A recent two-day seminar organised jointly by the government of Nigeria, the International Gas Union (IGU), the World Bank and GGFR, focused on reducing gas flaring at oil production sites and unlocking the country’s significant gas potential.
The objectives of the seminar were to (a) initiate consultation on a new National Gas Flare Commercialisation Program; (b) build awareness about new small-scale technologies to use associated gas that is currently wastefully flared; (c) explore financing options for gas flare reduction and gas utilization; and (d) share best practices for sustainable and inclusive access to energy.
With almost 8 billion cubic meters of gas flared annually according to satellite data, Nigeria is the seventh-largest gas flarer in the world. At the same time, approximately 75 million Nigerians lack access to electricity.
In recent years Nigeria has shown significant progress, reducing gas flaring by about 2 billion cubic meters from 2012 to 2015.
The seminar was designed as a platform to bring together about 250 key stakeholders from the public and private sectors. Attendees included senior representatives from both the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Ministry of the Environment; Niger Delta and Power; national oil company NNPC; legislators; regulators; national and international oil companies; technology providers; and financial and development institutions.
“Through seminars like this we are getting a better sense of what needs to be done to end routine gas flaring in Nigeria,” said Bjorn Hamso, GGFR Program Manager.
“When all the important stakeholders are in the room and the perspectives of the entire local energy sector are included, the discussions are enlightening and useful. Well-functioning local energy markets stimulate the investments needed to rid countries of routine flaring.”
Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s State Minister for Petroleum Resources, presented his country’s high-level roadmap to end routine gas flaring by 2020, which is a full decade ahead of the target in the “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” Initiative, a global effort to end routine flaring that Nigeria endorsed in 2016.
The State Minister’s Senior Technical Adviser, Gbite Adeniji, presented the flare-out plans in more detail and encouraged all stakeholders to provide views and comments on the roadmap during the consultation process that ended earlier this year.
“This massive amount of gas flared annually in Nigeria is a waste of energy that our country just cannot afford. Now is the time to step up our efforts and what is needed are innovative, bold approaches to flare reduction,” said Adeniji.
Following the seminar, Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources requested additional support from GGFR and the World Bank to expand and implement its new gas commercialisation program. In addition, various development institutions, such as Agence Française de Développement and Environment Canada, have expressed their interest in partnering with the World Bank and GGFR to support gas flaring reduction in the country.
Specific areas of interest include assessing the potential to use small-scale technologies for flare reduction through pilot projects, and supporting technical baseline work needed to implement the new commercialisation program, including accurate flare measurement and establishing a technical database for access by vetted, credible investors in flare-out projects.
2020: Nigeria’s Flaring Reduction Target
NSE, GRI, EY Partner on Sustainability Seminar
GRI in conjunction with The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Ernst & Young (EY) will host a seminar themed ‘Sustainability and Corporate Governance: Building Long Term Value’ on Thursday, March 16, 2017 at EY Nigeria office in Lagos.
The event will bring together C-level executives, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability experts, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders to an interactive session where they will be provided with high-level insight into how corporate governance can engender value and growth in a rapidly changing global world, updated on the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, understand the imperative of Assurance on data quality and integrity and much more.
Keynote speakers at the event are Ms Tinuade Awe, General Counsel and Head of Regulation, NSE, Douglas Kativu, Director, GRI and Joseph Owolabi, West Africa Lead, Climate Change and Sustainability Services, EY. The event will also feature two panel discussions.
Panel One will discuss “corporate governance and disclosure for companies and investors”. Discussants for this panel session are Chinyere Almona, Africa Corporate Governance Program Manager, IFC Nigeria, Godstime Iwenekhai, Acting Head, Listings Regulation, NSE, Dr. Nechi Ezeako, Executive Director, IoD Center for Corporate Governance, Lucy Newman, Financial Institutions Training Center (FITC), Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, Head Sustainability, Access Bank.
Panel Two will examine Capacity building for ESG Disclosure and panelists are Joseph Owolabi, West Africa Lead, Climate Change and Sustainability Services, EY, Emilia-Asim Ita, Senior Consultant, Strategy & External Relations, ThistlePraxis Consulting, Dr. Ijeoma Nwagwu, Head, Sustainability Centre, Lagos Business School and Bekeme Masade, Executive Director, CSR in Action.
Commenting on the event, Henry Egbiki, EY Country Leader, said: “sustainability reporting in business is no longer an option but a fundamental component of good corporate governance in business. For us at EY, sustainability reporting has been a central area of focus as it aligns perfectly with our purpose of ‘Building a better-working world’. Our Global CEO and Chairman (Mark Weinberger) has taken a strategic position on it by joining the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)’s Board.
Oscar N. Onyema, NSE CEO Said: “We are pleased to see an increasing level of awareness and compliance with corporate governance and sustainability guidelines in our market. As a key member of Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative, we will continue to leverage our unique positi on and partner other institutions to raise the standards of corporate governance and sustainability in Nigeria.”
While commenting on the importance of the event, Douglas Kativu, Director GRI Africa said:
“Society needs information to act upon, and companies require information that assists them in designing appropriate measures aimed at identifying, avoiding, mitigating and remedying negative impacts. Transparency has the power to transform corporate practices, enabling organisations to measure and manage their impacts on a wide range of sustainability issues. Reporting is a transformative tool to empower decision making.”
This will be the third collaboration between NSE, GRI and EY. In November 2015, the three organisations collaborated on the maiden Nigerian Capital Market Sustainability Conference. This was followed up with a sustainability training in June 2016.
African Telcos Prioritise Emerging Opportunities to Stay Afloat, Says IDC
Telcos across Africa are increasingly focusing on effectively maximizing their return on investment from data and on monetising emerging opportunities such as the Internet of Things (IoT) to remain competitive and afloat, according to George Kalebaila, research director for telecommunications, media, and IoT at International Data Corporation (IDC).
This is due to increasing levels of competition that is forcing them to seek new methods to stem the steady decline of traditional voice services.
“We expect to see greater market consolidation as telcos increase their efforts to acquire smaller ISPs in response to the challenging marketing conditions,” says Kalebaila.
“Particularly in West Africa, this is being driven by heightened market saturation, declining average revenues per user (ARPUs), increasing operating expenditure, and diminishing profit margins on services. As such, IDC expects some consolidation within the market, especially between local ISPs that possess 4G LTE frequencies and fibre-to-the-x (FTTX) infrastructure and multinational telcos with solid financial support.”
In markets where 4G adoption is already gaining traction, discussions around fifth-generation network technology (5G) will take center stage, creating awareness and bringing the possibilities and expectations of future data networks to the forefront.
“IDC expects vendors to focus on the higher bandwidth 5G offers and the technology’s potential ability to support emerging services such as IoT, seamless video on demand or IPTV, drone video recording, smart city solutions, and virtual reality applications,” says Kalebaila. “We also expect 5G to deliver gigabit connections that enable the seamless delivery of rich multimedia services and applications.”
As competition continues to increase in Africa’s more mature telecom and IT markets, the need to attract and retain customers through differentiation has become imperative. This means that telcos must move beyond traditional connectivity offerings and provide IT services such as unified communications and collaboration, cloud, and datacenter services.
“In the medium to long term, telcos will be forced to re-evaluate their business models to efficiently design, develop, and deliver cost-effective solutions and services,” says Kalebaila.
“This may compel telcos to migrate from operating legacy networks to deploying agile systems that are capable of increasing operational efficiency while speeding up the time to market of new solutions. Those telcos that prioritise technologies such as network functions virtualisation (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) for the delivery of connectivity, cloud, and datacenter services will be well placed to maximize cost savings, achieve greater efficiency, and increase productivity.”
In 2017, telcos are also expected to focus more on 4G monetization strategies such as enhanced data offerings, service bundling, and partnerships with digital media companies from a content perspective. While the deployment of 4G networks is already gaining traction across Africa, spectrum availability, low customer awareness, low coverage, high tariffs, and the cost of 4G smartphone devices remain key challenges.
“The availability of affordable 4G smartphones is expected to increase 4G penetration, and those telcos that are creative in their offerings and allow customers to trade in their existing 3G devices will differentiate themselves from the competition,” says Kalebaila.
“Rather than focus on extolling the features of 4G, telcos could further drive adoption by introducing innovative data bundles and transparent prices, particularly as 4G provides an opportunity to start transitioning to a data-centric model and begin preparations for a voiceless future.”
Open application programming interfaces (APIs) is expected to become more commonplace, enabling the developer ecosystem to drive innovation and for telcos to improve partner management. “Historically, open APIs were used in traditional telco services such as USSD and SMS,” says Kalebaila.
“Going forward, we expect to see remarkable growth in financial services platforms like mobile money and breakthrough emerging technologies like IoT, in a bid to drive the release of APIs by telcos to the developer ecosystem. This will allow telcos to harness innovative and localised solutions.”
Kalebaila says that telcos that take concrete steps to transform themselves internally will be best positioned to survive digital disruption. “The key focus areas in 2017 will include business model transformation and network efficiency improvements using so-called ‘3rd Platform’ technologies, namely cloud, big data, mobility and social business,” he says.
Before they can become digital transformation partners to their clients, telcos will first need to harmonize their internal IT environments with external-facing IT systems and become digital providers to their own internal business functions.
“By streamlining, optimising, and modernising their own IT environments, telcos can leverage the lessons learnt internally to optimize customer service and experience to their external clients,” says Kalebaila.
He adds that telcos need to identify their key challenges, prioritise the development of unique digital transformation strategies, and implement a phased approach to digital transformation.
“For example, Telcos can use big data technologies to upsell and cross-sell services, design new products and services, or create new revenue generation streams from existing customer data assets,” says Kalebaila. “Understanding and tracking customer behavior will also help telcos provide personalised and optimised offerings to their subscribers, and therefore help enhance customer loyalty.”
Burundi, Liberia, Uganda Win 1st Africa Innovation Challenge
Johnson & Johnson has named the winners of the first Africa Innovation Challenge at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress.
The initiative, which received nearly 500 submissions from innovators and entrepreneurs across the continent, sought the best ideas for new, sustainable health solutions that will benefit African communities.
The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies comprises the world’s largest healthcare business and its presence in Africa dates back to 1930, including business operations, public health programs and corporate citizenship.
The Africa Innovation Challenge is part of the company’s comprehensive approach to collaborate with and support Africa’s vibrant innovation, education and health systems institutions.
In addition to the Africa Innovation Challenge winners, the company also announced today that it is a major partner of Women in Innovation and the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa, programs that seek to substantially increase the number of women on the continent working in the sciences.
These announcements follow the prior week’s opening of two new Johnson & Johnson regional offices in Ghana and Kenya, which along with our South Africa-based global public health headquarters, will support health system strengthening and public health programs.
“Africa is one of the fastest growing regions of the world, and Johnson & Johnson is proud to support this growth through strong collaborations that encourage innovation and accelerate advancements in the continent’s health systems,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson.
“We are seeing a surge of activity among entrepreneurs and health system leaders to develop important solutions that overcome longstanding health and societal challenges. By working together, we hope to bring meaningful solutions to patients and consumers more rapidly, to help cultivate the next generation of scientists, and to support Africa’s entrepreneurial base.”
Africa innovation challenge
The Africa Innovation Challenge, launched in November 2016 solicited novel ideas with a focus on three critical health areas: promoting early child development and maternal health; empowering young women; and improving family well-being.
The three winning concepts embraced these themes as well as the goal of creating ongoing, sustainable businesses:
Project Agateka (Burundi) – The development of a sustainable solution to support girls who are unable to afford menstrual pads and underwear is an important need for young women. Project Agateka will provide a direct health solution as well as the opportunity for women and girls to generate income in Burundi. With the inclusion of health information, the initiative also provides health education to support improved sexual and reproductive health.
Project Kernel Fresh (Liberia) – Project Kernel Fresh sources natural palm kernels from smallholder women farmers, increasing their income. The entrepreneur cold presses the palm kernel oil to be used in organic cosmetics. The project will also create jobs for young women by training them to sell the products throughout Liberia.
Project Pedal Tap (Uganda) – Seeking to prevent disease transmission, and a reduction of water use, Project Pedal Tap will develop hands-free solutions for hand water taps in Uganda. The entrepreneurs will create manufacturing capabilities, using mostly recycled materials, which will lead to an ongoing business.
“This was an extremely difficult competition to judge as there were many terrific ideas,” said Josh Ghaim, Chief Technology Officer, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.
“The three winning projects demonstrated a strong benefit to local communities and the ability to empower young women, and they also have the potential to deliver ongoing economic support. We look forward to working with these entrepreneurs over the course of the next year to help them build sustainable operations.”
Each of the three winning recipients will receive funding as well as mentorship from scientists, engineers, and operations members from the Johnson & Johnson Consumer Research & Development organisation and other areas of the company.
NPA MD, Usman, Condoles Adebayo Family
Nigeria Missing in Global Quality of Living Ranking
Despite increased political and financial volatility in South Africa, its cities fell within the top 100 of the world’s highest quality of living and remain attractive destinations for expanding business operations and sending expatriates on assignment, according to Mercer’s 19th annual Quality of Living survey. Durban (87) ranked the highest for quality of living within South Africa, closely followed by Cape Town (94) and Johannesburg (96).
“Economic instability, social unrest, and growing political upheaval all add to the complex challenge multinational companies face when analysing quality of living for their expatriate workforce,” said Ilya Bonic, senior partner and president of Mercer’s Career business. “For multinationals and governments it is vital to have quality of living information that is accurate, detailed, and reliable. It not only enables these employers to compensate employees appropriately, but it also provides a planning benchmark and insights into the often-sensitive operational environment that surrounds their workforce.
“In uncertain times, organisations that plan to establish themselves and send staff to a new location should ensure they get a complete picture of the city, including its viability as a business location and its attractiveness to key talent,” Mr Bonic added.
Vienna occupies first place for overall quality of living for the 8th year running, with the rest of the top-ten list mostly filled by European cities: Zurich is in second place, with Munich (4), Dusseldorf (6), Frankfurt (7), Geneva (8), Copenhagen (9), and Basel, a newcomer to the list, in 10th place. The only non-European cities in the top ten are Auckland (3) and Vancouver (5). The highest ranking cities in Asia and Latin America are Singapore (25) and Montevideo (79), respectively.
Mercer’s survey also includes a city infrastructure ranking that assesses each city’s supply of electricity, drinking water, telephone and mail services, and public transportation as well as traffic congestion and the range of international flights available from local airports.
Singapore tops the city infrastructure ranking, followed by Frankfurt and Munich both in 2nd place. Baghdad (230) and Port au Prince (231) rank last for city infrastructure.
Africa
Five Africa cities managed to remain in the top 100 rankings in regards to quality of living, with Port Louis in Mauritius topping the Africa chart at an overall 84th position. Durban (87) ranked the highest for quality of living within South Africa, closely followed by Cape Town (94) and Johannesburg (96).
On the other side of the scope, Brazzaville (224) in the Republic of the Congo, N’Djamena (226) in Chad, Khartoum (227) in Sudan and Bangui (230) in the Central African Republic formed the four lowest-ranked cities for quality of living within Africa.
Port Louis is the only Africa city which managed to fall within the top 100 rankings with the highest for infrastructure in 94th place. Cape Town missed it with 1 position ranking at 101st position followed by Tunis (104) in Tunisia and Victoria (109) in Seychelles concluding the top 4 Africa cities.
Lack of infrastructure remains a challenge within Africa, with N’Djamena (224), Bangui (226), Conakry (227) in Guinea Republic and Brazzaville (228) in the Republic of the Congo forming the lowest rankings.
Middle East
Dubai (74) continues to rank highest for quality of living across the Middle East, rising one position in this year’s ranking, followed closely by Abu Dhabi (79), which climbed three spots. Damascus (225) in Syria, Sana’a (229) in Yemen and Baghdad (231) in Iraq are the region’s three lowest-ranked cities for quality of living.
Dubai also ranks highest for infrastructure in 51st place. Only five other cities in this region make the top 100, including Tel Aviv (56), Abu Dhabi (67), Port Louis (94), Muscat (97), and upcoming host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Doha in Qatar, which ranks 96th for infrastructure. Cities in the Middle Eastern countries dominate the bottom half of the table for infrastructure, with Damascus (224), Sana’a (229), and Baghdad (230) ranking the lowest.
Europe
Even with political and economic turbulence, Western European cities continue to enjoy some of the highest quality of living worldwide. Still in the top spot, Vienna is followed by Zurich (2), Munich (4), Dusseldorf (6), Frankfurt (7), Geneva (8), Copenhagen (9), and a newcomer to the list, Basel (10).
In 69th place, Prague is the highest ranking city in Central and Eastern Europe, followed by Ljubljana (76) and Budapest (78). Most European cities remained stable in the ranking, with the exception of Brussels (27), dropping six places because of terrorism-related security issues, and Rome (57), down four places due to its waste-removal issues.
Finally, Istanbul fell from 122nd to 133rd place as a result of the severe political turmoil in Turkey during the past year. The lowest ranking cities in Europe are St. Petersburg and Tirana (both ranked 176), along with Minsk (189).
Western European cities also hold most of the top ten places in the city infrastructure ranking with Frankfurt and Munich jointly ranking 2nd worldwide, followed by Copenhagen (4) and Dusseldorf (5). London is in 6th place, and Hamburg and Zurich both rank 9th. Ranking lowest across Europe are Sarajevo (171) and Tirana (188).
“Cities that rank high in the city infrastructure list provide a combination of top-notch local and international airport facilities, varied and extended coverage through their local transportation networks, and innovative solutions such as smart technology and alternative energy,” said Mr Parakatil. “Most cities now align variety, reliability, technology, and sustainability when designing infrastructure for the future.”
Americas
In North America, Canadian cities take the top positions in the ranking. Vancouver (5) is again the region’s highest ranking city for quality of living. Toronto and Ottawa follow in 16th and 18th place respectively, whereas San Francisco (29) is the highest ranking US city, followed by Boston (35), Honolulu (36), New York (44), and Seattle (45).
High crime rates in Los Angeles (58) and Chicago (47) resulted in these cities dropping nine and four places respectively. Monterrey (110) is the highest ranking city in Mexico, while the country’s capital, Mexico City, stands in 128th position. In South America, Montevideo (79) ranks highest for quality of living, followed by Buenos Aires (93) and Santiago (95). La Paz (157) and Caracas (189) are the lowest ranking cities in the region.
For city infrastructure, Vancouver (in 9th place) also ranks highest in the region. It is followed by Atlanta and Montreal, tied in 14th place. Overall, the infrastructure of cities in Canada and the United States is of a high standard, including the airport and bus connectivity, the availability of clean drinking water, and the reliability of electricity supplies.
Traffic congestion is a concern in cities throughout the whole region. Tegucigalpa (208) and Port-au-Prince (231) have the lowest scores for city infrastructure in North America. In 84th place, Santiago is the highest ranking South American city for infrastructure; La Paz (168) is the lowest.
Asia-Pacific
Singapore (25) remains the highest ranking city in the Asia-Pacific region, where there is great disparity in quality of living; Dushanbe (215) in Tajikistan ranks lowest. In Southeast Asia, Kuala Lumpur (86) follows Singapore; other key cities include Bangkok (131), Manila (135), and Jakarta (143).
Five Japanese cities top the ranking for East Asia: Tokyo (47), Kobe (50), Yokohama (51), Osaka (60), and Nagoya (63). Other notable cities in Asia include Hong Kong (71), Seoul (76), Taipei (85), Shanghai (102), and Beijing (119). There is also considerable regional variation in the city infrastructure ranking. The highest-ranked city is Singapore (1), whereas Dhaka (214) is near the bottom of the list.
New Zealand and Australia continue to rank highly in quality of living: Auckland (3), Sydney (10), Wellington (15), and Melbourne (16) all remain in the top 20.
However, when ranked for infrastructure, only Sydney (8) makes the top ten, with Perth (32), Melbourne (34), and Brisbane (37) also ranking well for infrastructure in Oceania. By and large, cities in Oceania enjoy good quality of living, though criteria such as airport connectivity and traffic congestion are among the factors that see them ranked lower in terms of city infrastructure.
Ghost Workers: FG Seeks BVN Policy in Microfinance Banks
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has strongly solicited the cooperation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in extending the requirement for Bank Verification Number (BVN) to account holders in Microfinance Banks (MFBs), to facilitate the detection of bank accounts which might have been opened and operated in such banks for ghost workers by fraudulent syndicates.
The Minister, who sought the cooperation of the CBN in that regard in a correspondence addressed to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said that the introduction of the Bank Verification Number by the CBN has contributed immensely in improving the integrity of the Federal Government payroll on which more than 50, 000 ghost workers were detected and removed.
Mrs. Adeosun stated that operating bank accounts in Microfinance Banks without requirement for BVN has left a huge loophole which individuals intent on financial crimes could use to hide and launder proceeds of crime and successfully escape detection by law enforcement agencies.
“Our on-going efforts to verify the integrity of Federal Government personnel costs and purge the system of fraud and error has made extensive use of the Bank Verification Number as a means of identifying recipients of multiple salaries, and salaries paid into accounts with names that differ to those held on our payroll records. The success of this effort has to date yielded the removal of over 50,000 payroll entries,” the Minister emphasised.
Mrs. Adeosun referred the CBN Governor to the discovery that, prior to the deadline for obtaining the BVN, the movement of a large number of salary accounts of Federal employees from commercial banks to Microfinance Banks, was observed.
“This is a suspicious activity and we have already commenced a review of such cases to identify and investigate any cases of fraud,” the Minister explained.
While noting that extending the requirement for BVN to Microfinance Banks may put a huge financial strain on the smaller Microfinance Banks, the Minister pointed out that “some MFBs, such as National Police Force Microfinance (NPF), have over 27,000 salary accounts. Our inability to perform checks on such a large number of salary earners is a key risk.”
“I am therefore seeking your co-operation to enforce compliance with BVN on any MFB with over 200 active salary accounts or those above a certain size. This will support the Federal Government’s efforts at reducing leakages to create headroom for the capital projects that will support the growth of the economy,” the Minister said in the correspondence.
It could be recalled that the CBN had in September in 2016 announced its intention to extend the requirement for the extension of the Bank Verification Number to MFBs in the country but the exercise has yet to take off.
Africa, M/E Tablet Market Declining in Line with Global Trend
The Middle East and Africa (MEA) tablet market declined 24.2% year on year (Y-o-Y) in the final quarter of 2016 to total 3.07 million units, according to the latest figures announced today by International Data Corporation (IDC).
The global IT research and consulting services firm’s Middle East and Africa Quarterly Tablet Tracker shows that for 2016 as a whole, tablet shipments in MEA declined 14.7% Y-o-Y to total 13.8 million units, which is in line with global tablet market’s 15.6% decline over the same period.
“Tasks that were previously performed on tablets are increasingly moving to bigger-screen smartphones, so tablets are becoming redundant in the consumer ecosystem of gadgets,” says Nakul Dogra, senior research analyst for client devices at IDC MEA.
“Indeed, consumers are now investing more time and money into smartphones than tablets, which has led to a slowdown of tablet markets around the world, not just here in MEA. That said, there are still countries in Africa that harbor scope for further tablet penetration.”
In terms of vendor rankings, Samsung continued to lead the MEA tablet market in Q4 2016 with unit share of 17.6%, despite experiencing a significant decline in shipments of -28.0% on the previous quarter and -43.6% on the corresponding period of 2015. Lenovo remained in second place, increasing its share to 10.8% from 9.9% in Q4 2015. Apple climbed into third spot, capturing 8.7% share despite suffering a -41.2% Y-on-Y decline in shipments. UAE-based vendor i-Life rose to fourth in the rankings with a market share of 7.4%, spurred by the popularity of its low-cost offerings. Huawei’s shipments fell -39.6% Y-on-Y in Q4 2016 to account for market share of just 5.1%, a considerable drop from its 13.5% share in the previous quarter.
“With the lack of any noteworthy innovation taking place in much of the tablet space, there is little reason for the majority of consumers to upgrade to newer-generation tablets,” says Fouad Rafiq Charakla, senior research manager for client devices at IDC MEA. “This is prolonging the refreshment cycle for tablets in the region and causing an inevitable slowdown in the market.”
Taking the above factors into account, IDC’s tablet market forecast has been revised downwards. IDC now expects the market to decline -8.1% Y-on-Y in 2017 to total 12.76 million units. The longer-term forecast has also been revised downwards, with IDC now expecting the market to decline at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -0.2% over the 2016–2021 period to total 13.64 million units in 2021.
“e-Tailers are expected to grow strongly in the coming years,” says Dogra. “Increasingly, local retailers are investing more in the online channel. Also, newer players are expected to enter the market in the coming year, which is going to further intensify competition in the online retail segment.
The above factors, coupled with aggressive pricing, will further drive the growth of the e-tailer segment, with IDC expecting that by the year 2021, 12% of tablets will be sold through e-tailers in the MEA region.”
IDC’s Middle East and Africa Quarterly Tablet Tracker provides insightful analysis of key market developments, covering vendors, operating systems, screen sizes, user segments and distribution channels, quarterly market share data, and a comprehensive 5–8 quarter and five-year forecast.
Global Airlines Financial Monitor: February 2017
- The latest financial results for Q4 2016 show that the decline in profitability, which began in the third quarter of 2016, continued across most regions in the fourth quarter, albeit from historically high levels.
- Global airline share prices continued their positive start to 2017 during February, out-performing the wider global equity market, as expectations for airlines profits improve, particularly in the US.
- Brent crude oil prices have been broadly stable since December, and traded within a very tight band of $US55-57/bbl during February. Oil prices are still expected to rise only gradually over the years ahead.
- Average passenger yields in US$ terms continue to fall, but the recent strength of the US$ may be disguising signs of a stabilisation or slowing of this down-trend.
- Passenger and freight demand both carried momentum into the New Year. The industry-wide passenger load factor remains stable at a record high, and the freight load factor has continued to recover.
- Premium airfares generally held up better than those of the economy cabin in 2016, and premium’s share of revenues increased on a number of key routes. This has helped to support airline financial performance.
Post-recession Nigerian Economy and Export Diversification – By Bashir Wali
‘Neither government agencies nor private sector businesses can do enough in supporting the agenda for diversifying the sources of foreign exchange earnings for the country.’
There are indications that the Nigerian economy is on the path of recovery. Oil prices have stabilised around $55 per barrel. Government’s peace overtures in the Niger Delta have helped to raise oil production from the nadir of 2016. In the last quarter of the year, the GDP contracted by 1.3 percent, an improvement over the2.24 percent in Q3 and 2.06 percent in Q2.
Moreover, various forecasts, including that of the World Bank, agree that the country will experience a positive output growth in 2017.
But the growth projections are largely underwhelming, ranging from a half percent to 1 percent. This explains why the Federal Government continues to work hard at the economic recovery plan. From 2017, one anticipates that the economic trend will take a sharp upward turn.
The corporates and the generality of Nigerians will savour such lease of positivity, and it will validate the current administration whose good intentions and programmes have been thwarted by a sharp fall in revenue as a result of the plunge in oil prices.
The expected recovery will, at best, take the country back to that place of opportunity of the past years before 2015, when we could have built a healthy foreign reserves level and financed non-oil export diversification. In the last two to three years, we have experienced the pains of external shocks to oil revenue.
The pains are attributable to lack of significant foreign reserves cover. But, fundamentally, the concentration on oil receipts to provide 70 percent of government total revenue, or 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings, made the oil price crash much harder to bear.
It is time for more determined actions on the diversification of the economy, and diversification of foreign exchange earnings through increased non-oil exports. Raising non-oil exports revenue is a key area government’s interventions are needed. Analysts agree that the economy is broadly diversified, given that oil accounts for just about 15 percent of the country’s output. Agriculture, services – including finance, ICT, entertainment, hospitality – and their extensive value chains are major contributors to the GDP. Additional potentials are locked in the solid minerals sectors.
The Nigerian Export – Import Bank is statutorily mandated to facilitate the country’s non-oil export growth. NEXIM Bank has a range of tools, including credit financing in both local and foreign currencies, risk-bearing services in the form of export credit guarantee and export credit insurance facilities, special funds, loans for foreign inputs, export advice, and market information, to support the non-oil export sectors.
Since I assumed the leadership of NEXIM Bank a little over a year ago as managing director, in acting capacity, the Bank has maintained its unwavering commitment to its mandates.
Last month, the Federal House of Representatives’ Committee on Banking and Finance, embarked on an oversight tour of the businesses supported by NEXIM. One of the sites we visited was an agro-processing business. NEXIM Bank funds export producers and businesses with export potentials. We do this with the aim of increasing foreign exchange earnings for the country, boost industrial production and create jobs for Nigerians.
We visited the Ladgroup based at Ikenne, Ogun State. NEXIM’s facility of $5 million provided the company with the resources to import equipment for its production line for Shea Butter export, as well as working capital. With its newly installed capacity, the company aims to earn $5 million in the first year of operating the new facility, and $100 million in the next five years. Ladgroup will create at least 300 direct jobs and more than 600 indirect jobs.
However, the global demand for Shea Butter is estimated at $10 billion annually. Demand is expected to reach $30 billion by 2020. Shea Butter is a derivative of Shea Nuts, grown primarily in the Sahel region of West and East Africa.
Nigeria accounts for 53 percent of the 680,000 metric tonnes (MT) of Shea Nuts produced annually in West Africa, according to reports by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Oil Seeds Association of Nigeria (OSAN). Interestingly, NEXIM also financed Karite Oil Limited’s 22MT Shea Butter processing plant in Akure, Ondo State – a company formerly known as Fagow Oil & Gas Nigeria Limited.
The Shea Butter market serves here as an index case for the many opportunities to fund Nigerian export businesses. These opportunities are unmatched by the funding available. Private financiers usually have low risk appetite for such projects in nascent industries.
Access to funds is difficult except for oil & gas services and trade sectors. This puts significant responsibility on the government to provide needed interventions, in this case through NEXIM Bank. Indeed, the scope of the requirement is reflected by the vast opportunities in the focal areas of the Bank’s financial intervention, namely agriculture (agro-processing), manufacturing, solid minerals and services sectors.
In one of the efforts to reduce the wide gap in the supply of needed resources, the CBN last year created two funds. NEXIM Bank is the managing agency for the N500 billion Export Stimulation Facility (ESF) and the N50 billion Export Rediscounting & Refinancing Facility (RRF). Since the CBN released the guidelines for the funds in June, 2016, we have embarked on various sensitisation sessions in Lagos and Kano as well as capacity-building programmes with Banks and key stakeholders.
The responses have been swift. We have received applications worth N111.02 billion under the ESF and N3.59 billion under the RRF. Having done our appraisals, applications worth N33 billion under the ESF and N3.59 billion under RRF are under consideration, approval and disbursement by the CBN.
NEXIM Bank has continued in the broader areas of removing non-tariff barriers to Nigeria’s non-oil exports. One of the key projects we are facilitating with partners is the Sealink Project, to provide direct maritime links within West and Central Africa.
The Sealink will dramatically cut the time and financial cost of shipping sea cargoes within these regions through trans-shipment through Europe. The Board of the Sealink has concluded arrangement with a major operator to commence a pilot scheme by deploying ships along the routes that have been designated.
Last October, the Ministers of Transport of the ECOWAS member-countries met in Lome, Togo where far-reaching decisions were taken towards a smooth and efficient operation of the shipping company. During the meeting, the Sealink company was granted a Community Enterprise Status.
NEXIM Bank is making additional arrangements to realise the potentials of the project by working with Nigeria Shippers’ Council and Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority on the commencement of annual exports of about one million tonnes of coal, iron ore and lead/zinc using self-propelled and/or dry bulk cargo barges in the dredged inland waterways channels from Lokoja / Ajaokuta to Burutu Port.
We have also been working to improve the packaging of Nigerian agricultural exports to Europe and other countries, to minimise incidents of rejection. The use of hydrocarbon-free jute bags is very critical in this regard.
Currently, jute bags are imported to the country. The high cost has led to the problem of recycling old bags and the use of unsuitable packaging materials. As part of efforts to mitigate this challenge, we have commenced discussions with major investors to resuscitate and commence the production of jute bags in the country for packaging of exports.
In pursuing the agenda of boosting Nigerian non-oil exports, the Bank has been working with partners and stakeholders to promote a bill towards developing factoring in the country. Global factoring transactions in 2015 reached €2.3trillion with Africa contributing 0.7 percent.
The major players in Africa were South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt & Mauritius, while Nigeria did not feature in the current African statistics. Factoring entails the purchase of receivables from an exporter, with the Factor assuming full credit and collection responsibilities. This will enable export manufacturers, especially SMEs, to maintain steady liquidity as well as take the burden of pursuing cross-border payments off the businesses, leaving them to concentrate on their core activities.
Neither government agencies nor private sector businesses can do enough in supporting the agenda for diversifying the sources of foreign exchange earnings for the country. We are coming out of a crisis that, in large part, has been characterised by foreign exchange scarcity, leading to sharp depreciation in the value of the naira.
The overarching lesson we should take from this experience is that diversification of foreign exchange earnings, through non-oil export growth, is the way to build resilience against the next episode of oil price shock. Nigeria’s economy of the post-2016 recession should thrive on export diversification.
NB: Bashir Wali is Acting Managing Director and CEO, Nigerian Export-Import Bank
Adeosun Hosts American Ambassador, Says Nigeria’s Economy Resilient
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun on Friday reaffirmed the commitment of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to return the economy on a path of sustainable growth having weathered the storm of a difficult macroeconomic environment over the years.
She said this during a courtesy visit in her office by the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. W. Stuart Symington.
According to Adeosun, in spite of the oil price shock and drop in production volumes, the Federal Government has succeeded in utilising the situation to reposition the Nigerian economy which would ultimately be to the advantage of the nation. She emphasised the investment in infrastructure, citing that over N1trn had so far been released.
She noted that lack of adequate investment in infrastructure has been the bane of the Nigerian economy in the past, noting that the present administration has begun to correct this anomaly.
According to her, over N1trillion has been released for various infrastructure projects across the country. She emphasised the critical role of power on job and wealth creation.
The Minister further explained that investment in public infrastructure will begin to attract private sector funding which will enable diversification and growth in priority areas like Agriculture and Housing.
The US Ambassador, in his response, stated that finance is to growth and prosperity, what oxygen is to life. He therefore stressed the centrality of the Federal Ministry of Finance to the ongoing effort to turn the Nigerian economy around and commended the efforts of the Buhari’s administration in that regard.
AITEO: Emerging Oil & Gas Powerhouse in Nigeria
Integrated energy group, Aiteo has announced a peak production of 90kpod just one year after its acquisition of sub-Saharan Africa’s reputedly largest onshore oil bloc, OML 29.
Aiteo acquired OML 29 in September, 2015 when oil major Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) fully exited the facility. At the time of the divestment, average production was 23Kbpod. But Aiteo, one of the frontline sponsors of the just concluded 16th Oil and Gas (NOG) Conference held in the country’s capital Abuja, says it has tripled this figure leveraging the diversity and skills of its work force and bona fides as a dynamic international energy conglomerate.
Its CEO and Vice Chairman Benedict Peters said the company grew production from 23kbbl/d upon takeover of operations to a peak of 90Kbbl/d in one year. He also highlighted several existing and developing projects that could potentially grow Aiteo’s asset production to over 150 kbopd and 200mmscf/d.
He said: “Our outlook is bright with 3 producing oil fields and viable crude exports via Bonny terminal. We also have contingent resources to appraise and prospective ones to explore in the medium-to-long term, including full 3D coverage and 2P NNS reserves at 1.6bn bbl. Put simply, we have a clear vision for the future with the experience and assets crucial to providing oil and gas consistently on a regional and global scale.”
Aiteo’s ambitious five-year objectives include tackling the power challenges in Nigeria head-on through its legacy investments in the gas-to-power value chain. “This is a testament to our commitment to the transformation of the entire oil & gas value chain into a world-class landscape,” Peters added.
The company’s main subsidiary Aiteo Eastern E&P is also a major infrastructure provider for Nigeria’s oil industry as the operator of the 97km Nembe Creek Trunk Line, an industry-wide evacuation pipeline for produced fluids covering much of the country’s Eastern Delta region.
Aiteo’s Group Managing Director Mr. Chike Onyejekwe said: “Our growth drivers remain strong leadership, high commitment and motivation, technical and commercial excellence and superior asset base. In the next five years, our operations will continue to be guided by these qualities as we leverage our capabilities comparable to oil majors elsewhere in the world. Indeed, the future is Aiteo.”
In the interim, Aiteo says it is developing a pipeline of power generation projects across Nigeria. The company is confident that its significant gas resources at OML 29 will transform the country’s oil rich Niger Delta region into a power generation hub of repute before long.
About Aiteo:
AITEO Group is an international energy conglomerate in the forefront of innovative solutions with strategic investments across the energy value chain – petroleum products storage and distribution; natural gas; power; and exploration and production.
Our main subsidiary, Aiteo Eastern E&P is the operator of the NNPC-Aiteo Joint Venture. It is also a major infrastructure provider for Nigeria’s oil industry as the operator of the 97 KM Nembe Creek Trunk Line, which serves as an industry-wide evacuation pipeline for produced fluids from Balyelsa to the Bonny Terminal in the eastern delta region.
Aiteo is guided by the principles of sustainability: environmental-consciousness, inclusive operations and superior health and safety policies.
Aiteo is strategically focused on these business areas, with major prospects for immediate revenue growth and market penetration: • Exploration and production • Bulk petroleum storage • Refining of petroleum products • Trading, marketing and supply • Power generation and distribution.
Each of these areas holds massive potential, with global focus on the future of energy generation, significant oil and gas reserves still to be found throughout Africa, and a large number of alternative revenue streams to be found in the refinement of different petroleum products and derivatives.
With a drive towards building a high-quality asset base and significant growth on the horizon, we’re well positioned to deliver long-term value for our stakeholders, as well as for our business partners and customers.
The foundation of our growth strategy is the energy and expertise of our employees, who are committed to working with integrity as they engage and build strong links with our stakeholders in order to deliver significant mutual benefits.
We’re proud of our heritage and the solid reputation of our founders – and of our impeccable track record of safe, reliable and environmentally conscious energy development.
Goldlink Insurance Plc Receives FIRS Team
The management of Goldlink Insurance Plc received a team of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) at its Head Office with the purpose of fostering a better relationship.
The Federal team was on a Compliance visit to the underwriting firm in order to ensure its continuous commitment to its tax responsibilities as required by the law.
While appreciating the FIRS support over time, the Acting Managing Director of Goldlink Insurance Plc, Mrs. Funke Moore assured the team of the company’s unwavering commitment in ensuring full compliance with tax laws and obligations.
Goldlink Insurance was licensed in 1993, and has been one of the foremost and experienced underwriters in the Nigerian insurance industry, providing cover for Life and General Insurance businesses.
Nigeria’s PC Market to Decline on Weak Oil Price, Forex Crisis
The Middle East and Africa (MEA) PC market experienced a mild decline of 1.8% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q4 2016 to total 3.2 million units, according to global technology research and consulting firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
“With crude oil prices not showing any signs of strong growth in the near future, PC demand in several parts of the region is expected to suffer,” says Charakla.
“This will include Nigeria, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and several other Gulf countries, as well as some countries within the Rest of Middle East sub-region. Exchange-rate fluctuations and currency weaknesses continue to be another key inhibitor in several countries across the region and are expected to hinder PC demand over the coming quarters. Two of the most affected countries in this respect are Nigeria and Egypt.”
The decline stemmed from the desktop segment, as weak commercial demand saw shipments fall -10.0% Y-o-Y to total 1.2 million units for the quarter. Notebook shipments were up 3.6% to total 2 million units, driven primarily by demand from the consumer segment.
“The narrowing price gap between desktops and notebooks was one of the key factors driving this trend,” says Fouad Charakla, senior research manager for client devices at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. “The gap narrowed because the overall notebook market average street price (ASP) experienced a considerable decline, while the desktop market ASP experienced marginal growth.
“The region’s single biggest market, Turkey, experienced significant growth year on year, as vendors continued to push volumes into the market, catering to demand from year-end festivities, and companies continued to liquidate their budgets, some of which went towards IT investments. At the same time, there was a spate of government-driven initiatives aimed at triggering a positive outlook for the country’s economy, and this also helped spur PC demand.
“Other key markets, namely South Africa, the UAE and the Rest of Middle East (comprising Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, and Afghanistan), all remained close to flat, while Saudi Arabia experienced a Y-o-Y decline. With the Kingdom’s heavy dependence on oil combining with low oil prices, government spending in the country continues to be constrained, which is causing a similar spillover effect on other sectors as well.”
The top vendor rankings remained unchanged, with all top five vendors maintaining their positions from the previous quarter. The top three vendors combined, namely HP Inc, Dell, and Lenovo, accounted for almost 73% of commercial demand for PCs in the region during Q4 2016, which validates their decision to focus largely on serving the commercial segment. Conversely, the other key market players in the region remain largely focused on addressing consumer demand.
As was the case in previous quarters, the overall market share of local assemblers in the MEA region continued to contract as a growing portion of end users opted for multinational brands, with some even shifting towards refurbished PCs.
| Middle East & Africa PC Market – Vendor Shares, Q4 2015 vs. Q4 2016 | ||
| Vendor | Q4 2015 | Q4 2016 |
| HP Inc. | 25.1% | 26.3% |
| Lenovo | 19.5% | 20.5% |
| Dell | 14.5% | 14.0% |
| ASUS | 7.2% | 8.7% |
| Acer Group | 4.8% | 5.7% |
| Others | 29.0% | 24.8% |
Source: IDC EMEA Quarterly PC Tracker, Q4 2016
HP continued to lead the MEA PC market in Q4 2016 in terms of share, after experienced a slight increase in overall shipments. Despite suffering a decline in commercial shipments, the vendor continued to comfortably dominate the commercial segment. Lenovo led the consumer space in terms of unit share, while Dell experienced a strengthening of its position in the commercial space and a loss of traction among home users.
Taiwanese vendors Asus and Acer placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with both experiencing strong Y-o-Y growth. The most significant increases for both vendors were seen in the ‘Rest of Middle East’ market. While it features much further down the vendor rankings ladder and is growing from a small base, i-life experienced the strongest shipment growth Y-o-Y.
With a sub-$200 price point on the majority of its products, the UAE-based vendor has been able to catapult itself to notable market share in the region.
Post-2017, the regional PC market is expected to achieve a marginal growth rate each year through the forecast period ending 2021, driven by growing IT implementations and a recovery from instability.
Etisalat Risks Take-over by Banks over N377bn Debt
Etisalat Nigeria may be taken over by a consortium of banks over a debt of N377 billion hanging on the telco since four years ago.
In 2013, Etisalat took a loan of $1.2 billion from the banks for network expansion and modernization but has failed to keep up with the repayment terms, triggering the current attempt by the banks to take over the telecom firm.
Mr. Ibrahim Dikko, Vice-President for Regulatory Affairs at Etisalat blamed the economic recession in the country for the inability of Etisalat to make the necessary repayments to the banks as at when due. “We are in discussions with our bankers and have been for quite a while. They have not taken over the business and we are hoping that we can resolve the issue and find a way to renegotiate terms,” Dikko told Reuters.