Business News
Survey indicates bots are the next big thing Nigerian Businesses
Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) has revealed the results of its Shared Service Centre (SSC)/Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) survey.
Highlights of the survey
Results from the survey which cut across various sectors of the economy showed significant cost savings had been made by adopting shared services and centralized processing centres especially for large organizations.
Here are a few key points from the survey which was conducted among C-Suite executives across various sectors.
- 26% of Nigerian SSCs surveyed selected their location based on the availability of support infrastructure.
- 23% of respondents implemented the SSC/CCS for improved service/process quality.
- 50% of respondents have achieved their objectives of implementing the SSC/CPC.
- 83% of respondents indicated their organizations have adopted multi function Shared Service Centres.
- 31% of CPC and SSC respondents achieved a cost savings of between 10-30%.
- 83% of respondents indicated that Finance and Information Tecnology functions were major candidates for migration to Shared Service Centres.
On Bots
- The survey also revealed that the next big thing for Shared Services and Centralised Processing will be the rise of ‘bots’.
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA) will make it possible to fully automate highly rule-based/repetitive processes, thus reducing headcount and associated costs.
- They also explained that expanding the service scope of SSCs/CPCs to include more complex activities, will require a new set of skills, knowledge and qualifications
- As more SSCs and CPCs implement advanced automation tools, the role of transaction processors will be redefined. Job roles will be more focused on handling exceptions, providing insights and ‘adding value’
During the event, Aigbe Olotu Group Head Finance at the Sahara Group and Sylvia Nwakwue Divisional head Transaction Services GT Bank highlighted the benefits of shared services and the challenges he had faced in their adoption such as dealing with staff redundancy, difference in time zones and convincing senior management.
Alistair Hoefrt, Director Intelligent Automation PwC South Africa also gave a presentation on why companies had begun using bots to handle some aspects of their processing and the benefits of using them.
What is a bot ?
A bot is an application that performs an automated task.
Benefits of using bots
Standard Control: Bots will make it possible to automate repetitive processes, thereby enhancing efficiency. Human beings are prone to error due to fatigue or poor skills.
Data validation/Quality: Due to their programming to follow specific instructions, bots maintain data quality. So if specific details of a drivers licence are required, the bot would accept/reject an application based on pre defined standards. A human being on the hand could decide to
Cost savings: Bots are far cheaper to maintain compared to human labour as they need no overtime and do not agitate for salary/wage increases.
What sectors could bots take people’s jobs?
Bots are used across several sectors, but are increasingly being used to replace customer care inquiries since the questions take a repetitive format.
Challenges remain
Despite the inherent advantages in using bots, significant hurdles remain for their adoption in Nigeria. Job losses that could occour would be resisted by labour. In a country with poor internet supply, maintaining 24 hours services with bots might be a challenge.
The high level of illiteracy in the country will also serve as a stumbling block to a mass adoption of bots in business. Call centres for example, have had to employ staff that can speak indigenous languages in the country to sort customer issues.
Business News
FG seizes Dan Etete’s luxury private jet linked to Malabu oil deal
Dan Etete is alleged to have paid a total of $57 million for the jet in 2011, which was part of the spending spree that the former petroleum minister was alleged to have embarked on after allegedly receiving $336 million from the OPL 245 deal.
The Federal Government has tracked down and grounded a luxury private jet which is owned by the country’s former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete, over his alleged involvement in the $1.1 billion Malabu oil scam. The luxury private jet was alleged to have been purchased with proceeds from that oil deal.
This seizure was confirmed to Finance Uncovered by the legal counsel to Nigeria, Babatunde Olabode Johnson, who was appointed by the Nigerian government in 2016 to recover assets from the OPL 245 deal.
Johnson said that the order was served on the jet’s owner, a company called Tibit Ltd, which has until Tuesday next week (June 9) to file court papers opposing the seizure. Tibit is an anonymously owned company incorporated in the British Virgin Island.
The asset recovery lawyers acting on behalf of the Nigerian government swooped last week, after the Bombardier 6000 jet, tail number M-MYNA, touched down at Montreal Trudeau International Airport in Canada on Friday May 29.
A Quebec judge is understood to have granted a seizure order for the aircraft in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Giuseppina Russa, who was named on the Montreal court order, is Tibit’s sole director according to records of the British Virgin Island firm.
Dan Etete is alleged to have paid a total of $57 million for the jet in 2011, which was part of the spending spree that the former petroleum minister was alleged to have embarked on after allegedly receiving $336 million from the OPL 245 deal.
Etete, during his days as the petroleum minister, awarded the prospecting rights to the huge OPL 245 block to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company he secretly controlled. After the death of the then head of state, Sani Abacha, he retained the rights to the oil block as a private citizen until he offloaded them to oil giants, Shell and Eni in 2011, who both paid $1.3 billion to the Nigerian government.
The entire OPL 245 deal is now subject to a corruption trial in an Italian court, where Etete is an accused, together with alleged middlemen and some top executives from Shell and Eni. All parties in the Milan trial have denied the charges against them.
The Nigerian government has also charged Etete and several others linked to Malabu with money laundering in connection with the onward flow of funds from the OPL 245 deal. However, they have denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as political propaganda.
It was uncovered that Johnson had made a deal with an American litigation funder, Drumcliffe Partners, to help fund the recovery of OPL 245 assets. They are to receive 5% of any funds successfully recovered and returned to Nigeria.
Business News
Ecobank Transnational to hold AGM by proxies on June 30th
Due to the ravaging Coronavirus pandemic, ETI said the AGM will be held by proxies.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has announced the date and venue of its 32nd Annual General Meeting (AGM). According to a disclosure that was sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the company’s AGM and an Extraordinary Meeting are scheduled to hold on June 30th, 2020, at Eko Hotels and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Due to the ravaging Coronavirus pandemic, ETI said the AGM will be held by proxies. The proxy AGM is expected to enable the Pan-African financial institution to abide by the directives issued by governments and agencies regarding COVID-19 and how to contain its spread.
“As a responsible corporate citizen, ETI intends to strictly comply with this restriction in addition to other applicable health and safety measures. Accordingly, attendance at this year’s General Meetings shall be mainly by proxies in accordance with the Articles of Association of the Company and applicable law,” a statement by the company said.
To this end, shareholders have been advised to select any of the company’s top executives (including the Chairman, Emmanuel Ikazoboh, and the MD of Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan) to represent and vote on their behalf during the AGM. Proxy forms may be downloaded from the company’s website, filled, and submitted in advance.
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Meanwhile, the issues that are up for discussion during the AGM and the Extra Ordinary meeting are enumerated below.
Annual General Meeting
1. Approval of the accounts
2. Appropriation of the Profits
3. Election of Directors
4. Ratification of the co-option of directors
5. Renewal of the appointment of the joint auditors
6. Approval of the Final Board Fees for Retiring Directors
Extraordinary General Meeting
1. Withdrawal of resolution on consolidation of shares
2. Amendment of the Articles
Note that in Q1 2020, ETI reported profited after-tax from continuing operation of N66.4 billion, marking a 19% decline when compared to N81.9 billion during the comparable period in 2019.
ETI’s share price on the Nigerian Stock Exchange closed Friday’s trading session at N5.55. The company has a market capitalisation of about N137.3 billion according to information obtained from Bloomberg.
Business News
NNPC explains measures to cut cost of crude oil production
Ewubare stated that NNPC was looking very closely at such variables as logistics, security, and transportation with a view to reducing the cost of production to $10 per barrel or below.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that it is taking some measures to bring down the cost of crude oil production to $10 per barrel or below.
According to a press statement that was signed by NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, this was disclosed by the Corporation’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ventures and Business Development, Mr. Roland Ewubare, on a Channels TV breakfast programme on Friday, June 5, 2020.
Ewubare pointed out that the peculiarity of the terrain was an important factor in determining cost, with such issues as pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, and some others being critical factors that are peculiar to the Nigerian terrain and would definitely drive up crude oil production cost in the country.
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He, however, stated that NNPC was looking very closely at such variables as logistics, security, and transportation with a view to reducing cost of production to $10 per barrel or below.
He disclosed that much had been done over the years in the area of reducing contracting cycle which used to be a major factor responsible for high cost of production, stressing that the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) achieved a six-month contracting cycle under him as Group General Manager.
Mr. Ewubare denied reports that Nigeria is part of OPEC+ member countries that did not comply with the output cut that was agreed by the alliance
Mr. Ewubare explained that though Nigeria’s total production capacity was 2.3million barrels per day, it was currently producing only about 1.4million barrels per day in compliance with the OPEC+ production quota, stressing that what makes up the little extra over the 1.4mbpd figure being bandied around for Nigeria was condensate which is usually not computed as part of production in OPEC quota.
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While making some clarification, Ewubare said, “There’s some confusion in the market around the parameters for the production cuts. Nigeria has a full production capacity of about 2.3mbpd. We are currently producing between 1.6 and 1.7mbpd. Our OPEC quota as a result of the cuts is about 1.4mbpd. You and I know that condensate is not included in the computation of the cut numbers. So what we have is 1.4mbpd of crude oil. The little you see above 1.4mbpd is made up of condensate which does not count as part of the basis for assessing our OPEC quota”.
NNPC Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, in a recent interview, advanced a similar position where he stressed that NNPC was working assiduously to bring down the cost of crude oil production to not more than $10 per barrel by 2021.
