Africa Review

Presidential poll: Tribunal decides Jonathan’s fate today (Punch)

Today will be a defining moment for the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency as the Presidential Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja will deliver judgment in the petition brought by the Congress for Progressives Change against the victory of Jonathan in the April 16, 2011 poll. The judgment, according to a court notice made available to journalists in Abuja on Monday, is billed for 9.00am on Tuesday (today). The PET is headed by Justice Kumai Akaas. The tribunal had, on October 20, 2011 rounded up its hearing in the CPC petition and subsequently reserved ruling indefinitely.

New gas discoveries threaten Nigeria’s revenue (Businessday)

Gas discoveries in some African countries and the United Kingdom are diminishing Nigeria ’s status as a major exporter of the commodity and putting serious pressure on the nation’s revenue from gas, as the sector struggles to attract new investments. Nigeria has earned an estimated $6 billion, from gas exports from its projects in the last six years, to rank it in the top 10 of major producers globally. But lack of new investments and new gas field development, have seen it gradually being over- taken by even lesser known gas producing countries. Large deposits of gas reserves have been found in recent times in the United Kingdom , Tanzania , Ghana and Mozambique and off the coast of Kenya . Industry analysts say that by the time these gas reserves are developed, Nigeria might be faced with stiff competition, which would greatly affect the level of revenue expected from gas.

Central bank to review naira, likely 155-156/dollar target (234next)

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi said the bank will review its target band for the naira in the next few days, and depending on where the exchange rate settles may move its midpoint to 155/156 to the dollar, compared to its current 150. The bank's policy is currently to maintain the naira within around 3 percent either side of the 150 level. "We'll give it a few more days and see where it settles finally and then we've got to come out with a new transparent band," Sanusi told Reuters in an interview on the sideline of an investment conference in Nigeria's capital Abuja. "Both the midpoint and the band could change. Whatever it is, we'll let the market know very soon. It's more likely to be around 155/156." He added that monetary policy was likely to remain tight for the foreseeable future to ward off inflationary pressures.

NSE market segmentation becomes operational on Nov 1 (234next)

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has said that its market segmentation would become operational on Nov. 1. This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Wole Tokede, the Senior Manager, Corporate Communications. The statement said that the NSE systems and market reports would reflect key changes to the markets, boards and industry sectors. It added that the bourse would also unveil new parameters for segmenting equities by market capitalisation and into growth or income stocks. It quoted Yvonne Emordi, the NSE Head of Strategy, as saying that the market segmentation was a strategic step to align the market with Nigeria's economic sectors and other industry classification standards. ``Emordi said that the market would now be better positioned to drive proper allocation of assets to Nigeria. ``She said that under the exercise, the market would be pruned down from 33 sectors to 12, and reclassified all listed companies within the new sectors,'' the statement said. It further quoted her as saying that the new market segmentation configuration was also designed to create simplicity for investors. ``It informs the construction of individual investment portfolios, in terms of asset allocation, providing investors the basic tools for understanding risk diversification," it said. The statement also quoted Mr Oscar Onyema, the NSE Chief Executive Officer, as saying that the segmentation exercise was one of the nine projects ``we are launching this year to substantiate our undertaking to become the gateway to the African Market".

UBA plans fresh capital placement (Nation)

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) plans to raise capital through a private placement and a rights issue to support large-ticket lending in infrastructure and agriculture sectors in the country , the bank said yesterday. UBA, the third-largest lender by total assets in Nigeria, did not, however, disclose how much it intended to raise and said it was yet to finalise the pricing of the issue. "We are going to do a private placement as well as a rights issue," said Victor Osadolor, managing director for UBA Capital Holdings. "In terms of pricing, we have not finalised on it yet," he added. UBA trades at about N3.15 per share on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), but Osadolor said the market price did not reflect the fundamentals of the bank which he expected should be trading at about N8. He said the rights issue, which will be launched at a discount to market price, will take place after the private placement and that the bank aimed to hold enough capital to cover its deposit liabilities while creating risk assets. Osadolor said UBA has a capital adequacy ratio of 20 per cent and achieved deposit growth rates of 20 per cent in the nine months to September. He said the bank would create loans without breaching the regulator’s limits on a bank’s exposure to a single borrower. "The capital itself will enable us to lend a lot of the deposits we are generating," Osadolor said. Last October, UBA raised about N20 billion via a bond issue to bolster capital and help increase lending.

Fed Govt sells N110b in bills, yields rise (Nation)

The Federal Government sold N110.11 billion ($703.80 million) in short-dated treasury bill at an auction yesterday with yields on the papers rising for the second consecutive auction, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said. The apex bank sold N30 billion in the 91-day treasury bills at a 15.29 per cent marginal rate, N48.73 billion in the 182-day paper at 16.29 per cent and N31.38 billion in the 364-day bills at 16.49 per cent. The regulator according to Reuters News, sold the 91-day bill at a 15 per cent marginal rate, 182-day paper at 16 per cent, and the 364-day bill at 16.22 per cent at its last auction on October 13. Traders said the increase in yield on the treasury bills reflects rising interest rates in the money market as a result of the recent CBN benchmark rate hike. The apex bank early in the month hiked its benchmark interest rate by 2.75 per cent to 12 per cent and implemented a series of measures to free up dollar supply and tighten naira liquidity, causing rapid increase in yields on fixed income across board and soaring lending rate.