AfreximBank reiterates need for knowledge, trade in development

The urgency for focus on the economic benefits of knowledge and the role of trade in the development processes of the continent has again been brought to the fore by the African Export-Import Bank (AfreximBank).
The imperatives of the identified development catalysts formed a major part of the book titled: “Foundations of Structured Trade Finance,” by the President of AfreximBank, Dr. Benedict Oramah.
Oramah told his guests that it was the lack of appreciation of the power of knowledge that led to Africa being left behind in the race for development.
“While South East Asian economies realised back in the 1970s that it was a knowledge economy that could be trade–led and that it was a trade-led economy that could innovate and be competitive, African economies lost focus, consumed by commodity illusion and defensive import substitution strategies,” he lamented.
Consequently, Africa, which was well ahead of developing Asia, including China, in the 1960s and early

Fraudsters target 63.7m banks accounts, e-payment channels

Fraudsters have continued to get unauthorised access to bank accounts and other electronic payments platforms .
Statistics from the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS) indicate there are 93 million bank accounts in the country with 63.7 million of them being active. As at September 2016, operators of current accounts in the country stood at 25.4 million, with savings account having 65.4 million holders while there were 2.48 million other accounts users in the country.
It was learnt that the introduction of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the banks in 2015 showed that there are about 28 million unique identity accounts in the country.
With cybercriminals on the prowl, checks showed that customers of some top commercial banks in the country are currently being bombarded with suspicious phishing mails targeted at their daily Internet banking transactions.

NCC to sanction 13 operators over unsolicited telemarketing

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Monday said it would sanction 13 telecommunications operators for failing to comply with the ‘2442 Do Not Disturb (DND)’ directive on unsolicited telemarketing.
According to a statement signed by the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, the directive was issued on April 20, 2016.
Ojobo said that the 13 operators included: Airtel Network Ltd., MTN Nigeria, Globacom Nigeria, Smile Communication, Visafone Communications, Ntel, Etisalat, Multi-Links, Starcomms, Danjay Telecoms, Gamjitel Ltd., Megatech Engineering Ltd. and Gicell Wireless.
According to him, the service providers have been given another one-week ultimatum, from Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, to remedy the situation or face the sanctions enshrined in the directive.
“Worried by the non-compliance by the operators, occasioned by a deluge of complaints by subscribers

Naira appreciates after DSS action on currency dealers

Despite last week’s raid and arrest of some licensed currency dealers who were said to be selling foreign exchange (FX) above the prescribed limit, the naira appreciated on both the interbank and parallel segments of the market.
Precisely, on the interbank FX market, the spot rate of the naira climbed N1.45 to close at N304.75 to the dollar last Friday, stronger than the N306.50 to the dollar the previous day.
Also, on the parallel market, the naira appreciated by N5 to trade at N455 to the dollar at the weekend, compared with the N460 to the dollar the day before.
But on the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment, the nation’s currency depreciated to N405 to the dollar, from about N400.
It was reported that security operatives from the DSS had raided the offices of some BDCs in Lagos and Abuja and arrested dealers for selling above the stipulated exchange rate.

Siemens buys software maker Mentor Graphics for $4.5bn

Siemens AG agreed to buy Mentor Graphics Corp. for $4.5 billion in its biggest acquisition since 2014 as the German engineering company extends its industrial software capability.
Siemens will pay $37.25 a share for Wilsonville, Oregon-based Mentor, the industrial giant said in a statement on Monday. That’s 21 percent above the closing price on Friday. Elliott Management Corp., which owns 8.1 percent of Mentor’s shares, backs the offer, Siemens said.
The acquisition “will allow us to supplement our world-class industrial software portfolio,” Siemens board member Klaus Helmrich said in the statement. “It will complement our strong offering in mechanics and software with design, test and simulation of electrical and electronic systems.”
The deal follows the $970 million January purchase of CD-adapco of the U.S. as Siemens seeks to grow its

Bank of Industry disburses N36bn to agro-allied sectors in 2016

The Bank of Industry (BOI) has disclosed that it has disbursed over N36 billion within nine months in 2016 to agro-allied sector of the economy in the country.
Speaking at the Lagos International Trade Fair SMEs forum organized by the bank over the weekend, Regional Head, BOI, Mr. Obaro Osa disclosed that the bank plans to move its loan advances from $2.7 billion in 2014 to $5.4 billion in 2019 in order to drive home its mission statement.
He said: ‘‘it is imperative to know that BOI’s non-performing loan ratio is less than 4 per cent. Our mission is to transform Nigeria’s financial space by supporting the large, the medium and small scale in a bid to bring life to entrepreneurship”.
He noted that the bank is hell bent on expanding its footprints from 15 state offices to 19 offices, revealing that it has a significant project for those in exports.
“Graduate Employment Fund focuses on Youth Corpers with a minimum of N2 million whereas the YES

Nigeria’s pipeline breaks drop to 221 points in August

The Federal Government’s efforts in tackling the issue of pipelines vandalism have shown remarkable progress, as disruption of oil flow dropped to 221 in August, down from 311 points in July, according to the latest data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
It disclosed that in August 2016, there was 28.94 per cent drop in the number of pipeline vandalised points relative to July, 2016.
The Corporation stated in its August Monthly Financial Report (MFR), released, that the spate of pipeline vandalism in the country has shown remarkable improvement, following Federal Government and NNPC’s sustained engagements with the Niger Delta militants.
In spite of this progress, the NNPC report also indicated a significant reduction in its trade deficit to ₦11.22 billion against the ₦24.18 billion reported July, 2016.
Although, the Group classified it as a remarkable improvement, explaining that the success was largely due to increase in Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC’s) coastal sales, and

Dollar tumbles against yen, euro on strong Trump showing

The dollar tumbled against the yen and euro while the Mexican peso fell off a cliff as polling results in the knife-edge US presidential race pointed to a strong showing by property mogul Donald Trump.
The greenback plunged 3.8 percent to 101.50 yen while it lost almost two percent against the euro, which bought $1.1224 in Tokyo trading.
The peso, which has become a proxy for the property mogul’s chances of becoming US president, slumped to below 20 against the dollar, an historic low.
Financial markets have favoured Democrat Clinton over Republican Trump, whose wild policy pronouncements have sown uncertainty.
“Of course, I can’t say anything definite at the moment, but the market atmosphere reminds me of that five months ago,” Daisuke Karakama, market economist at Mizuho Bank said, referring to the Brexit shock.
“Mr Trump has made it clear that he hates a strong dollar, which is a threat” to the floating-rate system, he added.