The leadership of Cattle and Foodstuff dealers under the aegis of Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) has agreed to end the blockade of supplies to the south.
They reached the agreement at an ongoing meeting with Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State in Abuja on Wednesday.
Abdullahi Tom, a youth leader of the cattle dealers who is attending the meeting, told Daily Trust that the union has agreed to shelve the strike.
Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister, is attending the meeting.
Last week, the union commenced strike to protest the attack on some of their members during the #EndSARS protests and the recent Shasha market crisis in Ibadan, Oyo state capital.
They had initially given the federal government a seven-day ultimatum to weigh into the situation and look into their demands.
Baskets of tomatoes waiting to be loaded for movement to the southern parts of the country at Kwanar Gafan Tomato Market in Kano State.
The Union had demanded protection of its members, and payment of N475 billion compensation for lives of members and properties lost during the #EndSARS protest and the Shasa market crisis.
They also demanded the dismantling of all roadblocks on federal highways where their members are harassed and money extorted from them by security operatives.
The strike entailed closing all routes between the North and South for vehicles conveying cattle and food items. Such vehicles were stopped from reaching the Southern region.
Both sides have been affected by the strike. Food prices soared in the South, while farmers in the North complained of poor patronage.
Daily Trust had reported how onion traders lamented over the crash in the price of the item.
A bag of onion which sold at N35,000 before the strike, plummeted to N7000
Shoprite employees have protested unpaid gratuity, as they accuse the South African-owned supermarket of selling off the Nigerian subsidiary without seeing through their memorandum of understanding (MOU).
According to one of the protesters in a video shared online, Shoprite and the national body for the employees were supposed to meet last month, February, over wages of the employees, but the meeting didn’t hold.
The protesters blocked the entrance of Shoprite in Ikeja City Mall (ICM) to make their displeasure known concerning how the management of Shoprite was handling the situation.
The protesters alleged that the Nigerian subsidiary has been sold to new owners, who are expected to takeover Shoprite Nigeria next month, April 2021. The revelation of new ownership corresponds with Shoprite’s announcement in 2020, that it will exit the Nigerian market.
Shoprite said it wants to divest its holdings in Retail Supermarkets Nigeria – owners of Shoprite Nigeria – to focus on its homefront, which is South Africa.
This means about 26 outlets owned by Shoprite South Africa in Nigeria will go under the new ownership.
Shoprite Nigeria is worth about N24 billion according to its financial statements, this reveals the amount range new owners will pay to takeover Shoprite. The company had planned 2020 for its exit, although the South African retailer hasn’t confirmed it has fully exited thevNigerian market.
Volvo Cars is only going to sell electric vehicles by 2030, the Swedish firm has said.
It will phase out all car models with internal combustion engines by then, including hybrids.
The carmaker is also planning to invest heavily in online sales and simplifying its products.
It is trying to capitalise on growing demand for electric cars, including in China, which is already one of its biggest markets.
Carmakers are also responding to pressure from governments around the world to beef up their electric car plans.
New cars and vans powered wholly by petrol and diesel will not be sold in the UK from 2030, for example.
Volvo’s chief technology officer, Henrik Green, said the company needed to switch focus: “There is no long-term future for cars with an internal combustion engine.”
Bjorn Annwall, head of Europe for Volvo, told the BBC’s Wake up to Money programme the plan fitted with both Volvo’s image and commercial interests.
“At Volvo our customers expect high levels of us when it comes to human safety and they are starting to expect exactly the same thing when it comes to planetary safety, we aim to live up to that, it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
“The fully electric premium segment will be the fastest growing part of the automotive market, so it’s very natural to focus on that.”
Its online push means customers will be able to order cars to their own specification online, but also through a dealership.
Volvo will not be investing in cars with hydrogen fuel cells, as it does not think there will be enough demand from customers. There is also a question mark over hydrogen’s availability in comparison with charging points for electric cars, a spokesman said.
Volvo previously announced that by 2025, half of its sales would be fully electric, with the rest being hybrids.
Last month, Volvo abandoned plans to merge with Chinese car giant Geely. But the two companies said that they would form a partnership instead to make components for electric cars that would be used by both firms.
Global carmakers continue to pursue alliances to spread the cost of the transition to electric cars, tougher emission rules and autonomous driving, as well as pooling expertise and resources.
In January, shareholders approved a merger between Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group, creating the world’s fourth biggest carmaker. The new group, Stellantis, would be able to “bet big on new innovations in electric, connected and autonomous vehicles”, analysts said at the time.
Zoom boss Eric Yuan, whose business exploded during the pandemic, says working from home is here to stay.
The video conferencing company expects sales to rise more than 40% this year, reaching more than $3.7bn (£2.66bn).
The forecast pushed shares in the company up more than 6% in after-hours trade in New York.
Investors have been watching for clues as to how the firm would fare as more people get vaccinated and social distancing restrictions lift.
Eric Yuan
Zoom said it did not expect growth to continue at the pace it enjoyed last year, but so far business remains strong.
The firm’s sales in the last three months of 2020 were up 370% compared to the same period in 2019, hitting $882.5m.
“The fourth quarter marked a strong finish to an unprecedented year for Zoom,” company boss Eric Yuan said. “As the world emerges from the pandemic, our work has only begun.”
The pandemic, which prompted an abrupt shift to remote work for many businesses around the world, transformed Zoom into a household name practically overnight.
The firm, which charges businesses for its remote meeting software in addition to more limited free use for the general public, saw sales soar 326% to $2.6bn in 2020. Profits jumped from just $21.7m in 2019 to $671.5m.
While some companies have started to ease staff back into the office, many others have said they expect that some of the increased flexibility introduced during the pandemic will linger.
“The future is here with the rise of remote and work from anywhere trends,” Mr Yuan said in prepared remarks for investors. “We recognize this new reality and are helping to empower our own employees and those of our customers to work and thrive in a distributed manner.”
Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Zoom’s fate would depend on how it manages to compete against firms such as Microsoft and Google, which have introduced similar features.
“Although it stole an early march on other players in the first few months of the crisis, it does now have much stiffer competition from the likes of Microsoft and Google who have significantly upped their game,” she wrote in a research note.
“It may be that we have become so used to pandemic habits that we will stick with our virtual social lives, particularly for long distance friendships and work relationships. But just how large a slice of the live video pie Zoom manages to hang on to will depend on how it matches up to its powerful rivals.”
“A strong WTO is vital if we are to recover fully and rapidly from the devastation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“Our organisation faces a great many challenges but working together we can collectively make the WTO stronger, more agile and better adapted to the realities of today.”
“I look forward to working with members to shape and implement the policy responses we need to get the global economy going again.
These are the expressions of the WTO Director General, the Naijapremiumgist’s PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH.
LIFE AND FAMILY Okonjo-Iweala was born in Ogwashi-Ukwu, Delta State, Nigeria, where her father Professor Chukwuka Okonjo was the Obi (King) from the Obahai Royal Family of Ogwashi-Ukwu.
Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Queen’s School, Enugu, St. Anne’s School, Molete, Ibadan, and the International School Ibadan. She arrived in the US in 1973 as a teenager to study at Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude with an AB in Economics in 1976.
In 1981, she earned her PhD in regional economics and development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a thesis titled Credit policy, rural financial markets, and Nigeria’s agricultural development.
She is married to Dr. Ikemba Iweala, a neurosurgeon. They have four children and three grandchildren
She received an international fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), that supported her doctoral studies.
CAREER Dr. Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, from 2003-2006, 2011-2015, and briefly Foreign Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions. During her 25 years at the World Bank, she is credited with spearheading several initiatives to assist low-income countries, in particular raising nearly $50bn in 2010 from donors for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a global finance expert, is an economist and international development professional with over 30 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. Currently, Dr Okonjo-Iweala is Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.
Since its creation in 2000, Gavi has immunized 680 million children globally and saved ten million lives. She is also a Senior Adviser at Lazard and sits on the Boards of Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc.
HONOURS AND ENLISTMENTS
Dr Okonjo-Iweala has been listed as:
One of Transparency International’s 8 Female Anti-Corruption Fighters Who Inspire (2019)
One the 50 Greatest World Leaders (Fortune, 2015)
Top 100 Most Influential People in the World (TIME, 2014)
Top 100 Global Thinkers (Foreign Policy, 2011 and 2012)
Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World (Forbes, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014)
Top 3 Most Powerful Women in Africa (Forbes, 2012)
Top 10 Most Influential Women in Africa (Forbes, 2011)
Top 100 Women in the World (The UK Guardian, 2011)
Top 150 Women in the World (Newsweek, 2011)
Top 100 most inspiring people in the World Delivering for Girls and Women (Women Deliver, 2011). She has also been listed among 73 “brilliant” business influencers in the world by Condé Nast International.
In 2019, Dr Okonjo-Iweala was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 2017, she received the Madeleine K. Albright Global Development Award from the Aspen Institute, the Women’s Economic Empowerment Award from WEConnect International, and the Vanguard Award from Howard University.
In 2016, she received the Power with Purpose Award from the Devex Development Communications Network and the Global Fairness Award from the Global Fairness Initiative in recognition of her contribution to sustainable development.
She was also conferred High National Honours from the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Liberia. She is also the recipient of Nigeria’s third highest National Honors Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR).
In addition, Dr Okonjo-Iweala has been awarded the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award (2014), the President of the Italian Republic Gold Medal by the Pia Manzu Centre (2011), the Global Leadership Award by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (2011) the Global Leadership Award by the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (2010), and the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award (2010).
She is also the recipient of the TIME Magazine’s European Heroes Award in 2004, named Finance Minister of the Year (Africa InvestorMagazine, 2014), Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East (THE BANKER, 2004), Global Finance Minister of the Year (EUROMONEY, 2005), Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East (Emerging Markets Magazine, 2005), and Minister of the Year (THISDAY, Newspaper2004 and 2005).
Dr Okonjo-Iweala is the founder of Nigeria’s first ever indigenous opinion-research organization, NOI-Polls. She also founded the Center for the Study of Economies of Africa (C-SEA), a development research think tank based in Abuja, Nigeria. Dr Okonjo-Iweala is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development, and also at the Brookings Institution, premier Washington D.C. think tanks.
She has received honorary degrees from 15 universities worldwide, including some from the most prestigious colleges: Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Trinity College (University of Dublin), Amherst College, Colby College, Tel Aviv University, and Northern Caribbean University, Jamaica. She also has honorary doctorate degrees from a host of Nigerian universities including Abia State University, Delta State University, Oduduwa University, Babcock University, and the Universities of Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Ife (Obafemi Awolowo).
She is the author of numerous articles and several books, including Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines (MIT Press, 2018), Reforming the UnReformable: Lessons from Nigeria, (MIT Press, 2012), Mobilizing Finance for Education in the Commonwealth (Commonwealth Education Report 2019), Shine a Light on the Gaps – an essay on financial inclusion for African Small Holder Farmers (Foreign Affairs, 2015), Funding the SDGs: Licit and Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries (Horizons Magazine, 2016), and The Debt Trap in Nigeria: Towards a Sustainable Debt Strategy (Africa World Press, 2003). She also co-authored with Tijan Sallah the book Chinua Achebe: Teacher of Light (Africa World Press, 2003).
Okonjo-Iweala will take up her new post as the DG of WTO on March 1st 2021 and her term, which is renewable, will run until August 31, 2025.
Microblogging site, Twitter, has announced intent to place charges on exclusive tweets and contents.
The development, which was revealed on Thursday during the company’s annual Analyst Day event, will see users paying for contents on the app after launch.
According to the American social media giant, one such charge is the Super Follows subscription where creators and publishers can monetise exclusive tweets and contents via Twitter.
Explaining the terms, Twitter further noted that the new offering would be designed in such a way that only subscribed users can gain access to exclusive content, deals and discounts, community access, amongst other offering plans in the pipeline.
Analysts have speculated that while this development has been presented as a system and service upgrade, it boarders more on measures to help Twitter scale up on revenue as it has recorded new lows in recent financial sheets.
During the annual event, the company had hinted on the need for the company to double total annual revenue in coming years, citing how the coming can move from $3.7 billion in 2020 to $7.5 billion or more in 2023.
Speaking, tentatively, on the idea of the charge, the social media company proposed a subscription fee of $4.99 per month (roughly #2000 ) for the Super Follows subscription.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that it will sanction telecom providers forcefully subscribing consumers to value-added services (VAS).
This warning was contained in a statement issued by Efosa Idehen, director of consumer affairs bureau at NCC, via a video published on the commission’s Twitter account on Friday, February 26.
Idehen explained that VAS is the value added by a service provider to a consumer and if there are no value-added, it is wrong to forcefully subscribe one to it.
Forceful subscription is a no to the commission. For you to subscribe into VAS, a message is first sent to you and then another is sent for confirmation on whether a consumer wants to subscribe to the service or not,” he said.
“If they forcefully subscribe you to content without permission or confirmation, report such case to the commission.
“It is an offence and it is punishable by sanction, there are penalties for forcefully subscribing VAS if consumers didn’t subscribe to it. ”
Idehen advised consumers to always check the contents of any VAS product shared/delivered, as when one is subscribed to such, there are terms and conditions applied to it.
In his remarks, Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice-chairman (EVC) of NCC, says subscribers in the country now consume 80 terabytes of data monthly.
According to a report by NCC, basic active internet subscriptions grew from 90 million to 154.3 million between 2015 and 2020.
“According to the latest statistics on data usage, Nigerians are consuming in excess of about 80 terabytes of data monthly,” Danbatta said.
We have seen this trend for quite a while due to increase in data usage and increase in online activities, which has led to the increase in demand of data by consumers.”
The EVC further said NCC is fully aware of the difficulties consumers face with their telecom providers on data consumption.
NCC had reported that between January 2019 and April 2020, it received a total of 26,169 complaints, majorly on poor services and data consumption.
It also said that during the COVID-19 lockdown, 76 consumer complaints were received, bordering on data, billing, SIM registration, credit depletion, value-added services (VAS), line barred, poor network, and fraud.
We are aware of the difficulties consumers are experiencing when it comes to data consumption.
“We have received complaints of how consumers’ data is been depleted quickly. However, this depletion is a result of usage by consumers or as a result of an allegation being said that mobile operators are overcharging consumers.”
Danbatta pledged to continue to defend consumers from dubious practices in the telecom industry.
The Lagos State Government (LASG), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), and other stakeholders have agreed to adopt a new electronic call-up system for trucks scheduled to commence on February 27.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation and Chairman, Special Traffic Management Enforcement Team, Mr Oluwatoyin Fayinka, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, February 25, in Lagos.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that the electronic call-up system would be based on a first-come-first-served basis.
Fayinka said that the resolution was agreed upon on Thursday after thorough consideration of all parties involved to effectively eliminate the traffic congestion experienced in the state through ports activities.
“At the meeting which held at Lilypond Terminal, the parties which include: NPA, LASG, Nigeria Police Force, and Truck Transit Park agreed that the new e- call-up system will commence on Feb. 27.
”As the existing call up for trucks will be discontinued from Friday, Feb. 26, due to its inefficiency to manage truckers operations in and out of the ports,” Fayinka said.
He added that it was jointly agreed upon that all articulated vehicles would be prevented from entering Apapa and its environs by 4pm on Feb. 26.
“Subsequently, by 12.00 noon on Feb. 27, trucks in and around the ports access roads are all expected to have vacated the corridors,” Fayinka said.
He warned truck owners and drivers to adhere to the resolutions to prevent harsh reactions from the government.
Fayinka, however, said that parties also urged all stakeholders, especially truck owners to cooperate with the state government as it makes consolidated efforts to create ease in movement for its citizenry safety, welfare, and health which were of primary importance.
Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) has suspended its Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Adetokunbo Fagbemi, silently for four weeks without notifying the investing public.
NAHCO had announced, on January 7, the company would hold its board of directors meeting on January 27 and 28 to discuss its 2020 fourth quarter unaudited financial statements, but didn’t disclose the management will deliberate the suspension of Fagbemi, neither did NAHCO announce her suspension afterwards.
Why Nahco suspended Fabgemi
NAHCO decided to suspend Fagbemi on January 27 during the board of directors meeting, but the suspension took effect on February 3. She had been suspended for the company’s failure to procure an equipment from a vendor.
The company was said to have wasted time in dealing with the acquisition, leading to the failure. As the head of the Aviation service firm, the blame was laid on Fagbemi, and the board resolved to put her on suspension with half-salary paid.
To beat the suspension, she was directed to provide a certified bill of lading for the equipment by February 2, but Fagbemi was unable to produce the bill, leading to the suspension taking effect the next day.
During Fagbemi’s suspension, Olumuyiwa Olumekun, NAHCO’s Group Executive Director for Corporate Services, took over her position as MD/CEO.
The suspension lasted for four weeks following the provision of the certified bill of lading for the equipment by Fagbemi on February 24. The bill of lading provides departure and arrival dates of the equipment.
Fagbemi’s suspension was only brought to the attention of the investing public, in a statement, after the Board held an emergency meeting on Wednesday, February 24, to reinstate Fagbemi.
Market abuse
According to Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) listing rules, listed companies are compelled to immediately reveal to the investors and the public, all factors or corporate information that might affect investors’ interest (shares), but NAHCO took four weeks before informing the public of Fagbemi’s suspension.
And the company only revealed the suspension when it lifted it. The NSE listing requirements is placed under market abuse, and the suspension of Fagbemi had a material effect on stock market activity as monitored by Ripples Nigeria.
After the board agreed to suspend Fagbemi, Nahco’s share price value significantly declined, as the company lost N0.17kobo in share price in one day, to close the market at N2.18kobo on February 1, against the N2.35kobo it opened with.
Since then, NAHCO’s share price has been fluctuating, but trading below the price (N2.35kobo) it held prior to Fagbemi’s suspension. The share price recorded its biggest decline on February 11, as it plunged to N2.08 per share.
Between January 27 and February 24, the four weeks period NAHCO kept the information from investing public, NAHCO’s share price lost N0.13kobo, as it closed market at N2.22kobo per share on Wednesday, February 24.
How will NSE act in such situation
Checks by Ripples Nigeria, showed that any company that fails to inform the NSE of a corporate information or development that has potential to impact on their company’s market performance will be fined of 50% of the annual listing fee.
Publication of accounts, notices of Annual General Meetings, closure of register, payment dates, changes in directorate, changes in capital structure, alteration to memorandum and articles of association, changes in general character of the company, all corporate information/development with potential to impact on the company’s performance etc. without prior written approval of The Exchange shall attract a fine of 50% of the annual listing fee.” NSE stated.
It is, however, unsure if NSE will hit the hammer on NAHCO, but according to the market authority, such breach of market requirement and directive attract a financial sanction.
Apple has acquired about 100 companies over the last six years, the company’s chief executive Tim Cook has revealed.
That works out at a company every three to four weeks, he told Apple’s annual meeting of shareholders on Tuesday.
Apple recently delivered its largest quarter by revenue of all time, bringing in $111.4bn (£78.7bn) in the first-quarter of its fiscal year 2021.
Mr Cook told the shareholders meeting that the acquisitions are mostly aimed at acquiring technology and talent.
Apple’s largest acquisition in the last decade was its $3bn purchase of Beats Electronics, the headphone maker founded by rapper and producer Dr Dre.
Another high profile purchase was music recognition software company Shazam, for $400m in 2018.
Most often, Apple buys smaller technology firms and then incorporates their innovations into its own products.
One example is PrimeSense, an Israeli 3D sensing company whose technology contributed to Apple’s FaceID.
Apple has also invested in back-end technology that wouldn’t be so obvious to iPhone or Macbook users.
Apple’s list of acquisitions and investments is extremely varied.
In the past year, Apple has bought several artificial intelligence (AI) companies, a virtual reality events business, a payments startup and a podcast business, among others.
In 2019, Apple bought Drive.ai, a self-driving shuttle firm, in an effort to boost its own foray into self-driving technologies.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.39.19/iframe.htmlmedia captionWATCH: Who are the ‘big four’ and just how much power do they have?
In 2016, the company also took a $1bn stake in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, although it wasn’t a controlling interest.
Apple is an immensely profitable juggernaut worth more than $2trn, so it has plenty of money to make acquisitions.
But even if it has bought 100 companies in six years, Apple appears to be very selective about what it buys.
For example, Tesla founder Elon Musk recently revealed that he approached Mr Cook to buy the electric car business when it was struggling in 2013.
Mr Cook didn’t take the meeting, Mr Musk said.
Measured by value, Apple’s acquisitions are actually far more restrained than those of many of its tech rivals.
Microsoft paid $26bn for LinkedIn, Amazon paid $13.7bn for Whole Foods and Facebook paid $19bn for WhatsApp.
Apple’s ten largest purchases put together would still be worth far less than any of those deals.
United Airlines says it is grounding 24 of its Boeing 777 aircraft after one of its jets suffered engine failure after take-off on Saturday.
The plane, carrying 231 passengers and 10 crew, was forced to return to Denver airport. No injuries were reported.
Debris from the jet was found scattered over a nearby residential area.
In response to the incident, Japan has asked all airlines using Boeing 777s with the same Pratt & Whitney 4000 engine to avoid its airspace.
Boeing said it supported Japan’s decision and has recommended suspending operations of all 777s with the same engine while an investigation into the incident continues. The manufacturer says there are 69 Boeing 777s currently in service worldwide with this engine.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), United is the only US airline flying such planes, with the others being in Japan and South Korea.
United Flight 328, bound for Honolulu, suffered a failure in its right-hand engine, the FAA said.
The agency has ordered extra inspections of Boeing 777 jets fitted with the Pratt & Whitney 4000 engine following the incident.
“We reviewed all available safety data following yesterday’s incident,” said FAA administrator Steve Dickson in a statement.
“Based on the initial information, we concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes.”
The FAA is meeting representatives from the engine firm and Boeing.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s initial finding is that most of the damage occurred in the right engine, where two fan blades were fractured and other blades also impacted. The main body of the aeroplane suffered only minor damage.
“The plane started shaking violently, and we lost altitude and we started going down,” David Delucia said.
He added that he and his wife placed their wallets in their pockets so that “in case we did go down, we could be ID’d”.
Police in the town of Broomfield posted pictures of what appeared to be the front of an engine casing in the front garden of a home. Other fragments were seen around the town including on a football field. No one was injured by the falling debris from the plane.
In Japan, all 777s with the Pratt & Whitney 4000 model engines are to avoid its airspace until further notice. This includes take-offs, landings and flights over the country.
The government there has also ordered JAL and ANA airlines to suspend the use of its 777s with the same Pratt and Whitney 4000 model engine.
Last December a JAL flight was forced to return to Naha Airport due to a malfunction in the left engine – the plane is the same age as the 26-year-old United Airlines plane from Saturday’s incident.
In 2018, the right engine of a United Airlines plane broke shortly before it landed in Honolulu. Following an investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board said the incident was caused by a full-length fan blade fracture.
The sculptor behind Wall Street’s famous Charging Bull statue has died aged 80, reports say.
Friends of Arturo Di Modica told Italian media that the sculptor died in his home town of Vittoria, Sicily. He had been fighting cancer for many years, La Repubblica reported.
The bull was originally installed in New York in 1989 without permission.
It was designed to represent the “strength and power of the American people” after the 1987 market crash.
Police seized the 7,100 pound (3,200 kg) bronze statue from its position outside the New York Stock Exchange. But following a public outcry, city officials allowed it to be reinstalled days later in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district.
It has gone on to become one of the most recognisable images of New York, and a major tourist attraction.
In recent years, Di Modica opposed the temporary installation of another now famous statue, called Fearless Girl, opposite the bull.
The Fearless Girl
Di Modica complained at the time that his bull was meant to embody “strength, power and love”, and that having Fearless Girl – designed to call attention to gender inequality and the pay gap in the corporate world – face off against it turned its message into something negative.
Other notable works by Di Modica include marble pieces exhibited at the Rockefeller Center, works in bronze at Castle Clinton National Monument, and a bronze horse exhibited in the Lincoln Center, his biography on chargingbull.com says.
The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared N640.310 billion to the three tiers of government for January.
Mr Hassan Dodo, the Director of Information, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, said this was revealed in a communique issued at the end of the virtual conference of FAAC on Thursday, February 18.
The committee in its communique explained that the amount shared by the Federal Government, states, and Local Government Areas (LGAs) included the cost of collection to different agencies involved.
It noted that the N640.310 billion shared included cost of collection to Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The committee also noted that the Federal Government received N226.998 billion, the states received N177.171 billion and the LGAs got N131.399 billion.
It added that the oil-producing states received N26.777 billion as derivation (13 per cent of Mineral Revenue) and the Cost of Collection/Transfer and Refunds was N75.966 billion.
According to the communique, the Gross Revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) for January was N157.351 billion.
It added that the oil-producing states received N26.777 billion as derivation (13 per cent of Mineral Revenue) and the Cost of Collection/Transfer and Refunds was N75.966 billion.
According to the communique, the Gross Revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) for January was N157.351 billion.
It stated that this was against N171.358 billion distributed in the preceding month of December 2020, resulting in a decrease of N14.007 billion.
The distribution is as follows: Federal Government got N21.950 billion, the states received N73.168 billion, LGAs got N51.218 billion, while Cost of Collection – FIRS and NCS got N11.015 billion.
“The distributed Statutory Revenue of N482.958 billion received for the month was higher than the N437.256 billion received for the previous month by N45.703 billion.
“From this, the Federal Government received N205.047 billion, states got N104.003 billion, LGAs got N80.162 billion, Derivation (13 per cent Mineral Revenue) got N28.777 billion and Cost of Collection/ Transfer and Refund got N64.951 billion.”
The communique also revealed that Companies Income Tax (CIT) and Oil and Gas Royalty, VAT, and Excise Duty recorded marginal to significant decreases.
However, Import Duty increased only marginally and Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) recorded a considerable increase.
Furthermore, the balance in the Excess Crude Account as of February 18 was $72.412 million.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has thrown its weight behind the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) two weeks after the CBN directed banks to close accounts related to cryptocurrency across Nigeria.
The CBN had also warned deposit money banks and other financial institutions against dealing with cryptocurrency exchanges, starting that the digital asset isn’t a legal tender in Nigeria.
According to the IMF, the caution shown by Nigeria’s monetary authority is warranted due to the risk in cryptocurrency. The IMF made its reservation known in the 2020 Article IV IMF Staff Report for Nigeria.
In the report, the Resident Representative of IMF for Nigeria, Ari Aisen, said the use of cryptocurrencies raises concern as bitcoin and other digital assets could be used in illegal activities such as money laundering and drug peddling.
The issue with some of the cryptocurrencies is that perhaps some care should be taken about their activities. The use of cryptocurrencies is a concern.
“That is why some central banks, not only in Nigeria, have these concerns about what kind of activities these cryptocurrencies are put and how best to monitor those activities.”
Aisen’s reason for caution is same with the CBN, but this warning has failed to curb the growing penetration of bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The persons, companies and institutional investors are purchasing bitcoin to grow their wealth.
The increasing acceptance is reflected in the valuation of Bitcoin, which was $1 as at the time it was created in 2009, but now trades above $50,000 in February 2021. As at December 2020, Bitcoin crossed $20,000 mark, but Bitcoin current price is $51,828.64 as at the time of filing this report.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has warned petrol marketers against hoarding Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in order not to create hardship for Nigerians.
In a press release on Thursday, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Dr. Kennie Obateru, said there is no plan to increase pump price of petrol in February.
While giving assurance that it has enough stock of petrol to keep the nation well supplied for about 40 days, NNPC called on relevant regulatory authorities to monitoring of the activities of marketers with a view to sanctioning those involved in products hoarding or arbitrary increase of pump price.
It would be recalled that the nation’s downstream sector was deregulated in March 2020 with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, stating that the prices of petroleum products would be determined my prevailing market forces.
The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, said on Tuesday the Federal Government spends over N50 billion monthly on electricity.
The minister, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Aaron Artimas, stated this when he received the Guild of Actors and Film Producers in his office in Abuja.
He said: “Worried by the incessant complaints by ordinary Nigerians over the unavoidable and periodic increase in the cost of electricity, the Federal Government has been subsidising electricity supply in the country to the tune of over N50 billion.
The funds are provided to augment the shortfall by the Distribution Companies (DiSCos) who have failed to defray the cost of bulk electricity supplied to them by the Generating Companies (GenCoS).
“However, following a minor increase in the tariff regime, the subsidy has now decreased by half, but still constitutes a serious drain on the nation’s economy.”
Mamman expressed concern over the failure of the DiSCos to stabilise their operations to meet their financial obligations to other players in the sector.
He said it was in response to this unfortunate development that the federal government was forced to partly subsidise the sector to reduce the burden on ordinary Nigerians.
The minister added: “Nigerians must understand that these companies were privatised long before the advent of this administration but the government has no alternative than to continue managing the sector before a final solution is secured.
Through the Presidential Power Initiative and other intervention measures, the government is diligently working to massively resolve all these inherited problems that have continuously frustrated the success of the sector.”
Mamman claimed that most of the DisCos were sold off and managed as family businesses, a development that has hampered its effective management.
The Nigerian government is in the process of setting a new trade policy that would decide the country’s trade relations with African countries and global economies, as the Federal Government plans to take advantage of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s emergence as Director-General of World Trade Organisation (WTO).
It was gathered that Nigeria’s current trade policy used in the business community is about to expire, hence, the need for a new trade policy to shore up the country’s position in global trade.
According to Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, AdeniyI Adebayo, his ministry is drafting a new policy that should be concluded months from now when the Federal Executive Council (FEC) give their approval.
The trade policy Nigeria has been operating is about to expire, and we are in the process of putting in place a new trade policy, which is being worked on at the moment.
“We are hopeful within the next few months, we would be able to take it to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval. And that’s what we would be working on for the next few years.” Adebayo said during Arise TV interview on Monday.
He said the trade policy is vital as Nigeria had outgrown the African market and plans to play on global stage with Okonjo-Iweala as WTO Director-General. Okonjo-Iweala had been confirmed as WTO DG on Monday, following a long breakdown in the selection process.
Now that we have one of us as the DG of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Nigeria’s ambition is to play on the world stage. We are outgrowing Africa – we want to play with the biggest in the world.” Adebayo said.
On the back of rising electronic transactions, bank customers recorded a loss of N5.20 billion between January and September 2020 in 41,979 fraud-related incidences representing 91 percent success out of the total 46,126 fraud attempts.
This is according to data at the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) shown in its latest report titled Fraud in the Nigerian Financial Services.
The data also showed N203.357 million were partially lost by customers in 984 fraud attempts while 3,163 fraud attempts were repelled that could have resulted in the loss of N380.159 million.
A breakdown of how the frauds were perpetrated in 2020, shows majority of the fraud was done via the web representing 47 percent, Mobile transaction 36 percent, Automatic Teller Machine 9 percent while internet banking 1 percent.
On year on year growth, Mobile channel rose by 330 percent, while Web and Point of Sales channels fraud activities increased by 173 percent and 215 percent respectively from 2019 to 2020.
During the first 9 months of 2020, July represented the biggest loss for customers, as over 7,000 fraud cases were recorded.
January and March followed behind with over 5,000 fraud attempts in olumes.
On the technique applied to defraud bank customers in 2020, NIBSS revealed that Social engineering remains one of the principal ways in which fraudulent activities are attempted.
Social engineering is a way of manipulating a victim into giving away sensitive information.
NIBBS disclosed that 56 percent of fraud techniques were Social engineering, followed by phone theft, card theft and fake assistant representing 6 percent.
PIN compromise was 3 percent of the total fraud activities, Robbery 2 percent, Lack of 2FA 1.9 percent, missing lost card 1 percent, card phone theft 1 percent.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has concluded plans to renovate the National Theatre, with three contractors chosen to conduct the reconstruction work.
One of the firms is partly-owned by the Lagos State government with chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as directors in the company.
The three contractors chosen are Nairda Limited, which is the Electrical Sub Contractor; VACC Limited, the Mechanical Sub Contractor, and Cappa & D’Alberto Limited, which is the Main contractor of the National Theatre renovation project.
According to findings by Ripples Nigeria, Cappa & D’Alberto Limited is partly-owned by the Lagos State government, through Ibile Holdings Limited, which is an investment company of the state government.
Ibile – which is the acronym of the first letter from names of the five administrative divisions of Lagos State; Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos Island and Epe – is a substantial shareholder of Cappa & D’Alberto Limited.
Cappa & D’Alberto constructs residential and commercial buildings, and Ibile Holdings is its third largest shareholder with 18.56% as at July 25, 2019, checks by Ripples Nigeria confirmed.
On Cappa & D’Alberto board of directors, are two All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftains, Adedamola Seriki, current Nigerian ambassador to Spain and Abayomi Kiyomi, former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
Cappa & D’Alberto will be in charge of the renovation – which will cost the CBN and bankers committee N21.89 billion – as the main contractor, with renovation expected to be completed in the next 18 months, while CBN will run the entertainment site until 2042.
Cappa & D’Alberto were previously listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), but chose to delist after an Annual General Meeting (AGM) in 2009.
The company was eventually delisted by NSE in 2015 due to its failure to comply with listing requirements.
Prior to the decision to delist, Cappa & D’Alberto shares traded at above N100 per share, but dropped to N90.72kobo after the announcement.
The construction firm now operates as a private company.
The stock market dip at the end of the week, with investors losing N300 billion as the equity capitalisation ended trade with N21.15 trillion on Friday, trading below the N21.45 trillion the market closed with on Thursday.
The All Share Index (ASI) also depreciated following a loss of 574.45 basis points, to end the trade at 40.439.85 ASI on Friday, below the 41,014,30 ASI the market closed with the previous day.
Volume of shares traded declined significantly, with data from Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showing investors traded 395.62 million shares on Friday, lower than the 1.27 billion shares of Thursday.
Deals sealed by investors also decreased to 5,321 at the close of market on Friday, below the 6,573 deals secured on Thursday. Also, value of shares traded declined to N5,19 billion from N6,39 billion.
Meanwhile, at the capital market today, UAC Property rose to the top gainers’ chart after rising by 9.59% to close at N0.8kobo on Friday, against the N0.73kobo it opened with on Thursday.
Linkage Assurance came second with N0.59kobo as it share price moved upward from N0.54kobo following a 9.26% rise in share price. Japaul Gold followed after closing the market with N0.65kobo, rising from the opening price of N0.71kobo per share after recording 9.23% gain.
Unity Bank gained 9.23% to move to N0.71kobo from the opening trade of N0.65kobo.
Afrinsure completed the top five with N0.24kobo per share, gaining 9.09% to increase its share price from N0.22kobo.
Livestock topped the losers’ chart after shielding N0.22kobo to close the market with N2.03, having opened trading at N2.25kobo.
NEM also made the losers’ list after its share price dropped to N2.05 from N2.27kobo per share, following a loss of N0.22kobo.
BUA Cement share price dip by N5.7kobo to secure the third spot as it ended trading with N73.3kobo from N79 it opened with.
Sovereign Insurance share price declined to N0.26kobo per share from N0.28kobo, declining by 7.14%.
Dangote Cement completed the list as its share price fell by N8 to end trade with N220, having opened the trade with N228 per share.
For top traded shares, Zenith Bank was the most active stock on Friday, as investors traded 55.60 million shares worth N1.37 billion.
Transcorp shares were traded at a volume of 42.71 million valued at N40.96 million.
First Bank was next with 42.06 million shares traded at a cost of N302.48 million.
GTBank reported 42.06 million shares worth over N1.28 billion while Access Bank recorded 40.94 million traded shares at a value of N330.47 million.
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
