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Uncertainty surrounds global economic growth

The
world economic growth has remained unbalanced, making global economic
forecast for this year and next difficult, a report from the
Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said.

The OPEC, in its
Oil Market Report, September 2010, said the persisting impact of the
recent global recession, as well as “the ongoing effects of the
unprecedented government-led stimulus” have created a significant
amount of uncertainty in forecasting gross domestic product (GDP)
growth for most countries.

“The world economic
growth in 2010 remains unchanged since the previous report at 3.9 per
cent, while 2011 has been revised down slightly to 3.6 percent. The
imbalance in global growth has intensified, with a deceleration
becoming apparent in most of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) countries, while developing countries continue
to expand,” the report said.

Repeated revisions

According to the
report, repeated revisions to world economic growth – a key driver of
oil demand – has made forecasting oil market developments in 2010
particularly difficult.

“This is in
addition to other highly uncertain factors, such as the sectorial
distribution of growth, the price of oil relative to its substitutes
and weather conditions, which also impact oil consumption,” it said,
adding that as a result, the forecasts for oil demand are subject to
frequent revisions.

It also said the
main driver behind these revisions has been the stronger-than-expected
impact of fiscal and monetary stimuli enacted by governments and
central banks across the globe.

The OPEC said the present economic condition in most developed countries is discouraging.

“The economic
recovery is not only slow, but is also facing turbulence. The fact that
some OECD countries can no longer afford stimulus plans is likely to
pressure their economies in the second half of this year, leading to
weaker oil demand compared to the first half,” it said.

Nevertheless, the
report said the global economic recovery that started during the second
half of 2010 is projected to continue throughout 2011, however, at a
slow pace. It added that the recovery in oil demand next year will take
place in approximately all quarters, although with more strength in the
second half of the year.

‘Nigeria can improve’

Akinbade Ibisiola,
head, research team at Resource Cap, a portfolio management company,
said the current growth of the Nigerian economy can be improved upon.

“Since Nigerian
economy is a developing market, the much acclaimed GDP growth, which is
presently in the region of 7 percent, can be improved upon if our
country embarks on more developmental projects that can boost the
nation’s economic performance,” Mr. Ibisiola said.

Meanwhile, the
governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi,
last Friday, said most emerging market economies have been known to use
the domestic financial institutions to execute real sector “big ticket
projects” and financial institutions in Nigeria should not be an
exception, if the country hopes to achieve its developmental objectives.

“The CBN is focusing attention on ensuring that the financial
system, in general, and the banking system, in particular, begins to
serve the needs of the Nigerian economy so as to make the Nigerian
economy to be resilient,” Mr. Sanusi said.

Money

Nigerian interbank rates ease on budget cash inflows

Nigerian interbank rates ease on budget cash inflows

Nigerian interbank
lending rates eased to 3.5 percent on average last week from 4.0
percent the previous week due to an increase in liquidity, traders said.

Dealers said the
disbursement of large budgetary allocations to the three tiers of
government — federal, state and local government — had raised
liquidity levels and pushed the cost of borrowing among banks down.

“What would have
happened is that rates would have dropped significantly to around 1.0
percent due to the huge cash inflows from budget disbursement but for
the increase in the benchmark interest rate on Tuesday by the central
bank,” one dealer said.

Money

Nigeria to issue N127b treasury bills

Nigeria to issue N127b treasury bills

Nigeria plans to
raise just under N127 billion ($843.8 million) in 91-day, 182-day and
364-day treasury bills next week, the Central Bank of Nigeria said on
Monday.

The regulator said
it would issue N31.57 billion in 91-day bills, N45 billion in 182-day
bills and N50 billion in one year paper using the Dutch Auction System
on Thursday.

The results of the auction would be released the following day, the
bank said. Bond dealers said they expected a significant rise in yields
in line with last week’s increase in the benchmark interest rate to
6.25 percent from 6.0 percent.

Money

‘Branch closure does not signify distress’

‘Branch closure does not signify distress’

Bank officials said the closure of bank
branches not performing optimally is not a sign of distress since banks
usually monitor operations to ensure they are not operating below their
running costs.

Some banks are planning to close
branches which they consider unprofitable but they require the approval
of the Central Bank of Nigeria which, as the regulator of the banking
sector, has to authorise such closure before it can be effected.

“It is not an issue of worry when banks
access their bank branches periodically and take management decisions
on whether to close those performing under expectations and/or open new
branches as the case may be” said a source at Spring Bank.

“We issued a communiqué about
four-months ago when we closed some branches that were not yielding
revenue and were performing below expectation. The rent you pay for
some locations are not realistic when you compare it to the revenue
generated from such branches and the proper thing to do is to close it
down. For instance, it does not make economic sense now to have about 3
branches in a single street. It is called branch optimisation, not
closure, because another branch could be opened elsewhere”.

The unplanned delay in the take-off of
the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and the fate of
rescued banks have continued to fuel speculations that another round of
staff layoffs and branch closures loom.

However, rescued banks have repeated
that nothing of the sort is on their agenda, and that closing down non
performing branches is not really a crime.

“That is not true”, a source at
Intercontinental Bank said. “We have not closed down any branches. I
have just done a nationwide investigation and all our branches are
functioning and there is no intention for any one to be closed. Rather
than close branches, we have just opened two again. All our branches
are operating and undergoing good business”.

Another source at Oceanic Bank, also
one of the rescued banks, said it is not true that the bank is closing
its branches as it has no reason to do so.

However, a staff at Union Bank said banks’ closing some of their branches is not an unlikely possibility in the nearest future.

“This is not utterly unavoidable, but
it is just that there are stages and procedures that need to be
approved by the industry’s regulatory body, the Central Bank of
Nigeria. The thing is just that branches are not just closed down like
that. It’s a long process, because you need to convince the Central
Bank why it is expedient for you to do that and other processes that
have to be followed” the Union Bank staff said.

The way forward

Experts from
various finance institutions in Nigeria and abroad have pushed for
branchless banking; even though they have expressed concern over
security and the level of risk exposure that could be expected from the
implementation of this system.

Major challenges
however remain for the establishment of an effective branchless banking
system; a system where banks’ strategy for delivering financial
services does not necessarily depend on branches. In the Nigerian
banking environment, there’s the need to find alternative ways of
conducting face-to-face interviews or identity checks.

For branchless
banking to develop, experts have suggested that governments need to
continue to work with service providers to find flexible solutions that
meet policy and business requirements.

Consultative Group
to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a global resource centre for microfinance
standards, operational tools, training, and advisory services in one of
its programmes in Nigeria said “Branchless banking has great potential
to extend the distribution of financial services to poor people who are
not reached by traditional bank branch networks; it lowers the cost of
delivery, including costs both to banks of building and maintaining a
delivery channel and to customers of accessing services”.

Money

Looking to the future

Looking to the future

After
the not so impressive performance at the World Cup, a lot of Nigerian
football fans have been clamouring to have the ‘old players’ replaced
by younger and more energetic ones.

We searched through the world of football for Nigerian players, who have the ability to help the country move forward.

This week, we will
start in England, where there are numerous footballers of mixed
parentage but who could – if convinced – play for Nigeria.

Nicky Ajose

Manchester United

Age: 17

Position – Outside right

Nicky Ajose is a
highly-regarded attacking talent from Bury, in Greater Manchester. He
can play upfront or out wide on either flank. Most importantly, he
likes to beat defenders and score, or create goals.

Ajose signed
professional forms with the Reds in summer 2009, but has been
associated with the club’s youth setup for some time. He is regarded as
a great talent and has been at the Carrington Academy of Manchester
United for six years.

“Nicky has been
with us in the Academy for a long time. He is a very exciting player
and has the ability to beat defenders with his pace or skill,”
Manchester United’s U-18 coach, Paul McGuinness said.

“He is very quick
whether he is running with or without the ball. Nicky can make things
happen in and around the goal. He’s creative and is capable of making
or scoring goals.”

Ajose has played
under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Warren Joyce in the Reserves team and
his fine early-season form in 2010/11 prompted the award of a first
team squad number; a deserved recognition of Ajose’s rapid development.

Ajose said on
manutdsoccerschools.com where he will like to be in five years: “I’ll
be 21 then, and I’d love to be breaking into the United first-team.
Ultimately that’s my aim, as well as playing for England or Nigeria.
There’s a lot of hard work to be done before I can get that far, so I
have to train hard every day and listen to everything the coaches tell
me.”

Kudus Oyenuga

Tottenham Hotspurs

Age: 17

Position – Centre forward

The centre-forward was born in Walthamstow and raised in Hackney, attending the Royal Liberty School.

He featured 13 times for Tottenham’s U-18s as an Under-16 player in 2008-09, starting 10 games and scoring five times.

Kudus also made the
step up to the Reserve side and there is a real hype forming around
him. He has speed, skill and lots of confidence.

He is supposed to
be signing full time with Tottenham in July 2011 and he again showed
his stuff in last week’s 4-2 over Chelsea U-18s, where he struck two
late goals.

Oyenuga had reacted quickly to a free-kick and dinked over the
advancing goalkeeper into the far corner for 3-2 after 81 minutes.
Three minutes later the striker capped a fine display with a solo goal,
running from halfway into the penalty area before striking low into
bottom corner.

Sports

Yakubu still paying for World Cup blunder

Yakubu still paying for World Cup blunder

The South Africa 2010 World Cup has come and gone leaving different memories for different people.

While the likes of
Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta are relishing their first World Cup
triumph, Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni will wish he was not
part of the biggest football showpiece on the African continent as his
blooper against South Korea in the Eagles last group match seems to
still be haunting him.

The former Julius
Berger of Lagos striker is missing from a 30-man list of players
selected for Nigeria’s second Nations Cup qualifying game against
Guinea, which comes up on October 10 in Conakry, Guinea.

This is the
Eagles’ third match after the World Cup and there has been no look-in
yet for Yakubu who is one of the country’s leading scorers with over 18
goals; he is also one of the few players that have hit the 100 goal
mark in the Premiership.

However, the
situation for Yakubu now at Club level is worrisome as well. He is yet
to start any league game for the Toffees managing just two substitute
appearances so far.

The £12 million
striker has equally depreciated in value with his current employees
ready to part ways for a lesser fee of five million pounds.

For
ex-international, Garba Lawal, Yakubu’s exclusion from the latest list
of invitees into the Super Eagles team might have nothing to do with
his performance at the World Cup.

“You cannot just conclude that he is being excluded from the Eagles because of the goal he missed at the World Cup.

The manager
determines the kind of players he needs for different games. The Guinea
match is not the end of the world so he can still be considered. Once
he starts performing well for his club I think he might still be
invited,” Lawal said.

Nigeria is different

While Yakubu’s
mistake proved too costly for the country as it contributed to the
early exit of the Super Eagles, his was not the first and won’t be the
last. Roberto Baggio missed a penalty that would have won Italy the
World Cup at U.S.A. 1994 but was not given the cold shoulder by the
Italian football federation. Similarly an overconfident Asamoah Gyan
missed a penalty that would have given Ghana a historic and
unprecedented semi-final berth at the World Cup in South-Africa and yet
he has not been treated like an outcast in the Black Stars team.

Indeed, anyone who
watched Manchester City’s third week Premiership fixture against
Sunderland would have seen Carlos Tevez’s terrible miss in that game.
Manchester City went on to lose that game 1-0, but the club is not
blaming Tevez.

Sani Kaita’s red
card at the 2010 World Cup was also a sour point at the Mundial and
despite regular playing time at his new club in Ukraine. Keita is yet
to receive an invitation to play for the country.

A new order

The exclusion of
both players however has not affected Acting Super Eagles coach, Austin
Eguavoen in any way. Rather, the coach is being commended for his
departure from his predecessors’ habit of shunning home-based players
when drawing up a list of footballers to be invited to the senior
national team.

The former Eagles defender has given the home-based players equal opportunity like their foreign based counterparts.

Enyimba coach, Okey
Emordi, is pleased with the move. “I must say that Eguavoen is a brave
man for picking half of the team as local players. It is good for the
league, and I must say I am also happy that Enyimba has the most
players in that list, which shows that the national team selectors are
following the happenings in the league,” said the former African Coach
of the Year award winner.

Emordi says the
move has been a positive one for his club and was partly responsible
for Enyimba’s dominance in the Nigerian league last season.

Kano Pillars’
gaffer, Salisu Yusuf, believes that Eguavoen has taken the right step
in naming as much as 15 NPL players for the camping exercise ahead of
the trip to face Guinea in an AFCON qualifier on October 10.

“He has done a wonderful job in giving the home-based equal chance of fighting for places in the national team.

This is what the
local players need to boost their confidence rather than run them down
because we have some very good players,” Yusuf, a former Lobi Stars’
coach told SuperSport.com. On his own part, Coach of Crown Football
Club, Godfrey Esu, believes that Eguavoen is taking the bull by its
horns.

“Eguavoen has shown that he is not afraid of trying the home-based
unlike Amodu, who gave them little or no chance. I believe that
Eguavoen must have learnt from Amodu’s mistakes and that is why he has
named equal number of players for both foreign and locally-based
players in the team,” Esu said.

Sports

Ekeji and the intoxication of power

Ekeji and the intoxication of power

Patrick Ekeji, Director General of the National
Sports Commission (NSC) must be revelling in his new found power.After easing
out Habu Gumel as President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and
installing his former boss, Sani Ndanusa, he must be feeling very pleased with
himself; after all, power intoxicates.

The
former Green Eagles defender appears to be finally coming into his own. For the
moment he seems to be getting the better of his rival, Amos Adamu, who has a
contempt charge hanging over his head for his role in the Nigeria football
federation elections, which held on August 26.Since Adamu was moved from the
sports ministry following his life and death struggle with Abdulrahman Gimba,
the sports minister at the time of his removal, Ekeji has become the ‘Lord of
the Manor’ at the sports ministry. He has used every opportunity to consolidate
his hold on power at the ministry.

The
brazen manner he moved against the sit-tight Gumel, on September 16 showed just
how much he relishes his new position as a power broker in Nigeria’s sports
establishment. However, like every individual enthralled by power, he failed to
apply tact.

Many
will agree that it was needless holding that September 16 election particularly
as the Gumel camp had already agreed to hold an election on September 23. What
he did amount to naked show of power? It betrayed a lack of tact and an absence
of strategy on his part.

If
he wanted Gumel out by all means and the voting delegates to the elections are
largely members of the different sports federations under the control of the
sports ministry, couldn’t he have issued simple instructions to his ‘boys’ that
‘government’ wasn’t interested in Gumel’s return to office?

Everyone
knows that going by tradition, the officials in the sports federations cannot
by any stretch of the imagination even begin to summon the nerve to disobey
such directive. Effective as this option would have been, it was not attractive
to Ekeji because it would have robbed him of the opportunity to show that he is
now ‘in charge’.

Power and responsibility

For
someone who for years had chafed under the expansive influence of Adamu, known
as ‘Mr. Fix it’ for his numerous schemes, Ekeji was not going to pass up an
opportunity to show off his new found authority.

Unfortunately,
his new found authority has not improved the fortunes of Nigerian sports. In
the last one year we have been witnesses to a gradual but consistent decay of
sports and its facilities in the country. At the same time Nigerian teams
across the various sports have become cannon fodder for other national teams,
the sporting landscape in the country has become pockmarked by crises.

And
what has been Ekeji’s role? It is hard to tell. You even wonder at times
whether a Nigerian sport has leadership. Ibrahim Bio, the man who replaced the
phlegmatic Sani Ndanusa, who has managed to scheme into the leadership of the
NOC, and who appeared to be the right man for the job has been bogged down by
health concerns.

This
means that Ekeji, who has spent donkey years in the ministry and therefore
ought to understand the dynamics of Nigerian sports, should provide the needed
leadership. He has failed to do so preferring instead to solidify his power
base.

And
so it is that on the eve of a major international sporting event like the
Commonwealth Games, the Nigerian contingent is hopelessly unprepared.

It
is amazing that a sports ministry that can provide four crafty individuals with
N1billion to spend on a football tournament for which we returned empty-handed
cannot make funds available to other sports to prepare for Games we had known
we would be taking part in four years ago.

As
I write this, the World Basketball Championship for women is going on in the
Czech Republic and Nigeria is absent. The male version of the tournament ended
just a little over a week ago in Turkey with Nigeria also absent from the
event, which had Angola, Cote‘d Ivoire representing Africa.

Power
comes with a certain responsibility. It demands that the individual exercising
it fulfill basic obligations. In Ekeji’s case it demands that millions of
Nigerian youngsters who make to make sports a career be provided with the
opportunity to do so. It means that since sports in the country is still
tightly controlled by government and Ekeji, as the ministry’s chief planner
(the sports minister is a political appointee who will go at any time) should
put in place structures that would provide these youngsters a platform to
excel.

It
means that Ekeji should not as he was quoted to have said, insist that there
was nothing wrong for athletes who have no other means of livelihood to pay for
use of facilities at the National Stadium even when the reason for that
training is to represent Nigeria at international sporting competitions.

Sports

Arsenal down, more to go, says Odemwingie

Arsenal down, more to go, says Odemwingie

Nigerian forward Osaze Odemwingie was in inspirational form for West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, leading the Baggies
to a remarkable 3-2 victory over Arsenal and he believes the win will
spark a new-found belief within the squad.

The former
Lokomotiv Moscow player, who took his tally to four goals in five games
with the opener in the first Baggies league win on Gunners soil since
December 1983, insists Albion’s Carling Cup exploits spurred on Roberto
Di Matteo’s starting eleven in their famous win at the Emirates Stadium.

“I think taking
three points at the Emirates will make us believe more that in every
away game – even against the big teams – it is possible to come away
with three points,” Odemwingie told the official website of the Albions.

Odemwingie had won
a penalty, which was missed by Chris Brunt, before going on to open the
scoring for the Baggies five minutes into the second half. He later set
up Gonzalo Jara to score a totally unexpected second two minutes after
the restart.

Jerome Thomas made it three with 17 minutes to go before the home side grabbed two late goals through Samir Nasri.

Two over the big guns

It was the second
big win for the side managed by former Italian international Roberto Di
Matteo in a week and Odemwingie admitted the players who made the
starting line-up against the Gunners knew they had to perform, with the
members of the cup team that beat Manchester City 2-1 last Wednesday
staking strong claims to step into their boots.

“There is a lot of competition for places, which is why every player played with a lot of desire,” he said.

“On Wednesday we won at home against Manchester City in the cup with those players who haven’t had much game time.

“That played a big
role for today (Saturday) because we all gave our best,” added
Odemwingie, who committed the highest number of fouls – four – in
Saturday’s game.

Four on the trot

Four is also the
number of games West Brom have now gone unbeaten since their lone goal
defeat to Liverpool at Anfield. Since that August 29 loss to the Reds,
the Baggies have drawn 1-1 with Tottenham, and won three straight
games; against Birmingham (3-1), Manchester City (2-1) and Arsenal
(3-2).

Little wonder the Nigerian international insists confidence is on the rise within the Baggies’ dressing room.

“Our confidence is growing because we have played four good games in a row, which is keeping us high so far,” Odemwingie said.

“I think we chose
the right tactics today (Saturday) to press Arsenal high up the pitch
and not let Arsenal build up from the back. “In the first half we had
the better chances and we missed a penalty.

“Scoring three goals makes it a deserved win,” concluded Odemwingie.

Sports

Nani and Owen salvage draw for Man United

Nani and Owen salvage draw for Man United

A
sensational solo goal by Portuguese winger Nani and a Michael Owen
header salvaged a 2-2 draw for Manchester United against Bolton
Wanderers in a lively Premier League derby on Sunday.

Aston Villa moved
into fifth spot when Emile Heskey’s late header earned them a 2-1
victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gerard Houllier’s first league
match in charge of the midlands club while Stoke City won 2-1 at
Newcastle United to move out of the bottom three after trailing at
halftime.

Nani’s audacious
dribble from the halfway line cancelled out an early goal by defender
Zat Knight and, after Martin Petrov had restored Bolton’s lead, Owen
came off the bench to rescue Alex Ferguson’s side with his 200th goal
in English football.

United’s third
consecutive away draw of the season meant they missed the chance to
take full advantage of Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on
Saturday and Arsenal’s surprising 3-2 home loss to West Bromwich Albion.

Champions Chelsea have 15 points from six games with United on 12. Arsenal and City have 11 points with Villa on 10.

United’s struggle completed an unpredictable weekend in England’s top flight and left Ferguson frustrated.

“Teams drop points
when you don’t expect it,” he told United’s website (www.manutd.com).
“That’s what the Premier League is like.

“Away from home
we’ve scored seven goals and we’ve only taken three points. But we must
take credit coming back again. Being behind twice away from home is not
easy to come back from. It shows character.”

Near neighbours

United have
dominated near neighbours Bolton in recent years, winning 10 of their
last 11 meetings, but they were rocked after six minutes when Knight
shot past Edwin van der Sar from close range.

The visitors were
level after 23 minutes when Nani took possession near the halfway line
and set off towards Bolton’s goal. After ghosting past three defenders,
the Portuguese winger angled a shot past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Wayne Rooney,
playing his first away game since revelations about his private life
were plastered across the tabloids, endured another quiet match and was
substituted after the break by Federico Macheda, suffering a slight
ankle knock.

The England striker
has managed just one goal for United since March and that came from the
penalty spot against West Ham United this month.

Bolton regained the
lead in the 67th minute with a sweeping move which ended with Johan
Elmander feeding former Manchester City player Petrov to fire in a shot
that deflected off Darren Fletcher and inside the post.

Elmander wasted a
glorious chance to make it 3-1 and Bolton paid the price when Nani’s
teasing free kick was glanced in by Owen for his first league goal of
the season to reach a notable career landmark.

“Scoring has always
been a part of my career, and it’s always nice to score goals, but it’s
tinged with disappointment at not getting the win,” Owen said.

Houllier, who
witnessed many of Owen’s goals while manager of Liverpool, was full of
praise for the often maligned Heskey, another player who thrived under
him at Anfield.

Heskey’s thumping
header from Ashley Young’s cross after 88 minutes gave Villa the points
after Villa had seen an early lead given to them by Stewart Downing
cancelled out by Matt Jarvis.

“Everybody loves Emile at the club,” Houllier told Villa’s website.
“He is a good team mate and what he needs is to keep believing in
himself.”

Sports

Stiffer sanctions for unruly clubs

Stiffer sanctions for unruly clubs

Ahead of the start
of the 2010/2011 football season, which gets underway this weekend, the
Nigerian Premier League (NPL) has announced that clubs whose fans
assault match officials will henceforth pay a fine of five million
naira.

Previously,
defaulting clubs were sanctioned one million naira by the NPL but it
obviously didn’t serve as a deterrent as fans and clubs continued to
flout the rules.

Last season
witnessed an upsurge in stadium violence, and it ranked as one of the
worst ever in the history of the league in Nigeria since it acquired
professional status in 1990.

But the NPL is keen
to minimise incidences of violence at match venues and has stated that
they have decided to amend some rules so that discipline can return to
the league.

Articles 3.7

The most notable rule amended is Articles 3.7(1), which now states that:

“Intimidation and
harassment of match officials by clubs supporter(s)/fans or club
officials before, during, or after pre-match meetings is strictly
prohibited and attracts a fine of N5 million payable before the club’s
next home match.”

Articles 3.7(2)
also states that: “Where the match officials are harassed or
intimidated, Match Commissioners are empowered to call off or
discontinue with the meetings and or the matches,” while Articles
3.7(3) states that: “Upon receipt of the Match Commissioner’s report, 3
points and 3 goals shall be deducted from the already accrued points of
the offending team, and their opponent shall be credited with 3 points
and 3 goals.”

Acting Executive
Secretary, Tunji Babalola said in Abuja that all the clubs will have
the rules which they will share to their players this week.

“We are ready for
the start of the league this week. But we are also ready to enforce the
rules so that we can turn the fortunes of the game around in the
country.

“We know that the clubs will study the amended rules and regulations so that they will not run foul of it,” he said.

Babalola, on behalf of the NPL, also called all clubs to strictly
adhere to the new rules so that Nigerians will enjoy the domestic game
in the country which kicks off this Saturday.