HENATES

In its current world outlook database released last October, the one optimism the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed about the Nigerian economy was that it will decline at less speed. Whereas IMF projected gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices of $415.1bn for Nigeria in 2016 (down 15.9% on 2015's $493.8bn) the 2017 figure was estimated at $413.7bn, down by only 0.34%. According to the IMF Nigeria may begin to record growth in GDP in 2018 in the neighbourhood of 7.3% on 2017 projection and then settle for much less annual growth up to 2021. Can Nigeria prove the IMF wrong and so, come up with growth, not reduced decline in 2017 and not growth from 2018 anticipated by IMF? May be. But that will be principally if the present recovery in the price of crude oil at the international market is sustained. Of course, this is beyond Nigeria's control; a fact which makes the outlook dicey. In addition, militancy in the Niger Delta region from which Nigeria extracts crude...

At the Nigerian capital market, there seems to be a growing list of deal brokers more interested in selling clients shares without formal authorisation. On December 21, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria (SECNigeria) decided to suspend indefinitely a registered operator, Heritage Capital Markets ltd from all capital market activities in connection with unauthorised sale of shares belonging to investors and for refusing to comply with the commission's directives on the issue. In September, SEC Nigeria banned and blacklisted Mr Taofik Lawal and Mrs Iyabode of WT securities ltd for unauthorised sale of Nigerian Breweries shares belonging to an investor and for mismanaging the funds of another. Also in 2016, the high profile case of Partnership Investment Company ltd blew open involving an ex-council member of the stock exchange, Victor Ogienwonyi who, without formal authorisation reportedly sold shares of various shareholders. Much earlier, Alliance...

Two electric power companies: Eko Electricity Distribution company (Eko Disco) and Afam Power generating company have been fined a total of N66.6m by the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC). According to multiple tweets by the NERC today, they werw fined for not submitting to the regulatory body audited financial accoubts for 2014 and 2013 despite repeated demand. The dirwctive for the fines waa signed by NERC CEO Dr Anthony Akah and the general manager, Legal services, Mrs Olufunke Dinneh. According to the directive, the total fine is to be paid within two weeks with effect from December 9, this year when the directive was signed. If not paid within the period, 5% per day additional fine will start to count until it is paid and the accounts submitted. The latest fine is similar to the one of N37.5m imposed on Port Harcourt Disco to be paid within two weeks counting from October 24, 2016. The Port Harcourt directive had explained that the breach by the conpany was on four...

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria (SEC Nigeria) has suspended a registered capital market operator, Heritage Capital Markets ltd with effect from December 21, from all capital market activities. According to a release posted on the commission's website December 24, the suspension is for an indefinite period. The release declared in part..SEC Nigeria "0n Wednesday December 21 suspended Heritage Capital Markets ltd together with its directors and sponsored individuals in connection with the unauthorised sale of shares belonging to an investor and its refusal to comply with the commission's directives in that regard". It then went further to inform that the suspension was for an indefinite period. For Heritage Capital Markets this must have come as a huge blow because on line, the company prides itself thus: "Our vision is to build a platform for a sustainable world class legacy in investment banking services, driven by clients' centric...

By June 2016, according to Internet World Stats, Bangladesh and Nigeria were the fastest growing internet users market in the world. According to the figures available on line, Bangladesh had a total of 63.3m internet users by June which came to 63190% growth since 2000 to lead the world in terms of growth. And there is still a lot of room for it to continue to grow with the right policies. This is because this users figure represented only 38.9% of Bangladesh population. As for Nigeria, it came out second fastest growing internet users market by June with 97.2m internet users representing 48505% growth since year 2000.  However, unlike Bangladesh, this was already 52% of its population of estimated 187m people. Meaning there is less room for growth in the future when compared to Bangladesh. There is still plenty of room for growth though, according to most current data released by the National Bureau of statistics on telecommunications in the country. From the data, by the third q...

DIAMOND BANK: NEW DIRECTORS Three new directors have been appointed to the board of Diamond Bank PLC. They are Mrs Chizoma Okoli, Mr Chiugo Ndubisi and Mr Rotimi Olayiwola Oyekanmi According to a release signed by the company Secretary, Nkechi Nwosu, both Okoli and Ndubisi have been with the bank for years. Mrs Okoli was head of Business development and now becomes executive director, with the same function. She joined Diamond Bank in 1992 as executive trainee and had served in various capacities since then. She is a law graduate from the University of Benin called to the Nigerian bar in 1990. She also has an MBA from Warwick Business school, Coventry, UK. Mr Ndubisi, on the other hand, will function as executive director, Finance. He was confirmed as chief financial officer last July after acting in that capacity for a while He joined the bank in 1996 as executive trainee and in later times too was financial controller, then head, financial management. He has a first c...

Nigeria has the youngest population amongst the world's top ten populous nations. According to World Meter Info quoting estimate by the United Nations, the average or median age of Nigeria's estimated 187m people is 18. It is in fact the only nation among the top ten that account for about 58.2% of the world population, with median age bow 20. And the population is estimated to be 2.5% of the world population. This means in effect that youth unemployment which today is a major problem, is in fact just beginning because in the coming years, more and more will finish their schooling and join the labour force. Of the top ten most populous nations, Pakistan, which  at 6th is just ahead of Nigeria's 7th, came closest to Nigeria with median age of 23 years. Its own population is estimated to be  2.6% of the world. Just below Nigeria at the 8th position in terms of estimated population was Bangladesh which has median age of 26 years for its 63.2m people making up 2.2% of...

The process for delisting Ashaka Cement from the Nigeria stock exchange voluntarily has started in earnest after a formal approval at an extraordinary general meeting on December 19 held to kick start it. In a public notice dated December 21 and signed by company secretary, Zainab Silas-Umaru, Ashaka cement asked present minority shareholders who want to exit before the delisting to do so through open sale at the market or through acceptance of LA Farge Africa offer of N2 cash per share plus 57 new shares of LA Farge for 202 Ashaka cement shares. However, the LA Farge offer must be accepted between December 29 and March 17, 2017. It can only be accepted through duly completed consideration and acceptance form obtainable from the registrars of the company, Cardinalstone Registrars. According to the notice, Ashaka cement is currently quoted at the stock exchange at N25 per share; that is almost N2 higher than 2015 closing net assets per share of N23.67. This perhaps informed the ...

Neimeth  International Pharmaceutical PLC has announced its intention to pay bonus of one new share for every 10 held but it is while there is still accumulated loss in the books. According to the report for the financial year to September released this week, it was a good year for NEIMETH but not good enough to declare dividends. So, the board of directors resolved to issue the bonus to shareholders in the books by December 31. But a close look at the closing balance sheet for the year showed that in spite of the N95.4m profit made compared to 2015's N315.8m loss, accumulated loss still stood at N760.3m. However, it was possible to issue the bonus because there was also share premium balance of N1197.9m standing for years now. Actually, but for the N196.6m net loss from foreign exchange transactions compared to only N16.8m loss in 2015,  it would have been quite a year of recovery for Neimeth. There was sharp 80.9% drop in income from other sources to NN6.16m but the ...

The following quoted companies just released updated corporate actions as follows: STANBIC IBTC: Dividend.        5k per share Closure date.  January 3, 2017 Payment date. Three working days after AGM AGM date: To be advised later. Venue: Also to be advised. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS: Dividend:   Nil. Bonus.         1 for 10 Closure: January 31-Feb 3, 2017 AGM:  February 7, 2017 Venue: Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

Stanbic IBTC bank has finally got out of the hook of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the body charged with ensuring accounting standards are maintained in Nigeria. According to a notice to the Nigeria Stock exchange dated December 21, the FRC has lifted the suspension of the bank's Board Chairman, Atedo N A Peterside , the CEO Ms Sola David and two other top officials from signing the company's financial statements. FRC had also asked the bank's external auditors not endorse its accounts. The notice was signed by Chidi Okezie, company secretary and it said that this was due to "acceptable settlement" of issues involved with the FRC. In view of this, Stanbic IBTC finally released its 2015 annual accounts to the exchange this week accompanied with 2016 report s up to September. From the 2015 audited figures, the year was tough but mainly because interest expense grew by 52.3% to N38826m; Trading and other income dropped by 11.6% and 50.8% to N15503m a...

OANDO COMPLETES DIVESTMENT. Oando Plc has finally concluded its divestment of 49% voting rights in its subsidiary, Oando Gas & Power ltd (OGP) in favour of Glover Gas & Power BV. According to a press release, the new co-owners of OGP is a special purpose vehicle company owned by Helios Investment Partners LLP, a private investment company focussed on Africa. OGP is a major player in Nigerian local gas distribution that pioneered and now distributes at peak 70m standard cubic feet per day to over 175 industrial and commercial customers through a network infrastructure. Helios Investment Partners managing partner, Tope Lawani said of the completion "The completion of the transaction underscores Helios commitment to investing in businesses that deliver energy access solutions to industries and consumers across the continent". SEC NIGERIA FLEXES MUSCLES Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Nigeria) has flexed its legal muscles over what it described as "circular i...

First, there was the move towards nations without borders as represented by interventions that challenged the concept of nationhood accepted since world war two and birth of the United Nations The assumption was that no matter how small or big, strong or weak, every member nation of the UN was entitled to its sovereignty and limited borders. But events since world powers intervention in Saddam Husein' Iraq, Gaddafi's Libya; Assad's Syria and still ongoing: West African leaders intervention in Jammeh's The Gambia have hinted more at nations without borders even if by self appointed redeeming righteous men. Then, there was the birth and rapid spread of the social media via the internet which has turned all nations, including the powerful and the closed ones, into a network of communication with little role for nation borders. Now, it is the turn of more deadly money without borders. More deadly for nationhood because most nations have currencies circulating within t...

If the findings of the 2015/2016 household survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is anything to go by, all things being equal, 53.3% of Nigerians will depend on 41.4% for survival as senior citizens 50 years hence. According to the survey, the responding households had about 53.3% on a national average aged between 15 and 64 years. These are the people who normally make up a nations work force that contribute to pension schemes, save and purchase goods and services from their earnings then support the old and the young. Presently, from the report, the average household has about 41.4% aged 14 and below. In other words, these will be the working force in roughly 50 years when those between 15 and 64 currently must have retired. So, more and more money will flow into contributory schemes in the years ahead but if not well invested, they will become inverted pyramids of sorts as more and more retire to climax 50 years hence. According to the survey, those aged above 65 years n...

Following in the heels of the formal take off of Islamic banking in Nigeria, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Mr Godwin Emefiele has been elected to chair the governing coubcil of International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILMC) with headquarters in Malaysia  According to a press release by the CBN acting director of corporate communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, he was elected on Thursday at a meeting of the council held in Jakarta Indonesia. By the same token he also becomes the head of the general assembly of the body which currently has central banks or monetary authorities of Indonesia, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Qatar, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the Islamic Development bank as shareholders. It was set in 2010, says Okorafor, to " create and issue short term shariah compliant financial instruments to facilitate effective cross border Islamic liquidity management " It is open to all bodies with oversight functions over finan...

Are foreign banks and other foreigners, aside from official institutions, dumping the United States of America treasury bills? It looks like. This is because, according foreign holdings report for October released December 15, what began as single digit drops in September has landed in double digit. By October holdings of US treasury bills dropped by 10% to $106.4bn from $118.3bn in September. This was after September value closed 3.25% down on August's $122.3bn. Since 2016, monthly figures of foreign banks holdings had been more down than up resulting in the October figure being 15.1% lower than 2015's closing figure. In the case of TB holdings by other foreigners the drop in October at 11.5% on September was even sharper. Their US TB holdings came to $244.7bn compared to $276.6bn in September. By April, their holdings had surged to 2016 monthly high of $288.1bn and so, the October figure was down 15.1% from this height after rising marginally in two months and dropping more s...

In the third wave of household survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2015 and 2016, respondents across the country were asked to indicate things they spent money on one month before the survey. According to the report released last week by NBS the findings from their responses was revealing. A total of 98.1% of respondents said they bought vegetables making this item the most commonly consumed across the country. Broken down into respondents by the six geopolitical zones, 99.9% of households in South East bought vegetables followed by 99.6% in the South South; 98% in North West; 97.4% in South West and 96.4% in North Central. Following vegetables were grains and flour (97.8% of National respondents); soap and washing powder (90.6%); meat,fish and animal products (90.4%) and Recharge cards (78.3%). However, in terms of recalled amount spent, recharge cards led the pack of all household choice expenses within the month before the survey. The national mean spent was N17...

The Indian government this week introduced official lottery to encourage citizens to go cashless as the demonetisation policy continues to make raw cash very scarce. The new lottery promoted as a Christmas gift is to start running from Christmas day to April 14, 2017. People using Repay, USSP, UPI and AEPS payment channels will receive a number to be entered into a daily draw which will see 15,000 winners receiving 1000 rupees (about $15) daily. Then there will also be a weekly draw from which 7000 more winners will win between 5000 and 100,000 rupees. On the final day, that is April 14, there will be a mega draw to come up with first, second and third prize winners. Payments made through credit cards and e wallet are not covered in the lottery. Covered are transactions over 5000 Rupees and below 50 Rupees. This way the government hopes to encourage a lot more Indians to go cashless believing that this will also help fight corruption as hard as the demonetisation policy was...

The third wave of the Household survey conducted by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics( NBS) in collaboration with World Bank Living Standards Study Team between 2015 and 2016 came up some shocks. For example, according to the survey findings, about 89% of Nigerians above 10years of age have mobile phones. However, most of them do not access the internet. From the survey, only 29% of urban mobile phone owners access the internet while it is only 9.8% in rural areas. About 45.8% of the phone owners send and receive messages on their phone and only about 18.4% use it for educational purposes. Another revelation was that 68.5% of households own their own dwellings while 16.6% live in rented places. This may not be too shocking since most rural dwellers live in own houses although built with substandard materials in many cases. According to the survey, 59.3% of Nigerian households have access to electricity on the average of 35.8hrs per week representing no change on the finding...

FORTE OIL: Mr N Vervelde becomes director. Mr Nicolas A Vervelde who is the current chief executive of Nigerian Breweries PLC has been appointed a non executive director of Forte Oil PLC. According to a notice jointly signed by Forte Oil Group CEO, Mr Akin Akinfemiwa, and company secretary, Akinleye Olagbende, the new director was appointed recently. He brings to bear high level and international experience as manager of merger and acquisitions and  change. He started his career with Heineken in 1984 and has held increasingly senior positions in Europe, Africa, Middle East, Bahamas, Caribbean and Central America, over the years. Apart being the CEO of Nigerian Breweries, he is a board member of the Nigerian Economic Group, the chairman of the Beer Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and of the Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund. He also sits on the advisory board of the Lagos Business School. HELEN E EMORE IS DIRECTOR, COURTEVILLE SOLUTIONS. Ms Helen Ese Emore has bee...

Wema Bank PLC has heralded the use of special purpose vehicles (SPV) companies to raise needed funds from the public through the Nigerian stock exchange. According to the NSE, the first ever SPV bond issued on behalf of Wema Bank Funding SPV ltd has been quoted on the NSE. The bond is for N6.295bn at 18.5% fixed rate and 7 year tenor due in 2023. It is part of N50bn Wema funding SPV debt issuance programme with Qualivest Capital ltd as the sponsor and lead stockbroker while Union Stockbrokers were its joint stockbrokers. According to Wema Bank CEO,Mr Segun Oloketuyi the fund raised will be used to finance the turnaround of the bank which started in 2000 and has entered  the growth phase. Its quotation on the market is indeed a milestone because SPVs issued in other climes have their successes like social media giants like Twitter and Pinterest  raising some capital through it, and equally outstanding abuse like the collapse of Towers Financial in 1994 that found its ...

According to President Buhari Nigeria under his watch will target 2.5% economic growth in 2017 with the budget proposals presented last Wednesday to the National Assembly. If this is achieved, it should technically get the country out of recession but don't expect it to impact visibly on the average standard of living. This is because 2.5% is lower than the estimated population growth rate of the country of 2.8% by 2013. Besides, even this population growth rate could be out of date and even be an understatement since then. After all, it is said that by 1960 the nation's population was 45.2m but by December 2015 was estimated at 182.2m by the World Bank. And National bureau of statistics latest household survey indicate still growing average household in some key states and  no change in others. In addition, the November inflation rate climbed to 18.48% from 18.33% in October and there is no guarantee of reverse in the near future. So 2.5% will just be like a drop in an...

As usual it was nice listening to President Buhari's more focussed and inclusive budget speech while he presented 2017 N7.28tr budget today at the joint session of the National Assembly. To an extent, it looked like the President was woken up to an extent from his illusory projections and hopes for 2016 after all by events this year. But budget 2017 still has some major hurdles to cross in the near future to become a true working and realistic document. First, is the fact that it is based on no more cash calls for the nations production sharing arrangement with exploration and producing companies. From January, he said, a new arrangement that involves cost recovery before any sharing of surplus will take effect thus freeing Nigeria from scouting for scarce foreign to match commitment by joint venture partners. An arrangement that found Nigeria in arrears and thus becoming a drag especially in deep water activities. The only main snag is the fact that it is doubtful if Nig...

If any government decides to do anything about population growth rate in Nigeria today, the real challenge may come from the North East and North West parts of the country. According to the findings of the third wave of household survey in Nigeria conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics and World Bank living standards study team between 2015 and 2016, these regions have the highest average household size. According to the report, the national average household size was 5.5 persons although in the rural areas it was 5.9 persons and 4.9 persons in urban areas. However, based on the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, the North East recorded average of 7.9 persons followed by North West with average of 7.4 persons in a household. Besides, the two regions, says the report also recorded increases on the household average reported from the second wave survey carried out between 2012 and 2013. From a distance, North Central recorded 5.7 persons per household average. None of...

The Central Bank of Nigeria has warned that fake Hong Kong $100 (HK$100) is in circulation in Nigeria and so, Bureau de change operators, currency dealers and the general public should be ware. According to a public notice issued and signed by Ag Director, Trade and Exchange department, W D Gotring, late in November, the attention of the CBN was drawn to the fake notes. It said that the fake notes were "printed in normal A4 paper using inkjet printers" and "are of poor quality, lacked embossment and the feel of security features" The CBN added that "the silver marks were stuck on the notes to appear like holographic security thread on real notes" Also, it added " the HK100 numerals failed to turn green and gold when viewed from different angles " Hence, for the avoidance of doubt, it drew the attention of all to the following features of the original notes. 1) The colours and features of the notes shift when viewed at different angles...

On Wednesday, that is two days hence, President Buhari has promised to present budget 2017 to the National Assembly, just a day short of when he presented 2016 budget last year. Before he does, perhaps it is worth putting on record some memories from year 2016 to perhaps get the president to provide answers to offshoot questions in his budget speech In the course of 2016 Nigerians were told that the government borrowed N36m to celebrate democracy day and found it difficult to pay back. They were also told that government has had to borrow to pay civil service and political appointees wage bill and of course, entitlements of elected politicians. That in this month of December had to unilaterally link deductions from staff pay to new base figures to deduct more from take home. Also that within the year Nigeria got second war plane gifts in addition to old war ships earlier got to arm the army and other security agencies risking their precious lives to keep Nigeria one by, inevita...

The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Nigeria) has asked all capital market operators (CMOs) to update their information with the commission not later than this Friday, December 23. According to a notice posted on its website, the intention is to bring relevant information about all CMOs up to date "To this effect" it says the commission "has sent current registration information in its records to the CMOs via email to assist in filling the forms provided on line. SEC Nigeria requested any registered operator who has not got such an email to contact 08174212745 or 08033816503, in the case CMOs closer to Abuja office. In the case of those closer to Lagos, the numbers to call are 08023075305 and 08137760414.

The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) corporate governance score card developed with World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) takes off in January. According to SEC Nigeria, the score card will help in assessing corporate governance practices of quoted companies especially in the area of disclosure and corporate governance. IFC and SEC had started to partner on the project since 2014. The first phase was its development which led to formal launch in November 2015 Since then they had moved to the second phase which focussed on jointly training chief finance officers, company secretaries, audit committee members and board chair persons on the scorecard requirements and basics. In the process, the training sessions offered good opportunity to generate awareness on disclosures that will be needed annually to assess corporate governance practices by listed companies. Scorecards, explained SEC Nigeria, " are quantitative tools used to measure level o...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has thrown open till January 24 expression of interest in supplying 180 Dell Desktops to it. According to public notice posted on its website, the bid is open only to accredited Dell partners with evidence of registration with Dell as preferred partner. From the notice it seems there no prepayment involved but all expressions of interest must be received on or before 12 noon January 24 by the secretary, major contracts tenders committee, 2nd floor, wing c, CBN complex, Abuja  It must be submitted in a waxed envelope marked "Tender for the supply of Dell Desktops to Central Bank of Nigeria" and will be opened immediately after closing at wing D, Procurement and support services department, 2nd floor, CBN complex Abuja  The following documents must be itemised in the application and be submitted: proof of registration in Nigeria and with the Bureau for Public Enterprises data base, certificate of compliance with National pension commission, and...

Canada Strategic Oil & Gas ltd today December 9 announced plans to raise $40m through private placement of 333m shares at $0.12 per share. The money is principally to finance its $30m capital budget approved by the board of directors for the first half of next year The budget is to drill six Muskeg wells at Marlowe adjacent to some it successfully drilled in 2016. Muskeg oil wells are drilled on wetland popularly called bog but called muskeg in Canada. It is also the same with the soft wet land called more or quagmire, according to Wikipedia While announcing the fund raising plans the company also announced results from muskeg oil wells drilled in 2016. There were four in all and only one is having issues. Drilled over a pad of about 1900 metres, the first two are reportedly already producing while the third has been equipped. Strategic Oil & Gas has since late 2015 committed itself to driving down operational and administration costs. The shares to be offered will be no...

In spite of increase in loan defaults across the board in the fourth quarter of 2016, lenders are hopeful that there will wind of change next quarter ( first one 2017). According to the findings of the survey of lenders conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) between November 21 and 26, this year, the general view was that loan performance worsened within quarter four of 2016. In particular, survey indicated higher default rates in secured and unsecured loans to households and even big corporate organisations not to talk of small and medium scale companies There was also decrease in loan approval for small and medium scale companies within the period although the lenders reported increase in availability of both secured and unsecured credit. However customers paid more to service new loans within the  quarter as spread between bank rates and CBN policy rate widened. According to respondents to the survey it was only the spread on credit card lending that narrowed withi...

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) invitation for tenders for tug boat services for 2017 and 2018 closes by 12 noon January 5. 2017. According to notice on its website, the tender invitation is in line with International Maritime Organization and Nigerian Ports Authority requirements that all ships approaching or leaving a port are to be assisted by a tug boat for safe harbour operations. The services are needed at Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt and service providers will aid berthing and  unberthing of all ships at NNPC jetties and buoy; provide logistics for safe ship to ship operations and stand by or position vessels at the single port mooring buoy. Companies qualified to bid are tug boat operators and managers; certified shipping companies; and credible maritime logistics companies with MOU or similar legal agreement with bona fide tug boat owners. In the first instance, the contract will be for two years renewable for another year. It will commence in fir...

If you as an investor decides to invest in any private placement by any private company in Nigeria, you are on your own. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria, this is because the commission is not empowered to regulate private placements by private companies. This view was projected in a current post on SEC Nigeria website following complaints against a registered capital market operator, AIMS Asset Management ltd over private placement for two private companies. The two private companies were Petdrill Development Company ltd and Aims Assurance company ltd. "The commission" said SEC Nigeria "while investigating the activities of AIMS Asset Management ltd ( a registered capital market operator) observed that the private placements and the securities of the private companies were not under the regulatory purview of the commission" In view of this, it added "the general public is hereby INFORMED that the commission does no...

Mr Gabinus Enuborda Oriseh has made history at B O C Gases Nigeria PLC as a director reappointed  unto the board of directors 15 years after retiring from it. According to the notice signed by the company CEO, Mr Ayodeji Oseni, Oriseh was reappointed on November 30, this year. Incidentally, he is also probably the longest serving company secretary in Nigerian history having served in that position  before retirement in 2001 and since retirement. He had been appointed company secretary in 1985 as part of BOC Gases Nigeria executive team and has thus served in that capacity for 35 years. He is 71 years old and a chartered accountant by profession. BOC Gases Nigeria is a member of the international Linde group manufacturing industrial gases, chemicals and other related products. In line with current recession's impact on manufacturers, figures for nine months to September indicate trying times that even got worse in the third quarter despite 3.92% recovery in core revenue ...

Last December, while commenting on Nigeria's 2016 budget after it had been presented to the law makers, Henates concluded the post titled "Buhari: Budget of illusions" thus: "Unfortunately, none stays in cloud nine forever. Indeed, soon enough 2016 realities will slap his excellency from his self imposed illusions. Pity by then, he would have frittered away completely the tremendous goodwill that came with the romance of majority of Nigerians with Buhari and change as a mantra" Now, it looks like in this regard, Henates misfired because President Buhari does not seem to be out of his reverie despite all 2016 offered. First, in recent months Vice President Osibajo has been busy telling everyone that Nigerian needed N7tr budget to get out of recession in 2017. That is after 2016's N6tr budget with about a trillion deficit financing projection, did not deliver the goods as hoped. Second, when the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, alerted the nation about ...

Nigeria, on Saturday December 3, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Morocco on capital market cooperation during the recent visit of king Mohammed V1 of Morocco to Nigeria According to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Nigeria) the MOU was signed between SEC and its Moroccan counterpart regulatory authority: Autorite Marocarne Du Matches Des Capitaux (AMMC). It is aimed at providing a platform for cooperation and sharing of information between the two capital market regulators and  facilitate mobility of capital between the two countries. It was part of a number of issues discussed during the official visit covering agriculture, aviation, immigration, banking, capital market and extractive industries. For Nigeria, says SEC Nigeria, the MOU offers "opportunity to leverage on the progress achieved in the Moroccan market to enhance the delivery of ......objectives in the 10 year capital market plan.....as it relates especially to deepening asset management spac...

Nigeria's household spending dropped by 6% in the second quarter of this year, according to the National Bureau of statistics. According to the computation of gross domestic product by expenditure released recently by the NBS, real household expenditure dropped for the second consecutive quarter to N9.52tr year on year after declining by 1.05% in the first quarter. Normally household expenditure accounts for above 50% of GDP by expenditure as against by income. However, nominally, household expenditure increased to N18.1tr within the second quarter but most of that was driven by galloping inflation which affected purchasing power negatively. It was also affected by increased unemployment which, says the NBS, rose to 12.1% and 13.3% in first and second quarters of the year compared to corresponding 7.5% and 8.2% at the same time in 2015. Government spending share of GDP dropped by 22.3% to N0.73 tr in first quarter and recovered by 5.06% in the second quarter to N0.83tr. Howev...

The supply of foreign exchange to the different official windows from which banks allocated to customers increased by 31.5% in October to $867.8m from about $660m in September. According to the forex allocation report for the month compiled by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from bank reports and released late  November 30, the banks tried their best to allocate at least 60% as directed to manufacturing but it was not quite possible. In all manufacturing plus raw materials got 2897 number of allocations from the various banks totalling about $447m or 51.5% of the total dollars available. This works out at an average of $154,839.6 per allocation for combined manufacturing and raw materials even though they appear separately in the report. In terms of average value, allocation for petroleum ranked in a class of its own with 129 allocations having total value of $150.8m or average of $1.17m per allocation. Petroleum thus ended with only 1.66% of total allocations and 17.4% of t...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Research department survey report on manufacturing for November says decline has only slowed down. According to the report which is produced after of purchasing managers and called purchasing managers index (PMI) indicated across the board that overall production drop only slowed down but it is still declining. The same with new orders and new export orders. Naturally, because of this, employment level is declining faster in most sectors including Food Beverages and Tobacco that seems to be having better times than most sectors. The only sector employment level grew when compared to October was Plastics and Rubber products reportedly recovering from contraction. Of all the 16 industrial sectors covered in the survey, only Food Beverages and Tobacco production grew slower,  although cement, electrical and plastics grew from contraction. Also food, beverages and tobacco raw materials stock and work in progress grew faster just like its new or...

Nigerian Enamelware PLC is one company h with fortune had to predict  by half year to October. According to the interim results released this week, this was because what it earns from non core activities hold the ace. In the half year to October 2015, Nigerian Enamelware earned N21.6m from this source but this turned to be only just 18.7% of the total such income of N115.4m by the end of year in April, 2016. With the year ending with profit before tax of N177m, out of which only 39.5% was earned by its half year, it is easy to discern that the growth in other income in the second half made a difference. It certainly helped drive mid year profit margin of 4.18% to final 6.08%. Now, in the half year to last October, the company earned N58.3m as other income and with a slightly higher profit (N71.9m) the margin again closed at 4.18%. Now will the same other income do the trick once again and thus grow to about N322.1m by year end thus maintaining the previous year's trend?...

According to latest foreign trade figures released by the National Bureau of statistics this week for the third quarter of this year, Africa remains the best continent for Nigeria to promote trade with for now. According to the NBS, Nigeria exported to Africa within the period more than twice the value of what it imported from the continent. Export to Africa in the third quarter was N190.3bn compared to N87.9bn worth of goods and services imported from it. Thus trade surplus in favour of Nigeria was about N120.4bn. The import  to Africa was 3.6% of total imports while the continent absorbed 16.1% of exports within the quarter. In sharp contrast, export to Europe was N767.8bn or 33.3% of total exports for the quarter while imports from there accounted for 48% of total imports and led to a deficit trade balance for Nigeria of N390.8bn. As for Asia, 29.1% of Nigeria's third quarter export or N672.8bn was absorbed but imports came to N843.27bn or 34.9% of total leading to trade def...