Nigeria Content Online

Construction work
on silo projects in various parts of the country will soon be
completed, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development,
Najeem Awodele, has assured.

Mr Awodele gave
the assurance in Ilesa, Osun State, when he inspected the N1.5 billion
silo-project under construction in the town. He reiterated the
commitment of the Federal Government to develop agriculture, adding
that construction of the storage facilities across the country is part
of the effort.

“The federal
government is committed to the development of agriculture and we cannot
say we want to develop the sector without having where to store our
food reserve,” the minister said.

The National
Assembly’s continued delay in passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)
into law is still a source of worry for Nigerians. Both industry
watchers and non-governmental groups raise concerns that the delay
casts dark shadows over our country’s readiness to tackle transparency
issues in the extractive sector. Speculations abound that both the
executive and the legislative arms of government are under pressure by
oil industry players to keep the bill under the carpet until after the
April elections. And, thereafter, probably kill it.

Worried observers
believe that, following the conclusion of public hearings which ended a
while ago, the PIB left the public domain and has since been held on
the surgical table by the government, while the oil companies control
both the surgical knives and the anaesthetic valves.

The most strident
arguments over the bill have come from the oil companies, who have for
decades enjoyed the unfettered privilege of calling the shots in the
sector. They have enjoyed unrestricted extraction and have gone without
accountability, aided by an entrenched architecture of impunity.

Even the extractive
industries audits of recent years have not factored environmental
destruction and social dislocations into their accounting processes.
Without bringing these into the equation, it is impossible to see how
the decimated livelihoods of the poor communities and peoples in the
oil fields can be redressed.

The major concern
of the oil companies has been over the margins of profit the new
regimes proposed in the bill would allow them. In seeking to address
one of their concerns, the companies impressed on government to turn
the existing unincorporated Joint Ventures between the international
oil companies (Shell, Total, Mobil, Agip, Chevron, Mobil) and the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into Incorporated Joint
Ventures (IJVs). While government agreed to this realignment, the
companies seethe over its insistence on retaining control of the
venture. They believe that the funding situation would not be different
from what currently pertains, since they would not be able to raise
funds for the ventures from the capital market.

The delay in
passing the bill into law until probably after the forthcoming
elections is seen as clear case of playing politics over this urgent
matter. Even non-governmental campaigners for the swift passage of the
bill demand “all political parties to mainstream the debate on the PIB
into their political campaigns as a demonstration of their commitment
to transparency in the oil and gas sector.” This demand can be
understood as a tacit acceptance that the PIB will likely only come
into force on the nod of whoever wins the elections. If that is so, it
would mean that the earliest date the bill could become law would be
sometime after May 29, 2011, after the winners of the election are
sworn in. It could also be that what the agitators are demanding is
that all politicians should seek the immediate passage of the PIB into
law. Which is which?

Reports on how and
why the PIB will not see the light of day before May 29 make
interesting reading. Some speculate that the National Assembly will
simply not act on the bill until after the elections. Others say that
even if the Assembly passes the bill, some insiders in the corridors of
power will work out plausible reasons the president could offer for not
signing the bill into law. The speculators are all casting their
readings on the basis that the power of industry is setting booby traps
everywhere and squeezing the bill under the carpet. We need to know.
Government should urgently speak up on this.

We hear the
minister of petroleum waxing positive about the PIB and suggesting that
its passage is imminent. Recent reports quote her as saying that
oil-producing communities would earn about N1.1 billion as yearly
dividend payments from oil revenues, as part of incentives in the bill.
It will be great to know the mechanisms that would ensure that such
sums trickle down to the people.

She is also quoted
as saying, “There have been so many discussions, modifications and
debates by stakeholders in order to ensure a viable legal and
regulatory framework for the benefit of, not only the Nigerians, but
also for local and international investors.” The government, according
to her, “will continue to engage the National Assembly to ensure
passage of the bill as soon as possible”. Nigerians need to know what
these modifications are.

One reason why the
international oil companies, and possibly even the NNPC, are resisting
the passage of the PIB into law is probably the implication of what
implementing strict metering of petroleum extraction would mean to
them. The bill requires that royalties be paid on production and not
merely on what is exported. Oil companies argue against this because a
fraction of their production gets lost during transmission to the
export terminals. They claim that such losses are owing to oil theft
and that paying royalty on production would place the burden of
securing the transmission lines on them, whereas it should be the duty
of government.

The issue of
metering and the insistence on payment of royalties on production
volumes are essential to bringing sanity to the sector. The government
should not back down on this. Nigerians deserve to have factual data on
how much oil is being extracted daily from our nation and not just how
much gets to the official end of the pipelines. The fact that oil is
lost/stolen during transmission is well known. We deserve to know how
much is being lost. This can only happen if production is strictly
metered. If production data were available, simple accounting would
reveal how much gets missing. The next questions would be concerning
the points of leakage and who benefits from such leakages. The refusal
of industry players to allow this simple step in transparency shows the
rogue nature of the game and underscores why the people and the
environment continue to suffer at their hands.

With all the
politicking over the PIB and all the surgery going on outside public
purview, who knows what creature will eventually emerge from the
theatre?

Google yesterday
announced a $5 million (about N750m) package of grants to institutions
of higher learning in Africa. The gesture is designed to get more
people using the Internet across the continent.

The company, with a
search engine that connects millions of people around the world with
daily information, said in a statement in Lagos yesterday that the
package includes a number of significant individual grants including a
$1.25 million (N187 million) grant to the Nelson Mandela Centre of
Memory and a $500,000 (N75 million) grant to the Nigeria ICT forum,
amongst others.

“The $500,000 grant
has been made to support efforts in improving access to Internet
infrastructure in tertiary education institutions in Nigeria,” the
statement added.

The Nigeria ICT
Forum is an initiative of the Nigerian Caucus (a joint meeting of the
Vice-Chancellors and ICT Coordinators) of six partnering Nigerian
universities. Its mandate is to develop ICT-based capacity for
strengthening Research and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs);
facilitate and nurture collaboration between HEIs to cultivate a
favourable policy environment; develop, utilise and sustain ICT
networks, services and shared resources consistent with institutional
roles as focus for development.

Lola Masha,
business development manager at Google Nigeria said, “We are thrilled
to be announcing a grant to the Nigeria ICT Forum which will help more
Nigerian students access the internet and benefit from access to
information. We also want to help bring the world’s historical heritage
online, and the internet offers new ways to preserve and share this
information. Our grants for the Mandela and Tutu archives will give the
global public an opportunity to engage with the history of some of the
most extraordinary leaders of our time.” The board secretary of the
Nigeria ICT Forum, Nasir Bello, said, “We are delighted with the grant
to Nigerian ICT Forum which supports our goals to nurture the building
of vibrant e-communities through training, innovation and partnerships.
It will support the efforts in developing the community around shared
Internet infrastructure, greatly reducing cost and therefore barriers
to affordable connectivity in tertiary educational institutions in
Nigeria.”

The statement by
Google noted that the Nelson Mandela Centre Housed at the Nelson
Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, will help to preserve and give
unprecedented digital access to thousands of archival documents,
photographs, and audio-visual materials about the life and times of
Nelson Mandela.” It added that the grant “will assist in expanding the
online Mandela archive and make it available to the global audiences,
scholars and researchers in the future. In addition to significant
audio-visual materials, the online multimedia archive will include Mr.
Mandela’s letters and correspondence with family, comrades and friends;
prison diaries; and notes he made while leading the negotiations that
led to the end of apartheid in South Africa.”

A similar grant
has also been made to the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre in Cape Town, for
the documentation and digitization of Mr Tutu’s archives, and an
interactive digital learning centre.

The Bureau of
Public Enterprises (BPE) has reassured UnityKapital Assurance Plc that
the federal government’s plan to divest 24 percent of equity
stake-holding in Transcorp Hilton Hotel will not jeopardise its
investment interest in the company. UnityKapital’s former managing
director/chief executive officer, Mohammed Kari, had recently told
reporters that the move to offload 24 percent of government’s
shareholding in Transcorp to workers was coming on the heels of an
unresolved crisis relating to UnityKapital subsidiary, Capital Leisure
and Hospitality, to acquire 15 percent stake of the company.

According to Mr.
Kari, the investment interest, which was based on a Memorandum of
Understating (MoU) signed with a former Transcorp management at the
inception of the consortium, should have been one of the first
considerations by BPE before going ahead with the plan to sell more
shares to the public.

Agreement stays

But BPE, through
its spokesman, Chukwuma Nwokoh, pointed out that contrary to Mr. Kari’s
fears, the planned divestment of 24 percent of government’s equity in
the hotel would not affect any existing agreements among private
shareholders who control majority stake of 51 percent in the company.

“We are aware of
the comments credited to the immediate past managing director of the
company relating to ongoing plans to sell 24 percent of government’s
equity in Transcorp to workers. There is no basis for any fear, as the
exercise is going to affect only federal government’s shareholding
structure in the company, and not those of the private shareholders.

“BPE is not going
to do anything that would negatively affect the interest of any
stakeholder in the company. All existing memoranda of understanding
(MOU) would not be affected, as those are issues for the private
investors to handle. The exercise has nothing to do with former
arrangements between UnityKapital and their partners which, we learnt,
are about to be sorted out through arbitration,” Mr. Nwokoh explained.

Mr. Kari had said
the signing of the MOU by Transcorp and Capital Leisure followed the
evaluation of the latter’s chances, which was found to have been
brighter than other bidders’ interest in bidding for the hotel, adding
that Transcorp had approached the management of Capital Leisure to seek
its partnership in the bid process.

According to the
former UnityKapital boss, one of the terms of the signed MOU was that
Transcorp would provide funding for the bid and take over 51 percent
equity offered by government, which would thereafter be shared between
Transcorp and Capital Leisure on a 70:30 percent ratio respectively.
However, Mr. Kari pointed out that no sooner had Transcorp raised the
money and paid than it refused to honour the terms of the MOU,
resulting in the ongoing litigation in court.

He expressed his frustration that BPE failed to listen to the pleas
in its petitions and complaints demanding its intervention to help
resolve the matter, adding that the company had to resort to the court
when the management of Transcorp repeatedly failed to attend to its
request or even acknowledge many of its letters on the issue.

The
Federal Government has said it is making steady progress towards
achieving the target of the Roadmap it set last year for the power
sector.

Minister
of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, who presided over the meeting of the
Presidential Action Committee (PAC) on Power on behalf of President
Goodluck Jonathan, told reporters in Abuja that government effort so
far resulted in the supply of about 3,824 mega watts (MW) of
electricity last Monday, the highest level in recent times.

“We
(government) are making good progress in a number of areas, though we
want to do better. The highest level of electricity supply of 3,824 MW
was achieved last Monday. We had a very successful road show on the
privatization of the power sector, and we harvested an encouraging
number of expressions of interest for the companies on offer for sale.
We expect that most of them would be quality investors, who are willing
and committed to help the success of the road map,” he said.

The
minister said government is interested in partnering with companies
that possess not only the financial strength and technical competence,
but also those with the commitment to drive the business and deliver
electricity as quickly as possible, to make the power sector flourish.

“We
are working on a mechanism to gather direct feedback on specific areas
government needs to focus attention on to improve the situation,” he
said.

Impressive growth

Special
Adviser to the President on Power, Barth Nnaji, said the meeting
reviewed government’s effort to improve and stabilise power supply in
the country, pointing out that apart from generation, significant
improvements were recorded in the area of electricity transmission.

In
December 2010, he said electricity transmission capacity achieved 98
percent improvement of the target set under the Roadmap, from 5,155.2MW
at 330kV level and 6,676.8MW at 132kV level last July to 5,515.2MW and
7,328MW at 330kV and 132kV level respectively.

Since
last December, the adviser said two more 60MVA transformers have been
commissioned in Dakata and Port Harcourt municipality, with four more
billed for Ajaokuta, New Haven, Katsina and Birnin Kebbi to be
energised before the end of this month.

In
addition, he said 11 transformers with 60MVA 132/33kV capacity have
since arrived the country awaiting installation at various locations
nationwide, to help boost the electricity transmission capacity to the
100 percent target under the Roadmap.

According
to Mr Nnaji, “Before now, power supply was fluctuating between 2,000
and 3,000 MW. Today, we are making progressing. It would not be
possible for Nigerians to feel the impact, even when the supply rises
to 4,00MW, because the gap between demand and supply is quite huge. The
important thing is that government is doing what it needs to do to grow
power supply to an appreciable level where the people will begin to
feel the impact,” he said.

Holistic approach

He
said government is now looking at the development of the entire
infrastructure in a holistic manner, rather than focus only on
generation and transmission. Director General BPE, Bolanle Onagoruwa,
said about 331 expressions of Interest (EOI) were harvested from
prospective investors in the 11 distribution and six generating
companies, made up of 167 for distribution companies and 174 for
generating companies at the expiration of the deadline last Friday.

Though
the BPE boss said the EOIs are yet to be opened, she said the bureau
will finalize the evaluation criteria within the next one week, while
the evaluation process will begin immediately after.

She assured that investors are not likely to face gas supply
challenges, as all the power plants now being privatised already have
their sources of gas supply.

The naira dipped further against the United States dollar on the
interbank market on Wednesday after the Central Bank failed to meet all the
demand for dollar at its bi-weekly forex auction.

It fell to 154.36 to the dollar from 154.20 at the Interbank
market and to 157 to a dollar at the black market.

Enquiries reveal that the Central Bank could not meet up with
the demand for dollars at the bi-weekly foreign exchange auction as it sold
$300 million at 150.79 to the dollar, short of the $370.67 million demanded and
$350 million sold at 150.68 at Monday’s auction.

Election induced fall

Traders say the inability of the regulatory body to meet up with
demand and the forthcoming elections may have accounted for the gradual fall.

“We started noticing this fall since last week, that it has been
dropping and it continued this week again,” Musa Abdulrahman, a Bureau de
Change operator in Ikeja said.

“I cannot say this is the reason, but I know that the Central
Bank has not been meeting the demand for dollars and then may be politicians
and the elections that is approaching is also adding to this,” he added.

The naira has been gradually depreciating against the dollar.
Experts say that this may be influenced by the fear of International Monetary
Fund’s (IMF) recent comments about the naira and that the nation’s dwindling
foreign exchange reserves could cause panic buying.

The IMF said last month that speculation against the naira could
“become intense” if the reserve depletion continued, but the apex bank has
since assured that there was no need to panic as the nation’s reserves could
support the country’s import bills.

The Central Bank has, time and again, introduced different forex
mechanisms to liberalise the forex market, reduce currency volatility, and
narrow the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates.

However, experts are still optimistic that the Central Bank
would be able to sustain a stable exchange rate, especially on the back of
rising oil prices.

“In 2010, the Central Bank, with extensive use of Forex
reserves, managed the exchange rate within a band of +/- 3 per cent and
stabilised the naira around the exchange rate set in the 2010 budget, of
N150/$. Even though oil exports have increased in recent quarters, foreign
reserves fell to $33 billion in December 2010 from $44 billion in December
2009, following a recovery in second half of 2009,” Renaissance Capital, an
investment bank, said.

“The 2011 budget that was read by President Goodluck Jonathan in
December 2010 proposes keeping the exchange rate flat at N150/$1 in 2011. We
expect Forex reserves to grow again starting in 2Q11, which will enable the
Central Bank to sustain a stable exchange rate. In the near term, we expect the
naira to face some downward pressure, though within a narrow range,” the firm
further said.

The naira dipped further against the United States dollar on the
interbank market on Wednesday after the Central Bank failed to meet all the
demand for dollar at its bi-weekly forex auction.

It fell to 154.36 to the dollar from 154.20 at the Interbank
market and to 157 to a dollar at the black market.

Enquiries reveal that the Central Bank could not meet up with
the demand for dollars at the bi-weekly foreign exchange auction as it sold
$300 million at 150.79 to the dollar, short of the $370.67 million demanded and
$350 million sold at 150.68 at Monday’s auction.

Election induced fall

Traders say the inability of the regulatory body to meet up with
demand and the forthcoming elections may have accounted for the gradual fall.

“We started noticing this fall since last week, that it has been
dropping and it continued this week again,” Musa Abdulrahman, a Bureau de
Change operator in Ikeja said.

“I cannot say this is the reason, but I know that the Central
Bank has not been meeting the demand for dollars and then may be politicians
and the elections that is approaching is also adding to this,” he added.

The naira has been gradually depreciating against the dollar.
Experts say that this may be influenced by the fear of International Monetary
Fund’s (IMF) recent comments about the naira and that the nation’s dwindling
foreign exchange reserves could cause panic buying.

The IMF said last month that speculation against the naira could
“become intense” if the reserve depletion continued, but the apex bank has
since assured that there was no need to panic as the nation’s reserves could
support the country’s import bills.

The Central Bank has, time and again, introduced different forex
mechanisms to liberalise the forex market, reduce currency volatility, and
narrow the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates.

However, experts are still optimistic that the Central Bank
would be able to sustain a stable exchange rate, especially on the back of
rising oil prices.

“In 2010, the Central Bank, with extensive use of Forex
reserves, managed the exchange rate within a band of +/- 3 per cent and
stabilised the naira around the exchange rate set in the 2010 budget, of
N150/$. Even though oil exports have increased in recent quarters, foreign
reserves fell to $33 billion in December 2010 from $44 billion in December
2009, following a recovery in second half of 2009,” Renaissance Capital, an
investment bank, said.

“The 2011 budget that was read by President Goodluck Jonathan in
December 2010 proposes keeping the exchange rate flat at N150/$1 in 2011. We
expect Forex reserves to grow again starting in 2Q11, which will enable the
Central Bank to sustain a stable exchange rate. In the near term, we expect the
naira to face some downward pressure, though within a narrow range,” the firm
further said.

It is essential for brands to present attractive offerings that will add value to consumers’ experience.

The present market
realities have made brands adopt strategies aimed at engaging consumers
and also building brand loyalty. The lifestyle of the consumer should
be given utmost priority in service delivery.

Brand offerings
should be able to deliver creativity, excitement, and entertainment, as
it fosters physical and emotional connection with the brand. Today’s
consumers are dynamic and vibrant and they want a brand that can fit
into their lifestyle and give them worthwhile experiences.

In fact, consumers
now want to create the brand and own the brand. They want offerings
that meet their desired taste and the brand they can use as a means of
self expression. This supports the “MSP” i.e. Me Selling Proposition
standpoint, which places a renewed focus on the consumer.

This is perhaps the main rationale for DSTV Mobile’s offering of ultimate mobile TV entertainment for the consumer.

When DSTV Mobile
launched months back in the Nigerian market, it was readily accepted
because it represented entertainment, information, and value added
services to consumers. Hitherto, they watched DSTV in the comfort of
their homes, but with DSTV Mobile, television is in their hands. This
is one visible way to build brand loyalty and followership.

A unique selling
point was a free trial for the subscribers, which is key to creating
value. The strategic intention is to align with the needs of the
upwardly mobile and constantly on the go consumers who desire to have
fun and excitement as they move on in their pursuits.

DSTV Mobile is on
both MTN and Glo networks, making it easier for subscribers to have
first hand information and knowledge about happenings around them. This
is a vantage way to connect and build brand loyalty.

Brands remain
vibrant and relevant when they focus on key consumer segments; it has
become imperative to meet the expectations of today’s consumers with
ideas like DSTV Mobile. The consumer culture is rapidly changing and as
a result, brands should adopt strategies to remain relevant.

Brands should also
identify key gaps in the lives of their consumers and bridge these
through innovation and value service. Nigerian consumers have a passion
for football, including foreign football clubs, and this is one area in
which DSTV offers enormous benefits.

Through the mobile
television in their hands, and as long as they are connected to DSTV
Mobile, they cannot miss any of the exciting matches. DSTV Mobile makes
subscribers optimise the quality of their viewing time and also get
premium content and programming on their phones.

Consumers are
attracted to brands that simplify their lives. This is one thing that
DSTV Mobile has done so well. Subscribers will not only be loyal to
such brands, but will ultimately create a community of brand loyalists
by enlisting others to share the same experience. This makes the brand
stand out as one of the very few that matters in the marketplace.

Any brand that keys in to the lifestyle of consumers ultimately creates an enduring experience for them.

Standard Bank is looking to ramp up its business in oil-rich Angola, and has
no plans to slow down in fast-growing Nigeria, the head of Africa’s biggest
bank said on Wednesday.

Jacko Maree told the Reuters Africa Investment Summit that while Standard
Bank aims to keep costs flat this year, it will still focus on expanding its
presence in key African markets.

“We are pushing ahead in Angola, where are starting from scratch
building a bank,” Maree told the Reuters Africa Investment Summit.

Standard acquired regulatory approval to start business in the southern
African nation last year and is concentrating on corporate banking there, said
Maree, speaking at Reuters’ offices in Johannesburg.

Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, is increasingly seen as an
important target for South African banks and corporates, as surging oil prices
have underpinned rapid growth.

Rival Absa Group is also considering moving back into Angola after leaving a
few years ago, CEO Maria Ramos told the Summit on Tuesday.

Absa is the South African lender majority owned by Britain’s Barclays.

Standard Bank is struggling to rein in costs after an aggressive push to
become a top emerging markets lender.

The bank said this month it would scale back its ambitions and would no
longer build or buy domestic businesses in markets outside of Africa.

Maree said Nigeria, Africa’s most populous
nation, remained a top priority.

“We are not going to slow down on our plans in Nigeria, whereas there
are one or two other markets where we’ve just said we’ll have to go a little
bit slower.”

There are more opportunities for the bank’s businesses in Ghana and Nigeria
to cooperate, he said.

The outlook for Kenya was also promising, he said.

“Those would be the four markets that will probably get the most of our
attention and to the extent that we’re rationing capital expenditure, we won’t
be rationing in those countries.”

REUTERS

Royal Dutch Shell is close to completing the sale of its stake in four
Nigerian onshore oil blocks after receiving bids from several foreign and local
companies, industry sources close to the deals said.

Shell said last year it had received interest from a number of bidders for
the four blocks it owns along with partners Total <TOTF.PA, Eni and
state-oil firm NNPC as it looked to dispose of non-core Nigerian assets.

The Anglo-Dutch major has not revealed which blocks were for sale but
several industry sources have said negotiations are ongoing over blocks OML 30,
34, 40 and 42, which are all onshore developments in the Niger Delta with
sizeable proven reserves.

Some of these assets hold over 300 million barrels of proven oil reserves
and bids for the largest block have exceeded $1 billion, industry sources said.
Shell confirmed on Wednesday four blocks were still on offer but had no further
comment.

Shell has said it hopes indigenous companies would bid and analysts believe
local players, who are likely to be partnered by foreign oil companies or
independent investors, will have the best chance of securing the blocks.

Oil services firm Petrofac said this week its Nigerian partner Seven Energy
was bidding for one of the blocks, while local players Oando, Vertex Energy,
Niger Delta Ltd and Conoil are all involved in current bids, sources said.

None of these companies were available for comment.

Shell has more onshore oil reserves in Nigeria than any other foreign oil
company but it has also suffered some of the toughest challenges working in the
vast and volatile wetlands of the Niger Delta, the heart of Africa’s largest
energy industry.

Sabotage attacks on pipelines and oil platforms by militants who say they
are fighting for a fairer share of the wealth created in their back yard, have
cut out large chunks of Shell’s output in the past, some of which will never be
restored.

Communities in the Niger Delta blame Shell
for years of oil leaks, gas flaring and other side effects from an energy
business they benefit little from. Shell was forced to abandon its oilfields in
Ogoniland in 1993 due to protests over pollution and a lack of investment in
local infrastructure.

Shell has said it views Nigeria as a key part of its business and the sale
of these assets, which make up a small portion of its business in the country,
is not the beginning of a wider departure from Africa’s most populous nation.

REUTERS