Official, black market rates’ gap narrows over CBN’s interventions

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Official, black market rates’ gap narrows over CBN’s interventions

The gap between the official  and the black market rates narrowed at the weekend, after the local currency firmed to N380 per dollar on the black market on Friday.

On the official interbank market, the currency was quoted N307 over the weekend. February’s partial devaluation effectively created multiple exchange rates in the economy.

The naira, in recent months, exchanged at over N510 to dollar, until the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began massive interventions in the market.

The figures showed  nearly three per cent appreciation from the previous sessions and near the CBN rate for consumers, traders said.

The CBN, in a statement at the weekend, said it received bids for $81 million from authorised dealers last Friday after it offered to sell $100 million in currency on Thursday.

The bank has been intervening in the official market to narrow the currency spread with the black market rate, which was N520 to the dollar a month ago after it devalued the naira for retail customers to N375.

Meanwhile, for the first time since the dollar scarcity started, the CBN recorded $19 million surplus after it intervened in the interbank market.

The development occurred after the CBN pumped $100 million into the interbank to meet demands at the retail end of the market, out of which authorised dealers were only able to pick $81.347 million after an initial bid for $91 million.

Commenting on the offer, the Acting Director, CBN’s Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, attributed the inability of authorised dealers to pick up the entire offer of the apex bank to increasing dollar supply and sense of apprehension among dealers, who anticipate a further crash in dollar rate.

He reiterated the determination of the CBN to sustain its current interventions in the market. According to him, “those who doubt the capacity of the Bank to sustain the intervention in the forex market are beginning to have a change of mind”.

Meanwhile, reports from Abuja and Lagos over the week indicated that the naira sustained its bullish ride against major currencies, especially the United States (US) dollar, which exchanged at an average of N385 to dollar.

This has triggered further apprehension among speculators, who anticipated further losses given the continued crash of the dollar.

With the naira closed at N307 to dollar on Friday to the official market, and the parallel market rate continued to slide, the optimism of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele to achieve the convergence of forex rates between the Interbank and the bureaux de change markets appears to be on the horizon.

(thenationonlineng)

UBA records 32% rise in pre-tax profit

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UBA records 32% rise in pre-tax profit

United Bank for Africa Plc posted a 32 per cent increase in its profit before tax for the 2016 financial year, its audited 2016 full-year results showed.

The pan-African financial services group, with presence in 19 African countries, said its pre-tax profit was N91bn, up from N68bn in 2015.

In a statement on Sunday, it described the growth in gross earnings and profits as an attestation to its resilience, enhanced productivity and geographic diversification, evident in the impressive contribution from its African subsidiaries.

The group recorded a 22 per cent growth in gross earnings to N384bn as of December 2016 from N315bn at the end of the 2015 financial year.

It said, “The impressive growth illustrated the bank’s ability to grow profitability despite the difficult macro-economic environment. In addition to the rising adoption of electronic banking channels in many of the African markets, where UBA operates, the bank leveraged its strong franchise and geographical footprint.”

According to the statement, UBA’s profit after tax grew by 22 per cent to N72bn, from N60bn recorded in 2015, and the performance was buoyed by considerable growth in both interest and non-interest income, as well as increasing efficiency gains from cost management initiatives.

It said UBA’s subsidiaries outside of Nigeria were increasingly gaining market share, reinforcing the strong and impressive subsidiary contribution to the group, estimated at one-third of profit in 2016 from a quarter in the 2015 financial year.

The group’s board of directors proposed a final dividend of 55 kobo, subject to the approval of the shareholders at the forthcoming annual general meeting, holding next month in Lagos.

According to the statement, the bank had earlier paid an interim dividend of 20k to shareholders, bringing the total dividend for the 2016 financial year to N0.75, an unprecedented yield of 13.9 per cent, based on the stock’s unit price of N5.39 on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, expressed satisfaction at the resilience of the bank, despite the macroeconomic challenges in a number of countries.

“Given the operating environment in 2016, I am very pleased with our profitability – an impressive 32 per cent growth in profit before tax to N91bn – whilst we have also focused keenly on operational efficiencies, illustrated by the reduction in our cost-to-income ratio.” Uzoka said.

On the outlook for the 2017 financial year, Uzoka, said, “As we implement our Customer First Philosophy, we are approaching 2017 with real optimism, especially with the outlook remaining positive in many of our markets, where we benefit from our increasingly diverse revenue streams.

“We reiterate our pledge to delivering excellent service to our customers, and remain committed to creating superior and sustainable return for our shareholders.”

The Chief Financial Officer, UBA Group, Mr. Ugo Nwaghodoh, said the bank extracted efficiency gains across its operations to boost profitability and saw significant improvement across major performance metrics including the net interest margin.

“Our performance in 2016 reflects the strong potential and resilience of our business. We grew top and bottom lines by 22 per cent and 32 per cent respectively, despite the stagflation in Nigeria, our core market. Reflecting improved balance sheet management and better value extraction, our net interest margin improved 40bps year-on-year to 6.7 per cent,” he said.

 

(Punchng)

Nigerians Can Now Get Their Driver’s License Online

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Nigerians Can Now Get Their Driver’s License Online

In the spirit of the continuous revamping of processes of public ventures and ease of making transactions which has seen the Nigerian Immigration service launch a 48-hour online visa application system for businesspersons, the Federal Road Safety Corp has introduced a new and easier way of requesting and renewing driver’s license in all the states of the federation.

The improved means which was announced by the Director-General of Bureau of Public Service, Dr Joe Abah through his Twitter handle (@DrJoeAbah) has the official costs of a driver’s license at 6,350 naira for 3 years validity and 10,450 naira for 5 years validity.

Explaining the costs and the process, Dr Joe Abah stated the price above is solely for the license and not for any other thing. In essence, the process may incur other expenses which are by no means catered for in the 6,350, and 10,450 price groups respectively.

First-time applicants are expected, as a norm, to have gone through driving school where they must have taken driving tests and issued certificates of proficiency which will allow them to apply for the license. All costs incurred during this process are not covered by the license fee.

Dr Abah explained further that it is possible for Vehicle Inspection Officers who control the issuance of driving certificates at states level to charge certain amounts on certificates, which vary per states for driving certificates, different from the license fee. The state internal revenues board may also charge certain amounts for each license. This also varies by state. Taking driving lessons and tests are the normal procedure for the procurement of a driving license. The will to fraudulently bypass this process is taken as the main reason some applicants pay touts and fake officers double the stipulated fees.

The process for renewal is similar to that of new applicants except for the tests and certificates. For renewals and new applications, motorists are to log on to www.nigeriadriverslicence.org where they would initiate their renewal and pay the appropriate fees. The data page is then to be printed and taken to the nearest FRSC office for the necessary confirmations and affirmations.

In all this, however, the interesting part is that the application can now be self-initiated, with only minor confirmations, certifications, and tests to be completed at the branches of the Federal Road Service Corp. This will not only fast-track the process of applying for a license, it blocks, to an extent, avenues for corrupt officials to extort Nigerians.

(Venture Africa)

‘Why InnJoo’s laptop is a unique brand’

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‘Why InnJoo’s laptop is a unique brand’

With the need to  be innovative and  reduce users burden as Nigeria embraces ICT, the InnJoo  Technology Nigeria  has introduced to the Nigerian market the first Leap Book that users can charge with a power bank or in a car; one  doesn’t need to buy any adaptors or any other attachment to charge it.

Shedding light on this new development, the Country Manager of innJoo Technology, Nigeria , Mr Rakesh Rocque,  said  that the company’s brands are unique products that stand out among their competitors.

“This  is the first laptop in Nigeria that you can charge with a power bank or in a car; you don’t need to buy any adaptors or any other attachment to charge it. It has USB cable which you can put on a power bank, on a car charger or put it on a normal charger. So if you go with any other laptop charger, you’re charging at a go.

“InnJoo laptop also comes with a window 10 Operating system. You can see that window 10 operating system itself is costing N200: 000 Naira  to N250:000  Naira respectively.  InnJoo laptop has actually got all it takes. We manage to produce it and bring it to Nigeria. Nigerian government and stakeholders are clamouring for local content in ICT and wants foreign companies to set up assembly plants here. This is something we plan to do,” Rakesh revealed.

Continuing, Rakesh whose products has been given positive and wide review  continuously since the beginning of this year also said that Nigerian government has endorsed the product.

“To be mentioned openly and with enthusiasm is  the most newly introduced InnJoo  Leap Book.   It has   passed through all the certifications by SON and NCC is poised to take Nigerian market by the storm with its  slim design, durability, affordability ; and the  great news  is that,  it is  the first laptop in Nigeria that you can charge with a power bank or in a car; where you don’t need to buy any adaptors or any other attachment to charge it. The era of unnecessary burden is gone.

“Our  products are much sought after in the market because the brands, laptops and phones, are now consumers delight. We  believe in feeling the users pulse , make them comfortable and treat them like kings. We just don’t push anything out just like that.

“InnJoo brand is consumer friendly. We are taking over market share from other brands because our price is friendly. In terms of Leap which is a laptop, it is unique to any brand.  I can proudly say that InnJoo is a pioneer in this market. Bringing these laptops to Nigerians, one is about the design. The design if you compare it to any other product it is about 300,000 above. We have actually selectively chosen all the features which were not useful, removed them and still the laptop works perfectly.

“Another major thing to put in mind is the price for this laptop which is below N100: 000 Naira only .  It is for all our fellow Nigerian brothers and sisters, who want to acquire a laptop basically with very slim and nice design and below N100:000  Naira only, to go for it.”

On the quality and the notion that Chinese products are inferior; Rocque said that InnJoo products are not sub-standard, adding that it  is not just pocket friendly. He said  all efforts were made to ensure compliance with what is obtainable in a competitive market.

“Though there might have been something like fake or sub-standard attached to Chinese products in the past, the Nigerian government and NCC have come in a big way to eradicate all these Chinese phones from the market. No doubt that InnJoo is also a Chinese brand, but we are not fake as we have passed through all the certifications. All these products have been passed by SON and NCC. There is liberty for anybody to confirm my claim. We are proud of our products,” Racque said.

He also noted that there is after sale services, as well as warranty.

“We have after sales service.  If it is a warranty, we can repair it within seven days if it is in Lagos, and if it is out of Lagos, we do it in 14 days. So the consumers don’t have to worry about the cost of the phone because it is warranted. If it is out of warranty, supposed it is damaged, phone screen is damaged, and port is damaged when you are charging using unauthorized plug. All these things are basically out of warranty repairs. Out of warranty repairs, InnJoo is the only brand who is giving its consumers insurance. If you break your phone, we will repair it for free at least once in a year. So that takes away your burden. We could have given you caps, we could have given you T-Shirts, pen; all because other brands are doing it, but we said no. We want to make positive and indelible marks in the mind of our users.

“Again suppose you are buying a phone of N50:000 ,  how will you feel to go and repair the phone for N25:000 Naira , or N30:000 Naira ?. You will definitely feel bad, so that is what we feel and we are doing it uniquely and very different from others. And that is what InnJoo is all about. We are out for betterment of the society,” the Country Manager said.

(Thenationonlineng)

Tecno adopts new strategy, streamline brands messaging, experience with Camon series

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Tecno adopts new strategy, streamline brands messaging, experience with Camon series

In a bid to streamline its  brands messaging and experience while maximizing budget for African markets, Africa’s leading phone maker, Tecno  Mobile unveiled its latest Camon  flagship at the brand’s maiden continental launch in  Nairobi, Kenya at the weekend.

Addressing the media on Tecno’s decision to host market partners and a cross section of its local marketing teams to one continental launch  a clear move away from its usual individual market launches, Mr. Attai Oguche,Tecno  Deputy Marketing Manager and PR Lead said , “We want to achieve consistency and uniformity in all our Tecno  brand messaging and further strengthen our products experience,”  Oguche explained.

Image result for tecno CAMON CX

Also speaking,  Stephen Ha, Tecno  General Manager, said that , “Yearly, people around the world share billions of pictures from their smartphones over the Internet. Selfies have become a global trend especially among millenials who happen to control nearly 60% of global smartphone ownership. We   want to make taking and sharing photos very easy and enjoyable for every Camon  user. We want people to be confident about their looks and happy to show off their quality Selfie at all times”.
“Tecno  CX mixes fluid user experience and high-end performance in such intuitive way. The device is powered by an octa-core processor and runs on the latest android Nougat 7.0 operating system and HiOS 2.0 UI,” said Jesse Oguntimehin, Tecno  Deputy Marketing Manager, Digital Lead.

Before, Tecno  Camon  Series has progressively transformed and the latest device in the series  the Camon  CX is not an exception.
Debuting a stunning 16MP dual front and rear camera, the product  cameras are optimized to capture strikingly beautiful pictures with zero shutter lag.
Under lowlight, the dual flashlights of the CX front camera takes photos that are 30% brighter by using “4 in 1” technology which gives the same moment different exposures in other to produce a brighter image.

This technology uniformly distributes light in photos to brighten the skin and eliminate every possibility of red-eye effect.

Tecno  has completely improved the consumer experience on the Camon  CX by adding several cutting-edge features like a 0.1s fingerprint fast-capture for taking pictures and 8 real-time portrait photo filters to make sure that every Selfie is Social Media worthy. The device  comes in four different premium variants – Sky Gray, Champagne Gold, Elegant Blue and Rose Gold. It is built with a 5.5’’ FHD display screen and a visual slim 2.5D screen design that creates a borderless visual effect.
Users of the Camon  CX can enjoy digital content from over 1000 artistes on Boom Player, an inbuilt music player. Charging the CAMON CX for only 1hour will give 70% battery juice due to the device’s light speed charge technology while 10minutes charging can take up to 1000 photos.

(Vanguard)

IKEDC Issues Rainy Season Alert

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IKEDC Issues Rainy Season Alert

In a bid to safeguard and protect the public,  Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) has advised on the need to be extra cautious during the rainy season. The distribution company stated the persistent rains may cause electric poles to fall and cables snap. 

rainy-season-new-flyer

Lagos-Ibadan rail project: A rebirth of Nigerian rail transport

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Lagos-Ibadan rail project: A rebirth of Nigerian rail transport

Early this month, Vice president Yemi Osinbajo, who was then acting president performed the ground breaking of the Lagos – Ibadan rail project that is to run from Apapa port in Lagos to Ibadan. This project is the second segment of the planned six segments Lagos to Kano standard gauge rail track. The first of which is the Abuja – Kaduna 187km rail line that was launched in July 2016. Others are the Kaduna – Kano, Ibadan – Ilorin, Minna – Abuja and Ilorin – Minna.
This rail project line will have about eight stations located at Apapa, Ebube-Metta, intermediate stations at Agege, Kajola, Papalanto, Abeokuta, Omi-Adion, a padding station with technical operation.

From a transport expert’s point of view, the $1.488b rail project is the most important segment of the Lagos – Kano standard gauge line, which has been neglected for too long. This position is affirmed by the fact that unlike the Abuja – Kaduna line that focuses mainly on passengers, this will focus on freight and passenger travel, passing through Apapa, which houses Nigeria’s two busiest seaports (the Lagos Port complex (LPC) popularly called Apapa port and the Tin can Island port complex (TCIPC) both of which are about 6km apart.

This rail project will also facilitate the revamping of the Ibadan Dry inland port. This Inland port will handle freight bound for part of the West and Northern axis of the country. This will in turn reduce the pressure on the Apapa area, which houses these ports as freights bound for the Southeast and South-South will be cleared there.

The project will also ease the movement of passengers along the Lagos – Ibadan expressway that has always needed a form of construction or the other because of the high volume of traffic the road handles. The rail project will also aid the industrial zone between Lagos and Ogun state by easing the transportation of raw materials, as well as, finished goods, a plus for the drive in the usage and consumption of locally made products.

The vice president in the ceremony also informed Nigerians that this rail project would be completed in December 2018, stating that the Federal Government has provided her N72billion counterpart funds for the project, which is about 15% of the project cost. The remaining 85% will be funded by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China part of the renegotiations that took place during president Buhari’s trip to China last year. The project was awarded to the Chinese firm China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). Like the saying goes, “No free lunch in china”. But many Nigerians would not seem to care about the contractor rather the completion of the project at the promised time is what matters.

There are those, however, who still nurse reservations regarding the sincerity of the Federal Government to complete this project within the stipulated 21 months. Those in this camp hold the Opinion that the first segment of the Lagos-Kano Standard gauge rail line, which is the 187-kilometre Abuja Kaduna segment, took ten years and four civilian presidents to complete. My appeal to these persons is to give ‘Change’ a chance and hope that we will reap what other African nations like Djibouti and Ethiopia are benefiting from a productive relationship with the Chinese.

Oyimafu, Transport Expert operates in Awka
asimisamuel@yahoo.com

(GuardianNg)

Medview commences flights on Lagos/Kano route

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Medview commences flights on Lagos/Kano route

MEDVIEW Airline yesterday expanded its operations in Nigeria with the commencement of operations on the Lagos/Kano route.

The domestic carrier operated its inaugural flight from Lagos to Kano with impressive passengers’ traffic.

The airline management attributed the importance of Kano as a centre of commerce and religion to its decision to provide air services between Lagos and the ancient city.

Under the arrangement, “the airline will operate two daily flights to Kano Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and one flight on Sundays.The morning flight leaves Lagos at 6.50 and arrive 8.10 am while the return  journey will be routed through Kaduna International Airport.

“The afternoon flight at 12.30 PM from Lagos will be routed via Kaduna to give passengers transiting Kano the opportunity to connect their flights to foreign destinations such as Jeddah and Dubai. The two daily flights scheduled in such a way that one operate direct from Lagos to KANO, while the other is routed Kaduna.”

JAMBrite App unveiled for JAMB candidates

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JAMBrite App unveiled for JAMB candidates

A new educational application called JAMBrite App, has been built to support and prepare prospective candidates of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) examinations for their entrance examinations into tertiary institutions.

Making this information available in Lagos last weekend was  Ms Abimbola Izu, a former executive director of Skye Bank and the  proponent of the JAMBrite App.

Image result for jambrite

Assuring that the mobile application would boost the performance of students in their examinations, she explained that experience had shown that young people now learn faster with less conventional, creative, innovative and fun-learning tools.”

“Some organisations have discovered the need to leverage modern technologies to prepare students for their examinations in a fun and creative way. One of the devices developed by such education-learning centres in Nigeria today is JAMBrite, a newly released mobile educational App, available on Google Playstore handle at www.jambrite.com,” she said.

Image result for jambrite

Izu assured that JambriteApp is an easy-to-use online platform and mobile app that would allow students to learn anywhere and at anytime as well as at their own pace and convenience.

She explained that the mobile application comprises of tutorial videos of JAMB-type questions and the answers painstakingly explained in a fun and interactive way by expert tutors, with many years of experience in successfully preparing students for JAMB.

She noted that the idea of the App was borne out of the passion to rekindle the diminishing interest in studying by young people by delivering learning in the contemporary digital medium and to ultimately improve the quality of students who enter the tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Highlighting some of the features of the app, she said: “The App has tutorial videos of detailed explanations of up to 250 questions each for 10 subjects, and 500 questions for English Language.”

She added also that “the chat room facility on the App provides the much needed interaction with tutors for real time clarification on issues, while the 6,000 Practice CBT questions provided offers students the opportunity of conducting a self–mock examination over and over again.

 

(TribuneNg)

MTN loses 714,000 internet subscribers

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MTN loses 714,000 internet subscribers

Nigeria’s telecommunications networks lost 1,275,573 internet users in February, with MTN losing  714,700 subscribers, the highest.

The NCC made the disclosure in its internet subscribers’ data for February.

The publication indicated that internet users on both Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks dropped from 91,304,755 in January to 90,029,182 in February.

It also showed that, of the 90,029,182 internet users in February, 89,998,873 were on GSM networks, while 30,309 were on CDMA networks.

It  showed that the GSM service providers lost 1,275,573 internet customers as they recorded 89,998,873 users in February as against 91,274,446 they recorded in January.

The CDMA operators retained 30,309 internet subscribers in February as recorded in January.

The data revealed that MTN had 30,300,705 subscribers browsing the internet on its network in the month under review. MTN recorded a drop of 714,700 internet subscribers in February after recording 31,015,405 in January.

According to the data, Globacom had 26,932,485 customers surfing the net on its network in February, revealing a decline of 143,787 users from the 27,076,272 who surfed the internet on the network in January.

Airtel had 19,468,684 internet users in February, reducing by 149,801, the number of customers in its January record of 19,618,485.

The data also showed that Etisalat had 13,296,999 customers who browsed the internet in February. It recorded a decrease of 267,285 users from the 13,564,284 users it recorded in January.

The NCC data revealed that the CDMA operators, Multi-Links and Visafone, had a joint total of 30,309 internet users on their networks in February, maintaining their January record.

According to the data, Visafone had 30,305 customers surfing the internet in February, while Multi-Links had four.

(Nan)

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