Nigeria, Ghana seal integrated trade in W/Africa

The West African Capital Markets Integration Council (WACMIC) has successfully completed its first direct trade between two West African countries under phase one of its integration programme to promote trade across member countries.

United Capital Plc of Nigeria and CAL Brokers of Ghana execute first trade under West African Capital Market Integration Programme.
The landmark trade was between United Capital Securities and CAL Brokers, enabled by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).
WACMIC was established to harmonize a regulatory environment for the issuance and trading of securities across the West-African sub region.
The successful implementation of Phase 1 through the Nigerian capital market will allow brokers not registered in the Nigerian capital market, remote access to the trading facility of the Nigerian Stock Exchange through a local sponsoring dealing member firm licensed by NSE.
Brokers in WACMI member countries can now trade on behalf of their clients and settle securities in Nigeria through local sponsoring brokers.

Other West African stock exchanges such as Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres SA are expected to initiate similar deals which could be worth an additional USD $2 million a day in capital market liquidity to the Nigeria market.
Commenting on the development, Chairman, West African Capital Market Integration Council (WACMIC) Edoh Kossi Amenounve said, “The council is proud to see the realization of this important target for regional integration’’.
In his own, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema said “This inaugural trade affirms our commitment to regional integration and highlights the NSE’s resolve to partner with relevant bodies that will provide our various stakeholders’ with platforms that will make them globally competitive.

DailyTrust

The Winners At Nigeria Pitch Awards 2015

This year’s Nigeria Pitch Awards which celebrates football excellence in the country was without doubt a huge success parading the creme-de-la-creme of Nigeria’s football society.

Expectedly, the event was attended by the top brass of the Nigerian football community led by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick; Shehu Dikko, second vice President; Mohammed Sanusi, General Secretary; Chris Green; Emeka Inyanma, Shehu Kawu and others. Representatives of the business and investment community were in no short abundance. Dan Abia, the MD/CEO of the NDDC; Ituah Ighodalo Managing Partner of SIAO Partners, Bassey Eyo of Payporte.com; Ebi Egbe and Big Brother Africa runner up, Tayo Faniran topped the list of special guests who graced the occasion.

Winner Nigeria’s Queen of the Pitch 2014.

Managing Partner of SIAO, Ituah Ighodalo whose audit firm coordinated the voting process highlighted how the selection process was carried out. The process, he stated, was transparent and credible as it reflected the wish of the voters. Super Eagles captain, Vincent Enyeama, and new Super Falcons sensation, Asisat Oshoala, emerged King and Queen of the Pitch respectively, while Ahmed Musa beat Ike Uche and Mfon Udoh to the Striker of the Year Award.

The winners include:

• Best Goalkeeper – Vincent Enyeama
• Best Defender – Kenneth Omeruo
• Best Defender – Ogenyi Onazi
• Best Striker – Ahmed Musa
• Club of the Year – Kano Pillars
• Coach of the Year – Okey Emordi
• Best Referee – Ferdinand Udoh
• Manager of the Year – Felix Anyansi-Agwu of Enyimba FC
• Players’ Agent of the Year – John Shittu

Vincent Enyeama – Winner, Best Goalkeeper and King of the Pitch 2014.

In other categories:

• Football Friendly Governor for 2014 – Liyel Imoke, former Governor of Cross River State
• State with the Best Grassroots Football Development Programme – Lagos State
• Football Journalist of the Year in the Print Category – Tana Aiyejina
• Football Journalist of the Year in the TV Category – Toyin Ibitoye of Channels TV
• Football Journalist of the Year in the Radio Category – Bimbo Adeola of Star FM

Assuring the organisers in his speech, Mr Amaju Pinnick, the NFF boss said the fedreation ill give all its support to ensure the Nigerian Pitch Awards is grown into a world class football event.

@Positive_NG

Akinwumi Adesina of Nigeria elected 8th President of the AfDB

“Today, I have been given a great responsibility,” Akinwumi A. Adesina said Thursday upon his election as the 8th President of the African Development Bank Group. 

The President-Elect said he was “humbled by this remarkable vote of confidence in me” on the part of the Bank’s Board of Governors, who met during the Bank Group’s 50th Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Akinwumi Adesina, newly elected AfDB President
(Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images.)

His name was announced by Albert Toikeusse Mabri, Minister of Planning and Development for Côte d’Ivoire, and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank. The election process was concluded by voting among the Bank’s the Bank’s Board of Governors (54 regional member countries, 26 non-regional), whose voting powers are weighted.

To my incoming successor, my very best wishes.  Ten years goes by very quickly. It is a complex and merciless job, but very exciting. It is, in fact, not a job – but a mission – Donald Kabruka, outgoing President of AfDB.

Mabri emphasized that the result “was an expression of the willingness of all the member countries,” and he applauded the “good spirit that prevailed during the election process that was not marked by any tension.”

Currently serving as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi A. Adesina succeeds Donald Kaberuka, whose second term as President of the Bank ends on August 31, 2015, and to whom he paid tribute in a press conference, saying, “I salute the excellent work of President Kaberuka. It will be a big challenge for me to step into his shoes. He leaves a solid Bank behind him.”

In his speech at the Annual Meetings opening ceremony on Monday, May 25, outgoing AfDB President Donald Kaberuka had said: “To my incoming successor, my very best wishes.  Ten years goes by very quickly. It is a complex and merciless job, but very exciting. It is, in fact, not a job – but a mission.”

Akinwumi A. Adesina, 55, will assume office on 1 September 2015.

A total of eight candidatures received by the closing date of 30 January 2015 were approved by the Steering Committee of the Board of Governors.  The list of candidates was officially announced on 20 February 2015.

The other candidates in the election were:

• Sufian Ahmed (Ethiopia)
• Jaloul Ayed (Tunisia)
• Kordjé Bedoumra (Chad)
• Cristina Duarte (Cabo Verde)
• Samura M W Kamara (Sierra Leone)
• Thomas Z Sakala (Zimbabwe)
• Birama Boubacar Sidibé (Mali)

Akinwumi A. Adesina succeeds:

• Mamoun Beheiry (Sudan), President, African Development Bank, 1964-1970
• Abdelwahab Labidi (Tunisia), President, African Development Bank, 1970-1976
• Kwame Donkor Fordwor (Ghana), African Development Bank, 1976-1980
• Willa Mung’Omba (Zambia), President, African Development Bank, 1980-1985
• Babacar N’diaye (Senegal), President, African Development Bank, 1985-1995
• Omar Kabbaj (Morocco), President, African Development Bank, 1995-2005
• Donald Kaberuka (Rwanda), President, African Development Bank, 2005-present

Culled: http://www.afdb.org

NNPC to Supply Gas from $662m East-West Pipeline by 2017

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that it expects to start regular supply of gas to end users within the eastern part of Nigeria through its East-West gas pipeline in early 2017.
NNPC made this known on Tuesday at the ongoing 2015 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, adding that it was making significant progress with the execution of the $662 million gas supply infrastructure project, otherwise known as Obiafu-Obrikom and Oben (OB3) gas pipeline project.
It stated that it would achieve mechanical completion of the project by December 2016 and flow the first gas through the pipeline by early 2017.
“Construction has started on the East-West pipeline and we are beginning to make a lot of progress in terms of construction on both sides.

“Our expectation is that by December 2016, we would have mechanical completion of the pipelines and by early 2017 we would start to flow gas through the pipeline,” said NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Joseph Dawha.

He also explained that work on the second Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS-2) had significantly progressed and that by August 2015 gas supply to end users in the western part of the country would have increased to 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d).
In his appraisal of work on the ELPS-2 project, Dahwa said: “The Lagos pipeline is almost completed and we expect that within the next three months that project is done.

The magnificent NNPC Towers, Headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

“We have completed and commissioned Lagos all the way to Oben. We have completed Emure all the way to Itoke in Lagos, and so the bit that is still left is Benin to Emure and that is progressing very well and the expectation is that before August this year, the ELPS pipeline would have been completed and we would have doubled the capacity to two billion cubic feet per day. It should be the biggest pipeline in Africa in terms of capacity.”

“At the moment, gas supply to the power sector has grown to over a billion cubic feet per day…

The current infrastructure, primarily owned and operated by NNPC’s subsidiary, the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), is split between an eastern and western network of a combined 1,100 kilometres that are not interconnected. It is also considered that the development of the pipeline infrastructure network, though capital-intensive, is quite slow.
Dawha however spoke on the amount of gas currently supplied to Nigeria’s power sector, vis-à-vis the obvious drop in electricity generation.
According to him, “At the moment, gas supply to the power sector has grown to over a billion cubic feet per day and I think that before the end of this year we will see a significant increase as well in that.

Gas Pipelines

“Cumulatively in the entire country we are producing about two billion cubic feet of gas now. Some of the gas that we are producing that is available is probably stranded because maybe some of the power plants are not ready.
“So over the next couple of months, you should see an increase in off-take. For example, we have got gas at the Gbaranuvie gas plant which hopefully should be commissioned very shortly; we have got gas at Omokwu which is awaiting the power plant. We have got gas for Egbema too.
“And when you bring all these gas volumes together, we have close to two billion cubic feet per day but not all of it is in active generation today either because the power plants are not ready or power evacuation is not ready.”

Culled from: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nnpc-to-supply-gas-from-662m-east-west-pipeline-by-2017/208594/