European oil refiners battle to tap growing African fuel demand
As Africa’s appetite for fuel products remains high, U.S. and Asia competitors grapple to meet this demand.
According to Vienna-based consultancy JBC Energy, the demand for oil products will rise by more than 20 percent in the next seven years to 4.4 million barrel per day.
As stated by Reuters “Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Kenya and South Africa are expected to see the fastest demand growth in sub-Saharan Africa, analysts say, while the continent’s refining capacity is far from matching this demand and will only marginally grow by 2020 from current crude processing volumes of 1.925 million bpd.”
David Wech, JBC Energy managing director, stated that “Most countries in the African continent prefer to import finished products rather than produce in small outdated plants. It’s a question of technology and it turns out cheaper to import,”
The continent has been a longstanding outlet for European gasoline and gasoil, with exports more than doubling over the past five years to around 600,000 bpd in 2013.
Reuters
Foreign investments in stock exchange hits N747bn
Between January and August 2013, the Nigerian securities boast of a total of N747bn (including inflows and outflows of Foreign Portfolio Investments) in foreign Investment.
According to Punch news ” Investigations by our correspondent on Friday at the NSE showed that between January and March 2013, the foreign transactions totalled N217.57tn, representing 42.7 per cent of the N510.1bn worth of transactions recorded in the first three months of the year.
For April to June, a total of N365.07bn worth of foreign transactions was recorded, while for the month of July, the total amount of FPIs in the NSE was N93.71bn.
The amount for July and August stood at N164.59bn, which is higher than the N150.24bn recorded at the end of June, according to the latest figures provided by NSE on its website.”
Mr Oscar Nyema ,the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange affirmed that various reforms carried out in the Exchange Market in the last few years is the reason why foreign investors who are usually on the lookout for strong emerging markets have been showing interest in the Nigerian market. He also affirmed that local investors had begun to return to the market after their huge exit following the global meltdown and the banking crisis in 2009.
Punch
BlackBerry Ready to Roll Out BBM Messaging to Apple, Android
BlackBerry Ltd. (BBRY)’s BBM instant-messaging system is rolling out to users of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone and Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android, following a hitch that suspended the software’s introduction last month.
“We are about to officially resume our rollout of BBM for Android and iPhone customers around the globe,” BlackBerry executive Andrew Bocking said in a blog post. “In the next few hours, people will start seeing BBM in Google Play, the App Store and in select Samsung App Stores.”
The debut of the free application, which is designed to let users of non-BlackBerry smartphones exchange text messages on the company’s platform, was postponed last month due to difficulties with the software. At the time, the company blamed an unofficial version of the app for Android that was posted online. That software has since been disabled. Last week, BlackBerry said that about 6 million customers had already preregistered to be notified about the roll-out. Read more
Bloomberg
Airbus says A350 tests going well, delivery on track
(Reuters)Flight trials for Airbus’s (EAD.PA) latest passenger jet, the A350, are going well and it is sticking to its target of delivering the first of the lightweight jets in the second half of 2014, programme chief Didier Evrard said.
The A350, designed to compete with the Boeing (BA.N) 787 Dreamliner and the larger Boeing 777, staged its maiden flight in June. The European planemaker now has two aircraft flying and has notched up 75 flights and over 370 hours of flight tests.
“The flight test programme … is going very well,” Evrard told reporters at a briefing on Monday, adding that the project was approaching its “most critical phase” as it enters industrial ramp-up. Read complete story
REUTERS
First Niger Port To Be Ready In First Quarter Of 2014, Says Minister
The Minister of Transport, Malam Idris Umar in Abuja on Friday said the Baro River Port in Niger would be completed and inaugurated in the first quarter of 2014.
The NITT board, chaired by Mr Olusola Akanmode, has 11 members, while NIWA has 18 members with Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu as Chairman.
According to him, the construction of river ports at Onitsha (Anambra), Oguta (Imo), Baro and Jamata (Kogi) are at various stages of completion. Read more
Source: Information Nigeria
Titanic violin sells for £900,000
The violin that was apparently played to calm passengers on the Titanic as it sank was sold for £900,000 in just 10 minutes at auction in Wiltshire.
It was played by band leader Wallace Hartley, who died along with 1,517 others as the ship went down. It had a guide price of £300,000.
The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy said the buyer was believed to be British.
Auctioneer Alan Aldridge said the violin was the “rarest and most iconic” piece of Titanic memorabilia.
Fierce bidding
Many of the other items up for sale, such as photographs, newspapers and crockery, were sold for between £10 and a few hundred pounds.
Source: BBC News
Microsoft Ventures supports entrepreneurship in Africa
Microsoft Corp. on Monday announced the expansion of the Microsoft Ventures partnership program into Africa. Microsoft Ventures was introduced in June as a coordinated global effort to offer tools, resources, expertise and routes to market for startups through partnerships with accelerators around the world.
The company has selected 88mph as its first African accelerator partner. 88mph was chosen for its proven model of helping launch and secure funding for innovative African startups. Together, Microsoft and 88mph will work to provide startups with mentorship, technology guidance, seed funding, joint selling opportunities and more.
Microsoft Ventures takes a holistic approach to helping startups get off the ground through a community evangelism program including Microsoft BizSpark, an accelerator program and a seed fund that works with startups worldwide. The expansion into Africa was conducted as part of the recently launched Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative and will therefore prioritize startups in key sectors including agriculture, education and healthcare.
“Through the 4Afrika Initiative, we are deeply committed to fostering African innovation and to fueling Africa’s economic growth and competitiveness, and we are very proud to see Microsoft Ventures extend its reach into the African continent,” said Amrote Abdella, director, 4Afrika Venture Capital and Startup Programs. “We strongly believe that with the right support, African startups hold tremendous potential to impact both their local economies and the world’s perception of African-led innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Startups will be selected based on the globally established criteria of Microsoft Ventures: Applying companies must have a full-time founding team, a bold vision for tackling a real problem, technologically driven solutions and less than $1 million raised. In Africa, Microsoft is also looking for solutions that can scale across and even outside the African continent. Read complete story from source
Microsoft.com
Oshiomhole Signs Death Penalty Law For Kidnapping
Edo State Governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has signed into law the bill which prescribes death penalty to kidnappers.
The law which is an amendment of the Edo State kidnapping law also prescribes that any premises used by kidnappers will be demolished.
He said “as reluctant as one would want to be in matters of life and death, I am convinced that the overriding public interest now dictates that we invoke the maximum penalty available in our law to all those involved in the act of kidnapping. Anyone sentenced and convicted, I will sign the death warrant.
“But criminals have a choice to abstain from criminality, kidnapping and killing so that they in turn can live and enjoy the good things of life,” he added.
The governor who said the death penalty applies to acts of kidnapping whether it involves murder or not called on youths to desist from the criminality as an excuse for unemployment. Read complete news from source
Channelstv
First Bank donates N44m facilities to schools
First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. in its bid to strengthen sports development and enhance student health and wellbeing through physical recreational activities in secondary schools has donated sporting facilities totaling N44 million to Queens and Kings College Lagos.
The Bank under its corporate responsibility and sustainability initiatives constructed a 450-seater sports pavilion at Queens College and renovated the Squash Court of Kings College as part of its continuous contribution to complementing Government’s efforts by providing educational infrastructure support for Schools across Nigeria.
First Bank’s spokesperson, Folake Ani-Mumuney, said the financial institution’s interventions in the area of sports development reinforces its commitment to boosting the process of developing the minds and abilities of the nation’s future leaders. “At First Bank, our ultimate goal is to remain a strong supporter of efforts geared towards equipping the youths with the skills required for socio-economic empowerment through support of sports development, youth engagement initiatives, endowment schemes and infrastructure development. Our desire is to see these strategic and need-driven youth empowerment interventions culminate in equipping our Nigerian youths for a bright future,” she said.
At the commissioning and handover ceremony of the squash court at Kings College, The Principal, Otunba Oladele Olapeju commended and appreciated First Bank for its support stating that, “the squash court will help its students develop their skills in the game and building a veritable foundation for grooming future world champions.” Olapeju urged all stakeholders to help provide support for secondary school sports competitions that will facilitate the discovery of talents that would win laurels for the country in international events. Read full story from source
BusinessDay
World Bank to cut extreme poverty by 2030
By Gab Omoh & Emma Ujah, Washington
The President of the World Bank, Mr. Jim Yong Kim, has announced sweeping changes to make the institution more alive to its goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030, as well as boosting prosperity among the poor who constitute 40 per cent of the population in developing nations.
In his address, yesterday, at the plenary of the on-going 2013 annual meetings of the bank and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, in Washington, he announced $400 m cut in the bank’s administration budget in the next three years.
The savings would directly benefit clients, as the organization will work to reinvest these resources toward new financing.
Kim said that for too long, the organization had not followed its own advice and had avoided tough choices.
“That is changing. We are taking our own medicine. We will show much more financial discipline than we have in the past in order to become more efficient and identify new ways to reduce spending. Just as we tell finance ministers, we also need to plan for the longer term, shoring up our revenue base, seeking ways to save, and building a stronger foundation for years to come”, he said. Read complete story from source: Vanguard
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iKnowNaija beautifully packages Nigeria's history from 1900, as well as important Facts, and Places of Interest.
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