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BUSINESS

MTN Nigeria releases results for Q1 2019

MTN
MTN

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTN Nigeria) on Thursday announced its unaudited results for the quarter ended March 31.

The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Mr Ferdi Moolman said that in 2019, MTN Nigeria adopted the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS)16 accounting standards in line with global best practice and adjustments are reflected in the results below.

He listed the highlights as contained in the statement as Service revenue increased by 13.4 per cent; Voice revenue increased by 12.7 per cent; Data revenue increased by 32.4 per cent; Digital revenue decreased by 68.0 per cent; Fintech revenue increased by 22.9 per cent.

Others are EBITDA margin increased by 11.5pp to 53.3 per cent (IAS 17: 44.2 per cent); and Mobile subscribers increased by 2.1 million to 60.3 million.

“Our first quarter performance was in line with expectations, as service revenue remained resilient with double-digit growth on the back of improvements in voice and data revenues.

“We connected a further 2.1 million people to our network, providing them access to worldwide communication services, while an additional 1.7 million people are able to access the possibilities that the internet provides.

“This growth is built on our focus on customer-centric delivery and in particular on improved customer retention, our continuous focus on value for money propositions and further network roll-out and enhancement.

“Q1 2019 saw a significant increase in our capital expenditure programme, with a focus on LTE services, where we rolled out 1,188 sites across our key focus cities.

“In addition, the successful transfer of our 800MHz spectrum from Visafone to MTN Nigeria will further enable improvements in network coverage and service quality,’’ he said.

“We have made significant progress to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) following the conversion of MTN Nigeria to a public company and the successful registration of our ordinary shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),’’ he said.

According to him, we are now engaging with the NSE to complete the listing process.

Moolman said that the business was on a sustainable growth path with service revenue increasing by 13.4 per cent Year over Year (YoY), in line with the company’s medium-term guidance of double-digit growth.

He said that this was led by a 32.4 per cent increase in data revenue and a 12.7 per cent increase in voice revenue, saying that a general slowdown in economic activities during the election period, impacted voice revenue growth.

Moolman said that the growth in data revenue was supported by a 10.6 percentage point increase in smart phone penetration, improved network quality and a 9.1 per cent increase in active data subscribers to 20.4 million.

He said that the total subscribers increased by 3.6 per cent Quarter on Quarter (QoQ) to 60.3 million.

He said that MTN recorded an Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 53.3 per cent.

On an IAS 17 basis, the margin increased to 44.2 per cent, up 2.4 percentage points YoY, driven by the growth in revenue and effective cost management.

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BUSINESS HEADLINES NEWS & LIFE

Buhari reappoints Emefiele as CBN Governor

Nigeria to attain self sufficiency in maize production by 2022 — Emefele
Emefiele

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Senate to confirm the appointment of Mr Godwin Emefiele as Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) Governor for the second and final term of five years.

The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, made the disclosure in Abuja while reading the letter at plenary on Thursday.

‘‘In view of the expiration of his first tenure as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in June, 2019, and in pursuant to the provision of section 81 (2) of the Central Bank of Nigeria 2007, I hereby present for confirmation of the senate, Mr Godwin I. Emefiele, for re-appointment as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the final term of five years.

‘‘It is my hope that this Distinguished Senate will consider and confirm this nominee in the usual expeditious manner.

‘‘Please accept, Senate President, the assurances of my highest regard,’’ the letter stated.

Godwin Emefiele, who was confirmed governor in June 3, 2014 to serve his current term, is the 11th CBN Governor.

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BUSINESS

Minister of Budget inaugurates NBS board

Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma

Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning, has urged board members of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to work with the management to promote sustainable and cost-efficient programmes of the bureau.

Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma

Udoma made the call at the inauguration of the Governing Board of NBS on Thursday in Abuja.

“You are required to work with the management of the NBS to, inter alia, determine its mission and long-term strategy roles and responsibilities and develop strategies to promote sustainable and cost-efficient activities of the Bureau.

“Full details of your duties and responsibilities are prescribed in the enabling Act of the NBS which will be handed over to you at the end of the inauguration.

“I urge you to become familiar with it,’’ he said.

According to him, the role of the board as provided in their respective establishment Acts is quite distinct from the day-to-day administration of agencies under the leadership of Chief Executives.

He said strict adherence to statutory provisions by both parties would enhance harmonious relationship devoid of bickering and other unhealthy occurrences.

“You are aware the NBS is the government agency charged with the responsibility for data generation and dissemination in Nigeria.

“The agency facilitates sectoral development in updating and monitoring Nigeria’s socio-economic indicators and advises the government as well as relevant stakeholders, including the public and private sectors on our social rankings.

“Considering the important roles that the NBS plays in nation building, the need for a supportive Governing Board cannot be over-emphasised,’’ he said.

The minister, however, congratulated the members and wished them successful tenure.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Ernest Umakhihe congratulated the appointees, saying “the appointment was based on the recognition of your good track record.’’

The permanent secretary urged the members to be focused and be selfless in the discharge of their duties, asking them to bring their wealth of experiences to bear.

“Your appointment is a call to the service of your fatherland,’’ he said.

Umakhihe said the inauguration had been long awaited because the Boards of two other agencies being supervised by the Ministry had been inaugurated a year ago, leaving out that of the NBS.

The Boards of the Centre for Management Development (CMD) and the Nigerian Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER), were inaugurated on Thursday, March 8, 2018.

The NBS Board, which required Senate confirmation, was postponed to await confirmation by the Senate which was done on April 11.

The newly inaugurated 15-member Governing Board of the NBS comprises six political appointees and nine Institutional members under the Chairmanship of Dr Kabiru Nakaura and the Statistician-General, Dr Yemi Kale as Secretary and Member.

Responding on behalf of the board, the Chairman, Nakaura assured the minister that they would cooperate with the management of the bureau.

“NBS is important to the socio economic development of the country and as an agency charged with data generation and dissemination, we will support the management of the bureau with our experience and skills,’’ he said.

Sen. Ita Enang, the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters attended the ceremony.

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BUSINESS NEWS & LIFE

Buhari to reappoint Emefiele as CBN Gov

Buhari
Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari is said to have forwarded Godwin Emefiele’s name to the National Assembly for reappointment as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor.

Sources at the Presidency and CBN, who do not want their names mentioned told the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday that President Buhari forwarded the name in a letter, expected to be read on the floor of the Senate.

Godwin Emefiele who is the 11th CBN Governor began his five-year tenure on June 3, 2014, which will come to an end in less than a month.

Emefiele became the governor at a time when there was visible pressure on the Naira as well as a decline in the country’s foreign reserves.

At his maiden news conference as governor, he harped on the vision of building a people-focused central bank that would deliver effective price and financial system stability as well as promote sustainable economic development.

Over the course of five years, Emefiele introduced policies which many economic experts have criticised, while many others hailed the policies.

Some of the major policies undertaken by the apex bank in the last five years include the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) which aims at increasing the country’s local food production and conserving the foreign reserves.

The CBN took the decision to also ban 41 items from accessing foreign exchange through official routes to encourage local production of the items and simultaneously conserve the nation’s depleting foreign reserves.

Since then, the CBN has raised the number of items affected on the list to 43, with the inclusion of fertiliser and textile products.

Some of the items not valid for foreign exchange at the Nigerian window include rice, cement, margarine, palm produce, beef, vegetables, poultry and eggs, private airplanes, wooden doors and Iron rods, among others.

The CBN also introduced the multiple foreign exchange system, which led to the creation of the Inter-bank/Wholesale, Invisible, Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the Investors/Exporters’ windows.

Also, in 2018, the CBN signed a bilateral currency swap agreement with the People’s Republic of China worth about 2.5 billion dollars.

The Currency Swap Agreement is designed to aid trade transactions between China and Nigeria and remove the need to first source for U.S. Dollars before payments for transactions involving the two countries.

The CBN through the Banker’ Committee and in collaboration with all banks in Nigeria also inaugurated a centralised biometric identification system for the banking industry tagged: “Bank Verification Number (BVN)”.

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BUSINESS EDUCATION HEADLINES INTERNATIONAL

Facebook unveils new features to help over 90million small businesses

Facebook Launches “My Digital World” to boost literacy in Africa
facebook

Samuel Oladipupo Essoodee

facebook emblem

Amidst the celebration of the National Small Business Week, Facebook has unveiled a new products that will help over 90 million small businesses on its platform.

In addition to its small business training programme, which comes up in Washington DC annually, Facebook has added new solutions to help small businesses save time and resources so they can focus on growth.

Among the new tools being introduced by Facebook is the Automated Ads feature, which takes the guesswork out of buying ads on Facebook, creating the right advertising plan for each business in a few easy steps.

Based on the businesses’ goals, this tool uses the existing images from their business page and lets business owners “set it and forget it” to make it even more simple for them to advertise and focus on other aspects of their business.

The new additions also include Appointment Bookings, a new tool which expands Facebook’s free tools for small businesses to effectively manage their time.

With this new tool, service-based businesses on Facebook and Instagram can now accept and manage appointments, customer information and send appointment reminders, all from their phone.

The latest addition also includes video creative tools that help small businesses build eye catching video for mobile in just minutes.

A statement from Facebook reads: “We believe in empowering small businesses through our free and paid solutions to help more people launch and grow businesses, which translates to real impact for their communities and local economies. According to the SBA, 98.2% of businesses in Washington, D.C. are small businesses and together they employ more than 240,000 people.

“Beyond adding more tools, we also want to help make sure business owners in the District — and around the country — have the digital skills they need to take their businesses to the next level. That’s why all of the sessions at our D.C. Boost with Facebook event, hosted at Union Market, are free and open to anyone who wants to join.”

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BUSINESS NEWS & LIFE

Angolan president sacks chair of state energy firm

Angolan president sacks chair of state energy firm

Angola’s President João Lourenço on Wednesday sacked Carlos Saturnino as chair of state energy firm, Sonangol, in the midst of one of the worst fuel shortages to hit Africa’s second-largest crude producer in years.

Sebastiao Gaspar Martins will replace Saturnino as chair of the oil producer, a statement from the president’s office said.

The statement did not give a reason for the change, but it comes a day after Lourenço promised a rapid resolution to the shortage of fuel that is plaguing the capital of Luanda and cities across the southern African country.

In spite of producing around 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, Angola relies on imports for 80 per cent of its demand for refined products such as petrol and diesel.

Sonangol, Angola’s largest and most influential company, blamed the shortage on difficulties in accessing hard currency, as well as unpaid debts owed to the energy company by industrial clients.

The new chairman, Gaspar Martins, is an oil industry veteran who has worked at Sonangol for nearly 40 years. The engineer most recently served on Sonangol’s board as an executive administrator.

Saturnino was appointed in November 2017, when Lourenço sacked Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of a former Angolan president who had previously led the state oil company.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS EDUCATION HEADLINES NEWS & LIFE

Comedian goes naked, says Wike is killing entertainment industry in Rivers State

Port Harcourt based Comedian, Newman Chinda, has gone nude in protest against what he calls Governor Nyeson Wike’s ‘killing’ of the entertainment industry in Rivers State.
He said the industry had the best during Rotimi Amaechi era, producing the likes of Burna Boy, Duncan Mighty, Dan D Humorous and Mr 2kay.

His post (sic)”:
“Your Excellency Sir, Congrats on your Re-election.”
Entertainment which is the bedrock on which a society thrives, should be prioritized in our very own Garden city.
From time past, we’ve seen how up and coming artistes run from Phcity and other states to Lagos which is said to be the “Centre of Entertainment”… This didn’t just happen in a day…
Past administrations do well to keep Entertainment going and so they keep rising.
Your Excellency Sir, Phcity is a Renowned City in Nigeria and as such, we should keep up with that Honor.. Your administration has killed entertainment in the state rather than rejuvenate it, hence the reason people find a way to go to Lagos at every given opportunity.. There’s more to Government other than Patching of roads and renovating dilapidated buildings… The past Governor Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi did well in the Entertainment industry in Phcity… Our Crafts flourished…
Carniriv which was observed yearly attracted investors who picked interest in investing in our Dear Rivers State.
Carniriv Fostered unity and togetherness amongst the people of Rivers amidst other benefits to our Society at large… The young ones felt a sense of belonging as well as the aged.. Your administration has to a large extent killed the Entertaining spirit in our people.. The like of Mr 2kay, Dan D Humorous, Arinze Baba, Burna Boy, Duncan etc attained fame during Amaechi’s Administration Because of his versatility and deliberate empowerment of these Artistes (Up and Coming)
When Davido visited you, the pictures revealed how happy and excited you were hosting a Celebrity, another State Government made that possible by creating an enabling environment for him to grow his Craft and become the Super Star you were happy and quick to host.
There’s a million and 1 artistes better than Davido in Rivers State, but the lack of an enabling environment keeps them below the belt.
The Creative Sector is dead, only criminals are empowered.

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BUSINESS HEADLINES NEWS & LIFE

Airtel to deploy 4G service in Enugu

Airtel launches outdoor unit smart box to boost internet connectivity at homes, offices
AIRTEL

Airtel Nigeria said on Tuesday in Enugu that it would deploy its Fourth Generation (4G) service to accelerate economic and commercial activities in the entire state.

Its Managing Director, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, said this during the inauguration of the Airtel 4G service in the state.

Ogunsanya, who was represented by the Regional Operations Director, South, Mr Oladapo Dosunmu, said that the inauguration was a testimony to the company’s commitment to working closely with residents of the state and empowering them as well.

The chief executive officer of the company said that the inauguration of the service represented total modernisation of the Airtel Network infrastructure in the state with new and innovative offerings.

“This launch will boost personal and professional productivity, create more entrepreneurs and offer the youth a big leverage to express their creativity and talents.

“With 4G, Airtel will also aid governance through technology. Ours is a 4G service that is not only fast and reliable but that works,” he said.
Ogunsanya urged their customers to get devices that are 4G enabled in order to access the service.

“Then you will need to upgrade your current SIM card to a 4G SIM through SIM SWAP which takes less than three minutes,” he said.

He said that the company was passionate about enriching lives and creating value for all their stakeholders.

He said that the company had earlier hooked some states and cities like Anambra, Delta, Abuja, Ibadan, Warri, and others to the 4G service.

Ogunsanya said that 60 per cent of the state had already been covered, adding that more localities would be covered between July and August.

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BUSINESS EDUCATION HEADLINES

MTN Nigeria successfully registers shares with SEC

MTN
MTN

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTN) on Tuesday announced that it had successfully completed the registration of 20,354,513,050 ordinary shares of N0.02 each with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The MTN Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ferdie Moolman, made this known in a statement in Lagos.

According to him, the completion of this process sets in motion the next steps in MTN’s intended listing by introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

“I am excited we have achieved another milestone in our listing process and want to thank the SEC and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for supporting us through the process.

“We have now begun to engage with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to complete the listing process,’’ he said.

Moolman said that MTN was guided by a vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world, saying that MTN Nigeria’s leadership position in coverage, capacity and innovation had remained constant, since its launch in 2001.

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BUSINESS NEWS & LIFE

Nigeria’s airlines record 7,926 delayed flights in Q1 2019 – NCAA

Nigeria Airlines

Domestic airlines operating in Nigeria recorded 7,926 cases of delayed flights between January and March 2019.

The Consumer Protection Department of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) made this known in a document it issued.

The document showed that 14,735 flights were operated by eight airlines during the period under review.

According to the document, 181 flights were cancelled for various reasons by different airlines which are: Aero Contractors, Arik Air, Air Peace, Azman Air, Dana Air, Med-View, Overland and Max Air.

It said Air Peace, which operated 5,768 flights, toppled the delayed flight chart with 3, 058 and 66 cancellations, while Arik Air followed with 1,376 delayed flights, 32 cancellations out of its 3,001 flight operations.

According to the document, Aero operated 1,535 flights with 951 delayed and 31 cancelled flights, while Azman Air recorded 637 delayed and eight cancellations out of the 1,301 flights operated by the airline.

Also, Dana Air operated 919 flights with 587 delayed and 25 cancellations; Overland, 612 flights with 421 delayed and six cancellations.

The rest are Max Air, which operated 1,416 flights with 810 delayed and four cancellations as well as Medview, operated 183 flights with 112 delayed and nine cancelled flights.

According to the airlines, the delays were due to operational reasons, scarcity of aviation fuel as well as adverse weather conditions leading to low visibility at most of the airports.

Mr Chris Iwarah, the Corporate Communications Manager, Air Peace, told NAN that the airline would continue to give priority to the safety and well-being of its passengers.

Iwarah explained that flights could be delayed or rescheduled for various reasons but that the airline usually communicates with the affected passengers, hours before the flight.

“What we do is to send emails and text messages to the passengers notifying them about the development.

“However, some passengers provide fake email addresses and invalid phone numbers to airline staff while purchasing their tickets, which makes it difficult to reach them.

“I think there should be a form of sensitisation by the aviation authorities to avoid this kind of situation but like I said before, the safety of our customers remains our priority,’’ he said.