According to reports, the former Dangote Flour Mills (DFM) Plc, now rebranded Tiger Branded Consumer Goods (TBCG) Plc, is set to return to its former name and its founding majority shareholder, Aliko Dangote’s Dangote Industries Limited DIL.
Sources privy to the development said regulatory authorities in Nigeria and South Africa have approved the deal between TBCG’s majority core investor, South Africa’s Tiger Brand and the second major shareholder, DIL to sell Tiger Brands’ majority equity stake to DIL.
Dangote Group’s DIL had in 2012 sold 63.35 of its equity stake in DFM to Tiger Brands in a $181.9 million deal. The deal saw transfer of 3.17 billion ordinary shares out of Dangote Group’s 3.67 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each in DFM to the Tigers Brand. The deal then was approximately valued at more than N28 billion, according to prevailing exchange rate.
After nearly four years of successive losses and impairing of assets, Tiger Brands reached agreement with DIL on December 11, 2015 to resell the troubled flour-milling company to DIL.
The sources said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator; Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), where TBCG is listed and all necessary South African regulatory agencies have approved the deal.
The sources indicated that the transfer of the shares of TBCG from Tiger Brands to DIL would soon be done through the negotiated cross over window of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The transfer of shares would subsequently be followed by the return of the company to its former name, which many stakeholders consider to be a stronger brand than the current name.
The board of directors of Nigerian Breweries Plc has announced a 10.3 per cent rise in revenue from N266 billion recorded in 2014 to N293 billion in the 2015 financial year.
The 2015 audited results filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange show that the company’s shareholders would enjoy a total dividend of N4.80 per ordinary share of 50k each for the 2015 financial year. If approved by shareholders at the upcoming annual general meeting, the amount would be the highest dividend ever paid by the company in its 70 year history.
The company had earlier paid an interim dividend of N9.5 billion that is, N1.20. Thus, the final dividend will be N28.5 billion that is, N3.60 per share. According to the statement, the proposed final dividend will be subject to deduction of withholding tax at the appropriate rate and will be payable on the May 12, 2016, to all shareholders whose names appear on the company’s register of members at the close of business on March 2, 2016.
A look at the audited results show that results from Operating Activities declined by 6.9 per cent to close at N62 billion in 2015 from N66 billion achieved in 2014.
Profit before tax dipped by 11.3 per cent from N61 billion at the end of the 2014 financial year to N54 billion in the same period in 2015 while Profit after tax dipped by 10.5 per cent to N38 billion in 2015 from the N42 billion posted in 2014. The results were impacted by reduced consumer purchasing power and increased cost of doing business mainly due to inflation and devaluation.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is in talks with oil majors and banks to raise capital for new drilling and to repay up to $4 billion in debt that has accumulated over years.
The Minister of state for petroleum, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who revealed this as he spoke with Reuters, said he wanted to increase output to up to 2.5 million barrels per day by the end of 2016. Currently, Nigeria pumps 2.3 million bpd.
Nigeria produces oil with foreign and local firms through production-sharing contracts and joint ventures (JVs) but investments have been held up because NNPC has been unable to pay its part: bills have been piling up since 2012.
Kachikwu said debt as of November stood at $3.5-$4 billion, which NNPC wanted to cut through deals such as a $1.2 billion multi-year drilling financing signed with Chevron in September.
“The target is that over 2017, we’ll begin to look at zero,” he said in an interview, referring to debt and the goal of ending the need for JVs to depend on NNPC cash.
NNPC was in talks with oil majors such as Italy’s Eni and oil traders Vitol and Gunvor, seeking partnerships to revamp assets such as refineries after decades of neglect. Cash-strapped for years, it reported a loss of 267.14 billion naira ($1.3 billion) for 2015.
“My ideal would be to bring in third party capital, do a joint investment and management of the refineries and work out a pay-out process over 5 to 6 years basically on lifting of some portion of the finished products,” Kachikwu said.
L-R, Mrs Folasade Abiola, Senior Brand Manager (Snacks), UAC Foods, Gala Brand Ambassador, Harrison Okiri (Harry Song), Mrs. Rose Mordi, The National President, Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria Proprietress and other members of the foundation during the visit of UAC Foods Limited to Down Syndrome Foundation, Masha, Lagos recently
As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility thrust of giving back to the society from time to time, and in line with the global celebration of St. Valentine’s Day otherwise known as Lovers’ Day, UAC Foods Limited, makers of Gala – Nigeria’s No. 1 sausage roll brand recently reached out to some special children’s homes by donating products to them in the spirit of the season of love.
The UAC Foods Limited team visited Modupe Cole Memorial Childcare & Treatment Home School, Akoka, Lagos and Down Syndrome Foundation, Masha, Surulere, Lagos with a special celebrity appearance by Harrysong, one of the Musicians under the Five Star Music Group who was recently named as the Face of the Gala brand.
According to Mrs. Folasade Abiola, the Senior Brand Manager (Snacks), UAC Foods Limited who led the company’s delegation to the homes, the kind gesture is aimed at expressing love and care to the children in these homes especially during this auspicious celebration of Valentine.
L-R, Mrs Folasade Abiola, Senior Brand Manager (Snacks), UAC Foods, Gala Brand Ambassador, Harrison Okiri (Harry Song), Mrs. Florence Kayode, The Proprietress, Modupe Cole Memorial Childcare & Treatment Home School and Mrs. Martha Kayode, Brand Manager (Snacks), UAC Foods during the visit by UAC Foods Limited to Modupe Cole Memorial Childcare & Treatment Home School, Akoka, Lagos recently.
She added that the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative is in tandem with the corporate philosophy of the UACN of Nigeria Group, which is the rationale behind the ‘Doing Good’ mantra of the group.
“Children with special needs are the most appropriate people who require all the love and care especially during this season of celebration of love. This donations is our little way of showing them love and affection, we do this on a quarterly basis and we would continue to do so’’ she said
Also speaking during the visit and products presentation, the Proprietress of Modupe Cole Memorial Childcare & Treatment Home School, Mrs. Florence Kayode expressed her profound appreciation to UAC Foods Limited and the entire UAC Group for their support for the home over the years.
“For many years now, we have received tremendous support from UAC Foods Limited and other UAC Group subsidiaries, we are extremely grateful for your care, love and kindness to the homes and we urge you to continue to support us and God will continue to bless your company’’, she noted.
The highpoint of the CSR donations to the homes was the appearance of the Gala Brand Ambassador –Harrysong, as it created a lot excitement not only among the children but also among workers who scrambled for photographs with the music star.
Emotionally touched by the gesture of the brand and the numerous needs of the children in these homes, Harrysong who was moved to tears thanked the UAC Foods Limited and promised to support the homes in his personal capacity.
“This visit is very touching for me and as a very emotional person, I can feel the situation of these children and I can relate with it. I want to say a big ‘Thank You’ to UAC Foods Limited and on a personal note I will be back here to give my little support”, he said.
Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, closed Friday, February 12 on a positive note as the All Share Index scooped 0.10 per cent to close at 24,689.69 points from 24,664.89 on Thursday, February 11.
Similarly, market capitalization also leaped from N8. 483 trillion to N8. 491 trillion.
The market recorded 11 gainers today led by Forte Oil with a gain of N16.00 or 4.91per cent to N342.00 followed by Learn Africa with a gain of N0.04 or 4.65 per cent to close at N0.90 while Honeywell Flour gained N0.06 or 4.20 per cent to close at N1.49 per share.
On the other hand, Unilever topped 26 stocks on the losers’ chart with N2.23 loss or 7.02 per cent to close at N29.53 followed by Neimeth that lost N0.04 or 4.88 per cent to close at N0.78 per share, and Champion that lost N0.15 or 4.76 per cent to close at N3.00 per share.
All together, a total of 311,595,696 shares worth N8.952 billion exchanged hands in 2,588 deals.
Indigenous oil company, Forte Oil Plc has announced a decline of N45.511 billion in its 2015 full year audited financial report.
According to the audited result sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday, February 12, the revenue of Forte Oil dropped from N170.128bn it made in 2014 to N124.617bn in 2015, representing 26.75 per cent decrease.
However, its profit before tax soared by N1.006bn, which translated to 16.75 per cent from N6.006bn to end the year 2015 at N7.012bn.
Forte Oil’s profit after tax rose by N1.337bn from N4.457bn to N5.794bn at the end of the year.
Its earnings per share soared by N1.91 kobo or 86.82 per cent from N2.20 it earned in 2014 to N4.11 kobo in 2015.
The board of directors of Forte Oil proposed a dividend of N3.45 kobo per share of the company’s common stock which will be paid to all shareholders upon ratification.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, might come under pressure to devalue the naira if oil price slides further and remains below current levels for a long period of time, Guaranty Trust Bank said in a forecast.
Although the apex bank has shunned local and international pressure to devalue the naira, pan-African lender, GT Bank, said it believes the CBN’s position might stand for the entire year following the forecast that oil prices are set to fall below present levels, which would result in further decline of external reserves.
The bank, while detailing its economic expectations for 2016 after a holistic review of the Nigerian macroeconomic landscape, in a report released over the weekend said it expects to see inflation trend slightly above 10 percent in the first half of 2016 as the CBN’s target to keep inflation at single digit is not sustainable.
Despite the role the ambitious reform agenda and policy direction of the new administration will play in restoring confidence to the economy, the bank said it expects economic growth to remain relatively low in the first half but gradually pick up in the second half of the year.
“The country’s external reserves which stood at $34.47bn as at December 31st, 2014 declined by $5.40bn (15.67%) to close the 2015 financial year at $29.07bn on December 31st, 2015.
With the price of oil, which accounts for more than 90% of the country’s exports, hovering around $28 per barrel in January 2016 and backlogs of unmet FX demand, we expect further depletion of the reserves in 2016,” the bank said.
A data released on Friday, February 14, by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has revealed that, on the average, petrol is sold above the official price of N86.50 across all states of the country in January, 2016.
The data, known as Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) Price Watch which details the monthly average prices of a litre of petrol, showed Lagos State with the lowest average price of N91.06 for a litre of petrol, followed by Zamfara State at N91.59.
The disclosure highlights the fact that no state complied with the federal government’s directive which approved the N86.50 and N86 respectively for a litre of petrol for oil marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) effective January 1, 2016.
The data showed the average selling price of a litre of petrol in Abuja as N99. 60, while it sold for N129.33 on the average in Abia State.
Residents of Ebonyi State paid the highest price of N133.14 for a litre of petrol in the period under review, the NBS data showed.
In the South Western states of Ogun and Ondo states with close proximity to Lagos, the point of petrol import entry, the product was sold for N92.46 and N120.08 respectively.
In oil-rich Rivers and Bayelsa states, petrol sold for N102.50 and N96.13 respectively, the data further showed while it sold for N96.78, N120.67 and N110.50 in the Northern states of Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe states respectively.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, said that talks have reached an advanced stage between members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, towards ending the current over-supply of crude at the international market, with a view to raising the prices which had plunged to record low levels.
The Minister told Reuters in Abuja that the mood inside the oil cartel is shifting from mistrust to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to end the global oil price fall.
Oil prices have dropped by more than 70 per cent to below $30 a barrel, as OPEC, led by top producer Saudi Arabia, seek to drive higher-cost producers out of the market by refusing to cut production despite a supply glut.
Kachikwu told Reuters: “There’s increased conversation going on. I think when we met in December … they (OPEC members) were hardly talking to one another. Everyone was protecting their own positional logic.
“Now I think you have cross-logic … they are looking at what are the deficiencies, what is the optimum,” he said.
Struggling oil producers have made repeated calls for an emergency OPEC meeting; however, he expressed doubt whether a consensus would have been reached if the meeting had held.
“We haven’t been sure that if we held those (emergency) meetings that we could actually walk away with some consensus,” he said.
“A lot of barrels are tumbling out of the market from non-OPEC members, so the Saudi philosophy is obviously working. But it’s not influencing the price higher, which means that whether we like it or not, some barrels are coming in from members and non-members to cover whatever is dropping out.”
Kachikwu further told Reuters that he would meet his Qatari and Saudi counterparts next week to discuss the situation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has invalidated the reports that made the rounds in the media that it had stopped the sale of forex for school and medical fees overseas.
The apex bank, however, explained that it would henceforth prioritize sales of forex to sectors that are more productive in generating employment and adding value to the Nigerian economy.
Banks’ managing directors had last Friday revealed that payment of foreign school fees alone guaffed 15 per cent of the total foreign exchange supply, far more than the amount that goes to the importation of raw materials.
A source at the Central Bank on Sunday, February 11, revealed that some of the newsmen who covered the Bankers’ Committee Meeting last Friday had misconstrued what the banks’ chiefs had said to mean a stoppage to the sale of foreign exchange for the payment of school fees.
He assured that the apex bank had no immediate intention of banning the sale of foreign exchange to those schooling abroad, but stressed that the top priority was to ensure that forex went to those that would add value to the local economy.
If you are a fan of good music, then Lagos could be just the city for you. The city caters for every musical genre: jazz, afrobeat, dancehall and hip-hop, and gives you countless opportunities to enjoy a wide range of music at concerts, festivals, and venues of all sizes. You do not really have to go far to hear live music in Lagos, ask the locals for a spot around your location. But, in case you need a few more options, Jovago.com, Africa’s No.1 online hotel booking portal offers some other live music spots to hit.
Jazz hole
A diverse venue that attracts both local and international artists, the Jazz Hole is a small cafe in the Ikoyi suburb of Lagos that features a collection of vintage books, music record, art and jazz music, giving it an air of art meets intellectualism. During the day, the venue is essentially a meeting place for a more varied artistic scene including musicians, poets, writers and artists. Perfectly positioned in the historic center of Lagos Island’s nightlife, it becomes more of a live music venue in the evenings, with the emphasis being on the soul and Jazz.
The Afrika Shrine
The African Shrine has been a Lagos favourite for many years and many expected it to fade away after it got burnt down, however the new replacement, run by Femi and Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti, remains a cool spot for groups and friends to hang, and is still going from strength to strength. The venue hosts live music and also provides culinary services as well as a serving of knowledge in African politics. There are free shows on Thursday, or on the last Saturdays of the month – Afrobeats Sessions with Seun Kuti, and you are certain to have a good time listening to good music and mingling.
Freedom Park
For the ‘free spirit’ within you, why not pop along to Freedom Park? If you fancy partying with the locals, then this venue could be the perfect place for you to let your hair down and dance the night away. It is one of the hottest nightspots in Lagos for people who love the unconventional, artsy scene. Open mic night sessions and live music are hosted on the regular – everything from local bands to international music, and throughout the year, the venue hosts a variety of big-name acts who come through town to play for music fans from around the world.
Muson Center
A prestigious performance hall in Lagos, MUSON Centre, is a fountain of music, arts and culture. Aside from housing a music school, the venue also host special music events and concerts all through the year. On occasion, studios even use it for movie premiers and theatre performance. The venue is frequently praised for its superior acoustics and the orchestra’s ability. The concert season usually starts in June and ends in December.
The Eko Convention centre
An architectural beauty, the Eko Convention centre is one of the most enduring centers for music events in Lagos. Throughout the year, internationally famous acts, like Chris brown and Trey Songz, as well as popular local acts take to the stage in various concerts and shows. People searching for a bit of fun should look forward to attending events at this venue.
Terra Kulture
One of the hottest spots for arty people in Lagos, Terra Kulture has an excellent reputation for being a friendly and welcoming venue. As it only features live music on Fridays to mark #TGIF, it’s a self-effacing and rich cultural space, where you can chat, relax, read and enjoy good music. Essentially, it is a meeting place for a more varied creative scene including musicians, poets, writers and artists
Lobby Bar, Lagos Sheraton Hotel
Jazz Unplugged at Sheraton Social Hour at the Lobby Bar, stages an eclectic mix of classical music and jazz, and is perfect for guests who prefer upscale environs. With the soothing rhythm jazz music offers, visitors enjoy at least two good hours of blues every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. An evening here offers excellent classics and mesmerizing glamour.
The Federal Government yesterday said it has no money to import food, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said.
The minister, who announced this at the 41st Technical Meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development, at the Coronation Hall, Government House, Kano, said agriculture as an integral part of human development, received top priority all over the globe with Europe and America considerably subsidising it.
According to him, the Buhari administration was compelled to take some steps in restoring the lost glory of agriculture which had played a pivotal role in developing human potentials to meet the ever increasing demands of self-sufficiency in food production, adding that with the depleted foreign reserves it would not be realistic for the country to rely solely on massive importation of food.
He said Africans had been habitually disinclined to adopt a long strategic plan in facing any eventuality almost in all spheres of human endeavour.
The minister further noted that agriculture being the mainstay of any promising developing economy, must be accorded the priority it deserved as a way of reducing the nation’s over-dependence on oil. He, however, hinted of his ministry’s readiness to enter into partnership with prominent industrial agriculturalists and small-scale farmers for the purpose of lending credence to the sector appreciably.
The government, Ogbeh further stressed was determined to give out credit to women farmers to access markets for their products to be exposed and sold on a larger scale.
On the recurring Fulani herdsmen/farmers clash, the minister maintained that this had long been a disturbing trend to the federal government, saying proactive steps would be taken to limit the scope of the Fulani herdsmen grazing lands to avoid the encroachment that usually “leads to deadly conflicts.”
The House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education yesterday asked the Nigerian Teachers Institute boss, Mr. Aminu Ladan Sarahu, to leave over the poor presentation of his institute’s 2016 budget proposal.
The committee headed by Rep Zakari Mohammed (APC, Baruten/ Kaima Federal Constituency) apparently disturbed by the poor presentation of proposal by the NTI boss asked him to go back home and prepare a proper budget to be presented to the committee within the next two weeks.
The NTI boss incurred the wrath of the lawmakers when he told them that his institute was tagged Basic Education, hence it was denied funds from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
Disturbed by Mr. Sarahu’s disposition during the presentation, the lawmakers described him of having bias mind typical of an unprepared chief executive and therefore ordered him to explain line-by-line what he enumerated in his proposal, since they (lawmakers) couldn’t make any sense of his document.
At this point, the committee chairman, Zakari Mohammed politely asked the NTI boss to excuse the committee to enable it face other serious legislative engagement, whilst directing that he put his presentation in order and return back to them.
Members of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Board of Trustees and the National Working Committee might be under the searchlights again following the disclosure of how N10bn was allegedly disbursed by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s ex-Aide-de-Camp, Col. Ojogbene Adegbe, during the party’s presidential primary.
Reports have it that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had started investigating the PDP’s NWC and BoT members since Thursday when Adegbe was handed over to it by the Nigerian Army.
It was learnt that the EFCC had been interrogating the former ADC since he was handed over to them on Thursday.
Findings showed that the commission was beaming its searchlight on the PDP chieftains, including NWC and BoT members, who played leading roles during the PDP presidential primary.
As of the time of the primary in December 2015, the Chairman of the BoT was Chief Tony Anenih, while the Secretary was Senator Walid Jibril. The party’s National Chairman, who also headed the NWC, was Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.
According to reports on Friday, the EFCC operatives were interrogating Adegbe on how he allegedly got N10bn.
It was also reported that the money was allegedly used to bribe the PDP delegates to adopt Jonathan for second term.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, on Friday, February 13, moved 311.59 million shares valued N8.95 billion traded in 2,588 deals.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this was against 414.35 million shares worth N3.29 billion exchanged in 3,380 deals on Thursday.
GT Bank drove the volume of shares traded with an exchange of N138.16 million shares worth N2.28 billion transacted in 238 deals.
Sterling Bank sold 49.64 million shares valued N84.55 million achieved in 21 deals, while Seplat accounted for 18.72 million shares worth N4.72 billion exchanged in 16 deals.
FCMB Group posted a turnover of 17.85 million shares valued N16.49 million in 114 deals and ETI traded 12.18 million shares worth N179.63 million transacted in 31 deals.
Forte Oil for the second consecutive day led the gainers’ table, increasing by N16 to close at N342 per share.
Lafarge Africa trailed with a gain of N2 to close at N80, while Dangote Cement garnered N1.50 to close at N146.50 per share.
Cadbury chalked up 28k to close at N18.08 and Portland Paint grew by 15k to close at N3.74 per share.
The All-Share Index appreciated by 25 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 24,689.89 compared with 24,664.89 achieved on Thursday.
Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N8.482 trillion improved by N8 billion to close at N8.491 trillion.
Conversely, Seplat topped the laggards’ chart with a loss of N7.89 to close at N252.11 per share.
Nestle followed with N5 to close at N695 and Unilever dipped N2.23 to close at N29.53 per share.
CAP lost N1.42 to close at N35.78 and Nigerian Breweries dropped 60k to close at N97.40 per share. (NAN)
The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Apapa Area one Command has said that it raked in N23.4 billion as revenue for the month of January 2016.
The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Willy Egbudin, who disclosed this at the monthly stakeholders meeting organized by the command in Lagos, charged clearing agents and importers to embrace transparency in all their transactions.
Giving a breakdown of revenue collected at the command in the past two years, Egbudin stated that in 2014 the command collected a total of N301 billion, while there was a decline in 2015 as only N288 was collected.
Egbudin, who was at various times the CAC of Lily Pond and Seme Commands, reiterated the command’s commitment in ensuring that the Apapa Command meets the target set for it in 2016.
“We will pray that this year we should be able exceed at least N300 billion to N400 billion or N500 billion and that is our expectation. So far, I do not think we are doing badly even though we are not meeting the target because for the month January this year we had been able to realise N23.4 billion compared to January last year which was N20.7 billion you know that we are starting well”.
The CAC stated that the command is starting on the right path to ensure that the service actualise the revenue target, even as he appealed with operators to comply with trade facilitation.
He said apart from the revenue collections and anti-smuggling, one other thing is to facilitate trade because it takes two to tangle.
“If you want your trade to be facilitated you have to declare honest declaration. You know that Apapa Area command is the flagship of customs service and if the service is to get right that means this command must get it right and if we are not getting it right, and if we are not get that means other commands are not getting it right,” he said.
The acting Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Haruna Jauro has said the fund was intact, following speculations that the money in the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF) had been spent or diverted to private pockets.
CVFF was established by the federal government to help indigenous ship owners procure vessels or maintain existing ones but it has not been disbursed in spite of repeated promises by successive Ministers of Transport and the Directors General of NIMASA to do so.
CVFF is a pool of fund collected from ships involved in coastal operations in the country. It is warehoused by NIMASA to be borrowed by Nigerian ship owners from some selected commercial banks designated as primary lending institutions (PLIs).
The failure to disburse the funds over the years had led to speculations in some quarters that the fund had been looted by some top government quarters.
Speaking when the Senate Committee visited NIMASA office in Lagos, Jauro invalidated insinuations that the account of the CVFF has been depleted.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ahmed Sani accompanied by other members were in the agency as part of their oversight functions.
The acting DG told members of the committee that the fund which had grown to over N51 billion remains intact.
Jauro also disclosed that NIMASA remitted $140.8 million (N42.22billion) into the federation account in five years, adding that the agency collected $270 million revenue from vessels belonging to the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) in 2015.
He, however, explained that the remittance was not inclusive of the N4, 985, 000, 000 and $39, 025, 017 operating surplus for last year which was also remitted to the federation account.
He said that so far, only statutory revenue disbursements of the agency, which include a 25 per cent maritime fund and five per cent development for the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom State had been undertaken.
Giving an insight into how the agency has fared in the last five years, he revealed that N450 million was remitted to government coffers in 2011; N6, 441, 383, 583 in 2012; N13, 833,431,883 in 2013; N9,732,349,682 in 2014; and N11,770,978,562 in 2015.
The Nigerian Ball-Point Pen Industries, NIPEN, manufacturers of BiC pens, Premium pens, BiC shavers and other plastic products has announced a 15.9% growth in asset through additional investment of N186 million in property, plants and machinery.
The company also increased its revenue by 13.9% from N4.453 billion in 2013 to N5.075 billion in 2014 and raised its shareholders’ funds from N1.714 billion in 2013 to N2.277 billion in 2014.
This result came in spite of the numerous challenges the company faced during the period under review, said the Chairman, Board of Directors and Managing Director of the company, Mr. Stephen Faderin, at the company’s 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos recently.
The additional investment resulted to a 57% increase in marketing and distribution costs as well as a substantial investment dedicated to anti-counterfeiting efforts however, and led to an expected 40% reduction in profit before tax for the year.
Faderin, who is also the Group Managing Director and Country Manager of CFAO Group in Nigeria, said although BiC pens recorded a decline in sales volume due to fierce competition from low cost brands as well as smuggled pens. Premium pens achieved a volume growth of 53% over the sales volume recorded in 2013 which, according to him, was an indication of “better market acceptance in spite of some technical issues experienced in product development.”
The Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commissions, NCC,Umar Danbatta,has said the Commission would sanction telecommunication operators who defraud Nigerians through dropped-calls.
The NCC Executive said this during a meeting with reporters from the North West, North Central and FCT in Kano, where he presented the Commission’s eight-point agenda.
Danbatta said dropped-call rate is the fraction of the telephone calls which due to technical reasons, are cut off before the speaking parties finish their conversation.
He said this were being used by some telecom providers to deduct money from phone users as the fraction was usually measured as a percentage of all calls.
He said that the Commission had put in place mechanisms to ensure regulatory excellence and operational efficiency to maintain commitment to transparency.
Danbatta explained that part of the measures was for NCC to monitor calls, adding that any call that was not a dropped-call and was charged would be detected and the telecom provider sanctioned.
He added that “there is a limit to which a call can be dropped.
“We have put in place parametres to monitor what is happening, especially as regards drop calls, this will locate the operator to ensure that they maintain standards.
“When these parametres are analysed, we will be able to detect the drop calls from service providers and the operator’s attention will be drawn to enable it to address the problem.
“If we do not notice any sign of improvement on dropped call rates, then we will sanction erring operators.’’
access to the Internet would be free in Nigeria in the nearest future. (NAN)
“We are working on plans to improve data access in Nigeria and it is captured in the eight-point agenda of the Commission’’.
This, he said, would ensure that at least services were available, accessible and affordable to consumers.
He expressed the hope that access to the Internet would be free in Nigeria in the nearest future. (NAN)
According to the latest statistics for the month of December released by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, one million unregistered mobile phone lines have been blocked from the network of telecom operators in the ongoing revalidation of telecommunications subscriber base
Active customers in Nigeria’s Telecommunications Industry plunged by 1,105,928 in the month of December 2015, and total active subscribers’ lines was 151,017,244 as at December 31, 2015; this was down from 152,123,172 as at November 31, 2015, the NCC statistics reveal.
The four leading operators of Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) namely; MTN, Glo, Airtel, and Etisalat, control 148,681,362 of the 151,017,244 active lines.
The mobile operators’ active customers reduced by 1,105,758 as against the 149,787,120 subscribers they recorded in the month of November. The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators had 2,148,727 active users in December, indicating a decrease of 393 from the 2,149,120 customers they had in November. Also, the monthly subscriber data showed that the Fixed Wired/Wireless networks’ consumers increased to 187,155 in December as they added 383 customers to their record of 186,772 in November.
Nigeria’s teledensity which measure the percentage of the population with access to telecoms services also went down to 107.87 per cent in December from the 108.66 per cent in the month of November, decreasing by 0.79 per cent.
