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NEITI Unveils Roadmap on Use of Open Data

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By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Two documents designed to push the boundaries of implementation of transparency and accountability in the extractive industries in Nigeria have been launched by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

It was gathered that the first document is the Roadmap on Beneficial Ownership disclosure, which seeks to outline Nigeria’s strategy towards the implementation and fulfilment of Requirement 2.5 of the EITI standard which among other things demands public disclosures of the real owners of oil, gas and mining companies that operate in Nigeria.

The roadmap provides comprehensive plans and actions designed to guide Nigeria in its implementation of beneficial ownership disclosure in the extractive industries.

The strategy document also identified the institutional frameworks that are required for effective implementation of ownership transparency, clarity on definition of beneficial owners and explanation on thresholds for public disclosure required in the process.

It also defined those who fall into the category of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and the reporting obligations expected of them as well as the challenges  that may be encountered during the process of  data collection, data quality assurance, accessibility and timeliness.

The plan also identified the need for capacity building for all stakeholders expected to be involved in the implementation given the complexity of the extractive industries in Nigeria and highlighted the need for public education and enlightenment on the principles and benefits of Beneficial Ownership disclosures.

The roadmap, apart from fulfilling the EITI requirement, is also in line with the commitment made by President Muhammadu Buhari at the London anti-corruption summit where he pledged to establish a publicly accessible register of all companies operating in Nigeria.

In the President’s words, “We welcome the new 2016 EITI Standard, in particular, the requirements on beneficial ownership and the sale of the government’s share of production”.

The President also declared that “Nigeria will establish a transparent central register of foreign companies bidding on public contracts and buying property. We welcome the proposal by developed countries to work together to improve the access of developing countries to beneficial ownership information for use in public contracting.”

The EITI standards require all implementing countries to publish their Beneficial Ownership Roadmap by January 2017 and commence full implementation by January 2020.

The process adopted in the development of the roadmap was consultative, robust and consistent with the multi-stakeholders approach of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) which involves civil society, media, extractive companies, relevant government agencies and development partners.

In a similar development, NEITI has unveiled an open data policy in keeping with the realization that the world is currently witnessing a global shift towards making data open and accessible. This is also in compliance with the EITI Standards and the global shift towards open data availability which is largely attributed to technological advancement and increasing demand for transparency and accountability by citizens.

Under the open data policy released by NEITI, information and data contained in its industry audits would be made publicly available and accessible in a reusable format.

The policy defined Open data as data that is in the public domain or ought to be in the public domain. The definition also provides that such data should be accessible, freely used at no cost and can be shared and built upon by anyone.

The open data policy also requires that the data be used anywhere and for any purpose without restrictions from copyright, patent or other control mechanism and must also be expressly excluded by the provisions of the laws of Nigeria.

This requires making the data convenient, modifiable in open format, easily retrievable, indexed, and well organized. The open data policy also represents the framework for the implementation of the global drive for use of open data to pursue reforms, enthrone transparency and accountability especially in the extractive sector of the Nigerian economy.

The open data policy is expected not only to create a solid foundation for open data disclosures in the extractive sector, but has the potential for implementation in other sectors of the economy.

NEITI therefore appeals to the media, civil society, parliamentarians and citizens to avail themselves of the two policy documents and use them as tools for public education, information dissemination and enlightenment on governance issues in the extractive industry in Nigeria.

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

Economy

Financial Stocks Contribute 80.75% to NGX Weekly Trading Volume

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NGX investors

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited posted a turnover of 8.564 billion shares worth N99.936 billion in 177,870 deals last week versus the 8.736 billion shares valued at N134.577 billion traded in 180,290 deals a week earlier.

According to the data, financial stocks led the activity chart with 6.916 billion units sold for N56.716 billion in 84,589 deals, contributing 80.75 per cent and 56.75 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.

Energy equities transacted 387.647 million units worth N8.502 billion in 11,249 deals, and agriculture shares exchanged 315.540 million units valued at N6.019 billion in 11,747 deals.

Universal Insurance, Linkage Assurance, and AIICO Insurance were the busiest with 2.787 billion units valued at N6.622 billion in 11,067 deals, accounting for 32.54 per cent and 6.63 per cent of trading volume and value apiece.

Business Post reports that 50 stocks appreciated in the five-day trading week versus 66 stocks of the preceding week, 49 shares depreciated versus 41 shares a week earlier, and 47 equities remained unchanged versus 39 equities in the previous week.

Mutual Benefits gained 31.85 per cent to close at N3.85, Tripple Gee expanded by 30.23 per cent to N5.60, Sunu Assurances increased by 23.80 per cent to N6.19, MeCure Industries rose by 20.50 per cent to N19.10, and Deap Capital surged by 19.26 per cent to N1.61.

However, UPDC lost 17.72 per cent to settle at N6.50, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shed 16.00 per cent to N4.20, Berger Paints slumped by 14.67 per cent to N32.00, VFD Group crashed by 11.19 per cent to N11.90, and Unilever Nigeria depreciated by 10.29 per cent to N71.50.

The bourse was under selling pressure in the week, resulting in a 0.77 per cent fall in the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation to 144,628.20 points and N91.502 trillion, respectively.

Also, all other indices were in red apart from the growth, insurance, and NGX AFR Div. Yield indices, which gained 9.50 per cent, 8.21 per cent, and 1.57 per cent, respectively.

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Economy

Bears Tighten Grip on NGX With 0.46% Loss Amid Weak Investor Sentiment

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NGX 30 Index

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited suffered a loss on Friday, the third consecutive day it was closing lower. It lost 0.46 per cent when trading activities ended yesterday.

The decline was triggered by heavy profit-taking in the insurance space, with its index depleting by 8.73 per cent and the consumer goods counter losing 0.32 per cent.

However, the banking index gained 0.56 per cent, and the energy industry appreciated by 0.05 per cent, while the commodity and the industrial goods indices closed flat.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) retracted by 671.81 points to 144,628.20 points from 145,300.01 points and the market capitalisation came down by N425 billion to N91.502 trillion from N91.927 trillion.

Investors transacted 1.4 billion equities worth N13.9 billion 32,065 deals compared with the 2.5 billion equities valued at N22.2 billion traded in 43,515 deals on Thursday, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 44.00 per cent, 37.39 per cent and 26.31 per cent, respectively.

Universal Insurance topped the activity log with 308.8 million shares valued at N371.1 million, AIICO Insurance sold 118.0 million equities worth N470.7 million, Mutual Benefits transacted 102.4 million stocks for N390.8 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 70.4 million shares worth N160.0 million, and Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 62.2 million equities valued at N182.3 million.

The trio of Linkage Assurance, International Energy Insurance, and Lasaco Assurance lost 10.00 per cent to sell for N2.43, N3.33, and N4.05 apiece, NEM Insurance depreciated by 9.97 per cent to N32.50, and Meyer crashed by 9.95 per cent to N16.75.

On the flip side, Mutual Benefits rose by 10.00 per cent to N3.85, Ikeja Hotel gained 9.95 per cent to finish at N22.65, Wema Bank appreciated by 9.90 per cent to N22.75, Deap Capital improved by 9.52 per cent to N1.61, and Tripple Gee increased by 8.32 per cent to N5.60.

With 39 price losers and 30 price gainers, the market breadth index of Customs Street ended negative on Friday, with weak investor sentiment.

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Economy

OTC Exchange Falls 1.13%

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OTC stock exchange

Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 1.13 per cent on Friday, August 15 after recording three price gainers and three price gainers.

During the trading day, the market capitalisation was down by N22.01 billion to N2.146 trillion from N2.171 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciated by 36.79 points to 3,587.76 points, from the 3,628.67 points achieved a day earlier.

According to data, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc crumbled by N4.86 to end at N43.82 per share versus the preceding day’s N48.68 per share, Okitipupa Plc plunged by N3.70 to finish at N233.30 per unit versus N237.00 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc dipped by 56 Kobo to close at N21.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N21.56 per share.

Conversely, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 77 Kobo to settle at N68.61 per unit compared with N67.84 per unit, Acorn Petroleum Plc appreciated by 11 Kobo to N1.30 per share from N1.11 per share, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc expanded by 5 Kobo to 57 Kobo per unit from the previous day’s 52 Kobo per unit.

The volume of trades declined by 87.1 per cent to 2.95 million units from 22.9 million units, the value of transactions depleted by 58.6 per cent to N15.4 million from N37.1 million, and the number of deals dropped by 34.9 per cent to 28 deals from 43 deals.

At the close of business, Okitipupa Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 158.6 million units worth N5.9 billion, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units valued at N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 44.0million units sold for N1.9 billion.

Also, IGI Plc was the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 1.1 billion units transacted for N379.6 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units valued at N524.8 million, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units worth N4.2 billion.

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