NSIA-ZCG Sign Pact On Infrastructure Investments In Africa
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and Z Capital Group (ZCG), on Wednesday announced a joint venture partnership to establish a fund focused on infrastructure investments in Africa. This strategic collaboration offers the opportunity to leverage the unique economic and financial opportunities that are currently burgeoning within the African continent. NSIA is an investment institution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, established by the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Act (Establishment Act 2011), to manage and invest in a diversified portfolio of medium and long-term funds. While ZCG is a leading, privately held merchant bank comprising private markets asset management, business consulting services, technology development and solutions. The ZCG-NSIA partnership signifies a significant step toward sustainable and impactful infrastructure investments in Africa, reflecting a shared commitment to economic development, innovation, and climate resilience in the region. This collaboration marks a pivotal moment showcasing NSIA as a partner of choice in leveraging opportunities that align with the African continent’s momentum and upward trajectory in the global economic arena. Investment Commitment: Under this MoU, ZCG and NSIA will pursue equity, debt, and other blended financial instruments for investments across diverse sectors, including, but not limited to, healthcare, renewable energy, mobility & logistics, energy transition, climate-adaptive infrastructure, digital & social infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, and green industrialization. The joint venture is expected to capitalize on the complementary expertise of NSIA and ZCG, combining technical expertise, project management skills, and a deep understanding of the local context to deliver successful infrastructure solutions. In addition, the partnership will prioritize environmentally sustainable and socially responsible practices, aligning with global standards and best practices to ensure long-term benefits. ZCG and NSIA will seek projects that deliver scalable socio-economic impact in Africa, while also generating attractive investment returns and diversification opportunities. Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of ZCG, James Zenni “We are pleased to expand our long-standing relationship with the NSIA through this unique partnership that will support our shared investment and socio-economic goals,” said “Given Africa’s rapidly expanding population and its increasing cultural and political influence on a global scale, we see many appealing infrastructure investment opportunities across the continent. We look forward to combining our investing, consulting, and technology expertise with NSIA’s deep expertise in managing large-scale infrastructure projects across multiple verticals as well as pivotal stakeholder relationships to identify and invest in assets that further drive economic development throughout the continent.” “NSIA is pleased to partner with ZCG on this joint venture that will enable us to pursue compelling investment opportunities in Africa,” “ZCG shares our vision of fostering continued economic growth and innovation across Africa, ZCG also shares our focus on investments in climate adaptive infrastructure to meet the needs of current and future generations of Africans. In collaboration with ZCG, we can deepen existing investments to further support Africans and play a leading role in propelling sustained socio-economic development across Africa,” said, Managing Director and CEO of NSIA, Aminu Umar-Sadiq.
UBA Anchors H2 Profitability On Customer-Centric Values
The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has pledged its commitment to customer-centric values as it aims to build upon its successes to sustain profitability by the end of the current financial year. UBA’s Group Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba, who gave the assurance at the half year Investor Conference Call Presentation in Lagos, explained that the bank’s impressive performance was characterised by robust revenue generation, prudent cost management, and strategic capital allocation. UBA is a leading pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than thirty-seven million customers across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries. Alawuba’s assurance comes on the back of exceptional performance in the first half of the 2023 financial year. According to him, these achievements have provided the bank with a solid foundation upon which to further enhance its position as a leading financial institution in Africa and beyond. In its first half results ended June 30, 2023, UBA showcased its financial resilience and strength, surpassing expectations with remarkable performance as it reported a profit before tax of N404 billion, representing a rise by 371 per cent, compared to N85.75 billion recorded in the first half of 2022. With that performance, UBA became the most profitable financial institution in Nigeria. The result also showed that Operating Income grew by 206.6 per cent to N783.96 billion in June 2023; higher than N255.67 billion reported a year earlier, just as it delivered a 164 per cent growth in its Gross Earnings which rose to N981.78 billion as at June 2023, up from N372.36 billion recorded last year in June 2022. Alawuba said, “These figures reflect our ability to finance future growth and help individual customers, families, businesses and non-profit organisations to carry out their projects. At UBA, we remain focused on our Customer First philosophy and growing our share in the various markets we operate. “Thanks to our scale, geographic footprint and business diversification, we have numerous opportunities to grow, which should allow us to remain our customers’ first choice and to make the most of those opportunities, our focus is on implementing plans that enhance the existing network across all the countries and businesses, and improving the profitability of our core businesses through disciplined capital allocation.” He further promised that notwithstanding the accomplishments in the first half of the year, the Bank is committed to rendering excellent services to its customers and staying focused on its strategy and corporate objectives. Just last week, the Bank announced the rolling out of a special financing initiative aimed at powering the growth of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) all over Africa. In partnership with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat, UBA is to inject up to $6 billion into eligible SMEs across Africa over the next three years. “Under the initiative, SMEs specializing in agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, automotive and transport, and logistics will have access to tailored financing solutions. This move is especially beneficial for businesses that operate within these sectors which heavily rely on imports,” Alawuba said. UBA’s Executive Director Finance & Risk Management, Ugo Nwaghodoh, while highlighting the bank’s investment in digital banking, added that the bank continues to gain traction from its huge investments in technology. “Our investments in state-of-the-art technology continue to yield expected results, evident in the huge boost of our digital banking income, which grew 53,7 per cent year-on-year to N57.2 billion. These gains have enabled us to optimize net earnings amid the accelerating inflationary pressure, currency devaluation, and increased regulatory induced cost,” he explained. He added that focusing on the bank’s sustained growth across its African Markets, UBA remains focused towards delivering innovative and personalised financial products and services that cater to the unique needs of its diverse customer base.
Nigeria needs political will to benefit from oil resources – Expert
An international oil and gas expert, Alhaji Sadiq Abubakar Adamu, has urged the federal government to appoint technocrats familiar with the working of the oil and gas industry as minister. In a chat with journalists in Abuja, Adamu said appointing the right caliber of people into strategic positions in the sector would help formulate the right policies and ensure the sector is stirred in the right direction to achieve its full potential. According to him, Nigeria has the capacity and expertise to transform the oil and gas sector. Adamu, who played a leading role in the success recorded by Qatar in the development of its oil industry, stressed that with the right political will, Nigeria can turn the challenge of gas flaring into an advantage. Data from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) revealed that between January and November 2022, Nigeria flared an estimated 5.6 billion standard cubic metres of gas valued at $685m. Nigeria’s natural gas is low in Hydrogen Sulphide and Carbon Dioxide impurities, gas flaring is still estimated at nearly $2m/day. According to data, Nigeria generated 22 million tonnes of LNG yearly as of 2020. The oil and gas expert emphasized the need for the authorities to stop wasting its huge gas resources by converting it into a source of energy to address the perennial power supply challenge. He further stated that Nigeria has huge natural gas potential and is in fact often referred to in geological terms as a gas country with few oil deposits. He said, “Even with the horrors of gas flaring and the few LNG and NGL projects so far developed, Nigeria is yet to tap into two percent (2%) of its proven 192 TCF of natural gas. With global demand currently at 120 TCF and growing, Nigeria could deftly play the go-bridge in this huge demand pool with significant benefits for the nation. All that is needed is the political will and expert deployment of management skills to turn this energy of the future to Nigeria’s fattest revenue cash cow and solid foundation for industrialization.” Adamu, who is a member of the Multi-Billion Dollars RasGas and Qatar natural Gas team, who led the Committee that structured and developed the Qatar Condensate Refinery, also said, it is time for the country to harness its huge oil and gas deposits for the benefit of the citizenry. The Taraba State born Harvard -trained oil and gas guru, whose sojourn in the industry spans over two decades, began his blossoming career with Mobil Corporation, Virginia, in the United States of America (USA), after his graduating top of his class from the prestigious Harvard University in 1992 with a Masters Degree in Law, has also worked for the multi-national oil and gas firm in several countries including the United Arab Emirate (UAE). He explained that Nigeria needs to urgently utilize her huge gas deposits by initiating policies and innovations that would monetize its enormous unassociated gas and to, as a matter of national urgency, permanently end gas flaming and convert these rich resources to benefit its generations yet to come. According to him, it is only by driving friendly initiatives and also appointing thorough-breed professionals with the requisite skills, exposure, and commitment that the populace will enjoy the natural resources that nature has endowed the country with. A skillful negotiator, Alhaji Adamu, has successfully brokered multi-billion dollar financing for Exxon Mobil projects in several countries across the globe. The legal luminary cum oil and gas technocrat has provided legal support for procurement from the International financing market of more than 15 Billion Dollars for Exxon Mobil projects in Nigeria. Adamu who is the Chairman Board of Directors of Oil Dyanmix Limited, and a Director of Sidler Dynamic Engineering Limited, an International Oil and Gas firm, among several other businesses, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his decisive actions, saying that such policies would engender growth and development in the oil and gas sector of the economy. He canvassed support for the Administration and said all well-meaning citizens should support the government to deliver on its lofty campaign promises of; jobs creation, building of infrastructure, and social safety nets for the less privileged. The Taraba State-born oil mogul who is also a philanthropist of repute, has experience in the hydrocarbon development industry, cut across Management, Legal support, Upstream and Midstream, Natural Gas monetization -domestic, International Planning, and Sales.