Market Beat in partnership with Data Bank Securities Ltd  wish to bring to our readership this section on Africa’s Finances and Markets and we do hope the material embedded therein will be of some use to you.

Nigeria: Access Bank declares N10.5 billion dividend

Access Bank Plc, in its financial result has reported a triple digit growth across key performance indices. The bank has thus declared a N10.5bn dividend pay - out. The Bank by this performance has surpassed its revised forecast for the year.

 According to the bank result the shareholders fund now stand at N172 billion representing a 508 per cent growth over the period. The result recently approved by the Central Bank and released on the floor of the Stock Exchange, showed that the Bank's total assets and contingents continued on the upward trend as it grew by 194 per cent from N408.7 billion in 2007 to N1.2 trillion in 2008.

The outstanding growth in balance sheet size is demonstrative of the underlying growth of public confidence in the Access Bank franchise aided by effective deposit mobilisation strategies and the development and introduction of innovative and solution - based financial products.

 According to the bank financial report the Bank recorded an increase of 137 per cent in profit before tax, rising from N8 billion in 2007 to N19 billion coupled with a 107 per cent growth in gross earnings, from N28 billion to N57.6 billion.

The reassuring quality of the result is strongly indicative of the Bank's commitment to its strategic goal of becoming one of the top 3 financial services groups in Nigeria by 2012.

As a rapidly emerging African financial power house, the Access Bank franchise is increasingly an investor's delight owing to its significantly enhanced shareholder value creation and immense returns potential.

Kenya: Safari COM investors still waiting for refunds a month later

Over a month after the results of the Safari COM Initial Public Offering (IPO) were unveiled, some investors have not received their refunds. In Eldoret, some investors are still waiting for refunds from various stock brokers' to invest the money elsewhere.

They say that some of the brokers are reluctant to refund their money. Investors had applied for shares worth Sh50, 000 only to receive 2,200 shares, the equivalent of Sh11, 000 at the issue price of Sh5 per share.

The shares reached a high of Sh8 at the Nairobi Stock Exchange and are now trading at Sh6.80 cents. Some especially those who depended on business are unable to repay their loans due to the post-election violence that affected their operations.

 The investors appealed to the government to intervene and ensure that the refunds are processed.

The selling agents issuing the cheques have maintained that the delay was because they must ensure there was sufficient proof from the investors before payment.

The Safari COM IPO attracted the highest number of prospective buyers- 860,000 in Kenya's IPO history.

The 10 billion shares that were put on sale were oversubscribed by a massive 453 per cent forcing a reduction in the number of minimum shares allocated to individual applicants.

Zimbabwe: Government says inflation now 2.2 million percent
The country's official inflation rate hit 2.2 million percent on Wednesday.

Reserve Bank revealed the new figures in Harare but a respected economist believes the rate could be as high as 15 million percent. Zimbabwe's annual rate of inflation is the highest in the world.

I want to extend a big welcome to the founders of the new GSM company, Q-Cell, into The Gambia.

The coming of this new body only reaffirms the long held notion that The Gambia is indeed a heaven for business and growth. As small as The Gambia is, to have up to four GSM service providers is a big plus for its people.

This is not only for the fact that it will mean more accessibility for the people, making this country one of he best in terms technological advancement, but also, there is the prospect for employment for the youth. And of course this is right in line with the aspirations of the Gambian leader, Dr Alhajie Yahya Jammeh.

The arrival of QCELL marks the opening of competition in this increasingly tight and competitive business atmosphere of ours. It will also mean opening up of more attractive packages for customers.

To the rest of the GSM service providers, basically, if you want to survive in a business setting like this, you only have to open up. So business oriented, profit-minded institution would want to be told what they should do if they want to survive.

The Young Journalists Association of The Gambia (YJAG), will on September 16, 2008, celebrate its 1st anniversary.

Nfamara Jawneh, president of YJAG, told the Young Observer columnist that preparations are currently in progress, and that different committees have been setup, tasked with the responsibility of organising the activities marking the anniversary.

Mr Jawneh also called on media chiefs, stakeholders and business enterprises to support the anniversary celebration.

It could be recalled that YJAG was formed on September 16, 2007, with a membership of over 150 members. The association comprises of all practising young journalists between the ages of 18 and 30, including the press clubs in all the senior secondary schools in the country.

Anyone who wishes to support YJAG can contact; 9868882/ 7000388/ 9861235/7702809.

Market Beat in partnership with Data Bank Securities Ltd  wish to bring to our readership this section on Africa’s Finances and Markets and we do hope the material embedded therein will be of some use to you.

Africa: Ecobank Group, Bank of Industry Sign MOU on SMEs across Africa
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), parent company of the Ecobank Group and, Bank of Industry (BOI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly Support Micro, Small & Medium Businesses across Africa (MSMEs

partnership would provide a unique framework for mobilizing resources within and outside the continent in support of entrepreneurship and private sector development in Africa which according to her are indispensable prerequisites for attaining the Millennium Development Goals.

With this partnership, Ecobank, the leading pan African banking group in Africa with a presence in 24 African countries and the Bank of Industry, a leading development bank in Africa, seek to cooperate together in supporting entrepreneurs and working together as partners in their efforts to contribute to the economic and financial development of Africa. To be continued

The erstwhile International Bank for Commerce (IBC) has been rebranded to its successor Bank PHB, which is an extension of a leading financial institution in Nigeria’s banking industry.

The new brand was formally unveiled on Friday at a dinner held at the five-star Sheraton Hotel in Brufut, presided over by the secretary of state for Finance and Economic Affairs, Musa Gibril Bala Gaye, on behalf of President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh.

Bank PHB is reputed for its superior value customer services and extensive experience in banking. It is also renowned for its innovative customer-centred services, as they showcase a wide-range of alternative financial products that run to offer its customers with solutions to their unending financial needs.

The launch was also attended by the speaker of the National Assembly, Hon Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay, the governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Bamba Saho, high profile officials of the private sector including the officials of Bank PHB, business people, among other dignitaries.

“I am aware that Bank PHB is the fastest growing bank in Nigeria, ranked among the first five among Nigeria’s 24 banks. Our expectation is that you bring that tradition of excellence into The Gambia, fostering healthy competition in the banking industry here that will ultimately lead to a significant improvement not only in the banking products and services, but also stimulate overall improvement in the economy,” said SoS Gaye, while delivering a speech on behalf of the president, who was honoured as the special guest of honour.

Affirming that the president takes the development in the banking sector very seriously, as it is the pivot on which economic activities are hinged, the Finance and Economic Affairs SoS assured the bank that they would continue to give support and play their role as regulators.

Gambia: Gateway

“The strategic location of The Gambia has always endeared it to the hearts of investors. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the coast of The Gambia was a major port for the lucrative trade in slaves, which were brought in by Arab traders through Gao and Timbooktu. The Gambian coast was also used for the trade in gold and ivory by both the Portuguese and English traders,” said the SoS, while buttressing the longstanding economic significance of The Gambia, as strategic location.

He then continued: “The country was so important to all the empires it fell under that, at a time during the early and late 19th centuries, it was the subject of a constant tussle between the English, French and Portuguese colonialists.”

Though relatively small, SoS Gaye described The Gambia as a country where untapped resources are flowing.

“I dare say that your choice of The Gambia as the first port of call in your expansion into the West Coast, and indeed the entire Africa is a wise and promising decision,” he noted, while welcoming the bank to The Gambia.

The Finance and Economic Affairs SoS was hopeful that the emergence of Bank PHB to the country’s banking landscape, with the injection of more funds, and an abiding promise of better services for the people, indicates “our vision of a Gambia that will ultimately become an investment haven for the best business in the world”.
Chuks Chibundu, the managing director of Bank PHB Gambia, said the event heralded a significant milestone in the economic history of The Gambia.

“This is primarily for two major reasons: First, for the people of Gambia, Bank PHB offers a major alternative in innovative financial solution and unparalleled customer experience. Our retail strategy was recently hailed by Renaissance Capital as the most well thought out in the Nigerian banking industry while a leading national paper named Bank PHB the most innovative bank in Nigeria,” he declared.

He then continued: “Secondly, for us in Bank PHB, today’s unveiling marks the first expression of our global expansion drive expected to soon see us establishing strategic dominance in West Africa in the short run and eventually make a major inroad in different parts of Eastern and Central Africa.”

Track record

According to the Bank PHB MD, his bank has become a life experience for the average Nigerian, popular for its innovativity, creativity, resilience and foresight.

“Bank PHB’s 2007 financial report card also confirms it emergence as Nigeria’s eight biggest bank with total assets and contingents of N480 billion (US$84 Million) representing increases of 155 per cent in total assets and contingents and 197 per cent in profits. Bank PHB controls about 70 per cent of the Nigerian stock exchange market capitalisation,” Mr Chibundu added.

Investment haven

Noting that they find The Gambia a strategic business destination, Mr Chibundu said The Gambia’s corruption index is about the lowest in Africa, making it a safe haven for investment, relaxation and business.

“Bank PHB is in The Gambia to support the government’s effort in expanding the economic opportunities available to the average Gambian representing all classes of customers. Our retail suit offers financial options that leave no customer stranded outside the financial space,” an optimistic Bank PHB boss stated.

Ahmed Koro, the executive director of Bank PHB in Nigeria, who represented his chief executive officer, said they are in The Gambia to reach out to the “unbanked, the under-banked and indeed Africans both at home and in the diaspora, who have yearned for the customer experience which only Bank PHB offers”.

Undertakings

For her part, Fatou Mas Jobe, the group head of Retail Banking, who delivered the vote of thanks, traced the historical relations between Nigeria and The Gambia, which could be traced as far back as The Gambia’s Independence in 1965, before delving into the economy.

Mrs Mas Jobe, a redoubtable Gambian banker, who is famous for her reservoir of innovations, said The Gambia has in recent years witnessed a steady growth in its economy, enhanced by the economic opportunities.

“For us as an institution just a few years into our operations, our scorecard speaks so eloquently of our service excellence and commitment to employee welfare. A few months after assuming management responsibility of the erstwhile IBC; we effected a significant upward review of salaries thus making us one of the highest paying banks in The Gambia,” she said, while elaborating on other significant undertakings by the bank.

“Through our convictions and actions both in financial management and human development, we have become synonymous with ‘Thinking Possible’ and extraordinary achievements. Bank PHB is the first Nigerian corporate organisation to partner with the US government in the sponsorship of its most prestigious scholarship programme: The Fulbright Scholarship,” she said.

Bank PHB’s Mas Jobe was of the hope that in the next few years, Bank PHB would have been fully transformed into a true financial supermarket, providing services not only in banking, but also in asset management, insurance and other related financial services.
 
She then thanked President Jammeh, the government and the people of The Gambia for giving them the opportunity to contribute to the growth of the economy.

The Bite which appeared on your Monday edition on June 16, 2008 was dull in its factual presentation regarding the modus operandi of MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION - A CASE OF COMPETING BUSINESS. The views expressed in the column woefully failed to address a number of germane issues pertaining to the advertisements put in place and deliberately employed by mobile companies in this country to lure their customer base. They do this so as to enhance their business and as well to generate huge revenues and profits at the expense of the masses who scarcely understand the mechanics employed to achieve such objectives.

A cursory look at the marketing and advertisement strategies at work easily reveals a pattern, which is akin to the operational procedures applicable to the lottery. Many of their clients hopefully and even rightfully purchase sim and scratch cards with the view to winning the various prices put on display namely to obtain

(a)        Cars

(b)        Generators

(c)        1 Million Dalasis

(d)        A free trip to Mecca to perform the Hajj

(e)        Free Air tickets to various destinations on calls placed on the mobile phone

(f)         Weekly draw 25,000.

These prizes and their attendant advertisements are either on the TV, radio or bill boards and are seen and heard by many [who see them] as opening the floodgates of opportunity and luck. As a result they get customers really hooked on a gambling craze. The presence of bill boards carrying almost the same identical message scattered along our highways in the city and suburbs thereby impacting our environmental aesthetics scenery are now becoming an eyesore not to mention the distractions to good driving ability. Radio talk shows take place everyday sponsored by all mobile companies with their monotonous agenda, namely the advantages and disadvantages of the quantity and quality services offered as a panacea to acquiring scratch cards to win prizes.

This form of communication is not a good marketing strategy as its only value is to put pressure on clients with scant and meagre resources to focus on re-charging their mobile phones in the hope that prizes would be won. There are even clients who would forgo basic commodities required for life’s sustenance in exchange for scratch cards which merely promise prizes which are determined by chance and luck. This is the gimmick as the statistical probabilities of winning are based on random selection which are governed by odds. It is not easy to beat the odds; this is why out of a population of at least 500,000 only one to three people stand the chance of beating the odds to hit the jackpot of 1 million Dalasis. This point can be further stretched by stating that since all mobile companies have a customer base of a minimum of 200,000 and say (sic) this number of clients procure cards at D25 every day, the daily revenue is D5 Million and this multiplied by 30 days is 150 Million. Putting all operational costs says (sic) D25 Million aside, these companies are left with a revenue profit of D125 Million. Since this is recurrent monthly revenue, the yearly earnings are a whopping D1800 Million.

This figure is not proportional to the incentives offered to motivate the clients to procure scratch cards to recharge their phones nor does it create a level playing field to give back part of these huge profits generated to the community who bankrolled the operation. What the marketing strategy does is it creates a few winners who are elated and even have cause to celebrate while the rest of the clients are left in animated suspense with the view to getting them spend more of their meagre resources on phone cards which give the expression that talk is cheap and that it would also earn them lucrative prizes. This is not for real. The winner of D1 million has reasons to be happy and even to celebrate. It should be noted that D1 Million in these days of escalating prices is a high sounding figure signifying little return for the winner. The erection of a fairly good dwelling house is now estimated between D500,000 and D700,000. There is also the need to make provisions for the expectations of the immediate and extended family. This kind of money dissipates into thin air within a short period of time and the owner is back to square one.

Not everyone who wins a car can fully sustain the running costs associated with it. Most winners end up selling their cars at rock bottom prices in order to have the advantage of short- term gains.

It is contrary to Islamic values to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca from earnings gained through the lottery or game of chance. As a practising Muslim, I have been told several times over that Islamic doctrines have postulated that hard-earned money saved during one’s employment career is the only legitimate means that a Muslim should utilise to pay for the pilgrimage to Mecca. Any other earnings obtained from either the lottery or any game of chance is not acceptable. Lest we forget, our Republic is a secular state shared by different denominations (sic).

Why are Christians in the advertisement left out? The Catholics have holy places to visit -Rome is a case in point. Other denominations have as well their places in far distant lands. Why are they not catered for? They also have cell or mobile phones and recharge their phones like every one of us. Did a particular mobile company forget that we have Christian brothers who would wish to have the advantage of going out to their holy places by winning also in the game of chance? What this article seeks to highlight is the unevenness of the playing field. The mobile phone companies give out a pittance to lucky winners after amassing huge profits while failing deliberately to realise they have not given out significant items which should benefit the entire community. For example the President of the Republic, Alhagi Dr A.J.J. Jammeh, has issued a clarion call for Gambians to go back to the land with the view to mitigating the current food shortage whose impact is being felt everywhere because of escalating prices, especially on our staple food, rice. Mobile phone companies with their concomitant huge profits could pool their lottery resources to provide the following:

(a)        Seeds

(b)        Fertilisers

(c)        Power tillers

(d)        Tractors

(e)        Farming implements

Through NADA, the phone companies can formulate their marketing and advertisement policies in this direction so as to complement the government’s efforts and help boost farmers’ production capabilities so as to enhance their socio-economic status. Another area where mobile companies could do something is to ensure that the quality of their services translates in increase of airtime allocated to enhance more talk time for their customers. Their calibrated meters run at fast speeds and in no time consume the credit it is supposed to facilitate cheap talk. A D100 scratch card for international calls lasts 3 1/2 minutes on straight talk instead of the advertised 6 minutes allocated time. It is even worse for local calls. My impression as recorded here should not be seen as casting aspersions on any mobile phone company but merely to highlight issues, which will hopefully usher in debate on the issues raised. The mobile phones are here to stay as they brought immense benefit to community which have now become close together. However it should also be pointed out that the playing field should be levelled for all of us to enjoy the game.

Editors Note:

We publish this piece by Saihou S. Njie in the interests of free speech. There are no doubting that some of the issues raised are very pertinent, except that Mr. Njie gives us and the readers the impression that he does not fully grasp the thrust of the write-up that prompted him to raise such thought-provoking points regarding the contrast between what our cell phone companies ‘give back’ to the society and the estimated profits they make from that very society. The thrust of the Bite piece in question, as the headline states, is the existence of competition in business and the attendant benefits to consumers but certainly not a look at the deficiencies of businesses in relation to their customers, though we concede that such an approach would have made the piece more interesting.

Nevertheless it must be pointed out that The Gambia’s mobile phone companies have invested some of their profits back into Gambian society, most notably in the area of sports. For this we must be thankful because the unfortunate reality is that no private company essentially owes its customers anything. It is simply a money making tool for its investors and providing a service to its customers. For this reason all the tricks and gimmicks cited above are used to draw in customers and swell the coffers of investors. We must trust people enough to say that they must be in charge of their own destinies enough to spend their money wisely and not be duped into anything they do not want to do.

In conclusion we beg to differ with the contention that it is only hard-earned money from one’s own employment that is recommended for Hajj to Mecca. Where does this leave the possibility of benefiting from sponsorship from one’s child(ren) to go on the pilgrimage. What is more, whereas we agree that money earned from lottery or gambling is not fit to be used in sacred missions, we consider it debatable as to whether the current package from Gamcel can be classified as such given that the source of such a package, the accumulated profit of a company, is not exclusively earmarked for such but rather the package issues from the spontaneous benevolence of the company as a token of appreciation to its customers, few though they may be!