Excited at the potential economic benefits of a new cement plant in his country, the Prime Minister of Tanzania, Mizengo Pinda, has commended the President/Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for looking in the direction of his country for the investment in the new three million-metric-tonne cement plant.

Addressing a gathering during the ground breaking ceremony of the $500m cement factory at Mtwara, the Prime Minister said the commencement of the construction of the plant signalled the beginning of a new business relationship between Nigeria and Tanzania.

Pinda, according to a statement made available to our correspondent by the Dangote Group on Friday, expressed happiness that the investment came from an African to a sister African country.

The PM described as an irony that prior to the coming of Dangote Cement and in spite of the abundance of limestone in Mtwara, a necessary raw material in cement manufacturing; Tanzania was experiencing a deficit in the commodity’s production and supply.

Pinda was quoted as saying, “We could not bring in cement plants with capacities to produce cement in large quantities, so that demand for cement would be met. Growing demand for cement with inadequate supply led to deficit and high prices.

“While this was becoming a growing concern to the government, we came to know about the availability of cement grade limestone in huge quantities in this village in Mtwara. But this was a challenge for us as Mtwara is quite far from the market of cement, which is mainly in the cities.”

According to him, the discovery of cement grade limestone prompted the search for investors who can put up a large cement plant, along with facilities at the port for transporting the product all over Tanzania, after meeting the demand of the Mtwara region, which is easily connected to other parts of the country by road.

The search, Pinda stated, led them to the Dangote Group, which is reputed to be the largest cement producer in Africa, which readily agreed to invest in a cement manufacturing facility in Mtwara with a packaging unit at the port for theTanzanian market and for the rest of Africa.

In his address, Dangote said the construction of the facility was a familiar turf for his company as it had done similar things in other parts of the continent.

He expressed hope that the new investment would strengthen the ties between Nigeria and Tanzania.

The investment in the sector, which he explained, as being outside the traditional mining sector, was to take advantage of the abundance of limestone in the country and work towards making Tanzania self-sufficient in cement production.

Dangote commended the government and people of Tanzania for the recent public sector and banking reforms as well as revamped and new legislative frameworks, which had spurred private sector-driven investment.

He said, “We are excited for two major reasons. The first being that today’s event is a significant milestone for us in our quest to build a pan African cement company. We are excited that an African company is making this investment in a sister African country. “This, indeed, shows that Africa is gradually taking its destiny in its own hands rather than wait for investors from outside Africa. Investment in the real sector of the economy is the only way that our continent can achieve the much desired accelerated growth and development that we have yearned for.”

Dangote cement, he said, would bring to bear positively on the locals, the robust corporate social services, which it was known for in all the communities where it had operations.

He said the company would not stop at just establishing the plant, but would also contribute to the health, education and water sectors.

Dangote announced the donation of $1m to facilitate access to education and economic empowerment for women and children based in Mtwara.

The naira weakened against the dollar, extending its worst monthly performance since February, amid speculation foreign investors sold Nigeria’s debt and as oil prices declined.

The currency dropped for a second day as emerging-market stocks fell, heading for the biggest monthly loss in a year. Yields on the 16.39 per cent domestic bonds due January 2022 rose to a one-month high on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Emerging-markets strategist at Standard Bank Group Limited in London, Mr. Samir Gadio, said, “It looks as if the global risk-off environment is feeding into Nigerian assets, broadly in line with what other emerging markets are experiencing.

“As local market players witness the shift in the offshore positioning, they are also likely to push dollar-naira higher.”

The naira weakened 0.1 per cent to N158.63 per dollar in Lagos, the commercial capital, taking its monthly decline to 0.4 per cent.

The yield on the 2022 securities rose 23 basis points, or 0.23 percentage point, to 11.86 per cent on Thursday, the highest since April 29, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg.

Bonny Light crude, one of Nigeria’s main export grades, fell for a third day, dropping 0.6 per cent to $103.41 per barrel. Nigeria depends on oil shipments for 80 per cent of government revenue and 95 per cent of its export income.

The Debt Management Office has said it plans to sell inflation-linked bonds to address the concern of investors about the impact of inflation on the domestic debt market.

Bloomberg quoted the Director-General, DMO, Mr. Abraham Nwankwo, as saying on Friday, “The inflation-linked bond is part of our 2013 to 2017 strategic plan. Part of the plan may be implemented this year where it is possible.”

Nwankwo added that DMO was also planning to sell N80bn ($505m) in Federal Government bonds in the form of global depository receipts and would introduce “bond switches and securities lending” to deepen the market.

He said all debt sold would be for specific infrastructural projects and would not exceed the target ratio of 25 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

Inflation rate accelerated to 9.1 per cent in April from 8.6 per cent in the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN held its third meeting of the year between May 20 and 21, 2013.

 The committee reviewed the economic conditions and challenges facing the Nigerian economy against the developments in the international economic and financial market environment, with a view to reassessing monetary policy options in the light of the developments in the global economy and financial market.

At the end of the meeting, the committee retained the Monetary Policy Rate at 12 per cent and maintained the symmetric corridor of +/-200 basis points around the MPR; retained the Cash Reserve Ratio at 12 per cent; Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent and Net Foreign Exchange Open Position at one per cent.

The yield on the country’s 16.39 per cent domestic bonds due January 2022 rose 45 basis points to 12. 29 per cent in the secondary market on Friday, according data compiled on the Financial Markets Dealers Association’s website.

The yield on the seven per cent domestic bonds due October 2019 rose 11 basis points to 11.80 per cent.

Nwankwo also said that 20 Nigerian companies raised about N200bn from the domestic bonds market between 2005 and 2012 to fund the real sector.

He added that the development was part of the achievements of the transformation agenda of the current administration.

He said, “This is important because it is in a process of managing Nigeria’s public debt that we develop the market to become useful for the private sector. Less than seven years, at least 20 companies in Nigeria have gone to market to fund the real sector of the economy.

“This has nothing to do with the government. It has to do with what we have done to transform the market.”

Nwankwo said that the DMO had transformed the market to raise long-term funds of up to 20 years from it.

The DG also disclosed that the office had made it possible for Nigerian companies to issue their own debt instruments in the international capital market to fund various projects in the country.

He said, “This helped to create a new window and benchmark for the private sector in the international market. Now, the international markets are now rushing for Nigeria’s bond in the market.

“In this aspect, we are impacting the real sector of the economy. Once your debt market is doing well, it will encourage investors to go into equity markets.”

Nwankwo said the current Strategic Plan 2013-2017 was aimed at consolidating on the gains of the first and second plans.

“It is also to finalise ongoing initiatives, explore new areas and maintain steady focus on the delivery of the office’s mandate,” he added.

The DG pledged to sustain the implementation of the strategic plan and strengthen the Federal Government of Nigeria bond market for enhanced liquidity.

He also said the office would strengthen the country’s presence in the international capital market through the issuance of $1bn Eurobond, N80bn FGN bonds and $100m Nigerian Diaspora bond.

The Federal Government has decided to sell 80 per cent stake in each of the 10 independent power generation plants built by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company.

Plans have also been concluded for a road show in Lagos, United States, United Kingdom and Hong Kong with the aim of attracting investors into the Nigerian power sector.

The NDPHC, which is jointly owned by the three tiers of government, has the mandate to build 10 independent power plants to generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity.

The Managing Director, NDPHC, Mr. James Olootu, said during a press conference in Lagos on Saturday that the privatisation process for the power plants would begin in August this year and would be concluded in 2014.

Olootu stated that the Board of Directors NDPHC headed by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, had recommended the sale of the plants to President Goodluck Jonathan, who approved the recommendation.

He recalled that the power company was in 2005 given a mandate to build 10 independent power plants, adding that the mandate had been achieved, hence the privatisation plan.

Olootu said, “The mandate was to build 10 power plants across the country with capacity to generate 5,000MW by the end of 2013 and divest from them. We are confident to tell you that this year will be a year of harvest in the power sector.

“All the power generating plants will be completed this year. In fact, six plants are ready for inauguration, while four others are about to be completed within the next few months.”

The 10 power plants and their inauguration dates, according to him, include Omotoso, 450MW (June 2013); Sapele, 450MW (August 2013); Geregu, 434MW (July 2013); Olorunsogo, 750MW (September 2013); and Ihovbor, 450MW, whose inauguration date will be determined later.

Others are Gbarain, 225MW; Alaoji, 450MW; Calabar, 561MW; Egbema, 338MW and Omoku, 225MW, which will be inaugurated later.

Olootu further said, “The process that we went through to ensure that we are where we are today is intrinsic. President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the divestment plan and it will be concluded mid next year. Providing stable power supply has been a major priority of this administration and we all know that the power business is best managed by private investors.

“We are divesting 80 per cent stake in each power plant as valued by our financial advisers/valuers. We will retain 20 per cent in order to assure potential investors of our confidence in the plants we are selling.”

He explained that sensitisation would begin on Monday (today) through a road show in Lagos, which will later be extended to UK, US and Hong Kong.

Representative of the financial advisers to the privatisation programme, West African CPCS, Mr. Arif Mohiuddin, assured potential investors that the bidding process would commence in August and the final handing over to the eventual winners would be in June 2014.

He gave an assurance that the bid process would be transparent and that the highest bidders would eventually win the bids.

Benue State Governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswam, had in a recent comment said, “The power companies will be privatised but after a road show is undertaken to make sure the country gets the best form of businesses. A committee will be set up to marshal the entire process of privatisation.”

Mobile Number Portability was introduced into the telecoms industry to create healthy competition among the operators, the Nigerian Communications Commission has stated.

The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said this at the end of the 73rd edition of the Telecoms Consumer Parliament held in Enugu on Saturday.

Juwah said consumers of telecoms services were desirous of getting value for their money and stated that it was the duty of the commission to protect them from abuse by service providers.

In line with this, he said NCC had introduced the porting regime to enhance quality on the networks and force operators to lower their tariffs.

Juwah said, “Mobile Number Portability will provide consumers with the option of choosing their network at any time, while retaining their numbers. It will give rise to healthy competition in the industry, enhance quality of service and improve service delivery to the consumers.

“It will provide consumers with unfettered choice and remove the trouble of having to move around with multiple cell phones. Mobile Number Portability will eliminate the associated cost of updating business contacts, marketing, notifying family members and associates.”

Juwah expressed optimism that porting would considerably bring down tariffs in view of the competition it would engender among operators.

“It will further expand the market place and make the deployment of new and enhanced telecoms services faster and more cost effective,” he said.

The Federal Government has sought Japan’s assistance to develop infrastructure in the country.

Specifically, the government wants Japan’s support in the areas of power supply, transportation, health, agriculture as well as Information and Communication Technology.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo made the plea on behalf of Nigeria during a bilateral talk he had with the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Shinzo Abe, in Yokohama, Japan.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Umar Sanni, on Sunday, quoted Sambo as imploring Japan to invest heavily in Nigeria due to the potential in the country.

He advocated Public-Private Partnership arrangement between the two countries.

Sambo briefed the prime minister on the efforts by the Nigerian government to address the country’s security challenges and ensuring the return to normalcy in the three states under emergency rule.

The statement read in part, “He (Sambo) seized the opportunity to explain to the Prime Minister the progress the country is making in the areas of power supply, transportation and Brass-LNG, and the need for Japan to assist our local gas infrastructure.

“Sambo assured the Prime Minister of Nigeria’s readiness to support Japan’s bid to host the summer Olympics and to win its slot for non-permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations.

“While commenting on the issues raised by the vice-president, Prime Minister Abe stated that to achieve the level of development, Nigeria and Japan will have to work together, especially as regards the TICAD V initiative.

“He noted that a number of Japanese businesses have made progress in Nigeria and that he looks forward to more investment in the Nigerian economy.

“He further stated that Japan supports Nigeria’s growth and economic development and the need to eradicate polio. As part of Japan’s efforts to ensure this steady growth, the Yen soft loan will be used to build elementary schools as part of the projects of inclusive growth.”

Abe, according to the statement, expressed Japan’s willingness to provide support for infrastructural development in Nigeria as stated by Sambo.

The Federal Government has entered into a partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation to train about 1,000 university and secondary school graduates.

The move, according to a statement from UNIDO on Sunday, will assist young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 35 to set up their own businesses.

It said young Nigerians eager to start their own businesses would have a chance to meet and interact with entrepreneurs and representatives of organisations, institutions and companies during job fairs.

The initiative, it stated, would to facilitate job matching between job seekers and recruiters.

“UNIDO and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment are to utilise the partnership to establish public-private knowledge sharing platforms that will allow unemployed youths to access job opportunities in local businesses and institutions across the country,” the statement said.

The partnership is a follow-up to an inter-ministerial committee on job creation inaugurated in February by the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Samuel Ortom.

The statement added that the committee had engaged over 15 federal ministries, departments and agencies from the public sector, and about 30 companies from the private sector.

Some of the ministries are Education, Labour and Productivity, Women Affairs, and Youth Development.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Dauda Kigbu, has called on Brazilian investors to set up factories in Nigeria to boost the production of their products.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on National Planning and Poverty Alleviation and former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Barnabas Gemade, has said the posture of the Executive arm of government on the powers of the National Assembly to appropriate funds negates the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

Gemade, who spoke to journalists in Abuja on Sunday ahead of the public hearing on the need to review the planning and budgeting process, which holds on Monday (today), said the issues surrounding the 2013 budget amendment bill were complicated and not as straightforward as some would think.

He said it would be necessary for the National Assembly and the Executive to create a forum for discussion so as to be able to determine to what extent both arms could complement each other in the interest of the nation.

Gemade said, “I do not speak for the National Assembly because I am not the spokesman, but as a senator, I will clearly state here that the issues involved in the 2013 budget are very complicated. They are not as straightforward as many people have put it.

Personal Computer and tablet manufacturer, Asus, has risen to the third spot of worldwide tablets sales in the first quarter of 2013.

Asus shipped 2.7 million units compared to just over 700,000 units in the same period last year; thanks to its Android based Nexus 7, which has achieved over five million in sales, the firm said on Monday.

This was helped in part by Android being the most favoured operating system amongst consumers with 27.8 million units shipped. The growing appetite for tablets has also been a factor with the market growing 142 per cent year over year in the last three months.

Asus jumped to third position beating out Amazon the makers of the kindle fire and grabbing a 5.5 per cent market share.

The firm motherboard manufacturer described this as an impressive performance despite a slowdown in shipped devices. The industry sold 49.2 million units in the last quarter compared to 52.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Asus earlier this month released the Fonepad, the first android tablet that runs the new Intel processor and is a budget-friendly option in the market. Built upon the successes of the Asus 7” android tablet range, Fonepad brings real voice capabilities to a tablet, incorporating all phone and tablet functions into a single device.

Asus said it planned to continue growing its market share in the future by providing a wide range of tablet devices that appeal to diverse consumer needs.

The 13th edition of the annual international conference and exhibition on Cards and e-Payment systems will be focusing on the optimisation of payment systems in Nigeria and other African countries.

Intermarc Consulting Limited, the organisers of the forum, said the move was informed by the fact that cards and e-Payment have now taken centre stage in the economies of most African countries.

“Banks and other financial institutions are consistently looking for solutions and Value Added Services for the benefits of the market, which is also maturing and coming to terms with the reality of modernisation with the benefit of security, speed and convenience,” it said.

With the theme, ‘Shared Services: Optimizing Payment Systems in Africa’ Intermarc said the objective of this edition is to create the much reduced awareness for the Central Bank of Nigeria Cashless Policy especially as it relates to the creation of a central switch and the prohibited gentiles for mobile money and agent banking in Nigeria.

It said, “We will also have sessions on how successful shared services implementations across the world can share their learning points with Africa,”

“In order to maximise the potential benefits of e-Payment, the concept of shared services has been adopted in most implementations in the United Kingdom, Asia and Europe. We also see similar trends in South Africa. This concept is becoming more popular in the rest of Africa. The question however is: how do stakeholders cooperate to compete?”

Slated for June 11 to 13, the event will bring together personalities like the Deputy Governor of Central Bank, The Managing Director of NIBSS, Managing Directors of Banks as well as  other and leading e-Payment service providers from Nigeria and overseas.

The conference will feature six technical forums each focusing on specific payment systems.

Over 50 exhibitors from countries like Portugal, China, Egypt, France, UK, Dubai, Morocco, among others, will exhibit the latest technologies in electronic payment.

Intermarc added, “Members of the public who are interested in having a better understanding of the cashless technologies cannot afford to miss this as admission to the exhibition and general assembly is free. Some of the companies are SIBS International, Master Card Worldwide, JCB, Samsung, Airtel, HPS, among others. The major Nigerian banks like Diamond, Zenith, Skye, Access, among others, will also be there along with CBN.

As part of its contribution towards the growth of young businesses in the country, Etisalat Nigeria has lent its support to the Rise, Raise and Give  initiative at the maiden edition of its networking event held in Lagos.

The networking and shopping event was a platform to encourage young entrepreneurs with already established businesses to showcase their products and services in a highly interactive and relaxing environment, the firm said in a statement on Monday.

 In addition, the event was organised in support of the Down ’s syndrome Foundation of Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation that is committed to bridging the gap between Down’s syndrome patients with the rest of the society through various support systems.

The Head, Events and Sponsorships, Etisalat Nigeria, Modupe Thani, said the company’s decision to come on-board the project was borne out of the need to encourage young men and women who dared to follow their dreams by converting their passions into profitable business ventures.

She added, “At Etisalat, we are committed to spurring young entrepreneurs to maximizing their full potentials. We believe that the future of Nigeria’s economy lies with budding entrepreneurs, as such we consider them an important part of our target audience, designing products and services that speak directly to their needs.”

 She commended the organisers of the event for taking the initiative to give back to the society through proceeds from the event, saying that this shows a sense of responsibility to the welfare of fellow members of the society.

Commenting also, the event coordinator, RRG, Yuli Eyesan, said the idea behind the project was to encourage young entrepreneurs in Nigeria; people who had started businesses and those who hoped to start businesses in future by providing them with a strong support system.

“The RRG signifies the rise of the Nigerian youth, raising towards a cause and giving to the society. In addition to empowering young entrepreneurs, RRG is aimed at creating awareness about Down’s dyndrome and the need to encourage social integration whilst giving to the society,” she said.

Shareholders of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc have approved a dividend of N5 per share recommended by the company’s board for the year ended December 31, 2012.

They gave the approval at the company’s 35th Annual General Meeting held in Lagos.

A statement from the company said that shareholders at the meeting also urged Mobil to perform better in order to pay increased dividend in the coming years.

The Chairman/Managing Director, Mobil Oil, Mr. Adetunji Oyebanji, said that the tough operating environment had affected some of its operations in the year under consideration.

He, however, said that despite this, the company managed to stay afloat, thus increasing the dividend payout to shareholders.

He said, “In the face of these challenges that affected our financial performance, we maintained our focus on the base business, and continued to lead the industry in safe work practices and operating control. We had zero accidents related to distribution trucking and work-related employee or contractor activities.

“Our control environment remained robust with continued strong results in all internal audits and unit internal assessments completed in 2012. Our efforts did not go unnoticed. In November 2012, and for the second year running, the company won the Pearl Award for the best downstream petroleum marketer in Nigeria for 2011.

“As we continue to plan for the challenges ahead, the directors recognise the need to constantly focus on shareholder returns that are competitive and of long-term value. We are therefore pleased to declare a dividend of N5 and this represents an increase of 20 per cent over last year and is consistent with our vision of delivering robust returns to our shareholders.”

Oyebanji added that the company would continue to support free competition and the deregulation of prices and margins to ensure an economic return for investors.

“Government has an important role to play in enforcing standards that will be uniformly applied to all operators in the industry; as shareholders and partners in the business, I ask you to raise these issues with the relevant authorities to make the changes that will restore investor confidence in the sector, meet our energy challenges and stimulate economic growth,” he added.

Worldwide security software revenue totalled $19.2bn in 2012, a 7.9 per cent increase from 2011 revenue of $17.7bn, according to Gartner Incorporated. Gartner said that the evolution of new threats and working practices, such as Bring Your Own Device, was driving spending on security.

“The 2012 security market saw a continuation of increasing demand for consumer and enterprise security tools as McAfee’s high growth of 37 per cent boosted the overall market’s growth rebound in 2012,”research director at Gartner, Mr. Ruggero Contu, was quoted as saying in a statement on Friday.

 “Although overall, the 2012 security market continued to grow, not all regions experienced the high double-digit growth of, for example, Eurasia, which was driven by greenfield projects and buoyant economies. As expected, Western Europe remained the laggard due to economic uncertainties and fragility and also due to the impact of dollar-to-euro conversion,” he added.

While it retained its number one position in the consumer and enterprise security spaces in 2012, Symantec managed only single-digit growth of 2.6 per cent to reach $3.75bn in 2012.

Second-placed McAfee showed significant growth of 37 per cent in 2012 to reach $1.7bn. This was driven by a combination of organic growth, acquisitions and the indirect impact of a 2011 revenue write-down following Intel’s acquisition of McAfee.

 In third place, Trend Micro, which spent much of 2012 accelerating the diversification of its business with cloud and virtualization platform security and advanced threat protection offerings, recorded an overall security revenue decrease of 2.7 per cent, with negative growth impacting its consumer and enterprise businesses.

“Security continues to be a top priority across all technology categories in the SMB market. The rise of midmarket demand presents a new challenge for participants in the security space, as SMB requirements are different from those of larger enterprises,” Contu said.

He added, “Security buyers from SMBs are increasingly considering security as a service as an alternative for deploying security technologies, particularly for areas such as email and Web security, which is leading to more market consolidation and more competitive pricing as established players acquire pure-play cloud-based specialists across the security landscape.”

Spending on security software is also influenced by the evolution of new threats and working practices.

China’s factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May and growth in the services sector cooled, evidence that the world’s second-largest economy is losing further momentum in the second quarter.

According to Reuters, the HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index  for May dropped to 49.2, the lowest level since October 2012 and down from 50.4 in April, as domestic and overseas demand fell.

The figure was slightly lower than a preliminary reading of 49.6 released on May 23. Fifty divides expansion from contraction compared with the month before.

China’s economic growth surprised financial markets by weakening in the first quarter and that trend may not have changed, said Zhiwei Zhang, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong.

“We think China’s economic growth will probably continue to slide,” he said. “Our forecast of GDP growth in Q2 is to slow to 7.5 per cent from 7.7 per cent in Q1.”

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS gave up as much as 0.2 per cent to hit its lowest level in nearly seven weeks after the data, while Australian shares dipped before stabilizing.

Hong Kong and Shanghai shares both lost some gains to stand up 0.4 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively.

“The downward revision of the final HSBC China Manufacturing PMI suggests a marginal weakening of manufacturing activities towards the end of May, thanks to deteriorating domestic demand conditions,” said Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC.

In the HSBC manufacturing PMI, compiled by UK-based Markit Group Ltd, the sub-index for total new orders dipped to 48.7, the first time it has retreated below 50 since last September and the new export orders sub index was below 50 for the second consecutive month.

The indexes suggested falling demand from both domestic and overseas firms.

China’s official manufacturing PMI, released on Saturday, rose but remained close to 50. It ticked up to 50.8 in May from April’s 50.6, although it also pointed to falling orders from export markets.

The Chinese government’s official PMI for the non-manufacturing sector, released earlier on Monday, also pointed to a loss of growth. It fell to 54.3 in May from 54.5 in April, the lowest since September last year.

The figures add to evidence China’s economy is struggling for momentum, buffeted by weak exports demand and overcapacity in some industrial sectors.

The government is also attempting to rein in credit growth, a lot of which is not finding its way into productive investment but into speculative areas such as property.

The IMF and OECD last week cut their forecasts for 2013 economic growth to 7.75 per cent and 7.8 per cent, respectively.

China’s annual economic growth slowed to 7.7 per cent in the first quarter from 7.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

The full-year annual growth of 7.8 per cent in 2012 was the weakest since 1999.

The IMF’s cut brings it into line with recent revisions by private institutions, including Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, which pared its forecast this month to 7.6 per cent from 8 per cent, and Standard Chartered, which cut its estimate to 7.7 per cent from 8.3 per cent.

ING last month reduced its prediction to 7.8 per cent from 9 per cent.

Emerging stocks were set for a six-week low as Turkey’s shares tumbled amid protests against the government and concern grew that the global economy will falter.

Bloomberg News reports that South Africa’s rand rose from the weakest level in four years.

The Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange National 100 Index posted the biggest slump in a decade as Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS and Akbank TAS sank by at least 9.4 per cent, while Turkish bond yields surged the most ever.

Russia’s dollar-denominated index plunged as much as 20 per cent from this year’s high as OAO Mechel slid. Brazil’s Ibovespa rose from a six-week low as MMX Mineracao & Metalicos SA led Brazilian raw-material producers higher.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid by 0.8 per cent to 1,000.90 at 1:40 p.m. in New York, headed for the lowest close since April 18. Clashes in Istanbul began May 31, with protesters calling for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to resign.

Manufacturing in the US unexpectedly contracted, while Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said bond purchases may be reduced in the next three months.

Financial analysts have said the acclaimed impressive growth rate in the country has not transformed to enhanced welfare for the average Nigerian.

Analysts at FSDH Merchant Limited in a report made available on Monday said, “FSDH Research notes that the Nigerian economy is currently one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. However, this impressive growth rate has not translated to improved welfare for average Nigerians. “There is still high unemployment and wide-spread poverty in the country, which if not nipped in the bud, could create social dislocations and crisis.”

 They noted that it was important that economic managers in Nigeria developed a framework (monetary, fiscal and structural) for achieving an inclusive economic growth, capable of reducing unemployment and the incidence of poverty.

Available data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the real Gross Domestic Product in Nigeria in Q1 2013 grew by 6.56 per cent, higher than 6.34 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2012, but lower than the growth rate of 6.99 per cent recorded in Q4 2012.

 The analysis of the sectoral growth rate in Q1 2013 showed that there was a slowdown in both the oil and non-oil sectors of the economy. A further analysis showed that on a year-on-year basis, there was a decline in the rate of growth in the non-oil sub-sector; while the oil sector contracted.

  Although, there was a decline in the growth rate in the agriculture, wholesale and retail trade and telecommunications sectors, these sectors remained the major drivers in the non-oil sector of the economy. Other sectors that recorded impressive growth rate are building and construction, hotel and restaurant, real estate services, manufacturing, finance and, insurance and solid minerals, amongst others.

 Telecommunication and post sector recorded the highest real GDP growth rate of 24.53per cent, followed by building and construction, 15.66 per cent; hotel and restaurant, 13.61 per cent; solid minerals, 12 per cent; real estate, 10.06 per cent; business and other services, 8.63 per cent; manufacturing, 8.41 per cent; wholesale and retail trade, 8.22 per cent; agriculture, 4.14 per cent; finance and insurance, 3.61 per cent; others, 5.37 per cent.

  NBS stated that the Nigerian oil sector witnessed levels of disruptions due to pipeline vandalism and bunkering activities. However, it added that the sector had benefitted immensely from the relative stability in international crude oil market price and the favourable exchange rate of the naira against the United State dollar.

 The nominal GDP for Q1 2013 was estimated at N9.49tn, an increase of 3.83 per cent from N9.14tn recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2012. Oil nominal GDP accounted for 38.77 per cent, while non-oil nominal GDP contributed 61.23 per cent.

Upbeat European data helped drag world shares and oil off one-month lows on Monday, as uncertainty over United States monetary stimulus and global growth extended a volatile spell on markets, Reuters reports.

MSCI’s world share index, which tracks stocks in 45 countries, staged a strong fightback as the US open neared, after sharp early falls in Europe and in Japan had pushed it to its lowest in a month.

Oil and commodity markets saw big moves too, with crude swinging almost two dollars and nickel notching one of its biggest jumps of the year.

“The overall theme for the coming weeks is going to be a very volatile trading environment and you are going to have the US and Japan being a significant driver to what is happening in Europe,” said Rabobank strategist Lyn Graham-Taylor.

Wall Street was expected to open around 0.4 per cent higher as investors wait on the release of the May ISM manufacturing index at 10 am ET.

Markets have become particularly sensitive to US data since its central bank, the Federal Reserve, started raising the prospect of scaling back its money-printing program.

Economists polled by Reuters see no change from last month’s ISM reading of 50.7 but its components are likely to be scrutinized ahead non-farm payrolls on Friday.

Earlier a brighter-than-forecast reading on the equivalent PMI data from Europe drove a rebound in the FTSEurofirst 300, which trading flat by 8:38am ET having earlier been down as much as 1 percent.

“The (European) data in general has surprised on the upside this morning which probably partly explains the market fightback,” said HSBC equities strategist Robert Parkes. “all eyes now turn to the ISM. That is arguably one of the biggest, indicator(s), of where we are in the global cycle.”

A mixed reading in Chinese data kept intact worries about its growth momentum though the numbers were not bad enough to trigger sustained selling in either growth-sensitive commodities or currency markets.

Oil dropped to $100 a barrel for the first time in a month in Asian trading, but like share markets it rallied and was up almost 1.5 per cent at $101.80 by 8:20am ET.

In the debt market, safe-haven German bond futures softened. There was also more selling of euro zone periphery debt amid signs its 10-month rally may be drawing to a close.

Speaking in China, ECB President Mario Draghi gave further food for thought to investors, already wondering if a scaleback of Fed stimulus will reverse some of the falls in euro zone periphery bond yields over the last year.

Capital market analysts have said that there will be profit taking activities in the equities segment of the market this month.

This, they stated, followed the consistent upward movement in the equities section of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the past few weeks.

According to them, with a year to date performance of over 34.60 per cent this year, activities in the market have reached a point where a lot of investors who fled the market have been returning.

The analysts however added that the positive response of investors to the equities market in the last few weeks indicated that such upward activities might not last long.

In their weekly money and capital report on Monday, analysts at FSDH Securities Limited noted that some investors would likely take advantage of the price appreciation of shares in the market to make some gains.

They added that it was possible that the prices of some shares would drop as a result of profit taking, adding that this was usual at this period of the year.

They said, “Based on historical trend between May and June, we expect the equities market to trade southward this month.

“In addition, the current share prices of select stocks at the bourse would continue to offer opportunities for profit taking in the course of the week, which will cause prices to drop.

“We, therefore, urge investors to consider stocks with solid fundamentals, as they prove capable of generating good returns in the medium to long-term.”

On a monthly basis, the NSE All-Share Index, which opened last month at 33,440.57 basis points, rose by 13.02 per cent or 4,354.18 basis points to 37,794.75 points at the end of the month.

Similarly, the market capitalisation of the listed equities rose by 12.9 per cent or N1.38tn to N12.075tn in May, up from N10.691tn recorded at the beginning of the month.

Analysts from Vetiva Capital Management Limited warned of the likelihood of profit-taking early this week, adding that, “following strong recent runs on the Nigerian stock market, investors may be tempted to take profits on key financial and consumer counters.”

Analysts from Meristem Nigerian noted that numerous opportunities still existed in the market, stressing that investors could tap into such opportunities for increased returns in the coming months.

“We see an opportunity in underpriced stocks with sound fundamentals which include a great proportion of the penny stocks which may raise the stock market’s total capitalisation further up, hence, we see significant potential returns in both the equities and fixed income markets,” they stated.

Workers at internet retailer Amazon.com’s German operations are set to hold a third one-day strike on Monday in a dispute over pay and benefits, Reuters reports.

Trade union Verdi has called on workers at Amazon’s logistics centers in Leipzig and Bad Hersfeld to stop working from 0400 GMT.

About 600 workers at Amazon’s facilities in Bad Hersfeld and around 300 in Leipzig went on strike on May 14 and followed up with one-day stoppages on May 27 in Leipzig and May 29 in Bad Hersfeld.

Amazon employs around 9,000 people in Germany and has come under fire from the union for refusing to implement a collective agreement on employment conditions similar to deals at other mail order and retail firms.

The union is also pressing for higher basic pay and bigger supplements for night shifts.

In Leipzig, the union is calling for starting pay of £10.66 ($13.82) per hour, compared with £9.30 now. In Bad Hersfeld, it wants pay to be increased to 12.18 from £9.83($1 = 0.7716 euros).

Globacom has introduced the Glo Zero Facebook, an exciting new offer which gives subscribers on the Glo network access to Facebook pages on their mobile phones free of charge.

In a statement by Globacom’s Marketing Coordinator, Mr. Niyi Olukoya, the company said with the Glo Zero Facebook, subscribers on the network have been empowered to network and socialise on Facebook without paying for data subscription.

“The implication of this awesome service is that our subscribers can now keep in touch with their friends, family and even business associates on the social network site, Facebook from their Glo lines without having any data subscription or airtime on their phones”, Olukoya said.

Olukoya advised subscribers to type zero.facebook.com, 0.facebook.com or o.facebook.com in the uniform resource locator box on the web page to be able to enjoy the service, adding that the new mobile sites include all the key features of Facebook which are optimised for speed with zero data charges.

He also stated that customers will only pay for data charges when they view photos or when they leave 0.facebook.com to browse other mobile sites.

“When you click to view a photo or browse another mobile site, a notification page will appear to confirm that you will be charged if you want to leave 0.facebook.com”, Olukoya said.

Globacom said that Zero Facebook is designed to solve the twin major challenges people around the world face when using the mobile internet – speed and cost of data.