Business
AMCON Reports N2.37trn Loss
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) reported a N2.37 trillion loss on Friday, exposing the scale of financial devastation wrought by a 2009 banking crisis to be deeper than first thought.
The surprisingly large loss also raised questions about how AMCON will refinance a N1.7 trillion zero-coupon bond at the end of 2013, and may have implications for Nigeria’s national budget, according to Reuters.
The after-tax loss – which AMCON officials revealed at a news conference – comes in the first accounts to be published by the bad bank since it was set up in 2010 to absorb the debts of banks hamstrung in a crisis caused by over exposure to a weak oil and local stock market in 2008-09.
The crisis nearly sank nine lenders until the central bank intervened with a $4 billion bailout fund to keep them afloat.
The loss was a “wake-up call” that the banking sector’s problems will not be resolved as easily as first thought and that banks may end up paying a higher contribution towards its resolution, said Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered Bank.
“The non-performing loans that we bought were four times larger … which shows you that what was disclosed as NPLs (non-performing loans) on the books of the banks were (below) what we found when they started selling to us,” said AMCON Executive Director of Finance Mofoluke Dosumu.
“We bought four times what we initially envisaged.”
Analysts questioned how AMCON’s losses would impact its ability to repay a total of N4.5 trillion government-backed bonds used to clean up the banking sector if the value of the assets it hold continued to erode and whether the sinking fund will be sufficient in the short-term.
The banking sector has recovered sharply after the crisis with strong earnings drawing investors back to Nigerian shares following several years of turbulence in the local stock market that wiped 60 percent off their value in 2008.
The index of Nigeria’s top ten banks has gained 17.5 percent so far this year to recover from a loss of 32 percent in 2011. The main-share index is up 33 percent.
The loss figure, which was quoted as of December 2011, just reflected write downs of debts taken on at the time and equals half of Nigeria’s annual budget.
“The N4.5 trillion bonds equal about 11 percent of GDP … if AMCON can’t repay them, the government will have to. That would have a huge impact on the government’s balance sheet,” said Leon Myburgh sub-Saharan Africa strategist at Citi.
But others say the loss may be ring-fenced and AMCON may raise other revenues.
“It’s a one off loss. My understanding is that they don’t have to finance it,” said Standard Bank’s Samir Gadio.
“Effectively, they’ve just marked to market their losses at the time and we all know they acquired a lot of NPLs.”
AMCON said it had recovered N85 billion worth of bad loans and it expected to make more recoveries.
Chief executive Mustapha Chike-Obi, said he was confident the “bad bank” will be able to refinance its bonds at maturity next year and it could also choose to retire them using the proceeds of its sinking fund.
Chike-Obi said that Nigerian banks had agreed to increase their collective contributions to a post-crisis “sinking fund” used to refinance the bank’s bad debts to 100 billion naira, up from the 60 billion naira they had already put in.
It also expects to conclude the privatisation of three banks it nationalised after the crisis, by mid-2014, which would bring in some money, Chike-Obi said.
Business
NASS Engages Agric Minister On Food Crisis
The National Assembly through its joint committee on Agriculture Production Services and Rural Development has engaged the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari on an urgent solution to food inflation bedeviling the country.
The committee chaired by Senator Saliu Mustapha (APC Kwara Central), at an interface with the Minister, interrogated him on plans being put in place to arrest high cost of food prices in the country and make it affordable and available to the poor masses.
In his response, the Minister said the Federal Government has commenced distribution of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains to some focal points of state capitals nationwide.
“We have received directive and approval from Mr. President to distribute for immediate impact 42,000 metric tons of assorted grains free of charge to the Nigerian population.
“This was received in mid-February, as we are speaking, we have a record of the distribution being carried out, but I will want to plead with the honorable house and distinguished senators that some of the movements can’t be made public but a lot of states have started receiving their grains.
“We are distributing to state capitals in the first instance as you all are aware of the risk involved in the vandalism of foodstuff so we are working with the office of the national security adviser and other national security agencies.
“Furthermore, 58,500 metric tonnes of milled rice from mega rice millers will also be released into the market for stabilisation”, he said.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the interactive session, Senator Mustapha expressed satisfaction with the steps being taken by the federal government.
He said: “From our interactive session, we are on the other side of the parliament; we are fully in the picture of what is happening, we are convinced that the steps being taken by the federal government are in the right direction.
“All we did again is to further emphasise on the need for certain things to be done on time, I think from this collaborative approach by the grace of God, Nigerians will have a better feel of the government policy on food security”.
Business
Obj Harps On Cheap Credit, Policy Consistency For Food Production
Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has called on the government to provide cheap credit and ensure policy consistency to enable farmers increase food production in the country.
The former President made the call as food inflation and nutrition security concerns grow in Africa’s most populous country.
Obasanjo’s made the call at the 9th Agrofood & Plastprintpack conference in Lagos recently, where he said farmers in the country were yearning for consistency in policy and single-digit interest loans to drive growth in the sector and attain food security.
“Policy sustainability and predictability is what farmers want. It helps them to plan. Availability of finance is also what farmers want. They cannot survive on the double digital interest rate”, Obasanjo, who is also a farmer, said at the conference.
According to him, food and nutrition security start with availability, then affordability by ensuring that everyone who needs food can get it.
He noted that food was one of the major imperatives in life, adding that “there cannot be food without agriculture and agribusiness”.
Obasanjo further stressed the importance of agriculture in changing the fortunes of the economy, with attendant exponential gains by way of earnings, employment, food security and other spin-offs.
He noted that agriculture must be made attractive to the country’s teeming youth population, saying this would address the rising unemployment, worsening insecurity and youth migration through the Mediterranean.
“We have to make agriculture attractive to the youths. We have to think within and outside the box to make it attractive to the youths so they are willing to get their hands dirty and feet wet”, he advised.
He continued that “Part of the security issue is owing to our inability to get them engaged. The need for agro-food and agribusiness is for food security, employment, wealth creation and income generation, particularly foreign exchange”.
Speaking also, Wouter Plom, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said his country had faced challenges similar to those Nigeria confronts – feeding a growing population with limited resources.
He said as partners with a joint vision, the Netherlands and Nigeria recognise that the agricultural sector was one of the prominent drivers for economic growth.
He noted that the Netherlands has further strengthened its partnership with Nigeria to boost the agriculture sector in three main areas- economic growth, improved diets and youth employment.
The ambassador noted that all the challenges in driving growth through the sector, improving diets and tackling unemployment can be addressed when food production is efficient.
Paul Maerz, Managing Director of Fairtrade Messe, said with more investment in agro-food & plastprintpack solutions, products and technologies, brighter days were ahead for Nigeria’s agriculture.
Business
Abuja Farmers, Others Lose N12bn To Ginger Disease
The Federal Government, has confirmed the outbreak of ginger blight epidemic in four States in Nigeria, saying ginger farmers have lost over N12 billion due to the disease.
The government disclosed this at the inauguration of the National Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce in Abuja, revealing that the fungal disease had inflicted significant damage on ginger farms in Kaduna, Nassarawa Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, said the blight had caused billions of naira in losses, impacting not only the livelihoods of farmers, but also Nigeria’s position as the world’s second-largest ginger producer.
“Our preliminary estimates suggested that affected farmers in southern Kaduna lost over N12bn.
“Furthermore, considering that over 85 per cent of Nigeria’s ginger cultivation occurs in this region, we can safely assume a substantial loss of cultivated land, potentially exceeding 70 per cent of total land”, he stated.
Abdullahi, however, stated that the Federal Government through the National Agricultural Development Fund would launch a N1.6bn recovery package for affected farmers in ginger-producing areas.
He said the ginger blight epidemic served as a stark reminder of the importance of preparedness in safeguarding agricultural resources, adding that by investing in research, extension services and farmer support systems, “we can build a more sustainable future for our agricultural sector”.
On his part, the Chairman of the task force committee, Abubakar Abdullahi, said there was no doubt that the blight on ginger had negatively affected the Gross Domestic Product earnings from this subsector.
“It is of necessity and great urgency that various subcommittees are put in place to forestall these negative effects”, he stated.
Abdullahi assured the minister of the commitment of the team to salvage the situation, as he pleaded with the minister to give the committee the power to co-opt members that would add value to the task force to discharge their duties efficiently and effectively.
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