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Behind China’s dominance on lithium-ion batteries

Kolawole Onasanya
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Behind China’s dominance on lithium-ion batteries

A lot of people have been wondering how China came to dominate the lithium-ion battery to electric vehicle supply chain by building capacity in metal refining.

It, in fact, goes beyond that as battery-grade chemicals production and cathode and anode making are all being controlled by the same

country, according to new data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

The data demonstrate China’s share of global total production in 2019 for each stage of the battery supply chain.

Combined in the chart are the key battery raw materials of lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, manganese, and where they are extracted through traditional mining or brine operations, based on location.

However, the origin country of the operator is not included.

Midstream refers to refining or battery-grade chemical production from these raw materials, cathode, and anode production from these chemicals while downstream breaks down lithium-ion battery cell production.

The research firm says while there is a misconception that China is a major producer of battery metals, only 23 per cent of the global supply of all battery raw materials comes from China.

But its dominance in the chemical production of battery-grade raw materials stands at 80 per cent of total global production as China has invested significantly in its lithium carbonate and hydroxide, cobalt sulphate, manganese, and uncoated spherical graphite refining.

Capacity ownership of this crucial chemical conversion refining step ensures the global raw material flows point towards China for value-added production, Benchmark says.

Meanwhile, the core building blocks of the lithium-ion battery – cathodes and anodes – are similarly dominant at a combined 66 per cent of global production in 2019.

This breaks down as 61 per cent for cathodes, but significantly higher for anodes: 86 per cent of all anodes (natural and synthetic graphite) are produced in China while 100 per cent of all natural graphite anode is made in China.

Another step down the value chain is lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing.

The rise of battery mega factories, says Benchmark, has predominantly been taking place in mainland China so it comes as little surprise that 73 per cent of output last year was within China.

Of the 136 lithium-ion battery plants in the pipeline to 2029, 101 are based in China.

Coming out of the coronavirus pandemic, China’s supply chain dominance puts it in the driver’s seat for the future of the automotive industry as EV investments scale and legacy ICE technologies falter.

The data demonstrate its dominance from last year, a picture that is set to grow in favour of China out to 2025.

SERAP asks FG to make public feeding programme budget

Kolawole Onasanya
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SERAP asks FG to make public feeding programme budget

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has called on the Federal Government to make public the total budget earmarked for its home feeding programme.

Since schools in Nigeria remain shut, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management, and Social Development, Ms. Sadiya Umar-Farouq, announced that the government would start feeding schoolchildren in their homes.

However, SERAP, in a Freedom of Information request, asked the government to publish details of the suppliers and contractors, the procurement rules, including bidding processes, and all designated voucher distribution and collection sites for the implementation of the school feeding programme at home.

Furthermore, the group requested information on the number of states to be covered during the COVID-19 crisis, the projected spending per state, details of the mechanisms and logistics that have been put in place to carry out the programme, as well as the role expected to be played by the World Food Programme.

SERAP said: “Publishing the details requested is in the public interest. This would help to address public scepticism regarding the ability of the government to satisfactorily implement the programme,
promote openness, and allow Nigerians to track its implementation and to hold suppliers and contractors to account.

“Publishing the details of suppliers and contractors and the procurement rules being implemented for executing the school feeding programme at home would also remove the risks of conflicts of interest and politicization of the programme, as well as promote transparency and accountability.”

The organization also wanted the government to establish an online national database for all suppliers and contractors responsible for carrying out the programme to feed school children in their homes, which is expected to cover over three million households in Lagos and Ogun states, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

It added, “We would be grateful if the requested information is provided to us within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, the Registered
Trustees of SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions under the
Freedom of Information Act to compel you to comply with our request.”

NAFDAC warns firms against leveraging COVID-19 to promote brands

Kolawole Onasanya
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NAFDAC warns firms against leveraging COVID-19 to promote brands

Companies have been warned by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control against using the COVID-19 pandemic to promote their brands.

A directive issued, ‘COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and guidance note to companies that donate or market breastmilk substitutes for infants’, by NAFDAC said: “Companies that market foods for infants and young children (breastmilk substitutes) should not provide free products, samples or reduced-price foods for infants (below six months old) to families through health workers or health facilities, except as supplies distributed through government or officially sanctioned health programmes.

“The WHO International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes requires that products distributed in such programmes should not display company brands. In this specific instance, the unbranded packaging is to focus on the need to support the response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, where necessary in terms of infant and young child feeding, rather than use the pandemic as a platform for brand promotion.”

The agency advised all infant food manufacturers, distributors, and non-governmental organizations to adhere to instructions provided by the agency.

It noted that the importance of infant and young child feeding and the continued protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic could not be over-emphasized.

“Breastmilk is the best food for the newborn child as it protects them from sicknesses, it also helps to protect infants and young children.

“Breastfeeding is especially effective against infectious diseases as it boosts the child’s immunity by directly transferring antibodies from the mother to the child,” NAFDAC added.

Six people quarantined as Akwa Ibom intercepts corpse smuggled from Lagos

Kolawole Onasanya
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Six people quarantined as Akwa Ibom intercepts corpse smuggled from Lagos
The Akwa Ibom State government has intercepted a corpse being smuggled into the state from Lagos.

Six people accompanying the corpse in an ambulance were quarantined.

The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dominic Ukpong, who disclosed this at a meeting with the Incident Management Committee on Friday, said the deceased had been buried.

He said the corpse was transported in an ambulance from Lagos on Wednesday 6 and arrived at a border shared with Abia, where it was intercepted by security agencies the following day.

“But for the alertness of the police officers posted to our borders, the corpse would have successfully made it to its destination in Ikot Ebidang in Onna Local Government Area of the state.

“We really appreciate the point of entry team, as well as the burial committee that ensured the deceased was buried the same day in Ikot Ebidang Village in Onna LGA,” the commissioner said.

Virtual banking as the way to go amid COVID-19

Kolawole Onasanya
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Virtual banking as the way to go amid COVID-19

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday, April 27, 2020, ordered the relaxation of lockdown in the high risk states of Lagos and Ogun, along with Abuja.

The lockdown relaxation, however, came with new directives for financial institutions. The new measures include revised operating hours, temperature checks, use of gloves and masks for customers and employees alike, as well as the enforcement of strict social distancing in banking halls.

Unsurprisingly, the address was met with fierce show of dissatisfaction by Nigerians on social media platforms.

On Monday, the lockdown ‘shackles’ were off. Nigerians in the hardest-hit cities, particularly Lagos, donned face masks and ventured on their respective livelihoods. By 10a.m., videos and photos surfaced online capturing Lagosians waiting in exceptionally crowded, long queues outside branches of the country’s biggest banks struggling with one another on who first would enter into these banks.

More so, there was a noticeable increase in vehicle traffic and people out and about on foot. As the impact of the coronavirus disease is felt across the country, there is fear that these images can only mean one thing for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control: a surge in cases.

Reflecting on the past 24 hours, you can wonder why despite the efforts of local Fintechs and digital banks, virtual banking continues to record low adoption rates. Institutions such as ALAT and KUDA lead that charge, but there is still a long way to go. Some obvious reasons could be ascribed to slow internet adoption and smart phone penetration, and the more dominant factor about the Nigerian culture of trust, especially when it comes to money, which typically means that Nigerians see physical structures as a key factor when choosing where to keep their money.

Despite its numerous benefits from cost saving, greater control over service delivery, reduced wait times, to higher perceived levels of customisation, Nigerians – learned and unlearned – know little about virtual banking and still place their trust in physical banking structures not on the quality of service offered.

New entrants into the virtual banking space, like VBank, have sort to address these trust issues in a rather entertaining way, choosing to employ the services of a respected public figure in Mavins Record Label Chief Executive, Don Jazzy, as their brand’s face. These are encouraging signs that virtual banking can be a thing in Nigeria.

The videos from yesterday serve as a reminder to us all, especially those keeping safe at home, that we are all at risk. There is little difference between the man at home practising isolation and the man waiting in a banking hall queue as we speak. The virus can be transmitted through physical surfaces, one of which includes money, which moves from one hand to another as Nigerians go about completing different transactions. Cash used to be king, but we cannot avoid continuing like this. The digital revolution needs adoption. It’s time to  bank virtually.

Oil prices up second straight week

Kolawole Onasanya
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Oil prices up second straight week

Oil prices moved north on Friday following the lockdown relaxation by more countries in a bid to calm the economic tension brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

The development has raised the hope of crude demand to start a rebound.

According to the latest market report, Brent crude was up 23 cents (0.8 per cent) to trade at $29.70 per barrel, having fallen nearly one per cent on Thursday.

United States oil gained 25 cents (0.85 per cent) to trade at $29.70 per barrel, after a decline of nearly two per cent in the previous session.

Both contracts are heading for a second week of gains after the lows of April, when U.S. oil crashed below zero, with Brent up around 13 per cent and West Texas Intermediate, also known as Texas light sweet, about 21 per cent higher.

However, crude is still being pumped into storage, raising the prospect that any gain prompted by stronger demand will be capped.

“Oil is rallying on expectations of better demand. There are green shoots there, but I think the market will need to see those broaden and extend to sustain the rally,” said Lachlan Shaw, Head of Commodities Research at National Australia Bank in Melbourne.

On the supply side, North American oil companies are cutting production quicker than Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries officials and industry analysts expected, and are on track to withdraw about 1.7m barrels per day of output by the end of June.

“The supply cuts we have seen announced, particularly in North America, are also giving the market confidence,” Shaw said.

Still, U.S. crude inventories at the Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma increased by around 407,000 barrels in the week through May 5, traders said on Thursday, citing Genscape data.

Australia on Friday became the latest country to plan easing of lockdown restrictions, as infections from the virus slow to a trickle, aiming to relax social distancing restrictions in a three-stage process.

France, parts of the U.S. and countries such as Pakistan are also planning to ease the restrictions instituted to stop the spread of the world’s worst health crisis in a century.

In the U.S., the biggest consumer of oil and its products, motorists are starting to take to the roads as the lockdowns ease.

Gasoline supplied to the U.S. market rose to almost 6.7m barrels per day last week, according to estimates from the U.S. Ene rgy Information Administration

Oil demand will beat supply by month end, says Currie

Kolawole Onasanya
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Oil demand will beat supply by month end, says Currie

Oil demand can head north and overtake the supply by the end of this month, says Goldman’s Head of Commodities, Jeffrey Currie.

Sharing his concern as regards the recent oil crisis in an interview with Barron’s Market Brief, Currie noted that the expected upturn in oil demand would be credited to the production cuts implemented by major producers.

Currie, however, believes that about 1.2bn barrels in storage need to be forced down for oil prices to climb.

There are three stages for this to occur, according to Currie.

He stated, “The first oil in storage to go will be the millions of barrels in floating storage. It is the most expensive kind of storage, so it would make sense that traders and producers first aim to get rid of it to save on tanker fees. This will happen sometime in the third quarter of the year.

“The amount of oil removed from floating storage will be around 450m barrels. In the fourth quarter of the year, oil stockpiles in onshore storage will begin to decline by up to 400m barrels.”

However, he does not see a strong rebound in prices anytime soon, as such a rebound would be undesirable.

If Brent rises above $30 a barrel, he argues, it will spur a rebound in production, implying a rebound in supply; and a rebound in supply will immediately pressure prices yet again.

He noted, “Demand remains the key factor for oil prices, and demand will likely remain depressed throughout the year. Mid-April, it fell by about 30m from pre-crisis levels.

Now, demand is about 19mbpd below pre-crisis levels, Currie added. “While this demand has started to improve, it would still be down by 17mbpd from pre-crisis demand this month and by 12m barrels in June and July. By August, things will be looking up, with demand at five to six million bpd bel ow pre-crisis levels.”

Gender distribution gap in the financial sector

Raheemah Arogundade
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Gender distribution gap in the financial sector

Glass ceiling. That has been the cliché used to express women’s absence at the top of any career, unlike their male counterparts. RAHEEMAH AROGUNDADE looks at the difference between the two distinct genders in the financial sector

Gender inequality is an issue in most societies of the world. The difference in the number of women calling the shots in organisations as against men is wide, likewise their earnings.

Issue of equal reward
Whether the women do equal amount of job with the men and still earn less is still disputable. For example in sports, women have been protesting against getting less pay than the male. But while the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, ran 100 metres in 9.58 seconds (2009), the fastest woman ever, Florence Griffith-Joyner of the United States, did same distance in 10.49 seconds (1988).

That is the reason Equal Pay Day, which date differs year by year, has been selected globally to highlight the pay gap between the male and female. The National Committee on Pay Equity fixed this year’s edition on March 31.

Women in labour force
According to the International Monetary Fund, women make up almost half of the world’s working age population of nearly five billion people. Despite, only 50 per cent of them participate in labour force.

African gap
Gender gap in African countries is pitiable, with the World Economic Forum’s 2018 projection that it would take approximately 135 years to close the gap between men and women in sub-Saharan Africa, if gender inequality persisted. The gap belittles the significant contributions made by women to the economy.

While various empowerment avenues have opened for the female gender to promote equal rights, changes are still in motion to ensure sustained improvement in bridging the disparity and improving on the unfavourable conditions women are subjected to.

In Nigeria, women constitute almost half the work force; yet they, most times, don’t get good jobs, promotion, among others. This has been attributed to various reasons, including the assumption that women do not need money as men do, considering that most men are breadwinners.

The National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria reports that 65.3 per cent of senior positions were occupied by men, between 2010 and 2015. The pay gap is more obvious in sectors ranging from banking, Information and Communication Technology, engineering, project management to medicine. However, Nigeria has made steady but slow improvement over the last couple of years.

The financial sector
Contrary to the widespread assumption that females dominate the banking profession, their preponderance is at the lower cadre, as the men continue to dominate top positions in the industry. In 2019, reports revealed that women who had board appointments in Nigerian banks were 22.3 per cent. Not much improvement has been made to improve this figure.

According to reports from Nairametrics, no financial institution has 50:50 representation of men and women in its directors’ board, even as there has been overall improvement in female representation. With a female, Dr. Ajoritsedere Awosika, heading Access Bank’s board of directors, the 14-member board has two executive directors and three non-executive female directors, leaving female representation at 35.71 per cent. The United Bank for Africa’s board of 19 directors with Tony Elumelu as chairman indicate 21.05 per cent female representation.

Deputy Managing Director, Adaora Umeoji, is the only female in Zenith Bank’s board of 13 directors. Stanbic IBTC has four females among its 10-member board, while Mrs. Olapeju Sofowora, a non-executive director, is the only female among FCMB’s 10-member board.

First Bank has three females among 10 board members, with Ibukun Awosika as chairman. Among the 13 board members of Union Bank are three females. Mrs. Osaretin Demuren is the chairman of Guaranty Trust Bank’s 14-member board.

At the grassroots
Gender inequality is not only an issue for the corporate world; but also at the grassroots. Some months back, a report conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria and Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access discovered gaps between men and women in education, income, and trust by financial service providers, attributing it to lack of financial access and inclusion. According to the report, women in Nigeria tend to have lower income, education
and less trusted by financial service providers, and this contributes strongly to the financial
inclusion gap.

Way forward
At that event, CBN’s Deputy Governor for Financial System Stability, Aishah Ahmad Ndanusa, said, “The path to inclusive economic growth is paved with women’s economic empowerment. The gender gap is rising. It is a worrying trend that underscores the importance of this research. We need to work with target segments and speak to their unique challenges. It requires not incremental thinking; but bold, visionary ideas that will drive
transformation.”

Corroborating the 43-year-old female accountant and financial guru, EFInA’s head of programmes, Ashley Immanuel, said, “To address the financial inclusion gender gap, stakeholders need to work together to address this gender inequality, earn women’s trust in financial services, and explore ways to build a better business case for reaching excluded”

Digitisation gains from COVID-19

Raheemah Arogundade
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Digitisation gains from COVID-19

Disruptions in supply chains, as well as closure of businesses, religious institutions and schools, surges in online orders and changes in consumer behaviour are all direct consequences of the shelter-in-place policies around the world to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease.

Non-essential businesses, including educational institutions, have had to shut down at least till the social distancing measures are eased. But does this mean that business activities will be stalled or that individuals will not have access to certain goods and services? Does this mean that education must be halted too? These and other related queries are answered by technology through digitisation.

E-commerce is basically understood as the sale of goods and services online. It is materialising as a significant pillar in the struggle against COVID-19, especially for transacting business activities. Online stores have helped to avoid in-person contact. In line with the laws prohibiting inter-personal contact, virtual classes are being held to avoid congregation of students in the classroom.

Online religious services are also being held in lieu of large congregations. Likewise, business meetings are being conducted virtually via applications such as Zoom and Skype.

Organisations have continued to work through the implementation of remote work policies, supplemented by virtual meetings. Movies can be streamed online. All these are the outcome of digitisation, and they have undisputedly made the stay-at-home bearable for most individuals and organisations.

Digitisation has a lot of potential that the pandemic has taught us to exploit. There has been increase in the demand for goods or services online as a result of the social distancing measures. Some bank customers, who loathe e-banking/digital platforms, have been forced to embrace them. This is because even with the relaxation of the lockdown, accessing banking halls is competing with the labour of Hercules.

Although e-commerce has been rising steadily in the past few years, it has been lagging behind due to consumers’ preference for physical stores. On realising the trends in digitisation, businesses have been harnessing the prospects of e-commerce; while they run physical stores on one hand, they also ensure that they meet their consumers’ needs online.

For such businesses, it will be easier to fully switch from running physical stores to focusing primarily on their online stores in cases of emergency.

In these times, e-commerce is soaring and people are adjusting to digital shopping as the new trend. Consumer dynamics have been critically affected and businesses are forced to embrace e-commerce and expedite the deployment of digital interaction with consumers. While people spend their days indoors, they consequently utilise online shopping opportunities while still complying with safety measures against contracting the coronavirus. There are reports that since the start of the pandemic, online sales have increased by 52 per cent in Europe, and that there has also been an increase in the number of online shoppers by 8.8 per cent.

COVID-19 has, no doubt, brought upon people a time of dependence on digitisation. Amazon, the e-commerce giant, even plans to hire 100,000 additional employees to cater for the surge in online orders.

Digitisation has helped to preserve jobs during the outbreak. While indeed some companies have had to lay off some staff members, some others have utilised the prospects of technology by ensuring that their employees are able to work from home. Consultants have been able to work through video conferencing. People within the education sector have been able to continue working despite the lockdown by conducting virtual classes.

Ordinarily, these groups would have been rendered inactive or, worse still, unemployed. The exploitation of technology in these sectors has ensured job security.

In most developed countries, technology has helped to ensure continued educational activities. Online classes have been organised via various audio-visual applications, where the teacher can interact with her students without meeting them physically. Assignments, presentations and project works are distributed, submitted and graded via online applications.

For countries that have harnessed the opportunities that technology affords, the virus has not hindered educational activities. For developing countries, benefitting from this opportunity will be difficult, as necessary steps have not been taken to promote virtual learning.

These days are no doubt the hardest for people, but utilising opportunities that digitisation affords will not only make this period bearable, but also help to ensure that one is not risking one’s health.

Outbreaks like this open our eyes to the implicit prospects that come with digitising most aspects of our lives. Let us imagine having an outbreak in a time technology is non-existent.

There would have been too many downsides. The outbreak has made us see the value inherent in tech and I believe by now, we appreciate the latter more.

GSMA: COVID-19 pandemic puts digital transformation back on agenda

Financial Street
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GSMA: COVID-19 pandemic puts digital transformation back on agenda

As governments across the globe continue responding to COVID-19’s devastation, the mobile sector is playing a crucial role in tackling the pandemic and enhancing health services’ response to it, a newly released report from GSMA says.

While the report found that the pandemic had upended people’s lives, health, and business sectors, people were using technological innovation to adapt to new ways of doing things.

“In this unprecedented situation, people are quickly adapting to innovative ways of connecting and doing business empowered by connectivity, and digital transformation is no longer just a question but an action for many industries,” the report said.

According to the report, during the construction of two new hospitals in China to treat COVID-19 patients, mobile operators including China Telecom and China Mobile working with Huawei deployed 4G/5G communication networks which resulted in adequate mobile coverage in the hospitals.

It added that the deployment of 4G/5G networks assisted with remote consultation and telemedicine as mobile operators were able to construct up to eight 4G/5G network sites in less than 30 hours following the construction of the hospitals.

In African countries like Uganda, Nigeria, and South Africa, information and communication technologies have been at the forefront of ensuring that social and physical distancing measures are observed, the report noted.

Recently, South Africa’s Minister of Health, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, spoke about the importance of technological innovation in tackling the virus while receiving Huawei Cloud, Artificial Intelligence diagnostic systems, and four thermal scanning systems.

“The Al-empowered diagnosis tool assists medical workers to ascertain if someone has COVID – 19. The accuracy for this tool is over 98 percent with CT scan review times reduced by over 80%,” the GSMA report stated.

The report also revealed how Ghana was using ICTs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country’s Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, this month launched an app designed to help in tracing people who have come into contact with COVID-19 positive individuals and link them to health professionals.

The pandemic “has changed fundamentally” the way people communicate, work, shop, learn, and entertain, as life moves from offline to online, the report pointed out.

“In this unprecedented situation, people are quickly adapting to innovative ways of connecting and doing business empowered by connectivity,” it said.

Thus, the report said digital transformation “is no longer just a question but an action for many industries.”

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