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While welcoming
delegates to the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), President Felipe de
Jesus Calderon Hinojosa of Mexico said that climate change has been
driven by changes in human behaviour, and that a shift in another
direction is needed to reverse the trend.

He intoned that the
world must embark on the pursuit of “green development” and “green
economy” as the path to sustainable development. He also stated that
some of the steps to be taken to attain this ideal include progress on
the negotiations on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD), as well as development of
technologies to reduce fuel emission.

These were nice
words. These were also very contentious ideas. There are several red
flags and concerns about REDD by indigenous groups and forest dependent
peoples, as well as mass social movements across the world. The idea of
canvassing the extension of financial assistance to the poorest and the
most vulnerable countries is also seen by critics as a possible way of
dividing them and making them pliable to suggestions and decisions that
may actually be contrary to their best interests.

Even before the
Cancun conference opened, there were concerns that efforts may already
be afoot to rig the outcome, as was the case in Copenhagen in 2009. One
concern is about a text for negotiation that is emanating from the
chair of one of the working group through an opaque process.

Another concern has
arisen from a decision of the Mexican president to invite selected
heads of states to the conference. The list is not openly available,
but already it is becoming clear that some uninvited presidents intend
to be in Cancun.

Last year in
Copenhagen, the COP began and ended under a cloud of doubts and
perceived undemocratic actions. At that meeting, many delegations from
developing and vulnerable nations believed that drafts of what would be
the final outcome document were being discussed and circulated within
privileged circles, away from the standard practice where such
negotiations took place on the open conference floor.

In Copenhagen,
there was a steady flow of leaked documents allegedly prepared by the
president of the COP. The anxiety in Cancun is being raised by the
texts prepared by the chair of the ad hoc working group on Long-term
Cooperative Action (LCA). The other major working group under the COP
is the one that deals with the Kyoto Protocol and another text is being
expected from the chair of that working group, also without a mandate
from the working groups, according to analysts.

The year between
conferences is spent in technical negotiations and preparations during
which delegations review texts prepared by chairpersons of the working
groups on the basis of the submissions made by the delegations or
members.

Variation in documents

The document
produced by the chair of the LCA appears to be something quite at
variance with what many delegates expected would be the outcome of the
negotiations and work done since Copenhagen. The document that
delegates are to debate is allegedly based on the ‘Copenhagen Accord’,
which some delegates insist was not an agreement at the end of COP15,
but was merely taken note of by that conference.

Questions are being
asked why such a document would now be legitimised and made the
foundation for serious negotiations expected to produce a fair and
ambitious agreement at the end of the conference in Cancun.

After the
Copenhagen conference ended without an agreement, the government of
Bolivia hosted a first ever World Peoples Conference on Climate Change
and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba in April 2010. The outcome
of that conference was the Peoples Agreement that the government of
Bolivia then articulated into a formal submission to the UNFCCC and the
secretary general of the United Nations.

The essential fault
line between those following the path crafted by the Copenhagen Accord
and those who do not accept it as the way towards fair agreement that
recognises the principle of common and differentiated responsibilities,
are quite serious, and the resolution has deep consequences for the
future of our planet and the species that inhabit it, including
humankind.

The draft text
circulated by the chair of the LCA puts forward the ambition that may
lead to an aggregate global temperature increase of up to 2 degrees
Celsius, as opposed to proposals made by a number of delegations that
the target should be between 1 degree and 1.5 degrees temperature rise
above pre-industrial levels. A 2 degrees Celsius temperature increase
would mean catastrophic alteration to some parts of the world, with
Africa being particularly vulnerable.

The text in
question has also disregarded the demand by vulnerable nations that to
ensure urgent and robust technology transfer for the purpose of
mitigation and adaptation, such transfers should not be governed by
subsisting intellectual property rights regimes.

Another sore point
in the text is that the financial commitment proposed does not step up
to the level of ambition needed to tackle the climate crisis, and is
even less serious than what was suggested by the so-called Copenhagen
Accord.

The immediate past
chair of the COP in her final statement indicated that the conference
must move in a way that would show that Cancun can deliver a good
outcome for tackling climate change.

At the end of the first day, the clear question on many minds was, can Cancun?

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on
Monday, in Abuja, launched its Know Your Customer (KYC) campaign, in
its efforts to tackle money laundering and other financial crimes.

Kingsley Moghalu, deputy governor,
financial system stability, told reporters that the bank would partner
with the EFCC, UNODC, and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit
(NFIU) to create awareness on the importance of KYC.

“The campaign would entail adverts and
jingles that would be aired on the print and electronic media over a
period of one month, commencing from December 1 to December 31 across
the entire nation” he said.

Nigeria’s biggest
fixed wireless operator, Starcomms, said it concluded a $81.4 million
sale and leaseback agreement for 407 of its 557 base stations with a
local telecoms service provider.

Starcomms said on
Wednesday the deal with Swap Technologies will see the service provider
taking over the operation and maintenance of the 407 towers, which
include the structure and power components, while it keeps its network
and radio components.

“By leasing rather than owning these passive infrastructure network
facilities, we can free up capital to fund additional growth, reduce
debts and operational costs … as well as allow management to focus on
its core business,”

No fewer than 96
microfinance banks have expressed interest in participating in the
IFAD-assisted Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN) in
Nigeria.

The national
coordinator of the programme, Musibau Azeez, made the announcement on
Monday in Abuja, when he led the supervision mission team of the
programme on a courtesy visit to Bukar Tijani, the national
coordinator, National Programme for Agriculture and Food Security.

The Federal
Government in May 2006 approved the blueprint for RUFIN, and in August
2008 signed a loan agreement with the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), amounting to 27.2 million dollars, for
the implementation of the programme over a seven-year period.

The World Bank
Group says it is working towards promoting the application of
international accounting standards in the country in a bid to
institutionalise greater transparency in financial reporting in the
banking and financial sectors of the economy.

The International
Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, is to
collaborate with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a corporate accounting and
finance consulting firm, to educate practitioners on the need to adopt
the accounting standards to enhance greater transparency in financial
reporting in the country, and allow Nigerian companies meet the
disclosure requirements of international investors.

IFC, which is the
largest global development institution focused on the private sector in
developing countries, is involved in efforts to create opportunities
for people to escape poverty and improve their lives by providing
financing to help businesses employ more people and supply essential
services.

Awareness and understanding

Managing partner,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ken Igbokwe, said in a statement that more than
80 banking and financial sector practitioners recently participated in
a one-day seminar in Lagos to help improve awareness and understanding
of the issues involved with adopting new International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS).

According to Mr.
Igbokwe, the impact of IFRS goes beyond reporting by accountants, and
covers all standards for measuring business performance, adding that
this makes it important that line managers understand its effect on the
internal and external reporting of the operations and performance of
the business.

IFC country manager
for Nigeria, Solomon Adegbie-Quaynor, said embracing the IFRS was
important to assist the financial market in preparing for the process
of change and to realise the importance and benefits to be derived from
increased transparency in financial reporting.

Removing subjectivity

Identifying the
benefits, Mr. Adegbie-Quaynor said apart from helping to remove some
subjectivity from financial reporting, the IFRS provides a consistent
basis for recognition, measurement, presentation, as well as disclosure
of transactions and events in financial statements, pointing out that
the challenge is in getting not only accountants, but other operators
in the banking and financial sectors, to adopt them in their operations.

“As more African
businesses operate internationally, it is important for investors to be
able to compare companies under similar standards in all countries
where they operate. Greater transparency, which these standards will
bring, is likely to attract increased investment into Nigeria,” he said.

Besides, he said,
local companies seeking dual listing in other countries will find IFRS
easier to comply with reporting requirements of overseas stock
exchanges, while governments will be in a better position to assess the
tax liabilities of multinational companies receiving income from
overseas, as well as for foreign multinationals setting up shop in
their own country.

The Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) has stated that it is still in the process of verifying
the raised capital of Wema Bank, a month after the deadline set for the
bank to recapitalise. The CBN had set October 30 for the bank to
recapitalise after it failed to meet an earlier deadline of September
30.

Mohammed Abdullahi,
the spokesperson of the Central Bank, said the regulatory body is still
at the process of capital raising verification.

“That is what we
are still doing. Our update on the verification of the bank’s raised
capital and confirmation on the loans it is said to have recovered is
still valid,” he said.

In first week of
November, the Central Bank stated that it would embark on a
verification process on the N7.5 billion claimed to have been raised by
the bank and the loan of N4 billion it also claimed to have recovered.

The regulatory body
had in October stated that it had granted a 30-day extension to Wema
Bank Plc to enable it conclude its recapitalisation, which ended
October 30.

“At the expiration
of the deadline, the CBN is pleased to note that Wema Bank Plc was able
to raise the sum of N7.5 billion from the Special Placement Offer,
approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and was
formally authorised during the bank’s completion meeting, held on
Tuesday, October 28, 2010,” according to a CBN statement.

The regulator
stated that the total subscriptions of N7.5 billion had been received
in the offer proceeds account domiciled with the Receiving Bank to the
Offer, Skye Bank Plc. In addition, Wema Bank made recoveries of N4
billion on its outstanding loans within the same period.

“Consequently, the
CBN will embark on the verification of the capital raising exercise and
confirmation of the loan recoveries made by the bank,” the statement
said.

The Central Bank
spokesperson said the full recapitalisation of Wema Bank is expected to
be concluded with the sale of some of the bank’s non-performing loans
to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), when the latter
becomes operational.

“Meanwhile, Wema
Bank’s application for a regional commercial banking licence is also
receiving the attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria. All
stakeholders are to be guided accordingly,” the statement added.

Shareholders support

Wole Ajimisinmi,
the bank’s company secretary, said the bank has been carrying its
shareholders along in its recapitalisation process.

“The last time we
had our Annual General Meeting in June, we got approval by the
shareholders to issue new shares and embark on a special placing offer,
after given the go ahead by board of directors. Shareholders also
endorsed the decision of the Board to obtain a Regional Banking licence
when the proposed new licencing regime came up,” Mr. Ajimisinmi said.

The bank’s
management said its recapitalisation process includes recovery of
delinquent loans through internal efforts, and resolution of some of
the nation’s delinquent risk assets using the AMCON window, raising
additional equity through special placing, and application for a
Regional Banking Licence.

In the banks
unaudited balance sheet for the first half of the year released in
August, gross earnings of the bank stood at N14.6 billion, and profit
after tax stood at N1.07 billion. The bank still carries a long term
facility from the CBN of N87 billion, which the bank expects to clear
using the AMCON window.

The Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) of the multibillion dollar Brass Liquefied Natural
Gas (LNG) Project will be signed between Bayelsa State government and
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) this week.

Governor Timipreye
Silva of Bayelsa State told journalists yesterday at the conference of
the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF) in Yenagoa, the state
capital, that the MoU is a reflection of the level of confidence by the
state administration in the development of the oil industry.

The MOU is coming
just as the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) have agreed to constitute a
quarterly audit on the implementation of the Nigerian Content Law,
approved last April by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The shareholders in
Brass LNG include NNPC, 49 percent; Eni International, 17 percent;
Phillips (Brass) Limited, an affiliate of Conoco Phillips, 17 percent;
and Brass Holdings Company Limited, an affiliate of Total, 17 percent.
The 10 percent in the project reserved for the communities is to be
shared equally between Rivers and Bayelsa State governments.

“We are hoping to
sign the MoU with NNPC this week. Brass LNG has gone so far and we are
hoping that with International Oil Companies (IOCs) coming to Bayelsa
State, and setting up shops, we are certain that more employment
opportunities will be generated for our people,” he said.

NCDMB executive
secretary, Ernest Nwapa, said the board and the IOCs agreed at the end
of a recent meeting that a high level group would work together to
audit the implementation of the Nigerian content and turn in review
reports on actions taken in pursuit of the Nigerian Content policy.

Improved local content

Diezani
Alison-Madueke, the petroleum minister, reiterated the administration’s
commitment to a new Nigerian oil and gas industry on the basis of the
local content policy “with a clear strategy for employment creation and
participation of Nigerians, as well as a programme for integration of
oil producing communities into mainstream economic activity that
creates linkages to other sectors of the Nigerian economy.”

The minister
acknowledged the progress so far recorded through the Nigerian content
policy, though she identified the difficulty in accessing oil fields as
the greatest challenge to operators in the Niger Delta.

“The challenge of
funding and promoting investments to sustain the operations of the
industry is formidable, but the greatest threat to the industry’s
survival today is related to maintaining unfettered access to the oil
fields for efficient and safe operations. If access to the oil fields
is constrained, our growth aspirations cannot be realised, as was
demonstrated at the height of the Niger Delta crisis when the country
lost over 50 percent of daily production, suffered severe disruptions
and loss of basic liberties, lives, and property,” Mrs. Alison-Madueke
said.

She said the
expectation was that the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act
will result in the retention of over $10 billion out of an average $20
billion annual oil and gas industry expenditure in the Nigerian
economy, creation of over 30,000 direct employment and training
opportunities in the country, and establishment of three to four new
pipe mills to service the industry.

The
moves by the House of Representatives committee on capital market to
revisit the unclaimed dividends issue has been described as
overzealous, in the light of more pressing national issues.

The
contentious issue of unclaimed dividend has been a long standing one.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed to set up a
body to take the funds off the books of the companies to be managed
separately. The amount has risen to nearly N20 billion over the years,
while the last attempt to set up the fund was rejected by the National
Assembly in 2006 due to public outcry.

The
latest move seeks to lump the unclaimed dividend with other funds under
the Unclaimed Dividends, Dormant Accounts and Abandoned Property Bill,
for which a public hearing was held last week.

Correct approach

The
Capital Market Solicitors Association (CMSA) said the issue should be
resolved with consideration for the interest of the heirs of the owners
of the unclaimed dividends.

“We
think that the correct approach is to have an agency, which can be SEC,
with power to investigate and trace the next of kin of owners of
unclaimed dividend. The company with claimed dividend is to be made
obliged to refer to SEC or the agency for investigation once the
unclaimed dividend is outstanding for six years,” the association said.

In
its official presentation to the House of Representatives public
hearing on the matter, the association emphasised the need for
procedures simplification of the processes for replacement of lost or
expired dividend warrants, as well as transmission of shares.

“No
doubt, if the procedure is cumbersome, it has the effect of swelling
the proof of unclaimed dividends, as small holders and even at times
large holders do not see it as worth the effect. They simply abandon
their dividend,” the body added.

No need for bureaucracy

Victor
Ogiemwonyi, managing director of Partnership Investment, a financial
services firm, said the House proposal was predicated on a wrong
premise.

“There
is no doubt about who owns these assets, whether unclaimed dividends or
dormant accounts, the owners exist. Even when they are dead, their
successors in title are there to make a claim today or in the future,”
Mr. Ogiemwonyi said.

He said the idea was another attempt to take away from others what rightfully belongs to them.

“There
is no need to create a bureaucracy to do what is not needed; worse
still, create laws that are not needed. More importantly, the
proposals, if passed into law, will infringe on a fundamental right,
the right to property,” Mr. Ogiemwonyi said.

Boniface
Okezie, chairman of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria,
said the proposed Bill was unnecessary, especially in the light of more
pressing problems besetting the country.

“If the National Assembly have their hands full, they would not
dabble into an issue that does not concern them. Is it their money? No
roads from east to west, north to south. No electricity, educational
system is in shambles, and all the House can do is to deliberate on
unclaimed dividend,” Mr. Okezie fumed.

Nigeria has started
the process of meeting the April 2011 extended deadline for her
validation as an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
compliant country.

Nigeria was among
the four EITI candidate countries denied membership by the validation
committee of the international transparency body during its board
meeting in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, last month. The others were
Cameroon, Kyrgyzstan, and Gabon.

Though Nigeria was
adjudged by the board to be “close to compliant”, the country was given
a six-month extension period to take steps to remedy its status, latest
by April 2011.

The steps include
the conclusion and dissemination of its ongoing 2006-2008 audit report
in the oil and gas sector; development of a board charter to strengthen
the work of the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG); ensuring
that all government disclosures are based on audited accounts of oil,
gas, and mining companies, as well as relevant government agencies.

Determined to meet
the deadline, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
(NEITI) hosted a workshop in Abuja on the ‘Standard Data Request
Template’ to facilitate the collection and collation of the information
and data to be used in producing the make-up EITI audit report.

Assisi Asobie,
NEITI chairman, who underlined the importance of the template as a key
tool for disclosure, said that the capacity of any EITI implementing
country to produce regular and timely reports is dependent on the
nature of the template used.

The Nigeria
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) is the Nigerian
subset of a global initiative aimed at following due process and
achieving transparency in payments by Extractive Industry (EI)
companies to governments and government-linked entities.

Required data for template

He added that the
oil and gas companies would be expected to provide, among other
information, data on payments made to different government departments
by payment types, accompanied with auditors’ issued statements on
quality of data, duly signed off on accuracy by a competent senior
official; as well as detailed reconcilers in the form of receipts and
bank statements.

Similarly, the
NEITI boss said government would be required to gather and make
available reconcilers and auditors’ statements on data from all its
ministries, departments, and agencies which receive revenues from
operating companies.

Besides, government
is expected to issue statements, duly signed off by its senior
officials, on the quality of data provided by MDAs, while data are to
be provided in a company-by-company, payment-type by payment-type
format, with receipts and bank statements as reconcilers, where date do
not match up with those provided by the companies.

Civil society’s role

On their part,
civil society organisations, which have already been furnished with the
electronic copies of the template for the 2006-2008 oil and gas
industry audits, are expected to be fully engaged in the process by
making their inputs to the template structure, design, and
administration; as well as help persuade oil and gas companies and
governments to respond by providing the required information and data.

Though there are
other disclosures and reporting activities recognised by the global
EITI, Mr. Asobie said other core requirements include revenue
allocation to subnational levels, communities; calculations of what
companies pay against what they should pay; and transparency of
licences or other contract terms.

AIESEC Alumni
Nigeria, a domestic arm of the world’s largest fully student-run
organisation (AIESEC International) will host its 2010 Omolayole Annual
Management Lecture on Wednesday, December 8th, in Lagos.

The lecture, which
is in its 26th year, will focus on the ‘Role of Taxation in Achieving
the Nation’s Vision 20-2020 Objectives’ and will be delivered by an
AIESEC Alumnus, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, a Chartered Accountant/Business
Consultant and current executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue
Service.

Emmanuel Ijewere,
the past president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria
(ICAN) and expert on tax matters, will be the chairman of the lecture,
while Babatunde Raji Fashola, the governor of Lagos State, will be the
special guest of honour.

Mrs.
Omoigui-Okauru’s presentation will take a holistic view of the nation’s
visioning process, the objectives, and the role of taxation in
realising these objectives: to be amongst the top 20 nations in the
year 2020.