MTN Threatens Nigerians Of ‘Consequences’ of #BoycottSA; Says 6000 To Be Made Jobless

MTN Nigeria on Monday warned that should there be attacks on its facilities, it might be forced to close shop and 99 per cent of its over 6,000 workforce in the country, who are Nigerians, would be thrown into the labour market.

 It also said that calls for the boycott of its services were unjustified as such an action would affect its support chain, which could cause another 500,000 Nigerians to lose their means of livelihood. The company stated this in Lagos some hours after two groups protested in its Abuja and Benin offices against the killing of foreigners in its home country, South Africa.
According to the Corporate Service Executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Wale Goodluck, featured, there are only 12 expatriates working for the company in the country, compared to a workforce of 6,000 Nigerians.
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Skye Bank Charges Customers On SME

Over 200 customers and business partners in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sector attended the South East edition of Skye Bank’s SME seminar held recently in Onitsha, Anambra State. Themed: “Nurturing Businesses for Growth,” the bank described the seminar as part of its contributions towards developing the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sector of the Nigerian economy. While delivering his remark, the bank’s Regional Director for South East I, Dr. Charles Udogu, said MSME was an important growth driver in any economy, warning key economic players in the nation’s polity not to neglect the sector. Dr. Udogu said: “Having identified the gap in the SME sector, Skye Bank organized this seminar to bridge this gap through the Bank’s business seminar series.” Speaking in the same vein, Ayo Olojede, the Head of Small Business Group of Skye Bank, disclosed that the Bank was coming up with solutions that would help to minimize the cost of doing businesses for small business owners. Olojede, however, warned: “If you want to access a loan, there are some simple but fundamental requirements the bank will expect – like a business plan, cash flow projections and basic business skills to determine the viability of the business and ways of partnering with customers to deliver value.” Commenting on the seminar, she said it was organized to enlighten the bank’s customers on areas of managing their cash flow and other areas of business operations among other issues. In his keynote speech, the Managing Director of Dilimson Holdings Limited, George Umobi, charged participants to confront challenges faced in the course of growing their businesses and charged them to seize the opportunity Skye bank presented to them and make the best of it. The seminar was commended by the participants whose questions on different issues concerning Skye Bank Plc and the banking industry were promptly addressed by the bank’s representatives. The next edition of the Skye Bank Plc SME Seminar takes place in the South-Western part of the country in May.

Commercial Motorcycle Accident In Lagos Reduces By 36.5% – Report

An annual report by the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi in Yaba, Lagos State has indicated a reduction in the rate of motorcycle accidents in the metropolis. The report was signed by the NOH Chief Records Officer, Samuel Karunwi, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos. NAN reports that NOH specialises in the treatment bone diseases and victims of automobile and motorcycles accidents as well as keeps records of such cases. The report shows that in 2013, there were 452 motorcycle accidents involving 273 males and 179 females. It showed that in 2014, there were 291 motorcycle accidents that involved 168 males and 123 females. The report said: “In 2013, 60.4 per cent males and 39.6 per cent females were involved in motorcycle accidents. “However, in 2014, 57.7 per cent males and 42.3 per cent females were involved various motorcycle accidents. “Comparatively, between 2013 and 2014, the rate of motorcycle accidents was reduced by 35.6 per cent on Lagos roads.” Sesan Adebara, an official of the Lagos State Accident and Emergency Service, said the reduction was due to the enforcement of the law banning commercial motorcycles from plying the highways. The law, which came into effect on November 5, 2012, restricted the commercial motorcylists’ operations to the hinterlands where there was less vehicular traffic. Adebara noted that the ban slammed on the commercial motorcycle riders, popularly called okada in Lagos, was adequately enforced by the various traffic administrators in 2014. Adebara said in 2014, the law enforcement agencies ensured zero-tolerance for violation by the riders. He said the situation had helped in reducing accidents involving commercial motorcyclists and their passengers. Adebara said the report was a testimony of the good intentions of the state government in ensuring the safety of lives and property of the citizens. He told NAN: “The policy restricting commercial motorcyclists to the hinterlands and is a very good initiative of the government. “No responsible government will fold its arms while lives are being wasted on unnecessarily because of commercial use of motorcycles. “Although it is obvious that many citizens are not happy with the restriction, some later came to terms with the need for such an action. “Lagos State is not in any way obsessed with the use of Okada as being speculated, rather the government has a duty to protect its citizens from danger through proactive policies and laws. “In this wise, this record has showed the success of the restriction. “So, we will continue to appeal to the Okada riders to come to terms with the government.”

#XenophobicSA Violence Could Spark More African Boycotts Of SA Businesses – ADF

Johannesburg – The xenophobic violence taking place in South Africa possibly meant other African countries would boycott South African business interests across the continent, the Africa Diaspora Forum (ADF) said on Monday.

ADF representative Jean Pierre Lumumba, speaking to reporters in Johannesburg ahead of the People’s March Against Xenophobia on Thursday, said: “We are not mourning Emmanuel Sithole. We are not mourning all the victims of the xenophobia. We are organising ourselves,” he said.

“What we are seeing in South Africa today, we are seeing the victims of apartheid yesterday becoming the oppressors of people from Africa [today].”

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CBN Cuts Spending Limits On Naira MasterCard

The Central Bank of Nigeria has moved to firm up the naira against the dol­lar. To this end, the apex bank on Tuesday unveiled a reduction in spend­ing limits on foreign transaction with the Naira Mastercard. One of Nigeria’s leading banks, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, confirmed this development in email messages to its customers on Tuesday. The bank, which had earlier on Monday told its customers to watch out for the development, said transactions in foreign currency on the Naira MasterCard is now limited to $50,000 per annum, down from the $150,000 it was before. Daily cash withdrawal in foreign currency on the Naira MasterCard has also been reduced to $300 per day. Before, daily cash withdrawal was tied to the value of the daily cash withdrawal allowed within Nigeria. For some set of customers, the maximum cash withdrawal was N150,000, while some premium customers were allowed to withdraw N200,000.

Telecoms Operators Record 29,756 Porting Activities In February – NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission on Tuesday said that a total of 29,756 mobile number porting were recorded in the month of February, 2015. This was contained in the ”Incoming and Outgoing Porting Activities of Mobile Network Operators” report, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos. The report showed that there was an increase of 2,932 in the Mobile Number Portability activities in the month of February, as against the 26,824 recorded in January. It said that of the 29,756 porting activities in February, 24,955 were incoming porting activities, while 14,801 were outgoing activities. The report revealed that in the outgoing table, telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria, lost a total of 6,951 subscribers to other networks through the MNP in February. According to the report, MTN is the worst hit during the exercise, followed by Airtel Nigeria, which lost 3,655 customers in the month under review. The report said Globacom lost a total of 2,570 subscribers, while 1,625 customers of Etisalat Nigeria ported to other networks within the same period. However, in the incoming table, the report said Etisalat enjoyed the exercise most as it led with an additional 9,187 customers on its network in February. Airtel came second on the gainers’ list, as it added 2,758 subscribers to its customer strength. Also on the gainers’ list, 1,532 subscribers moved to the Globacom network, while MTN Nigeria gained 1,478 customers as well in February 2015. NAN reports that the exercise was flagged off on April 22, 2013 by the NCC, with the aim of deepening competition in the industry.