Nigeria loses N8 trn to illegal gold mining, exportation

Federal Government Nigeria says it lost about 50 billion dollars through illegal mining and exportation of unprocessed gold to neighbouring countries in the last two years.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Linus Awute, made this disclosure in an interview at the Nigerian-Brazil Investment forum in Abuja.

The permanent secretary said that the activity of the illegal miners was beyond control, saying that government had already put in place necessary mechanism to address the problem.

According to him, government has embarked on formalising the operations of the illegal miners so that the accruable royalty can come to the government.

Awute had earlier in a presentation at the forum said that a road map for the development of the mining sector had been produced by the ministry aimed at setting out vital programmes phased into short, medium and long terms.

The permanent secretary said that the government had put in place a new policy that led to the restructuring of the ministry to enhance performance and regulate the sector adequately.

Low-income earners must get 20% of houses – FG

The Federal Government of Nigeria says developers of new estates in the country must, henceforth, incorporate between 15 and 20 per cent low-income houses in their projects.

This, according to the government, is in line with plans of ensuring affordable housing and reducing the 18 million housing-unit deficit in the country and the challenge of building one million houses per year.

Speaking in Abuja during the inauguration of the Board of Directors for the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Amal Pepple, said the directive was borne out of the need to provide sustainable housing for low-income earners.

According to Pepple, the government is making arrangements with dealers of building materials to achieve this and to make housing accessible to individuals who may not afford as much as N6m.

The minister urged the board to develop alternative funding mechanisms that would match the needs of mass housing delivery.

She urged members of the board to work with stakeholders for sustainable housing delivery, especially affordable low-cost housing, social housing and cooperative housing.

In his acceptance speech, the Chairman of the Board, Chief Olabisi Ogunjobi, said the members were delighted and privileged to have been chosen by President Goodluck Jonathan to serve.

He stressed that an efficient housing sector would contribute immensely to economic development.

Nigerians will soon enjoy uninterrupted power supply – Elumelu

The Chief Executive Officer, Transcorp/Woodrock, Tony Elumemlu has promised that Nigeria would soon begin to enjoy uninterrupted power supply after several years of epileptic power supply.

He said this after his firm, which emerged the preferred bidder for the Ugheli plant, signed a Power Purchase Agreement with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc.

According to him, the signing of transaction and industry agreements for the Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s successor companies would ensure stable power supply.

The NBET signed similar agreements with five other firms in respect to Geregu Power Plc, Sapele Power Plc, Kainji Hydro Electric Plc, Shiroro Hydro Electric Plc and Egbin Power Plc.

                               

                                              E-BIZ 24/7

Dangote, Adenuga, Otedola, Dokpesi – See list of top 20 Nigerian billionaires for 2013

What is the secret to the success of the top 20 richest people in Nigeria? Who are the Nigerian billionaires and how did they amass their wealth? What are the business success secrets of the successful entrepreneurs in Nigeria? What does it?

Today, I will be compiling a list of Nigerian billionaires and top richest people in Nigeria but please this list will be restricted to entrepreneurs only. Politicians and individuals whose source of wealth cannot be traced are excluded from this list.

Most people have asked why so few Nigerians made the Forbes list of richest people in the world. So far, only Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga and Femi Otedola Well the answer to that question is this: Forbes estimates the wealth of individuals and rank them based on the value of shares they have in quoted companies (companies listed on the stock exchange) and most of the richest people in Nigeria prefer to run their businesses privately. That’s why they don’t make the Forbes list of richest people in the world.

The criteria for coming up with this list

Most of you may be wondering the criteria or benchmark on which I compiled this list of richest people in Nigeria. Well, I compiled this list based on the following criteria:

*By the value of their shares held in quoted companies.

*The size and market share of their companies

*The number of companies they own and its assumed value

*The market value of their company’s brand

*The impact of their companies on the Nigerian economy

I compiled this list of richest people in Nigeria and highlighted the secret to their success because I believe we can learn a lot from them. Nigeria as a country has been branded all sort of names and a lot has been said about Nigeria; both positive and negative but I am proud that some individuals stood tall to tell the world that we have got potentials.

Despite the harsh terrain and business challenges involved with starting a business in Nigeria; the successful entrepreneurs listed below held their ground and fought their way to the top. In a country with a population of over 160 million inhabitants and millions of businesses; these 20 entrepreneurs diligently carved their names in the sands of time.

Instead of boring you with their success stories; I would rather extract the vital lessons learned from the life of these billionaires. If you are ready to learn, then below is a list of the Nigerian Billionaires (entrepreneurs) and top richest people in Nigeria.

Nigerian Billionaires and top 20 Richest People (Entrepreneurs) in Nigeria 2013

1. Alhaji Aliko Dangote – founder of Dangote Group, Richest man in Africa and Richest black man in the world

2. Mike Adenuga –    Conoil, Equatorial Trust Bank, Globacom

3. Femi Otedola – ZENON Oil and Gas

4. Orji Uzor Kalu – Slok Group

5. Cosmos Maduka – Coscharis Group

6. Jimoh Ibrahim – Nicon Insurance, Global Flee

7. Jim Ovia – Zenith Bank, Visafone

8. Pascal Dozie – MTN Nigeria, Diamond Bank

9. Oba Otudeko – Honeywell Group Nigeria

10. Alhaji Sayyu Dantata – MRS Group

11. Umaru Abdul Mutallab – former Chairman First Bank Plc, Mutallab Group

12. Prince Samuel Adedoyin – Doyin Group

13. Dele Fajemirokun – Chaiman Aiico Insurance, Xerox Nigeria, Chicken Republic, Kings Guards etc.

14. Chief Cletus Ibeto – Ibeto Group

15. Raymond Dokpesi – Daar Communication, AIT,

16. Tony Ezenna – Orange Group

17. Chief Molade Okoya Thomas – Chairman CFAO Nig and other six french companies

18. Ifeanyi Ubah – Capital oil and gas

19. Leo Stan Ekeh – Zinox Computer

20. Fola Adeola – GTBank

21. Chief Ade Ojo –  Elizade Motors Nig LTD, Distributor of Toyota cars

 

Samsung Galaxy S4 To Launch In March

Samsung will announce its next-generation flagship phone, the Galaxy S4, on March 14 online sources have claimed.

The Korean electronics giant will reveal the device in New York, claimed Samsung site Sammobile.

E-BIZ24/7 learnt that the Galaxy S3 was the best-reviewed and among the best-selling high-end smartphones of 2012.

The new device will likely command an equally impressive response, with specs rumoured to include a 5-inch, ultra HD screen, a quad-core Exynos 5440 processor and 2GB of RAM.

The device won’t be public until next month, but it has been claimed that two units will be on show to select partners at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona next week.

It is also thought that the Galaxy Note 8.0, a larger version of the pen-based tablet, will be unveiled at the event.”

Traders seek Jonathan, ECOWAS leaders intervention in Ghanaian hostility against Nigerian traders

National Association of Nigerian Traders has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of ECOWAS to intervene in the renewed hostility between the Ghanaian Authorities and Nigerian traders in Ghana.

The Ghanaian Authorities were reported to have renewed their siege against foreign traders, as the Ministry of Trade and Industry clamped down on over 40 shops belonging to Nigerians.

President of the Association Ken Ukaoha, while reacting to the crisis described the development as unfortunate.

He called on the governments of Ghana and Nigeria to immediately confront the problem and nip it in the bud before it escalates into regional trouble.

He therefore urged the commission not to allow the relationship between the two countries to degenerate into a crises situation before it wades into it.

World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2013

World Economic Forum WEF in partnership with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group NESG will conduct the Executive Opinion Survey 2013 in Nigeria between February and April 2013. 

In a statement sent to E-BIZ24/7, the Voice of the Business Community is a major component of the Global Competitiveness Report and provides the key ingredient that turns the Report into a representative annual measure of a nation’s economic environment and its ability to achieve sustained growth. 

Starting Monday, 18 February 2013, NESG Survey Administrators will administer questionnaires to a sample of high level business executives operating in Nigeria, to capture their opinions on the business environment in which they operate. 

The Global Competitiveness Report has been the World Economic Forum’s flagship publication since 1979 and is widely recognized as the world’s leading cross-country comparison of factors affecting economic competitiveness and growth.