Naijapower

Telecommunications operators in Nigeria’s highly competitive market are making significant investments in broadband network testing and upgrades for  migration to Long Term Evolution - a new wireless platform which offers better broadband speeds and efficiency, as they look to drive up data revenues.  Global service revenues generated by LTE mobile networks are forecast to reach $100 billion by next year, and mobile operators in Nigeria are all gunning for a piece of the market. This move  is coming on the heels of the recent declaration by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that new frequency spectrum specifically for LTE/4G would be made available to operators in 2015. A new report also suggests that mobile network operators in the country have ploughed in $2.24 billion (N347 billion) into network and infrastructure expansion projects in the preceding year. Industry sources told BusinessDay that a substantial size of the figure has gone into network pr...

Another guideline for newer banking model – agent banking, was released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently. Will this really deepen the confidence in the financial system, financial inclusion drive and ensure cheaper transactions. CHIJIOKE NELSON checks through the document. AGENT Banking and Agent Banking Relationship guidelines have been issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, as part of series of guidelines in the financial system. The regulatory authority, in the document, also said the initiative would ensure the enhancement of the financial inclusion and provision of agent banking as a delivery channel for offering banking services in a cost effective manner, as part of the objectives of this newer banking model. This is very well laudable achievement and additional movement towards our dream financial system. In fact, the agent banking model has been in the waiting since last year, due to assessed lack of legal and regulatory framework and adequate infrastructure t...

A NIGERIAN delegation to the World Bank Office in Washington DC, USA, Thursday successfully negotiated a $300 million (N47billion)  International Development Agency facility, to support the youth employment initiative of the Federal Government. The fund, which is a concessional credit, is to support the effort of government to “increase access of the poor to youth employment opportunities, social services, and strengthened safety net systems in participating States.” Specifically, the scheme is expected to strengthened safety net system that would have a common targeting system and unified registry of potential beneficiaries as major elements to facilitate basic services for poor households. The 20+ man delegation comprising state governments officials, mainly Commissioners of Finance and Justice; and Heads of Planning Commissions, took part in the negotiation, by video conference connection to the Abuja office of the World Bank. The Negotiation lasted for two days, Feb 11 an...

Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist who founded the World Wide Web, is famous for saying: “This is for everyone.” His words have never been so apt. The internet is inspiring a very new sort of business revolution, one that’s offering new ways for us to make money and save money together. A new way that is tearing up old business models and reinventing better ones. A new way that relies on that most philanthropic concept - what’s mine is yours. Welcome to the brave new world of Collaborative Consumption. A revolution that could lead to the democratisation of business models and really help your wallet. Making money - together Technology means that renting, lending, swapping, bartering and gifting can now take place on a scale never before possible. We first saw this trend emerge in the creation of eBay and Craigslist, which grew from humble auction site and local listing service, respectively, to become online marketplace powerhouses allowing the smallest to the ...

Interest in Nigerian arts and artefacts was sustained in 2012 despite the slow growth of the sector. The Nigerian art auction market, based in the country’s commercial city of Lagos, grossed N232 million in sales revenue in 2012 with the two major auction houses, Arthouse Contemporary Ltd and Terra Kulture, being centres of the activities. According to the two art houses, most of the artworks were sold at hammer prices in their bi-annual auctions. The sales figure, according to art collectors, signposts sustained interest in the sector, despite occasional drops in sale, often accounted for by harsh economic conditions. Most curators who spoke to BusinessDay say the Nigerian arts market could be valued at several billions of naira when activities of private collectors and other art centres in Benin, Jos, Ife, Kano and Port Harcourt are taken into consideration. The Nigerian auction market is conducted twice in a year between April and December, with the two major houses putting l...

Advertising agencies, printers, the players, coaching staff and a host of football related businesses will enjoy a slice of the windfall valued at over N20 billion following Nigeria’s third winning of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) last weekend in South Africa. Brand experts confirm to BusinessDay that the opportunities are huge. They say the economic effect will be felt well into 2015 when the country defends the title in Morocco. One analyst estimates the win could add as much as 0.10 percentage points to annual growth from increased consumer spending. The team already is boosting spending, with Nigerian billionaire and Africa’s fifth richest man, Mike Adenuga  donating $1 million to them and $200,000 to the coach, Stephen Keshi, for the win. Similarly, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, had earlier given them N130million for reaching the final of the event. The official prize money for Nigeria from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for winning the coveted ...

The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) as is currently constituted, is too complex and will need to be broken into bits, for it to stand a chance of being passed early by the National Assembly, stakeholders have said. Non passage of the bill has held up further investment in oil exploration in Africa’s second largest economy and the world’s seventh oil exporter. Most of the oil majors in the recent past have invested in counries like Angola and Canada at the expense of Nigeria. Speaking to BusinessDay, the stakeholders advocate that the fiscal aspect of the Bill be passed first, while the other provisions should be taken later, since the politicians will soon be preparing for the 2015 general elections. “The bill is too big for a country like Nigeria at this stage of development,” the CEO of an indigenous oil company,” said, adding that because many people are going to lose their rent seeking opportunities in the sector, the fiscal issues of the Bill should have been tackled first,...

A  major pipeline project that will transport natural gas from Nigeria to Europe through Algeria remains on track, Nigeria’s state news agency reported, citing Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The report comes amid concerns that progress on the project may have been stalled by delays in getting Nigeria’s oil reform through parliament. The Trans-Saharan gas pipeline project was kick-started in 2002 when Nigeria and Algeria signed a memorandum of understanding to send up to 30 billion cubic feet/year of gas to Europe from Nigeria, via Niger and Algeria, commencing in 2015. “The project is ongoing in spite of the numerous challenges threatening to stall it,” the agency quoted NNPC spokeswoman Tuminu Green as saying. “The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and Algeria has been signed; a feasibility study for the project has been concluded and the process of laying pipes from Calabar [southeastern Nigeria] through Kano [in the north of the country] is ...

An idle capacity valued at over N61.65 billion in Nigeria’s mobile telecoms market is waiting to be tapped by virtual mobile operators, BusinessDay has gathered. With 56 percent utilisation of total installed capacity of GSM operations, according to TNSRMS in its latest research report, mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) have a huge prospect in the Nigerian telecoms market. The MVNOs are expected to take up the 44 percent which is not utilised, says the report. A mobile virtual network operator is a mobile operator that does not have its own spectrum and also does not have its own network infrastructure but usually has business arrangements with traditional mobile operators to buy minutes of use for sale to its own customers. Though the average mobile phone user in Nigeria owns  2.39 SIM cards, according to a 2012 study by research firm, Informa, telephone penetration is still only 61 percent. As at November last year, Nigeria had 150.7 million connected lines. The...

C itibank is seeking to expand its private banking business in Nigeria, with Private Equity (PE) firm, Blackstone being brought in to help facilitate the move, sources familiar with the matter told BusinessDay. Blackstone which currently manages a fund for Citibank’s wealth management arm, made a presentation to 15 high networth individuals in Lagos Monday night. “Citi brought them (Blackstone) in to discuss  prospects in the Nigerian market. They are still studying the marekt, right now they have made minimal investments in the continent specifically in Ghana, but they are looking at expanding into Nigeria, that is in the future,” a top ranking Citi official told BusinessDay. Africa may have as much as 200 “hidden” billionaires operating in the unofficial economy, investor, Mark Mobius, said last year. Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to expand an average of 6 percent a year for the next five years, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data. ...

C itibank is seeking to expand its private banking business in Nigeria, with Private Equity (PE) firm, Blackstone being brought in to help facilitate the move, sources familiar with the matter told BusinessDay. Blackstone which currently manages a fund for Citibank’s wealth management arm, made a presentation to 15 high networth individuals in Lagos Monday night. “Citi brought them (Blackstone) in to discuss  prospects in the Nigerian market. They are still studying the marekt, right now they have made minimal investments in the continent specifically in Ghana, but they are looking at expanding into Nigeria, that is in the future,” a top ranking Citi official told BusinessDay. Africa may have as much as 200 “hidden” billionaires operating in the unofficial economy, investor, Mark Mobius, said last year. Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to expand an average of 6 percent a year for the next five years, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data...

Optimism Trails  N2.4 Billion Investment in Nigeria's e-commerce Total investment in Nigeria’s online shopping market by both local and foreign investors has been put at over $15 million (about N2.4 billion) with analysts predicting that the figure will double in 2014 as more investors see opportunity in the new sector. The analysts, who assessed the growing industry strongly, believe that more online businesses will open in Nigeria in the next few months signaling a belief in the Nigerian environment. The CEO of StartUps Partners’ Africa, Jaime Moreno, a new investor in the e-commerce space, told journalists during an interactive session recently that the country holds huge potential for e-commerce development. His optimism is based on Nigeria’s large population. According to him the opportunities are enormous and “we think Nigerians are becoming very brand savvy as consumers’ response had been overwhelming”. With its population of about 160 million people, Nigeria reco...