Nigeria's Arik Air to buy mostly Boeing planes to double its fleet -source

Nigeria's largest airline Arik Air plans to nearly double its fleet to 52 planes within 10 years and has already ordered some of them from Boeing, a source at the company said on Monday.
Most of the carrier's existing fleet are Boeing planes and the source, who did not wish to be identified, said the airline would buy most of the new planes from the U.S. planemaker. The source did not say how many had already been ordered or the value of the purchases.
Privately owned Arik Air needs more planes as it aims to add international routes and increase services, including daily flights to New York, to offset a slowdown at home and bring in more hard currency.
It is also seeking new investors to help it grow and has said it wants to raise up to $1 billion through a private share placement next year and a possible initial public offering (IPO).

Founded a decade ago and now west Africa's biggest carrier by passenger numbers, Arik Air has appointed advisers for the share placement and potential IPO in Lagos, with a secondary listing in London.
"We hope to maintain our market leadership and our growth strategy involving substantially increasing our fleet to 52 aircrafts by 2025," Managing Director Chris Ndulue said on Monday at a briefing in Lagos to mark the carrier's 10 years of operations.
"We plan to ... put our footprint in Europe, Asia and Latin America and the Middle East, and this requires additional aircraft," he said.
Arik Air's home market has been hit by falling demand as a currency crisis in Africa's top economy deepens, due in part to the oil price slump. United and Iberia both stopped services to Nigeria this year and Emirates and Kenya Airways have announced plans to suspend flights to Nigeria's capital Abuja by next month.
Ndulue said Arik Air would also look at various funding options from international banks despite dollar shortages and the economic recession at home, which had affected businesses.
The carrier currently has a fleet of 28 aircraft, mostly Boeings but also three Airbus planes and nine Bombardier aircraft.
New routes and services would help the airline generate foreign currency.
Last week Arik announced plans to start daily flights to New York in the next six months, up from three times a week, and start flights to Rome and Paris within 18 to 24 months. The carrier flies mainly within western and central Africa, as well as to London and Johannesburg.
A plunge in Nigeria's naira currency has ramped up the cost of importing jet fuel and hurt profit margins as many passengers pay fares in naira.

(C) Reuters News

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Nigeria central bank to hold $500 mln forwards auction

Nigeria's central bank will sell $500 million of two- and three-month currency forwards at auction on Monday to clear a demand backlog from manufacturers, traders said, as it seeks ways to resolve a chronic dollar shortage.

A lack of dollars has caused many firms to halt operations and lay off workers, compounding an economic crisis rooted in falls in the price of oil, which accounts for 70 percent of Nigeria's budget revenues.
Africa's biggest economy is facing its first recession in 25 years.
The central bank asked lenders to submit bids for the forwards before 1300 GMT, traders said.
The bank held a two-month dollar forward auction two weeks ago in which it sold less than expected, traders said.The economic crisis has kept the naira under pressure against the dollar, and the central bank has struggled to support the local currency with diminishing foreign exchange reserves.
It said on Monday its dollar reserves dipped to $23.95 billion as of Oct 27, down 2.7 percent from Sept 27 and 20.5 percent lower than a year ago.
Traders said there had been no activity on the interbank market, where the naira is quoted at 305 per dollar, two hours after it opened on Monday.
On the black market, the naira was quoted at 470.

(C) Reuters News 

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Nigerian foreign reserves fall 20.5 pct to $23.95 bln by Oct. 27 -central bank

Nigeria's foreign currency reserves fell 20.5 percent year-on-year to $23.95 billion by Oct. 27, down 2.7 percent month-on-month, central bank data showed on Monday.
The central bank has been selling dollars to support the weakening naira <NGN=D1>, hit by low oil prices that have triggered the first recession for 25 years.
The central bank will sell $500 million currency forwards at an auction to clear demand backlog from manufacturers, traders said on Monday, as the regulator tries to find ways to resolve a chronic dollar shortage plaguing the West African nation.

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Girl described man who treks from Lagos to Zaria for love as stalker, insane

When a 26-year-old, Tunde Agbaje decided to trek from the Ketu area of Lagos State to Zaria in Kaduna State to prove his love for Sharon Donald, also a 26 year lady, he was satisfied that his action will win him the girl’s heart, but alas, that was not to be as the lady has tagged him a stalker and a person of unstable mind.

Report has it that Tunde, who is a cousin of a former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, went on the adventure to prove his love for a lady, Sharon Donald.
Sharon, also the daughter of a former governor of a state in the South-South is now based in New York, United States of America.
It was learnt that Tunde and Sharon had met in Ikoyi, Lagos State, and had been friends for the past six years, but she had turned down his marriage proposal several times.
Tunde who claimed to have decided on the adventure to Zaria to prove his love for Sharon, adding that he was on the road for 19 days.
However, the lady at the centre of this has debunked claims of any friendship nor relationship Tunde, describing him as a stalker.
“Tunde (Agbaje) has been harassing and stalking me for the past six years and as far as I am concerned, this is just a new escapade in a series of his harassment.
She said she knew Agbaje was embarking on the trek, adding that she warned him against it.
She said she had never had any relationship with him, She said, “I met Tunde at a church when I was living in Lagos and we were both part of the youth ministry. He never had a friendship, let alone a relationship, with me. I was in a music group and some of the youths had my phone number, including him.
“He later found out where I lived and came to my house. My mum warned him to leave me alone, but he refused. I changed my phone number and moved to the US, but I don’t know how he got my contact. I have stopped picking calls from Nigeria because of him.
“He later called me and said he was going to trek to prove his love for me in a non-violent way and I told him not to do it because he could die. I said that not because I cared, but just for Christian charity. This guy is mentally unstable, because how can you still be stalking a woman who has turned you down for six years?”
But Tunde, a Lagos State indigene said, “I have no regret for what I have done. I have proved my love for her, even though she didn’t reciprocate my feeling. I believe even if she gets married to another person, nobody will ever be able to do what I did for her.”
Narrating his own side of the story Tunde said he met Sharon on a chance meeting at a restaurant in Ikoyi, Lagos.
“I was with my friends sometime in 2010 and while we were discussing about ladies, I said I wished God would just show me my wife anytime soon.
“About five minutes later, we were hungry and I went to get food on Awolowo Road. It was my first day at that eatery. I was waiting to be served when she walked in. Coincidentally, that day was also her first day there. I observed that there was a love image at the back of the trousers she put on.
“She approached me and asked what she could buy and I advised her. We later exchanged contacts and became friends. That was how my love for her started growing. We met several times afterwards.”
Agbaje said some months later, he decided to open up on his feelings for her, but she turned him down.
He said he persisted, adding that when she didn’t bulge, he decided to do “what no man can do for her.”
“I chose to trek to Zaria because her parents dated for six years in ABU, Zaria, before they got married. I didn’t let my parents know and to ensure I was not disturbed, I changed my SIM card. I took a tracker along with me to monitor my movements. I never took a bus at any time. It was a tough task and I even collapsed some of the times. I took off from Ketu on October 2 and arrived in Zaria on Thursday, October 20, around 4.15pm.

(C) With Punch Newspaper report

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The 'close door' button on your elevator is a scam! Manufacturers reveal buttons make no difference

* The close button in an elevator has been obsolete since the 1990s
* This suggests those installed are fake and do not close the doors faster
* This is true for crosswalks in New York City and some office thermostats
* Experts say these placebo mechanism promote the illusion of control
Most people do not have the patience to wait a few seconds for the elevator doors to shut, so they push the 'close' button to speed up the process.
However, some say this feature has been obsolete since the 1990s, suggesting the button is a complete fake – it will not close the doors any faster.
Experts reveal that there numerous buttons in the world that do not live up to their name, but are present to make us feel in control.


Most people don't have the patience to wait for the elevator doors to shut, so they push the 'close' button to speed up the process. However, this feature has been obsolete since the 1990s, suggesting the button is a complete fake – it will not close the doors any faster
THE TRUTH ABOUT BUTTONS
Elevator 'close' buttons went obsolete in the 1990s, which means the ones you see are fake.
New York City figures state that out of the 3,250 crosswalk buttons, 2,500 of them were replaced with non-functioning mechanisms.
And a majority of the thermostats installed in offices that are easily accessible are decoys.
Expert say that these buttons or fake thermostats are in place to promote the illusion on being in control.
Having a lack of control has been found to spark depression among many individuals.
The Americans With Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, mandating that elevators stay open long enough for someone with a physical disability, such as on crutches or in a wheelchair, to make it inside, Karen W. Penafiel, executive director of National Elevator Industry Inc., told Christopher Mele with The New York Times in an interview.
Although these buttons are useless to the average person, they do perform their proper function for firefighters and maintenance workers – but only with a code or designated keys.
Penafiel explains since an elevator's lifespan is around 25 years, it is safe to say that a majority, if any, do not have a functioning 'close' button – but the 'open' button works when it is pushed.
As bizarre as it seems to place fake buttons in an elevator or other devices, they are there for good reasons.
'Perceived control is very important,' Ellen J. Langer, a psychology professor at Harvard University who has studied the illusion of control, told Mele in an email.

(C) Dailymail

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The six things you need to do in work to make sure your boss NEVER wants to lose you

* Recruiters have shared their golden six-step formula for success
* Includes ensuring you build rapport with every single person in the office
* You also have to be 'very, very' good at a job that no one else is doing
Making yourself indispensable at work is no mean feat, but experts say it's actually a lot simpler than you think - as long as you know what you're doing.

Some of the best recruiters in the industry have shared their golden six-step formula for ensuring that your boss never wants to lose you.
From ensuring you build a rapport with every single person in the office to being 'very, very' good at a job that no one else is doing, experts say if you follow these rules, you'll be office top dog in no time.
1. Be very, very good at something no one else is any good at
Rhiannon Cambrook-Woods, managing director of Zest Recruitment and Consultancy LLP, said: 'You may be great at your job, but if all you are doing is what your job description says you should be doing, then you are not going to get noticed by your boss.'
She advises picking a task that very few of your colleagues have ever managed to master and make it your goal to be the best at it so that the next time someone has a question relating to that particular action, your colleagues will respond by saying, “Speak to ‘YOU’, they know everything there is to know about that.”
Build rapport with…everyone
Network, network, network. Take time to walk around the office and meet colleagues in other departments to get yourself seen and known throughout the company.
3. Think business development
'No matter what type of organisation you work for, money dictates', argues Paul MacKenzie-Cummins, recruitment marketing and careers expert.
Too many people simply go to work, do their job and then go home safe in the knowledge they will pick up their paycheck at the end of the month. Those are the people who wouldn’t be missed if they handed in their notice. This about how you can be an asset in bringing in new business or what time or costs saving measures you could introduce; it’s about how you can make a difference to the bottom line of the business.
. Have enthusiasm
Claire Harvey, senior divisional director for REED North, says it's essential to have courage and enthusiasm. She said: 'When you love your job and you have proven yourself in that job, you can be more courageous and take risks.'
She adds that a company desires employees who can offer ideas and solutions, not just problems. 'Be creative and don’t feel afraid to share an idea, it shows an employer that you are proactive and like to contribute to the growth of the business. If you show you have the enthusiasm for your role and the company, your ideas won’t go unheard.'
5. Stay on your toes
Marianne Hatcher, Learning and Development Manager at BPS World, said no one is truly indispensable and there will always be new threats arising that jeopardise your role.
'Continually develop your skills, stay on top of your role and stay connected to those around you,' she suggests.
6. Always keep your head up
Claire Harvey says you should always keep your head up: physically, emotionally and mentally.
'If you drop your head and feel miserable, you’ll stay miserable and your attitude will have an effect on your colleagues, she claims. 'On a bad day in the office, be the one to encourage others and lend a hand.
'When you enter your managers' office, keep your head up, when you walk in at the beginning of the day and leave at the end of a day, head up. This is crucial in any situation.'
(C) Dailymail

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Pope Francis heads for Sweden, the heart of godlessness,

Usually feted ecstatically by Catholics across the world, Pope Francis may face a far more muted reception when he arrives next week in Sweden, one of the world's most secular nations, with openly gay Lutheran bishops and special cemeteries for atheists.

Add to that the fact that Francis will be there to take part in a joint Catholic-Lutheran service in Lund to mark the start of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's anti-Catholic Reformation that led to a bloody schism in Europe.
In the first papal visit to the country in nearly 30 years, Francis, who is seen as breathing freshness into traditional Catholic doctrine and reaching out to other religious communities, will also hold a public Mass in Malmo, a gateway for thousands of immigrants who have fled from Middle East wars over the last few years.
While trips to the likes of the Philippines attract huge crowds, Francis's attempt at dialogue with Lutherans may go either unnoticed or criticised by Scandinavians whose views on sexuality and abortion are among the world's most liberal.
"This is really the first time Francis will have spoken so directly to the secular West, and he will do so in the country that is considered the world’s capital of irreligion," said Austen Ivereigh, a papal biographer and Catholic commentator.
The visit could see Francis make a symbolic attempt to help unite Lutherans and Catholics, such as allowing non-Catholic partners in a Catholic-Lutheran marriage to receive Communion at Catholic Masses. But that could be lost on most Swedes.
"It's easy to perceive this as a papal visit when it's not. It's about the meeting of Lutherans and Catholics," said Antje Jackelen, Lutheran archbishop of Uppsala and Sweden's first woman archbishop.
Media coverage ahead of the visit - which starts on Monday - has been minimal, although the mass at a 26,500 seat capacity stadium in Malmo has been nearly sold out.
IRRELIGIOUS
Polls show Sweden, nominally Lutheran, is one of the world's most irreligious nations. In a WIN-Gallup survey last year, around eight in 10 Swedes said they were either "not religious" or "convinced atheists." Surveys show Swedes trust institutions like the tax agency more than the Lutheran Church.
An atheist cemetery opened this year, where Swedes can be buried without religious symbols like the cross, star of David or Islamic crescent.
David Thurfjell, professor of religion and history at Sodertorn University, said for many Swedes it may be easier to come out as gay than to come out as religious.
"Swedes are just uneasy with the word," said Thurfjell. "You would just never call yourself religious."
It is a trend seen across the Nordics. After making it possible to exit from membership on-line, Norway's Lutheran state Church saw 25,000 people exit in August, the biggest one-month drop in its history.
Swedes still take part in Christian sacraments such as baptism and many still pay small voluntary tax contributions to the Lutheran Church of Sweden.
Some also say that a wave of new immigrants - many Christians and Muslims who have fled war in the Middle East - is changing attitudes. Around 17 percent of Swedes are now foreign-born.
"It has been secularized for so long, that people start to get tired and sick of it," Sweden's only Catholic archbishop, Anders Arborelius, said. "The new situation with a massive immigration of people who are often more religious has also changed the mentality."
Multi-culturalism has challenged Sweden's comfortable secular identity. This year Sweden faced controversy when former schools minister Aida Hadzialic, herself an immigrant, said religious schools that separate boys from girls should not be allowed.
That backlash against any perception of religious interference may mark rancis's visit.
"I hope they'll (Swedes) be opposed to the Middle Age dogma the papacy represents," former ABBA band member Bjorn Ulvaeus and member of Sweden's Humanist Association said in an email. "But, I fear, they'll be mostly indifferent."

(C) Reuters News

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Divisions in oil-rich Delta undermine Nigeria's bid to end insurgency

An angry crowd blocks access to a Chevron facility in Nigeria's oil-producing south to demand jobs and housing, a common refrain from poor communities in the Niger Delta swamps.

But this incident in August was different. The young men were not just angry with the U.S. company. They were also claiming that rival factions in their community were being given an unfair share of development funds from the oil industry.
The incident shows what the government must address when it meets community leaders and militants in Abuja next week in an attempt to end armed attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, which reduced oil output by a third earlier this year.
Officials hope the meeting - which will be attended by President Muhammadu Buhari - will lead to an agreement for militants to lay down their arms in exchange for funds for the region that produces most of Nigeria's oil.
But divisions between the militant groups and the communities where they live, as well as disputes among different groups of residents, will make it hard to reach a deal.
Community leaders warn that if they do not receive development funds, it will be hard to keep their jobless young men away from the militant groups.
An amnesty in 2009 between the previous government and the militants provided about $300 million a year in cash payments and job training to stop the fighters blowing up pipelines.
But much of the money ended up in the pockets of the militants' leaders, known as "generals". This made them rich and favoured their ethnic groups and villages, while angering those left out of the spending spree.
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
The issued bubbled to the surface during the two-week protest at Chevron in August, as the unemployed demonstrators demanded access to a development programme funded by the U.S. firm that has benefited other areas.
"The oil producing communities were having rivalry among themselves," said Thank-God Seibi, special assistant to the Delta state government. "They had a power tussle on who controls ... Chevron's community development strategy embracing all the oil producing communities."
Chevron, like other oil companies in Nigeria such as Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil and ENI, aims to help local communities benefit from the oil wealth. Winning the loyalty of local people is vital, as those who feel left out often allow militants to hide in the network of creeks around their Delta villages.
But the oil companies are wary of money disappearing into the pockets of generals or local leaders. Chevron puts cash into accounts from which only a company executive and an official appointed by local communities can withdraw funds after agreeing on where, for example, a road will be built.
At the Chevron protest, one group of local people wanted to nominate a point person who could have a say in where the development funds went, forcing the Delta state government to mediate between rival factions.
Community leaders said oil companies made payments or gave contracts to some local groups but not others.
"When such a development becomes known to the others it becomes a source of conflict resulting in agitations," said youth leader Oweikeye Endoro.
Chevron said it had spent more than one billion naira ($3 million) on a housing project for the Ugborodo community, to which the protesters belong, and awarded contracts worth more than $1 billion to community members for a gas project alone.
The oil firm said its Ugborobo development scheme was compromised by a "perennial internal leadership crisis, with different factions jostling for power".
OIL SLUMP

Elizabeth Donnelly, deputy head of the Chatham House Africa Programme, said it would be more difficult for the government to pay off militants as it did in 2009, as the slump in oil revenues meant the government did not have money to spare.
"Expectations of what can be achieved in negotiations at this stage should not be high," she said.
Even if the government were flush with cash, there are 40 ethnic groups seeking development funds, and traditional leaders are struggling to control jobless young men who could end up joining the militants, residents say.
"The Delta and the spread of its people is so wide and huge, the biggest disparity is going to be, who are the people the government will continuously engage with to get a comprehensive resolution," said Kola Karim, chief executive of Shoreline, a local oil firm whose pipelines have been attacked.
"There are a lot of different groups springing up."
Militant attacks began in January after officials tried arresting a "general" on corruption charges. The violence reduced production to around 1 million barrels per day, the lowest in 30 years.
The government persuaded the most active group, the Niger Delta Avengers, to agree a ceasefire in August, allowing output to rise to 1.9 million barrels per day this week.
The Avengers operate out of the heartland of the biggest ethnic group, the Ijaw, which has benefited more than others from the 2009 amnesty, and resumed attacks this week.
But even during the "ceasefire", another group called Greenland Justice Mandate emerged, saying it acted on behalf of smaller groups left out of the previous amnesty.
The group claimed several attacks and warned Shell against reopening a pipeline blown up by the Avengers in February. "Please go ahead (and) restart the facility and see what will happen. Enough said," it said in a statement.
Chatham House's Donnelly said there was a risk of "ugly violent conflict" between competing militant groups.
Oil firms are well aware that their pipelines and storage tanks are vulnerable in the creeks, where attackers can easily disappear despite a stronger military presence.
"The reality across the board for all major oil companies is continued vigilance, Karim said.
(C) Reuters News

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AFRICA-FX-Nigerian naira seen gaining on improved dollar supply

Nigeria's and Uganda's currencies are expected to strengthen next week, while those of Kenya and Zambia are seen weakening.

NIGERIA
Nigerian naira is seen reversing its losses as traders anticipate improved dollar supply from international money transfer agencies to ease a shortage, which has pushed down the local currency this week.
The naira fell to 470 to the dollar on the black market on Thursday, from 455 a dollar last week because of surged in demand from small businesses and parents buying hard currencies to pay school fees abroad. The currency has remained stable at 305.50 to the dollar on the official window due to support from the central bank.
"The naira should appreciate gradually in the coming days after the expected sales of about $21 million by Travelex today (Thursday), and subsequent extension of dollar sales to bureau de change operators in the other part of the country," Aminu Gwadabe, president of the association of bureau de change operators, said.
Travelex and First Bank are authorised by the central bank to sell dollar to bureaux de change to boost liquidity and narrow the gulf with the official rate.
GHANA
Ghana's cedi is seen stable in the week ahead on matching greenback inflows to demand as the next tranche of a $1.8 billion syndicated cocoa loan hits central bank reserves this week.
The cedi has been fairly steady in recent weeks on positive investor sentiments, buoyed by a successful third review of the country's 3-year aid programme with the International Monetary Fund. It was trading at 3.9770 to the dollar at 1100 GMT on Thursday, down around 4 percent since January.
"The local currency is expected to remain fairly stable in Q4 despite the seasonal high demand for dollars in the last quarters and notwithstanding the general election and its accompanying spending," currency analyst Joseph Biggles Amponsah of the Accra-based Dortis Research said.
UGANDA
The Ugandan shilling is forecast to strengthen marginally in coming days, underpinned by inflows from coffee exporters and non-governmental organisations.
At 0953 GMT commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,460/3,470, weaker than last Thursday's close of 3,440/3,450.
"We have some inflows from sources like coffee and NGOs but also demand (for dollars) tends to cool when the unit hits 3,465/75," said Benon Okwenje, trader at Stanbic Bank.
KENYA
The Kenyan shilling is expected to weaken marginally due to an increase in end-month dollar demand, although traders expect the regulator to intervene should volatile movement result.
At 0848 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 101.35/55 to the dollar, compared with 101.30/40 at last Wednesday's close. Thursday was a public holiday.
TANZANIA
The Tanzanian shilling is seen holding its ground in the days ahead, helped by a slowdown in demand for U.S. dollars from energy and manufacturing firms.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,178/2,188 to the dollar on Thursday, stronger than 2,184/2,189 a week ago.
"The outlook is that the shilling is expected to be stable next week due to limited activities in the market," said William Francis, a dealer at Commercial Bank of Africa Tanzania.
ZAMBIA
The kwacha is likely to lose ground versus the greenback next week as the supply of dollars in the market dries up.
At 1200 GMT on Thursday, commercial banks quoted the currency of Africa’s second-biggest copper producer at 9.7800 per dollar, unchanged from a week ago.
“Next week is the first week of the month so there should be some pressure on the kwacha because everyone will have converted their dollars,” one commercial bank trader said, referring to month-end dollar conversions to the local unit to pay salaries.
(C) Reuters News

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Nigeria says security first goal in oil roadmap -oil minister

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will meet leaders of the restive Niger Delta in Abuja next week in an attempt to end an insurgency in the oil-producing region, the oil minister said.

Ending unrest in the region that accounts for most of Nigeria's oil production was the first goal of an energy industry roadmap unveiled on Thursday, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said.
"Our target is to ensure zero militancy in the area," he told a forum in Abuja aimed at outlining strategy for the petroleum industry. "This planned meeting shows the level of interest the president has to ensure peace in the area."
The strategy included a goal of passing the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill by December. The bill itself, which covers everything from an overhaul of state oil company NNPC to taxes on upstream projects, was delayed by violence in the Delta, which briefly brought production to 30-year lows.
Kachikwu said Nigeria was also considering asset sales and wanted to improve the investment climate and enable development of the nation's gas assets.
The seven elementsof the plan are: solving the Niger Delta development and security problem, policy and regulations reforms, business environment and investment drive, transparency and efficiency, stakeholders management and international coordination, gas revolution and finally refineries and local production capacity, Kachikwu said.
There has been a push from some senior figures in Nigeria to sell assets in order to fund blockbuster spending plans, but it is not clear whether these plans have support from all the nation's leaders.
In a speech at the same event, Buhari said the government was committed to engaging with all stakeholders in the southern region to find a lasting peaceful solution. He gave no details.
Militants have been fighting for a greater share of the OPEC member's wealth to go to the Niger Delta, where many complain of poverty.
Government sources had told Reuters on Monday that the government would hold a meeting with community leaders and militant representatives in Abuja next week.
Nigeria has been holding talks for months to end the attacks on energy facilities, but no lasting ceasefire has been agreed.
Kachikwu told the event that Nigeria's oil output stood at 1.8 million barrels a day, compared with the 1.9 million bpd the Petroleum Ministry announced earlier this week. Still, he added that the government hoped to get back to 2.2 million bpd next year - the level seen at the start of 2016.
"We have a capacity to produce 3 million," he said. 

(C) Reuters News

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Nigeria asks Emirates and other airlines not to cut flights

Nigeria has appealed to Emirates and other airlines not to scale down operations in the West African country, arguing it was attempting to deal with a currency crisis and fuel shortages that have hit airlines' operations.

Emirates last week said it will suspend its four times a week service between Dubai and Abuja from Oct. 30.
Nigeria's Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika said he had told an Emirates west African executive that the government was aware of the challenges affecting airlines and was working hard to resolve them.
He said he had asked Emirates and other airlines to reconsider their decisions due to the impact on customers.
Nigeria's naira has plunged in value against the U.S. dollar this year due to the impact of low oil prices and a central bank move in June to scrap a dollar peg.
Domestic and international carriers have struggled with the plunge in the naira, which has made bills for imported jet fuel more expensive and squeezed profit margins as many passengers pay in the local currency.
Kenya Airways has also announced plans to suspend flights to Abuja by next month. United and Iberia both stopped services to Nigeria earlier this year.
Both Emirates and Kenya Airways will continue to serve Nigeria with a flights to and from the country's most populous city and commercial capital, Lagos.
To avert a full currency crisis, the central bank has held a two-month dollar forward auction to clear a backlog of demand from airlines and other companies.

(C) Reuters News

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Naira weakens to 470/$ on black market as central bank scheme runs out of steam

Nigeria's naira hit its weakest level on the black market in more than a week at 470 to the dollar on early trade on Thursday, as a central bank move to channel dollars to retail currency outlets failed to ease liquidity shortages, traders said.

The unit had been quoted at 455 since Oct. 17 before weakening on Wednesday to 460 and dropped further on Thursday, they said. On the official market, the naira ended at 305.50 per dollar on Wednesday but no quote twenty-three minutes after market opened, a level it has closed at for more than two months, supported by central bank interventions.
The naira had been relatively stable on the black market after the bank asked international money transfer firms to sell dollars directly to bureau de change operators to boost liquidity and narrow the gulf with the official market.
The directive was initially effective, traders said, but its impact has been limited due to few dollars coming into Nigeria.
"What we get from Travelex is not sufficient," one trader told Reuters, referring to demand in the market.
International money transfer firm, Travelex, sells around $15,000 to 1,000 retail currency outlets weekly, but the amount is a fraction of what is required to cover demand from individuals and small businesses.
Dollar shortages have caused many firms to halt operations and lay off workers, compounding an economic crisis exacerbated by the fall in global prices for oil, which accounts for 70 percent of Nigeria's budget revenue.
The central bank has struggled to support the local currency as its dollar reserves have continued to fall. Traders say the naira has been testing new lows as they try to find thresholds where liquidity can begin to return.
(C) Reuters News

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Nigeria Lagos state to set up Economic team to drive growth

Nigeria, Lagos State plans to set up an economic management team, comprising both private sector practitioners and government personnel to further drive the growth of its economy, considered to be the fifth biggest in the continent. its governor, Akinwunmi Ambode said on Tuesday.

"Very soon we would be setting up what we would refer to as an Economic Management Team to drive the fifth largest economy, because that’s the way we need to envision ourselves and this Economic Management Team will involve nominees from the Chambers and other people in the private sector, so that we can collaborate because majorly this economy is driven by the private sector. Our duty is to create an enabling environment and fuse all that together, I think that synergy can just catapult Lagos into that global city state that we want it to be,” Ambode said.
The governor said the emergence of Lagos was very instructive, adding that government would explore synergy with private sector with the view to catapult Lagos into a true global city-state in the true sense of the word.
He noted that there was no doubt about the fact that the economy of Lagos was in the hand of the private sector and the willingness on the part of government to ensure an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, which according to him, was why his administration has been investing massively in security and other business incentives.
According to the Governor, his decision to come up with the Office of Oversees Affairs and Investment, otherwise known as Lagos Global, was part of efforts at encouraging investment in Lagos both from within and outside, among many other initiatives of the present administration.
He said: “I think it is very instructive to clearly state that the economy of Lagos is in the hands of the private sector and beyond the fact that Lagos is now the fifth largest economy in Africa, the drive to take Nigeria out of recession actually resides in the private sector and willingness on the part of the public sector.
“Because our economy is in the hands of the private sector and we are willing to allow them drive it, that is why we have decided to formulate policies and decisions that will make the private sector to thrive in this State and that is why in the last 18 months, we have been running this administration on a tripod of security, job opportunities and infrastructure development.”
While explaining the tripod, the Governor said his administration believed that when the people and investors are well secured, businesses will thrive and more people would be employed, while the resources generated in terms of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) would be deployed to provide infrastructure for the people.
Besides, Governor Ambode commended investors who have remained committed in doing business in Lagos despite the downturn in the economy, assuring that his administration would continue to work hard and partner with the private sector.
While justifying the recent joining of O’dua Investment Group by Lagos, the Governor said his administration was of the strong view that the socio-economic integration of western Nigeria depends majorly on Lagos, adding that it was better for states around Lagos to be equally prosperous to address migration issues.

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Why are EPAs taking so long to get off the ground?

As of 10 October, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA entered into force, and it joins the Caribbean as only two out of seven ACP regions to sign, ratify and begin implementation of regional EPAs.

Ratification of the East African EPA has been delayed until the end of the year, while the West African EPA remains mired in uncertainty. In the remaining regions, regional EPAs are a lost cause, as non-Least Developed Countries have implemented individual bilateral EPAs with the EU, while Least Developed Countries have opted for alternative arrangements.
First, among these trends was a general lack of enthusiasm and political will from political leaders in the ACP. Many expressed the opinion that EPAs, in their current form, do not serve the long-term developmental interests of ACP states, that they will lock-in poor trading terms, and undermine long-term ambitions of industrialisation.
This scepticism towards EPAs was exacerbated by the EU's tendency to use the EPAs as a means to push a World Trade Organisation-plus agenda, in order to pursue its own long-term strategic trade interests and advance the global trade agenda outside of a deadlocked multilateral system.
Given that developing nations had previously rejected the introduction of provisions on services, investment policy, government procurement, and intellectual property at the global level, the EU's attempt to include them in EPAs generated a significant degree of pushback.
Secondly, broad geostrategic concerns placed a further damper on EPAs. Since the turn of the millennium, increased trade with China has granted African countries increased leverage vis-à-vis Europe.
At the same time, the TTIP and TTP trade deals have been prompted by European and American desires to edge-out China from key markets, and get a head start on the setting of global regulatory standards. In such an evolving geopolitical landscape, ACP states are incentivized to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude, in the hope that shifting balances of power can be played to their advantage.
Thirdly, limited national and regional institutional capacity hindered the progress of negotiations. It is difficult for developing nations to participate simultaneously in trade negotiations at the WTO, at the regional and continental levels, and with the EU.
EPA processes were supposed to be participatory and include a range of non-state actors from both the business sector and civil society. Yet weak institutions and limited capacity hindered societal partition in many countries and regions, with a resulting lack of 'buy-in' from crucial societal interests, which presents challenges in getting EPAs ratified and implemented.
At regional level, weak institutions and a lack of experience in negotiating as regional blocks resulted in difficulties in overcoming heterogeneous national preferences and formulating coherent regional positions. In some regions there was a lack of feedback between regional negotiators and national ministries, particularly in those that opted for a supranational approach to the negotiations (namely West Africa and the Caribbean).
This has led some to suggest that negotiations were 'captured' by professional trade negotiators, and may account for the current difficulties in West Africa, in which Nigeria is refusing to sign an agreement it claims does not fit its economic interests.
Finally, high levels of societal opposition to EPAs, in both the ACP and Europe – as evidenced by the transnational Stop EPAs campaign, and various national and regional campaigns across the ACP – contributed to extending the negotiations far beyond the initial 2007 deadline.
These groups claim that EPAs will erode economic policy space, decimate local manufacturing, and undermine African efforts to achieve regional integration. In some countries, such as Nigeria and Uganda, vigorous lobbying from business groups and civil society actors is a factor in their reluctance to move forward on EPAs.
Given that the world has changed significantly since the EPAs were initiated 14 years ago, some might question whether the agreements are still fit for purpose. If TTIP and TTP are implemented, ACP states will see the value of what they negotiated decline, and for states with significant exports to the UK, Brexit also decreases the value of EPAs.
ACP states will no doubt seek formalised trade relations with a post-EU United Kingdom, but in the meantime the uncertainty caused by Brexit may further delay the progress of EPAs, as countries question whether the concessions they have made are really worth it.
Even though the negotiations are now ostensibly over, the processes of ratification and implementation, not to mention the rendezvous clauses and mid-term reviews, will no doubt see the EU and the ACP states revisiting contentious trade issues in the future.
(c) 2016 EurActiv.com PLC

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Angola's President faces court inquiry over naming daughter to head state oil firm

Angola's Supreme Court has asked President José Eduardo dos Santos to respond to an inquiry on why he appointed his daughter as head of the state oil firm, according to court documents seen by Reuters.

Dos Santos appointed his billionaire daughter Isabel as chief executive of state oil firm Sonangol in June. She has pledged an overhaul of Sonangol to improve its efficiency and margins to offset the impact of depressed oil prices.
Angola, a member of OPEC, is currently Africa's largest oil producer because of militant attacks and other problems that have cut output in Nigeria. But it has been hard hit by depressed oil prices that have forced it to slash spending and growth forecasts.
The court was acting in response to a case filed by 14 Angolan lawyers who accused the president of nepotism and violation of the Angolan probity law.
Neither the presidency's communications staff nor Isabel were immediately available to answer calls to their offices.
Isabel, ranked as Africa's richest woman by Forbes magazine, was named CEO after the shock firing of Sonangol's existing board by Angola's leader of the last 36 years.
After being sworn in as chief executive, Isabel told reporters she was looking to split the firm into three units overseeing operations, logistics and concessions to international oil companies.
The appointment was seen by some analysts as President dos Santos laying the ground for dynastic, family succession if he follows through on a declared intention to step down in 2018, a year after presidential elections. However, others said it was possible he was serious about bringing about change at Sonangol.
Dos Santos said in March he intended to step down as president in 2018 but gave no reason for his decision and did not name a preferred successor.
(C) Reuters News

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Oil falls as investors doubt OPEC can seal output deal

Oil fell for a third day on Wednesday, nearing $50 a barrel for the first time in three weeks, as investors grew increasingly doubtful that OPEC members will agree to cut output and as U.S. inventories staged a surprisingly large increase.

Iraq, the second-largest member of OPEC, does not want to join in with a proposed production cut that the group has said it will approve at a regular meeting in Vienna next month.
With Iran, Nigeria and Libya already expected to be excluded, along with potentially Venezuela and Indonesia, whose state oil producer said on Tuesday it was targeting a 42-percent increase in output next year, traders and investors are growing less confident in the chances for an effective deal.
"The market is definitely in need of some kind of soothing words once again, but it's a 'cry wolf' thing. The talking has to get louder and louder to attract any attention, because skepticism is on the rise and I think rightly so," Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.
"No doubt, the difference now compared to earlier this year, back when the market was primarily reacting to verbal intervention, is now something has been promised and if that promise cannot be fulfilled or delivered, then we obviously have a problem," he said, adding that his near-term target for Brent was $49.40, followed by $48.40.
Brent crude futures were down 74 cents at $50.05 a barrel by 1120 GMT, having touched a session low of $50.02, the weakest level since Oct. 3.
U.S. crude futures  also fell 74 cents on the day to $49.22 a barrel.
Iraq, the second-largest producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has argued it needs its oil revenues to fight Islamic State.
At the Algiers meeting, Iraq said OPEC had underestimated its output, which it pegged at 4.7 million bpd, compared with the group's assessment, based on secondary sources, of 4.2 million bpd.
"Just the fact that there can be such a huge disagreement over what Iraq is actually producing creates doubts in the market over how OPEC is going to handle a cap on production in terms of verifying that the members are actually adhering to the individual targets," SEB chief commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said.
And unless top world producer Russia, which does not belong to OPEC, joins in, that leaves the onus of a potential cut with Arab producers in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Adding to the pressure on the oil market was data late on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute that showed an unexpected rise in U.S. crude inventories.
Official data by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due later on Wednesday.
(C) Reuters News

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Uganda economy to grow 5 pct 2016/17, 5.5 pct 2017/18 - IMF

Uganda's economy will grow by 5 percent in the 2016/17 (July-June) fiscal year, the International Monetary Fund forecast on Wednesday, trimming the forecast from 5.5 percent after state revenues missed targets and some major projects faced delays.

The IMF also predicted Uganda would grow 5.5 percent next fiscal year, boosted by rising spending on infrastructure.
Uganda has been pressing ahead with several major projects, including new dams and roads. It also plans to build a new standard gauge railway line to connect with a track being built in Kenya, replacing a narrow gauge line built a century ago.
"Uganda’s economy performed well in a complex environment. The February 2016 elections, muted global growth, and regional developments weighed on sentiment, and growth declined ... in FY15/16," IMF advisor at the African department, Axel Schimmelpfennig, told a news conference.
He said revenue collection in the year had climbed but was lower than expected. He also said some projects lagged behind schedule, although he did not give details.
"Growth is projected at a solid 5 percent this fiscal year and 5.5 percent in FY17/18, supported by the scaling up of infrastructure spending," he said at the end of an IMF mission to Uganda.
In April, the fund had forecast a 5.5 percent growth for 2016/17, picking up from 4.8 percent in 2015/16.
Schimmelpfennig also praised what he called swift action last week by Bank of Uganda (BoU), the central bank, to take control of Crane Bank, the country's third largest, after it was deemed be undercapitalised. )
BoU governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile said a buyer for Crane Bank was now being sought, adding there had been initial discussions with potential buyers although he offered no names.
"We have successfully managed to find investors for most of the banks we have taken over and am sure that, even for Crane, we shall get investors soon," he said. "We have six months to do this and am sure we shall do it."
Local newspaper Daily Monitor on Wednesday quoted Finance Minister Matia Kasaija saying the government was talking to three potential investors in Crane.
The bank, which reported assets worth 1.810 trillion shillings ($523.58 million) at the end of 2015, is controlled by businessman Sudhir Ruparelia, who controls 48.67 percent of the voting rights, based on shares he and family members hold.
Ruparelia is listed by Forbes magazine as one of Africa's 50 richest men.
(C) Reuters News

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Nigeria can borrow a maximum of $22.08 bln in 2017

The maximum amount that Nigeria can borrow in 2017 from both local and foreign sources is $22.08 billion without it violating its debt threshold, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said.

Nigeria has a borrowing space of 5.89 percent of its GDP of $374.95 billion which will take its debt limit to a country-specific threshold of 19.39 percent of its total public debt-to-GDP ratio, it said in a report.
Total public debt-to-GDP ratio for 2016 is projected at 13.5 percent, it said in a debt sustainability report seen by Reuters on Wednesday. It said total public debt-to-revenue stood at 28.10 percent as of 2015, slightly higher than 28 percent threshold.
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked parliament to approve $30 billion of foreign borrowing to fund planned infrastructure projects until 2018, according to a letter read out to lawmakers on Tuesday.
Nigeria's public debt stood at 16.29 trillion naira as of June 2016, up from 12.60 trillion naira by end December.
"Although the level of debt stock is still appreciably low relative to the country's aggregate output (GDP), the debt portfolio remains mostly vulnerable to the various shocks associated with revenue, exports and substantial currency devaluation," the DMO said in the debt sustainability analysis report.
The DMO said the debt sustainability analysis showed that Nigeria's debt position deteriorated in 2016 and slipped from a low-risk of debt distress to a Medium-risk of debt distress.
(C) Reuters News

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British banker's torture video stuns jury in Hong Kong murder trial

The jury in the trial of a British investment banker accused of murdering two Indonesian women in his Hong Kong apartment on Tuesday as they watched a horrific video that he filmed while sexually torturing and killing his first victim.

Rurik Jutting, 31, has admitted killing the two women two years ago but has pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of "diminished responsibility", while pleading guilty to the lesser crime of manslaughter.
The four women and five men, all middle-aged, shifted on their seats, clenched jaws, drew breath and sometimes dropped their eyes as they sat through the grisly 20 minute clip on the second day of the trial.
Bespectacled and wearing pale blue shirt, Jutting was flanked by three policemen as he watched what he had done on a video recording a judge said had been found on his iPhone.
The Cambridge University graduate, who had attended Winchester College, one of Britain's most prestigious private schools, shut his eyes, sometimes covering his face with his hand rather than look at the screen in front of him.
While the video was not shown to the public in the courtroom, journalists covering the trial could hear the audio.
After boasting of humiliating and killing his first victim, 23-year-old Sumarti Ningsih, Jutting spoke of a "fantasy" to kidnap three teenaged girls from Wycombe Abbey, a girls' boarding school in High Wycombe, a town northwest of London.
Jutting used a belt, sex toys, a pair of pliers and his fists to torture Ningsih over three days before eventually slitting her throat with a serrated-edged knife, according to the prosecution.
On the recording, Jutting spoke in a relaxed soft voice as he taunted, bullied and mutilated Ningsih, a single mother who had been visiting Hong Kong on a tourist visa.
"Its better than being beaten isn't it? Do not cry, take it like a good girl," Jutting said as he described how he was going to put his fist into her.
Jutting called his victim 'Alice' as he tormented her.
While threatening to cut off her nipples he calmly said: "This doesn't really hurt does it? You deserve some water don't you? Just one more before some water."
"TURNED ON"
After that video, others showing Jutting and Ningsih's mutilated, naked body were screened in an open court room.
Jutting, appearing topless, very overweight and unshaven, spoke in a series of monologues to the camera meandering from repenting for what he did to describing the pleasure he derived from the tortuous acts.
"I just killed someone, first person I ever killed, I cut her throat in the bathroom...to be precise I cut her throat while she was bending over licking dirty toilet bowl," he said.
He is shown taking cocaine while he explained how he tortured her.
"I treated her as a non person, a sex object and that turned me on."
As he listened to the passage where he fantasized over plans to kidnap British schoolgirls, Jutting shook his head while holding a hand over his face.
Prior to the jury selection on Monday, Deputy High Court Judge Michael Stuart-Moore warned potential jurors that if they were unable to cope with viewing extreme violence they should excuse themselves.
The defense and prosecution were largely in agreement over the physical evidence, Stuart-Moore had advised the jurors on the first day of the trial.
He told them that the outcome could rest on psychiatric and psychological testimony to determine whether it was a case of murder or manslaughter.
Murder carries a mandatory life sentence, while manslaughter carries a maximum of life though a shorter sentence can be set.
The women's bodies were found in Jutting's luxury high-rise Hong Kong apartment after he had called police.
Ningsih's remains were discovered in a suitcase on the balcony, while the body of the second victim, 26-year-old Seneng Mujiasih, was found inside the apartment with wounds to her neck and buttocks, the prosecutor told the court.
Mujiasih, a domestic helper, was working in a bar when she met Jutting, according to the prosecution.
Jutting, who spoke of his addiction drugs and alcohol, also alluded several times to paying for sex, and referred to Ningsih as his prostitute. At one point he moves the camera to show his large belly and lowers it to glimpse his genitals.
"Killing her may have been kindness, living with that would have haunted her," he is heard saying during what he termed his "narcissistic ramblings."
As he prepared to hide the body in a suitcase Jutting questions whether he has a problem as he feels excited.
Soon after Jutting's arrest in November, 2014 Bank of America had said he had worked there until recently, but did not say exactly when or why he left. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday.
Jutting spoke of his role as the bank's vice president and head of Structured Equity Finance & Trading (Asia) and expressed “job depression.”
During one video Jutting remarks that after killing Ningsih, he felt most guilty about not being in the office to close a "financing deal for a literally soulless project."
“Newly unemployed, soon to be unemployed, part time rapist and murderer," he says after musing over plans to kidnap, torture and rape young girls.
(C) Reuters News

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Sukuk bonds issuance will grow in West Africa

Hogan Lovells, a leading global law firm with specialty in Islamic finance, has expressed optimism that the successful launch of Sukuk bonds by three West African governments will open up a vast financing channel for the region and encourage the growth of Sukuk issuance in the region.

Hogan Lovells advised the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) as lead arranger on the issuance of three sovereign Sukuks in West Africa. These include sophomore issuances for the government of Cote dIvoire and the government of Senegal, and a debut issuance for the Republic of Togo.
The Sukuks were listed on the Bourse Rgionale des Valeurs Mobilires (BRVM), Abidjan, Cote dIvoire last week. Altogether with the debut issuances for Senegal and Cote dIvoire, the combined listing value was CFA 766 billion.
Investors for the Sukuks were from a number of different countries across the Gulf and the Far East.
Partner, Islamic Finance, Hogan Lovells, Imran Mufti, who led the Hogan Lovells team, said the landmark Sukuk bonds will enhance the development of Islamic finance in West Africa.
We expect to see a steady increase in the use of Islamic financing in the region as governments seek to raise funds for key infrastructure projects in sectors such as transportation, telecoms and healthcare, Mufti said.
He added that the listing on the BRVM should improve liquidity of the Sukuks, thus achieving a key objective of the investors.
Manager, Sukuk Project, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Zaky Sow noted that the transactions represented major milestone for Islamic finance in Africa as they cemented the use of alternative financing in the region.
According to Sow, while the new issues would build on the debut issuances and stimulate non-conventional investment further in Cote dIvoire and Senegal, the latest issuance by Togo will open up new stream of investment for the country.
We were very happy to work with Hogan Lovells team once again, knowing that they would provide a first class service and expert advice, as well as a deep understanding of the market, Sow stated.
Nigeria has also indicated plan to issue a sovereign Sukuk to source funds from non-interest sources and create a benchmark that will help to facilitate the growth of domestic non-interest bond market. Osun State was the first and only government to have issued a Sukuk in Nigeria.
Hogan Lovells has a first-rate reputation as a leader in Islamic finance, having advised on many first-of-their-kind transactions, such as the first major Sukuk by an African sovereign, the first convertible Sukuk, the first equity-linked Sukuk, the first Sharia-compliant securitisation, the first international Sukuk al-mudaraba and Sukuk al-musharaka, the first Sukuk buy-back, and the first Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) guaranteed Islamic project financing.
Hogan Lovells has worked extensively with ICD in Africa over the last few years, having advised on the initial Sukuk issuances for Cote dIvoire and Senegal.
(c) SyndiGate

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Soccer-Prince Ali says FIFA needs to speed up reforms

Former FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan is concerned about the pace of reform in world soccer's governing body and says new president Gianni Infantino has "no time to lose" in bringing transparency to the organisation.

Infantino was elected in February with the task of leading FIFA into calmer waters after a series of corruption scandals plunged the governing body into its worst crisis.
Prince Ali told Reuters in an interview that Infantino should focus on implementing reforms rather than issues such as proposals to expand the World Cup.
"I can only speculate as a new president he first has to look at his own administration and see what's going on in there," he told Reuters in Jordan, which is currently hosting the Women's Under-17 World Cup.
The tournament is the first FIFA organised female World Cup in the Middle East and is considered a significant milestone for women in the region, long constrained by cultural and religious conservatism.
"Everybody is looking at FIFA and the direction it is going and again it's critical time, there no time to lose."
Soccer's global governing body is attempting to recover from the worst graft scandal in its history which has seen 42 people, including former FIFA executive committee members, indicted in the United States since May last year.
Criminal investigations are also under way in Switzerland, where FIFA has its headquarters.
An investigation was also opened into FIFA's decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, a small, wealthy desert country with no real soccer tradition.
Prince Ali said that as someone who had "stuck to my guns in terms of really supporting football and having a clean organisation", he knew how urgent it was to speed up investigations and tackle improper business practices.
"You really need to have a clean FIFA to be able to trickle down to our national associations" said Prince Ali, highlighting ongoing problems such as matchfixing.
".. the reality is putting aside the big ideas in the World Cup, the real issue is the organisation and cleaning it up for me I wish it will be more streamlined, more open and that's what I am hoping will take place," he added.
'SHAME ON THE GAME'
Prince Ali said the proposal to enlarge the World Cup could backfire if not properly planned out, citing problems that faced in Brazil and South Africa.
"When it comes to FIFA, at the moment there are other priorities really ... my only concern is that it's maybe more political and about pleasing people than what is best for the game," he said.
There are concerns that enlarging the World Cup beyond the current 32 teams would make tournaments less manageable and result in a drop in quality.
Prince Ali again criticised FIFA's decision to dissolve its anti-racism task force.
FIFA wrote to members in September to say it was disbanding the task force set up by then boss Sepp Blatter in 2013, and declaring that it had "completely fulfilled its temporary mission".
"To say the work is done and to move on is not the case ...racism and discrimination is everywhere and really needs to be a staple part of FIFA mission for the future," he added.
"I see racism and discrimination is prevalent in a lot of places and that's a shame on the game and FIFA has a responsibility to tackle it in every way it can ...
"Combating it is not about slogans it's about real work...," he added.
(C) Reuters News

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Nigerian bourse pushes back derivatives launch to 2017 - CEO

Nigeria's stock exchange, Africa's second largest, will push back the launch of derivatives trading to 2017, starting with stocks futures once a clearing house has been established, its chief executive Oscar Onyema said on Friday.

"We have been working very hard to set up a central counter-party clearing house that meets G20 standards," Onyema told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a Nigeria investment summit at the London Stock Exchange.
"We think with all the work that is going on, that next year will be realistic in terms of beginning to roll out the full set of products," he said.
In an interview in February, Onyema had said he expected futures and options trading to be launched in the course of 2016 at the exchange, which is one of the main entry points for foreign funds into Africa.
The collapse in oil prices has plunged the country into recession while eroding public finances and hard currency reserves. Foreign investors have dumped Nigerian assets, and capital controls have left businesses and investors facing a severe dollar shortage.
The lack of investors from abroad at the bourse was keenly felt, said Onyema, adding foreign participation made up half of the $8-10 million daily trading volume. Three years ago, investors from outside Nigeria accounted for 70 percent of the $30 million daily volume.
Nigeria's stock index has fallen nearly 4 percent since the start of the year after tumbling around 17 percent in each of 2015 and 2014.
Onyema said the country had to work hard to combine and synchronise fiscal and monetary policy. In June, the central bank dropped its currency peg to the dollar, prompting a depreciation of 40 percent in a step meant to attract more investors. But stringent capital controls have led to a dearth in liquidity until now.
Referring to the lack of dollars, Onyema said: "There is a supply problem and there is a very robust debate that is going on now with regards to how do you solve that supply problem.
"If you are not making the right decisions quickly enough, very soon you are running out of options - we need to be very clear what the strategy is, and what the sequencing of implementing that strategy is."
(C) Reuters News

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MTN brings forward CEO start date, suspends Nigeria dividend

MTN Group's next chief executive will take over three months ahead of plan, the South African telecoms company announced on Monday, as the firm faces allegations it illegally moved $14 billion out of Nigeria.

Rob Shuter, Vodafone European boss, was due to start in July next year but MTN -- widely seen as a post-apartheid corporate success story -- said in a statement accompanying its quarterly update he would now start on 13 March 2017.
Shuter, a South African-born banker with background in risk management, will inherit a company that is the subject of a parliamentary investigation in Nigeria on whether it unlawfully repatriated $13.97 billion between 2006 and 2016. (
"MTN Nigeria continues to refute the allegations that MTN Nigeria had improperly repatriated funds from Nigeria," the company said in its quarterly update. "Consequently MTN Nigeria will strongly defend any action that would be prejudicial to its interest."
The crux of the allegation is that MTN did not obtain certificates declaring it had invested foreign currency in Nigeria within a 24-hour deadline stipulated in a 1995 law and therefore the repatriation of returns on those investments was illegal.
It is the latest setback for MTN in its most lucrative but increasingly problematic market, coming months after it agreed to pay a reduced fine of 330 billion naira ($1.08 billion) to end a long-running dispute over unregistered SIM cards.
MTN has attracted controversy over its ventures in some frontier markets, with questions asked about its decision to enter war-ravaged countries such as Afghanistan and Iran.
"For the past few years, there's has been this constant cloud of uncertainty around MTN. There's no smoke without fire and, unfortunately, there's a hell of a lot of smoke at the moment," said one fund manager, whose firm own shares in MTN.
Three years ago, Turkey's Turkcell unsuccessfully sued MTN, alleging that it used corruption and bribery to win a mobile licence in Iran, where it has started repatriating over $1 billion in accumulated dividends following the easing of U.S.-led sanctions.
MTN shares have fallen by more than 14 percent to their lowest level in more than six years since the latest issue surfaced on Sept. 27.
As of 0811 GMT, the stock was up 4.72 percent at 112.05 rand, outpacing a slightly higher JSE Top-40 index.
MTN also said it had suspended dividends payouts from Nigeria, where it runs the country's biggest wireless phone network which generates a third of its annual sales.
The company also reported a slight fall in third-quarter user numbers due to a weaker showing in South Africa, where it vies for market share with Vodacom and Cell C.
(C) Reuters News

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Nigeria's Arik plans $1 bln share offer, possible London listing

Nigeria's largest airline Arik Air plans to raise as much as $1 billion through a private share placement next year and then a possible initial public offering (IPO) in Lagos and London, its managing director said.

The airline wants to expand internationally both to bring in more hard currency, as well as to cushion the impact of the economic slowdown at home, and wants new investors to help it grow rather than using internally generated cash or debt.
"What we plan to do is first a private placement which will bring in a few new shareholders, then one year or 18 months down the line we can do an initial public offer," Chris Ndulue told Reuters in an interview.
He said Arik Air, which was founded a decade ago and is now west Africa's biggest carrier by passenger numbers, had appointed advisers for the share placement and potential IPO in Lagos, with a secondary listing in London.
"We are looking at something in the neighbourhood of $1 billion for both private placement and IPO," Ndulue said late on Wednesday.
The Lagos stock market, which is down 4 percent in local currency terms this year and at a 15-year low in dollar terms, has not had an IPO since 2009 due to sluggish appetite from foreign investors.
Ndulue said Arik wanted to start daily flights to New York, up from three times a week, and also fly to Rome and Paris within 18 to 24 months. The carrier, which has a fleet of 28 aircraft, flies mainly within western and central Africa, as well as to London and Johannesburg.
The new routes would help the company generate some foreign currency. Domestic and international carriers have struggled with the plunge in the naira that has made bills for imported jet fuel ever more expensive and also hurt profit margins as many passengers pay in naira.
"The biggest problem now is the foreign exchange issues. A lot of things are imported, a lot of services are imported we depend so much on foreign exchange which means that our costs have increased, in some cases more than doubled," he said.
Emirates and Kenya Airways have announced plans to suspend flights to the Nigerian capital Abuja by next month due to falling demand as a currency crisis in Africa's top economy deepens. United and Iberia both stopped services to Nigeria earlier this year.
(C) Reuters News

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Nigeria's Shoreline won't issue eurobonds until oil above $60

Nigerian energy company Shoreline has no plans to tap international capital markets until oil prices rise back above $60 per barrel, Chairman Kola Karim said on Friday.

Shoreline had initially planned to issue a dollar-denominated bond following a roadshow in late 2015, Karim told Reuters on the sidelines of an investment conference.
"We were out in the market then to do up to $500 million, but right now the world has changed, it is a different place," Karim said.
"It is all down to just circumstances - if oil prices move in the right direction, the Niger Delta issue is resolved, we see three to six months of consistent performance then...it is a believable story to investors."
Global benchmark Brent crude futures were trading around $51 a barrel on Friday. Prices have more than halved since peaks hit in mid-2014.
Since the oil price began to fall, Karim said his company had turned increasingly to pre-finance deals with oil trading houses which are able to give cash in advance in exchange for repayment with interest as well as with access to physical cargoes of oil.
He said they were looking at "a good number" of Shoreline's financing to come from pre-financing, and that the company is in the process of negotiating new pre-financing arrangements. Trading houses told the Reuters Commodities Summit this month they are actively pursuing lending.
"We're talking to different parties, who are offering different structures," Karim said. The oil price situation, he said, "is forcing everyone to think differently on how to finance these transactions."
(C) Reuters News

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MTN says complied with Nigerian fund transfer rules

MTN complied with Nigerian fund transfer rules and did not send money out of the country until it obtained regulatory approvals, the South African telecoms company said on Friday, denying allegations that it illegally repatriated $14 billion.

MTN requested "certificates of capital importation (CCI)" for capital brought into Nigeria and dividends were repatriated based on those investments, Ferdi Moolman, chief executive of MTN Nigeria, said in a statement.
"MTN Nigeria only requested for CCIs for foreign capital that was imported into Nigeria, and dividends were externalised on CCIs," he said.
Nigeria's upper house of parliament last month agreed to investigate whether Africa's biggest telecoms company unlawfully repatriated $13.92 billion between 2006 and 2016.
MTN's Moolman, Nigerian trade minister Okechukwu Elenemah and four lenders appeared at a parliamentary hearing on the matter on Thursday.
Nigerian Senator Dino Melaye had proposed a motion calling for an investigation into MTN's repatriation of funds.
The move comes as Nigeria struggles with its first recession in a generation and dollar shortages due to low oil prices.
The issue has battered MTN's shares, which were down on Friday near a 6-1/2 year low at 106.83 rand as of 1006 GMT.
Rafiu Ibrahim, chairman of Nigeria's senate investigative panel on alleged illegal repatriation of funds, said on Wednesday that a team of international and local accountancy experts and lawyers had been assembled to look into the matter.
Nigeria is MTN's most lucrative but increasingly most problematic market.
Earlier this year the company agreed to pay a greatly reduced fine of 330 billion naira ($1.08 billion) to end a long running dispute over unregistered SIM cards in Nigeria.
MTN is the largest mobile network operator in Nigeria, which is the continent's biggest economy and accounts for a third of MTN's revenue.
(C) ReutersNews

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Nigeria to issue Eurobond worth $1 billion before the end of the year

Nigeria expects to sell a Eurobond worth around $1 billion before the end of the year and is in the process of appointing managers for the sale, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said on Friday.

The Eurobond is part of Nigeria's plans to borrow a total of 1.8 trillion naira ($5.8 billion) from abroad and at home to fund an expected budget deficit of 2.2 trillion naira this year.
"We are appointing parties this week, we are hoping to come before the end of the year," Adeosun told Reuters at the sidelines of an investment conference at the London Stock Exchange. She gave no details.
"We have headroom and we are very fortunate in that regard, we have very low debt to GDP ratio," she later told the conference.
Africa's biggest economy has slipped into recession for the first time in 25 years, brought on by low oil prices that have cut government revenues and weakened the OPEC member's currency. Crude oil sales make up 70 percent of national income.
The African Development Bank has said it will help Nigeria to overcome its recession. The lender's board is expected to grant a $1 billion loan at a rate of around 1.2 percent, which Nigeria could use to help plug its deficit.
The finance minister said she hoped oil prices would stabalise around $42 and $50 per barrel. Oil edged higher on Friday, with Brent crude futures 12 cents higher at $51.50.
Adeosun also said the government had spent 770 billion naira on capital expenditures since President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2016 budget in May.
(C) Reuters News

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Nigerian property crash attracts funds looking beyond recession

A property market crash in Nigeria offers opportunities for brave investors betting that Africa's most populous nation will deliver high returns when it climbs out of recession.

Rents for residential and office property in the commercial capital Lagos have dropped by around 20 percent, year on year, due to a supply glut as projects planned prior to 2014, when oil prices started to fall, are now coming online.
Investing in Africa's largest economy requires a willingness to navigate opaque land laws, corruption and the prospect of having money held up in the bank due to currency restrictions.
The central bank has made it difficult to repatriate profits as it seeks to avoid a collapse of the naira due to a slump of oil revenues, which has pushed Nigeria into its first recession in 25 years.
But Nigeria has a fast-growing population that will require more housing and shopping malls in the long-term, and some investors believe the time is right to step in, particularly as banks are reluctant to grant loans to other potential buyers in the midst of the downturn.
Some private equity funds, mostly from South Africa, are investing in Lagos and the capital Abuja, betting the spending power of the country's 180 million people will grow.
"We believe Nigeria has massive potential in the retail area," said Jan van Zyl, head of Nigerian property development at South African fund Novare Equity Partners. "The sector is in its infancy and will only continue to grow from a very low base."
Investors face the risk of being caught in another devaluation as the central bank seeks to end a 30 percent spread to the black market -- a goal it failed to achieve when it allowed a 40 percent depreciation in June.
But investors can take advantage of their purchasing power as the country is desperate for dollars to replace oil revenues which account for almost all the hard currency income it needs to fund food and other imports.
"What you are offering as an investor is liquidity. In the country itself, there is no liquidity," said Jonathan Millard, Lagos-based chief operating officer at Troloppe Property Services. "If you're looking at this on a five to 10 year cycle there are tons of opportunities."
He said there were also opportunities in residential property, whose rents had, in dollar terms, fallen by up to 70 percent since 2009, which was driving down prices. "Vacancy is about 30 to 40 percent," he said.
BUILDING BOOM
The southern megacity of Lagos has seen a building boom in the last few years -- real estate is a favourite destination for those who get their hands on oil money. Two shopping malls were completed within the last three months, bringing to eight the total of such retail hubs in the city.
With the central bank imposing hard currency curbs and construction activities slowing in a dollar-starved economy, foreign capital flows into Nigeria fell by 61 percent, year-on-year, in the second quarter.
Some investors have shifted their focus to other West African countries with a more favourable immediate outlook, such as Ghana, which has agreed a further loan tranche of $116 million from the IMF. Its power supply improved last year while Nigeria endures frequent blackouts.
Ivory Coast and Senegal are also seen as attractive investment destinations, property analysts say.
Property consultant Cluttons estimates that Lagos retail yields stand at around 7.5 percent, compared with 8 percent in Johannesburg, 9 percent in Accra and 10 percent in Nairobi but have the potential to rise once the economy improves.
In the last few months it has become common for retailers and service sector tenants, squeezed by the economic downturn, to negotiate lower rents with landlords who are keen to sustain occupancy levels. Lower rents have pushed down yields in Lagos.
Lagos office yields have dropped to around 8 percent from 9 percent in 2014, making them the same as in Johannesburg and Nairobi, but less than the 10 percent found in Accra.
But investors say Nigeria's size, with one of the world's fastest growing populations, means it has better long-term prospects than the rest of Africa.
Lagos has a population of around 21 million, whereas Ghana's entire population is 26 million. The Nigerian city is vastly under-served by shopping malls, experts say.
"For now, we are aware that investors are still showing an interest in retail investments, driven purely by the strong demand-supply mismatch," said Erejuwa Gbadebo, who heads Cluttons' Nigeria office.
Novare was behind the construction of a mall that opened in upmarket Lagos district Lekki in August - an $83 million project with 22,000 square metres of retail space. Construction on two projects in Abuja - a mall and an office park - began this year.
"We are continuing to build in the downturn so that we have malls that are open by the time the economic environment improves in late 2017 or early 2018," said van Zyl, adding that the fund had reduced its debt component, using more of its capital, as a short term measure during the downturn.
NO SHORTAGE OF RISKS
Funke Okubadejo, real estate director for Actis, another South African private equity fund, said Nigeria provided "a compelling market opportunity".
Actis has completed two shopping malls in Lagos, another was completed in Abuja in December 2015 and construction is scheduled to begin on a fourth, in Lagos, early next year.
A grade-A office building was completed in the last few months and Actis also raised more than $500m earlier this year for its Africa Real Estate Fund 3.
Anglo-South African financial services firm Old Mutual and Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund in August signed an agreement to set up a $500 million fund to invest in real estate, mainly office towers and commercial real estate.
There is still no shortage of risk in a country famous for corruption. Nigeria's land laws are opaque, with landlords in dispute with tenants often bribing police and local officials to demolish buildings.
And while a small number of funds -- taking a long-term view -- are unfazed by the difficulty in repatriating profits in Nigeria's current climate, local businesses they hope will populate their malls and offices are struggling to stay afloat.
The FX restrictions mean retailers who cannot access the dollars needed to import a wide range of goods are closing.
Many that survive would struggle to pay the rent for a mall unit and companies across the service sector are laying off staff intended to populate offices.
(C) Reuters News

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China's Geely shows global ambitions, launching new compact SUV in Germany

Chinese automaker Geely, the owner of Volvo cars, will unveil the first model of its new Lynk & Co brand in Germany on Thursday, a compact SUV aimed at taking on the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz across the world.

The Lynk, made in China, will go on sale at home in 2017, followed by Europe and the United States in 2018, and marks one of the first attempts by a Chinese carmaker to create a global brand that makes use European design and technology know-how.
Chinese companies have been snapping up cutting-edge German technology to push upmarket and gain a global footprint. This year alone, Chinese home appliances maker Midea has agreed to buy German robotics firm Kuka and Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund LP is taking over semiconductor equipment maker Aixtron . (
Long seen as a cheap, no frills brand in China and unheard of in Europe, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group purchased struggling Swedish carmaker Volvo from Ford in 2010 to help it leapfrog a decade of research and development.
While Volvo will continue to focus on premium vehicles, Lynk is an attempt to grab a slice of the mid market. It will initially take on foreign carmakers' joint ventures in China, but - as shown by the global launch in Berlin - it also aims to challenge the world's biggest automakers in their own markets.
The SUV, called '01', will target tech-savvy drivers. It will come with a high level of internet connectivity and owners will be able to rent out their vehicles to others by using the Lynk app and a shareable digital key.
The car will be a hybrid powered by a 1.5-litre three cylinder petrol engine combined with a lithium-ion battery and electric motor, and will be the first based on the Complex Modular Architecture platform developed by Geely and Volvo.
Mercedes-owner Daimler and BMW are also investing heavily in hybrid vehicles and will be watching closely to see how the '01' fares with European consumers.
Geely said the car would be priced competitively, but gave no details.
EUROPEAN KNOW-HOW
Geely's design has been refined by British designer Peter Horbury, who headed up design at Volvo in the 1990s and oversaw it for Jaguar, Aston Martin and Ford's other brands from 2002.
In doing so, Geely is upping the competitive pressure on established global carmakers, which have long accused Chinese rivals of merely ripping off their designs.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), for example, has sued China's Jiangling Motorafter it released the Landwind X7 SUV in 2014, a car that JLR says copies its Land Rover Evoque while costing around the third of a price.
Geely said it had teamed up with Sweden's Ericsson for '01's connected features, as well as Microsoft and Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba.
"The new '01' car will be the most connected car in the world, designed for a modern, urban audience who are used to collaborative consumption and all the benefits that this brings," said Alain Visser, senior vice president of Lynk & Co.
Alarmed by the threat posed by Apple and Google carmakers are co-operating with telecoms equipment makers and technology firms to develop their own digital services.
Geely plans to unveil the '01' at STATION in Berlin, a former railway station that was the final stop for trains connecting West Germany with West Berlin during the Cold War, and now frequently hosts start-up conventions.
(C) Reuters News

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MTN shares hit by report of higher Nigeria money transfers

The amount of money which South Africa's MTN Group is alleged to have illegally moved out of Nigeria could be "outrageously higher" than an originally estimated $14 billion, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, sending its shares to more than six-year lows.

MTN officials, Nigeria's trade minister and four lenders are to appear at a hearing in Nigeria on Thursday over the alleged illegal transfer of money out of the country.
Nigeria's upper house of parliament agreed last month to investigate whether Africa's top telecoms company unlawfully repatriated $13.92 billion between 2006 and 2016.
Initial investigation findings have revealed the figure is "actually outrageously higher", Bloomberg reported, citing senator Dino Melaye, who first raised the allegation last month.
MTN has denied the allegation. The company plans to present a comprehensive response to the latest accusations on Thursday, spokesman Chris Maroleng said.
Rafiu Ibrahim, chairman of Nigeria's senate investigative panel on alleged illegal repatriation of funds, said on Wednesday that a team of international and local accountancy experts and lawyers had been assembled to look into the matter.
Shares in MTN dropped as much as 3.2 percent levels last seen in mid-2010, before recouping some of the losses to trade 2.4 percent lower at 107.38 rand.
"Investors are nervous with what's happening with Nigeria purely because the past history has shown us that typically the government tends to move the goal posts," Independent Securities trader Ryan Woods said.
The allegation is the latest setback for the South African company in its most lucrative but increasingly most problematic market.
MTN this year agreed to pay a greatly reduced fine of 330 billion naira ($1.08 billion) to end a long running dispute over unregistered SIM cards.

(C) Reuters News

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