The Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, has said that Nigeria has made significant progress in its shift away from oil and enhancing the development of the non-oil sector. Okonjo Iweala in an interview with the CNBC, monitored by Vanguard, also said that Nigeria must work faster to reduce its dependence on oil for greater economic growth. “Nigeria is one of the fastest growing countries in the world, we just saw third quarter GDP growth of 6.8 percent and we expect to end the year at 6.75 percent – and the IMF is forecasting higher growth rate, but we think we need to grow faster,” Okonjo-Iweala told CNBC last week. “We are making progress [moving away from oil] but we want to do it faster,” she added. “At one point 90 percent of our revenues came from oil so we’re making progress.” Nigeria’s oil reserves, production and exports generate around 70 percent of the government’s revenues, but Okonjo-Iweala said the country had many untapped growth opportunities it needed to explore in order to maintain a high growth rate.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Federal Government has once again debunked Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s recent allegation that the management of the country’s resources is shrouded in secrecy. The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja explained that contrary to the allegation by the governor, the state actually received the sum of N257.6bn within the first 10 months of this year from the federation account.
Updated 6 Years ago

It was another huge step towards banishing unemployment in Osun as the government of the state under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to increase the production chain of the International Breweries, Plc, Ilesa. The company will invest $40 million to build another factory that would increase the production of the breweries. According to the MoU, the state government will be responsible for the acquisition of land and payment of compensations to the original owners.
Updated 6 Years ago

Africa has become the world’s leading oil consumer, with demand for the resource having surged 5 percent in the past year, it emerged on Monday. Africa’s oil consumption increased at a time when global demand for oil only gained 1 percent, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovations’ President for the Energy Sector, Steve Harley said. “This (demand for oil in Africa) is likely to continue as many of the fastest growing economies are situated on the continent.”
Updated 6 Years ago

JPMorgan Chase & Co has withdrawn from a syndicate of banks working on a $2 billion Hong Kong listing by China Everbright Bank Co, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. JPMorgan's exit comes as it faces a number of investigations by U.S. regulators, including a look into its hiring practices in China. U.S. authorities are probing whether the bank improperly gave jobs to well connected people in Asia to win business. JPMorgan at one point hired Tang Xiaoning, the son of Tang Shuangning, chairman of Everbright Bank's parent, China Everbright Group, and a former bank regulator, The New York Times reported in August. After the younger Tang joined JPMorgan, the bank won several important assignments from Everbright, including advising a subsidiary on a stock offering, the newspaper reported.
Updated 6 Years ago

Omatek Ventures Plc has bounced back to profitability thereby raising the hopes of shareholders for dividend payment very soon. The company, which is the only computer manufacturing firm listed on the Nigerian bourse, has posted losses in recent years due to high interest charges and cost of operations. However, Omatek appears to have started reaping the fruits of investment and diversification strategy as it had reported a profit of N225 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to a loss of N300 million the previous year.
Updated 6 Years ago

South African financial services company, First National Bank (FNB) plans to expand its retail operations to Ghana and Nigeria by 2014 to boost growth. South Africa’s economic climate had changed and retail banking market was becoming more competitive in the region, hence the decision to expand further, said Jacques Celliers the bank’s CEO. According to a BDlive report, FNB will try to get a banking licence in Ghana, build up the brand organically and then make a small to mid-sized acquisition to build scale. This year, the lender’s efforts to clinch a deal in Ghana did not materialise, leaving it with an option to apply for a banking licence or explore another acquisition opportunity. In 2011, FirstRand resorted to building the FNB brand organically in Zambia after efforts to acquire Finance Bank of Zambia fell through. That Zambian operation has expanded from seven branches in mid 2012 to 10 in June this year. “…you can’t always wait for deals,” Mr Celliers said regarding the company’s Ghana market entry plans.
Updated 6 Years ago

The value of commercial paper (CP), an unsecured short-term debt instrument held by banks rose by 94.1 per cent to N29.1 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2013, compared with N15 billion at the end of the preceding quarter, a report has shown. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) economic report for the third quarter of 2013, which revealed this, attributed the development to the increase in holding of CP by the banks during the review period. Thus, CP constituted 0.44 per cent of the total value of money market assets outstanding, compared with 0.23 per cent at the end of the preceding quarter. On the other hand, the report showed the value of bankers' acceptance (BA), a short-term debt instrument issued by a firm that is guaranteed by a commercial bank increased by 53.2 per cent to N24.5 billion at the end of the review quarter, compared with an increase of 58.1 per cent at the end of the preceding quarter. The development, it stated reflected an increase in investment in BA by the banks. Consequently, it stated that BA accounted for 0.37 per cent of the total value of money market assets outstanding at the end of the review quarter, compared with 0.24 per cent at the end of the preceding quarter.
Updated 6 Years ago

Crude oil production from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was unchanged at 29.93 million barrels per day (mbpd) in October following production of 29.91 million b/d in September, a just-released Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts has revealed. Increased output from Iraq and Libya of 360,000 b/d was almost completely offset by reductions totaling 340,000 b/d, of which the biggest single cut was from Saudi Arabia. "To keep its production at current levels, OPEC, mostly through the Saudis have had quite a challenge," said Platts global director of news, John Kingston. "Libya production is up and down, but mostly down, and Iraq's season of maintenance has now been followed by disruptions in the country, leading oil services company Baker Hughes to suspend operations and declare force majeure on its activities throughout the country. This does not bode well for the organisation being able to maintain production levels. Those 10 million barrels per day of Saudi output from earlier this year may be needed", Kingston added. The survey revealed that Libya began October with production around 650,000 b/d to 700,000 b/d, on the heels of an agreement with striking workers in late September that allowed output to resume at the Elephant and Sharara fields in the west of the country. However, subsequent rounds of disruptions, including a protest at the port of Mellitah and another stoppage at Sharara, again pushed back output, with volumes for the month averaging 540,000 bpd. Iraqi output recovered to around 3 million bpd in October from 2.8 million bpd in September, when work to install a metering and manifold system in Basrah had resulted in a plunge of 350,000 bpd from estimated August output of 3.15 million bpd.
Updated 6 Years ago

Irrespective of the on-going strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Enterprise Bank Limited has reaffirmed that the strike does not affect ‘The University Staff Cluster Loan,’ which was launched recently. The product, according to a release, is designed to avail staff members of Nigerian universities (both academic and non academic staff) personal loans, which will enable them to bridge financial gaps at discounted interest rates. The loan is coming as one of the bank’s continual quest to delight her customers that are operating in the different strata of the society.
Updated 6 Years ago