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Nigeria&#8217;s acting president Yemi Osinbajo signed three executive orders in May, one of the orders was a directive for the resumption of 24-hour operations at the ports.

Nigerian Ports Authority’s Hadiza Bala Usman on managing the country’ ports

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KPMG&#8217;s Tomi Adepoju describes Nigeria&#8217;s regulatory environment as bullish and says that companies are finding it difficult to comply.

Fixing Nigeria’s business regulations

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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is recuperating fast and will return home shortly, his deputy said on Wednesday after visiting the head of state in London where he has been on prolonged sick leave.
Yemi Osinbajo&#8217;s brief and unannounced trip has revived speculation about Buhari&#8217;s health and whether he will be able to stand for re-election in 2019. The details of his illness have not been made public.
&#8220;He is in very high spirits, he is recuperating very quickly and we had a very long conversation. We spoke for well over an hour. His humour is all there. He is doing well,&#8221; said Osinbajo, who is acting president.
&#8220;We discussed wide-ranging issues. I can&#8217;t go into specifics,&#8221; he said in his first public comments after returning to Abuja on Wednesday morning. Osinbajo then chaired a weekly cabinet meeting.
When Buhari, 74, left Abuja for London on May 7, his second trip abroad for health reasons, he handed over power to Osinbajo, who according to the constitution would assume the presidency should Buhari be unable to continue.
Osinbajo is already being talked about in the capital as a potential nominee for the 2019 presidential election in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa&#8217;s largest economy and energy producer.
Questioning the Narrative
A thin-looking Buhari was last seen in Nigeria on state television in early May, just hours before he flew to Britain, welcoming a group of 82 girls released by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
Buhari&#8217;s first trip to London for health reasons was in January and lasted nearly two months.
The Nigerian public&#8217;s view of Buhari&#8217;s situation has turned sceptical. As the trickle of information about the president&#8217;s health, which used to include photographs of meetings in London, dries up, some are questioning the official narrative.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know, unless they show it to us on television or through anything, that both of them (Buhari and Osinbajo) are meeting,&#8221; said Adeleke Ogunlana, a businessman in Lagos.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe they met at all.&#8221;
With the economy now in its second year of recession, the first in a quarter of a century, others asked whether a sickly person should be at the helm.
&#8220;We want a healthy, vibrant president who is sound mentally and physically to be able to handle the problems facing the country,&#8221; said Emeka Iloabuchi, a Lagos-based marketer.
&#8220;The president as far as I am concerned should leave the office, should resign honorably so that the people of Nigeria can have a man that is healthy.&#8221;
Avoiding Political Infighting
Nigerian officials have sought to avoid a scenario seen in 2010 when political infighting broke out during the lengthy illness of then-President Umaru Yar&#8217;Adua.
Osinbajo has been given full powers to act during Buhari&#8217;s absences, in contrast to predecessor Goodluck Jonathan who only took over after Yar&#8217;Adua&#8217;s death in 2010 ended the power vacuum.
Investors have welcomed Osinbajo, a Christian lawyer from the commercial capital Lagos in southwest Nigeria who is seen as more business-friendly than Buhari.
But the long-term risk is that the Muslim north, where Buhari hails from, might not accept Osinbajo as a permanent solution if the president became incapacitated at some point.
Traditionally in Nigeria, the leadership rotates between north and south to ensure a balance in a country evenly split between Muslims and Christians.
Jonathan, a Christian from the south, upset many northerners by refusing to give way to a northern candidate in 2010. Many northerners had felt there should have been another northern presidential term after Yar&#8217;Adua&#8217;s premature death.

Nigeria’s Buhari recovering fast, will return soon: VP, Osinbajo

Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was in London on Tuesday, spending an hour at the country&#8217;s High Commission where President Muhammadu Buhari has spent much of the past two months on medical leave.
A Reuters reporter saw Osinbajo arrive at Abuja House, the Nigerian High Commission, or embassy, in London, late on Tuesday. He left an hour later without comment.
Buhari left Abuja on May 7 and handed over power to his deputy, to allay concerns of a void at the top of Africa&#8217;s biggest economy.
&#8220;Osinbajo meeting with President Buhari in London today, and returning to Abuja immediately afterwards,&#8221; the vice president&#8217;s spokesman, Laolu Akande, said in a Twitter message posted earlier on Tuesday. No details were given.
Officials have not disclosed details of Buhari&#8217;s illness, which has caused fierce speculation in Nigerian media and on social media about his ailment and whether he will seek a second term in the 2019 election.
A thin-looking Buhari, 74, was last seen in Nigeria on state television welcoming a group of 82 girls released by Islamist militant group Boko Haram, hours before he flew to Britain.
It is the ailing president&#8217;s second break in Britain this year. The first began in January and lasted nearly two months.

Nigerian VP meets with ailing President Buhari in London

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KINGDOM OF GBARAMATU, Nigeria, July 9 (Reuters) &#8211; The Nigerian government&#8217;s efforts to secure peace in the oil heartlands of the Niger Delta are empty promises, community leaders say, threatening a return to violence that would derail any broader recovery in the crude-dependent economy.
With Africa&#8217;s biggest economy mired in recession, delegations including Acting President Yemi Osinbajo have held talks since February with community leaders in the restive oil-producing states in Nigeria&#8217;s southeast.
Oil exports are now set to exceed 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, the highest in 17 months, from as little as just over 1 million bpd at certain points last year. That is due to a steady decline in attacks on pipelines, providing a much-needed injection of cash into Nigerian government coffers.
But ex-militants and local chieftains say that since those &#8220;town hall&#8221; discussions, little has been done &#8211; the government has not followed up on issues raised, is stalling on key demands and has not even appointed a full-time negotiating team.
If the Niger Delta people continue to feel Abuja is ignoring their needs, leaders say they will resort to the only tactic that has ever yielded results: attacks on oil facilities.
&#8220;The people of the Niger Delta can hold this government or any government to ransom because we are the people feeding the nation,&#8221; said Godspower Gbenekama, a chief in the Kingdom of Gbaramatu.
&#8220;This peace is a graveyard peace,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Nobody can assure anybody that nothing will happen in the Delta.&#8221;
A spokesman for the acting president rejected suggestions the government was not doing enough.
&#8220;The government has not reneged and will never renege on any agreement,&#8221; he said, pointing to more spending on an amnesty programme for ex-militants and progress on a clean-up project.
He added it was just a matter of time for other agreements to come to fruition, such as the planned opening of a flagship university in October and of small-scale refineries with community ownership in the fourth quarter.
An inter-ministerial group met regularly with Osinbajo to discuss the Niger Delta and a &#8220;technical committee&#8221; liaised between the government and affected communities, he also said.
Some locals, however, are in no mood to wait. In a sign of their mounting frustration, groups such as the New Delta Avengers and the Niger Delta Marine Force have formed in recent months.
&#8220;Call for resuming attacks when the government is diligent in actualising the terms of the agreements and requests made will not help matters,&#8221; said the acting president&#8217;s spokesman.
&#8220;ALL ABOUT REVENUE&#8221;
That the Delta needs help is not in dispute.
Roads are pitted and scarred. Holes gape in the walls of school buildings and playing fields are flooded. Ramshackle stalls crowd the streets, standing in pools of muddy water and blocking traffic.
Every ten metres are signs offering hope of a different nature: Communion with God; Redemption Ministries; Hope Centre Parish; Success Education Centre; High Flyers House of Bliss Ministries.
But the communities of the Niger Delta also have more earthly demands.
Some want environmental clean-ups from oil spills that have devastated swathes of forest and waterways; others want roads and better power supply; others jobs and the regional university.
Many in the Delta are cynical about the government&#8217;s stated desire to improve the region&#8217;s lot.
The peace talks are &#8220;lies and deceit,&#8221; said Annkio Briggs, a leading activist in the southeastern oil city of Port Harcourt.
&#8220;This latest Osinbajo move &#8230; is all about revenue. How do we get the Niger Delta calm enough that we can continue to derive revenue to sustain our budgets?&#8221;
Others are also bitter that the government only appears to respond to violent action, while peaceful activism and protests have historically achieved little.
The government &#8220;is treading on a path that is disastrous&#8230; setting a precedent that they will only negotiate with the Delta when they start blowing stuff up,&#8221; said Richard Akinaka, who represented the youth in Rivers state for a meeting with Osinbajo.
He dismissed the meeting with one word &#8211; &#8220;bogus&#8221;.
The communities have also asked for ownership of oil blocks, and for all states in Nigeria to become fiscally independent &#8211; a move that would see oil revenues pooled in the southeast.
The problems of the Delta may not be easily solved: enmity runs deep between locals and the federal government, violence is often the answer and some of the demands may not be as attainable as community leaders hope.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t have a very big agenda,&#8221; said Gbenekama, the Gbaramatu kingdom chief. &#8220;The general agenda of the Niger Delta people is the political and fiscal restructuring of this nation.&#8221; (Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja; Editing by Mark Potter)

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© Thomson Reuters 2017 All rights reserved

Peace at risk in Nigeria’s oil heartlands

This year’s G20, led by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, should be commended for prioritising African development. 
The G20 Africa Partnership conference this week in Berlin marked a significant moment to focus on what both African and G20 governments can do to address economic and political challenges in one of the world’s most vibrant continents ready to overcome its challenges along with its partners who have often promised prosperity. 
Having shown their serious intent at the lectern and on panels, the G20 and African leaders must now move beyond speeches and pledges and take concrete, demonstrable steps to help the African continent harness its full potential. 
France, Germany, Italy and the UK have &#8211; as key European G20 members &#8211; the opportunity to do just that in the coming days as the EU moves to finalise its Anti-Money Laundering Directive. 
These countries could demonstrate a real commitment to help curb corruption in African and other countries (not to mention their own) by ensuring that the beneficial owners of companies, trusts and similar legal mechanisms are made publicly available. Nigeria is already leading by example with our current efforts at ensuring that there is no hiding place for corrupt individuals and corporations. 
This common sense measure would ensure that legal and tax authorities in Nigeria and elsewhere have rapid and easy access to this information &#8211; bypassing the myriad, complex and bureaucratic information-sharing agreements that currently impede investigations. 
Putting this information in the public realm would also ensure that African journalists, civil society organisations and ordinary citizens can analyse this information, helping to identify corruption and establishing trust in a global system that many currently feel is rigged against them. 
The Anti-Money Laundering Directive would also be a deterrent, forcing the would-be criminal and corrupt to think twice before engaging in illicit activity. 
Curbing corruption and illicit deals would help African governments secure much-needed revenues. According to a High-Level Panel led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, Africa is estimated to be losing more than $50 billion each year in illicit financial flows. My country has worked for years to recover billions of dollars of assets stolen, much of it secreted away to Europe. 
Anonymous shell companies and trusts, the 21st century’s ‘getaway cars for the corrupt’, have often facilitated these illicit flows and stolen assets. That money could help finance infrastructure and social programs in Nigeria and other African countries. 
That is more important now than ever. Africa is home to all ten countries with the highest fertility rates in the world and this population boom will further strain governments already struggling to meet the needs of their people. 
An estimated 22.5 million jobs per year will need to be created to meet the demand of this African youth explosion, a demographic with the same energy, dynamism and ambitions as their peers in developed nations. 
But our efforts to create sustainable economic growth are undermined by corruption facilitated by the legal and financial systems of G20 countries. 
If the Governments fail in this endeavour to provide for their youth, the likely political instability and massive population displacements could dwarf the refugee crisis currently impacting Europe. 
So if European countries sincerely want to help Africa succeed, they must help African governments curb corruption. They can show their commitment to a true partnership with Africa by delivering game-changing EU anti-money laundering regulations that prevent the criminal and corrupt from hiding behind anonymity and stealing Africa’s future from its people. Because failure to do so could undermine all their other efforts to help Africa prosper.

Op-ed: Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to G20: It’s time to move beyond pledges to back Africa’s future

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Nigeria&#8217;s acting President Yemi Osinbajo says the mining sector is a priority for the government and a crucial part of its economic growth and diversification agenda. Cyril Azobu, Partner at PWC Nigeria joins CNBC Africa for more.

Repositioning Nigeria’s mining for growth

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Acting President Yemi Osinbajo says that Nigeria&#8217;s Economic Growth can only be achieved and sustained if it is driven by the private sector. However, for the private sector to drive growth consistently its business practices must be sustainable.

Most viable sectors for sustainable business development in Nigeria

ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria&#8217;s economy is the &#8220;biggest challenge of all&#8221; for the government, the acting president said on Monday at an event to celebrate two years of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, whose repeated periods of medical leave have nevertheless raised concerns.
The economy has contracted for five quarters in a row, data showed last week, in Nigeria&#8217;s first recession in 25 years. The downturn has been driven by low global oil prices, low production levels &#8211; output has fallen by as much as a third &#8211; and a shortage of hard currency.
Buhari&#8217;s absence is adding to the tension, and last week the ruling party&#8217;s leader, Bola Tinubu, warned against coup threats. Buhari has been in Britain on medical leave for large chunks of the year, most recently leaving on May 7, handing over duties to his Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
&#8220;Let me first express just how concerned we have been, since this administration took office, about the impact of the economic difficulties on our citizens,&#8221; Osinbajo said at the event, which marks the halfway point for Buhari&#8217;s first term, in the capital of Abuja.
The government is trying to lift Nigeria out of recession by shifting away from its dependence on oil and imports, investing heavily in infrastructure and focusing on industries like agriculture, Osinbajo said.
But economists have expressed scepticism over the government&#8217;s scheme known as the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, saying it amounts to little more than a wishlist rather than a roadmap offering concrete solutions.
The acting president, speaking halfway through the year, also said the budget for 2017 would soon be signed into law.
Officials had promised that the process this year would not take as long as last year, when the 2016 budget was signed in May, but the government has missed those targets.
(Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

With Nigeria’s president absent, deputy warns economy is “biggest challenge”

Ulf Laessing and Felix Onuah | ABUJA
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will travel to London on Sunday night for follow-up medical tests, handing over power to his deputy Yemi Osibanjo, his office said.
Buhari, 74, returned to Nigeria two months ago after receiving medical treatment in Britain. Officials have refused to disclose details of his medical condition.
http://cnbc.africa/news/2017/03/10/nigerias-ailing-president-buhari-returns-home/
The president met on Sunday a group of 82 girls who had been released after being held captive for three years by Islamist militants, but he did not attend a cabinet meeting last Wednesday. That was his third consecutive absence from the weekly meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
<blockquote>&#8220;The length of the President&#8217;s stay in London will be determined by the doctors,&#8221; the president&#8217;s office said in a statement.</blockquote>
&#8220;Government will continue to function normally under the able leadership of the vice president,&#8221; it said, adding that there was no cause for worry.
Buhari, a former military ruler, returned home in March after nearly two months&#8217; medical leave in Britain and said he would need more rest and then go back to Britain for follow-up tests.
The president&#8217;s office said Buhari had notified both chambers of parliament of his trip, which will put Osinbajo formally in charge.
Osinbajo, a lawyer who is seen as more business-friendly than Buhari, has played an active role in driving policy changes, chairing cabinet meetings during the president&#8217;s medical leave.
Officials have sought to avoid a scenario seen in 2010 when political infighting broke out when then-President Umaru Yar&#8217;Adua was sick for months.
Osinbajo was already given full powers to act during Buhari&#8217;s previous absence, in contrast to his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan who only took over after Yar&#8217;Adua&#8217;s death in 2010 ended a power vacuum.
(Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Felix Onuah; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Susan Fenton)
&nbsp;

Nigeria’s Buhari to go to London for more medical tests

Nigeria&#8217;s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has launched a 60-day action plan to improve the business climate in Africa&#8217;s biggest economy struggling with recession, his office said on Tuesday.
&#8220;There are improvements which we expect to see at our ports. Improvements at our airports, improvements at the seaports, improvements in immigration visas,&#8221; Osinbajo said in a statement.
Last month, President Muhammadu Buhari put Osinbajo in charge while he is on sick leave in Britain.
 
(Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Felix Onuah; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)﻿

Nigeria's VP launches 60-day plan to improve business climate

Nigeria hopes to conclude the sale of a $1 billion Eurobond by the end of the first quarter of 2017 and will seek to make its foreign exchange market more flexible, vice president Yemi Osinbajo said on Tuesday.
Nigeria is in its deepest recession in 25 years and needs to find money to make up for shortfall in its budget. Its revenues from oil have plunged due to low international prices and militant attacks in its crude-producing heartland, the Niger Delta, that have cut its output.
The government began the process of appointing banks for the sale of the Eurobond in September and had said it wanted to issue the bond by the end of the year. It has yet to announce a lender to lead the sale, however.
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&#8220;At the very latest, between the end of the year and the first quarter of next year we will begin to see all that process concluded,&#8221; Osinbajo told Reuters in an interview.
The vice president said the severe loss of petro-dollars had caused &#8220;serious&#8221; foreign exchange shortages and had been worsened by attacks on its oil pipelines and export terminals.
The government had wanted to issue the Eurobond to help plug a gap in its record 6.06 trillion naira ($19.9 billion) budget this year, in addition to tapping concessionary loans from the World Bank and China as its oil revenues fell.
So far only the African Development Bank has come to its aid, approving a $600 million loan, the first tranche of a total $1 billion package.
Osinbajo also said his office was working with the central bank to make the foreign exchange market more flexible and more reflective of actual demand and supply.
The regulator in June officially ended its policy of pegging, or fixing, the naira&#8217;s exchange rate at 197 per dollar to let the currency float freely. But the exchange rate has since been stuck at 305 to 315 on the official market due to dollar shortages, while on the black market the naira is changing hands at 470 per dollar.
 
LOSING REVENUES
Nigeria&#8217;s crude production, which was 2.1 million bpd at the start of 2016, fell by around a third in the summer following a series of attacks by Delta militants who want a greater share of the country&#8217;s energy wealth to go to the impoverished southern oil-producing region.
&#8220;At one point we were losing almost 1 million barrels per day (bpd) which translated to 60 percent of oil revenues &#8230; and that affects the availability of dollars,&#8221; Osinbajo said.
The militants, after saying in August they would halt hostilities to pursue talks with the government, said this month they had resumed attacks because of the continued presence of the army in the region.
Osinbajo said that the government was prepared to talk with the militants but that maintaining security was essential for law enforcement.
Ratings agency Moody&#8217;s forecast that Nigeria&#8217;s economy could expand by 2.5 percent next year if it could produce 2.2 million barrels of oil per day &#8211; the level at which the government made its budget calculations.
To help cover its budget shortfalls, the government is keen to ensure it is collecting taxes efficiently, Osinbajo said.
&#8220;We will continue to consider the issue of raising tax and raising VAT. But at the moment we are more concerned with ensuring that we really improve our coverage,&#8221; he said, referring to tax collection.
On the missing Chibok schoolgirls, the vice president said the release of 21 of the girls in October was a result of government engagement with Boko Haram.
He did not provide any update on the remaining missing girls, but he said the government was continuing to engage with Boko Haram.﻿

Yemi Osinbajo

Nigerian Ports Authority’s Hadiza Bala Usman on managing the country’ ports

Fixing Nigeria’s business regulations

Nigeria’s Buhari recovering fast, will return soon: VP, Osinbajo

Nigerian VP meets with ailing President Buhari in London

Peace at risk in Nigeria’s oil heartlands

Op-ed: Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to G20: It’s time to move beyond pledges to back Africa’s future

Repositioning Nigeria’s mining for growth

Most viable sectors for sustainable business development in Nigeria

With Nigeria’s president absent, deputy warns economy is “biggest challenge”

Nigeria’s Buhari to go to London for more medical tests

Nigeria's VP launches 60-day plan to improve business climate

Nigeria's VP says hopes to seal $1 bln Eurobond sale by end of Q1

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Yemi Osinbajo

Nigerian Ports Authority’s Hadiza Bala Usman on managing the country’ ports

Fixing Nigeria’s business regulations

Nigeria’s Buhari recovering fast, will return soon: VP, Osinbajo

Nigerian VP meets with ailing President Buhari in London

Peace at risk in Nigeria’s oil heartlands

Op-ed: Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to G20: It’s time to move beyond pledges to back Africa’s future

Repositioning Nigeria’s mining for growth

Most viable sectors for sustainable business development in Nigeria

With Nigeria’s president absent, deputy warns economy is “biggest challenge”

Nigeria’s Buhari to go to London for more medical tests

Nigeria's VP launches 60-day plan to improve business climate

Nigeria's VP says hopes to seal $1 bln Eurobond sale by end of Q1

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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