All the major economic news from Nigeria in 5 minutes – 21/6/2017

Summary of the top business, economic and political news in Nigeria today.

1. The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday, announced exposure draft framework  for the creation of the second version of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, known as AMCON 2, to tackle the over N2 trillion non-performing loans in the  banking sector.  Unlike the first AMCON, which is public sector funded and managed, AMCON 2 comprises private sector funded and managed  companies known as Private Asset Management Companies, PAMC. Link
2. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has affirmed that the net proceeds of the $300 million maiden Diaspora bond issued by the Federal Government will be used to finance capital projects. Link
3. The Federal Government on Tuesday inaugurated a technical working group for the development of the first operational plan for the National Integrated Infrastructure Masterplan. Link
4. The Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA) has disbursed N1.98 billion to 5, 317 to businesses, cooperatives and People Living with Disabilities (PLWD) in the last two years. Link
5. The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, has appealed to the federal government to pay the outstanding N720 billion fuel subsidy claims to its members to pay back their bank loans. The Executive Secretary of the association, Obafemi Olawore, said that the immediate payment of the accumulated subsidy claims would salvage the banks from total collapse over the huge debts owed them by marketers. Link
6. The federal government of Nigeria has clinched a business deal that would see Indian investors pump over $4 billion in the nation’s telecommunication sector. Link
7. The Federal Government received a total payment of 539.578 million Yuan, about $81.329 million, from a Chinese oil firm, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, CNOOC, in 2016, for two petroleum assets, Oil Mining Leases, OML, 130 and 138.  The payments which translated to about N29.278 billion, were for taxes, royalties and fees for the oil assets operated by the company. Link
8. The Kaduna Dry Port, when fully operational, will generate about 5,000 direct jobs and over 10,000 indirect jobs, the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Shippers Council Mr. Hassan Bello has said.  Mr. Bello, who led the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and other stakeholders to an inspection tour of the facility that near completion in Kaduna yesterday said, employment generation is a key consideration of the project. Link
9. Sahel Capital, manager of the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN), has announced the successful closure of a $66 million debut funding process which includes the African Development Bank, CDC Group, and the Dutch Good Growth Fund Link
10. A former Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing, Femi Okunnu, on Tuesday expressed sadness over the current status of the Federal Secretariat in Lagos and other abandoned asset of the federal government in the state, urging that the asset be returned to the state government for effective and proper usage. He said the whole of Ikoyi, Banana Island, Osborne Foreshore, Festac Town, Satellite Town, Trade Fair, among others belonged to Lagos State Government, and title of the lands were vested in the Lagos State governor, urging the federal government to hand over the asset to the state government. Link
11. A Niger Delta advocacy group, the Pan-Niger Delta Youth Leadership Forum, PANDLEAF, has urged the Federal Government to forget its plan to concession the Port Harcourt refinery to private organisations, but instead, allow it to be run by indigenes of the Niger Delta region. Link
12. Nipco Plc has launched a 4.84 billion naira ($16 mln) offer for the shares it needs to take its stake in Mobil Oil to 70 percent to comply with Nigerian takeover rules, its advisers said on Wednesday. It is offering minority shareholders 417.12 naira per share for the 3.23 percent of the capital, or 11.6 million shares, it needs, the same price it paid Exxon last year and a 75 percent premium to Wednesday’s market price of 238.36 naira. The offer ends on June 29. Link
13. Atlas Mara Ltd, the African investment vehicle of former Barclays boss Bob Diamond, said on Wednesday that it plans to raise $200 million to increase its stake in Union Bank of Nigeria and to scale up other businesses. Atlas Mara said it was buying a 13.4 percent stake in the Union Bank of Nigeria from Clermont Group, taking its total holding to 44.5 percent. Link
14. Following the failure of Etisalat Nigeria to restructure its loans amounting to N541 billion, the telecommunications giant, yesterday, announced a share restructuring which will see 13 commercial banks take over control of shares in the company. , Ibrahim Dikko, Vice President, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs of Etisalat in a statement on Tuesday said, “We will continue to tap into the rich, creative and innovative resources within our workforce to build a stronger business upon the stable foundation we have laid in our nine years of operations,” Link
15. Citing the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Tuesday stepped into the crisis that has enveloped the country’s fourth largest network operator, Etisalat, reminding the consortium of banks that the telecoms firm is indebted to, to the tune of $1.2 million that it cannot take over Etisalat’s operating licence without its approval. Link
16. Conoil Plc on Wednesday announced a total dividend of N2.15bn for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2016, in spite of challenging operating environment. The dividend translated to N3.10 per share when compared to N2bn or N3 per share paid in the comparative period of 2015. Link
17. MainOne, West African connectivity and data solutions company, says that it has experienced a fault on its submarine cable system. “Early in the morning of Sunday, June 18th, 2017, we experienced a fault on our submarine cable system, 3000KM offshore Portugal. The outage, the first of its kind in 7 years since our cable system came into operations, has caused disruptions in service to our international connectivity customers in West Africa. Link
18. Electricity distribution companies in Nigeria (Discos) have stated that they are working to fulfil their metering obligations to consumers with minimal power consumption in a bid to phase out estimated billing. Link
19. President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has estimated that the country is losing about N140 billion weekly to traffic gridlocks on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Lagos, the access road to Nigeria’s main sea ports.  “All our operations in the hinterland in Ilorin, in Kano are operating at 40 per cent maximum capacity.” he said. Link
20. The $2.2 billion proposed Anambra Airport City project has been dismissed as a white elephant project. According to one-time Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, the cost of the proposed project, expected to be financed by a Chinese firm, Sinoking Enterprises Investment Ltd, Orient Petroleum and the Anambra State Government, is unrealistically too high. Link
21. The Independent National Electoral Commission has received signatures from the electorates in Kogi West Senatorial District, asking for the recall of Senator Dino Melaye from the Senate. Six bags, which contained the signatures of 52.3 percent of the electorates from the zone and other petitions, were submitted to the Commission in Abuja on Wednesday. Link
22. A House of Representatives ad-hoc panel has said that it would not accept a recent Executive order for the scrapping of the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND). Rep Emeka Anohu while addressing a press conference yesterday,  said rather than scrapping it, the fund should be restructured for better performance. Link