Fresh job cuts loom as more firms mull exit – New Telegraph Nigerian Newspaper

Taiwo Hassan

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), has received some fresh complaints from different firms in the country of their intention to lay-off workers, shutdown production and relocate outside the shores of Nigeria. NACCIMA disclosed this in a report obtained by New Telegraph in Lagos.

NACCIMA, which is the mouthpiece of the organised private sector (OPS) in the country, said that the complaints from the affected firm have to do with the continued foreign exchange scarcity, low production output, high energy cost and decline in profits. A top member of NACCIMA and President, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Tony Ejinkeonye, said that majority of manufacturing companies and blue chip companies were groaning over the investment clime in the country, as the on-going economic recession took severe toll on their businesses.

He explained that these affected companies are not happy with the way government is handling the recession, lamenting that they may be forced to carry out their restructuring exercise, which would result in mass job losses and relocation of more local companies to neighbouring countries. His words: “Several members of the Chamber have complained bitterly over the difficulty in accessing foreign exchange to procure their raw material. The situation is really quite pathetic for businesses especially those in the manufacturing sector.

“Our members are groaning over low output occasioned by non-availability of forex to get raw materials for production, which in turn has affected their turnover drastically. Just today, we received notice from different companies threatening to lay-off their workers or shut down production in the meantime if forex scarcity continues, while others are making plans to relocate to neighbouring African countries.

“Meanwhile, one only hopes that government can come up with a strategy to address the current scarcity of foreign exchange so as to avert impending economic misfortune.” The ACCI president states that about 70 per cent of Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) companies operating in Abuja are currently at risk, as they battled to remain in business.

He added that SMEs owners have lost huge profits to the country’s economic recession due to the economic recession. “In the last eight months, SMEs loss to the current economic woe in value terms is substantial going by reports we have received so far,” Ejinkeonye said. He explained that the forex scarcity has continued to fuel uncertainty in the country’s real sector, especially in manufacturing sector, adding that this has adversely affected production output of manufacturers and their profits.

In his own submission, the Director- General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, concurred that the general contradiction in the country’s economy was having adverse effect on many operating companies operations. Yusuf said: “Again, the increase in job cuts, lay-offs and others that are happening in the country is largely as a result of the general contradictions that we are witnessing in the economy nowadays because once there is a slowdown in the economy, it affects virtually all sectors of the economy.

You can see that profitability in the economy has declined marginally; capacity of many businesses to sustain their enterprises has also been weakened; purchasing power declined; cost of production gone up and access to foreign exchange rate a challenge.” For example, Guinness Nigeria reported that earnings after tax fell 83 per cent in the nine months through March, while revenue dropped 18 per cent to N69.6 billion ($220 million). Also, the shares are down 17 per cent this year, compared with a 3.7 per cent fall in the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index

Lagos targets 200,000 metric tone of rice by 2017 – New Telegraph Nigerian Newspaper

Appolonia Adeyemi And Muritala Ayinla

The Lagos State Government would produce of 200,000 metric tones of rice through its collaboration with Kebbi State by 2017. Special Adviser to the state Governor on Food Security, Ganiu Okanlawon, disclosed this in Lagos, while briefing journalists on the forthcoming maiden Lagos Food Security Summit. He said the state through the partnership would produce 51,000 metric tone by December this year.

The government, which also promised to acquire more parcels of land, said those already acquired in Ogun, Osun States and Abuja have already been put into use. He said the growing population of Lagos calls for pragmatic step to ensure that population growth doesn’t threaten food security in the state. He said that the price of rice produced by the state government in collaboration with Kebbi State would be affordable since the rice is locally made without payment of duties, adding that the when produced, the rice would also be more nutritious than the imported.

The Special Adviser noted that that the summit is being organised to institutionalise a food security framework that would guarantee sustainable food security for its growing population. The summit billed for the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos from Thursday, November 10 to Friday, November 11, 2016, is designed to realign emerging realities with new global trends on food safety, food processing, food storage, food handling, funding of agribusiness and agric insurance,” he said.

Okanlawon added that the summit with the theme ‘Actualizing Sustainable Food Security in Lagos: A New Comprehensive Agenda’ will attract major stakeholders from the agricultural sector and academia as well as prospective foreign and local investors, media, civil society and policy makers in government.

He said: “The Summit is expected to provide a veritable platform for discourse on various investment opportunities in agriculture and agro-allied business in the State with the aim of stimulating private investment in the sector and ultimately optimise its vast agroprocessing and agro-allied potentials.”

Okanlawon while stressing the need to urgently plan for sufficient and sustainable food production in Lagos noted that State being the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria with about 45 per cent of the nation’s skilled population and the tendency for increased population growth due to rural-urban migration, need to plan not just for now but for the future.

He added that in spite of its limited space, the State possesses vast agricultural investment potentials waiting to be tapped or optimised stressing that the present administration of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode had in the last one year embarked on various innovative agricultural and agro-allied programmes and projects geared towards ensuring food security in the State.

‘Nigeria can earn N15trn yearly from cassava’ – New Telegraph Nigerian Newspaper

Pastor Segun Adewumi, President, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, in this interview with CALEB ONWE, bares his mind on how the full potential of cassava can be harnessed to resuscitate the economy. He also spoke on other issues in the industry. Excerpts:

Recently, a cassava summit was held in Abuja, as the president of Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, could you give us more insight into what necessitated the summit and what it holds for Nigeria?

The summit provided great enlightenment to stakeholders and the public on the progress, challenges and prospects in the cassava industry. Cassava is Nigeria’s gold, even though such recognition has not been given to it. I would be bold to state that it is better for us as economy promoters to give attention to developing the full potential of the cassava industry than pursuing fuel. Cassava can actually give us more than N15 trillion annually going by the present exchange rates.

Our association is already championing a crusade to make cassava a national product, we want all stakeholders at all levels to give priority attention to cassava. We are trying to be above board in creating the enlightenment.

Secondly, cassava is cultivated all over the country from the North to the South. Cassava grows and lives with water but survives with heat, the fact that there is no water for three months cannot affect cassava, so it is so easy to grow and Nigeria is known as the highest producer of cassava in the world, so, it is what we have that we will promote. Cassava is the only farm produce in the world that Nigeria has been recognised globally as a leader, so it is very necessary to promote cassava.

The country is targeting $5 billion on cassava annually, is it realistic?

In my opinion, that projection is very modest. It is possible for us to actually get three times that amount if we are focused on cassava. Let me give this analysis, right now, Nigeria has up to 84 million hectares of yet to be cultivated arable land.

If we can give five million to producing cassava, we will get 200 million metric tone of cassava and that 200 million, if you look at the industrial factors, at the ratio of four tons of fetch cassava root to one ton of cassava starch, you will get up to 50 million metric ton of starch. And the same value can also be got from other bye products of cassava, which we can process and export to earn foreign exchange. We have had a lot of policies geared towards developing the potential of cassava and yet, appreciable progress has not been made.

What do you think that Nigeria is doing that is likely going to hinder the vision of developing the cassava industry?

Beginning from the regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo when cassava started receiving attention, I can tell you that what he did during his regime in the cassava sub-sector of agriculture was inspirational. He sold the vision to us and partly implemented it though he couldn’t get the strategy to do it well.

Akinwumi Adesina, the immediate past minister of agriculture, who did pretty well to promote cassava bread, also picked up that vision for cassava production. We were convinced that he was going to intervene, and bring about the desired turnaround, he tried, but certain things could not fall in the right place. Regarding cassava bread, countries like Cameroun and Brazil have already achieved up to 20 per cent of cassava flour in bread baking, but in Nigeria, we are yet to achieve that. The problem we have here is implementation of workable strategies.

The last regimes did its best, but due to certain challenges, all that was desired as far as tapping the full economic value of cassava was not achieved. And I think the present regime is trying not to fall into the same pit. For instance, N10 billion was released for the promotion of cassava bread, the money was shared between, growers and processors of cassava, the master bakers and other areas where it was necessary.

In our own case, the Bank of Agriculture disbursed to us and we cultivated 29,500 hectare of cassava, however, by the time the cassava sowed matured, I think something went wrong with the processing, they didn’t have the equipment to off-take and the cassava rotted away. That occurred due to lack of reliable facilities for processing and I think based on that, the working capital that was supposed to be given to them was not available for them, the money was a grant that doesn’t require the type of measures the banks were introducing, measures that the people could not fulfill, so our cassava rotted away.

I think the present government is looking into it so that they will not repeat the same mistake. I want you to know that the concept is that 50 per cent additional charges on import duty will be added to importation of wheat floor, and if we import N250 billion worth of wheat in a year? That means the 50 per cent added will bring it to N100 billion annually that could have been collected for the past five years. I also believe that the N10 billion that was released for cassava programme was not enough.

Now Nigeria is targeting 45 million jobs from cassava, if we must realise this what do we need to do around cassava?

We have already made our presentation to the present minister of agriculture and rural development, we recommended creation of a Cassava Commission or a specialised committee under the ministry to drive the cassava programme. There is need for a commercial programme and such initiative cannot thrive under the bureaucratic system of the ministry without the private sector driving it. We also want the ministry to establish a commercial centre for cassava that will be driven by the private sector.

Secondly, we want to promote cottage industries in the rural areas where this cassava is produced, though am aware that in 2009, about N1 billion was deposited in a certain bank to help establish the cottage industry, but the money was not disbursed, we have brought this to the notice of the present minister.

There is also the need for mechanised farming in Nigeria, if we want to create massive jobs, I will tell you those farmers in America are not up to five per cent of the population of America, yet they produce enough food for their country and also export to other countries. So, mechanised farming is needed to trigger industrial revolution that will create opportunity for massive employment.

I will tell you this, the three major cassava industrial products, ethanol, industrial starch and cassava floor, that we are concentrating on now are raw materials to numerous industrial items with limitless market potentials, even if the entire land mass in Nigeria is used to plant cassava, it would not be enough to meet the needs of our people. There is massive opportunity for employment in the cassava sub-sector of agriculture if we can do the needful.

In our association, we are already considering youth empowerment through cassava farming, the believe that if they cultivate about 10,000 hectares of lands that will be cleared and allocated to them by the government, at least every youth stands the chance to make up to N2 million profit annually after expenses, and if such youths decides to take it up as a career, we can form them into cooperative that can own facilities with specialised equipment.

This is because. specialised equipment will bring down cost of production, like harvester that can do more than what human labour can do; planter is also one of such specialised equipment. All these strategy will not just create employment but will help us to compete in the world market. I can also tell you that our cassava is the most expensive in the world, even in terms of quantity.

There was a time when the issue of cassava chips came up, Fadama invited me to talk about it, I told them that selling cassava chips is slave mentality like what is happening with our crude oil, which we sell and they will refine it and resell to us at their price. We believe it will be better to process the cassava here get all the value in it and then sell them to the end users anywhere in the world.

Now Nigeria is collaborating with China to improve the economy, and China has a lot to do with cassava product; and instead of exporting raw cassava to China, government is talking about cassava chip, why can’t government invite the Chinese investors to come to Nigeria and establish processing facilities here and refrain from exporting our job opportunities. I know that at a point, the bakers were actually brought into the cassava initiative, so that they can put at least 10 per cent of cassava flour in baking bread, but it appears that certain interest is trying to frustrate that initiative.

Can you tell us how much foreign exchange that cassava has brought into the country in the last two years?

For now cassava has not brought in any foreign exchange into the country, apart from garri that is being taken out, there is nobody exporting raw cassava out of this country, because the cost of production here is too much for the world market.

Even the garri that is taken offshore, we have a challenge with it because it has not gained international recognition, those who are taking it out had to put a label that gives it Ghanaian identification. We are working with government to standardise the processing of our garri processing and packaging. From what is happening to the economy now, the only option left for the country is agriculture, so government cannot afford not to give adequate attention to it.

SEC bans two market operators for life – New Telegraph Nigerian Newspaper

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has handed over life bans to Mr. Taofik Lawal and Mrs. Iyabode Lawal from operating in the Nigeria capital market for mismanagement of stocks and unauthorised sale of shares. In a statement obtained from SEC’s website, the Commission noted that in the exercise of its powers under Section 13 of the ISA, 2007, it investigated complaints against WT Securities Limited and its Directors (Mr. Taofik Lawal and Mrs. Iyabode Lawal) and found them culpable of mismanaging the stocks of Mrs. Opral Mason Benson, and the unauthorised sale of the Nigerian Breweries Plc. shares belonging to Ngozi Onyekwere Nwachukwu.

“The actions of WT Securities Limited and the aforementioned Directors are in violation of Section 110 of the ISA 2007 and Rule 65 (1) of the Commission’s Consolidated Rules and Regulations 2013.

“Consequently, in accordance with Section 13 (bb) of the ISA 2007, Mr. Taofik Lawal and Mrs. Iyabode Lawal have been banned and blacklisted from operating in the Nigerian Capital market for life.

“In view of this, the investing public is hereby advised to desist from dealing with the named persons in any capital market related capacity,” the commission said. SEC had recently banned the Managing Director of BGL Plc, Mr. Albert Okumagba and his deputy, Chibundu Edozie, from carrying out capital market activities for 20 years, and ordered his companies to restitute investors over N2 billion.

The ban also followed complaints from investors against Okumagba and his company over failure, refusal and or/neglect to liquidate their investments in both the Guaranteed Consolidated dated Notes and Guaranteed Premium Notes, two investment products run by the company.

SEC had suspended Okumagba and BGL from operating in the market a year ago, and has since been investigating the complaints. He was also removed as the President of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS). According to SEC, in a bid to obtain justice for the complainants and grant all parties fair hearing, the matter was presented before the Administrative Proceedings Committee (APC) of the commission, which sat on February 6, 2016. During the proceedings various parties tendered testimonies and documentary evidence. SEC said upon the conclusion of the proceedings, its APC arrived at a decision, which has been approved by the relevant authority.

The APC decided that by their actions and/or omissions BGL Securities Limited, BGL Asset Management Limited, Okumagba, Edozie, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 21st and 22nd respondents engaged in acts capable of adversely affecting the investing public’s image of, and confidence in the capital market.

Oil Price Rises To $46.23 With Returning Supply From Nigeria

Kreazetofa Odey 

Oil prices edged up yesterday after two consecutive days of losses, with gains capped by returning supplies from Nigeria and Libya.

There are unconfirmed expectations that Nigerian crude supplies could also be returning as offers for October-loading Qua Iboe crude have emerged even as force majeure on it remains in place.

ExxonMobil is said to be offering an October-loading cargo from Qua Iboe facility, the first offer since the company declared force majeure on the grade in July, according to report by Reuters.

Exxon declared force majeure on the grade, Nigeria’s largest export stream, after a leak on the pipeline that feeds the oil to the export terminal.

It was not immediately clear if the pipeline was already repaired, or if the company simply expected it to be back online in time to load the oil in October.

The cargo is offered for October 8-16 loading at a premium of $1.80 per barrel to dated Brent, sources said.

However, a spokesman of the company told LEADERSHIP that Exxon has not lifted the Force Majeure, in a text message on Wednesday.

Crude prices fell by about 3 percent for a second straight day on Wednesday, following a 4.6 million barrel build in U.S. distillates inventories. It was the biggest weekly build since January and put distillate stocks at six-year seasonal highs.

However, U.S. crude inventories dropped by 559,000 barrels in the week to Sept. 9, defying analysts expectations of a crude build of 3.8 million barrels.

“It’s good news at this time of the year to see a draw like that (in crude stocks),” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst for CMC Markets. “But the market seems to be more concerned at the moment about the possibility of a sharp increase of the supply from Libya.”

Crude prices have fallen by around 8 percent in the last five trading sessions, including on expectations of a return of crude supplies from Libya and Nigeria, hit by months of unrest.

Libya’s National Oil Corporation is lifting force majeure at three ports and exports will resume immediately at two of them, it said on Thursday.

BlackBerry lesson: adapt or die in the internet Age — Technology — The Guardian Nigeria

BlackBerry has joined Yahoo, Nokia and other technology industry stars felled by an internet age in which companies are forced to evolve quickly or perish.

Canadian-based BlackBerry announced Wednesday it would halt in-house production of smartphones, marking the end of an era for the once-dominant handset producer.

Originally known as Research in Motion, the company earned a dedicated following of “CrackBerry” addicts and introduced millions to the smartphone.

But, its luster faded with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and the large number of low-costs Android handsets that followed.

BlackBerry travelled a road well-worn.

Finland’s Nokia, once the world’s largest mobile phone maker, has seen its smartphone business go up in smoke as well.

Internet pioneer Yahoo recently inked a deal to sell its core business to US telecommunications firm Verizon after years of struggling in vain to revive growth in an online search market usurped by Google.

“What they have in common is that they haven’t reacted well to rapid change from their original positions,” said Endpoint Technologies Associates analyst Roger Kay. “Tech has high velocity.”

The tech sector is young and fast-moving in an internet culture that praises “disruption” and “revolution” of industries and lifestyles.

Among mottos found on the walls of leading social network Facebook is “Move fast and break things.”

Smartphones themselves have become seemingly indispensible, with people typically replacing handsets every year or two in order to have the newest features or capabilities.

– Resting on laurels –
Changing to capitalize on a new trend can be daunting for companies comfortable with products that keep revenue flowing for the moment.

“It reminds me of all those old singers going to Las Vegas to do whatever it is they do when they should really have just stopped,” Kay said of tech companies sticking with what early hits.

“Everybody wants to do an encore and get paid again.”

When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, some critiques questioned why the California company was “cannibalizing” its successful line of iPods.

The iPhone became a global sensation, and a main driver of stellar profit for Apple.

Kay noted that when Yahoo ruled internet search it became clear their model was under attack by a newcomer called Google.

Yahoo may not have seen the threat, or may have blinded itself to the need for change because its old business model continued to pump revenue, according to Kay.

And while there are individual specifics underlying the downfall of incumbent mobile phone titans, they all faced the sudden and simultaneous rise of two powerhouses

Apple disrupted smartphones and lifestyles with its iPhone, and Google fired back with an Android mobile operating system that any consumer electronics maker was free to use.

The Google and Apple one-two punch was enough to essentially “pivot” a smartphone market that incumbents thought was too stable to rattle, according to independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle.

“None of the big firms were prepared to deal with it,” Enderle said of two companies new to the smartphone scene fueling a revolution.

Unlike the birth of search engine Google on a young and growing internet, mobile phones were an existing market that incumbents felt they knew well and were “completely taken aback b the combination of Apple and Google,” according to Enderle.

– Reinvention –
Veteran technology firms being overtaken by newcomers is not necessarily inevitable, if established companies have the wit and courage to re-invent themselves, adapting to survive.

Analyst Kay noted IBM, a century-old technology company that has embraced transformation time and again, even shedding products along the way.

Computer chip giant Intel shifted its focus to microprocessors for mobile devices to adapt to how internet-connected devices were evolving.

Apple itself was a computer company on the brink of bankruptcy when it staked its future on iPods and iPhones in a winning move that made it one of the most profitable companies on the planet.

The future is a question mark for Microsoft, once the world’s largest company, which has fallen behind Apple and Google as the PC industry declines and which is refocusing on enterprise services.

But reinvention isn’t a cure-all, and needs ongoing commitment to change along with vision of where markets are heading.

IBM now seems tangled in endless restructuring, with revenue declining for more than four years; Intel continues to struggle to find the kind of success it had with big computer chips.

Analysts have taken to wondering whether Apple itself has become too dependent on the iPhone, and is taking too long to come up with “the next big thing

Nigeria @56: Let’s Fight Back Recession, Atiku Urges Nigerians | THISDAYLIVE

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has enjoined the government and Nigerians to be ready to beat back the current economic recession.

Atiku said Nigeria is marking her 56th birthday at a time of turbulent economic crisis which requires that everyone collectively  makes effort in revitalising the core elements of the national economy.
In his message issued yesterday to mark the Independence day celebration, the vice president said it is no time for grief, regret or recrimination but to forged ahead in attempt to recreate opportunities for growing the economy.

While regretting the problems caused by the sudden slump in badly needed foreign investment, the former vice president advised the various governments to introduce cost-cutting measures as a way of surviving the recession.

He said he would support the president in his quest to right the turbulent ship of Nigeria.
“This may cause some citizens of our country to feel that all hope is lost, that there is nothing worth celebrating. However, this current crisis is not a time for grief, regret or recrimination, it is an opportunity for all of us to roll up our sleeves and support the government in the arduous task of revitalising the core elements of our national economy.

“We are witnessing an increasing loss of foreign confidence in the ability of Nigerians to resolve the economic downturn. There has been a slowdown of badly needed foreign investment, which has decelerated economic development that is so essential to the well-being of the ordinary Nigerian. The average Nigerian is worried about the state of things and yearning for a vibrant economy within a peaceful and stable environment so that he/she can carry on with daily endeavours to make ends meet.

“This time demands that we cut our coat according to our cloth, but more than anything else it demands that we lend a helping hand to one another and form a formidable coalition to push back the recession. We didn’t come to this state by our own choice.

“True, we might have made some mistakes in not being frugal at the time of surplus; it may also be true also that our policy makers kept on living in denial when this recession could have been nipped in the bud.

“But the mistake we must not make at the moment is to imagine that the antidote to this current crisis lies with any one man/woman or the government alone. We all must come together as patriots to fight back this ugly situation.

“Despite our litany of problems and divergent agitations, I am confident and full of abiding faith that the Nigeria of today is faced with great opportunities, immediately and in the near future. We are making significant headway in our fight against the scourge of corruption. “We are at the zenith of producing our own food and aggressively diversifying our economy. We are in the process of empowering our youths and adequately subsidizing our small business owners. We are ensuring massive harvesting and full utilization of all of our natural resources.

“These are lofty goals and great challenges, but I am confident that, together, we can accomplish them with ease. No problem is insurmountable if we embrace peace and eschew those views that divide us as a nation.

“Governments, corporations and private businesses must do all they can to ensure that people keep their jobs. Despicable as this moment may be, it must call to task the creativity of our young people to innovate and create unique opportunities. We must fight back at this recession on our own terms. We must never allow it to defeat our creative prowess or set us back on terms that we are not prepared for.

“Fifty-six years ago when our heroes negotiated our independence from colonial authorities, the immediate threat before us as a budding country was how to establish a political order that would be enduring and serve the needs of our people. Several years down the line and in spite of the very many upsets along the way, we have been able to establish a democratic political order that has made our governments predictably periodic and more accountable.

“I have spent a lifetime fighting for our citizens inside and outside the government, and I stand on this day of pride to assure all Nigerians that we shall all face the challenges together. This I know is not a job for one man/woman but a job for all of us.

I stand with our President in his quest to right the turbulent ship of Nigeria. I call on all Nigerians to join hands and unite behind the common goal of making Nigeria a great nation in our lifetime.
“My belief in Nigeria is unflinching and my optimism is boundless. We must get our country on the right path to greatness. Failure is not an option!

“Right now, the challenge before us is to create an enduring economic order that will not only accommodate and reward the entrepreneurial instinct of Nigerians, but one that will guarantee prosperity for us all. And this moment, as ugly and despicable as it may seem, is our best take off opportunity for a long marathon to a new and brighter economic dawn,” he said.