As audited accounts of companies start to trickle in, a lot of shareholders whose annual target is gain may be disappointed this year, as the weak naira has taken its toll on companies, especially those that rely on imported raw materials as foreign exchange differentials continued to put pressure on earnings.

Nestle Nigeria, for instance, posted lowest growth in profi t and it has proposed a fi nal dividend of N17.5 for each share, down from N19.02 dividend it paid a year ago. This of cause has affected its share price, dropping 21.4 per cent year to date to close at N820.00 per share, from N995.60 per share at which it opened for trading on January this year.

The company earned N21.26 per share at the end of the third quarter of 2014, earned N28.07 per share at the end of 2013 and paid a total cash dividend of N24.0 per share. Earnings per share stood at N26.67 in 2012, representing an increase of 28 per cent on N20.81 recorded in 2011. Gross dividend increased by 59 per cent from N9.95bn for 2011 to N15.8bn for 2012, representing dividend per share of N20 for 2012, as against N12.55 distributed in 2011.

Structure

Nestle Nigeria engages in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of food products including purifi ed water throughout the country and West Africa. The company operates in two business segments: food and beverages. Its food segment includes the production and sale of Maggi, Cerelac, Nutrend, Nan, Lactogen and Golden Morn. Its beverages segment includes the production and sale of Milo, Milo Ready to Drink, Chocomilo, Nido, Nescafe, Nestle Pure Life among others.

Business strategy

To stimulate industrial growth, the company has long term sustainable business practices. Almost all of the company’s key ingredients are sourced locally through farmers and suppliers where available. In addition to its commitment to local sourcing of raw agricultural materials, the Company is involved in two major initiatives in the agricultural sector.

In 2011, Nestle Nigeria commenced a new project to help farmers increase output and quality of cassava starch production in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan. The project is aimed at increasing productivity per hectare in cassava through multiplication and dissemination of high yielding varieties and ensuring smallholder farmers’ benefi t from improved cassava management practices.

The project will enable sustainable supply of cassava roots (with high starch content) to local processors. The company has committed over N120m on this project for over two years. The second project, Grains Quality Improvement initiative is aimed at ensuring high quality grains by reducing Mycotoxin contamination in grains through good agricultural and storage practices. This project has signifi cantly reduced the nutritional and economic losses in grains and legumes and ensures high quality raw materials for the factory.

Profitability

For the fi nancial year ended December 31, 2014, the company announced a profi t after tax of N22.2bn, a decline of 0.09 per cent when compared to N22.3bn recorded in the same period of 2013. Though the company recorded increase of 7.74 per cent in its turnover, the cost of sales and fi nance cost affected its net profi t. The revenue stood at N143.3bn in 2014, from N133.1bn recorded in 2013 fi nancial year.

Further analysis showed that administrative expenses rose to N7.34bn, from N6.02bn in 2013, while fi nance cost increased to N5.3bn in the review period, from N2.15bn in the corresponding period of 2013. Distribution, marketing and sales expenses stood at N24.7bn, from N22.9bn in 2013.

Profit performance is indicating even greater weakness for the food and beverage company. The company recorded a sharp deceleration in profi t last year. It closed third quarter operations with a marginal decline in profi t, which is a refl ection of inability to improve profi t margin in a slowly growing sales revenue situation. The company generated sales revenue of N102.7bn in the third quarter, which is a moderate increase of 7.6 per cent year-on-year

Liquidity

The company fi nancial position is weal, considering the borrowings and overdraft taken from banks. as at December 31, 2014, the company total assets stood at N106.1bn, a decline of 2.03 per cent when compared to N108.2bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2013. Property, plant and equipment rose to N67.5bn, from N65.9bn in 2013, while the value of long term debtors stood at N1.16bn in 2014, from N573.2bn in 2013. Cash and cash equivalent was N3.70bn, from N13.7bn in 2013, while prepayment stood at N398m, from N300m in 2013. The company total liabilities dropped marginally by 3.71 per cent to N70.1bn in the review period, from N67.6bn recorded in the same period of 2013. Short term borrowings increased to N12.7bn in 2014, from N947.8m in 2013, while long term borrowings reduced to N18.3bn, from N26.5bn in 2013. Working capital fell to N7.25bn, from N8.52bn in 2013, while net assets depreciated to N35.9bn, down 11.5 per cent from N40.6bn in 2013.

Analysts view

The consensus forecast covering Nestle Foods Nigeria is that the company will underperform the market. The analysts offering 12 month price targets for the company have a median target of N879.19, with a high estimate of N1, 150 and a low estimate of N646.60. The median estimate represents a 4.67 per cent increase from the last price of N840.00

With respect to operating expenses, we believe that the signifi cant growth in distribution, sales and marketing costs was part of a business strategy geared towards increasing product penetration and sustaining market leadership in a matured sector.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc sold half its stake in Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. of South Africa for 10.5 billion rand $842mto invest in new priorities as the U.K.’s largest drugmaker reorganizes.

Glaxo sold about 28.2 million shares in Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer through institutional investors for 372 rand a share, Johannesburg- based Aspen said in a statement on Friday. That’s almost eight times their value when they were issued to Glaxo six years ago. Aspen stock fell as much as 6 percent, the most since June.

Glaxo is reorganizing amid a slump in sales and profi t as its best-selling product, the asthma drug Advair, faces increased competition in the U.S. The company completed a deal with Novartis AG last year to sell its oncology franchise and acquire the Swiss drugmaker’s vaccines business. Glaxo sold the same number of Aspen shares in November 2013, raising about 7 billion rand. Its stake is now about 6.2 percent. The company can’t sell more shares for at least 180 days, Glaxo said.

“Our investment in the company has grown in value signifi cantly over time,” Glaxo Chief Financial Offi cer Simon Dingemans said in a statement on Thursday. “As we continue to reshape the group around our core franchises and drive the benefi ts from the Novartis transaction, optimizing our fi nancial fl exibility to invest behind these priorities is key.”

Aspen issued shares to Glaxo in May 2009 in return for the rights to to distribute the London-based drugmaker’s products in South Africa and as part of an agreement to market and sell medicines in sub-Saharan Africa. The stock traded at 48 rand that day, compared with Friday’s selling price of 372 rand.

“Glaxo is still very happy to work with Aspen,” Andre Bekker, an analyst at Avior Capital Markets Pty Ltd., said by phone. “Aspen sells a number of Glaxo products on behalf of Glaxo and distributes them on behalf of Glaxo, so the partnership is deeper than just the shareholding itself. I would assume that they’ll retain some shareholding in Aspen.”

Aspen, which supplies medicines in about 150 countries, has spent more than $2 billion in the last two years buying assets from London-based Glaxo and Merck & Co. to expand its geographic reach. Glaxo took a 25 percent stake in Aspen’s Japanese unit in October to boost commercial operations in the Asian country.

The stock has climbed 39 percent in the last year, and traded 4.4 percent lower at 388.50 rand at the close in Johannesburg, a three-month low. Glaxo’s shares traded 0.4 percent higher at 1,554 pence in London

The Charted Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, has accredited the Access Bank Academy to carry out training on banking matters. This was done after a careful study of the Bank’s foundation training programme which was attested to be second to none in Nigeria.

CIBN President, Mrs. ‘Debola Osibogun, who presented a certifi cation certifi cate to the Access Bank Plc, explained that with the accreditation, Access Bank Academy has the stamp of authority to train its workforce and by extension, build capacity for the banking and fi nance industry in the country as required under the competency framework.

The CIBN boss said the academy has met the requirements as stipulated by the Institute’s Linkage Committee and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in compliance with the competency framework instituted by the apex bank

She added that the exercise remains the fi rst set of accreditation certifi cate to be presented to a training service provider in the country.

Osibogun said the accreditation will open more routes for intending CIBN members to come on board and write the institute’s professional examinations. It is also a platform for producing banking professionals that are highly knowledgeable and competent while benchmarking with international standards.

The Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna, said the Bank has excellent and longstanding relationship with CIBN and that the accreditation will deepen the relationship between both parties.

He said the CBN competency framework has already spelt out what is needed to be taught at the academy adding that the bank is determined to invest in its people because as a service provider, its manpower remains its strength.

Ogbonna said participants in the programme will get exemptions from CIBN and must therefore, take advantage of the opportunity provided by the academy to enhance their capacity and skills in the profession. He said the Bank is excited at the opportunity provided by the academy and that the quality and integrity of exams conducted by the academy remain high.

Strong indications emerged that the Nigeria Customs Service might adopt stiff measures against import regulation defaulters in reaction to the current dwindling import volumes, which is also taking its toll on the revenue of the service.

Customs is funded by seven per cent of its total revenue generation, which has been facing serious threats due to the dwindling import volumes, occasioned by the general lull in the nation’s economy amid political uncertainties.

Founder of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, who spoke in Lagos at the weekend, observed that this is not the best of times for the service, an indication that it might be ruthless with any importer or freight agent, who indulges in any unwholesome practice that would further dip its revenue profi le.

“It should be very clear and obvious to practitioners that cargo throughput has drastically reduced in the Customs Ports leading to low collection of Customs duty. It is also obvious that the Service is not leaving any stone unturned with a view to blocking all loopholes that may lead to revenue leakages”, he said..

He warned particularly that the service might not likely treat with kid gloves any consignment linked with issues such as concealment, false declaration, wrong descriptions of import, over invoicing, under valuation and under invoicing of imports, which negatively affect its revenue directly.

While citing relevant sections of the CEMA, he warned that in addition to forfeiting the imported consignment associated with these unwholesome practices, the culprit might also be liable to a jail term or both.

“We should note that sections 46, 47 and 164 of CEMA deal with untrue declarations in general, which attract severe punishments including but not limited to seizure of import and prosecution of offenders”, he observed.

He also disclosed that at the moment it is perceived that the Service would most likely be stricter in dealing with deliberate abuse of due process in its operations.

“We therefore wish to advise that freight agents who want to have peace must now imbibe the principles of international best practices.

In other words, the need for genuine declaration for Customs’ purposes cannot be over emphasised”, he insisted.

Maersk, the global shipping giant, which also accounts for over 50 per cent of the entire shipments into the West and Central African sub-region including Nigeria had early in the year raised the alarm that its volume of shipments into Nigeria had dropped by about 30 per cent, an indication that Customs import revenue may have dropped by over 30 per cent.

Revenue fi gures already released by some commands of the service show a sharp decline, an indication that the service’s seven per cent deduction might also be negatively affected.

For instance, import revenue record released by the Tin Can Island command of the service shows that a total of N20.9bn was collected for the month of January 2015 as against that of N21.6bn collected in the comparative period of 2014.

Similarly, for the Ports and Terminal Multiservices Limited PTML, which is predominantly a Roll-On-Roll-Off RORO, port with little of containerised cargo, a total of N5.2bn was collected for January 2015 as against the N7.1bn collected in the comparative period of last year.

Lily Pond Container Terminal Command of the service was also negatively affected by the dwindling revenue generation.

Controller in charge of the command, Comptroller Mustafa Atiku, who spoke with news men recently, disclosed that out of a revenue target of N1.9bn, which was the command’s monthly target for last year, which is expected to increase, it was only able to collect N852m for the month of January 2015.

The six winners of the Sterling Bank Gunners Promo who emerged at the fourth Gunners Promo held at the weekend will have the opportunity of an all-expense paid trip to watch the home match involving Arsenal Football Club and Chelsea on April 26, 2015.

Disclosing this to newsmen after the fourth draw of the promo held over the weekend at the Bank’s corporate head offi ce, Sterling Towers, the Bank’s Group Head, Strategy & Communications, Mr. Shina Atilola said this was in line with the promise made by the Bank at the commencement of the Promo last year September.

According to Mr. Atilola, this brings to 24, the number of lucky winners that have emerged in the four draws held. The next draw holding in April will produce another set of six winners bringing the total number of winners to 30 adding that the Bank came up with the promo to reward customers for their loyalty, and encourage other football lovers to share the one-customer experience.

The Bank’s spoke-person explained that the promo, which kicked off in September 2014 would run till May 2015, and winners would emerge based on monthly draws to be held during the duration of the promo. The promo, he said, is designed to reward customers for their patronage and loyalty to the brand over the years in keeping with the Brand’s promise of putting customers fi rst

The six lucky winners are Kehinde Abdullahi Ademola, Sakariyau Adeleke Mustapha, Ignatius Peace Nnah and Adeleke Zainab Idowu. Others are Chinyere Okechukwu and Eludinni Taiwo Kemi.

An elated Kehinde who spoke with the “Femi & The Gang” crew that covered the event live for Nigerian Info commended the Bank for keeping to its promise.

“I’ve heard that Sterling Bank has been taking the winners of the promo to the Emirates Stadium to watch live matches between Arsenal and other teams, but I had never seen myself being a winner because l know the Bank has a data base of customers running into millions to pick from. But when l was called on phone by a staff of the Bank that l was picked, l was a little bit worried until the caller mentioned my branch and advised that l go to my branch and confi rm on Monday. This was the longest weekend l have ever had in my life and l thank God that it was eventually confi rmed when l visited the branch today (on Monday)”.

His position was also shared by Ignatius Peace Nnah and Adeleke Zainab who expressed their surprise when they were called from Sterling Bank and informed that they had won an all-expense paid trip to the Emirates in the on-going Sterling Gunners Promo to watch the live match between Arsenal and Chelsea.

The Bank explained that members of the banking public can open any of the Bank’s Sterling-Arsenal products such as Arsenal Kick-Off, Arsenal Premium or the Current account product – Arsenal Platinum to be part of the promo.

Isaiah Erhiawarien Despite the current drop in worldwide tablet shipments in the fourth quarter of 2014 according to the International Data Corporation, IDC, Nigeria has continues to be a hub for new mobile devices as the year 2015 continues to witnessed more of them entering the device market in Nigeria.

The most recent one to enter the market is Archos range of mobile device from France, which according to the Country Manager, Ademola Olukotun, came into country after years of successful consolidation of its presence in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Archos was established in 1988 by Henri Crohas and has developed a variety of products, including digital audio players, portable video players, PVP, digital video recorders, a personal digital assistant, netbooks, more recently tablet computers using Google Android and Microsoft Windows.

Managing Director of Achos, Fredrick Balay, said Archos has been successful in different markets where it operates like Europe and it is the fastest growing original equipment manufacturer in the world.

According to him, Archos delayed its entrance to Nigeria was strategic as it had wanted to ensure the necessary procedure including right products and services, are packaged to fi t the environment.

He revealed that Archos will replicate in Nigeria its achievements in Europe as one of the biggest phone brands that takes passion in meeting everybody’s telecoms and device needs.

Another that came into the country this year from Europe is Wiko, just like Archos, the mobile device after establishing a strong market position in Europe within three years opted to try the West Africa by launching its portfolio of ten phones in Nigeria.

Known for its world-class technology, cutting-edge design and exceptional product quality, Wiko smartphones are now available at mobile phone outlets across the country. It has since then, unveiled seven models from which smartphone users can choose.

Whether a technology savvy user, a regular user or a beginner, Wiko has a smartphone for everyone. Wiko also launched a range of three stylish feature phones for fi rst time phone users.

During the launch in Lagos last October, International Business Director, Wiko Global, Marcel Van de Pas said he is delighted to present the brand to Nigerian consumers saying it is Wiko is confi dent that the combination of stylish design, technology, quality and pricing will help make the brand a be success.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC as September 2014, 1020 mobile devices that were register with the Commission to be sold to consumers in the country.

The IDC report scaled back its fi ve year forecast for the product category noting that Worldwide shipments are expected to reach234.5 million units in 2015, a modest yearover- year increase of 2.1 per cent from 2014.

Although the outlook has been tempered, IDC still expected low but positive growth for the market in the years to come as demand in the commercial sector increases, and as Microsoft slowly gains a foothold.

“Despite the growing popularity of phablets, there still remains a portion of the market that wants to use a larger device so they can tailor their experience to the appropriate screen size,” said Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, Jitesh Ubrani.

IDC observed an increasing number of vendors behind small tablets are reducing prices and adopting features like voice calling to entice consumers to purchase their products over competing phablets, making the dynamics of phablets vs voice-capable tablets an interesting one to watch.

In terms of platforms, Android will remain the leader, with close to two-thirds of the market over the course of the forecast. Once-upon-a-timeleader iOS is likely the weakest link as IDC expects its volume share of the market to decline in 2015, reaching levels below that of the past three years.

Windows, despite modest adoption to date, is expected to gain signifi cant share over the course of the forecast, growing from 5.1 per cent in 2014 to 14.1 per cent in 2019.

Research Director, Tablets, Jean Philippe Bouchard said Microsoft is doing a lot of good things right now and “we believe the launch of Windows 10 later this year will not only have a signifi cant impact on Microsoft’s share of the market, but on the industry as a whole.”

“There is an appetite for a platform that can provide a productivity experience that remains consistent across multiple form factors and device types, and we believe Microsoft is well positioned to capture some of that demand.”

Worst hit in the device shipment decline report from IDC is BlackBerry, which it said is currently poor patronage in South Africa where it is rapidly falling out of favour with South Africans thereby reversing its once dominant position.

Sadly, the report said that it is happening at a time when the company is increasingly shifting its focus to the enterprise market, and its software offerings.

The handset maker has been losing buyer share recently and had 0.4 per cent of the market at the end of 2014, behind Windows Phone, according to the IDC. The research house noted the Toronto- based company posted the only year-over-year decline among the leading operating systems Android, iOS and Windows.

It only shipped 5.8 million units last year, falling 69.8 per cent from 2013 levels, according to the IDC. The company went through a year of rationalisation last year, and CEO John Chen anticipates 10million units will be shipped in 2015, returning it to profi tability, added the IDC.

Locally, the once-popular device is also falling out of favour and will soon no longer rule the roost. World Wide Worx’s latest statistics showed its share among the youth will drop to 12 per cent in the next year or two, while its stake among adults will fall below 20 per cent this year.

Currently, BlackBerry is the top phone among youth, with a 32 per cent stake, ahead of Samsung at 27 per cent and Nokia at21 per cent. But this will change as 43 per cent of students aim to buy a Samsung phone next, with the iPhone coming in second at 17 per cent, followed by Nokia at 11 per cent and BlackBerry still making a showing at 10 per cent.

At the just concluded Mobile World Conference, MWC, BlackBerry provided a sneak preview of a curved device, but also said it was increasing its focus on its software portfolio and making solutions like enhanced security and billing available to other handset makers as it seeks to bolster its top line.

In the third quarter of the year, BlackBerry reported a bigger-than-expected drop in revenue, although it had eked out a small adjusted profi t and began generating cash fl ow again. Revenue fell to$793 million from $1.19 billion a year earlier, falling short of analysts’ expectations of $931.5 million

The ongoing bank verification number ,BVN, enrolment will enhance the credit score of bank customers in Nigeria, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Offi cer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo has said.

A credit score is primarily based on credit report information typically sourced from credit bureaus. Lenders use credit scores to determine who qualifi es for a loan, among others.

Okonkwo, while speaking to journalists recently, also said the BVN would enhance access to credit to small and medium scale enterprises, SMEs.

There are about 17 million registered SMEs in Nigeria today. In most countries, SMEs account for up to 70 per cent or more of businesses, yet in developing economies like Nigeria, SMEs suffer from lack of access to fi nance.

Thus, the Fidelity Bank boss explained: “In more developed parts of the world, they have credit rating systems and social identifi cation system. For example, if I am Nnamdi Okonkwo, there might be other 1,000 Nnamdi Okonkwos, but each Nnamdi Okonkwo has a unique number assigned by his country such that whenever you put that number in, everything about that person comes out. We are gradually getting to that.

“Until we get there, credit scoring system is still a challenge. Therefore, it is possible that this same Nnamdi Okonkwo can go to a bank, take a loan and default, move to another bank, still take a loan and default and nobody sees that his credit history is bad. But with what the CBN has done with the BVN, which will be taken care of. That is why I am advising everybody to go and register and get your BVN.

“When each of us have our BVN, which is tied to our thump, if I need to lend money to you, I can check. If the person is a notorious debtor in other banks, then he doesn’t get a loan from me and that protects all of us because the bank does not own all the money. Most of the monies that banks use to do business belong to depositors. So, whatever initiative the CBN is taking, is to protect depositors and the larger economy.

“The BVN is a unique number that every account holder in Nigeria should have, going forward. So, with your thumb registered, wherever you go, you can confi rm that it is you. It is for security, it is for KYC. Like you know, for you to borrow from any bank now, you must have your BVN. It helps our credit scoring system.

“The compliance level has been growing. At Fidelity Bank, we fi rst made sure every staff member was registered because you can’t sell what you don’t understand. So that when you are explaining to your customer, you can as well show him or her your BVN.”

The BVN project is an initiative aimed at protecting bank customers and further strengthening the Nigerian banking system. It is an inventiveness of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee. The BVN is a number that enables a bank customer to have a single identity in the banking system. It basically ensures that a customer’s identity is not stolen. A customer is only expected to register at one bank, irrespective of the number of accounts he has. The registration of customers is done using biometric technology. Biometric technology involves the process of recording a person’s unique physical traits such as fi ngerprints and facial features. This record can then be used to correctly identify the person afterwards. Once a person’s biometrics has been properly captured, the person is given a BVN. The objective of the BVN initiative is to protect bank customers and reduce fraud. Fraud is reduced because no two people have the same biometric information. Banks will therefore be able to check the features of a person doing a transaction against the record, which the bank has captured thereby correctly identifying the owner of an account. All bank customers in Nigeria are required to register or enroll for a BVN by June 2015. To enroll, bank customers must visit a branch of their bank and where BVN is given to a person by one bank, it will apply to that same person for any bank in Nigeria.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has again reiterated the strategic importance of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise, MSME, to the growth of the nation’s economy.

This was made known at the thee-day workshop on the N220bn Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise Development Fund organised by the Bankers’ Committee’s sub-committee on Economic Development, Sustainability and Gender in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

According to the apex bank, MSMEs are the engine room for economic growth, vehicle for job creation, tools for poverty alleviation and wealth creation for any country’s economy.

In his presentation, the CBN’s Director, Development Finance Department, Dr. Mudashiru Olaitan represented by the Assistant Director, MSME Development Fund, Mr. Tobin Jonathan, said the workshop was organized to cross-fertilize ideas and bridge the knowledge about the MSME sector by the lending institution and to also correct the wrong perception of the risky nature of the sector.

According to him, “The rejection rate of MSME application by commercial banks is very high. We are aware this is necessitated by the banks’ aversion to risk due to lack of entrepreneurial skills and poor governance structures of most MSMEs, hence the need for the workshop to enlighten the bankers and encourage them more on the need to partner with us on the need to grow the sector.”

In his presentation titled “Collateral Registry and MSME Financing,” the Project Manager of the International Finance Corporation, IFC, Ubong Awah said, IFC was collaborating with CBN to establish a National Collateral Registry to stabilise MSME fi nancing and also boost the confi dence of Nigerian banks in playing active roles in fi nancing the sector. According to him, the MSME sector is an important catalyst for economic growth and fi nancing the sector needs serious attention.

“As an organization, IFC is bringing the experience we have garnered over the years across geographies to bridge the knowledge gaps and to lay emphasis on the fact that globally, collateral for MSME is moving away from fi xed assets to movable assets, hence the need to establish a collateral registry for the fi nancial industry. We are excited to partner with Central Bank on this initiative,” Awah said.

On the essence of the work shop, the Assistant Director, Development Finance department of the apex bank, Mrs. Amina Umar said since the N220bn MSME intervention fund was launched in 2014 the uptake by the Deposit Money Banks had not been encouraging.

“There is then the need to interact with SME offi cers of banks to understand the banks’ challenges in MSME fi nancing,” she said.

According to her, it is the hope of the Central Bank, that with this workshop more than fi fty percent of the fund would have been accessed by the end of 2015 in compliance with the target set by the Bankers’ Committee and driven by the Economic Development, Sustainability and Gender chaired by Mrs. Bola Adesola ,Managing Director, Standard Chartered Bank.

Mrs. Umar was of the opinion that at the end of the workshop, banks would increase awareness about the intervention fund, build capacity within the sector, develop innovative MSME fi nancing products and also take advantage of the over 17 million MSMEs within the sector.

Other Speakers included, Mr. Peter Bamkole, Director, Enterprise Development Centre, Pan Atlantic University, Dr. Kamakhya Singh, CFO, Lapo Micro- Finance and Ms. Olabisi Talabi, Entrepreneur and CEO, Centre of Hospitality Studies.

Arik Air has raised over fi ve million naira for the Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria, SCFN, to continue with its sickle cell disorder intervention. The sum was raised in just fi ve months beginning October 2014.

Speaking with Business Courage, Arik Air’s Senior Vice President – Commercial, Siva Ramachandran, said they decided to help SCFN raise money through donations by their passengers when they found out that sickle cell disorder is a huge burden on Nigeria.

“When we had the fi rst meeting with SCFN, we didn’t know much about sickle cell disorder. But after they explained all about it to us, and how many children are born yearly with it, we realised it needs urgent attention as it affects generations so we must fi nd a way to control it. And as a responsible airline, we must support it so we decided on a constant rather than one-time support,” he said.

Also speaking, SCFN’s founder, Professor Olu Akinyanju, commended Arik Air for their support, saying it would go a long way to help SCFN in tackling sickle cell disorder through its mediation services which include diagnostics and research, among others.

Access Bank has reiterated its commitment to encouraging fi nancial literacy amongst Nigerian youths. Speaking at a session which held at the Greensprings School, Anthony Campus, Lagos in commemoration of the 2015 Global Money week, Executive Director, Personal Banking Division, Mr. Victor Etuokwu, said Access Bank has pioneered a number of industry defi ning fi nancial literacy initiatives aimed at promoting awareness for fi nancial inclusion and literacy amongst women, small and medium scale entrepreneurs ,SMEs, and children.

During the session with the theme “Save Today, Safe Tomorrow”, Etuokwu said, “Several years ago we launched Nigeria’s fi rst fun-fi lled interactive fi nancial literacy campaign for kids, parents and educators with the Access Early Savers campaign. This shows that we have always been involved in empowering young ones”.

The program on fi nancial literacy, he stressed, demonstrates the Bank’s commitment to the activation of its fi nancial inclusion strategy which seeks to cater for the unbanked in the society, and followed the successful introduction of several innovative banking products for this age range.

He also spoke to the students about the importance of money, cultivating a savings culture and the need to invest money in different ways for the future. The session was very interactive and educative, with the students asking questions and participating fully.

Also the Bank organised a mentoring session for students at the Army Children School, Bonny Camp, Lagos.

Head, Products and Segments, Personal Banking Division, Adeola Kusemiju, encouraged the students to be accountable, fi nancially aware and empowered to save and make monetary decisions.

She also expounded on the signifi cance of fi nancial literacy to fi scal independence and economic sustainability of Nigeria

Let us play a little on Libyan and Nigerian factors before we get se-rious here.

The Bible appears to have started this write up and at the same time concluded it. In the book of Proverbs 21:20, it says:

“Precious treasure and oil in a wise man’s dwelling, but the foolish man de¬vours it”

The question on the lips of everyone today is: Will the price of oil price ever return to the famous and generous $120 per barrel, so that prodigal sons will con¬tinue to enjoy and waste resources of many nations on celebrations of wealth, with licence from the IMF that they should spend more in diffi cult times?

Otherwise, how will one explain the golden gun in the hands of the former Libya president in his last days? What was the cost and of what signifi cance was it to the territorial security of the poor people of Libya? How many of such golden guns were bought as gifts for oth¬er prodigal presidents when they were visiting?

A short report from the Financial Times of South Africa shows that a whopping sum of 100 billion dollars in cash was stolen by the former president of Libya, out of which one billion dollars was held in two banks in South Africa.

Reporting how the oil economy of Lib¬ya was managed, Professor Shaul Gab¬bay presents a little summary. “There was of course no transparency and he and his family were dealing with the na¬tion’s wealth as if it was their own.”

No one knows, easily, what a presi¬dent stole until he leaves offi ce either voluntarily or he dies there. And in this regard, there are endless cases. If a president will steal one hundred billion dollars from oil money alone, as was the case with Libya, what type of price sta¬bility is anyone expecting?

Let us look at some not too diffi cult cases.

Until death took him away from of¬fi ce in June 1998, General Sani Abacha, who was born on 20th September 1943, was famous to the extent that he became Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His record of stolen oil money is unequalled. The highlights include, for instance, the return of the sum of $700 million by the Swiss Government from the Abacha loot.

This is in addition to the confi scated, yet to be released to the federal govern¬ment, the sum of $640 million dollars in a single Swiss bank. Others include the $480million dollars returned by the US government to the Federal Government, There is also the return by the Jersey of the sum $316 million. The Supreme Court of Liechtenstein, by the priceless effort of Minister of Justice Adoke, recently returned 175 million Euro in addition to the $1 billion dollars returned in 2002. Prelimi¬nary data shows that the total sum of 3.2 trillion naira receipted by the Central Bank has been received so far.

That amount is about 75% equivalent of the cash backing of the Federal Gov¬ernment budget for the year 2015 without projection. I am too sure that Abacha did not transfer the money by himself. It is left for me to give compliments to those who assisted in the money transfers. They must be fi – nancial experts. We may not write beyond these introductions on Muammar Gadaffi and Mr. Sani Abacha out of respect for the dead. More impor¬tantly, after death, there is judgement.

One may ask again why we need the oil price to return to $120 dollars per barrel. Is it for good governance or for a great opportunity to steal more money from the oil wealth? The brief introduction below better explains the return time to $120 per barrel. It will return when the righteous are in government across the world, for when the unrighteous are in power, there will be pains in the land.

Let us get to business now!

Against the background of the world economy in 2015, the OECD has main¬tained a forecast of 1.8% in 2014 and a projected growth of 2.1% in 2015. China maintained 7.4% and 7.2% in 2014 and 2015 respectively, with no major change in Indian growth of 5.5% and5.8% in both the year 2014 and 2015 respectively.

The demand for oil is estimated to grow at 0.93mb/d to average around 91.13mb/d. A decline of 0.12mb/d is no¬ticed for the year 2015. This is as a result of lower -than-expected consumption in the OECD countries for 2015. World oil demand is expected to grow by around 1.2mb/d, some 70mb/d lower than the estimated in the last report of OPEC. World oil demand is expected to reach 92’26mb/d in 2015.

There are many factors that account for low oil prices and we also have key indicators to know in reasonable time that the prices of oil will go up. These are key drivers of the fortune of oil prices in the international market. Besides the power play of the major power block in the form of pressure groups like OPEC, certain counties are almost too certain of the capacity of their oil to feed them, notwithstanding the price indicators in the market. The coordination at this present time requires innovation in the strategic road map for OPEC. For in¬stance, nations continue to count their blessings and challenges in the retainer-ship of the membership of OPEC. So also negotiations are on to ensure that certain countries play alone and disengage their membership of OPEC. These are clearly hard times for OPEC members and how far they are able to manage these will de¬termine their future. I don’t want to say it is hard to succeed for any organisation in which the United States is not playing a major role at that level of international politics.

The movements of the price of crude oil, as reported by OPEC, signifi es that the reference basket fi nished down $9.40 at $75.57 in November of 2014, and with increasing supply and sluggish global growth, ICE Brent fell at $8.42 to $79.63/b, while Nymet Witi lost to stand at$75.81/b.

America is expected to drive oil supply growth in the world in 2015 next to Latin America. Non OPEC oil supply is expect¬ed to increase by 1.3mb/d to average of 57.31mb/d.

A drop of 30.5mb/d is already noticed in the output supply of OPEC in Novem¬ber of 2014, which is expected to con¬tinue. We all know as a fact that output cut remains a common strategy used by OPEC in regulating the market. The vol¬ume of increase of 57.31mb/d in the out-put supply of non OPEC members, par¬ticularly America and Latin America, is a threat to the oil volume expected from OPEC in a saturated market.

The implication is a continuous drop in price, which can only be arrested by natural consequences. There is nothing suggesting that the increase in the vol¬ume of oil recorded by the non OPEC members will not continue in the imme¬diate future. Available data in relation to the supply increase volume of OPEC is not encouraging. For instance, in 2014, the estimated increase recorded in vol¬ume of supply stood at 29.4mb/d, while in 2015, the required OPEC crude is fore¬cast at 28.9mb/d.

These are clearly hard times for OPEC members and how far they are able to manage these hard times will determine their future. I don’t want to say it’s hard for any organisation in which the United States is not playing a major role at that level of international politics to succeed.

The movement of the price of crude oil, as reported by OPEC, signifi es that the reference basket fi nished down $9.40 at $75.57 in November of 2014. And with increasing supply and sluggish global growth, ICE Brent fell at $8.42 to $79.63/b, while Nymet Witi lost to stand at $75.81/b.

America is expected to drive oil supply growth in the world in 2015, next to Latin America. Non OPEC oil supply is expected to increase by 1.3mb/d to an average of 57.31mb/d.

A drop of 30.5mb/d was already noticed in the output of OPEC in November of 2014, which is expected to continue. We all know for a fact that output cut remains a common strategy used by OPEC in regulating the market.

The volume increase of 57.31mb/d in the output supply of non OPEC members, particularly America and Latin America, is a threat to the oil volume expected from OPEC in a saturated market. The implication is a continuous drop in price, which can only be arrested by natural consequences. There is nothing suggesting that the increase in the volume of oil recorded by non OPEC members will not continue in the immediate future. Available data in relation to the increase in supply volume of OPEC is not encouraging. For instance, in 2014 the estimated increase recorded in volume of supply stood at 29.4mb/d, while in 2015, the required OPEC crude is forecast at 28.9mb/d.

It was in January 1970 that the price of oil constituted a signifi cant concern in the world market. Even then, it was not until 1973/1974 that a movement of $5 to $10 per barrel was recorded. The increase in price as at that time was determined majorly by the signifi – cant role played by the Arab embargo of that time. A major and sharp drop in supply was critical to the rising prices. And for as long as Saudi Arabia abandoned the swing producer role, the correspondent adjustment in the price of oil was of arithmetical progression.

What could be a major factor determining a rise in oil price was the consequential effect of the Iranian war, which was felt in rising oil prices between 1979 and the peak of the Iran and Iraq war in 1981, when the price of oil reached $38 dollars per barrel? This time in history was when Nigeria recorded her oil boom, specifi cally in 1973. During the Arab oil embargos, Nigeria took major advantage of the oil embargo and the economy recorded a major shift from agriculture as the major source of revenue of the federal government.

Nigeria became the young billionaire in the comity of nations, joining the Parish Club. And like a young billionaire, a very fi rst termer in the club, money was not indeed Nigeria’s problem, but how to spend it.

For good ten years, Nigeria enjoyed relative stability in oil prices and the boom appeared to be celebrated. The sanction of abandoning Saudi Arabian oil continued for such a long time to the advantage of many countries that continued to celebrate or build wealth around the happenings of that time. Between 1978 and 90, and just before the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, the price of oil was as low as $15 dollars or as high as $20 dollars per barrel.

One major signifi cant event that moved the price of oil forward was the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, when the price of oil went as high as $37 dollars per barrel. This lasted until 1991. And that was why the military could secure suffi cient money to carry out major projects, including the construction of the Federal Capital Territory and the Third Mainland Bridge under the Babangida administration. The Buhari administration then was also able to construct, within a short time, the Lagos/ Epe Express way. Between 1992 and 1999, there was no signifi cant change in the price of oil. And in those years, there were major preparations for the great recession in the Asian economy. The price went as low as $18 dollars in 1999.

There appears to have been a progressive management of oil prices after the end of the great Asian economic recession of 1999, as OPEC reacted to low prices of petroleum products. The strategic road map adopted was to cut production to accelerate a rise in the price of oil. And this strategy worked so well, except for September 11 (2001) when the price came down to a little below $20 dollars.

The price of oil, after the intervention of OPEC in 1999, was on the rise. For instance, it went as high as $25 dollars before September 11. And specifi cally between 2002 and 2006, there was stable arithmetical progression in the price of oil across the world, going as high as $45 dollars per barrel at a point. OPEC’s output cut and quota system appeared to work very well in maintaining reasonable stability at the international market.

The problem with Nigeria at this time was meeting quota allocation from OPEC. This was largely because of the crises in the Niger Delta areas, the hub of oil production. The oil producing communities were at that time involved in an insurgency to drive their demands for basic social welfare and fair play.

The Nigerian government adopted very many strategies for the management of the insurgency, which included, among others, participatory approach, community service development among oil producing companies and some form of direct intervention projects. There was no major victory recorded until President Yar’adua introduced amnesty for guns programme and created the Ministry of Niger Delta to account for direct impact of intervention in relation to development programmes in the affected areas.

The economy was signifi cantly managed before these interventions and the gun exchange deals. Government was more focused on innovation strategies and quality spending. There were innovations in the banking and telecommunication sectors, strategic development of new entrepreneurs and privatisation of government assets that were of signifi cant liability in the hands of government.

Apart from strategic savings, Nigeria for the period of eight years was not insolvent and exchange rate stability was achieved via disciplined fi scal policies of the Federal Government. Direct foreign investment was on the increase and a whopping sum of over 12 billion dollars was paid as debt, thereby increasing the Nigeria’s rating to B+ B+ AND B. Certain delegated accounts were set up and a bench mark was put in place for rainy days. The strategic road map was to reduce corruption, create an enabling environment and develop indigenous presence in business in the middle terms.

While saving was a continuous process of wealth creation, government strategic partnership of building infrastructures was a major achievement that was yielding results.

African integration was not left behind. One major achievement of that government was the reforms in the public sector. There was need to reduce the public service to a reasonable level of quality people. All areas of wastage were not spared by the government, such that benefi ts were monetised towards containment of wasteful expenditure. The level of wastage was therefore drastically reduced.

Many events contributed to the increase in oil prices that characterised 2006 to 2009, and those events occurred in quick succession. The events include the PDVSA workers’ strike in Venezuela and the anticipation of war in Iran in 2006, which alone increased the price of oil to a little above $60 per barrel. The bad weather created by the movement of Hurricane Ivan in the Gulf of Mexico also drove the price close to$65 per barrel. These increases in the price of oil were as a result of cuts in output, arising from intervening events of natural consequences. The inventory adjustment brought the price down again to$55 per barrel. Further adjustment in price was again accelerated by market forces, which was encouraged by Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina and Rita in the Gulf of Mexico. By this time, the price of oil had moved to well over $82 per barrel. So in 2008, Nigeria was making more money from the increase in the price of oil.

Even though the season of hurricanes did not last for more than one year, the effect on the price of oil was signifi cant, as it moved from$80 dollars per barrel to over $100 dollars per barrel. This was more than the cumulative gain in price increase in the last fi ve years!

In 2007 and 2008, Nigeria experienced challenges in meeting the allocation of supply to the international market. This cut in output signifi cantly led again to further increase in the price of oil. It moved to a little above $120. Again, rising demand in spite of the cut in the output of Nigerian oil, low spare capacity and weak international currency (arising from the bailout policy of the American Government in the management of the economy during the 2009 recession) made the price of oil to reach the peak of over $120.

In 2009, the economic recession manifested to such an extent that the signals created in 2008 become reality. The reality was that the recession would stay longer than necessary. The price of oil began to drop with geometric progression as a result of no cut in output combined with weak currency.

The US dollar fell against all other currencies. The Pound lost considerable value against all other currencies. Interest rate came down to l% in the US and 0.5% in England. Economic policies introduced in both countries were very competitive. For instance, in America, there were major job losses and government was interested in the protection of jobs. The introduction of the bailout policy became handy and there were potential demands in the hands of the government from major companies that required urgent attention. The Federal Reserve Bank had to make major decisions in creating more money by printing.

Ford Motors, for instance, needed about one trillion dollars or face liquidation, while A & G Insurance needed about half a trillion dollars in a matter of days. The American government resorted to printing more money, and about two to three trillion was printed as additional money to arrest the situation.

The fact that the home equity line of credit became due was also a critical challenge to economic recovery. Several trillions of dollars were trapped with the home equity line of credit. And with the value of property coming down in addition to the loss of jobs and the near collapse of the capital market, the various Central Banks had a huge task at hand in working a way out of the crises. The cumulative effect was the sharp drop in oil prices in the international market, which cumulated into almost thirty years loss of already gained prices. For instance, what was already over $120 per barrel fell to $40 dollars in less than fi ve years. That was the price of oil in 1984!

In England, the situation was not better than what was happening in America, as the interest rate came down to 0.5% and the government had to introduce qualitative easing as a way of managing the economy. More money was printed and deposited in banks to prevent systemic failure arising from liquidity crises in the banks. The policy was majorly to protect the banks from failure. Again, a whooping sum running into several billions of pounds was spent on buying toxic assets of the banks by the Bank of England. Generally the price of oil in the international market dropped.

Positive movement in the price of oil was noticed again in 2010 after the downward movement of 2009. Prices started moving from $40 per barrel geometrically to as much as $62 per barrel in 2010. The acceleration in prices during this period was a function of the Arab spring. Weather condition also played a signifi cant role in price increase. Most countries, including Nigeria, had improved on output, thereby benefi ting from the accelerated price increase. The situation was further improved with price adjustment by the Iran sanction, which created heavy demand for a rather scarce product.

Between 2011 and 2012, the price of oil moved upward to close to $100 per barrel. With strategic thinking and innovation, countries like Nigeria could have laid a good foundation for better days ahead. The movement in the price of oil was not sudden, such that there was no suffi cient time for planning. It was not enough to look into distribution of surplus income without connecting the future. For instance, only a few days ago, the Saudi Arabian government in anticipation of further depletion in oil prices released a whopping sum of 780 billion dollars from the reserve to support fl uctuating oil prices.

Only natural consequences or ineffi ciency of production can prevent America from leading the supply of oil in 2015. It appears that OPEC is hoping America will lack the effi ciency of supply necessary to push the price of oil down. OPEC is hopeful that technical problems arising from the supply of the required number of rigs to push adequate production will constitute a setback for America in maintaining the required volume of supply needed to create a signifi cant drop in oil price.

The ambition of America to lead oil production over a long term and determine the international price of oil requires more global strategy. For instance, before the launching of the attack on oil prices, all technical matters relating to production should have been resolved.

America must not forget that there are great advantages in the effi ciency of supply gained by OPEC arising from the commulative technical support of member countries. A huge amount of money and time is required for acquisition of technology and knowledge, as well as for development if America is to achieve her long term goal. American strategies in this regard also require massive innovation. America’s strategy of selective market, evident in the approach of purchasing oil from certain countries and abandoning Nigeria’s oil is a precooked strategy, which, in my opinion, may not produce tangible results at this time. Instead, America could assure Nigeria of massive purchase of her oil, guarantee her increase in supply at reduce price, in addition to other forms of assistance that could talk Nigeria out of OPEC.

Three major factors may constitute a setback in the desire of America to bring down the price of oil in addition to the usually unknown natural consequences. Those three factors are technical effi ciency, lack of global strategy, and improved demand capable of arresting the surplus.

OECD supply continues to be on the increase, with supply increase of about 23.26 mb/d in the last quarter. Increase of total output of OECD in November alone stood at 80tb/d. The trend shows that barring technical ineffi ciency, the increase in output will continue in 2015. The implication is that America OECD is the driver of oil supply in the international market. The threat in this is that if OECD supply is maintained, international prices of oil will begin to decline, as we have noticed in the early months of 2015. And it does not matter if OPEC competes with supply volume. It can only maintain, at best, price stability. Even then, the price of oil will be forced to come down the moment OECD increases output further.

What we have noticed is that the threat of OECD to the market is manifesting and is capable of further dangerous manifestation. We have already noticed that there may be initial set back in the effi ciency of supply on the part of OECD. It is, however, established beyond doubt, that such manifested problems will be resolved in not too long a time. The need for OPEC to fund a fundamental strategic response to the new development is key, otherwise it will sadly have to maintain the price of oil at ridiculously low ebb when OECD stabilises on the technical effi – ciency needed to drive supply.

The year 2014 was signifi cant for the economy of the United States, as the country witnessed the highest volume of increase in oil production. That year alone, and in the US alone, an increase of 1.45mb/b was recorded to be the largest growth among non OPEC countries. That alone is almost ten percent of the total volume increase in the oil supply of OECD, including Canada. Total supply volume increase of OECD was put at 19.82% that year alone. The immediate advantage of the increase in supply for the US was to gain revenue by withdrawing from the purchase or reduce supply from some OPEC countries including Nigeria and providing assistance to other OPEC countries like Mexico by the takeover of some supply needs of those countries.

The dangerous signal that calls for Nigeria’s attention is the fact that if the output of OECD and the US continue to increase as we have certainly noticed (and as they apparently will), Nigeria’s oil could easily go for as low as, or even less than $30per barrel. The only thing that can make this impossible is if natural factors arrest the increased output of OECD and America. Another factor that could make this impossible is ineffi ciency of supply by OECD. And we will be standing on a dangerous fi nancial lane to bank on any of these factors. The temporary increase in the price of oil is as temporary as the weather or the ineffi ciency of production of OECD. The gathering storm is dangerous. Nigeria’s government must take notice of and react to this trend.

The immediate effect of all these is already with us. The fi rst casualty is the Naira losing 25% value in less than two weeks. What can the Central Bank do? The volume of Dollars available to support the Naira when oil was selling for $120 per barrel was much. Now that it is selling for $60 Dollars per barrel, the volume of Dollars available to support the Naira has naturally dropped. So what will defend or support the Naira? If we do not have suffi cient Dollars to support the Naira, what do you think will drive value of investment in the stock market? ………

If the price of oil moves up and we have more Dollars as a result of the proceeds accruing from the sales of oil at higher prices (not a likely scenario!) the Naira will immediately appreciate and the Central Bank will resume her majestic declarations. If that does not happen, we can only look on. You certainly cannot regulate what you do not control!

It is interesting to hear all the talk about Agriculture. Everyone is saying ‘let’s diversify the economy and plant more cocoa etc.’ Very welcome development! But if we plant cocoa today, how long will it take to harvest, prepare the produce for the international commodity market and make the volume of Dollars that will support the Naira. That may sound like a good long term measure, but it must be said that we also need global strategy to compete effectively if we are to be a big player in that respect.

Presently, we need innovative strategy that can bail us out to arrest a free fall. If this was the corporate world, what we would do is stand at competitive advantage by using our capabilities to confront the challenges and build innovative strategy. This would be to go to a dollar based economy and set up our companies or regional branches to increase our dollar earning directly.

The simple question in management meetings would be, ‘how can we earn more dollars?’ And the simple answer would be, ‘invest directly in dollar economy and earn dollar directly.’ The force to be confronted in doing this is the big pocket. There is no barrier to entry.

How can government handle this? What sort of question can be asked at cabinet meetings? The President simply asks, ‘how can we react to the decline in major revenue? Where are the alternatives to get more foreign exchange?’ The Minister of Finance and the Coordinator of the Economy will likely respond. That answer must be coming from the resolutions of the ‘meetings before meeting’ of the Finance Minister with the Central Bank Governor and the Economic Management Team.

I have very high esteem and respect for the knowledge and achievements of the Minister of Finance and her capacity to give very useful responses to such questions at cabinet meetings. I am too certain that the response will be close to what anyone would do at the international level. A doctorate degree from Harvard is not a joke! It is a knowledge privilege. We are lucky that she brought scholarship to bear. When things are like this, local degree holders who become professors without international publications will also say what they know from their anti clockwise thinking. What does one expect from a dog in fashion or a dog backing without teeth? We expect some sort of boohoo cry here! (I will, on a later date, react to the debate between Soludo and Okonjo-Iweala)

We continue to notice major decline in the value of Ice Bent, which was recorded to have lost 39% value. So also Nymax. WTI in November 2014 lost 10.1% value in the international market. The reason for the loss in value is largely associated with heavy supply of the products from North America. The cumulative effect of which is in the fact that the economy is not gathering suffi cient momentum and is somewhat decelerating. The decision of the OECD to maintain supply level at30mb/b led to the drop in the price of oil products in the last quarter of last year. And should this trend continue, it goes to justify our earlier position of the diffi – culties of OPEC in reacting to supply problems.

As long as America takes charge of oil production, the dollar will remain very strong against other currencies and this will deliver a very strong economy to America. Regrettably, the Euro has not proven to be an alternative to the dollar even when it was intended.

The chances that oil price will return to the famous $120 per barrel too soon is the tallest dream of the century. For the fi rst time, OPEC will be confronted with the challenges of this time and the need to roll out more unknown strategy is important to recovery. It is left for me to say that both the OECD and OPEC can be fused (almost impossible) to be one world body that will take charge of oil matters in the world. The fusion will help to confront the challenges. What we can say for now is that the division between the two will, sooner than later, drop the price of oil to about or less than $30 dollars per barrel. God forbid! By Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim, CFR GMD, Energy Group

Managing Director and Chief Executive Offi cer of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Yemi Adeola was at the weekend conferred with Outstanding CEO Award, for his sustained efforts aimed at positioning the Bank as a reference fi nancial institution and a major player in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE.

The Award was instituted by BuisnessDay Media Limited last year to identify, reward and celebrate chief executives behind the success stories recorded by their institutions in the Nigerian economy.

Other chief executives of companies quoted on the NSE were also conferred with the Award at an elaborate event held at the Wheat Baker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The organiser in a statement signed by its chief executive, Mr. Frank Aigbogun, explained that despite the lull in the economy especially in the 2014 fi nancial year, the Chief Executives of the companies being recognised, added over N333bn to shareholders funds and realised N107.1bn as profi t after tax as at the end 2014 compared with N66.8bn realised in the corresponding period of 2013.

“It is to this effect that we celebrate these men and women who have contributed to the successes recorded by their companies and the Nigerian economy in general in 2014”, the company noted in the statement.

In his vote of thanks after receiving the Award, the Sterling Bank boss commended the organizers for instituting the Award and commended them for taking the pains to analyze the fi nancials of the companies assessed and for coming up with the list of winners who have indeed contributed to the growth of their institutions and the economy by extension

Adeola who was represented at the Award ceremony by the Bank’s Executive Director, Commercial & Institutional Banking, Mr. Lanre Adesanya assured that Sterling Bank will continue to sustain its growth pattern through the adoption of the right strategy and leverage on its highly skilled workforce to continue to deliver quality products and services to its increasing customer base.

The Sterling Bank story is one that is characterised by institutional resilience and bold steps. From its emergence as the pre-eminent investment bank in the country in 1960, through the 2006 banking industry consolidation exercise and the acquisition of the business interest of the defunct Equitorial Trust Bank in 2011, the Bank has consistently demonstrated its capacities to withstand regulatory and macroeconomic headwinds. The Bank continues to deliver double digit growth (above industry average) along key fi nancial metrics.

In spite of the recent headwinds in the global oil market and the negative impact on Nigeria’s revenue profile, analysts have projected that the telecoms sector would remain crucial to the nation’s strive for growth in the medium and long terms. Udo Onyeka and Isaiah Erhiawarien report

Amidst the multi-dimensional challenges facing the country occasioned largely by the recent but worrisome earnings from crude oil exports to the international oil market, some development experts have identifi ed the nation’s telecommunications sector as one key industry that could be explored for improved contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth rate and also serve as a focal thrust of the current economic diversifi cation agenda of government.

Analysts believe that the growing demand for mobile data services among Nigerians, especially the youth population, indicates the promising long-term outlook of the country’s telecommunications industry.

For instance, available research- based studies showed that service revenues are expected to rise from about $9.2bn in 2013 by about 19 per cent, to an estimated $10.9bn in 2019.

According to Pyramid Research, in a recent industry study, the nation’s telecommunications market will grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate, CAGR, of two per cent over the next fi ve years, with mobile data increasing at 16 per cent up until 2019.

Industry analysts have predicted that enhanced broadband penetration had the potential of creating wealth and unlocking opportunities for Nigerians.

This is just as the World Bank estimated that every 10 per cent increase in broadband internet penetration would accelerate economic growth by 1.38 per cent.

Market analysts however are optimistic that growth of around 6.8 per cent per year for the period between 2014 and 2019 is attainable, mainly supported by an increase in mobile user base.

Based on the Nigerian Communications Commission’s, NCC’s, quarterly report which puts the active lines as at November 2014 at about 134 million active lines, mobile subscriber base has been projected to rise to 182 million in the next fi ve years.

Investigations show that other African countries are also leveraging the telecoms potentials

According to Ovum, a technology consulting fi rm, mobile subscriptions in Africa will surpass the one billion mark in 2016, up from 851 million in Q2 2014, and reach 1.23 billion in 2019.

“The number of mobile broadband connections in Africa is expected to increase from 96 million in 2013 to 950 million in 2019 or equivalent to 77.3 per cent of total mobile subscriptions

“The growth driver will be the roll-out of mobile broadband networks and the increasing affordability of data devices such as smart phones. Fixed broadband household penetration in Africa was 5.2 per cent in Q2 2014, the lowest rate among major world regions.

Ovum’s Broadband Development Index for 2014 also put Africa ahead of Central and Southern Asia but a long way behind the leading regions, which are North America and Western Europe.

“Within sub-Saharan African countries with a population of more than three million, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Nigeria have the most advanced broadband markets”, the report said.

According to the Minister in her 2014 report of the industry revealed that the ICT industry is the fastest growing at a rate of 24 per cent and currently contributes 7.8 per cent to the country’s GDP coming after oil and gas, agriculture, wholesale and retail trade.

ICT contributions to the national development as identifi ed by the Minister are mainly in the area of governance, infrastructure, job creation, human and social capital development.

In 2011, Johnson said the sector ‘s GDP contribution was approximately 5.46 per cent, but in the third quarter of 2014, the industry contributed 9.58 per cent to the GDP , while Foreign Direct Investment ,FDI, in the sector was put at $6bn between 2011 and 2013.

Business Courage gathered that there has been improvement in operating environment as assured by President Goodluck Jonathan in his transformation agenda and this has led to the springing up of local companies.

One of such areas is the e- Commerce. The e- Commerce sub sector in less than fi ve years has made great impact on the economy. Some of the e- Commerce fi rms include; Wakanom, Jumia, Paga, Konga and iRoko Tv among others.

A Terragon Group study in 2014 showed that 63 per cent of Nigerian internet users had bought at least one item online. 60 percent of these buyers claimed to have used their mobile phones for these purchases, 86 percent of the respondents to the Terragon Group study claimed to have carried out research about an item before making a purchase, and 80 per cent pointed at mobile as their major platform for research.

The study indicated that mobile is the fi rst and major point of access for all internet activities adding that the country is the largest mobile market in Africa and the 10th largest in the world whereby 71 million Nigerians are said to have accessed the Internet via mobile phones.

According the NCC the country is number eight among the top 10 internet user countries in the world.

The NCC attributed the current growth in the industry to the federal government set target of a fi ve-fold increase in broadband penetration by 2018.

The Minister said e-commerce market has a potential worth of $10bn with about 300,000 online orders currently being made on daily basis notwithstanding the lack of basic infrastructure, power supply, expensive broadband internet and poor road networks.

The e-Commerce growth has further resulted in several partnerships between web market companies and the Mobile network operators.

For instance FirstBank of Nigeria Limited went into partnership with PayPal, an international e-commerce payment and money transfer platform.

The partnership is said to be a worthwhile partnership for the industry as PayPal has over 148 million accounts in 26 currencies spread over 203 markets around the world.

Even more, fi rms such as Jumia, Konga, DealDey, OLX and many more can key into this development get unprecedented boost, with the arrival of a trusted platform like PayPal.

Terragon Group Research released for the second quarter of 2014 reveals growth in internet usage, social media participation and e-commerce, and the opportunities the trend presents for marketers.

The report indicated growth patterns from 2013 to 2014, with focus on mobile phone and internet usage, broadband penetration, Mobile Number Portability, MNP and Mobile money.

On the worth of the industry, a recent study by Pyramid Research indicates that service revenue which was $9.8bn in 2014, a 6.8 per cent increase over 2013, would be slightly reduced in 2015, as the market recovers from the large number of fi xed-line disconnections, long-term growth of the telecommunications sector would not be affected.

But it however stated that the number of mobile subscribers is expected to reach 182 million by the end of 2019, up from around 140 million active connections in November 2014, according to fi gures from the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC.

Pyramid said that with revenue of $7.3bn, the mobile voice segment was the largest contributor towards overall telecoms revenue in 2014, an increase of $219m from 2013.

President of the Association of License Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, Engr Lanre Ajayi told the Business Courage that the sector is a huge gain to the economy saying that what has been achieved in the country as result of the ICT boom is tremendous.

He described the industry as the toast of the government because of the landmark growth it has brought to the economy saying that there is no sector that is providing jobs rapidly like the ICT industry.

He lauded the progress on the implementation of the Broadband Plan in the last 18 months, especially the increased capacity rolled out by telecom companies and other infrastructure providers which had resulted to well over 100 per cent increase tele-density.

He noted that the increased broadband penetration in 2014, the successfully auctioning of the 2.3GHz spectrum and licensed the fi rst two Infracos for metro fi bre rollout attest to the growth and impact of the industry on the economy.

Chief Executive Offi cer, CEO, E-payment Providers Association of Nigeria, EPPAN, Onajite Regha said that the impact of the ICT industry is refl ected on the growth of electronic payment system in the country of which EPPAN is proud champion of its sustainability.

She said that e-payment as an emerging alternative payment channels within the fi – nancial services industry is positioned to revolutionise the way businesses are carried out in West Africa regardless of citizens living within the different member states in different countries.

Analyst at Pyramid Research, Severin Luebke, said that other countries in Africa are likely to follow Nigeria when it comes to mobile technology developments.

He noted that the increasing demand for mobile data will offer service providers, as well as new entrants to the market, ample opportunity to test and grow their service offerings in Nigeria.

Director-General , National Information Technology Development Agency ,NITDA, Dr. Peter Jack, said, “ICT contributes over 8 per cent to the Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product ,GDP, and is now growing at 7 per cent annually. Our target is to grow the ICT industry to a point where it contributes up to 15 per cent to the GDP within the next three to fi ve years.”

The Director-General explained that NITDA had developed a national Information and Communication Technology, ICT, Strategic Plan with a timeline of 2010-2015. According to him, the implementation of the Plan is ongoing.

“Specifi cally, we have embarked on some smart initiatives which include the national e-government Master Plan and Strategy. The others are the Tinapa Knowledge City, with a full-fl edged IT Park and Software Development Centre and plan to site a Reverse Engineering Centre in the facility.

The Lekki Smart City Initiative, Lagos Innovation City and the Lekki Software Development Academy, which is planned to house a software incubator and accelerator, are among the initiatives.

There is the iDEA Hub, which is our pilot programme in software incubation and innovation and Software Development and Testing Centre,” he said.

The Director-General explained that the Abuja Technology Village was already housing the ‘Inspire technology incubation hub’, and will also house part of NITDA’s innovation facility in Abuja.

The growth in the industry resulted to the introduction for the fi rst time, the Technology Innovation Fund, which statistics from the Ministry currently stood at $16. 2m with a target aim of $50m.

According to the Minister in her 2014 report, the fund is meant to grow the still very nascent venture capital industry in Nigeria and to fi ll the gap that exists where risk capital is needed by entrepreneur.

The fund is expected to target disruptive and innovative technology start-ups in the country and will create an estimated 35,000 jobs.

Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has been offi cially certifi ed to the internationally recognised ISO27001:2013 standard for Information Security.

The bank was awarded the certifi cate following a rigorous audit process conducted by the British Standards Institute, BSI, in partnership with Information Value Chain consulting fi rm, Digital Jewels.

ISO 27001:2013 is an information security standard published by the International Organization for Standardisation ,ISO and International Electro technical Commission ,IEC, under the joint ISO and IEC subcommittee. The standard specifi es the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving information security management across systems, people and processes. It also includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks specifi cally tailored to the needs of an organisation.

Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of Union Bank, Mr. Emeka Emuwa said “Since we began implementing our transformation initiatives in 2014, we have continued to improve our systems and processes to deliver optimal service levels to our customers. This certifi cation reinforces our commitment to embracing global best practices in ensuring the integrity of our customer data and a secure operating environment”.

Last year, Union Bank became the fi rst Nigerian fi nancial institution to be awarded the latest Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, PCI DSS – Version 3.0, which offers customers added protection from card fraud and other security vulnerabilities.

The E-Payment Providers Association of Nigeria ,EPPAN, has entered into partnership with the Financial System Strategy 2020 ,FSS 2020, to host Africa’s biggest e- Government Summit in July.

The partnership was necessitated to foster collaboration amongst stakeholders and join efforts to further push the implementation of e-payment and e-services to the public sector.

E-PPAN and the FSS 2020 secretariat is set to make this year’s event the biggest E-government summit in Africa. The partnership will allow the summit enjoy a robust and rich program schedule which will cover a variety of issues attracting high level of participations from the private sector, government and international audience.

The summit will run concurrent sector specifi c workshop sessions. These sessions will address issues such as how MSME can be used for employment generation using ICT platforms; the use of electronic channels to compliment the growth enhancement scheme in the Agricultural sector; the payment system in respect of the cashless Nigeria initiative and the PSV 2020.

Other sectors to be covered by the summit include pension, insurance and mortgage. The interconnection of these sectors with ICT will drive a generation of e-services in the public sector. In addition, the E-government summit will provide the platform to create awareness on various achievements of the FSS 2020 and celebrate other big strides in the private and public sector in the area of ICT.

The conference will allow exhibitions from participating organizations to showcase arrays of products and services which will drive citizen-centric e-services that is centred on improving effi ciency in government service delivery, and foster greater collaboration between the private and public sector for sustainable development and economic growth.

The Financial System Strategy, FSS 2020, is an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria aimed at developing a coherent and internally consistent blueprint to develop Nigeria’s fi nancial system to help achieve its vision to become a major international fi nancial centre and one of the top 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020.

Employees of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, makers of Cowbell, Onga, Toptea and Loya Milk who have served the company for a minimum of 10 years were on recently honoured by the company.

The employees, who have worked for 10, 15, and 20 years were honoured for their hard work and meritorious service to the company.

Speaking at the Long Service Award event held at the fi rm’s Headquarters in Isolo, Lagos, Managing Director, Promasidor Nigeria, Olivier Thiry, commended them for their commitment to service. He said their commitment over the years cannot be underestimated as it lubricates the strategic direction of the management.

Thiry stated that the reward to the affected employees was just a token from the management to dedicated and committed employees who strive to place Promasidor ahead of competition in the market.

His words: “This is just a gesture to reciprocate your support for Promasidor over the years. Without your invaluable commitment, there would not be Promasidor. The management considers today as a memorable day in the life of all the affected employees and in our corporate life”.

The event was fi lled with fun, laughter and glamour as the affected employees were rewarded with gifts ranging from refrigerators, to electricity generators, and plasma TV sets.

Other activities included a raffl e draw which saw guests carting away gifts such as miniovens, pressing irons, rice boilers, sandwich makers and other cooking appliances.

Satisfi ed with the honour given to them, the recipients of the awards expressed appreciation and love for the company, reiterating that if given another chance to choose a company to work for, they would again choose Promasidor.

One of the recipients, Lovejoy Oluchukwu, an employee who joined Promasidor as a young girl and was rewarded for having served for ten years thanked the company for celebrating her.

In her words “I have always been in love with Promasidor. This is the fi rst and only place I have ever worked (I joined in January 2004) and I started here when I was in my early twenties. They treat and respect all their staff well and are very safety conscious. Working here, I have undergone a lot of trainings from health, to stress management, and facility management training…they have a lot of facilities that help ensure that the staff work effectively. I never believed I could stay this long in a company but with all I have experienced, I tell my friends that I can work for this company without getting paid.”

Lovejoy, who started off working in the production department, has served the company in various capacities ranging from volunteering to working in the Sales Department to working as a Receptionist, acting as the PA to the GM, and Offi ce Assistant to the Managing Director, and currently functions as an offi cer in the Human Resources Department.

Adapting to emerging changes in any operating environment to deliver better products or services is a key differentiator in today’s fast-paced banking industry.

Innovation is a catalyst for growth and success because it enables business adapt and grow in the market place, and it helps to further satisfy the needs and expectations of customers.

A leading bank which may seem to have taken the above concept to heart and is keen on making it a way of life is Fidelity Bank.

Our constant interrogation of customer service initiatives in the nation’s banking landscape revealed that the Bank has revamped its Automated Teller Machines, ATM, platform, which has amply simplifi ed transaction processes for their customers.

This innovative ATM upgrade, the fi rst of its kind in Nigeria, which analysts believe could revolutionise branchless banking, creates a customer interface that is delightful, easier to use by customers of all classes and ages. The Fidelity Bank’s ATMs have legible characters, attractive icons, and give the same experience as using a smart phone because they are easy to navigate, delightful to the eyes, and give the customer great experience at every interaction.

It will be recalled that Fidelity Bank not long ago partnered with PayPal, a global player in the e-commerce industry, to offer its customers faster and effective means of conducting transactions over the internet. This relationship affords cardholders the fl exibility and convenience to shop from the world’s major international retailers. While the surge in e-commerce has given rise to concerns about online security, the bank allayed the fears of its customers by confi rming that its cards are protected with topnotch security tools.

Telecommunications company, Etisalat thrown its weight behind the empowerment of women by supporting another edition of Today’s Woman Brunch Series.

The event, held at the serene ambience of the Clear Essence Spa, Ikoyi was an avenue for women to not only network and inspire one another but to tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience of key female leaders, Chief Executive Offi – cers and entrepreneurs across various industries.

The Brunch Series organised by media personality, Adesuwa Onyenokwe is an inspirational quarterly event that celebrates female icons that have made giant strides in their fi elds of endeavour with integrity, passion and consistency. Etisalat had in the past hosted previous editions, which featured philanthropist and entrepreneur, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija and acclaimed politician, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa.

Chief Executive Offi cer of Standard Chartered Bank, Mrs. Bola Adesola was hosted at the Brunch Series which was graced by other notable personalities such as Azuka Ogujiuba, Modele Sarafa Yusuf, Author, Yvonne Ruke Akpoveta, Assistant Editor TW Magazine, Ifeyinwa Ojekwe, Media Entrepreneur, Ono Bello, Fade Ogunro, Funke Babs Kufi eji, Ebele The Flutist, Wana Udobang, amongst others.

The event provided Mrs. Adesola an opportunity to share her corporate experiences as well as the giant strides she has achieved in positioning Standard Chartered Bank as a major player in the banking industry. She further mentored the ladies on issues such as developing a road map to getting their desired jobs, combating challenges in gender sensitive environments, indices needed to balance career, marriage and motherhood, identifying the right partner , savings and investing

Speaking about the sponsorship, Head, Events & Sponsorship, Modupe Thani described the Brunch Series as one of the ways of sharing the passions of Etisalat’s customers and supporting causes that make impact in the community

The Bank Verifi cation Number, BVN, initiative, apart from helping banks to identify and blacklist fraudulent customers, will help to boost retail credit in the banking industry, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, NIBSS, Mr. Ade Shonubi, has said.

The NIBSS boss, who is responsible for the implementation of the BVN, in a statement, explained that once banks are able to identify and blacklist fraudulent customers, they would be encouraged to extend loans to those customers that are credit worthy and do not have any record of being delinquent borrowers.

The BVN is an initiative aimed at protecting bank customers and further strengthening the Nigerian banking system. It is an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee meant to address the safety of customers’ funds, avoids losses through compromise of personal identifi cation numbers and other criminal activities in the industry.

Shonubi noted that apart from the challenge of identifying customers, a major hindrance to retail credit in the Nigerian environment was the perception that most Nigerians are crooks who would look for ways of failing to repay loans.

He pointed out that the BVN would address this problem by helping to identify and distinguishing fraudulent Nigerians from law abiding and honest citizens.

“When the BVN project came up, there were three key things. First and most important of all is for us to identify our customers and to identify them uniquely across banks and across accounts. So, once you have BVN, even if you have 10 bank accounts, it is the same BVN that will be tied to the bank accounts.

“Now, relating to identifying is the possibility of banks blacklisting people who have committed fi nancial infractions.

“It could be fraudsters; it could be people who have gone to forge documents because what happens today is that the same guy will go to a bank, commits fraud, then runs to another bank and because there is no way of tying all these activities across. So, we found out that there were quite a lot of losses related to these individuals from one bank to another”, he said.

According to him the BVN would allow lenders begin to build retail credit, adding that “This is because a concern for bank is, if I lend you money now and you go away, how do I identify you? So, you fi nd that the entire retail consumer lending is to people with formal employment, that is why you see everybody running to the oil companies to say ‘let’s give your staff car loan; let’s give your staff consumer loan; let’s give your staff TV loans.”

He said there are a lot of self-employed people working in smaller organisations, who should also benefi t. “Nobody wants to take the risk on them because if they resign today and run off, how are you going to get your money? Once they have bank accounts, the BVN allows us to identify them.”

The BVN involves the registration of customers in the fi nancial system using biometric technology making accounts more secure by using unique identifi – ers such as fi ngerprints.

As part of efforts to encourage enrolment on the BVN, the CBN directed banks to only honour transactions over N100 million from customers with BVN from March 2015. Such transactions according to the apex bank include but not limited to, money transfers, loans, and contingencies, among others.

The regulator also urged all bank customers to register for their BVN by June 2015, warning that any bank customer without a BVN would be deemed to have inadequate know-your-customers (KYC) by that date.

Analysts have also described the BVN as a ‘silver-bullet solution’ to many of the challenges in the banking industry. The BVN is a unique identifi er for each bank customer across the fi nancial industry, making it possible to build and track customer fi – nancial history and activity. This will allow banks’ access to more reliable information that could inform decisions on customer loan and credit applications and other complex transactions.

The initiative, which was launched on February 14 2014, will also encourage fi nancial inclusion as those who have typically stayed away from mainstream banking due to low literacy levels will be able to open and access their bank accounts using their biometric information rather than traditional identifi cation methods.

The NIBSS, which is owned by the CBN and all licensed banks in the country, provides the infrastructure for automated processing of data, such as customers’ biometric information, settlement of payments and fund transfer instructions between banks, discount houses and card companies in Nigeria.

Sterling Bank Plc has signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU, with some fi rms in the education sector to digitise and simplify learning process at all levels of education.

The partnership is also to make the learning solutions affordable for students in primary, secondary and tertiary education levels.

Some of the partners include HR & P Solutions, Netlibrary Nigeria Limited, QC-Investment Limited and the DFID-Deepen Programme.

Speaking at an event held in Lagos, the Executive Director, Finance & Strategy, Sterling Bank, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman noted that fundamental to the progress of any nation is education.

He said the objective of the initiative is to transform education and make it ‘sexy’ again for people to want to invest in education and also for start-up companies to see education as where there is a clear demand.

“The idea is to digitise all the educational contents and make it cheaper for the students to afford. We are to develop devices that would provide digital solutions for students.

“We also recognise that the government does not have the resources. There is nowhere in the world where the government provides all the needs of the society. So, it is clear that at some point, fi nancial intermediation is required. We have also looked at our partners and they have the same desire.

“Most of them are trying to take advantage of modern technology, fi rstly, to make it cheaper and more affordable for people to access education.

Secondly, to also make sure that we are providing the relevant education because as things evolve, if you stay with the traditional educational methods, you will not be prepared for the new world,” he said.

He however, noted that like every partnership, the initiative is not charity. “Sterling Bank is not a charity organisation, neither is any of our partners. The intention is not sustainable unless there is a sound economic logic behind it. So, whatever we are doing is to make sure that fi ve years from now, this partnership is something that is still ongoing.

“It is not one of those projects that works for a year and disappears. So, what we want to do is to bring in a complete set of team to ensure that as far as providing access to content across board, starting from primary schools all the way to tertiary schools, we have the solutions and that they are affordable,” he said.