Nigerian President To German Chancellor: "I Will Respect Rule Of Law"

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said his administration would always uphold the sanctity of the rule of law in governing the country.
He said unity and harmony in every society could only be preserved by observing the rule of law.
In a statement by Presidential Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke during a bilateral meeting he had with visiting German Chancellor, Angel Merkel, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Buhari was quoted as saying this barely five days after he told a gathering of the Nigerian Bar Association that the principle of rule of law must be subject to the supremacy of the nation’s security and national interest.
He had also told the lawyers that where national security and public interest were being threatened, the individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take the second place.
But Shehu quoted him as telling Merkel that he would respect the rule of law and that all agreements would be fully respected.
Shehu said, “In his remarks during a bilateral meeting, the President said unity and harmony in every society can only be preserved by observing the rule of law, and ensuring that agreements reached in good faith are followed through to the mutual benefit of countries.
“President Buhari told Chancellor Merkel and members of her delegation that the rule of law embodies all the rightful mechanisms for conflict resolution, both within the country, and in dealing with all foreign partners, assuring that his administration remains focused on delivering a peaceful, economically viable and politically stable polity to all Nigerians.”
He also quoted Buhari as saying that Nigeria remains grateful to the German government for the fair treatment of migrants.
The President said Nigeria looked forward to improving its trade figures with Germany, which had taken a strong interest in investing in the country and supporting the government in providing effective services in security, education, and creation of jobs.

Read More

Nigeria's UBA Records 16 Pct Growth in H1 Earnings

Nigeria's United Bank for Africa (UBA) posted 16 percent growth in revenue at the end of its first six months of the year. The bank's gross earnings rose to 258 billion naira against 223 billion in the same period of last year.

The said despite declining yield environment in two core markets – Nigeria and Ghana – the lender showing strong growth across key performance metrics as well as a significant contribution from its African subsidiaries.
The performance, according to analysts, underscored the capacity of the UBA Group to deliver strong performance through economic cycles, even in a challenging business environment.
In a statement issued to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the bank said it recorded strong growth in operating income at 168.5 billion naira, compared to 161.8 billion naira in the first half of 2017, an increase of 4.1 per cent.
Notwithstanding the inflation-induced cost pressure in the period, UBA posted a profit before tax of 58.1 billion naira.
The profit after tax also improved to 43.8 billion naira, a 3.4 percent growth compared to 42.3 billion naira achieved in the corresponding period of 2017.
The first half 2018 profit translated to pre-tax and post-tax return on average equity of 23 percent and 17 percent respectively.
In addition, the results showed that UBA’s foreign operations contributed 40 per cent of the Group’s profit, which according to analysts attested to the benefit of UBA’s pan-African strategy and reinforced the bank’s objective of achieving 50 per cent earnings contribution from offshore subsidiaries.
Also, in the first six months of the year, the bank’s total assets grew 4.9 per cent to 4.27 trillion nairaand customer deposits rose by 6.1 per cent to 2.90 trillion naira, compared to 2.73 trillion naira as at December 2017.
This growth trajectory underlined UBA’s market share gain, as it increasingly wins customers through its re-engineered customer service and innovative digital offerings.
Furthermore, the results showed that the Group’s shareholders’ funds remained strong at N496.3 billion, even as implementation of IFRS 9 impacted the total equity of the bank and its peers.
In line with its culture of paying both interim and final cash dividend, the board of directors of UBA Plc declared an interim dividend of 0.20 naira per share for every ordinary share of N0.50 each held on the qualification date – Wednesday, September 05, 2018.
Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA, Kennedy Uzoka, said: “Our performance in the first half of the year reflects the resilience of our business model and strategies. Despite declining yields in two core markets, Nigeria and Ghana, we delivered double-digit growth in gross earnings. Our performance demonstrates the success of our digital banking initiatives and broader customer-first strategies.
“We are integrating banking to our customers’ lifestyle, simplifying processes for routine transactions and driving financial inclusion by making banking services accessible and affordable.
“We are creating opportunities for wealth creation and economic progress, as we empower our customers through innovative platforms and solutions that support their personal and business growth.
Our commitment to delivering excellent service is paying-off, as we increasingly win a bigger share of customers’ wallet across our chosen markets. We won the highly coveted ‘Africa’s Best Digital Bank’ award by Euromoney, demonstrating our pioneering initiatives are being recognised with Leo, our digital banker having been name checked by Mark Zuckerberg.”
“Our enhanced asset-liability management strategies improved asset yield and grew interest income by 21 per cent despite prevailing yield environment.

Read More

APC Says Presidential Candidate To Emerge Through Direct Primary

Nigeria's ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday said will choose rose its presidential candidate through direct primaries, against its previous arrangement of the delegate model, the party arrived at this decision at the end of its sixth National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja.

The Party, however, decided that other elective positions would be through the indirect option.

The APC also provides flexibility for states that would wish to use the direct primary option for the conduct of their primaries, asking such branch of the party to apply to the national leadership of the party with a resolution signed by party stakeholders agreeing to the process.

Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong who addressed journalists after the meeting in Company of his Kogi state counterpart, Yahaya Bello announced the decision of the party.
Lalong also said the meeting failed to agree on the sequence of election for its primaries and referred the issue of to the National Working Committee to decide on the matter putting into considerations the various opinion canvassed at the meeting.
“About two or three things were discussed. First, the document on the guidelines for the election, the mode of elections and of course, the mode of funding and the necessity for unity within the party after the gale of defections.”
” On the issue of defection, the party unanimously agreed that it has not affected us much, but has tightened the party more.
“On the mode of election, we all agreed that for the Presidential election, we are going for direct primary, but for other elections, there are two options. But the general option is that we go for indirect primary.
“But any state that has a problem and wants to deviate from that is at liberty to write following the normal process with a resolution from their state executive seeking approval for a deviation from the agreed process.
“In the sequence of election, it was directed back to the NWC to look at the comments that were made and within those comment, address them in line the electoral act and bring out a timetable for the sequence of election. The National Executive Committee has been given that power.
“On the issue of funding, a standing Committee was set to look at the proper funding for party generally.
“The constitution of the party provide for either direct or indirect primaries or com census. But for the presidential election, we all agreed to adopt the direct option.
“Also, a recommendation was made by the National Working Committee which was accepted that all the states should adopt the indirect mode of election. But there may be circumstances where it may be difficult in some of the states, looking at their peculiarities.
“If there are such difficulties, the state will now apply following due process after their stakeholders' agreement, signed and adopted by simple majority of the party and the state executive which will now be sent to the NWC for approval.”
On automatic ticket for governors and legislators, he said “We didn’t discuss the issue of automatic ticket. But we discuss that patriotic and loyal members should be rewarded. But not necessarily with automatic ticket.
“Some of our senators who are patriotic who were supposed to be taken away were all kept. We asked all the states to look at it and we find a way to reward them. But for the election, the option is given to everybody to face election. So, there was nothing like automatic for anybody.
“We debated the cost of nomination and left it to the National Working Committee to take into consideration some of the views expressed and come out with a reasonable figure and any figure they bring out will be accepted and we don’t need to come back to NEC to ratify it.”
Contributing, Kogi state Governor, Yahaya Bello said “People refer to the issue of automatic ticket to governors and legislators. In our party, we have a reward system. You will surely not throw away a loyal party man and will not punish a loyal party man.”
“We will always support and reward those legislators who were supposed to have been taken away in a deceitful manner but stood by President and this country. Those that are patriotic to this party and this country will surely be rewarded in one way or the other. That is not automatic ticket because there is internal democracy and we are doing everything to promote our constitution and internal democracy.”
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and his deputy, Yusuf Lasun were conspicuously absent at the meeting, but National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole explained that the party received correspondences from the two principal officers of the House of Representatives that they won’t be able to attend the meeting.
Oshiomhole said “we have apologies from the Speaker in a letter dated 27th of August, 2018 that he had a previous engagement and would not be able to attend the NEC meeting as he is currently out of the country. We also have correspondence from the Deputy Speaker that he has an appointment with his doctors and won’t be able to attend the meeting”.

Read More

Nigeria Reverts To "How NOT To Run An Oil Industry"

The Nigerian Senate passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill ("PIGB") into law in May 2017. This was followed by a similar action by the House of Reps in Jan-18. 

After due consideration by the joint committee, the harmonised version of the bill was transmitted to The President in June-2018 for his assent. Shockingly, the President declined to assent the Bill, maintaining that it will reduce the power of the minister.
We think this is a major setback for the Nigerian oil industry given that the PIGB was drafted to: harmonise regulation in the industry (currently carried-out by the DPR, PPPRA & NNPC), reorganise the operation of the NNPC for efficiency, promote transparency and accountability in the administration of petroleum resources, and foster a conducive business environment within the sector.
The above implies that benefits of the PIGB such as harmonised regulation -which should streamline licensing, waivers, tax processing, crude oil export certificates, and approvals, at a lower cost- will be jettisoned. 

Also, the power of the executive will remain absolute in the Nigerian oil industry as the checks & balances modelled into the PIGB will remain ineffective. 

Finally, investment into the sector, which has been stalled for years due to the none passage of the PIB, will remain on the sideline

Read More

Nigerian Bank CEOs To Meet On CBN Sanction Against MTN, Four Lenders

Chief executives of Nigeria major banks are to meet soon to discuss the implications of the huge fine imposed on four commercial and the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that South African telecoms firm MTN returns $8.1 billion illegally transferred outside the country.
The discussion is expected to hold under forum of Bankers' Committee Meeting, which comprises top CBN officials and banks chiefs executives. No date has been agreed for such meeting yet.
Chief executive of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, who revealed this said his bank has a minor holding at MTN group level but was not exposed to the telecoms firm in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s central bank on Wednesday imposed 5.87 billion naira fine on four banks, for their role in helping MTN transferred the money out of Africa’s biggest economy.
The banks fined are; Standard Chartered was fined 2.4 billion naira, Stanbic IBTC Bank 1.8 billion naira, Citibank 1.2 billion naira and Diamond Bank 250 million naira.
The regulatory bank accused the four commercial lenders of aiding the illegal remittance of foreign exchange to offshore investors of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited.Wigwe said he expected a resolution on the matter as the regulator would want to avoid a systemic banking crisis.
A repayment of $8.1 billion, is half of MTN’s market capitalisation, and could threaten its Nigerian lenders.
Separately, Access Bank and other lenders to 9mobil e have taken a 25 percent loan loss as part of sale negotiations with new investor Teleology Holdings, he told an analysts’ call.

Read More

MTN Ghana raises $238.5 million in IPO, misses target

MTN Group said on Thursday its Ghana unit raised 1.14 billion cedis ($238.5 million) in the largest initial public offering in the West African country but failed to reach its target.
Telecoms operator MTN had hoped to raise 3.47 billion cedis from selling about 4.63 billion shares representing up to 35 percent of the issued shares of MTN Ghana at 0.75 cedis per share, it said in a statement. It only sold 1.53 billion shares.
MTN’s Group said its stake in MTN Ghana will be 85.40 percent.

Read More

Nigeria's Senate President Saraki Says Want To Become President

Nigerian Senate President Bukola Saraki said he’ll challenge President Muhammadu Buhari as leader of Africa’s most populous country in 2019 elections.
“I hereby announce my intention to run for the office of president,” Saraki told reporters Thursday in the capital, Abuja. “I do so with the firm conviction that I have what it takes to secure inclusive growth for Nigeria and Nigerians.”


Saraki, 56, said he’ll run on the platform of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party, which he joined last month after defecting from the ruling All Progressives Congress. He would need to win the party’s ticket during primary elections in October.
The Senate president is the latest addition to the list of about a dozen contestants seeking the nomination of the PDP. They include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and three former state governors, including Rabiu Kwankwaso, who formally declared his intention to run a day earlier.
“The PDP field has become even more crowded,” said Cheta Nwanze, analyst at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence business advisory. “The biggest land mine ahead for their party will be its ability to reconcile aggrieved losers when the party convention holds in October.”
Secret Police
Saraki has tangled politically with Buhari ever since he emerged as the head of the Senate against the president’s wishes in 2015, often going against the party line. He was part of a group of PDP members who teamed up with Buhari and other opposition parties to form the coalition that won power in 2015.
His return to the PDP came amid a wave of such departures from the APC, including dozens of senators and at least two state governors. After security operatives surrounded Saraki’s home last month for undisclosed reasons, the secret police temporarily blocked access to the National Assembly on Aug. 7, in what Saraki said was an illegal attempt to impeach him. The head of the State Security Services was dismissed over the deployment.
Nigeria under 75-year-old Buhari has failed on all the important measures of development creating a need for an emergency rescue, Saraki said.
“The choice we face in the forthcoming election is either to keep things as they are, or make a radical departure from the old ways,” Saraki said. “We need a new generation of leaders that are competent, with the capability to rise to the challenges of the 21st century.”

Read More

Nigeria central bank fines four banks, orders MTN to refund $8.1 bln sent abroad

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has imposed a total fine of 5.87 billion naira on four commercial lenders for the breach of the country's foreign exchange regulations and ordered the local unit of South African telecoms firm MTN to return $8.13 billion back to the country.

In a tweet by the regulatory bank's spokesman, Isaac Okorafor the telecoms firm and four banks are also to refund the amount "for breaching Nigeria's forex regulations on MTN's illegal capital repatriation."

The banks fined are; Standard Chartered was fined 2.4 billion naira, Stanbic IBTC Bank 1.8 billion naira, Citibank 1.2 billion naira and Diamond Bank 250 million naira. 

The regulatory bank accused the four commercial lenders of aiding the illegal remittance of foreign exchange to offshore investors of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited.

In a statement, the CBN also said that MTN had not obtained approval before transferring the funds and the banks had also breached foreign exchange rules by failing to verify that the telecoms firm had met all the requirements.

The Nigerian telecommunications regulator, Citibank, Standard Chartered and Diamond Bank were not immediately available for comment. A spokesman for MTN declined to comment, while a Stanbic IBTC spokesman said a statement would be issued shortly.

Last November, Nigeria’s Senate approved a report largely exonerating MTN, following an investigation after the business was accused of illegally repatriating $14 billion to its parent company.

At the time, the Senate also asked Nigeria’s central bank to sanction Stanbic IBTC “for improper documentation in respect of capital repatriation and loan repayments” on behalf of MTN.
The Senate also agreed in 2016 to investigate whether Africa’s biggest telecoms firm unlawfully repatriated $13.92 billion from Nigeria, its most lucrative market which generates a third of its revenue, between 2006 and 2016.
Africa’s biggest telecoms firm was fined $5.2 billion in 2015 by the Nigerian government for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM cards on its network. 

The fine was later reduced to $1.7 billion with an option to list its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The company plans to launch the IPO, which has since been delayed due to market conditions, this year.

Okorafor, in the statement, said investigations by the CBN revealed that $3.45 billion was repatriated by Standard Chartered Bank on the basis of illegally issued CCIs.
Similarly, he said the sums of $2.63 billion, $1.766 billion and $348 million were repatriated by Stanbic IBTC Nigeria, Citibank Nigeria and Diamond Bank Plc, respectively during the period 2007 and 2015.

Read More

President Buhari withholds assent to 17-year-old oil bill

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has withheld his assent to the Petroleum Industrial Governance Bill (PIGB). The decision is coming after 17 years of rigorous consultations and legislative hassles on the document.
The Guardian quoted sources who claimed the president hinged his action on the argument that the bill reduces the president’s control of an industry that contributes the largest chunk to the national economy.
“The president said those he contacted among his ministers, especially the attorney general and minister of justice, claimed that presidential powers have been passed to a technocrat who might undermine the interest of the president.”
In the works for almost two decades, the PIGB has passed through both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In its torturous journey to the president’s table, contributions were taken from industry operators, oil-bearing communities, and all levels of government.
The bill was particularly being championed by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, who described it as the solution to the problems bedeviling the nation’s oil industry.
Originally called Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) when it was presented, it was whittled down to accommodate all the variables against its passage before it received the nod of the House of Representatives as PIGB in January this year. The House and Senate versions were harmonised on March 28 before it was presented for assent.
A source said the bitter politics between the presidency and the leadership of the National Assembly could be the reason the bill was rejected.
It is also feared that Nigeria might lose its membership of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), if Buhari signs the bill.
This warning came from Joseph Ellah, former Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Development Division at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
In a new report, ‘Implication of the PIGB for Nigeria,’ published by the Claude Ake Chair of Political Economy of the University of Port Harcourt and made available to The Guardian, Ellah argued that if Buhari signs the bill, thus paving the way for government divestment, the country would contravene an OPEC resolution, which requires members to own as much as 55 per cent of their oil wealth, if they were to exercise considerable influence over it.
The PIGB states that government shall within five years from the date of incorporation of the National Petroleum Company divest in a transparent manner not less than 10 per cent of the shares of the company, which will be created after the unbundling of the NNPC. Furthermore, it is expected that within 10 years, the National Petroleum Company should divest not less than an additional 30 per cent of its shares to institutional or strategic investors.
Ellah explained that the concept of divestment, which the PIGB is designed to achieve, is actually aimed at putting the country’s future in the hands of oil multinationals and private foreign capital or their local fronts, as well as a few genuine Nigerian investors. According to him, signing the PIGB into law will succeed in recreating conditions that prevailed in the 1960s before OPEC was formed.
He observed that the National Assembly’s quest to privatise national assets not mired in debt, suggests either the country is under pressure from international financial institutions and is bowing to that pressure or that the National Assembly does not know the move is detrimental to the interest of the country.
Ellah, who was also a World Bank consultant to the Ministry of Finance, recommended the commercialisation of the NNPC and its subsidiaries, implying total elimination or drastic reduction of political interference and nepotism.
But a past president of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, Mayowa Afe, disagreed, saying the PIGB is advocating the unbundling of the NNPC and not privatisation as portrayed in some quarters.
He said the idea of unbundling the corporation is to make it more viable, profitable and accountable and not raise money, as is the reason for most privatisation moves.
“For instance, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) is doing very well today because it is an autonomous exploration and production arm of the corporation. Not every country that produces oil is a member of OPEC. We can as well do the same if OPEC is against the PIGB. What is the big deal being in OPEC?”
Also, the chief executive officer at Cowry Asset Management Limited, Johnson Chukwu, said: “If really and truly OPEC is taking this position, it might be premised on false assumptions. Apart from the PIGB, there are other provisions for host communities, which will ensure that they are being carried along. Equity holdings of the joint ventures will be sold to the public. Nothing in the law applies that the oil assets will be sold to the international oil companies. Countries that apply the welfarist approach to managing their oil assets have always ended in crisis. Venezuela, with its huge oil asset, is an example.”
Furthermore, the immediate past executive secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Femi Olawore, said: “I don’t think the PIGB should affect Nigeria’s membership of OPEC. I don’t think it will make sense if Nigeria is pushed out of OPEC because of the PIGB. I don’t think one of OPEC’s objectives is to have member states run national oil companies that are fully owned by government.”
The Bureau of Public Procurement, meanwhile, has insisted that the Federal Government is determined in its support for local content, to ensure that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) is achieved.
The Director General of the BPP, Mamman Ahmadu, stated this at the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN) in Abuja yesterday.

Read More

Why Lagos port is congested, by Osinbajo

Nigerian Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has blamed the increased congestion of the Apapa Port, Lagos was due to the failure of successive administrations to invest in infrastructure using the huge resources realised over the years.

He said the past administrations failed to invest in the other ports and the rail system when Nigeria earned higher revenues from oil.
Osinbajo spoke during a special plenary at the ongoing Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja.
“I think one of the major failings that we have had as a nation is the failure to invest in infrastructure, especially when we were earning significant sums from oil, and I think that has led to several of what we’re seeing today.
“The Apapa Port has a 35 million metric tonnes capacity; now it’s handling 85 million tonnes. So we have so many trucks coming out of Apapa, destroying the roads.”
According to him, the Federal Government is aggressively addressing the Apapa Port congestion through the development of the rail system and the other ports.
“We’re opening up the ports in the South-South region and fixing the rail system. You cannot transport goods around the country without investment in rail,” Osinbajo said.
The Vice President urged the NBA to purge its ranks of lawyers who specialise in delaying cases and frustrating the anti-graft war.
according to him, lawyers who abuse court processes are disbarred in other jurisdictions, whereas such practices appear to have become acceptable in Nigeria.
Asked by the moderator Prof Koyinsola Ajayi if Nigeria could end corruption by having leaders with morality, Osinbajo said: “We must understand where we’re coming from and how to resolve that problem.
“There is a great deal of institutional and moral decay. There is no question about that at all. Just take an example of corruption – it is systemic and has eaten so deep into the society’s fabric.
“It’s difficult to simply say that we can end corruption by just being exemplars of moral conduct. A lot more needs to be done.
“One, there is a need to establish a system of consequences for misbehaviour. That is a pertinent issue and is one I believe applies to the Bar.
“The most important thing is that everyone has a responsibility to ensure that there is a consequence (for wrongdoing). One of the major problems that we’ve had is that the legal process is not able to deliver justice within a reasonable time.
“There are issues that concern public corruption and there are several cases that have been in the court and the government has been criticised for not being able to secure a conviction. There are those who say the prosecution was not prepared. There are those who say the defence engages in dilatory tactics. There are those who say the judiciary is compromised.
“All of this has to do with our administration of justice system. We must accept some responsibility. The Law Society in England, for example, accepts responsibility of the discipline of lawyers, including those who engage in dilatory tactics in court.
“If a lawyer wants to delay a case, or has a strategy of hoping that years after, the matter will be forgotten, that kind of lawyer will lose his shirt in any other jurisdiction. But here, it has become an accepted fact. So, it’s beyond government.
“All institutions such as the NBA must do something. And it really calls for self-regulation. Government is not going to come up with a law to change that. This is something we (NBA) are in control of. We should be able to say that we’re going to have to put our foot down here.”
He advised the NBA to take a cue from the Law Society in England and accept the responsibility for the conduct of lawyers.
“There is a sense in which we must accept responsibility for the discipline of lawyers. The Law Society in England accepts responsibility for the discipline of lawyers, even when lawyers engage in dielectric tactics in court.
On the questions on Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and how it was transforming the life of the poor people in Nigeria, Osinbajo said that the government started it in 2016 by crafting a budget that took a bottom-to-top approach to tackling the problem of the poor.
“The approach we adopted from 2016 is two-pronged. One is in first creating safety nets and for the first time we put in the budget a line for what is called the Social Investment Programme. That is N500billion for the Social Investment Programme. That is the largest programme of its type in the history of this country.” he said
He said the Social Investment Programme covered the Conditional Cash Transfer to one million of the poorest, the N-Power Programme, a scheme for providing jobs to 500,000 young graduates and the “Trader Moni” Scheme to two million people.
“It is working because we can see a substantial improvement in the capacity of people to earn money and to do better for themselves,” he said, adding that the “only way to deal with poverty is to incrementally improve the capacity of people to earn money.”
He also answered questions on infrastructural development, technological development, ease of doing business and the ideological underpinnings that drive government programmes.

Read More

South African Banks Weigh New Fund to Boost Black Farm Ownership

South African banks are in talks to start a joint fund that could be used to accelerate the transfer of land to black people as they seek to protect billions of rand in assets tied up in farm loans.
Lenders are wading into the racially charged land-reform debate as the ruling party embraces calls to change the constitution to allow expropriation without compensation. While the African National Congress sees the step as a means to improve equality 24 years after the end of racial segregation, the main opposition party says it is trying to deflect blame from its failure to properly manage earlier land-reform efforts before elections next year.
“We’re absolutely convinced as an industry that for the long-term sustainability of economic and social well-being in this country, we do need
to address the serious problems and inequities we have,” Banking Association of South Africa Managing Director Cas Coovadia said by phone. “There could be various mechanisms through which we do that. A joint fund could be one such mechanism.”
Banks are finding ways of supporting efforts to transfer more land to the black majority in a way that doesn’t undermine property rights and values and risk financial stability. Lenders have 148 billion rand ($10 billion) outstanding in loans for agricultural land, compared with 1.07 trillion rand for residential mortgages, according to the association, which represents 35 local and international lenders.
Skewed Ownership
While the industry supports the ANC’s desire to correct skewed ownership patterns, the constitution already makes provision for expropriation, BASA said in a submission to parliament earlier this year.
White farmers own almost three-quarters of South Africa’s agricultural land, according to an audit by lobby group Agri SA published last year, down from 87 percent during white rule. Laws passed in 1913 allocated only about 7 percent of South Africa’s arable land to black people, leaving more fertile land for whites.
“The narrative at the moment is one of irrational action as far as expropriation is concerned, irrespective of the impact of investment and growth,” Coovadia said. “The narrative that needs to be promoted is one that says land reform and restitution are legitimate issues for this country given our history.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa has repeatedly said that land reform would be done in an orderly fashion, writing in the London-based Financial Times last week that there will be no “land grab.” The planned constitutional amendments will provide greater certainty to both those who want and own land, and promote growth, stability and food production, he has said.
Early Stages
Negotiations on the formation of a fund are still at their early stages and one of many ideas being considered, Coovadia said. No sum for the investment had been discussed yet, he said.
“It need not just be a fund put together by the industry,” Coovadia said. “It could be a fund which other business formations participate in.”
The ANC would support any effort in contributing to the transfer of land to dispossessed South Africans, Enoch Godongwana, a national executive committee member and head of the party’s economic transformation sub-committee, said on Tuesday.
“If the banks are working on such a fund, we welcome that,” he said. “We have been having numerous discussions with the banks.”
Absa Group Ltd., the country’s largest agricultural lender, has proposed two separate funds be managed by professional team -- one to focus on rural land and another on urban projects. It made the proposal in a submission in June to a committee created by South African lawmakers to investigate possible next steps in dealing with land reform.
Technical Assistance
The rural fund will be aimed at creating more black-owned commercial farms by funding the purchase of land, providing technical assistance and facilitating market access for beneficiaries. The urban fund will be targeted at building an affordable housing market and forming more black-owned property developers by providing guarantees against some losses for high-risk residential projects, Absa said.
Through the banking association, Absa and its peers including Standard Bank Group Ltd., Nedbank Group Ltd. and FirstRand Ltd., have also called for a national land audit to identify unproductive land. Absa is also willing to sponsor researchers who can find ways of developing a new land administration system to improve security of tenure, it said.
The lender’s starting point on land reform echoes that of a paper prepared in 2011 for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform that pointed to a “total system failure” rather than just a single piece of legislation, Absa said. Land reform needs to be done in a way that looks at the entire process “rather than a narrow legal question on expropriation without compensation,” the bank said.

Read More

UK Prime Minister Says Nigeria Is Home To highest number of world’s very poor people

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May has said 87 million Nigerians were living below $1.90 a day, making Nigeria “home to more very poor people than any other nation in the world.

The Prime minister who is expected to visit the country on Wednesday stated in Cape Town, South Africa that many individual Nigerians were enjoying the fruits of “a resurgent economy” but more people are slipping into poverty daily.

May is visiting Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa this week and has expressed the desire to see Britain become the biggest investor in Africa out of the Group of Seven nations, overtaking the United States, by using the aid budget to help British companies invest on the continent.

Britain will use its international aid budget to boost its own interests while also seeking to deepen trade ties with Africa.

“I am unashamed about the need to ensure that our aid programme works for the UK,” May said.
“Today I am committing that our development spending will not only combat extreme poverty but at the same time tackle global challenges and support our own national interest.”
Britain’s overseas aid last year was 13.9 billion pounds ($18 billion). The budget has come under fire from many of May’s own lawmakers, who say it is too high and should be spent elsewhere or in Britain itself.
May, who was accompanied by a delegation of British business executives, also said Britain would work with African states to tackle insecurity and migration by creating jobs.
“It is in the world’s interest to see that those jobs are created, to tackle the causes and symptoms of extremism and instability, to deal with migration flows and to encourage clean growth,” May said.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, British direct investment in Africa was 43 billion pounds ($55.5 billion) in 2016, compared to 44 billion pounds ($56.7 billion) from the United States.
Investment from France, which maintains close ties with its former colonies in West Africa, stood at 38 billion pounds ($49 billion) and from China, rapidly becoming a major player in Africa, 31 billion pounds (40 billion).
Britain was South Africa’s 6th largest global trading partner last year, with total trade at 79.5 billion rand ($5.6 billion), the South African president’s office said.
Under the banner of creating a “Global Britain” Trade Minister Liam Fox, a prominent proponent of Brexit, has cited International Monetary Fund research stating that 90 percent of global growth in coming year will be generated outside the EU.

Read More

Kenya’s deputy chief justice arrested for suspected corruption - police

Kenya’s deputy chief justice Philomena Mwilu was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of corruption, failure to pay tax, and improper dealings with a local bank now in receivership, the police and the country’s top prosecutor said.
Chief Public Prosecutor Noordin Mohamed Haji told a news conference that Mwilu had abused her office for personal gain, undermining public integrity in the judiciary. The director of criminal investigations, George Kinoti, told Reuters in a text message: “I can confirm the arrest of the deputy chief justice.”
Reuters was unable to immediately contact representatives of Mwilu.
Corruption in East Africa’s biggest economy drains billions of dollars from the state each year. The government has launched a new anti-graft push this year led by Haji, a former deputy head of national intelligence, who has brought criminal charges against dozens of civil servants and businesspeople.
The detention of the deputy chief justice was the highest profile since a series of corruption-related arrests began several months ago.
“Lady Justice Mwilu... accepted gifts in the form of money which undermined confidence in her office,” said Haji.
He said Mwilu had also obtained “execution of a security belonging to Imperial Bank, now under receivership, by false pretence” and had “conducted herself in total disregard of the law”, citing what he said was her failure to pay tax. Haji gave no further details.
“I have concluded that the evidence is sufficient for a reasonable prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest that criminal proceedings should be preferred,” Haji said.

Read More

Nigeria's Zenith Bank CEO Peter Amangbo in EFCC net Over Rivers State funance

The chief executive officer of Nigeria's Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo has been held by anti-graft investigators over a series of transactions his bank allegedly carried out on behalf of one of Nigeria’s largest oil-producing states, Rivers, an online news portal PREMIUM TIMES has reported.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is alleging that the transactions, at least 117 billion naira in value, are suspicious in nature but that Zenith failed to report them as demanded by law.
Insiders at the EFCC and Zenith Bank said Amangbo was held to explain why his bank failed to document the withdrawals, allegedly done over a three-year period, as suspicious.
Amangbo was first invited for questioning on August 23, sources said. But he was freed on administrative bail and asked to return on August 24 for further interrogation.
He honoured the arrangement, turning himself in again at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.
Our sources said the top banker was however not allowed to return home on Friday.
“He was still being quizzed as at 4 p.m. on Sunday,” one source said.
At least four other officials are being sought in the investigation, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
The suspects considered to be at large include Fubara Similari, whom investigators identified as the director of finance and account at the Government House in Port Harcourt. The Government House cashier is also said to be on the run.
Officials were unable to immediately provide further information about the investigation to PREMIUM TIMES Sunday night.
Both Akin Olaniyan and Victor Adoji, spokespersons for Zenith Bank, did not immediately return PREMIUM TIMES’ telephone calls, text messages and e-mails seeking comments Sunday night.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers slammed the investigation as “political witch-hunt” Sunday night, saying he would continue to prevent state officials from appearing before the EFCC for questioning.
“No government official will appear before the EFCC,” Wike was quoted as saying in a statement his spokesperson Simeon Nwakaudu sent to PREMIUM TIMES Sunday night.
The governor said an Appeal Court judgment in 2007 prohibited the EFCC from prying into Rivers State coffers, a ruling he claimed had not been appealed.
“They filed for leave to appeal the judgment at the Court of Appeal. Until they set aside the judgment, we will not come,” Wike said, adding that a fresh lawsuit would be filed to stop the EFCC investigation of Rivers accounts.
The investigation comes two weeks after the EFCC froze bank accounts owned by Benue and Akwa Ibom States.
The agency said it was investigating alleged mismanagement of more than 22 billion naira by Governor Samuel Ortom in Benue, but had declined to comment on the specifics of action against Governor Udom Emmanuel in Akwa Ibom.
Ortom said the action severely crippled economic activities in his state for the few days it was in force because it became impossible to pay state workers and pensioners.
He warned that a state grappling with serious security challenges that claimed over a thousand lives this year alone should not be targeted by anti-graft operatives.
But the EFCC alleged that Ortom squandered billions of naira which the Nigerian government released to Benue to tackle the grievous humanitarian and security challenges caused by suspected herdsmen attacks.
The restrictions on Benue accounts were lifted within three days on August 9, and Akwa Ibom confirmed partial unfreezing of its accounts on the same day.
Wike argued Sunday that the EFCC went after Benue and Akwa Ibom to lay the groundwork for similar measures against Rivers.
“But the target is not Benue or Akwa Ibom States,” Wike said. “The real target is Rivers State.”
“The EFCC as a federal agency has no business with state funds. That is the responsibility of the State House of Assembly,” he added.
The spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, did not immediately return requests for comments Sunday night.

Read More

Nigeria's forex reserves down to $46 bln by Aug 23

Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves declined by $990.98 million in twenty-three days to $46.13 billion by August 23, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown.

The country's buffer stood at $47.11 billion at the end of July, data published on the website of the regulatory bank showed.

Analysts attributed the drop in the country's forex reserves was as a result of capital flights by foreign portfolio investors in recent time as the economy experience some slow down.

Nigerian stock market has experienced a major decline with the main market index down more than 10 percent after some offshore sold down their position in the market.  

A former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Sam Nzekwe said political uncertainties had led to a decline in foreign investment as many investors were taking their funds out of the country.
“So, I believe that what must have happened is that those of them whose investments are short-term like shares and bonds, have found their way out of Nigeria,” he added.

He added that although the government was investing in infrastructure, the investments in infrastructure were mostly being constructed by foreigners with foreign materials.
He said, “So basically, it will have some impact on the reserves but I believe that the major one is the foreign investment in the financial market and they are all short-term investments.”

Analysts believed the decline in the forex buffer could impact on the country's currency exchange in the coming week as pressure mounts on the available dollars.

Read More

Nigerian economy loses momentum in Q2 as GDP slows to 1.50 Pct

Nigeria, Africa’s top economy Gross Domestic Products (GDP) grew 1.50 percent year on year in the second quarter of the year down from 1.95 percent growth achieved in the first three months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Monday.

Analysts traced the slow down in economic growth to the uncertainty engendered by the delay in approving the 2018 fiscal policy, which was not ready until June.

Nigeria's parliament approved 9.1 trillion naira budget estimate for 2018 in June after delaying the approval for more than seven months, causing major hiccups in the economy and slow down the government projections.

Nigeria’s economy, which largely dependent on its rich crude reserves, began climbing out of its first recession in 25 years in 2016 as President Muhammadu Buhari’s government implemented the early stages of a turnaround plan.

However, the pace of recovery has been relatively slow, and since the beginning of this year has again started to dip.
The oil sector shrank 3.95 percent in the second quarter, the NBS said. Oil production dipped to 1.84 million barrels per day (mpbd) from 2 mpbd in the first quarter.
“For the first time since the exit from recession, growth was driven by the non-oil sector which grew by 2.05 percent,” the bureau said.
That was the strongest growth in non-oil GDP since the final quarter of 2015.
Leading the expansion were the transportation, construction and electricity sectors, while agriculture growth dipped to 1.3 percent from 3 percent.
Buhari’s record on managing the economy is likely to be closely scrutinised if he goes ahead with plans to seek a second term in office next year.

Read More