Current News in Nigeria

Sanusi is Forbes Africa Person of the Year – Nation

Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has been named winner of the Forbes Africa Person of the Year. The announcement was made on Monday at　 the inaugural Forbes Africa Person of the Year awards organised by ABN Productions in Lagos. Sanusi was named winner from a shortlist of five of Africa’s most influential personalities including　 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia, Africa’s first female Head of State; Pedro Veron Pires, former president of Cape Verde, who won the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership; Aliko Dangote, the President of Dangote Group; and the late Professor Wangari Mathaai, Nobel Prize Kenyan environmental and political activist.  Sanusi was selected by a judging panel consisting of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Bureau Chief, Peter Burdon; CNBC Africa Chief Editor, Godfrey Mutizwa; Reuters Bureau Chief, Matthew Tostevin, Managing Editor Forbes Africa, Chris Bishop and Forbes Africa senior journalist, Vuyo Mvoko. The Managing Editor of Forbes Africa, Chris Bishop, said the short-listed candidates have had significant influence on the events of the year in Africa.

NSE Moves for Full Dematerialisation of Shares – Thisday

The NSE has said it would intensify efforts in the dematerialisation of share certificates in the stock market as a way of improving liquidity in the market. Dematerialisation is the conversion of share certifications from paper form into electronic form. While some investors have dematerialised their shares and have they safely kept in the CSCS Limited, many are yet to do so due to ignorance and other factors. However, the Interim Head of the Council of the NSE, Mallam Ballama Manu, said that in the coming year, the Exchange would collaborate with CSCS and SEC to ensure full dematerialisation of share certificates still being held outside CSCS.

Low interest rates not attainable now – Sanusi (Punch)

The Governor, CBN, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, has said a low interest rate regime for the country will be difficult to realise at the moment. However, his view is contrary to the hint dropped on Monday by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that the FG might force down the lending rate in order to stimulate borrowing by the real sector of the economy. Sanusi, who was reacting to the call by the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, for a reduction in the Monetary Policy Rate from the current 12 per cent, noted that low interest rates would only work in Nigeria when inflationary rate dropped to the barest minimum.

NSE raises Investor Protection Fund to N600m

The NSE on Tuesday said it had raised the stock market's Investor Protection Fund to N600m.The NSE noted that the increase in IPF was to protect investors in the event of investment loss, adding that the fund, which was currently in the custody of a Deposit Money Bank, showed the transparency and integrity of the management of the Exchange. Speaking at the 50th AGM of the Exchange in Lagos, the NSE's past sole Administrator, Mr. Emmanuel Ikazoboh, said “The Exchange has a total of N600m as investor protection fund and this is domiciled with one of our reputable banks. By this, investors could be assured that the management of the Exchange is doing all it can to protect their investments.”The Head of Council, NSE, Mallam Balama Manu, said the market closed in 2010 with a total market capitalisation of N10.33tn and as at October 31, 2011, the total market capitalisation was relatively unchanged at N10.32tn.

Finbank's hidden debts stall FCMB's take-over bid – Daily Trust

The proposed acquisition of troubled FinBank by FCMB has suffered a major setback, investigations have shown. This followed recent discovery of hidden bad loans and huge debt profile of the troubled bank. A source at the SEC yesterday in Lagos said that debt issue was responsible for the delay in approving the two months old take-over bid. The source, who pleaded anonymity, said “Finbank has numerous issues, especially bad loans that need to be addressed.”The source, who declined to provide details of the bad loans, added that the bank had hidden and questionable transactions that must be resolved urgently. He said stakeholders in the take-over bid, especially SEC,  had agreed on finding a lasting solution to the debt overhang in Finbank before the endorsement of the banks' business combination.

Minister demands secret meeting with senators over PIB

Following the controversy trailing the status of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, yesterday requested a secret meeting with the Senate on the issue. Allison-Madueke made the request at a meeting with the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream). This followed a question by a member of the committee, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who wanted to know why the minister did not mention the PIB in her submission to the committee. The Minister had given the committee an overview of what her ministry planned for the next fiscal year. But Abaribe felt that the minister should tell the committee what the government wanted the Senate to do with the Bill that lapsed with the Sixth Senate. Specifically, Abaribe wanted to know whether the minister planned to forward a fresh PIB to the Senate. Allison-Madueke described PIB as "highly topical and very sensitive." She noted that issues connected with PIB "are issues we would want discussed in a closed door session." The Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Austin Oniwon, told the committee that the agency has exceeded its cash call target for this fiscal year. The NNPC chief noted that the corporation was expecting to make $13.9 billion. He said NNPC has made $16.7 billion, surpassing its budget by 121 per cent. Oniwon attributed the earnings to stability of crude price, which he said, "has been firm and volume has been good" with production of oil stabilising at "2.4 million barrels per day at that time."