Tinubu canvasses German investment in power, rail: Nigeria

Nigerian Tribune

Bola Tinubu, President of Nigeria, arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. Lewis Joly/Pool via REUTERS

President Bola Tinubu has expressed Nigeria’s determination to pursue German investment in targeted sectors of the Nigerian economy with focus on critical growth-enabling industries in energy, transportation, and electric power production, transmission, and distribution.

The president met with German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on the sidelines of the G20 Compact with Africa Economic Conference on Monday, in Berlin, Germany’s capital.

At the meeting, while recognizing the success of Siemens AG in positively transforming the quantity and quality of Egyptian electric power supply, the President noted that under his leadership, the staggered and unsteady implementation of the Siemens-supported Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) would take on new urgency with a more deliberate process of project execution, even as he recognized the need to embrace Siemens technology in all aspects of the project for project sustainability.

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A statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President(Media & Publicity) quoted Tinubu as saying: “For me, I am very much committed to pursuing all aspects of the Siemens Power project and the skill development opportunities that will emerge from that project for our talented youths who can participate in sustaining the industry.”

President Tinubu drew the attention of the German leader to the need for his business community to focus their attention on value-additive processing in Nigerian solid minerals, agricultural goods, automobile production, and other job-creating sub-sectors of the economy.

“Everything the world requires in terms of business environment reforms are underway in Nigeria. Perhaps our foreign investors are still a bit paranoid that those old Nigerian issues are intractable. But my track record speaks for itself. I have transformed an entity before now. I am here to do it again, and I will,” the President stated.

Aware of the new 2,000km ultra-high-speed rail network which Siemens is presently constructing across 60 cities in Egypt at the speed of 230km/hour, the President further expressed his keen interest in the role Siemens can play in modernizing and expanding Nigeria’s rail network with the provision of ultra-modern trains and railways which can more than double the speed of existing 100km/hour standard-gauge systems presently operating in Nigeria.

To this, the German Chancellor expressed readiness but with an acknowledgement of the need to resolve administrative and financial hurdles brought about by governance problems emanating from prior administration in the sector.

He added: “I know that there is a lot of work that has been done. There is already a big production of electricity in Nigeria, but it is not getting to the population. Of course, this has to do with the need for a provision of stations and infrastructure on the grid. Siemens has developed the plan and is ready to deepen implementation, but it is now up to your new government to take the follow-up action that you are now committed to taking. On the railway plans, Siemens will be very happy to do this when more progress is made on the power project which has been started already.”

Agreeing with Tinubu’s submission, the German Chancellor further stated: “There is nothing too unique on the growth of China. It came down to a lot of investment from overseas that leveraged on cheap and skilled labour with adequate internal infrastructure and shipping infrastructure for imports and exports to flow easily. These things are possible in Nigeria. You even have abundant natural resources. Step by step, it is achievable, Mr. President.”

According to the statement, the two leaders of the largest economies in Africa and Europe, respectively, agreed to deepen collaboration on the utilization of advanced biometric systems and border control technology to check irregular migration, even as the two leaders agreed that investments in labour-intensive industries will go a long way toward resolving the root causes of the problem.

Ethiopia opens up more sectors as exchange readies for launch

The East African

Image used for illustrative purposes. Overhead view of the city of Addis Ababa, showing mountains in the distance. (Photo by Viviane Moos/Corbis via Getty Images)

Ethiopia is planning to ease its restrictions on participation of foreigners in its domestic financial markets as it prepares to launch its local currency securities exchange platform next year.

The country has in the last two years opened up its telecommunications and banking sectors to participation of foreign firms, allowing Kenyan telco Safaricom and bank KCB to set up operations there.

Other sectors have remained restricted, with only locals and Ethiopian diasporas allowed to invest or operate businesses in them, a factor which has greatly limited participation of foreigners in the country’s financial markets.

Brook Taye, director-general of the Ethiopian Capital Markets Authority (ECMA), told journalists that the country is working on liberalising “many other different sectors” after opening up its banking and telecommunication sectors.“There is a very progressive and forward-looking approach that the entire economic policy of the country is being governed in the past five years, which has resulted in very significant improvements,” Dr Taye said at a press conference on the sidelines of the Africa Financial Industry Summit in Lome, Togo on Wednesday.

The liberalisation is expected to give room for foreigners to participate in the upcoming Ethiopia Securities Exchange (ESX), which is set to go live next year in efforts to “increase access to local currency finance,” for the government and businesses in the country.

Ethiopia still doesn’t have a stock exchange platform, despite being one of the largest economies in Africa, and most equity and stock investments are currently being transacted directly between investors and firms.

Currently, there are about 350,000 equity investors in the 30 banks and 18 insurance companies in Ethiopia, despite the lack of an exchange, an indication that the country is ripe for a bourse, Dr Taye said.

According to Dr Taye, the Ethiopia Securities Exchange, which is being developed in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will significantly boost access to finance for the government and small and medium enterprises in Ethiopia, mostly from the domestic markets.“A local currency bond market with a strong participation from domestic institutional and retail investors has a significant impact on government finance and serves as an alternative source of finance for corporate entities,” Dr Taye said.

As part of the partnership, IFC will be an anchor investor in the initial public offerings at the soon-to-be ESX, on which the first firms to be listed will be Ethiopian state-owned enterprises and a few private firms whose IPO-readiness are currently being reviewed.

Aliou Maiga, IFC’s Africa regional director for financial institutions group, said the new bourse will “help allocate investment more efficiently and allow for better risk sharing, while providing an alternative funding source to complement bank financing.”“Liquid, diverse and well-regulated capital markets are an essential source if local-currency financing for the government, financial sector participants, and for end users such as small businesses,” Mr Maiga said at the press conference in Lome on Wednesday.

Google signs deal to promote South Africa’s tourism

ZAWYA

Johannesburg cityscape with Nelson Mandela bridge going over the railway seen close up. Image used for illustrative purpose. Getty Images

South Africa and Google have signed a deal to promote the African country as a prime tourism destination.     

South Africa is a major attraction for both domestic and international tourists seeking out its beaches and safari excursions. The sector is also a big employer in the country.   

Google will provide insights into global travel trends and will provide the South African tourism ministry strategies for targeting specific markets and tailoring experiences to visitor expectations, a statement from the tourism ministry said.    

The US tech giant will also support tourism start-ups, offer them training on advertising, help in the digitisation of South Africa’s tourism by getting more sites online and enable small businesses in the sector to be more competitive globally.    

The agreement, described by the ministry as a partnership with no cash payment involved, was signed in Cape Town by South Africa’s tourism minister Patricia de Lille and Alistair Mokoena, Country Director for Google South Africa.    

“The primary goal of this collaboration is to harness Google’s technological expertise to support the Ministry of Tourism’s efforts in promoting South Africa as a prime tourist destination,” the statement said.    

Google would also showcase South African tourism through its Arts and Culture platform, Mokoena said.    

In a promising sign for the country’s tourism recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, international tourist arrivals rose to 4.8 million from January to July this year, the tourism ministry said in August.    

This represented a 70.6% increase in arrivals compared with the first seven months of 2022.   

Based on the trend, the ministry forecast arrival numbers to exceed the 10 million recorded in 2019 by the end of March next year. 

Nigeria crude oil production increases to 1.35m/bpd

Nigerian Tribune

Nigeria flag and oil wells. Getty Images Image used for illustrative purpose.

Again, Nigeria ramped up its crude oil production in October to 1.35 million barrels per day in its determination to meet the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota.

Although Nigeria has in the past few months seen some production increase, it remained well below its required OPEC’s production level.

As contained in OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for November 2023, from secondary sources, the 13 OPEC members’ production averaged 27.90 mb/d in October 2023.

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It said crude oil output increased mainly in Angola, Iran and Nigeria, while production inLibya, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait decreased.

According to secondary sources, Nigeria was said to have produced 1,416 MB/d, while direct communication puts the figure at 1,351 MB/d.

Meanwhile, the just-released monthly oil production report by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) disclosed that the country produced a total of 42 million barrels of crude oil in October 2023.

This implies about a 1.5 million increase from the 40.4 million recorded in September.

The Minister of Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, had recently expressed the government’s commitment to increasing its daily production to over 2 million barrels per day.

According to him, issues of theft and pipeline vandalism were major factors hindering it from attaining increased production.

However, he said the government was working towards addressing these problems.

Saudi Arabia to sign deals worth over $500 mln with African nations -minister

Reuters

Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan gestures during an interview with Reuters at the Ministry of Finance in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 12, 2021. Picture taken December 12, 2021. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

The Saudi Fund for Development will sign agreements worth 2 billion riyals ($533 million) with African countries, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said on Thursday during the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference in Riyadh.

“We are working with partners to support Ghana and other countries regarding their debt,” Jadaan added.

Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih later said at the same conference the kingdom’s more than $700 billion wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, will make some “game changing” investments in Africa.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, also at the conference, signed preliminary agreements with African countries including Nigeria, Senegal, Chad and Ethiopia on energy-related cooperation.

Mozambique’s finance ministry issued a statement later in the day saying it had signed a financing agreement of $158 million with the Saudi Development Fund for infrastructure projects including the construction of hospitals and a dam.

Africa: Investors opting for data centres, green projects

The East African

Johannesburg City Skyline. Aerial View Of Illuminated Buildings In City At Night. – stock photo Photo taken in Johannesburg, South Africa. Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Property investors in Africa, mostly private equity firms and high networth investors, are diversifying their portfolio into dollar-denominated return projects and green buildings to cushion against potential losses from the plummeting currencies in the continent.

Rising political and environmental risks in the continent, rising interest rates in the US and the rising risk premiums associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the latest Middle East conflict have placed downward pressure on exchange rates across the continent according to a new report.

Property consultant firm Knight Frank, through its latest Africa report (2022/2023), say real estate investors are mitigating the emerging risks by deploying their capital in projects that have dollar denominated returns where possible and in green-rated building.

The report says climate change poses extreme challenges for Africa given the continent’s exposure to weather-related events and the reliance on rain-fed agriculture which is creating opportunities for real estate investors to put their capital in green-rated buildings.“Environment, social and corporate governance is an increasingly global focus for real estate investors, and we expect this to spur capital flows towards green-rated buildings,” says Ben Wood hams, a partner at the firm and in charge of the African desk.

Africa has 785 green-rated buildings of which 641 are in South Africa alone.

The report, however, notes that attracting meaningful volumes of institutional capital into Africa continues to prove challenging, a situation that has been compounded by the ongoing global macroeconomic headwinds.

For example, in 2021 total cross-border investment in African commercial real estate declined by 49 percent to $274 million and 54 percent lower than the 2019 figure.“We expect a rotation of assets by investors, particularly private equity, into the industrial, residential, life sciences and data centre sectors,” says report.

“Investment managers and institutional investors are expected to lead the demand for these alternative sectors, while high networth investors will demonstrate strong interest too particularly into the more stable markets such as South Africa and Kenya,” it adds.

The report discloses that disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic have caused many businesses to shift their operations online, resulting in overwhelming demand for internet services.

This has stimulated high demand for data centre development in Africa, with supply growing across the continent, according to the report.

In 2021, the major data centre additions were in Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi. These locations alongside Cairo and Casablanca are regarded as the top five key data centre markets in Africa.

According to the report, data centres are gaining traction as an alternative development asset in Africa among developers and investors, with South Africa appearing to secure a pole position as the continent’s data centre capital.“Looking ahead, we expect to see an intensification in data centre demand as the need for connectivity by the public sector, professionals in the fintech and health care space demand across the continent,” says the report.

“Indeed, the financial and business services, as well as the transport, storage, information and communications technology services sectors are forecast to add almost 11 million new jobs around Africa by the end of the decade.”

Saudi minister discuss enhancing cooperation in industry, mining sectors with ministers of African countries

Saudi Gazette

Loading of iron ore on a barge at Saldanha Bay, South Africa. Getty Images Image used for illustrative purpose.

RIYADH — Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al Khorayef discussed ways of enhancing cooperation in the industry and mining sectors between Saudi Arabia and the African countries participating in the Saudi-African Summit.

This has been carried out by Al Khorayef while holding bilateral meetings with a number of ministers of African countries participating in the summit which was held in Riyadh on Friday.

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Al Khorayef met with a number of ministers from Zambia, who are the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Stanley Kakubo, the Minister of Finance, Wastumbekem Mosoktwane, the Minister of Agriculture, Reuben Mtolo Phiri, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Frederick Shava.

The meeting carried out by Al Khorayef was also with the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition of South Africa Ebrahim Patel, the Minister of Mines and Geology of Senegal Oumar Sarr, the Minister of Mines of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Antoinette N’Samba Kalambayi, and the Minister of Petroleum, Energy, and Minerals of Mauritania Al-Nani Ould Chrougha, SPA stated.

The meetings witnessed conducting partnerships between the Saudi and African companies, exchanging technical expertise, and discussing ways to benefit from the promising investment opportunities in the African continent.

These meetings come within the framework of Saudi Arabia’s endeavor, through the summit, aimed at enhancing the industrial, mining and trade partnership with the African countries.

It also aims to strengthen cooperation in different economic fields and invest in business development, infrastructure, and human capital, in addition to enhancing the cooperation to achieve sustainable development in the African continent.

It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has signed 4 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with 4 African countries to cooperate in the mining sector during Saudi-African Economic Forum in Riyadh in the presence of Al Khorayef and a number of his counterparts from the countries included in the MoUs.

The memorandums signed by Al Khorayef with his counterparts included a MoU project for technical cooperation in the field of mining and mineral resources with Chad’s Ministry of Mines and Geology, Senegal’s Ministry of Mines and Geology, and Zimbabwe’s Mines and Mining Development.

The 4th memorandum was signed with Mauritania’s Ministry of Petroleum, Energy for cooperation in the field of mineral resources.

The MoUs stipulate on cooperating in the mining field by developing sources of information on minerals and mines, exchanging experiences and experts, joint cooperation in the field of regulations, legislation and policies for the mining sector.

They also stipulate on exchanging experiences in the field of disseminating geological and mineral information, evaluating and interpreting satellite images, geographical data, and using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools.

The memorandums also included encouraging the private sector in the countries to invest in the mini sector and exploring available mining opportunities, in addition to participating in the programs and working sessions in the mining field.

Furthermore, transferring modern technology used in exploration and evaluation of ores, encouraging local content and enhancing the technical capabilities of local suppliers in advanced sectors of the mining industry.

The MoUs identified a number of cooperation aspects represented in developing the human cadres, transferring knowledge in the field of exploration and mining in the mineral resources sector in accordance with the regulations in force in the mentioned countries.

This also included encouraging partnership and exchange between public and semi-public institutions and private companies operating in the minerals sector, as well as consultations in the institutional development for the minerals sector, in addition to developing legislation and laws regulating this sector.

Saudi Arabia signs deal with Nigeria on sidelines of Saudi-Africa summit

Bizcommunity.com

Nigerian flag with Saudi Arabian flag. Getty Images Image used for illustrative purpose.

Nigeria and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to a series of investment and cooperation deals, including a pledge by the Saudi government to invest in the revamp of Nigeria’s oil refineries and provide financial support to sustain the government’s foreign-exchange reforms.

The agreements were reached at a bilateral meeting between Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the Saudi-Africa summit in Riyadh.

Under Tinubu, Nigeria has embarked on the boldest reforms in decades, scrapping a popular petrol subsidy and unifying the country’s multiple exchange rates as part of measures “aimed at improving the ease of doing business.”

But liquidity has yet to return to the official currency market with the naira quoted at a premium on the parallel market.

Information Minister Mohammed Idris said the Saudi government pledged to make “a substantial deposit of foreign exchange to boost Nigeria’s forex liquidity”.

In addition, the Saudi government, through Saudi Aramco, will invest in the revamp of Nigeria’s four decrepit state refineries which is expected to be completed within two- to-three years, Idris said.

Revive economy

Nigeria is seeking more investments to revive an economy plagued by foreign-currency shortages, double-digit inflation, widespread insecurity and theft of crude oil, its key export.

Africa’s top oil exporter has made producing its fuels a priority for years but efforts to revamp its refineries have failed, leaving it reliant on imports.

Tinubu also assured potential Saudi Arabian investors of the safety of their investments in Africa’s largest economy, as he sought to strengthen ties between the two countries, his spokesperson said earlier on Friday.

Tinubu, who was speaking at the Saudi-Africa summit in Riyadh, promised investors “some of the world’s highest returns on investment,” spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale said.

He also called for collaboration to combat Islamist insurgents, including Boko Haram, and other security challenges across Africa’s most populous nation.

Multilateral levels

“Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have always enjoyed a special relationship at both the bilateral and multilateral levels. Within the past six decades, our bilateral cooperation has witnessed diversification to cover a number of areas of common interest,” Tinubu was quoted by his spokesperson as saying.

The two countries on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the oil and gas industry, further deepening economic ties between them.

The two leaders agreed to work together over the next six months to “develop a comprehensive road map and blueprint” to deliver on the investments, Idris said.

Kenya’s Safaricom, Sumitomo launch support platform for start-ups

Reuters

Safaricom Ethiopia employees walk past a billboard during the Safaricom ceremony to officially launch its operations in Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Kenyan telecoms operator Safaricom (SCOM.NR) and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. (8053.T) have created a platform for supporting start-up companies, they said on Wednesday.

Although African economies like Kenya were in the past seen as the next frontier for start-ups especially in the technology sector, entrepreneurs faced issues including lack of financing and proper market strategies.

“Studies show that entrepreneurs in Kenya face major challenges, with a 30% lifetime survival rate for startups,” Safaricom said in a statement.

Both companies have been joined by M-Pesa Africa in the venture that is called Spark Accelerator, they said. M-Pesa Africa manages Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile financial services platform.

M-Pesa, which allows customers to send and receive money on their phones, make payments for goods and services, save and even borrow small loans, is used by 60 million individuals and 3 million businesses on the continent.

“We trust this acceleration program will enable startups to create value within this ecosystem,” said Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, the managing director of M-Pesa Africa.

The platform aims to improve key sectors in Africa, said Katsuya Kashiki, general manager for Sumitomo’s smart communications platform division.

The companies did not disclose how much they would invest in the platform.

Africa could see $168bln tourism boost in next decade

Bizcommunity.com

Closeup of man hand holding passports and boarding pass at airport. Getty Images Image used for illustrative purpose.
Getty Images

A new report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) says that Africa’s travel and tourism sector could grow by $168 billion and create over 18 million new jobs in the next 10 years. The report, titled “Unlocking Opportunities for Travel & Tourism Growth in Africa,” says that this growth is possible if three key policies are implemented. The report recommends that African countries improve three key policies to unlock annualised growth of 6.5%, reaching a contribution of more than $350bn.

The report includes a policy package focused on improving Africa’s growth based on air infrastructure, visa facilitation and tourism marketing.

The tourism and travel sector is a powerhouse sector in Africa, with a contribution of more than $186bn to the region’s economy in 2019, welcoming 84 million international travellers. The sector is also essential for employment, providing livelihoods to 25 million people, equating to 5.6% of all the jobs in the region.

Speaking at the global tourism body’s Global Summit in Kigali today, Julia Simpson, WTTC President and CEO, said: “Africa’s travel and tourism sector has witnessed an extraordinary transformation. In just two decades, it has more than doubled in value, significantly contributing to the continent’s economy.

“Growth potential for travel and tourism in Africa is massive. It has already more than doubled since 2000, and with the right policies could unlock an additional $168bn in the next decade. Africa needs simplified visa processes, better air connectivity within the continent, and marketing campaigns to highlight the wealth of destinations in this breathtaking continent.”

Highlighting Africa’s travel and tourism potential

According to Zubin Karkaria, founder and CEO of VFS Global said: “We are excited to partner with WTTC to uncover the extensive opportunities that travel and tourism offers in Africa.”

“Having established our presence in Africa since 2005 we are today the trusted partner of 38 governments who we serve across 55 cities in 35 countries in Africa. VFS Global recognises the tremendous potential of Africa and remains deeply committed to supporting the continuing development of travel and tourism to and from the continent.

“This report not only highlights the diverse prospects for economic growth, sustainable tourism, and cross-cultural collaboration but also provides valuable insights for governments to formulate policies and offers businesses a well-defined roadmap for expansion in this thriving market.”

This report delves into the historical journey of the travel and tourism sector in Africa. It’s a story of facing challenges head-on, from the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 to the setbacks caused by disease outbreaks, and political instability.

Despite all of these challenges, the travel and tourism sector is on a path to recovery.

According to the global body, 2023 is projected to be a year of near-full recovery, only 1.9% shy of 2019 levels, as well as the creation of an additional 1.8 million jobs.

Opportunities for Africa

The report highlights also the opportunities for the sector, which include strategic investments improved connectivity, streamlined visa processes, reduced carbon footprint through low-carbon energy adoption, and enhanced water efficiency.

These could unlock the potential for sustainable growth, job creation, and economic development in the African travel and tourism sector.