Migrant crisis fuels sex trafficking of Nigerian girls to Europe

A promising student who dreamed of going to university, Mary was 16 when a woman approached her mother at their home and offered to take the Nigerian teenager to Italy to find work. Pushed to go by her family who hoped she would lift them out of poverty, Mary ended up being trafficked into prostitution. Some Nigerian girls soliciting for sex Her voice faltering, Mary described three years of being forced to sell her body, beatings, threats at...

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Ivory Coast rains begin to strengthen cocoa crop

Abundant rain and sunny spells improved growing conditions in Ivory Coast's cocoa regions last week, farmers said, offering respite after an especially harsh dry season. The long dry season reduced the size and quality of beans, especially for the mid-crop which runs from April to September. But continued good weather through June could help crops in the last few months of the season, growers said. Cocoa beans "The farmers are confident. The conditions...

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Nigeria's Barkindo frontrunner to become OPEC secretary-general

OPEC is likely to choose Nigeria's Mohammed Barkindo, a former head of state oil firm NNPC, as the next secretary-general of the producer group, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has been looking for a replacement for Libya's Abdullah al-Badri, who was elected acting secretary-general in December until the end of July after serving full terms.Barkindo led the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation from 2009 to 2010.OPEC oil ministers meet on Thursday in Vienna. The...

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Lufthansa revenues trapped in Nigeria at $20 mln - source

Lufthansa is unable to access $20 million of ticket revenues in Nigeria because of foreign currency restrictions in the African country, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.If that amount swells to $30 million, the German flagship carrier will consider cutting capacity to Nigeria, the person said.Global airlines association IATA has estimates that some $575 million of foreign airlines' revenues were trapped in Nigeria. U.S. carrier United and Spain's Iberia have stopped flying to Nigeria as a result.A spokesman for Lufthansa said the...

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Nigerian interbank rates fall on expecations of budget disbursal

Nigeria's overnight interbank rate eased to an average of 5 percent for overnight lending on Friday, down from 9 percent last week in anticipation of April budgetary allocations disbursal to government agencies.Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy, distributes money from oil revenue to its three tiers of government from a centrally held account, which provides liquidity for the banking sector and eases the cost of borrowing among banks."There was speculations of possible injection of April budget allocation into the system today (Friday), this forced...

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Nigeria eyes maiden sukuk issue this year, may sell eurobond

Nigeria is working out details for issuing a debut sovereign sukuk this year and may also sell a eurobond, the head of the country's debt office said on Friday.Abraham Nwankwo said his Debt Management Office (DMO) had yet to determine the size of a potential sukuk deal and was working with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the central bank and the stock exchange to build capacity.  Nwankwo, DMO boss Nigeria, reeling from the plunge...

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Niger Delta militant attack shuts down Chevron facility -company source

Chevron's onshore activities in Nigeria's Niger Delta have been shut down by a militant attack at its Escravos terminal, a company source said on Thursday. An oil rig A militant group called the Niger Delta Avengers, which has told oil firms to leave the Delta before the end of May, said late on Wednesday it had blown up the facility's mains electricity feed. "It is a crude line which means all activities in Chevron are grounded," the source told...

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Nigeria bond yields fall as traders buy debt after FX shift

Yields on Nigeria's government bond fell across maturities on Wednesday as traders bought debt to cover their positions, a day after the central bank kept interest rates on hold but pledged a flexible currency policy to lure back foreign investors.On Tuesday, the central bank said it would adopt a flexible exchange rate policy, a shift from a peg for the naira seen as overvalued, which had hampered growth and investment.Bond yields fell between 11 and 46 basis points across maturities with liquid five-year  debt down the most to 13.24 percent....

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Nigerian stocks near 5-month high after central bank FX shift

Nigerian stocks soared to near a 5-month high on Wednesday with banks leading the charge, driven by hopes that a more flexible foreign exchange policy will boost dollar supply and lure back foreign investors. Dada, Anchoria Investment On Tuesday, the central bank said it would adopt a flexible exchange rate policy, a shift from a peg for the naira seen as overvalued, which had hampered growth and investment.The main stock index was up 3.36 pct...

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Oil nudges $50 a barrel as investors bet on shrinking overhang

Oil rose towards $50 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time in seven months, driven by expectations that shrinking supply will help erode any overhang of unwanted crude, particularly after industry data showed a sharp fall in U.S. inventories. A series of outages around the world, such as wildfires in Canada and a spate of violence in Nigeria's oil-producing region, has helped cut global oil supply by nearly 4 million barrels per day this month....

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AFRICA Reinsurance Corporation to bolster development of insurance

The Group Managing Director, Africa Reinsurance Corporation, Corneille Karekezi, has said the company will pursue to bolster underwriting companies on the continent to boost the development of insurance.Karekzi said this amid the award function for African underwriters at the African Insurance Organisation summit, that was conducted in Marrakech, Morocco, recently.He said that the company?s reason for launching the award for the carriers at the AIO was to reward hard work of people and organisations that were making changes in their nations.As...

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Nigeria to adopt flexible FX regime, details to follow

Nigeria's central bank abandoned its naira peg to the dollar on Tuesday in favour of a flexible currency regime, a policy U-turn designed to boost local manufacturing and exports and stave off a recession.However, Governor Godwin Emefiele sparked confusion in Africa's biggest economy by declining to say how the shift from a naira fixed at 197 to the dollar would be implemented. Details would be published in a few days, he said after a Monetary Policy...

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South Africa's Tiger Brands reviews strategy, digests harsh Nigeria lessons

South Africa's biggest consumer foods maker, Tiger Brands, pledged a sweeping overhaul of its operations on Tuesday, after a botched investment in Nigeria and mounting difficulties in its home and exports markets force a re-think. New chief executive Lawrence MacDougall, who is just two weeks into the job, faces shrinking demand in African export markets such as Nigeria and Mozambique, and a bleak outlook in South Africa, Tiger Brands' largest market,...

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Nigeria claws back oil output under the shadow of militant threats

Nigeria was clawing back lost oil production this week after militant attacks on pipelines and an accident at an export terminal hobbled the country's crude exports.A spate of militant activity in Nigeria's oil-producing region slashed output by some 40 percent, to more than 22-year lows, and an ExxonMobil terminal accident forced it to cut output of Qua Iboe, the country's largest export stream. An oil rig On Tuesday, Italy's ENI confirmed it...

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Nigerian naira falls ahead of central bank rate decision

Nigeria's naira currency weakened slightly in the parallel market on Tuesday ahead of an interest rate decision and a possible announcement that the central bank will review its foreign exchange policy.The local currency was quoted at 346 to the dollar on the parallel market, weaker from 345 at Monday's close.At the official interbank window, commercial lenders were quoting 199 naira to the dollar, close to its peg of 197.Analysts are expecting the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate at 1345 GMT to fight inflation and further support...

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Nigeria FX reserves down 2.7 pct as markets eye rate decision

Nigeria's forex reserves fell 2.7 percent to $26.56 billion by May 20 from a month earlier, central bank data showed, as analysts awaited a rate decision on Tuesday, which many believe could include a revamp of exchange rate policy.Analysts are expecting a rate hike to fight inflation and further support the naira, currently trading on the black market about 40 percent below the official market level.The bank could also introduce a new parallel exchange rate, analysts say, after the government's move to use a lower, 285 naira per dollar rate for...

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Buhari's Lagos no-show dismays Nigerian business

A year into term, Buhari yet to visit commercial hubBusiness leaders say currency curbs crippling economyGDP contracted in first quarter, factories hit hardCentral bank policy decision due on TuesdayAt least the taxi drivers of Lagos are happy, even if businessmen in Nigeria's commercial capital are not. Buhari and Ambode A year after becoming president, Muhammadu Buhari pulled out of his first official visit to Lagos on Monday, averting citywide...

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Eyes on FX policy as Nigeria uses lower dollar rate for petrol imports

Kachikwu, oil minister Nigeria's government has used a lower currency rate than its official central bank rate for petrol imports, the junior oil minister said on Monday, signalling what analysts believe could be a move towards a two-tier exchange rate regime.Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said the government, which increased petrol prices in mid-May, used a conversion of 285 naira to the dollar to set prices, compared with the official rate of 197. Retail...

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Ghana forecasts increase in 2016/17 cocoa crop

Ghana expects to produce 900,000 tonnes of cocoa in the 2016/17 season starting in October, up from 850,000 this season, cocoa industry regulator Cocobod said on Monday.The forecast comes as the government seeks to improve crop yields by distr Cocoa beans ibuting high-yield seedlings free of charge and subsidising fertiliser deliveries to farmers."For the first time, we have almost finished the distribution of fertilisers to farmers ahead of time...

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Nigerian interbank rate rises on low liquidity, MPC meeting

Nigeria's overnight interbank rate rose marginally on Friday to an average of 9 percent, up from 8.5 percent at last week's close, due to lower banking system liquidity and expectations of a possible hike in the benchmark interest rate next week.Nigeria's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to take a decision on benchmark interest rates and other financial tools to curb accelerating inflation in the West African country.Annual inflation in Nigeria quickened to a near six-year high of 13.7 percent in April,...

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Nigeria raises 111 bln naira in T-bills at higher yields

Nigeria sold 110.93 billion naira ($557.44 million) worth of short-dated Treasury bills at an auction on Wednesday with higher yields than at the previous sales reflecting the sharp spike in inflation growth in Africa's biggest economy, central bank data showed on Thursday. Emefiele, CBN governor The bank sold 32.43 billion naira in the three-month paper at 8.10 percent, compared with 7.99 percent at the last auction on May 4.A total of 22.82 billion...

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British fraud investigator widens Rolls-Royce probe to Nigeria

Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has widened its investigation into Rolls-Royce to examine allegations of suspected bribery in Nigeria, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.Rolls-Royce, the world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines, said in 2013 the SFO had launched a formal investigation into concerns about possible bribery and corruption in China and Indonesia.The FT said on Thursday this had now spread to examine Rolls-Royce's former energy operations in Nigeria."We are co-operating with the authorities," a Rolls-Royce spokesman...

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Nigeria looks to sukuk for infrastructure funding needs

Nigeria hopes to use a proposed Islamic bonds issuance programme to help fund big infrastructure needs in Africa's biggest economy, aiming to tie the transaction to one of several projects, a Nigerian finance official told Reuters. Adeosun, Finmin Nigeria plans to borrow as much as $10 billion from debt markets, with about half of that coming from foreign sources, to help fund a budget deficit worsened by the slump in oil prices that has slashed...

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Nigerian union goes ahead with fuel protest strike; few early disruptions

A Nigerian union defied a court ban to launch a general strike on Wednesday in protest at a planned hefty increase in fuel prices, though many businesses and government offices opened as normal. The government hopes lifting costly fuel subsidies, causing prices to rise by up to two thirds at the pumps, will help alleviate the worst crisis in decades in Africa's biggest economy. NLC protest A wave of strikes ensued the last time Nigeria tried...

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Nokia returns to mobile phones with brand-licensing deal

Nokia said it has signed an exclusive 10-year licensing deal with Finnish company HMD Global Oy to create Nokia-branded phones and tablets, manufactured by a subsidiary of Taiwan's Foxconn. Nokia Phone Once the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, Nokia was wrongfooted by the rise of smartphones and sold its entire handset business to Microsoft in 2014.It however held on to its phone patents, and started to prepare a comeback by brand-licensing,...

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Trump would talk to N.Korea's Kim, wants to renegotiate climate accord

United States (US) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is willing to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program, proposing a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation. Trump In a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, Trump also called for a renegotiation of the Paris climate accord, said he disapproved of Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in eastern Ukraine,...

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China says to support steel exports as U.S. imposes hefty tariff

China said it would persist with controversial tax rebates to steel exporters to support the sector's painful restructuring programme, defying a United States move to impose punitive import duties on Chinese steel products. A steel plant A worldwide steel glut has become a major trade irritant, with China under fire from global rivals who say it is dumping cheap exports after a slowdown in demand at home.In a marked escalation of the spat, the...

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Burberry to overhaul retail operations after 10 pct fall in profit

British luxury brand Burberry said it would overhaul its retail operations and simplify its product range after full-year profit fell 10 percent in a tough market that is set to persist this year.The group, famous for its trench coats, said it expected profit to come in towards the bottom of market forecasts in the year to March 2017, and be more weighted to the second half than last year. Burberry has been hit by a slowdown in Chinese tourists...

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Suzuki says it used wrong mileage tests for Japan models; shares slide

Suzuki says 16 Japan models affected by improper mileage testingDiscrepancies do not apply to vehicles outside JapanSuzuki sees no impact on group operating results for nowSuzuki shares end down 9 pctMitsubishi president quits over its scandal Suzuki Motor Corp said it had used improper fuel economy tests for its cars in Japan but that proper testing subsequently had shown the mileage data did not need amending, in a widening of a scandal that...

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