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BUSINESS

Senate Approves N348bn Outstanding Subsidy Claims For Oil Marketers

The Nigerian Senate has approved the payment of =N=348 billion as outstanding subsidy claims to 74 petroleum marketers.

This followed adoption of interim report of its Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) on the Promissory Note Programme and a Bond Issuance to Settle Inherited Local Debts and Contractual Obligations to Petroleum Marketers.

Out of this amount, 55 oil marketers are to receive =N=275, 750,415,108 while 19 others will get =N=73, 452,639,866. While the committee recommended that the 55 oil marketers be paid 100 percent of their claims, it called for the payment of 65 percent claims to other marketers due to contentions in their figures.

Senate also mandated the committee to continue its engagement with the Ministry of Finance, oil marketing companies, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and other stakeholders in order to update all the outstanding liabilities and clear all outstanding debts, interest accrued and forex differential once and for all.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Kabir Marafa who presented the report during Wednesday’s plenary, noted that although marketers made claims to the tune of =N=670, 497,543,15billion, as of June 30, 2017, the PPPRA verified and approved the sum of =N=429, 054,203,228billion to the Federal Ministry of Finance.

He explained that while the verified figure was approved by the Federal Executive Council, further verification by the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit, (PICA) reduced the amount to =N=407, 255,263,288billion.

The panel observed that continuous delay of the approval of the promissory note request will affect the liquidity of the Oil Marketing Companies and undermine their crucial role in the development of the economy.

The committee in the report signed by 17 out of 22 members explained that the determination of the terminal date of the subsidy programme amount paid to the OMCs and the interest accrued from 30th June, 2017 to date will be taken up and resolved in the final report.

Accordingly, the report indicated that “a submission that would be able to reconcile and bring to the conclusion all issues in respect of petroleum subsidy programme implementation and payments;

“Further verification needs to be made to ascertain the discrepancies between the OMCs and the recommendations for payment made by FMoF (PICA). In this respect, the Committee is of the opinion that interim payments should be effected to the OMCs pending full verification of PICA recommendaTions and updating on the full implication of interest accruals from 30th June 2017 to date.

“The Government’s inability to pay the OMCs as at 30th June, 2017 has further increased its liability since the interest continued running till date, hence, the need for further work by the Committee to compile and update the level of indebtedness and its interest accruals;

“However, in view of the fact that the service of the OMCs is very important to the economic development of the country and closely tied to National security, paying the marketers would stem the threat of fuel scarcity, increase economic activities and promote a more harmonious working relationship between the Government and OMCs”.

Notable among the oil marketers and the amount approved for them are: Aiteo =N=4,988,199,360; Conoil =N=5,588,285,132; Forte Oil =N=15,480,445,907; Bovas =N=5,953,684,258; Capital Oil =N=8,339,052,402; Mobil =N=8,282,363,478; MRS Oil and Gas =N=20,948,270,002; Oando =N=14,972,585,600; Total =N=21,569,996,843 among others.

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BUSINESS

President Macron Endorses Ecobank’s Commitment To Creative Industries

France President, Emmanuel Macron, was fulsome of praise at Africa’s culture and its creative industries on display during his visit to Lagos on Tuesday.

The Event, which was the launch of the French Season of African Cultures 2020 in Lagos Nigeria was sponsored by leading pan-African bank, Ecobank.

The event, entitled ‘A Celebration of African Culture’ was held at the New Afrika Shrine – which was the home of the legendary musician and composer Fela Kuti – focused on Africa’s rich and diverse cultural heritage and honoured Africa’s creators of art, design, film and fashion.

President Macron told the audience at the event that he is determined to champion a new narrative about how Africa is perceived and that the African Cultural Season 2020 is one of the ways to project the continent positively.

“When I say we need new narratives, what I mean is that we need you people to make these narratives. I see a new generation of artistes, of entrepreneurs, of people coming from civil societies, of journalists, of intellectuals coming from Africa and explaining, speaking about Africa in Europe and everywhere” he explained.

“I believe that we have to build together, a new and common narrative. And this new common narrative is not based on what is important for Europeans, but what is important for Africa about their culture – how they want to build their culture, how they want to explain their culture, how they want to promote their culture and which places are important for them for these promotions. We decided to organize African Cultural Season 2020 in France for several reasons. It is about a team of young creatives coming from different parts of Africa. You’ll have contemporary artistes, painters, people involved in fashion, movies, visual arts, architecture… all different arts existing and present in Africa, especially Nigeria,” he said.

Charles Kie, Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria said: “President Macron’s support is indicative of African cultures’ growing international influence. Whether it be blockbuster films such as Black Panther, our global superstars in the music industry, our artworks in the top international auction houses, our models gracing the premier fashion catwalks, or our dance and our food, Africa’s culture is having a huge impact on the global stage. Africa’s creative industries are a vital ingredient of our continent’s economies in our relentless pursuit of increased diversification and global competitiveness.”

“Ecobank’s digital strategy is fully centred on bringing financial integration and inclusion to the African continent and our innovative products such as the Ecobank Mobile App, the Xpress account and Ecobank Pay are all empowering African consumers and business alike by providing the 24/7 functionality, convenience, accessibility and instantaneous transactions that they need. Ecobank is totally committed to playing its part in supporting the development of businesses and trade that will bring the sustainable growth to African economies and provide the bedrock of increasing prosperity for all in Africa.

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BUSINESS

FG Targets 10% Global LNG Market

As part of its strategic aspirations to derive maximum value from Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources, the Nigerian Government is targeting 10 per cent of the world’s market share in traded Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed this on Tuesday while addressing the 27th World Gas Conference (WGC) in Washington DC, United States.

Speaking at a session on “The Role of Gas in Power Generation” under the theme “Fuelling the Future”, Dr. Baru reeled out the enormous potentials of Nigeria’s gas resources and their huge contributions to the nation’s economy, explaining also the gas-to-power initiatives as well as the quest for industrialization.

“We are focused on jumpstarting and sustaining gas supply to support a rapid growth in power generation, re-positioning Nigeria as the regional hub for gas-based industries such as fertilizer, petrochemicals, methanol, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), as well as leveraging our enormous reserves position to strengthen our footprints in high value gas export through LNG and regional gas pipelines,”Baru told delegates at the triennial gas gathering.

He also said that with the emerging gas markets and the need to generate more power across Africa’s Sub-Saharan region, there abound an unprecedented investment opportunity in the gas sector for the country.

According to the GMD, Nigeria was focused on expanding its existing 22 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) Nigerian LNG plant with additional 8MTPA from its proposed Train 7, a development that will significantly increase global power generation capacity.

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BUSINESS

Unbanked Population Stands At 37% – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the country’s unbanked population currently stands at 37 per cent.

Director, Banking & Payment Systems, CBN,Mr Dipo Fatokun, stated this at the third Annual Banking Security Summit organised by MAXUT Consulting in partnership with OneSpan, global data security company on Thursday in Lagos.

Fatokun recalled that the apex bank in 2010 in Mexico made a commitment to reduce the population of unbanked Nigerians to at least 20 per cent by 2020.

“We made a commitment in Mexico then to reduce the number of unbanked to at least 20 per cent by 2020, then in 2010 we observed that over 46 per cent of bankable Nigerians didn’t have access to financial services.

“This was a major concern to the CBN and we made a commitment that in 10 years time, we would reduce the figure to far below 20 per cent.

“Today it’s not a good story because we have not done much, less than two years to 2020, at the last count we are just 37 per cent. A lot of work needs to be done,” Fatokun said.

Fatokun, who was represented by CBN Deputy Director, Banking & Payment Systems Department, Mr Musa Jimoh, said the apex bank was still committed to reducing the country’s unbanked population.

He said the move was part of the bank’s financial inclusion strategy aimed at ensuring greater participation in the nation’s financial sector.

Delivering a key note address on “Preparing for Open Banking in Nigeria,” Fatokun said the survey conducted then showed banking penetration was relatively low due to lack of access to financial services and cost of banking services.

He said people were afraid to bring their monies to banks because of banking charges, and that complex experienced in opening of accounts contributed to the trend.

According to Fatokun, the apex bank had introduced several policies to promote financial inclusion in the country such as mobile money to enable banks provide banking services to the poor.

He said the CBN also had a review of bank charges to reduce with a view to reducing them as well as the introduction of super agents.

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BUSINESS

Nigeria’s Inflation Drops To 11.61% In May, Says NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation for May, decreased to 11.61 per cent (year-on-year) from 13.34 per cent recorded in April.

The NBS disclosed this in its CPI and inflation Report for May released on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to the bureau, this figure is 0.87 per cent points less than the rate recorded in April.

The bureau said the figure showed 16 consecutive reductions in inflation rate since January 2017.

The report stated that increases were recorded in all the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

On a month-on-month basis, the bureau said the Headline Index increased by 1.09 per cent in May, up by 0.26 per cent points from the rate recorded in April.

It stated the percentage change in the average composite CPI for 12 months period ended May over the average of CPI for the previous 12 months period.

It, however, measured the CPI at 14.79 per cent in the period under review, showing 0.41 per cent point lower from 15.20 per cent recorded in April.

The report further showed that the urban inflation eased by 12.08 per cent (year-on-year) in May from 12.89 per cent recorded in April.

In addition, it stated that the rural inflation also eased 11.20 per cent in May from 12.13 per cent in April.

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BUSINESS

Kerosene Price Increases By 0.65% In May 2018 – NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that the average price of Kerosene per litre increased from N278.49 in April to N280.29 in May.

“Average price per litre paid by consumers for National Household Kerosene increased by 0.65 percent month-on-month and decreased by -7.58 percent year-on-year to N280.29 in May from N278.49 in April.

“States with the highest average price per litre of kerosene were Abuja (N327.50), Yobe (N313.33) and Cross River (N310.19), while those with the lowest average price per litre are Borno (N233.33), Abia (N235.53) and Kogi (N251.04),’’  the report said.

According to the report, the average price per gallon paid by consumers for National Household Kerosene increased by 0.80percent month-on-month and decreased by -5.12percent year-on-year.

It noted that the price paid by consumers for a gallon of kerosene increased to N983.67 in May from N975.82 paid in April.

States with the highest average price per gallon of kerosene were Jigawa (N1,143.33), Yobe (N1130.00) and Adamawa (N1,088.89).

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BUSINESS

Senate Calls For Return Of SON To Ports

The Senate Committee on Industry has called for the return of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to the nation’s ports.

Senator Sam Egwu, Chairman of the Committee made the call on Monday, during an oversight function to SON’s offices and laboratories in Lagos.

He said that the absence of the agency was greatly felt at the ports and called on stakeholders in the sector to begin facilitating its return.

He stressed that it was necessary for the agency to have first-hand information on goods berthing on the shores of the country before being allowed into the markets.

He said that Nigeria as a large scale importing country must have its standard organisation at the nation’s point of entry, in order to ascertain the quality of goods coming in.

“We cannot overemphasis the issue of standardisation, because it is the core for every manufacturing output. We are not happy that SON has not been allowed to operate at its maximum capacity especially with their presence being felt at the port.

“Nigeria is import dependent, with porous borders and for them not to be at the port to inspect these goods first hand is not good enough. They should be allowed to be at the port to see these products before they enter into the market.

“We have observed some products come into the country from countries that do not have standards all cloned with SON logo. This is certainly not good for the Nigerian economy.

“The discovery by the SON deterred such goods from getting into the hands of unsuspecting consumers,” he said.
He commended operations of the agency in its fight to combat fake and substandard goods, and restated the committee’s support.

“From what I have seen so far, I want to say that they have impressed us as a committee with their efforts to ensure that products are being standardised.

“They have also judiciously put to use the appropriation funds given to them to deliver on their mandate,” he said.
The Director General, of SON, Osita Aboloma, told the committee that steady progress had been made over the years under the current leadership of the senate committee on industry.

“We have never had it so good under any committee in the history of SON.

“Not only did you bequeath a befitting SON Act, we have also been able to discharge most of our core mandate.
“I am also proud to tell the world that the issue of possession and co-ownership of the building where our operational office in Lekki is situated has been resolved in favour of SON due to your able leadership, ‘’he said.

The members of the committee were taken to SON’s one-stop office in Apapa and its multi-billion laboratory complex in Ogba with about 38 laboratories.

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BUSINESS

Chinese Firms Bid For Ibom Deep Sea Port

A Pre Bid Conference with three firms that are pushing for the development of the Ibom Deep Sea Port was held in Uyo the Akwa Ibom state capital.

The Consortium of Bollore and Power China, China Road Breach Corporation, CRBC and China Harbour Engineering Company of Nigeria are the International firms that are vying for the development of the project.

Addressing the Technical Committee on Ibom Industrial City and Deep Seaport, which includes representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, consultants and other stakeholders, Governor Udom Emmanuel told the bidders that they would not have asked for a better investment opportunity than the Ibom deep seaport.

Governor Emmanuel described the proposed Ibom Seaport as standing in a very good position to serve the south-south, south-east and middle belt regions of the country including Abuja just as it is capable of also servicing the Gulf of Guinea.

The Governor explained the challenges of operating a single seaport in Nigeria and stated that a country of over 170 million people cannot be fed from only one seaport.

He said that the Port will be digital with at least 4 Exits to ease traffic congestion within and outside the facility just as the facility when completed would sit on a  natural draught, which would not need to be dredged.

The Governor expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for the support in respect of the project and assured that the state and other stakeholders involved in the development of Ibom Seaport will get it done in compliance with international standard.

He pointed out that latest technology will be applied to make sure goods are cleared at a very fast pace to enable investors to realize the return on their investment right on time.

The Chairman, Ibom Deep Seaport and Industrial City Technical Committee, Mrs Mfon Usoro explained that the conference with the bidders is a mandatory requirement in the Federal Government procurement process.

She said they gave them more information about the project with the hope that they would be able to submit robust proposals to the Ministerial Projects Development Steering Committee for evaluation before the parties involved get to the next stage of the project.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr Akan Okon noted that before the end of the year, they should come to the end of the entire transaction since everyone involved in the project was showing great commitment.

In a remark, the Chairman, Project Development Steering Committee and Director, Maritime Services, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Sani Galadanchi said the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi has the passion for the project and promised to continue to work with the State Technical Committee and other stakeholders to achieve result.

The representatives of Bollore and Power China and that of China Harbour Engineering Company Limited, all described the Port development project as a mega facility while also hoping to emerge the preferred bidder.

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BUSINESS

CBN Orders BDC Operators To Access Forex Window Thrice Weekly

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has made it mandatory for all the Bureau de Change, BDCs, operating in Nigeria to access Foreign Exchange from it thrice a week.

A statement from the CBN acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, on Sunday indicated that the new directive would allow eligible travellers more access to foreign exchange and allow more liquidity to the market.

“All BDCs shall henceforth access forex from the CBN on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

”It is compulsory that all BDCs access forex at least three times weekly.

”Any BDC that fails to access the forex window at least three times weekly shall have its licence reviewed by the CBN,” Mr Okorafor said.

According to Mr Okorafor, the CBN has also authorised all commercial banks to buy and sell foreign exchange to travellers whether they operate an account in the said bank or not.

He said that the banks were mandated to do this once a customer or non-customer presents relevant, valid travel documents such as visa and travel ticket.

“All travellers shall be attended to immediately at the banks’ counters. Any contravention shall be sanctioned by the CBN,” he said.

This new directive is coming after the CBN announced on Wednesday that some banks were turning back customers that come to purchase Foreign Exchange for Personal and Business Travel as well as for pilgrimage.

According to the CBN, it has supplied enough dollars to the banks to meet needs in the invisible segment.

Customers were enjoined to report any bank that refuses to attend to their legitimate demands within 24 hours.

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BUSINESS

CBN Injects $210 Million Into Foreign Exchange Market

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected 210 million dollars into the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market to boost liquidity in the system.

The acting Director, Corporate Communications,  Mr Isaac Okorafor, in a statement in Abuja, said the CBN allocated 100 million dollars to dealers in the wholesale sector.

He said also the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment and invisibles received 55 million dollars each.

‘‘The continued interventions in the interbank foreign exchange market was mainly to ensure sustained liquidity and stability in the market, ‘‘  Okorafor, said

According to him, the interventions by the CBN had impacted the market positively and guaranteed a stable exchange rate for the Naira, which has since stabilised the foreign exchange market.

He reiterated that the Bank’s interventions had reduced the country’s import bills and led to accretion to its foreign reserves.

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BUSINESS

Tantalizers Pursues Expansion, Opens New Outlet In Ikare Akoko

Tantalizers, one of the leading brands in the nation’s Quick Service Restaurant sector, says its expansion program is fully on course as many towns in the country have been identified for new restaurant locations soon.

In pursuance of this business resolve, Tantalizers has opened a new outlet in Ikare Akoko, Ondo State, bringing the brand’s number of outlets to over 60 across the country.

While speaking during the official opening of the new outlet located within the Forte Oil Filling Station Complex along Ikare-Arigidi-Akoko road, Deputy Managing Director of Tantalizers Plc, Mr. Gbolahan Labinjo, encouraged Nigerians to be a part of the brand’s growing franchise program. He said the new outlet was opened in response to the desires of consumers in Ikare Akoko and environs for a qualitative QSR outlet that would serve and excite consumers in the entire Akoko area of Ondo state including Akungba, Oba and Arigidi.

Mr. Labinjo further stated that the new outlet would offer all Tantalizers product offerings including popular local favourites.

Tantalizers, a wholly indigenous QSR company is the only quoted company in its category on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and presently has over 60 outlets in the country.

The QSR is a one-stop restaurant brand that offers a wide variety of products and services including ‘local favourites’ which are the meals of the locality where each restaurant is located.

 

 

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BUSINESS

Ecobank Unveils Africa’s First Unified Digital Payment Solution

A multi-featured digital payment solution, Ecobank Pay, is now available from Ecobank Nigeria. Ecobank Pay is built as a core part of Ecobank’s digital financial services ecosystem approach and will deliver unified and instant self-service across a range of interconnected payment solutions. It can be used by all businesses from small informal micro merchants to large corporates as well as governments, allowing them to offer easy and convenient payment options to their customers in-store or online.

Ecobank Pay includes a rebrand of the Ecobank Scan+Pay QR offering, which allows customers to pay in-store via the Ecobank mobile app. Merchants can now also speedily sign-up for their QR merchant code via the Masterpass QR for Merchant functionality on Facebook Messenger.

As the Ecobank Pay ecosystem expands it will unify all of Ecobank’s digital payment offerings for internet payments, eCommerce, paying bills via mobile and airtime top via mobile.

The Ecobank Pay QR offering, or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), will continue to allow customers of any bank in Nigeria or beyond, to make payments for goods and services, using their mobile banking app to Scan+Pay with MasterPass, Visa or mCash as the means of payment.

mCash allows merchants to receive payments from their customers on one single Merchant Terminal ID for both Scan+Pay and USSD through the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) mCash service by dialing *402#.

For both Ecobank Pay Scan+Pay (via MasterPass and Visa) as well as USSD, merchants will receive instant credit on their account with Ecobank. This digital payment solution is targeted at small informal micro merchants, registered small and medium size merchant businesses, corporate and institutional merchants operating in-store or online, as well utilising the social media platform of Facebook Messenger to sign up for QR technology.

“Ecobank is committed to simplifying doing business for the people it serves, and Ecobank Pay is a payment solution channel that will make payments easier, faster, convenient and more secure,” commented Charles Kie, Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria.

“As an enhanced payment platform, it will make business cash flow easier to manage and will help to grow sales as it accepts payment from any mobile phone user at anytime and anywhere, whilst improving both convenience and the client experience.  It has no initial transaction charges and is a cost-effective alternative to POS terminals as payments are directly authenticated, pushed and approved by the customers buying the goods or services, therefore limiting the risk of chargebacks or disputes.”

The clear advantages of Ecobank Pay is that everyone can use it regardless of size, and the value it brings through the digital QR code technology that will enable businesses to access more financial services and grow.

Patrick Akinwuntan, Group Executive, Consumer Banking, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, says: “The merchant receives instant credit for all transactions as opposed to the current transaction day plus one (T+1) of a POS transaction. Customers can make payment from any type of mobile phone and notification is provided through SMS, the merchant app and the merchant portal. Ecobank Pay is an innovative, cost-effective and convenient digital payment solution that will enable businesses to enjoy quick settlement, grow sales, increase customer loyalty and make it easier for them to expand into new markets.”

Mr. Akintwuntan calls on businesses and organisations to embrace cashless payments and calls on religious organisations, government agencies, transport companies, telecom service providers, agency banking service providers, financial payment facilitators, the hospitality, leisure and entertainment sector, e-Commerce and utility companies and all others to harness the opportunities and advantages of solutions like Ecobank Pay, which will move Nigeria and Africa into a more cashless and financially inclusive society. These, and many other business sectors, can embrace the convenience, speed and security of Ecobank’s innovative digital payment solutions.

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