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Continues on page 18

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 06/06/2014

109.54 -0.43

102.85 -0.73

177.50 -4.5

3,059.00 +13.00

17.37 0.11

MEETING: From left: Michael Vincent, Advisory Leader, Deloitte West Africa; Tawanda Gumbo, Transitional Leader,Deloitte Nigeria; Steve Almond, Global Chairman, Deloitte, and Femi Abegunde, Chairman, Deloitte Nigeria, duringa breakfast meeting with clients and corporate CEOs in Lagos.

SOME finance experts haveexpressed optimism that thefull implementation of the

new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele’seconomic blueprint would boost capitalmarket activities and nationaleconomic growth.

They said that various sectors of theeconomy would experience aturnaround, if Emefiele carried outpolicies contained in his blueprint.Emefiele, on June 5, unveiled hisblueprint for the banking sector andthe economy, and promised a gradualreduction in interest rates on lending.

Emefiele’s blueprint 'llboost economy— FINANCE EXPERTS

Emefiele said the CBN would actas a financial catalyst by targetingpredetermined sectors that couldcreate jobs on a mass scale andreduce the country’s import bills.

Mr Emeka Madubuike, President,Association of Stockbroking Housesof Nigeria (ASHON), said that theeconomic agenda which is centeredon inclusive growth and job creation,would revamp the market and theeconomy. Madubuike said that highinterest rates and unemploymentwere the major problems of thecountry.

“Any policy that focuses on

unemployment reduction will boosteconomic growth and development,” hesaid.

Mr Sehinde Adenagbe, theManaging Director, Standard UnionInvestment Ltd, said that a gradualreduction of interest rates wouldincrease activities in the Nigerian StockExchange (NSE). Adenagbe said thatlow interest rates would lead to aredirection of funds into the stockmarket, which offers higher returns.

He said that proper lending to theSmall and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) would boost the productivesector and increase the number ofcompanies listed on the NSE.

Continues on page 18

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has banned corporateentities from accessing the

services of international moneytransfer.

According to the apex bank, this isto ensure that corporate organisationsdon’t use the services of internationalmoney transfer to circumvent itsreporting requirements.

The ban was contained in theExposure Draft of Guidelines onInternational Money Transfer Servicesin Nigeria, released by the apex banklast week.

The guidelines stated, “The moneytransfer services shall targetindividual customers mainly and thetransactions shall be on “person to

DOLLAR 154.73 155.23 155.73STERLING 259.049 259.8861 260.7232EURO 210.6494 211.3301 212.0108FRANC 172.5357 173.0932 173.6508YEN 1.5219 1.5268 1.5317CFA 0.3021 0.3121 0.3221WAUA 237.6395 238.4074 239.1753RENMINBI 24.7611 24.8415 24.922RIYAL 41.2547 41.388 41.5214KRONA 28.2158 28.307 28.3982SDR 238.3616 239.1318 239.9021

CBN barscorporatebodies fromusinginternationalmoney transfer

BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

Cover Story

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Continued from page 17

Continues on page 19

WHAT IS NOT BUSINESS?

Often time people engage inall sort of shady deals and

call it business. This should notbe, because any act/trade that isnot genuine and is to thedetriment of others cannot becalled a business, especially if itdoesn’t fall within the confines ofthe law or is aimed at gettingprofit wrongly. Some of thesewrong businesses include, moneylaundering (governmentofficials), abuse of office, stealing,defrauding, internet scamotherwise known as yahoo-yahoo,419 and a host of others. If youare involved in any of the above,then you cannot say that you arein a business as the above namedare prohibited by the laws of theland and they do not createopportunities. Rather they ruin orcripple the country, portraying itin a very bad light to the rest ofthe world. It is only a lazy manthat looks for an easy way out allthe time, not wanting to gothrough the right process andprocedures.

THE MENTALITY OF ABUSINESS MAN:

We have discussed what abusiness is in the previouschapter and what business is not;we have also looked at theimportance of self analysis instarting a business as well as thedisadvantages and advantages.Now it’s time to talk about thementality a business man shouldpossess. We cannot underestimatethe power of the mind and I makebold to say that that is whereevery idea and dream is born. Thegood book also emphasizes thisby saying “as a man thinketh inhis heart, so he is”.

When starting a business, youwould need to ask yourself if youpossess what it takes to run itefficiently and get the desiredresults. Every successful businessman has a mentality and shouldpossess a strong sense ofcharacter. That is why it isimportant to carry out a selfanalysis before commencing abusiness. The business man doesnot see failure as a reason to quit;to him failure is a stepping stonethat launches him to his nextlevel. He is not afraid but is a risktaker, possessing the utmostdesire to succeed; he is not justout to make money, but rather tobridge the gap between demandand supply.

He is a sharp thinker and verywitty, seizing every availableopportunity to meet the demandsof consumers. The following

The Basic Guide to StartingYour Business Part 3

make up the mindset ofsuccessful business men.

OptimismOptimism continues to be a

primary factor in whether or notan individual will stay focusedon goals rather than be thwartedby the negative events thatwould impede progress. It isthe absolute ideal that leads toachievement as nothing can bedone without hope. Therefore,it is the very essence of success.

If you want to have asuccessful business, it isimportant that you start out asan optimist, refusing to seeimpossibilities and obstacles.An optimist is not discouraged,but rather looks for other waysto make things better. A goodbusiness man will alwaysdiligently search for answersthat will work. He possesses

the “ yes I can” aura andmentality which will endearhim to clients and friends alike.

Before you start a business itis very important that you havea very optimistic mentality, onethat is not easily swayed byvarious obstacles you willencounter in the course ofcarrying out your business.This is because nobody wantsto do business with a pessimist.

CreativityA creative ability is a very vital

tool in the hands of a personwho intends to start a business,although sometimes even as abusiness owner there is a riskwith being creative; it is notpossible to do something thesame way and expect a differentoutcome. You have to be verydynamic in your choice andapproach to the business youintend to start. Brainstorm a listof possibilities no matter howwild it seems. Look for theunusual but plausible.

Emefiele’s blueprint'll boost economicactivities — Finance experts

Accordingly, morecompanies will seek listingson the exchange once theSMEs are adequatelyfunded. He said that theconservative nature of thegovernor was good for the

economy, noting that he couldnot make uncalculatedutterances that would affectthe economy.

Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf,immediate-past President,ASHON, said that theeconomic blueprint was acontinuation of the existingCBN policies. Yusuuf said that

Emefiele’s blueprint wouldnot lead to a major policychange. He said that adetailed implementationplan was paramount, toavoid erosion of investorconfidence and a depletionof the nation’s foreignreserves.

person transfer ” basis tosafeguard against corporatecustomers who mightstructure their transactionsinto smaller amounts tocircumvent the statutoryreporting threshold.”

“The permissible operationsof international moneytransfer services shall includeallowable inbound andoutbound internationalmoney transfer transactions.The transactions shall consistof the following activities: Theacceptance of monies for thepurpose of transmitting themto persons resident in Nigeriaor another country; Cross-border personal moneytransfer services, such as,money transfer servicestowards family maintenanceand money transfer servicesfavouring foreign touristsvisiting Nigeria shall beallowed under thisarrangement.”

The guidelines alsodisallowed money transferoperators from someactivities. It stated, “A moneytransfer operator is notauthorised to: Act as anauthorised dealer in gold orother precious metals;Engage in deposit takingand/or lending money;Maintain current accounts on

CBN bans corporate entities frominternational money transfer

behalf of customers;Establish letters of credit; oract as a custodian of funds onbehalf of customers; Engagein institutional transfers. Amoney transfer serviceoperator shall not engage inany other business other thanas authorised by the bank.Buy foreign exchange fromthe domestic foreignexchange market forsettlement.”

Furthermore, theguidelines spelt out the limitof money that can betransferred, the process anddocumentation for accessing

Continued from page 17 the money. It stated,“Allowable limit of theoutbound money transfershall be $1,000 or itsequivalent per annum, perperson subject to periodicreview by the CBN.

“All in-bound moneytransfers to Nigeria shallonly be disbursed tobeneficiaries through bankaccounts. Where thebeneficiary does not have abank account, paymentsshall only be madeupon the provision of asatisfactory reference from acurrent account holder ina bank.

The Bureau of PublicProcurement (BPP)says it has saved the

Federal Government overN569 bil l ion through contracts’ reduction in thelast seven years. Its Director-General, Mr EmekaEzeh, said this in a lectureentitled, “Public ProcurementProcess, Public Accountabilityand National Development”,at the National DefenceCollege (NDC), Abuja.

Eze said that the bureau had restored confidence inthe procurement processesin Nigeria.

“You do not have to know

Inflated contracts: BPP savesN569bn in 7 years, says DG

anyone anymore to get a jobin most cases,” he said.Ezeh said that it wasimportant for NDC’s seniormilitary officers to befamiliar with goodprocurement processes as astrategic tool for goodgovernance. He said that itwas important to ensure prudent management offunds allocated to thedefence sector.

The director-general saidthat at the moment,procurement in the defence

If you wantto have asuccessful

business, it isimportant thatyou start out

as an optimist,refusing to seeimpossibilitiesand obstacles

PROGRAMME: From left, Leader of Delegation from Edwrad Bloustein School of Planningand Public Policy, Dr. Domenic Ginger; Chief Executive, Institute for Government Research andLeadership Technology, Mr Moses Essien and Secretary-General, New Jersey Democratic Com-mittee, Mr Nick Nvoelker at the multicultural leadership development programme held in USA.

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Continued from page 18

WHEN in August 2009 Sanusi Lamido Sanusi intervened in fivetroubled banks in the country; many saw it as a rescue mission. ButI saw it differently. I whole-heartedly supported Sanusi cleaning

up toxic assets in the industry. Beyond that, I disapproved of his taking overof some banks that were still liquid at the time of the intervention. Sanusi didnot separate the individuals from the institutions. If some of the bank executives

Revisiting rescued banks’ grantof waivers to billionaires: Whatredress is possible?

contravened banking rules,the CBN or the lawenforcement agencies are atliberty to deal with suchindividuals. As it happens sooften in developeddemocracies, companies thatinfringe on regulatoryguidelines are fined heavilyand in some cases, their chiefexecutives are prosecuted andjailed.

If Sanusi at the time hadrelieved the chief executivesof those banks of their jobs andmade them to face the law, hewould have been a hero. Buthe did not stop at removingthe chief executives; he wentahead and took over the banks.That was what many did notsee that behind the scene,there were unseen handsguiding some of the well-targeted decisions. Whensome of us saw through whatwas happening and said so,the country never took ourwords for certain.

One of the very sad thingsthat happened then waswaivers granted tobillionaires. At the time, thelink between Sanusi, Lai Alabiand Bukola Saraki was not soclear to Nigerians. Now thatSanusi Lamido Sanusi hasopenly acknowledged thatSaraki was his classmate, thepicture of what happened tothe rescued banks is becomingclearer. Now, if Saraki isSanusi’s close friend and LaiAlabi worked for Saraki, thenthe connection and thesubsequent chain of actionsthat led to the liquidation ofsome of the banks is emergingin very clear terms.

Those of us who reported thecrisis recall with nostalgia thatIntercontinental Bank’sinterim management then

headed by Lai Alabi hadgranted waivers to the tune ofseveral billions to somecompanies alleged to beassociated with Saraki. Thesedebtors were close to the theninterim management put inplace by the CBN Governor.The explanation then was thatin order to recover fully theprincipal of their non-performing loans, themanagement of some of thetroubled banks startednegotiations with key debtorswho applied for forbearance.

In the madness of the time,Intercontinental Bank grantedwaivers to a debtor who owedthe bank N11 billion andapplied for 70 per cent waiver.Also, another customer whoowed the bank N1.5 billionapplied for forbearance and gotabout N500 million waiver. Thedebtor was billed to payN1billion but what was said tohave reached the bank’s vaultwas N800 million. The balanceof N700 million was given aswaiver to the debtor. In anotherinstance, a customer who owedN7.5 billion was said to havehad his entire indebtednesswritten off.

The former CBN Governor,Mallam Lamido Sanusi, whenquestioned by reporters at the2009 IMF/World Bankmeeting in Istanbul, Turkey,said that the Central Bank willnot get involved in the day-to-

day running of the troubledbanks. He said that the onusof running the banks was inthe hands of themanagements and theboards. It was clear from the

beginning that what washappening in the industry atthe time was not normal asbankers were worried thatthough it is normal for a long-standing non-performing loanconsidered lost written off thebooks of a bank to be sotreated, most of the banksbailed out by CBN had nofunctional boards to grantsuch waivers, leaving thedecision to the ManagingDirectors, some of whom wereacting as sole administrators.

The discretion applied bythose chief executives wasnot in the interest of revivingthe ailing banks but to panderto the interest of those whoappointed them. In normalcircumstances, it is only theaccumulated interest and

penalty that are built into aloan term that can be grantedas waivers, not the principal.

It was abnormal that at a timewhen the Economic &Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, was busy recoveringdebts from chronic debtors, themanagement of the troubled

banks started to give waiverswithout the approval of anylegally constituted board byshareholders. In the ordinarycourse of doing business,money fully provided for asloan loss when recovered goesto beef-up the capital orshareholders’ funds which thenon-performing loan hasgrossly eroded. What onefound disturbing at the timewas the fact that the caretakermanagement ofIntercontinental Bank haddisclosed that the bankrecovered over N78 billion outof the N142.644 billionprovisions for loans and otherknown losses, stating that thewaivers the bank granted todebtors was in line with theexisting policy in the bank to

encourage debtors to pay.Explaining the situation, Lai

Alabi had said: “When loanshave become bad as they are,when the underlyingsecurities have virtually beentotally eroded as we havenow, then there is a need togive some concessions inorder to encourage suchdebtors to pay, that is exactlywhat we did and this is thepractice in all banks – both inNigeria and worldwide.

”There existed such policyon waivers before the presentmanagement assumed office,this was then presented to thecredit committee whichrefined it and presented it tothe board which approved it.But we are contesting withserious issue of moles in thebank, what these peopleintended to achieve was tomalign the bank, frustrate theprogress we have made for thepurpose of serving certaininterest.

”Most of the figures givenout are distorted. For instance,in some cases the amountsthey are asked to pay excludethe values of share the loanswere used to purchase. Alsoin most cases, the waivers tookinto consideration, wrongdebits, penalty charges andother entries in dispute; weneed to have in mind that oureffort has so far yielded areward of about N80 billionsince the intervention.”

Now that it is in the publicdomain that some of theactions were premeditated tohelp a friend get what he hadcraved for but could not get inthe ordinary run of business,what redress is possible forthose lost five banks?

Now, if Saraki is Sanusi’s closefriend and Lai Alabi worked forSaraki, then the connection andthe subsequent chain of actions

that led to the liquidation ofsome of the banks is emerging in

very clear terms

sector was ridden with poorprocurement practices.

“There is currently nostrategic procurement plan inplace for a long-termprocurement agreement asapplicable in other countries.This has led to procurement ofthe same type of products overa period of time. No adherenceto the format of the bid securityas indicated in the standardbidding documents. There isalso political interference andthe scope of work are notproperly defined in mostcases.”

In his remarks, the

Commandant of NDC, RearAdmiral Ndidi Agholor, saidthat it was important forleaders to respect the law indifferent aspects of leadership.

“As a strategic leader, youmust realise that resourcesare scarce. And to that extent,it is good that before theparticipants graduate, they

know the provisions of ourpublic procurement. Knowingall this will ensure that they(officers) are able to providedue diligence when they

eventually take positions ofresponsibility.” He pledged to ensure that procurement ofgoods and services are carriedout in collaboration with thebureau.

Contract inflation: BPP saves N569bn in 7 years, says DG

African DevelopmentBank (AfDB)has instituted

a 100 billion dollarsinfrastructure fund to fast trackthe continent’s industrialdevelopment.

Dr Ousmane Dore, NigeriaCountry Director of AfDB,disclosed this in Abuja. He saidthat the fund, called “Africa50Fund”, would be derived from

AfDB establishes $100bn fund for infrastructure financingAfrica’s resources.

Dore said the idea of the fundwas to mobilise domesticsavings that already existed inthe continent through equityparticipation from memberstates and the private sector.He said the initiative is alsoaimed at deliveringinfrastructure through a newglobal partnership platformchampioning projects to tackle

Africa’s infrastructure deficit.According to Dore, the

thinking about how Africa’sdevelopment will be financedover the next 50 years in theera of shrinking external donorsupport, led to theestablishment of Africa50 Fund.“The fund, which aims tomobilise up to 100 billion dollarsin the first instance, is expectedto be a game changer in Africa’s

quest for development byrelaxing the infrastructureconstraints facing the continent.

“The fund, we believe,remains an answer to all thequestions that Africa’s policymakers have always faced whenthey think of going tointernational market to raiseresources to build roads tofinance power sector and allthat,” he said.

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More businesses at risk over corporategovernance failure — IIA, others

More businessesand financialinstitutions are at

risk of corporate mortality overtheir failure to entrench soundinternal auditing and corporategovernance principles,according to the Institute ofInternal Auditors, IIA, and chiefexecutive officers of financialinstitutions and consultingfirms.

Speaking at the 2014 IIANigeria Conference in Lagos,Mr. Peter Obaseki, ManagingDirector, First City MonumentBank (FCMB) Group, notedthat while corporate

By MICHAEL EBOH governance helps in buildinginstitutions, internal auditingensures that the institution isnot destroyed.

According to him, capitalprotection and capitalenhancement are the two keytests of an internal auditor,adding that in the absence ofproper corporate governance,an organisation will be facedwith corporate mortality.

He maintained that anorganisation with goodcorporate governance willattract the much neededcapital and quality staff to helpit grow and attain its statedobjectives.

However, to achieve success,

he said, “Internal auditorsneed to be strategic in the waythey carry out their duties.Internal auditors must havean ongoing engagement withregulators, while they mustalways endeavour to be on topof regulatory issues and seekto influence regulation.”

He advocated a situationwhere internal auditors areappointed to Board ofcompanies and are givenincreased role andresponsibilities.

Also speaking, Mr. ChrisOgbechie, Professor ofStrategy, Lagos BusinessSchool, explained that aneffective internal auditing

activity helps an organisationaccomplish its objectives bybringing a systematic,disciplined approach toevaluate and improve theeffectiveness of riskmanagement, control, andgovernance processes.

The Key Role of InternalAudit, according to him, “Is toassist the board and its auditcommittee in discharging itsgovernance responsibilities bydelivering: objectiveevaluation of risk and internalcontrol and analysis ofbusiness processes.

“It also serves as a source ofinformation on frauds andirregularities; a review ofcompliance issues; review ofoperational and financialperformance and providesfeedback on adherence to theorganisation’s values andcode of conduct.”

He stated that internal audithelps in value creation,especially as it contributes inenhancing ethical values,optimising leadershipresource allocation andupgrading staff competencesat all levels

Continuing, he said, “Firmsmust move beyond basiccompliance and emphasizesystem of internal controls thatwill: drive attainment ofstrategic business objectives,prevent fraud, target andmitigate risk, and help designbusiness processimprovements to betterintegrate enterprise-wideprocess with systems.”

The Confederation ofBusinessmen and Industrialists

in Turkey said that trading activitiesbetween its members and Nigerianentrepreneurs generated 1.56 billiondollars (about N254.76 billion) in2012.

The trading figure during the year,according to the group, also knownas TUKSON, recorded an increase ofabout 823 million dollars from a totalvalue of 740 million dollars (N120.61billion) in 2008 when it began traderelations with Nigerians. TheChairman of the confederation, MrRizanur Meral, made the fact knownin Instanbul while interacting withsome journalists from Nigeria.

Meral said that the value of goodsexported to Nigeria by the group was439 million dollars ( N71.56 billion),representing 56 per cent increase from218 million dollars (N35.53 billion)recorded in 2008.

He also said that the value ofimports by TUKSON from Nigeria

Trade between Nigeria, Turkey entrepreneurs yields $1.56bnrose from 522 million dollars (N85.08billion) in 2008 to 1.12 billion dollars(N183.21 billion) in 2012.

Meral said that goods importedfrom Nigeria by members of the groupduring the period included sesameseeds, natural gas, leather, cocoa, coaland rubber.

He said products exported toNigeria during the period were oil andsteel equipment, constructionequipment, textile, baby diapers,frozen fish, engine and industrial oil,coal and household appliances. Meraldisclosed that Turkish businessmenbegan investment in Nigeria about 10years ago but said that unavailabilityof adequate infrastructure andinvestment incentives accounted forthe delay in the arrival of Turks inNigeria.

Meral advised the FederalGovernment to establish industrialzones and make deliberate effort toprovide roads, energy, water andother facilities within them. “This

will encourage more investors tocome to the country,” he said.According to him, it is not enough togive tax holidays, duty waivers andother incentives without providinginvestment environment that willmake entrepreneurs to take advantageof the incentives.

He said that Ethiopia was graduallybecoming an “industrial giant” inAfrica because it had a policy of robustinvestment incentive which included70 per cent credit from its nationalbanks to investors”. “Turkey adoptedsimilar policy to enable it to developits tourism and exports businesses andevery year, expected revenue fromtourism is 43 million dollars,whereas the whole Africa with 54countries, tourism revenue is about 22million dollars,” he said. Meral saidthat corruption and security problemsin Nigeria were no barriers toinvestment, considering that thechallenges were global and notpeculiar to Nigeria.

The naira fell to its lowestlevel since April as

Nigeria’s newly appointedcentral bank governor saidpolicy makers may begincutting record-high interestrates for the first time inalmost three years.

The currency depreciated0.9 per cent to N164.40 perdollar in Lagos, the weakeston a closing basis since April1. The naira has fallen for thepast two days, extending thisyear’s decline to 2.5 percent.

While the Central Bank ofNigeria intends to keep thecurrency stable, policymakers will lower theAfrican country’s main rategradually, Governor GodwinEmefiele said in his firstpublic speech since takingoffice. The regulator has keptthe key lending rateunchanged at a record highof 12 per cent since October2011. The central bank hasno plans to start cutting ratesuntil after February 2015elections.

ABUCCIMAplans 7-starhotel, shoppingmall in FCT

The Abuja Chamber ofCommerce, Industry,

Mines and Agriculture(ABUCCIMA) hasannounced its plans to builda seven-star hotel and amodern shopping mall in theFCT. President ofABUCCIMA, Mr SolomonNyagba, made theannouncement at a newsconference, ahead of the 9thAbuja International TradeFair, billed to hold betweenSeptember and October.Nyagba said that the projectswould be the biggest inAbuja. He said thatABUCCIMA would alsobuild a convention centre anda world-class trade exhibitioncentre in Abuja.

According to him, theprojects will be sited withinthe 31-hectare JeremiahUseni International TradeFair Complex on AirportRoad, Abuja. He said thatwhen completed, thecomplex would not onlybecome a hub of economicactivities but also createemployment opportunities formany. “We are partneringwith a South African groupon the projects.

Naira falls to2-month low asCBN plansrates cut

SYMPOSIUM: From left: Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; German Consul-General, Michael Derus; Managing Director, Food Processing and Packaging Machinery ofthe German Engineering Federation (VDMA), Richard Clemens, at the German manufacturersof food processing and packaging machinery symposium in Lagos.

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Business & Economy

U.S. authoritiesnegotiating with BNPParibas over alleged

sanctions violations at onepoint suggested that France’sbiggest bank pay a penalty ashigh as $16 billion, accordingto people familiar with thematter. While the sources saidthat number was onlyproposed as a negotiatingtactic in response to an offerfrom BNP of about $1 billion,the dollar figures beingthrown around demonstratewhat bankers and their alliessay is an alarming trend ofever-increasing recordpenalties.

A $16 billion settlementwould have pushed BNP’spenalty above the biggestever for a bank — JPMorganChase & Co, which paid $13billion last year to resolve anumber of civil mortgage-related allegations. Morerecently, authorities havebeen discussing a settlementwith BNP in the range of $10billion, sources have said.U.S. authorities are probingwhether BNP evaded U.S.sanctions relating primarilyto Sudan between 2002 and2009, and whether it strippedout identifying informationfrom wire transfers so theycould pass through the U.S.financial system withoutraising red flags.

The New York StateDepartment of FinancialServices, one of the fiveoffices negotiating thesettlement with BNP, couldreceive at least $2 billion ofan eventual $10 billion deal,according to a source familiarwith the matter. That wouldbe more than three times thatoffice’s $552 million annualbudget this year. A $10billion fine would almost wipe

BNP Paribas faces $16bnpenalty in US, as bank finessoarout BNP’s entire 2013 pretaxincome of about 8.2 billioneuros ($11.2 billion). BNPreserved $1.1 billion againsta potential fine.Representatives of the JusticeDepartment and BNP declinedto comment on thenegotiations.

In the past two years theU.S. Justice Department hassaid it’s broken records onpenalties for corporatemisconduct at least seven

times, including three timesthis year alone. The mostrecent was Credit Suisse inMay, which paid $2.6 billionover charges that it helpedAmerican evade U.S. taxes,the largest penalty everlevied in a criminal tax case.

Total corporate criminalpenalties in the United Statesoverall increased about 647percent between 2001 and2012 to about $4.3 billion,according to figures

compiled by University ofVirginia law schoolprofessor Brandon Garrett.The robust growth incorporate penalties,especially for banks, hasdefense lawyersquestioning howauthorities calculate eachlandmark settlement andhow institutions canprepare for such fines theymight face.

Banks are also deployingstrategies to try to keep thenumbers from growing,including enlisting topexecutives in settlementnegotiations and takingtheir chances going to trial.“I think everyone realizesthat it’s an exuberantmarket,” said one defenselawyer who has negotiatedrecent settlements with theJustice Department anddeclined to be named.

There are multipleexplanations for the risingfines. For one, cases relatedto the 2007-2009 financialcrisis have produced bigsettlements connected totrillions of dollars insubprime mortgagefinancial products. U.S.authorities have alsoturned their attention toother crimes involving bigdollar amounts, includingmoney laundering,sanctions violations andthe rigging of benchmarkinterest rates.

The Justice Departmentmay also be responding topolitical pressure,especially because no high-profile bankers have goneto jail for the role theyplayed in fueling thefinancial crisis. Critics sayrecent penalties have notbeen nearly stiff enough,and amount to the cost ofdoing business.

Nigeria Leadership Initiative, NLI, hasunveiled a web portal, to promote air

travel safety in the Nigerian airspace. At apress briefing to unveil the website in Lagos,Chief Executive Officer of NLI, Yinka Oyinlolasaid the main objective of the web portal is tomake air travels in Nigeria safer and toforestall future occurrence of air disasterthrough an alert mechanism.

He said, “The objective is very simple; toensure that air travels in Nigeria are safer.The portal is supposed to be a place whereconsumers, travelers or citizens generally canobserve an anomaly and then report it. It isan opportunity for air operators to use themedium to inform air travelers about whateverissues or for general information. It is amedium for citizens’ interests groups,parastatals and agencies to monitor what isgoing on in terms of air travel. It is anopportunity for air regulators to monitorwhat is going on and report anomalies whenobserved.”

He further explained that Nigeria haswitnessed preventable air disasters more thanany other countries within the African sub-region and that factors responsible for it canbe reduced substantially through aninformation platform like this.

“The period prior to the Dana Crash, that is,

Institute unveils portal to boost aviation safety

By JONAH NWOKPOKUfrom 2002 to 2012, Nigeria recorded veryfatal ten air accidents, contrast that to Egyptthat recorded only one, South Africa recordedonly two in ten years. The factors responsiblefor air accidents in Nigeria can be managedto the minimum, and that is why NLI, aplatform for driving positive change inNigeria, has taken it upon itself to enhanceair travels safety in Nigeria, through thisplatform,” he said.

He added that the portal is part of NLI’s‘Safer Skies Initiative’ which was borne outof NLI’s drive for safer air travels and ofaviation sector in Nigeria.

Also speaking, Gbolahan Fagbure,President of NLI 2013 associates, whose classundertook the building of the portal, said theportal is designed to boost access toinformation needed to enhance air travelsafety. He said: “When we worked in thisportal, our intention was to make it a placewhere people can get information aboutvarious aspects of aviation industry. Thereare segments that talk about the variousregulatory agencies in Nigeria and what theirroles are in the aviation industry, and howthey impact on safety of air travels.

“As a user of the website, you can have accessto information like passengers’ bill of rights.This includes what your rights are as apassenger, what you can do if your flight isdelayed or cancelled."

LASG seals 7 firmsover tax default

The Lagos State InternalRevenue Service (LIRS)

said it sealed seven companiesin May for defaulting to remitN18.6 million personal incometaxes of their workers.

Mrs Folasade Coker-Afolayan, the Head of DistrainUnit of LIRS, disclosed this inLagos. Coker-Afolayan saidthat the due taxes were forperiods ranging from one tothree years. The tax officersaid the affected companieswere in the manufacturing,tourism, shipping, energy andhospitality sub-sectors.

She reiterated that taxpayment was a civicresponsibility of citizens andthe proceeds were needed bygovernment to provideinfrastructure. “Tax is a majorsource of government’srevenue. It enables it toprovide infrastructure andimprove citizens’ standard ofliving,” she said.

Coker-Afolayan said thatthe LIRS would continueto sanction tax defaulters,adding that some employerswere fond of deductingworkers’ taxes withoutremitting them togovernment’s coffers. Sheadvised companies to remitdeducted taxes promptly toavoid embarrassment,stressing that it was criminalto tamper with government’sseals on sealed companies.

NPA lauds firmover clearance ofmarine waste

The Nigerian PortsAuthority (NPA) has

lauded African Circle PollutionManagement Ltd., for clearingmarine waste for easymovement of vessels in thenation’s territorial waters. MrIleya Musa, NPA’s AssistantGeneral Manager, PublicAffairs, gave thecommendation in aninterview in Lagos. Musa saidthat since the organisation wasengaged 10 years ago, therehad been unhindered sail ofvessels on the nation’sterritorial waters. The firmwas employed because sailorshad complained of too muchwaste, which sometimescaused damage to the engineroom of vessels. Musa assuredthat the NPA would continueto provide efficient sailing forships and boats on thenation’s waters.

Mrs Stella Johnson, Head,Human Resources Departmentof the private firm, said that theorganisation achieved the featby establishing offices in PortHarcourt, Warri and Calabar.

LAUNCH: From Left: Mr Ezekiel Kayode Salako, Chief Launcher, Mr Seye Olofin, LagosMainland Local Government chairmanship asprant, Mr Quadri Olowolagba, Managing Di-rector, Squard Production Limited, and Mr Ademola Akinlabi, Chairman Photojournalist As-socation of Nigeria [PJAN], / Guest Speaker at the occassion, during the launch of modernoutdoor studio equipment by Squard Production Limited, in Lagos PHOTO; Kehinde Gbada-mosi

22 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014

Banking & Finance

SEMINAR: From left: Uchenna Agbowo, Business Manager, Onitsha-Iweka Rd branch,Diamond Bank Plc; Adaeze Umeh, Segment Head, MSMEs, Diamond Bank Plc; DonatusEbubeogu, MD/CEO, Tiger Foods Nig Ltd and Ikenna Nwabuwa, Regional Manager,Anambra region, Diamond Bank Plc at the 43rd BusinessXpress Seminar in Onitsha, AnambraState.

The Central Bank ofNigeria (CBN) has

fined banks N1.2 billion forviolating the guidelines ofthe CommercialAgricultural Credit Scheme(CACS). Meanwhile,165,510 jobs has beencreated through the schemesince inception in 2009.

This was revealed in theapex bank’s report on theactivities of the scheme forlast month. The reportstated, “Access Bank wasfined the sum of N353.395million being sanction forinfraction of the CACSGuidelines during themonth. Cumulatively, thetotal penalty charged forinfractions, stood at N1.242billion from inception in2009 to May, 2014.”

According to the report,the major challengesconfronting the scheme are,“Non-adherence to CACSguidelines by banks, andPoor monitoring of projectsby some participatingbanks.”

The report stated, “TheCommercial AgricultureCredit Scheme (CACS) wasestablished to finance largeticket projects along theagricultural value chain.The Scheme is beingadministered at a singledigit rate of nine per centto beneficiaries for a periodof seven years. StateGovernments, includingthe FCT can access amaximum of N1.0 billioneach for on- lending tofarmers’ cooperatives orother areas of agriculturalintervention.

CBN fines banks N1.2bn forviolating agric credit schemeSTORIES BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

“No fund was released fromCACS Receivables Accountsduring the period underreview. However, the sum ofN229.282 billion has so farbeen released to the economyunder CACS in respect of 304

projects through twenty banksmade up of N199.831 billionfrom CACS ReceivableAccount for 273 projects andN29.451 billion from CACSRepayment Account for 31new projects and 15enhancements.

“The sum of N701.41million was released from the

CACS Repayment Account totwo participating banks fortwo projects in May, 2014.304 beneficiaries made up of274 private promoters and 30State Governments includingthe FCT has been sponsoredunder CACS. The sum ofN39 billion has been accessedby 30 State Governments andthe FCT. The sum ofN2.340 billion was repaid bytwo banks in respect of threeprojects during the month,bringing the total repaymentto N39.888 billion in respectof 74 projects. The balanceon CACS Fund as at end ofMay, 2014 was N0.169 billion.The balance on CACSRepayment Account as at endMay, 2014 was N10.437billion.

“Analysis of CACSperformance by value chainshowed that out of the 274CACS private sectorsponsored projects (from bothreceivable and RepaymentAccounts), productiondominated the activitiesfunded with 50.73 percent,followed by processing whichaccounted for 38.59 percent,while marketing, storage andInput supplies accounted for5.47 percent, 4.74 percent and0.36 percent respectively. Interms of the volume of fundsreleased, processingaccounted for 50.2 percent,followed by production whichaccounted for 34.8 percent.Marketing, storage and inputsupplies accounted for 10.6percent 4.2 percent and 0.3percent respectively.”

StanChart commits $10.7bn toeconomic growth in Africa

Standard Chartered Bank Plc hascontributed $10.7 billion to economic

growth in Africa. The bank also supportedtrade in the sub-Saharan region with $7.2billion in 2014.

These were revealed in the bank’s 2014African Report presented to journalists inLagos last week. The report was puttogether by Professor Ethan Kapstein ofGeorgetown University, United States, andwas presented in Lagos by Dr. Rene Kim,founding Partner at Steward Redqueen.

The report noted that, a new confidentAfrican middle class is emerging, and tradeis expanding rapidly, notably with Asia. Italso noted that, “Africa is leapfrogging oldtechnologies and embracing the digitalrevolution, leading the world in innovationsuch as mobile payments”.

The report which measured the impactof Standard Chartered Bank’s operationsin terms of economic value added andemployment support, also considered thebank’s impact on Africa’s trade, deployinga global network spanning more than 68countries, as the only international bankwith a major presence across both Africaand Asia. It further undertook a

qualitative assessment of other ways inwhich Standard Chartered Bankcontributes to local communities in Africa,including financial innovation, riskmanagement, business practices andcommunity investments.

“By measuring direct and indirectimpact”, the report shows that “ouroperations and financing support some 1.9million jobs in the markets where weoperate in Sub-Saharan Africa. The bulkof these jobs are in advanced, high value-added sectors – the fast-growingmanufacturing and service industries thatare changing the face of Africa’seconomies. We contribute $10.7 billion ineconomic value added, equivalent to 1.2per cent of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP. Thebank supports sub-Saharan trade worth$7.2 billion.”

Dr. Kim noted that Africa’s share of worldtrade amounts to five percent but recordsonly three percent of intra-African trade.“A number of reasons can be adduced forthe lack of intra-African trade, part of whichinclude lack of or dearth of infrastructure.There is also the issue of barriers whichneeded to be taken out for effective intra-Africa trade.”

FIRS tasksbanks on promptremittance of taxcollections

BY DOTUN IBIWOYE

The Federal InlandRevenue Service, FIRS,

has called on banks topromptly remit taxes collectedon behalf of government.

This call was made by FIRS’Ag. Executive Chairman, Alh.Kabir Mashi in Lagos at thetaxpayers’ sensitisationforum of Medium Tax Office,MTO, Lagos Mainland.

Represented by FIRS’Director, Medium Tax Dept.Mr. Peter Olayemi, the A.gChairman said the clarion callfor prompt remittance isimportant to achieving theaims and objectives of taxcollection in particular andrealisation of thetransformation agenda of theFederal Government ofNigeria.

Mashi said FIRSappreciates the role banksplay in the tax collectionprocess, but appealed to themto cultivate the culture ofcollecting the taxes andremitting them promptly tothe right accounts, instead ofsitting on them.

“You (the banks) are at themiddle of the affairs betweenFIRS and the taxpayers. Yourtimely advice in remindingyour clients (taxpayers) oftheir obligations and lettingthem know the implications ofnon-compliance is key to thedevelopment of our taxsystem.

“We sincerely believe that aspartners in progress, we cancollectively work together togalvanise the economy byoptimising the non-oil taxrevenue through mutualunderstanding andcollaboration,” Mr. Mashisaid.

The Coordinating Director,Field Operations Group,Bamidele Ajayi, urged allFIRS operators to see theopportunity of FIRS-Stakeholders’ collaborationsas avenues to buildingmutual trust and goodwill aspartners in progress.

Mr. Bamidele wasrepresented by the DeputyDirector, MTD, BamideleAina.

On her part, the Minister ofFinance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stressed the need fortax consultants and taxpayersto work closely with FIRS topromote voluntary taxcompliance among thegenerality of taxpayers in thecountry.

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Banking & Finance

COMMISSIONING: Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Jibril Aku (centre) with somemanagement staff, pupils and teachers of C&S Primary School II, Majidun Ikorodu, at thecommissioning of a block of classrooms renovated by Ecobank.

STORIES BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

The Nigeria DepositInsurance Corporation

(NDIC) said it hascommenced payment ofN588.7 million to depositorsof 33 liquidated microfinancebanks.

This was disclosed in astatement signed by the Headof Public Affairs, NDIC,Mallam Hadji Birchi. Thestatement said, “The NigeriaDeposit InsuranceCorporation (NDIC) hascommenced the verificationand payment of insureddeposits of 33 out of 83microfinance banks (MFBs)whose licences were recentlyrevoked by the Central Bankof Nigeria (CBN).

NDIC to pay N588m to depositors of liquidatedMfBs

The first phase of thedeposit pay-out of the 33closed MFBs would covertotal deposit liabilities ofN588, 685,792.25 and eachdepositor would receive amaximum of N200, 000.

As part of the verificationand payment exercise beingundertaken by staff of theCorporation, affecteddepositors are to report to thelast known addresses of theirclosed MFBs with evidence ofaccount ownership includingpassbooks, cheque books andpersonal identificationdocuments such as nationalidentity cards, drivers licencesand voters cards. “Depositorswithout valid identificationdocuments are to obtainintroduction letters with theirphotographs and the lettersare duly signed by traditional

rulers of their localities orlocal government chairmen.

The depositors are alsorequested to take alongdetails of alternative bankaccounts operated in any ofthe existing banks into whichtheir insured claims could bepaid while those without bankaccounts have been asked toprovide details of accounts ofclose relatives to which their

payment could be made.In a related development,

the Corporation hascommenced verification andpayment of N125 million asfirst liquidation dividend of50 kobo each to shareholdersof the defunct RimsMerchant Bank at its Abujaand Lagos Offices and eightzonal offices nationwide.

The Board of FCMB Group Plc has assuredshareholders of future growth irrespective of

uncertainties in the operating environment.Chairman of the Company, Dr Jonathan Long gave this

assurance while addressing shareholders at the 1st annualgeneral meeting of the company held in Lagos.

“I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that,whatever uncertainties lie ahead, your Board is committed to

FCMB Group reiteratescommitment to growth despiteuncertainties*Shareholders approve N5.9bn dividend

increasing shareholder valuein 2014 and preparing theway for future growth”, hesaid.

FCMB Group Plc is theparent company of First CityMonument Bank. It wasformed in compliance withthe new banking model of theCentral Bank of Nigeria(CBN), which require banksto either divest from all theirnon-bank subsidiaries orcreate a Holding Companythat would be the parentcompany of the bank and thesubsidiaries. The objective ofthe new policy is to makesure banks operate on stand-alone basis such that theirassets would not be used fornon-banking purposes.

Consequently, FCMBGroup Plc emerged as aholding company with directsubsidiaries, including FirstCity Monument BankLimited, FCMB CapitalMarkets Limited and CSLStockbrokers Limited.

“The Group reportedsignificant developments inall its key operating areas. In2013, the Group’s total assetsgrew 11 percent to N1.0trillion, deposits grew by 11percent to N715 billion, loansto customers grew by 26percent to N451 billion andnet interest income grew by30 percent to N56 billion”,Long disclosed.

On their part, shareholderscommended the performanceof the Group in the financialyear ended 2013. They alsounanimously approved thepayment of a cash dividendof N5.94 billion or 30 koboper ordinary share, for theyear ended December 31,2013 as recommended by theBoard.

FBNCapital Limited, hasbeen acknowledged by EMEA FinanceMagazine for its efforts in the financing

of projects in the Oil & Gas andTelecommunications industries. At an awardceremony which took place at The LawSociety’s Common Room London, England,FBN Capital Limited received awards for BestProject Finance Deal in Africa, BestRestructuring in Africa and Best Telecoms Dealin Africa for their projects with EMTS (Etisalat),while also winning the award for Best EnergyInfrastructure Deal in Africa for the financingof East Horizon Gas Company’s pipelineconstruction.

Mr. Mgbenwelu also received the award ofDealmaker of the Year, making him the firstperson to win the inaugural award.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Directorand Head, Debt Solutions, FBN Capital, Mr.Patrick Mgbenwelu said, “We are very pleasedto have received this award. It serves as further

FBNCapital wins at Africa Investor Awards 2014testament to our commitment not only tocreating value for our clients, but alsosetting the industry standards with regardsto and structured financings in Nigeria.”

FBN Capital was the Joint FinancialAdviser, along with Citibank, to Etisalat’s$1.2 billion Loan Facility to fund thecompany’s network rollout. The deal isnoteworthy in that it also received the AfricaInvestor Infrastructure Investment award inMay this year as evidence of its outstandingnature among industry watchers.

East Horizon Gas Company Limited(EHGCL) secured a debt financing of N10billion through FBN Capital with theintention of constructing and operating an18-inch, 128 km gas pipeline that connectswith the Obigbo-Alscon pipeline at Ukanafunto supply gas to an industrial off-takerlocated in Mfamosing, Cross River State,and to meet the needs of other industrialusers in the Calabar region.

ABCON com-mends CBN onabolition ofcash depositchargesAssociation of Bureaux DeChange Operators of Ni-geria (ABCON) has com-mended the Governor ofCentral Bank of Nigeria(CBN), Mr. Godwin Eme-fiele for abolishing charg-es on cash deposits."The cancellation of thecharges is good for theeconomy and will also en-hance the achievement ofthe objectives of the cash-less policy," said, AlhajiAminu Gwadabe, ABCONPresident.Under the cashless policy,the CBN imposed threepercent charge on cashdeposits above N500, 000for individuals and cashdeposit above N3 millionfor corporate customers.However, Governor Eme-fiele on Thursday lastweek ordered the stop-page of the charges."We have become aware ofcomplaints by customersparticularly regarding thecharges being imposed forcash deposits. This hasresulted in customers de-vising various means toavoid the charges throughopening of multiplicity ofaccounts and other disin-genuous behaviour allaimed at undermining theobjective of this policy.Given these outcomes andto better reflect our goal ofhaving more cash underour control, all charges ondeposits are herebystopped with immediateeffect," Emefiele said in hismaiden press conference..The ABCON Presidentsaid that the cancellationof the charges would alsoreduce the amount of bankcharges paid by BDCs andthus reduce their operat-ing expenses. This he saidwill in turn increase prof-itability and taxes paid tothe government. Aminusaid in addition to this, thereduced operating ex-penses, would also encour-age BDCs to offer attrac-tive exchange rates to theircustomers.The Association alsopraised the decision of thenew CBN helmsman tosustain stability of the ex-change rate by defendingthe naira. This accordingto Aminu would engenderincreased confidence inthe country among foreigninvestors, and hence leadto increased inflow of for-eign exchange supply intothe country, leading to in-crease in the nation's ex-ternal reserves.

24 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014

CMYK

Corporate Finance

ROUNDTABLE: From left: Mr. Mitchell Elegbe MD/CEO, Interswitch Limited, Mr. DavidIsiavwe, President, Information Security Society of Africa Nigeria (ISSAN); GeneralManager, Union Bank Plc, Mr. Chris Ekeigwe; MD/CEO, EDP Audit & Security Associates,Mrs. Tokunbo Martins; Director, Banking Supervision, CBN, Mr. Wale Obadare; MD/CEO, Digital Encode Ltd, and Mr. Joseph Esenwa, Chairman, Committee of Chief InternalAuditors of Banks in Nigeria at the banking industry roundtable for Chief InternalAuditors and Chief Information Officers in Lagos.

Caverton OffshoreLogistics Group,listed barely one

month on the stockexchange, has securedshareholders’ approval topay N418 million dividendfor its financial year endedDecember 31, 2013,translating to 12.5kobo pershare.

Also, the company saidits profit after tax for theyear grew by 37.9 percentfrom1.36 billion in 2012 toN1.88 billion in the review

Caverton to pay N418mdividend, grows profits by 37.9%

Stories by NKIRUKANNOROM

period.Addressing shareholders at

the meeting, the chairman,Aderemi Makanjuola, saidthe 2013 financialperformance was animprovement over that of theprevious year despite thechallenges faced bybusinesses in the offshoreand logistics support sector.

He explained that thecompany achieved the featwith the support of itsgrowing customer base.

He noted that the companyrecorded an appreciableturnover growth of 15.7percent from N16.132 billionin 2012 to N18.663 billion in

2013, while the shareholders’funds employed increased by15.9 percent from N9.82billion to N11.38 billion in2013.

He attributed the increasein both turnover and profitafter tax to the stabilityrecorded and incrementalbusiness from both existingand new contracts signedduring the year.

On the company ’soperation during the year, hesaid, “2013 was a year ofconsolidation for Caverton aswe had full operations of allsix of Shell’s AW139helicopters. In Q3, we

SEC chair plotsmajor rules forhigh-speed traders

The top U.S. securitiesregulator said on

Thursday she is developingrules targeting high-speedtraders, less transparent tradingvenues and order-routingpractices, a move designed topromote fairness for investors,shine more light on the marketsand bolster stability.

U.S. Securities and ExchangeCommission’s Chair, Mary JoWhite’s ambitious proposals,unveiled in a speech in NewYork City, mark the first time shehas articulated her plan forrevamping equity marketstructure rules since she tookover at the SEC in the spring of2013. It also marks one of themost ambitious equity marketregulatory agendas since atleast 2010, when the SECrushed to install reforms toprevent a repeat of the “flashcrash.”

White said she has numerousproposals in the works,including an “anti-disruptivetrading” rule to rein inaggressive short-term tradingby high-frequency tradersduring vulnerable marketconditions, and a plan to forcemore proprietary trading shopsto register with regulators andopen their books for inspection.

Ecobank acquires96% stake in BancoProCredit

Ecobank TransnationalIncorporated and

ProCredit Holding (‘PCH’)have announced conclusion ofnegotiations for the acquisitionof the 96 percent stake in BancoProCredit Mozambique.

Banco Procredit waspreviously held by ProCreditHolding and the DOENFoundation. The transaction,according to statement fromEcobank, has receivedregulatory approval of theauthorities in Mozambique andthe bank has started trading asEcobank Mozambique.

Speaking on behalf of PCH,Helen Alexander, confirmedthat the negotiations were heldin a frank and transparentmanner and that the transactionhas been concluded to thesatisfaction of both parties. Sheasserted: “We are pleased tohave concluded this transactionand are confident that we areleaving the bank in the handsof a very capable partner.Ecobank is well positioned toimplement a growth strategythat will offer excellentprospects for our clients, ourstaff and for the Mozambiquemarket as a whole.”

Learn Africa targets improved profitability

the company for the year end-ed December 31, 2013.

He explained that the com-pany has restructured its en-tire marketing and sales teamfor optimum utilisation and ef-ficiency to enable it meet thecurrent challenges of contem-porary book business.

He said, “You are aware thatin the first quarter of 2012, thetwo majority shareholders ofthis company - Pearson Edu-cation Limited and LongmanGroup Plc - formally divestedtheir combined 51 percentholding from our company.

“Longman UK took alongwith them all their titles andthese books are key to LearnAfrica as they constitute 34 per-cent of our total turnover inopen and bulk markets. Thisautomatically means that 34percent of our sales were lost

as a result of the divestment.” He noted that the insurgence

in the north was also a majorset-back to the company’s busi-ness in 2013, adding that 75percent of its bulk sales werelost as no government from thenorthern axis of the countrypatronised it within the year.

“Also, the insecurity in thenorth affected our open mar-ket. The increased rate of pi-racy also affected our profit,”he added.

He lamented harsh econom-ic environment characterisedby high interest rate, erraticenergy supply and poor roadnetwork, saying that they es-calated the company’s opera-tional cost in 2013 financialyear.

“I am pleased to report thatthere is light at the end of thetunnel as evidenced in our per-

formance for the first quarter ofthe current financial year. Wehave introduced new titles intothe Nigerian market as replace-ment for some of the Pearson Ed-ucation’s titles that were with-drawn from our list.

“It is interesting to note that wehave carried out a thorough re-vision of some of our publicationto align them with the new cur-riculum requirement and sus-tained market acceptance,” hestated.

“I feel confident that we willbe able to achieve higher levelof sales and profitability this yeargiven our firm commitment toexploit all available opportunityand I want to assure our share-holders that the future of thiscompany is bright and we willcontinue to raise the bar in bookpublishing and marketing whilegenerating appreciable returns-on-investment,” he added.

commenced operations of theDHC6-400 for Shell and alsostarted the TUNIP operationsfrom Lagos using the AW139.Our aircraft availabilityremains high at an average of95 percent on all contracts.

“In Doula, we replaced inApril 2013 the leased aircraftwith our twin otter andstabilized the operationsthrough a number ofinitiatives. We also focusedattention on quality and safetystandards. Our efforts wereindeed rewarded with thesubsequent issuance of anunrestricted AOC for Cavertonoperations.”

“We have now obtainedrelevant regulatory approvalsto commence the constructionof our maintenance, repair andoverhaul (MRO) center as wellas an aviation training centeron a 40,000 square metersfacility as MMIA, both ofwhich will house OEMs(Original EquipmentManufacturers).

“Construction will commencein quarter two, 2014 as part ofour medium term strategy todiversify our revenue streamand insulate Caverton fromvagaries of contract awards,”he added.

Also speaking, the chiefexecutive officer, Mr. OlabodeMakanjuola, said plans are onground to diversify thecompany ’s operation inpursuit of more robust revenuebase.

Shareholders at the meetingurged the company toconstantly feed the investingpublic with necessaryinformation on its operations,saying that it is determinant ofthe stocks’ price direction.

They also commended thecompany for the dividend andgeneral performance in theyear.

The Managing Director of Learn AfricaPlc, Mr. Olusegun

Oladipo, has said that thecompany is set to improve itssales, as well as its profitabil-ity in the current financialyear given certain measuresthe management has alreadyput in place.

Speaking at the pre-AGMpress briefing in Lagos, Ola-dipo said the Board and man-agement are prepared tomake judicious use of re-sources available to it to en-hance shareholders’ value.

He said that the companyhas overcome the challeng-es that emanated from thedivestment of its two majorshareholders in February2012 and is ready to payshareholders 12kobo divi-dend for their investment in

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 — 25

Corporate Finance

Shareholders of UPDCPlc have approvedpayment of 70kobo

dividend and bonus issue ofone new share for fourordinary shares previouslyheld by shareholders asearlier recommended by thecompany ’s Board ofDirectors.

Giving the approval at thecompany's 16th AnnualGeneral Meeting, AGM, inLagos, the shareholderscommended the Board andmanagement for theperformance, describing it as‘good’.

Chief Timothy Adesiyan,President, NigeriaShareholders SolidarityAssociation applauded thecompany for the bonus

Honeywell plans N10bn capex on new complexBy WILLIAM JIMOH

Honeywell Flour MillsPlc has disclosed

plans to invest N10 billion inthe company’s new Agro-Allied Industrial Complex aspart of efforts to improve thecompany’s productioncapacity.

The Managing Director,Mr. Lanre Jaiyeola, statedthis during a tour of thecompany’s factory in Lagosby stockbrokers.

He said that work hasalready commenced on thefirst phase of the project.

He stated that bulk of themoney required for theinvestment will be raisedthrough equity, while talkshave also commenced withfinancial institutions like theBank of Industry forfinancing.

According to Jaiyeola,upon completion, the newagro-allied industrialcomplex sited on a 62.8hectare of land situatedaround the Sagamu Inter-change in Ogun State, will bethe food basket for the entireHoneywell Group.

Speaking further, he notedthat by design, the project isa cluster for production andprocessing of general foodand agro-allied products withemphasis on manufacturingvalue-added human andanimal food productsleveraging backwardintegration for raw materialprocurement.

His words, “We plan notonly to have productexpansion, but also to go intothe other areas of agricbusiness that will ensure that

we focus more on backwardintegration which is thebigger picture in theHoneywell Group and we arepursuing this already.

“Recently, we acquired a62.8 hectare land in Sagamuexchange for the expansionof our production and wehope that upon completion ofthe project, we will not onlybe increasing our capacity,but Honeywell will alsoincrease its contribution toNigeria’s Gross DomesticProducts (GDP) as the FoodVillage will openemployment opportunities forseveral Nigerians.”

Speaking on the company’spreparedness to meet thefederal government’sdeadline of five percentcassava inclusion level in itswheat flour by December

2014, he said; “the positionof Honeywell in this regardis that it is a welcomedevelopment, receivedwholeheartedly.

“We have our own strategyto ensure that for ourcompany, the initiative is asuccess. But today, we facethe challenge of high qualitycassava flour availability.The truth today is that wehave doubt as to the abilityof our partners (cassavaprocessors) to meet up withthe supply of high qualitycassava. We are alreadyseeing these signs becausewe see defunct in delivery onorders.

“We also hope thatgovernment will play its rolein supporting not only theprocessors but also the

farmers in ensuring that theprogramme subsequently didnot suffer setback. This, theycan do through cassavaintroduction andempowerment of thegrowers.”

Speaking on behalf of otherstockbrokers, GeneralManager, CompassInvestments & SecuritiesLimited, Mr. Sam Ndata,pledged their unalloyedsupport to the company.

He urged the company toapproach the capital marketfor the huge capital requiredfor the new investment,assuring that the brokers willgive the company therequired support to raiseenough funds, adding thatequity financing is the bestway to grow business.

UPDC shareholders approve 70kobo dividend, bonus issue

By NKIRUKA NNOROM shares, saying that it makesshareholders to feel secure.

On his own part, Mr.Akisanya Solomom, said thecompany has listened toshareholders’ yearning bygiving them the bonusshares.

Speaking earlier, theChairman, Mr. Larry Ettah,said that in spite of thechallenging operatingenvironment, the companyposted revenue of N11.29billion against N12.04 billionin 2012 but profit beforetaxation rose to N3.71 billionfor 2013 as against N2.45billion in 2012.

Ettah, who explained thatUPDC’s growth momentumhas increased and reinforcedits standing as a marketleader, said: “We successfullycompleted the floatation ofthe UPDC Real Estate

Investment Trust (REIT) in2013 on a capital value ofN26.7 billion, of which UPDCcurrently holds 62.2 percent. The REIT was listed on theNigerian Stock Exchange(NSE) on July 1, 2013. It isour plan to reduce ourholding to 40 percent in linewith our strategy.”

Reviewing the company’soperation during the period,he said: “In the luxuryresidential category, wecompleted and delivered tobuyers the prestigious 32-unit ‘Cameron Green’ Ikoyi.Phase 1 of Metro City, Abujacomprising of 88 units ofmixed residential apartmentswas also completed and isbeing gradually handed tobuyers, while constructionwork on Phase 2 hascommenced.

“We also took advantage

of the lack of a formal retailchannel in the Festac axis ofLagos State by undertakingthe ongoing Festival Malldevelopment, which isexpected to open tocustomers by end of 2014.”

Continuing, he said: “Thehotel arm of the business,Golden Tulip Festac, alsoperformed well in 2013, withroom occupancy averaging44 percent, an increase of 91percent over 2012. Withfive international airlinescurrently utilising the hotel’sfacilities and continuingupward trend in residentialconferences by blue chipcorporate customers, thehotel is set for improvedperformance from 2014. Weplan to develop theadjoining Block B of thehotel into residential

Otehcommends EAXon support tosmall farmers

Director General of theSecurities and

Exchange Commission,SEC, Ms. Arunma Oteh, has commended the EastAfrican Exchange ( EAX) for its initiatives to supportsmallholder farmers toreduce post-harvest lossesand improve their income aswell as progress in linkingcommodity markets acrossthe East African Communityarea.

Oteh, who spoke when a delegation from SEC paid avisit to the East AfricaExchange (EAX) during the49th Annual AfricanDevelopment Bank (AfDB)meetings in Kigali, Rwanda,also expressed delight at theactivities of EAX in promoting cross border tradeacross the region.

The CEO of the East AfricaExchange, Mr. Paul Kukubo,who briefed the delegationon the Exchange’s currentactivities in Rwanda andexpansion strategies for theEast African region,explained the Exchange’sregional focus and launchingof new offices in Kenya andUganda.

CSR: Totalpresents starterpacks to SAPgraduates

In line with it’s CorporateS o c i a l

Responsibilities, CSRinitiatives, Total Nigeria Plchas presented starter packsto ten graduating youths ofits Skills AcquisitionProgramme (SAP) in KadunaState from the Makera andKakuri istricts.

Total’s Skills AcquisitionProgramme (SAP) is asustainable youthdevelopment scheme whereunder-privileged youths inthe company ’s hostcommunities are trained intheir choice vocations likewelding & fabrication,furniture making, fashion &designing, computerstudies, fish and c cropfarming etc.

Speaking at the Stater Packpresentation, the ManagingDirector, Mr. Alexis Vovk,reiterated the company’scontinued efforts to workwith both Kakuri andMakera districts in a sharedambition for sustainabledevelopment.

VISIT: From left: Mr Ibukun Ojo, Director of Finance, Honeywell Flour Mills PLC; Mr SamWillie Ndata, Compass Investment and Securities Ltd; Mr Lanre Jaiyeola, MD, HoneywellFlour Mills PLC; Mr Oladipo Adeniran, Readings Investment Ltd and Mr Rotimi Fadipe,Executive Director, Supply Chain during the Stockbrokers visit to Honeywell Flour Mills Plcpremises at Apapa. Photo by Lamidi Bamidele.

26 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014

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Insurance

Stories byROSEMARYONUOHA

Financial inclusion: Muslims embrace Takaful insurance

Muslims in thecountry

are beginning toembrace Takafulinsurance in line withefforts by the NationalInsurance Commission,NAICOM to enhancefinancial inclusion inthe insurance sector.

Commissioner forinsurance, Mr. FolaDaniel, who disclosedthis, said that Muslimsare willing to buy

Takaful products and arein dire need of suchalternative toconventional insurance.

According to Daniel,the Takaful InsuranceProject is also beingpursued with greatvigour.

Takaful insurance is aform of insurancewhereby the companyand the insured shareprofits at the end of thefinancial year where noclaim occurred.

Daniel said, “A goodnumber of companieshave indicated their

interest in this line ofinsurance. A recentsurvey reveals thatMuslims in the countryare willing to buy Takafulproducts and are in direneed of such alternativeto conventionalinsurance. This is anindication that there is aready market for thisline of insurancebusiness and theCommission isdetermined to bring suchMuslim faithfuls withinthe financial communityin line with its financialinclusion strategy.”

Daniel said that as aregulatory body,NAICOM’s primaryresponsibility is toprotect policyholdersand safeguardinvestments. “We havetried to ensure this in theprovision of adequateregulations and effectivesupervision of theindustry over the years.

The economic growthwhich is central to thegovernment cardinalagenda will be enabledfaster and in asustainable manner, ifinsurance is developed

as a driver of economicemancipation,” Danielsaid.

Meanwhile, theCommissioner said thatvolume of premiumwritten on the classes ofcompulsory insurancebusiness increased toN28.68 billion in 2012from N14billion in 2009,to represent an increaseof 92 per cent.

He also said that thenumber of insurancepolicies written underthe compulsoryinsurance by insurancecompanies in the last

three years alsoappreciated shapely by111 per cent from 72,180in 2009 to 152,181 at theend of 2012.

The NAICOM bossadded that the industryin the last three yearshas had some geometricprojections, adding thatthe industry will achievewell over 100 per cent atthe time the performanceof 2013 is added to thefigures available.

M a n s a r dInsurance plc

has settled the accidentclaim of an electricalengineer, Mr. AmehThaddeus Adiga who losta finger in an industrialaccident.

In a statement, thecompany said Adiga wason duty at a foodprocessing company inKano when the accidenthappened.

Adiga said “Afterrepairing a granulatingmachine, it started up byitself and my right handwas on the machine andit cut off my finger. Myright hand finger is cutoff i.e. the third finger.”

Adiga was rushed toMurtala MohammedSpecialist Hospital,Kano where he wastreated for injuriessustained. It was in thecourse of the treatmentthat he notified MansardInsurance and later sentin details of the accidentas well as the medicaland police reports.

The necessaryprocessing was doneand an elated Adiga hasthis to say uponreceiving his claimssettlement, “In fact, it issuch a mystery forNigerians to have suchopportunity. I am soexcited and joyfulhaving this claim areality because as I amspeaking now, I amfinancially uplifted andrevived, thanks to MTNand Mansardinsurance.”

Adiga had subscribedto the MTN Y’ello Coverin October 2013. He hadthe accident in January2014 and sent in claimss u b s t a n t i a t i n gdocuments in March; hereceived compensationpayment just four daysafterwards.

Accidentvictim getscompensationfrom Y'elloCover

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4

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 — 37

38 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014

CMYK

Commodity index

May 23 -May 29, 2014

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 — 39

CMYK

Homes & Housing Finance

Ekiti, PMB in N1bnworkers’ mortgagescheme

Ekiti State government hasentered into partnership

with a primary mortgage bank(PMB), ASO Savings andLoans Plc, to facilitatecompletion of its varioushousing projects and providemortgage services to workers.Under the pact, the mortgagebank will provide mortgagefacility to the tune of N1 billionto enable the state provideaffordable housing units for thecivil servants.

Managing Director, FountainHoldings Limited, MrOlumuyiwa Ogunmilade, saidthe facility will assist to fasttrack the completion of EyiyatoHousing Estate and all ongoinggovernment financed housingprojects as well as new onesacross the state. Speakingduring the unveiling of theproject in Ado-Ekiti, ASOrepresentative in charge ofMortgage, Mrs. OkechukwuNgozi, said her organisationwas working in partnership withEkiti Government to provideback-to-back housing loans tothe people of the state.

Representative of ASOSavings, Mrs. NgoziOkechukwu, said at theunveiling of the project in Ado-Ekiti, said under theagreement, construction financeworth N600 million would bemade available to Ekiti StateAffordable Housing Scheme(ESAHS), Ekiti Homes Agendaand other reputable developersfor the provision of cheap andaffordable housing in the state.

UK housing remainstrong, says Halifax

Demand in the housingmarket is still strong and

house price inflation is stillaccelerating, according toHalifax, UK’s largest mortgagelender. Halifax said prices inMay were up 8.7 percent from ayear earlier, a small increase onlast month’s rate of 8.5 percent.

The monthly rise was anexceptionally large 3.9 percent,but Halifax warned that themonthly figure can be volatile.It said the quarter-on-quarterrise, which showed an increaseof 2 percent, was a more reliableindicator. “On an annual basis,housing demand is still strong,”the lender said. It said theaverage house price in the UKwas now £184,464, the highestfigure since October 2007.

Earlier last week, theNationwide building societysaid there signs that price riseswere starting to moderate, but italso said house prices were attheir highest level since itsrecords began in 1991.

•Functional and affordable housing

The FederalGovernment hase n u m e r a t e d

measures being taken tocreate an enablingenvironment and attract bothlocal investment and foreigndirect investment into thenation’s housing sector.

Minister for Lands, Housingand Urban Development,Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said themeasures are specificallymeant to provide favourablemacro-economic, politicaland social environment forthe investors. “There shouldbe a provision of a favourablemacro-economic, politicaland social environment forboth local investment andforeign direct investment,including incentives for costrecovery and repatriation offunds and profits. Thereshould also be assistance todevelopers in the supply ofunencumbered land andpromotion of the use ofalternative building materialsand new technologies inhousing delivery,” she stated.

Eyakenyi made the remarkin a presentation on‘Affordable housing finance:The role of government’, at aforum in the United States.She said the most importantconstraint to adequatehousing in the country was thelack of access to serviced andtitled land as well as theabsence of sustainable long-term housing finance. “Theremoval of these two barriersis one of the most effective

HOUSING DEVELOPMENT:

FG unfolds measures towoo investorsStories byYINKA KOLAWOLE

strategies for reducing povertyand achieving sustainabledevelopment. The sharedprosperity agenda is aboutremoving imbalances,ensuring equal opportunities,equitable and inclusive growthand enhanced security forimproved quality of life andreduction of human misery,”she added.

The minister listed

measures taken bygovernment to woo investorsto include: Assistance todevelopers in the supply ofunencumbered land andpromotion of the use ofalternative building materialsand new technologies inhousing delivery; Partneringwith strong and competentnon-government actors forcommunity mobilisation in the

delivery of mass housingprojects and ensuringamicable resolution ofconflicts; Creatinginstitutional interventions,including the InfrastructureConcession RegulatoryCommission ICRC for thepromotion of Public-PrivatePartnerships and;Strengthening the FederalMortgage Bank of NigeriaFMBN, for enhancedmortgage penetration.

Other are: Launching of theNigeria Mortgage RefinanceCompany, in January 2014,with a target to grow themortgage portfolio ten-foldover the next five years and;Undertaking reforms tostrengthen and reposition theFederal Housing Authority,including the on-goingprocess of commercialisingthe Authority and thedevelopment of a SocialHousing Bill, which is awaitingpassage in the NationalAssembly.

Eyakenyi said other policymeasures undertaken bygovernment to tackle housingdeficit include: Developmentof a National IntegratedInfrastructure Master Plan,NIIMP 2013-2043, with astrong housing and urbandevelopment component and;Implementation of land swappolicy, the development of aroadmap for the housing andurban development sectorand the adoption of thePublic-Private Partnership forthe delivery of affordablemass housing.

Lagos State governmenthas released N2 billion

to mobilise contractorshandling variousconstruction sites under theLagos State Home OwnershipMortgage Scheme (LagosHOMS) in order to delivermore housing units acrossthe state.

Governor BabatundeFashola disclosed this lastweek, in Lagos, at the fourthround of draws of the schemewhere 92 new home ownersemerged, making it thehighest number so far in thedraws that kicked off fourmonths ago. In the month ofMarch, 31 winners emerged,36 winners in April and 76winners emerged in May,bringing the total number ofwinners of new homes in fourmonths to 235. He restatedthat the idea behind the homeownership scheme is toenable Lagosians who haveworked hard to have homesof their own.

Fashola commended thecontractors handling the

Lagos boosts mortgage scheme projectswith N2bn

projects for meeting theirtargets so far. “Thecontractors have done wellso far. But we appeal to themto do more withoutcompromising quality. Wehave disbursed N2 billion tocontractors to deliver morehousing units,” he said.

The governor said that heis happy to make peoplehappy. “From the 31successful winners in the firstmonth, 36 in the secondmonth, 76 in the third drawsand today 92 new homeowners have emerged inLagos. I am a happy man. Iam happy because I havemade some people happyand I am sure my colleagueswho have worked with meare happy too,” he noted.

Fashola reiterated his callfor the introduction of shiftsat construction sites,stressing that workers can dotwo shifts of eight hours ateach intervals and in that wayreduce construction timewithout compromisingquality and notcompromising the safety ofthe workers at theconstruction sites. He said

the successful holding ofanother public draw is aconfirmation that peoplewho live in the state, whohave some means and whowork hard can legitimatelyaspire to have a place to calltheir own, pointing out thatwhile what transpired at thedraws might actually lookeasy to the public, it isactually not, arguing that itlooks easy because the statehas been fortunate enough tohave dedicated men andwomen who have committedthemselves to a life of servicefor the people of the state.

He observed that asignificant number of thehomeowners were veryyoung people whichreinforces the size of the partof the Nigerian populationthat are in need of service,who are in expectation thattheir country and theirgovernment would stand upfor them.

Executive Director of theLagos Mortgage Board, MrBayowa Forsythe had earlierdisclosed that out of 222applicants, 176 weresuccessfully pre-qualifiedwhile 46 applications weredeclined because ofdocument issues.

By KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE

As 92 new homeowners emerge

40 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 — 41

E-Commerce

Stories BY JONAHNWOKPOKU

Nigeria’s onlineg r o c e r ys t o r e ,

Supermartng.com, last weekstrengthened its expansiondrive with its partnershipwith a drug retailer,Medplus.

After its initial partnershipwith Park ‘n’ Shop and Sparwhen it launched in Aprilthis year, it had alsopartnered with two otherretailers which included;Office R Us and Laternabooks, to boost access tostationery items, includingchildren, Christian andbusiness books.

Speaking to Vanguard onthe expansion, Supermart’sco-founder, GbolahanFagbure said the partnershipis part of their drive to builda quintessential supermarketthat would provide all theconvenience their targetmarket desires.

“What this expansionmeans for us is that now weare trying to make sure thatcustomers really geteverything they need withconvenience. This is becauseif a customer would have to

Supermart expands, partnersMedplus, two otherscome to the website and buyfood items but they can’t buymedicine for themselves, theycan’t buy vitamins or exercisebooks for their kids, it meansthey still have to get in thecar and drive somewhere to

get those things.“So what we are trying to do

is to make sure we have all thevarious stores in the websiteso that customers can sit downat home or in their office, clickto make orders and the items

would be delivered to themwithin three hours which iswhy we founded the stores,”he said.

He however added: “Wewill still continue to remainin groceries. You won’t findus selling cars or spare partsfor example, we will remainin groceries but the bottomline is to replicate a typicalsupermarket which is whatwe have done. But you won’tfind us adding more storesoutside of grocerycategories.”

He further explained thatwith the partnerships, thestore now has full complementof items that any customermay want to buy, since all thepartner stores offer aconglomerate of whateveritems that could be availablein a typical supermarket.

“Right now, we have a fullcomplement of items on thewebsite. If you are looking foryour everyday groceries, youcan get that at Park ‘n’ Shopand Spar, if you are lookingfor stationeries, Office R Uscomes handy and if you arelooking for medicines likevitamins and supplements,you can get that fromMedplus. So right now wehave an array of what you canfind in a typical supermarket.

“So if you go to a place likePark n Shop for instance,because they don’t have apharmacy licence, theycannot sell drugs or vitaminsand that is why we haveMedplus. If you go to Park ‘n’Shop you will find somestationeries but not a wideassortment, and that is whywe went to Office R Us whichhas thousands of stationeryitems. Our focus will alwaysbe on offering first classservice which is why westarted with Park ‘n’ Shopand established and thenstarted to add some others.”

Diamond Bank, Wakanow partneron pre-paid cards

whatever reasons.”He added that the bank’s

decision to work withWakanow stems from thecompany ’s immensecontribution to the travel/tourism industry.

“The decision to work withWakanow was not a hard onefor Diamond Bank to make.Wakanow is a prominentplayer in the travel andtourism industry and just likeDiamond Bank; Wakanow isrenowned for putting thecustomers first in all they do.This partnership coming at acrucial time when Nigeriansare preparing to travel toBrazil for the World Cup to

AmazonAmazonAmazonAmazonAmazonset toset toset toset toset tounveilunveilunveilunveilunveilsmarsmarsmarsmarsmartttttphonephonephonephonephoneAmazon.com Inc. is

planning tointroduce a smartphonelater this month,plunging the world’slargest online retailerdeeper into thecompetitive mobile-device market.

Amazon in a tweet lastweek said that it washolding an event inSeattle on June 18 hostedby Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Jeff Bezos for aproduct unveiling. Thepost included a picture ofa black, thin device withAmazon’s name in silveremblazoned on it.

Analysts believe that asmartphone from Amazonwould ramp up its rivalrywith Apple, which makesthe iPhone. Thecompanies areincreasingly going head-to-head in devices suchas tablets and in Webservices including onlineentertainment, as theystrive to be digitalgateways to consumers.Mobile is central to thateffort as more peoplecarry gadgets and dotheir computing on thego.

“This is a play byAmazon to get a stake inthe most ubiquitousdevice category there is,”said Jan Dawson, atechnology-industryanalyst who runsresearch and advisoryfirm, Jackdaw.

Amazon shares rose 5.5percent, the biggest one-day gain since October, to$323.57 at the close inNew York.

Amazon announced theJune 18 event with a noteto customers, developersand press to request aninvitation to attend. Avideo accompanying thetweet showed peoplemoving their headsaround to view a devicethat’s just out of sight,shot from differentangles, implying thephone may have 3-Dviewing capabilities, afeature reported earlierby The Wall StreetJournal.

support the national team, theSuper Eagles,” he said.

Also speaking at the event,Obinna Ekezie, the CEO ofWakanow, expressedoptimism that the partnershipwould benefit Nigerians whoordinarily could not afford totravel out of the country.

According him, “Wakanowhas always been at theforefront of making travelsaffordable for Nigerians. Thisis just one of the ways weintend to fulfill that mandate.With Diamond Bank comingon-board to support us, wehave raised the bar a notchhigher.”

Twitter acquires mobile advertising startup,Namo Media

ANNIVERSARY From left: Anthony Ubani, Programme Director, Nigeria LeadershipInitiative, NLI, Gbolahan Fagbure, President NLI 2013, and Yinka Oyinlola, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of NLI at the unveiling of a Safer Skies Initiative web portal to commemorate thesecond anniversary of Dana air crash in Lagos.

Diamond Bank Plc hasentered intopartnership

with Wakanow.com, an onlinetravel company to facilitatetravels and purchases throughpre-paid cards.

The partnership will see theintroduction of the Wakanowcards, a collection ofMasterCard-branded pre andpost-paid cards that willenable prospective travelersenjoy special discounts andpocket friendly travellingarrangements.

Speaking at a pressconference that heralded thelaunch of the partnership,Uzoma Dozie, DeputyManaging Director of theBank, said the partnershipand launch of the cards wasborne out of the need to giveNigerian travelers the bestdeals possible when makingtheir travel arrangements.

He said: “As a key player inthe country ’s financialindustry, we are alwayslooking out for innovativeways to impact the lives ofNigerians. That was whatinformed our decision to workwith Wakanow. What we aredoing essentially is to givefinancial ease to the teemingNigerians who wish to travelwhether outside or within theshores of this country for

Twitter Inc said last week it will acquire Namo Media, atechnology firm specializing in ‘native advertising’ formobile devices.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Namo Media saidin a blog post that its technology would be rolled into MoPub,the ad serving platform that Twitter purchased last year formore than $300 million.

The combined platform would improve the social mediapower’s ability to deliver ‘native ads’ promotional material thatblends into mobile apps and mobile websites.

“We share a vision for how native advertising can improvethe state of mobile app monetization for marketers, apppublishers, and users,” Kevin Weil, Twitter vice president ofproduct, said. Venture capital firms that backed Namo Mediaincluded Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz andBetaworks.

42 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014

CMYK

People in Business

Capital Square iscreating a communityof entrepreneurs— MACAULAY

Modupe Macaulayis the founder/Chief Executive

Officer of Capital Square, thefirst co-working space inLagos. A computer scientist byprofession, Macaulay quit herjob with a multinationalcompany to start CapitalSquare. In this chat withJONAH NWOKPOKU, shespeaks about the operationsand visions of Capital Square.She said the platform istargeted at creating clusters ofbusiness communities thatwould not only share ideas butcollaborate to promoteeconomic development inNigeria; through the rippleeffects that their businesseswould have on the economy.

What Capital Square offersCapital Square is a co-

working space, it’s a sharedoffice. It’s a bit casual. It’s aplace where entrepreneursjust starting out in business orpeople who have probablystarted their business andneeds a place to work; a placethat isn’t expensive and givesthem all the facilities theyneed and still gives them theopportunities to network withother people starting or doingbusinesses. We provide thefacilities and the space and allwe are trying to do is to makeit easier for entrepreneurs todo business.

Target marketI had in mind younger

people who are like me, whohave made or plan to make abusiness for themselves. I hadin mind people who wantedto do business but didn’t havethe money or the facilities orany of those things you needas a serious business. So Iwanted to create a place thatpeople like me would come toand get all those thingswithout paying an arm and aleg for it. And I also wantedto create opportunities forsuch people to come togetherand meet people likethemselves and build anetwork that would help theirbusinesses.

For instance, I am starting abusiness and in the room I amsitting, there is a lawyerworking beside me and also aGraphic designer workingright beside me. This wouldhelp them to be able to get thenecessary help they need from

,

,

others. So, it was basically tobe able to build a communityof people who are trying tomake a difference inwhatever they aredoing.

Response so farThe response has

been impressivebecause we haveeven observed atrend where peoplewe didn’t evenexpect areembracing the idea.They consist ofpeople doinginteresting andserious things. Wehave some whowork here that runNon GovernmentO r g a n i s a t i o n s ,NGOs. We haveothers that areinvolved in marketing, andmost of them are good at whatthey do. You know I hadyounger people in mind andI was thinking mainly techiesand stuff like that but demandfor our services expandedbeyond that. I was thinkingthat techies and designerswould constitute the bulk ofour patronage but evenpeople involved in real estateare coming here and they findour services very useful. Wehave also observed that theidea has also appealed toothers that are not juststartups, but regular businesspeople.

Challenges

The major challengeswere when setting up.

Getting the right people toput up the place and make thefacility what we want it to be,proved difficult.

After then the key challengehas been power. It is whereour major cost goes. Rightnow, apart from public powersource, we have a dedicatedtransformer from PHCN, wealso have two generators, andwe also have an inverter. Wehave just got another smallerinverter and a UPS specificallyfor the internet. So basicallywe have at least fouralternative power sourcesbecause the public powercannot be relied upon.

To advance the vision forcreating a business community,Macaulay introduced a kind ofexhibition day for

entrepreneurs. Called DemoDay, and introduced in Marchthis year, she said the event ismeant to provide opportunitiesfor entrepreneurs to showcasenot only products but ideas.Such entrepreneurs would geta chance to explain their ideasand/or product offering andget the feedback that wouldenable him/her improve andpossibly attract investors, asinvestors are also invited to bepart of the programme.

“Demo Day is an event westarted in March, 2014. It’sbasically a show and tell kindof event for startups. It’s not forpeople to come and win a prizebut to share idea and getfeedbacks. We also inviteinvestors to be part of the eventso that if any of them is

interested in an idea, theywould invest. And thenparticipants would have theopportunity of meeting otherpeople and share ideas, andpossibly get new customers fora product.

“And for people exhibiting, italso affords them theopportunity to attract newpeople to their businesses,including customers andinvestors, in addition to peoplewho would see what they aredoing and then spread theword. And for some that cometo watch, they get to seeproducts that they didn’t knowexisted before.

“So, Demo Day is part of thiscommunity thing we are tryingto do, where we have peoplewho are not afraid to sharewhat they are working on. ButI believe people should sharetheir ideas because they havea higher chance of improvingon it through other people’ssuggestions. This is becauseeverything is not in your headand you are not the first personto have an idea after all, sopeople would always give youfeedback that will help youimprove your business,” shesaid.

Assessing Demo DayFrom our past Demo Day, our

idea of building a communityof business people is emerginggradually. People arebeginning to chip in to helpand even investors we invitedfor the event were very

impressed with what they sawbecause people are doing a lotof things that would besuccessful in the market.

Has Capital Square beenprofitable?

It is not yet profitable. We aremaking revenues and it hasbeen increasing steadily butlooking at rent, power, internet,the fact that the overheads arejust too high, we have notreally been profitable but itwon’t be long, we will breakeven. We have only been inbusiness for seven months, andlet’s say in the next one yearor two, we should become trulyprofitable.

P r o m o t i n gentrepreneurship through co-working space

From the statistics we haveabout the Nigerian

economy, it is growing becausethere are a few big companiesdoing great stuffs but then itdoesn’t trickle down to theordinary people. And my ideais that if you make it easier forthe everyday man, through thiskind of platform we arecreating, we will definitelyhave greater impact.

We have to be mindful thatnot everybody would be ableto start big and probablybecome the next Facebook orGoogle, or the next Dangotebut if I can run my business ina way that the costs are lowenough to be able to makeimpacts on myself, family andmy immediate community, andthe next man is doing that andmore and more people aredoing that, in the long run,there will be a ripple effect thatwill make a reasonable impacton the economy.

I think that would even makemore difference on the lives ofthe common man than this GDPgrowing and GDP rebasingthat we keep hearing and notmuch change is seen onground. We should not forgetthat these little businessescontribute to drive economicgrowth. So we should notforget the small businessesbecause everybody wants to bea startup and sell for a billiondollars, but the little businessesmake a lot of difference.

Youth unemployment andentrepreneurship

Depending on a mindset ofa person, unemployment candrive one intoentrepreneurship. That wasnot entirely my experiencebecause I had always wantedto do what I am doing now butthe fact that I didn’t have a jobthen was an opportunity to startimplementing the idea. Thetruth is that there are more jobscreated when people start theirown businesses. So if you arefinding it difficult to find a job,look inwards and see what youcan do for yourself.

We shouldnot forgetthat thesel i t t l ebusinessescontribute tod r i v ee c o n o m i cgrowth

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 — 43

CMYK

Women inM a n a g e m e n t ,

Business and Public Service(WIMBIZ), has called formore female representationon the Board of CorporateOrganisations in the country.

According to Wimbiz, arecent survey it conducted inMay 2014 on selectedorganizations invited toparticipate in the AnnualCEO/Policy maker revealedthat 37 (2.7 per cent) out of281 board seats in 80companies listed on the stockexchange were occupied bywomen, 23 were noneexecutive positions.

WIMBIZ advocates more femalerepresentation on board

Grand Oak Limitedsaid it has created

employment opportunity forabout 26,000 Nigerians.

Speaking during the launchof Seaman’s SchnappsCentenary Pack in Lagos, Mr.Fatai Odesile, CommercialDirector, Grand Oak, said thecompany has over the yearssupported government’s

Grand Oak generates 26,000 jobs

Microfinance

“History is, indeed, littlemore than the register of thecrimes, follies andmisfortunes of mankind.”Edward Gibbon, 1734-1794.(VANGUARD BOOK OFQUOTATIONS p 92).

Edward Gibbon, perhapsthe greatest historian theworld has ever known left uswith the great epic THE RISEAND FALL OF THE ROMANEMPIRE. So, he is as qualifiedas anybody to summarise forus what history is all about.His comments about registerof follies, if taken with anotherview of history, which sayshistory repeats itself, will helpus to understand whereNigeria stands today withrespect to automobilesassembled in Nigeria.

Last week, the Japanese carmanufacturer delivered toPresident Jonathan the key ofa NISSAN PATHFINDERassembled here in Nigeria. Itwas by any measure a greatday in the life of the Jonathanadministration. So great, oneof the President’s admirerscould not help sending me atext message to ask whyNigerians don’t wantJonathan to continue in officeafter what he called anunprecedented feat. Thepresident’s admirer waswrong, of course. Jonathanhad only re-enacted, in a smallway, something which theAlhaji Shehu Shagariadministration had donebefore and in a more ambitiousway.

I certainly hope thatNISSAN had done itshomework well – includingexamining the reasons whythe previous attempts toassemble automobiles, cars,

Thank you Nissan; but will historyrepeat itself? (1),

,

buses, trucks and trailers,failed in Nigeria the first timearound. Traveling around thecountry today, one can stillfind carcasses of what weresupposed to be car dealershipsfor PEUGEOT andVOLKSWAGEN vehicles –many of which never receiveda single car from PeugeotAutomobile Nigeria Limited,PANL or VOLKSWAGEN OFNIGERIA, VON beforeclosing down. WatchingPresident Jonathan, theNISSAN representative andthe Minister for Trade andIndustry smiling broadly,when the key was presented,I was filled with joy andapprehension – in equalmeasures. We have been herebefore and it had all ended infailure.

HISTORY OF VEHICLEASSEMBLY IN NIGERIA

This is not an exhaustivereport, but a brief summary ofour previous attempt with carassembly in Nigeria. Contraryto what the person sendingthe text message claimed, itwas a Northern President,Alhaji Shehu Shagari, and,later Babangida, whosegovernments licencedcompanies to assemble cars(Peugeot and Volkswagen),buses (Steyr), trucks(Mercedes and Leyland) andtrailers (MAN) at, Kaduna,Lagos, Bauchi, Enugu,Ibadan and Kano respectively.Steyr, the IBB era assembly,

incidentally, also producedtractors.

The projects wereconsidered viable at the timebecause the Shagariadministration came intooffice in 1979 at a time whenthe price of crude oil wasclimbing to $25-8 per barrelfrom a modest beginning of$3-4 per barrel in 1973 – whenthe oil boom first started.Secondly, Nigerian workers,in the private and publicsectors were still enjoyingunprecedented astronomicincreases, up to 1000%, inpersonal incomes broughtabout by the Udoji wards of1976. Demand for cars was sostrong that prospective buyershad to deposit the full priceof the cars with dealers fivemonths in advance, and still

pay something “on top”, asthey said in those days, if theywanted to have a car. Tokunbocars had not yet arrived in acountry whose economy was“bursting at the seams” –according to a TIMEMAGAZINE article. TheNigerian economy appearedto be riding a never endingescalator guaranteed to bringin more wealth over time andthe rising demand for cars wasexpected to last almost forever.

It must be added thatNigeria, at the time we arediscussing, which now seemslike it never happened, wasso rich the country gave loansand grants to poor Africannations, provided financialsupport to the politicalstruggle in South Africa andestablished a fund – NigerianFund – with $100 million, atthe African DevelopmentBank, ADB. The nation thenwas a net-creditor to the world;not a debtor nation as we aretoday. Everything consideredNigeria was in a strongposition to attract theinvestments in automobileassembly at the time.

Given the pent-up demandfor automobiles and our strongfinancial base, it was easy toconvince Peugeot,Volkswagen and Mercedes inparticular to attempt vehicleassembly here. Governmentalso supported the initialefforts by the plants bymaking Peugeot the official

vehicle for governments andmost transporters alreadyfavoured Mercedes trucks asan alternative to Bedfordtrucks.

For a while, it appeared thatNigeria had indeed enteredthe automobile assembly age.Vehicles were sold as theycame off the line. Indeed, theycould not come off the line fastenough. Profits were madeinitially and plans wereunderway to expandproduction. Suddenly, or so itseems now, with the benefit ofhindsight, the price of crudestarted going down on accountof a global recession causedby the high price of crude oilitself. Nations, like Japan, andmost of Europe and evenAfrica, were struck withimported inflation and tradeimbalances – while Nigeriaand the Organisation ofPetroleum ExportingCountries, OPEC, were theonly gainers from the trend.The first step taken by theaffected countries was todevise ways of reducing theircrude oil consumption andimports. Unfortunately, sincethe OPEC countries were alsoimport-dependent, theyended up importing theinflation they had inducedglobally. The drop in theglobal demand for crude, forreasons too numerous todiscuss in a short article,sliced the price of crude fromthe high point of $28 perbarrel to under $20 and thetrend went graduallydownwards – until it hitbottom at $9.95 per barrel.

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Stories byPROVIDENCE OBUH

In the public sector, only 13.4percent of all commissionersacross the 36 states are women101 out of 755.

Wimbiz added that emphasison board diversity is not aboutwomen equity but that it isimportant for economic growthand development, saying,“Research has shown thatcompanies with more womenon their boards tend tooutperform their competitors ona number of financial measuresincluding return on equity,sales, capital, shareperformance and stock pricegrowth.

“Catalyst tracked theperformance of Fortune 500companies between 2004 and2008 and found that companieswith the highest number of

female directors outperformedthose with fewest, they yielded26 per cent higher return oninvested capital, 16 percenthigher return on sales.”

Wimbiz proposed that thereshould be corporateinvolvement and

understanding of the need fordiversity and corporatecommitment to diversity onboard.

Meanwhile, Wimbiz,penultimate week, held itsannual CEO/Policy MakerInteractive Series, with thetheme: “Critical Issues forBoard Leadership” moderatedby Ms. Kadaria Ahmed,Journalist at Reinvent Media

Limited with paneldiscussants, Mr. Bola Koko,Managing Directo FMDQOTC Plc; Mrs. Yvonne Ike,CEO, West Africa forRenaissance Capital; Mr. TunjiOyebanji, Marketing Director,Mobil Oil Nigeria and Mr.Mutiu Sunmonu, CountryChairman, Shell Companies,Nigeria.

employment scheme and willcontinually focus on jobcreation.

“We have over 1,000 peopledirectly depending onseaman’s schnapps with over25, 000 indirect dependence,beyond that we have alsoprovided tools for artisans whoare into Tailoring, Welder,Carpenter and Fashion

Designers, to be able to feedtheir family and help thenation,” Odesile said.Chairman, Lexcel Group, MrOla Rosiji, said that thecompany is helping Nigeria inpromoting unity with thelimited package calculated tolast for a short term period ofone year.

Nations, likeJapan, and most ofEurope and even

Africa, were struckwith imported

inflation and tradeimbalances –

while Nigeria andthe Organisation

of PetroleumExporting

Countries, OPEC,were the only

gainers from thetrend

44 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014

CMYK

Appointment & Promotionsvicahiyoung@yahoo.com 08033348923

BLOOMBERG MediaGroup, BMG, hasannounced the

appointment of Mr. Adam Freemanas its Managing Director forEurope, Middle East and Africa aspart of efforts at global businessexpansion, growth and innovation.

The Chief Executive Officer,CEO, of BMG, Mr. Justin B. Smith,who announced the appointment,said Freeman would leadBloomberg’s multi-platform mediaoperations – web, mobile,television, digital video, printmagazines and live events acrossthe regions.

His appointment will ensureBloomberg’s consumer mediacontent, ad products, distribution,licensing etc.

Freeman, former chairman,Metropolis Music Group and

Bloomberg appoints Freeman MD Mediafor Europe, Middle East and Africa

founder, Mutual Media, isexpected to deliver resultscounting on his thirteen years ofexperience at The Guardian.

According to Smith, “Adam’sappointment is a statement of ourambition to develop the world’sleading next-generation global

business media company. We willbe investing across everyplatform – web, mobile, TV, digitalvideo, print, live events – with apowerful focus on a new digitalchannels and audiences. Adamhas a clear track record of leadingdigital transformations andsuccessfully building the types ofteams and cultures required formedia innovation. He is going totake our operations in Europe, theMiddle East and Africa to the nextlevel.”

In addition, Freeman said that,this is a world-class organisation,sitting in a unique position ofopportunity as the entire medialandscape is evolving. And theglobal aspirations here areimmense — so when theopportunity came, I jumped at it.”

•Freeman

Westminster CollegeLagos, hasnamed an

erudite mathematician, Mrs ElenaIvanovna Erimafa, as itsAdministrator

The new Administrator holds anM.Sc degree in pure mathematicsfrom Kalinin State University inRussia.

Her working experience in theeducational institutions started in1977 as a mathematics teacher inChernogubovo SecondarySchool, Kalinin USSR.

She came to Nigeria as anexpatriate and started as amathematics lecturer from 1982 -1992, a period of ten years at thethen Bendel State University nowAmbrose Ali University, Ekpoma.

From 1996 - 1998, she worked atAtlantic Hall Secondary School,Maryland, Lagos as aMathematics teacher.

While in 1999 to 2002, she wasthe Administrator of LydiaSecondary School, Benin City,Edo State.

She moved on to be a VicePrincipal in charge of Junior GirlsHostel, at Igbenedion EducationCentre, Benin City Edo state, from2003 - January 2010.

While introducing the newAdministrator, Chief JohnsonBarovbe, the Managing Directorof Westminster College Lagos,visualized the future of the Collegeas an institution that wouldcontinue to train leaders inacademics, moral, aesthetics anddiscipline.

He said the College wouldcontinue to improve on its coursesespecially ‘the One Year

Westminster College appoints Erimafaadministrator

International UniversityFoundation Programme, forMedicine, Engineering, Law,Business Administration andEconomics.

He added that “WestminsterCollege believes in therecruitment of experienced andprofessionally qualified teachersfor qualitative teaching andenthusiastic learning, vigorous

extra-curricular activities andattentive pastoral care.TheCollege administrator, Mrs ElenaErimafa, being a mathematician, aseasoned educationist, will bringwith her, enthusiasm, fascination,happiness, creativity,determination, attraction,encouragement, stimulation andsuccess into the day to day life ofWestminster College Lagosstudents.

L-R Chief Johnson Barovbe, Managing Director Westminster CollegeLagos, Mrs Elena Erimafa, College Administrator, and Mrs HelenAyisire, College Principal.

WiniGroup, an ITs o l u t i o ncompany in

Nigeria, has bagged the 2014 editionof Safenet’s Best New Partner of theyear award.

The award which is an annualevent for the Europe Middle Eastand Africa, EMEA, region was heldat Vienna, Austria.

At the event, Keyon, a Swissreseller also won the “The BestPartner of the year” while BeneluxDistribution received the “BestDistributor of the Year”. .

According to the GeneralManager of WiniGroup and therecipient of the award, Mr. SamAdeyemi, “The award is a cleardemonstration of SafeNet ’sconfidence in WiniGroup’s in-housecapacity to deploy all their solutionsand are currently a top leader toreckon with in the entire EMEAregion.”

Speaking, Vice president ofSafeNet, EMEAs sales andoperations, Mr. Gary Clark, saidSafeNet would continue to investin building a strong channel tosupport its growing customer baseand enable them to develop a newprotection solution.

According to him, WiniGroup’ssignificant investments in technicalexpertise in year 2013 resulted inadvanced capacity to manage proof

WiniGroup Wins SafeNet’sBest New Partner Award

of concept opportunities as well assolution implementations on behalfof SafeNet contributed to the award.

In the last 12 months, WiniGrouphas become the preferred ITsecurity solution company forbanks and telecom companies inNigeria partly due to the quality ofits security solutions and the localtechnical competence of its staff.

AWARD: Chief Corporate Services Officer at Smile Communications,Lee-Ann Cassie (right), receiving the Best Internet Service Award fromthe Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, NigerianCommunications Commission, Mr Okechukwu Itanyi.

Wild Fusionlaunches digitaltraining centre

Wild Fusionlaunches as p e c i a l i s t

digital training organisation, WildFusion Digital Centre, WDC, toprovide expert digital marketingtraining.

The training Centre is theofficial certified local partner ofthe Digital Marketing Institute,DMI, Ireland; the global standardin digital marketing education andcertification for over six years.

It offers DMI’s ProfessionalDiploma in Digital Marketingsuitable for professionals at alllevels involved in planning,implementing and measuringdigital strategies.

The Professional Diploma inDigital Marketing is a practicalprogramme that focuses oncurrent trends and best practicesin Digital Marketing, creatinginnovative strategies andleveraging on these strategies togain competitive advantage forbusinesses.

Managing Director of WildFusion Africa, Noel Douglas-Evans while speaking on theProfessional Diploma in DigitalMarketing, said, ‘We are living inan ever-evolving digital world anddeveloping capability in thedigital marketing arena isabsolutely paramount.

FOUNDER, Dunn Loren Merrifield, Mr.Sonnie Ayere, has been named best maleentrepreneur – Investment services in Africa

by the International Business Star Quality, IBSQ,Award.

He received the award during the 6th InternationalBusiness Conference in Accra, Ghana.

The International Business Star Quality award is partof the annual entrepreneurship and leadershipconference aimed as catalysts for encouraginginnovation, quality and leadership as the most criticalfactors to make economic progress in Africa,particularly Nigeria.

Ayere is a structured finance & management expertwith over 20 years professional experience working in

Ayere wins best male investment entrepreneur’ in Africacorporate banking, asset management and housingsector financing.

He has maintained an astute leadership style overthe years with the following institutions in London– (BMO) – Nesbitt Burns (the investment bankingarm of Bank of Montreal), HSBC Bank, NatwestBank, Sumitomo Mitsui Bank and the InternationalFinance Corporation (IFC) in Washington D.C andJohannesburg, South Africa.

Ayere established Dunn Loren Merrifield in 2009with a vision to lead pathways for sustainableinvestment and capital financing in Africa.

The purpose of the firm is to give innovativefinancing solutions to clients, and identifying assetclasses that will help shape new investmentproducts to meet the needs of the market.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 — 45

Tax Matters

The overriding objectiveof assessment functionis to ensure that all

taxpayers, within a defined taxjurisdiction, are brought intothe tax net and assessedcorrectly in order to plug allpossible leakages. Generally,taxpayers are categorizedaccording to the legal status oftheir businesses whichincludes the following:

? Individuals/Enterprises,usually sole proprietorship orself-employed

? Partnership, associationof two or more persons comingtogether in business with aview to making profit.

? Corporate Entities/Public Companies, usuallylimited by shares

? Non-GovernmentalOrganizations, usuallyunlimited or limited byguarantee.

A brief description of each ofthe above business entities willhelp in the understanding oftheir respective duties andobligation under the tax laws.

Individual/Enterprises -This is a taxable person who ischargeable to tax in his ownname or in the name of areceiver, or his agent. Usually,the tax affairs of this categoryof taxpayers are to be handledby the State Internal RevenueService (SIRS), where thetaxable person domiciled orresides. Individuals areassessed to tax under thePersonal Income Tax Act (PITA).

Partnership: This category ofbusinesses is assessed to taxunder the Personal Income TaxAct (PITA) in the same manneras individuals/enterprise. InNigeria, Partners are assessedin their individual names,based on the share ofpartnership profits allocated tothem.

N o n - G o v e r n m e n t a lOrganizations - These arenon-profit makingorganizations which arequalified for income taxexemption under Section23(1)(i) of CITA C21 LFN,2004). They are often unlimitedor at best limited by guarantee.These types of organizationshave duty to apply forexemption. The form in whichNGOs are registereddetermines which Tax Authoritywill handle their tax affairs.

Corporate Entities/PublicCompanies - These are limitedliability companies or publiccompanies registered withprofit – motive in mind. Theirtax affairs are being handledby the Federal TaxingAuthority.

Assessment function in anIntegrated Tax System isagreed to include filing andassessment duties with respectto all taxes being collected bythat office among which are:PPT, CIT, VAT, WHT, CGT etc.

Classes of AssessmentAssessments are normally

EKO EXPO: From left, Wale Raji, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry,Mr. Oluseye Oladejo, Special Adviser to Governor Fashola on Commerce and Industry andMr. Hakeem Adeniji, Director of Commerce, during the press conference on the unveiling of2014 Eko Expo Domestic Trade Fair, held in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

Assessment procedure (1),

,

raised on the Income or Profitof companies or corporationraising from trade or businesscarried on in Nigeria.Assessment is to be imposed onthe “Profit” of an enterprise inrelation to an accountingperiod. There are two (2)principal classes ofassessments, namely;

Self-Assessment:- Thisassessment scheme aims atshifting the duty of raising ofassessment to the taxpayersthemselves. Under this system,the taxpayer is expected toaccompany its tax returns withself-assessment notice and anevidence of payment to theFIRS through appropriatedesignated collecting bank.

Government Assessment :-This is an assessment raised onbehalf of the Government bythe Tax Authorities, examplesof which are:

? Assessment raised inaccordance with auditedaccounts and computationsfiled by the taxpayers.

? A d m i n i s t r a t i v eassessment based on physicalassessment of the company orprofit perceived to be fair andreasonable.

? Protective/jeopardyassessment.

? Amended/additionalassessment.

Types of AssessmentAssessments Based on

Taxpayers’ ReturnsThese are assessments based

on the information contained inthe taxpayer’s returns. The taxcomputations together with thecapital allowancescomputations are enclosedalong with the auditedaccounts and such assessmentcould either be self-assessment

or government assessment.Minimum TaxMinimum Tax is payable by

every company in Nigeriawhen the total profits of thecompany from all sources haveproduced on tax, or tax payablewhich is less than the minimumtax specified by the law.However, the followings areexempted from the payment ofminimum tax:

? Companies engaged inagricultural trade or business.

? Companies with at least25% imported equity capital.

? Any company for the firstfour (4) years of itscommencement of business.

The rates applicable tocompanies which are liable tominimum tax is the highest ofany of the following:

? 0.5% of Gross Profit? 0.5% of Net Assets? 0.25% of Paid-up Share

Capital? 0.25% of Turnover of up

to N500, 000.If however the turnover is

higher than N500, 000, theminimum tax payable will bethe highest of the above plus0.125% of the excess of theturnover above N500, 000.

Treatment of CapitalAllowances when Minimumtax is applicable

It is important to note that inany year of assessment whenminimum tax is chargeable, thecapital allowance due in thattax year must be adjustedagainst the profit of that yearalong with the unabsorbedbalances brought forward. Thistreatment is adopted to ensurethat the charging of minimumtax does not preclude thededuction from assessableprofit and the utilization ofcapital allowances for that year.The position of the law is thatcapital allowances should bededucted as far as possible,from the assessable profit of thatyear and the unabsorbedportion, if any, shall be carriedforward.

Minimum Tax on DormantCases

Minimum Tax is justified onthe theoretical premise thatevery asset should generate anincome and it is applied as ananti-tax avoidance measure.This tax is sometimes referredto as asset tax. Already, it isbeing applied in that mannerduring periods of dormancy inthe sense that minimum tax iscomputed and charged on netasset or share capital,whichever is the higher of thetwo. The aim of this clarificationis to ensure uniformity in theapplication of the law onminimum tax with respect todormant cases. Minimum taxshould be computed although

the assessment may be raisedwhen the business eventuallyrecommences.

Best of JudgmentAssessment

This is raised where auditedaccounts and other relevantreturns are not submittedwithin the stipulated time inline with the tax law. It isusually based on “fair andreasonable” estimate of income/profit of the preceding year’sresults reported by thecompany.

A m e n d e d / R e v i s e dAssessment

Where accounts are submittedand the basis of the assessmentis faulted, the originalassessment earlier made isrevised or amended in line withthe new information asdisclosed in the taxcomputations.

Additional AssessmentThe Board is empowered to

examine the returns submittedby taxpayers in order to ensurethat the presentation of theaccounting details conform withprovisions of the Income TaxAct. Unapproved claims andallowances discovered aredisallowed and added back toprofit. This, in addition to otherinformation will form the basisfor additional assessment. Allrules and regulationsgoverning other assessmentsalso apply to additionalassessments.

J e o p a r d y / P r o t e c t i v eAssessment

These assessments are raisedon the ground of expediency.If the relevant tax authority isof the opinion that suchassessments are necessary forany reason of urgency, whichmay include the following:

? Where a case referred tothe Board for ruling is yet to bedetermined.

? Imminent liquidation ofa company or an intention todispose of its valuable assets,the result of which may crippleits operation.

? Imminent sale or transferof trade/business of thecompany to another.

? Intended remittances toforeign partners.

? Payment being made toa taxpayer who had hither tobeen evading tax.

? Imminent escape by ataxpayer to foreign counties.

? in all other cases ofemergency.

Assessment on TurnoverUnder Section 30(1) (a) and

(b) of CITA C21 LFN, 2004, theBoard is empowered to assesson the turnover of thetaxpayer’s business. Where itappears that the trade orbusiness produces noassessable profits or declareturnover that is less than mightbe expected to arise from suchtrade or business. Such anassessment is made byassuming a fair percentage ofturnover as assessable oradjusted profit for the year to

It is importantto note that inany year ofassessmentwhen minimumtax ischargeable, thecapitalallowance duein that tax yearmust be adjustedagainst theprofit of thatyear along withthe unabsorbedbalancesbrought forward

46 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014

Aviation

TRAINING - Hon Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairsand Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (right) with some indigenes of NigerDelta trained pilots during the showcasing of the Giant strides of the office of the SpecialAdviser on Niger Delta in Aviation Training held in Lagos on Friday. Photo Lamidi Bamidele

The AccidentInvestigation Bureau,AIB, has released a

second updated interim reporton the Dana Airline planecrash at Iju Ishaga, Lagos on

AIB releases second interim report on Danaplane crash

The Nigerian CivilAviation Authority,

NCAA, has said it willinvestigate the manhandling ofthe agency's and Arik Air staffby the Managing Director ofthe Niger Delta DevelopmentCompany ,NDDC, Mr. DanAbia and his orderly, PoliceCorporal Califonia.

Mr Idris Bashir, aConsumer Protection Officer ofthe Nigerian Civil AviationAuthority,NCAA, attached tothe Nnamdi AzikiweInternational Airport, Abujawas slapped several times bythe NNDC MD and his orderly.

Earlier, the Security detailattached to the NDDC boss,Police Corporal Califonia withservice no. 382079 , had whilebrandishing a gun, descendedon Mr. Joseph Nkayuk, an Arikstaff at the Abuja Airport,raining blows on him.According to Mr SamAdurogboye ,Deputy GeneralManager, Public Affairs, NCAA“ Joseph’s offence was that onarrival of Arik Flight W3 258from Port Harcourt on the 26thMay, 2014, he had denied notonly the detail but allpassengers who wanted to pickup their checked – in – bags atthe tarmac, insisting that theyshould proceed to the arrivalhall to claim their bags.”

Adurogboye further said theArik staff who was following theStandard and RecommendedPractices (SARPs) eventuallydiscovered that the Mr Abia’sbag has been erroneouslyreloaded on to another Arikflight by another handler andunfortunately the flight haddeparted. “Mr. Joseph Nkayuktherefore went to the NDDCBoss to explain the mix up andpromptly the Police orderlypulled out his gun andthreatened to shoot while herained slaps and punches onJoseph. In the midst of this

NCAA to probe manhandlingof staff by NNDC boss

By LAWANI MIKAIRU& DANIEL ETEGHE

pandemonium, the NCAA’sConsumer Protection OfficerIdris Bashir, who was on dutyat that time had to interveneand calm frayed nerves.

He assured Mr. Abia that hewould ensure the bag isretrieved.”

After investigation, Idris cameback to inform the MD that thebag had been mistakenly

passenger belligerence andviolence are certainly againstaviation regulations and wouldattract appropriate sanctions.Passengers are thereforeadvised to desist from suchacts and instead forward aformal report to the Authorityand their complaints willreceive prompt attention.”

Staff of the Federal Airports Authorityof Nigeria, FAAN, and the leadershipof the leading unions in the aviation

sector; the National Union of Air TransportEmployees, NUATE, and the Air TransportServices Senior Staff of Nigeria, ATSSSAN,on last week threatened to down tools if theirrequests are not met by June 30, 2014.

The workers defiled the Thursday last week'searly morning downpour to stage a congressin the open at the Freedom Square of theagency, demanding the implementation ofvarious approved agreements between it andthe management.

Some of the demands of the workersincluded: the immediate payment of pensionsand gratuities to staff, payment of 27 per centbalance minimum wage, proper placement of

Aviation unions threaten to down toolsBy LAWANI MIKAIRU &DANIEL ETEGHE

all newly recruited staff in accordance withthe civil service rules and scheme of service,2013 and 2014 implementation of promotionof staff and renewed condition of service forworkers.

Reacting, the spokesman of FAAN, Mr.Yakubu Dati said most of the demands of theworkers would soon be met. He noted thatthe current Managing Director, FAAN, Engr.Dunoma Saleh was part and parcel of theunions and would do everything humanlypossible to ensure that their welfare are takencare of. He informed that the managementwould in the next couple of days meet withthe unions and device means of meeting someof their demands.

He said, “We are partners in progress withthe unions and the Managing Director ofFAAN has been part and parcel of the unionsin the past three decades. He has been in thesystem for over 30 years and probably thatwas why immediately he resumed office, he

Managing Director ofBristow Helicopters

Nigeria Limited, CaptainAkin Oni has attributedinadequate flying hours,inability to pass competencetests, and low quality trainingfrom overseas traininginstitutions as part of thereasons why manyindigenous pilots are unableto secure employment in theaviation sector.

Oni said the risingunemployment amongyoung Nigerian pilots maybe unchecked, because manyyoung pilots do not have themandatory 150 hours requiredof them to demonstratecommand on any aircraft.

Captain Akin Oni furtherdisclosed that the airline willinvest over $ 500 Million onthe training of 20 cadetinspectors. He disclosed thatthe 20 cadet helicopter pilotswill be sent to the UnitedStates by Bristow Helicoptersfor a one year training at theacademy run by the BristowGroup in America.

Why some pilotsare not employed— Capt Oni

By DANIEL ETEGHE

Discovery Air has beengranted Air Operators

Certificate, AOC, by theNigerian Civil AviationAuthority, NCAA. With thelicense, Discovery Air has metthe minimum safetyrequirement and its air planesconsidered safe enough to flywithin Nigerian airspace bythe regulator.

Presenting the certificate tothe Chairman of DiscoveryAir, Mr. Babatunde Babalola,the Director General of theNigerian Civil AviationAuthority, NCAA, Engr.Benedict Adeyileka told theairlines that he wascomfortable with thembecause of the way they havebeen conducting themselvesall through the certificationperiod.

He said the airline will haveits maiden flight today,Monday 9 June 2014, addingthat the airline with startoperations with two Boeing737 aircraft and it will keepadding up.

Discovery Airgets AOC,commencesflights operations

By LAWANI MIKAIRU& DANIEL ETEGHE

reloaded to another destinationand would soon be broughtback and handed over. “ Thisresponse irked Mr. Abia whoadministered series of slaps onthe defenceless NCAA staffclaiming he had done nothing.”

“While the Nigerian CivilAviation Authority (NCAA) islooking into these reports, wewant to reiterate that

the 3rd of June, 2012. The 5N-RAM a Boeing MD 83 ondomestic scheduledcommercial flight operated byDana Airlines, crashed into adensely populated Iju Ishagaarea following a total loss ofpower in both engines while

on approach to MurtalaMohammed InternationalAirport Lagos, Nigeria.

All of the 153 persons onboard the airplane includingthe 6 crew members were fatallyinjured. There were 6confirmed ground fatalities.

According to the agency “Inaccordance with Annex 13 tothe convention on InternationalCivil Aviation Organization(ICAO) and the Nigerian CivilAviation Aircraft AccidentInvestigation Regulations 2006,this is an updated interimstatement being issued for the2nd anniversary of theaccident. The purpose of thisinvestigation is the preventionof Aviation Accidents andincidents; it is not to apportionblame or liability.”

The agency further said threeinterim safetyrecommendations were madeto Dana Airlines and one toNCAA, the RegulatoryAuthority respectively. Theserecommendations wereaccepted and have beenimplemented by the operatorand the Regulatory Authority.

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 — 47

Advertising, Media& Marketing

PROMO - 1st Prize winner Miss Somekene Chukwuka-Eze andher mother, Mrs. Ihunanya Chukwuka -Eze (c) flanked by Mrs.Nsima Ogedi-Alakwe, Brand Building Director Foods (l); Mr.David Okeme, Brand Building Director HPC, far right, and Mr.James Inglesby, Category Mgr Skin Care and Deodorant, all of Unilever Nigeria at Pears Baby of the year Promo draw inLagos..

The IndependentNational ElectoralCommission, INEC,

the Association of AdvertisingAgencies of Nigeria, AAAN,and the AdvertisingPractitioners’ Council ofNigeria, APCON in a tripartitepartnership have agreed tohold an international seminaron political advertising,perception building, and votereducation as a build-up to the2015 general elections.

The partnership aims to setstandards for the next politicaldispensation in terms ofadvertising, as well asequipping voters with theneeded information. Theseminar is slated for July 11,2014 in Abuja.

Expected in attendance arekey stakeholders in theelectoral process, all registeredpolitical parties, regulatoryagencies, marketingcommunication industryplayers, security agencies, theJudiciary, CSOs/NGOsconcerned with electionmonitoring as well as themedia.

The seminar, which will bechaired by INEC Chairman,Professor Attahiru Jega, willfeature a keynote address to setthe tone, which will welcomecommentaries from all theregistered political partiespresent. This will dovetail intoa panel discussion on thekeynote address as well as theissues raised by the political

INEC, AAAN, APCON settone for 2015 elections…Discuss political ads, voter education

Stories byPRINCEWILLEKWUJURU

parties.Speaking on the upcoming

event, President, AAAN, Mrs.Bunmi Oke said: “politicalparties are the primaryparticipants of this discoursefocusing on electioneeringprocess towards 2015. For us

at the Association ofAdvertising Agencies ofNigeria, we are desirous ofpromoting voter education andpolitical advertising and thisinformed our involvement inthe putting together theseminar.”

Pears Baby Range from thestable of Unilever Nigeria

has crowned the 2014 PearsBaby of the year. The contestwhich started in December 2013and ended with a special eventin April 2014, had MissSomekene Chukwuka emergewinner of the competition. Theother winners are Master David

Pears crowns 2014 year baby

Kelechukwu Ezeocha as thefirst runner up and Miss AliceEsosa Aghedo as the secondrunner up. The winners wentaway with a N1,000,000,N500,000 and N250,000 cashprize respectively, with thecrown of Pears Baby of the yearto the star prize winner. All thethree babies will also be givena year’s supply of the pearsbaby range of products.

Speaking at the grand finaleceremony, Mr. David Okeme,the Brand Building Director,Home and Personal Care,Unilever Nigeria, revealed thatPears was launched over fortyyears ago and it was formulatedto soothe the baby’s skin, healso stated that he was excitedat the positive disposition ofconsumers especially motherstowards the brand.

When asked about theessence of the contest, JamesInglesby, Category Manager,Skin Care, Unilever Nigeria,stated that the Pears brand hasa great heritage in Nigeria,and the essence was torejuvenate the brand in theminds of new mothers. Themothers of the top 3 winnersalso expressed their gratitudeto Unilever Nigeria for givingtheir children such greatopportunity at such a tenderage.

Winner emerges in Konga,Infinix car promo

A winner has emerged inthe Infinx Joypad 7

tablet promo embarkedupon by Nigeria’s onlineretailer, Konga.com inpartnership with mobiledevice maker, InfinixMobile.

Miss Uzoamaka Anyanwu,a four hundred level studentof University of Lagos,emerged the winner to clinchthe Hyundai i10 grand prize.

Speaking during thepresentation of the carreward, Sim Shagaya,Konga’s Founder and CEO,disclosed that two more carswould still be given away,when the company sellsanother 500 units of thetablet.

“We are not giving awayone new car but two thistime. The partnership with

Infinix Mobile is a greatachievement and they arebecoming one of the leadingmobile products market inNigeria.” Also speaking, Mr.Bayo Shobanjo, NetworkOperations Manager, InfinixMobile, said its partnershipwith Konga.com was as aresult of the trend movingvastly in e-commerce and itis geared to ensuring a formof mileage in its offerings. Henoted that the future marketis moving towards onlinemarket and there is need tokey into the trend to ensurerobust revenue as thebottom line. He said that thereason both are partnering isbecause Konga has bestbrains as an online marketplatform. Notwithstanding,he said, that future market ismoving towards online.

Things customershate - Part 3Continued fromlast week

Broken promisesKeep your promises.

Whenever you promiseto call, do call. Whenyou promise to come ordeliver, always do so.You are building yourcredibility and areputation forreliability. The rewardfor both you and yourbusiness istremendous. Thosesales people who makeglib promises they don’tintend to keep willdefinitely reap theoutcome of a poorcredibility rating.

Keeping callers onhold for too long

It is better to call backthan to keep a caller onhold for too long. Thatway you save thecustomer both time andmoney. But how long istoo long? I think aminute is already toolong. This is whytelecom customer carelines are great irritantsto customers. Fromexperience, to getthrough to customercare representative onthose lines, you need towait for at least 20minutes. Although thecustomer doesn’t paycash for such calls, theydo pay a lot in terms oftime and stress. By thetime they get to speakto a customer careperson, they areusually a little moreirritable.

Asking callers touse another line

This sucks, especiallywhen you know theother line does notwork. We oftenhear,”This is a directline.” So what?Secretaries enjoysaying this, as if thetelephone line were asymbol of theirauthority or position inthe organisation. If youcan’t reach the personthe caller wants, say sopolitely. Take down thecaller’s details ormessage and promise topass it on.

Vilifying yourcompeti tors

You should respectyour competitors.Don’t run them down.

Present only facts and let thecustomer make up theirmind. Running yourcompetitors down actuallydraws attention to them andmakes you look desperate tomake a sale. It is not a sin toacknowledge somethinggood in the competitionwithout diminishing theworth of your own product.

Avoiding customersNo doubt, a lot of sales

people indulge in hide-and-seek games with customers,especially those customersperceived as “difficult” or“troublesome.” People easilyresort to customeravoidance when they havefailed to deliver on theirpromises (see “Brokenpromises” above).Unfortunately, avoiding thecustomer not only irritatesthem but also complicatesthe service situation further.I think it’s simply escapist toavoid customers. It’s alwaysbetter to face yourchallenges and get themresolved in a professionalmanner. Better still, don’t putyourself in situations thatwill make you run fromcustomers.

Refusing to pick callsThis is another way of

avoiding customers, isn’t it?If you are not able to pick thecustomer’s call (for whateverreasons), the customer has aright to expect you to returntheir calls as soon aspossible. If you don’t returntheir calls, then they arejustified to believe you’reavoiding them.

Letters withtypographic errors orwrongly used words

Always read through yourletters and email. If thecustomer spots mistakes inyour letter or email, he maythink: if this guy is so sloppywith his letter, how am Isure he can perform? Whyshould I rely on him? In thisage of e-everything, many ofus are becoming a littlecareless. We are also relyinga lot more on spellcheckers.Unfortunately, mostspellcheckers will ignoreyour use of “site” instead of“cite”!

What are those thingsyou don’t like as acustomer? To sharethem on this page, sendan email to:allwellnwankwo@gmail.com.

To be continued

48 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014

Email:lesleba@lesleba.com, lesleba@gmail.comBlog page:www.lesleba.com/blog2Website: www.lesleba.comTel:0805 220 1997

Omoh Gabriel - Group Business EditorBabajide Komolafe - Deputy Business EditorClara Nwachukwu - Energy EditorPeter Egwuatu - Asst. Business EditorYinka Kolawole - Snr Bus. CorrespondentFavour Nnabugwu - Insurance CorrespondentGodwin Oritse - Maritime CorrespondentGodfrey Bivbere - Maritime CorrespondentMichael Eboh - Energy ReporterFranklin Alli - Industry/Agric. ReporterEbele Orakpo - Energy ReporterIfeyinwa Obi - Maritime ReporterRosemary Onuoha - Insurance Reporter

CONTRIBUTORSPrincewill Ekwujuru - Media/MarketingNkiruka Nnorom - Capital MarketJonah Nwokpoku - E-CommerceNaomi Uzor - IndustryProvidence Obuh - Micro FinanceLAYOUT - Graphics Department

Business & Economy

The European Central Bank haslowered its benchmark interestrate to 0.15 per cent from 0.25

per cent in an effort to stimulateeconomic growth and avoid deflationin the eurozone. According to theBritish Broadcasting Corporation, ithas also reduced its deposit rate belowzero, to -0.1 per cent, which meanscommercial banks will have to pay tolodge their money with the centralbank, rather than receive interest.”

The above is an excerpt from areport titled “ECB cuts interest rateto 0.15 per cent” in the Punch editionof June 6, 2014. For the sake of clarity,the benchmark rate is the ratecommercial banks pay when they haveto borrow from the Central Bank tocover their cash shortfalls from timeto time. Thus, when a nation’s CentralBank’s benchmark rate is high, bankswould in turn expectedly charge ahigher rate of interest to their owncustomers.

Conversely, if the Central Bank’sbenchmark rate to commercial banksis low, evidently, the commercialbanks would in turn also bring downcost of borrowing to their owncustomers. Universally, the buoyancyof economic activity in any countryultimately depends primarily on thecost of funds. In other words, moreindustries and a diversified economyand increasing employmentopportunities will become availablewhen businesses across the board caneasily access and borrow with very lowcost of funds. Consequently, very lowCentral Bank rates below 1% in moresuccessful economies is regarded as aconscious positive strategy to stimulateincreased economic activity with risingemployment opportunities and theattendant promotion of enhancedsocial welfare in those countries.

On the other hand, whenbenchmark rates become as high asour own CBN’s monetary policy rate(MPR) of 12 per cent, then of course,the cost of bank loans to businesseswill expectedly exceed 20 percent andconstrain the chances of commercialand industrial expansion with morejobs. Thus, a high benchmark rate andits collateral of high cost of funds tothe real sector is also a clear signal ofour CBN’s objective to restrain

MONETARY STRATEGY:Is Emefiele our saviour?

borrowing and bank lending tocustomers, inspite of the obviousadverse effect of such strategy on thelevel of employment and socialwelfare.

From the foregoing, it will surprisemany Nigerians to know that inspiteof its usual populist posturing, theinability of the CBN to bring its ownMPR to about 1% as in best practiceand successful economies elsewhere,makes our Apex bank the number oneenemy of industrial growth andincreasing employment opportunities.

Regrettably, Godwin Emefiele, thenew CBN Governor’s agenda giveslittle hope that the Nigerian economywould begin to be energized by bestpractice benchmark rates as insuccessful economies elsewhere.

Despite Emefiele’s promise to bring

commercial banks. Nonetheless, it isunlikely that Emefiele whoseantecedent is firmly rooted incommercial banking would commitclass suicide by abolishing this richsource of bounty for the outstandingprofitability of Nigerian banks.

Furthermore, Emefiele seems tohave unfortunately also interpreted theCBN prime mandate of price stabilityto be akin to the stability of thegraveyard. Evidently, best practicecentral banks benchmark rates arecurrently less than 1% in successfuleconomies, while inflation in sucheconomies elsewhere remain onaverage about 2%.

Compare this however with ourown CBN benchmark rate of 12% andcurrent inflation rate of about 8%which Emefiele promised to keep

In apparent realization of the failedimpact of subsisting monetary policy,the Governor announced a series ofintervention funds which he has linedup for selected sectors of the economy.Incidentally, such interventions arenot new and indeed former governors,Soludo and Sanusi often strayed intothe fiscal policy arena, with liberal,unguarded, often unsolicited,disbursements of hundreds of billionsof naira without appropriation tovarious sub-sectors includingreligious organizations and such otherbodies, yet the social impact of theseinterventions still remain largelyminimal; nothing suggests thatEmefiele’s interventions would havea different impact.

Emefiele’s decision to pursue thissame failed strategy of sectoralinterventions must be quicklyinterrogated and determined so thatthe CBN governor and his team wouldconcentrate on achieving the Apexbank’s core mandate of price andexchange stability at benign levelswhich support industrial, social andeconomic growth.

Although the Governor made nomention of the apparent failure of thecurrent structure of the Nigeriancurrency, he would be well advised torecognize the utility value of havingprimary kobo coins and some lowerdenominations of the Naira as hardcurrency.

Nigerians rejected the use of coinsas a result of their almost worthlesspurchasing power, regrettably, all thebillions of Naira spent on producingand promoting the adoption of coinsin the last decade have evidentlybecome wasted. Sooner than later,therefore, the CBN would have toconsider the redenomination of theNigerian currency profile such that thelargest denomination would be ahundred naira note, so that primarykobo coins would once again enjoyutility value in everyday transactionsacross the nation.

Ultimately, with Emefiele as CBNGovernor, we might just end up withmore of the same.

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVE

NIGERIANS!!

down interest rates, he still has toclarify how this would be possible withthe eternally surplus cash instigatedby CBN’s economically poisonoussubstitution of fresh Naira creationsfor dollar revenue. Evidently, thecommercial banks make humongousgains annually from the attendantstrategy of receiving governmentdeposits at zero cost while lending tothe same government at double digitinterest rates as a result of CBN’sobtuse strategy to reduce its selfinflicted burden of excess Naira in themoney market.

Conversely, as evident from theabove quoted Punch report, theEuropean Central Bank currently paysnext to nothing for keeping orwithdrawing excess funds from the

relatively stable when in fact what isrequired is rather the stability ofinterest and inflation rates at bestpractice low levels of 1% and 2%respectively i.e levels that wouldrapidly stimulate economic activitiesas per the European experience.

Similarly, it is curious that Emefielewould endorse the stability of theNaira at a rate of about N160 =$1 withabout $38bn current reserves witheight months import cover, wheninfact the stronger Naira exchangerate of N80 =$1 in 1996 was supportedby barely $4bn reserves with just fourmonths imports cover! Thus, even ifEmefiele kept the Naira exchange ratestable at between 155-160 =$1, hewould still have done the economymuch harm.

,

, Ultimately, with Emefiele asCBN Governor, we might justend up with more of the same

As part of efforts to boost tree planting inLagos, Kids’ Clean Club, a non-governmental organisation that aims to raise

a generation of physically, mentally andenvironmentally clean children, has flagged off its50,000-trees campaign in Ikeja.

As it seeks to spread to all the five regions in thestate, the first flag off was done recently in LagosIsland, where 245 trees have so far been planted bychildren in the club, endorsed by the Lagos StateGovernment.

At the second flag-off, Initiator and StateCoordinator of the campaign, Kids Clean Club, MissDoyinsola Ogunye, said, “In 2009, children plantedfive trees but due to circumstances beyond ourcontrol, those five trees are going to be cut down. Sowe said to ourselves that instead of allowing thisnegative situation to sadden us, why don’t we turn

Kids’ clean club advance with 50,000-trees campaign

it into something positive and we said foreach tree cut down, we would plant 10,000,and that is a total of 50,000 trees. Andcoincidentally, Lagos has five regionsIkorodu, Epe, Badagry, Ikeja and LagosIsland.

We are actually going to these regions toplant trees.

“I am doing this because I have a passionfor Nigeria, I have a passion for change andI also love children, aside from the fact thatchildren are innocent, they can easily acceptchange. They are proactive, and it is veryimportant for us to channel them proactivelyin the right direction.”

She pointed out that the tree plantinginitiative became imperative given thatoxygen, which comes from trees, is essentialto life.