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While
the financial market awaits the issuance of the first series of bonds
by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the focus is on
how the banking industry will fare after the bad debts are taken off
their books. Financial market operators spoke of a situation where the
regulators still need to keep close watch on the market in order to
prevent a reoccurrence.

The
target date of the first AMCON bond issuance is December 31 or shortly
thereafter, with a N500mn issuance in the first instance.Mike Itegboje,
president of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers said the
establishment of AMCON is not a guaranty that a similar crisis will not
beset the banking sector in future. “Let us move forward in this
direction so that it doesn’t happen again,” Mr. Itegboje said.

“Whatever
the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) is doing, there is no way we will say
it can never happen again. Some of the banks that were liquidated some
years ago, what lessons have we learnt from them.” He said there may be
need to set up a panel of enquiry in order to know the involvement of
individuals in the banking crisis in order to guard against a
reoccurrence in future. “I pray whatever panel that is set up will not
end up like Oputa Panel report.” He said with the lending and borrowing
aspect of the bad debt management function of AMCON, there is optimism
that the firm will do well.

Non-performing loans

AMCON management last week met with bankers and stockbrokers on the way
to address the current credit crunch in the economy. By the arrangement
reached by the parties, banks are under obligation to hand over non
performing loans (NPL) above five percent of their total loan portfolio
to AMCON. Also, NPL acquired by AMCON, including the contentious margin
facilities from the stock market, on which there are misunderstandings
will be resolved on individual basis. AMCON will also accept unquoted
shares which are products of private placements that have yet to be
listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock exchange.

Mustafa
Chike-Obi, managing director of AMCON said recently that the
corporation expects to buy up to N2.5 trillion bad loans from eligible
financial institutions and the pricing of the loans will be driven by
the value of the underlying collateral. Mr. Chike-Obi said AMCON will
engage every borrower of an acquired bad loan with the intention of
properly managing the assets and this involves re-performing,
restructuring, forbearance, forgiveness and other resolution options.

Sonnie
Ayere, chief executive officer of Dunn Loren Merrifield, a Lagos based
investment firm, said there is need to build capacity in the industry
in order for ensure that banks play financial intermediation role in
the economy. He said taking the burden off the banks will not
necessarily ensure good management by the banks.

On the effect on the stock market, Victor Ogiemwonyi, managing
director of Partnership Investment, a financial services firm, said
AMCON will be a boost to the market. “The 60 per cent premium for stock
market portfolios that AMCON is offering will be priced into the market
in the coming weeks. AMCON’s intervention will relieve the economy of
debt overhand that is slowing down the market.”

Dora Akunyili is
one woman I admire because she is a Nigerian who wants good things for
her country. Mrs. Akunyili deserves commendation for her efforts aimed
at reinforcing our hope in Nigeria.

The rebranding
campaign actually started from her days in NAFDAC, where she proved how
we could properly project and sustain positive perception. The recent
induction of fellows by the Advertising Practitioners Council of
Nigeria (APCON), where she was inducted as an honorary Fellow, provided
another opportunity for Akunyili to reaffirm the message that we need
to celebrate good things coming from Nigeria to the outside world. At
the event, she spoke with tremendous passion and zeal about the
rebranding campaign.

However, the
rebranding Nigeria project is one that calls for continuous
improvement, review, and appraisal. The project is aimed at
repositioning Nigeria’s image and project the country as a good nation
to the world. It is a laudable endeavour, even though at inception,
some Nigerians described it as another “white elephant project”, and
this opinion cannot be discountenanced totally.

A rebranding
campaign is aimed at creating a new name for an established brand to
develop a different image or perception in the minds of supporters and
competitors. In this case, Nigeria is the brand that needs to be
projected differently on our minds and the rest of the world. The key
question is, “Has Nigeria been positioned differently in our minds as
Nigerians?”

The rebranding and
positioning of Nigeria must start from the top. Our leaders ought to be
thoroughly immersed in the rebranding project to achieve meaningful
success. How many of our leaders are credible enough to lead the
rebranding campaign overseas? While some Nigerians engage in fraudulent
acts abroad, our leaders engage in corrupt acts at home. This is a
perception that foreign countries have about us that several rebranding
campaigns cannot wish away.

The re-branding
project should aim at communicating a new message for the country. What
is that single message that is being communicated by our leaders? The
total focus of the rebranding campaign has been on the external
publics. The campaign should beam a searchlight on all of us as
internal stakeholders.

When our leaders
make conscious efforts to re-brand themselves and desist from their
negative ways, the outside world will definitely see us as “light”
amidst the darkness.

Leaders must show the way

There should be an
immersion process for our leaders. This will definitely open their eyes
to perceive their negative tendencies, which cast aspersion on the
country’s image. Leaders at all levels should be an integral part of
the re-branding campaign for it to succeed. If not, the re-branding
project would amount to futility. This is because leaders who engage in
corruption and unleash violence on political opponents cannot be seen
to embrace the re-branding campaign.

Why would you blame
the foreign media which only project “our negative image” at all times?
I have lost count of political killings in a south-south state in the
last three weeks, while an orgy of violence reigns supreme in another
south-west state.

All these, to a
large extent, show that we do not have leaders who are ready to change
from their evil and negative ways. There should be a holistic approach
to develop a new thinking and a new spirit in leadership, which will
cascade down to followership. It is only when the leadership is serious
minded about the re-branding project that it can translate to
meaningful results.

Beyond leadership,
there should be a significant focus on the generality of Nigerians. For
the re-branding campaign to be successful, there should be a
re-orientation and perception change amongst Nigerians.

The first
perspective is to make Nigerians believe in their country and also have
positive attitude towards the country. This is because poor road
network, epileptic power supply, poor health service, corruption, and
strikes in all sectors of the economy, are now the daily battles we
contend with.

With all these
myriad of problems bedeviling the nation, how and why should an average
Nigerian believe in the re-branding campaign? Nigerians need to be
re-assured, convinced, and motivated to believe in the Fatherland.

The other
perspective is for Nigerians to also reinforce their faith in the
country. We all need to have a positive mindset about the country.
Nigerians need to believe that “we shall overcome someday, and there
shall be light at the end of the tunnel.”

We all need to
rebrand the way we speak, act, and do things, which will ultimately
take the rebranding project to another level. Nigerians should believe
in the country and her potentials to rise from the woods.

The re-branding
campaign goes beyond sloganeering. It is indeed true that we are “Good
people, a great nation” But what values do we internalise as a people?
We need to feel good about the country. The campaign should be one that
affects our psyche as a people. The re-branding campaign should
resonate for us more as internal people before the external publics can
buy into it.

Our values and
belief system need to be changed, and there should be a positive
mindset by all. I believe everyone should look inwards and ask “How can
I rebrand myself? How do I change my thinking? How do I change my ways
and internalise good values? It is only then we can reach out to the
outside world.

Ayopo, a
communication strategist and public relations practitioner, is the CEO
of Shortlist Limited shortlistedprspecialists@gmail.com

Falling inflation
in Namibia has cushioned the southwest African nation’s exports from
the effect of a strong currency, central bank governor, Ipumbu Shiimi,
said on Thursday.

Mr. Shiimi also
told Reuters he expected “no dramatic increase” next year in annual
inflation, which stood at a five-year low of 3.9 percent in October,
despite the expected food and oil prices.

“Because of the benign inflationary environment, the relative rise in export prices is limited to 1 to 6 percent,” he said.

“Exports did suffer, but not in the region of a 30 percent drop that
could be expected on the basis of the exchange rate. We are a bit
worried, but it is not a life and death situation,” he added.

Ethiopia plans to
introduce one-year Treasury Bills and hold weekly auctions by December,
a government letter to the International Monetary Fund said.

“We are working to
refine our liquidity management capability, including through a move to
weekly T-bill auctions and introduction of one-year T-bills,” said the
letter by the finance minister, Sufian Ahmed, and governor of the
National Bank of Ethiopia, Teklewold Atnafu.

The central bank
issues Treasury Bills sporadically. It recently invited tenders for
28-day bills worth 910 million birr, with a maturity date of December
15, 2010.

Ghana plans to
spend 140.5 million cedis to boost cocoa fertilisation next year, among
other measures to achieve an output target of 1 million tonnes by 2012,
the government said on Thursday.

Ghana, the world’s
No. 2 cocoa grower, hopes to raise output from the 700,000 tonnes
projected for the current season by a series of measures, including
extending the use of fertiliser and improving working conditions for
sector personnel.

“An amount of 140.5
million cedis has been set aside for the cocoa hi-tech programme, which
will ensure that appropriate cocoa fertilisers are available at the
right time for use by farmers,” finance minister, Kwabena Duffuor, told
parliament in the 2011 budget speech.

Nigeria’s Composite
Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 13.4 percent year-on-year in
October, according to the monthly price statistics report just released
by the National Bureau of Statistics.

“This is slightly
lower than 13.6 percent recorded in the previous month in the new CPI
series. The monthly change of the CPI was 0.3 percent increase when
compared with September 2010,” the report dated 16 November stated.

A Consumer Price
Index is expected to measure changes over time in the price level of
goods and services, purchased especially by households. The annual
percentage change in a CPI is usually used as a measure of inflation.

The nation’s bureau
said the urban all items monthly index rose by 0.5 percent, while the
corresponding rural index recorded 0.1 percent increase when compared
with the preceding month; and that the year-on-year average consumer
price level, as at October 2010, for urban and rural dwellers, rose by
11.5 and 15.0 percent respectively.

Food Index

The bureau said
average monthly food prices remained stable in October, when compared
with September, adding that the level of the Composite Food Index was
higher than the corresponding level a year ago by 14.1 percent.

“The average annual
rate of rise of the index was 14.9 percent for the twelve-month period,
ending October 2010. The marginal fall in the index was caused mainly
by slight decrease in the prices of some food items like yam, potatoes,
and other tubers, due to the harvest season,” the National Bureau of
Statistics said.

Lydia Olushola, an
economist and consultant at Skytrend Nig. Ltd., said for the everyday
consumer, a rise in CPI means prices of goods go up.

“The problem is
when their average wages do not increase in accordance with the CPI,
that is, if the CPI rises faster than people’s average wages, then the
consumers’ purchasing power declines. They can’t buy as much as
whatever it is they usually bought,” Ms. Olushola said.

Experts say
inflation effects on an economy can be positive or negative, as the
case may be. Inflation rates in Nigeria have peaked as high as 15.6 and
as low as 11.6 between October 2009 and October 2010.

Bismarck Rewane,
managing director, Financial Derivatives Company, a finance firm, said
“Inflation on items less farm produce increased from 1.3 percent to
12.8 in September, though that of food decreased by 1.1 percent to 14
percent, from 15.1 per cent and 11.3 percent in July respectively.
Presently, inflation is running at 13.6 percent. The current inflation
record is weak, due to fiscal spending,” adding that inflationary
pressures are likely to persist in November.

The Central Bank
said inflation depicts an economic situation where there is a general
rise in the prices of goods and services, continuously. It could be
defined as “a continuing rise in prices, as measured by an index, such
as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or by the implicit price deflator for
Gross National Product (GNP).”

The bank said price
stability does not connote constant (or unchanging) price level, but it
simply means that the rate of change of the general price level is such
that economic agents do not worry about it. Inflationary conditions
imply that the general price level keeps increasing over time.

The UK government
will launch two new public-private partnership funds to promote
generation of renewable energy in Africa and Asia next year, the
secretary of state for international development said on Thursday.

The funds will target low-carbon energy and related investments in Asia, and large-scale renewable energy projects in Africa.

“We hope to launch these partnerships next year,” Andrew Mitchell said at a briefing in London.

A spokesman for the
UK’s department for international development said it was looking at
ways the funds could be financed, and could not put a value on them yet
or identify the potential private sector partners.

Early modelling of
the Asian fund suggests that it could bring 9 pounds of private sector
investment for every pound committed by the government.

Over the next 25
years, the project could generate up to 5 gigawatts of renewable energy
and avoid 150 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The African fund
could generate up to 500 megawatts of new renewable energy per year
from 2015, providing enough electricity for over four million
households.

The government will
also launch a new advocacy fund to help the poorest nations get heard
in international climate change and trade negotiations.

“This fund will
provide access to legal, technical, and logistical support to the
poorest and most vulnerable countries (…) whose full participation is
essential if we are to achieve an equitable deal,” Mr. Mitchell said,
referring to a global agreement on climate change.

Finance

In its spending
review in October, Britain said it would provide 2.9 billion pounds of
international climate finance to 2015. This will partly fund a 1.5
billion pound pledge of fast-start finance from 2010 to 2012.

At last year’s
Copenhagen climate summit, rich countries pledged $30 billion of “fast
start finance” to help poorer countries adapt to climate change and
reduce their greenhouse gas emissions during 2010-2012.

Although European
governments have fulfilled a promise to deliver 2.2 billion euros to
help developing countries tackle climate change, critics have said the
money might have come from rebranding existing aid pledges.

“We promised to
report openly on our fast-start commitments. The UK aid transparency
guarantee was testament to our commitment to be open and transparent
and we are abiding by that promise,” Mr. Mitchell said in response to
such criticism.

“(Our climate
finance pledge) gives us the credibility to press other donors to meet
their commitments and press for an agreement on new and innovative
sources of climate finance,” he added.

Climate finance has
been a contentious issue since the Copenhagen Accord last year.
Developing countries say funds to help them are not enough, while
developed countries struggle to allocate aid in the wake of an economic
downturn.

A U.N. summit in
Cancun, Mexico, from November29-December10, will be trying to find ways
to leverage finance and stimulate investment in low-carbon technologies.

Three co-operative
societies in the Ogbaru council of Anambra State have benefited from
the over N5 million ongoing Federal Government/World Bank sponsored
Fadama III project grants.

Charles Epundu,
director of agricultural services in the local government area, made
the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on
Thursday, in Atani, near Onitsha in Anambra State.

“Osamala Community
Fadama User Group (FUG) took their grant for yam production; Odekpe
Community FUG took theirs for rice production; and Atani Community FUG
took theirs for provision of storage facilitie,” Mr. Epundu said.

He disclosed that
the co-operatives under the Fadama 111 project had also been provided
with over 20 hectares of arable land for the purpose.

“More communities’ co-operatives are joining the Fadama III project,
and the facilitators are not relenting in their efforts in the council
to spread the message of Fadama to every remote community, as well as
supervision of the various benefiting co-operative societies. “Fadama
III project is moving on fine in this council area. The council took
the first position in the state’s World Food Day, due to its success in
FADAMA projects for some years now,” he said.