Economy
When PwC Lavished N2.35m On Business Reporters
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
October 7, 2016, will not erase in the memory of business reporters in Nigeria. This is because it was a day they were celebrated by a leading professional services firm, PwC Nigeria.
According to PwC Nigeria, it came up with the idea in a bid to celebrate and reward excellence in business reporting in Nigeria.
At a gala night held in Lagos, business journalists went home with a total N2.35 million at the maiden edition of PwC Media Excellence Award.
It was gathered that a total of 55 entries were submitted by journalists in four categories, namely, Tax Reporting, Capital Market Reporting, SME Reporting and Business & Economy Reporting. Winners in each of the categories went home with N500,000 each while consolation prizes of N50,000 each went to the other nominees that made top three.
Of the 55 entries received, 29 were for Business & Economy Reporting; 16 for SME Reporting; eight for Capital Market Reporting and two for Tax Reporting.
Mr Taiwo Oyedele, the PwC’s Tax Partner and Head, Tax & Regulatory Services, PwC West Africa, decried the low reportage of tax issues by Nigerian journalists saying it largely accounts for the poor awareness about tax in the country.
“It is disturbing that only two entries were received in the Tax Reporting category. This goes to show the low awareness level of tax issues in Nigeria. If the journalists who are supposed to inform and stimulate discussions on tax issues in the country are not doing so, probably because of their lack of understanding of the issues, then, the awareness level on tax would be very low among the populace.
“On our part as a corporate organisation, we are set to help resolve this problem by organising various capacity enhancement workshops for Nigeria business journalists,” Mr Oyedele said.
Mrs Simplice Gladys Olajumoke, the Deputy Vice President, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), on her part, also pledged her organisation’s support to ensure that the issue of tax dominates the Nigerian media space.
Mr Tola Ogundipe, the Deputy Senior Country Partner, PwC Nigeria, in his opening remark, said journalists have important role to play in the society as information carriers. According to him, good governance and economic independence can be achieved if the journalists ensure excellence reportage of issues that are well researched.
He urged the Nigerian journalists to always leverage on technology adding that the award was instituted to celebrate and reward excellence in business reporting.
Stanley Opara of Punch Newspapers, Collins Nwaeze of The Nation Newspapers and Abiodun Eromosele of THISDAY Newspapers were the finalists in the Capital Market Category. Eromosele won the first prize with his article titled: ‘Of The Exchange Rate and Devaluation.”
Eromo Egbejule of the Ventures Africa won the first prize in the SME Reporting Category with his article titled: ‘Walk in these shoes: Aba’s very own leather manufacturing plant’. Hannah Ojo of the Nation Newspapers and Oluwamayowa Tijani of The CableNG made top three.
Fisayo Soyombo of The CableNG; Emmanuel Ogunsola of Techpoint NG and Isaac Anyaogu of BusinessDay Newspaper were the finalists in the Business & Economy Category of which Soyombo’s article, ‘Undercover Investigation: Nigeria’s Customs of Corruption, Bribery and Forgery’, came tops.
The two entries in the tax category were from Anthony Matuluko of Tax Matters on TV and Oluwamayowa Tijani of the CableNG. Matuluko won the first prize with interview of secondary school students at the SWIT seminar
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deadline for the recapitalisation of the Nigerian pension industry has been extended by six months to June 2027 from December 2026.
This extension was approved by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the agency, which regulates the sector in the country.
Addressing newsmen on Thursday in Lagos, the Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, explained that the shift in deadline was to give operators more time to boost the capital base, dismissing speculations that the exercise had been suspended.
“The recapitalisation has not been suspended. We have communicated the requirements to the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and we expect every operator to be compliant by June 2027. Anyone who is not compliant by then will lose their licence,” Ms Oloworaran told journalists.
She added that, “From a regulatory standpoint, our major challenge is ensuring compliance. We are working with ICPC, labour and the TUC to ensure employers remit pension contributions for their employees.”
The DG noted that engagements with industry operators indicated broad acceptance of the policy, with many PFAs already taking steps to raise additional capital or explore mergers and acquisitions.
“You may see some mergers and acquisitions in the industry, but what is clear is that the recapitalisation exercise is on track and the industry agrees with us,” she stated.
PenCom wants the PFAs to increase their capital base and has created three categories, with the first consists operators with Assets Under Management of N500 billion and above. They are expected to have a minimum capital of N20 billion and one per cent of AUM above N500 billion.
The second category has PFAs with AUM below N500 billion, which must have at least N20 billion as capital base.
The last segment comprises special-purpose PFAs such as NPF Pensions Limited, whose minimum capital was pegged at N30 billion, and the Nigerian University Pension Management Company Limited, whose minimum capital was fixed at N20 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Thursday, December 18.
According to data, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc led the losers’ group after it slipped by N2.87 to N36.78 per share from N39.65 per share, Golden Capital Plc depreciated by 77 Kobo to end at N6.98 per unit versus the previous day’s N7.77 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped 19 Kobo to sell at N60.00 per share versus Wednesday’s closing price of N60.19 per share.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation lost N16.81 billion to finish at N2.147 billion compared with the preceding session’s N2.164 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 24.76 points to 3,589.88 points from 3,614.64 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold increased by 49.3 per cent to 30.5 million units from 20.4 million units, the value of securities surged by 211.8 per cent to N225.1 million from N72.2 million, and the number of deals jumped by 33.3 per cent to 28 deals from 21 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc remained the most traded stock by value with a year-to-date sale of 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
Similarly, InfraCredit Plc ended as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units exchanged for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has again crossed the 150,000-point threshold on Thursday as the demand of for local intensifies.
The market was up by 0.35 per cent during the session, with the NGX index inching higher by 520.23 points to 150,363.05 points from the previous day’s 149,842.82 points and the market capitalisation climbed by N332 billion to N95.857 trillion from N95.525 trillion.
During the session, the consumer goods index grew by 1.23 per cent, the banking counter expanded by 0.56 per cent, and the energy sector appreciated by 0.05 per cent.
However, the insurance industry went down by 0.23 per cent, while the commodity and the industrial goods sectors closed flat.
Nestle Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N1,958.00, Guinness Nigeria improved by 9.98 per cent to N289.70, Aluminium Extrusion Industries rose by 9.76 per cent to N11.25, DAAR Communications soared by 9.20 per cent to 95 Kobo, and Mecure Industries surged by 9.13 per cent to N55.00.
On the flip side, Stanbic IBTC lost 9.33 per cent to settle at N95.20, Lasaco Assurance went down by 9.09 per cent to N2.50, Africa Prudential slipped by 8.82 per cent, Austin Laz depreciated by 8.82 per cent to N12.40, and Sterling Holdings crashed by 6.12 per cent to N6.90.
There were 35 price gainers and 26 price losers yesterday, implying a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
During the session, a total of 839.8 million equities valued at N32.8 billion exchanged hands in 23,211 deals compared with the 5.9 billion equities worth N216.2 billion traded in 25,205 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 85.77 per cent, 84.83 per cent, and 7.91 per cent apiece.
The day’s busiest stock was First Holdco with a turnover of 385.6 million units sold for N15.6 billion, FCMB traded 76.0 million units worth N805.3 million, Lasaco Assurance exchanged 43.6 million units valued at N111.8 million, Access Holdings transacted 29.6 million units worth N616.8 million, and Chams sold 24.8 million units valued at N75.4 million.
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