Nigeria Content Online

Nigeria’s Central Bank is likely to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6 percent on Tuesday, as the need to stimulate growth outweighs inflation risks in sub-Saharan Africa’s No. 2 economy.

However, the decision is tougher to call than previous meetings because of a decision in August to revise monthly inflation figures upwards to reflect changes in standard of living assumptions, analysts said.

“We think it is going to be a close call this time around between a pause and rate hike,” Citibank said in a research note.

“We look for an unchanged policy rate based on the bank’s current quantitative easing programme.”

Nigeria has pledged continued support to global peace and security as the country celebrates 50 years of independence, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports on Sunday in London.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, stated this at a reception in honour of Nigeria at 50, organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society.

Ajumogobia said that Nigeria’s focus on regional peace remained its major foreign policy, while recalling the various contributions to peace-keeping and stability in the West African sub-region and globally, adding that at 50, Nigeria has a lot to celebrate, in spite of developmental and economic challenges.

Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google and is based on Linux, which in my opinion, is the very best operating system out there in the wild, but then, that is a topic for another discussion.

What is without doubt is that in the last two years, Android’s share of the worldwide smartphone market has been inexorably climbing. As of Q2 2009, Android had a 2.8% share of the market. As of Q2 2010, this share had climbed to 13%. It has even done better in the key US market, whereas as of Q1 2010, Android is now second only to RIM’s Blackberry. Europe is following as well, and based on the number of Android phones I am beginning to see in Nigeria, it is just a matter of time before Nigeria will be in the race too.

One of the main advantages that Android has, which has helped in its uptake, is that unlike RIM’s Blackberry OS, and Apple’s IOS as examples, Android is multiplatform and is free. This means that more phone manufacturers are using it as their OS of choice on their phones.

One of the killer features of ALL smartphones is the applications that can be installed on these phones. In this area, Apple’s iPhone platform is the clear leader, but again, as in most things Google gets involved in, there is a quick catch up going on. Since Google began to allow third party apps for the Android platform, and with the growing number of Android based handsets, more and more third party applications have begun to appear for Android, and as at 15 July 2010, there were over 70000 applications available with more than a billion downloads.

Now, given this large number of applications, which would be most useful for the average user? My top five are briefly reviewed below:

First stop for me is Battery Booster. Given that NEPA is still a problem in this environment, Battery Booster helps increase the juice in your Android phone by providing a quick widget from which you can control some of your more battery intensive functions such as wi-fi. It also tells you just how much battery life you have left, so you know if you can take that phone call from your bothersome co-tenant.

What did people use to do before the coming of the Internet? Frankly, I find it difficult to remember, and do not really have the will to do so since I spend an undue amount of my time online. With the advent of data plans, one is online all the time on his phone. However, not everyone has the patience to browse on the relatively small screens offered by phones. This is where PdaNet comes in. With PdaNet, it is easy to connect your laptop to the Internet using your phone the moment you can get service. This works especially well with MTN’s 3GB 30 day plan.

Some people like me hate touch screen keyboards. I have always preferred to have that QWERTY feel under my thumb, but unfortunately, manufacturers think differently, and given current trends, the keyboard on phones would soon be a thing of the past. Swype is a software that makes typing on a touchscreen easier. Swype allows the user to enter a word by sliding your finger (or stylus) from letter to letter, lifting only between words. By the time you get used to it, you will almost stop missing that keyboard.

A programme that I really don’t want to mention, but one that I live on, is Facebook. Yes, people, my name is Cheta and I am a Facebook junkie. Many Nigerians are increasingly spending their time on Facebook, including our President, so why should I be ashamed of being an addict? Android’s Facebook app allows you to interact with your Facebook page quite easily. The only thing you will miss are those applications like Mafia Wars. Just try as much as possible not to use this app when you are at dinner with the better half; you might find yourself in the doghouse sooner rather than later.

Then there is my girl’s favourite, Aldiko. She reads books a lot, and this one is her top preference. It is an e-book reader, which supports the industry standard EPUB format, and also includes a facility for browsing online catalogues and downloading books. Aldiko also allows you to import your own books into your Android device and read them on the go. I am currently reading ‘Things Fall Apart’ and really enjoying it. Can someone hook me up with ‘The Passport of Mallam Ilia’?

Other programmess that I find particularly useful are Office Suite Pro, which allows me read my Microsoft documents and PDFs on my Android phone; Google Maps, which let me find my way around strange places. It is actually getting better in Nigeria, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Abuja as they are quite well mapped. Photoshop Mobile does an excellent job of editing pictures that you have taken on the move before sharing them with friends. Shazam (thanks, Peter Ikenebomeh) is an excellent programme that identifies songs when you hear them. I was pleasantly surprised when it correctly identified Bongos Ikwue’s ‘Cock Crow at Dawn’.

Note that this list is not even nearly exhaustive. There are a lot of other great apps for you to chose from. So tell me, what Android apps make your life easier?

Nigerian interbank lending rates rose to 4.0 per cent on average last week, from 1.66 per cent the previous week, after large cash withdrawals drained liquidity from the system.

The secured Open Buy Back climbed to 3.5 per cent from 1.50 per cent, 75 basis points above the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate and 4.5 percentage points below the 6 per cent central bank benchmark rate, Overnight placement rates rose to 4.0 per cent from 1.75 per cent, while call money closed at 4.5 per cent compared to 1.75 per cent. According to a Reuters report last week, the cost of funds on the interbank will spike further early next week as market liquidity continues to thin out.

Bank officials however say the rates surge should not necessarily lead to any major disruptions in business or bank lending as it is not an unusual occurrence in the money market.

“Many factors are responsible for rates surging. Usually, towards the end of the month, interbank rates are high because a lot of payments need to be made at the end of the months and banks need to be liquid. Companies need to pay staff, interests on loans need to be paid, and so many factors determine it. The relationship between banks also determine the rates they would operate with,” a source at Oceanic bank said.

Withdrawals by large organisations and the demand for funds for foreign exchange purchases at bi-weekly official auctions also help to drain liquidity in the market, pushing up the cost of borrowing among banks.

Lending rate not encouraging

Experts have called on banks to address their strategy regarding the need to create new assets, as lending rates are still high.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank Governor says weak bank lending is a “major worry”. And that although he wants single-digit inflation by the end of the year, the central bank will do nothing to jeopardise economic growth. “Bank lending has not been growing as fast as we would like it to grow. So as far as upside risk to inflation, it is not very high,” Mr Sanusi said in the Reuters report.

Experts however say the election induced increase in government spending and the establishment of an asset management company to soak up bad bank loans should help put more money into the system.

Akinbamidele Akintola, a research analyst at Renaissance Capital, an investment banking firm said the Central Bank’s reforms would yield positive results on the entire sector. “I am of the opinion that we need to key our eyes on the ball and that would be the reforms by the Central Bank. It is ongoing and it is definitely going to yield some positive results for the entire sector. The AMCON Bill has been signed into law and the Presidency is committed to getting a competent team of people to man the corporation and all of this is in the pipeline. By and large, we expect a gradual turnaround in the banks as the Central Bank continues to make concerted efforts to stimulate the recovery of the financial system by acquiring non-performing loans from the banks and assisting them in improving their capital and liquidity,” he said.

Bank officials say the regular cash inflows from the monthly budgetary disbursals to government agencies however usually has major impact on liquidity in the economy and can ease the rising interbank rates.

In order to ensure a smooth interface in the fight against money laundering in Nigeria, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday initiated a partnership with the National Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

According to the IMF, the partnership is aimed at providing “technical assistance” to anti-money laundering agencies in Nigeria, and ensuring that offenders are duly prosecuted.

“We are in Nigeria to conduct an assessment of technical needs of anti-money laundering agencies,” said Manuel Vasduez, the IMF team leader, at the anti-narcotics agency’s office in Lagos.

Mr. Vaduez, who was received by Norman Wokoma, head of NFIU, and Ahmadu Giade, the NDLEA chief excutive, also made a case for training and greater interface among law enforcement agencies in the country, as he noted that this will enhance their operations.

Speaking on the development, Giade promised full cooperation with stakeholders in the fight against money laundering, adding that the anti-drug trafficking agency has the mandate to combat money laundering.

“NDLEA is the first agency vested with the power to fight money laundering crime in the country. We are committed to total war against money laundering and will interface with relevant bodies in building capacities in addressing the money laundering cases,” said Mr. Giade.

Suspects to forfeit assets

Meanwhile, Femi Oloruntoba, director of prosecution and legal services for the anti-narcotics agency, said that the NDLEA has an amended Act before the National Assembly whereby drug suspects evading prosecution will forfeit their assets if after two years they fail to show up.

Mr. Oloruntoba, however, disclosed that the action would only be taken after it is made public that the suspect in question had refused to honour the agency’s invitation for prosecution.

“Before such assets are forfeited, there will be a publication in a national newspaper to that effect after the two-year period,” he said.

The governor of Kenya’s central bank said on Monday that a lack of awareness was hampering growth of the insurance industry in East Africa’s largest economy, where only 7 percent of its 39 million people are insured.

At a meeting attended by several insurance firms, Njuguna Ndung’u asked industry executives to find new solutions to help widen the sector’s consumer base.

“A major challenge facing the Kenyan financial sector in general and the insurance industry in particular is the lack of awareness by the target market,” he said.

A third of the country’s population has no access to any form of banking.

Congo Republic is on track to be Africa’s fastest growing economy this year, but should control its investment spending, in part because key oil revenues are consistently coming in below expectations, the International Monetary Fund said.

The IMF trimmed Congo’s 2010 growth forecast to 10.6 percent from 12.1 percent and boosted its 2011 growth forecast to 8.7 percent from 6.6 percent, as increases in oil production have taken longer than anticipated.

“Developments in the international markets have been overall favourable for oil exporters like Republic of Congo,” the IMF’s resident representative, Oscar Melhado, told Reuters in an interview.

“However, oil revenues received are systematically lower than projected. This is an issue of concern,” he said.