Nigeria Content Online

The new chief
executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Oscar
Onyema, said his agenda for the market will soon be unveiled to the
public.

Mr. Onyema, 43, who
assumed office officially yesterday, as the fourth CEO of the NSE, told
NEXT that he has developmental plans for the market but “will soon
address the general public” on his various plans.

The new CEO opened
business activities at the trading floor on Monday by ringing the
opening bell, he then proceeded to have a closed-door meeting with the
management and staff of the Exchange.

Sam Ailenbuade,
deputy general manager and head of operations, Foresight Securities
& Investment Limited, a stockbroking firm, said he expects Mr.
Onyema’s agenda for the market to “bring positive changes.” “Looking at
his age, he is a young man. So we expect positive changes; nothing more
nothing less,” Mr. Ailenbuade said.

Brief from meeting

Meanwhile, Wole
Tokede, the NSE’s spokesperson, in a statement, said Mr. Onyema, at the
maiden staff meeting, “charged them to rededicate themselves to work in
order to build an Exchange that would be a pride of all.” “He praised
the efforts of the interim administration led by Emmanuel Ikazoboh for
doing a good job at repositioning the Exchange and laying a solid
foundation to build upon. He told the staff members that what was left
for them was to take The Exchange to the next level, and promised that
productivity, hard work and dedication to duty would be rewarded,” the
statement said.

Mr. Ikazoboh, who
will still continue to carry out his activities in the market as
directed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), explained at
the meeting that the executive management of the Exchange would be
complete when the executive director, listing directorate, as well as
that of market operations and information technology, resume.

Mr. Onyema joined
the NSE from the American Stock Exchange, where he was a senior vice
president and chief administrative officer. He is currently a council
member of Gerson Lehrman Group, a marketplace for expertise.

Meanwhile, the
sacked director general of the NSE, Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, is still in
court challenging her “unlawful removal” from office.

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday adjourned judgment on the suit she filed till April 15 for arguments.

Transcorp’s case

The management of
Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) has written an
objection letter to the Stock Exchange over the recent volume movements
in its shares traded last week.

The letter read in part that “a total of 2.51 billion units of
Transcorp shares representing 10 percent of the company’s issued share
capital were traded in a single day. The board of directors and
management of the company have expressed shock at how such a
transaction was approved by the Stock Exchange without information to
and consent of shareholders and the company.” The company said a
transaction showing more than a five per cent interest in the shares of
the company should ethically (as provided by trading rules) have been
disclosed to the company and the SEC, “but this was not done in this
case.” Transcorp has, therefore, requested that due process and the
provisions of law be followed.

South Africa’s new
vehicle sales rose by 22.8 percent year-on-year in March to 53,478
units, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (NAAMSA)
said on Monday.

When sales from
Associated Motor Holdings and Amalgamated Automobile Distributors —
which report separately — are stripped out, sales increased by 24.9
percent to 47,747 vehicles compared with March last year, NAAMSA said.

Zambia’s
Copperbelt Energy Corp. Ltd (CEC) and Liquid Telecom of Mauritius on
Monday announced a joint venture company that will provide
telecommunication services in Zambia. CEC and Liquid Telecom will each
own 50 percent of the venture, to be called CEC Liquid
Telecommunications Ltd. The company will provide wholesale fibre optic
Internet services. “The transaction has been approved by the boards of
both companies,” a statement said. CEC, the largest supplier of power
to mines in Zambia, Africa’s top copper producer, owns and operates 540
km (335 miles) of optic fibre on power lines and 250 km in trenches.

The Uganda shilling
continued its recent resurgence on Monday, expanding its gains against
the dollar, and traders said the unit would be strong against the U.S.
currency due to lackluster greenback demand.

Commercial banks in Kampala exchanged the shilling at 2,380/2,385 against the dollar, up from Friday’s close of 2,383/2,388.

“We have weak
demand in the market and liquidity (for the shilling) is also tight and
these are both energising the shilling,” said Faisal Bukenya, head of
market making at Barclays Bank, Uganda.

The local currency
has been resilient against the greenback since UK explorer, Tullow Oil,
announced that it had sold two thirds of its exploration properties in
Uganda.

The south-west zone
of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) will
soon acquire a storage facility to ease distribution, Olumide Ogunmade,
the south-west chairman of the group, said.

He told the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that the aim of IPMAN owning
a facility was to reduce difficulties often encountered by members in
times of fuel scarcity.

According to him,
the facility would enable IPMAN members to get petroleum products at
cheaper prices, considering that the zone consumed two thirds of the
country’s fuel supply.

“The essence of
this is that the association doesn’t want to be part of the factions
that are fighting over positions and selfish interest at the detriment
of consumers and our members,” he said.

The naira and its
$500 million Eurobond could come under pressure in the coming days as
the postponement of national elections unnerves investors, traders and
analysts said on Monday.

Africa’s most
populous nation postponed parliamentary and presidential elections by a
week on Sunday, after failing to get logistics prepared in time, a
major embarrassment for a nation hoping to break with a history of
chaotic polls.

The naira traded as low as 155.00 to the dollar on Monday morning, weaker than Friday’s close of 154.10.

“It will definitely
have an impact on the perception of foreign investors … This is bad
for the external image of Nigeria. On the currency, you would expect a
bit of a sell-off,” said Coura Fall, a frontier African analyst at Citi
in Johannesburg.

Nigeria may have foreclosed any plans to explore nuclear energy as an alternative source of electricity power generation.

Minister
of state for power, Nuhu Wya, who gave this hint in Lagos, said the
country would explore other means of power generation in which it has
comparative advantage.

Responding
to a question at the power conference held in Lagos last week, he said
with the inherent danger in nuclear power, the country had no business
pursuing that source.

“Why
do we have to be talking about using nuclear power? If we have so many
other sources of energy that are untapped, why do we have to be talking
of one that is not readily available and is a long term development
plan? For you to put a nuclear plant and get it working, you are
talking about eight years,” Mr. Wya said.

Minister
of environment, John Odey, had said the use of nuclear energy for
electricity generation is no longer an option but a necessity, if
Nigeria is to meet her energy needs. According to him, the grid
capacity built around oil, natural gas, and hydro is not only grossly
inadequate but cannot meet the country’s current and future energy
demand.

Nuclear emergencies

However,
with this pronouncement, the government may have jettisoned the idea.
Following the earthquake in Japan, its nuclear plants, which accounts
for about 29 per cent of the country’s electricity power supply, were
badly affected, raising global concern about the dangers of nuclear
plants, especially for developing countries like Nigeria.

Though
the country has a watchdog, the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority,
which is supposed to regulate and ensure safety in the use of nuclear
energy, its state of preparedness to handle such emergencies is still
in doubt.

Mr.
Wya said the country has abundant capacity in other energy sources such
as hydro and thermal, which have not been fully utilised.

“We
have received expression of interest from firms that want to invest in
the power sector in hydro, gas, wind, coal, and solar power plants.

“We
must remember that Nigeria is gas and oil economy and already has
enough gas to potentially power the whole of Africa. In the same
manner, government has commenced effort to balance the energy needs
with the development of new sources of power from naturally evolved
resources. Already, pilot scheme for solar and wind projects are
ongoing,” Mr. Wya said.

Potential impediments

Mr.
Wya said potential impediments to the entrance of private sector
investment in every facet of the power sector will be totally
eliminated, in order to make it attractive to investors.

Chairman
of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sam Amadi,
said government would guide against the emergence of monopolies and
manipulations in the power sector once it is privatised.

“It
is normal to find collusion. A market participant can be so powerful
that it can consistently act independently in keeping price above
competitive level. Electricity market can lend itself to manipulation,”
Mr. Amadi said.

He
said the commission will strive to protect consumers while ensuring
that electricity tariff will be competitive enough to encourage
investment in the sector.

“We
will protect consumers by ensuring just and fair pricing, carry out
social policies, and prevent anti-competitive practices by active
participants,” he said.

Cote d’Ivoire’s
weather last week was ideal for the development of the
April-to-September mid-crop with both rain and sunshine, but political
instability has disrupted the harvest, farmers and analysts said on
Monday.

This year’s
mid-crop cocoa was expected to be larger compared with last season. But
a violent political standoff in the world’s top cocoa producing nation
after a disputed election that has rekindled a civil war is stopping
farmers from going to their farms and many have fled the cocoa
producing regions.

In the western
region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, one analyst working
for an industrial plantation reported 22 millimetres of rain mixed with
sunny spells adequate for the ripening and the proliferation of small
pods.

However, farmers said the political trouble has prevented them from harvesting pods already ripe on trees.

“There are lots of
ripe pods. We want to harvest them, but we cannot because there is no
means of travel,” said farmer Lazard Ake, who farms on the outskirts of
Soubre.

Soubre is one of
the towns in the cocoa producing region of Cote d’Ivoire, seized by
forces loyal to presidential claimant, Alassane Ouattara, in their
southward push. The forces now control over 90 per cent of the country,
including the cocoa exporting port of San Pedro.

“There is
insecurity and some of the fighters are seizing people’s cars and
trucks. The quality of the cocoa will degrade if the ripe pods remain
too long on the trees without being harvested,” Mr. Ake said.

In the
centre-western region of Daloa, producing a quarter of the country’s
national output, farmers reported three good rains which would help
cocoa beans. They said many growers have fled the town for the
campaign, fearing for their security.

“The rain is good
and all is well with cocoa,” said farmer Marcel Aka. He added the many
farmers have fled the city to go to the forest where they can find food
easily.

In the southern region of Aboisso, analysts reported 37.7 millimetres.

“The weather is
good, but there is no one to buy the cocoa,” said farmer Etienne Yao,
who added that many growers are not bothering to harvest.

Similar weather
conditions were reported in coastal regions of Sassandra and San Pedro,
in the eastern region of Abengourou, in southern regions of Agboville
and Divo, and in western regions of Meagui and Gagnoa. Reuters

Eni’s chief
executive has contacted rebels in Benghazi about energy cooperation, as
the Italian oil and gas group moved to protect its role as the leading
foreign oil operator in Libya.

Eni’s efforts were
supported on Monday by Italy giving Libyan rebels its full backing. CEO
Paolo Scaroni had phone contact with representatives of the rebels’
National Transitional Council in recent days, Italy’s foreign ministry
said. Eni declined to comment.

That corrected an
earlier comment by minister Franco Frattini who said Scaroni visited
Benghazi two days ago and had meetings on restarting cooperation on
energy with the council. There had been concern that state-controlled
Eni’s position in Libya could be undermined by Italy’s hesitant backing
for the rebel movement, paving the way for a greater say for French
group Total and maybe British firms.

Britain and France led the drive for intervention in Libya to protect rebels from strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Italian premier
Silvio Berlusconi, long Gaddafi’s closest European ally, was subdued in
supporting rebels at first, while key coalition partner the Northern
League opposed intervention.

Eni dominance

Eni,present in Libya since the 1950s, is the biggest foreign oil company there,

producing 270,000
boed (barrels of oil equivalent per day) in 2010 . Its contracts are in
force to 2042 for oil production and 2047 for gas.

Early in March,
Scaroni called on Europe to abandon sanctions against Libya, adding
relations with Tripoli had not been hurt and Lybia’s National Oil
Corporation (NOC) was its main interlocutor.

Before the air
strikes, NOC head Shokri Ghanem said Eni’s contracts were safe. Since
then, Ghanem has said Libya was considering offering oil block
contracts directly to China, India and other nations it sees as
friends. “Eni is sitting pretty. The gas pipeline from Libya goes to
Italy and the rebels will need that. They will also need the group’s
oil experience,” said Stefano Casertano, senior fellow at German
think-tank BIGS-Potsdam.org.

At 1510 GMT, Eni shares were up 0.7 percent, with the European oil and gas sector up 0.3 percent.

Reuters

The presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Nuhu Ribadu, has stated that he will focus on nine major policy themes that would enable the nation address and effectively manage the difficulties that its citizens are presently grappling with. Spelling out his vision in his manifestoes, he listed the policy themes as human capital development, the economy, infrastructure, governance, youth empowerment, agriculture, and food security. Others are defence and national security, Niger Delta, and foreign policy. Without doubt, these are issues that are close to the hearts of the people. The nation is on the porch of another general election, the fourth since the return of democracy. Many candidates have been proclaiming their manifestoes on how to make the nation’s economy better, on how they can ensure justice, secure lives and properties, encourage investors to bring in their much needed funds and expertise. Mr. Ribadu said that the Nigerian economy is performing below potential and is not creating enough jobs for its teeming youth. “Though the economy is growing at around 6 per cent per annum, it could grow at a much faster pace and more importantly, it could create more jobs if the right policies are pursued. The economy has to be managed with fiscal prudence so that we are not spending much more than we take in as revenues,” Mr. Ribadu had said.He said the fiscal deficit, which was kept at 3 per cent of GDP from 2003-2007, has now doubled to 6 per cent, implying a great deal of spending without much impact or results on the ground.”We shall budget within our means and keep overspending to a minimum. We shall rebuild our foreign exchange reserves back to a robust level of US$50 billion or more; and plan for a steady and attainable economic growth rate of 7-8 per cent per year for the next five years, and 8-10 per cent per year for the years following that. This growth must be job-creating growth focused on both the oil and non-oil sectors of the economy,” he added.Nigeria’s imports and payments in 2010 rose by 37 per cent to $41billion from $30 billion in 2009, and its exports also surged by $20 billion to $79.4 billion. Experts believe that the Nigerian external account should be robust enough to support the naira at an artificially determined rate of exchange. However, there has been significant depletion in the external reserves position by about 38 per cent since 2008.”The depletion of the external reserves, in spite of higher oil prices and strong production figures, has become a source of national and international concern,” Bismarck Rewane, managing director, Financial Derivatives Company, a finance research and analysis firm, said. He added that the depletion of reserves, which he called “haemorrhage of reserves”, would put the economy on an even keel, tough for the next government.
Battling corruption
Even if the economy is helped to a point where the nation would be a bit confident of its progress, the fear of most citizens is that corruption, the venom which has eaten deep into people in positions of power, would bring the economy down.This same vice has made it difficult for the country and even investors, local and foreign, to invest in strategic areas of the economy. In spite of the vast oil revenue the nation has generated over the past five decades, it still has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world.Mr. Ribadu says his vision is not only a bold new system that punishes corruption, but one “that also taps into the energies and innovation of our people to generate shared prosperity driven by honest labour, an abiding sense of commitment, and a desire to fix our broken society and restore our shared national values of honesty, integrity, discipline, hard work, and respect.”According to him, corruption only thrives when a government and its key functionaries are not accountable to the voting public. “We will empower our citizens to enable them fully participate in governance and also serve as a countervailing power able to check the excesses of the government,” Mr. Ribadu had also said.
Oil and gas sector and the Niger Delta policy
Investigation reveals that gas flaring, spillages and other environmental pollutions, uprisings and unrest, poverty, violence, and insecurity are some of the many factors that still pose challenges to the nation’s oil production capacity.Mr. Ribadu said to address these challenges, he will review the amnesty programme began by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and encourage greater involvement of the private sector in order to address the fundamental needs of the demobilised militants which are jobs, a sense of self-worth, and a new social and political order in the Niger Delta in which they can participate as active citizens.”We will endeavour to expand the job pool in the region by working with the state governments to revive moribund industrial and agricultural projects, sourcing expertise from the private sector,” he said.Experts and industry watchers have canvassed for the petroleum local content bill and the Petroleum Industry Bill, and have said that their advantages need to be fully tapped.The commercialisation of the NNPC, which is a fallout of the PIB, could be a positive development towards the progress of the nation’s oil and gas sector.”In general, it is our view that the commercialisation of the NNPC can be a positive development. We have seen positive examples in other countries (that is Statoli, Petrobras, etc). Therefore, if done properly, it can lead towards providing a premier/leading Nigerian company in the oil and gas industry that can be on the forefront of new technologies,” Dragan Trajkov, oil and gas expert, Renaissance Capital, said.Given its potential size, it can potentially look for opportunities outside Nigeria as well and being a commercial entity, it will allow management to concentrate on profitability, and on a longer term, create value for all shareholders. “With potentially selling portion of it to the public (assuming it will be listed in Nigeria), it will enable Nigerian investors to participate in the oil and gas sector. Right now, other than Oando, I don’t believe there is really a publicly listed company in Nigeria that investors can invest in and participate in the upstream exploration and production,” Mr. Trajkov said.In terms of power, Mr. Ribadu said he will move to diversify the energy mix by introducing coal powered plants which will employ clean coal technologies.
Stability and investment
Mr. Ribadu pointed out that the exchange rate is a strategic tool for altering national behaviour and consumption patterns, and not only a tactical tool for satisfying the addictive propensity of Nigerians to import.”For example, ever since the Ivorian crisis, the world price of cocoa has surged by 16 per cent. The Nigerian farmers have not been able to respond to this opportunity by increasing supply. The relatively overvalued exchange rate over time had made Nigerian cocoa more expensive relative to Ghanaian cocoa where the cedi has been subject to a more flexible exchange rate mechanism. “Today, Nigeria is a triple beneficiary of a surge in oil prices, increase in demand for LNG, and an increase in oil production,” Mr. Ribadu said.Mr. Rewane said there is the temptation to ignore the structural problems of the economy and continue the addiction of an import consumption binge, with a subsidized currency. “However, this is the time to step back and take a more measured and strategic approach to exchange rate management. It is time to allow greater flexibility and reduce the frequency of intervention,” he said.

TOMORROW, ANPP Shekarau’s economy agenda