NACCIMA opposes signing of West Africa-EU agreement

Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), has urged the Federal Government to refrain from signing the West Africa-EU Economic Partnership Agreement until the country’s infrastructure and productive capacity has improved such that exports would benefit from the agreement and output from the sensitive sectors would be able to compete with import from EU.
Giving this hint in a statement over the weekend in Lagos, the President of the association, Dr. Edem Bassey, cautioned government not to sign the agreement, but rather confront headlong the current economic crisis and find a way to pull out of economic recession through appropriate policy measures.
He said that to return Nigeria to the path of economic growth, the country needs to strengthen infrastructure and stimulate aggregate demand for its output. With the policy focus of Nigerian Government on the diversification from crude oil to other sectors of the economy, the Economic Partnership Agreement offers a ready market for Nigerian products that will be the output of the

Stakeholders set agenda for new electricity board

Frank Jacobs

As the Senate prepares to screen nominees to the board of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), some stakeholders have set an agenda for the new management.
Experts, consumers and other stakeholders who spoke at the weekend urged the incoming board of NERC to be more proactive in holding operators in the power sector to account.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) particularly wants electricity distribution companies to be made efficient. The industrialists want a stop to cost-cutting measures and threats of cutting off electricity, while they seek the enforcement of the provisions of the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (ESPR 2015).
To effectively manage the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), MAN charged NERC to “begin to operate as an impartial judge that enjoys the confidence of all stakeholders.”
“NERC should establish an all-encompassing stakeholders consultative platform with representation from all stakeholders on the NESI value chain. The incoming board should treat the decisions of the Customers Forum as mandatory,” President of MAN, Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs

Nigeria loses N6.33trn to Naira devaluation

Nigeria will spend an equivalent of its 2016 budget to service debts as its currency, the naira, continues to lose value against the United States dollar.
Devaluation has put the real value of the country’s debt stock at around N18.9 trillion, when considered at the official rate of N307.79 per dollar, according to figures from the Debt Management Office.
The additional naira stock (per dollar) that would be needed to service existing debt will cause the country to lose about N6.33 trillion, a near-equivalent of the 2016 budget, when compared to N12.6 trillion at N197 per dollar as at December 31, 2015. It is also a disincentive for future external borrowing despite a positive debt-to-GDP ratio.
“Hiding under the mantra of low debt-to-Gross Domestic Product is deceitful,” a public sector financial analyst, who asked not to be named, said in Lagos at the weekend. “The economy is in recession and cannot churn out those activities anymore.
“If we compare our debt service bill without revenue earnings ratio, it is not sustainable and that is where foreign investors will be looking at to price our international bonds,” the public sector

IBM to partner Nigerian firms on IT Infrastructure development

A United States-based Multinational Technology Company, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has disclosed plans to partner with some Information Technology firms in Nigeria in the development of the sector.
Senior Vice President IBM Systems, Tom Rosamilia, in a chat at the ongoing 2016 Edge Conference in Las Vegas, USA, observed that Nigeria has a huge market considering its population adding that it is an interesting business market for the company which intends to partner with some firms in Lagos to develop the market.
Rosamilia noted that Africa is a huge continent with diversities, stressing that the IT infrastructure gaps in the Continent presents a lot of potential for investors, adding that IBM opened a research laboratory in Nairobi, Kenya in order drive innovations in Africa and also use technological solutions there to create products for other markets.

NSE moves 3.09bn shares worth N6.24bn

Investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday traded a total of 3.09 billion shares valued at N6.24 billion exchanged in 2,815 deals.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that this was against the 231.46 million shares worth N2.49 billion traded in 3,452 deals on Tuesday.
The Financial Service Sector remained the toast of investors as GNI emerged the most traded in volume terms, accounting for 2.87 billion shares valued at N3.24 billion.
Zenith Bank came second with a total of 51.23 million shares worth N752.69 million, while UBA sold 39.84 million shares valued at N416.14 million.
GT Bank trailed with 37.92 million shares worth N1.53 billion and investors staked N478.40 million on 25.07 million shares of FCMB.
NAN also reports that the market indicators closed positively, appreciating marginally by 0.01 per cent due to price gains sustained by some highly capitalised equities.

Naira crashes against major currencies

The Nigerian currency on Wednesday depreciated against the three major currencies in all the segments of the Forex market.
At the Interbank market, the Naira fell by 0.25 points to exchange at N310.08, from N309.83 posted on Tuesday.
Trading at the Bureau De Change (BDC) market showed that the naira lost 1 point to close at N424

Why businesses fail in Nigeria – ICAN boss

Poor infrastructure, lack of basic amenities and multiple taxations frustrate enterprise in Nigeria. Organisations surviving the harsh economic conditions, therefore, deserve kudos, as the country remains one of the toughest places to do business.
President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Deacon Titus Soetan, stated this yesterday in Lagos.
Noting that: “Doing business in Nigeria is not a tea party,” Soetan expressed optimism that the country would “improve in its development processes.”
He added that findings have shown businesses in Nigeria do not live up to the fifth or sixth year,

Microsoft raises dividend, plans $40 billion share buyback

Microsoft Corp on Tuesday raised its quarterly dividend by 8 percent and said it would buy back up to $40 billion as part of a new share repurchase program.
The company raised its dividend to 39 cents per share, up 3 cents from the previous quarter.