The Central Bank of Nigeria has again intervened in the interbank segment of the Foreign Exchange Market with an injection of $210m.
The CBN intervention in the forex market saw the authorised dealers in the wholesale segment of the market offered the sum of $100m, while the Small and Medium Enterprises segment received the sum of $55m.
The sum of $55m was allocated to customers requiring foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance, among others.
Confirming the figures, the Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr Isaac Okorafor, reaffirmed the bank’s commitment towards ensuring stability in the foreign exchange market.
It would be recalled that at the last intervention on Friday, September 6, 2019, the bank injected the sum of $321.11m and CNY33.3m into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales segment.
Non-Profit Organisations in Nigeria have been charged to embrace corporate governance as a panacea for sustainability.
The Country Director of Enactus Nigeria, Michael Ajayi, said this at the second NPO conference organised by Women Economic Leadership Transformation Initiative in Lagos.
Enactus Nigeria is a global NPO dedicated to enabling human progress by providing undergraduates with the training and linkages they need to become innovative.
Speaking at the conference themed ‘The Sustainability of Non-profits’, Ajayi said aside that corporate governance could unlock opportunities to access certain funds; it would also ensure sustainability and separate the Chief Executive Officer from the organisation.
He traced the challenges with many Non- Governmental Organisations to the emotional attachments of the CEOs to their organisations, noting that corporate governance would separate the individual from the organisation.
The leadership and entrepreneurship trainer bemoaned the worsening unemployment situation in Nigeria, describing it as a time bomb.
According to him, with 13m out-of-school children and 20 per cent of the Nigerian youth population either unemployed or underemployed, the future can only be bleak.
He, however, called for deliberate efforts to invest in the future of the country through young people.
“In no time, we will have 20m people who should be gainfully employed that are not, and what you have is a situation where there would be a revolt. So, we must make deliberate efforts to invest in the future of the country by investing in young people.
“The youth of a nation is its nucleus. It is the only lifeline. Unless we make deliberate efforts, or take deliberate steps now to train them, develop their capacity and prepare them for the future, then we are indeed sitting on a time bomb,” he said.
The Executive Director, Women Economic and Leadership Transformation Initiative, Ifeoma Okonji, urged non-profits to explore opportunities around them for sustainable development and collaborate to yield the needed social impact.
Her words, “This year’s theme ‘The Sustainability of Non-profits’ covers a range of what we do as non-profits. It is, therefore, a time to explore opportunities we have around us for sustainable development and collaborate to create the much-needed social impact.
“It is certain that we all as organisations have our strengths and attributes as well as weaknesses in some areas, this is the time we need to collectively decide to partner to accomplish even more.”
Non-Profit Organisations in Nigeria have been charged to embrace corporate governance as a panacea for sustainability.
The Country Director of Enactus Nigeria, Michael Ajayi, said this at the second NPO conference organised by Women Economic Leadership Transformation Initiative in Lagos.
Enactus Nigeria is a global NPO dedicated to enabling human progress by providing undergraduates with the training and linkages they need to become innovative.
Speaking at the conference themed ‘The Sustainability of Non-profits’, Ajayi said aside that corporate governance could unlock opportunities to access certain funds; it would also ensure sustainability and separate the Chief Executive Officer from the organisation.
He traced the challenges with many Non-Governmental Organisations to the emotional attachments of the CEOs to their organisations, noting that corporate governance would separate the individual from the organisation.
The leadership and entrepreneurship trainer bemoaned the worsening unemployment situation in Nigeria, describing it as a time bomb.
According to him, with 13m out-of-school children and 20 per cent of the Nigerian youth population either unemployed or underemployed, the future can only be bleak.
He, however, called for deliberate efforts to invest in the future of the country through young people.
“In no time, we will have 20m people who should be gainfully employed that are not, and what you have is a situation where there would be a revolt. So, we must make deliberate efforts to invest in the future of the country by investing in young people.
“The youth of a nation is its nucleus. It is the only lifeline. Unless we make deliberate efforts, or take deliberate steps now to train them, develop their capacity and prepare them for the future, then we are indeed sitting on a time bomb,” he said.
The Executive Director, Women Economic and Leadership Transformation Initiative, Ifeoma Okonji, urged non-profits to explore opportunities around them for sustainable development and collaborate to yield the needed social impact.
Her words, “This year’s theme ‘The Sustainability of Non-profits’ covers a range of what we do as non-profits. It is, therefore, a time to explore opportunities we have around us for sustainable development and collaborate to create the much-needed social impact.
“It is certain that we all as organisations have our strengths and attributes as well as weaknesses in some areas, this is the time we need to collectively decide to partner to accomplish even more.”
Nigerian Airspace Management Agency and Max Air are at each other’s jugular after the airline’s Boeing 747-400 loaded with 560 passengers and 16 crew members returning from Saudi Arabia landed on one of its engine sides at the Minna airport on Saturday.
While the airline claimed that NAMA’s Instrument Landing System at the airport was “epileptic with unreliable signals,” the agency said the ILS had no issues and was in other.
Five hundred and sixty-nine Nigerians on board the aircraft with registration number 5N-DBK narrowly escaped death.
Max Air’s Director of Operations, Capt. Ibrahim Dilli, stated, “The Instrument Landing System at the airport was epileptic with unstable signals. Our pilots executed an approach using their wealth of experience and knowledge on the terrain and environment to a safe landing and stopped on the runway, during which one of the engines slightly brushed the runway due to complex landing manoeuvres occasioned by the strong downdraft.”
However, NAMA General Manager, Public Affairs, Khalid Emele, reacted that theILS was successfully calibrated early this year and that there had been no report of non-alignment by the equipment from pilots since then.
“Other operators that have used the facility after the incident have not complained about the ILS malfunctioning. NAMA has made available alternativesto the ILSlike the Performance Based Navigation and Very High Omni-directional Radio Range/Distance Measuring Equipment approach procedures,” said he.
Meanwhile, the Accident Investigation Bureau is probing the incident.
AIB’s commissioner, Akin Olateru, said the aircraft, which took off from King Abdul–Aziz International Airport, Jeddah, on landing, scraped the runway, while the first engine brushed the runway’s surface.
“As the investigation agency, AIB needs and hereby solicits your help .We want the public to know that we would be amenable to receiving any video clip, relevant information any member of the public may have of the serious incident that can assist us with this investigation,” he said.
A former presidential candidate in Nigeria, Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili, and leaders of the Nigerian community in Cape Town have met to proffer a solution to recurring xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
The meeting held on the sidelines of the
World Economic Forum (WEF) in Cape Town, South Africa, comprising Nigerian entrepreneurs, professionals and the Nigerian community led by Mr Cosmos Echie, the acting President of the Nigerian Community Western Cape.
In a communique after the meeting, held in the form of an interactive session, the group preferred to describe the attacks as Afrophobia.
“It was unanimously agreed that the crisis is detrimental to the spirit of African renaissance, affirmation of black heritage, progress and development. Afrophobia compromises everything that the recently brokered intra-African trade – Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement — represents and aspires to deliver,” the communique added while faulting the attacks.
According to a copy of the communique made available to our correspondent on Monday, governments of Nigeria and South Africa are urged to guide against provocative comments.
The South Africa’s President, Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, was also asked to apologise to Nigerians and other countries whose citizens were attacked.
The South African government was also advised to trigger series of actions necessary to de-escalate the brewing conflict.
This, the experts said, would ensure that bilateral trade agreements between the countries would not be affected.
Part of the communique read, “Officials of the government of South Africa must immediately desist from making any further pejorative and incendiary comments targeting Nigerians and their country and instead publicly commit to taking preventive and surveillance measures that will foreclose a repeat of Afrophobic attacks of Nigerians and other African nationals.
“The President of South Africa, Cyril Remaphosa, should rise to the demands of leadership and reach out to the President of Nigeria to trigger the series of dialogue and actions necessary for swift de-escalation of the brewing conflict between their two countries.
“The President of South Africa should offer a sincere public apology to Nigeria, other countries affected by the attacks and the entire continent for the tragic hostility and harm perpetrated against their citizens.
“The President of South Africa should send a sharp signal to South Africans and the continent by visiting the victims of the Afrophobia attacks to empathize with and reassure them of their safety in South Africa and the government should consider paying compensations for losses sustained in the attacks.
“South Africa and Nigeria should agree a mutual legal assistance cooperation scheme for tackling cases of crimes occurring among their citizens.”
It also read, “The Nigerian High Commission and Nigerians in South Africa should design a fact-based campaign to widely convey the accurate and positive narrative of the value they contribute to their host country. For example, South Africans must be made aware that more than 18 per cent of lecturers in their higher institutions are Nigerians. A significant percentage of the medical personnel in rural hospitals are Nigerians. Most Nigerians and Nigerian-owned businesses operate responsibly in legitimate and professional practices in South Africa compared to the less than one per cent of cases of shadowy activities.
“The Nigerian government should make visible effort to guarantee the safety and security of South Africans and their businesses in Nigeria.
“The umbrella organisation of South Africa- based Nigerians will be encouraged to launch a business platform to support the formalising processes for as many informal businesses of Nigerians as possible in order to better capture the value and impact being created and contributed to South Africa’s economic and social landscape.”
The communique added, “Ezekwesili promised her expertise in personally working with the NCWC to ensure that their goal to help achieve the formalising platform.
“The leaders of South Africa-based Nigerians will collaborate to promote a citizens diplomacy programme to foster stronger personal and business relationships between Nigerians and South Africans.”
Other members of the delegation that met with the former minister are Mr Fuster Ludjoe, current financial Secretary of NCWC and the founding leader of Nigerian community group in Cape Town; Mrs Ebiere Joseph-Akwunwa, Public Relations Officer, NCWC; Mr Chukwudi Nwokeabia; Mr Kiisi Women;
Mr Samson Famuyiwa; Mr Sunday Ekene, Chief Welfare Officer, NCWC; and assistant welfare officers of NCWC.
Others are Mrs Felicia Feni, Treasurer of NCWC; Chief T.A Odutayo, who represented the Yoruba community in Cape Town; Chief Vincent Nzekwe; Mr Simon Odumegwu, Chairman and General Secretary of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Western Cape; and Pastor Barry Wuganaale, leader of the Ogoni community.
Nigerian ship-owners say they are in talks with some shipping concerns in China and Norway for partnership to take control of the country’s crude oil cabotage freighting.
The Shipowners Association of Nigeria said it decided to go to China for 85 per cent financing of a shipping concern in a strategic plan to position for about $3.5bn crude oil freighting contract expected to be hulled out by the international oil companies in Nigeria within five years after the country’s ban on waivers for foreign ships takes effect.
The President of SOAN, MkGeorge Onyung, and the technical committee chairman, Lucky Akhiwu, told our correspondent in Abuja, on the sidelines of a shipping industry forum, that the association was going to China and Norway to seek 85 per cent funding for a planned shipyard and vessels acquisition to deepen capacity in readiness to take over cabotage from foreign vessels.
The indigenous ship-owners are planning a summit in November, to come up with ways of financing vessel acquisitions to take over the country’s maritime business from a tight foreign grip.
Onyung said, “The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board has unveiled a five-year strategy for local content in a marine spread for oil and gas, and about $3.5bn worth of contracts are going to be dished out in the next five years by IOCs.
“So, that is a staggering value. It is $3.5bn contracts coming on; it is like when they say a movie is coming soon. If you are not ready, you will be sleeping on duty. What we are saying is that we ship-owners are thinking outside the box, moving around to see who can help us acquire that capacity that will prepare us for the kind of business that is coming.
“It is not rocket science. We are saying that if Singapore is selling the ship to us and they don’t have steel, why are we sitting down here and say because the Ajaokuta Steel mill is not working we cannot do anything?”
Akhiwu corroborated him.
Before now, ship-owners had relied on Nigeria’s Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund, which was reportedly $124m in May this year and under the custody of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency. But the ship-owners said they were tired of waiting for a very small fund that could not help their dream.
“Ship-owners are just simply tired relying on one source of funding, relying on CVFF. We have cried so much all these years talking about CVFF. Now, this CVFF is being handled by a committee to get to the root of it and make it work.
“However, we ship-owners no longer want to sit down and cry over spilt milk. That is why we are trying to make up with friendly ship-building nations like China,” Onyung said.
“We can longer wait, because posterity will ask us what we did as ship-owners to develop the industry. Shipping is 90 per cent of global trade. So if we don’t take the bull by the horns now, we are going to remain spectators,” he added.
While the ship-owners still covet the CVFF, they maintained that the fund remained too small to help their plans.
“We are not giving up on CVFF, but what can the CVFF do for us? For instance, a DSV is about $150m. How much is the CVFF? How much does the government have? We are not talking about security patrol boat here,” he noted.
According to the SOAN boss, Nigeria has done only very little to tap her maritime resources, which has the potential of employing more than half of the country’s unemployed population.
He said, “The world is made up of two-third water, which is the ocean. Oceans of the world are still largely untapped, that is why we always talk about the blue economy. It has very huge potential for Nigeria. That is why the theme of our conference is ‘Ocean blue economy and national development’.”
Asserting that the wealth of the sea, which includes fishing and cruising, can feed the world and prolong human life, Onyung said, “We want the game to change, and the laws are helping us. The Nigerian content law requires that the capacity to export our product should be a minimum of 70 per cent or thereabouts. But if we don’t have ships, the CIF challenge will continue. The truth of the matter is that what ship-owners are doing about that is to engage the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.”
He added, “We are going to sit and dialogue with them. They will get our own point of view. That is why we are talking about collaboration with shipping nations. If I bring very large crude carrier well managed, according to international best practices, NNPC and the world will not look down on the ship.”
Arik Air, Nigeria’s leading carrier resumed flights to Osubi Airport, Warri on Friday, operating flights to Warri from both Lagos and Abuja every day of the week.
In a statement on Friday, the airline said it suspended operations to Osubi Airport, Warri because of its Bombardier Q400 aircraft that went for maintenance abroad.
“We are pleased to announce the return of flight services to Warri. We missed our highly esteemed customers during the period of our absence. We assure our customers of high standards of service and travel experience which are the hallmark of the airline,” Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Arik Air’s Chief Executive Officer, was quoted in a statement by the airline’s Spokesperson, Adebanji Ola.
Figures for African airline routes and earnings have been released, with Air Angola and South African Airlines leading the way for African airlines, with no mention of any Nigerian airline or route.
In a list dominated by global airline groups, this past year has seen the top African airlines make headway against global competitors. This further highlights the fantastic growth experienced by the continent’s air travel institutions. Here follows the top African performers by revenue and size, for the period between April 2018 and March 2019.
Angolan Airlines – The top African airline route
According to Quartz Africa. Air Angola continued its fantastic growth by generating an amount of $231.6m with its Luanda-Lisbon route. As far as the top African airline routes go, it ranks close to the likes of Emirates’ Johannesburg-Dubai route. It is certainly an indicator of the airline’s burgeoning popularity, especially among African travellers looking for a cost-effective and well-serviced air travel option.
To further illustrate the potential for this top African airline, construction on Angola’s new international airport is already 60 percent complete. This airport is envisioned as a major regional hub, and the design is capable of hosting 13 million passengers every year.
South African Airways – Busiest route
South African Airways route between Johannesburg and Cape Town competes with global airline routes. In terms of domestic travel, it finds itself eleventh globally. For the latest reporting period, this route amassed an impressive $184.9m, placing it above other African routes by international air travel giants, such as Emirates’ Cairo-Dubai route and British Airways’ Cape Town – London route, according a report by Simpleflying. This leaves much to ponder, considering the financial difficulty the airline finds itself in.
Be that as it may, the airline remains one of the top African airlines. It has recently strengthened its presence in Africa by increasing the flight frequency between Johannesburg and Accra, and added a daily flight between the Ghanaian capital and Washington. This took effect from September the 5, 2019.
Ethiopian giant – Top airline carrier
The state-owned airline has muscled its way into being the largest airline in Africa, earning recognition at the 2019 Skytrax World Airline Awards by picking up the award for the best economy class and business class options available in Africa.
Ironically, despite being the top carrier in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines fell short of its Angolan and South African counterparts for African airline routes. A minor detail perhaps for a carrier that reported a net profit of $233m between 2017-2018 and, according to a Reuters report, a net profit on $3.7bn in revenue.
The progress and growth of the top African airline carriers is no longer breaking news. As success begets success, carriers’ ambition will not be satisfied by the status quo. In fact, a look at Ethiopian Airlines’ targets for their 2025 vision – which has largely been met already – shows the ambition and drive present. It is already in the process of strategising its 2030 vision, almost certainly inspiring the best of the rest to take African airline carriers to new heights.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has tasked young Nigerians to leverage on the opportunities brought by digital technology in order to drive the agriculture sector
Osinbajo said youths are currently devising different means of advancing development in the agricultural sector by using technology.
The Vice President said this while speaking during the presidential panel session of the African Green Revolution Forum at the International Conference Centre, Accra, Ghana; with the theme “Grow Digital: Leveraging Digital Transformation to Drive Sustainable Food Systems in Africa.”
Participating alongside the Vice President on the panel, which was moderated by a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, was Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo; Prime Minister of Rwanda, Edouard Ngirente; and Africa Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Josefa Sacko.
According to him, several tech companies are already in the agricultural space. He further noted that one of the advantages of technology was a collaboration, which is a major feature of digital technology.
“What we found is that there is far more collaboration than before, and there is far more transparency; you can see practically everything and anyone who is connected one way or the other. And people learn faster because of a lot of collaboration”, Osinbajo said.
He said, “People can go online and find out what a company is doing; some companies are linking investors to farmers, and it is so easy to find out what they are doing by simply going to their website. Some of the Fintech companies are also in that space helping to make payments; helping to do transactions, and a lot them are doing well just by building the space.
“The way it is going; frankly, I can’t see how it will not completely revolutionalise agriculture because practically everywhere that digital technology has touched, it completely revolutionalised. And I don’t think we have a choice. What we are going to see is that, by and large, digital technology is simply going to change the face of agriculture in Africa.’’
He also noted that agriculture was one of the largest employers of labour in Nigeria, stating that more young people in Nigeria are now interested in agriculture because of the impact of technology.
He said, “With respect to the place of agriculture in our economy, it is central. But speaking on how we have absorbed digital technology, one of the most unique features of what digital technology has done is that it has brought in a large number of very young people into agriculture.
“Today many young people are going into agriculture, by using the use of digital technology. Most of the digital platforms that we have that service the agricultural sector are owned by young people who increasingly see the possibilities in agriculture.”
He added, “Aside from the various uses of technology for purposes of tracking movement of farm products, extension services and other advantages, one of the most important advantage is the fact that young people are now very interested in agriculture; they are investing in agriculture and they are looking at the innumerable possibilities in the entire agro-allied value chain.”
Chinelo Anohu, an international corporate lawyer, has been appointed by the African Development Bank Group as head and senior director of Africa Investment Forum.
The appointment, which took effect on September 1, was disclosed by the AfDB President, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina.
While speaking on the appointment, Adesina expressed his delight and enthusiasm that Anohu was joining the forum.
“Anohu is joining us as the head and senior director of AIF. Her can-do-attitude, leadership, hands-on experience in working with global pension funds and institutional investors and extensive global networks, among institutional investors, will significantly position and help the African Investment Forum to drive its global agenda to attract more investment to Africa,” he said.
The new AIF head is a member of the London Stock Exchange Africa Advisory Board, and has served as director-general of the National Pension Commission of Nigeria for five years.
Under her leadership as the PenCom boss, the number of pension contributors rose from five million to close to eight million, while assets under management grew from $19.3bn to a record $42bn. She also introduced micro pension structures that created opportunities for informal sector workers to be included in the contributory pension scheme.
She also created the first-ever World Pension Summit Africa, which was held in Africa three years in a row, and convened global financial experts across the pension industry.
Anuohu began her professional career as an Attorney with the global oil conglomerate, Chevron, Nigeria. She worked in legal and financial services firms in Nigeria and the United Kingdom before joining the Nigerian Bureau of Public Enterprises, the implementation agency for the reform and privatization of state-owned enterprises.
As a consultant assigned by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), she helped to restructure and privatize the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, Nicon Hilton Hotel and AfriBank, among several others.
Anuohu holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Master’s degree in Computer and Communications Law from the London School of Economics in 2000. She has studied at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, United States and the Insead Business School, France.
