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Access Bank’s Graceful Leaps into Massive Continental Opportunities on the Watch of Herbert Wigwe

April 29, 2021

by admin with No Comment Banking By Kunle Olu Ojo

Access Bank Nigeria Plc on the watch of its Group Managing Director, Mr Herbert Wigwe is bouncing like a sportsman with jump-enabled shoes and thriving well at a time that many analysts are projecting Nigerian banks to walk a tightrope amid low revenue environment.

Reasons: brilliant ideas, good management, good thinking, innovation to build industry resilience and drive long-term sustainability by Wigwe and his team. They have a strong focus on consumer lending, payments and remittances, digitization of customer journeys, and customer acquisition at scale. These customers include valuable high net-worth individuals, corporate bodies and other institutions.

In his book, Business Stripped Bare, celebrated iconic entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson, says, “without trustworthy banks, there can be no business, no employment, no money.”

According to Branson, “People have got to be able to go to bed at night secure in the knowledge that the money they deposited today will still be there for them to withdraw tomorrow.”

Access Bank fits into the model of the trustworthy bank that Sir Richard talks about. This bank has been firing on all cylinders, acquiring more values, as it rides into eight more African countries. This is happening despite the claims by industry experts that Nigerian banking industry is faced with a tougher operating environment that could threaten the operators’ ability to meet their stakeholders’ needs and expectations yet perform meaningful corporate social responsibility roles. According to these experts, even valuable customers such as high net-worth individuals, corporate bodies and other institutions are equally challenged.

But not Access Bank, it is able to weather this storm like an eagle. Its plans to expand to more African countries is part of a strategy to support trade and finance in the continent and take advantage of the newly formed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The countries are Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Angola, Namibia and Ethiopia.

Its GMD Mr Wigwe, disclosed this during a presentation and investor conference call. Right now, the tier-one bank operates in 12 countries. According to Wigwe, across Africa, there is an opportunity for the bank to expand to high-potential markets, leveraging the benefits of AfCFTA., observing that the pan-Africa trade agreement, among other benefits, will expand intra-Africa trade and provide real opportunities for Africa.

Asserting that the bank would use its office in London to expand representative offices in India, Lebanon and China, he stated that the plan is for the bank to establish its presence in 22 African countries so as to diversify its earnings and take advantage of growth opportunities in Africa.

According to him, Africa has enormous potential and there are opportunities for an African bank that is well run, that understands compliance and has the capacity to support trade and the right technology infrastructure to support payments and remittances, without taking incremental risks.

“We believe that we are best positioned to basically do all of that. Our focus is to become an aggregator in Africa and we are building a global payment gateway and providing trade finance support and correspondent banking across the continent. We are focusing on the key markets.

“The approach would always be that in the country we wish to go to, that we have the right skills. We would not just be a drop in the country in which we are present, we would make sure that we have an impactful presence in each of the major countries in which we are present.

“In doing this, we are also mindful of the country we are going to so as to make sure that it is of benefit to the bank. As we do this, we are working with our friends and partners.

“We are diversifying our earnings away from volatile markets as well and we are orchestrating our operations from the global payments gateway and ensuring that using Access Bank UK, providing corresponding services from digital platforms, the overall profitability of our franchise,” he explained.

Commenting further, on AfCFTA, he said the bank would use its digital framework to benefit from the deal. And as the bank continues to entrench itself in the local market because, Wigwe believes there is still so much work to be done.“So, we are doing everything possible to satisfy our customers and also to ensure that our channels are adequately secured. We are also ensuring that our staff is very efficient,” the CEO said.

Access Bank has acquired more heft with it getting the approval of holding company (Holdco) structure. The Holdco will consist of four subsidiaries: Access Bank Group; payments business; consumer lending and agency banking; and insurance brokerage.

According to Wigwe Access Bank Group will consist of Nigeria, Africa and international subsidiaries, while the payments subsidiary will leverage the strong suite of the bank’s assets.

“The consumer lending business has seen 60 per cent growth in digital lending volume and value. The insurance subsidiary will adopt a dynamic and creative approach to deliver value-added services focused to meet customer insurance needs,” he said.

He explained that Access Bank has been driving its revenue growth through retail expansion, which has grown consistently across all income lines, driven by a strong focus on consumer lending, payments and remittances, digitisation of customer journeys, and customer acquisition at scale

“We have maintained strong capital levels despite investments for growth, accumulating capital over time. Despite investment in organic and inorganic growth in the past, the bank has improved its capital ratios, given optimum capital structure (tier 1 and tier 2),” he added.

Another innovation by Access Bank Plc is the way it has partnered with American Express to broaden the acceptance and usage of American Express cards in the country. According to Mr Robert Giles, Access Bank’s Senior Banking Advisor Retail Banking, the partnership would enable American Express Cardholders to use their cards at a wider range of merchant locations in Nigeria for tourism, business or private visit, and international American Express cardholders would also be able to withdraw cash from Access Bank ATMs.

“This announcement places Access Bank as the first full-service bank to acquire merchants who will accept American Express Card payments in the country.

“Local merchants will now have the option to accept American Express through Access Bank, thereby not only encouraging increased merchant business activity but also offering travelling American Express Card holders the opportunity to transact using their preferred method of payment.

“This new partnership will broaden the acceptance of American Express payments via Access Bank as well as Access Bank ATMs and e-commerce websites nationwide,” Giles said, adding that Access Bank merchants who embraced American Express cards would benefit from an additional high-spending customer base.

“This is great news for Nigerian businesses and will help bring foreign exchange inflows into the country. We value the confidence that American Express has placed in us to significantly enhance the payment experience in our market,” he said.

Vivi Galani, Vice President EMEA Network Partnerships for American Express, said the company was pleased with the partnership to expand its presence in Nigeria.

“This agreement will give international card members even more locations to use their cards in Nigeria, whether they are travelling for business or leisure, and this will be particularly important as international travel resumes. For local merchants, it provides the opportunity to capture more business from global card holders visiting the country,” Galani said.

In another brilliant move, Access Bank has also decided to take a shot at Bancassurance. Why is this? It plans to avail its numerous customers the best underwriting and claims experience by entering into a partnership with Coronation Insurance Plc to drive an efficient and effective Bancassurance system.

The partnership was introduced to the Corporate Clients of Access Bank during an earlier organized webinar themed, “Managing Risks that Keep CEOs up at Night,” held on October 7, 2020. According to Wigwe, Coronation Insurance satisfied all the required criteria, part of which informed the decision to establish this relationship which is perceived as a transformational partnership.

On why Coronation Insurance was picked as its partner, Mr Wigwe said: “In choosing among a pool of potential organizations to fill this gap, we have had to look at a couple of identifiers, with the first among them being underwriter speed of response to customers and the second is the financial strength and the capitalization base of the underwriter.

“Given all these, and with the interest of its customers at heart, Access Bank considered all of these qualities and found coronation to be leading between the various categories. We want our customers to have the best underwriting and claims experiences.”

In his own response, the Chairman of Coronation Insurance, Mutiu Sunmonu, commended the partnership. He said: “The Partnership will elevate the level at which Insurance Services are delivered to Corporate Customers in the Country, matching the level of growth recorded in the Banking sector over the last two decades, only over a shorter period”

A selection of distinguished keynote speakers from prestigious institutions with expert knowledge was invited to deliver presentations and share their insights on the topic of managing business risks.

Bode Augusto, founding MD of Augusto & CO shared detailed insights with respect to macroeconomic and project completion risks. Simon Morris, Partner of Trinity International (UK) went further in elaborating on macroeconomic risks that impact businesses and how to mitigate these risks while Nico Conradie, the MD of Munich Re Africa (South Africa) gave very practical guidance and advice on how CEO’s can safeguard their organisation from cyber risks and fraud.

According to Yinka Adekoya, CEO/MD of Coronation Insurance, we are pleased to have commenced this partnership with Access Bank and the webinar event is one of the initiatives we have outlined for customer engagements. We are looking forward to more customer engagements”.

With all these steps, Access Bank is living up to its billing of a holding company (holdco) structure, with four subsidiaries: Access Bank Group; payments business; consumer lending and agency banking; and insurance brokerage on the watch of Herbert Wigwe.

Why Insurance Cover is a Necessity for All

April 29, 2021

by admin with No Comment Banking Economy Policy

Many Nigerians don’t fully understand the benefits of insurance, and as such they feel they don’t need any form of insurance cover. But this should not be so. We all need insurance. You need one form of insurance cover, I need it too. Yes, we all need an insurance cover since there are so many uncertainties in life. But then you need to know and understand what it is that you are covered for. So there is need for you to understand the needs and benefits of insurance so as to make an informed decision before you purchase a cover.

Insurance operates on the basis that losses and misfortunes can occur anytime. It is informed by the wisdom that it is better to plan for a rainy day, so as to reduce or manage the impact of a loss, should it occur. There are also various religious teachings that underscore the importance of insurance as a financial planning mitigation tool. In the traditional African societal set up, insurance was also practiced. In Nigerian society, it used to exist in one form or the other and continues to be practiced in some areas till date. Among the Yoruba, there is what is called Esusu-by pooling resources to help those in need. This practice, however, is not sustainable in the current life these days. As a result of this fact, there is the need for individuals to purchase insurance covers.

Why Insurance?

You need insurance because losses and misfortunes occur from time to time. In most cases when incidents such as fires, sicknesses, motor accidents and death occur, you are not prepared for the financial consequences that follow. We see cases where people resort to borrowing money from friends and relatives who unfortunately, in most cases, are often short of money. What do you expect from someone who has no money to assist you? They don’t have, and therefore do not help much.

In extreme cases, we see cases of families disposing off assets at very low, throw-away prices because of the emergency situation. It is even sad when such assets are sold to pay for medical bills and the patient whose bills need to be paid dies before the asset is even paid for. No doubt this is double tragedy. And while insurance will not stop such deaths or losses from occurring, (such as life or medical cover), it definitely helps cushion those who have suffered losses by availing funds to cover for the insured losses

Right Policy

Life has a lot of uncertainties. By buying insurance, you transfer possible financial losses from yourself to an insurance company. While you cannot avoid the misfortunes of life, you can be sure that with the right insurance policy, you will recover from your financial loss. So as to fully appreciate the importance of insurance and purchase the right insurance cover for yourself, you may need to:Identify your risks and needs and then do the followings:

prioritize them. Remember that not all risks are insurable and your insurance needs are specific to you. You should not buy an insurance product simply because your friend bought a similar product and it sounds good.
Insurance is not a straight fitting jacket! Discuss your risks and needs with an insurance company or a broker or an agent near you. Always compare policy benefits against premiums of several insurance companies before you settle on one. A colleague once mentioned that insurance intermediaries (brokers and agents) are like doctors who diagnose and prescribe medication for their patients in that they should help you identify that area in which you are hugely exposed and advice the right insurance product for you!
Match the available insurance products to your needs and choose the one that best meets your needs at affordable cost. When you match your needs with the policy, it is highly unlikely that you will cancel the policy before it matures. This is because you will have understood it and known exactly that which you are getting into. Once again remember to purchase only that cover that you need, based on your risk assessment and prioritization. Where possible avoid instances of buying more or less than you need.

Peace of Mind

Perhaps the most significant benefits of insurance include protection of family and assets and the resultant peace of mind that one has when they have an insurance policy. There are also other benefits like savings, financial security, investment vehicles and tax relief. Lastly, remember that your health is your wealth- sicknesses strike without notice. So take charge of your health and consider buying a medical insurance cover. The NHIS Scheme of the Federal Government is there for you and your family to use. Paying N5,000 a year to NHIS for health coverage for one year is nothing, compare to the cost of healthcare. When anyone in the family gets sick, such a scheme will shield you from out-of-the-pocket medical spending. Then what about children education? The future belongs to the educated-with education becoming increasingly expensive; consider buying a policy for your children’s education. Accidents occur anytime, anywhere-consider purchasing a personal accident cover against disabilities and deaths resulting from accidents (even those from accidental stair case falls.

Addressing Farmers/Herders Clashes and Climate-induced Migration

April 29, 2021

by admin with No Comment Editorial

Climate-induced Migration Government needs to urgently address farmers/herders clashes and climate-induced migration issue seriously. In recent times, farmers/herders clashes have grown in scale and frequency, with much destruction. The question of grazing reserves should be considered quickly while climate action-plan put in place. There is no doubt that the farmers and Fulani herders palaver is mostly climate change induced, and it has taken on a dangerous new meaning and dimension in recent times.

The scenario in the South-west is scary, especially in Oyo state where the home of the Seriki Fulani was destroyed- dragging towards a tribal warfare.

The continued attacks on a people for the crime of belonging to an ethnic tribe should not be allowed to continue. While senseless murderers pre-dating their ancestors in mentality but armed with 21st century weaponry should be tracked down and dealt with, the Fulani communities in different parts of Southern Nigeria must never be allowed to be molested. Fulani herdsmen have existed in the South-west for a very, very long time. For ages, they have lived peacefully with others and integrated into many local communities through inter marriages. They are disciplined, proud, brave and hardworking people with integrity and kindness as national values. So calling them kidnappers or, Jihadists does not hold water.

How can the senseless killers and kidnappers really be our own Fulani herders? What can possibly be the justification for Fulani herders to kidnap or slay human beings without provocation? Where there was at least respect for lives of people not directly involved in conflict, there is no longer any rule of warfare applicable. Can it be true that local Fulani herdsmen are involved in these atrocities, even where there is no clash between them and farmers? Truth is, there is absolutely none!

Drought and desertification caused by climate change have been parts of their problems in recent times. Added to this is the encroachment on grazing routes. That is a horrific combination indeed.

Climate change is already displacing many people across the world, forcing them to move to other areas and regions in search of survival. Increasing desertification in the sahelian region is putting pressure on access to water and grasses, taking away the living space and sources of livelihood of millions of people.

With Lake Chad shrunk by 75 percent, there is really a problem in the land! This has combined with banditry and insurgency to create a double jeopardy for herders and farmers alike, forcing more people to move from their ancestral homes to other areas with clement climate condition. The number of people being forced to move southward by climate change and global warming is about three times higher than the number of people leaving their homes due to violent conflicts of Boko haram insurgency and banditry in some parts of the North.

Population migration forced by climate change has already become one of the major crises of our times. In the particular case of the Fulani herdsmen, the encroachment on grazing routes by farmers and property developers is the primary cause of their clashes with farmers. Till recently, however, this was being viewed as a peripheral concern by the Nigerian Government, military and security think-tanks, academia and the strategists. They did not put this on scenario building on time. Now the frequency of clashes and their sheer size, has brought it to the fore as one of the most critical issues on the national political agenda.

This fast-emerging crisis demands an urgent action, a re-look at the conceptual fiat of the term ‘killer herdsmen’ and engaging in a sincere and coordinated effort to make the necessary adjustment by host communities and genuine cattle breeders.

A coordinated action is needed to motivate and implement a practical approach to address this crisis as well as the climate refugees’ inevitable and growing challenges.

Governments, traditional rulers, town unions and other key stakeholders need to engage host communities, help herders lead productive lives, and work for safe and dignified existence. The concept of rural grazing area (RUGA) put forward by President Muhammadu Buhari should be considered in the interest of all.

Farmers/herders clashes have dragged on for so long, and have led to attendant loss of lives and destruction of crops. If permitted to drag on or escalate further, it can lead to tribal warfare. Such a warfare will certainly affect investments in the country agricultural resources: there would be food shortages as farms and animals would have been destroyed as well in the prolonged conflicts.

Why Hadiza Bala Usman’s Stewardship at NPA is so Compelling: Investors Safety, Ease of doing Business, Efficiency, Transparency & National Interests

April 29, 2021

by admin with No Comment By Godwin Ededuan Maritime

Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) was last January re-appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in office. Her re-appointment is an endorsement of capacity, integrity, efficiency, a commitment to the ease of doing business policy of the Federal Government, and a metric for measuring exceptional Nigerians beyond just the passport and NIN.

The great challenge of people in Leadership, especially those with intensive responsibility, is how to innovate in productive processes and implement ideas and new technologies that will lead Nigeria to increase its productivity so the country is in line with the world’s highest standards. This is important to Hadiza, to leave “a better society” for future generations and also to respond to “the growing interest of NPA investors and ports users in responsible businesses. Her dynamism and management skills have given NPA a lot of agility these days.

Since the 2005 Ports Reform when the NPA adopted the landlord model of business while allowing investors and terminal operators to roll business, the roles of the NPA have been to ensure that the vessels coming are able to navigate through the channels and come on the berth, and to ensure that the cargos are offloaded efficiently from the vessels unto the terminal. But since that time political influence has not really allowed NPA leadership to perform optimally until the appointment of Hajia Bala Usman. She too had a huge dose of pressure, but she did not yield, so she was left alone. She explains this in an interview.

“Pressure was huge in my first year, because the NPA was seen as a place where there were slush funds, available to all political machinery, and I refused to do that, I was under a lot of pressure by various arms of government, and after a while, they got used to it, and just stopped. But I have developed a reputation of being too stubborn, too difficult, by refusing to bend. After a while they let me be. I think people that are getting into political appointments, should stand their ground and maintain that things must be done the right way. It is going to be tough for the first year, but they would get used to that and leave you alone and move on to other areas.”

This ability to handle pressure is part of what has contributed to the success of Hajia Bala Usman. As a writer puts it “If not for any other thing, Bala Usman has in the past four years, been concerned with the entrenchment of transparency and the prioritization of national rather than class interests. If only for the hitherto untouchable forces that this lady has confronted and fought to a standstill, her re-appointment is not just worthy but an example of a nation’s appreciation of service.”

Port stakeholders across the board are happy over her re-appointment. They talk glowingly about her bold reforms, which have restored investors’ confidence in the maritime industry and the economy at large. They thank President Muhammadu Buhari for re-appointing her for an additional five-year tenure

The Chairman of the Nigeria Port Consultative Forum, Mr. Kunle Folarin stated that the federal government is aware of the drive-by Bala-Usman to ensure that the right thing is done at all times, adding that with what she has achieved, the port will in no time serve as an alternative to crude oil in terms of revenue generation.

“The first thing is that in the last four years, the port has been recognized as the alternative source of income to the federal government apart from oil. Hadiza came and identify all the loopholes in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of the various agreements signed by the NPA over the years and she stopped them. It takes courage to do all those things. There are some contracts where the agency was paying about $400 million; she stopped it and somebody in the authority must have allowed all that before she came but she blocked all the loopholes.

“These are people that were thought to be very influential but she stopped it. She almost stopped the INTELS contract that gave Pilotage to a private company, which is the responsibility of NPA under the act. Hadiza is someone who has the courage to stop illegalities, which have been going on for a long time. In Nigeria today, courage is key, and imagine if that had continued for another 10 years then several billions of Naira would have been lost.”

He added, “She did what others were scared of doing. Look at the issue of access to the port when she came in which have refused to go away and she introduced badging to solve the problem. So, she has done very well and deserves the support of everyone.”

Stanley Ezenga, the National Public Relations Officer, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), commends her for her initiatives.

“Since Hadiza was appointed, she instituted a lot of reforms in the agency and in the industry. She has stopped a lot of corrupt practices in the sector and I can categorically tell you that she merited her position.” Ezenga says.

Mr. Tony Iju Nwabunike the National President of the National Association of Licensed Customs Agents (ANALCA), commended her boldness. He praises President Muhammadu Buhari for recognizing excellence and hard work, which h has restored investors’ confidence in the maritime sector.

“If you look at the amount of work Hadiza has done, given that people never gave her a chance and she came and turned around things, it was a good move by the president to appoint her in the first place. Again, it is to finish the good work she has started in NPA. At ANALCA, we will continue to support her; we are going to give her the platform for her to do more.”

The Director-General of the Nigeria Chamber of Shipping (NCS), Mrs. Obiageli Obi said Hadiza Bala- Usman has achieved what was thought to be impossible in the industry. She thanks President Buhari on behalf of the NCS for supporting her initiatives, she stated that she is confident that the NPA boss will continue to do more.

“I am happy that Bala-Usman is bold and has a passion for the maritime sector. Investors are happy with her reforms and the Nigerian economy will greatly benefit from her reforms.”

Indeed she has turned the NPA around and entrenched transparency and accountability. Then her crusade against entrenched interests working against the interests of the Federal Government and the NPA. But this was not an easy task. Initially, she was constantly put under so much pressure by politicians and the well-connected, demanding or trying to force her to compromise her position regarding compliance. That was a big challenge. She was able to overcome that with the support of President Buhari. This is because the President has been quite supportive of the reforms being done in the NPA.

“I always would say, having a leader that does not interfere in getting you to compromise your position is an integral part of the success of any head of government agency.”

She launched many initiatives to increase NPA’s clout over stakeholders about how the right things should be done, in a country where politicians, policymakers, and powerful public officials historically have wielded the most influence over the leadership of the NPA and opinion leaders. Commendably, the results of Usman’s offensive in this area have been encouraging, and NPA’s prospects for improving Nigeria’s regional soft power are quite clear. Her concerns are the need to make the ports efficient and also to draw more traffic to Nigerian ports by making them more competitive to importers. In this way, ports activities can earn more revenue to government purse.

Her ensuring the abolition of illegal levies at the ports will make the country’s ports more competitive to importers. This will make them use Nigerian ports rather than those of neighboring countries like Togo and Benin. When the African Free Trade Zone Agreement (AfCTA) finally take-off, this will create dramatic growth in trade and investment relations between Nigeria and other African countries. And it will translate into a significant expansion of Abuja’s influence over the region’s political economy, media, and civil society.

Take a look at Hajia Bala Usman records in the past four years and see some of what she has achieved.

First, her biggest task has to do with restoring global investors’ confidence and public confidence in the NPA and Nigerian ports operations. This begins with port efficiency so that cargoes are promptly cleared and evacuated from the ports by shippers. The challenges here are enormous. To overcome the challenge of bureaucratic and chaotic clearance of cargoes, the NPA is working, in collaboration with Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), to develop the operational framework for establishing the National Single Window, Ports Community System and Scanning services.

This is aimed at simplifying and harmonizing formalities, procedures, and the related exchange of information and documents between the various agencies in the port operations value chain. Next comes the second leg of this need to restore investors’ confidence in the Nigerian ports industry. This involves the issue of deep seaport projects. The concerted efforts in this particular area have produced remarkable outcomes with the recent signing of a loan agreement of US$629 million by Singaporean conglomerate Tolaram Group and the China Development Bank for the development of the Lekki Deep Seaport project.

Secondly, she positioned the NPA for better performance financially, contributing hugely to the Consolidated Revenue Funds (CRF). Under her watch, NPA’s contributions to the Revenue Funds shot up significantly. When she has first appointed it, NPA made a contribution of about N18 billion. But it remitted N30 billion in 2017, N30 billion in 2018. This is a huge difference between what used to be and what she had achieved. How was she able to do this, achieving an increase in revenue?

Hajia Bala Usman was able to achieve this through prudent management of resources. She worked to block revenue leakages, ensuring that Nigerian ports demand payments from any third-party contractor or any contractual relationship that requires remittance. These are some of the things she has put in place, actively observing NPA’s debt collections. Then she set targets for the port managers to ensure they collect the debts that are owed to Nigerian ports in each of the port locations.

The third was the de-classification of port terminals which removed the categorization of some ports as strictly oil and gas. Until that de-classification was done oil and gas cargo could only berth in specific locations in Nigeria. Expectedly this caused a lot of disaffection. Some terminal operators, namely Berger and LADOL protested and threatened to go to court. But with Usman’s decision, the NPA has created a level playing field for all operators in the port industry by removing all bottlenecks that hinder healthy competition in the industry.

Fourth, Hajia Bala Usman is making noticeable efforts on deep seaports. This is coupled with the need to increase traffic to the eastern ports, improve infrastructure in all port locations, ease traffic access into all the ports, and ultimately develop deep seaports in the country.

So she is also working toward having deep seaports in the country. Generally, deep seaports are the future. They are ports that are 17, 18 meters draft. She believes that is where Nigeria’s ports need to be. “So, why would you invest to dredge a channel to 10 meters, when the world channels are been built to 17 meters draft. So we should focus on getting deep-sea ports in the country, and those other ports could be used for other activities; probably for fishing or smaller vessels that come in. So, that investment cannot be justified when the future is 17 meters.” She said in an interview.

The fifth thing she has done is her effort in the area of intermodal transport, ensuring that different transport modes are used to evacuate cargoes from the ports. Generally, Nigeria operates a port system without much intermodality. Thus all the cargos are evacuated by road. This means million gross registered tonnages of cargo that have come into Nigeria would go on the road, with less than five percent of it going on the rails. The result immediately translates into congestion and gridlock around the Apapa port area in Lagos. And as intermodal transportation is key and that is what NPA is doing, BalaUsman is working with the Rt Hon Rotimi Amaechi and the Ministry of Transportation, Nigerian Railway; on installing rail lines right inside the port locations, right to the key side.

The sixth thing is Port’s concession review issue. This is another area of action for her. She put her feet on the ground over the issue of ports concession review which has been on for some time before she came into office, ensuring that ports operators play by the rules of the game. And one of the important things that NPA really has put in is sanctioning and the penalty for both sides- the landlord, NPA, and its tenants-the port operators.

“For example, for NPA, if we do not meet up with our obligation on dredging, or on certain deployments, there are measures that we would automatically be sanctioned, so it takes away subjectivity. Hitherto there wasn’t any measure of sanctioning on both sides.” Says the MD.

So if the NPA doesn’t dredge, or doesn’t provide marine services, or other of its obligations, there would be clear sanctions. The same goes for the terminal operators. If they also do not provide the level of equipment required, if they don’t do their development plans as stipulated, there would be clear sanctions. And that takes away any ambiguity and subjectivity by the head of the NPA.

With this port concession review, Hajia Bala Usman has been able to strategically handled port operators, ensuring that they comply with the terms of leasing NPA has given them. Credit goes to this woman over the clever way she has handled these port concessionaires so far.

In 2019, the NPA decommissioned the BUA Ports and Terminals Limited, operator of terminal B, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. This was because BUA had a concession that it signed with the NPA, but it failed to honor its own part of the deal. It is part of the concession in 2006. According to ports insider, part of the agreement was that the company required to build and rehabilitate a berth within the terminal. The time required to do that was 90 days. BUA did not embark on that reconstruction for 10 years

Another action she has taken is her resolve on accountability third-party stakeholders. Her commitment to ensuring that all third-party contracts with terms underground terms to swindle Nigeria’s interest is corrected. Then her hatred for a government agency that cheats investors. She states in her interviews that reviewing agreements with investors must put measurable responsibility and sanctions on both parties, that is government and investors alike. This is a great way to assure investors of the safety of their investment.

These included the cancelation of the $133.28 million Secured Anchorage Area (SAA) deal operated by Ocean Marine Solutions Limited (OMSL). She also dealt with the failure of Intels to remit monies accruing from service boat operations to the TSA as directed by the federal government. For this, the NPA has been at odds with Intels for the better part of the last four years, and even though the latter has tried all sorts of blackmail, alleging that NPA action was motivated by politics. Bala Usman always insisted that there was nothing political about obeying the laws of the country and that no entity would be allowed to impose its will on Nigeria. She also tackled APMT over its inefficiency that often creates congestion at the ports. By prioritization of national interests along with noticeable efforts being made to increase traffic to the eastern ports, by working to remove unnecessary charges in order to ensure cost reduction for investors, improve infrastructure in all port locations, by ensuring ease of traffic access into all the ports and ultimately develop deep seaports in the country, Hajia Bala Usman has restored investors’ confidence in the Nigerian port system while also ensuring that they, too adhere strictly to the rule of law while operating their businesses in the country. Thus she is changing the face of port operations in Nigeria. As the D-General NCS Mrs. Obiageli Obi has observed “ Investors are happy with her reforms and the Nigerian economy will greatly benefit from the reforms.”

Rite Foods supports Environmental Initiative, Rid Lagos of 1,767.2kg of Waste

April 7, 2021

by admin with No Comment by The Telescope Magazine

Environmental – As part of its commitment to environmental protection, Rite Foods Limited, a world-class proudly Nigerian Foods and Beverages Company, has sponsored the cleanup of the Alpha beach, in Lekki, Lagos, where 1,640kg and 127.2kg of solid and recyclable waste respectively, were cleared, as part of efforts at preserving the environment and in support of the Lagos State Government cleaner-Lagos initiative.

The clean-up exercise which was in collaboration with the Sterling One Foundation and Giving Beach Clean-up took place on March 27, 2021.

Staff members of Rites Foods Limited were joined by 116 volunteers and locals in the community to pick up and remove plastics, solid waste and other unwanted materials from the beach.

The solid waste recovered totalled 1,640kg, while polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recyclables weighed 119 kg, carton 3.0kg, nylon1.0kg and returnable glass bottle 4.2kg.

The cleanup was part of the company’s contribution to a cleaner environment and the preservation of one of Lagos beaches known as Alpha beach, which serves as a tourist location in Lagos State, where fun seekers go to for relaxation, picnics, parties and other forms of social engagements.

Speaking on the exercise, the Managing Director of Rite Foods Limited, Mr Seleem Adegunwa, affirmed that the company is committed to a cleaner and healthier environment and will continue to contribute to environmental preservation to make the society habitable, especially in our communities and public spaces.

He stated that the project is to ensure that the solid and packaging wastes do not end up in the ocean from the beach, thereby constituting hazards to aquatic lives and for people that make use of the ocean for other activities.

According to him, the recyclable waste can be turned into other useful products and helps create more jobs and also keep the environment clean.

“Food and beverage packaging waste like the PET bottles end up in the wrong places, in our beaches, oceans and waterways or litter the communities where we work and live. We have a responsibility to protect the environment hence we have gathered today to clear all sorts of waste from the beach,” he stated.

The Rite Foods boss therefore enjoined Nigerians to dispose and separate their waste properly, in order to keep Lagos healthier for habitation.

“Keeping the environment clean should be the concern of all its citizens, and this will rid the society of certain diseases associated with dirty environment,” Adegunwa added.

The company’s effort was commended by Sterling One Foundation, the Giving Beach Cleanup team and Alpha beach community patrons.

Established in 2007, Rite Foods Limited set the pace with the commencement of the production of the high quality family preferred Bigi soft drinks, Fearless Energy Drink and today’s market-leading brand of Rite Sausages.

The Rite Foods products line currently includes theBigi Cola, Bigi Cherry Cola, Bigi Ginger Ale, Bigi Orange, Bigi Apple, Bigi Bitter Lemon, Bigi Soda Water, Bigi Lemon & Lime, Bigi Tropical, Bigi Chapman, Bigi Ginger Lemon, Bigi Tamarind, Fearless Redberry Energy Drink, Fearless Classic Energy Drink, Rite Spicy, Bigi Beef Sausage roll and Rite Sausage roll.

The Bigi Premium Table Water is produced with global best practices in purification for hydration, freshness, and healthy living.

Rite Foods’ disruptive innovation introduced into the energy drinks segment, the first polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaged energy drinks, comprising the Fearless Red Berry and the Fearless Classic.

Rite Foods is perhaps the fastest-growing Foods and Beverages Company in West Africa, with the ambition of becoming Africa’s number one foods and beverages conglomerate by the year 2030.

Tokunbo Wahab Felicitates With Christian On Easter

April 7, 2021

by admin with No Comment by The Telescope Magazine

The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education Mr. Tokunbo Wahab has felicitated with Christians across the globe on this year celebration of Easter.

He said Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb on the third day after crucification. Easter is the fulfilled prophecy of the Messiah who would be persecuted, die for our sins, and rise on the third day. (Isaiah 53) stated remembering the resurrection of Jesus is a way to renew daily hope that we have victory over sin.

In a Facebook post by Mr. Tokunbo Wahab to all the Christian faithfuls, “He Has Risen! May Jesus remove all obstacles from your life. May his resurrection bring all the goodness for and your family.”

Tokunbo is a strong advocate of equity and justice and a passionate believer in the dictum that everyone deserves equal opportunities regardless of class or strata and he as contributed to the growth of Lagos State government on education by providing adequate facilities for school across the Lagos.

Easter Celebration: Shina Peller Rejoices with Christians, Urges all to Spread Love, Peace

April 7, 2021

by admin with No Comment by The Telescope Magazine

A member of the House of Representatives from Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa Federal Constituency Oyo State, Hon. Shina Peller, has felicitated Christians home and abroad on the occasion of 2021 Easter celebration.

Hon. Peller’s felicitating message was contained in an official statement issued by his media office and signed by Kola Popoola, his Press Secretary, where the federal legislator enjoined all to spread goodness, love, peace and happiness.

The statement read:

“Hon. Shina Peller identifies and rejoices with all Christians on the occasion of 2021 Easter celebration.

“Easter celebration should be an opportunity for us all, not just Christians, to reflect deeply on the life and death of Jesus Christ with a view to emulating his good virtue, humility, selflessness and sacrificial acts to humanity.

“Importantly, let us remember that throughout his lifetime, Jesus Christ preached peaceful coexistence, forgiveness, humility, kindness, charity, tolerance, patience and love for one another. These are good virtues that we should endeavour to emulate for our society to be better.

“So as we celebrate this year’s Easter, Hon. Peller enjoins us all to spread love, not hatred; preach peace, not violence; scatter seeds of kindness and happiness, not sadness, everywhere around us and watch them grow daily. Let’s be tolerant of one another and we’ll make headway in our ways and dealings.

“Once again, Hon. Peller wishes everyone a Happy Easter celebration

UBA: A Bank of Many Firsts, in pursuit of Customer Satisfaction

April 7, 2021

by admin with No Comment by The Telescope Magazine

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has carved a niche for itself and continues to stand out as the leading Pan-African financial institution, consistent in introducing numerous first rate innovative products with customer satisfaction in mind. To this end, the bank has invested significantly in cutting edge technology in a bid to boost its overall services to customers. The development is a further demonstration of the bank’s unalloyed commitment to ensuring premium services as well as reaffirming its dominance across Africa.

In a bid to reinforce its commitment to first-rate experience, the lender introduced Leo the Chat Banker in 2018 and did not rest on its oars as it innovated with more firsts launching on facebook, in 2019 and on WhatsApp, following which it created Leo Apple Business Chat’ for Ios on iPhone and iPad. A feat its peers are yet to replicate, even though some banks like Diamond Bank now merged with Access Bank tried with Ada and StanbicIBTC Bank’ Sami. First Bank and GT Bank also launched on WhatsApp. They were all unable to replicate the success story of UBA’s Leo.

Recently, UBA has again raised the bar, with another first of its kind, that is currently setting the pace in the digital banking space. The New UBA mobile App, launched in March is a one stop shop for all banking transactions like never seen before on the African continent and is already a massive success with customers who have embraced the app wholeheartedly with more than 200,000 downloads since its launch in March. A testament to the excellent unique offerings imbued in the new mobile app.

The new app, which is a total upgrade from the former app, has new features including four amazing themes and a more amazing graphical interface, just as it has another never-been-seen before feature where it blurs your account balance when you cover your phone’s censor.

Armed with benefits and features designed to give its customers increased control and accessibility to carry out transactions with ease, UBA Digital Banking Group Head, Kayode Ishola, said the app has been tailor-made to give customers what they want, how and in the way they want it. He made this disclosure during a recent virtual press parlay with both local and international media, adding that a lot of investment in cutting edge technology and attention to details was put into the new mobile app.

According to him, the new UBA Mobile App is “your personal finance manager built with a distinctive user interface that will change the face of banking. “With this app, we are reimagining banking as our engagement has moved from being channel-based to being platform-based.

“The speed of the platform has been made to match the speed of light as we have cut down significantly on the number of processes expected to carry out your transactions. Interestingly, we have worked towards creating behavioural insight for our customers and working around this to address the real needs of our customers using the Omni channel platform and running on our open digital platform, which is very interactive and armed with lifestyle services. It is sleek and trendy with seamless user interface”, he added.

On the security features of the app, UBA’s Group Chief Information Officer, Onyebuchi Akosa, said the new platform will revolutionise the way banking services are offered as it will deliver increased personalised banking via a watertight and highly-effective security system.

He said: “The new app has also been built with the best-in-purchase security features and has been modelled appropriately to ensure that all the features are working properly to secure transactions maximally. It is also important to mention that the bank took into consideration the virtually impaired, and thus has used voice recognition as a channel for transaction which suits both convenience and the visually impaired customers.”

Head, UBA SME Banking, Sampson Aneke, on his part noted that the app has been created with a high-level of intelligence because it can work based on frequent transactions.

He added that “it can also speak to the specific country where it is being used as the new mobile app runs concurrently in the 20 countries of UBA’s operation interacting in the different languages and cultures in line with the specific needs and regulation of the country in focus. This all-encompassing platform which boasts of a new user interface because of its sleek, modern nature of delivering seamless experience across several devices; can be used as a budgeting tool, loan application and also allows customers view their expenses according to their various categories such as the amount spent on data within a particular period.”

Beyond lip service, the bank, which is known for its culture of excellent service, has continuously innovated all of its business segments, whilst delivering top-notch operational efficiencies and best-in-class customer service. Over the years, the reward for creating such superior value has come in form of customer satisfaction and numerous local and international awards, thus consolidating their leadership position in Africa. For the bank, those awards are evidence of the diligent execution of its strategic initiatives geared towards customer service fulfillment.

Social Impact

Beyond the multiple zeros that are the underlying goal of every financial institution, UBA is also big on social impacts and customer satisfaction, the latter being a requisite for a rewarding year for the bank. Through its UBA Foundation, its CSR arm that is committed to being a socially responsible company and role model for all businesses in Africa, the foundation is committed to the socio-economic betterment of the communities in which the bank operates, focusing on development in the areas of education, environment, economic empowerment and special projects. The UBA Foundation was incorporated in January 2004.

The bank performs all these social functions while maintaining a sound pedigree as an institution that helps millions across the continent meet their financial goals. In fact, as one of the oldest surviving financial institutions in Nigeria, UBA holds a distinctive position as a general wealth distributor, which makes its financial performance more profound and impactful.

With about 274,000 shareholders, about 72 per cent holding between one and 10,000 ordinary shares, UBA has the most diversified shareholders’ base. It is also one of the most actively traded stocks at the Nigerian stock market, and a major influence in the traditionally most active banking sector. A total of 6.95 billion ordinary shares of UBA were traded at the stock market in 2020 while the bank’s share price rose by 21 per cent, more than a double of average return of 10.1 per cent recorded by the NSE Banking Index.

With more than 21 million customers and 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries, UBA is a systemically important, tier one financial institution. Despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the group remained a major developmental partner for its host communities, environment and economy as it donated N5.10 billion to various corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives during the year, through its foundation.

Impressive Performance

Despite the challenges the year brought including the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank’s performance stood out- while the deposit base increased by 48.1 percent, the bank’s profit before tax rose to N131.9 billion compared with N111.3 billion in 2019; profit after tax rose by 27.7 per cent to N113.8 billion compared with N89.1 billion in 2019 and earnings per share thus rose by 26.8 per cent from N2.52 in 2019 to N3.20 in 2020.

A further breakdown showed that the total assets last year leapt two spaces to N7.70 trillions from N5.62 trillion in 2019, about 37 per cent increase. The balance sheet performance is reflective of the overall performance outlook for the pan-African banking group. Market pundits are placing a “buy” note on UBA on the heels of the 2020 performance. UBA has the highest upside potential among the five stocks recommended by Cowry Asset Management Limited as the stock market reopened.

The 12-month report showed that gross earnings rose by 10.8 per cent to N620.4 billion in 2020 compared with N559.8 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019. The overall top-line performance was driven by growths across the income lines. Interest incomes had grown from N404.83 billion in 2019 to N427.86 billion in 2020.

Net interest income stood at N259.47 billion in 2020 as against N221.88 billion in 2019, fees and commission incomes also rose from N110.56 billion in in 2019 to N126.94 billion in 2020 while net trading and foreign exchange income increased from N37.63 billion to N59.45 billion. Further segmented analysis showed the continuing growth and profitability of the group’s non-Nigerian subsidiaries, providing diversification that helped to cushion and insulate the group from market fluctuation.

Meanwhile, the “Rest of Africa”-other African subsidiaries excluding the main Nigerian market, saw turnover growth from N166.27 billion in 2019 to N232.06 billion in 2020, repeating the same trend in pre-tax profit, which rose from N52.15 billion to N75.12 billion. The group also recorded increased incomes and profit across its business lines with corporate banking, retail and commercial banking and treasury and financial markets recording N201.02 billion, N214.39 billion and N204.96 billion respectively in 2020 as against N181.4 billion, N193.46 billion and N184.95 billion respectively in 2019.

The businesses also sustained improved profit. Corporate banking netted N62.32 billion in 2020 as against N47.9 billion in 2019. Retail and commercial banking recorded net profit of N30.23 billion as against N24.36 billion while net profit on treasury and financial marker dealings improved from N16.23 billion in 2019 to N21.22 billion in 2020.

On the cost side, operating expenses grew by 10.1 per cent to N249.8 billion, as against N217.2 billion in 2019, well below average inflation rate of 13.2 per cent for the year, thus reflecting the bank’s cost effectiveness. Despite the challenging business environment during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant effect on economies globally, the bank’s profit before tax rose to N131.9 billion compared with N111.3 billion in 2019. Profit after tax rose by 27.7 per cent to N113.8 billion compared with N89.1 billion in 2019. Earnings per share thus rose by 26.8 per cent from N2.52 in 2019 to N3.20 in 2020.

The balance sheet also showed that UBA recorded a remarkable 24 per cent growth in loans to customers at to N2.6 trillion while customer deposits increased by 48.1 per cent to N5.7 trillion, compared with N3.8 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019, reflecting increased customer confidence, enhanced customer experience, successes from the ongoing business transformation programme and the further deepening of its retail banking franchise. While the paid up capital remained unchanged at N17.1 billion, total equity funds rose from N597.98 billion in 2019 to N724.15 billion in 2020, driven mainly by increase in retained earnings and other reserves.

Management Outlook

Re-echoing the stance of analysts on the strong performance of the bank despite the global pandemic, UBA Group Managing Director, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka said last year was important for the UBA Group, as it gained further market share in most of its countries of operation.

According to him, the bank ended a very challenging year on a reassuring note as shown by double-digit growth in both top and bottom lines. Despite the tumultuous impact of the pandemic globally and across UBA’s 23 countries of operation, the group created N519 billion additional loans as it continued to support customers and their businesses.

He outlined that customer deposits grew 48.1 per cent to N5.7 trillion, driven primarily by additional N1.8 trillion in retail deposits, assuring that as a global bank, UBA remains well capitalised and determined to successfully drive financial inclusion on the continent through innovative products and vast network.

He pointed out that the bank’s capital adequacy and liquidity ratios came in at 22.4 per cent and 44.3 per cent were well above the respective regulatory minimum of 15.0 per cent and 30 per cent.

“Our primary strategy will continue to focus on providing excellent services from our customers’ standpoint, putting the customer first always. Looking ahead, I am inspired by the achievements we have made since the launch of our transformation programme. We have expanded market share considerably across the geographies where we operate and are consolidating our digital banking leadership in Africa. We will continue to leverage our diversified business model and dedicated workforce to further strengthen our position as ‘Africa’s Global Bank,” Uzoka said.

Group Chief Financial Official, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Ugo Nwaghodoh said the persistent low interest rate environment in 2020 exerted significant downward pressure on margins, notwithstanding, the bank’s interest income for the year grew by 5.7 per cent to N427.9 billion, driven by 8.2 per cent and 7.5 per cent year-on-year growth on interest income on loans and investment securities respectively.

Essentially, the 2020 performance no doubt shows the resilience of the uniquely diversified operating model of the UBA, and brings to bear the gains from continuing investments in its pan-African outlook. Analysts are optimistic the group will sustain its growth trajectory, given expected improvements in national and global environments in 2021.

Africa’s Most Luxurious And Extravagant Skyscraper: Lucreziabysujimoto, Banana Island

April 7, 2021

by admin with No Comment by The Telescope Magazine

Towering 65m above the ground, the $52 million architectural masterpiece, Lucrezia BySujimoto audaciously dominates the landscape of Africa’s most expensive square meter, Banana Island. The 14-storey skyscraper which is the brainchild of Sujimoto Construction Ltd, the leading luxury construction company in Africa, has a combined liveable space of 18,000 square meters and will be the tallest residential building in the highbrow neighbourhood.

The design of the sophisticated building combines the rare attributes of Beauty, Affluence and Style. The purely residential 14 storey tower includes luxury apartments which comprises magnificent maisonettes and 2 of Africa’s best penthouses, the first Virtual Golf Bar in Africa, Full Home Automation where you can control your lights, door, air conditioning, curtains, music & TV from the touch of a button, an IMAX Cinema, a 345 square meter temperature controlled pool including a Jacuzzi and kids’ pool, the 14 storey building has a floor to ceiling height of 4m, which creates an illusion that makes it look 20 storeys tall, an Interactive lobby where business meetings and casual hangouts can be held, Zaha Hadid by Porcelanosa sanitary wares, Private Salon, Crèche, amongst a host of others.

During the construction phase of the foundation, 25,000 cubic metres of soil was excavated, a total of 11,500 cubic metre concrete of C40 was used to create one of the biggest pile caps in the world which has a 900 mm piles diameter that goes 45-meter-deep, making the Lucrezia’s foundation one of the strongest foundation ever! The pile caps have a depth of up to 2.55m with 900 x 300mm tie beams. In all, a total of 1470 trucks of concrete were required to deliver these pile caps. The luxury development will use approximately 1000 tons of steel, Bonded Post Tensioning slabs, this makes Sujimoto the first indigenous company to use such technology which is only used in Dubai for the construction of high-rise buildings. This technology reduces the weight of the building, increases the speed of construction by 40%, eliminates shrinkage and offers more flexibility for structural modifications.

The 56 metres condominium will be the first 14 storey with Glass Reinforced Concrete façade costing the company over €2 million (N1,146,000,000) to deliver one of the best façades systems in the world. The façade panels will have a finishing covering of approximately 7500 square metres.

Having raised the first slab on the 1st of December, 2020 and currently on the 8th floor, the Lucrezia will be the fastest luxury condominium ever built in Africa with a delivery timeline of 1st of January, 2022.

Those who came onboard 11 months ago are the biggest winners as some of them bought the maisonette for $1.2 million. The almost sold out maisonette is selling for $1.9m at the moment while the penthouse which is approximately 1400m² is selling for $9 million, making it the cheapest yet most sophisticated penthouse in Africa with exclusive and remarkable features such as: a private gym, private looby, private lift, the first private pool in the sky which is located on the 12th floor, a private cinema and the first private golf Garden in Africa!

According to Sijibomi Ogundele, CEO Sujimoto Group, the Lucrezia’s penthouse is arrogantly built for the vital Few.

Lucrezia …

Easter: Nigeria Needs Regeneration – Otunba Gbenga Daniel

April 7, 2021

by admin with No Comment by The Telescope Magazine

First ever two term Ogun state Governor and now APC Chieftain, Otunba Gbenga Daniel felicitates with Nigerians on Easter celebration, Thecitypulsenews.

In his message, he said “The significance of the Easter celebration is about regeneration, sacrifice, penitence and repentance. All are what Nigeria needs at this point in time.

“No doubt, our great country needs a rebirth and regeneration in practically all its spheres; social, economic and political.

“We should therefore be ready to make the necessary sacrifices in great submission to the will of the Almighty for the greatness of our nation.”

These are words of encouragement by former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga in his Easter message to Nigerians on Saturday.

Otunba Daniel advised Nigerians to take note of the time that we are in, especially in strict observance to the safety and protective guidelines against Covid-19 infections so that they can keep safe.

“We should not be deceived that the pandemic has gone; it is very much here with us and as citizens, all of us still have to take responsibilities for our actions. It is therefore advised that we celebrate in moderation and keep all safety protocols.

“There is great hope for our country Nigeria, and all of us have a duty and responsibility to make all the necessary sacrifices for its greatness. There is a reason for the Easter Season and that is about sacrifice which leads to regeneration, Nigeria can greatly benefit from these great lessons.”