Business News
Once Africa’s first, Omatek is wallowing in debts
The Federal Government has been urged to intervene in the dispute between Omatek Ventures and the @BOINigeria. The lender had shut down Omatek following the company’s inability to finance its debt.
The Federal Government has been urged to intervene in the dispute between Omatek Ventures and the Bank of Industry (BOI). The lender had shut down Omatek following the company’s inability to finance its debt.
The President of the Nigerian Computer Society, Prof. Adesola Aderounmu said it has become necessary for such intervention, as the action has spiral beyond Omatek, and it’s now affecting the economy as unemployment rises across Nigeria.
Background: Omatek was accused of defaulting on its credit facility agreement with BOI, and has refused to service the N5.81 billion which it obtained in 2012. According to the development bank, all effort to retrieve the debt has proved abortive despite promises of financing from the company’s management.
It has been more than twenty-four months since BOI closed the factory of Omatek. This has led to retrenchment by the information and communication technology firm and lose of jobs in Omatek.
According to Aderounmu, it’s time for FG to prevail on BOI to vacate the court order and reopen the factory since Omatek had notified its shareholders of willingness to settle out of court with BOI in order to reach an amicable agreement on the loan default.
What FG’s intervention means: BOI is a government controlled development lender. No other party can compel BOI to vacate the court order than the Buhari-administration.
Why this matters: Omatek has the capacity to employ over 600 youth both directly and indirectly at peak production, but the continuous shutdown would prevent the company from contributing its quota to the development of the economy. Currently, Nigeria needs more job opportunities, as the total number of unemployed persons in Nigeria grew by 31% to 21 million people in Q3 2018 from 16 million in Q3 2017, and Omatek is an opportunity to cut rising unemployment.
About Omatek: The company is listed on the Nigerian Stick Exchange (NSE) with corporate focus in the assembling, sales, maintenance of computers, inverters and solar power products. It is an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) specialising in the local assembly of computer cases, speakers, keyboards and mouse, other than Computer systems and Notebooks in the whole of Africa.
Assembling of these components in its factory has created a great advantage to other systems builders as well as resellers all over Africa for retailing.
Business
FG explains why Lagos-Ibadan rail line was not linked to the sea
The government in its explanation said that the delay was due to disruption by trucks going in and out of the port complex.
The Federal Government has stated why the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) Nigeria Limited could not link the final part of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line to the sea.
The government in its explanation said that it was due to disruption by trucks going in and out of the port complex.
According to a press statement signed by the Director, Press and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Eric Ojiekwe, this disclosure was made by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, while on a routine tour of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line project on Saturday, April 10, 2021.
The Minister pointed out that the original blueprint for the Lagos-Ibadan rail line project was not adhered to by CCECC Nigeria Limited and TEAM consortium and therefore warned that the master plan of the soon to commence Ibadan-Kano rail line project should not be changed.
The statement from the ministry partly reads, “The Nigerian Government has restated its commitment to connect the whole country by rail with the soon to commence Ibadan-Kano Standard Gauge Rail project.”
Amaechi forewarned that the master plan of the soon to commence project should not be changed as the original blueprint for the Lagos-Ibadan wasn’t adhered to by Messrs CCECC Nigeria and TEAM consortium. The Minister who rode the train from Ebute-Meta to the 8.72 km Apapa Port Spur line, informed the media that the inability of Messrs CCECC Nigeria to link the final part of the rail line down to the sea is rather due to disruption by trucks going in and out of the port complex.’’
The Minister had noted that the Federal Government has paid its share of the counterpart funding of the Ibadan-Kano rail line project and is waiting for China-Exim bank to ratify its side of the agreement for the project to commence.
He also advised the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to acquire more land around the train stations and the rail tracks for future development adding that this will be near impossible to do in the future as whatever space available now would have been taken over by businesses attracted to the rail line.
In case you missed it
It can be recalled that full commercial train services commenced on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line after train operations commenced on December 7, 2020, with only Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta residents enjoying the train services.
This is because other minor and major stations along that route were yet to be completed.
IBADAN-KANO RAIL PROJECT TO COMMENCE SOON – FG
The @NigerianGov has restated its commitment to connect the whole country by rail with the soon to commence Ibadan-Kano Standard Gauge Rail project.
The Minister of Transportation, @ChibuikeAmaechi, while on routine tour of the— Federal Ministry of Transportation (@MinTransportNG) April 11, 2021
Manufacturing
Industrial Index loses -12.39 points, as BUA and Lafarge Cement shares top losers list
The NSE Industrials index lost 12.39 index points in the first trading week in the month of April.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange Industrial Index at the close of trading activities for the first week in the month of April closed on a bearish note, following a 0.66% decrease in the shares of BUA CEMENT and Lafarge.
At the close of trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on the 9th of April 2021, the industrial index depreciated by 55.01 index points, to close lower at 1,928.18 index points for the week.
When compared to the overall performance of the market, the NSE Industrial index underperformed, noting that the NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalization depreciated by 0.66% to close the week at 38,866.39 and N20.3350 trillion respectively.
READ: COVID-19, VAT, FX scarcity adversely impacted our operations in 2020 – Nigerian Breweries boss says
What you should know
The NSE Industrial Index was designed to provide an investable benchmark to capture the performance of the Industrial Sector. It comprises the most capitalized and liquid companies in the industrial sector and is based on the market capitalization methodology.
The index tracks the performance of ten industrial companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange which includes Dangote, BUA, and Lafarge Cement.
The overall performance of the companies for the week was bearish, as the index closed on a negative note driven by the decrease in the share price of BUA Cement and Lafarge.
MEYER (19.51) was the only gainer for the week, while BUACEMENT (-1.09%) and LAFARGE WAPCO (-3.00%) were the only losers for the week.
GAINER
- MEYER up by19.51% to close at N0.49.
LOSER
- WAPCO down by -3.00% to close at N21.00.
- BUACEMENT down by -1.09% to close at N72.70.
