Category: Publications

NIGERIA

 

Parallel currency market emerging

 A kind of parallel universe is taking shape in Nigeria’s foreign-exchange market, reports Business Report. The country’s traditional forwards market is facing competition from an upstart based on the new exchange-rate window policy makers opened six weeks ago. Bond investors and speculators are switching away from non-deliverable forwards that are linked to the main interbank exchange rate, which is tightly controlled by the central bank, and embracing the more liberal pricing mechanism. Traders expect the forwards to give them greater control in predicting future exchange rates and raise the appeal of carry trades in naira assets. ‘It’s created a situation in which you have two NDF markets,’ Samir Gadio, head of Africa strategy at Standard Chartered, said by phone from London. ‘The Nafex NDF market is just emerging. So far there have been tentative trades, but we are getting to the point where market stakeholders are starting to quote consistently…’ The new forwards market comes as the Nafex window helps to alleviate the dollar squeeze and boost Nigerian assets, the report says.

Business Report

Oil price volatility raising budget finance questions

Ongoing crude oil price volatility have heightened fears of how to finance Nigeria’s 2017 budget, reports The Guardian, Nigeria. Oil prices have fallen to seven-month lows after news of increases in supply by several key producers weakened the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries attempts to support the market through an output freeze. Experts believe that this drop in crude oil prices is not good for the Nigerian economy whose 2017 budget depends on revenue from hydrocarbon execute. The director-general, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Muda Yusuf, called for a review of the entire budgetary process and to set timelines for every stage of the process.
The Guardian, Nigeria

Positive current account balance in 2016

Nigeria recorded a positive current account balance of $2.72m (N823bn) in 2016, a recovery from a deficit of $15.43m in 2015. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that this was disclosed in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ recently released 2017 Annual Statistics, which showed that Opec countries recorded a collective current account deficit of $43.740m during the period under review. Nigeria on the other hand, recorded positive current account balance of $17.56m in 2012; $19.205m in 2013; and $907,000 in 2014 before recording the highest deficit of $15.43m in 2015. Also, oil producing wells in Nigeria dropped by 279 from 1,947 in 2015 to 1,668 in 2016. Nigeria’s producing wells were 2,101 in 2014 before the decline in crude oil prices, which brought down investment in exploration activities.
The Guardian, Nigeria

Increased production sees Nigeria back as Africa’s top oil producer

Nigeria’s crude oil exports are set to reach 1.84m barrels per day (bpd) in July, says a Premium Times report. The new figure is slightly higher because of a recovery in Forcados exports, according to the nation’s recent loading programmes. Forcados exports resumed at the end of May after a nearly complete shutdown since February 2016. The report says that this has helped Nigeria return to the status of Africa’s largest oil exporter, a title it lost to Angola in 2016. The loss followed militant attacks on the nation’s oil infrastructure in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. Production has since improved, following peaceful negotiations with leaders from the region. However, the report says, with a force majeure in place on Bonny Light, and loading delays of as much as 10 days, Nigeria’s export plans for June and July are likely to change.
Premium Times report

 

Shell reviewing strategy but not quitting the country

Nigeria’s oldest energy company, Shell, has said it is reviewing its Nigeria strategy but that it does not involve quitting the country. According to a Daily Trust report, the country chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, that Shell was in Nigeria to stay and wanted to continue, ‘to play this role well into the future.’ Royal Dutch Shell had in 2016 said it would end its operations in 10 countries and sell 10% of its production as part of a $30bn asset sale plan by 2018. Shell currently has its operations in more than 70 countries; including Nigeria where it operates joint ventures with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, but said it wanted to focus on 13 nations. It did not say which countries it might exit but affirmed it was not considering leaving Nigeria.

 

Shell is considering whether to invest in a gas project in Nigeria’s southern Niger Delta energy hub

The MD is quoted in a Business Recorder report as saying. Nigeria has the world’s ninth largest proven gas reserves, at 187trn cubic feet (tcf). Okunbor said it was ‘on the verge of making a final investment decision’ on a project in the city of Asa that would have a capacity of 300m cubic feet. He declined to specify the sum of money being considered as a possible investment. Okunbor said Shell was putting more emphasis on gas and reducing the oil portion of its footprint in Nigeria, although he added that the company was ‘still a significant player in onshore (oil)’.
Daily Trust
Business Recorder 

Forte Oil applies for share sale approval

Nigeria’s Forte Oil plans a 20bn naira ($66m) share sale to institutional and high net worth investors and has applied for regulatory approval, reports The Times of India. The energy firm said the capital raising will be done as a public offer for shares through a book building process to help price discovery. It has applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Nigerian Stock Exchange for approval. Forte said its core investor, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, owned by billionaire Femi Otedola, with a total stake of 78.08% in the company, will not participate in the offer. In 2016, Forte posted a 24% fall in pre-tax profit, which knocked it shares down 74.4%. Forte says it is on track to achieve its target for 2017 and that based on its performance so far it could pay-out half of its earnings as dividend.
The Times of India 

New airline being ‘cleared for take-off’

Nigeria’s aviation industry has suffered a prolonged spell of violent turbulence – the nation’s leading carrier was recently taken over by the government to prevent it collapsing; a crumbling runway closed the capital’s international airport for six weeks; and the whole sector has been battered by Nigeria’s recession that has driven up costs and made foreign currency scarce. But, reports KPAX, despite the gloomy conditions, a new and ambitious airline is being cleared for take-off. JetWest could make its maiden voyage in December, and the team behind it is aiming high. The report says the venture’s founder is Dikko Nwachukwu, whose mission statement is simple. ‘The guiding vision for JetWest is to make air travel accessible for more people,’ says Nwachukwu. ‘We are about democratizing the skies.’ The report says Nwachukwu sees opportunity in the vast market unserved by existing airlines. Nigeria has by far the largest population in Africa, and the entrepreneur draws inspiration from rapid progress in another technology field – cell phones. If all goes to plan, JetWest will launch this year with 100 employees and a fleet of three Airbus A320 jets flying local routes in Nigeria, the report says.
KPAX

Share restructuring will see banks take over Etisalat Nigeria

Following the failure of Etisalat Nigeria to restructure its loans amounting to N541bn, the telecommunications giant has announced a share restructuring which will see 13 commercial banks take over control of shares in the company. Naija Newsreports that Ibrahim Dikko, vice president, regulatory and corporate affairs of Etisalat, confirmed the development, noting that the negotiations with the consortium of lenders were considering a number of possible options that could include, bringing in new equity partners or a merger with other industry players. The telecommunications company had obtained the loans from 13 banks in 2013 – Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA, Fidelity Bank and First Bank, among others – to refinance an existing commercial medium-term debt of $650m and continue its network rollout across the country. The parent company in Abu Dhabi, which has already converted its inter-company debts into equity, left it with little incentive to bailout its loss-making Nigerian entity.
Naija News

Bond sale to boost Ecobank Group’s capital position

Ecobank Group has received shareholders’ approval to raise $400m in convertible bonds to boost the group’s capital position. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that the convertible bond issue will have a maturity of five years and a coupon of 6.46%above 3-month LIBOR, with an option to convert at an exercise price of 6c US during the conversion period. Ecobank’s group chair, Emmanuel Ikazaboh, said that the proceeds have been earmarked to repay the bridging finance required to create a resolution vehicle to manage Ecobank’s legacy loan portfolio and optimise the maturities of the group’s debt portfolio. He added that the strategy would also improve Ecobank Nigeria’s liquidity and help in the effective management of capital, thereby accelerating the bank’s turnover.
The Guardian, Nigeria

Atlas Mara to increase stake in Union Bank of Nigeria

Atlas Mara Ltd, the African investment vehicle of former Barclays boss Bob Diamond, has announced plans to raise $200m to increase its stake in Union Bank of Nigeria and to scale up other businesses, reports The New York Times. Atlas Mara said it was buying a 13.4% stake in the Union Bank of Nigeria from Clermont Group, taking its total holding to 44.5%. The bank said it is in discussions with potential investors regarding a possible raising of new equity capital, comprising of $100m equity offering and a $100m mandatory convertible bond. The report says Diamond teamed up with Africa-based entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar to set up Atlas Mara, a vehicle through which they planned to buy up assets to help build it into a powerful force in African banking.
The New York Times 

RMB Nigeria registers commercial paper programme to raise funds

Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Nigeria has received approval from FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange to register its N80bn Commercial Paper Programme on the FMDQ platform. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that the programme, which is the first for RMB Nigeria in the local money markets, will form an integral part of the bank’s funding strategy, as it provides an avenue to successfully diversify its short-term funding sources thereby delivering value to its shareholders. The move positions RMB Nigeria to easily and quickly raise short-term finance from the debt market, as well as at competitive costs. The MD of RMB Nigeria, Michael Larbie, affirmed that the bank has business interests in the country’s infrastructure projects, particularly in the power sector, which the debt proceeds will help in financing further.
The Guardian, Nigeria 

An additional $7.7bn needed for an uninterrupted power supply

Stakeholders in the Nigerian power sector have put the additional investment needed for an uninterrupted power supply at $7.7bn, reports The Guardian, Nigeria. And the government also needed to make available the promised subsidy of N100bn to assist in the rehabilitation of power plants. A former minister of power, Professor Barth Nnaji, said cost reflected tariff is also necessary to attract the required investment to the sector. A director at Eko Electricity Distribution Company and principal partner, George Etomi and Partners, George Etomi, said the privatisation agreement had set clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the owners of the distribution companies but argued that the federal government had not fulfilled its part of the agreement. He said the government was supposed to provide the N100bn subsidy, ensure the sanctity of contracts and also ensure that the investors inherited clean balance sheets, free from liabilities.
The Guardian, Nigeria 

Special task force to regulate the film and video industry

The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has inaugurated a special task force to check unclassified films and the video works of unlicensed distributors across the country. The newly appointed executive director of the board, Alhaji Adedayo Thomas said in a Screen Africa report: ‘As most of us are aware, the NFVCB is a strategic parastatal of the government of the federal Republic of Nigeria under the ministerial supervision of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. It was established by Act 1993 CAP N40 LFN 2004 as a regulatory agency saddled with the responsibility of regulating the censorship, distribution and exhibition of films and video works in Nigeria, and to leverage on its regulatory roles to create a conducive environment for investment and ensure the security of such investments.’ He added, however: ‘To the detriment of the industry, we must admit that the board has not lived up to expectations in recent years, leading to chaos in the system; a chaotic system that has taken profit away from the right beneficiaries to the profiteers of the laxity in regulatory efforts.’ Thomas said that the government recognises the role that the entertainment industry plays in propelling economic growth and creating jobs, helping in the drive to diversify Nigeria’s economy and encourage more investment in the non-oil sectors.
Screen Africa

Senate leader acquitted of corruption charges

The leader of Nigeria’s Senate has been cleared of corruption charges, ending of one of the most high-profile trials in President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-graft campaign. According to a Business Standard report, lawyers for Bukola Saraki argued prosecutors had failed to establish a case alleging that he made a false declaration of his assets before and after his tenure as governor of Kwara state. He was also accused of collecting double salaries during his time as governor of the western state from 2003 to 2011 and as a senator after he stepped down. The case had been heard at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, which tries cases of alleged abuse in public office. The report says Saraki challenged the competency of the tribunal to try him, hired a 66-lawyer defence team and turned up at hearings with dozens of senators and other politicians in support. Judge Danladi Umar said in his ruling that the prosecution ‘failed to link the defendant with the commission of the offences as charged’.
Business Standard

WEST AFRICA

Ghana remains at high risk of debt distress – IMF

The International Monetary Fund said Ghana remains at a high risk of debt distress as the West African nation plans to clear arrears owed by energy utilities through the sale of a 10bn cedi ($2.3bn) local-currency bond. Fin24 reports that Ghana and the Washington-based lender are in talks over the terms of a three-year debt-support program that is scheduled to conclude in April 2018 as the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer’s debt rose to 73% of gross domestic product at the end of last year. The government said last month that it may issue a bond through a special-purpose vehicle to clear the debts that the state-owned electricity company and petroleum service providers owe to banks and other credit providers. Bank of Ghana governor Ernest Addison, who was appointed in April, said last month that the bond sale wouldn’t add to the debt stock if the government issues it through a special purpose vehicle and uses energy sector levies to service it. Discussions between the parties on how the bailout programme’s objective of lower public debt can be achieved are continuing, and include the possibility of extending the debt programme, the IMF said.
Fin24

NIGERIA

 

‘Well positioned’ to be Africa’s most advanced economy
Nigeria presents an interesting tale of seeming opposites in the African growth agenda. While it took pole position as the largest economy on the continent in 2016, it’s also suffered its worst recession in 25 years. Charles Weller, the Head of FI Trade Nigeria for Barclays Africa, writes in The Huffington Post that the last 24 months, in particular, have been difficult for the nation as an exodus of foreign direct investment and assets took place prior to and at the time of the last presidential elections in February 2015. The country faced a liquidity crunch, with the central bank and Nigerian Stock Exchange facing trials and the country’s reserves decreasing from over $50bn to $20bn. Overseas remittances also contributed to the crisis. Remittances are the second highest source of foreign exchange in Nigeria. Weller writes that the difficulties of the past two years have caused the country to diversify its economy, with less reliance on oil and greater investment in industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and retail. There’s also been an increased focus on local producers, which drives growth. With improved transparency between banks and international companies, greater regulation and an increasingly inclusive economy, he says, Nigeria is well-positioned to be the most advanced economy on the continent.

Nigeria has been identified as one of the top five countries for growth acceleration for 2018, reports THISDAY. Other countries in the group include Kuwait, Oman, Kazakhstan and Tunisia. The global chief economist at Renaissance Capital, Charles Robertson, who made this forecast in a report titled: ‘Africa 2017,’ urged investors to take advantage of the opportunities in these countries. ‘These are some of the markets I think investors should be considering because of the growth acceleration story,’ he explained. According to Robertson, Nigeria still has a very positive demography, pointing out that the country’s working age population has been growing at 15% over the past five years. He also noted that there has been improvement in Nigeria’s legal system. Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele recently predicted that with economic policies put in place by the Nigerian government, the country should be out of recession by the third quarter of the year.

But a year after Nigeria’s government passed an ambitious plan to revamp its capital markets, The Banker reports that low trading volumes, high inflation and a lack of economic policy direction have investors voicing doubts over whether stocks and bonds can power the growth of Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s ‘capital market masterplan’, a framework released in 2015 to overhaul the country’s stock and bond trading over the next 10 years, is jeopardised by low market liquidity and high inflation caused by the recession, according to analysts and fund managers. ‘It’s one thing to have a developmental framework on paper. It’s another thing to actually put it into action,’ says Bayo Adeleke, national secretary of the Independent Shareholders
Association of Nigeria. ‘If the economy is a little more buoyant, I think we’ll be able to face this proposal for the capital market and look at areas we can accelerate.’ ‘Many of the frameworks that should launch this market to where it should be are already in place,’ says Pabina Yinkere, head of research at Vetiva. Yinkere says for the progress of the capital markets to continue, liquidity must increase. ‘If companies see that there are values in being listed, that they can come to this market and raise money and the market is close to efficient in pricing, (and) that the market is transparent, then it can encourage listings,’ he says.
The Huffington Post
THISDAY
The Banker

US and UK confidence in Osinbajo’s ability to govern
The US and the UK have expressed no doubt in the ability and commitment of acting President Yemi Osinbajo to continue with the anti-corruption war and economic revival in Nigeria. According to a Punch, Nigeria report, the two countries said that they have confidence in Osinbajo to carry on with the ‘quality leadership’ President Muhammadu Buhari has been providing the country. The President left for the UK last Sunday to receive medical attention and he is expected to be there for an indefinite time, according to his media aide, Femi Adesina. The report says in the last few weeks, some prominent Nigerians had been worried about a cabal that has purportedly hijacked power in the Presidency due to Buhari’s protracted illness, leaving Osinbajo in the cold. Spokesperson for the US Embassy in Nigeria, Russell Brooks, said President Donald Trump’s administration believed in Buhari and Osinbajo. Brooks said: ‘We are very much in favour of President (Muhammadu) Buhari’s campaign against corruption. We also believe that Acting President (Yemi) Osinbajo is strongly committed to this agenda and will continue to pursue it while President Buhari is out of the country.’

Buhari has travelled to London for follow-up consultations with doctors after a previous trip there earlier in 2017, reports Business Day. ‘Government will continue to function normally under the able leadership’ of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Adesina said. The duration of Buhari’s absence would be determined by doctors, Adesina said. ‘The president wishes to assure all Nigerians that there is no cause for worry,’ the spokesperson said. Buhari, president since 2015, returned to the country on 10 March after a seven-week medical leave to treat an undisclosed ailment in the UK, and has missed the past three weekly cabinet meetings.

Reacting to speculation about a military coup, the UK government has warned against ‘non-democratic’ change of government in Nigeria, amid speculations about military coup as concerns grow over Buhari’s health. ‘The British government believes that democracy is actually critical in Nigeria,’ the UK High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, is quoted in a Premium Times report as saying. ‘There are elections. If you’re not happy with your leaders then you should change your leadership through the democratic process and through elections.’ The report says his comments came a day after the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, warned of suspect communication between Army officers and politicians.

Osinbajo will sign off on the 2017 budget when he is satisfied with the content, Premium Times reports his spokesperson said. Coming shortly after Buhari’s ‘medical follow-up’ letter to the Senate had generated controversy, Nigerians started expressing concerns over the effectiveness of Osinbajo. The report says that in the letter, Buhari invoked Section 145(1) of the Constitution, transferring full powers to Osinbajo, but said his deputy would ‘coordinate’ affairs of the government in his absence. The report says Buhari’s use of ‘coordinate’ instead of ‘will perform duties of my office’ or ‘act on my behalf’ as previously used had unsettled the polity. But the spokesperson to the acting president, Laolu Akande, said Osinbajo would sign the budget into law in due course.
Punch, Nigeria
Business Day
Premium Times
Premium Times

Rules to stop transactions with non-CAC registered companies
A new set of rules will allow Nigeria’s government to make good on its threats to sever ties with organisations that do not add economic value to its efforts to raise the country’s revenue profile, reports The Guardian, Nigeria. Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have been ordered to stop transactions with companies and other corporate bodies that are not duly registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The measure is aimed at protecting MDAs from entering contractual obligations with fake or unregistered companies. The development means that for companies and other corporate bodies to qualify for business transactions with the MDAs, their letterhead must bear the registration number as issued by CAC.
The Guardian, Nigeria

Nigeria looks at setting up a national airline
Nigeria has appointed advisers to help it set up a national airline and develop its aviation infrastructure – currently seen as a barrier to economic growth – to create a hub for West Africa. Reuters Africa reports that this is according to junior aviation minister Hadi Sirika who said a group of six firms, including German carrier Lufthansa, would advise the government on setting up an airline, an aviation leasing company and a maintenance hanger, and on creating concessions to run the country’s airports. The report says a cabinet meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had approved N1.52bn ($4.99m) of funding for the project. Decades of neglect and lack of investment have left Nigeria with low-quality infrastructure that is seen as a hurdle to prosperity and the government has already said that upgrading it will require private investment. The government set up a committee on establishing a national airline in 2015, in fulfillment of the campaign promises which brought Buhari’s All Progressive Congress to power.

A likely merger and conversion of assets of Arik Air and Aero Contractors is one of the options being considered by the government. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that this option is due to the airlines’ alleged debt burden – despite the government’s recent intervention and their takeover by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the airlines are not delivering in terms of operations and debt payment. The report says the plan – not favoured by some stakeholders – will further reduce private domestic operations to six airlines. The report quotes sources in the Ministry of Aviation as saying that ‘all options, including the rumour surrounding Arik Air, Aero, are all on the table…’
Reuters Africa
The Guardian, Nigeria

Etisalat loan negotiation talks deadlocked
Discussions between Etisalat Nigeria and its lenders to renegotiate the terms of a $1.2bn loan have reached deadlock after the telecoms firm missed a payment, says a Nigerian Bulletin report. Lenders, under pressure to avoid loan-loss provisions, are pushing to finalise the debt restructuring before next month’s half-yearly audit, a banking source is quoted as saying. Etisalat met with the lenders, led by Guaranty Trust Bank, in London, on 28 April but they could not agree a way forward. The telecom firm signed the medium-term seven-year facility with 13 local banks in 2013 to refinance a $650m loan and fund expansion of its network, but is now struggling to repay. A source at Etisalat, which owns 45% of the Nigerian company, said the company was not willing to invest more after converting some loans it made to the affiliate to equity and writing down its investment to $50m.
Nigerian Bulletin

Nigeria looking to be IsDB’s regional hub in Africa
Nigeria may become the regional operational hub of the 43-year old Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in Africa. According to a Daily Trust report, the development finance institution is considering a proposal to expand its existing country gateway office in Abuja to serve as a key regional office. The office, which was opened by the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun earlier in the year, will co-ordinate the operations of the Bank in its West and Central African member-countries, which constitute a majority of the 27 African countries in the Institution. The report says the Abuja gateway office will serve Nigeria, Gabon, Niger, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, the Republic of Cameroon, Uganda, Senegal, Djibouti and Guinea Bisaau, among others. Nigeria is an active member of the bank and has benefitted from its development financing programmes located in various parts of the country.
Daily Trust

World Bank loan to generate more electricity sought
Nigeria is seeking $5.2bn from the World Bank to expand electricity generation and help the economy recover from its first contraction in 25 years, reports Business Report.
The bank’s private-sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation, may invest about $1.3bn in power projects and electricity distribution companies. Its political-risk insurer, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, could provide equity and debt of $1.4bn for gas and solar power programmes, according to Power, Works and Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola. That’s in addition to loans of $2.5bn Nigeria is seeking from the lender to help improve the distribution of power, expand transmission-capacity and increase access to electricity in rural areas, Fashola said. Africa’s most populous nation produces about 4,000 megawatts of power compared with an average peak generation of about 35,000 megawatts in South Africa, with a population that’s less than a third of the size of Nigeria’s 180m people.
Business Report

Billions stolen between 1960-2014
A Chatham House – the Royal Institute of International Affairs independent policy institute – report has estimated that at least $480bn was stolen by corrupt officials between 1960 and 2004. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that the report, titled “Collective Action on Corruption in Nigeria, a Social Norms Approach to Connecting Societies and Institutions,” said that close to $400bn was stolen from Nigeria’s public accounts from 1960 to 1999. It added that between 2005 and 2014, $182bn was lost through illicit financial flows from the country. British Ambassador to Nigeria, Paul Awkright, said at the launch that corruption is bad for people and business. The study, co-authored by Dr Leena Koni Hoffman, an associate fellow of the Africa programme at Chatham House and Raj Navanit Patel, a consultant at the University of Pennsylvania, suggested policy approaches to dealing with corruption and offered methods of integrating behavioural insights into anti-corruption strategies.

Some Nigerian banks are being investigated for allegedly colluding with some international oil companies to defraud Nigeria. Vanguard reports that a document showed that the affected banks were asked by the Senate to submit all copies of certified Nigeria export proceeds issued/or processed by them in respect of all crude oil and gas exported by Nigeria Agip Company Ltd, Chevron Nigeria Ltd, Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Ltd and their affiliates between April 1996 and December, 2016. The affected banks were also asked to produce all domiciliary accounts opened and /or closed within the period specified for all crude oil and gas exported.
The Guardian, Nigeria
Chatham House report
Vanguard

Former warlord and UK firm linked to dodgy defence deal
Anti-corruption investigators in four countries are examining a UK firm’s links to a multimillion-pound defence deal involving a former Nigerian warlord. The Guardian reports that investigators in the UK, the UK, Nigeria and Norway are scrutinising Cas-Global after it was alleged that the firm paid a bribe to a Norwegian official as part of the sale of seven decommissioned naval vessels. In the UK, Cas-Global has been the subject of an investigation since 2014 by the City of London police’s specialist anti-corruption unit. The report says the investigation is part of an effort by the UK to improve its record on prosecuting companies who are said to pay bribes to foreign officials and politicians to land contracts overseas. The Norwegian authorities are prosecuting a civil servant, Bjørn Stavrum, over allegations that he was paid $154,000 by Cas-Global to help secure the sale of the naval vessels. Stavrum denies the claims. Ekpemupolo has denied being involved in corruption.
The Guardian

Committee discovers forex discrepancies worth millions
The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on the Review of Pump Price of Petroleum, said it has discovered discrepancies in the records of the Central Bank of Nigeria, showing that $270m worth of foreign exchange (forex) remains unaccounted for. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that the latest discovery is among several others uncovered in the recent past, showing irregularities in forex handling and diversion of petroleum products by operators in the oil industry. At a recent investigative hearing, where some oil lifting and distributing companies appeared, the chair of the ad-hoc committee, the Honorable Nnana Igbokwe, blamed the companies for their unclear activities, which he said have contributed to the recent hike in the litre price of fuel.
The Guardian, Nigeria

Corruption weakens military’s fight against Boko Haram
Military corruption is weakening Nigeria’s efforts to battle the Islamist insurgency of Boko Haram, the watchdog Transparency International said in a Reuters Africa report. Its report underlines the difficulty of achieving two key promises of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 election campaign: tackling endemic corruption and defeating an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 lives and displaced millions. Last year, Nigeria’s vice president said around $15bn had been stolen from the public purse under the previous government through fraudulent arms procurement deals. Transparency International said this had left the military ‘without vital equipment, insufficiently trained, low in morale and under-resourced’. A defence spokesperson said the allegations were false for the current crop of military officers. Transparency International said Nigeria should make its defence budget and procurement systems more transparent to ensure that contracts were not inflated, or given to shell companies to conceal the true beneficiary.
Reuters Africa

Northern traditional leader investigated for corruption
Legislators in northern Nigeria have opened an investigation into corruption claims against one of the country’s leading traditional rulers, whose progressive views have caused controversy in a conservative region. Business Day reports that the legislature in Kano state has set up a committee to investigate eight allegations against the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, over the ‘embezzlement of funds belonging to the emirate council’. Other claims include abuse of office and improper conduct. The eight-member committee is expected to report its findings to the state’s house of assembly within two weeks. The announcement came two weeks after the Kano state anticorruption agency began looking into the finances of the state-funded emirate council – the equivalent of a royal court. That probe centres on the use of 6bn naira ($19m) of palace funds to pay for cars, chartered flights, phone and internet bills as well as other personal expenses, according to a source familiar with the matter. The council has denied the allegations.
Business Day

Ringtones boosting artists’ back pockets
In Nigeria, performing artists have long been left to their own devices because of the lack of a structured market, making them powerless against piracy, which accounts for most sales. But says a Business Day report, for the last three years, there’s been a revolution in Nigeria’s music industry because of digital sales and especially mobile phones, which are bringing in increasingly more revenue. Analysts PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) estimated in a report published late last year that Nigeria’s music industry was worth $47m in 2015 and should rise to $86m by 2020. ‘Nigeria’s total music revenue is dependent on ringtones and ringback tones, with the legitimate music sector being small otherwise,’ it said. MTN, which has 60m subscribers in Nigeria, says it is the largest distributor of music. ‘There are lots of talented musicians in this market who had issues with piracy; it was difficult for them to sell their music,’ says MTN Nigeria’s marketing director, Richard Iweanoge. ‘Nigerians actually wanted to buy music, they just didn’t have the means to acquire it legally.’
Business Day

IN COURT

Village sues Eni for oil spill damage
A Nigerian village has filed a lawsuit in Milan against Italian oil company Eni demanding compensation for damage caused by an oil pipeline explosion in 2010, an Italian lawyer representing the village is quoted in Reuters Africa as saying. The village of Ikebiri in the Niger Delta is asking Eni for €2m ($2.2m) in damages along with a commitment to clean up the area covering more than 43 acres (17 hectares), Luca Saltalamacchia said. ‘The explosion that happened near a river caused an environmental disaster that polluted water and land,’ Saltalamacchia said. The report says mining and energy firms around the world have battled a spate of cases brought in international courts against their subsidiaries in other countries. Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell successfully fought efforts by one Nigerian community to sue the company in British courts, but it settled another case brought in London by a Nigerian community in 2015. According to Saltalamacchia, Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited, which is owned by Eni, has claimed it has already carried out cleaning up operations in the area.
Reuters Africa

High Court adjourns former first lady’s case
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has adjourned to 22 May, a suit seeking final forfeiture to the Federal Government, of the sum of $5.8m belonging to former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that Justice Mojisola Olatoregun granted the adjournment following an argument by counsel to Jonathan, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), that the respondent was not given sufficient notice to file a response.
The Guardian, Nigeria

Chief justice in court for failing to recall suspended judges
An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Olugbenga Adeyemi, has dragged the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, and National Judicial Council (NJC) before the Federal High Court in Abuja for failing to recall suspended judges, who have yet to be linked with any act of corruption. Vanguard reports that they were among superior court judges that were arrested and detained after a ‘sting operation’ conducted by the Department of State Service last year. The report says the NJC, under the leadership of retired CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, initially refused to suspend the affected judges, however, it eventually succumbed to pressure from the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and asked the judges to temporarily step-down from the bench pending determination of corruption allegations against them.
Vanguard

LANDMARK DECISION ON THE ISSUE OF APPEALS FROM DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COURT – Friday 30th June 2017

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Supreme Court of Nigeria, Rules on Stay of Proceedings Pending Interlocutory Appeals in Criminal Matters.

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NIGERIA

Buhari suspends two key aids linked to corruption
President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended two key aides over an alleged contract scam and for keeping an unauthorised stash of cash in a private home. According to a Daily Mail report the presidency said Buhari ‘has ordered an investigation into the allegations of violations of law and due process made against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, in the award of contracts in the north-east.’ Lawal was also suspended from office ‘pending the outcome of the investigations.’ The report says last year, Lawal, a top-ranking member of the administration and a Buhari confidant, was alleged to have awarded contracts running into millions of naira to companies in which he had interests, within the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE). He denied the accusations. The money was part of government funds meant to rehabilitate the victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast. The report says Buhari has also suspended Ayo Oke, the head of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), one of the country’s spy bodies, pending an investigation into the discovery of a stash of cash in a private apartment in the upscale Ikoyi area of Lagos. This was after the country’s anti-graft agency, the EFCC, seized over $43m in cash during a raid on the apartment. The money has been claimed by the NIA, prompting Buhari to order an investigation ‘to enquire into the circumstances in which the NIA came into possession of the funds, how and by whose or which authority the funds were made available to the NIA’. The report says the suspension of the two top aides is seen as a litmus test for Buhari who came to power in 2015 vowing to stop the plunder of state funds by corrupt politicians and public officials.

PINE was set up to coordinate the government’s response to the humanitarian crisis in the northeast where 4.7m people, many of them refugees from the Islamist insurgency by Boko Haram, are on the brink of famine and survive on rations, reports Reuters Africa. Alleged corruption and mismanagement have threatened to intensify the situation, one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, say critics of the government’s handling of the northeast.  A three-man committee, headed by the vice president, is to conduct both investigations and submit its report to the president within 14 days.

Shehu Sani, the senator heading the committee that exposed the contract frauds at PINE, has commended Buhari for suspending Lawal. Also commenting on the move, Peoples Democratic Party Senator from Edo State, Matthew Urhoghide is quoted in a Premium Times report as saying that the suspension meant both executive and legislative arms were working cooperatively to check corruption. ‘We are all complimenting each other’s effort in fighting corruption, and that is the truth,’ Urhoghide said.

The first surprise was the huge pile of cash: more than $43m in US dollars, stacked in hundreds of neatly wrapped bundles in the filing cabinets and wardrobes of an empty apartment in Nigeria’s biggest city. But, reports The Globe and Mail, the next surprise was even more shocking. After the money was discovered in a raid by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, it was the national spy agency that claimed ownership of it. Many tenants of the upscale apartment building in Lagos, including the unit where the massive hoard of cash was found, were reported to be high-level officials and politicians. The report says it was the latest evidence of the vast web of official corruption in Nigeria, where billions of dollars in oil revenue have been siphoned off by a politically connected elite in recent years, even as poverty and hunger have climbed to disastrous levels. The report adds that it’s also not the first report of corruption in the northeast where millions are suffering from the Boko Haram conflict. In 2015, Buhari alleged that government officials had looted more than $2bn in funds intended for weapons to fight Boko Haram, causing thousands of Nigerians to die needlessly. He said the money disappeared into ‘fictitious and phantom’ military contracts, in which the ammunition and equipment was never provided.

During his campaign for the presidency and since taking office two years ago, Buhari has reiterated his anti-corruption campaign as a pillar of his administration. But, says a Quartzreport, while his public rhetoric galvanised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, his actions, when presented with a chance to mop out corruption within his own government, haven’t always matched his rhetoric. The report says, however, with two high-profile suspensions of two government officials this week, that has changed. Initially, Buhari resisted calls to sack his SGF as recommended by Nigeria’s Senate.
Daily Mail
Reuters Africa
Premium Times
The Globe and Mail
Quartz

IMF warns Nigeria of growth risks and volatile forex market
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Nigeria its economy needs urgent reform in a report that highlighted the risks to growth for the recession-hit country and the dangers of a volatile foreign exchange market. Business Day reports that the document outlines a raft of failings in Nigeria’s handling of Africa’s largest economy and could affect talks over at least $1.4bn in international loans. It strikes a more critical tone than the IMF’s board recently adopted, though that also said Nigeria should lift its remaining foreign exchange restrictions and scrap its system of multiple exchange rates. The report says the Washington-based fund’s analysis came on the same day that President Muhammadu Buhari held a launch ceremony for a flagship economic recovery plan. But the IMF said the plan, criticised by economists for including few concrete measures, is not enough to drag Africa’s biggest economy out of recession. If Nigeria’s economy is to recover, ‘much more needs to be done’.

But Nigeria will easily achieve its target of $3.5bn foreign borrowing in 2017 as improved oil output helps the economy to recover from 2016’s contraction, the first since 1991. Business Day reports that this is according to Moody’s Investors Service vice-president and senior analytical adviser for Africa, Aurelien Mali, who said: ‘The international financial institutions are ready to support Nigeria.’ ‘As long as it is project-based lending, the funding will be available from lenders such as the African Development Bank, and the budget support from the World Bank will come on top of that,’ he said. Nigeria has proposed a record 7.3trn naira ($23.1bn) budget for 2017 to boost infrastructure investment and help its economy recover from a contraction of 1.5% in 2016, the first such slump in 25 years. The government has been negotiating $1.25bn in budget support from the World Bank and expects to get the remaining $400m of a $1bn credit facility from the African Development Bank, Mali said. Nigeria can raise the rest from bilateral and multilateral partners and also from lenders through commercial loans and or even a sukuk bond, he said. The report says Moody’s rates Nigeria’s debt at B1, four levels below investment grade.
Business Day
Business Day

Nigeria again raises issue of illicit capital flows at Washington meetings
Nigeria has again urged developed countries to stop providing safe havens for corrupt individuals and their illegal funds, reports The Guardian, Nigeria. The issue of the recovery of stolen funds from Nigeria was raised at the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Group Spring meetings in Washington DC, by Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun. Adeosun is quoted as saying: ‘To improve non-oil revenues, we have to address illicit capital flows. When stolen money is transferred from Nigeria, or other African countries, there are too few questions asked by those countries that receive the funds, but when we identify those funds as stolen and seek to recover them, there are too many questions being asked. There is money sitting in foreign bank accounts that we have spent a fortune over a decade trying to recover. Such money could deliver significant value for Nigeria as we seek to increase spending on critical infrastructure and establish a basis for long-term sustainable growth.’
The Guardian, Nigeria

Senate to debate oil industry reform Bill
Nigeria’s senate will debate a long-awaited oil industry reform Bill after receiving the draft law, the latest step in efforts to overhaul the energy sector in Africa’s largest economy. Reuters Africa reports that the legislation is part of proposed reforms that make up the sprawling Petroleum Industry Bill, which has been in discussion for over a decade and redrafted many times but has yet to be passed into law. President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in May 2015, made passing the legislation a priority as part of an attempt to crackdown on the mismanagement and corruption that has held back the country’s energy sector. Oil sales account for two-thirds of government revenue in the OPEC member state. The Bill’s acceptance into the upper house marks the closest it has yet come to becoming law, said Senate President Bukola Saraki. Once the senate has approved the Bill, it will be sent to the lower chamber of parliament. With the approval of both, the final version will be sent to the president to be signed into law.
Reuters Africa

Shell had knowledge of oil bribery scheme – emails show
Executives of petroleum giant Shell knew it was party to a vast bribery scheme that robbed Nigeria of $1.1bn, according to corruption watchdog Global Witness – a claim that has been denied by Shell. According to a Mail & Guardian report, Global Witness and Finance Uncovered said Shell executives knew that money earmarked for a controversial oil deal was being used to bribe senior Nigerian officials. They were referring to the 2011 purchase by oil giants Shell and Eni of OPL 245, an offshore oil bloc estimated to hold nine billion barrels of crude, for $1.3bn. The deal saw the Nigerian government act as an intermediary between the oil majors and Malabu Oil and Gas, a Nigerian company allegedly controlled by former petroleum minister Dan Etete. The report says allegations of corruption and bribery have mounted since the deal was signed, forcing Shell and Eni to maintain repeatedly that they acquired the rights to the lucrative bloc in line with Nigerian law. But email exchanges between Shell management cited in the Global Witness report suggest that Shell was aware that the OPL 245 money was probably going to be funnelled to individuals, including Etete and then-president Goodluck Jonathan. The leaked emails come as Shell and Eni are facing intense scrutiny in connection with the deal.

Nigeria’s lower house of parliament has, meanwhile, set up a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the award of OPL 245, Reuters Africa reports. Courts in Nigeria and Italy are investigating the purchase of the offshore block which was initially awarded in 1998 to Malabu Oil and Gas, in a disputed deal, before Royal Dutch Shell and Eni were awarded the rights in 2011. The House of Representatives mandated the committee to ‘conduct a thorough examination of the process and circumstances surrounding OPL 245 and identify culpability of any persons, groups or organisations,’ committee chairman Razak Atunwa said. ‘The committee is aware of recent information that have come to light, both nationally and internationally, indicating that former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan may have been complicit in the controversial OPL 245 deal,’ Atunwa said. The committee was ‘considering inviting him to give evidence’ on the grounds that he ‘may well be in a position to assist it with its inquiries’.
Mail & Guardian
Reuters Africa

World Bank credit line to boost mining sector
The World Bank has approved $150m credit to help increase the mining sector’s contribution to the Nigerian economy, says a Daily Trust report. The senior communication officer of the bank, Olufunke Olufon said that the project would help to establish a strong foundation for mining sector development in the country. Olufon said that credit would also enhance competitiveness by improving information infrastructure and knowledge of mining. She said that it would equally help in strengthening key government institutions and foster domestic investments in the sector. ‘The project will help develop measures for formalising; regulating and inventorying artisan and small-scale mining; facilitate the flow of mineral transactions and facilitate access to finance. It will facilitate access to technology and equipment; increase knowledge and support the mining and processing of the minerals in accordance with best practices,’ Olufon said. She added that environmental and social protection would also be enhanced by the credit line.
Daily Trust

Abuja airport reopens
Nigeria has reopened the airport in the capital Abuja, following a six-week closure for runway repairs that disrupted international air traffic to the country, reports Business Day. During the shutdown, authorities diverted flights to Kaduna, a provincial airport 160km away, where carriers, including British Airways, Lufthansa and South African Airways, refused to fly on security grounds. The report says Abuja is the political nerve centre of Africa’s most populous nation and a major business hub in the continent’s biggest economy. There have been no official estimates of the economic impact of the closure, but Abuja International Airport handled 812 flights in December 2015, the last month for which the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has figures. The comparative figure for Kaduna was 12. Announcing Abuja airport’s re-opening, FAAN spokesperson, Henrietta Yakubu, said: ‘The rehabilitation of the runway was completed 24 hours ahead of schedule.’
Business Day

Military destroy illegal refineries in the Niger Delta
Nigeria’s military has announced that it has destroyed 13 illegal refineries in the restive Niger Delta oil hub, in an operation in which two soldiers died in clashes with ‘sea robbers’. Military authorities are quoted in Reuters Africa as saying that there are hundreds of illegal refineries in the region, which process stolen crude from oil company pipelines. The Nigerian government said earlier that it plans to legalise illicit refineries as part of an attempt to bring peace to the production heartland of crude oil, but it is unclear when it will put the plan into action. Major Abubakar Abdullahi, a military spokesperson, said troops ‘discovered and destroyed 13 illegal refineries’ while on patrol in the Iyalama Adama axis of Rivers state. The two soldiers were killed in the Ijawkiri general area, in Rivers state, he said. The report says makeshift refineries, usually hidden in oil-soaked clearings, support tens of thousands of people locally. Nigeria’s navy chief has said that 181 illegal refineries were destroyed last year, 748 suspects were arrested, and crude oil and diesel worth 420bn naira ($1.3bn) was confiscated. The military shut down around 50 bush refineries in the first few weeks of 2017.
Reuters Africa

Gasoline quality standards to increase
Nigeria will increase quality standards for its imported gasoline, diesel and kerosene from 1 July, a change health campaigners have long said is necessary to protect citizens from toxic fuel. Reuters Africa reports that according to an environment ministry official and information from the Standards Organization of Nigeria, all imported diesel from 1 July can contain a maximum of 50 ppm sulphur, while gasoline and kerosene can contain a maximum of 150 ppm. Nigeria’s current import standards are 3,000 ppm on diesel and 1,000 ppm on gasoline. The report says West African nations had promised higher quality fuel late last year as part of a UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), but details on the timeline and precise implementation had been unclear. Ghana had targeted an even earlier deadline, but sources said it had not yet finalised its new fuel requirements or issued a fresh timetable.
Reuters Africa

CBN cuts paperwork to improve ease of doing business for SMEs
The Nigerian central bank has cut the amount of paperwork small and medium-size businesses must provide to buy dollars, to improve liquidity and the ease of doing business and help narrow the gap between official and black market exchange rates, reports The Times of India. Faced with a shortage of dollars and numerous requirements to fulfil when buying hard currency from the central bank, most small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) use the black market instead, even though the naira currency is much weaker there. To address this, the central bank said it was switching to a new application form for those seeking to buy forex at its official window that would require only an invoice and account details of the suppliers providing the goods to be bought with foreign currency. The bank said that the changes were taking immediate effect.
Times of India

Nigeria’s recession weighs on Ecobank’s results
Africa’s Ecobank, which operates in nearly 40 African countries, said a recession in Nigeria and a strong US currency had caused it to report a loss for 2016, sending its shares 5% lower. According to Business Report, Nigeria accounts for 40% of Ecobank’s revenues and is in its second year of recession, brought on by lower oil prices which has caused chronic dollar shortages, frustrating businesses and households. ‘Our group revenues remained resilient despite a tough year of macroeconomic headwinds including a weaker economic environment, particularly in Nigeria, and the strengthening of our reporting currency – the US dollar,’ Ecobank said.
Business Report

IN COURT

Airline refusing to pay salary, despite court order
The troubled Nigerian airline, Chanchangi, and top officials of the National Industrial Court are at the centre of an alleged conspiracy to deny a retired pilot, Eric Adegbite, 67, his due benefits, several years after serving the company. According to a Premium Times report, Adegbite who worked for the airline for nine years resigned in 2010 after working for several months without a salary. He approached the Lagos division of the industrial court in 2012 for payment of his salary and retirement benefits. The report says according to court documents, two years after the litigation commenced, judgement was delivered in his favour. It says that the MD of the airline, Trevor Worthington, and a director, Bello Chanchangi, did not deny indebtedness to Adegbite, However, three years after the judgement and seven years after the pilot retired from the company, the victim has not been paid his dues.
Premium Times

WEST AFRICA

NIGERIA

Nigeria lags other West African countries in human development
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released its 2016 human development index report which rated Gabon, Ghana and a host of other countries above Nigeria. The report surveyed a total of 188 countries. According to a Nigerian Bulletin report, while Nigeria ranked 152 – the position it occupied last year, Gabon was placed at 109. Equatorial Guinea was 135 on the list, and Ghana and Zambia maintained the 139th position. Nigeria emerged the 17th most developed country in Africa, and 13th most developed country in sub-Saharan Africa. In the report, Nigeria was placed under the ‘low human development’ group out of its four levels of human development group. The 2016 human development report focused on ‘communities that have been left behind, despite development progress over the last 25 years’. Ojijo Odhiambo, the economic adviser, Nigeria and ECOWAS, UNDP, said Nigeria needs to redouble its effort in making sure that it addressed the factors that were impeding its improvement on the index. Some of these include issues of inequality, education, discrimination among women, promotion of social inclusion and accountability, as well as the upholding of human rights.
Nigerian Bulletin
Report

NIGERIA Still a lot to be done to boost Africa’s biggest economies African economies were hit hard in 2016 by low commodity prices, but a modest recovery from slow growth is forecast for 2017. Business Day reports that speaking at the Africa CEO Forum, which kicked off in Geneva on Monday, Africa CEO Forum president Amir Ben Yahmed said: ‘The two biggest economies – Nigeria and SA, which make up 45% – have been very hard hit. There’s concern for the economic situation.’ The report says the conference barometer — a survey of the about 1,000 CEOs attending the conference – showed that 62% of CEOs said their companies had experienced the effects of the economic slowdown in the past few months; 71% were optimistic about business on the continent in 2017; and 92% expressed confidence in economic growth. Yahmed said while progress had been made in the past 15 years, there was still a lot to be done. African states needed to fight against fraud and corruption while pushing for economic diversification and regional integration. The report says global foreign direct investment (FDI) increased by 9% in 2016 but Africa accounted for only 7% of global FDI. A panel of Nigerian investors attending the meeting have expressed confidence in the country’s resurging economy saying that it is ‘very critical’ to building African companies that could join the league of the global top 500 companies in the next eight years. The Guardian Nigeria reports that the panel, that included CEOs of MTN, Honeywell, KPMG, CFAO and the Casablanca Finance City Authority, said despite the volatility in Nigeria’s economy, ‘it is still an important market’. ‘The fact that it is passing through volatility is not enough to reconsider investment of $16bn invested in the last 10 to 12 years,’ Phuthuma Nhleko, MTN’s non-executive chair is quoted in the report as saying. Chair of Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko agreed, but added that Africa ‘has the responsibility for its survival.’ On the whole, the investors agreed that African governments needed to create the necessary business environment for companies to grow and that robust stock markets, either on sub-regional or country basis, would be central to the objective. Business Day The Guardian Nigeria  Plan to sell oil assets to fund economic programme Nigeria plans to sell portions of its oil assets to help fund President Muhammadu Buhari’s four-year programme to lift the economy from its worst slump in 25 years, and create 15m jobs. According to the proposal, selling them will ‘optimise their efficiency and reduce the fiscal burden on the government’. Business Day reports that Nigeria has an average 55% stake in joint ventures run by Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Total and Eni, which produce about 90% of its crude. The government also owns 49% of Nigeria LNG, a multibillion-dollar company that operates Africa’s biggest liquefied natural-gas plant. The government has also hinted it may award concessions for airports. Given a militancy escalation that blighted those very assets last year, and previous struggles to privatise state businesses, Business Report reports that analysts inside and outside the west African country say such sales won’t be straightforward. ‘Nigeria’s track record on privatisation and divestments has not exactly been the best, so people are probably going to greet this news with a certain degree of scepticism and I think rightly so,’ Manji Cheto, a West Africa specialist at Teneo Intelligence in London, said. ‘I don’t think this is going to be a process that’s speedy.’ Normally Africa’s biggest producer, Nigeria has been among the world’s hardest-hit supplier nations over the past year due to the militant attacks that crushed its output while prices remained half what they were in mid-2014. At the same time, its reduced flows have helped limit a global crude glut, bolstering Opec and other nations dependent on revenue from selling the commodity. The report says the oil ministry and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation didn’t respond to multiple calls and emails requesting comment. The plan also recommends raising the Value-Added Tax (VAT) rate on luxury items from the current 5% to 15%, says a Punch, Nigeria report. The government said it would increase non-oil tax revenues by improving tax compliance and broadening the tax net by employing appropriate technology and tightening the tax code, as well as introducing tax on luxury items and other indirect taxes to capture a greater share of the non-formal economy. The plan envisages that by 2020, Nigeria would have made significant progress towards achieving structural economic change with a more diversified and inclusive economy. Business Day  Business Report Punch, Nigeria Buhari home but Osinbajo still in charge Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has returned home after nearly two months of medical leave in Britain, Business Day reports. He said he would leave his deputy in charge for the time being and not immediately resume power. The 74-year-old said Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo ‘will continue’ in the role of acting-president ‘and I will continue to rest’. The report says no timeline was given for how long Osinbajo would be in charge. Buhari walked unaided from his plane after it landed at an air force base in the northern city of Kaduna – the former military ruler then boarded a waiting helicopter. Details of his condition have not been disclosed. In images released by his office, Buhari looked painfully thin but was smiling as he greeted Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in London. Buhari left Abuja on 19 January for 10 days of treatment in Britain but extended his stay on the advice of doctors. Buhari said he will continue to rest and undergo further medical tests in Britain within weeks. ‘I deliberately came back towards the weekend, so that the Vice President (Yemi Osinbajo) will continue and I will continue to rest,’ he is quoted in Reuters Africa as saying. ‘All I will need is to do further follow ups within some weeks.’ Buhari marked his return with a rare appearance at a meeting of members of the economic body that advises the government. Polity reports that Buhari attended a meeting of the National Economic Council, which is chaired by Osinbajo and whose members include state governors, the central bank governor and the finance minister. He does not usually attend NEC meetings. The report says during Buhari’s seven-week absence, when Osinbajo was acting president, the central bank devalued the naira for retail customers after the NEC called for an urgent review of the bank’s foreign exchange policy. Buhari has consistently opposed devaluing the naira since taking office in May 2015. Journalists were asked to leave before Buhari spoke. Business Day  Reuters Africa  Polity Faster processing of visas to promote ease of doing business  As part of measures to attract foreign investors and guarantee ease of doing business, the Nigerian government has approved processing of visas within 48 hours and given waivers to some countries. Vanguard reports that speaking at the 7th meeting of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo noted that although progress had been made in the last 30 days of implementing the National Action Plan, a lot more remained to be done to ensure a better business environment in Nigeria. The council said that the number of documents needed for export and import is higher in Nigeria that in other African countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Benin and South Africa. The report says that if fully implemented, the plan could potentially lead to N2.6bn savings by SMEs in registration costs to start businesses annually; 116,000 minutes of travelling time saved daily; 60% reduction in time to register property; and 23,500 hours saved by exporters annually. Vanguard  Retiring CBN deputy governor says bank must remain credible  The newly retired deputy governor of economic policy at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Sarah Alade, has urged the bank’s governor, to uphold the credibility of the bank. According to a Vanguard report, she said the high-point of her career came when she was appointed acting CBN governor, following the suspension of the former CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi. Alade also served on teams on major economic policy studies and was involved in the preparation of CBN’s Monetary and Credit Policy Proposals over the years. She was actively involved in the drafting of the Medium Term Economic Programme for Nigeria and the IMF Staff Monitored Programme/Standby Arrangement. She was a member of the Technical Committee of the Vision 2010 and currently a member of the Technical Committee of Vision 2020 and the National Economic Management Team. Vanguard NNPC investing $15bn on power plants across Nigeria  The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that it will invest around $15bn to build several power plants across Nigeria to generate 4,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the next 10 years. This is according to NNPC’s chief operating officer in charge of gas and power, Saidu Mohammed, who is quoted in a Nigerian Bulletin report as saying that three of the power plants, with combined output capacity of 3,100MW, would be built in Abuja, Kaduna and Kano, along the route of its Abuja-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline. This would guarantee the supply of gas. NNPC also said as part of the business model for the construction and operation of the power plants, incorporated joint venture (IJV) companies would be set up involving the NNPC, international power companies and other Nigerian investors. Nigerian Bulletin Nigerian lawmakers to probe NNPC subsidy scheme  Nigeria’s upper house of parliament will investigate allegations the state oil company illegally inflated funds it collected from an official subsidy scheme to 5.1trn naira ($17bn) between 2006 and 2015, lawmakers said. Reuters Africa reports that the Senate’s decision to launch an investigation followed an emergency motion raised by Senator Dino Melaye, who told the Senate there were possible irregularities in subsidies collected by NNPC from the government between 2006 and 2015 on its 51% market share of fuel imports. He did not name the source of the allegations. The report says NNPC was previously implicated in allegations of fraud in an investigation in 2012 that discovered a $6.8bn fuel subsidy scam, one of the biggest corruption scandals in Nigeria’s history. It was not immediately clear whether the new Senate investigation would include the 2012 allegations or look into entirely new ones. A spokesperson for NNPC said the company would study any allegations if it is formally notified. Reuters Africa  NCC and CBN step in to help Etisalat Nigeria Etisalat is considering the sale of its stake in Etisalat Nigeria, but wants to clear-up its financial situation before making any moves, reports Mobile World Live. The business missed a repayment on $1.7bn of loans, which were raised to fund its investments and operations. This was attributed to an economic downturn in the country, currency devaluation, and a shortage of US dollars on the country’s interbank market, reports said. In the meantime, the Nigerian Communications Commission and Central Bank of Nigeria stepped in to prevent Etisalat Nigeria’s creditors taking over the business or placing it into receivership, agreeing ‘concrete actions that will bring all parties closest to a resolution’. This included securing the ‘necessary oxygen’ to enable the business to continue, with the regulator looking to protect both subscribers and potential investors in the country’s telecoms sector. UAE-based Etisalat owns 40% of Etisalat Nigeria. Mobile World Live  Logistical challenges facing new Kaduna terminal Two days before Nigeria shut down Abuja’s airport for repairs to its dilapidated runway, workers still needed to fit electrics, seating and toilets to a new terminal at Kaduna, reports Business Day. International airlines that fly into Abuja have already refused to use Kaduna, a provincial city airport, because of security concerns, and domestic passengers could face major delays if the new terminal is not ready, discouraging travel and isolating the capital. Most floor and ceiling tiles have been fitted and all air conditioning units have been installed, but electrical fittings are unfinished, chairs for the arrival and departure areas lie strewn about and a car park expansion is incomplete. The report says in a sign of the logistical challenges ahead, data from Nigeria’s airport authority shows Abuja airport handled 4,859 domestic flights in December compared with the 171 that flew in or out of Kaduna. Commercial helicopters can, meanwhile, fly in and out of Abuja airport while its runway is repaired, Reuters Africa reports Nigeria’s aviation minister has said. The capital’s airport closed for six weeks on Wednesday 8 March, with flights diverted to Kaduna, a city about 160km (100miles) north of the capital. After landing at Kaduna, passengers travel on guarded buses along a road where kidnappings have taken place in recent years. The report says Nigeria’s road network is in poor condition and more affluent travellers rely on air travel to cover long distances. ‘They have areas where there are no-fly zones but the national security adviser this morning approved that helicopters should enter Abuja airport and out,’ the aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, said. He said guidance would be issued on where they could land. Earlier in the week, the national security adviser issued a memo stating that Abuja’s airspace was subject to security restrictions and commercial helicopters could not fly over the city. Airlines including British Airways, Lufthansa and South African Airways have refused to fly into Kaduna due to security concerns. Ethiopian Airlines is so far the only foreign airline to use the alternative airport. Reuters Africa  Nigeria permits helicopters to use closed airport – aviation minister Business Day Kaduna not ready to pick up slack from shutdown of Abuja’s airport  Reuters Africa  Nigeria permits helicopters to use closed airport – aviation minister Union threat to shut down Arik Air  Unions including the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, have threatened to shut down the Arik Air, following management’s failure to reinstate sacked members. According to a Premium Times report increasing bad debt resulted in the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) taking over Arik in February and appointing Roy Ilegbodu as manager of the airline. The general secretary of NUATE, Olayinka Abioye, has accused the new management of intolerance to unionism. He said that the new management had warned workers not to joins unions and refused to address issues affecting the workers. Staff of the airline has shut down its operations, barricading the entrance of the airline’s office at the Lagos airport. ‘We will resist all forms of intimidation,’ a staff member is quoted in the report as saying. Premium Times  Mixed reaction to CBN’s new bank charges decision  There has been mixed reaction to the recent decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reintroduce various charges on large cash transactions in deposit money banks, says a Premium Times report. The director, banking & payments system department of the CBN, Dipo Fatokun, said the new charges approved by the Bankers’ Committee, would affect individual and corporate deposits and withdrawals. The report quotes financial and management consultant, Uju Ogubunka as saying they were not set up to impose such charges on their customers. Ogubunka, a former registrar, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, said charging customers for deposits or withdrawals could mean more customers not embracing the banking culture. The CEO, Global Analytics Consult Ltd, Tope Fasua, said the timing of CBN decision was wrong but MD, Cowry Asset Management Ltd, Johnson Chukwu, disagrees. He said charging customers for deposits or withdrawals could help in reducing money laundering in the banking sector as well as acting as a deterrent for people to move large volumes of cash. Premium Times IN COURT Temporary seizure of Nigerian oil block set aside  A Nigerian court has set aside its order for the temporary seizure of one of Africa’s richest oil blocks from multinationals Royal Dutch Shell and Eni. The New Zealand Herald reports that Justice John Tsoho upheld the application filed by Shell and Eni challenging a January court order ceding control of Oil Prospecting License 245 to the government while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigates a $1.2bn corruption scandal. The judge ruled that the forfeiture order was irregularly filed. Nigeria’s anti-graft agency has, meanwhile, filed new charges against the multinationals, alleging the companies ‘corruptly’ paid $801m in 2011 when acquiring an offshore oil field. Business Day reports that the European oil majors gave that sum to former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete, his company Malabu Oil & Gas, and others in relation to the purchase of Oil Prospecting License 245, ‘thereby committing an offence,’ according to documents from the Federal High Court in Abuja. ‘Eni re-affirms the correctness of its conduct within the acquisition of the licence’ the company said adding that it hasn’t been notified of any charges relating to the deal. A 2013 report by lawmakers said the $1.1bn acquisition of the deep-water Gulf of Guinea licence – estimated to hold at least 9bn barrels of crude reserves worth $1trn – violated tax regulations and a law promoting Nigerian ownership. Malabu Oil and Gas has filed a suit against the federal government and six others at the Federal High Court, Abuja, over the re-allocation of OPL 245 to Shell and ENI, reports The Guardian Nigeria. The Minster of Petroleum, Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Ltd, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd, Nigerian Agip Exploration Company Ltd, the EFCC, as well as Etete, were also joined as defendants. The New Zealand Herald Business Day The Guardian Nigeria  Former NNPC head charged with fraud and money laundering  The former head of Nigeria’s state oil company has been charged in court with money laundering and five counts of fraud, the country’s anti-corruption watchdog said. Reuters Africa reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said last month it had arrested Andrew Yakubu and seized $9.8m from the former head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the northern city of Kaduna. ‘Former GMD, NNPC, Andrew Yakubu who was arraigned today, 16 March, 2017 before Justice A R Mohammed of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, on a six-count charge bordering on non-disclosure of assets, money laundering and advance fee fraud,’ the EFCC is quoted in the report as saying. Yakubu will remain in custody and reappear in court on 21 March, it added. Reuters Africa WEST AFRICA Pirates release cargo ship and sailors after ransom paid Nigerian pirates have released seven Russian and one Ukrainian sailors after they were captured last month on the cargo ship the BBC Caribbean, according to a Reuters Africa report. The sailors were released after talks between the owners of the ship and pirates. Human rights activist Pavel Butsay said that a ransom was paid but did not reveal the sum. Security experts class West Africa’s waters, especially off Nigeria where many pirates originate, as some of the world’s most dangerous, with attackers often targeting oil tankers and holding hostages for ransom. Reuters Africa

 

 

NIGERIA Bailout funds effort has stalled Nigeria’s efforts to secure funds from international lenders to help haul it out of recession have stalled because it has not submitted the required economic reform plans, according to one of the banks and sources close to the matter. Reuters Africa reports that the government has been in loan talks with the World Bank for a year. It had told the lender it would present its proposed reforms to make the economy more resilient and attractive to investment by the end of December, according to Western diplomats and a Nigerian official who declined to be named. But this has not happened and as a result of the delay, which the government has not explained, the Washington-based bank has not been able to consider a loan yet, the sources said. Nigerian Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun declined to comment. The report says that the African Development Bank (AfDB) is, meanwhile, holding back the second tranche of a $1bn loan for Nigeria, AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina said. ‘We are waiting for the economic policy recovery programme and the policy framework for that,’ said Adesina, without specifying when the AfDB had expected to receive the reform plans. Reuters Africa  Government joins with BDC traders in black market fight Nigeria’s money-changers will introduce an exchange rate for the naira to help the central bank combat unregulated trading. Bloomberg reports that licensed dealers, known as bureaux de change, or BDCs, will post an exchange rate each Monday on their website from 16 January to ‘highlight positive rate development in the market’ and counter domains such as abokifx.com, which publishes unofficial prices daily, Aminu Gwadabe, the head of the local BDC association, said. The report says trading in the black market boomed since 2014 after the central bank strengthened capital controls and began to manipulate the interbank exchange rate as oil, the country’s top export, plummeted. The BDCs will initially quote a rate of 399, Gwadabe said. Nigerian officials have already tried to rein in the black market. In November, intelligence agents threatened to arrest any BDC operator or street-trader buying or selling the naira at a rate weaker than 400 per dollar. The naira’s recovery in the forwards market may be deceptive, says a Bloomberg report. The currency is destined to weaken, however long policymakers hold out. The report says that in the first week of January, six-month contracts declined to their lowest level since last September as crude oil advanced about 20% after Opec agreed a production cut in November. It said a drop in forwards would be a sign of growing confidence in a nation’s economy and currency, but not this time. Even as oil prices advanced, Standard Chartered and Duet Asset Management said the nation needed to devalue the naira and loosen capital controls. The naira’s official rate, controlled by the government, has hovered just above 300 to the dollar since it was devalued in June. But, says a Daily Trust report, that is still 40% stronger than rates on the parallel market, a gap that is discouraging investment from overseas and leaving Nigeria starved of foreign currency. The official and black market naira foreign exchange rates will be ‘unified’ this year, but there is no time frame for when it could happen, said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Financial institutions and others have argued that Nigeria must allow its currency to float freely to solve its foreign exchange woes, a measure which has met opposition from President Muhammadu Buhari. Nigeria aims to sell Eurobonds worth $1bn in March, said Osinbajo, rather than February as originally hoped, which could help refill the government’s coffers. Bloomberg Bloomberg Daily Trust  Bill asks for compulsory registration of foreign employers  A Bill for compulsory registration of foreign employers in Nigeria by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity has passed second reading in the House of Representatives. Business Day reports that the Bill is intended to amend the Labour Act and to strengthen and review fines and punishments stipulated in the Act. Leading the debate on the Bill, Representative Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos-APC), said the aim of the bill was to further protect the Nigerian worker from being exploited by foreign employers operating in the country. ‘As it stands, the Labour Act allows registration of employers by the ministry but this Bill seeks to separate foreign from local employers’, he explained. Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, referred the bill to the Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity for further action. Business Day  SEC and CBN issue transaction settlement guidelines Committed to facilitating the development of efficient systems for the settlement of transactions, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has issued guidelines for the settlement of all types of securities in Nigeria. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that the guidelines are expected to promote competitive, efficient, safe and sound post trading arrangements in Nigeria. This will ultimately lead to greater confidence in securities markets, boost investors’ protection and limit systemic risk. In addition, it would also improve the efficiency of the market infrastructure, which should in turn, promote and sustain the integration and competitiveness of the Nigerian securities markets. The Guardian, Nigeria CBN joins SEC in advising against virtual currency use The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has advised against the use of virtual currencies, including bitcoin, ripples, litecoin. The Nigerian Bulletin reports that this was after an earlier warning from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The warnings came on the heels of announcement by Mavrodi Mondial Movement (MMM) that its operations will now be via digital currency. Other ponzi schemes are asking their subscribers to start investing with digital currency. CBN said virtual currencies are largely used in terrorism financing and money laundering, considering the anonymity of virtual transactions. ‘The CBN reiterates that VCs such as bitcoin, ripples, monero, litecoin, dogecion, onecoin, etc, and similar products are not legal tenders in Nigeria. Thus, any bank or institution that transacts in such businesses does so at its own risk.’ Nigerian Bulletin Pipeline fires continue to impact on oil output Royal Dutch Shell has shut the Trans Niger oil pipeline after a fire, threatening to worsen a drop in Nigerian output due to unplanned disruptions. The line, which can transport about 180 000 barrels a day to the Bonny Export Terminal in the Niger Delta, was halted due to a blaze at Kpor in Ogoniland, Precious Okolobo, a company spokesman in Lagos, is quoted in Business Report as saying. Shell declined to comment on the impact on production. Nigeria’s daily output dropped by 200,000 barrels to 1.45m in December, ending three months of gains as the African nation struggled to restore capacity after a year of militant attacks on oil infrastructure. Production fell to 1.39m barrels in August, the lowest level since 1988, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Fires at oil pipelines in OML (oil mining lease) 30 and 34 in Nigeria’s Delta region have been extinguished. Reuters Africa reports that, according to Lucky Sorue, chair of the Urhobo committee on oil and gas: ‘The fire has been put out and soldiers are there now.’ The fires were set after Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited the Delta for talks with militants whose attacks have crippled crude production in the region. Business Report  Reuters Africa  Rail link plan revived Nigeria’s plan to build a railway to supply iron-ore to its idle Ajaokuta steel plant could be the biggest sign yet that President Muhammadu Buhari is implementing his policy to diversify away from oil. Mining Weekly reports that the project began in 1979 with what the World Bank in 2002 called obsolete Soviet technology, and has never been finished. Authorities want to revive it as part of Buhari’s efforts to lessen the economy’s dependence on crude. Ajaokuta cost more than $4.5bn from 1979 to 1993, according to the World Bank. The 275km railroad will link the plant to an iron-ore mine in the central Kogi state, the port city of Warri to the south and Kaduna state in the north before 2019, Transport Ministry Permanent Secretary Sabiu Zakari is quoted in the report as saying. Mining Weekly  Forex scarcity and fuel shortage impacts on aviation industry  Year 2016 will go down as one of the most difficult for air passengers and operators in the industry. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that the twin problem of aviation fuel shortage and scarcity of foreign exchange (forex) persisted all year round. The report says that although the foreign airlines were not untroubled by the perennial fuel scarcity, their inability to repatriate funds back to their home countries posed more serious challenge to the airlines that were already hit by low patronage. Since the current administration restricted access to forex in 2015, the airlines have been unable to repatriate funds from ticket sales. Spanish national carrier, Iberia, and its US counterpart, United Airlines, suspended operations indefinitely. Several other airlines scaled down operations; either introducing smaller aircraft like British Airways or reducing their frequencies and routes – Emirates, Delta, and Turkish Airlines and others. The Guardian, Nigeria 2016 a challenging year for maritime operators While only a few days into 2017, maritime operators including seaport operators, clearing agents and all stakeholders are unanimous in their assessment that 2016 was most challenging, reports The Guardian, Nigeria. They attributed these challenges to the Federal Government’s unfavourable policies, a development that saw the seaports, which used to contribute a large chunk of Nigeria’s non-oil revenue becoming less active. Recent statistics from Nigerian Ports Authority showed that container traffic inward Nigerian ports (import) dropped to 6,831,348 tonnage as at September 2016, from 9,419,672 in 2015. And the outward container (export) also dropped from 2,263,594 tonnage in 2015 to 1,485,338 in September 2016. Also, the number of vessels dropped to 11-year lows, at 3,347 against 5,014 in 2015 and 5,333 in 2014. The report says that the importation of raw materials has dropped significantly, which the importers attributed to the lack of access to foreign exchange and low patronage. Spokesperson for the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria, Bolaji Akinola, is quoted as saying that government needs to reduce tariffs to boost activity. The Guardian, Nigeria Lagos property sector reflecting overall gloom With inert cranes, deserted construction sites and empty buildings, Lagos is suffering a hangover from a construction binge as Nigeria wrestles to overcome a recession. Fin24 reports that falling global oil prices and repeated attacks on crude infrastructure in Nigeria’s south severely hit the country’s economy in 2016, hammering the naira against the dollar. ‘Perhaps the greatest constraint for businesses operating in Nigeria at the moment has been the inability to access foreign currency, notably for the importation of goods, and repatriation of profits,’ said Roddy Barclay, an analyst at the Africa Practice research firm, in a November report. ‘Companies have reduced their activities and many expatriates have left,’ said Ade Kunle, a real estate agent. The report says it is unclear when they – and the construction projects – will come back. ‘The Nigerian banking sector will remain under pressure in 2017 and as a result, will look to limit higher-risk lending, such as that to construction projects’, said Richard Marshall, an analyst at BMI Research, a market research firm. It was unlikely the economy would whet the ‘appetite’ of foreign investors over the next two years, he said. Fin24 Entertainment industry well placed for job creation Nigeria’s entertainment industry can serve as a platform for creating jobs for Nigerian youths. Business Day reports that this is according to movie producer Bolanle Austine-Peters, who said that that the multi-billion naira industry was capable of generating huge revenue for the nation as well. Austine-Peters, the founder of Terra Kulture, a cultural firm, said that the industry is the third largest employer of labour around the world, and it has contributed meaningfully to the development of the nation. ‘The industry is full of creativities and potential that is capable of developing a country. The industry has removed millions of youths off the streets and also contributed meaningfully to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),’ she said. The report says she also commended Nollywood for projecting the country’s fashion and movie industry positively around the world. ‘Africa fashion, style and movie industry is trending and it is gaining world recognition.’ Business Day  Chinese nationals arrested for the importing of fake cell phones Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), working with the law enforcement agencies, recently arrested two Chinese nationals over increasing complaints about fake and substandard phones imported into Nigeria. The Guardian, Nigeria reports that according to Osita Aboloma, director general of SON, the Agency has continued to receive numerous complaints about KZG phones from unsuspecting consumers in the country. Aboloma said ‘We have information on the activities of these Chinese people who are operating this KZG mobile here in Ikeja Lagos that people are complaining about the quality of their products and SON has to ensure that the quality of products sold in Nigeria is in compliance with the Nigeria industrial standards.’ The report says the Association of Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ATCON), discovered that a number of them are fake, substandard or type unapproved. ATCON called for urgent measures to curb the increasing rate of dumping fake mobile phones in the country. The Guardian, Nigeria  Taiwan asked to move trade mission from capital  Nigeria has ordered Taiwan to move its trade mission from the capital, Abuja, to the commercial hub, Lagos. Business Day reports that this follows a visit by the Chinese foreign minister during which his government pledged to invest $40bn in infrastructure projects in the country. Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said Taiwan would stop enjoying privileges because it was not a country recognised under international law. The report says the foreign ministry of Taiwan strongly condemned ‘the unreasonable, rude and outrageous act of political hype carried out by the Nigerian government in complying with mainland China’s political goals’. But the report quotes a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson as saying: ‘Nigeria has made a correct political judgement. The country had ‘promised not to have any official dealings with Taiwan.’ Nigeria’s request reiterated its support for Beijing’s ‘One China’ policy, which demands that countries break official relations with Taiwan, as Beijing pulls economic levers in Africa and elsewhere to woo nations away from the island it regards as rebel-held territory within Chinese borders, says a Business Insider report. Since the US presidential election, President-elect Donald Trump has heightened tensions between the US and China by suggesting that his administration could reconsider nearly four decades of American support for ‘One China’ – a provocation that some analysts say has spurred China’s recent actions. Business Day  Business Insider  IN COURT Fake lawyer arrested  A man who never had legal training has been arrested for certificate and identity theft, following a petition written to the police on behalf of the Ilorin branch of the Nigerian Bar Association by its legal adviser, Oyetunji Ojuokaiye. Ghana Web reports that apart from appearing in local courts, as investigation revealed that Peter Adogun had also appeared in a number of cases in the Supreme Court. ‘It was discovered that the accused had falsely taken the credentials of one Inufin David Taiwo, an Abuja-based lawyer, under the guise of helping him to secure job in an oil company, only to come to Ilorin and start practising as a lawyer with the photocopies,’ the investigation said. Ghana Web  London court to decide on jurisdiction argument A court in London will decide in coming weeks whether Royal Dutch Shell can face trial in the UK over oil spill allegations in Nigeria, a decision some legal experts predict could attract more cases against multinationals in Britain. Reuters Africa reports that the High Court will judge whether members from two communities, Bille and Ogale in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region, can sue the Anglo-Dutch company in British courts. The communities say Nigerian courts are unfit to hear the case against Shell subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria. Shell says the case should be heard in Nigeria because the matter is ‘uniquely a Nigerian problem’. Reuters Africa Ex-president denies oil corruption claims  Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan has denied allegations that he and his oil minister received kickbacks as part of a $1.3bn deal with Italian oil company ENI and Royal Dutch Shell. The two oil giants made the $1.3bn payment to purchase the OPL 245 block, an offshore oil block in Niger Delta region, in 2011. The deal is currently under investigation in Italy, where prosecutors alleged the two oil giants illegally bought the block, breaching domestic laws, ‘without competitive tendering’ and with ‘full, unconditional exemption from all national taxes’, says an International Business Times report. In December 2016, prosecutors presented documents in a court in Milan against the two oil companies as well as 11 other people. Jonathan has denied the allegations. A statement published on his official Facebook page stated that the claims were not based on factual evidence. International Business Times  High Court in Lagos to hear suit over alleged crude oil theft  A Federal High Court in Lagos will start sitting in a suit filed by the Federal Government against Shell Western Supply and Trading Limited over alleged crude oil theft on 20 March. The Nation reports that Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd and its subsidiary, Shell Western Supply and Trading Ltd are defendants in the suit filed before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun. The government is claiming $406.7m from the oil company, which represents a shortfall of money paid by the company into the government’s account with the Central Bank of Nigeria for crude shipped in 2013/2014. The government accused the Anglo-Dutch company of not declaring or under-declaring crude oil shipments during the period, which was discovered following forensic analysis of bills of lading and other shipping documents. The Nation

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