallout of his difficulties over the course of the week.

The minister was quoted saying “I neither have nor have had companies registered in Panama”, he said, apparently failing to remember the company was registered in the Bahamas: “it’s false”.

On Thursday, El Mundo published an article indicating Mr. Soria as a director of yet another company, a Jersey based offshore company called Mechanical Trading Limited up until November 2002, when it was dissolved.

Not only did the new revelation disprove the minister’s own aggressive denials, it also showed he had been the director of the offshore company, Mechanical Trading Limited, while he was the Mayor of Las Palmas in the 1990s.

http://investorsking.com/spanish-industry-minister-jose-manuel-soria-resigns-over-panama-leaks/

birdman:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6e994bb0-0190-11e6-99cb-83242733f755.html

A more even handed analysis - looks like in principle this is a good deal. Maybe not the best, but I think its better than anything "traditional economists" would have offered

The wrong data invalidated the whole analysis

Seun:
It is my understanding that we already import a lot of goods from China (alibaba, etc). Most Chinese exports are priced and paid for in dollars.

Some questions for you:
1) What was preventing us from doing more of our importing from China before we decided to borrow billions of dollars from China?
2) How exactly will our borrowing billions of dollars from China cause us to suddenly start doing more of our importing from China?
3) What was preventing us from using the Yuan to pay for imports from China before we decided to borrow billions of dollars from China.
4) How exactly will borrowing billions of dollars from China cause us to suddenly start paying for Chinese goods with the Yuan instead of dollar?

To be honest these are very important questions that most people won't ask, China is looking for ways to further her business reach while trying to transform its economy to a consumption dependent economy instead of exports, hence the need to invest in other regions where their exports can be pushed to.

China has been looking for a way to substantially infiltrate Africa's largest market, I am afraid Buhari offer that opportunity with this loan agreement. Nullifying every campaigns for diversification to enhance our exports via local raw materials.

In as much as the deal will allow importers and traders access both finished and unfinished goods at a lower commission, the long-term implications is more than what Nigerians are been sold.

santori:
the question is who is accusing china of unethical practices, america bah? china is not a feeding bottle country like Nigeria that allows America to dictate what it should do to its country at the expense of its citizens interest

Is it only America that is trading with China? Currency manipulation affect all trading partners, US are more vocal because of the volume of their trades with China. Even Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, etc all accused China.

Can I ask you why Chinese billionaires prefer Dollar and Yen to Yuan?

50calibre:
Same way Dillian whyte beat AJ in their previous fight, doesn't mean anything. A lot can happen in 3 years.

Saying he gave fury a "beating of his life" is a exaggeration.

AJ is hardworking but so are other top fighters like Fury so it's going to come down to heart, skill & sense

Fury is 6"9 not 6"7 and he has way better mobility than AJ. AJ is stiff, robotic and relies too much on power.

AJ is in good physical condition but I'm sorry that's not a boxer's body, he too muscular and sooner or later you'd see repercussions of that.

You don't seems to be following Fury and AJ well enough. I didn't exaggerate anything, that was what Fury said himself oga.

You are very funny, have you ever trained for boxing? Fury running is his style of fighting and fans have called him out, he said he is white Mayweather, what an excuse. Trust me AJ move better than Fury, go and watched how he chased down Dillian Whyte in round seven, his other fights never lasted that long.

Imagine you are comparing Dillian Whyte amateur fight with Anthony Joshua to established Heavyweight fighter and an upcoming fighter that has not even stepped in the ring.

Let me ask you, why did Fury relinquish his IBF belt instead of fighting Parker?

Again stop saying muscular, boxing has evolved. There is no way someone that is doing cardio like an athlete won't have speed or mobility.

Hope they know China Yuan is unreliable, because of China spontaneous devaluation to boost exports whenever the Yuan is appreciating against the dollar.

Since Russia accepted Yuan as part of her reserves investors have reportedly lost over 30% of their savings in Yuan because of constant devaluation by the People's Bank of China.

China is known for one thing doctoring all economic data to attract investors, if anyone will do business of this capacity with China, its not during this period that China equity market has lost over $4 trillion dollars in value and have constantly been accused of unethical practices to make her market attractive.

50calibre:
If you judge the current Tyson Fury based on that, then you haven't been paying attention.

It would be fool hardy for any of Tyson fury's opponents to think he's still the same fighter. Fury has come a long way, lost a lot of weight and honed his boxing skills

Besides getting knocked down doesn't mean shi*t if you get back on your feet and win the fight.. It shows heart

Ali got knocked down by Henry cooper and super bum Chuck Wepner doesn't mean anything

Joshua got skinny muscular legs too and yet despite the fact he isn't as tall as fury, he doesn't move around the ring as well as fury does.. Joshua has zero footwork

When dillian sparked him with a left hook, you could see his legs wobble hahaha

Tyson Fury stands no chance against hardworking Joshua, that is the plain truth. In 2013 when Joshua just turned pro he gave Fury a beating of his life and almost KO him during sparring section. That was when Fury started shouting AJ on every interview, but now that AJ is bigger than him he changed tune.

AJ is 6.6 and Fury is 6.7, Fury just seems taller because of poor body conditioning. Fury is white Mayweather boring as hell, running up and down. That is why he will never be respected or even attracts casual boxing fans.

ElDaIllest:
saving alone cannot make you rich... Perhaps saving to invest is more appropriate

I think you will like Daymond Johnson new book, Power of Broke

yeahmoney24:
I DID MINE IN UPM ALSO ITS NOT COMPULSORY YOU DO MEDICAL YOU CAN GO FOR MEDICAL WHEN YOU ARRIVE
MY VDR IS OUT AND Medical Screening Not Attended

Application Number: 700024512
Application Type: New
Application Status: VAL Approved
Current Status: Your application for Visa Approval Letter (VAL) has been Approved by the Immigration Department of Malaysia.
Medical Checkup in Malaysia: Public University Clinics
Pre-VAL Medical Checkup: Medical Screening Not Attended

You will still need to do for "YELLOW FEVER vaccination", since you are coming from yellow fever endemic region. If not immigration will keep you for around a week for quarantine.

Anthony Joshua speaks!

“Every heavyweight has power, but it’s about speed. I showed him levels, I said I would. There’ll probably be some negativity, people saying Martin was easy, but a few days ago he was this big dangerous southpaw”

“I don’t take nonsense from no-one, but I’m humble... all the hype is good for everyone in boxing. Get behind every boxer, not just myself. They’ve been calling me out since last year… I’m going to keep grinding, keep working… when I step into the ring, I’ll be ready”

I told people AJ is the future of boxing, just 16 fights and he is world champion, all opponents knocked-out. Tyson Fury and his team of haters better start training really hard because AJ is coming for him.

Now people can see why klitschko were kin on signing him.

AJ is the third boxer in history to be regning olympic champion and world champion at the same time after muhammad ali and leon spinks.

Anthony Joshua is the IBF heavyweight champion of the world!

The O2 is an absolute cauldron, every Joshua hit drawing a huge roar. Early in round two, a right hand from Joshua connects – and Martin is down! He looks totally dazed, barely beating the count... and Joshua pounces instantly, ruthlessly, to send the champion back to the floor. The referee ends the fight inside two rounds!

Joshua moves with a left jab, and misses with a right-hander. Martin is reluctant to step in, keeping his left raised. He has an advantage on range, but Joshua is cautious too. A right-hander does connect, and another, exploiting Martin’s upright stance. A couple of swings from Martin, and Joshua lands another right! A tentative start, but that’s Joshua’s round.

Anthony Joshua via twitter ‎@anthonyfjoshua. Wrapped and ready! #AJBoxing

AJ is on his way to the ring for London’s first heavyweight title fight in fifteen years. It’s time!

Then never start am, 11 Pm Uk time