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By picking a
respected company insider as its next chief executive, MTN Group is
betting on the steady pair of hands that helped steer the mobile
operator’s rapid growth across Africa. Africa’s largest mobile phone
company on Monday named 53-year-old Chief Operating Officer Sifiso
Dabengwa to replace veteran leader Phuthuma Nhleko as CEO when he steps
down in March. The appointment of the quiet, media-shy electrical
engineer is unlikely to mark a major change of strategy at MTN,
business associates and industry analysts said.

Dabengwa is expected to focus on retaining market share and bolstering operations after years of strong growth.

“This guy is an
insider. He is even more of an insider than Nhleko — remember Nhleko
came from outside. It’s a safe pair of hands,” said Strive Masiyiwa,
the founder of rival mobile phone operator Econet Wireless, who knows
him professionally.

Dabengwa, who has
run MTN’s operations in Nigeria and South Africa, is likely to focus on
consolidating the business and improving efficiency said Masiyiwa.

“He is not going to
be expansionist. Those days are done.” Dabengwa, who holds an MBA,
joined MTN in 1999 from state power firm Eskom . That was two years
before Nhleko, a former banker,

joined the
business. wHe will need to fend off competition from Bharti Airtel,
which is waging a price war in sub-Saharan Africa and plans to spend at
least $1.1 billion on network upgrades in the next three years.
Dabengwa also takes over just as the company faces fewer opportunities
for large-scale expansion.

Broken deals

MTN, which has
failed to complete four major deals since 2008, has said it is
concentrating on paying more to shareholders, in line with a strategy
that no longer emphasises growth by acquisition.

Its latest
acquisition attempt, a bid to buy assets from Egypt’s Orascom Telecom,
fell through in June, when Algeria’s government blocked the sale of
Orascom’s unit there.

“He is quite a firm leader and is a good choice for this job,” said an MTN executive who did not want to be named.

The executive added Dabengwa is steeped in MTN culture and should be able to navigate the challenges facing it.

He will need to
seek new revenue streams, such as mobile data — as further growth
opportunities in voice services are limited, analysts said — and focus
on cost cutting.

“He’s got a very
strong operational background, which is very important as it is
becoming very competitive,” said Frost & Sullivan analyst Spiwe
Chireka.

She said MTN must
step up expansion into the enterprise business focusing on corporate
customers. This could result in a lucrative revenue stream and a tie-up
with a global carrier.

The $35 billion
company, which operates networks across Africa and the Middle East, had
134.4 million users at the end of September. However, much of its
business is concentrated in a few markets, such as Nigeria, South
Africa and Iran.

Respect

Although well known
for years as MTN’s second-in-command, Dabengwa has tried to avoid media
publicity. He generally does not grant one-on-one interviews, limiting
public comments to annual general meetings or earnings announcements.

“I have a huge
respect for him. Very efficient, very focused and totally committed to
the company,” said Nozipho January-Bardill, MTN’s former spokeswoman.

MTN, the country’s
only mobile operator majority owned by South Africans, was set up with
government help in 1994 as the first black-owned group after the end of
apartheid.

“He is not just an
experienced senior black executive. He is a world-class executive. He
now carries the legacy of ensuring the world knows we can build
world-class organisations as black people,” said Econet’s Masiyiwa.

“I know there are people who wanted an outsider and there is no need for that. Success is built on success.”

The federal government is worried that most of the products generated from research activities in Nigeria are lying on the shelf and have not translated to goods and services that will impact the lives of Nigerians.

Mohammed Abubakar, the minister of science and technology expressed this worry at the opening of 2010 National Science and Technology Week on Monday in Abuja. Mr Abubakar said that these products would transform Nigeria and enable her secure a prominent position as one of the industrialized nations but the investors seem uninterested in utilizing them.

“Today, there is a long inventory of research findings which have remained on the shelves awaiting the patronage of investors,” he said. “It is, however, sad to note that most of the research outcomes which otherwise would have catapulted Nigeria to the club of technologically developed nations are, unfortunately, not being translated into essential goods and services.”

Nigerians prefer importation

He further added that a lot has been done but most Nigerians are not interested in what we are doing because they prefer importation but that technological investment has its gestation period.”Entrepreneurs are not patient enough to wait for that period. They want turnover in 48 hours that is why we hold this NASTECH week to provide the avenue for them to come and look at what we have done and partner with research institutes to upscale it and produce goods and services required.

Represented by Femi Olayisade, permanent secretary of the ministry of science and technology, the minister further stated that the lack of interest in taking up research and development is a challenge that requires urgent attention.”The ministry is pursuing various strategies that would facilitate the adoptions and development of research outcomes,” he said.

“Already, the government has established the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) to assist entrepreneurs through the establishment of technology incubations in all the states of the federation.Also, through the Presidential Committee on Inventions and Innovations, government gives grants to worthy investors and innovators to upscale their inventions or innovations.”

The minister also hinted that the theme of this year’s technology week tagged “Science and Technology: Key to achieving 7-Point Agenda,” was quite apt in view of the immense contributions science could make to the attainment of the 7-Point Agenda.

He stressed that NASTECH 2010 would provide another window for interaction between researchers, investors, innovations and investors as well as stimulate research and development/industry linkages towards ensuring that science and technology contributes to national development and the attainment of Vision 20:2020.

He added that the ultimate objective was to acquaint investors with the stride made in the nation’s scientific and technological development and to encourage interested entrepreneurs to commercialize the outcomes of research and development.

NASTECH 2010 is expected to feature exhibition, research and investors’ forum and technical sessions. Participants at the event included junior engineers, technicians and scientists from all zones of the federation.

This, he said gives credence to the fact that Nigeria is on right track and programmes like NASTECH are indeed preparing future scientists and engineers that will lead our beloved Nigeria to greater heights.

The details are yet
to be filled in, but Presidency documents on the outlines of the
federal government’s budget for next year suggest that the output
growth number is the most realistic of the estimates on which the
budget is based. At 7%, the assumption for GDP growth is
uncontroversial. The economy has grown at this pace for like three
years now, it’s almost become the trend growth rate. Moreover, against
the general performance of most other economies, it is an impressive
rate. The only problem is that output growth in the country no longer
has a relationship with any other sector of the economy. Imagine that
only six years has passed since the government designed its flagship
poverty reduction strategy – the National Economic Empowerment and
Development Strategy (NEEDS) – where it described an annual growth rate
of 7% – 8% as a “poverty reducing growth rate”.

Anecdotal evidence
suggests that in the last four years, the incidence of poverty has
worsened, despite our having held growth at close to the NEEDS target
for like three years. Why is this so? Because the annual investment
rate in the country (a little over 16%) is still way below the minimum
“of about 30 percent of GDP”, required to bring about the needed
change? Or because of the continued absence of linkages between GDP
growth and fiscal revenues? Whatever the answer to this question, the
latter possibility in particular forces us to confront existing worries
about what exactly official bean counters count when they do their
output numbers.

Unfortunately, the
lack of faith over domestic official statistics does not end there. The
fundamentals of the proposed appropriations for 2011 repeat a number of
them. Take the main source of official revenue for instance. The new
appropriations assume an oil output target of 2.3mbd, and an oil price
benchmark of US$65 per barrel. Within the current dynamics of the oil
industry, this is understandable: oil prices on the international
markets are pushing hard against the US$100 per barrel mark; and
domestic oil production (excluding condensates) is currently above the
2.2mbd mark. However, if we have learnt anything at all from our almost
forty years of dependence on oil sales as the major component of the
revenue side of our fiscal operations, it is that the market is too
volatile to usefully anchor anything but near-term projections on.

Until recently for
instance, a supply shock was the most likely explanation for movements
in international oil prices. And because OPEC controlled a major part
of global reserves and production capacity, the cartel’s price fixing
did matter. All that has changed however. Suddenly, there’s China.
Today, oil prices are driven more by demand from emerging economies
than by the old supply considerations. Increased demand has meant
higher prices, the new price levels have attracted marginal oil fields;
and OPEC’s ability to affect prices by tinkering with production has
diminished considerably. Then there is the weather. How much of changed
weather conditions is the result of global warming? What are the
implications of a warmer climate on the demand for heating, and hence
for oil? All told, the oil price model has too many exogenous variables
to be useful for serious planning.

Responding to this
reality, in 2004, the Obasanjo administration set about trying to
constrain spending by moving revenue from crude oil sales onto the
budget in accordance with a reference price. Tied to a cap on the
non-oil deficit, that administration’s fiscal policy was able to rack
up savings in what was christened the excess crude account. When three
years later, the Umaru Yar’Adua administration enshrined the oil
price-based fiscal rule into the Fiscal Responsibility Act, there was a
sense of government trying to immure itself against the volatility of
oil prices.

So much has changed
since then, though. Government has cleaned out the excess crude
account. The budget deficit as a share of domestic output is running
riot. The rise in domestic spending that has fuelled the deficit is not
creating a sustainable basis for public expenditure (too much of the
spending is on salaries and overheads).

Add in possible adverse shocks to the economy’s outlook from the
general elections scheduled for next year, and it made sense to have
wished for a budget based on more conservative assumptions, especially
one that sought to consolidate government’s fiscal position.

To
ensure effective delivery internet services, management of congestion
on its network and exploit the potentials of ‘connected government’,
the federal government has entered into a broadband access partnership
with the first submarine cable company in West Africa, Main One Cable
Limited. Oladapo Afolabi, head of the Civil Service of the federation
at the launch of the partnership last week in Abuja said the civil
service would utilize the opportunity in addressing the myriad of
challenges, which he said had continued to plague and hamper its
abilities to deliver on government programmes. He noted that an
evolutionary aspect of e-government is the concept of the ‘connected
government which he said “ is driven by the realization that the
increased connecting power of ICT had enabled a shift in orientation
from the vertical to the horizontal, from predominantly intra-agency
interactions to increasingly inter-agency, cross-government
interactions.”

Connecting power

The
head of service stressed that the horizontal connecting power of ICT is
emerging as a driver of fundamental changes in the way the business of
government operates and the way governments provide services to and
interact with their citizens.

“Connected
government is now the dominant theme in e-government, according to a
recent United Nations e-government survey. Connected government
emphasizes the benefits of seeking to make the whole more than the sum
of the parts by creating connected governance mechanisms aimed at
orchestrated otherwise disjointed e-government themes.”

Mr.
Afolabi explained that “Galaxy Backbone was established in 2006 as a
government owned company and charged to deliver connectivity and other
information and communications technology infrastructure to ministries,
departments and agencies (MDAs) of government and currently has up to
300 MDAs connected to its ONEGOV.net network in over 3000 office
locations in the public service.”

Main
One Optic Fibre cable system is capable of transmitting and enabling
access to broadband internet at a speed of almost 5 terabytes per
second-which is much faster than what is currently available in Europe
and will deliver up to 10 times more capacity than what is currently
available here in Nigeria. The partnership would save over 65 per cent
of previous charges spent by government to expand its networks in over
3,000 offices located in the public service.

Broadband internet

“On
the other hand, Main One Optic Fibre cable system is capable of
transmitting and enabling access to broadband internet at a speed of
almost 5 terabytes per second-which is much faster than what is
currently available in Europe and will deliver up to 10 times more
capacity than what is currently available here in Nigeria.”

Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, Secretary to the Government of the Federation
who spoke at the occasion said the partnership would have positive
economic impact on the economy. While commending Galaxy for achieving
cost reduction in the execution of the exercise, Mr. Ahmed said the
agency has been diligent in utilizing cost saving mechanisms inherent
in the procurement processes. He expressed hope that the significant
price reduction will contribute to bringing the digital divide to the
benefit of dwellers in the rural areas and improve access in the
educational sector.

The Federal
Government has released N1 billion as arrears for the implementation of
the National Programme for Food Security (NPFS), an official of the
Ministry has said.

Bukar Tijani, the
NPFS National Coordinator, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on
Monday in Lagos, that the 2007/2008 NPFS arrears were appropriated in
the 2010 budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Tijani said that
the money had been transferred to all the states that had complied with
the directive to open domiciliary accounts for the programme.

He said that more
than 70,000 beneficiaries were being targeted directly and 765,000
beneficiaries through the outreach programme. He further said that the
programme was being implemented in 327 local governments in the country.

According to the
coordinator, the programme has recorded success in production
enhancement and diversification as well as encouraging emphasis towards
supporting small producers.

U.S. energy firm
Chevron said on Monday that it has suspended production from an oil
pipeline in Nigeria’s Delta state, which was breached on Friday.

Chevron said it was
investigating the damage to its Dibi-Abiteye pipeline but it did not
say how much production would be lost from shutting down the stream.

“We have suspended
production to minimise environmental impact and have informed relevant
government agencies and other stakeholders,” Chevron said in a
statement.

“The breach is
being investigated and we are reviewing our operations.” A militant
faction in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta said on Saturday it was
behind the attacks on oil facilities operated by U.S. energy firm
Chevron and Italian oil company Agip.

Rising food and
education costs pushed Morocco’s year-on-year inflation to 2.6 percent
in November from 1.8 percent the previous month, the state’s High
Planning Commission (HCP) said. Month-to-month, prices fell 0.7 percent
from their level in October after a 1.6 percent drop in prices of food
and beverages, HCP, Morocco’s economic planning and statistics
authority, said in a statement.

Food and beverage prices, which account for more than 40 percent of
the North African country’s consumer price index, rose 5.2 percent in
the 12 months to end-November, while education costs rose 4.6 percent
over the same period, HCP said.

Kenya’s Central
Bank offered banks 10 billion shillings in sale and repurchase
agreement on Monday after a liquidity squeeze caused by end-year
payment of taxes to the government.

Banks took up 8.36
billion shillings of the cash offered at an average rate of 1.46
percent.Central Bank and traders said the government usually increases
liqidity in the banking system at this time of the year as the tax
payments fall due during this time.

The repo, which has
a tenor of eight days, is the second cash injection by the central bank
since late November when it offered 3.26 billion shillings. It has
offered 281.5 billion shillings in 2010, the bank said.

Fidelity Bank wants to expand rapidly to become
one of the country’s top three lenders, growing organically and potentially
through acquisitions, its chief executive said on Friday.

Reginald Ihejiahi said the bank is still
interested in buying local rival Afribank, one of nine lenders rescued in a $4
billion bailout last year, even though it has picked a private equity
consortium as its preferred bidder.

“With regards to the Afribank transaction, I will
just say that these are early days yet. It’s a transaction we are still waiting
on,” Mr Ihejiahi told Reuters in an interview in the commercial capital Lagos.
“We will do an acquisition if the price is right, if the contractual terms are
right.”

Banking sources said last week that a consortium
of private equity investors had emerged as the preferred bidder for Afribank
with Fidelity as the reserve bidder but Afribank made it clear that it’s in
talks with potential investors but gave no details.

Industry sources estimate private equity bidders
would need to raise up to 30 billion naira to bring Afribank up to minimum
capital requirement levels after state-run “bad bank” AMCON absorbs all of its
non-performing loans.

AMCON was set up to help recapitalise the nine
rescued banks by absorbing their bad loans in an effort to restore lending in
sub-Saharan Africa’s second biggest economy. It will also buy margin loans from
across the wider banking sector.

Mr Ihejiahi said Fidelity had disclosed all of
its non-performing loans (NPLs) to AMCON and wanted to sell them “We want to
sell 100 percent, we have no reason not to do that … We have very little
margin loans, we have about 5 billion naira,” he said, adding that bank chiefs
had met with AMCON on Thursday to discuss the process.

“They said they would like to focus on margin
loans but (AMCON) has assured that before you get to the second quarter of 2011
they will have taken up all the NPLs,” Mr Ihejiahi said.

He said the bank expects to grow its branch
network to 200 branches from a current 181 before the second quarter of 2011
and that it planned to apply for an international banking licence by the end of
the year.

The central bank has said it will stop issuing
universal banking licences in a bid to avoid a repeat of last year’s near
collapse of several lenders which led to the bailout.

The regulator wants to separate banks’ core
lending business from more speculative capital markets activities — such as
stockbroking, asset management, private equity and venture capital — to
protect depositors’ funds.

Under the guidelines, lenders will now operate as
regional, national or international banks with varying minimum capital
requirements.

“We are asking for their approval for us to be a
commercial bank which has an international aspiration … We plan to put in our
application before the year runs out,” Mr Ihejiahi said, adding Fidelity would
sell subsidiaries as needed.

Christmas is a time
when families come together, homes are decked out with Christmas trees
decorated with tinsel, ornaments and lights, sumptuous meals are
prepared and carols waft through the air as people dash about for their
last minute shopping spree.

In a sense, it has
become all about money; amidst it all, it is so easy to lose sight of
the true meaning of Christmas. What can you do this year that
epitomises the true spirit of Christmas?

Teach your children the gift of giving

We all love to see
the excitement on our children’s faces on Christmas Eve or Christmas
morning, ripping the wrapping paper off their presents. The experience
of receiving piles of gifts makes them believe that they must have lots
of new things for Christmas to be perfect. Try to emphasise the
non-material aspects of the season, such as family, fellowship, and
thoughtfulness.

It is not enough to
just tell our kids to be charitable and kind. Sometime during this
season, perhaps you can find time to visit an orphanage, a homeless
shelter, an old people’s home, or some of the flood victims who
recently lost everything that they owned.

Our actions in
supporting others will speak louder than any thing we can say. We must
guide them through a programme of action that becomes ingrained into
their psyche. It teaches them a powerful lesson about kindness and
generosity and that their money or talent can have a positive effect on
the wellbeing of others. It will also show them graphically how lucky
they are; they can take so much for granted.

A thoughtful gesture

The high cost of
living and unemployment means that many Nigerians face a dismal
Christmas and cannot afford a special meal on Christmas day. If as you
shop, your trolley is overflowing with goodies, why not shop for
another family that faces really difficult times and then have it
delivered to their doorstep.

There are so many
people in need of the simple things that so many of us may take for
granted. Think about all the food that goes to waste on Christmas day
and what a difference it would make to the numerous homeless people who
would be glad for a decent meal and some of the clothes you don’t need.

Elderly cheer

Have you ever
visited an old peoples’ home in Nigeria? Get a few friends, put some
money together, and take some gifts and treats to the elderly who have
found themselves in one of the old peoples’ homes in the country, in
spite of our extended family system. Cheer them up; the gift of
happiness and good stimulating company for an old person who might be
lonely during Christmas would make such a difference.

Give back through philanthropy

The definition of a philanthropist is “someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes.”

By giving back to
your community, religious organisations, for education, for sports, or
for the arts, you afford yourself the opportunity and indeed the
privilege of making a positive impact on other people’s lives. Material
possessions will eventually lose their shine, but through philanthropy,
one can help others, and can shape, or even save lives.

Decide what causes
you may want to support and then review your finances to decide how
much you can afford to give. Will it be a one off donation this
Christmas or is it something you can continue to commit to year on
year.

Narrow your choices
down to a few charities or causes you feel comfortable with and do some
research on them to ensure that their ethos and mission is in
consonance with your core values; then choose say one or two to
support. Try to follow up to see how your donation is being used.

Give to your alma mater

Do you often
reminisce about how things used to be at your old school and how far
standards have fallen? Why don’t you do something about it? With an
endowed gift, you can provide permanent support for the educational
institution. Your contributions will be invested and each year a
distribution made to fund the programme or area that matches your
interest in a particular field of study.

Once it is
officially established, you or anyone else may continue to add to the
fund at any time. You may also decide to, through the title, forever
link your name or that of a family member to excellence at the college.
You contribution will go a long way in improving the standards of
education so badly needed in our country.

Give of your time

Even if you have
had a really hard year and it sounds absurd to even conisder giving
what you don’t have, focus instead of being grateful for what you have.
If you look around, you will find that there is always someone worse
off than you are.

Giving does not
mean that you must give only financially; there are several ways to
give meaningfully. The possibilities of giving of your time,
experience, talent, and intellect are endless and by sharing your
knowledge with others, you can add value to your community in this way.

As we get caught up in the whirlwind of festivity, socialising, and
present buying, it is little wonder that we often forget the true
meaning of Christmas. How can you make a difference? If you haven’t
been doing much for others before now, Christmas is a good time to
start. As we prepare for Christmas, let us not forget what we have been
given; God’s gift of His Son Jesus Christ. This Christmas, let us be a
blessing to others. Merry Christmas!