NCC TO FINE NETWORK PROVIDERS N5M FOR UNSOLICITED TEXT

subscribers would pay a fine of N5million. The Chairman of the Nigeria
Communication Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta disclosed this yesterday at
the 46th convocation of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). He spoke on: “Th
Role of ICT in Tertiary Education in Nigeria-NCC interventions.” Danbatta explained
that the commission has contributed over 1.4 trillion naira to the country’s economy
since its inception. The chairman urged policy makers to adopt information
communication technology (ICT) to grow the economy. He canvassed the use of ICT
in addressing the challenges in agriculture, health, energy and education sectors. “It is
in the interest of the country to harness the potentials in the information-driven age to
facilitate the socio economic development. “The commission will continue to
facilitate the improvement of the content delivery and capacity development of
tertiary institutions,”

JAPANESE FIRMS PLAN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT IN
NIGERIA

Barring any last minute change in plans, at least four major sectors of the Nigerian
economy will soon attract multi-million dollars’ worth of investments from 11
Japanese firms. The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export
Promotion Council, Segun Awolowo, disclosed this during a meeting with the
Japanese investors in Abuja on Thursday. Awolowo, who did not mention the exact
amount of the investments, gave the major sectors where investments would be made
by the Japanese firm as manufacturing, agriculture, solid minerals and petrochemicals.
He said the economic crisis currently facing the country had made it imperative for
Nigeria to look beyond oil and boost the level of trading, particularly non-oil exports.
The NEPC boss lamented that while Nigeria earned about $70bn from crude oil sale
in 2014, income from the same source dropped by $30bn in 2015 to $40bn. Awolowo
stated that as a result of the volatile nature of the oil market, the Federal
Government’s fiscal strategy framework for the next three years was based on non-oil
products. He added that recent developments in the global commodities' market were
a wake-up call for Nigeria to accelerate the diversification of the economy.
REFORMING OIL, POWER, MINING, AVIATION SECTORS KEY TO
ECONOMIC RECOVERY

For the federal government to take the nation’s economy out of its recession and place
it on a sustainable growth path, there must policy reforms in oil, power, mining,
aviation sectors. The is the assertion of analysts at Afrinvest (W.A) Limited, a Lagos
based investment banking firm, disclosed in its Economic and Financial Market
Outlook 2017 report obtained at the weekend. According them, the Nigeria’s business
cycle would be highly dependent on the ability of policy makers to deliver
incremental oil output in 2017, restore macroeconomic stability by rebuilding
confidence in monetary policy and the administrative side of the foreign exchange FX
market structure as well as showing commitments to structural reforms. Moreover,
given the expectation of tighter monetary policy across the advanced economies, the
pace of funds flow to emerging markets may slowdown in 2017.They said the much
needed policy reforms are inevitable as Nigeria stands the risk of being further
relegated as already witnessed in 2016. Afrinvest noted that given that oil revenue
contributes a significant chunk to government’s revenue, it is imperative to implement
structural reforms that will ensure transparency and efficiency so that the much
needed foreign capital flows into the economy can be ultimately attracted. “These
reforms are majorly centered on passing the Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill
(PIB) into law as well as revolutionising the gas sector to enhance the gas-to- power
network and resolve the security challenges in the Niger-Delta. We recommend a
much more lasting pragmatic solution that incentivise disgruntled Niger-Delta
agitators to shield their swords and embrace peace. To this end, we believe that
privatisation, across the oil & gas value-chain, should be a key focus so as to entrench
efficiency in operations and actualise the full deregulation of the downstream sector
which began in May 2016,” they said. In the area of power, the analysts said they
believe the current challenges facing the power sector need to be decisively tackled
head-on. The whole process needs to be revamped. Also, “there is a need for debt and
equity restructuring by players in the sector in order to sufficiently capitalise firms as
successful implementation of these reforms would make the sector more attractive for
potential investors and as such the current liquidity crunch may be addressed,” they
added. Afrinvest said mining should be removed from the exclusive list so as to give
the state governments the impetus to explore and develop their respective natural
resources and also possibly foster interstate alliances, just as the company harped on
the privatisation of the Airports around the country to aid in the efficient operation o
the airports, unleashing tourism and commercial potential of the economy.

DANGOTE PLANS MORE INVESTMENT IN ZAMBIA

Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dangote, has expressed the desire to further consolidate
his existing investments in Zambia and other African countries by exploring
opportunities in the energy and agricultural sectors. Dangote was speaking when he
paid a courtesy call on the Zambian President, Edgar Lungu, to express his gratitude
for the enabling environment that the country was offering investors at every level.
The business mogul has a cement factory in Zambia, which employs hundreds of the
citizens of the host country. Dangote urged the Zambian government to roll out
policies that would encourage massive investments in the country. Dangote said, “I
am here not only to explore investment opportunities and consolidate our existing
business relations, but also to congratulate you for your victory in the last general
elections. I wish you many years of success as you guide your nation to greater
heights and prosperity. “During your tenure, you need to implement agricultural
practices, which will ensure that yields per hectare are high and competitive. Zambia’s
natural advantage in the export market is the readily available captive market that
consists of eight neighbouring countries and other nations in the Great Lakes region

FG APPOINTS GOLDMAN, STANBIC TO SELL DEBUT ‘DIASPORA BOND’
The federal government has asked Goldman Sachs and Stanbic IBTC Bank to advise
it on the planned sale of a debut “diaspora bond” targeted at Nigerians living abroad.
Africa’s biggest economy first announced plans to sell bonds targeting Nigerian
nationals abroad in 2013 to raise between $100 million to $300 million. According to
Reuters, Goldman Sachs and Stanbic were due to manage the sale at the time, but the
government did not appoint any bookrunners ahead of the election in 2015 that
brought President Muhammadu Buhari to power. United Bank for Africa on Monday
said the lender had been appointed as one of the bookrunners on the diaspora bond
deal. First Bank and Standard Bank were also appointed, a local newspaper reported,
quoting the debt office. Nigeria is the world’s fifth-biggest destination for
international remittances after China, India, the Philippines and Mexico, with five
million Nigerians living abroad sending money back to relatives, according to
Western Union. Remittances make up the second-largest source of foreign exchange
receipts in Nigeria, after oil revenues. Citizens living abroad send at least $10 billion
home annually. The diaspora bond will have a maturity of five to seven years and will
be issued before the second half of the year, the newspaper reported. A finance
ministry source told Reuters this month that the country will look to issue a diaspora
bond after completing a $1 billion Eurobond sale this year. Last month the
government appointed Citigroup, Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic IBTC to
manage the $1 billion Eurobond sale, which it hopes to carry out in March. The
government plans to borrow up to $10 billion, with about half of that coming from
foreign sources. So far only the African Development Bank has confirmed a budget
support package of $1 billion. The government has held talks for months with the
World Bank, China and other institutions to fund the budget gaps. The government
also plans to issue a debut sovereign Sukuk in the local market and is looking to
appoint advisers.
FG TARGETS SOLAR POWER FOR INDUSTRIAL CENTRES
The Federal Government has commenced moves that will ensure the provision of
electricity to industrial areas using energy from the sun. It stated that its drive to
provide solar power for industries was due to the enormous pressure on the country’s
electricity grid as well as the limited quantum of power provided by power generation
companies. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this in Abuja at a brief ceremony
to mark the deployment of 20,000 units of solar home systems provided by the Niger
Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria to selected rural communities in Nigeria.
He said Nigeria could not take all its power from the national electricity grid, adding
that in the next few years, it would not be absolutely right to connect everyone to the
grid. “This is because we will be deploying off-grid solutions and we want to do that
in industrial areas so as to effectively support the grid. And this Wuna village here in
Abuja is an industrial area,” he said. The vice-president also stated that rural
communities across the country would benefit from the deployment of solar powerpower
systems, adding that the government had consulted private investors to support the
initiative. He said, “Wuna village is the first place where this solar home system is
deployed, but let me say that this will be replicated all over Nigeria. We are starting
with 20,000 (units) and I’m sure that we will ramp up very quickly. We’ve been
talking to the private sector about involving themselves in this project. We think that
as solar power becomes cheaper, and it is becoming practically cheaper day by day,
we will be able to afford to do even more.” The Managing Director/Chief Executive
Officer, NDPHC, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo, said about 70 million Nigerians were without any
connection to the national power grid. According to him, these Nigerians rely on
rudimentary lighting systems characterised mainly by use of kerosene lamps, candles
and petrol generators with attendant health and safety risks, as well as financial
challenges. He said, “But by the solar home system initiative, NDPHC will be actively
involved in the process of bringing power to these rural communities, thereby
stimulating social and economic activities in the areas located off the grid. “The
NDPHC has deployed 200 units of the SHS as pilot programme in Wuna. The
beneficiaries of the 20,000 units are among the already identified communities of the
19 northern states of the federation. The units will be deployed within a period of 12
months.” Ugbo said his firm adopted a community-based approach that allowed low-
income rural dwellers to make a monthly payment for energy and for the acquisition
of the SHS unit after a certain period of
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