Economy
Zenith Bank GMD Canvasses Increased Impact Investing in Africa
Mr Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Zenith Bank Plc, has called for increased impact investing in Africa, to enable the continent achieve its full potentials.
A statement by the bank issued to newsmen on Sunday, in Lagos, said Onyeagwu made the call in a keynote address at the Africa Investment Risk and Compliance Summit 2021, organised by the Emerging Business Intelligence and Innovation (EBII) Group on July 30 at the University of Oxford, U.
K.Onyeagwu, whose address was entitled: ‘Leveraging Impact Investment Opportunities for Growth in Africa’, described impact investing, as an investment that yielded optimal returns for investors.
He further described impact investing as value for all stakeholders and guaranteed continued sustenance and existence of humanity.
Onyeagwu decried the shallowness of Africa’s financial market as depicted by the fact that no African exchange was among the Morgan Stanley developed markets index, except for two in Egypt and South Africa, in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, and only six African exchanges in the MSCI Frontier Market Index.
The Zenith bank’s CEO noted that although the International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimated that the global investors’ appetite for impact investing could total as much as $26 trillion, only approximately eight per cent of the assets of impact intent funds, were focused on Africa.
This is not significant enough, he said, adding that Africa appeared to be in the room, but not on the table, considering the fact that Africa was in dire need of investments, especially in the light of the continent’s 1.3 billion people representing about 17 per cent of the global population of about 7.8 billion.
Onyeagwu cited the immense opportunities in Africa that represented enormous investment propositions for discerning investors, including the huge population, large market, active labour force and the rich natural endowments.
He described Africa as “the new frontier” for global growth; making a case for increased impact investment in the continent because of its investment opportunities in agriculture, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, electricity, and the creative sectors.
Onyeagwu exuded optimism on the coming into effect of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiative, noting that this would create a single, continent-wide market for goods and services, business and investment, granting investors access to the entire continent.
The Zenith bank CEO also called the attention of investors to Africa’s rich natural endowments, which included 60 of the world’s uncultivated arable land that had enormous potentials for organic food production, and nine per cent of the world’s freshwater bodies.
“Therefore, I implore investors in the agribusiness value chain to focus attention on Africa for organic food production, instead of genetically modified food in other climes.
“As a socially responsible organisation, Zenith Bank continues to promote impact investment in Africa.
“For example, the bank has maintained strong advocacy for investment in Africa through its flagship sponsorship of “Inside Africa” on CNN for 16 consecutive years.
”This is helping to highlight the immense creativity and talent that abound on the continent and the enormous investment opportunities.
“The bank leverages its in-depth knowledge of the African market to guide investors and hedge their exposures,” he said.
In addition, he said the bank had been on a steady Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) investment journey.
Onyeagwu then called for a paradigm shift, as Africa remained work in progress and leaders in the public and private sectors must not despair, rather they should champion the changes they want to see, by paying close attention to responsibility and accountability in leadership.
He called for the de-risking of Africa through reforms, improved ease of doing business, respect for the rule of law and sanctity of contract and human capital development.
Onyeagwu expressed satisfaction with the several reforms of the Federal Government, including the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme (RITC) and the establishment of the Rural Electrification Agency’s (REA).
In particular, he lauded the Rural Electrification Fund (REF) and the Infraco Plc, among other development finance initiatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria. (NAN)
To end the week, the stock market rebounded from previous losses, gaining N74 billion.
Investor interest in MTN Nigeria, FBN Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and other equities lifted the market.
Notably, the market capitalisation opened at N56.014 trillion, adding N74 billion or 0.
13 per cent to close at N56.088 trillion.The All-Share Index also advanced by 0.
13 per cent, or 129.44 points, closing at 97,606.63, compared to 97,477.19 recorded on Thursday.As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return increased by 30.54 per cent.
The market breadth closed positive, with 31 gainers and 19 losers on the floor of the Exchange.
On the gainers’ chart, Consolidated Hallmark Plc and Sterling Nigeria led by 9.
45 per cent each to close at N1.39 and N4.98 per share respectively.Mecure followed by 9.19 per cent to close at N10.10, Regency Alliance Insurance gained 9.09 per cent to close at 72k, while Fidson Healthcare Plc increased by 8.24 per cent to close at N15.10 per share.
Conversely, Deap Capital Management and Trust led the losers’ chart by 9.93 per cent to close at N1.36, NEM Insurance trailed by 9.71 per cent to close at N7.90 per share.
Daar Communications also lost 9.52 per cent to close at 57k, Tantalizers shed 9.09 per cent to close at 60k, while Dangote Sugar declined by 3.31 per cent to close at N31 per share.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 20.33 per cent.
A total of 304.43 million shares valued at N5.60 billion were exchanged in 6,950 deals, compared with 277.75 million shares valued at N4.65 billon in 7,091 deals traded in the previous session.
Meanwhile, Access Corporation led the activity chart in volume and value with 68.26 million shares valued at N1.34 billon.(NAN)
By David Torough, Abuja
The Nigerian Economic Society (NES) has decried Nigeria’s socioeconomic dilemmas, including; low personal incomes, dysfunctional education, healthcare systems, unemployment, rising inflation, poverty, amidst other critical issues.
This was part of the communique at the end of the association’s 65th annual conference held recently in Abuja with the theme: Socioeconomic Development in Nigeria: Imperatives, Implications, and Impacts.
It emphasised that the factors greatly contribute to insecurity, food scarcity, energy poverty, widening social inequality as macroeconomic instability and called on relevant stakeholders to urgently address the challenges.
President Bola Tinubu who was represented by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima through
Dr. Tope Fasua, underscored the
pivotal role of economists in shaping national development.
Tinubu reiterated the importance of their role to make the citizens feel integral and empowered, knowing that their contributions were crucial to the country’s development.
He urged them to approach the economy optimistically, stressing that their work was crucial, and that improvement was
always possible.
In his remarks, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu underscored the importance of socioeconomic resilience amidst global economic challenges.
He acknowledged the relevance of the conference theme, stating its timeliness in addressing Nigeria’s development needs.
On his part, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun who delivered the keynote address on “Leveraging Economic Reforms to Leapfrog Nigeria’s Socioeconomic Development,” underscored the potential benefits of these reforms and stressed the need to better utilise Nigeria’s human and natural resources to spur socio-economic development.
He predicted that while structural reforms might cause short-term economic shocks, they would stabilise the economy in the long run, bringing hope for a brighter future.
In his presentation, the NES President, Professor Adeola Adenikinju who presented “Nigeria’s Socioeconomic Challenges: Lessons from the Structural Adjustment Programmes,” recommended:
Instituting an economic governance structure for the country, designating
some Ministries as economic ministries that qualified economists and allied professionals
must staff, adopting macroeconomic models to analyse the impacts of policies and assess
alternative scenarios.
Adenikinju also recommended; implementing export-led growth strategies by promoting value-
added exports and incentives for export-oriented industries and infrastructure, prioritising agro-allied industries to boost socioeconomic outcomes, implementing targeted subsidies or social safety nets to cushion vulnerable populations against the immediate impacts of reforms, amongst others.
The 65th NES Conference provided significant insights into Nigeria’s socioeconomic
development challenges and proposed actionable recommendations.
Participants emphasised the need for visionary leadership, policy synergy, and a commitment to long-term economic transformation to ensure sustainable development for Nigeria.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) says it will henceforth issue Outline Business Case (OBC) Certificate of Compliance and the Full Business Case (FBC) Certificate of Compliance within seven days.This follows the charge by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Director General of the Commission, Dr Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh “to accelerate investment in National Infrastructure through innovative mobilization of private-sector funding”.
President Tinubu also charged him to work assiduously to boost infrastructure development in Nigeria as part of the renewed hope agenda of the current administration.In view of the above, Dr Ewalefoh-led management team of the ICRC has streamlined the approval processes of the commission to issue its certificates of compliance within seven days. This will accelerate the turnaround time for approvals by the Commission.“In line with the charge of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and following his Renewed Hope Agenda, we have streamlined and updated our approval processes to issue either of the Outline Business Case Certificate of Compliance (OBC) and the Full Business Case Certificate of Compliance (FBC) to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that meet the requirements within seven days.“This is part of efforts by the current administration to accelerate infrastructure development, bridge the infrastructure gaps and stimulate the economy through investment of private sector funds in Public Private Partnership endeavours.“By streamlining our processes, the Commission is in no way foregoing any of its stringent approval steps or key requirements, therefore, only business cases that are viable, bankable, offer value for money and meet all other requirements will be approved.“The ICRC cannot do it alone, therefore I implore all chief executives of MDAs to match our momentum and align with this charge of Mr. President to accelerate Infrastructure development and ensure that PPP projects are not stalled at any point but delivered within record time.“The Commission is ready to partner and collaborate with all MDAs to actualize this,” he said.In a statement by Ifeanyi NwokoActing Head, Media and Publicity on Monday the ICRC DG in August rolled out a six-point policy direction which among others, focused on accelerating PPP processes, boosting inter-agency collaboration and ensuring innovative financing.The ICRC was established to regulate Public Private Partnership (PPP) endeavours of the Federal government aimed at addressing Nigeria’s physical infrastructure deficit which hampers economic development.
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