1. Ifeanyi Ubah, the chairman of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Ltd requested for a reconciliation of the company’s account with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). This followed allegation by the NNPC that his company could not account for 100 million litres of petrol stored in its depot in Lagos. The NNPC also accused the MRS, but said the company had returned 30 million litres that it initially diverted. Mr Ubah described the allegation against his company as mischievous and misleading claiming that the NNPC also failed to tell the public that it also owed Capital Oil billions of Naira from their mutual business transactions.
2. Greenwish Partners, a Paris-based power producer, last week revealed plans to invest $280m to build solar power plants in Nigeria. The plant is expected to start producing electricity in the first quarter of next year. The company will locate a plant Enugu State that will produce 100MW, while the company will build two others of 50MW each in Kaduna and Jigawa states.
3. The newly built WACOT Rice Mill in Argungu, Kebbi State is expected to create 3,500 jobs and produce 120,000 metric tonnes of top quality rice annually. It also has silos for storing 18,000 tonnes of paddy and a warehouse for storing additional 12,000 tonnes of paddy.
4. Last week we heard that the Dangote Group currently owns the largest crawler crane in Africa. The crane was purchased from China’s number one construction company, XCMG Construction Machinery Co Ltd,.The crane weighs about 1250 tons and was assembled in Nigeria. XCMG was also happy to reveal that Dangote is their biggest customer.
5. Remember ANAMMCO Limited? The local vehicle assembly maker recently resumed full production at its plant in Enugu ,where it is assembling a range of Shacman trucks. Presently, no fewer than 50 heavy duty trucks are assembled every week at the plant located at the Emene Industrial Layout. This follows a manufacturing agreement between Transit Support Services Limited (TSS), a subsidiary of ABC Transport, and ANAMMCO. TSS is the official representative of Shacman, a Chinese brand, in Nigeria . These Chinese guys are running things in this economy.
6. One of the biggest story this week was AMCON's sale of Kestone Bank to Sigma Consortium for N25 billion. Keystone Bank’s valuation is now higher than Sterling Bank and Diamond Bank at N21.5 billion and N22 billion respectively. We also understand that Keystone Bank could require an additional injection of N100 billion by the Sigma Golf-Riverbank consortium. One of the lead promoters of the deal is Umaru Modibbo, founder of Sigma Pensions. Actis bought majority stake in Sigma Pensions last year. We don't know if Actis is involved in this acquisition.Rumours also suggest Keystone was sold to Sigma to appease some interest in the North.
7. Biogaran, a France-based company now acquired about 95% equity in Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited (Swipha).While the value of the transaction was not stated, it marks the first deal for the French company in Africa. It also marks the end of an era for Swipha which was established in Nigeria in 1976.
8. Nestoil said that one of the major challenges that threatened the company’s capacity in constructing the Obiafu/Obrikom–Oben (OB3) gas pipeline project was the difficult terrain. In response it has now deployed horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technology. The technology has the ability to surmount the terrain challenges across rivers, including River Niger, where the pipelines are to be laid.
9. Strancton Limited, a private power firm has opened discussions with the FG to build the first-ever waste-to-power plant in Nigeria. CEO of Strancton, Edozie Njoku, stated that the plan was to convert Nigeria’s huge waste into power for economic development. He stated that if ongoing discussions with the govt end successfully, the plant could become Nigeria’s 1st large-scale waste-to-power plant and the second in Africa, the first being that of New Horizons Energy in Athlone, Cape Town South Africa.
10. Auditors raise a red flag on RT Briscoe. In the latest audit on the company for the year ended December 31, 2016. External auditors KPMG indicated that preliminary reports show material uncertainty on the future survival of RT Briscoe. The auditors say that RT Briscoe technically lacks the ability to meet emerging financial obligations and working capital; its continuing survival depends on its bankers. The audit noted that the negative bottom-line and net current liabilities of the company could affect its going concern status, referring to its ability to continue operations into the foreseeable future.
The journey to this sorry state did not begin overnight for RT Briscoe. The company made the mistake of investing in only cyclical sectors of the economy, and having no competitive moat. While it started as one of the major dealers in Toyota, luck soon ran out as other companies gradually began to sell Toyota cars too. Ford Motor Company ended its 11-year partnership with Briscoe, saying it did not make commercial sense to have two dealers operating in the same country. Briscoe is also into the sales and leasing of industrial equipment. Again, the current downturn in the economy has forced many industries and construction companies to become idle.
11. Barring any unforeseen circumstances MTN is expected to pay N30 billion by March 31st, 2017. This is part of the N330 billion fine it is currently owing to the Federal Government. This would put the amount paid so far by the South African company to N110 billion. Other tranches of the payment include that MTN will pay on March 31, 2017 (N30 billion), March 31, 2018 (N55 billion), December 31, 2018 (N55 billion), March 31, 2019 (N55 billion) and the balance of N55 billion on May 31, 2019.
12. Another round of fuel scarcity looms as the South West branch of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has threatened to withdraw its members’ services over the introduction of Bulk Purchase Agreement (BPA) fee by the NNPC. It lamented that renewal of BPA by petroleum marketers was usually free, but warned that the imposition of a five-year BPA fee by NNPC may set it at odds with its members, who have vowed not to comply with the NNPC directive.
13. GSK appointed a new Managing Director. In a statement on Tuesday that Akshikar joined the company in January 2017 from Mumbai, India ,where he held the position of Executive Vice President, GlaxoSmithKline, India. Seven-Up changed leadership, Sunil Sawhney, having served as Managing Director for eight years, will be elevated to the position of Vice Chairman of the company with effect from April 1. Ziad Maalouf will succeed Sawhney as the Managing Director of the company. Maalouf joined SBC 9 years ago as National Sales and Distribution Manager and was later promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer. So 7Up is looking at another 5 or so years without a Nigerian as CEO. 14 years without a Nigerian at the top. What do you think?
14. Founder of IBTC now, StanbicIBTC, Atedo Peterside also resigned as Chairman of the company. He had been Chairman since 2007, just after the merger. He founded the bank in 1989 when he was just 33. Yes 33!
15. Zenith Bank shareholders have concluded their AGM approving dps of N1.77. They also approved the appointment of a new ED. However, a notable item that was not considered for approval was the recent plans by the bank to raise additional N100 billion in capital. According to the press release issued by the company, the request to approve the capital raise.
Credits: Ugodre
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