BUSINESS

Updated August 27, 2008

FG EXTENDS DEADLINE ON TEXTILE IMPORTATION,DROPS DUTIES,VAT ON POWER

The Federal Government has removed all duties and payment of VAT on the importation of plants, machineries and other equipment used for the generation of power through the utilisation of local gas. A circular from the Budget office of the Ministry of Finance in Abuja said the tax exemption covered the 2008 fiscal period.

The gesture is coming barely a week after the government signed an agreement with a German consortium for the provision of 6,500 megawatts of electricity. The circular, titled ``Implementation of the Year 2008 Fiscal Policy Measures and Tariff Amendments," said Government had also extended the deadline on the importation of certain textile materials into the country. The deadline on the fabrics, which were not listed on the circular, was extended from December 2007 to December 2008.

``Embroidery lace manufacturers shall continue to enjoy the special concession granted them on the importation of their raw materials on specialised yarn and base-fabrics at 10 per cent duty rate,'' it said.

The circular said government had also lifted the ban on noodles and cornflakes, but placed a duty rate of 20 per cent on the products. Importation of cigarettes, according to the circular, will continue to attract a 40 per cent levy. It said government had also removed baby diapers and incontinental pads from the import prohibition list, but placed a duty rate of 20 per cent and five per cent, respectively on the items.

 FTSE BUOYED BY U.S. DATA, COMMODITIES LEAD UPSIDE
 Britain's blue-chip index reversed initial losses to rise more than 1 per cent on Wednesday as commodities tracked energy and metal prices higher, while banks also rose as strong U.S. data pushed stocks positive. The FTSE 100 ended up 57.4 points, or 1.1 per cent at 5,528.1 after falling to 5,434.7 earlier in the session.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. stocks rose to boost UK sentiment after data showed that new orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods jumped a surprising 1.3 per cent in July on strong civilian aircraft sales, while a gauge of business investment also rose unexpectedly.

The UK's benchmark share index, is still down about 14 per cent this year, however, on fears of a recession, concerns over rising commodity prices and the impact of a global credit crunch. The FTSEurofirst 300 of top European shares was 0.2 per cent higher. Among leading sectors, heavyweight oil shares were in demand as crude prices traded above $118 a barrel and after oil explorer Tullow Oil reported an almost 250 per cent rise in first-half net profit, beating analysts' forecasts, thanks to high oil prices and the sale of a North Sea field.

Tullow Oil added 3 per cent. Oil and gas services firm Petrofac also reported better-than-expected first-half net profit, up 57 per cent from a year ago, and its shares rose 6.2 per cent. BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group and Cairn Energy put on 1.8 to 4.7 per cent. "It's certainly been a profitable day for the FTSE with the London index retaking the 5,500 level and the petrochemicals sector accounting for over one-third of the gains," said Jimmy Yates, dealer at CMC Markets.
"Tullow Oil set the pace this morning with a solid set of earnings and crude has spent the day forging higher too, initially off the back of the threat posed by Hurricane Gustav -- which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm."

In miners, Antofagasta posted an 8.8 percent rise in first-half earnings per share, helped by higher copper output and prices which outweighed rising costs. Its stock was up 3.9 per cent. Rising metal prices also helped the mining sector, with Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, ENRC and Xstrata climbing 1.3-4.2 per cent. Also swimming in blue waters, UK banks turned positive with Barclays, HSBC Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS gaining 0.2-2.8 per cent. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey lost 7.2 per cent after the mid-cap firm reported a sharp fall in first-half profit and said it was scrapping its interim dividend due to challenging market conditions in Britain, the U.S. and Spain. Other housebuilders also took a beating, with Persimmon, Bovis Homes and Barratt Developments slipping between 1.6 and 3.1 percent.

Pharmaceuticals traded negative as traders said investors were switching from the sector, which has been the best performer in Europe so far this year. GlaxoSmithKline, Shire and AstraZeneca dipped 0.2-0.7 per cent. "We will see a market that bobs up and down like a cork in a bath for the next three months until we get close to the banks telling us 'we have quantified our losses, it's business as usual'," said David Buik at BGC Partners.

Among individual stocks, Liberty International, Capita Group , InterContinental Hotels and Admiral Group fell after going ex-dividend. Britain's second-biggest pubs group Enterprise Inns dipped 4.4 per cent to top FTSE 100 losers, dragged down by a downgrade from Cazenove to "underperform" from "in-line". G4S, the world's biggest security and guarding firm by value, tacked on 5.9 per cent as it met expectations with a 26-per cent rise in first-half operating profit and said it remained confident for the full year. "This month has seen the FTSE run out of steam ahead of the 5,550/70 area once already, and the temptation to book some profits on the back of the past week's gains could prove too tempting for traders as August draws to a close," said on

CNPP CONDEMNS `HARASSMENT' OF OKEREKE-ONYIUKE

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has condemned the continued harassment of the Director-Director of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Prof Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke.

Okereke-Onyiuke is now under pressure to resign her office, following a fund-raising she organized for U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate, Barrack Obama. The EFCC has seized her international passport pending the conclusion of an ongoing investigations into the matter.

CNPP National Chairman, Dr Olapade Agoro, said that Okereke-Onyiuke had not stolen public funds.  ``We must stop vilifying her for trying to use her position to win international friendships for Nigeria,'' Agoro said.

He noted that: ``Some people are trying to use this as an opportunity to get rid of her and Nigerians must not allow it''. Agoro stressed that the NSE Director-General had not violated any Nigerian law, noting that she acted in her private capacity in raising the funds. ``The EFCC's harassment of Okereke-Onyiuke is not fair. The best government could have done is to call her to order,'' he added.

NITEL WILL HAVE A NEW CORE INVESTOR SOON --- MINISTER

The Minister of State for Information and Communication, Alhaji Dasuki Nakande, today in Abuja said that NITEL would soon have a new core investor. Nakande told newsmen that government had intervened as efforts were being made to ensure that a new core investor emerged for the organisation.

``After our meeting, government has given the Bureau for Public Enterprise the order to ensure that a new core investor emerges that will move NITEL to greater height,'' he said. ``We are aware of all that is happening in NITEL, we will not allow it to collapse and that is why in no distance time people will notice great development in NITEL. ``As Nigeria keep witnessing tremendous growth in the industry, there is need for NITEL to be carried along considering its great impact in the country,'' Nakande added.

Transcorp in 2006 took over the management of NITEL, having acquired 51 per cent of the shares while Federal Government kept 49 per cent.
26.08.08

AGRIC STAKEHOLDERS TASKED ON NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has called on agriculture stakeholders to assist farmers in identifying and applying technologies that would guarantee improved productivity.

The Director-General, Dr John Akanya, made the call in Abuja at the opening of a three-day meeting of the Technical Committee on Agrochemical, convened to review and deliberate on fertiliser standards. Represented by Mr. John Achukwu, a Director in SON, Akanya said:’ the performance of Nigerian farmers has been unimpressive and productivity has not grown sufficiently''.

He attributed the situation to inadequate fertiliser application, under investment in new technology and farm inputs as well as soil infertility.
The Director-General said SON and other stakeholders were concerned over the development and had therefore come together to review and deliberate on fertiliser standards.

``This is long overdue as the first edition of fertiliser standards was published between 1978 and 1981. ``The exercise has become necessary because between then and now, notable technological innovations have taken place in various aspects of the standards,'' Akanya said.
He said the draft standards for deliberation were compiled to reflect the socio-economic factors and the recent technological innovations.

Fertiliser use in Nigeria is said to be one of the lowest in the world, averaging 8kg per hectare compared to the global average of more than 140 kg per hectare.
At the Fertiliser Summit held in Abuja in 2006, African leaders agreed to the need to rapidly raise the average level of fertiliser use from the current 8kg per hectare to an average of 50kg per hectare by 2015. Meanwhile the average level of fertiliser us in Africa has been projected to reduce in the near future due to the rapid increase in the global fertiliser prices.

NLC VOWS TO RESIST FUEL PRICE HIKE

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says it would resist the proposed increase in the prices of petroleum products by the Federal Government. The NLC chairman in Kwara, Mr. Emmanuel Aiyeoribe, said in Ilorin that the planned price increase showed government's insensitivity to the plight of the people.

"We, as labour leaders, will mobilise Nigerians against the planned hike of petroleum products (prices).”The price of crude oil internationally is rising, what are they doing with the excess money?
"Let them take out of the excess to service whatever they may imagine or call subsidy", he said. Aiyeoribe urged government to cushion the effects of the global food crisis on the populace. "We are all worried about the present global food crisis yet our government is hell bent on adding to our burden," he said.

IBADAN RESIDENTS RESORT TO COAL, WOOD, AS KEROSENE BECOME SCARCE

As kerosene becomes scarce in Oyo State, coal and firewood sellers in Ibadan are making brisk business, with many more residents now patronising them.
A survey conducted, indicates that the demand for coal and firewood has gone up in recent months, while there is also a significant hike in their prices.
At Dugbe, coal is being measured and sold for N20, N50, N250 and N1, 000, depending on the size of the bag.

A seller, Rashedat Akinsola, said she was making good sales, a development she attributed mainly to the general scarcity of kerosene. ``Business is good. It is cheaper and better to cook with coal than with kerosene. While you can actually use N50 worth of coal for the preparation of three meals, a bottle of kerosene, which sells for about N150, will barely prepare a meal,'' she said.

A charcoal patron, Soji Adeleye, said that apart from the difficulty in sourcing for kerosene, he could no longer afford the skyrocketing price. ``My family actually requires a minimum of two bottles of kerosene daily and I cannot afford this with my meagre income,'' he said. However, another coal seller at Mokola, who would not give her name, partly blamed the increase in the price on the difficulty which dealers are experiencing in getting the fuel from the hinterlands.
``The rains had made it very difficult for dealers to bring coal and firewood to town. `We learnt that their lorries are getting bogged down by the bad roads,'' she said. There is an appreciable increase in the demand for firewood, with a bunch selling for\ as much as N100.

AFRICAN TRAVEL AGENCIES OPPOSE ``ZERO COMMISSION"

The Federation of Travel Agencies from 14 African countries have opposed Air France's decision to apply ``zero commission" from January 2009 in the member countries of the organisation.

``Zero commission" means the scrapping of the six to seven per cent commission paid to travel agencies on the sale of air tickets. Federation chairman Aime Sene told a news conference in Dakar on Monday that the new policy would lead to a sharp fall in travel agencies' earnings, if not their bankruptcy.

``The introduction of zero commission for low income African countries where economic realities are different from those in developed countries would be a way to kill off travel agencies," he added.

Zero commission was introduced last year in the U.S. and two years ago in France.
26.08.08

NIGERIA SETS AMBITIOUS RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGET

Nigeria has set an ambitious target of moving 20 per cent of the country to off-grid renewable energy sources by 2012. Renewable energy presently contributes less that one per cent of the country's energy mix profile. Dr Victor Fodeke, Head of the Nigeria Special Climate Change Unit in Accra said that the move was aimed at addressing Nigeria's ``awful'' energy situation.
``We have set targets for achieving this ambition within the stated time frame and this include energy saving programme for the country,'' he said.

Others, according to him, are the adoption of energy efficient strategies, the mass popularisation of solar energy plants, wind and small hydro energy plants and encouraging investment in bio mass for energy generation.

He said that the project would also enhance Clean Development Mechanism status of the country. He said that with strict implementation of the guidelines and the roadmap already prepared for onward presentation to the federal government, the country's energy situation would change for the better in line with the President Umaru Yar'Adua's seven point agenda.

He called on foreign investors to participate in the energy sector to enable the country achieve the vision 202020 goals. Fodeke, who is leading Nigeria's delegation to the Climate Change Talks, said that by adopting such plan the country was joining global efforts to embrace green energy and reduce carbon dioxide emission.

KANO GOVT. TO EMBARK ON ROAD PROJECTS NEXT YEAR

The Kano State Commissioner of Projects Monitoring and Evaluation, Alhaji Ibrahim Garba, has said the State Government would embark on ambitious road projects in the 2009 fiscal year. This was contained in a statement by Malam Yahya Umar of the Directorate for Monitoring and Evaluation, in Kano.
The statement noted that the commissioner said the projects were aimed at accelerating the economic growth of the state, as a commercial centre in the West-

African sub-region. It said that priority attention would be given to projects in the rural areas, after which important roads in the metropolis would be rehabilitated. "The programme is not only about road construction, but also the provision of modern drainage and other infrastructure to attract foreign investors to the state," it said. It added that the Managing Director had directed all road-side hawkers to remove their structures from the sites of ongoing road projects immediately.

It also urged contractors to ensure timely completion of all works, and appealed to the state government to formulate laws that would outlaw road-side hawking and erection of structures in the state.

NAC RECOMMENDS A 40 PER CENT TARIFF INCREASE ON IMPORTED VEHICLES

The National Automotive Council (NAC) has recommended a 40 per cent tariff increase on all automotive and components imported into the country. The council made the recommendation at its 15th anniversary press briefing in Abuja. Alhaji Aminu Jalal, Director-General of the council said that the increase would encourage the development of a viable automotive industry in the country.

``The council wants government and its agencies to patronise local automotive products.  ``We also want a national reorientation on the patronage of local products,'' he said.

The DG said: ``It is high time Nigerians learn to patronise locally assembled vehicles and stop importing vehicles into the country''. He said the vision of the council was to facilitate the production of components and vehicles of International standards at competitive prices. ``NAC strives to ensure the survival, growth and integrated development of the Nigeria automotive industry using local, human and material resources,'' he said.

According to him, the council pursues this aspiration through the creation of an enabling environment. He noted that this would generate employment, transfer of technology, boost transportation capacities, save foreign exchange and exportation. ``The council had also supported about 22 companies in the auto sub-sector with loans to develop modern auto parts and components to a tune of over N4 billion,'' he said.

Jalal said NAC had held series of meetings with Kwara State Government on the establishment of an auto workshop diagnostic centre. ``This is for the repairs and maintenance of vehicles in the country. ``The council had also completed a feasibility study on the establishment of an automotive test centre to carry out quality test on raw materials and finished products of local components/parts,'' he added.

He said SMEs should be encouraged to develop joint ventures and partnerships with foreign auto component producers. 25.08.08

MINISTRY, FIRM TO PARTNER ON COAL PROJECT

The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD) is to partner with TeknoSuisse Refinery Ltd on coal, to generate electricity power for the country. TeknoSuisse Refinery is a Nigeria based firm which specialises in oil and coal exploration. The MMSD Minister, Chief Sarafa Isola, announced this when while receiving a delegation from the firm, led by its Managing Director, Dr Yinka Akinbami.Isola said power generation through coal was in line with government's plan of arresting the energy crisis facing the nation.

According to him, following the privatisation of the Nigeria Coal Corporation, and the new legislative framework, investors are adequately backed by law, to operate in Nigeria. He added that the ministry's Coal Development Committee would work with the firm to map out areas of collaboration. Akinbami said that the country required 14 gigabytes generation of coal to serve its energy needs. He said that the company planned to generate 470 megawatts of electricity, to
complement government's plan to improve power generation to 4,000 megawatts before the end of the year. According to him, the company has entered into an agreement with the renowned Russian scientist, Prof. Yuriy Noskov, to deploy the latest technology in power generation.

Akinbami said Nigeria would be the second country to benefit from such technology. He described the technology as a combined cycle of two turbines with capacity to generate 320mw, each with a capacity for 160mw. He explained that the coal would go through cooling process while generating power, and the heat gathered could generate additional 10 to 150mw of electricity. He said the technology in place for the project would utilise only Nigeria's coal
resources, stressing that it also had other multiple benefits.

Prof. Noskov said the technology had the capacity of producing synthetic gas, aluminum and fertiliser. Noskov, who observed that coal was an economically viable resource, said Nigeria's coal had a reserve estimate of 1000 years. He said if judiciously utilised, it would solve the energy crisis in the country.

PLATEAU ASSEMBLY PASSES N12BN SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET

The Plateau State House of Assembly, has passed a supplementary budget of N12 billion for services in the state during the year. The passage followed the submission of are port on the estimate by the House Committee on Appropriation. Gov Jonah Jang sent the bill to the assembly in July with a proposal of N14 billion.
The assembly had insisted that ministries sent in their budget performances for the first quarter before deliberations could continue on the supplementary bill.
However, while the assembly was deliberating on the estimate, the executive increased it to N19 billion.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Mr. Danboyi Jugul, said, the House acted based on what it received earlier. The legislators urged ministries, departments and agencies to ensure fiscal discipline in their operations.

ZAMBIA FINANCE MINISTER TO CONTEST FOR PRESIDENCY

Zambian Finance Minister Ng'andu Magande has applied to be considered as presidential candidate of the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) for the forthcoming presidential by-election, The Post reported.

In a letter dated Aug. 25, 2008 and addressed to MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba, Magande said that he considered himself eminently qualified to represent the MMD in the by-election. With my rich experience in managing state operations both internationally and locally, I consider myself eminently qualified to represent the MMD party in the forthcoming presidential by- elections," he said

NIGERIAN STOCK MARKET AS OF TUESDAY, AUGUST 26th, 2008