Nigeria Content Online

How do you keep
your old computer in use? Imagine having that eight year old box which
has a 700MHz CPU and 256MB of RAM? Do you throw it away?

Everyone knows that
the latest version of the popular Windows Operating System is a
resource hungry software that would not even install on older systems
let alone being usable. Weep not though; there is an answer to your old
system worries.

A light-weight
version of Ubuntu Linux has hit download mirrors everywhere. While it
is not yet officially supported by Canonical, the company behind the
world’s most popular Linux distribution, this version of Ubuntu has in
the last three months wormed its way up the Linux charts to become the
twelfth most popular version of Linux. The name of this light-weight
version of Ubuntu is Lubuntu,

To download
Lubuntu, just make a beeline to http://lubuntu.net and click on “get
Lubuntu”. The iso is a 521MB file that should be down in less than an
hour with a decent IPNX connection. When you have it, burn to CD then
pop it into your computer. Installation involves answering a few simple
questions, then going off to make that plate of Indomie while the
computer handles the rest.

Lubuntu’s default
look is geared towards making an easy transition from Windows. There is
a menu button at the bottom left of the screen and a tray at the bottom
right with a taskbar running across.

Sensible design

The creators of
this Operating System have sensibly chosen to include software with the
smallest possible memory footprints so that you can make the best of
your ageing hardware. As a result, the popular OpenOffice.org which is
the office suite included in most versions of Linux has been discarded
in favour of the more lightweight Abiword for word processing, and
Gnumeric for spreadsheets. If you feel more at home with
OpenOffice.org, you can install it through the Synaptic software
installer that comes as a standard in all Ubuntu based Operating
Systems.

For web browsing,
Lubuntu uses Chromium in place of Firefox. I love Firefox, but compared
to Chromium, Firefox is a snail. If you want to watch movies, Gnome
MPlayer is there for you, while Agualung is the default music player.
There is an image editor called mtPaint, but it can only do the most
basic of image editing tasks.

Testing Lubuntu in my test environment, which was a virtual machine
running on 256MB of RAM, the system clocks at 124MB with no programs
loaded. When watching a video from Youtube, the memory usage never went
above 200MB! Now try that with Windows 7.

Lending by Kenya’s
commercial banks rose steadily between April and June, almost doubling
the lending growth during the same period last year, but remained below
desirable levels, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
said on Monday.

East Africa’s
largest economy is struggling to bring commercial lending rates lower
to stimulate greater credit expansion while facing a key referendum on
a new constitution later this week. Investors see a ‘yes’ vote as
important for stability.

Separate data on
Monday showed Kenya’s inflation rate ticking up slightly to 3.6 per
cent in July from 3.5 per cent a month earlier owing to higher food and
beverage prices, but analysts said it was expected to steady.

Gross bank loans
increased by 30 billion shillings between April and June 2010 to 828
billion shillings, with more than a quarter taken on by the
manufacturing sector. Domestic credit grew by 26.6 per cent in the
first half of 2010.

“The growth of
credit to the private sector, though, was noted to be below what is
desirable for a high growth trajectory,” the MPC said in a written
statement.

Central bank
Governor Njuguna Ndung’u told a news conference that last week’s cut in
the bank’s benchmark lending rate (CBR) by 75 basis point to 6 per cent
was to stimulate credit growth amid benign inflation and worries about
the high level of commercial bank lending rates.

“Despite (the)
reduction in lending rates … there is scope for banks to lower rates.
We are quite concerned about this,” he said.

While the central
bank has made seven cuts totalling 3 per cent to its lending rate since
it began a cycle of easing in December 2008, commercial banks have been
slow to follow.

Latest central bank figures put the average commercial bank lending rate at 14.39 per cent in June.

Market inefficiency

Ndung’u said the
spread between commercial banks’ rates was increasing as deposit rates
fell more sharply than lending rates. “These spreads signal
inefficiency,” he said.

At 1310 GMT,
Kenya’s shilling traded at 80.15/25, up slightly on Friday’s closing
price of 80.30/40 amid growing optimism Wednesday’s referendum on a new
constitution would be peaceful after the final campaign rallies passed
off without trouble this weekend.

Stocks on the Nairobi Stock Exchange’s benchmark 20 share Index climbed 1.27 per cent to 4494.78 points.

A central bank
market survey showed 41 per cent of banks saw credit expansion of more
than 10 per cent by the end of 2010 and more than half of private firms
expected their demands for loans to rise by more than 10 per cent
during the same period, the MPC statement said.

The same study also
showed that Kenya’s private sector is more optimistic the economy will
expand by more than 5 per cent in 2010 against 2.6 per cent last year
thanks to a rebound in agriculture and manufacturing.

The poll in July
showed that 17 per cent of those polled saw gross domestic product
above 5 per cent, nearly double the 9 per cent of those surveyed in
May, the MPC said.

“We are getting out of the trough faster than we thought,” Ndung’u said in reference to economic growth.

Separately on
Monday, month-on-month food and non-alcoholic drinks prices rose 0.5
per cent while alcoholic beverages and tobacco costs were up 1.2 per
cent on June.

“There are
pressures both ways so it (inflation rate) could remain within a fairly
narrow range,” said Nairobi-based independent economist Robert Shaw.

Inflation has been
slowing across east Africa most of 2010, largely due to easing food
prices as a result of heavy rains and increased harvests.

The next rains in
Kenya, usually short in duration, are expected around November. “If
they are deficient, it could exert pressure on food prices,” Shaw said.

After
recording positive performance for the eighth trading day, and
recovering over N278 billion during the period in view, the Nigerian
Stock Exchange (NSE), which lost about N15 billion last Friday, further
plunged by N51.3 billion on Monday.

Analysts
have attributed profit taking activities by investors to the downturn
as sell pressures continued across the sectors on the bourse. Even the
news of the assumption of office of the three new chief executive
officers of UBA, Zenith, and Skye banks could not change the banking
sector’s direction. Equity Analysts at Proshare Nigeria, an investment
advisory firm, at the close of trading on Monday, said the negative
trend resumed last Wednesday. “Sectors such as banking that experienced
strongest rally on the back of Asset Management Company expectedly
witnessed the strongest sell pressures,” the analysts said.

They,
however, said considering the positive developments in the market, and
barring any negative news in the market, “we are of the view that the
present bearish mode may not last longer than necessary, as investors
may have reasons for holding some stocks when their prices hit some
certain points.” At the close of the day’s proceeding, the Exchange’s
market capitalisation lost N51.3 billion, or 0.81 per cent, to close at
N6.269 trillion. The All-Share Index was also down by 0.81 per cent to
close at 25,634.39 basis points, reflecting a decrease of 209.79 units.

The
number of gainers at the close of trading session stood at 25 compared
with the 22 gainers recorded on Friday, while losers also closed higher
at 43 compared with the 42 recorded last trading day. The banking
sector led the market transaction volume on Monday with 110.721 million
units valued at N892.096 million exchanged in 3,205 deals. Transactions
in the shares of Zenith, Diamond, First Bank and UBA boosted the volume
traded in the sector. The total volume of 49.586 million units valued
at N590.225 million traded in the shares of the four banks accounted
for 48.75 per cent of the entire sector volume.

Seamless takeover

Meanwhile,
seamless takeover was it at the three banks whose new chief executive
officers assumed office on Monday. Phillip Oduoza for UBA, Phillip
Emefiele, Zenith and Kehinde Durosimmi-Etti for Skye assumed office on
Monday. At the head offices of the three banks, it was business as
usual as there was no visible indication that a change of guard had
occurred. At UBA head office; there was no unusual happening as people
moved in and out of the premises. It was the same thing at Skye Bank
head office on Victoria Island. A visit to one of its branches in the
Central Business District on Lagos Island, revealed the usual throng of
customers conducting normal transactions.

Nasir Ramon, of the media unit of UBA, said the handover was smooth
and seamless. “The new managing director assumed his position
officially on Sunday. Everything is going on well”, he said. The
Central Bank in January unveiled new sets of corporate governance codes
that would see chief executives of banks spending a maximum of 10 years
in office. Bank CEOs who were affected by the directive include Jim
Ovia of Zenith Bank and Tony Elumelu of UBA, who have spent 19 and 12
years as CEOs of their respective banks. Akinfemi Akinfehinwa, former
CEO of Skye Bank, had also spent over 10 years.

A South African
business lobby may buy 15 per cent of one of the country’s listed
banks, the head of the group said on Monday, in a deal that could be
worth billions of rand.

The National
African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) aims to
eventually take about a quarter of a listed bank, and will get help
from that lender to raise money for the deal, said Gilbert Mosena, the
group’s secretary general.

Selling a stake to
Nafcoc, which represents small companies often owned by blacks, could
help a lender raise its black ownership. Companies in South Africa are
required to meet government targets for black ownership.

Malawi is ready to
cut its spending in order to sustain growth if foreign donors reduce
crucial aid, Finance Minister Ken Kandodo said on Monday. Britain’s
Department for International Development (DFID) said last week it was
adjusting its programme in Malawi as part of a global review of
bilateral aid.

“The forecast for the global economic recovery remains
uncertain on account of huge budget deficits in major economies of the
world and the expenditure cuts in these countries has the potential of
upsetting the growth prospects of other countries including ours,” Mr
Kandodo said.

An investment fund
plans to raise $100 million to buy assets in Zimbabwe ahead of a
hoped-for bounce back from the country’s status as an economic basket
case.

Masawara Plc has already secured a $25 million commitment from
one of Britain’s biggest investors, Invesco Perpetual’s Neil Woodford,
and its managers hope to achieve a total capitalisation of around $155
million. The new vehicle will invest in sectors where the
breadbasket-turned-pariah has a perceived comparative advantage, such
as mining and agriculture, its manager, Shingai Mutasa, told Reuters on
Monday.

Austen Oniwon, the
group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,
has reassured the international oil companies operating in Nigeria that
the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, currently before the National
Assembly, was not designed to victimise them, but to simplify and
streamline the process of doing business in the Nigerian oil and gas
sector in such a way that all investors would operate on a level
playing field.

Mr. Oniwon made
this clarification during a meeting with the French ambassador to
Nigeria, Jean-Michel Dumond, who paid a courtesy call on him at the
NNPC Towers, Abuja.

He disclosed that
some of the concerns raised by the companies about doing business in
the country have been reflected in the bill, and urged France and other
western countries to invest in the downstream, midstream, and upstream
sub-sectors of the petroleum industry in Nigeria.

He called on the
ambassador to invite Total, the oil giant, to invest in the downstream
sector of the value chain by building refineries in Nigeria. He also
reiterated the federal government’s commitment to the deregulation of
the downstream sector in order to allow market forces to control the
prices of petroleum products.

Responding, Jean-Michel Dumond commended Nigeria for its quest to
promote transparency and accountability through the PIB, and expressed
the readiness of France to sustain its strategic business partnership
with Nigeria, disclosing that France is the second largest investor in
the petroleum sector in Nigeria.

Bharti Airtel, a
telecom services provider, has announced the appointment of Andre
Beyers as the chief marketing officer for its African operations.

The company
recently acquired the mobile services operations of Zain in 15
countries across Africa and is working towards introducing its brand
‘Airtel’ in these markets shortly. Mr. Andre will report to Manoj
Kohli, CEO (International) and joint managing director.

Commenting on the
appointment, Mr. Kohli said, “We are delighted to have Andre on board
and believe that his experience will be immensely valuable and
contribute to our vision of making Airtel the most loved brand in the
daily lives of African people.

“It will be our
endeavour to achieve leadership position in all our markets by
delivering a superior brand experience backed by world-class service,
strong distribution network, and innovative products that delight
customers. I wish Andre the very best for his new assignment.”

Mr. Andre brings
with him over 20 years of rich experience in marketing and brand
management, particularly in the telecom sector. He contributed towards
Vodacom’s marketing and brand efforts for 11 years. Andre spent 4 years
supporting Vodacom’s incubation hub (the fast tracking of advertising
and communications relating to new ideas) and managing Vodacom’s brand,
whilst working for FCB (South Africa’s largest advertising group) and
then led Vodacom’s marketing function for 7 years (2001 to 2008) during
which both customer base and revenue grew manifold.

Under a cooperation
agreement with the Bank of China, Ecobank Ghana has become the first
affiliate of the Ecobank Group to have a dedicated desk manned by staff
seconded by the Bank of China. The cooperation agreement between
Ecobank, a leading pan-African banking institution, and the Bank of
China, the country’s leading international bank, is a reciprocal pact
focusing mainly on international trade, projects and investments.
“Today sees the beginning of an exciting partnership between Ecobank
and the Bank of China,” Ecobank Group CEO, Arnold Ekpe, said. “We shall
open dedicated desks at selected Ecobank branches across Africa. In
return, the Bank of China will be our primary conduit in our business
dealings in China.”

Speaking at the
signing ceremony in Accra, Ecobank Group Executive Director, Corporate
Banking, Albert Essien, said: “The pact will allow the Bank of China to
cater more pointedly to their clients in Africa using the Ecobank
platform, while it also enables Ecobank to grow its China business.”
Ecobank and the Bank of China stand to benefit from the growing trade
and investment links between Africa and China. African exports to China
have increased significantly in the past few years reaching $30.14
billion in 2008. China exported goods worth $23 billion to Africa over
the same period.

Depositors
and shareholders of Savannah Bank Plc and Societe Generale Bank Nigeria
Limited may have to wait longer before accessing their funds since the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has outlined conditions under which both
institutions can open their doors for business.

Lamido
Sanusi, CBN governor, said even though their licenses have been
returned, both banks must show proof of strong financial capacity, a
new business model and foreign or local partners to show that they are
ready for business before it can extend any assistance to the promoters
of the banks.

“Of
course, with non performing loans, if they have collateral, we can buy
the non performing loans. If they want support similar to the ones we
have extended to other banks, CBN will give them all the support that
is reasonable.” According to him, it is left for the banks’ owners to
decide whether they wanted to remain in banking business or not.

A tale of two banks

Societe
Generale, owned substantially by second republic senate leader, Olusola
Saraki, was sent out of the clearing house in 2003 following its
inability to meet its financial obligations. During this period, the
bank was unable to fund its CBN Account, which was overdrawn by several
billions of naira. It also couldn’t meet the N25 billion minimum
capital during the banking consolidation of 2005, which led to the
withdrawal of its banking license.

The
bank then began legal proceedings, insisting that the revocation of its
banking licence was in bad taste, and that it was not given enough time
to recapitalise. In April 2008, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja
granted its request and ordered the CBN to restore the bank’s license.

For
Savannah Bank, a Federal Court of Appeal in Abuja on February 20 2009
declared that the CBN and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC)
wrongly revoked the bank’s license and that it should be allowed to
return to business. The court then granted the bank an 18 month
recapitalisation deadline which expires next month. Savannah Bank is
also owned by a former governor and senator, Jim Nwobodo.

This
was supposed to be a breather for the bank’s 85,000 shareholders, and
over 750,000 depositors who had their fund trapped for the seven years
that the bank was closed.

However,
since both banks won their case against the regulators, there had been
no visible effort to reopen for business. “It is not for the central
bank to be working towards bringing SGBN or Savannah back but for the
directors and shareholders to work towards opening for business,” Mr.
Sanusi said.

Open shop, not partnership

Obi
Adindu, media consultant to Savannah Bank said then that the bank was
planning a multiphase opening strategy that would see the bank opening
its branches gradually and not all at once. “What we are doing right
now is harmonisation of assets to ensure that what we have in our books
tally with what are in the books of the liquidators. This is a normal
process. It is after this that we will take full control of our
premises nationwide.”

Boniface
Okezie, the leader of one of the shareholders’ group said the central
bank should not force the partnership option on the bank but should
rather support the bank to open its shop to customers first. “It is
obvious that the current investors do not have the financial muscle to
run the banks. The CBN should allow them to open shop first, reactivate
accounts of customers and from there they can begin to talk about other
things. They need to get new hands who will install corporate
governance in place so that the bank can be run professionally.”

Shareholders
say a major concern is the ability of the bank to return to an industry
that has undergone fundamental changes since its doors were shut about
eight years ago. Apart from meeting obligations to depositors, the bank
would need to deploy funds in total overhaul of its operation
machineries.

Banking
is highly IT driven and most of the facilities and infrastructure which
the bank relied on seven years ago have become obsolete. The hardware
and software would require total replacement while the requisite
manpower would have to be deployed to ensure the competitiveness of its
operation.

A
source who preferred to be anonymous said the greater challenge would
be for the bank to stand alone at a time when many operators are
anticipating further mergers and acquisition in the industry. “Efforts
at reopening the banks must be communicated to the public so that all
stakeholders would appreciate the genuine effort to reposition the bank
and open for business. This will help to build confidence of depositors
and shareholders,” he said.