BIG STORY
How celebrities fuel
Nigeria’s gambling epidemic
By Frank Eleanya & Francis Onyemechi
AUSTIN Okocha, Nigeria’s football
legend popularly called ‘Jay Jay’,
was the first and most prominent
ambassador signed by BetKing when
they launched in the Nigerian market
Why men are more addicted to
gambling – Page 2
More Nigerians resort to betting amid
hardship – Page 2
News you can trust
INVESTMENT ONE
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NGX ASI 71,052.85 71,230.49 0.25% Cross Rates
1YR NTB 15.45%
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Tinubu’s outsized COP28
delegation costs N880m to fly
•Many on delegation are idle - Peter Obi •Presidency defends large delegation
By Frank Eleanya, Anthony Ailemen and
Eniola Olatunji
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Ti-
nubu who is participating in
the ongoing Climate Change
Conference (COP28) arrived
in Dubai with 1,411 delegates,
according to a list by the UN
Climate Change, making him
the leader in Africa with the
highest entourage and the
third-largest representation
among global countries attend-
Continues on page 31
UBA wins Bank of
Year, other awards at
The Bankers Awards
>> Turn to page 3
L-R: Joy Macknight,
Middle East and Africa
editor of The Banker, a
publication of Financial
Times Group, London;
Oliver Alawuba, group
managing director/CEO,
UBA; and Krishnan
Guru, ceremony host,
in 2018. According to the legendary with the Bank of the
footballer at the launch, the BetK- Year Africa 2023, along
with Bank of the Year
ing philosophy resonated with him
Awards won by UBA’s
because they believe “that everyone,
subsidiaries in Camer-
whatever their position, has a chance
oon, Chad, Ghana, Cote
to become King of their destiny.”
d’Ivoire, Mozambique,
But millions of Nigerians who Republic of Congo,
watched their football idol and took Sierra Leone, Tanzania,
his words literally have gambled
at the Bankers Awards
away their meagre earnings and 2023, organised by
The Banker, in London,
Continues on page 2 United Kingdom.
* Monday 04 December 2023 Vol. 21, No 1,562 N400 www.businessday.ng facebook/businessdayonline @businessdayng @businessDayNG
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El-Rufai plans
$100m venture
capital in private
sector return
By Frank Eleanya
NASIRU El-Rufai may no
longer be the Kaduna State
governor and has missed a
controversial ministerial ap-
pointment, but he certainly
has not lost his zest for taking
on big projects. The former
governor is going into the pri-
Continues on page 31
FG set to begin
disbursement of
presidential grants,
loans to businesses
AS part of the Presidential Pal-
liative Programme, the Federal
Government has announced
the kick-off of two programmes
targeted at alleviating the im-
L-R: Afolabi Emmanuel, community lead, B2B, Peppa; Flora Mbeledeogu, founder/CEO, Made in Africa Brands Ambassador; Yonodu
Okeugo, commercial leader, VFD Microfinance Bank; Gloria Omereonye, area business executive, Lagos Island 3, Union Bank; Ad- pact of the fuel subsidy removal
- the Presidential Conditional
ewunmi Oni, acting director, finance, and corporate services, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund; Ijeoma Ude, chief sales and mar-
keting officer, BusinessDay Media; Esther Obiekwe, group head, SME banking, Fidelity Bank; and Tayo Fagbule, editor, BusinessDay
Media, at the BusinessDay Top 100 Fastest Growing SMEs in Nigeria, in Lagos on Friday. Pic by David Apara. Continues on page 2
2 www.businessday.ng
BIG STORY
Akinwumi Adesina (l), president of the African Development Bank Group, with President Bola Tinubu, at the 2023 United Nations Climate
Change Conference, COP28 Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Why men are more addicted to gambling
By Chinwe Michael
MEN’S propensity to gam-
ble explains their higher
risk of addiction com-
pared to women.
According to the Na-
tional Council on Problem
Gambling, men are four
times more likely than
women to develop gam-
bling addiction. This trend
is evident across various
forms of gambling.
Gambling addiction,
also known as compulsive
gambling or ludomania,
is a behavioural disor-
More Nigerians resort to betting amid hardship
By Anthony Nlebem
JAMES Ayorinde (not
real name) a graduate of
Political Science at the
University of Lagos, is a
football addict who hardly
misses any match and
monitors updates almost
impulsively.
The young man in his
early 30s, however, is a
compulsive gambler. Ayor-
inde resumes at a popular
betting house in Ikotun, La-
gos where he would spend
the entire day monitoring
different leagues while
staking between N1500
to N2000 across different
leagues with the hope of
becoming a millionaire.
“I have been playing
sports betting for over four
years now and I don’t in-
tend to stop until I become
a millionaire,” Ayorinde
told BusinessDay.
“I have won on some
occasions but not as big as
I would want. On average,
I stake at least N1500 and
my focus is on the lower
leagues. The odds are very
high and I take my time to
follow them and am very fa-
miliar with these leagues.”
When asked if he would
der characterised by an
uncontrollable urge to
gamble despite harmful
consequences. While both
men and women can de-
velop gambling addiction,
research consistently dem-
onstrates that men are dis-
proportionately affected.
Studies have also
shown that male gamblers
tend to start gambling
earlier, gamble more
frequently, and engage
in higher-risk gambling
activities compared to
female gamblers.
Socioeconomic factors
quit betting if he gets a
paying job, Ayorinde says
it would only take an offer
from a well-paying job to
lure him away from betting
addiction. His preference
are ICT and oil companies
even though he has little
professional competence
for roles in these indus-
tries.
For millions of Nigeri-
ans like Ayorinde, sports
betting is among the most
exciting forms of gambling.
According to a report pub-
lished in March 2023 by
Orange Business Intelli-
gence Technology (ORBIT),
Nigeria’s betting industry
reached over $2 billion
in revenue in 2020, with
over 60 million Nigerians
between 18 and 40 spending
$5.5 million daily.
A National Sports Indus-
try Policy from the same
year estimated that the
industry could generate
up to $4.7 billion in annual
revenue (AAR), create up to
10 million jobs, and gener-
ate between 1.5-3 percent of
GDP over ten years.
The industry is also one
of the fastest-growing in
the country, driven mainly
by the football culture.
Men are more likely to
experience financial dif-
ficulties, which can make
them more susceptible to
the allure of easy money.
They are also more likely
to live in communities
with high rates of gam-
bling addiction.
Psychological factors:
Men are more likely to
have problems with im-
pulsivity, risk-taking, and
sensation-seeking. They
may also be more likely to
use gambling as a way to
escape stress, anxiety, or
depression.
According to reports, the
National Lottery Regula-
tory Commission (NLRC)
and the Lagos State Lot-
teries Board (LSLB) have
also issued over 100 betting
licenses.
Chidi Lemchi, a Busi-
ness Development &
Growth Expert and a pas-
sionate football fan said the
proliferation of sports bet-
ting which Nigeria started
with pool houses in the 80s
and those who indulge in
the act were seen as irre-
sponsible.
“Before the prolifera-
tion of sports betting which
we are seeing now in Nige-
ria, we used to have pool
houses, and people who
indulged in it were con-
sidered irresponsible and
the dregs of the society,”
Lemchi said.
Lemchi believes that
the perception of sports
betting as a preserve of
poor people has changed
due to the popularity of the
Premier League, Laliga,
German Bundesliga, and
French Leagues in Nigeria.
Today, both the poor and
the wealthy individuals
participate in betting.
“This vice is so rampant.
Social factors
Men are more likely to
be exposed to gambling
through social activities,
such as watching sports or
going to casinos. They are
also more likely to have
friends or family mem-
bers who gamble.
Genetic factors:
There is some evidence
that gambling addiction
may be hereditary. Men
who have a family his-
tory of gambling are
themselves more likely
to become addicted to
gambling.
It’s like a pandemic. Every
nook and cranny has a
betting cabinet, kiosk, or
house. Yesteryears, people
hid to engage in pool, to-
day the case is different as
people unabashedly engage
in this vice,” Lemchi said.
A source at BetKing,
who wants to remain anon-
ymous, told BusinessDay
the number of Nigerians
engaged in the act of betting
have increased due to the
present economic hardship
and the festive period fast
approaching.
“Based on the informa-
tion we have, the numbers
have increased, this is the
festive period and people
are looking forward to the
celebrations and you know
how things are in the coun-
try presently,” the source
said. He would not reveal
the exact number.
He further noted that
youth’s appetite for gam-
bling has increased re-
cently, especially as it ties
to the present economic
reality as many people are
putting their hopes on mak-
ing millions from betting.
“Yes, that could be tied
Continues on page 30
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
FG set to begin disbursement ...
Continued from page 1
Grant Programme and
the Presidential Palliative
Loan Programme.
This was revealed in a
statement by Doris Uzoka-
Anite, minister for indus-
try, trade and investment.
In the Presidential
Conditional Grant Pro-
gramme, the Federal Gov-
ernment will disburse a
grant sum of N50,000 to
nano businesses across
the 774 local government
areas in the country, the
statement said.
It said the Federal Gov-
ernment, through the Fed-
eral Ministry of Industry,
Trade and Investment
and Small and Medium
Enterprises Development
Agency of Nigeria, will
collaborate with state and
local governments, federal
legislators, federal min-
isters, banks and other
stakeholders.
According to the state-
ment, eligible nano busi-
ness beneficiaries should
be willing to provide proof
of residential/business
address in their local gov-
ernment area, and pro-
vide relevant personal and
bank account information,
including Bank Verifica-
tion Number for verifica-
tion of identity. Eligible
beneficiaries get more
information and apply at
https://www.fedgrantand-
loan.gov.ng.
It said for the Presi-
dential Palliative Loan
Programme, the Federal
Government will like-
wise disburse N75 billion
to Micro, Small and Me-
How celebrities fuel Nigeria’s....
Continued from page 1
become poorer.
Kingsley Uzoma, a gam-
bling addict who has lost a
lot of money and even sold
properties to bet, said he
regrets learning about gam-
bling. The biggest loss for
him is the trust of his fam-
ily, friends and colleagues
who now see him as always
making the wrong financial
decisions due to his betting
addiction.
“If I had gambled 10
times, I lost 7 of them. I keep
betting because I need the
money to solve problems.
Quitting is the best option,
but what is the way out
when it has become a habit
and one that gives me hope?
Recovery wouldn’t be easy
either. I would say, gener-
ally, that I regret know-
ing gambling. The country
is hard and most of these
things are expected in a bad
economy. So, it is not a sur-
prise and the opportunities
in the country are getting
slimmer,” Uzoma said.
Nnamdi Nelson, who has
been addicted to gambling
for over two decades said he
is unable to quit because he
does not know how to stop
the habit.
“It’s been more than 22
years since I started gam-
bling. Now I don’t plan to
dium-sized Enterprises
(MSMEs) across various
sectors and N75 billion
specifically to Manufac-
turers. The loan shall be
administered to the ben-
eficiaries at a single-digit
interest rate of 9 percent
per annum.
The statement said:
“While MSMEs can ac-
cess loan facilities up
to N1 million with a re-
payment period of three
years, manufacturers
can access up to N1 bil-
lion to access financing
for working capital with
a repayment period of 1
year for working capital
or five years for the pur-
chase of machinery and
equipment.
“MSMEs and manu-
facturers can apply for
the loans by submitting
their application on the
portal provided for the
programme at https://
www.fedgrantandloan.
gov.ng. The facility would
be accessed through their
banks, and applicants
would be required to meet
the risk assessment cri-
teria of their respective
banks.
“As part of its com-
mitment to promote
economic development,
entrepreneurship and
financial empowerment,
the Federal Government
believes these initiatives
will encourage entrepre-
neurship and job cre-
ation. Additional infor-
mation is available on
the official website for
the programmes - https://
www.fedgrantandloan.
gov.ng.”
quit. I have reduced my stak-
ing power because the money
is no longer there. A lot of
people don’t know that I bet
because I do it online. I try to
manage the odds by playing
live matches. No matter how
little it is, you stake. You can
win, but most times we lose
it as well. There is no 100 per-
cent proof that you must win
in every stake,” Nelson said.
A 2020 report found that
about 60 million Nigerians
between the ages of 18 and 40
are involved in active sports
betting, and football betting
is the most popular segment
of sports betting. The report
also noted that Nigerians
spend almost N2 billion on
sports betting daily, which
translates to about N730 bil-
lion annually. It also put
the sports betting market in
Nigeria at an estimated value
of $2 billion.
In September 2023, Geo-
Poll surveys conducted in
May 2017 and December 2021
were unveiled and showed
that while Kenya leads the
African continent as the
top gambling country with
a remarkable 83.90 percent
of their citizens actively in-
volved, Nigeria was closely
behind with 78 percent of
Nigerians confirming their
participation in gambling.
Continues on page 31
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
L-R: Abiola Arogundade, senior special assistant to the president on technical, vocational and entrepreneurship education; Yusuf Tanko
Sununu, minister of state for education; and Tahir Mamman, minister of education, during the opening session of the two-day retreat on
roadmap for the Nigerian education sector (2024-2027) and ministerial deliverables organised by the Federal Ministry of Education in
Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State on Friday.
MANUFACTURING
Ogun manufacturers mull power pool
solutions as electricity shortage bites hard
Abiodun pledges harmonised taxation, fast-tracked C of O to ease economic activities
By Razaq Ayinla, Abeokuta
HAVING claimed that 40%
of the production cost goes
to energy needs used for
manufacturing activities
in the country, the manu-
facturers and investors in
Ogun State are now consid-
ering a power pool solutions
technology to access a series
of energy sources as part
of solutions to power sup-
ply shortages to industrial
clusters and manufacturers
operating in the State.
The power pool solutions
technology being consid-
ered by members of the
Manufacturers Association
of Nigeria (MAN) in Ogun
State, a State with the larg-
est industrial hubs, is being
prompted by the proximity
of the State to gas sources,
refuse availability for waste
to energy programme and
abundance of sunlight for
the solar energy scheme.
Speaking at a Breakfast
Meeting with the Chief Ex-
ecutive Officers hosted by
BANKING AWARD
UBA wins Bank of Year, other awards at The Bankers Awards
By Hope Moses-Ashike
AFRICA’S Global bank,
United Bank for Africa
(UBA) Plc, has again dem-
onstrated its prowess on
the international stage as
it clinched nine prestigious
awards at The Bankers
Awards 2023, organized
by The Banker Magazine,
a publication of Finan-
cial Times of London, the
world’s leading business
newspaper.
The prestigious awards
presented to the Bank at a
ceremony in London, United
Kingdom on Thursday, in-
cluded the highly coveted
Bank of the Year Africa 2023,
solidifying UBA’s position as
Governor Dapo Abiodun of
Ogun State in Abeokuta re-
cently, Olasunkanmi Owoy-
emi, the Managing Director
of Sunbeth Global Concepts,
decried power supply short-
age in the country, espe-
cially for manufacturers
and industrial areas, which
has massively increased
expenses spent on energy to
power manufacturing plants
across the country.
Owoyemi, who is a pro-
cessor and exporter of ca-
shew nuts, sesame seeds,
cocoa and soy beans, dis-
closed that the ugly trends
of power supply shortage to
the industrial clusters had
propelled Sunbeth Global
Concepts to invest about
$20 million in power project
with a view to ensuring that
not only an adequate pow-
er is supplied to Sunbeth
Global Concepts, but also a
clean and cheap energy is
achieved for the firm.
While calling for public
private partnership on pow-
er pool solutions technology
the leading financial institu-
tion on the African continent.
The Bank’s subsidiaries
also emerged as the Bank
of the Year in eight of the
20 countries where it oper-
ates in Africa. The win-
ning subsidiaries are UBA
Cameroon, UBA Chad, UBA
Ghana, UBA Cote d’Ivoire,
UBA Mozambique, UBA
Congo, UBA Sierra Leone,
and UBA Tanzania, under-
scoring the bank’s domi-
nance and impact across
diverse African markets.
It is noteworthy that this
would be the second time in
the past three years that the
bank has won the regional
award as the best bank in
Africa, as it had emerged
NEWS
in Ogun State, which hosts
the largest manufactur-
ing plants in the country,
Owoyemi challenged Gov-
ernment of Ogun State in
that regard, asking the State
Government to spearhead
the course of power pool
solutions project as part
of Government’s efforts to
improving ease of doing
business in the State.
“At Sunbeth Global Con-
cepts, we are into the pro-
duction, processing and
exporting of cocoa beans,
cashew nuts, sesame and
soy beans. We are doing
fine in this regard but the
issue of power is our major
problem. We are spending a
lot of money on power which
is affecting our capital. We
have just made $15 - $20 mil-
lion investment in power,
which I think, we can do
better if we can collaborate
with each other on power
generation and distribution.
We call on Ogun Govern-
ment to look into this and
help us out”, he said.
winner in 2021.
Oliver Alawuba, UBA’s
Group managing director,
who received the awards
on behalf of the bank, ex-
pressed his gratitude and ex-
citement about the awards,
and said the recognitions
come as a reassurance that
the bank is on track in its
goal of consolidating its
leadership position in Af-
rica, and creating superior
value for its stakeholders.
“UBA is honoured to be
named the Bank of the Year
in these eight countries and to
receive the overall Award for
Africa. This accomplishment
is a testament to the hard
work, dedication, and innova-
tive spirit of the entire UBA
Also, Sohan Baghla, Di-
rector, African Industries
Group, lamented the ugly
trends in the Nigerian pow-
er sector, multiple taxation
and bad roads, which he
said, hamper manufactur-
ing activities, movement of
raw materials and finished
goods, saying it’s high time
Government and investors
worked together to bring
about due solutions to the
identified economic prob-
lems bedevilling the nation.
Baghla, who spoke on
behalf of the investors in
Agbara Industrial Clus-
ter, noted that despite the
problems identified Afri-
can Industries Group had
been able to provide over
10,000 jobs for the people of
Ogun State, adding that a
greater percentage of their
investments are in steel and
aluminium production and
processing, glass, chemi-
cals, steel rolling mills, for
which they are all situated
in the Agbara Industrial
Cluster.
team. We remain committed
to delivering top-notch bank-
ing services that positively
impact the lives of our custom-
ers across the continent.
Continuing, Alawuba
said, “We have our mil-
lions of customers across
the globe and our many
thousands of staff to thank
for this. They are the very
reason why we keep win-
ning and receiving these
accolades”, he said.
The Banker Awards is
widely recognized as a bench-
mark for banking excellence
globally, and UBA’s multiple
victories underscore the
institution’s commitment to
providing exceptional finan-
cial services and superior
COP 28 DELEGATION TO UAE
Obi says many Nigeria’s
government delegates are
idle hands, hangers-on
...tasks Nigeria to emulate China on production
capacity not on delegation size
By Tony Ailemen, Abuja
PETER Obi, the Presiden-
tial Candidate of the La-
bour Party (LP) in the 2023
General Elections, on Sun-
day, said those on govern-
ment delegation are idle
hands, hangers-on, who
understand nothing about
climate change
Obi, reacting to reports
of Nigeria’ s huge delega-
tion to the climate change,
however, admonished Ni-
geria to strive to compete
with China in the area
of production and not on
the size of delegations to a
specialized conference of
experts.
“Most importantly, the
vast majority of those in
the Nigerian delegation
to COP28 are either non-
relevant civil servants
or relations, friends, and
hangers-on of high gov-
ernment officials. Most of
them hardly understand or
have anything to do with
Climate Change”, Obi said.
Obi in a series of tweets
in his X handle on Sunday
in reaction to the trending
large delegations to the
United Nations, COP28 in
Dubai, United Arab Emir-
ates decried the waste and
wrong imitation of China,
a country dutifully pulling
their people out of poverty.
Reports from Dubai
show that Nigeria equals
China with 1,411 contin-
gents to the conference,
the highest in the global
event aside from the host,
the Inited Arab Emirates
(UAE).
But in a satirical re-
sponse to the size of Nige-
ria’s contingent Obi said
“In a twist of sad irony,
let me congratulate the
giant of Africa, Nigeria,
for matching the great
China, with the same num-
ber of contingents at the
financial intermediation on
the continent. As Africa’s
Bank of the Year, UBA has
demonstrated its ability
to navigate the complexi-
ties of the African banking
landscape and emerge as a
leading force in driving eco-
nomic growth and financial
inclusion.
Speaking earlier about
UBA’s consistent excellence
in the financial services
sector across the continent
which has earned the bank
great accolades overtime,
Editor of the Banker, Joy
Macknight, said that as
always, UBA remains a
clear winner across a wide
range of criteria, having per-
formed impressively across
www.businessday.ng 3
ongoing COP28 in Dubai,
United Arab Emirates.
Nigeria’s contingent to
COP28 totaled 1, 411, the
same number as the Chi-
nese contingents.”
The Labour Party stan-
dard bearer noted that
While China’s budget for
2024 is about $4 trillion,
about $2,860 per head; Nige-
ria’s budget is about $33 bil-
lion, about $165 per head.
China has a high Human
Development Index, HDI,
with a ranking of 79 out of
191 countries measured,
and Nigeria has a low HDI,
with a ranking of 163 out
of 191 countries measured.
Nigeria has more people
living in ‘Multi-Dimen-
sional’ poverty than China,
despite China having seven
times our population.
“This huge contingent
is at public expense and at
a time when most Nigeri-
ans can hardly afford food
and basic needs as a result
of economic hardship. I
pray earnestly that a day
will come soon enough
when we can focus on com-
peting with China on pro-
ductivity and the miracle
of migrating the highest
number of its citizens out
of poverty over a relatively
short time.
“As we have kept em-
phasizing, we must stop
waste as an addition to our
government and nation.
We urgently need to cut
the cost of governance and
invest in production.
“We need to de-empha-
size unnecessary ceremony
and showmanship as a
mode of government be-
haviour.We need to tie
spending to necessity and
national Priority pointing
out that a New Nigeria is
possible but we only need
to do the reasonable and
the necessary”, he con-
cluded.
its footprint with a strong fi-
nancial performance across
most of its markets.
“In a year of strong com-
petition among the con-
tinent’s major banking
groups, UBA has gained the
edge on its rivals to win the
Bank of the Year award for
Africa for the second time
in three years. Congratula-
tions. The award recognises
the bank’s strength across
Africa, including many of its
most competitive markets,”
Macknight stated.
Since 1926, the Bank of
the Year awards has been
celebrating the best of global
banking and is regarded as
the industry standard for
banking excellence.
4 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng 5
6 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng 7
8 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
ENERGY
FG targets 12,000MW of electricity as Tinubu,
Scholz preside over power agreement
By Tony Ailemen, Abuja
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu
and the German Chancellor,
Olaf Scholz at the weekend
presided over the signing
of the Presidential Power
Initiative (PPI) Agreement
between Nigeria and Ger-
many in Dubai, the United
Arab Emirates (UAE).
The agreement, which
was signed on the sidelines
of the United Nations Cli-
mate Conference (COP28)
taking place at Expo City in
Dubai, is designed to ulti-
mately add 12,000 Megawatts
of electricity to the national
grid, according to Adabayo
Adelabu, the Nigeria’s Min-
ister of Power.
BusinessDay reports that
Kenny Anue, the Managing
Director of the Federal Gov-
ernment of Nigeria Power
Company, signed for Nige-
ria, while Nadja Haakans-
son, the Managing Director
(Africa) Siemens AG, signed
on behalf of Germany.
Speaking on the agree-
ment, Anue harped on the
commitment of President
Tinubu to the development
L-R: Wole Akinleye, deputy managing director, Wema Bank; Bayo Rotimi, managing director, Greenwich Merchant Bank; Moruf Oseni,
managing director/chief executive officer, Wema Bank; Babatunde Sobamowo, managing director, Global Asset Management Nigeria
Limited; Adeboye Teriba, managing director, Qualinvest Capital Limited; and Tunde Mabawonku, executive director, retail and digital
business, Wema Bank, at the signing ceremony of the Wema Bank N40bn Rights Issue in Lagos, recently.
HEALTH
FG unveils five-year framework to tackle HIV/AIDS scourge
By Godsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja
THE Federal Government
has introduced a national
strategic framework cover-
ing the period from 2023
to 2027 for sustainable and
effective HIV response in
Nigeria.
The unveiling took place
on Friday during an event
commemorating the 2023
World AIDS Day, with the
theme “Communities: Lead-
ership to End AIDS by 2030.”
George Akume, the Sec-
retary to the Government
of the Federation, presented
the framework as a crucial
strategy for sustainability
and national ownership of
of power infrastructure,
noting that he had reiter-
ated severally that the in-
frastructure development
is critical to the ongoing
reforms.
He affirmed that elec-
tricity and financing are at
the heart of the economic
reform agenda of the admin-
istration, adding that the
PPI by design encapsulates
both elements with support
of partners, Siemens Energy
and the financiers that are
backed by the German Gov-
ernment.
Anue said, “Mr. Presi-
dent, with your strong and
dynamic leadership through
the Honorable Minister
of power, now we seek to
exploit or expedite what
was already a worthwhile a
program in the presidential
power initiative through
this accelerated agreement
today.
“S ome of the th ing s
that have been achieved,
erstwhile by the federal
government have been the
establishment of the FGN
Power Company as the spe-
cial purpose vehicle for
HIV, demonstrating a com-
mitted effort to eradicate
AIDS by 2030 and beyond.
Akume emphasized the
importance of state gov-
ernments taking a leading
role in this initiative for a
sustainable HIV response
in Nigeria.
Encouraging state gov-
ernments to embrace the
agenda, Akume stated, “I
therefore encourage state
government to key into this
agenda for ownership for
sustainable HIV response
in Nigeria.”
President Bola Tinubu
has committed to ending
the scourge by 2030, assur-
ing Nigerians that no one
NEWS
the implementation of the
project.”
He said the German Gov-
ernment had nominated the
mandated lead arrangers
and financiers, adding that
Siemens energy had also
successfully delivered 10
units of power transform-
ers and 10 units of mobile
substations.
Joe Kaeser, Chairman
of Siemens Energy Super-
visory Board, traced the
history of the initial agree-
ment to the Muhammadu
Buhari’s Administration in
2018, expressing delight that
both parties had been able to
drive the process forward.
“I’m particularly happy
to be here tonight to witness
the signing of the Presiden-
tial Initiative for Power
because in 2018 the former
President Buhari wanted
me to come to Abuja and
explain to him what we did
in Egypt.
“And I said Mr. Presi-
dent, Egypt has 80 million
(people) and we could use
14 gigawatts and Nigeria
has 200 million people. So,
we could actually need more
would be left behind in ac-
cessing HIV services across
the country. The National
Agency for the Control of
AIDS (NACA), in collabo-
ration with the Nigerian
Business Coalition Against
AIDS (NiBUCAA), has also
launched a 62 billion Naira
private sector-driven HIV/
AIDS Trust Fund of Nigeria.
Akume, therefore called
on the organized private
sector to ensure the private
business community deliv-
ers on its pledge to support
the Government’s effort to
achieve an HIV-free genera-
tion where no baby is born
with HIV in Nigeria.
“We recognize the in-
gigawatts.
“Now, after five years,
I’m really happy that this
agreement has the spirit
of supplying energy to the
greater good of Nigerian
people has been taken to
new level. Thank you very
much for doing that. And
as we say in Germany good
things take time as we have
seen tonight”, he said.
Speaking on the project,
Adabayo Adelabu, Minister
of Power, in his remarks,
said the target of the PPI is
to add 12,000 Megawatts of
electricity to the national
grid.
He said with the signing,
the process would proceed
apace to ensure constant
supply of electricity to Ni-
gerians.
He said: “Of course, we
knew that there were a lot
of delays between 2018 and
now that we have not really
made significant achieve-
ment in terms of proceeding
with the contract signed
in 2018 because of a lot of
factors some were natural,
some human, some were
processes.
valuable contributions of
communities in the fight
against HIV/AIDS. It is
within these communities
that we have found resil-
ience, determination, and
the will to make a difference.
“Nigeria aligns fully with
global solidarity and shared
responsibilities which re-
quires us to view global
health responses in a new
way, The government of
“Renewed Hope” of His Ex-
cellency, President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu is commit-
ted to sustaining the Presi-
dent’s initiative to treat
more HIV patients annually
using resources mobilized
locally”, he added.
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT
WTO, FAO sign deal to address
trade, food, climate challenges
By Abubakar Ibrahim
THE WTO and the UN Food
and Agriculture Organi-
zation (FAO) have agreed
to boost cooperation and
collaboration on a range of
issues in the area of food
and agricultural trade and
climate change.
According to the part-
ners, the initiative comes
during a growing crisis af-
fecting global food security
and sustainable agriculture
production.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
WTO Director-General and
Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-
General, signed a Frame-
work Memorandum of Un-
derstanding which identifies
areas of common interest
between the WTO and FAO
to facilitate the organiza-
tions’ close cooperation in
these areas at the ongoing
28th UN Climate Change
Conference of the Parties
(COP28) in Dubai.
According to a joint state-
ment by the partners, the
MoU will consolidate exist-
ing collaboration between
the WTO and FAO, creating
a stable framework within
which future joint initiatives
can take place.
Under the MoU, the WTO
and FAO will strengthen col-
laboration in 17 areas of com-
mon interest, including sup-
port for the WTO’s ongoing
negotiations on agricultural
reform, the implementation
of the Agreement on Fish-
eries Subsidies adopted at
the WTO’s 12th Ministerial
Conference (including on
projects funded through the
Fisheries Funding Mecha-
nism Trust Fund), and host-
ing the annual World Cotton
Day celebration on 7 October
of each year.
In addition, the MoU
calls for strengthened sup-
port of FAO to the WTO
Committee on Agriculture
(CoA) and boosting existing
collaboration on sanitary
and phytosanitary mea-
AVIATION
FAAN imposes ban on ‘Ghana Must
Go’ travel sacks at Nigerian Airports
By Ojochenemi Onje, Abuja
THE Federal Airports Au-
thority of Nigeria (FAAN)
has instituted a ban on the
use of travel sacks, colloqui-
ally known as ‘Ghana Must
Go,’ by passengers at all
airports across the nation.
A circular issued by
FAAN entitled ‘Re: Prohi-
bition of Usage Of Ghana
Must Go,’ dated November
24 and signed by Henok
Gizachew, the Manager of
Airport Services, outlines
the prohibition, specifically
targeting passengers travel-
ing through the country’s
international airports.
Gizachew explained that
the authority decided to
www.businessday.ng 9
sures and technical barriers
to trade. Both organizations
will continue their active
participation in the Stan-
dards and Trade Develop-
ment Facility, housed at
the WTO, to help developing
economies increase their
food safety and animal and
plant health capacity and
facilitate safe trade.
The two organizations
will also collaborate on cli-
mate and trade initiatives,
including in the context of
the annual COP meetings,
as well collaborating in the
context of intergovernmen-
tal processes such as the
Group of Seven and Group
of Twenty economies.
According to the state-
ment, the WTO and FAO
also pledge to develop joint
publications on topics of
mutual interest, including
the nexus between food se-
curity, agriculture, fisheries,
biodiversity, climate change,
nutrition and trade.
“In addition, they have
agreed to undertake joint
technical cooperation activi-
ties and support to regional
trade agreements, with a
focus on Africa.”
The WTO and FAO al-
ready work together within
the context of the UN Global
Crisis Response Group on
Food, Energy and Finance
set up by the UN Secretary-
General in the areas of food
and fertilizer, and within
the Agricultural Market
Information System (AMIS),
the market transparency
mechanism set up by the
G20 economies and housed
in FAO.
“In addition, FAO regu-
larly reports on the current
food security situation and
presents its flagship publica-
tions and research findings
in the CoA, where FAO has
observer status. The WTO,
in turn, actively participates
in various FAO bodies where
it has observer status, such
as the Committee on Com-
modity Problems.”
enforce the ban due to the
significant financial losses
incurred by airlines and
the detrimental impact on
the airports’ conveyor belt
system caused by the use of
these sacks.
Passengers who intend
to utilize ‘Ghana Must Go’
for their travels are now
required to have their be-
longings well-packaged in
cartons or hardcovers of a
rectangular size, as stated
by Gizachew in the circular.
This move by FAAN
aims to mitigate the adverse
effects associated with the
usage of these traditional
travel sacks while ensur-
ing a smoother and more
efficient airport operation.
10 www.businessday.ng
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
By Olu Fasan
NIGERIANS were rightly
exultant about the recent
judgement of the London
Commercial Court quashing
the $11bn arbitration award
against Nigeria in the case
involving an Irish company,
Process and Industrial De-
velopments Ltd, also known
as P&ID. Former President
Muhammadu Buhari penned
a newspaper article titled ‘A
matter of principle’, in which
he described the award as
“an attempted heist of his-
toric proportions”, arguing
that Nigeria would have
forfeited “a third of its for-
eign reserves” had it lost
the case. Bola Tinubu, the
current president, called it a
“landmark judgement.” Both
Buhari and Tinubu credited
their governments for the
victory. But they miss two
fundamental points.
First, it wasn’t lost on the
British judge that Nigeria is a
fantastically corrupt country
where politicians and offi-
cials conspire with contrac-
tors to defraud their country.
Second, the judge ignored
technicalities and focused on
the merits of the case. Fraud
and corruption are serious
crimes against society and
must not be accorded the
protective shield of legal
technicalities. Sadly, that’s
not how Nigerian courts
behave: they put procedural
technicalities above substan-
By Etim Etim
IT is gratifying that La-
gos State government is
forging ahead with the
construction of the Fourth
Mainland bridge by secur-
ing a $1.35 billion funding
from the Cairo-based Afri-
can Export-Import Bank
(AFREXIM Bank) and Ac-
cess Bank, Nigeria’s big-
gest lender by assets. The
money will also be used to
develop a creek and expand
its light rail network. The
Fourth Mainland bridge
will cost $2.5 billion and
P&ID judgement: Nigeria owes huge gratitude to Britain’s incorruptible judges
tive justice; they dismiss
serious corruption cases on
technical grounds. We can’t
ignore those two takeaways
in the P&ID case.
Let’s start with the first.
Justice Robin Knowles, who
delivered the judgement on
October 23, made some re-
marks that will resonate with
Nigerians. He said that the
P&ID case “brought together
a combination of examples of
what some individuals will
do for money; driven by greed
and prepared to use corrup-
tion, giving no thoughts to
what their enrichment would
mean in terms of harm for
others.” He said Nigerians
were let down by “a number
of individuals in politics and
administration whose duty it
was to serve them and protect
them.” For those who say
there’s no morality in law
and politics, the judge was
clearly making a moral state-
ment, based on John Stuart
Mill’s harm principle.
Sadly, what Justice
Knowles described in his
resonant remarks is a wide-
spread phenomenon that is
not limited to the P&ID case.
For the truth is, Nigerian
politicians and officials have
always colluded with contrac-
tors to swindle the country
of billions, even trillions, of
naira. In this column, I have
often referred to Dr Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala’s internation-
ally-acclaimed book, Fighting
Corruption Is Dangerous.
Indeed, I urge anyone who
wants to know the true na-
ture of public corruption in
Nigeria to read that book, an
account of Okonjo-Iweala’s
experience as a two-time
finance minister.
In a chapter titled “Opaque
Deals and International
Scams”, Dr Okonjo-Iweala
extensively describes the
problem of contract frauds
in Nigeria. She says that
The $1.35 billion project funding for Lagos
would be constructed by
a Portuguese company,
Mota-Engil Group, and
two Chinese ventures. The
bridge would be built un-
der a public-private part-
nership (PPP), meaning
that the construction com-
panies will bear part of
the costs of the project. It
is expected that motorists
will pay tolls on the bridge
from which parts of the
loans would be recouped.
In addition, the state
also plans to build an air-
port near Epe to serve
the growing population
in the Lekki axis. ‘’This
investment will power our
long-term infrastructure
projects, demonstrating
confidence from interna-
tional and local partners
in our growing economy’’,
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu
announced last night. The
deal was signed by Prof.
Benedict Oramah, Presi-
dent of AFREXIMBANK;
Dr. Herbert Wigwe, Group
Chief Executive of Access
Corporation (he also serves
OPINION
politicians and officials com-
monly award contracts with
a view to defaulting on them
for personal gains. She says
the arrangement involves
connivance between contrac-
tors, government officials
and the courts, describing it
as “an unholy alliance where
amounts owed by govern-
ment, interests and penalties
were inflated and all parties
Were English courts to fetishise
technicalities as Nigerian courts do, the
pivotal victory in the P&ID case would have
eluded this country
shared in the proceeds after
payment.”
Dr Okonjo-Iweala was de-
scribing the periods between
2003 and 2006 and between
2011 and 2015 when she was
Minister of Finance. But if
you think the practice she de-
scribed is dead, well, you are
wrong: it is extant; alive and
kicking. Recently, while ad-
dressing the media, Ola Olu-
koyede, the new chairman of
the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC,
disclosed that: “Between
2018 and 2020, Nigeria lost
N2.9trillion to contract and
procurement frauds.” That’s
just within two years!
In his response to the
P&ID judgement, Tinubu said
that Nigeria “would no longer
be held hostage by economic
conspiracies between private
firms and solitary corrupt of-
ficials.” He’s wrong. First, the
P&ID case and similar con-
tract frauds in Nigeria didn’t
involve “solitary corrupt
officials”; rather, as Okonjo-
Iweala’s book shows, they
involved a wide network of
corrupt politicians, officials
and even judges. Secondly,
contract frauds won’t end in
Nigeria because, as several
as the Executive Director
of the bank) and Mr. San-
wo-Olu in Guyana where
they were attending the
Africa-Caribbean Summit.
Like all Lagosians, I am
excited about the Fourth
Mainland Bridge and I
commend the Lagos gov-
ernment and the manage-
ment of Access Bank and
AFREXIM Bank for sign-
ing this partnership. The
Bridge will be 38 km long,
connecting Lagos Island
(Langbasa in Lekki) to
Itamaga in Ikorodu. It is a
dual carriageway with pro-
vision for BRT (bus only
lane) and future expansion.
It is expected to become
the longest bridge in Af-
rica, featuring three toll
plazas, nine interchanges,
4.5 km Lagoon Bridge and
other added features. Con-
struction will last four
years. This bridge and
the new airport will be a
game changer in Lagos as
they will help ease traffic
congestions in the city, cut
travel time and decongest
studies have shown, there is
a strong relationship between
big government and public
corruption.
Truth is, when a govern-
ment is spending massively
on contracts and procure-
ments, corruption is not far-
fetched, especially in a coun-
try like Nigeria where the
government pays lip service
to due process and procure-
ment rules. Therefore, it is
utterly irrational and mis-
guided to expect large-scale
contract and procurement
frauds to diminish under
Tinubu’s big-spending gov-
ernment, a government that
wants to be defined, as I wrote
last week, by aggressive fis-
cal activism, by unlimited
spending. So, expect contract
and procurement frauds to
fester and escalate under
Tinubu’s government amid
multi-trillion-naira contract
awards and procurements.
Which brings us to the
second takeaway from the
P&ID case. Well, the truth
is, despite Buhari’s self-con-
gratulatory article, his gov-
ernment’s initial handling of
the case was shambolic and
incompetent. For instance, it
did not appeal the arbitration
tribunal’s final award made
in 2017 until several months
after the 28-day deadline.
Rather, it spent time argu-
ing that the case should be
heard in Nigeria, despite an
earlier ruling that the seat of
the arbitration was England.
Crucially, Nigeria did not
make allegations of bribery
and corruption when it even-
tually appealed the tribunal’s
the other airports in Ikeja.
With a population of 20
million, Lagos is certainly
living up to its expectation
as the largest city in Af-
rica. Currently, the longest
bridge in the continent is
Egypt’s 6th October Bridge,
measuring 20.5 km.
Lagosians are also
thrilled that the city’s rail
project is progressing well.
It consists of the Blue Line
(Okokomaiko – Marina)
which commenced opera-
tions in September and
the Red Line (Agbado –
Marina), the construction
of which is ongoing. It
is expected to commence
operations next year. Both
lines will carry over 20,000
passengers daily when
fully operational. It goes
without saying that these
projects will undoubtedly
stimulate the growth of the
GDP of Lagos, estimated at
$180 billion today, about
half of Nigeria’s, and posi-
tion it as a 21st megacity.
The involvement of Ac-
cess Bank is not a surprise
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2022
award at the Commercial
Court in October 2018.
It was only after Justice
Christoper Butcher granted
P&ID’s application to en-
force the arbitral award in
September 2019 that Nigeria
sought permission to appeal
the enforcement order on
grounds of bribery and cor-
ruption. Yet, Justice Butcher
granted Nigeria’s application
to appeal and ordered a stay
of enforcement until the de-
termination of the appeal. He
refused to allow technicali-
ties, such as Nigeria’s failure
to meet deadlines and other
procedural laxities, to stand
in the way of substantive
justice.
In December 2019, Nige-
ria filed an application ask-
ing the Commercial Court
to set aside the arbitration
award on the grounds that it
was procured by fraud, cor-
ruption and perjury. Now,
anyone who followed the
case closely after Nigeria
filed that application would
agree that the judge bent over
backwards to allow Nigeria
to prove its case. On many
occasions, the court granted
Nigeria’s applications for
“the extension of time” and
for “further disclosure and
related orders and a notice
to prove documents.” At all
times, the court’s disposi-
tion was to let Nigeria tender
documents “that will throw
relevant light on the case”.
But that’s not the atti-
tude of Nigerian courts. By
contrast, they are fixated on
Dr. Fasan, a London-based
lawyer and political econo-
mist, is a Visiting Fellow at
the London School of Eco-
nomics. e-mail: o.fasan@
lse.ac.uk,
twitter account: @olu_fasan
to many in the industry.
With an asset base of over
N30 trillion ($30 billion),
the bank has become an
infrastructure partner
for at least 20 state gov-
ernments in the last few
years, focusing on provid-
ing funding for various
projects and helping them
augment their IGR. Be-
yond Lagos State, seven
other states – mostly in
the South West, South-
South, North West and
North Central and Abuja –
would be benefitting from
the funding partnerships
between AFREXIM and
Access Bank. Arranging
huge fundings for state
governments requires a
bank with big muscles.
With over 600 branches
and service outlets, span-
Etim, a social commentator
writes from Lagos
technicalities even in mat-
ters of serious public policy
concerns, such as corruption.
In 2022, Abdulrasheed Bawa,
then chairman of EFCC, ex-
pressed frustration that sev-
eral high-profile corruption
cases were lost on technicali-
ties. As he put it, “defendants
who obviously have stolen
our commonwealth and those
who have aided and abetted
them have been allowed to
go home to enjoy their pro-
ceeds of crime on technical
grounds.” Think about it.
Were English courts to fetish-
ise technicalities as Nigerian
courts do, the pivotal victory
in the P&ID case would have
eluded this country.
Here’s another point. As
Africa’s largest economy,
Nigeria should be a regional
hub for international com-
mercial arbitration or liti-
gation. Why is it not? Well,
because Nigeria’s judiciary
is regarded worldwide as
corrupt and dysfunctional.
In one report, the US Trade
Representative, USTR, says:
“The sanctity of contracts is
often violated and Nigeria’s
court system for settling com-
mercial disputes is weak and
sometimes biased.” Indeed,
in a recent World Bank Do-
ing Business Index, Nigeria
scored only 8 out of 18 on qual-
ity of judicial process. Twice
in the P&D case, Nigeria’s
argument that it’s the right
place to hear the case was
rejected. Simply put: no for-
eign investor will ever agree
to settle disputes in Nigeria.
So, Nigeria must thank
Britain’s independent, in-
corruptible and competent
courts for its victory in the
P&ID case. Sadly, however,
Nigeria’s corrupt politicians,
officials and judges cause
huge reputational damage
globally, and erode investor
confidence in Nigeria!
ning three continents, 18
countries and with over 50
million customers, Access
Bank is well positioned to
meet the expectations of
the states.
There is no doubt that
the country urgently re-
quires enormous invest-
ments in infrastructure
due to the huge deficits
in that area. Across the
country, the road net -
works, bridges and other
infrastructure projects
have gone decrepit. While
states like Lagos, Rivers
and Akwa Ibom have been
upgrading their facilities
regularly, some states
have fallen behind. Fed-
eral roads are particularly
in bad shape. I hope that
the beneficiary states will
use these funds to improve
their roads and kudos to
Access Bank for working
with the various states in
this direction.
I love to report on devel-
opment news all the time
and I hope to hear more
of this.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2022
By Olayinka Opaleye
THERE was a time in busi-
ness history when one
would think the importance
of developing strategic plans
by creating vision, mission,
and value statements was
overrated. This feeling was
so because many corporate
bodies didn’t fully under-
stand these powerful tools’
dynamics and intricacies.
It was basically seen as a
corporate branding move,
hence gulping a lot of funds
in putting them together. As
if that wasn’t bad enough,
because end users didn’t see
its need beyond brand imag-
ing, they hardly tweaked it
to suit their business reali-
ties as years passed. Look-
ing back now, one would
appreciate that nothing is
cast in stone when it comes
to them.
Although I am unsure if
categorizing them as stra-
tegic planning tools is fair
enough, an organization’s
vision, mission, values, and
purpose do much more than
strategy. They all drive the
three-fold chord - leader-
ship, culture, and master
plan, that binds any busi-
ness together. This article
will help illuminate the
need to answer the where,
how, and why questions
that bring about the vision,
mission, and great purpose,
respectively, as they relate
to corporate culture.
Vision, as the name sug-
gests, depicts an organiza-
tion’s aspirations. There-
fore, internalizing these
ideals drives accountability
and performance, traits of
high-performance organi-
zational culture. Aside from
the fact that a profound vi-
sion drives accountability,
it’s subject to change due
to factors such as actualiza-
tion, diversification, divest-
ment, and other micro and
macro-economic factors.
The tricky side of vision lies
in picking the right words
that do not dwell much on
time and rivalry. Hence, the
recent emergence of a thin
line between vision and mis-
sion. This blur between the
vision and mission makes
for mission statements to
justify what motivates an
organization to serve its
customers/clients and why
it’s passionate about the
solution it’s providing the
market.
Analyzing Nike’s mis-
sion statement will help
briefly explain the recent
thin line between vision
and mission. Their mission
statement says, “Nike exists
to bring inspiration and in-
novation to every athlete*
in the world. Our purpose
is to move the world forward
through the power of sport –
breaking barriers and build-
ing community to change
the game for all. *If you have
a body, you are an athlete.”
Even though the first sen-
tence in the Nike statement
represents the vision that
reveals that they aspire to be
on everyone’s feet, the mes-
sage is clear and void of ri-
valry. The second sentence
Driving culture with
business ideals
interestingly combines the
company’s purpose and
mission in a way anyone
can relate. Every stake-
holder, be it an employee,
employer, or shareholder,
should be proud of moving
the world forward through
their mastery of sportswear
craftsmanship and confi-
dent that they are helping
people break barriers and
build game-changing com-
munities through innova-
tion. However, tempted we
are to shower praise, pride,
pay, pomp, and pageantry
on the Nike mission state-
ment, it will be lifeless and
mere words if it’s not driven
the way it should. However
nice, intelligently worded,
and carefully crafted busi-
ness ideals are, engagement
Making a company’s aspirations, goals,
values, and purpose available and
accessible is just the tip of the iceberg
compared to making them exist
brings them to life.
Organizational goals rep-
resent the mission. Mission
often answers what and
how questions by telling
what gets done to actualize
the envisioned destination.
Companies taking things a
notch higher by stating pur-
pose is a welcome develop-
ment; however, what seems
difficult now is organiza-
tions finding their whys. I
recently engaged the CEO of
a newly acquired bank with
the why question. For some
good minutes, he couldn’t
give me a correct answer.
At first, his reaction was,
“Isn’t it obvious?” which
indirectly meant to make
money, of course. However,
an organization’s great pur-
pose should be way above
and beyond itself or its in-
terest. It must and should
depict its role in the grand
scheme of things, which is
way beyond making money
or building a formidable
clientele base. The moment
the CEO got the hang of
this, he cracked the code
and charted a strong plan
for the organization for the
next three hours unaided.
Joy often floods my clients’
eyes whenever they have the
ha-ha moment; this gives me
pleasure every time.
When Laura Appleton,
an HR Senior Director with
Arc’teryx Equipment, and
her team traveled the globe
to drive the organizational
culture using the company’s
vision, mission, and value
statements, little did she
know the tremendous im-
pact they would have even
on the bottom line. Having
personally experienced the
shift from survival mode to
self-actualization by inter-
nalizing and living the core
values and ideals of organi-
zations she’s worked for; she
was fully persuaded it would
work for anyone.
Regardless of any em-
ployee’s entry point, identi-
fying their current location
on the inverted engagement
pyramid is critical. It is un-
safe to assume that a C-Suite
hire is already in the self-
actualization mode where
they are highly engaged,
truly inspired, and com-
pletely ready and willing to
help the company. Anyone
can promise anything at
the hiring level; knowledge
or experience may not nec-
OPINION
essarily do the magic, but
internalization of great cor-
porate ideals never fails. It
is so because continuous
engagement on the topic
and consistently living the
values have a special way of
guaranteeing buy-in, espe-
cially when the leadership is
actively involved in making
them the culture.
In the past, many leaders
failed to understand the dif-
ference between availabil-
ity and existence regarding
these business ideals. Mak-
ing a company’s aspirations,
goals, values, and purpose
available and accessible is
just the tip of the iceberg
compared to making them
exist. It’s the constant in-
volvement, awareness, in-
teraction, and appropriate
check-ins that get the job
done to ensure employee
buy-in.
Conclusively, having all
these statements is great,
but what is more crucial is
getting all stakeholders to
internalize them. Internaliz-
ing these strategic planning
tools is extremely powerful
and critical to having a great
work culture that invariably
supports the business strat-
egy. The advantages span
from boosting employee
morale, encouraging goal
alignment, increasing en-
gagement, and enhancing
creativity and productivity.
Organizations should stop
touting values that are nei-
ther actionable nor internal-
ized. Even though personal
values are inherent, work-
place values are created to
shape both work culture
and outsiders’ perceptions
of the business. Therefore,
values need to be reflective
of daily activities or every
day’s work. Although it may
be quite optimistic to have
a snapshot of one hundred
percent of the workforce
in a highly engaged mode,
having seventy percent
there with the remaining
thirty hovering between
just engaged and disengaged
modes would be fantastic.
Not because it’s the best
to achieve but because the
continuous work will get
others there, too.
Call to action
Write down your organi-
zation’s mission statement
and identify the vision, mis-
sion, values, and purpose.
This task should help you
pinpoint where your or-
ganization is heading, what
it plans to do to get there,
and how it aims to achieve
that. Also, write down the
top three values of your
company and try to make
sense of the reason behind
the entire business opera-
tion - the big WHY? Should
you need help to complete
this task or crack the code,
please send an email to oo-
paleye@gmail.com
Opaleye, a well-being spe-
cialist and corporate well-
ness strategist, writes from
Lagos. Tel:08100371304.
Email: oopaleye@gmail.com
or follow her on LinkedIn:
https://lnkd.in/efCmu87J
By J.K. Randle
ODEY firm to be broken
up after harassment claims
against its founder Hedge
fund giant Odey Asset Man-
agement (OAM) will be bro-
ken up, days after allegations
of sexual harassment against
its founder emerged.
The business said it would
be dismantled and its ac-
tivities will be transferred to
other firms.
“Acting in the best inter-
est of our investors and our
staff has continued to be our
primary concern over the
past few days,” said OAM.
Crispin Odey, who set up
the firm in 1991, denies the
claims against him.
He was ousted from the
fund management business
at the weekend.
Last week, the Financial
Times reported that multi-
ple women had accused Mr
Odey of misconduct over 25
years, with the latest alleged
incident taking place in De-
cember 2021.
The prominent financier,
who was a major Brexit sup-
porter and Conservative par-
ty donor, told the Guardian
newspaper that the allega-
tions against him were either
untrue or involved consensu-
al relations. He also said that
“none of the allegations have
been stood up in a courtroom
or an investigation”.
Since the reports, OAM
has struggled to rebuild trust
with investors and a number
of major banks are under-
stood to have cut ties with the
firm. On Thursday, OAM said
it was now “in advanced dis-
cussions for rehousing funds
and transferring certain fund
management activities and
individuals to other asset
managers”.
The break-up will affect
the majority of the $4.4bn
(£3.5bn) in assets managed
by OAM.
Another $600m of investor
money is still held in funds
formerly run by Mr Odey. It
is unclear what will happen
to those investments. Mr
Odey also has around $600m
of his own money invested in
the firm. One of those funds,
the Odey Swan Fund, is al-
ready being liquidated after
investors began to withdraw
money.
The financier is well
known in the City for having
made large sums of money
betting against the UK pound
and British government
bonds in recent years.
In 2020, Mr Odey was ac-
cused of assaulting a female
investment banker at his
London home in 1998, but was
cleared of indecent assault
after a trial.
Following the case, his
Xpricewaterhousecoopers;
xdeloitte; xkpmg; and the dark side
of the accountancy profession (5)
company reportedly under-
took an internal investiga-
tion into the financier’s be-
haviour and handed its find-
ings to the Financial Conduct
Authority (FCA), the City
watchdog.
OAM told the regulator at
the time that it had decided
to keep Mr Odey on as chief
executive after giving him a
“final written warning” for
inappropriate behaviour.
However, on Wednesday,
MPs on the Treasury Com-
mittee wrote to the FCA ask-
ing whether it had been pro-
active enough in its oversight
of the fund.
It followed reports that
the watchdog had been in-
vestigating the company
since 2021.
The FCA has been asked
to reveal what it knew about
the claims against Mr Odey
and what action it took, going
back five years.
The MPs have given it
until 5 July to respond.
A spokesperson for the
FCA said: “We understand
the Treasury Committee’s
interest in this and we’ll of
course reply shortly.”
CBI boss Tony Danker
‘shocked’ at firing over mis-
conduct claims
“Britain’s most powerful
business lobby group was on
Tuesday facing the biggest
crisis in its 58-year history
when it was forced to sack
its boss over “devastating”
workplace misconduct com-
plaints.
The Confederation of Brit-
ish Industry (CBI), which
represents around 190,000
businesses said it has dis-
missed its director-general
Tony Danker with immediate
effect after the first phase of
an independent investigation
into the allegations by law
firm Fox Williams.
According to reports,
Danker sent a female em-
ployee a barrage of messages,
some featuring sexually sug-
gestive language, over more
than a year.
She considered the con-
tact to be sexual harassment,
it was reported at the time.
In a statement Mr Danker
claimed allegations against
him were “distorted” but
that he recognised he “unin-
tentionally made a number
of colleagues feel uncomfort-
able”. He added that he was
sacked before being allowed
to defend himself.
“I recognise the intense
publicity the CBI has suffered
following the revelations of
awful events that occurred
before my time in office,”
he said.
“I was appalled to learn
about them for the first time
last week. I was nevertheless
shocked to learn this morn-
ing that I had been dismissed
from the CBI, instead of being
invited to put my position
forward as was originally
confirmed.
“Many of the allegations
against me have been dis-
torted, but I recognise that
I unintentionally made a
number of colleagues feel
Randle is Chairman/Chief
ExecutiveJK Randle Profes-
sional Services Chartered
Accountants
www.businessday.ng 11
uncomfortable and I am truly
sorry about that.”
Fox Williams has also
launched a massive overhaul
of the culture of the CBI -
which describes itself as
Britain’s “premier business
organisation” - in a bid to
salvage its reputation.
The complaints against
Danker, 51, who was appoint-
ed to the role in November
2020, first came to light in
January. He agreed to step
aside when new concerns
were raised in early March.
In a strongly worded state-
ment the CBI said it had
become clear that “his own
conduct fell short of that
expected of the Director Gen-
eral.”
However it added that the
dismissal was not related to
more recent claims about
sexual misconduct and drug
taking by senior CBI figures
that were published by the
Guardian last week.
Three other CBI employ-
ees are now suspended “pend-
ing further investigations.”
The CBI said it was liaising
with the police and “has
made clear its intention to
cooperate fully with any po-
lice investigations.”
The allegations have been
hugely damaging for the
reputation of a body set up
to lobby on behalf of business
whose chief has frequent
meetings with the Prime
Minister and Chancellor.
Last month senior Labour
MP Lisa Nandy dropped out
of a CBI event in the wake of
the latest headlines.
Danker was said to be
stunned by the CBI’s decision
to dismiss him with immedi-
ate effect and no redundancy
package.
He has been replaced by
former CBI chief economist
Rain Newton-Smith, who is
currently managing director,
strategy and policy, sustain-
ability and ESG at Barclays.
It has appointed CBI board
member Jill Ader, a recent
global chair of head-hunters
Egon Zehnder, to “oversee
a root-and-branch review of
our culture, governance and
processes.” The CBI also said
it “will create a new, elevated
position of Chief People Of-
ficer which will sit on our
executive committee.”
In its statement, the CBI
said it “exists to help British
business flourish. This is a
privilege and responsibil-
ity which we take extremely
seriously and cannot take for
granted.
“We represent our mem-
bers not just in how we ad-
vocate for them, but also
through our values as an
organisation. It means we
must be a place where col-
leagues are safe, valued and
respected, and where there
is zero tolerance for behav-
iour that falls short of those
expectations.”
Danker started his career
at management consultants
McKinsey & Company and
later worked as a policy ad-
viser at the Cabinet office
and the Treasury. He was
also Chief Strategy Officer,
at Guardian News & Media.
Before joining the CBI he
was the first CEO of Be the
Business, set up by a group of
FTSE-100 Chairmen.”
12 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2022

EDITORIAL
PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Frank Aigbogun Tinubu stop being wasteful, insensitive to Nigerians’ sufferings
EDITOR PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu other critical areas of the Nigeria’s money, is either piggybank to satisfy the
Tayo Fagbule is showing he has no inten- economy.
tions of being a consider- His actions and waste-
That President Tinubu audio money, as a Nige- cravings of an addict par-
rian singer was coined, or ent.
DEPUTY EDITORS ate, empathetic leader in a ful spending so far make is insensitive and lacks the family is hopelessly While some of Tinu-
country filled with tens of it clear that people were
Lolade Akinmurele
millions of suffering Nige- wrong to have believed
empathy is already stricken with greed. That bu’s supporters are still
John Osadolor, Abuja President Tinubu is insen- able to chant ‘Renewed
rians who have been told him. The long-suffering settled, but the greed and sitive and lacks empathy Hope’, for millions of or-
NEWS EDITORS
to endure the ‘tough deci-
sions’ of his government. In
Nigerians who are battling
all-time-high inflation, yet
callous scrambling to is already settled, but the dinary Nigerians, the last
greed and callous scram- five months have been re-
Femi Asu (print) barely five months of being worsening purchasing impoverish the country bling to impoverish the newed suffering for them.
Temiloluwa Bamgbose (online) in office, he has shown that
he is tone-deaf to the reali-
power did not think these
‘savings’ would be convert-
through predatory country through predatory But the worst part is that
spending is wicked and the man occupying Aso
ties of a debt-ridden, broke ed to purchase of luxury spending is wicked and shameful. Rock as president is more
CHIEF MARKETING & SALES Nigeria as well as the hard- vehicles for the president, shameful The Tinubu family may concerned about living
ships millions of people his wife, lawmakers and not need Nigeria’s money large and enjoying every
MANAGER
have to endure daily. More apparently, anyone in the to survive as Remi Tinubu privilege the presidency
Ijeoma Ude so as his leadership has so corridors of power that once claimed, but clearly, has to offer. Not a single
far failed to improve the feels like getting any ob- it needs all the perks and care about making sacri-
GM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North) quality of life for ordinary scenely expensive new toy. luxuries that Nigeria can fices to match the suffer-
Bashir Ibrahim Hassan Nigerians, or at least stop His first budget that was offer, even if these come ings of the people he was
making things worse. submitted to the national at great cost to the coun- elected to serve.
The President is living assembly, a supplementary tion in May, she claimed
ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER try’s struggling treasury. We call on President
and still aspires to live in one nonetheless, as report- their family is so wealthy
Queen Nkwocha But there is a good chance Tinubu and those hanging
absolute luxury, seeking to ed by BusinessDay, showed they didn’t need Nigeria’s
that the Tinubu family, around him to drain the
rub opulence in the face of N28bn is allocated to adorn- money.
FINANCE MANAGER members of this govern- country’s scarce financial
suffering Nigerians while ing his office, including the “Nigeria’s wealth is the
ment and the hangers-on resources, to remember
Adedayo Adetoye they are asked to endure purchase of vehicles for his commonwealth of all. It
leeching away at the com- and learn from the story
and sacrifice for the coun- wife worth over N1.5bn. belongs to everyone. God
monwealth do not care. of Rome’s rulers, who fed
COPY SALES MANAGER try. When he announced Since the Nigerian consti- has blessed my family. We
It was the same Presi- fat at the expense of their
Florence Kadiri the removal of petrol sub- tution has no provision for don’t need the wealth of
dent Tinubu, whose en- people, getting detached
sidies, a tough but in fact, the office of the first lady, Nigeria to survive but to
tourage to attend the UN from reality until the em-
necessary decision, it was the president effectively do the right thing. And I
DIGITAL ADVERT SALES MANAGER General Assembly in New pire was sacked by Ger-
a blow to virtually all Ni- had lawmakers approve promise you on this altar,
Linda Ochugbua York spent about N400 mil- manic tribes. It is not too
gerians. The subsidies were the purchase of luxury that with your help, with
lion on hotels, as shown by late to give a semblance
for many people, the only vehicles for his wife. the help of God, we will
a leaked memo. The money of purposeful leadership,
way they ‘felt an impact Speaking of his wife, set this nation on the right
was to be sourced by raid- one that is not desperate
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD of government’. But Presi- Oluremi Tinubu, a former path.”
ing an account meant for to milk the country dry
Imo Itsueli dent Tinubu claimed the Senator, while speaking at Remi Tinubu’s claim
wheat grain levies. It was for the gains of only those
Mohammed Hayatudeen wasteful subsidies would a church service in Abuja, that the family is so
as good as raiding a child’s at the corridors of power.
be saved and deployed to ahead of his inaugura- wealthy it doesn’t need
Afolabi Oladele
Vincent Maduka
Opeyemi Agbaje
Amina Oyagbola
Bolanle Onagoruwa
Fola Laoye
Chuka Mordi
Akinsola Johnson
Juliet Anammah
Charles Anudu
Tunji Adegbesan
Eyo Ekpo
Wiebe Boer
Paul Arinze
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Boye Olusanya
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MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
MARKETS INTELLIGENCE
Supported by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)
BUA Foods, Dangote Sugar lead consumer
firms in shareholders’ funds
By Folake Balogun
BUA Foods, Dangote Sugar Refin-
ery and Nigerian Breweries have
recorded the highest sharehold-
ers’ equity compared to their fast-
moving consumer goods (FMCGs)
peers for the first nine months of
2023, a BusinessDay analysis has
shown.
Shareholders’ equity repre-
sents the net worth of a company,
which is the naira amount that
would be returned to sharehold-
ers if a company’s total assets
were liquidated, and all of its
debts were repaid.
The firms analysed are BUA
Foods, Dangote Sugar Refinery,
Nigerian Breweries, Internation-
al Breweries, Unilever Nigeria,
Nestle Nigeria, Nascon Allied
Industries, Champion Breweries
and Cadbury Nigeria.
The latest financial statements
of the companies show that the
shareholders’ equity of BUA
Foods was N255.6 billion while
Dangote Sugar and Nigerian
Breweries recorded N125.9 billion
and N122.5 billion respectively.
International Breweries’
shareholders equity stood at
N115.2 billion, Unilever Nigeria
(N67.8 billion), Nestle Nigeria
(N41.7 billion), Nascon Allied In-
dustries (N27.4 billion), Champi-
on Breweries (N11.04 billion), and
Cadbury Nigeria (N2.87 billion).
Firm-by-firm analysis
BUA Foods
The shareholders’ equity of BUA
Foods stood at N255.6 billion in
the first nine months of this year,
up from N206.48 billion in the
same period of 2022.
Its shareholders’ equity was
driven by share capital which
amounted to N9 billion, retained
earnings at N247.5 billion, while
reorganisation and other re-
serves stood at N943.2 million.
Cash and cash equivalents
increased to N79.8 billion from
N30.5 billion. BUA Foods re-
corded earnings per share of
N5.87 per share, up from N3.82
per share.
Dangote Sugar Refinery
The shareholders’ equity of the
company stood at N125.9 billion,
down in the first nine months of
this year from N141.3 billion in
the same period of 2022.
Its total equity was driven
by retained earnings which
amounted to N113.6 billion,
share premium at N6.32 billion,
share capital at N6.07 billion
while non-controlling interest
stood at N26.2 million.
Cash and cash equivalents
dropped to N159.2 billion from
N169.8 billion. Dangote Sugar
recorded loss per share stood
at N2.22, up from earnings per
share of N2.04.
Nigerian Breweries
The shareholders’ equity of
Nigerian Breweries stood at
N122.5 billion in the first nine
months of this year, down from
N184.4 billion in the same period
of 2022.
Its shareholders’ equity was
driven by share capital which
stood at N5.14 billion, share
premium at N82.9 billion, share
based payment reserve at N1.27
billion, retained earnings at
N22.9 billion and non-control-
ling interest at N113.4 billion.
Cash and cash equivalents
increased to N21.1 billion, up
from N14.7 billion. Nigerian
Breweries’ loss per share stood
at N6.89 from N182.
International Breweries
The shareholders’ equity of the
company stood at N115.2 billion
in the first nine months of this
year, down from N414.9 billion in
the same period of 2022.
Its shareholders’ equity was
driven by share premium with
amounted to N159.8 billion, cash
flow hedge reserve which stood
at N27.6 billion, share capital
stood at N13.4 billion, and other
reserves at N1.36 billion.
Deductions were made for
employee benefit reserves and
retained losses which stood at
N227.3 million and N86.7 billion
respectively. Cash and cash
equivalents increased to N27.8
billion from N24.9 billion. In-
ternational Breweries’ loss per
share stood at N1.06 from a loss
per share of N0.10.
Unilever Nigeria
The shareholders’ equity of
Unilever rose to N67.8 billion in
the first nine months of this year
from N62.54 billion.
Its shareholders’ equity was
driven by share premium at
N56.8 billion, retained earnings
at N8.11 billion and ordinary
share capital at N2.87 billion.
Cash and cash equivalent grew
to N73.8 billion, up from N61.55
billion. Unilever recorded a loss
per share of N0.19 per share from
a loss per share of N0.39.
Nestle Nigeria
The shareholders’ equity of the
company stood at N41.7 billion
in the first nine months of this
year from N41.27 billion in the
same period of 2022.
Its shareholders’ equity was
driven by share capital which
amounted to N396.3 million,
share-based payment reserve
at N126.3 million, and share
premium at N32.3 million, re-
tained earnings deducted stood
at N42.23 billion.
Cash and cash equivalents
increased to N152.3 billion from
N107.1 billion. Nestle Nigeria
recorded a loss per share of N54.3
from N50.7.
Nascon Allied Industries
The company’s shareholders
equity rose to N27.4 billion in
the first nine months of this year
from N16.5 billion.
Its shareholders’ equity was
driven by retained earnings
which stood at N25.6 billion,
share capital at N1.32 billion
and share premium at N434.0
million.
Cash and cash equivalent
increased to N22.8 billion from
N11.44 billion. NASCON re-
corded an earnings per share of
N5.54, up from N1.45.
Champion Breweries
The shareholders’ equity of the
company rose to N11.04 billion in
the first nine months of the year
from N10.48 billion in the same
period of 2022.
Its shareholders’ equity was
driven by share capital which
stood at N3.91 billion, other
reserves at N3.7 billion, accu-
mulated losses/gains at N2.91
billion and share premium at
N519.1 million.
Cash and cash equivalents
increased to N1.33 billion, down
from N2.37 billion. Champion
Brewery’s loss per share stood at
N0.99 per share, down from N16.09.
Cadbury Nigeria
The shareholders’ equity of the
company dropped to N2.87 bil-
lion in the first nine months of
the year from N15.5 billion in the
same period of 2022.
Its shareholders’ equity was
driven by share capital which
stood at N939.1 million, share
premium at N272.3 million, other
reserves at N3.44 billion, Share-
based payment reserve stood at
N176.9 million while deductions
were made for retained earnings
which amounted to N1.95 billion.
Cash and cash equivalents
increased to N41.5 billion from
N23.84 billion. Cadbury Nigeria’s
loss per share stood at N545.3 from
N149.9.
www.businessday.ng 13
SHORT TAKES
Nigeria’s growth prospects
to 3.3% for 2023
The World Bank has reviewed
upward growth prospects for
Nigeria’s economy in 2023
and beyond following the
federal government’s decision
to implement bold reforms like
subsidy removal and FX unifi-
cation in the country.
As against the 2.8 percent
predicted for Nigeria in April
2023, the Bank in its Nigeria
Development Update for June
2023 says that the country’s
GDP is now expected to achieve
3.3 percent in 2023, 3.7 percent
in 2024 and 4.1 percent in 2025.
Naira devaluation
The Nigerian naira has moved
from being overvalued to un-
dervalued following the govern-
ment’s long-awaited foreign
exchange reform, analysts at
US-based Bank of America said
in a June 28 note to clients.
“We now see a USDNGN fair
value of 680 per USD (previously
580). However, USDNGN is likely
to trade above this level, with
year-end 700, and a return to
650-680 in early 2024,” the Bank of
America (BOfA) analysts said.
$203 billion African clean
energy investments
Africa’s clean energy investments
will need to increase over 500 percent
from $32 billion to meet climate goals
by 2030, according to a new report
by the International Energy Agency
(IEA) and International Finance
Corporation (IFC).
The report, Scaling Up Private Fi-
nance for Clean Energy in Emerging
and Developing Economies (EDMEs),
showed that annual investment in
the public and private sectors needs a
534 percent upscale from the current
average annual of $32 billion to $203
billion by 2030.
Aliko Dangote’s $15.6bn
President of Dangote Group, Aliko
Dangote, remains the richest man
in Africa, despite the volatility of
Nigerian currency against the dol-
lar. Bloomberg in its daily top bil-
lionaire lists, released on Tuesday,
revealed that Dangote with a wealth
of $15.6 billion topped other Africans
in the Index.
Dangote, who remains the richest
man in Africa for the 12th year
running, was the only Nigerian on
the list of the top 500 billionaires, as
released by Bloomberg.
Other Africans listed in the latest
top 500 world billionaires list for the
year 2023 include Johann Rupert
and family of South Africa, now
worth $13.3 billion, while Nicky Op-
penheimer of South Africa, Nassef
Sawiris of Egypt, Natie Kirsh of
South Africa, and Naguib Sawiris
are also worth $9.0 billion, $7.47
billion, $7.37billion and $5.93 billion
respectively.
88%
Four of Nigeria’s downstream firms’
input costs claimed 88 percent of the
cumulative revenue of N232.22 billion
in the first quarter of 2023, Business-
Day analysis shows.
The firms’ input cost recorded 37.7
percent growth which amounted to
N203.85 billion in the first quarter of
2023 from N147.99 billion in the first
quarter of 2022 on the back of the
soaring wings of inflation.
Further analysis revealed down-
stream firms which include Total
Energies, Eterna, MRS Oil and Conoil
recorded an aggregate revenue
of N232.22 billion, a 37.8 percent
increase from N168.48 billion in the
reviewed period.
14 www.businessday.ng
TECHTALK
What product managers need to thrive
in the workplace - Victor Olomo
VICTOR OLOMO is an experienced product manager with a demonstrated history of using data and customer insight to drive
growth at different startups over the last 10 years. In this interview with BusinessDay’s FRANK ELEANYA, he speaks on the role
of a product manager in an organisation and how to work with teams within an organisation.
How did you get into product
management?
I ventured into product man-
agement back in 2013. Despite
my academic background
in Biochemistry, the spark
for technology had always
been alive within me. Post-
graduation, I found myself at
a crossroads, I knew I didn’t
want to go the conventional
path aligned with my degree.
Upon completing my Na-
tional Youth Service Corps
(NYSC), I started looking for
different opportunities, espe-
cially internships. One fateful
day, I checked my alma mater’s
alumni page and came across
an internship opportunity in
a tech company. The prospect
seemed simple enough, and
given its internship nature, I
figured, ‘Why not?’
I applied, had the interview,
and was granted the position
with one condition – I needed
to acquire coding skills. Subse-
quently, I delved into the world
of HTML, CSS, and Javascript,
immersing myself in blog posts
and books. This five-month
journey was undoubtedly one
of the most challenging yet
rewarding endeavours I’ve
undertaken.
The internship evolved into
a full-time role, pushing me
into the dynamic landscape
of a software consulting firm.
Engaged in diverse projects
for prominent organisations,
including banks, FMCGs, and
startups, I discovered the al-
lure of Product Management.
What captivated me most was
the ever-changing nature of the
role; no two days were alike.
What’s your view on the
product management indus-
try today?
When I reflect on my journey
in product management in
Nigeria, it’s clear that things
have evolved significantly
since I first entered the field.
At the time, you could say it
was still finding its footing.
The role might not have been
labelled ‘product manager,’
but someone was always fulfill-
ing that function. Today, it’s a
recognized and well-defined
career path, with institutions
offering dedicated courses.
Our strides in product man-
agement in Nigeria have been
truly remarkable.
How important is the prod-
uct manager to a company,
and which companies need
their services?
As a product continues to
experience growth, the role of
a product manager becomes
indispensable. Typically, as a
company expands and refines
its product, the need for a
dedicated product manager
becomes increasingly vital.
Some companies, recognizing
this importance right from the
start, bring a product manager
on board early, influenced by
factors like the product’s na-
ture and the availability of
in-house expertise.
The demand for a capable
product manager persists at
every stage of a company’s
growth. However, the pivotal
decision to officially bring a
product manager on board de-
pends on the company’s stage
of development and its readi-
ness in terms of resources. It’s
a fascinating dance between
product evolution and organ-
isational strategy.
You’ve worked with differ-
ent tech companies, which of
these experiences was most
defining for you and why?
All of my experiences in prod-
uct management have been
transformative in distinct
ways. One standout experience
that comes to mind is the build-
ing of a pan-African financing
product. The challenge lay
in harmonising the delivery
of a singular product across
diverse countries, each hav-
ing unique local expectations.
This marked my entry into
the pan-African product space,
colouring my professional
career with a compelling and
dynamic chapter.
What should companies be
looking forward to in a prod-
uct manager?
That’s a really intriguing ques-
tion because it all boils down
to what the company aims to
achieve. I believe product man-
agement is both a science and
an art. Beyond the technical
know-how that can be learned,
what really matters are the
softer skills. A natural sense of
curiosity, always questioning
how we can make the product
better. Another crucial trait
is persuasiveness. A product
manager is at the heart of the
business, collaborating with
the sales, marketing, and soft-
ware development teams – it’s
like a symphony of depart-
ments. Working with different
teams, necessarily having the
authority to simply give or-
ders. That’s where persuasion
comes in; A product manager
has to get everyone on board
with the vision.
And let’s not forget the im-
portance of being data-driven.
Backing up ideas with solid
data and presenting it to stake-
holders is key. Being articulate
too, is crucial – communicat-
ing your thoughts concisely
and clearly. Above all, people
skills are a must. After all, it’s
the people behind the scenes
who shape the product. Man-
aging them effectively is what
ensures the product turns out
truly great.
How do you work with engi-
neers as a product manager
to ensure you get the best
from them for the product?
I view it as a strategic blend
of approaches. Persuasion is
essential. It involves articulat-
ing the objectives, detailing the
reasons for achieving them
within the stipulated time
frame, and seeking their input
on feasibility and methodolo-
gies. Depending on the specific
role of the product manager,
engaging with technical ex-
perts such as the Engineering
lead, CTO, or someone of simi-
lar capacity, may be necessary
to validate information.
Starting on a new product,
feature, or work to be done,
I gather all stakeholders in-
volved for a thorough chat
about our goals, timelines, and
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
the importance of sticking to
schedules. Once we all agree on
a plan, the main focus becomes
making sure each person does
their part as promised. This
team-oriented approach is
quite different from just telling
people what to do and expect-
ing them to follow orders.
By openly talking and mak-
ing sure everyone knows what
is expected, we can deal with
potential issues before they
become big problems. Even
if unexpected things pop up,
good communication helps us
handle them without derail-
ing the whole plan. When we
all work together and make
sure everyone’s on board, the
chances of achieving our goals
in a reasonable time go way up.
What is a day like in the life
of a product manager?
Every day unfolds uniquely,
even when you’re focused on a
single product. It’s a constant-
ly evolving story, with each
phase of the product unveiling
a distinct set of challenges. For
instance, today might involve
engaging with stakeholders,
while tomorrow is dedicated
to bringing prototypes to life;
and the next, one is delving
into meaningful conversations
with customers. This dynamic
progression through different
stages underscores the multi-
faceted nature of the product
management process.
What are the soft skills a
product manager needs?
Product managers need a blend
of interpersonal skills to navi-
gate their multifaceted roles.
Effective communication is
key, allowing them to express
ideas clearly to teams, stake-
holders, and customers. Em-
pathy is crucial too, helping
them understand and consider
the perspectives of colleagues
and customers, fostering better
collaboration.
Adaptability is vital in the
ever-changing landscape of
product management, as is
the ability to solve problems
creatively. Leadership and ne-
gotiation skills come into play
when working with diverse
teams and stakeholders with
varying interests. Balancing
tasks and deadlines requires
strong time management,
while a user-centric mindset
ensures products meet the
needs and expectations of
end-users. Overall, a mix of
these soft skills, coupled with
technical expertise, forms the
foundation for a successful
product manager.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
START-UP DIGEST
Meet Hakeem Disu, entrepreneur fostering clean energy access
By Chinedu Ndigwe
IN a committed effort to
confront Nigeria’s enduring
energy challenges, Hakeem
Disu, the visionary co-found-
er of Lihon Energy, a pio-
neering renewable energy
infrastructure company, is
steadfastly working towards
providing widespread access
to clean energy for Nigeri-
ans.
Specialising in the dis-
tribution and development
of solar hybrid power for
commercial and industrial
clients, Lihon Energy not
only offers installation ser-
vices but also pioneers a
buy-now-pay-later solution,
catering to businesses, real
estate, and diverse power
needs in both rural and ur-
ban settings.
“Our innovative ap-
proach enables businesses to
install solar energy systems
and adopt a pay-later model,
overcoming financial barri-
ers that hinder the adoption
of renewable energy solu-
tions,” the co-founder says.
Lihon Energy extends
its impact by distributing
essential solar installation
components such as bat-
teries, inverters, and solar
Blackskill upskills 98 youth to bridge unemployability gap
By Charles Ogwo
IN efforts to bridge the gap
between unemployment and
employers finding skilled
employees, Blakskill Lim-
ited, a global HR tech plat-
form that focuses on talent
identification, incubation,
acquisition, and verification
has upskilled 98 youth in its
first cohort graduation.
Olugbenga Omojola, chief
executive officer of Black-
skills disclosed to Business-
Day during the graduation
ceremony held inside the
Lagos Chambers of Com-
merce and Industry (LCCI)
building in Ikeja that the
Blackskill School of Em-
ployability Studies (BSES)
is established to reach the
talent development needs of
panels, and tailoring systems
to meet the specific require-
ments of commercial and
industrial clients.
Distinguishing itself in
the renewable energy land-
scape, Lihon Energy places
a central emphasis on ad-
dressing the energy needs of
rural areas.
Hakeem says, “While
many perceive rural regions
as impoverished, closer ex-
amination reveals that these
areas lack technological
advancements rather than
wealth.”
He draws a parallel to the
early 2000s when Africa was
considered unable to afford
mobile phones, highlighting
the subsequent proliferation
of mobile devices.
Similarly, Lihon Ener-
gy’s focus is on introducing
transformative technology
to uplift the lives of those
in overlooked rural com-
munities.
Reflecting on the com-
pany’s origins, Hakeem ex-
plains, “The inception of Li-
hon Energy was influenced
by my involvement in the
blockchain sector.
A client’s request for the
installation of bitcoin min-
ing machines highlighted a
the society.
“The Blacksill Limited is
designed to help talents be
visible to employers across
the world. And the quality
will help employers verify
talents. Talents on our plat-
form are verified, and em-
ployers can be sure of the
background of the kind of
employees they employ,”
he said.
Omojola explained that
Blackskill Academy was set
up primarily to bridge the
talent development needs
that we discovered especially
in Africa in areas where
we have seen that talents
require their competences
to be improved so that they
can meet the requirements
of the employers.
“What Blackskill does is
In association with
Hakeem Disu
crucial requirement: a stable
power supply for continuous
operation and optimal prof-
its. Given Nigeria’s power
deficit, this posed a signifi-
cant challenge.”
“In 2019, recognizing the
need for a sustainable solu-
tion, we opted for renewable
energy. To my astonishment,
the implementation of re-
newable energy successfully
powered the entire mining
to identify those areas that
talents need that kind of
training that inspire their
critical reasoning, ICT,
project management and
personal leadership among
others,” he noted.
He further explained that
the impacts of the academy’s
training on students have
been instrumental in re-
shaping the global talent
landscape.
“Our goal is to give people
the right kind of talents that
will help them excel in the
global workplace. We unbun-
dle talents in Blackskill!
The training operates
in a hybrid format, with 80
percent of the programme
conducted in a physical
setting and 20 percent in a
virtual environment, ensur-
facility, and to this day, it
remains operational.
According to the co-
founder, this experience
sparked his interest in re-
newable energy, especially
considering the substantial
portion of the population—
over 45 percent—that lacks
access to electricity in Ni-
geria.
“Also, the new electricity
act signed by President Bola
ing the trainees receive a
well-rounded and practical
education,” he said.
In addition, Omojola
said; “Blakskill’s mission
is to empower and connect
African youths with job op-
portunities globally while
providing seamless recruit-
ment processes for compa-
nies.
The organisation has tak-
en its time to recognise the
pressing need to empower
African talents and facilitate
their access to global job
markets.”
Ajo Balogun, chief ex-
ecutive officer and founder
of Ajo Powerlearn Project
counseled the graduates to
uphold the right attitude go-
ing to the workplace to excel.
“Attitude is key if you
Ahmed Tinubu influenced
us to fully commit. I am of the
belief that the decentraliza-
tion of power holds the key
to the future of Nigeria’s
power sector, much like the
telecom decentralization
that gave rise to Airtel, Glo,
and other entities from the
former NITEL.”
Addressing challenges
faced by the company, Ha-
keem discusses, “One sig-
nificant challenge we are
currently grappling with
pertains to fluctuations in
exchange rates. Consider
a scenario where a foreign
investor funds a solar mi-
crogrid project with $100,000
when the exchange rate is
N450/$1.
However, a few years
later, the exchange rate esca-
lates to N1250/$1, requiring
repayment in dollars when
investors repatriate their
funds.
“Addressing this discrep-
ancy is a prominent hurdle
for our company, as inves-
tors anticipate a return of
$100,000 despite unfavorable
exchange rates. Such fluc-
tuations pose a considerable
risk, diminishing investor
confidence and discouraging
further investments in the
must succeed in the work-
place. Caring about others
matters a lot, your social
impact will determine how
far you will go in the work-
place,” she noted.
Uche Anyanwu, the chief
executive officer at Talgen
Business Solutions enjoined
the graduates to develop de-
pendability traits and wide
network outreach, besides
having critical thinking
qualities.
Other panelists advised
the first cohort students to
embrace communication
skills, leadership, selling
and responsibility skills to
succeed in the workplace.
Michael Alasa, a facilita-
tor at Blackskill Academy
reminds the students that
their journey to the career
www.businessday.ng 15
country.”
To navigate this chal-
lenge effectively, Hakeem
suggests, “We must explore
collaborative solutions. A
viable approach involves
fostering cooperation be-
tween the government and
financial institutions to es-
tablish a mutually agreeable
framework.
“Creating a dedicated
pipeline for financiers of
renewable energy companies
would allow for repayments
in Naira by the companies
to the bank, which can then
facilitate payment to inves-
tors in dollars.
“This structured arrange-
ment aims to mitigate the
adverse effects of exchange
rate volatility and foster a
more stable environment for
solar business installations.”
With a current infra-
structure capacity of 0.5
megawatts, Lihon Energy
prioritizes reliability, stabil-
ity, and safety in its power
supply systems.
Hakeem details, “We
source high-quality solar
panels, batteries, and invert-
ers from reputable manu-
facturers, ensuring the reli-
ability and efficiency of the
installed infrastructure.
world is evolving, hence they
must embrace the challenges
ahead, and remain resilient,
and innovative.
“In your future, you need
some soft skills in the next
phase of your journey such
as integrity, be hungry for
excellence, and have an open
mind to continue to learn,”
he urged.
Some of the graduates
shared their experiences be-
ing in Blackskill Academy.
Oyebola Opeyemi said being
in Blackskill was educa-
tional and inspiring to him.
“When I came in here, I
had no idea about so many
things such as what I want
to do, where I would like to
be in the next 20 years, and
what I want to do with my
career.
16 www.businessday.ng
SPECIAL REPORT
ON LEGITIMATE INVESTMENT PLATFORMS IN NIGERIA WITH VALUE DRIVEN MOTIVE, BEST ETHICAL PRACTICES AND INVESTMENT RATES
Crafting success for our investors has been to offer tailor-made investment solutions
Anchoria Asset Management (AAM), a member of VFD Group stands out as a robust player in the asset management industry with strong network in the capital market, and delivering
quality returns on investment to clients. In this interview with Business Day, the company unveils its unique propositions for clients, product chain and experience.
Tell us about Ancho-
ria Asset Management,
your market position, and
how you leverage your
experience and financial
strengths in the Nigerian
financial and real asset
markets?
At Anchoria Asset Man-
agement, our strength lies in
fixed-income investments,
where our expertise in man-
aging bonds and various
debt securities has propelled
us to the forefront of the in-
dustry. We are also pioneers
in low-cost investing, we are
renowned for our relatively
low management fees, and
entry fees in our mutual
fund products. Our funds
are designed to be easily ac-
cessible, making investment
opportunities available to
a wider range of investors
and promoting inclusivity
in market place.
How do you differentiate
your investment products,
especially those focusing
on capital preservation,
income generation, and
asset class diversifica-
tion?
Through our flagship mu-
tual funds, investors are
able to preserve their capital
and earn returns on their
investments. The reality is
that because mutual funds
contain a pool of securities,
your investment are easily
diversified, since other in-
struments are available to
cushion the blow when one
or more instruments per-
forms poorly, thus lowering
your overall risk. Mutual
funds have repeatedly prov-
en to be one of the simplest
and most fundamental ways
to diversify your portfolio.
Depending on your risk ap-
petite, our mutual funds are
grouped into several catego-
ries based on the kinds of se-
curities they invest in, their
investment objectives, and
the type of return investors
seek. For instance, investors
with a low threshold for risk
can opt for the money mar-
ket mutual fund as this min-
imizes risk and preserve the
principal amount invested.
While investors with a me-
dium to high-risk appetite
can opt for fixed income and
equity mutual funds given
their potential of generating
high long-term returns.
Could you provide in-
sight into your risk man-
agement principle and
how it ensures preserva-
tion of capital for clients?
AAM prioritises risk man-
agement, actively assessing
and adjusting portfolios to
preserve and grow wealth.
Our lean structure allows us
to be quite responsive to de-
veloping market conditions.
We lock in quick investment
gains when the opportuni-
ties arise and reposition
ourselves for further op-
portunities. This positions
us competitively within the
asset management industry.
At the centre of our philoso-
phy is the belief that market
downturns present opportu-
nities. Thus, we adeptly nav-
igate these market shifts, al-
lowing us to effectively ride
the curve. This is evidenced
in the recent success of our
equity mutual fund, which
has achieved an impres-
sive annualized return of 40
percent. This performance
extends to our broader port-
folio returns as well. This,
coupled with our emphasis
on consistent investments
serves as a conduit for cli-
ents to realize the accumula-
tive benefits that stem from
investing over time.
In a landscape with nu-
merous investment plat-
forms, how does AAM
prioritize clients’ best
interests and maintain
client-centric focus in her
services?
For us, the key to craft-
ing success stories for our
investors has been to offer
tailor-made investment so-
lutions. We recognize that
each investor’s journey is
unique, and our approach
reflects this understand-
ing. Through this tailored
approach, we have not just
achieved immediate gains
but also paved the way
for generational wealth to
thrive amongst our clients.
Our commitment to a client
centric approach extends to
our retail clients, who bene-
fit from the convenience and
accessibility offered by our
mobile app, SEEDs by An-
choria. This innovative tool
goes beyond conventional
platforms, recommending
investment products based
on factors such as invest-
ment amount, risk appetite,
and client profile. In es-
sence, we embark on the in-
vestment journey with our
clients, providing guidance
and support at every step.
Can you detail the range
of investment products
and services that is avail-
able in your kitty?
AAM offers a diverse ar-
ray of investment products
and services for our clien-
tele base including conven-
tional products like money
market and fixed income
mutual funds that provide
a solid foundation for in-
vestors. Going beyond the
conventional, we offer in-
vestors exposure and access
to distinct markets through
other pooled funds such as
our Eurobond and Treasury
linked notes. These funds
are designed to efficiently
meet the diverse objectives
and risk appetites of our in-
vestors, offering innovative
solutions in the investment
landscape.
Our core services encom-
pass wealth management,
portfolio construction and
management, as well as fi-
nancial planning and advi-
sory.
What would you say are
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
your comparative advan-
tage in the market?
Our access to niche invest-
ment opportunities sets us
apart, offering clients dis-
tinctive avenues for diver-
sification. This allows us to
offer our clients distinctive
investment avenues, con-
tributing to the diversifica-
tion and robustness of their
portfolios. Our investment
management team’s exper-
tise and experience in the
capital market also adds as
our competitive edge.
Considering Nigeria’s
investment outlook, how
does AAM align its strate-
gies with government ini-
tiatives to attract foreign
investments and diversify
the economy?
At Anchoria Asset Man-
agement, our seasoned in-
vestment team provides us
with a competitive edge in
comprehending latest re-
forms and the effect of such
on macroeconomic vari-
ables. With our diverse in-
vestment product options,
we are well positioned to
capitalize on emerging gov-
ernment initiatives, lever-
aging them to enhance our
investment strategies and
decision-making processes.
This readily enlists us as
an investment manager of
choice for foreign investors
eager to explore the opportu-
nities within our market.
DataPro, a rating agency
recently issued Anchoria a
long-term rating of BBB+,
what does this mean?
The rating is a testament
to our solid investment re-
cord of accomplishment,
robust capitalization, and
strong corporate govern-
ance. Additionally, our sig-
nificant fee-earning assets
under management and am-
ple liquidity further contrib-
utes to this rating. The rat-
ing underscores our ongoing
success in fundraising, sup-
ported by the depth of inves-
tor relationships and the
strength of our ecosystem.
Our commitment moving
forward is to improve our
rating by maintaining pru-
dent liquidity buffers, en-
suring strong asset quality,
and cultivating a diversified
earnings base.
How do you navigate the
dynamics nature of finan-
cial markets?
We tap into a wide range
of research-driven resources
that grant us access to real-
time market insights, data
analytics, and in-depth re-
search. This access enables
us to make quick informed
decisions and anticipate
market trends, ultimately al-
lowing us to provide our cli-
ents with the most relevant
and up-to-date investment
strategies. That way, we en-
hance the robustness of our
investment decisions and
reduce the reliance on any
single model’s predictions.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
SPECIAL REPORT
ON LEGITIMATE INVESTMENT PLATFORMS IN NIGERIA WITH VALUE DRIVEN MOTIVE, BEST ETHICAL PRACTICES AND INVESTMENT RATES
Fintechs technology must prioritise user experience OjirehPrime CEO
OjirehPrime Financial Services Limited – a financial technology company focused on providing global banking solutions to Africans at home and in the diaspora. In this interview with
Business Day, Edoka Idoko a business strategist and resilient entrepreneur CEO OjirehPrime Financial Services, speaks on the company’s long-term investment plans and general impact
on growth.
Could you give us a
brief overview of what
OjirehPrime Financial Ser-
vices does?
OjirehPrime is a fintech
mobile-only banking platform
popularly known as digital
banks. We offer seamless,
cost-effective and customer-
focused financial products
that meet the everyday needs
of young Nigerians with sav-
ings accounts provided by
Solid Allianze Microfinance
Bank Ltd which is licensed by
the Central Bank of Nigeria
with deposits insured by the
Nigerian Deposit Insurance
Corporation (NDIC).
How has OjirehPrime
Financial Services contrib-
uted to infrastructure de-
velopment in Nigeria?
it’s worth noting that
OjirehPrime’s efforts are fo-
cused mostly on financial ser-
vices and technology, rather
than direct involvement in
physical infrastructure pro-
jects. However, by improving
access to financial services
and leveraging technology for
banking solutions, we have
contributed to the advance-
ment of financial infrastruc-
ture and services available
to Nigerians, some of which
include: financial inclusion,
ease of transactions, building
innovative banking solutions,
and supporting economic
activities by providing a plat-
form for easy financial trans-
actions.
investors looks at a lot of dif-
ferent factors, such as how
strong our traction is, how
clear our units of econom-
ics are, the quality of our
team and how our govern-
ance structure is set up. We
are still in the early stages of
talks with insurance compa-
nies and pension funds. On
the other hand, we have long-
term relationships with pri-
vate equity organizations and
individual investors.
What should a potential
investor expect from an in-
vestment in OjirehPrime
Financial Services’ infra-
structure projects?
We put our best foot forward
when engaging a potential
investor, which begins with
presenting a clear investment
proposition, demonstrating
strong potential on invest-
ment returns, transparency
and reporting, exit strategy
or liquidity options, stability
and long-term viability, com-
Edoka Idoko - CEO OjirehPrime Financial Services munication and investor rela-
tions. These to us are critical
How does OjirehPrime regulations as we feel that factors we believe any inves-
Financial Services aim to these are the fundamental tor would look out for.
attract more investors for building blocks for growth
its infrastructure projects? and demonstrating value on Which measures
As a fintech, we aim to at- investment returns. have been employed by
tract prospective investors OjirehPrime Financial Ser-
by demonstrating value and How does OjirehPrime vices to expand the debt
having a firm grasp of our Financial Services attract capital market, investor
economic units, among other investment interest from base, and new sources of
things, such as our govern- pension funds, insurance capital for infrastructure
ance structure, transparency, firms, and other long-term financing?
accountability, policies, com- investors? Expanding the investor
pliance, and alignment with Our strategy for attracting base for us has a lot to do with
building relationships and
collaborations with invest-
ment funds and engaging in
Investor outreach programs
to create market education
and brand awareness for in-
vestors about the benefits and
opportunities within our in-
frastructure financing sector.
As one of Nigeria’s legiti-
mate leading global invest-
ment management compa-
nies, what is your strength
in the industry, handling of
competition and what does
OjirehPrime Financial Ser-
vices do differently?
Technology by itself is not
a competitive edge if the user
experience is not put first.
This is something we’ve said
many times. These days, it’s
hard to compete based on the
quality of your technology.
That’s why we put so much
effort into creating the best
experience for our custom-
ers. Most people have two or
three apps on their phones,
and they’ll usually go with the
one that gives them the best
experience.
With over half a decade
of impact, what is the long-
term plan for reaching
more milestones in busi-
ness operations?
Our long-term playbook is
to position the company as a
global fintech for young Af-
ricans and we’re passionate
about this because data tells
us that Africa will account for
www.businessday.ng 17
25% of the global population
by the year 2050. This isn’t
just random data but rather
speaks more to a multi-shift
across generations which will
completely alter how we run
operate and manage our daily
cash flow keeping in mind
that we’re already dealing
with a generation that does
not think of a bank as a physi-
cal building but a mobile app
on your phone that can be
deleted in 5 seconds which is
why we constantly prioritize
the experience we create for
our customers.
Last year, OjirehPrime
Financial Services raised
over $1.2 million from
mostly individual investors
who saw potential in the
story of the company and
were bold enough to place
a bet on the company, what
are the plans to attract ad-
ditional funding from other
investors to reach a capac-
ity of $21 million within ten
years?
Our raise last year helped
stabilize our operations and
set us in tune for the next
phase of our growth plan. We
are currently in talks with in-
stitutional and private inves-
tors who would invest in our
next new fund which we’ve
broken down into smaller
milestones starting with
$2.5million after which we
would build top-up rounds till
he achieves our full funding
goal
18 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng 19

In association with

CLIMATE FINANCE

Could carbon credits be Africa’s next big export?

African leaders are eyeing carbon markets as a source of scarce capital
IN her small house in Nai-
Ethiopia and Kenya with Ja-
robi, Kenya’s capital, Rose
pan. Rwanda has also recently
Muthoni shows off her snazzy
issued itmos that meet article-
blue stove. Until recently she
six standards.
was one of the roughly 80% of
Yet carbon credits are not
sub-Saharan Africans who use
without potential problems.
firewood or charcoal for cook-
The first is that under article
ing. When burned, these forms
six there must be no double
of biomass release greenhouse
counting. If Ghana, say, sells
gases and unhealthy pollut-
credits to Switzerland, it can-
ants; Ms Muthoni thinks char-
not count the corresponding
coal contributed to the death of
emission cuts as its own ndc.
one of her children. Her new
Picking eligible sectors for
stove, made by koko, a Kenyan
itmos is increasingly part of
startup, uses bioethanol—a
some African governments’
cleaner and safer fuel.
economic policy-making. Gha-
“It is very economical,”
KOKO fuel refill shop. Source: koko na, for instance, will not is-
adds Ms Muthoni. She spends
sue itmos based on switching
about 600 Kenyan shillings ($4)
light bulbs or planting trees
per month refilling canisters at
on smallholder plantations,
“fuel atms” in shops, less than
as these are cheap and easy
half of what she paid for char-
things it can do itself. It wants
coal. The price is the result
to issue itmos that raise lots of
of a virtuous cycle. Since its
climate-change summit in issued on voluntary markets The Johannesburg Stock Ex- money for projects in harder
products reduce carbon emis-
2015, and negotiations are con- involve such projects. More change recently launched its areas, such as renewable en-
sions, koko is able to generate
tinuing at the current cop in than half of the 30 companies, own voluntary marketplace. ergy and cooking fuel.
credits that can be sold on global
Dubai.) Credits from African including koko, supported by Yet there is a much bigger The second snag is the lin-
carbon markets. The proceeds
projects have also made up the Clean Cooking Alliance, prize on offer. In the Paris gering scepticism about the
are ploughed back into the
about a tenth of those issued a donor-funded outfit, have Agreement countries made carbon-saving potential of
firm, lowering retail prices for
on “voluntary” markets, where used—or plan to use—carbon pledges to limit their emis- credits, especially those based
stoves and fuel. Four years after
blue-chip firms and guilt-rid- markets to attract finance. sions, known as Nationally De- on forest projects. In August
launching, koko is used by more
den consumers pay to “offset” acmi and others are keen termined Contributions (ndcs). a study in Science, a journal,
than one-third of households in
their emissions. to increase the size of Africa’s Article six of that treaty in suggested that 94% of the cred-
Nairobi. “We’re a novel type
The benefits of carbon mar- voluntary market. In Sep- effect outlines a formal export its associated with a sample
of energy utility,” argues Greg
kets can be seen in how they tember at the Africa Climate market in carbon credits. It lets of 26 projects in developing
Murray, its ceo, “where carbon
have boosted cooking-fuel Summit in Nairobi, the United one country partially meet its countries were not linked to
provides the subsidy instead of
startups. Almost a quarter of Arab Emirates (uae) pledged ndcs by buying credits—catchi- real reductions in emissions.
public funds.”
the African carbo n c re d it s to buy $450m worth of credits. ly called Internationally Trans- In November the ceo of the
k o k o hints a t why there
ferred Mitigation Outcomes (it- world’s largest offsetting firm,
is excitement about carbon
mos)—issued by another. The South Pole, stepped down amid
markets. The African Carbon
idea is for the market to find the accusations of “greenwash-
Markets Initiative (acmi), a
most efficient ways to reduce ing”. The firm said it was
un-backed consortium, reck-
emissions while raising capital “determined to learn from the
ons that Africa uses just 2% of
for projects to spur develop- experience”. A third problem
its annual carbon-credit poten-
ment in poor countries. In Af- is how much locals get the
tial; it aims for Africa to sell
rica the hope is that article six benefits from carbon credits.
$100bn worth of credits a year
could one day make it possible All of the problems are
by 2050. Even a fraction of that
for African issuers to sell into most acute in schemes that
would be a boon for a continent
some of the largest “compliance pledge to avert deforestation.
where annual foreign direct in-
markets” (such as California’s (Those based on cleaner cook-
vestment has never surpassed
cap-and-trade scheme) that to- ing fuels are easier to measure
$80bn. William Ruto, Kenya’s
gether are worth around $800bn and have obvious beneficia-
president, calls carbon credits
per year, versus just $2bn for ries.) That helps explain the
an “unparalleled economic
the voluntary offset markets. reaction in some quarters to
gold mine” and his country’s
Several African countries provisional deals struck by
“next significant export”. Yet,
are keen to take advantage of four African countries with
as is often the case with Af-
article six. Kenya has amended a carbon-credit firm run by a
rica and its natural resources,
its climate-change law to make member of Dubai’s royal fam-
things could go wrong.
sure its projects adhere. Ghana ily in the uae. Blue Carbon
Africa has taken part in
and Senegal have already sold has signed initial agreements
carbon markets for decades,
cookstove-based credits to with Tanzania, Liberia, Zam-
albeit on the margins. It ac-
Switzerland in a bilateral deal; bia and Zimbabwe to manage
counted for 3% of the credits
notably, the price of the cred- forests across a total land area
issued under the Clean De-
its was several times higher nearly as large as Britain. It
velopment Mechanism (cdm),
than what projects might be may then sell itmos to pollut-
the first international carbon
expected to get via voluntary ing countries such as, say, the
market set up under the aegis
markets. Ghana is in talks with uae. Though no deal has been
of the un. (A successor to the
Singapore, too. Gabon has a formally agreed, critics call it
cdm was outlined in the Paris
pilot deal with South Korea; “carbon colonialism”.
Agreement, signed at the cop

Workers sprays pesticide, used against fall armyworm, Nigeria Source: chris de bode/cgiar/panos
20 www.businessday.ng
FOR THE FATHERLAND
How Putin is reshaping Russia to keep his war-machine running
He is creating a class of wealthy bureaucrats, who are the war’s biggest supporters
WAR and sanctions notwith-
standing, in early November, the
renovated Soviet-era “Exhibition
of Achievements of the National
Economy” re-opened in Moscow.
The original, inaugurated in 1939
just weeks before Germany and
Russia invaded Poland, papered
over the famine and terror of
the preceding years. Instead,
displays extolled the wonders of
Soviet science and the virtues
of collectivisation; a special ice-
cream hall doled out treats to the
masses and a 25-metre statue of
Stalin gazed down munificently.
Millions died in the dictator’s
“great break” with the past, and
Russia’s economy and society
were completely reshaped, but it
was all depicted as unadulterated
progress.
Read more of our recent cover-
age of the Ukraine war
It is a similar story with to-
day’s refurbishment, where a
futuristic screen-lined tunnel
regales visitors with the glories
of the past 20 years, under the
leadership of Vladimir Putin.
A pavilion celebrating Russia’s
regions features Donetsk, Kher-
son, Luhansk and Zaporizhia,
four provinces the Russian army
is currently attempting to seize
from Ukraine. The only hint of
the continuing bloodshed is a
flower composed of bits of shrap-
nel. The initiation of the biggest
war in Europe since 1945, the
re-imposition of a police state
within Russia and the categori-
cal reversal of the reforming and
Westernising trends of the early
post-Soviet period are nowhere
to be seen.
It is an especially far cry from
the shock and confusion of the
early days of the war, when the
rouble plunged, hundreds of
thousands fled the country and
protests rocked Russia’s cities.
Mr Putin has since succeeded in
stabilising the economy, thanks
to the high price of oil, and in
squelching dissent, thanks to
fierce repression. That has al-
lowed him to retain the alle-
giance of the elite, who in turn
are helping the country adapt.
The new equilibrium is unstable,
however, with the economy
and military recruitment, in
particular, threatening further
upheaval.
Unsheepish sheep
On the face of things, most
Russians have meekly accepted
the war in Ukraine, which will
soon be two years old. Two-thirds
tell Russian Field, a pollster, that
the country is moving in the
right direction and over half say
the war in Ukraine is going well.
“I knew that society is totally
conformist, but I still didn’t ex-
pect that incredible measure of
psychological adaptation. People
have just shut themselves off and
tried to live their usual old lives,”
Nalalya Zubarevich, an aca-
demic, said in a recent interview.
Open protest is rare, for obvi-
ous reasons. On November 16th
Alexandra Skochilenko, an artist
Source: carl godfrey/shutterstock
and activist, was jailed for seven
years for replacing price tags in a
St Petersburg supermarket with
anti-war messages. (“My great-
grandfather did not fight in ww2
so that Russia could become a
fascist state and attack Ukraine,”
read one.) It is not just peaceniks
who are persecuted: at least one
ultra-nationalist dissenter, Igor
Girkin, a retired soldier and blog-
ger, has been jailed for complain-
ing that Mr Putin is not fighting
forcefully enough.
But just because the majority
of Russians have accepted the
war does not mean that they are
enthusiastic about it. A hastily
concocted propaganda film about
dastardly Ukrainian “fascists”,
which cost $2m to make, was a
spectacular flop, collecting just
$150,000 at the box office. Despite
their professed support for the
war, the respondents to Russian
Field’s polls are firmly against
a further round of mobilisation,
even if Mr Putin himself calls for
it. In October, for the first time
during the war, a majority of
respondents expressed support
for peace talks over continued
fighting (see chart 1). Fully 74%
say they would be happy for Mr
Putin to sign a peace deal right
away.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the
younger people are, and the more
they get their news from social
media rather than state-run tele-
vision, the more sceptical about
the war they are. More strikingly,
however, the richer and more
educated people are, the more
supportive they are (see chart
2). As an anonymous Russian
academic explains in a recent
article in Meduza, an online
publication, there is a big class
of bureaucrats and businessmen
who have attained their status
through patronage and who will
uphold the regime to protect
it. “They number millions and
they have fitted into the moral
economy of military aggression,”
the academic writes.
In part, such people are kept
in line by fear, like everyone else.
In the first months of the war
a spate of mysterious deaths of
businessmen and managers at
state-owned firms helped to instil
fealty. The chairman of the board
of Lukoil, Russia’s biggest pri-
vate oil firm, fell to his death from
a hospital window in Moscow a
few months after the board issued
a statement calling for a cease-
fire. Western sanctions against
oligarchs have helped keep the
monied class on board, too.
Look away
But civil servants and busi-
nessmen also have long experi-
ence of suppressing scruples and
working the system. Many have
transitioned smoothly from the
Soviet bureaucracy. “They are
driven not by ideology, but by
loyalty to their corporation, be
it the central bank or finance
ministry,” says Mikhail Komin,
who has been surveying Russian
technocrats. They see the task of
keeping the ship of state afloat
as a professional challenge, not
a moral quandary.
Maksut Shadaev, the 44-year-
old minister for digital transfor-
mation, is a good example. He
worked at private it firms in the
1990s, before joining the govern-
ment to help build a sleek, user-
friendly web portal and mobile
app that allows citizens to access
such public services as making a
doctor’s appointment and enroll-
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
ing children in school. He is now
using those same skills to build
a system dubbed the “digital
gulag”—a comprehensive regis-
ter to help track men eligible for
the draft.
By the same token, Russian
businesses have helped stabilise
the economy not out of any af-
fection for the state, but because
they excel at coping with big,
unexpected and often arbitrary
shifts in their circumstances.
Andrei Yakovlev of Harvard
University, who has conducted
a survey of Russian entrepre-
neurs, says that having lived
through several financial crises
and done constant battle with
predatory bureaucrats, they
put a premium on preparing for
the worst. The disappearance of
Western imports and the closure
of Western firms, meanwhile, has
opened new niches for Russian
companies. At the same time,
the capital controls imposed by
the central bank have left them
with few options but to invest
in Russia. The government has
offered loans and even ordered
bureaucrats not to harass them.
It helps, of course, that vast
quantities of petrodollars have
been sloshing around the econ-
omy. In the first year of the war
Russia earned $590bn in export
revenues—most of it from oil
and gas. According to calcula-
tions by Re: Russia, a network
of experts, that is $160bn more
than the annual average over
the prior decade. In the second
year, revenues should still be
some $60bn above the average.
Re: Russia believes that the war
costs at least $100bn a year—so
the extra income from oil covers
most of the expense of waging it.
The government’s budget in-
creased by 26% last year and will
rise by another 16% next year.
Defence spending will almost
double next year, to 6% of gdp—
the highest it has been since the
collapse of the Soviet Union.
It now accounts for a third of
all government expenditure.
Spending on health and educa-
tion, meanwhile, is falling in
real terms. As Anton Siluanov,
the finance minister, recently
declared, “The main emphasis
is on ensuring our victory. The
army, defence capability, armed
forces, fighters—everything
needed for the front, everything
needed for victory is in the
budget.”
Such lavish outlays will not
be sustainable indefinitely. The
central bank is struggling to
restrain rising inflation, which
reached 12% year on year in
the third quarter of this year. It
has raised interest rates to 15%.
The authorities, meanwhile,
are forcing exporters to convert
their revenues to roubles to stave
off further devaluation, which
would exacerbate inflation. Some
43% of Russians expect their eco-
nomic situation to worsen in the
next year or two, while only 21%
expect it to improve, according to
Russian Field.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
COMPANIES & MARKETS
NAHCO’s tax payments soar by 125% in nine months
By Folake Balogun
THE tax payments of
Nigerian Aviation Han-
dling Company (NAH-
CO), an air transporta-
tion support service com-
pany in Nigeria, have
more than doubled in the
first nine months of 2023.
According to the com-
pany’s latest financial
statements, its tax pay-
ments rose by 125 per-
cent to N1.4 billion in the
first nine months of this
year from N622.95 mil-
lion in the same period
of 2022.
A breakdown of the
total tax payments
shows that company in-
come tax contributed the
most with N1.38 billion
followed by prior year
under-provision (N11.3
million). NASENI fund
expense recorded N8.14
million and education
tax had N3.35 million.
The firm’s revenue
Meet Adebayo Alli, the first Nigerian Guinness MD in 10 years
By Olamide Ologunagbe
THE Board of Guinness
Nigeria Plc has appointed
Adebayo Alli as its new
managing director and
chief executive officer with
effect from January 1, 2024.
This appointment
makes Alli, the first Ni-
gerian to hold the posi-
tion since 2014 when Seni
Adetu, resigned as the
company’s MD/chief ex-
ecutive officer.
According to a state-
ment by the company, Alli
is a commercially astute
leader with a transforma-
tive and collaborative lead-
ership style.
“He holds a BSc in Me-
chanical Engineering from
the University of Ibadan,
and an MSc in Advanced
Process Engineering from
Loughborough Univer-
sity, United Kingdom,” the
statement said.
It said Alli joined Diageo
in 2005 as a Packaging Op-
erations Support Manager
and has worked in several
senior leadership roles
across manufacturing, sup-
ply and commercial.
“He is a well-rounded
executive with almost two
decades of broad experi-
ence and leadership across
supply chain, manufactur-
ing, program management
and sales.
“He has a proven track
record of transforming
business units, optimising
end-to-end supply chains,
leading commercial organ-
isations to breakthrough
rose to N18.5 billion in
the first nine months
from N11.2 billion in the
same period of last year.
NAHCO’s other in-
come increased to
N277.52 million from
and delivering results
through a diverse and in-
clusive team in complex,
uncertain and disruptive
environments,” It added.
The incoming MD who
is a mechanical engineer
by training, has been with
Diageo since 2005. He has
held a variety of leadership
roles, including project lead
for a business transforma-
tion project in Meta Abo
Brewery Limited, Ethiopia.
In 2013, he moved to
Ethiopia on International
Assignment to join Dia-
geo’s Meta Abo Brewery
Limited’s leadership team
as the project lead for a
business transformation
project. He was subse-
quently promoted to Plant
Manager in 2014 and ap-
pointed Supply Chain Di-
rector in 2015.
He returned to Nige-
N241.3 million.
Rental income from
investment property
dropped to N152.21 mil-
lion from N156.26 mil-
lion.
Realised foreign ex-
ria in 2017 as operations
director and in pursuit of
his general management
ambition, he transitioned
to commercial taking up
several senior commercial
sales roles in Guinness.
Between 2019 and 2020,
Bayo was appointed and
served briefly as the Di-
rector for IPS, Reserve &
Modern Trade. In 2020,
Bayo was appointed as the
Commercial Director of
Guinness Nigeria.
Here is a timeline of Guin-
ness’s past MDs
John Musunga (Kenyan)
Before Alli was appointed
as managing director, John
Musunga, a Kenyan joined
Diageo in March 2021 and
was managing director of
Kenya Breweries Limited.
Before John was the MD,
change gain amounted
to N78.5 million from
a loss of N49.4 million.
Sundry income dipped
to N22.3 million from
N123.7 million.
NAHCO’s income
he had a highly successful
career at GSK where he
gained more than 25 years
of experience in senior lo-
cal, regional and global
roles.
Baker Magunda (Kenyan)
Magunda, a Kenyan took
over from Peter Ndegwa
as the CEO of Guinness Ni-
geria. He holds a Bachelor
of Economics (Honours)
from Makerere University
Uganda.
He joined Diageo in 1999
as marketing manager,
Uganda Breweries Lim-
ited and has held several
increased leadership roles
including Managing Di-
rector, Uganda Breweries
Limited, Managing Di-
rector, Kenya Breweries
Limited and Managing
Director, Diageo Guin-
Judith Ekwunife (m), winner of the Pitch-Your-Business Competition; Seun Babajide-Durosola (r), country
growth marketing manager, ALX Nigeria; and Chineze Amanfo, head of public relations, 9mobile, at the ALX
Costain Hub in Lagos.
from training services
increased to N3.73 mil-
lion from N1.48 million.
The firm’s profit after
tax rose to N4.96 billion
from N2.11 billion. Ad-
ministrative costs in-
creased to N3.41 billion
from N2.43 billion.
Net finance costs
stood at N145.01 mil-
lion, up from N57.38 mil-
lion. The company spent
N26.4 million on clearing
charges from N26.47 mil-
lion.
Consulting fees in-
creased to N99.4 mil-
lion from N23.88 million.
Registrar’s fees rose to
N11.36 million from
N9.54 million. However,
legal fees dropped to
N9.52 million from N20.9
million.
Depreciation surged
to N120.3 million from
N54.3 million in the
same period of 2022. In-
ventories amounted to
N620.7 million, driven by
ness Cameroon SA. Baker
joined Guinness Nigeria
from Diageo-owned Meta
Abo Breweries in Ethiopia
where he was the Manag-
ing Director.
Peter Ndegwa (Kenyan)
Peter Ndegwa was the man-
aging director of Guin-
ness Nigeria and oversaw
the transformation at the
company, including the
successful Rights Issue
and implementation of the
productivity programme.
John O’Keefe (Irish)
O’ Keefe, an Irishman
was Adetu’s successor.
He started his career as a
graduate trainee for Guin-
ness Ireland, holding many
marketing roles in Ireland
before moving to Jamaica
www.businessday.ng 21
spare parts worth N272.7
million, diesel and lub
worth N200.5 million
and general and medical
worth N147.5 million.
NAHCO’s earnings
per share stood at N2.53,
up from N1.29.
Earlier this year,
NAHCO Aviation Acad-
emy, a wholly–owned
subsidiary of the Nige-
rian Aviation Handling
Company Plc, was ac-
credited as an Approved
Training Organization
by the Nigeria Civil Avi-
ation Authority (NCAA).
NCAA declared in a
letter to the head of the
Academy dated March
21, 2023, that having met
all the requirements set
forth before accredita-
tion can be enabled,
“The academy has met
the requirements for
approval as an approved
training organisation in
compliance with the Nig.
CARs.”
as marketing director.
He became the MD of
Russia and Eastern Eu-
rope based in Russia be-
fore returning to Ireland
to take up his current role
as Global Head of Diageo
Innovation and Global
Head of Beer & Baileys.
O’Keefe has been a board
member of Guinness Nige-
ria for the past two years.
Seni Adetu (Nigerian)
Adetu, stepped down as
the company’s managing
director/chief executive
officer in November 2014,
after two and half years
in that position. Before
taking up the position,
he was the managing di-
rector of Guinness Ghana
Breweries Limited and
East African Breweries
Limited.
 22 www.businessday.ng
COMPANIES & MARKETS
South African billionaire family
acquires Nigeria’s GZ industries
By Olamide Ologunagbe
IN a move to capitalise on
Nigeria’s economic resur-
gence, Oppenheimer Part-
ners, a global investment
firm, has acquired full con-
trol of GZ Industries Lim-
ited, Nigeria’s top beverage
can manufacturer.
The firm is owned by the
Oppenheimer family, a top
billionaire family in South
Africa.
According to a statement
on Thursday from Affirma
who didn’t disclose further
details, the firm bought the
shares it didn’t own in GZ
Industries from Affirma
Capital, a private equity
formerly known as Standard
Chartered Private Equity.
“We are proud of the
work we have done to build
a market-leading, multina-
tional packaging business in
Africa. When we first invest-
ed in GZI, the business was a
Sasakawa, Kano government
partner to train local fabricators
By Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja
SASAKAWA Africa As-
sociation (SAA) in part-
nership with the Kano
state government, has
trained 45 indigenous fab-
ricators to manufacture
agro-processing machines
and boost agricultural
production in the state.
The move is aimed at
promoting mechanised
farming among farmers
in the state, under the
Kano State Agropasto-
ral Development Project
(KSADP), according to
Moses Nongoatse, com-
munication officer at
SAA.
He said the agricul-
tural sector in the state
is undergoing a trans-
formation driven by the
increasing adoption of
mechanisation, with a
AfDB, FSDH signs $20m deal to
support small businesses
By Folake Balogun
THE African Develop-
ment Bank (AfDB) has
signed a $20 million
trade finance facility
with FSDH to support
Small and Medium En-
terprises (SMEs) in Ni-
geria.
This was revealed by
Lamin Barrow, direc-
tor-general of Nigeria
Country Department at
AfDB, during the signing
ceremony on Thursday
in Lagos State.
Barrow highlighted
the pivotal role of trade
in economic develop-
ment, likening trade fi-
single-plant, single-country
operation,” said Ronald Ta-
male, founding partner and
sub-Saharan Africa head at
Affirma Capital.
The private equity firm
had a 37.5 percent stake
in the supplier of cans to
companies including Coca-
Cola Co.
With this acquisition,
the firm has expanded its
presence in Africa’s larg-
est economy, taking over
a company that produces
three billion aluminium
cans annually.
The move is also seen as a
strategic play to tap into the
region’s growing demand for
sugary drinks, with urban,
educated adults in sub-Sa-
haran Africa consuming the
most sugary drinks globally,
according to a Nature Com-
munications study.
“During our investment
period, we have navigated
complex macroeconomic
major focus on ensuring
increased productivity
and reducing farmers’
labour burden.
“In response to the
challenges faced by local
manufacturers of agricul-
tural machines, KSADP
funded by the Islamic
Development Bank Lives
and Livelihoods Funds
and the Kano government
has launched a training
program in collaboration
with the Agricultural
Engineering Department
workshop at the Institute
of Agricultural Research
of Ahmadu Bello Univer-
sity Zaria,” he said.
He added that the pro-
gram aims to enhance
the skills of local fab-
ricators and welders,
enabling them to produce
high-quality agricultur-
al machines that meet
nancing to its lubricant
while explaining that
the recently signed $20
million facility includes
a $15 million Trade Fi-
nance Line of Credit
dedicated to assisting
eligible SMEs and cor-
porates engaged in in-
ternational trade value
chains.
“FSDH and the AfDB
have enjoyed an endur-
ing partnership in sup-
porting SMEs and Nige-
rian Corporates engaged
in trade and export value
chains. In 2016, AfDB
extended a $50 million
Trade Finance Line of
Credit to FSDH. This 3.5–
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
BUSINESS EVENT
headwinds including fx il-
liquidity challenges in
Nigeria, supply chain dis-
ruptions, commodity price
volatility, and an uncertain
economic outlook in GZI’s
core markets.
“Despite this, we’ve re-
mained disciplined by focus-
ing on delivering growth,
margin expansion, and the
protection of shareholder
value. The sale of our stake L-R: Rotimi Odusola, corporate relations/company secretary, Guinness Nigeria plc; Bright Okpocha aka
Basketmouth, brand ambassador, Orijin; Adebayo Alli, incoming managing director; and Mark Mugisha,
to Oppenheimer Partners
marketing/innovation director, all of Guinness Nigeria PLC, at the launch of the Orijin Limited Edition packs
demonstrates the robustness held at the Guinness HQ, in Lagos.
of our partnership since
2018,” Tamale said.
The acquisition of GZ
Industries aligns with Op-
penheimer Partners’ long-
standing track record of
successful investments in
Africa. Since 2008, the firm
has invested in 11 compa-
nies across the continent,
completing exits from eight
of them and generating over
$800 million in returns for
investors.
the needs of smallholder Iheanyi Anyahara (l), director, accounting standards, public sector, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria;
farmers. and Rabiu Olowo, executive secretary/CEO, at the FRC media roundtable held earlier today in Lagos.
“So far, 45 local
fabricators(selected from
the 44 LGAs of the state)
have been trained and
empowered with weld-
ing and fabrication kits
worth N8.5 million to
enhance their trade. The
kits include a pair of
welding Helmets, Safety
Glasses, Welding inverter
machines, Angle grind-
ers, safety booths, and
protective gloves.”
“ T h e t r a i n i n g p r o-
gram facilitated by the
Sasakawa Africa Asso-
ciation, implementing
the crop component of
the KSADP, focused on
practical skills develop-
ment, with 90 percent of
the training dedicated to
hands-on activities,” he
said.
Demola Sogunle, chief executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, with beneficiaries at the ninth edition of its
annual flagship Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiative, the Together4ALimb walk, to show support
for children with limb loss.
year facility performed
well,” he said.
He added that the
bank has supported more
than 370 transactions,
catalysed $375 million
of trade and benefitted
60 SMEs and Corpora-
tions in critical sectors
including energy, agri-
business, health and
boosting intra-Africa
trade.
He further highlight-
ed AfDB’s support for
more than 120 financial
institutions across 30
African countries, re- L-R: Bolaji Alausa, executive creative director, Noah’s Ark Communications Limited; Jumoke Akinyele, as-
sociate business director; Chris Wulff-Caesar, marketing director, Sub-Sahara Africa, FrieslandCampina
sulting in the catalysis of WAMCO; Omolara Banjoko, marketing manager, Peak Milk; and Lanre Adisa, chief executive officer, Noah’s
over $10 billion in trade Ark Communications Limited, during the presentation of LAIF Awards won by Noah’s Ark to FrieslandCampina
over the past decade. WAMCO in Lagos.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
L-R: John Everington, Middle East and Africa editor, The Banker; Joyce Dimkpa, head, client coverage, Stanbic IBTC Bank; Demola
Sogunle, chief executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings; Jola Adeyemi, senior manager, telecoms, media and technology, client coverage,
Standard Bank Group; Tokunbo Aturamu, head, debt capital markets, Stanbic IBTC Capital; and Krishnan Guru-Murthy, host of the
awards, at the Financial Times’ The Banker magazine’s Bank of the Year Awards 2023 in London.
COMMERCIAL BANKING
CBN declares no transactions on
accounts without BVN, NIN March 2024
…makes BVN, NIN mandatory for all bank accounts opening
By Hope Moses-Ashike
THE Central Bank of Nige-
ria (CBN) on Friday said
all accounts without Bank
Verification Number (BVN)
and the National Identity
Number (NIN) would be re-
stricted from transactions
starting from March 1, 2024.
This comes as the apex
has made BVN and NIN
mandatory for all bank ac-
counts opening.
This was disclosed in a
circular jointly signed by
Chibuzo Efobi, director,
payment system manage-
ment department, and Ha-
runa Mustafa, financial
policy and regulation de-
partment.
The move followed the
CBN’s efforts toward pro-
moting financial system
stability by strengthening
the Know Your Customer
(KYC) procedures in finan-
cial institutions.
Consequently, imple-
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
FG woos British Govt into Nigeria’s mining sector
….insists on local value addition as a prerequisite for exportation
By Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja
THE Federal Government
has begun talks with the
British Government aimed
at winning them as inves-
tors to the Nigeria’s mining
sector.
Dele Alake, Nigeria’s
Minister of Solid Minerals
Development, in a meeting
with Oliver Dowden, Brit-
ish deputy prime minister,
said Nigeria with large de-
posits of minerals, is ready
to partner with investors
from the United Kingdom.
The minister, in a state-
ment issued to BusinessDay
by Segun Tomori, his spe-
mentation shall be as fol-
lows: effective immediately,
no new Tier 1 accounts and
wallets should be opened
without BVN or NIN, the
circular stated.
For all existing Tier1
accounts/wallets without
BVN or NIN, the CBN said
effective immediately, any
unfunded account/wallet
shall be placed on “Post No
Debit or Credit” until the
new process is satisfied.
Effective March 1, 2024,
all funded accounts or wal-
lets shall be placed on “Post
No Debit or Credit ‘’ and
no further transactions
permitted.
The BVN or NIN at-
tached to and/or associated
with all accounts/waliets
must be electronically re-
validated by January 31,
2024.
“Accordingly the CBN
hereby issues an amend-
ment to Section 1.5.3 of the
Regulatory Framework for
cial assistant on Media, said
that the Administration of
President Bola Ahmed Ti-
nubu had introduced value
addition as a priority policy
in the sector, stressing po-
tential investment in the
lithium value chain.
He said, “Our new policy
places emphasis on local
value addition rather than
export of raw minerals so
that the value of our min-
eral products can increase.
“If Nigeria is not doing
well, Britain should be
concerned. And if Nigeria is
doing well, Britain can ben-
efit from the opportunities.
The Nigerian team would
NEWS
Bank Verification Num-
ber (BVN) Operations and
Watch-List for the Nige-
rian Banking industry (The
Guidelines),” the circular
said.
In this regard, the CBN
said, it is mandatory for all
Tier-1 bank accounts and
wallets for individuals to
have BVN and/or NIN.
The circular said it re-
mains mandatory for Tiers
2 and 3 accounts and wallets
for individual accounts to
have BVN and NIN.
According to the circu-
lar, the process for account
opening shall commence
by electronically retriev-
ing BVN, adding that NIN
related information from
the NIBSS BVN or NIMC’s
NIN databases and for the
same to become the primary
information for onboarding
of new customers.
“All existing customer
accounts/wallets for in-
dividuals with validated
be willing to sit down with
their British counterparts
to take the discussion to the
next level,” he said.
Hosting the meeting,
Dowden, said he chairs the
British National Economic
Security Council, which is
interested in partnering
with Nigeria on energy
minerals such as lithium.
According to him, the
meeting is to kick off a
discussion between both
countries and that officials
of the Department of Trade
and investors will sit down
to work out the details of
the partnership.
Speaking further,
BVN shall be profiled by
the NIBSS ICAD mediately
and within 24hrs of open-
ing accounts/wallets,” the
circular reads.
To ensure uniform and
full compliance, the Execu-
tive Compliance Officers,
Chief Compliance Officers
or Heads of the Compliance
Functions are advised to ac-
quaint themselves with the
attached Guidance Notes
which becomes applicable
to all institutions regulated
by the CBN.
Also, a comprehensive
BVN and NIN audit shall
be conducted shortly and
where breaches are identi-
fied, appropriate sanctions
shail be applied.
Finally, all financial in-
stitutions regulated by CBN
are required to apply strict
compliance on restrictions
on Tier 1 accounts/wallets
as they relate to limits on
transaction values and cu-
mulative balances.
Dowden commended the
Nigeria Government for the
policy on value addition,
adding that going up the
value chain would create
more economic opportuni-
ties for partnership be-
tween both countries.
He highlighted the im-
portance of the relationship
between both countries, ob-
serving that if the relations
were bad, Britain would
not be bothered with the
supplies. “You are right on
value addition. If the pro-
cessing then happens with-
in a Third World Country
we are comfortable with,
that would be good.”
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Senate to create employment
database for artisans
By Goddsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja
THE Nigerian Senate has
promised to facilitate the
establishment of a database
for all local artisans across
the country.
The database will be the
major source that companies
and government agencies
will visit for the recruitment
of workers.
Natasha Akpoti-Udu-
aghan, Chairman, Commit-
tee on Local Content, made
the declaration at an interac-
tive session with officials of
the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) at the
Senate Complex, Abuja.
She claimed that the da-
tabase would help to reduce
the rate of unemployment
among Nigerian youths and
encourage the locals to work
effectively in conducive
environments.
“Local Content Com-
mittee intends to deploy
innovative thinking for
positive results, thus, we
are building a database of
carefully profiled artisans
who have been trained by
NDDC, SMEDAN, etc and
work modalities to have the
oil & gas companies, as well
as government contractors,
recruit from the pool of veri-
ECONOMY
Shettima inaugurates MSMEs
Council as FG directs adoption of
technology for economic growth
By Tony Ailemen, Abuja
VICE President Kashim
Shettima at the weekend
inaugurated the Nation-
al Council on the Micro,
Small and Medium Enter-
prises (MSMEs), asking its
members to adopt and uti-
lize technology and their
expertise to enhance the
nation’s economic growth.
BusinessDay repprts
that the Council’s mandate
includes formulating poli-
cies to drive MSME devel-
opment, fostering public-
private partnerships, and
promoting inter-agency
collaboration.
The members of the
newly inaugurated Coun-
cil include the Vice Presi-
dent (Chairman); Minister
of Industry, Trade and
Investment (Vice Chair-
man); two Governors from
each of the 6 geo-political
zones; Ministers of Agri-
culture, Innovation, Sci-
ence and Technology, and
Communication, Innova-
tion and Digital Economy;
the Senior Special Assis-
tant to the President on
Job Creation and MSMEs;
a representative of the Pri-
vate Sector; and the Direc-
tor General of SMEDAN
(Secretary).
Emphasizing President
Bola Tinubu’s unwavering
commitment to improving
www.businessday.ng 23
fied workforce.
“This would help curb
unemployment by keeping
the jobs locally. Such a proj-
ect would also help the Local
content board, NDDC and
other agencies monitor and
evaluate the performance
of our collective capacity-
building efforts towards
achieving a common micro-
economic growth for Nigeria
and Africa at large.
“NDDC should consider
being the primary recruiters
of their trained workforce.
Artisans or skilled profes-
sionals such as ICT workers
can be absorbed by NDDC
contractors, which in turn,
will enable the commission
to reach the most vulner-
able and neglected youth”
Akpoti-Uduaghan said.
The chairman of the Sen-
ate Committee lauded the
management of the NDDC
for signing an agreement
with Nigeria LNG Limited
(NLNG), to develop local
content capacity.
Samuel Ogbuku, Man-
aging Director of NDDC,
assured that the manage-
ment of the commission will
continue to support local
artisans. He promised to con-
tinue engaging local artisans
for recruitment procedures.
job security, Shettima not-
ed that MSMEs are critical
to the nation’s economic
growth, tasking younger
Nigerians on driving job
creation and economic
stimulation.
“This Council has a piv-
otal role to play in rekin-
dling hope in the Nigerian
project as President Tinu-
bu is irrevocably commit-
ted to addressing the job
security situation, espe-
cially within the MSMEs
and the younger popula-
tion”, he added.
Recognizing the poten-
tial of technology, the Vice
President urged members
to leverage on its power to
streamline processes and
enhance service delivery.
The inauguration cer-
emony was attended by
Ministers, Director Gen-
erals of relevant agencies,
and representatives of
MSMEs and industry as-
sociations.
The National Council
on MSMEs is a high-level
body established to pro-
vide strategic direction
and oversight for the de-
velopment of the MSME
sector in Nigeria.
The Council is chaired
by the Vice President and
comprises key stakehold-
ers from government, in-
dustry, and the private
sector.
24 www.businessday.ng
LOAN RECOVERY
Senate may direct EFCC to recover
N135bn CBN loan to oil firms
By Godsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja
THE Nigerian Senate has
threatened to involve the
Economic and Finan-
cial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) to recover the
Central Bank of Nigeria’s
(CBN) intervention loan of
N135 billion given to 15 oil
and gas companies.
The Senate Committee
on Gas Resources made this
threat when the oil and gas
firms appeared before the
lawmakers to explain how
they utilized the loan. The
loan was disbursed under
the Nigeria Gas Expansion
Programme intervention
fund of the CBN.
Jarigbe said Nipco
Gas Ltd obtained N25 bil-
lion - (N25,000,000,000.00);
Nipco Plc got N5 billion
- (N5,000,000,000.00); Hyde
Energy Ltd received N2
billion - (N2,000,000,000.00);
L-R: Uwamai Igein, chairman, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) Golf Tournament; Bola Olumegbon Lawal, special adviser
to Lagos State governor; Charles Ojo, MD/CEO, I World; Cecillia Bolaji Dada, commissioner for Women Affairs; Eddie Efekoha, group MD/
CEO, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance; and Tayo Babalakin, deputy chairman, NBCC Golf Tournament, at the NBCC Golf Tournament,
2023 sponsored by Wakanow and Greenwich Merchant Bank which took place at the Ikeja Golf Club, Lagos
REVENUE GENERATION
Oyo enforces tax clearance certificate as
precondition for business transactions
By Remi Feyisipo, Ibadan
AS part of measures to en-
sure seamlessly improved
revenue generation in the
State, the Oyo State Govern-
ment has directed all Min-
istries, Departments and
Agencies (MDAs) as well
as the Local Government
Councils to dishonour any
transactions and contracts
without a proof of valid tax
clearance certificate by the
contractors.
Adebowale Awakan, Ex-
ecutive Chairman of Oyo
State Internal Revenue
Service (OYIRS) stated
this in a meeting with all
the revenue generating
and Lee Engineering And
Construction Company got
N15 billion - (N15,000,000,000
00) from the gas expansion
intervention fund.
Others were Pinnacle
Oil And Gas Fze, which
received N10 billion -
(N10,000,000,000.00); Transit
Gas Limited got N8 billion
- (N8,000,000,000.00); Amal-
gamated Oil Company Nig
Ltd (AMOCON) obtained N5
billion - (N5,000,000,000.00);
and Gas Nexus Ltd had N10
billion - (N10,000,000,000.00).
First Modular Gas Sys-
tems Limited secured N4.3
billion - (N4,300,000,000.00);
Novagas Limited got N1
billion - (N1,000,000,000.00);
Greenville Liquified
Natu ral Gas Compan y
received N10 billion -
(N10,000,000,000.00) and AP
LPG Limited had N8 billion
- (N8,000,000,000.00).
Dangote Oil Refin-
MDAs of the government,
noting that there has been
a continuous violation of
the provision of Section
85 of The Personal Income
Tax Act, Cap P8 LFN 2004,
(as amended), and Section
40(5)(a) of the Revenue Ad-
ministration Law of Oyo
State, 2015, (as amended),
and the consequential loss
of revenue to the Govern-
ment.
Awakan, who commend-
ed the effort of the State
Governor, Seyi Makinde,
who has not relented in ful-
filling his promises to the
people of the State despite
the economic situation of
the Country, but willing to
NEWS
ery received N5 billion
- (N5,000,000,000.00); Delta
State Government got N20
billion - (N20,000,000,000.00);
and Mob Integrated Ser-
vices Limited obtained N2.5
billion - (N2,500,000,000.00)
from the gas expansion
intervention fund.
Jarigbe explained that
members of his Committee
had observed that some of
the oil and gas companies
did not utilise the fund for
the purpose it was obtained.
The Committee Chair-
man stated that Federal law-
makers would not hesitate
to involve anti-corruption
agencies to forcefully recov-
er the funds from any of the
companies which failed to
utilise the loan judiciously.
“The task of the com-
mittee is to ensure that the
companies expended the
funds on what they collect-
ed it for. The observation of
do even more in as much
as the people are ready
to cooperate with him by
performing their civic du-
ties of regular and prompt
payment of their taxes to
the Government.
According to him, the
continuous violation of the
revenue laws and the conse-
quential loss of revenue is
what necessitated the meet-
ing with all the revenue
generating MDAs of the
Government, consequently,
the compulsory enforce-
ment of the use of a valid
Tax Clearance Certificate
by them in their subsequent
dealings with Financial
Institutions, Business Own-
the committee is that there
are inconsistencies in the
process and the committee
may not hesitate to involve
the Economic and Finan-
cial Crimes Commission to
recover the funds”, he said.
Jarigbe complained that
some of the companies did
not follow the guidelines
and standard procedures
before obtaining the loan.
“Some of the benefi-
ciaries did not follow the
guidelines. For instance,
the Ministry of Petroleum
Resources is not even
aware that the funds have
been released.
“The guidelines stated
clearly without ambiguity
that they are supposed to
evaluate the ministry be-
fore the list of the qualified
ones would be sent to the
CBN for them to access the
loans but that was not done
properly”, he added.
ers, Professional Bodies,
e.t.c.
The Chairman there-
fore, called for maximum
cooperation of all the MDAs
as the Board leverages on
the services being rendered
by them to the public to
generate income for the
Government.
He concluded that the
duty of the Board is to moni-
tor and coordinate the reve-
nue generation of all MDAs.
He added that tax payment
has now been made easy,
and everyone can do it on
their phone by download-
ing “Revenue Mobile” on
playstore powered by ICMA
and follow the steps.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
INFRASTRUCTURE
MAN decries poor
road infrastructure in
South-South region
By Mike Abang, Calabar
FRANCIS Meshioye, Na-
tional President of Man-
ufactural Association of
Nigeria (MAN) has called
for synergy and partner-
ship between the Federal
Ministry of Works and and
the South-South State to fix
the deplorable roads infra-
structure.
The MAN president
made the call at the 16th
Annual General Meeting /
Public Lecture of the Manu-
facturers Association of
Nigeria MAN Cross River/
Akwa-Ibom State Branch
with the Theme Sustaining
Local Production in a chal-
lenging and Competitive
Economy, the Manufacturer
Perspective.
According to Francis
Meshioye the Cross River
and Akwa Ibom States Gov-
ernment should work in
partnership with the Fed-
eral Ministry of Works to
ensure that all the Federal
roads within the states are
rehabilitated and recon-
structed to ease movement
of goods and persons.
“State Governments
should ensure that all ap-
proved taxes and levies
payable to the States and
Local Government are har-
monized and made available
to the public”
‘This will enable our
members to know what to
pay and pay accordingly.
The use of touts to harass
vehicles of companies on the
road should be completely
eradicated.
“Your Excellency, the
Governor of Cross River
State, our host State, on be-
half of the Cross River and
Akwa Ibom States Branch
of the Manufacturers Asso-
ciation of Nigeria (MAN),
we appeal for your a Ad-
APPOINTMENT
CBN appoints Hakama Ali as
new head of communication
By Hope Moses-Ashike
THE Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) has ap-
pointed Hakama Sidi Ali,
a public relations practi-
tioner, as the new acting
director of its corporate
communications.
Ali is a recognised
member of the Nigeria
Institute of Public Rela-
tions (NIPR), who served
as deputy director in the
same department at the
Bank before her latest ap-
pointment.
According to a report,
NIPR has for years sus-
tained the campaign to
stop government agen-
cies, individuals and
corporate organisations
from the illegal practice
ministration’s support to
provide land for the build-
ing of our Secretariat or
donate a building to be used
as our secretariat here in
Calabar.
“Esteemed members, let
me re-assure you that I will
continue to give priority to is-
sues affecting the manufactur-
ing sector. We shall continue
to strive towards ensuring
that Government provides
the much-needed enabling
environment for our huge in-
vestments to thrive and create
jobs for our youths”
“This is to ensure that
our youths do not channel
their abundant energies to
untoward endeavors. We
continue to engage minis-
tries, heads of government
agencies and parastatals on
policies that have effect on
the real sector.
“On your part as mem-
bers of MAN, I urge you to
always fulfil your member-
ship obligation by prompt
payment of your annual sub-
scription and completion
/ return of questionnaires
and other data which you
may be required to provide
from time to time.
Earlier, Akin Oyediran,
the Cross River State/Akwa
Ibom State Branch Chair-
man of MAN, said the theme
of the 16th (AGM) - Sustain-
ing Local Production in a
Challenging Competitive
Economy: the Manufacturer
Perspective - was carefully
chosen considering the un-
bearable challenges that
have influenced the cost of
production in our respected
factories.
“This was necessitated
by the fact that manufac-
turers have continued to
dwindle on the challenges
of sustaining production
amid the current global
challenges”, he added.
of appointing non-pro-
fessionals and quacks as
spokespersons.
Consequently, the ap-
pointment of Ali by CBN
is in consonance with the
Nigeria Institute of Pub-
lic Relations’ stance on
the compulsory appoint-
ment of a certified mem-
ber of the professional
body as spokesperson of
government agencies,
corporate organisations
or individuals.
BusinessDay reports
that Ali is a 1992 graduate
of the Bayero University,
Kano, where she bagged
a Bachelor of Arts Degree
in Mass Communication.
Ali also has an MSc in
Mass Communication and
PGDE in English Language.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng 25
26 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023

LIVE @ THE EXCHANGES

Prices for Securities Traded as of Friday 01 December 2023
Company Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume Company Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities)

 MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng 27
PUBLIC
#

FMDQ Daily Quotations List 1-Dec-23

The FMDQ Daily Quotations List (DQL) contains data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities and instruments in the financial market (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute professional, financial or investment advice. We attempt to ensure the Information is accurate; however, the Information is provided “AS
IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE” basis and may not be accurate or up to date. We do not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for a particular purpose of any of the Information, neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the information.
Bonds

Rating/Agency Issuer Description Outstanding Value TTM Yield (%)

Issue Date Coupon (%) Maturity Date Closing Price
(₦’bn) (Yrs)
Benchmark Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds
^13.53 23-MAR-2025 23-Mar-18 13.53 562.45 23-Mar-25 1.31 14.30 99.05
^12.50 22-JAN-2026 22-Jan-16 12.50 1199.74 22-Jan-26 2.14 13.40 98.33
^16.2884 17-MAR-2027 17-Mar-17 16.29 948.84 17-Mar-27 3.29 14.31 105.00
^13.98 23-FEB-2028 23-Feb-18 13.98 1642.61 23-Feb-28 4.23 15.28 96.00
^14.55 26-APR-2029 26-Apr-19 14.55 988.75 26-Apr-29 5.40 15.91 95.16
^12.50 27-APR-2032 27-Apr-22 12.50 842.54 27-Apr-32 8.40 16.14 83.55
^12.1493 18-JUL-2034 18-Jul-14 12.15 1075.92 18-Jul-34 10.63 16.31 79.28
^12.50 27-MAR-2035 27-Mar-20 12.50 972.04 27-Mar-35 11.32 16.36 80.35
^12.40 18-MAR-2036 18-Mar-16 12.40 926.14 18-Mar-36 12.29 16.30 79.49
^16.2499 18-APR-2037 18-Apr-17 16.25 1796.66 18-Apr-37 13.38 16.51 98.57
^13.00 21-JAN-2042 21-Jan-22 13.00 1393.75 21-Jan-42 18.14 16.87 78.22
^14.80 26-APR-2049 26-Apr-19 14.80 1765.67 26-Apr-49 25.40 17.42 85.15
^12.98 27-MAR-2050 27-Mar-20 12.98 1595.41 27-Mar-50 26.32 17.49 74.48

FGN Sukuk
16.47 FGNSK 26-SEP-2024 26-Sep-17 16.47 100.00 26-Sep-24 0.82 13.06 102.51
FGN Roads Sukuk Company 1 PLC 15.743 FGNSK 28-DEC-2025 28-Dec-18 15.74 100.00 28-Dec-25 2.07 13.57 103.78
11.20 FGNSK 16-JUN-2027 16-Jun-20 11.20 162.56 16-Jun-27 3.54 14.56 90.93

FGN Green Bond

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA 14.50 FGNGB 13-JUN-2026 13-Jun-19 14.50 15.00 13-Jun-26 2.53 13.71 101.63

Outstanding Value Avg. Life/

Rating/Agency Issuer Description Issue Date Coupon (%) Maturity Date Risk Premium Valuation Yield (%) Modelled Price
(₦’bn) TTM (Yrs)

Sub-National Bonds
LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT 17.25 LAGOS IIB 11-AUG-2027 11-Aug-17 17.25 33.35 11-Aug-27 2.16 1.00 14.60 104.46
AA-/GCR; A+/Agusto
LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT 13.00 LAGOS IV 20-DEC-2031 20-Dec-21 13.00 136.95 20-Dec-31 4.97 1.00 16.67 88.63

Corporate Bonds
A-/GCR FCMB LIMITED 17.25 FCMB III 8-DEC-2023 09-Dec-16 17.25 5.10 08-Dec-23 0.02 1.36 4.14 100.23

AA+/GCR DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 12.50 DANGCEM I 30-APR-2025 24-Apr-20 12.50 100.00 30-Apr-25 1.41 2.84 16.97 94.54

Bbb-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro PARTHIAN PARTNERS FUNDING SPV PLC 13.50 PAPF SPV I 27-Jul-2025 27-Jul-22 13.50 10.00 27-Jul-25 1.65 2.11 16.04 96.38

BBB+/GCR; A-/Agusto UNION BANK OF NIGERIA PLC 15.75 UNION II 3-SEP-2025 07-Sep-18 15.75 6.31 03-Sep-25 1.76 1.42 15.24 100.69

BBB-/GCR; Bbb/Agusto WEMA FUNDING SPV PLC 16.50 WEMA FUNDING SPV II 12-OCT-2025 12-Oct-18 16.50 17.68 12-Oct-25 1.86 3.78 17.49 98.42

Aa/Agusto ACCESS BANK PLC 15.50 ACCESS BANK 23-JUL-2026 23-Jul-19 15.50 30.00 23-Jul-26 1.89 2.94 16.61 98.25

AA+/GCR; B3/Moody DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 11.85 DANGCEM IIA 30-APR-2027 27-Apr-22 11.85 4.27 30-Apr-27 3.41 1.03 15.48 90.62

AAA/GCR; BBB+/DataPro VIATHAN FUNDING PLC 16.00 VIATHAN (GTD) 14-DEC-2027 15-Dec-17 16.00 7.06 14-Dec-27 2.29 1.00 14.63 102.47

A+/Agusto; AA-/DataPro CERPAC RECEIVABLES FUNDING SPV PLC 14.50 CERPAC-SPV III 15-JUL-2028 10-Sep-21 14.50 1.25 15-Jul-28 3.06 3.29 17.42 93.39

A-/GCR; A/DataPro ARDOVA PLC 13.30 ARDOVA PLC IA 12-NOV-2028 12-Nov-21 13.30 10.40 12-Nov-28 2.70 1.51 15.35 95.80

AA+/GCR; B3/Moody DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 12.35 DANGCEM IIB 30-APR-2029 27-Apr-22 12.35 23.34 30-Apr-29 5.41 1.12 16.99 83.94

BBB+/GCR; A-/Agusto UNION BANK OF NIGERIA PLC 16.20 UNION III 27-JUN-2029 27-Jun-19 16.20 30.00 27-Jun-29 5.57 3.35 19.27 89.75

AAA/GCR; Aa/Agusto *NMRC 14.90 NMRC I 29-JUL-2030 29-Jul-15 14.90 5.71 29-Jul-30 3.92 1.00 15.96 97.16

A-/GCR; A/DataPro ARDOVA PLC 13.65 ARDOVA PLC IB 12-NOV-2031 12-Nov-21 13.65 13.04 12-Nov-31 4.20 1.73 16.92 91.13

AA+/GCR; B3/Moody DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 13.00 DANGCEM IIC 30-APR-2032 27-Apr-22 13.00 88.40 30-Apr-32 8.41 1.52 17.66 79.94

Aa/Agusto; AAA/GCR *NMRC 13.80 NMRC II 15-MAR-2033 21-May-18 13.80 9.26 15-Mar-33 5.79 1.00 16.94 89.37

AA/GCR; A-/Agusto NSP-SPV POWERCORP PLC 15.60 NSP-SPV GB (GTD) 27-FEB-2034 27-Feb-19 15.60 8.50 27-Feb-34 10.24 1.56 17.83 89.57

Outstanding Value Closing Price

Rating/Agency Issuer Description Issue Date Coupon (%) Maturity Date TTM Yield (%)
($’mm)
FGN Eurobonds

B2/Moody's; B/S&P; B+/Fitch 7.625 21-NOV-2025 21-Nov-18 7.625 1118.35 21-Nov-25 1.98 9.14 97.34

B2/Moody's; B/S&P; B+/Fitch 6.50 NOV 28, 2027 28-Nov-17 6.500 1500.00 28-Nov-27 3.99 10.18 88.18

B2/Moody's; B/S&P; B-/Fitch 8.375 MAR 24, 2029 24-Mar-22 8.375 1250.00 24-Mar-29 5.32 10.43 91.78

B2/Moody's; B/S&P; B+/Fitch 8.747 JAN 21, 2031 21-Nov-18 8.747 1000.00 21-Jan-31 7.15 10.81 89.93

B1/Moody's; B/S&P; B+/Fitch 7.875 16-FEB-2032 16-Feb-17 7.875 1500.00 16-Feb-32 8.22 10.81 84.30

B2/Moody's; B/S&P; B+/Fitch 7.625 NOV 28, 2047 28-Nov-17 7.625 1500.00 28-Nov-47 24.01 10.91 72.23

B2/Moody's; B/S&P; B+/Fitch 9.248 JAN 21, 2049 21-Nov-18 9.248 750.00 21-Jan-49 25.16 11.39 82.34

Outstanding Value
Rating/Agency Issuer Description Issue Date Issue Yield (%) Maturity Date Days to Maturity Risk Premium Valuation Yield (%) Discount Rate (%)
(₦’bn)
Commercial Papers

A3GCR; BBB/Agusto GREENWICH MERCHANT BANK LIMITED GMBL CP II 8-DEC-23 14-Mar-23 14.00 4.81 08-Dec-23 7 9.62 12.40 12.38

A1DataPro FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC FDHP CP IV 11-DEC-23 17-Mar-23 14.50 5.00 11-Dec-23 10 7.83 10.76 10.73

A2DataPro; A3/GCR STERLING BANK PLC STBP CP IV 12-DEC-23 20-Mar-23 13.50 33.82 12-Dec-23 11 6.83 9.81 9.78

A1DataPro; A2/GCR MECURE INDUSTRIES LIMITED MCIL CP VIII 27-DEC-23 04-Apr-23 17.50 4.50 27-Dec-23 26 8.82 12.53 12.42

A3GCR CARDINALSTONE PARTNERS LIMITED CSPL CP III 16-JAN-24 17-Jul-23 14.00 4.35 16-Jan-24 46 9.91 14.55 14.29

A1+GCR RAND MERCHANT BANK NIGERIA LIMITED RMBL CP VI 31-JAN-24 10-May-23 13.35 6.05 31-Jan-24 61 5.37 10.75 10.56

A-/Agusto; A1/Datapro FLOUR MILLS OF NIGERIA PLC FLOURMILLS CP III 29-FEB-24 05-Jul-23 13.50 55.00 29-Feb-24 90 8.97 15.72 15.13

A1DataPro UAC OF NIGERIA PLC UACN CP VI 19-MAR-24 23-Jun-23 13.50 0.56 19-Mar-24 109 6.10 13.74 13.20

AAAGCR; Aa+/Agusto MTN NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS PLC MTNN CP VII 14-MAY-24 23-Aug-23 13.50 72.39 14-May-24 165 4.16 14.25 13.39

A2/GCR DUFIL PRIMA FOODS PLC DUFIL PRIMA CP III 25-JUL-24 31-Oct-23 16.93 17.19 25-Jul-24 237 3.38 15.26 13.89

Days to Maturity Maturity Closing Rate (%) Yield (%) Tenor Rate ($/₦) Tenor Rate ($/₦)
Benchmark Nigerian Treasury Bills Currency Spot Exchange-Traded FX Futures

55 25-Jan-24 5.00 5.04 NAFEM 927.19 3M 938.66

69 8-Feb-24 7.24 7.34 ^^Currency Forwards 6M 969.85
97 7-Mar-24 6.95 7.08 1M 875.84 12M 924.72
132 11-Apr-24 8.57 8.85 2M 882.43
160 9-May-24 9.87 10.32 3M 890.29
188 6-Jun-24 10.37 10.95 6M 910.27
223 11-Jul-24 10.99 11.78 1Y 960.14
251 8-Aug-24 11.66 12.68
279 5-Sep-24 11.97 13.18 Tenor Rate (%) FGN Bond Futures Settlement Price (%)
328 24-Oct-24 13.00 14.72 Money Market Tenor 2Y Bond Futures 10Y Bond Futures
Benchmark Open Market Operation Bills OPR 15.75 3M 98.88 81.04

249 6-Aug-24 11.00 11.89 O/N 16.32 12M 105.51 82.78

333 29-Oct-24 15.00 17.38

Funds

Net Asset Value Bid Price Offer Price Yield No. of Units
Fund Name Fund Manager Valuation Date Units in Issue Net Asset Value Per Unit No. of Units Outstanding
(₦’bn) (₦) (₦) (%) Redeemed
Cordros Money Market Fund Cordros Asset Management Limited 5.59 28-Nov-23 55,882,580.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 9.98 605,297.00 99,394,703.00

First Ally Asset Management Money Market 0.29 1,500,000,000.00 0.19 1.00 1.00 8.47 0.00 1,500,000,000.00
First Ally Asset Management Limited 30-Nov-23
Fund

FSDH Treasury Bills Money Market Fund FSDH Asset Management Limited 5.88 3-Aug-22 58,775,699.00 100.00 100.00 1.00 7.61 0.00 500,000,000.00

Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund Greenwich Asset Management Limited 243.11 28-Dec-22 243,106,021,464.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 13.21 2,234,657,513.00 497,765,342,487.00

SFS Fixed Income Fund SFS Capital Nigeria Limited 6.86 30-Nov-23 6,233,442,141.00 1.10 1.10 1.10 10.03 0.00 10,000,000,000.00

Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited 36.68 22-Nov-23 143,632,877.00 255.36 255.36 255.36 N/A 7,856,746.00 992,143,254.00

Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited 383.35 22-Nov-23 383,351,201,101.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 N/A 1,357,028,025.00 498,642,971,975.00

Emerging Africa Money Market Fund Emerging Africa Asset Management Limited 2.77 16-Nov-23 2,776,683,748.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 12.58 2,776,683,748.00 2,223,316,252.00

Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund Emerging Africa Asset Management Limited 0.50 16-Nov-23 396,008,069.00 1.25 1.25 1.25 25.97 396,008,069.00 603,991,931.00

Emerging Africa Bond Fund Emerging Africa Asset Management Limited 0.74 16-Nov-23 678,642,613.00 1.09 1.09 1.09 9.55 678,642,613.00 321,357,387.00

Net Asset Value Bid Price Offer Price Yield No. of Units
Fund Name Fund Manager Valuation Date Units in Issue Net Asset Value Per Unit No. of Units Outstanding
($’bn) ($) ($) (%) Redeemed

Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited 0.49 22-Nov-23 336,396,538.00 1.45 1.45 1.45 N/A 238,831.00 399,761,169.00

Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund Emerging Africa Asset Management Limited 0.003 16-Nov-23 23,924.00 106.62 106.62 106.62 5.68 23,924.00 26,076.00

Net Asset Value No. of Units

Fund Name Fund Manager Valuation Date Units in Issue Net Asset Value Per Unit Bid Price (₦) Offer Price (₦) Yield (%) No. of Units Outstanding
(₦’bn) Redeemed

Chapel Hill Denham Infrastructure Debt Fund Chapel Hill Denham Management Limited 92.65 30-Sep-23 853,941,882.00 108.50 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Fund Name Issuer Net Asset Value (₦’bn) No. of Units BidPrice (₦) OfferPrice (₦) Yield (%) No. of Units
Valuation Date Net Asset Value Per Unit No. Units of Outstanding
Issued Redeemed

Vetiva Funds Manager Limited Vetiva Funds Manager Limited 0.46 3,520,359.000 129.47 128.47 130.47 N/A 1,550,000.00 3,520,359.00
29-Nov-23
Composition: 5.23% Tbills; 94.77% FGN Bonds

NOTE: NAFEM : Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market

FRN: Federal #Risk Premium is a combination
* : Amortising Bond (Average life is calculated & not the FGN: Federal ^^ Indicative FX Forward
^ : Market Prices PT: Permitted Trading GTD: Guaranteed N/A : Not Available Republic of of credit risk and liquidity risk
This is an abridged version of the DQL, that represents the outstanding values and market capitalisation of Term-to-Maturity) Government of Nigeria Rates
Nigeria premiums
the asset classes listed, quoted or have been granted permitted trading status on FMDQ. This version may
be different to what is contained in the full DQL available on FMDQ's website (www.fmdqgroup.com)
28 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023

9 DECEMBER 2 023 | 6PM

LAGOS CONTINENTAL HOTEL

OVERVIEW
The BusinessDay Nigerian Business Leadership Awards recognises remarkable business leaders and
outstanding organizations in Nigeria’s real sector for their sustained commitment to excellence in
enterprise.
The Awards honour private sector leaders who have:
• Made significant contributions to the Nigerian economy through jobs creation, national development
and fostering of international trade
• Shaped the Nigerian economy through major strides in home-grown innovation and opening new vistas
of opportunity.
• Demonstrated visionary capacity and nationalism through their inward investments, thereby pushing
Nigeria’s rise in global competitiveness rankings.

Sponsorship and partnership inquiries

Dozie 0814 481 2193 chidozie.okere@businessday.ng
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Esther 0706 299 9744 esther.ekeoma@businessday.ng www.businessday.ng
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng 29
30 www.businessday.ng
L-R: Adeyemi Asolo, head, retail mass market in-branch and digital enhancement, FirstBank; Idris Lawal, chief administrative officer, National Lottery Regulatory Commission; Ikemefula Nwachukwu,
head, personal banking, e-business and retail products, FirstBank; Oyinkansola Kusamotu, senior legal officer, Lagos State Lottery and Gaming Authority; Lekan Awoyemi, principal executive
officer, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission; and Chukwuka Okonkwo, head, other assets and liability, personal banking, at the maiden raffle draw of the FirstBank Win
Big Promo which had 310 customers of the bank winning 100,000 naira each, at the bank’s headquarters, in Lagos.
Tinubu’s outsized COP28 delegation...
Continued from page 1
ing the conference.
COP28 which started
on Thursday 30 Novem-
ber to end on Tuesday
12 December, is a 13-day
event that is used by
governments to agree on
policies to limit the rise
of global temperature
and adapt to impacts
associated with climate
change. On Saturday,
the Nigerian president
shared the platform with
Sultan Ahmed al-Jabar,
President of COP28; John
Kerry, US Special Presi-
dential Envoy for Cli-
mate, Xie Zhenhua, Chi-
na Special Envoy for Cli-
mate Change. President
Tinubu, who spoke on
the need for participants
to make commitments
to the goal of limiting
the earth’s temperature
increase to 1.5C by the
end of the century, said
Nigeria has committed
already.
“We have been doing
so before today. We are
committed to critical
steps to reduce methane
emissions by ensuring
gas flaring is eliminated.
There is a huge penalty
for that. There is equally
a huge incentive to do
so,” Tinubu said.
However, back home,
it is not Tinubu’s pledges
that have Nigerians buzz-
ing, with analysts say-
ing that his government
hasn’t shown it cannot
curb ‘wasteful spending.’
Peter Obi, the presi-
dential candidate of the
Labour Party in the 2023
election, on Sunday,
described those on the
government delegation
as idle hands and hang-
ers-on, ‘who understand
nothing about climate
change.’
Of the 1,411 delegates,
590 were sponsored to
attend the conference by
the Nigerian government
which is currently grap-
pling with record infla-
tion, an out-of-control ex-
change rate, a ballooning
debt profile, and millions
of its citizens sliding into
poverty. The total to-and-
from flight ticket for the
590 delegates is estimated
at N885 million.
BusinessDay arrived
at the cost using flight
rates from international
airline operators. Ac-
cording to sources in
the aviation sector who
would not want to be
mentioned, the Federal
Government rarely char-
ters local carriers when
attending conferences
outside the country. The
government prefers to
contract international
flight operators and pay
them in foreign currency
for charter services. This
is despite having local
operators with approvals
to fly directly to some of
the countries. The presi-
dent is known to use one
of the ten Presidential
Fleets while the rest of
the entourage charters
an international flight.
The cost of maintaining
each of the presidential
aircraft rose by 99.6 per-
cent to N7.297 billion in
2019.
A check on the aver-
age international flight
operator showed that
a two-way flight ticket
from Nigeria to Dubai
will cost N1.5 million.
The list of the Nige-
rian delegation includes
the president, 25 minis-
ters, the chief of staff,
about five directors-
general, several direc-
tors, deputy directors,
assistant directors, and
several officials with
different titles. Gilbert
Ramex Chagouri is listed
among the ministers as
‘Confidente of the presi-
dent’.
“This number of aides
and officials is too many
for just a meeting. Presi-
dent Tinubu keeps wast-
NEWS
ing our resources on fri-
volities. How many peo-
ple will speak on behalf
of Nigeria, that is if Mr
President will be allowed
to climb the podium,”
Adewale Damilare said
on his X account.
However, a source at
the Presidency told Busi-
nessDay that only seven
ministers embarked on
the Dubai trip. In a video
trending online, Seyi
Tinubu, the president’s
son was seen entering
the venue of the COP28
ahead of the president
and his very large en-
tourage. Apart from the
cost of flight, it is also a
normal practice by the
Nigerian government to
give per diem also called
estacodes to those going
with the president on
any trip.
BusinessDay inves-
tigation found that the
estacode each traveler
receives depends on
their level. Ministers
are paid $900 per day as
estacode which amounts
to $11,7000 per minister
for the 13 days the con-
ference would be held.
Permanent secretaries
get $600, amounting to
$7,800 for the same peri-
od. Officers of levels 15-17
receive $425 amounting
to $5,525 in total. Levels
7-14 get $381 amounting
to $4,953 and levels 1-6 get
$206 amounting to $2,678
for the 13 days.
“COP28 is a 13-day
event that will cost a
lot more money in ho-
tel accommodation than
UNGA. It’ll be nice for
Nigerians to know how
much is spent in spon-
soring Tinubu and all
that accompanied him
to COP28. Tinubu and
two ministers would’ve
been more than enough
for this trip given the
current economic real-
ity in the country,” said
a Nigerian who goes by
the name Brother Barth
on X.
Experts say it is unfor-
tunate that the govern-
ment does not recognise
the importance of cutting
down the high cost of
governance, even when
it has to borrow almost
100 percent to fund its
budget. Nigeria is plan-
ning to spend N27.5 tril-
lion in 2024, out of which
the non-debt recurrent
expenditure is N9.92 tril-
lion while debt service
is projected to be N8.25
trillion and capital ex-
penditure is N8.7 trillion.
But Temitope Ajayi,
the senior special assis-
tant to President Tinubu
on media and publicity,
on Sunday, justified Ni-
geria’s large delegation
to the COP28.
Reacting to the criti-
cisms trailing the large
delegation, Ajayi in a
statement titled ‘COP28
Nigeria delegates list:
Separating facts from fic-
tion’, said Nigeria being
the biggest country and
economy in Africa; one
with a bigger stake in
climate action and huge
extractive economy, “it
is a no-brainer that del-
egates from the country
will be more than any
other country in Africa.”
He listed the NNPC
and its subsidiaries, the
Ministry of Niger Delta
Affairs, NIMASA, NDDC,
and youth organisations
from the Northern and
Niger Delta regions
whose lives and liveli-
hoods are most impacted
by desert encroachment
and hydrocarbon activi-
ties, among those partici-
pating in the summit.
Ajayi added that del-
egates from different
countries comprising
government, private
sector, media, and civ-
il society groups were
attending the summits
and conferences, with
all registered against
their countries of origin.
“But this does not mean
that they are sponsored
or funded by the govern-
ment.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
More Nigerians resort to betting...
Continued from page 2
to so many reasons, includ-
ing the present economy.
Well, for some, it’s some-
thing they love doing, but
majorly it could be tied to
the situation of the country.
“Unfortunately, there
is no data to back up what
I’m saying. But there’s
been a spike of punters
engaging with the platform
in the last two months -
October, November. And
it will definitely increase
by December, and, during
the Christmas period,” the
source said.
He added that BetKing
has engaged in several cam-
paigns to enlighten the pub-
lic on responsible gambling
and not just making money.
“For us, it’s not all about
making money, it’s about
educating the bettors, you
know, just telling them that
guys, there’s a limit that
you guys can go. We’ve done
a lot of campaigns around
that,” the source said.
Nigerians seek ban on
betting over addiction
Last week, a trending
video seen on X (formerly
Twitter), showed several
Nigerians lamenting after
losing money in sports bet-
ting.
In the Video, hundreds of
betting receipts were seen
on the floor with many of
the people in a state of hope-
lessness as a result of losing
their money.
The players blamed the
Nigerian government for
the hardship in the country
which has led them to bet-
ting. The video generated
lots of reactions from Nige-
rians, with some calling for
a ban on betting in Nigeria.
Chinonso Egemba, popu-
larly known as Aproko Doc-
tor took to his X handle @
aproko_doctor where he
condemned the act of gam-
bling, noting that many
lives have been destroyed.
“Yet when I said this,
they wanted to cook their
uncle. Lives are being
destroyed by this habit,”
Aproko Doctor said on
Wednesday. “Every two
steps there’s a gambling
kiosk, more marketing than
should be allowed. Espe-
cially in a poor country like
ours where people think it’s
a route out of poverty.”
Alpha contents @safi-
uadewale2 also added that
many lives have been badly
affected by the addiction to
gambling.
“No lies! Many lives
have been disorganised
by this pandemic called
gambling. Nurturing the
upcoming grown-ups in the
right mindset may help in
reducing the effect of this
‘disease’.”
Another X user identi-
fied as Sacred Reporter @
NifesiCash narrated how
he got addicted to betting
and used his school fees
to gamble before breaking
away from the act.
“I was once addicted to
betting until I used school
fees, handouts, seminars
and project money to bet
before the semester even
began. Nothing can take me
back to gamble, no more.”
@NifesiCash said sports
betting in Nigeria booms
because Nigerians have
the mindset of becoming
rich overnight, which is
symptomatic of greed.
“Another reason why
Nigerians indulge in this
behaviour is traceable to
how we “worship” money
in our society. This has
created a culture of cutting
corners and looking for
shortcuts to make money
at all costs. It’s a rat race.
A case of the end justifies
the means.
“A week ago, one of my
friends told me he found out
his driver is neck deep in
debt. When he investigated
to ascertain why he was
carrying so much debt, he
discovered this driver was
addicted to sports betting
and had in the process bor-
rowed massively to fund
this addiction.
“Whilst sports betting
is not illegal, the damage
to the individual and by
extension the fabric of the
family should be a cause of
concern for all of us.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
L-R: Lanre Ogundare, head, card business, ProvidusBank; Kingsley Aigbokhaevbo, deputy managing director, ProvidusBank; Ebehijie Momoh, general manager, Mastercard; Walter Akpani,
managing director/CEO, Providusbank; Kari Tukur, vice president, customer solutions, Indian Ocean Islands, East and West Africa; Deoye Ojuroye, executive director/chief financial officer; and
Elliott Sangoleye, group head, E-business, at the launch of ProvidusBank Amphi Card for SMEs and retail businesses, in Lagos.
El-Rufai plans $100m venture...
Continued from page 1
vate sector with a loud
statement.
El-Rufa plans to
launch a $100 million
venture capital fund for
startups in Nigeria, par-
ticularly those in the
Kaduna tech ecosystem.
He plans to match his
ambitions with actions.
He is willing to stake $2
million of his money for
the offtake of the fund.
He plans to convince
investors to provide the
remaining funding. The
investors will mostly be
those “who believe in us
but don’t have the capac-
ity or the time to do the
analysis and evaluation.
But they trust our judg-
ment and they will come
with us.”
He was in Marrakech
in November for the Af-
rica Investment Forum
where he spoke to Busi-
nessDay.
The former governor
who played a significant
role in the emergence
of the current Nigerian
president as the party’s
candidate, seems to have
put his disappointments
behind him.
In Marrakech, there
was no trace of the
man who became the
target of much social
media trolling. The El-
Rufai that showed up
in Marrakech was look-
ing spritely and took
part in all the sessions
of the Africa Invest-
ment Forum, a multi-
stakeholder, multi-dis-
ciplinary platform with
the vision to channel
capital towards critical
sectors to achieve the
S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p-
ment Goals, the African
Development Bank’s
High 5s, and the African
Union’s Agenda 2063.
According to him,
he wants to set up a
venture capital fund or
private equity that will
invest in young Nige-
rians with innovative
ideas. It doesn’t matter
what segment of the
economy the ideas are.
It could be in agricul-
ture. ICT or the creative
industry, so long as
it has the potential to
add value to the world,
these are the ideas that
El-Rufai and his fund
will target.
During his tenure as
governor of Kaduna, El-
Rufai said he met many
students in Kaduna who
had great ideas and
were creating innova-
tions. However, many of
them did not have some-
one to mentor them and
help those ideas grow.
“What young people
need is essentially men-
toring and financing to
get things going. They
develop the idea and
see whether it is vi-
able. And we will open
doors for them because
they don’t have con-
tact. They don’t know
or have access to min-
isters, presidents, or
regulatory agencies. We
do. We know the mine-
fields that they have to
navigate. We know that
they need to give them
appointments and we
can provide them with
the startup funding and
i n r e t u r n w e t a k e an
equity position.
We don’t want to take
your business; we want
to develop it. But if we
take the risk on you, we
will take a percentage
of the business,” El-
Rufai said.
He is working with
select private sector
partners, including Eyo
Ekpo, co-founder of Ex-
credite Consulting Lim-
ited, and their primary
focus is on Nigeria but
the ambition is Africa
because he projects from
a report that Africa will
be supplying the world
NEWS
with a significant por-
tion of the workforce it
needs by 2050.
According to a report
by the Guardian, by 2050,
Africa’s population is
expected to reach 2.5
billion, which is about
25 percent of the world’s
population.
El-Rufai says such
projections call for
more investments in the
younger demographic.
However, his fund will
not just be focusing on
new startups, there is
also a plan to engage
established companies
with management prob-
lems that are still viable.
The VC fund will invest
in such companies, get
them sorted out and take
them to exit.
“We don’t intend to
remain in any business.
We want to catalyse
growth in these start-
ups,” he said.
One of the goals of
being at the African In-
vestment Conference
was to seek continental
partnerships, and in-
vestors and to explore
opportunities with cli-
mate-focused investors.
“Nigeria has a lot
to offer Africa and the
world. Our population,
entrepreneurial capabil-
ity, the innovation of our
young people and their
boldness and courage
to find success. We just
felt that we have a duty
to encourage,” he said.
The first fund will be
investing for three to
four years. The fund is
expected to launch early
next year and the com-
pany will be headquar-
tered in Abuja. This is
to diversify the funding
beyond Lagos because
there is already a lot of
interest in funding inno-
vation in Lagos. El-Rufai
and his partners want
to spur startup funding
interest in ecosystems in
Kaduna, Abuja and other
parts of the country.
How celebrities fuel Nigeria’s....
Continued from page 2
Nigeria also had the highest
average monthly spending
on bets in Africa.
Although surging mo-
bile penetration is seen as
primarily responsible for the
astronomical growth of the
betting industry in Nigeria,
aggressive advertising is also
considered a significant factor
in their spread.
It is almost impossible to
find a top betting company
in Nigeria today that hasn’t
been endorsed by one or two
celebrities. In May 2023, BetK-
ing signed comedian Shaggi
and former Big Brother Naija
housemate and Nollywood
actor Tobi Bakre as ambas-
sadors to work alongside Oko-
cha in pushing the company’s
brands.
In 2019, Bet9ja report-
edly spent N1.08 billion for
headline sponsorship of Big
Brother Naija, one of the
country’s biggest TV shows.
The company also has Vic-
tor Ikpeba, Okocha’s former
national teammate. Harrison
Chinedu who holds the Guin-
ness World Record for the
farthest distance travelled
with a football balanced on
the head as ambassadors of
Bet9ja. Celebrities like Poco
Lee and Yhemolee are con-
stantly advertising for Bet9ja
on Instagram.
Sportybet has had Kanu
Nwankwo as its ambassador
since May 2016. The company
also renewed the contract
of Michael Essien as brand
ambassador in August 2023.
A month later, Sportybet
revealed an advertisement
featuring top Real Madrid
players, including Federico
Valverde and Aurelien Tch-
ouameni and its global ambas-
sador, Eder Milito.
“The advertising is just
like the old beer ads and the
cigarette ads that were on
TV for years. It’s the same
situation,” said Van Bickier,
a gambling addict. “People
are being sucked into think-
ing it’s glamorous, thinking
they’re going to win, and they
don’t win, in the end, they lose
everything.”
Apart from endorsing bet-
ting platforms, some celebri-
ties actively encourage their
followers to bet by posting
betting odds on their social
media platforms. Emeka
Okonkwo, an ostentatious
celebrity popularly known as
E Money, posts weekly betting
odds to his 13.6 million follow-
ers. In one of his recent posts
on Instagram, he claimed he
won N6.8 million from betting.
According to experts, ad-
vertising has an undeniable
impact on gambling start-
ing with raising awareness
about different betting options
available in the market and
encouraging people to try
them out. In a recent report,
the Australian Gambling Re-
search Centre found a strong
link between exposure to bet-
ting advertising and riskier
gambling behaviour. Accord-
ing to the report, exposure
to wagering advertising has
the greatest impact on young
people and people at risk of
gambling harm, with one in
five young women and one
in seven young men starting
betting for the first time after
seeing or hearing an ad on TV.
Among individuals who were
at risk of gambling harm,
41 percent reported trying a
new form of betting, and 40
percent bet on impulse, as a
result of seeing or hearing
betting advertisements. The
report focused on Australian
respondents.
“We know the harms that
gambling causes at an indi-
vidual family, and societal
level, including impacts on
finances, relationships, and
health and wellbeing. This
research shows that exposure
to wagering advertising leads
to riskier betting behaviour
and escalates the likelihood of
experiencing gambling harm.
A similar study by IIM
Ronak this time focused on
celebrity ads, found that the
intent to gamble multiplies
when a celebrity endorses a
gambling platform.
“Celebrity endorsement,
i.e., the use of attractive, trust-
worthy, and familiar celebri-
ties for advertising online
gambling applications, was
found to have a statistically
significant impact on the pro-
pensity to gamble among
youth. Thus, it can be con-
cluded that for every ten-unit
increase in the endorser’s at-
tractiveness, trustworthiness,
or familiarity, the target cus-
tomer’s propensity to gamble
increases nearly sixfold,” the
www.businessday.ng 31
study said.
Emmanuel Chigozie, an-
other gambler, said one of
the things that gambler does
is to give false hope which
ensures that addicts con-
tinue to gamble away their
money without quitting.
“For example, you might
have lost a lot to the extent
you want to give up but on
the other hand your friend
or someone somewhere
might win some amount of
money, and you will say “If
they can do it, you can do it
too”. You then continue to
gamble,” Chigozie said.
He also suggests that
many gamblers have also
been driven into depression.
This is particularly the case
when a gambler experiences
a near-win
“For example, you can
make a selection of 20 to 30
games and your predictions
might all go right except
for 1 or 2 that went wrong.
This can cause depression
for some people because
they were almost close to
winning but they did not,”
he said.
Some experts have sug-
gested the banning of bet-
ting in Nigeria to save mil-
lions of Nigeria from the
habit. Kalu Aja, a personal
finance expert described it
as “an addictive cancer”.
Some others, however,
say that it is impossible to
ban and stop people from
gambling. Besides, no law in
Nigeria criminalises the act
itself, hence those who bet are
within the armpit of the law.
Nevertheless, the government
can look towards mitigat-
ing the reasons why people
gamble such as poverty.
“Gambling regulations in
Nigeria need to be stronger.
On the moral side, I am not
for gambling; however, it is
a scheme encouraged by gov-
ernments across the world,
and I think Nigeria needs
better regulations,” said Akin-
tonmide, a Nigerian on X.
“Banning gambling is just not
a move. If done, it will create
an illegal market that does not
protect gamblers. If the gov-
ernment, based on their re-
search, sees a challenge with
it, fixing the framework is the
way forward. That comes with
tax. This is called the Sin tax,
a tax placed on harmful prod-
ucts like tobacco, cigarettes,
and gambling.”
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng A1
A2 www.businessday.ng
COP 28 IN DUBAI
COP28: Elumelu leads global leaders to
drive equitable climate action for Africa
By Hope Moses-Ashike
TONY Elumelu, the founder
of the Tony Elumelu Foun-
dation, has convened global
leaders to drive immediate
and equitable climate action
for Africa at the COP28 – UN
Climate Change Conference
taking place in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates.
The UN Climate Change
Conference hosts world lead-
ers every year to assess prog-
ress in dealing with climate
change.
Elumelu is one of Africa’s
leading advocates for an eq-
uitable Marshall plan for cli-
mate action and through The
Tony Elumelu Foundation
has empowered thousands of
green entrepreneurs shaping
a more sustainable future for
Africa.
Elumelu, through his
Foundation, The Tony Elu-
melu Foundation and in
partnership with the Unit-
ed Bank for Africa (UBA),
which he chairs, hosted a
high-level session at COP28,
bringing together Africans,
and key players in the Gulf,
Europe, and Americas,
where UBA operates, to en-
gage in a multi-stakeholder
dialogue, underscoring the
urgent need for innovative
approaches to climate adap-
tation and mitigation while
fostering sustainable devel-
opment.
The dialogue took place
L-R: Zain Asher, CNN International anchor; Kingsley Moghalu, chairman, Africa Private Sector Summit and former deputy governor,
Central Bank of Nigeria; and Maryanne Moghalu, executive director, Isaac Moghalu Foundation, at the 30th anniversary Gala of the U.S.
Corporate Council on Africa, at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington DC, recently.
PENSION & GRATUITY
Kano pays N6bn pensioners arrears
By Adeola Ajakaiye, Kano
GOVERNOR Abba Kabir
Yusuf of Kano state has
commenced the payment
of the first tranche of death
benefits to deceased civil
servants and gratuity of
pensioners to about 6,000
beneficiaries.
The sum of over N6 bil-
lion was expended in the
with speakers including
Okonjo Iweala, Director
General, World Trade Or-
ganization; Ahunna Ezia-
konwa, Assistant Adminis-
trator and Regional Director
for Africa, UNDP, Kevin
Frey, CEO, UNICEF Gen-
eration Unlimited; Sergio
Pimenta, VP Africa, IFC;
Wendy Teleki, Head of the
Women Entrepreneurs Fi-
nancial Initiative, World
Bank; Adam Wang-Levine,
U.S. Deputy Assistant Sec-
retary for Climate; Joseph
Nganga, Vice President,
Global Energy Alliance for
People and Planet, Rock-
efeller Foundation; Has-
san Al Hashemi, VP Inter-
national Relations, Dubai
Chambers; Serge Ekué,
Chairman, West African
Development Bank (BOAD);
Muyiwa Akinyemi, Deputy
Group Managing Director,
United Bank for Africa; and
Mattias Frumerie, Swed-
ish Climate Ambassador
and Head of Delegation,
UNFCCC.
“Addressing climate
change remains the para-
mount challenge of our era.
The urgency is unmistak-
able; there is no room for
delay. It is imperative that
we enhance our efforts to
tackle these issues and es-
tablish the groundwork for a
sustainable future.” Elumelu
stated. “It is critical that
Africa, as a continent, and
payment of civil servants
and deceased public work-
ers that exited civil service
between 2016 and 2019.
Governor Abba Kabir
Yusuf, who coordinated the
payments of pensions and
gratuities in Kano at the
weekend, stated that his
Administration inherited
empty treasury, but work-
ing hard to effect the pay-
NEWS
African voices, play a key
role in global climate con-
versations, as meaningful
participants, and no longer
as bystanders - Africa must
actively set the agenda.”
Elumelu continued.
Elumelu, who represent-
ed the African private sector
at the 2023 New Global Fi-
nancing Pact in Paris at the
invitation of French Presi-
dent Emmanuel Macron,
and the Climate Finance
Mobilisation Forum in Lon-
don, at the invitation of King
Charles III of the United
Kingdom and U.S. President
Biden, continues to empower
and champion young Afri-
can entrepreneurs. At the
78th United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA78) in New
York, the Tony Elumelu
Foundation (TEF) launched
a first-of-its-kind Green En-
trepreneurship Programme,
the #BeGreenAfrica Initia-
tive, in partnership with the
IKEA Foundation, Dutch
Government and UNICEF
GenU, to support green en-
trepreneurship and youth
development.
Speaking at the Tony
Elumelu Foundation hosted
at COP28 high-level event,
Okonjo-Iweala, said, “I am
terribly proud of what my
brother, Tony Elumelu, has
done in empowering and
inspiring so many young
entrepreneurs. We have no
choice; the future is green.
ment, as well as, executing
numerous developmental
projects, having blocked all
avenues where public funds
were being siphoned.
The governor noted that
his Administration is con-
cerned with the plight of
pensioners, especially those
at the lower level of the soci-
ety who are at the receiving
end of the hardship oc-
The future of growth is two
things – it is green, and it
must be inclusive. I am very
interested in partnerships
with organisations like the
Tony Elumelu Foundation
because I don’t want to du-
plicate what someone else
has done.”
Continuing the dialogue,
Ahunna Eziakonwa, as-
sistant administrator and
regional director for Africa,
UNDP added, “The reason
why UNDP associated it-
self with the Tony Elumelu
Foundation years ago is be-
cause of the leadership and
courage of the Foundation
to trust and invest in young
Africans. It was one of the
first organisations in the
world to do so at that scale.”
In response, Tony Elu-
melu shared that the UNDP
has partnered with the Tony
Elumelu Foundation to em-
power thousands of young
Africans, with an ambitious
project to impact the lives of
one million young Africans
in the Sahel region of Africa.
Sergio Pimenta, VP, Afri-
ca at IFC, also stated, “Tony,
I salute you and your Foun-
dation for what you have
been doing to support young
entrepreneurs in Africa.
The IFC has deployed $2bil-
lion in funding for African
SMEs in the last fiscal year
and we are very excited to
be able to do more work
with you.”
casioned by the removal of
fuel subsidy in the country.
He however promised to
ensure the continuation of
the settlement of the backlog
retirees arrears, saying N10
billion has been set aside in
the state next year’s budget
for further payment of gra-
tuity and death benefits of
families of deceaseds civil
servants.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
ECONOMY
Lagos Free Zone woos
Nordic investors to Nigeria
By Seyi John Salau
THE Lagos Free Zone has
attracted investors from the
Nordic countries to boost
investment Nigeria. They
were encouraged to set up
businesses within the zone,
leveraging on its infrastruc-
ture, incentives and ease of
doing business.
Speaking during a break-
fast session of the Nordic
Nigeria Connect 2023 confer-
ence held in Lagos recently,
with the theme “Innovation
for a greener future,” Dinesh
Rathi, the managing direc-
tor/CEO Lagos Free Zone,
said the zone is the most
preferred and viable invest-
ment destination in Nigeria
with its unparalleled ease
of doing business and the
unique incentives available
for investors.
Dinesh noted that Nige-
ria has all the ingredients
needed to catapult itself to
a regional hub, considering
the quantum of world-class
facilities and infrastructure
available at the zone.
He explained that the
Lagos Free Zone remains the
ideal destination for invest-
ment in Nigeria with huge
investment in infrastruc-
ture, including gas, ready-
to-lease warehouses, and
factories, as well as being
the only free zone in Nigeria
integrated with a deep-sea
port, which makes it easy to
bring in raw materials, and
export finished goods.
“Nigeria is one of the
strongest economies in Afri-
ca with potential for further
economic and industrial ac-
tivities owing to the presence
RECOGNITION & AWARD
Imtiaz Sooliman named 2023
Daily Trust African of the Year
By Kelvin Okojie
IMTIAZ Sooliman, a former
medical doctor from South
Africa, has been unveiled as
the 2023 Daily Trust African
of the Year. Renowned for
his extraordinary humani-
tarian efforts transcending
race, religion, and geog-
raphy, Sooliman emerged
from a pool of nine finalists.
The selection board,
chaired by AllAfrica Glob-
al Media Inc.’s Amadou
Mahtar Ba, hailed Sooli-
man’s selfless dedication to
humanitarian aid through
the Gift of the Givers Foun-
dation.
A statement by the Sec-
retariat of the Daily Trust
African of the Year Award
said, “After careful consid-
eration of the works of the
nine finalists, the selection
board has unanimously
decided that Imtiaz Sooli-
man, a South African medi-
cal doctor who gave up his
career to pursue the field
of humanitarian aid, is the
deserving winner of the 2023
African of the Year Award.”
of natural resources and fa-
vorable demographics, with
a population of 219 million
representing 20% of Africa
and a GDP of $509 billion
(17% of Africa),” he said.
He stated that the estab-
lishment of a free trade zone
like LFZ was necessary for
the Nigerian economy due
to its significance to man-
ufacturing and logistics,
noting that the imminent
implementation of the Afri-
can Continental Free Trade
Area agreement presents a
significant opportunity to
use the zone to promote trade
between Nigeria and other
African countries.
He explained further that
the Lagos Free Zone is con-
ceptualised to be a work-
live ecosystem, outlining
the advantages such as the
ongoing construction of the
first commercial tower in the
zone, Irele Tower, which will
provide world-class office
spaces for organisations op-
erating in the zone as well as
businesses looking for an of-
fice location with proximity
to the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
“One of our unique sell-
ing propositions is that we
are the only free zone in-
tegrated with a port. Our
seamless integration with
the Lekki Deep Sea Port
guarantees the companies
operating within the zone
the rapid delivery of cargo
and raw materials within
48-72 hours of berthing at
the port, thereby creating an
enabling business-friendly
environment, enhancing
efficiency, and connecting
Nigeria to the global mar-
kets”, he added.
The release, signed by
the Ag. Group chief execu-
tive officer of the Media
Trust Group, Ahmed I. Shek-
arau, described Sooliman as
“a worthy and exemplary
humanitarian, character-
ised by his solid belief in
the common humanity that
unites people of the world.
“He has guided the Gift
of the Givers Foundation
for more than 30 years to
respond to and dispatch
humanitarian and medical
supplies to disaster areas on
the continent and abroad,”
the statement added.
For over three decades,
Sooliman laid the founda-
tion for delivering vital
medical and humanitarian
aid worldwide, respond-
ing to disasters and crises
across continents.
From aiding communi-
ties struck by flooding in
South Africa to providing
relief during natural ca-
lamities in Libya and Tur-
key, the Gift of the Givers
Foundation has been at the
forefront of humanitarian
assistance.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
Harvard
Business
Review
It’s time to define your company’s principles
By Jack Fuchs, Scott Sandell and
Vikram Shanker
MISSION, VISION AND
VALUES ARE NOT
ENOUGH.
When companies face dif-
ficult decisions, well-artic-
ulated principles can help
them make better choices.
Principles are distinct from
corporate values or mission
statements, though they are
often inspired by them. They
provide guideposts — and
sometimes even memorable
rules — for how an organiza-
tion should pursue its strat-
egy.
Principles are integral to
building institutions capable
of optimal decision-making
in such an unstable environ-
ment. Here’s how companies
can articulate their own.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD
PRINCIPLE
Many individuals and or-
ganizations use the terms
“values” and “principles”
interchangeably. Conflating
them results in a missed op-
portunity. Values commu-
nicate a broad sense of what
an organization considers
worthwhile. Principles are
more instructive. “Product
excellence” is a value. “We
won’t release a product until
we would use it ourselves” is
a principle.
In our work we have found
that strong principles share
five critical attributes. They
are:
DISTINCTIVE. Principles
are often unique to a particu-
lar organization and usually
quite different from those
of competitors. Robinhood
Markets, for example, aims
to provide retail customers
with easy, inexpensive access
to public markets through its
investing app. (Disclosure:
Scott is a former member of
Robinhood’s board.) Unlike
many other brokerage firms,
Robinhood prioritizes the
customer over pure profits,
leading it to develop prin-
ciples such as “Safety first,”
“Participation is power” and
“Radical customer focus.” In
December 2018 a software up-
date caused a small number
of options-trading orders to
flip and thus be submitted in-
correctly, which could have
led to customer losses. After
careful consideration, guid-
ed by the principles it had
enshrined, the company de-
cided to halt operations, ul-
timately causing a two-hour
disruption and order cancel-
lations. In making that de-
MANAGEMENT DIGEST
cision, Robinhood honored
“Safety first” over participa-
tion.
DEBATABLE. Principles
may reasonably, and in good
conscience, be disagreed
with. Tableau Software aims
to redefine data analysis and
visualization, shunning old-
school features such as static
PDF exports and 3D images.
(Scott is a former member
of Tableau’s board.) Its prin-
ciples, including “The cus-
tomer is not always right”
and “Abandon sales leads
that want a different prod-
uct,” may seem counterin-
tuitive to many, particularly
startups eager to establish
a foothold. But they came
in handy when Tableau
gained popularity and faced
requests for features it had
initially excluded. Despite
the allure of large orders and
easy growth, the company
remained true to those prin-
ciples.
TRANSFERABLE. Princi-
ples are articulated in such a
way that they can be applied
to multiple scenarios across
business units and roles.
Google is well known as a
pioneer of the internet, with
the mission “to organize the
world’s information and
make it universally accessi-
ble and useful.” Less known
is a core principle it has dis-
seminated to the company’s
employees: “Focus on the
user and all else will follow.”
But the repeated application
of that principle is evident in
many important decisions
the organization has made
over time.
INTEGRAL. Principles
are core to what an organi-
zation does and necessary to
meet the challenges it faces
within its industry. Take
Bloom Energy (where Scott
was previously a member
of the board), which strives
to bring affordable, acces-
sible and clean energy to a
world where more than a
billion people live without
power every day. One com-
pany principle describes
how Bloom will achieve that
mission: “We must control
our technical innovation as
our core competence.” When
Bloom won a $10 million De-
partment of Energy grant
to develop a technology for
the government, it faced a
dilemma. Compliance with
DoE regulations would lead
to a product tailored for DoE
use only, contradicting the
company’s mission of broad
accessibility. Its CEO, K.R.
Sridhar, and its investors
decided to return the grant,
staying true to Bloom’s prin-
ciples.
COMPANY-DEFINING.
Principles establish norms
that will come to the forefront
in crucible moments. Apple,
one of the world’s largest
technology companies, touts
its focus on privacy as a pri-
mary reason that consumers
should choose its products
over those of its competitors.
The company expresses the
stakeholder principle that
“privacy is a fundamental
human right.” In 2015, af-
ter the terrorist attack at
the Inland Regional Center
in San Bernardino, Califor-
nia, which killed 14 people
and injured many more, the
FBI obtained a court order
requiring Apple to create a
back door into the iPhone so
that the agency could collect
data from a suspect’s phone.
Apple released a public letter
announcing its intent to fight
the court order.
THREE TYPES OF PRIN-
CIPLES
We have found it helpful
in our work with a broad
range of organizations to
provide a general framework
for categorizing principles.
Under this framework prin-
ciples come in three types:
stakeholder, operational and
organizational.
STAKEHOLDER princi-
ples convey best practices for
relating to customers, em-
ployees and investors, and
can provide clarity about
how to prioritize stakehold-
ers when their interests are
in conflict.
OPERATIONAL prin-
ciples provide guidance on
day-to-day activities across
the business, from research
and development to custom-
er support. They often em-
power employees to make de-
cisions independently while
staying aligned with the or-
ganization’s mission.
ORGANIZATIONAL prin-
ciples help shape the culture,
processes and structure of an
organization, including how
information flows and how
decisions are made. Here
“organization” is defined in
its broadest sense.
CREATING AND IN-
STILLING PRINCIPLES
Formally creating prin-
ciples can be a daunting task.
We have helped dozens of or-
ganizations, large and small,
develop, enhance and imple-
ment their principles, and
we can recommend these ap-
proaches.
START WITH WHAT DIS-
TINGUISHES YOU FROM
YOUR COMPETITORS. Out-
lining the elements of an or-
ganization that differentiate
it from its competitors, peers
and other industry members
not only serves as a concrete
starting point but also sur-
faces important elements of
strategy.
REFLECT ON COMPANY
INFLECTION POINTS. Ex-
amining difficult decisions
and inflection points from
your organization’s history
can give you essential in-
sights about the organiza-
www.businessday.ng A3
tion.
BRING EMPLOYEES TO-
GETHER TO FORMULATE
AND REVISE PRINCIPLES.
Enlisting employees in
working groups can result
in more-realistic and usable
principles and create more
buy-in from those who will
rely on them.
GIVE A WRITTEN LIST
OF THE COMPANY’S VAL-
UES AND PRINCIPLES TO
EACH EMPLOYEE AND
NEW HIRE. Onboarding
presents a unique opportu-
nity for instilling principles.
We recommend providing
examples of how principles
were used to make key deci-
sions in the organization’s
past.
ALIGN GOALS, KEY
METRICS AND BUDGETS
WITH VALUES AND PRIN-
CIPLES. This will help en-
sure that your company’s
strategic objectives are con-
sistent with its actions and
will focus employees’ tactical
decision-making.
REFER TO PRINCIPLES
WHILE MAKING DECI-
SIONS. When a team is de-
bating what to do in a diffi-
cult situation, articulating a
principle can move the dis-
cussion forward.
MENTION YOUR COM-
PANY’S PRINCIPLES
WHEN COMMUNICATING
DECISIONS. Employees
often emulate an organi-
zation’s senior leaders, so
leaders who articulate the
why as well as the what ef-
fectively instill principles in
their teams, leading to more-
consistent decision-making
throughout the organization.
Principles are more than
an abstract organizational
concept. They are practical
beacons for decision-making
and they help activate a com-
pany’s strategy.
Editor’s note: NEA is or
has been an investor in sev-
eral of the companies men-
tioned in this article.
Jack Fuchs is a co-founder and
an operating partner at Blackhorn
Ventures, a lecturer in entrepre-
neurship at Stanford University,
a lecturer at the Technical Uni-
versity of Munich and an affiliate
professor at ESCP Europe. Scott
Sandell is the chairman, CEO and
chief investment officer of NEA,
a venture capital firm, and an ad-
junct lecturer at Stanford Univer-
sity. Vikram Shanker is an MBA
candidate at Stanford University’s
Graduate School of Business and
an MBA venture fellow at NEA, a
venture capital firm.
A4 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng A5
 A6
Economic Week Ahead
Lagarde in Paris & China
inflation data (December 4-10)
LAST week, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu
brought the N27.5 trillion 2024 budget before
lawmakers for their approval.
The budget, which is Tinubu’s first since
assuming office in May, reveals a similar
spending pattern when compared with the
budgets of his immediate predecessor.
The government will spend at least six times
more on debt service than on building new
hospitals and schools and an over ambitious
revenue target means Nigeria could be set to
generate less cash than planned for the ninth
straight year.
Norwegian oil and gas company, Equinor,
also last week sold its Nigerian business to
Chappal Energies, bringing an end to 31 years
of doing business in Africa’s most populous
nation.
Equinor is the latest of a list of international
oil firms that includes Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil
Corp. and Eni SpA to exit Nigeria.
On the data release front, the NBS was last
week scheduled to publish the company income
tax report for the third qone of Africa’s top oil
produceris. of 2023 but failed to do so. The
federal government’s revenue from company
income tax more than tripled to N1.53 trillion
in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023.
This week, there are a number of events to
look out for. ECB President Christine Lagarde’s
scheduled speech today could prove insightful
ahead of the bank’s monetary policy meeting
next week while critical China inflation data is
likely to point to a more subdued recovery for
The Reserve Bank of India is expected
to retain interest rates at 6.5% at the end
of its three-day policy meeting starting
Wednesday, December 6.
THE Reserve Bank will be tempted to main-
tain the status quo with inflation in comfort
zone and economic growth moving at an ac-
celerated pace.
The RBI has left the benchmark policy rate
(repo) unchanged in its past four bi-monthly
www.businessday.ng • www.facebook.com/businessdayng •
monetary policy meetings.
The RBI, after a hike in February, ended its
interest rate hiking spree which began in May
2022 in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine
war and subsequent disruptions in global sup-
ply chains which resulted in higher inflation.
businessDayNG •
Honeywell board
reviews Q3 performance
where FX losses jumped
Thursday, December 7
THE board of Honeywell Flour Mills will
meet on Thursday, December 7, to discuss,
among other things, the company’s manage-
ment report for the third quarter of the year.
This is according to a filing by the company
on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX).
Honeywell reported a hefty loss of N8.63
billion due to the deprecation of the naira in
the nine months through September 2023 as
against N3.522 billion in the same period of
2022, representing a 145% increase
businessdayng Monday 04 December 2023
the world’s second largest economy.
The following events are scheduled to take
place this week.
Lagarde’s Paris speech
The global investor community will be
monitoring the speech of European Central
Bank President, Christine Lagarde, on Monday,
December 4 ahead of the ECB’s monetary policy
meeting just a week later.
Lagarde, who will be making a speech at
the French Academy of Moral and Political
sciences (Academie des Sciences Morales et
Politique) conference in Paris at 15:00 CET,
said last week that the European Central Bank
is likely to discuss speeding up the shrinkage of
its balance sheet by ending the last of its bond
purchases earlier than planned.
Her comments were the clearest sign to date
that the bank is preparing to further tighten
monetary policy by reducing the amount of
bonds it plans to buy next year.
Several of the more hawkish members of the
ECB have been calling for these reinvestments
to end, saying the extra monetary stimulus
is inconsistent with efforts to tame inflation
by raising rates. They also point out that the
pandemic crisis that initially justified the
purchases has clearly ended. The ECB stopped
much of its bond-buying last year. But it is still
reinvesting the proceeds of maturing securities
in the €1.7tn portfolio it started buying in
response to the pandemic and has set out plans
to continue doing so until at least the end of
next year.
Saturday, December 9
China’s November inflation rate is expected to
point to a more subdued recovery front for the
world’s second largest economy. November con-
sumer prices are expected to stay in deflationary
territory once more with a potential tick lower to
-0.3% from the previous -0.2%.
China’s purchasing managers index (PMI)
numbers for November failed to impress, with
manufacturing activities dipping further into con-
tractionary territory at 49.4, while services activi-
ties softened to a new 11-month low at 50.2. The
data continues to reinforce the views that the re-
covery momentum for Beijing has been uneven.
The Chinese economy has shown mixed signs
of recovery in recent months, leading economists
to debate whether it will hit the government’s offi-
cial gross domestic product growth target this year
of 5 per cent, the lowest in decades.
Prices fell into negative territory in July before
edging back into growth in the months that fol-
lowed.
The IMF last week upgraded its forecast for Chi-
na’s GDP growth to 5.4 per cent, citing stronger
support from policymakers, who have been eas-
ing monetary policy and restrictions on property
purchases and mortgages to try to stabilise the real
estate market.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng A7
A8 www.businessday.ng
PHOTO SPLASH
BusinessDay Top 100 Fastest Growing SMEs in Nigeria, held in Lagos
Tayo Fagbule, editor, BusinessDay Media giving his opening remarks.
L-R: Akinwale Alao, partner, Consumer and Industrial Markets and
International Tax/Tax, Regulatory and People Services; Omoruyi
Edoigiawerie, lead partner, Edoigiawerie and Company LP; Flora
Mbeledeogu, founder/CEO, Made in Africa Brands Ambassador;
Ajibola Sogunro, director, Mazars; and Ademola Idowu, director, PwC.
L-R: Adedoyin Awokan of Ignite Vision Concept; and Adeyinka Akin-
nubi, MD/CEO, Akad Royal Ventures Limited.
L-R: Ogbejele Jimson, deputy general manager; and Keneth Gaawa,
senior client relationship manager, both of NG-Ride.
Adewunmi Oni, acting director, finance and corporate services, Lagos
State Employment Trust Fund presenting his paper.
Sandra Chisor-Wabali (l), branch manager, Union Bank; with Kemi
Michael of BusinessDay Media.
L-R: Adebisi Dada, CEO; and Toyin Adebiyi, MD, both of Reno Brein.
L-R: Hassan Eniola, chief operating officer; and Sofodun Taiwo,
human resource manager, both of Jeroid.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
L-R: Yvonne Ofodile, MD, Zetile Oil and Gas Limited; Gloria Omereonye, area busi-
ness executive, Lagos Island 3, Union Bank; Afolabi Emmanuel, community lead, B2B,
Peppa; Esther Obiekwe, group head, SME banking, Fidelity Bank; Yonodu Okeugo,
commercial leader, VFD Microfinance Bank; Adewunmi Oni, acting director, finance,
and corporate services, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund; and Satira Osemudia-
men, principal consultant, Satira Media and PR.
L-R: Edozie Faithful, head of operations, Afri-Health Limited; and Esther Olise.
L-R: Joseph Ebenga, CEO; and Caleb Kalu, lead, backend developer, both of Redevnet
Technologies.
L-R: Roqeebat Sulaimon, intern; and Odirichukwu Chidera, executive assistant, both
of Caladium Consulting.
L-R: Debola Ajayi, COO, Circo; Oluwatoyin Inumidun, executive director, SAS
Textiles Limited; Oyinlola Ogunnubi, CEO/founder, YD Company; Akintunde
Marinho, CEO, Utopia Media; and Adaoha Njemanze, principal partner/founder,
NOVVA Media and Communications.
L-R: Ndidiamaka Oluwaseyi, CEO, Oluma Agrottub Nigeria Limited; with Charles
Agatha, CEO, Agat and Sons.
L-R: Queen Onyenwe, head, financial services, Saint Hellens; Hope Oti, MD,
GSP International Company; and Tina Owunnah, CEO, Tyre Plaza Tropical
Nigeria Ltd.
L-R: Adanna Fate, sales executive and social media manager; and Adebayo
Adesewa, sales executive, both at ThinkMint Nigeria.
www.businessday.ng A9
L-R: Damola Richard, MD, Digisplash; Jeremiah Mayowa, CEO, Jeroid Limited; Samson Ola-
tunde, founder and CEO, Knowledge Digest Africa; Arabella Jemide, COO, Jumpstart Consulting;
Lehle Balde, inclusion advocate and journalist, BusinessDay; Ayo-Bankole Akintujoye, founder/
CEO, Caladium Consulting; Ekundayo Ayeni, CEO, BusinessPlus Africa; and Ezeadichie Onyeka
Michael, founder, Healsoft; and Joshua Chibueze, co-founder/chief marketing officer, Piggytech.
L-R: Ruth Adeboye, sales executive; Igoh Joy, human resource manager; and Precious Edmunds,
lead, media and operations, all of ThinkMint Nigeria.
L-R: Ademola Olola; Mirabel Oluchi, both business executive, Afri-Health.
L-R: Okewunmi Busayo, CEO, Obedfoodsng; and Ogunseye Oluwayemisi, CEO, Olyem Fashion
Collections. Pictures by David Apara
A10 www.businessday.ng
Florida Republican chairman won’t resign
over rape allegation, saying he is innocent
THE chair of Florida’s Re-
publican Party says he will
not resign over a woman’s
allegation that he raped
her, saying in an email to
supporters that he is inno-
cent. He did not address any
specifics of the accusation
that has roiled the state’s
conservative politics.
Christian Ziegler sent
the statement to state Re-
publicans on Saturday,
saying that he and his wife,
Bridget Ziegler, are being
targeted because they are
“such loud political voices.”
His wife co-founded the
conservative group Moms
for Liberty, which has led
a campaign with Gov. Ron
DeSantis to roll back sex ed-
ucation in Florida schools.
DeSantis said last week
that while Christian Ziegler
is innocent until proven
guilty, he should resign to
avoid becoming a distrac-
tion to their party. Ziegler
insists he won’t quit.
“We have a country to
save and I am not going
to let false allegations of a
crime put that mission on
the bench as I wait for this
process to wrap up,” wrote
Ziegler, 40. A longtime GOP
activist, he ascended to the
state party’s top post in
February.
No charges have been
filed against Ziegler, but
Ships face Houthi-claimed attack in Red Sea as
officials say a US warship also fires in self-defense
Commercial ships came
under attack Sunday by
drones and missiles in the
Red Sea and a U.S. warship
there opened fire in self-de-
fense as part of an hourslong
assault claimed by Yemen’s
Houthi rebels, officials said.
The attack potentially
marked a major escalation
in a series of maritime at-
tacks in the Mideast linked
to the Israel-Hamas war as
multiple vessels found them-
selves in the crosshairs of a
single Houthi assault for the
first time in the conflict.
“We’re aware of reports
regarding attacks on the
USS Carney and commercial
vessels in the Red Sea and
will provide information as
it becomes available,” the
Defense Department told The
Associated Press.
The Carney is an Arleigh
Burke-class guided-missile
destroyer that’s already shot
down multiple rockets the
Houthis have fired toward
Israel so far in the war. It
wasn’t damaged in the at-
tack and no injuries were
the Sarasota Police inves-
tigation remains open. The
accuser, who has known
Christian Ziegler for 20
years, told police in October
that he forced his way into
her apartment and raped
her, according to search
warrant affidavits filed
by police. In his Saturday
email, Ziegler did not ad-
dress having told detectives
that he did have sex with
the woman but that it was
consensual. He also didn’t
address his wife telling de-
reported on board, said a U.S.
official who spoke on condi-
tion of anonymity to discuss
early details of a military
operation.
The Carney responded
after hearing from the Ba-
hamas-flagged bulk carrier
Unity Explorer that it was
under attack by missile fire,
the official said. The Carney
shot down two drones during
the attack, one in self-defense
and another after checking
on the Unity Explorer, the
official said.
Assessments were still
being made on the Unity
Explorer.
The British military ear-
lier said there had been a
suspected drone attack and
explosions in the Red Sea,
without elaborating.
The Defense Department
did not identify where it
believed the fire came from.
However, Houthi military
spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya
Saree claimed the attacks,
saying the first vessel was hit
by a missile and the second
by a drone while in the Bab
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
tectives that the couple and
the woman had group sex
once, more than a year ago.
“My family is rock solid.
My wife is behind me 150%
and we have methods in
place to protect our (three)
children, just as we have
with all previous attacks
that we have faced,” Chris-
tian Ziegler wrote. The
Zieglers did not return calls
and text messages Sunday
seeking further comment.
DeSantis spokesman
Jeremy Redfern did not
el-Mandeb Strait that links
the Red Sea to the Gulf of
Aden.
Saree did not mention
any U.S. warship being in-
volved in the attack.
“The Yemeni armed forc-
es continue to prevent Israeli
ships from navigating the
return a call and text mes-
sage Sunday seeking com-
ment on Ziegler’s refusal
to resign.
The police avadavits
saying that the Zieglers had
group sex with a woman
have led Democrats and
gay rights leaders to accuse
the couple of hypocrisy,
given that an organization
Bridget Ziegler cofounded
— Moms for Liberty —
has joined DeSantis and
the Florida GOP in push-
ing back against LBGTQ+
Red Sea (and Gulf of Aden)
until the Israeli aggression
against our steadfast broth-
ers in the Gaza Strip stops,”
Saree said. “The Yemeni
armed forces renew their
warning to all Israeli ships
or those associated with Is-
raelis that they will become
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
causes.
Bridget Ziegler is also
an elected member of the
Sarasota County school
board and was appointed
by DeSantis to the board
that now oversees Walt
Disney World’s land devel-
opment. DeSantis pushed
through legislation last
year disbanding a Disney-
controlled board after the
company opposed his bill
that limits sex education
in schools.
The rape accusation
a legitimate target if they
violate what is stated in this
statement.”
Saree also identified the
first vessel as the Unity Ex-
plorer, which is owned by
a British firm that includes
Dan David Ungar, who lives
in Israel, as one of its officers.
The second was a Panama-
nian-flagged container ship
called Number 9, which is
linked to Bernhard Schulte
Shipmanagement. Manag-
ers for the two vessels could
not be immediately reached
for comment.Israeli media
identified Ungar as being
the son of Israeli shipping
billionaire Abraham “Rami”
Ungar.
Another U.S. official,
speaking on condition of
anonymity to discuss intel-
ligence matters, said the
attack began about 10 a.m. in
Sanaa, Yemen, and had gone
on for as much as five hours.
Global shipping had in-
creasingly been targeted
as the Israel-Hamas war
threatens to become a wider
regional conflict — even as a
against Christian Ziegler
became public last week
after the Florida Center for
Government Accountabil-
ity, an investigative news
organization, obtained a
police report and the search
warrant affidavits detailing
the allegations.
The accuser’s name is
redacted in the documents.
The Associated Press does
not name possible victims
of sexual assault without
their permission.
According to text mes-
sages cited in the affidavit,
the woman and the Zieglers
had planned to again have
group sex on Oct. 2, but the
woman backed out after
Bridget Ziegler “couldn’t
make it.” The woman says
she found Christian Ziegler
in her apartment’s hall-
way later that day, that he
pushed her inside and then
raped her.
In text and phone con-
versations monitored by
investigators, Ziegler of-
fered the woman “finan-
cial help” before becoming
suspicious that they were
being recorded.
In a Nov. 2 interview with
detectives, Ziegler said the
sex was consensual and that
he had recorded it. He said
he deleted the video, then
recovered it after the rape
allegation surfaced. (AP)
truce briefly halted fighting
and Hamas exchanged hos-
tages for Palestinian prison-
ers held by Israel. However,
the collapse of the truce and
the resumption of punish-
ing Israeli airstrikes and
its ground offensive there
had raised the risk of the
seaborne attacks resuming.
Earlier in November,
the Houthis seized a vehicle
transport ship also linked
to Israel in the Red Sea off
Yemen. The rebels still hold
the vessel near the port city
of Hodeida. Missiles also
landed near another U.S.
warship last week after it
assisted a vessel linked to
Israel that had briefly been
seized by gunmen.
However, the Houthis
had not directly targeted the
Americans for some time, fur-
ther raising the stakes in the
growing maritime conflict. In
2016, the U.S. launched Toma-
hawk cruise missiles that
destroyed three coastal radar
sites in Houthi-controlled ter-
ritory to retaliate for missiles
being fired at U.S. Navy ships
at the time. (AP)
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
Thanksgiving travel rush begins with snowy
weather threatening the Northeast
THE late crush of holiday
travelers is picking up steam,
with about 2.7 million people
expected to board flights on
Wednesday and millions
more planning to drive to
Thanksgiving celebrations.
Airline officials say they
are confident they can avoid
the kind of massive disrup-
tions that have marred past
holiday seasons, such as
the meltdown at Southwest
Airlines over last Christmas.
But heavy rain and snow
showers along the East Coast
could cause delays. The Na-
tional Weather Service was
predicting accumulating
snow in northern New Eng-
land Wednesday, including
up to 8 inches (20.3 centime-
ters) of snowfall in north-
ern Maine. Snow was also
expected to hit the north-
ern Rocky Mountains on
Thanksgiving Day, bringing
up to 1 foot of snow to parts of
Wyoming by Friday.
Still, as of Wednesday
morning, U.S. airports were
reporting only nine flight
cancellations and 260 flight
delays, according to FlightA-
ware. Airlines have added
tens of thousands of employ-
ees in the last couple years,
and Southwest says it has
bought more winter equip-
ment to keep planes moving
even during sub-freezing
temperatures.
More than 100 guns stolen in Michigan after A population of hard-to-eradicate ‘super pigs’
store manager is forced to reveal alarm code in Canada is threatening to invade the US
MORE than 100 handguns
were stolen from a store
in southwestern Michigan
after the manager was held
at gunpoint outside his
home and forced to reveal
how to turn off the alarm,
authorities said Tuesday.
All guns except one
were recovered and two
men were arrested Friday,
a day after the brazen heist
at Dunham’s Sports, U.S.
Attorney Mark Totten said.
“Just look at the fire-
power on this table,” Jim
Deir, head of the U.S. Bu-
reau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives in
Michigan, told reporters.
“There’s over $100,000
worth of guns here. ... My
experience: These were
headed to the streets. These
were headed for quick sale,
quick money,” Deir said.
The two men, who are
brothers, are accused of
targeting a Dunham’s near
Benton Harbor, 100 miles
(160.9 kilometers) east of
Chicago.
A store manager told
investigators he was con-
fronted Thursday night,
blindfolded and placed in
the rear seat of a car, feder-
al agent Mallorie Campbell
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Security lines at airports
could be long because of the
crowds. Delta Air Lines is
telling passengers to arrive
at the airport at least two
hours before their flight if
they are traveling within the
United States, three hours
early if they’re flying over-
seas — and maybe earlier on
Sunday and Monday.
said in a court filing.
“One of the subjects held
a gun to his head and made
him reveal the passcode
to the alarm at the store,”
Campbell wrote.
Store video shows a man
later disabling the alarm
system and filling two cool-
ers with 123 handguns,
Campbell said.
Investigators got the
name of a suspect after he
tried to transfer money
from the manager’s bank
account with a cash app,
the agent said.
The complaint charges
two men with four crimes,
The Transportation Se-
curity Administration ex-
pects to screen 2.7 million
passengers Wednesday. On
Sunday, it expects to screen
2.9 million, which would
surpass a previous record set
on June 30.
The holiday will also test
the Federal Aviation Admin-
istration, which faces short-
including gun theft. Camp-
bell said they admitted
their roles during inter-
views with investigators.
Totten declined to pro-
vide additional details
about the Dunham’s man-
ager, though he said any-
one facing similar threats
“probably had to imagine
if they were going to come
out of this alive.”
He also said there’s too
much gun violence in Mich-
igan and across the U.S.
“What happened at Dun-
ham’s Sports is a striking ex-
ample of what is driving this
crisis,” Totten said. (AP)
ages of air traffic controllers
at key facilities that caused
reductions in flights to the
New York City area this sum-
mer and fall.
U.S. Transportation Sec-
retary Pete Buttigieg said
during a news conference
Monday that the government
has prepared for holiday
travel by hiring more air
AN exploding population
of hard-to-eradicate “su-
per pigs” in Canada is
threatening to spill south
of the border, and north-
ern states like Minnesota,
North Dakota and Montana
are taking steps to stop the
invasion.
In Canada, the wild
pigs roaming Alberta, Sas-
katchewan and Manitoba
pose a new threat. They
are often crossbreeds that
combine the survival skills
of wild Eurasian boar with
the size and high fertility of
domestic swine to create a
“super pig” that’s spread-
ing out of control.
Ryan Brook, a profes-
sor at the University of
www.businessday.ng A11
AAA says most of them -- 49.1
million -- will drive.
Drivers will get a break
from last year on gasoline
prices. AAA says the na-
tionwide average for gas
was down to $3.28 a gallon on
Wednesday, compared with
$3.63 a year ago.
Air travelers will enjoy
lower prices too. Airfares
in October were down 13%
from last year, according
to government figures, and
fares around Thanksgiving
have been about 14% lower
than a year ago, according to
the travel site Hopper.
Even so, the high cost of
rent, food, health care and
other expenses were weigh-
ing on people’s travel plans.
Jason McQueary, a
25-year-old social worker
and graduate student said
rent and other essentials
eat up most of his paycheck
and he was grateful for his
credit card points, which
brought down the cost of his
roundtrip flight from Denver
to Chicago from $450 to $150.
traffic controllers, opening
“I was just like, ‘man, I’m
new air routes along the East
glad I only come home once a
Coast and providing grants
year,’” said McQueary, who
to airports for snowplows
was waiting to get picked
and deicing equipment.
up Tuesday after arriving
Meanwhile, AAA predicts
to Chicago O’Hare Inter-
that 55.4 million people will
national Airport to spend
travel at least 50 miles from
Thanksgiving with family
home between Wednesday
in his hometown of Byron,
and Sunday, the third-highest
Illinois. (AP)
forecast ever by the auto club.
Saskatchewan and one of surviving Canadian win-
Canada’s leading authori- ters. Smart, adaptable
ties on the problem, calls and furry, they eat any-
feral swine, “the most inva- thing, including crops
sive animal on the planet” and wildlife. They tear
and “an ecological train up land when they root
wreck.” for bugs and crops. They
Pigs are not native to can spread devastating
North America. While diseases to hog farms like
they’ve roamed parts of African swine fever. And
the continent for centuries, they reproduce quickly.
Canada’s problem dates A sow can have six piglets
back only to the 1980s when in a litter and raise two
it encouraged farmers to litters in a year.
raise wild boar, Brook said. That means 65% or
The market collapsed after more of a wild pig popula-
peaking in 2001 and some tion could be killed every
frustrated farmers simply year and it will still in-
cut their fences, setting the crease, Brook said. Hunt-
animals free. ing just makes the problem
It turned out that the worse, he said. The suc-
pigs were very good at cess rate for hunters is
only about 2% to 3% and
several states have banned
hunting because it makes
the pigs more wary and
nocturnal — tougher to
track down and eradicate.
Wild pigs already cause
around $2.5 billion in dam-
age to U.S. crops every
year, mostly in southern
states like Texas. And
they can be aggressive
toward humans. A woman
in Texas was killed by wild
pigs in 2019. (AP)
A12 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng A13
A14 www.businessday.ng MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023

Harvard
Business MANAGEMENT DIGEST
Review

Let corporate purpose guide

you through esg turbulence
By Robert G. Eccles, John Streur and
Timothy Youmans

AMID the evolving landscape

of environmental, social and
governance (ESG) practices
in both the U.S. and Europe,
companies are caught in a
challenging dilemma. U.S.
firms, especially those with
significant European opera-
tions, are pulled in different
directions: urged to reduce
their ESG efforts by some
vocal stakeholders in the
U.S., while in Europe they
face increasing regulatory
demands. This transatlan-
tic disparity creates a haze
of complexity. But there’s
a beacon of clarity through
this storm: the corporate
“statement of purpose.”
In the U.S., debates around
the “ESG political divide”
have intensified since Black-
Rock’s chair, Laurence Fink,
discussed multistakeholder
purpose and profitability in
2018 (“A Sense of Purpose”)
and 2019 (“Purpose and Prof-
it”). Fink wrote, “Profits are
in no way inconsistent with
purpose — in fact, profits
and purpose are inextricably
linked.” This debate zeroes
in on the allocation of capital
for long-term value creation
versus for impactful but un-
profitable causes. The core
of this debate, beyond the
political rhetoric, is about
long-term value creation for
investors, rather than just
trying to solve global prob-
lems without considering
profitability.
Meanwhile in Europe, the
“Green Deal” aims to make
the continent climate-neu-
tral by 2050, leading to new
corporate reporting require-
ments and expectations for
corporations. Through the
Corporate Sustainability
Reporting Directive (CSRD),
a set of 12 European Sustain-
ability Reporting Standards
have been developed by the
Sustainability Reporting
Board of the European Fi-
nancial Reporting Advisory
Group (EFRAG). These stan-
dards are so-called “double
materiality” and include
both financial materiality
(what matters to sharehold-
ers) and impact materiality
(what matters to the world
and certain subsets of share-
holders). At the same time,
the International Sustain-
ability Standards Board
(ISSB) under the IFRS
Foundation has issued two
standards, one on general
requirements and one on cli-
mate, that are grounded in
financial materiality. While
the ISSB and EFRAG are
working to develop a “global
baseline,” U.S. companies
will be subject to the CSRD’s
reporting requirements. The
ISSB’s standards fit better
for the U.S., but these will
only be voluntary.
THE BEST WAY FOR-
WARD: THE STATEMENT
OF PURPOSE
In the midst of this trans-
continental controversy,
complexity and uncertainty,
the corporate statement of
purpose still stands out as a
clear path through this tur-
bulence. Here are four rea-
sons why and four examples.
— CLARITY ON CORPO-
RATE OUTCOMES
The statement, ideally
one to two pages long, allows
the board to specify, clearly
and succinctly, how the
company is generating prof-
itable solutions for society
and the environment, and
how it’s minimizing nega-
tive impacts.
— IDENTIFICATION OF
STAKEHOLDERS
A straightforward pur-
pose statement points out
the main groups or individ-
uals that help the company
succeed. By directing re-
sources and support toward
these essential partners,
companies can better dem-
onstrate how addressing
social and environmental
challenges positively im-
pacts the bottom line. This is
not to be confused with the
much-derided “stakeholder
capitalism,” whose critics
claim that identifying key
stakeholders for material
issues detracts from profit-
ability. The truth is quite
the opposite.
— CREATING VALUE
FOR INVESTORS
Since 2015, Calvert Re-
search and Management’s
Principles for Responsible
Investment have provided a
strong framework for why
ESG factors matter. They ar-
ticulate how managing ma-
terial ESG factors can serve
as a road map for corpora-
tions to drive and influence
long-term value creation. A
corporate statement of pur-
pose can help responsible in-
vestors see the link between
key value-creating stake-
holders (i.e., employees,
communities or customers)
and the allocation of capital
that drives long-term value.
— NAVIGATING REGU-
LATORY DIFFERENCES
Companies operate with-
in different political and reg-
ulatory contexts, especially
between Europe and the U.S.
A statement of purpose can
guide them in enacting their
corporate objectives, capi-
tal allocation policies and
value-creating impact re-
porting regardless of the ju-
risdiction. Some companies
are already doing this.
FOUR GLOBAL EX-
AMPLES FROM SUSTAIN-
ABILITY-CHALLENGED
INDUSTRIES
In 2020, with Leo Strine,
we suggested a pathway for
putting purpose into action.
We called for every compa-
ny to publish a stakeholder-
inclusive statement of pur-
pose by 2025. Here are a few
new examples of companies
in sustainability-challenged
industries that articulate a
multistakeholder corporate
purpose that clearly links
capital allocation and long-
term value creation:
TOBACCO: Philip Morris
International’s board-issued
statement of purpose guides
capital allocation in the
transformation of the com-
pany. PMI has pledged to
transition to a tobacco com-
bustion–free future product
mix, and its statement of
purpose is useful for signal-
ing that to investors.
NATURAL GAS: EQT
Corp’s CEO-issued guiding
purpose is to provide energy
security to the world and
lower global emissions.
MINING: BHP’s purpose
is to bring people and re-
sources together to build
a better world through a
strategy to deliver long-term
value and investor returns
through the cycle.
BEVERAGES: Coca-
Cola’s CEO-issued purpose
is to refresh the world and
make a difference, and links
to value creation, capital al-
location and growth strat-
egy.
While not all stakeholders
may agree with these state-
ments of purpose, these com-
panies have clearly defined
how they will deliver profit-
able solutions for people and
the planet.
The debates and opin-
ions in the U.S. and Europe
about whether addressing
environmental and social
concerns contributes to in-
vestor returns while satis-
fying new company report-
ing requirements can be
reconciled by a statement
of corporate purpose. We
subscribe to the definition
of corporate purpose articu-
lated by Oxford University
professor Colin Mayer: “Pro-
ducing profitable solutions
from the problems of people
and planet, and not profiting
from creating problems.”
Companies operate in politi-
cal contexts. The solution to
the ESG debate anywhere in
the world is that companies
should enact their corporate
purpose to drive positive
change and innovation in a
profitable way.
Robert G. Eccles is a visiting
professor of management prac-
tice at Saïd Business School,
Oxford University, and the
founding chairman of the Sus-
tainability Accounting Stan-
dards Board. John Streur is the
chairman of Calvert Research
and Management. Timothy
Youmans is an executive direc-
tor and corporate engagement
strategist at Calvert Research
and Management.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023 www.businessday.ng A15
A16 www.businessday.ng
IMPACTFUL 100 DAYS: Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo,
Revolutionizing Nigeria’s migration management
In the dynamic realm of Nigeria’s migration landscape,
the Honourable Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-
Ojo, has orchestrated a series of transformative measures
within the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) during his
first 100 days in office. As the custodian of the nation’s
border security and migration management, the NIS has
seen significant strides under his leadership.
The Pillars of NIS
Established by the Immigration Act of 2015, the NIS is
entrusted with multifaceted responsibilities, including
border security, migration management, and internal
security functions. As one of the security agencies
supervised by the Ministry of Interior, the NIS operates
through eight directorates:
• Migration
• Finance and Accounts
• Human Resource Management
• Investigation and Compliance
• Visa and Residency
• Planning Research and Statistics
• Border Management
• Passport & Other Travel Documents
The NIS extends its presence across the nation with 8 zonal
offices, 48 command offices, 774 divisional offices in Local
Government Areas, and maintains diplomatic presence in
57 Embassies/High Commissions.
It has the Comptroller General of Immigration (CGI), as the
administrative head of the Service closely assisted by eight
Deputy Comptrollers General who head each of the eight
Directorates of the Service.
CGI Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju pcc+, fsi, is the current
Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service.
Passport Reforms: Streamlining Citizen Services
Upon assuming office on August 21, 2023, Dr. Tunji-Ojo
swiftly addressed the chronic issue of delayed passport
issuance. In a commendable move, he directed the removal
of obstacles hindering prompt Passport issuance during his
visit to the NIS Headquarters on August 30, 2023.
Aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed
Hope Agenda, the Minister set a two-week timeframe
(September 7, 2023) to clear a backlog of 204,322 Passport
applications. The augmentation of printing machines and
generous support from service providers facilitated the
resolution within slightly over two weeks.
All Passport issuing centers in Nigeria and abroad
are now mandated to ensure Passports are produced and
issued within a strict two-week timeframe from applicant
enrollment.
Plans are underway to expand our service points both
at home abroad to ease the pressure on the existing few.
Arrangements have also been concluded to make Passport
application paperless, where applicants would be able to
apply for their Passports at the comfort of their homes
without having to fill hard copies of forms at NIS offices.
Reciprocal Visa Issuance Policy
In a bid to align with international norms, on October 19,
2023, the Federal Government declared the adoption of
reciprocity in the issuance of visas to foreigners entering
Nigeria. This move reflects a reciprocal approach, adjusting
visa requirements based on the policies of the visitor’s home
country.
E-Immigration Project Phase 2: Technological
Advancement
Dr. Tunji-Ojo wasted no time in approving the
commencement of phase 2 of the e-Immigration project.
This ambitious initiative includes the development of the
cutting-edge e-Immigration Data Center and the Advance
Passenger Information center at the NIS Headquarters. The
Advance Passenger Information (API) enables pre-screening
of passengers before reaching ports of entry, bolstering
national security.
These technological enhancements mark a significant
leap in modernizing immigration infrastructure, aligning
seamlessly with the government’s commitment to
technological advancement.
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
Integrated Border Governance Committee
Recognizing the critical importance of border security, the
Honourable Minister established the Integrated Border
Governance Committee on October 13, 2023. Comprising
13 members from diverse agencies and chaired by the
Director of Joint Services from the Ministry of Interior,
the committee addresses pressing concerns regarding
Nigeria’s border regions.
E-Border Training and Expansion
To keep pace with modern border management, a
comprehensive training program was conducted for NIS
management staff. Additionally, 20 technical officers are
undergoing training in China, focusing on Networking and
Enhanced Long Term Evolution (ELTE). The expansion of
the Technology Building to host the E-Border Data Centre
is underway, enhancing technological capabilities.
Modernizing Nigeria Immigration Service (MoNIS)
A comprehensive draft document for the modernization
of the Nigeria Immigration Service, known as MoNIS,
is ready for implementation. The project aims to
support institutional reform efforts, modernizing the
Human Resource Management System, and ensuring
internal efficiency, productivity, and fairness among the
workforce.
Collaborative Security Measures
The NIS, under Dr. Tunji-Ojo’s stewardship,
collaborates with sister agencies, local and international
development partners, the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air
Force, Police, Customs, NIA, DSS, NSCDC, etc., in joint
Border Operations, fortifying Nigeria’s land and maritime
borders.
In the first 100 days of Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo’s tenure,
supported by CGI Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju, the Nigeria
Immigration Service has witnessed a commendable
transformation, marked by efficiency, technological
advancement, and a commitment to ensuring the nation’s
security. As the Honourable Minister continues to steer
the NIS towards excellence, these initiatives herald a
promising era for migration management in Nigeria.
www.businessday.ng sign up for https://bit.ly/bdnewsletters
BIG READ
African leaders want debt
relief for climate action
They are grappling with two crises at once
CAPE verde, a volcanic
archipelago off the west
coast of Africa, is not
in fact a cape, and only
in the rainy season is it
particularly green. It is
vulnerable to rising sea
levels, acidifying oceans
and erratic weather, and
this may explain why it
struck a debt-for-climate
deal with Portugal this
year. Initially Portugal
will write off €12m ($13m)
of debt. The money saved
will be invested in projects
like renewable energy and
desalination plants. If all
goes well, then the entire
€140m (some 6% of gdp)
that Cape Verde owes its
former coloniser will be
forgiven on similar terms.
The search for new fi-
nance is top of the agen-
da for African delegates
gathering in the United
Arab Emirates for cop28,
the un’s annual climate
jamboree, which started
on November 30th. Sub-
Saharan Africa needs to
spend 2.4% of its gdp a
year adapting to a warm-
ing world, the un reckons.
But many countries are
already weighed down by
debt and austerity. “Do
you pay the debt, and you
have nothing left to invest
in climate?” asks Claver
Gatete, a former Rwandan
finance minister who now
heads the un Economic
Commission for Africa
(uneca).
At the Africa Climate
Summit held in Nairobi
in September, the first of
its kind in Africa, heads
of state called for global
financial reform and a
“comprehensive and sys-
temic response to the in-
cipient debt crisis”. They
Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., 6A George Street, off Mobolaji Johnson Avenue, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria. Advert Hotline: 08033225506, 08033042209. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08164361208
MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023
on how they are struc-
tured.
For all their intuitive
appeal, swaps are a cum-
bersome way to invest in
protecting the climate.
They take years to ar-
range and often require
costly monitoring to en-
sure commitments are
met. Last year the Afri-
can Development Bank
reported that swaps had
dealt with $3.7bn of debt
worldwide since Bolivia
signed the first debt-for-
nature deal in 1987, but
only around $1.5bn was
directed at the environ-
ment. Swaps are also too
small to make much dif-
ference in a debt crisis,
also suggested a ten-year is advising African coun- savings pledged to a fund
where countries generally
moratorium on interest tries on how to negoti- for marine conservation.
need to get as many credi-
payments to allow for ate agreements. Portugal A military junta over-
tors as they can around
spending on adaptation is not the only creditor threw Gabon’s govern-
the table.
even as global rates rise, that is willing. This year ment three weeks after
along with pauses of debt Germany struck debt- the deal, but has made the
Neither a borrower or
servicing when natural forgiveness deals with first payment towards the
polluter be
disasters strike. Kenya and Egypt, worth project all the same.
It would be simpler to
Another idea is to swap €60m and €54m respec- The International Insti-
solve problems one by
debt for climate action, tively, in return for green tute for Environment and
one: by first arranging
thus killing two birds investments. Such bilat- Development, a British
comprehensive debt re-
with one stone. The uneca eral swaps are straightfor- research group, argues
lief for the countries that
ward but tend to be small, that swaps could be part of
need it, then by giving
because just a quarter of a debt-relief programme
generous climate grants
African debt is owed to for countries in financial
all round. But neither
Promises other governments. trouble, much like the
measure is forthcoming.
of climate More ambitious swaps debt cancellations of the
Debt talks are tangled in
involve third parties, such early 2000s. These have
finance by rich the demands of compet-
as environmental groups, the potential to raise $73bn
countries have raising money to buy back for climate and nature in
ing creditors. Promises
been slow to debt from private inves- sub-Saharan Africa alone.
of climate finance by rich
materialise. tors. “We don’t have to Global power-brokers are
countries have been slow
African leaders to materialise. African
reinvent capitalism… more cautious. The imf
will keep calling leaders will keep calling
to be able to do more of and World Bank are in-
for an overhaul of the
for an overhaul these transactions today,” terested in swaps but cli-
world’s financial archi-
of the world’s says Slav Gatchev of the mate policy is “not part of
tecture. In the meantime,
financial Nature Conservancy, an their dna”, says Jean-Paul
they will take what they
architecture. In American ngo, which has Adam, who was finance
can get.
the meantime, designed deals to protect minister of the Seychelles
biodiversity (rather than when it arranged a $21.6m
they will take
climate per se). It recently debt-for-nature deal in
what they can
helped Gabon refinance 2015. Credit-rating agen- This article was culled from
get
$500m of debt at lower cies may consider swaps a The Economist where it was
interest rates, with the form of default, depending first published
Editor: Tayo Fagbule. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.