Connect with us

Economy

Ways Firms Can Optimise Human Capital—PwC Nigeria

Published

on

pwc-nigeria

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Organisations that will thrive in a constantly disrupted and divergent world will require adaptability, rethinking their employer value proposition and leveraging organisational data more effectively.

Human Resources department needs to take a more prominent role in enabling their organisations build these capabilities.

This was the overriding consensus that emerged at a breakfast meeting hosted by PwC’s People & Organisation (P& O) team on the theme Disruption in HR: Revving your game with strategic reward which recently held in Lagos.

The firm says that the current environmental realities present an opportunity for discerning HR leaders to deliver greater value.

The options open to HR leaders looking to achieve better results from their workforce and sustain employee engagement formed the crux of discussions at the breakfast meeting, which was well attended by HR leaders across industries.

Dr Bert Odiaka, PwC Nigeria Partner and Advisory leader, in his opening remarks at the event clearly illustrated the changing landscape when he noted: “The average tenure on a job for Millennials who will constitute 75% of the workforce in 2025 is now about five years. This is a major departure from the employment for life philosophy of older generations.”

The breakfast meeting featured presentations from various subject matter specialists drawn from across the firm. The discussions also addressed questions around how HR can be more innovative and flexible with rewarding and engaging employees in the face of shrinking budgets while also helping them increase their pay-outs through tax efficient reward.

Esiri Agbeyi, PwC Nigeria Partner and P & O Tax unit leader, commenting on the tax presentation made during the event highlighted that:

“HR leaders must help their organisations achieve a strategic balance between rewarding employees and costs to other relevant stakeholders. They can achieve this by adopting a multi-competency approach that considers the entire business and core strategic values.

“As an example, paying attention to tax advantages or leakages in determining a reward policy is critical to mitigating extra costs to both employees and employer, more so when such employees are internationally mobile and can pick up more costs in the host countries due to difference in tax treatments or the absence of a double tax treaty.

“We typically find this with long term incentive schemes such as share schemes where the cost consequences of accounting, tax and even foreign exchange implications should not be overlooked.”

Ibironke Tolu-Ogunpolu, PwC Nigeria P& O Advisory Competency Leader comments: “Drawing on our research on disruptive developments across various sectors and the future of work, we’ve identified key priorities for optimising talent – or human capital – today, while building for the future. Some of these include developing dynamic models for the workforce of the future, maximising the potential of digital talent exchange, digitising the work place to fuel productivity and integrating data analytics for decision making support. It is also important to redesign jobs and compensation models to reward contribution to business value.”

During the session, other presenters, Seyi Onasanya and Ade Ogunsanya, Senior Manager and Manager respectively of the P & O team also announced PwC’s upcoming 2016 REMbenefit and REMChannel Policies Survey. The survey which seeks to explore how benefit policies and practices compare between employers in Nigeria, will be published early 2017 and is now open for participation.

Speaking on the reward survey, Seyi explained that one way organisations around the globe retain talent is through robust and value adding benefit structures. Benefits form one of the key elements of any value proposition and it is essential for organisations to understand the landscape of current and future benefit trends in Nigeria and globally. PwC aims to achieve this through the survey findings, which will be published as a report and serve as a guide for Nigerian employers in decision making.

The breakfast meeting ended on a positive high with many participants welcoming the opportunity to share experiences, and discuss various trends that impact their contributions as HR professionals with subject matter specialists from PwC. They also welcomed the insights shared on best practice and ways they can better align their people strategy to help their organisations remain competitive today and in the future.

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

Dangote Raises Investment in Ethiopia to $4bn, Promises Food Security

Published

on

Dangote investment Ethiopia

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Nigerian businessman, Mr Aliko Dangote, has increased his investment in Ethiopia to over $4 billion from $2.5 billion.

During a high-profile visit hosted by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the business mogul informed newsmen in Gode, in Ethiopia’s Somali region, that the expanded scope includes critical infrastructure such as a 110-kilometre pipeline, a 120MW power plant, a polypropylene packaging facility, and a two-million-tonne NPK blending plant, among other new components.

The richest man in Africa described Ethiopia as a key strategic destination for Dangote Group’s long-term investments.

“In total, our declared and signed investments in Ethiopia now exceed $4 billion. This makes Ethiopia the second-largest recipient of our investments in Africa, accounting for nearly nine per cent of our continental outlay between now and 2030,” he said.

He also reaffirmed his commitment to boosting food security across Africa through large-scale fertiliser investments, declaring that the continent has the capacity to feed itself and become a net exporter of agricultural products.

Speaking on the strategic importance of fertiliser in agricultural productivity, Mr Dangote noted that Africa’s food insecurity challenges are largely due to limited access to key inputs.

Africa holds immense agricultural potential, yet continues to grapple with food insecurity due to limited access to fertiliser. Through our investments, we are committed to reversing this trend by boosting productivity, empowering farmers, and advancing a sustainable path to food self-sufficiency,” he stated as he was accompanied to inspect the site of the proposed fertiliser plant, where construction activities are already underway.

He added that his organisation’s ambition, though bold, is achievable with sustained investment in fertiliser production and agricultural infrastructure.

“Africa has the capacity to feed itself and even export to the rest of the world. Our fertiliser investments across the continent are designed to unlock that potential and secure a prosperous future for our people,” Mr Dangote noted.

He further commended Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s leadership and vision for economic transformation, saying he is “driving development beyond expectations, but such progress requires strong private sector collaboration. We are proud to partner with Ethiopia to help build one of Africa’s most dynamic economies in the coming decade.”

In his remarks, Mr Ahmed described his guest as a trusted partner and commended the pace of work on the fertiliser project, which he said aligns with Ethiopia’s broader development priorities.

He emphasised that the project would significantly boost domestic fertiliser production, reduce dependence on imports, and provide critical support to millions of Ethiopian farmers.

According to the Prime Minister, the fertiliser plant will also create extensive employment opportunities, strengthen the industrial value chain, and reinforce Ethiopia’s position as an emerging agro-industrial hub in Africa.

“This type of large-scale investment demonstrates the power of strong collaboration between government and the private sector,” he said. “Expanding such partnerships will accelerate economic growth, attract further investment, and improve the livelihoods of our people.”

The Dangote fertiliser initiative is widely seen as a transformative step toward reshaping Africa’s agricultural landscape, with the potential to enhance productivity, reduce import dependence, and drive inclusive economic growth across the continent.

Continue Reading

Economy

FrieslandCampina Wamco, Three Others Raise NASD OTC Exchange by 1.41%

Published

on

OTC stock exchange

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed higher by 1.41 per cent on Friday, May 15, supported by four securities on the platform.

During the session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc added N14.24 to its share price to sell for N159.00 per unit, in contrast to the previous day’s N144.76 per unit.

Further, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N1.34 to N72.34 per share from N71.00 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its price by 4 Kobo to N2.94 per unit from N2.90 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 1 Kobo to trade at 61 Kobo per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of 60 Kobo per share.

As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 58.20 points to 4,188.41 points from 4,130.21 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N34.82 billion to N2.506 trillion from N2.471 trillion on Thursday.

During the session, the volume of trades went up by 180.8 per cent to 1.2 million units from 417,349 units, and the value of transactions increased by 29.8 per cent to N29.8 million from N23.2 million, while the number of deals fell by 22.6 per cent to 24 deals from 31 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units valued at N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.

Continue Reading

Economy

Profit-taking Sinks Nigeria’s Equity Market by 0.76% as Bears Take Control

Published

on

Nigerian equity market

By Dipo Olowookere

The bears overpowered the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, sinking it further by 0.76 per cent when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm.

The nation’s flagship equity market was under selling pressure during the session, as investors booked profits after the shares witnessed price appreciation in the past trading sessions.

The energy sector was the most impacted, as it shed 4.43 per cent. The consumer goods index declined by 0.90 per cent, the banking counter decreased by 0.15 per cent, and the industrial goods sector lost 0.08 per cent, while the insurance counter gained 2.42 per cent, which was not enough to salvage the situation.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,912.19 points to 250,330.92 points from 252,243.11 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by 1.225 trillion to N160.444 trillion from N161.669 trillion.

Zichis was the worst-performing stock for the session after it gave up 9.97 per cent to close at N29.43, FTN Cocoa slipped by 9.95 per cent to N8.96, The Initiates slumped by 9.90 per cent to N32.30, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank tumbled by 9.88 per cent to N3.83, and International Energy Insurance dropped 9.71 per cent to trade at N2.79.

The best-performing stock was ABC Transport, which grew by 10.00 per cent to N6.27. May and Baker also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N47.30, SCOA Nigeria surged by 9.98 per cent to N33.05, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.97 per cent to N7.06, and DAAR Communications jumped 9.76 per cent to N2.25.

Yesterday, investors traded 1.1 billion shares worth N44.3 billion in 65,744 deals compared with the 1.0 billion shares valued at N41.6 billion transacted in 74,822 deals a day earlier. This indicated a dip in the number of deals by 12.13 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 6.49 per cent, respectively.

Chams was the busiest equity for the day, with 328.5 million units sold for N1.1 billion. UBA traded 61.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, First Holdco transacted 58.7 million units valued at N4.2 billion, Secure Electronic Technology exchanged 51.9 million units worth N45.0 million, and Access Holdings traded 51.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion.

Continue Reading

Trending