CBN to test-run movable collaterals October next year

FOLLOWING the challenges of access to funds for the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has targeted October 2014 to test-run the registry of movable collaterals.

The Director, Development Finance Department, CBN, Paul Nduka Eluhaiwe, disclosed this at the general meeting of the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) while presenting a paper tagged “Access to Low Interest Funds for MSMEs Development- CBN Intervention Schemes and Programmes.”

He said access to cheap and long-term finance poses a major challenge to SME development in Nigeria and that Nigeria experiences a huge SME financing gap with successive decline since the 1990s show consistent decline, adding that the CBN has targeted October 2014 to test-run the registry of movable collaterals in the country.

On CBN’s FSS 2020 mandate of developing market infrastructure and access to finance by MSME sector, he explained that the objective is to attempt to solve the problem of access to finance by MSME sector due largely to lack of collateral security.

Only one out of 77 oil blocks are producing – DPR

Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, says out of  the more than 77 oil blocks awarded between 2005 and 2007, only one is producing, a situation that has called for urgent intervention by the Federal Government.

This is even as price of Brent crude oil dropped below $116 a barrel, as anticipation of a possible delay in a military strike on Syria. This helped calm concerns over Middle East oil supplies.

Speaking at a forum on the 2005 to 2007 licensing round in Lagos, George Osahon, DPR, also declared that the rest of the non-producing oil blocks are presently at less than 30 per cent development.

It is widely believed that block owners merely acquire such assets for status ship, as most simply go block hawking when they acquire the licences.

While it may have been easy to fling such blocks away to the first bidder, stringent measures introduced have made it impossible for Nigerian oil blocks to be sold so easily in the open market

He lamented the fact that majority of the operators are using the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, as an excuse not to develop their fields, stating that this is improper and a ploy to blame the government for their lack of seriousness

According to him, in the last three to four years, nothing is happening in Nigeria’s upstream sector, while in the marginal fields sector; only eight oil blocks are currently producing out of the 24 awarded to 31 successful companies.

NSE index up 0.27% on NB gain

After several days of closing in the red, the basic indicators of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) turned green on Thursday, as gains mainly by Nigerian Breweries Plc, the second largest company by market capitalisation drove equities capitalisation up by N32.057 billion.

The All-Share Index added 101.07 basis points or 0.27 per cent to close at 36,400.37 points as against 36,299.30 points it recorded on Wednesday.

NB shares appreciated by 599 kobo to close at N167.99 each; followed by Julius Berger’s 278 kobo; Cadbury Nigeria closed 185 kobo up; ahead of Champion Breweries’ 154 kobo; while Dangote Sugar Refinery notched 36 kobo; among others.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer however led the laggards, shedding 500 kobo; Total Nigeria depreciated by 290 kobo; Northern Nigerian Flour Mills lost 81 kobo; Evans Medical dropped 47 kobo; while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company dropped 32 kobo.

Federal Government of Nigeria designates Med-View airlines on six Int’l destinations

Nigerians doing business in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates capital, will soon have opportunity to fly directly to the city, as the Federal Government has designated Med-View Airlines, one of Nigeria’s domestic carriers to Dubai and other five international routes.

The Managing Director of Med View Airlines, Munir Bankole, disclosed this while speaking on the airline’s plan to operate international destinations, shortly after conducting journalists round the Boeing 737-500 series at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.

Munir stated that Med-View airlines, specializing also in airlifting pilgrims to the holy land, currently has four aircrafts in its fleet, adding that before the end of the year one additional aircraft will be added to the fleet.

He said that already the airline has been give licence to commence international operations.

Med-View airline, he said, has been a pride to Nigeria following its rapid growth within a very short time, adding that sometimes in January, the airline promised that would bring in between six to eight airplanes.

He said that he is happy that the B737-500 series that the airline took delivery of is one of the airplanes, maintaining that before the year runs out, a bigger aircraft will join the fleet.

Guinness Nigeria rewards distributors, promises effective service deliver

Guinness Nigeria Plc recently rolled out the drums to celebrate its distribution partners for their outstanding contribution to the growth and business success of the company during the 2013 financial year.

Known as the Guinness Nigeria Distributors Award, this year’s event took place at Darlington Hall, Ilupeju, Lagos, Nigeria with the theme ‘Celebrating Great Partnerships.’

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Seni Adetu, thanked the distribution partners for their commitment and contributions to the company over the period. “This event is our way of saying a big thank you to all our distributors’ partners. I can say with pride that you have shown yourselves to be real partners, and I salute you for coming on this journey with us.”

Like in previous editions, the winning partners were presented with glittering plaques, certificates and prizes ranging from ½ Ton Trucks, four ton trucks and six Ton Trucks to brand new pickups. Other prizes include big screen LED 3D Smart TVs, laptops, among others.

Speaking on behalf of the distribution partners, Chief Edmond Okafor, Managing Director, Edinho Nigeria Limited, thanked Guinness Nigeria for the honor and the prizes.  “One thing about Guinness Nigeria is that they treat us as a part of the organization and give us the benefits accrued to us which further help us achieve our objectives and increase our sales,” he said, promising that he alongside his colleagues would continue to work harder to improve on their achievements year on year with Guinness Nigeria.