ATM: Banks to lose millions

Users on queue at a bank’s ATM

The commercial banks doing business in Nigeria  may lose  millions of naira to the new regime stopping them from charging customers N100 for using Automated Teller Machines (ATM) per transaction.

Under the outgoing regime, a customer using the ATM of another bank is charged N100 per transaction. The banks, under the Bankers Committee, after a meeting in Abuja, recently opted to stop the fee, saying it was a sacrifice they have to make to ease the pains of their customers.

The Group Managing Director, First Bank Plc, Mr. Bisi Onasanya, said the  decision will help to increase the patronage of ATMs in the country.

He said, “When you use the ATM of a bank other than your bank, there is a charge of N100, which is borne by the account holder. We have decided that we will work out the modality and ensure that with immediate effect we will pass on this cost to  respective banks to bear the cost of providing services.”

He added, “No matter where you are withdrawing your money from, you will not be subjected to any charge for using the ATM. The new policy does not cover withdrawals inside the banking hall when the ATMs are off. But for transaction on what we call ‘not on us,’ when you are a customer with  First bank, you can use the ATM of a GTB bank, it is free and you will no longer bear any cost”.

Sunday Business  learnt that  the new regime on the ATM will cost the banks a fortune. For instance, Sunday Business gathered that Zenith Bank may lose up to N7million every week on its ATM located at Murtala Mohummed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2), Lagos. And the bank has scores of ATM located across Lagos State, generating as much money as the one at MMA2, not to talk of others across the country.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has declared that the recent announcement on the suspension of N100 charge was a decision taken by banks and not CBN’s policy as widely speculated in the last two weeks.

The removal of ATM charge is coming only few months after CBN warned commercial banks on what it described as arbitrary bank charges on customers. Sunday Business gathered that the banks are going to lose  millions of naira monthly once the implemented of this new directive begins.

“A female branch manager with Diamond bank, Ojodu, who spoke under anonymity said, “We are spending so much money just to stay afloat in the business. For instance, we provide electricity daily to run our business, which is taking so much from us. Aside from generating our own power, we spend money to ensure we operate daily with the latest technology and we have a lot of staff to pay salary at the end of every month.”

“The essence of being in business is to make profit. The banks must improve their margins in order to meet up with daily expenses of running the business. For example, the amount of money we spend in generating electricity alone is telling so much on our overhead cost. So, at the end of the day, we transfer this cost to customers in form of bank charges.”

A staff in Zenith bank, Ikeja branch said, “We are going to lose over N7million every week from our ATM located at MMA2 because that is where we have many transactions daily. For instance, if we have 1,000 ATM transactions in a day, it means we are going lose about N1million. The money we charged for ATM is what we use in maintaining the machines. So, with the new directive, it means the bank is going to bear the cost directly.”

A Customer with Zenith Bank, Mr. Saviour Aluede, with Sass Global Limited, who spoke with Sunday Business at MMA2, explained that the banks are yet to implement the new policy. He said, “I just made withdrawal with the Zenith bank ATM and they charged me N100, which means they banks have not started implementing this policy. We are paying so much for bank charges on daily basis, CBN should ensure that the removal of ATM charge is adequately implemented by deposit banks as a way of giving back to the customers.”

Mr. Sulayman Bello, an economic expert, who spoke with our correspondent at First bank, Navy Town branch, said the banks are charging customers for every transaction and should be able to remove ATM charge to encourage customers.

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12 Making Money Online Facts You Must Know

I know you might have stumbled on websites or blogs that claim they can show you how to make thousands of dollars a day and retire in a month or probably have received emails where the sender claimed to have made thousands of dollars by working only for a couple of hours. Interesting...right? 

Well, all these are just popular tricks to deceive you in believing making money online is easy. Those sites that boast that you can get rich over night are not telling you the whole truth and if you fall for the bogus claims, you might end up frustrated in your quest for making money online.

Now let me make something clear to you… the truth is that online business is real but it takes time to build a way to make money online. You can make residual income online just like I do but there are some facts you must know, which are highlighted below:

1. With a computer, Internet access and a phone, it's possible to earn a living and make money from home, on the internet.

2. Starting an online business requires a very low start-up capital. You just need ideas, personal computer, internet access and some softwares installed on your computer. Although, you can start from Cyber-Cafes.

3. People who work from home are not necessarily involved in scams or illegal business. There are plenty of legal ways to earn money from home.

4. Nothing like overnight wealth on the internet. Working online does not make a lot of money for most people, but over time it is certainly possible to make a strong full-time income.

5. It takes a lot of serious hard work to make money online, and a lot of the work you need to do is learning about the process. You reap what you sow.

6. It is not compulsory you know html, programming, graphic design etc before you can start making money online. You can find someone else that can do any of those things for you. Fiverr.com/jideogunsanya is an example of one of the sites where you can get your job done at very cheap price.

7. You just have to sell something, be it a product (physical/digital) or services for you to make money online. If you don't sell something or render a service, then what will people be paying you for if they are to send money into your account or send cheques to you?

8. You will need to set your own schedule and rely on your own motivation and will-power to succeed in making money online.

9. Internet businesses run 24/7. Your website or blog where you will be making money online will always be available for people to access anytime anyday unless you have issues with your server.

10. You can work once and keep earning on the internet eg. You can create an information product which will keep earning you money for life.

11. Not everybody can make money online. There is no guarantee you will succeed just as there is no guarantee that you will make money if you invest in any business offline.

12. You do not have to be jerk of all trades to make money online. In fact, if you try to do everything people are doing to make money online, you might end up in confusion, which might lead to failure. Hence, pick a model and focus on it. For example, I am focusing on creating content (info marketing, blogging) despite knowing that I can also make money trading forex online, buying/selling stocks online etc

I believe this article should be an eye opener for you if you just want to get started in making money online. Remember, if you stumble on anything that sounds too good to be true, just RUN. There is no magic on the internet. You have to work in other to be making cool money online like I do.

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5 massive British frauds you've probably never heard of

Fraud. Sometimes it feels that not a week goes by without a fraud or scam hitting the headlines. But this is not a symptom of our economic times. No, you may be interested to learn of a few of Britain’s lesser-known, large-scale frauds. While all of these swindles have been surpassed in pure money terms by recent corporate scandals, these earlier cases had just as big an impact at the time, even leading to major changes in the law. The Poyais fraud was a major scandal in the 1800s. 

This fraud was certainly the most audacious and imaginative of all, as the perpetrator, Gregor MacGregor, created a fictional country in Central America. MacGregor served in the British army and was involved in various operations in the Americas. During his travels, he visited the coastal areas of present-day Honduras and Belize. MacGregor claimed to have received a land grant from a local native leader, and upon his return to London, announced the new nation of the Republic of Poyais.

 MacGregor created a flag, a coat of arms, currency and other trappings of a sovereign nation and then proceeded to sell off land to investors and settlers in the London markets. He also issued sovereign debt backed by the promise of this new nation, and induced settlers with glowing accounts of the capital city and the fertility of the soil. 

 The first group of settlers arrived in Poyais in 1823, and found nothing except dense jungle and abandoned wood shacks. Three other shiploads of settlers arrived over the next few years and found a similar situation. Disease and hunger soon worked through the settlers and almost 200 colonists died. The news eventually reached London and the authorities arrested MacGregor. 

While awaiting trial, he fled to France and attempted the same Poyais scam on French investors. MacGregor ended up in Venezuela, where he helped the nation in its fight for independence and for his efforts was awarded a pension and the title of general by the newly established government.

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Tax defaulting companies to face criminal prosecution

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday warned that any multinational that failed to remit its tax to the state would, henceforth, face criminal prosecution.The state’s Solicitor General, Mr Lawal Pedro, gave the warning in an interview with newsmen in Ikeja.

He said the criminal prosecution option followed delays being experienced by the government in getting big firms to pay tax through civil suits.

``We wanted to be civil about the issue of tax evasion in Lagos in the past years and that is why we have been taking them to civil courts to reclaim the money.

``We have now seen that even when judgement is obtained in our favour for the defaulters to pay the money, they will take us to the Appeal Court and even to the Supreme Court.

``The state government has resolved that, henceforth, we will not only be focusing on civil action against tax defaulters, but we will also use criminal prosecution," Pedro said.

He said it was a criminal offence, under the Income Tax Act of the Federation, for companies and individuals not to pay tax.The solicitor-general lamented what he called the slow  judicial process in the country, adding that the issue of taxation was being treated with levity.

Pedro recalled that Justice R.I.B Adebiyi of an Ikeja High Court had on March 7, 2008, delivered judgement in favour of Lagos State Government against Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Ltd (SPDC).

The judge ordered SPDC to pay N138.7 million-- being under deduction and remittance of taxes due to the government under Pay As You Earn and Withholding Tax Scheme for 1999, 2000 and 2001.

SPDC filed an appeal against the judgement at the Appeal Court and paid the judgement sum to the Chief Registrar of the High Court of Lagos State, pending the determination of the appeal,’’ he stressed.

Pedro said the case was still being heard at the court four years after the judgement was delivered, adding: 

such monies could have been used for some development purposes’’.

He advised companies to forward their complaints to the tax office or seek legal redress.When you have a genuine complaint, this will be properly looked into.

But for anyone to refuse to pay tax is a criminal offence and we intend to prosecute offenders."

Source:businessdayonline

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Nigeria to review BASA agreement with UK

Stella Oduah, Minister of Aviation, has called for a review of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

A Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) is an agreement signed by two nations to allow international commercial air transport services between their territories.

She made the call on Monday in Abuja at the ongoing public hearing by the Senate Committee on Aviation looking into the “violation of aviation laws and practices by foreign airlines in Nigeria.”

Oduah told the committee that she called for a review of the agreement after realising that British Airways (B.A) and Virgin Atlantic had defaulted in the agreement.

She said that available analysis and data showed that many destinations much farther than Nigeria “command less fares regardless of whether it is first, business or economy classes.

“Upon becoming aware of this apparent and unjustified disparity, I directed the relevant agency, the NCAA, under my ministry to analyse the market and provide information on the veracity or otherwise of this rather apparent difference.

“Nigeria supports profitable operations when the profits are reasonable but rejects exploitation and unreasonable excessive profiteering by exploiting her people.

“We are still on this issue and your voice from the Senate is welcome.”

Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Hope Uzodinma (PDP-Imo), had sought clarifications on what the BASA agreement stipulated, in order to know if any country defaulted and the penalty.

Uzodinma then directed that the review be made available to the committee within the next 14 days.

The British Airways country manager for Nigeria, Kolawale Olayinka, told the committee that airfares could only reduce in Nigeria if more airlines were allowed into the country.

“Prices on airfares can come down in Nigeria only if there is enough supply. Demand is high but supply is low in Nigeria unlike in the other countries.

“So increase supply and the prices will tumble down. Open up the skies let more airlines come into Nigeria and the prices will crash tomorrow.”

According to Olayinka, other factors responsible for high fares in Nigeria include landing and parking fees as well as the difference in the environment where the airlines operate.

The committee was, however, not satisfied with his explanation while Olayinka said he could not divulge any further information publicly since his competitors were also at the hearing.

Olayinka, however, pledged to make available to the committee on Tuesday a detailed presentation in writing which would answer all questions raised by the members.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government in its bid to reposition the aviation sector to contribute its quota to the growth of the economy has unveiled a master plan and implementation framework that will guarantee safe, secure, profitable and self-sustaining world class industry.

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How to invest in oil palm production

Oil palm is native to West Africa. Nigeria used to be the world’s largest producer of oil palm before the crude oil boom era. Malaysia has now taken the leading position.  Oil palm plantation and allied industries is now the main stay of Malaysian economy. Malaysia came to Nigeria in the 70s to obtain oil palm seeds and seedlings.

Oil palm can be used in various ways; the leaves are used in making brooms and as roofing materials (in the rural areas). The bark of the fond can be peeled and woven into baskets.

The main trunk can be split like sawn timbers and used as part of building materials. Palm wine can be obtained from oil palm, red palm oil is readily obtainable from the fresh fruit bunches. When the fruit is processed the residue obtained can be used as fuel (for cooking and fertilizer to improve soil nutrient).  Red palm oil is used in cooking, making soap, candle and margarine. Palm kernel oil can be extracted from the nut.

The residue obtainable in the process of palm kernel oil extraction otherwise called palm kernel cake is used as livestock feed. Palm kernel oil is used in vegetable oil and soap making.  Palm Kernel shells are also useful as energy source and industrial raw materials such as mosquito coils.

The uses to which oil palm can be made seem non exhaustive. This clearly indicates that investment made in the establishment of oil palm plantation is nothing but a wise one. The market is guaranteed for all the products of oil palm plantation in this era of global food crisis.

Technical information

To establish oil palm plantation, it involves getting a good site where rich, well drained acidic soils are abundant. The soil should have adequate quantities of potassium, magnesium and nitrogen. Soil tests should therefore be carried out to determine the nutrient status of the land.

It is usually better to use the early maturing variety called tenera, which bears fruits as from the fourth year.

Other requirements include seedlings procurement; this can be obtained from reputable nurseries. Prospective investors must engage the services of Agricultural experts in the course of establishing this project.

Other cultural practices are planting, regular weeding, pruning and fertilizer application. Serious minded investors will be guided accordingly in the implementation of this project.

Income analysis

A matured plantation will start to give investor five 5 tons per hectare of red palm oil annually from the fourth year per hectare. 100 metric tons of oil can be obtained annually from 20 hectare plantation. A ton of red palm oil is a minimum of N150,000. Gross revenue of N15 million is obtained from red palm oil.

We can also get three metric tons of palm kernel per hectare. This gives us 60 tons from 20 hectares. This translates to annual income of N4.2 million. Total income realisable is about N19.2 million while the annual operating expense is put at N5.8 million.

This leaves us with net income N13.4 million annually for the investor for the rest of his/her live. There are still other sources of income such as palm fronds and palm kernel shells. Serious minded investors can be assisted in the realisation of this worth while investment.
source:businessdayonline

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BA’s fuel efficiency drive saves over £20m

In its bid to reduce emissions and cut fuel bills, United Kingdom mega carrier, British Airways (BA), has introduced a fuel efficiency drive that will in turn help the environment.

The airline, which opened an online suggestion box, got over 200 ideas submitted by pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground staff as to how the airline could make further progress.

Some of the more unusual suggestions include replacing glass with plastic wine bottles, reducing the amount of water carried in aircraft water tanks, and perhaps most unusually, the de-scaling of toilet pipes on the Boeing 747 and 777 fleets.

Not only did this save some £600,000 as a result of reduced weight, it also improved the performance of the toilets. The airline has also employed more conventional methods such as reducing the use of auxiliary power units, single engine taxiing and performance improvement packages on more than 40 Boeing 777 aircraft.

In total, the savings were worth over £20 million. Jonathan Counsell, head of environment at British Airways, said, “This really has been a team effort. It goes to show that small changes here and there can add up to significant savings.

Not only does this help us to reduce our environmental impact, it also saves us money.” British Airways is already working on more projects to save fuel in 2012, including the use of new, lightweight catering trolleys, headsets and cargo containers.

The airline has also extended a trial of tripleO, a special paint coating that improves aerodynamics and leads to greater fuel efficiency. A Boeing 777 is to be coated, following a successful trial of a smaller Airbus A318. British Airways said it was committed to reducing net carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

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Naira appreciates for second day on dollar sales

Nigeria’s naira appreciated for a second day against the dollar on bets month-end dollar sales by oil companies and increased oil exports by sub-Saharan Africa’s second largest economy will support the local currency.

The currency of Africa’s biggest oil producer strengthened 0.1 percent to 157.53 per dollar as of 11:30 a.m. in Lagos, the commercial capital. The oil industry, which is the second major supplier of foreign exchange after the central bank, often sells dollars to lenders around the month-end period to meet domestic spending needs.

Nigeria plans to boost crude exports in May to a 10-month high, by exporting 69.3 million barrels, or 2.24 million barrels a day, the most since July. That compares with 78 cargoes totaling 2.22 million barrels a day for April, according to loading plans obtained by Bloomberg News. “Month-end implies naira strength as energy firms increase their offerings of U.S. dollars on theinterbank market,” Celeste Fauconnier and Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana, Africa analysts at Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg, wrote in an e-mailed note today.

“The increase in export volume should provide some cushion to the Nigerian foreign exchange reserve in the face of global oil demand” and provide support for the naira, Lagos-based Cowry Assets Management Ltd. analysts led by Edgar Ebinum, wrote in an e-mailed note today. Foreign reserves have risen 7.9 percent this year to $35.6 billion as of March 29, the central bank published on its website today.

The nation’s bonny light crude is trading at more than $50 a barrel above the $72 a barrel incorporated into Nigeria’s 2012 budget, according to the bank. The yield on Nigeria’s $500 million of dollar bonds due 2021 fell 10 basis points to 5.288 percent.

Borrowing costs of domestic bonds due 2015 fell 21 basis points to 15.25 percent, according to the Financial Markets Dealers Association website.

Source:Businessdayonline

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MFBs laud CBN for stoping daily cash withdrawal limits

The National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB) has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for waiving the daily cash withdrawal limit of N1 million for its customers.

Mr Olufemi Babajide, the Chairman of the Lagos chapter of NAMB, commended the CBN for the waiver in an interview in Lagos on Saturday.

CBN had on March 5 granted the waiver to some customers of the Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMIs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs).

A circular issued by Mr Gaius Emokpae, CBN’s Assistant Director (Banking and Payment System), said that the waiver was due to the nature of their businesses.

“PMIs and MFBs are specialised banks under the new banking model and they have customers that maintain savings demand and time deposit accounts with them.

“As deposit-taking institutions, they are obliged to honour the withdrawal requests of their customers and other deposit obligations.

“It is imperative to note that the aggregate withdrawal by the depositors of MFBs and PMIs per day could exceed N1 million, thus necessitating those institutions to withdraw over N1 million from their correspondent banks in order to service their customers,” the circular stated.

Babajide said that the CBN’s waiver would enable microfinance bank operators in the country to perform their functions efficiently.

“It will also reduce the heavy cost that may overweigh the banks,’’ he said.

Babajide said that this would also boost the customers’ confidence in the microfinance banks.

He, nonetheless, called on CBN to continue with its sensitisation programmes on the cashless economy policy so as to foster a better understanding of the policy by the public.

“Many traders in the country still find it tough to operate Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), not to talk of other machine operations which require greater skills,” he said.

NAN reports that the cash withdrawal limit policy, which started in Lagos on Jan.1, will be extended to other states by June.

Under the directive, individuals are not allowed to withdraw more than N150,000 per day, while withdrawals by corporate organisations should not exceed N1 million.

Any withdrawal above N150, 000 for individuals would attract a penalty of N100 on every N1, 000 and N200 on every N1000 for corporate organisations

The objective of the policy is to reduce cash-based business transactions.

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Nigerian naira falls 12/03/2012

The Nigerian naira weakened against the US dollar on the interbank market on Monday, on strong demand by some banks filling their customers' needs for dollars, as dollar liquidity gradually dries up in the market, traders said.

The naira closed at 157.90 to the dollar compared with the 157.30 to the dollar on Friday.

Traders said the naira eased to 158.35 intraday before it finally settled at the 157.90 level, at the close of the market, on buying pressure from banks meeting their customers' demand for dollars.

A trader said the central bank was not meeting all demand for dollars at the auction, while more customers were resorting to the interbank to fill their needs.

The naira has performed well against the dollar since the start of the year, largely driven up by offshore investors into local debt instruments, which currently offer attractive yields.

“We expect that the naira will rebound this week as speculation is that there's an NNPC (state-owned energy company) plan to sell around $300 million to fill the market,” another dealer said.

At the bi-weekly auction, the central bank sold $150 million at 156.06 to the dollar, compared with $150 million sold at 156.01 to the dollar at the previous auction on Wednesday. - Reuters

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CNN to buy Mashable for $200m

According to reports, international news giant CNN, a unit of Time Warner, is in talks to acquire the social news website Mashable for $200 million. Mashable, an American news website and news blog founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005, specialises in technology and social media.


 However the blog now also covers business and entertainment. Mashable is said to have over 15 million monthly visitors and 4 million social media followers across Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

The Reuters blogger Felix Salmon has learned from an unnamed source that CNN will buy social media website Mashable for more than $200 million. The source said that the announcement is expected for Tuesday.

There is also a social media hint about this acquisition. Reportedly, Adam Ostrow, the executive editor of Mashable, "liked" Salmon's story for Reuters on Facebook.

However, according to New York Times, officials at CNN denied that an announcement would be made on Tuesday. Also, spokespeople from both CNN and Mashable declined to comment on the potential acquisition.But if it happens, this will be CNN.com's largest acquisition till date.

Last August, CNN acquired Zite, a company that made an iPad app to determine what its users want to read and view, for a price calculated to be between $20 million and $25 million.If the rumours turn out to be true, this will be the latest in the chain of tech news site purchases. The trend began with AOL, when it purchased popular technology blog TechCrunch in September 2010 for estimated $25 million.

Following this, SAY Media, a digital publishing company headquartered in San Francisco, bought the web tech blog ReadWriteWeb in December last year; and GigaOm purchased ContentNext, paidContent's parent company in February this year.

If CNN acquires Mashable, it will, however, be the highest amount paid for a tech news site.

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Zenith Bank posts N60bn profi - to pay dividend of 95k per share

Lagos – Zenith Bank has posted a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N60bn which represents an increase of 21 per cent over the N50bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2010.

Profit after Tax (PAT) stood at N44bn over N37bn, an increase of 18 per cent. The Bank has proposed a dividend pay -out of N29.8 billion up from N26.7 billion paid out in 2010.

The result which was released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos on Friday showed that the bank’s gross earnings rose by 27 per cent to N244billion, from N192billion, indicating an increasing dominance in its market share.

By this performance, Zenith Bank has surpassed analysts’ projections at Gabros Capital which had forecast a gross earning of N217.95 billion and a profit after tax of N51.63billion. Over the period, the Bank also grew its total assets (plus contingents) by 25 per cent to N3.5 trillion from the N2.8 trillion of the previous year. The result also shows the bank’s prudent approach to loan management as total non-performing credit facilities to total credit facilities stood at 4.00 per cent, a remarkable improvement over the 5.53 per cent recorded last year.

Net Interest Margin increased to 8.5 per cent in 2011 financial year end from 7.8 per cent in 2010. This highlights the bank’s ability to manage its funding cost resulting from its ability to generate cheap deposit liability. It is noteworthy, however, that the bank’s impairment charge increased to N24.3bn compared to N4.3bn in 2010 Financial Year.

The increase was largely caused by the N10.2bn general provision on Performing Credit Facilities and the haircut of about N5 billion on some legacy loans sold to the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) and further downgrade of already provisioned loans.

The provision on Performing Credit Facilities was waived for all banks in 2010 by the Central Bank of Nigeria to aid recovery from the huge provisions of the previous year on Capital Market facilities. Furthermore, the bank in making the general provisions on performing loan facilities took some conservative positions by booking its provisions at higher than 1 per cent, a push towards returning provisions coverage to historical high level.

Only last February, the Bank emerged one with highest capitalization on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with market capitalization of N424billion. Analysts and investors have hailed the result, which enhances Zenith Bank’s reputation as a market leader especially with regards to return on investment.

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NSE: Market Rises Further By N44bn

Transaction on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday closed further on a positive note after mid cap shares recorded appreciation in the day, thus leading to both market performance indices appreciating by 0.66 per cent.

The All-share index rose by 142.03 basis points or 0.66 per cent to close at 21,068.34 from 20.926.31 recorded on Tuesday while the market capitalisation of equities appreciated by N44 billion or 0.66 per cent to close at N6.639 trillion from N6.595 trillion recorded the previous day.

Mobil Nigeria Plc and Cadbury Nigeria led on the price gainers’ table with a gain of five per cent and 4.99 per cent to close at N139.65 and N10.10 per share respectively while NCR Plc followed with a gain of 4.98 per cent to close at N10.74 per share.

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NNPC Rescues The Naira From Further Slide

State-owned oil firm, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday saved the naira from depreciation when it sold $350 million to select lenders.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) only offered $150 million at the official window – Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS).

The intervention by NNPC raised the value of the naira by 30 kobo to close at N157.50 at the inter-bank market from N157.80 it closed Tuesday.

Traders said NNPC sold around $350 million to some lenders, which provided support for the local currency, while expectations of additional sales of $350 million by the energy firm before the end of the week boosted outlook for the naira at the interbank.

"The naira is set to strengthen further in the coming days if the NNPC and other oil companies sell more dollars to the market as being speculated in the market," one dealer said.

Traders said dollar inflows from oil companies and off-shore investors have consistently provided support for the naira despite strong demand built up at both the interbank and official window.

More offshore investors are investing in Africa's second biggest economy's local debt instruments because of attractive yields, helping to support dollar supply to meet domestic demand.

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Stock Market Rises By 0.35%

Trading activities on the floor on the Nigerian Stock Exchange closed upward yesterday, following price gains recorded by major blue chip companies, leading market performance indices to rise by 0.35 per cent.

Consequently, at the close of trading session, the NSE All-Share Index inched up by 0.35 per cent to close at 20,193.40 as against a decline by 1.11 per cent recorded in the previous session to close at 20,123.51. In the same vein, market capitalisation appreciated by N22.02 billion to close at N6.36 trillion as against a depreciation by N4.41 billion recorded in the preceding session to close at N6.34 trillion.

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Senate Accuses NIPP Of Frustrating Power Projects

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Power, yesterday, berated the Nigeria Independent Power Projects (NIPP), accusing them of frustrating government's effort at tackling the problem of power generation in the country.

Chairman of the joint committee, Senator Philip Aduda, who summoned the Minister of Power, the management of NIPP and Cartlark International Limited, over allegation of contract change, pointedly described the executive Of NIPP led by Mr. James Olotu, as having failed in their responsibility to supervise and monitor about 560 NIPP projects in the country.

They were summoned to the cause of the slow work on the N6.831billion 33KV Ikot- Ekpene/Akwa Ibom S/S (New), Afam/Ikot- Ekpene 330KV DC TL and 330KV Afam S/S (Line Bay Extension).

Aduda expressed worries at what he described as attempts by NIPP to scuttle the Ikot Ekpene power project, which was awarded to Cartlark International Limited at N6.8 billion even though it has not visited the site since it was awarded in 2006 to Cartlark.

On revelation that most of the executives, including James Olotu, were not engineers, Aduda said, “When square pegs are not put in square holes, when you as the head is not an engineer, then there is bound to be problems.

I am surprise that you were busy taking stock and making payment rather than supervising the projects. You have not visited the site of a contract you awarded six years ago.

“We wanted Nigerians to see what we are into and the people hindering us.”

Sen. Gobir, expressed amazement at the fact that most of the executives in NIPP were not engineers. He also decried that the only engineer, Louise Edozie, who was the director of engineering in NIPP was not a certified member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN) contrary to the provisions of the law.

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