Nigeria Content Online

The
Federal Government yesterday said the unbundling of the Power Holding
Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the privatisation of the power sector was
not yet finalised because it does not want the company’s critical
assets to go into the wrong hands.

Nuhu
Wya, the minister of state for power, said at the 2010 ministerial
briefing in Abuja that despite the criticisms by the National Union of
Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the
power sector privatization programme would proceed as planned.

Mr.
Way said that though the wounding down of the PHCN has continued to
elicit protests from the company workers and affiliates of the
organised labour, government is determined to go ahead with the plan
and complete the process by next year’s second quarter.

“Government
is determined to see the eventual privatization of the electricity
sector as planned. But the public must be assured of the federal
government’s commitment, to ensure that the sector’s resources do not
fall into the hands of asset strippers,” Mr. Wya said.

“The
power sector reform programme, which started in 2005, is well on the
way to completion. The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is
expected to be wound down by the second quarter of 2011, but government
would insist that the exercise is not in favour of those in government
that looted the $16 billion spent on the sector during the Obasanjo
regime. Selling the company to these people would only impoverish
Nigerians,” he declared.

Increased electricity supply

According
to the minister, despite challenges militating against the completion
of the privatisation process, the present administration has recorded
significant improvements in the level of electricity supply to
consumers since the beginning of the year.

Government,
he said, was searching for people who are not only financially vibrant,
but possess the ability to add value to what they are buying, adding
that with several other infrastructural challenges that the government
was facing, the search for foreign investors was unavoidable.

“The
consequence of not taking these decisions would be very colossal. As
long as the PHCN remains in the hands of the government, the country
will continue to be penny wise, pound foolish. If we will not fulfill
our responsibilities, we will continue to live in darkness. So, this
government is saying: enough is enough; let’s go the full length of the
reforms,” he said.

Hussein
Labo, PHCN chief executive officer, said the power sector reform was
inevitable, pointing out that individuals or groups that are against
the ongoing privatization process were either unproductive staff or
‘freeloaders’, who are not really interested in the progress of the
sector.

“There
are two groups of people who are against reforms in the power sector.
The first group is the unproductive members of staff who think when
that utility is reformed they will be out of work; while the second
group is people who enjoy certain benefits when the utility is under
private hands, and they believe they would not continue to enjoy such
benefits if the reform succeeds,” Mr. Labo declared.

The Federal
Executive Council (FEC) has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
for the prompt release of a N199.67 billion credit facility to 516
manufacturers across the country.

The minister of
information and communications, Dora Akunyili, made the remark while
briefing State House correspondents at the end of the council’s weekly
meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

Mrs. Akunyili said
the council made the commendation after the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi, had briefed it on the performance of the nation’s economy in
the third quarter of 2010.

She said the credit
facility will be disbursed under the manufacturers’ SMEs Loan
Restructuring Refinancing Scheme, at a fixed interest rate of seven
percent.

The minister said
the CBN governor told the council that N130.99 billion of the amount
was disbursed through the Bank of Industry. She said the council was
also informed that there had been a steady growth in the nation’s GDP,
which continued to be driven largely by the non-oil sector,
particularly agriculture.

“The inter-bank rates and other money market rates, including
lending, also moderated. The foreign exchange market was substantially
stable, while the slow and steady recovery in the capital market
continues,” Mrs. Akunyili said.

Dangote Cement Plc
(DCP), a member of the Dangote Group, has announced an interim dividend
of N30.98 billion for the period ended September 30.

The interim
dividend is part of the group’s strategies of enhancing and growing
shareholders’ value through consistent dividend payment. It also
fulfills the promise by the directors of the company to pay an interim
dividend to shareholders.

Dangote Cement
resulted from the merger between Dangote Cement and Benue Cement
Company (BCC). The merger created the biggest company listed on the
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

In the review
period, the enlarged company reported a turnover of N146.56 billion.
According to the unaudited financial results, turnover rose by N55.26
billion or 37.71 percent, when compared to turnover value of N91.30
billion posted in the corresponding period of 2009.

A review of the
financial results indicated that Profit Before Tax (PBT) rose by N30
billion or 39 percent to N76.93, compared to N46.93 billion recorded in
the corresponding period of 2009. Profit After Tax (PAT) was on the
same upward swing, as it rose by N30.16 billion or 40.05 percent to
N75.30 billion, in contrast to N45.14 billion at the preceding year.

With the payment of
N30.98 billion interim dividend, investors in the companies under the
Dangote Group that are listed on the Exchange received a total dividend
of N60.21 billion.

A Nigerian firm
involved in a $2.5 billion bid for former state telecomms monopoly,
Nitel, said on Wednesday it was optimistic it would meet a December
deadline to pay a 30 percent deposit to secure its bid.

GiCell won an
extension on November 5 of 20 working days, after failing to make a
deposit of $750 million by an earlier deadline because its financial
backers had developed what it described as “cold feet” over delays in
the sale process.

GiCell is part of
the New Generation consortium, the preferred bidder for Nitel, whose
technical partners include China’s second biggest carrier, China Unicom.

“We are working
tirelessly to meet the deadline, despite the challenges we are facing,”
GiCell managing director, Usman Gumi, told Reuters.

Questions have been
raised over the financing for the New Generation bid, which some
analysts said values Nitel at more than five times what it is worth.

Ghana announced on
Thursday it expected first oil from its Jubilee offshore field to be
pumped on December 17, in line with earlier forecasts that it would
take its place as a major oil producer by year-end.

“First oil is expected December 17, and the government and all the
Jubilee partners are looking forward to this day,” deputy information
minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, told Reuters.The field is operated
by UK-listed Tullow Oil.

The Bank of Mauritius sold just 257 million rupees of 6.69 percent five-year government bonds at auction on Wednesday.

The central bank
had offered 2 billion rupees of the bonds maturing on June 4, 2015,
which it first sold in June this year. It received bids worth 2.8
billion rupees, but rejected most.

The bids ranged
from a yield of 6.25 percent to 7.50 percent. The highest accepted
yield was 6.84 percent, giving a weighted average yield of 6.81 percent
at the auction.

The Central Bank of
Kenya (CBK) said on Thursday it was looking to buy 5 million euros from
the local market, its second foreign currency purchase this week.

Some traders have
said the central bank’s frequent purchases of foreign currency have
kept the shilling under-priced. The bank says it is not manipulating
the shilling’s value but building foreign currency reserves.

The CBK purchased 5 million euros on Monday.