Nigerian naira unchanged on oil company's dollar sale

CBN Gov, Emefiele

The Nigerian currency was unchanged at 162.90 naira to the dollar at Monday's market close, supported by dollar sales from the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell.
The naira had initially eased to 163.05 against the U.S. dollar, dealers said, but recovered after Shell sold an undisclosed amount of dollars to some lenders.
"Demand was balanced with dollar flow from Shell ... to keep the naira at the same level it closed on Friday," one dealer said, adding that the local units of two foreign banks were buying hard currency for their clients on Monday.
Dealers expect the naira to remain stable this week, trading around the 163 mark on possible central bank intervention as more oil companies make their regular month-end oil dollar sales.

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Nigeria's foreign reserves rise marginally to $37.26 bln by June 26

 Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves rose marginally to $37.26 billion on June 26, up 0.18 percent month-on-month, from $37.19 billion in May, central bank data showed on Monday.
But the reserves were down 22.74 percent year-on-year, the data showed. Foreign reserves stood at $48.23 billion on June 26, 2013.

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South Africa appoints four banks for foreign bond issue

South Africa has appointed Rand Merchant Bank, Barclays and Citi Bank as joint lead managers to arrange the issue of a foreign currency bond, while Investec will co-lead, the Treasury said in a statement on Monday.
The process of issuing a sukuk remains a medium-term project, the Treasury added.

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Kenya inflation edges up to 7.39 pct in year to June

Kenya's inflation crept up to 7.39 percent in the year to June from 7.30 percent in the previous month, the statistics office said on its website on Monday.
The rate, which has risen steadily since April when it was at 6.27 percent, still remained within the government's medium-term target of 5 percent, plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, on either side.
During the month, prices of some food commodities like green maize declined, helping the food and non-alcoholic beverages index to fall by 0.26 percent from May, the statistics office said.
The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index however went up by 0.70 percent from the previous month, contributing to the uptick in headline inflation.
The central bank's monetary policy committee is scheduled to meet next week to set interest rates.

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Nigeria plans $100-$300 mln diaspora bond by end-2014-debt official

Nigeria plans to issue a bond totalling $100-$300 million aimed at the country's diaspora by the end of the year, a senior debt official said on Monday.
"We are still working on it, it will be a minimum $100 million and up to $300 million," Abraham Nwankwo, director-general of Nigeria's debt management office, told Reuters on the sidelines of an Africa debt forum, adding the bond would launch "before the year ends".
Nigeria chose Stanbic IBTC and Goldman Sachs as lead managers of the diaspora bond in April.
Nwankwo said the bond would be sold only to offshore diaspora investors, with no on-shore portion.
Nigeria has no current plans for a regular sovereign dollar bond, Nwankwo added

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Ivorian cocoa arrivals seen at 1,598,000 T by June 29

Cocoa plants

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast had reached around 1,598,000 tonnes by June 29 since the start of the season on October 2, exporters estimated on Monday, up from 1,322,000 tonnes in the same period of the previous season.
Exporters estimated around 26,000 tonnes of beans were delivered to the West African state's two ports of Abidjan and San Pedro between June 23 and 29, up from 24,000 tonnes during the same period last year.
However, while arrivals remained ahead of last year's levels, exporters said poor quality caused by weeks of heavy rainfall and small bean size had led to heavy rejection rates.
The week's arrivals were down significantly from the 35,000 tonnes of beans shipped to the ports the previous week.
"The rains are hindering proper fermentation and drying," said the commercial director of an Abidjan-based exporter. "At least a third of volumes arriving are rejected at the port due to quality."
The world's top cocoa grower is currently in the midst of its April-to-September mid-crop harvest.
"We'll have to wait for the end of the rains to see good cocoa," said the director of another Abidjan-based exporter. "We may see 20,000 tonnes (per week) on average in July if the farmers struggle to properly prepare their beans, because no one wants to buy bad quality."

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Ghana dlr bond to go ahead despite ratings downgrade - debt official

Ghana will go ahead with plans to launch a Eurobond next month totalling up to $1.5 billion despite a recent ratings downgrade, a senior debt official said on Monday.
"We think we can be successful - we think before the end of next month we should be there," Samuel Ameyaw, director in the debt management division of Ghana's finance ministry, told an Africa debt forum.
Moody's cut Ghana's debt rating on Friday, to B2 from B1, and kept the rating on negative outlook, citing the country's deteriorating fiscal position and rising debt levels.

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Kenya seeks investors for two geothermal power plants

President kenyatta

Kenya invited bids on Monday for the construction of two electricity generation plants from underground gas for a combined 60 MW from geothermal power.
Endowed with vast geothermal energy resources in the Rift Valley, the east African nation wants to expand its generation capacity by 5,000 MW by 2017 from about 1700 MW now, to lower tariffs and cut costs of doing business.
The state-run Geothermal Development Company (GDC) said in a notice in a local daily newspaper that the winning firms will be expected to finance the plants and to complete building them by the end of next year.
Each plant will generate 30 MW.
Independent producers that are selected will be offered a power purchase agreement with distributor Kenya Power, GDC said.
Developing geothermal power plants usually requires high upfront costs, due to the expensive drilling of wells to tap the gas. But the energy source is usually cheaper and more reliable in the long run than thermal power or hydro generation.

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AFRICA DEBT-Kenyan yields seen continuing an uptrend next week

Kenya's central bank could accept most bids offered at its Treasury bill auction next week, keeping an upward trend on yields, while dealers expect Nigerian yields to trade at similar levels to this week's.
KENYA
Kenyan Treasury yields are expected to inch up when the central bank auctions 12 billion shillings' worth of 91-day , 182-day and 364-day bills.
At this week's sale, the weighted average yield on the 91-day bills rose to 11.438 percent from 10.250 percent at their previous sale, while the yield on the 182-day Treasury bills rose to 11.585 percent from 10.711 percent.
The yield on the one-year Treasury bills also jumped, at 11.186 percent from 10.981 percent last week.
Traders said the yields were expected to continue their upward trend, which started last month when the central bank started to accept most of the bids offered, to fill a funding gap.
Next week's auction is the first of a new financial year. Dealers said yields should edge up and they would wait to see if the bank continued its trend of picking up most of the bids.
NIGERIA
Nigerian debt yields are expected to trade around similar levels to this week in the face of increased liquidity and possible month-end profit-taking by some investors.
"We expect yields to stay broadly flat around the same levels next week as investors move in and out to balance their portfolio," one dealer said.
Bond yields have ranged between 11.37-11.48 percent at the short end, while the long tenor fetched 12.05-12-15 percent.
Traders said the local debt market is currently dominated by local pension fund managers, with offshore interest muted due to falling yields.
Nigeria sold 134.5 billion naira of treasury bills with maturities ranging from 3-month to one year this week at lower yields.

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Nigerian interbank lending rate eases as liquidity climbs

Nigerian interbank lending rates eased to an average of 10.25 percent on Friday, down from 10.37 percent last week, after a liquidity boost from government revenue disbursals and cash calls for joint venture oil production.
Traders said the cash balance held by banks at the central bank rose to about 433.2 billion naira ($2.7 bln) on Friday, up from 297 billion naira last week.
"We don't expect any significant change in rates next week," one dealer said, adding inflows from maturing treasury bills were due then.
Lending rates among banks have reached a floor, dealers said, noting they do not see rates falling further despite the liquidity boost to the banking system, due to the cap on the central bank's benchmark deposit rate.
The open buy-back (OBB) was unchanged at 10.25 percent, 1.75 percentage points below the central bank's benchmark interest rate of 12 percent.
Overnight placement fell to 10.25 percent from 10.50 percent last week.

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Growing use of ICT in agriculture helping to "transform Africa"

Potatoes 

An influential report on education, training and development in Africa shows that the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is beginning to have a significant impact on agriculture and may even be helping to make a reality of the African Union’s 2063 Vision of a “transformed continent”.
The report’s editor, Dr Harold Elletson, said:
“African agriculture is changing. It is steadily becoming more efficient. Much of the change is happening at the level of the smallholder farmer and it is being driven by the increased use of ICTs, which are helping to boost yields, increase choice and improve living standards.
“Our survey shows that people working in the agriculture and food sector realise how useful ICTs can be. They are bringing new solutions to a whole range of farming problems – for example, promoting more efficient irrigation methods or better livestock management and even encouraging the development of self-sustaining funding solutions. ICTs are making a massive contribution to growth in African agriculture and, as this sector still employs nearly 70 per cent of the workforce, it is very significant in terms of making a reality of the African Union’s vision of a transformed continent.”
The eLearning Africa Report 2014 (www.elearning-africa.com/report2014), which interviewed people working in the agriculture and food industries throughout Africa, found a higher level of optimism about the future than in almost any other sector. It also established that the most common uses of ICTs in agriculture were for the acquisition of knowledge about better farming practices and markets. Survey respondents said that ICTs could most benefit farmers through “greater efficiency” (49 per cent ), “better sales” (27 per cent), bigger yields (12 per cent) and “better land management” (10 per cent).
A typical example of a successful ICT-related project in the agriculture sector is the mFarmer Initiative Fund, which started as a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and now provides farmers in 11 sub-Saharan countries with information and advisory services via their mobile phones.
The eLearning Africa Report 2014’s findings chime with the conclusions of a recent World Bank report on ‘ICTs for Agriculture in Africa’, which said that “the strategic application of ICT to the agricultural industry, the largest agricultural sector in most African countries, offers the best opportunity for economic growth and poverty alleviation on the African continent.”

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Nigeria sells 134.5 bln naira in T.bills at mixed yields

CBN gov, Emefiele

Nigeria sold 134.5 billion naira ($825.9 mln) in treasury bills with mixed yields on Wednesday, the central bank said on Thursday, amid lower subscription levels compared with its auction last week.
The bank sold bills with maturities ranging from 3 months to one year and received subscriptions of 314.3 billion naira for the notes. Demand at a similar auction last week stood at 404.32 billion naira.
With Wednesday's issue, Africa's biggest economy has raised 440.68 billion naira ($2.7 bln) in treasury bills this month as it seeks to manage money supply in the system, curb inflation and help government plug funding gaps in its budget.
It has said it will raise 936.92 billion naira ($5.76 billion) in treasury bills in the coming three months.
The bank issued 21.53 billion naira for 3 months on Wednesday at a yield of 9.95 percent, down from the 9.9 percent it fetched at a previous auction on June 18.
It raised 31.83 billion naira for 6 months at a yield of 10.25 percent, as against 10.38 percent last week, and issued the one-year bill at 10.34 percent yield to raise 81.2 billion naira. It sold the one-year note at 10.39 percent on June 18.

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Nigeria's Bayelsa State governor seeks global support to combat environmental degradation

Dickson

The Governor of Bayelsa State, the Seriake Dickson, is seeking the support of the international community to hold multinational oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta, including Royal-Dutch Shell and Agip, responsible for the environmental devastation they have caused.
Dickson detailed a litany of environmental offenses that have threatened local economies, harmed public health, impeded development, and strained the social fabric of communities.
According to him,  the damage to Bayelsa State's environment is equated to "environmental terrorism."
BP's Deepwater Horizon spill caused an international uproar, but that catastrophe is dwarfed by the amount of oil spilled in the Niger Delta annually. And the devastation is constant and ongoing, data from
Nigeria's National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), which indicates more than 804 oil spills were recorded in a two-year period, making an average of over one spill every day.
"Nowhere is there a greater need to raise our voices, do our part, and hold all implicated actors to acceptable standards of environmental responsibility than in Bayelsa State," said Dickson. "We seek the strong support of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the international community, especially the U.K. and U.S. governments, the United Nations system and the justice institutions of the European Union, in holding these corporations and their parent companies to account for their environmental violations."
Bayelsa State is located at the southernmost tip of Nigeria, forming the core of the Niger Delta's network of small islands. It is one of the three largest wetlands in the world and features a diverse and fragile ecosystem. Its treasures include rain and mangrove forests as well as rare and exotic species.
Dickson says all this is under attack by companies headquartered in advanced economies such as the U.K., U.S., Netherlands and Italy. They comply with the high environmental standards in their own countries, but exploit weaknesses in Nigeria's regulatory oversight.
"It is time for the extractive industry to plough back reasonable portions of their humongous profits into protecting the environments which they have so perforated in the course of their operations," Dickson said. "Bayelsa State, as a responsible member of the global community, is committed to restoring our environment and preserving our treasure trove of biodiversity."

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Nigeria naira broadly flat at 162.90 against U.S. dollar

Nigerian naira ended broadly flat on the interbank market on Wednesday, after strong demand for the U.S. currency countered the effect of dollar sales by two multinational oil companies, dealers said.
The local unit closed at 162.90 naira against the dollar, broadly flat compared with Tuesday's close of 162.80 naira, despite ExxonMobil selling $81 million and Eni $5 million to the interbank market.
"We expect the naira to remain stable ... because we are still anticipating dollar flows from Chevron and Shell," one dealer said.
Dealers said the naira had initially firmed to 162.60 during intraday trade before strong demand for the greenback hit the market to soak up available oil company dollars. Some currency users set limit price orders to buy dollars and come into the market depending on liquidity, dealers said.
The central bank offered to sell $350 million at its twice weekly auction on Wednesday, the same amount it offered on Monday

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Tunisian central bank raises key rate to 4.75 percent to curb inflation

Tunisia's central bank said on Thursday it had raised its key interest rate to 4.75 percent from 4.5 percent to ease inflation pressures, the second rise in six months.
Inflation had slowed to 5 percent in March, its lowest level since December 2011, but it rose again to 5.2 percent in April and 5.4 percent in May.
Central bank governor Chadli Ayari told Reuters in March that he expected the inflation rate would stand at between 5.2 and 5.3 percent by the end of 2014, down from the average of 6.1 percent last year.
The central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 4.5 percent in December from 4 percent, citing inflationary pressures.

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Uganda selects two final bidders for its oil refinery project

A refinery

Two consortia from Russia and South Korea have emerged as the final bidders of Uganda's $2.5 billion refinery after two others from China and Japan were knocked out of the bidding process, the Ministry of Energy said on Tuesday.
Uganda is keen to add value to its crude output to maximise earnings from its hydrocarbon reserves, which were discovered in the country along its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006.
Government geologists estimate reserves at 3.5 billion barrels.
The ministry said in statement that a consortium led by South Korea's SK Energy Co. and another led by Russia's RT-Global Resources had been selected to proceed to the final phase of the bidding process.
Early this month the two companies together with China's state-owned China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPPB) and Japan's Marubeni Corporation <8002.T> were invited to submit bids from an initial shortlist of six firms.
Marubeni Corporation's proposal was not evaluated because it lacked a bid bond while CPPB's proposal did not adequately satisfy all the requirements of tender, the statement said.
"Government will commence negotiations with the two preferred bidders ... the two consortia will be expected to submit their respective best and final offers by the end of August 2014," the statement said.
Officials have said a final winner, who is expected to take up a 60 percent stake in project as well develop and operate it, will be announced by the end of the fourth quarter this year.
The facility is planned to process 60,000 bpd and much of Uganda's projected crude output is expected to be exported via a pipeline through Kenya, which has yet to be built.
Oil production is expected to begin in 2017 with maximum output seen at 200,000 barrels.

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Surging environmental crime funds conflicts, hurts growth-UN

Illegal refinery in Nigeria

Surging environmental crime, from illegal logging to elephant poaching, is worth up to $213 billion a year and is helping to fund armed conflicts while cutting economic growth, a U.N. and Interpol report said on Tuesday.
The study, released during a U.N. meeting of environment ministers in Nairobi, called for tougher action to prevent crimes such as illegal logging, fishing, mining, dumping of toxic waste and trade in rare animals and plants.
"Many criminal networks are making phenomenal profits from environmental crime," Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Environment Programme, told Reuters. "It is a financing machine."
An "enormous increase" in environmental crime in recent years is helping to fund militias and insurgents while depriving developing nations of billions of dollars in revenues to help lift citizens from poverty, he said.
The study estimated that environmental crime was worth between $70 billion and $213 billion a year. By comparison, global development aid to poor nations totals $135 billion.
It estimated, for instance, that illicit trade in charcoal in Africa, where wood is a main source of energy, was worth $1.9 billion a year. Islamist al Shabaab insurgents in Somalia made millions of dollars by taxing charcoal at ports and roadblocks.
And rising wealth in China and other Asian nations is driving demand for everything from ivory to rhino horn, seen as status symbols by a rapidly growing middle class.
The report estimated that about 20,000 to 25,000 elephants were killed in Africa every year, out of a total population of up to about 650,000. Militias in Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic exploited ivory to raise cash.
The report called for stronger environmental laws and enforcement.
Among some successes, the report cited a drop in deforestation in Brazil's Amazon to its lowest rate in 2012 since monitoring began in 1988 because of satellite imaging and targeted police operations.

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Kenya Airways picks COO Mbuvi Ngunze as new CEO

A plane on the fleet of Kenya Air

Kenya Airways has ended its search for a new chief executive, naming Chief Operating Officer Mbuvi Ngunze to replace Titus Naikuni. The long-serving Group Managing Director and CEO retires at the end of November this year after 11 years at the helm of the national carrier.
Mr Naikuni joined KQ in February 2003 and was expected to retire last year. However, KQ’s board asked him to stay for one more year to steer the company through a turbulent period.
The board says it engaged the services of US-based international executive search firm Spencer Stuart Limited to help identify a suitable successor for Mr Naikuni. Plans to hire a new COO are now underway.
Mr Ngunze has served as COO since September 2011. He joined the airline from cement-maker Lafarge, with whom he spent a decade in various roles.
These include heading the Finance department at Bamburi Cement, managing Hima Cement Uganda and Mbeya Cement Tanzania, and heading audit and internal communication at the group’s headquarters in Paris. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree (accounting option) from the University of Nairobi.
He is a Chartered Accountant (England and Wales) and is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Management Development Programme.
The Naikuni era of KQ’s history was marked by aggressive expansion. The airline now operates on more than 60 routes from the 25 that it plied when he joined the company in 2003.
However, the company has also suffered some major setbacks including two plane crashes, the first in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire in 2004 and another in Doula, Cameroon in 2007.
KQ sank into loss-making territory in 2012 after a fuel hedging bet gone wrong, but swung back to profitability the year after. Efforts to cut costs in 2012 by retrenching workers saw the airline entangled in a precedent-setting court battle.

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Nigerian naira up 0.14 pct on oil firm dollar sale

Emefiele

The Nigerian naira firmed 0.14 percent against the U.S. currency on Monday, after the local unit of French oil company Total sold around $101 million in the interbank market, dealers said.
The unit closed at 162.57 naira, firmer than Friday's close of 162.80 naira. It had initially weakened to 162.80 naira at intraday trade before the oil company dollars hit the market, dealers said.
"I expect more oil companies to sell dollars and the naira to trade within a tight band of 162.5 and 163.10, because there is still demand out there," one dealer told Reuters.
The central bank offered to sell $350 million at an auction on Monday, while Italian oil company Eni called for bids to sell $10 million at market close. The outcome of these sales will set the pace for Tuesday's rate.
Dealers said demand for dollars was coming from foreign investors repatriating dividends from the equity market abroad, foreign airlines converting naira ticket sales and bureau de change buying hard currency for their clients.
Nigerian construction firm Julius Berger paid a dividend of 2.70 naira each on Friday, sending its shares up the maximum 10 percent allowed on the local bourse.
Dealers said they expect the central bank to intervene once the naira crosses the 163.10 resistance level, which could happen if oil company dollars dry up. Oil firms operating in Nigeria normally sell dollars monthly to meet their naira obligations.
"What is helping the naira is oil company inflow ... if not 163.10 is where traders will start to go short," another dealer said.

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Nigeria interbank rates ease before government funds reach banks

CBN Gov, Emefiele

Nigerian interbank lending rates eased to an average of 10.37 percent on Friday, down from 10.87 percent last week, in anticipation of an increase in liquidity as the government makes its monthly budgetary allocations.
Nigeria allocates oil revenues to federal, state and local governments every month. The money going to states and local government are distributed by banks. The funds are expected to reach the market by Monday, traders said.
Traders said the cash balance banks hold at the central bank dropped to a surplus of 297 billion naira ($1.82 billion) on Friday from 349 billion naira last week, as state-owned energy company NNPC withdrew money from the banking system.
"The sale of treasury bills this week drained liquidity from the system," one dealer said, but rates should be unchanged next week because of the budget allocation.
NNPC sold $200 million to some lenders last week but withdrew the naira proceeds to its account with the central bank this week. Nigeria also sold treasury bills this week.
The open buy-back (OBB) eased to 10.25 percent from 10.75 percent, 1.75 percentage points below the central bank's benchmark rate of 12 percent. Overnight placement fell to 10.5 percent from 11 percent last week.

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UK High Court rules Shell could be legally liable for Nigeria spills

Shell logo

The UK's High Court ruled Friday that oil giant Shell could be legally liable for two oil spills in 2008 in the Nigeria's Niger Delta if it failed to take reasonable steps to protect its infrastructure.
Leigh Day, the lawyers representing 15,000 claimants from the Bodo community in the Niger Delta, filed particulars of the claim against Shell at the High Court last year seeking compensation for the spills which caused environmental damage.
At the hearing, Leigh Day in a statement Friday said it had argued that under the Nigerian Oil Pipelines Act anyone who suffered from an oil spill can claim compensation if they can show Shell was guilty of neglect in failing to "protect, maintain or repair" the pipeline.

Shell staff cleaning oil spills in Niger Delta

The judge found that while Shell did not have an obligation to provide policing or military defense it could be legally liable if it had failed to take other reasonable steps to protect the pipeline, such as the use 0f appropriate technology.
Shell in 2011 admitted liability for two spills of about 4,000 barrels due to operational failures. According to Leigh Day, experts estimate the spills around the fishing villages in the oil-rich Rivers State to be between
500,000 and 600,00 barrels.
"This is a highly significant judgment. For years, Shell has argued that they are only legally liable for oil spills which are caused by operational failure of their pipelines and that they have no liability for the devastation caused by bunkered [stolen] oil," Leigh Day's senior partner Martyn Day said after today's hearing.
Shell, Nigeria's biggest oil producer, says sabotage and oil theft are the main causes of spills but environmentalists say the company has not done enough to prevent such incidents.

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