FCMB Announces Adamu Nuru MD FCMB Limited, Ladi Balogun CEO FCMB Group Plc
Following the completion of his 10 year tenure as managing director of FCMB Limited (the bank), Ladi Balogun will be stepping down to assume the role of CEO of the holding company, FCMB Group Plc – the position of CEO of the holding company was previously held by Peter Obaseki. Ladi will be succeeded by Adamu Nuru, who is currently the executive director of business development for the bank. We view this as neutral, and expected a succession announcement. Adamu Nuru is also a familiar name to FCMB, and has spent 7 years at the bank. According to the press release, changes become effective on March 20th 2017. We expect to get an address from the new managing director of FCMB Limited on the next investor conference call.
Telecom Coys May Block Skype, WhatsApp calls Due To Recession
With the economic crisis in the country hitting businesses hard, telecommunication firms are opting for drastic measures to boost revenue. Telecoms companies in the country are hoping to address concerns over revenue loss from international calls and hit a revenue target of N20tn by blocking subscribers from accessing Skype and other Over-the-Top services, The PUNCH learnt on Sunday. It was reliably gathered that subscribers might also be prevented from performing certain functions like voice and video calls on WhatsApp and Facebook, among other OTT services. Skype is a proprietary Voice-over Internet Protocol software for calling other people on their computers or mobile phones.
Lekoil Announces Commencement Of First 0il Export
Lekoil (BUY, TP: 38p) has announced the commencement of first oil export from its Otakikpo marginal field in Nigeria, at 5kbpd, to ramp up to 10kbpd by Q2 17. In our estimation this could lead to an average production of 8 – 8.5kbpd vs our 10kbpd. Behind our estimates, remains positive for investor sentiments. We understand production rate was capped by Nigerian regulators based on onsite storage capacity of 45kbbls with is currently full. Production should progressively ramp up to 10kbpd in Q2 17. This announcement also confirms the completion of Lekoil’s 10km privately owned pipeline (4km – onshore, 6km – offshore). This pipeline is not subject to the wide-range of 10 – 20% reconciliation loss associated with use of third party infrastructure. We however modelled a 60-day downtime for production in our numbers for unforeseen risks which might be conservative.
CBN Releases Additional Forex To Banks For School Fees, PTA
Preparatory to providing the additional forex, the CBN had, last Thursday, pegged the exchange rate for payment of the school fees, and personal travel allowance (PTA) and medicals at N375 to the dollar. This new rate as quoted by a source will take effect from Monday. According to Okoroafor, “The Central Bank of Nigeria has taken a decision to directly fund banks with additional foreign exchange to be able to take care of some personal travel allowance, school fees and medical payments. With that, we have tried to set an exchange rate for those transactions at 20 per cent above the interbank rate – that is, 20 per cent above the interbank rate that ranges between N305 and N315.”
Fitch Rates 3 UBA Subsidiaries At ‘B-‘
Fitch Ratings has affirmed the long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Cameroon, UBA Senegal and UBA Ghana at ‘B-‘. The outlooks for the financial institutions were also said to be stable. The three banks are subsidiaries of Nigeria’s UBA. UBA controls 100 per cent of UBA CAM, 86 per cent of UBA SEN and 91 per cent of UBA Ghana. According to a statement by Fitch at the weekend, the long-term IDRs of UBA CAM, UBA SEN and UBA Ghana were driven by their standalone financial strength, as defined by their ‘b-‘ Viability Ratings (VR), and were also underpinned by Fitch’s view of potential support from UBA.
CBN forex Allocation Inadequate – Manufacturers
Manufacturers have described the $567.31m allocated to the industrial sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria in the month of January as a drop in the ocean. The President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Frank Jacobs, said this in an exclusive interview with our correspondent. The CBN had stated in a statement on Thursday that it disbursed $2.83bn for importation of various types of equipment to the real sector of the economy between December 2016 and January 2017. Providing a breakdown of the allocation, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, stated that $609m and $228m were released for raw materials’ importation in December and January, adding that the manufacturing sector got $53m and $71m for raw materials, respectively in the period. Jacobs told our correspondent that the CBN had informed him of the disbursement of $567.31m to the manufacturing sector in January, but described the amount as a drop in the ocean, adding that it was too small.
FG Retirees Face N63bn Shortfall In Budgeted Benefits
THE National Pension Commission (PenCom) has requested for N113.0 billion for Federal Government retirees in 2017. This figure indicates a huge shortfall of N62.8 billion, or 55.6 per cent gap, in allocation provided by the Federal Government in the 2017 budget estimates. PenCom made the submission in a memorandum submitted to the National Assembly Joint Committee on appropriations at the budget defence session last week by PenCom Director-General, Mrs Chinelo Anohu-Amazu. The Commission noted that the entire N113.02 billion should be approved in pursuant to Section 39(3) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014.
Nigerian Overnight Lending Rate More Than Doubles On Cash Withdrawal
Nigeria’s overnight lending rate more than doubled to 25 percent on Friday from 10.17 percent on Thursday after the central bank sold open market bills and debited commercial lenders for bond purchases. The central bank sold 178.44 billion naira ($586.01 million) in 321-day treasury bills at 18.6 percent and 19.14 billion naira of 174-day paper at 18 percent, draining cash from the money market and pushed up cost of borrowing among commercial lenders, traders said. It also debited commercial banks accounts for the purchases of 160 billion naira worth of long tenor bonds and 202.4 billion naira in treasury bills sold at auctions on Wednesday, leaving the market with little cash for transactions.
Cross River Frustrated With FG over 260km Super Highway
Blaming the federal government for allegedly frustrating its effort to commence the construction of the proposed 260-kilometre super highway, the Cross River State Government has informed the federal government that it would go ahead with the project, if by middle of March the state fails to get the necessary approvals for construction to commence.
Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation Spent $250m On Nigeria’s Health, Education In 2016
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spent $250 million on health, education and improving the lives of the poor in Nigeria in 2016. Its Country Representative, Dr. Mairo Mandara, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday that the foundation estimated how much it spend based its investments on the needs on ground.
