Major oil and gas producing companies operating in Nigeria have suspended new investment in offshore exploration because of the planned Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which the companies said has high taxation arrangement.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director of Bristow Helicopters, Captain Akin Oni, whose company provides shuttle services to these oil companies.
Oni said the exploration and production companies had planned investment worth over $190 billion in the deep offshore, but these investments had to be suspended because the PIB bill is unfavourable to their business.
He said that Bristow, which services these companies does not have new contracts from them because there are no new investments.
“The PIB is making the oil majors not to invest in deep waters because of the taxes in the proposed bill. If the market is open it means we will go farther and deeper which will give us more money; higher revenue. So the $109 billion planned investment is trapped because of the bill. But to me the PIB is a key path to growth,” Oni said.
The Bristow Helicopter boss said that over the last year the oil and gas market has been flat. He said while the company did not lose any of its clients, it did not get new clients either as the oil companies are not willing to spend more money.
“Over the last year the business has been essentially flat. So we have not lost our market share, which is a good thing us. If you look at the operating environment, our business is largely driven by the oil industry and in the last year, because of the PIB, there has been a great deal of reluctance by the old majors to spend money, that is, investment in new fields. So we have retained our share of the market and we have not increased or decreased the business in the year. And we are very happy with that,” Captain Oni said.
He noted there is a lot of competition in the market now and the only opportunity the company may have would be the passage of the PIB or the companies decide to venture into the deep water market without approval of the PIB and that would open new opportunities.
Oni said Bristow has invested in its Nigerian business and built the biggest heliport in Port Harcourt with sophisticated facilities, adding that the company also built a new hangar, which it later extended to make it sizeable enough for its growing business.
“If you look at our business today I can say that we have built probably the biggest heliport in West Africa in Port Harcourt and with modern facilities. In the last year we had also built a new hangar and extended the new hangar. It is probably the most sophisticated and the best facility that I have seen in this part of the world,” Oni said.
He added that fire engulfed its hangar in Port Harcourt, devastated the company’s equipment, including Super Puma helicopter which was extensively damaged.
Oni said oil and gas companies are now moving their business from Lagos to Port Harcourt because of the growing confidence due to the changes that have taken place in the Niger Delta
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and some other stakeholders in the financial market are assiduously working towards introducing an electronic Certificate of Capital Importation (e-CCI) in the country before the end of the third quarter of the year.
Some other bodies collaborating with the central bank on the e-CCI are the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Association of Assets Custodians of Nigeria (ACN) and the Financial Market Dealers Association.
The President, ACN, Mr. Segun Sanni revealed this during an interactive session with journalists ahead of the associations 2014 annual conference which holds in London on May 28th.
The CCI is a document that tracks inflow outflow of funds from foreign investors in the country. It is to control capital flight and money laundering.
The CBN has the document and any time an investor is bringing in money; he has to obtain a CCI from the regulator.
But Sanni said: “Of course, you know we are talking about cashless and paperless environment. The world has far moved away from the era of paper documentation and things are done electronically now.
“So we are working in conjunction with the FMDA, the CBN, to have an electronic CCI and we are hopeful that before the end of third quarter of the year it would have been launched.”
Sanni put the total value of assets being managed by custodians across the globe at over $120 trillion, even as he expressed regret that Africa only holds about $1 trillion of the amount.
Nonetheless, he put the total value of portfolio investments in Nigeria at about $30 billion.
“When foreign investors are coming to invest in the market, obviously they are bringing in forex. When they bring in forex, it helps the current account position of the country.
“Foreign investors tend to bring progress to the market because they are always asking for ways of improvement to processes and technology which leads to improved corporate governance.
Often times, they also add to confidence in the market. When others see that foreign investors are investing in this market, they tend to come in,” he said.
According to him, the annual conference is an avenue for his association to get feedback from foreign portfolio investors.
“We get feedback in terms of what they want us to do to improve our market in areas such as infrastructure, products, market rules, market behavior and the rest of them.
“We choose London because it is generally recognised as the financial capital and we have investors coming from various parts of Europe and America to that conference,” he noted.
Top officials of the CBN, SEC, NSE, the National Bureau of Statistics, among others would be attending the conference, he said.
Also speaking on the conference, tagged: “Nigeria, the Road to Emergence,” the association’s Vice President, Mr. Kemi Adewola noted that the event would help in correcting the negative perception about the Nigerain market, saying that it would help in showcasing the potential of the economy.
“If we don’t take these things to them they won’t know what we are doing. So, for us it is an avenue to let them know what is going on in the Nigerian market.
“There are many opportunities within the Nigerian capital market and if we don’t showcase them, they won’t know,” Adewola maintained.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Sunil Mittal, the billionaire chairman of India’s largest mobile-phone operator Bharti Airtel Limited has said telecommunications companies are unfairly taxed in Nigeria because the industry supports other areas of the economy.
“The taxes are very high,” Mittal told Bloomberg in an interview in Abuja, where he is attending the World Economic Forum.
“That needs to come down. If telecoms are seen as a rightful infrastructure for the growth of many other sectors in the economy and the multiplier force, then I think it doesn’t deserve to be taxed so high.”
Bharti, which competes with MTN and Abu-Dhabi-based Emirates Telecommunications Corporation to woo users is seeing a recovery in Nigeria after a sales decline last year because of changes to interconnect charges, Mittal said.
The New Delhi-based company was also among carriers that were banned from selling new SIM cards in March after missing service quality goals.
“We are seeing now growth coming back again,”
Mittal said. “The last quarter versus the fourth quarter was reasonably good. I’m very hopeful that this year will be a year of real stabilisation.”
Bharti operates in 17 African nations and has no plans to expand into new territories, according to Mittal.
“We don’t have any designs for expanding our footprint at the moment but within the countries that we operate we are strengthening our position,” he said. Nigeria remains a long-term market for the company even as Islamist militants carry out a wave of deadly bombings and kidnappings across the country, he said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Chams Plc has assured its shareholders of increased returns disclosing that its on-going identity assurance programmes being executed across Nigeria will strengthen its business, ensure future its growth and fuel its increased profitability in the long term.
Chairman of Chams Plc, Ayo Richards who made this known at the company’s 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, said, the identity assurance needs of the financial services industry, state governments, tertiary institutions, and specialised government agencies, among others, are drivers of revenue and earnings growth for the Chams Group.
The company, he added, is leveraging prior investments in the identity management space to meet this need across Nigeria.
According to him, “National identity programme by National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Know-Your-Customer biometric registration programme for bank customers, as well as residency and smartcard programmes being championed by forward looking state governments are some of the on-going identity assurance programmes of significant scale.
“As a leading player in the identity management space, we are engaged in the delivery of these identity assurance products and services. The demand for identity management services will continue to grow due to increasing financial inclusion, on-going implementation of CBN’s cashlite policy and digitisation of commerce, presenting future growth opportunities for us as a business.”
Group Managing Director of Chams Plc, Mr. Ademola Aladekomo, said “In spite of cost pressures and infrastructure challenges, especially in the area of power, Chams improved its 2012 performance by focusing on the core business of identity management and payments solutions in the 2013 financial year. We streamlined our business operations by vesting non-core functions such as the sales of payment card printers, access control and point of sales terminals in ChamsAccess Limited, a subsidiary of Chams Plc.
“Priorities remain clear for the 2014 financial year, and they include upgrade of our card personalisation bureau to EMV certified standard, strengthening the strategic alliance with our partners in South Africa and Israel, and the achievement of 300 per cent profit growth.”
The company financial results for the year April 30, 2013 showed that Profit After Tax (PAT) rose from N87.5 million in 2012 to N188.5 million in 2013 indicating a 115.3 per cent growth in its profit after tax. The result indicates that revenue grew by 21.3 per cent, rising from N2.84 billion in 2012 to N3.44 billion in 2013, while its total assets rose by 22.9 per cent to N10.7 billion in 2013, from N8.7 billion the previous year.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Fire fighters play crucial role in rescue operations and whenever they fail, it results in fatalities. Chinedu Eze reviews the operations of fire fighters at the nation’s airports.
Firefighting is a very important aspect of aviation. Its provision and efficiency determine the grading of airports. There have been many aircraft accidents that became tragic because fire fighters were not on hand to put off the fire.
One example in Nigeria is the Sosoliso Flight 1145 that crashed at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa on December 10, 2005, which killed over 100 people.
When the aircraft crashed and burst into flames it was difficult for fire fighters to get to the location of the burning aircraft. But when they managed to get there, the firefighters did not have water to put out the fire. That was what made that crash most tragic. The pain and sorrow caused by the crash was exacerbated by the fact that 60 per cent of those on board who died were children.
Since that tragic accident there has been improvement in the provision of fire equipment and the training of personnel. But not all the airports have full fire cover in accordance to the regulation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
Last Sunday the Aerodrome Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (ARFFS) of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAA) celebrated the International Fire Fighting Day in Lagos. Participants reviewed the ability of firefighters to effectively carry out rescue operation and emphasised the need for adequate training of personnel.
A Job of Sacrifice
The general manager in charge of the ARFFS in FAAN, Peter Onyeri remarked that firefighting is a job of sacrifice where a fire fighter can easily lose his life at it happened three years ago when a fire fighter, Mr. Zubeiru Mohammed was burnt to death when he and his colleagues wanted to put of a bush fire near the runway of the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
Onyeri in his speech at the event said firefighters exist primarily to intervene in cases of aircraft in distress with a view to rescue trapped persons while also battling in above 1000 degree centigrade temperature to reduce the level of damage due to the fire.
“ICAO under our rules of engagement requires that we do just that (rescue operation) and nothing more and rapidity with which aircraft emergencies slide into major disasters involving mass casualties. In Nigeria, while this is recognised, the ARFFS is also expected to intervene in concomitant events and call up the morale factor to intervene in other (fire) emergencies at airports,” Onyeri said.
But it was not only the Sosoliso crash that exposed the unpreparedness of fire fighters at the airports before now. On May 10, 2000, fire erupted at the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and burnt the facility down. Fire fighters could not safe it.
Although there have been a lot of improvement in the provision of fire cover at the airports but an inside source said there are still some gaps; that some airports are yet to have the recommended number of fire tenders. Although between 2011 and 2013 a lot of fire tenders and equipment were supplied.
FAAN Technical Adviser, John Ezenwankwo who was in charge of the burnt airport then said that the material that was used to build the terminal was susceptible to fire, advising that before building a terminal or any other facility at the airport, fire fighters must know the material being used to build the facility.
“If you are putting up a structure, firefighters should know the material used in building the airport terminal.”
In the provision of firefighting equipment, Ezenwankwo said although ICAO has its minimum recommendation of fire fighting vehicles that should be provided in an airport, there is no maximum number and therefore advised that Nigeria should have its own minimum in the sense that if ICAO stipulated four firefighting vehicles, Nigeria could double that as its minimum. This he said would enable the airports to tackle any kind emergency.
“WE must establish our own minimum. ICAO has minimum recommendation but there is no limit to maximum. Nigerian should establish its minimum. We should spend our money on areas that matter. We should establish minimum in terms of equipment and personnel,” Ezenwankwo said.
Training and Personnel
Ezenwankwo said that Nigeria should establish training facility for firefighters and stop going to Cameroon for training, describing it as an embarrassment to Nigeria. He said that Nigeria should establish a rig and simulator and that each of the fire tenders must have at least five firefighters on duty at every shift.
“We should show the rest of Africa that we are the leaders,” he said.
Industry consultant and the CEO of Belujane Konsult who delivered the key paper at the meeting said the aerodrome operator should ensure that all personnel assigned to aircraft firefighting duties are trained in accordance with appropriate aircraft firefighting. They should be provided with equipment and clothing.
He said no aerodrome operator shall permit a person to act and no person should act as an aircraft firefighters at an aerodrome, unless the person has within the previous 12 months, successfully completed the training specified in the this section.
Personnel Readiness
Aligbe said response test, which indicates how ready a fire fighter is, is to be carried out by the airport operator every 12 months and for response test to be successful it must meet certain conditions, which include three minutes positioning at the scene of emergency from alarm time of the specified number of fire-fighting vehicles required.
“The fire-fighting vehicles positioned must be in sufficient number in order to apply the principal extinguishing agent at 50 per cent of the total capacity required on commencement.
As stated above, airports are categorised in accordance to the firefighting vehicles and other fire equipment at such airports.
“For the purposes of rescue and fire-fighting, airports are categorised on a global ranking scale. The categories range from 1 to 10 and these are based on overall length and maximum fuselage width of the aircraft types that operate into and from such airports.
Nigeria’s airports are categorised thus: Category 9: the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; Category 8: the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa; Category 6: Margret Ekpo International Calabar and Benin Airport.
He said Nigeria is yet to have Catgeor10 airport because categories determine the minimum requirements; equipment and manning personnel for effective firefighting and none of Nigeria’s airports has met the recommendation for category 10.
He said the challenge which fire fighters face in Nigeria include inadequate personnel; inadequate equipment, inadequate rescue centre, indecent working environment and inadequate training.
Aligbe also said, “Over 90 per cent of FAAN staff and over 98 per cent of all airport/aviation staff are ignorant of the fact that ARFFS has no iota of obligation to intervene today if there is a fire in say, FAAN offices and airlines. ICAO and NCAA are very clear in their mandate; ARFFS is established solely for aircraft fire-fighting no more, no less. The personnel of ARFFS are professionally incompetent to handle domestic fires; they neither have the training nor the equipment.”
Aligbe added a caveat that there is moral obligation that firefighters cannot stand by and watch airport building engulfed in fire, so if such incident happens they would go all out to fight the fire.
Improved Situation
In the last three years attention has been paid to firefighting through recruitment of personnel, provision of equipment of fire fighting vehicles. In fact, the World Bank supported Nigeria in the procurement of fire tenders and building of perimeter fencing. Firefighting and security were deemed critical by the world body.
About five years ago fire fighters had warned that they could not guarantee the ability of the department to successfully carry out rescue operation at any of the nation’s airports due to poor equipment and personnel and called on government to take urgent action and avert imminent danger by putting an end to this nagging problem.
Hearkening to the clamour of the officials of the fire department, FAAN procured 20 fire tenders with the support of the World and carried out massive recruitment. This has given a boost to the department, but this is not enough because some airports do not have adequate fire cover.
Industry experts have called on FAAN to reactivate fire hydrants, where water is stored for the fire tenders and this should be made operational for 24 hours.
About three years ago the officials of ARFSS complained that the department was a dumping ground for unfit people recruited through the recommendation of top politicians in the National Assembly and highly placed public servants. The officials said the department needed young, strong energetic personnel who could take up the strenuous job of fighting fire. Recently indications show that there is a turnaround in that department.
Speaking on the improvement of the sector, Onyeri said, “Reports from audits conducted into the ARFFS in the last one year showed a remarkable improvement in our level of compliance with regulatory requirements. There is no doubt that a lot still needs to be done but statistics show that we are on upward swing, while also reporting that we did not suffer any fatalities or injuries in the course of doing our job, during the period.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Federal Government has expressed its readiness to build what it called the “biggest seaport” in the country in Badagry, Lagos.
Jonathan stated this at the 37th coronation anniversary of the Akran of Badagry, Aholu Menu-Toyi I. The occasion took place at his palace in Badagry, Lagos.
Represented by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, the president said the decision to establish the seaport was part of the Federal Government’s transformation agenda.
Giving reasons for the choice of Badary, Jonathan said: “Badagry is a historic town and it is the cradle of tourism, so we hold it in high esteem. For over 100 years, Badagry was the exporting point in Nigeria. Slaves were being exported out of the country through Badagry. We are making plans to build a seaport in Badagry which will be bigger than the one in Ibeju-Lekki. The reason for this is to ensure that Badagry exports everything from Nigeria to the whole of Europe”.
According to him, with this, Badagry would be redeemed of it lost glory, and also we are not going to marginalise Badagry because it is important to the country.
Jonathan commended the Akran for instilling peace in Badagry, pointing out that Badagry is a very peaceful place and the Akran must be commended for that.
He stated that Badagry is a town of many ethnic groups and religions but the monarch has been able to unite everyone together.
“We appreciate your efforts and we pray God keeps on giving you strength to live for many more years,” he said.
Responding, the Akran appreciated the gesture of the Federal Government to develop Badagry after several years of neglect.
Menu-Toyi urged the government not to relent in the ongoing projects in the area, especially the development of Air Force School and vehicles assembly plant.
“I would keep on doing my best in ensuring that peace continues to reign in the town.” the Akran said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Slok Air is planning to enter into a partnership with Emirates, which is expected to facilitate the return of the airline to business. Chairman of Slok Air and former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, disclosed in an interview in Lagos.
According to him, with Emirates’ backing, Slok Air would do better in the domestic aviation market.
He said Slok Air was negotiating with Emirates on how to secure the maintenance of its aircraft before it could resume operations.
“Aviation business is the most difficult thing to do. When the plane goes up, you are in trouble; when the plane is on ground, you are in trouble. I can only do this if Emirates agrees to the partnership that we are discussing. As soon as we complete the discussion, Slok Air will resume domestic flights,” he said.
Kalu declared that Emirates is one of the best airlines in the world and Mr. Sheikh Ahmed is one of the best managers and the chairman of Emirates is the best chairman that I know.
“The chief executive officer of Emirates, Mr. Tim Clark is one of the best chief executives you can think about. Emirates is going to Kano and Abuja by August this year.So if they agree to maintain my aircraft locally and become our partner Slok Air will come back. Slok Air has advanced discussions to that effect. The discussions have been ongoing,” Kalu said.
He commended the federal government for granting the airline permission to re-launch its operations saying “Slok Air will contribute to the economic growth of the country.”
The former governor expressed optimism that resuscitating the airline would boost domestic air travel.
The airline was originally founded in Nigeria by the Slok Group. Its air operator’s certificate was suspended in March 2004 by the federal government and the airline was subsequently dissolved in November 2004. In the same month the airline was reformed as Slok Air Gambia Limited. Service was again halted in the end of December 2007 due to maintenance and was resumed mid-February 2008.
However, the company had financial difficulties which made the creditors filled lawsuits against the firm, seeking payments.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The National Assembly has chided the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the concessionaires of the nation’s seaports over their various roles in alleged revenue leakages accruing to the federation account.
The National Assembly stated this when the Senate Committee on Privatization led by its Chairman, Senator Gbenga Obadara on a fact finding mission visited the NPA House, the corporate headquarters of the authority in Lagos as well as taking a tour of two major terminals at the Tin Can Island Port (TCIP), namely Five Star Logistics Terminals and the Josep Dam Terminals.
The committee after the tour expressed dissatisfaction at the poor implementation of the financial agreements in the port concession agreement, as signed by NPA and the terminal operators.
Apparently not happy with the state of things in the port, members of the committee lamented that appreciable revenue that should have accrued to the country is being lost because the concessionaires have failed to remit their financial obligations to the NPA.
The Senators also gave knocks to the NPA for not providing needed infrastructures at the terminals, and for failing to keep accurate tab on the remittances from the concessionaires.
Addressing the NPA management team at its headquarters in Marina, Lagos, Obadara stated that considering the volume of cargoes coming to the port, what the terminals are remitting is peanuts.
His words: "We are not happy about the activities, considering our port as the biggest in Africa, and what the terminals are generating is peanuts. At Five Star Logistics, $66,00 is being collected, converted to 126 million, and we observed that there was a tax relief for five years, so they were making good money, but by 2012 they were recording N54 million loss. This does not follow accounting integrity and we are not happy about it. The committee spent more than 25 minutes at Tin Can Island Port and surprisingly, the terminal operators were unable to provide receipts of the monthly remittances to NPA”.
According to the legislator, we need money to finance NPA’s budget and if the operators cannot tell us where the money is, NPA should be able to tell us. At Josep Dam, we waited for more than 20 minutes and they cannot provide us what they were making monthly. They were not able to give to us figures needed. The terminal operators complained of the delay in completing port rehabilitation, the access road which has affected quick delivery of cargoes and low profit margin.
At Josep Dam terminals, he observed that the NPA had failed to provide fenders for the terminals after it was broken for eight months, a situation which has rendered the terminal redundant.
Other problems observed by the legislators apart from the financial failures were seepage along the quay apron at Five Star Logistics Terminal and the bad access roads to the port.
The Managing Director of the NPA, Alhaji Habeeb Abdullahi in his response assured the Senators that fenders are already on ground to repair the quay wall of the ports.
He said that the revenue from the terminals have dwindled due to government policies on vehicle, rice and cement importation. According to him, there is need to review the port concession agreement in order to allow new suggestions and improvement.
He defended the terminal operators saying that there was need to review the agreement reached with them after five years of operation.
According to him, the terminals are not getting their guaranteed minimum tonnages, therefore there is need to take a second look at the concession agreement. For instance, Energy Nigeria Limited has complained of drop in revenue as a result of the ban on importation of cement which has caused a drop by 40 per cent, while the duty payable on rice also dropped by 15 per cent.
The import policy on fish has also affected their business and we have to keep looking at the changes so that NPA will keep reviewing the agreement.
Continuing, the NPA boss said: “Five Star Logistics says the policy on importation of cars may also affect its minimum tonnage in 2015. There is an ongoing supply of fenders which is going to be used in all the ports. It will soon be cleared and delivered to us, therefore it will soon be a thing of the past. "The seepage at five star logistics is an isolated case and we will jointly inspect it".
NPA Executive Director, Engineering and Technical Services, Mr. Mohammed Sani Sally disclosed that the processes in the award of a contract for the dualization of the port approach to the Tin Can Island Port, Apapa has gone far.
Said he: “It has passed the parastatals tenders board. It is already at ministerial level.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has advocated appropriate synergies between Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya to engender an economic growth that is inclusive in the region.
By the recent GDP rebasing, Nigeria is currently Africa’s largest economy as well as the dominant economy in the West Africa sub-region, while South Africa is the continent’s second largest and the biggest in the Southern Africa sub-region, just as Kenya is the biggest economy in East Africa.
AfDB’s Chief Economist, Prof. Mthuli Ncube, who was a panelist on "Driving Competitiveness through Cooperation, Integration and Economic Growth" at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, in Abuja yesterday, said the region’s growth was positive, regretting however that this had been blighted by inequalities.
According to him, appropriate synergies between Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa would help to drive down the present average poverty rate of 48 per cent in the region.
"These three economies— Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt, when they come up, must inter-tie and must work together to drive African Economy," he said, adding that the informal sector of the economy where the small businesses are high should be supported.
In his remark, the Chairman, KMPG Global Africa Practice, Mr. Seyi Bickersteth, said effort must be focused on improving an intra African trade at 12 per cent presently, adding: "For us to have a positive growth, we need to integrate, get rid of the guys in borders to reduce cost and time of business and movement.”
Border checks, he said, remained a major hindrance to free movement of goods in the region, even as he pointed out that the energy challenge was another problem that should be addressed headlong to help businesses that have the potential of creating jobs and driving down inequality.
Bickersteth applauded Nigeria’s policy of privatising its energy sector as a step in the right direction, arguing that private sector participation was critical to propel the sector.
According to him, private sector participation would drive different market forces as well as help reduce corruption.
"Our political leaders have to step down their egos and provide enabling environment for private sector to play a major role," he said.
In his contribution, the Acting Chief Executive Officer, Business Unity, South Africa, Also, Cas Coovadia, said there was no reason why the three economies of Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya should not integrate, stressing that Nigeria’s hosting of the WEF was a great opportunity.
He said that leaders should copy initiatives that had worked positively in individual economies and replicate to bring positive economic growth.
While calling for the efficient and effective management of the large natural resource deposits in the region and the intensification of the fight against corruption in many African countries, Coovadia said: "We need efficient private sector participation, enhanced infrastructure and ensure accountability.”
“The opportunity is there, Nigeria has huge business sector, we need to get together and see how to drive the economy of Africa to create jobs," he said, and called for an improved education sector.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), which the professional umbrella body for stockbrokers in Nigeria, has elected the Group Managing Director of BGL Group, Mr. Albert Okumagba the new president and chairman of Council of the institute.
The election of Okumagba followed the expiration of the tenure of Mr. Ariyo Olushekun at the conclusion of the 19th Annual General Meeting of CIS last week. The institute said in a statement that its Governing Council met and elected new principal officer with Okumagba as president and chairman of Council. Oluwaseyi Abe was elected first vice president and Mr. Adedapo Adekoje second vice president.
Also, five new council members were elected to fill some vacancies. They are: Mr. Lawal Abubakar, Mr. Ayoleke Adu; Oluwole Adeosun; Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, and Mrs. Nkoli Edoka.
The new president, Okumagba, is also the Chairman; of BGL Securities Limited, BGL Asset Management Limited, BGL Private Equity Limited, I-skill Limited, and Immersion Marketing Strategies (IMS) Limited. He is also a member of the board of directors of NASD Plc.
Prior to joining BGL, he was Manager and Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Centre- Point Bank Plc (now Unity Bank Plc). vHe holds Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan and a Master of Science Degree in Economics specialising in Monetary Economics, from the University of Lagos. He has attended several courses in multilateral agency credit appraisals, World Bank assisted projects, and corporate finance.
The first vice president, Abe is an Executive Director with Magnartis Finance & Investment Limited. He has over 21 years Investment Banking experience spanning the money and capital markets, treasury and investment banking, asset management, corporate finance, wealth creation and pension management. He has a B.Sc degree from the University of Ife, an M.Sc from the University of Lagos, and an MBA degree.
Adekoje is the Managing Director, Professional Stockbrokers Limited. He attended Baptist Academy, Lagos, Centre for Business Studies, Greenwich London and North –East London polytechnic (now East London University).
He obtained Master of Science degree from University of Hull, Hull England. He is a member, Certified Pension Institute, Institute of Directors, Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered) and Chartered Institute of Marketing, London.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
