A front-line real estate development company, Propertygate Development and Investment plc, has invested N400 million as part of its strategic efforts to boost real estate market in Nigeria. Besides, the Lagos-based company has almost completed another top-class estate project called Alexandria Quarters in Lekki Peninsula, Lagos.
Updated 7 Years ago

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday presented some documents to Justice Adamu Hobon of Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, to prove that a former governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, diverted N860m meant for the Ekiti State poultry projects during his tenure.
Updated 7 Years ago

Blasting along the two-lane Sea-to-Sky Highway up the mountains inland from Whistler, British Columbia, we encountered a slow logging truck climbing a steep grade. No worry: Tap the paddle shifter, nail the accelerator, and sweep around . . . only to fetch up behind three motorhomes dressed in vinyl-wrap rental-agency livery, plodding bumper-to-bumper at 15 mph under the limit. No space between, so we couldn’t pass one at a time. Perhaps they were worried about missing the photo-op suggested by the numerous “Watch Out for Bears” signs. BMW satirically offered its own protocol for bears: “Take a phone photo and post to Facebook before proceeding.” Bears are smarter than your average RV-er and snoozed—or whatever it is bears do—in the woods on B.C.’s hottest day this summer.
Updated 7 Years ago

THE Federal Government plans to spend a whopping N2.08tn to service its debts in the next three years. This came just as findings also showed that the country’s debt profile under the current Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has risen by about N980bn from $42.23bn in 2011 to $48.36bn currently.
Updated 7 Years ago

Like almost any other convertible’s, the E550’s structure has been reinforced to compensate for the absence of a fixed top. Although there are occasional steering-column quivers on lumpy pavement, the jiggles don’t affect handling. Ultimately, understeer limits cornering speeds, but it’s progressive and predictable, with no lift-throttle consequences.
Updated 7 Years ago

Take solace in the knowledge that the SS handles like a Camaro on pain meds. The Bridgestones hug the earth to the tune of 0.95 g, body roll is nicely restrained, and there’s just a touch of understeer at the adhesion limit. Thanks to dampers that might have been pilfered from a BMW factory, the SS never falls apart over imperfect pavement. It jogs with a supple stride and, except for tread noise over patches and expansion joints, is a model of refined comportment. The body structure is solid and rattle-free, and the electrically assisted power steering is calibrated for quick turn-in and a linear rise in effort. The 153-foot fade-free stopping distance from 70 mph is only two-thirds of a car length greater than the best C7 Corvette performance we’ve measured.
Updated 7 Years ago

Private Equity Africa, the industry publication for fund managers, investors and advisors has reported that Africa-focused fundraisers have brought in excess of $2billion in reported closings for the period January – September 2013, already exceeding 2012 full-year figures. The latest figures are based on data from Preqin, the alternative assets industry’s leading source of data and intelligence, supplied exclusively to Private Equity Africa.
Updated 7 Years ago

Increasing demand for the shares of Julius Berger Nigeria plc, Cadbury Nigeria plc, and Lafarge Cement Wapco plc has impacted hugely on the pricing of these equities, BusinessDay trend watch has found. Looking at the performance of these stocks from January 2, 2013 to November 26, 2013, out of 30 largely capitalised stocks at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), investors in the trio reaped the highest returns resulting from their share price appreciation.
Updated 7 Years ago

Royal Exchange Group, a member of the financial service sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with subsidiaries in Life insurance, general insurance, healthcare, micro finance, and finance and investment has recorded a written premium income of N7.61 billion at the end of 2012 financial year, translating to 11.58 percent increase over N6.82 billion in 2011.
Updated 7 Years ago

As the year slowly grinds to an end and 2014 approaches we have decided to unveil our top investment themes for next year. The NSE has gained 39 percent year to date (Nov 29), providing ample returns for investors, however gaining alpha in 2014 may prove a little trickier. Re-pricing of global risk: There will be a reprising of risk globally in 2014 as abundant liquidity due to QE, starts to get rolled back by the US FED. Foreign investor holdings of Nigerian bonds and Treasury bills stood at $11.6 billion as at September 2013 (25 percent of total debt stock). If investors feel risk adjusted returns are more attractive in developed markets as US interest rates rise, then they will pull funds from Emerging Markets (EM), including Nigeria. Scoping Sanusi’s successor: Investors will be keenly watching to see if a credible successor is appointed to replace Nigeria’s highly effective CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. As one offshore fund manager told us “reforms at Nigeria’s financial sector will continue to require a safe pair of hands.”
Updated 7 Years ago