Nigeria's finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala makes it on Forbes list of most powerful women

Forbes, a leading source of reliable international business news and financial information has released its list of "The World's Most Powerful Women" with Nigeria's finance minister and coordinating minister for the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala taking the 81st position in the politics category as one of only three Africans on the list - Joyce Banda, President of Malawi (71) and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia's President (82).

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor topped the list dominated by women from the United States led by secretary of state Hilary Clinton in second place and 59 others such as Melinda Gates (4), Michelle Obama (7), Oprah Winfrey (11), Christiane Amanpour (53), Lady Gaga (14), Beyonce Knowles (32), Jennifer Lopez (38), Marissa Mayer - CEO Yahoo (21) and Sheryl Sandberge - COO Facebook (10) among others.

Other notable women of power on the list are President of Brazil, Dilma Roosseff (3), Sonia Gandhi, president, National Congress Party of India (6), Christine Lagarde - MD, IMF (8), Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, president of Argentina (16), Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma (19), Queen Elizabeth II of the UK (26), Julia Gillard, prime minister of Australia (27), Yingluck Shinawatra, prime minister of Thailand (30) and Sri Mulvani Indrawati, MD World Bank (72).

Forbes List Of World's Most Powerful Women

1. Angela Merkel Chancellor, Germany

2. Hillary Clinton Secretary of State, United States

3. Dilma Rousseff President, Brazil

4. Melinda Gates Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

5. Jill Abramson Executive Editor, New York Times Co.

6. Sonia Gandhi President, Indian National Congress, India

7. Michelle Obama First Lady, United States

8. Christine Lagarde Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

9. Janet Napolitano Secretary, Department of Homeland Security, United States

10. Sheryl Sandberg

11. Oprah Winfrey Entrepreneur, Personality

12. Indra Nooyi Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo

13. Irene Rosenfeld Chairman and CEO, Kraft Foods

14. Lady Gaga Musician, Philanthropist

15. Virginia Rometty President and CEO, IBM

16. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner President, Argentina

17. Ursula Burns Chairman and CEO, Xerox

18. Meg Whitman CEO, Hewlett-Packard

19. Aung San Suu Kyi Chair and Parliamentarian, National League for Democracy, Burma

20. Maria das Graças Silva Foster CEO, Petrobras-Petróleo Brasil

21. Marissa Mayer CEO, Yahoo

22. Anne Sweeney Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks, and President, Disney/ABC Television Group, Walt Disney

23. Diane Sawyer Anchor of World News, ABC, Walt Disney

24. Angela Braly CEO, WellPoint

25. Susan Wojcicki Senior Vice President, Google

26. Queen Elizabeth II Monarch, United Kingdom

27. Julia Gillard Prime Minister, Australia

28. Nancy Pelosi Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, United States

29. Arianna Huffington Editor-In-Chief, Huffington Post Media Group, AOL

30. Yingluck Shinawatra Prime Minister, Thailand

31. Kathleen Sebelius Secretary, Department of Health and Human Service, United States

32. Beyonce Knowles Actress, Entrepreneur, Musician

33. Diane Von Furstenberg Owner, Fashion Designer, Diane von Furstenberg Studio, L.P.

34. Helen Clark Administrator, U.N. Development Programme

35. Georgina Rinehart Executive Chairman, Hancock Prospecting

36. Amy Pascal Co-Chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony

37. Margaret Chan Director-General, World Health Organization

38. Jennifer Lopez Actress, Musician, Personality, Philanthropist

39. Sheri McCoy CEO, Avon Products

40. Shakira Musician, Personality, Philanthropist

41. Mary Barra SVP, Global Product Development, General Motors

42. Zhang Xin & family Cofounder, CEO, Soho China Ltd.

43. Alice Walton Chairman, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

44. Laura Lang CEO, Time Inc., Time Warner

45. Angela Ahrendts CEO, Burberry Group

46. Sue Naegle President, HBO Entertainment, Time Warner Cable

47. Ellen DeGeneres Comedian, Personality, Philanthropist

48. Safra Catz President, CFO, Oracle

49. Laurene Powell Jobs & family Founder and Chair, Emerson Collective

50. Rosalind Brewer President and CEO, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart Stores

51. Anna Wintour Editor-in-Chief, Vogue, Conde Nast Publications, Inc.

52. Helene Gayle President, CEO, CARE

53. Christiane Amanpour Chief International Correspondent, CNN, Time Warner

54. Rosalia Mera Investor, Philanthropist

55. Cynthia Carroll CEO, Anglo American

56. Cher Wang Co-founder and Chair, HTC

57. Abigail Johnson President, Fidelity Personal, Workplace and Institutional Services, Fidelity Investments

58. Padmasree Warrior Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, Cisco Systems

59. Chanda Kochhar Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank

60. Gail Kelly CEO, Westpac Banking Group

61. Margaret Hamburg Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, United States

62. Ellen Kullman Chairman and CEO, EI du Pont de Nemours

63. Drew Gilpin Faust President, Harvard University

64. Shari Arison Investor, Philanthropist

65. Mary Schapiro Chair, Securities and Exchange Commission, United States

66. Angelina Jolie Actress, Philanthropist

67. Miuccia Prada Owner, Fashion Designer, Prada

68. Carol Meyrowitz CEO, TJX Cos

69. Ertharin Cousin Executive Director, World Food Programme, United Nations

70. Sue Gardner Executive Director, WikiMedia Foundation

71. Joyce Banda President, Malawi

72. Sri Mulyani Indrawati Managing Director, World Bank

73. Bonnie Hammer Chairman, Cable Entertainment and Cable Studios, NBCUniversal, Comcast

74. Chua Sock Koong Group CEO, SingTel

75. Sofia Vergara Actress, Entrepreneur

76. Ho Ching CEO, Temasek

77. Tina Brown Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Beast and Newsweek, IAC/InterActiveCorp.

78. J.K. Rowling Author

79. Chan Laiwa & family Philanthropist

80. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Founder, Chair, Biocon Ltd.

81. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Minister of Finance, Nigeria

82. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf President, Liberia

83. Gisele Bundchen Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Supermodel

84. Mary Meeker General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

85. Shaikha Al-Bahar CEO-Kuwait, National Bank of Kuwait

86. Marjorie Scardino CEO, Pearson

87. Solina Chau Director, Li Ka Shing Foundation

88. Jan Fields President, McDonald's USA, McDonald's

89. Weili Dai Co-founder, Marvell Technology Group

90. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey President, CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

91. Sun Yafang Chair, Huawei Technologies

92. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi Minister of Foreign Trade, United Arab Emirates

93. Guler Sabanci Chairman and Managing Director, Sabanci Holding

94. Greta Van Susteren Anchor, FOX News, News Corp

95. Mary Callahan Erdoes CEO, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, JPMorgan Chase

96. Mary Callahan Erdoes CEO, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, JPMorgan Chase

97. Mindy Grossman CEO, HSN

98. Patricia Woertz Chairman, CEO and President, Archer Daniels Midland

99. Beth Brooke Global Vice Chair - Public Policy, Ernst & Young

100.Sheikha Mayassa Al Thani Chair, Qatar Museums Authority, Qatar

Leadership

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Ngozi Okonjo Iweala conceded to Jim Yong Kim for World Bank top job

Nigeria ranked third poorest provider of water in the world

NIGERIA is allegedly rated as the third poorest country in the world in the provision of water for its citizens.

With the rating, it is also placed among countries, which may not meet the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in water supply to its citizens due to poor governance.

These assertions were made in Benin City, Edo State capital, at the weekend by a guest lecturer, Gabriel Okezi, at a lecture on the use and conservation of water for human development organised by the management of the Benin-Owena River Basin Development Authority.

Speaking on the theme: “Water resources management in Nigeria,” Okezi noted that the goal of water management was to make it available and affordable for all purposes to promote “good health, national welfare, food and self-sufficiency, as well as industrial growth.”

Okezie lamented that the laws on water management in the country were not being implemented, which he described as informing Nigeria’s rating as the third poorest in terms of water supply after India and China.

“The laws on water resources management are not being evolved by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources. That is the highest water authority in the country. They should give us guidelines as to how we should manage our water,” he said.

Okezie urged the Federal and state Governments to include water resources management in school curriculum.

Earlier, Managing Director of Benin-Owena River Basin Development Authority, Ajibade Luka, said the lecture was designed to discuss water resources management in Nigeria because water is critical to human development.

The Edo State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Abdul Orho, lauded the River Basin agency for organising the event, stressing that water is a gift from God for all to manage.

Also, Delta State Commissioner for Agriculture and Water Resources, Misan Okubenji, said the importance of water to human existence cannot be over-emphasised and urged Nigerians not to pollute it.

The Guardian

Hotels in Lagos rank as second most expensive in the world

With its oligarchs and bling reputation, it is perhaps not surprising that Moscow has been found to have the planet's highest hotel prices, according to new research.

In a poll of 50 cities worldwide, room rates in the Russian capital were priced the highest of any destination for the eighth year running - topping the chart at an average of £258.11 - travel management company Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) found.

And the cost of a place to lay your head in the city famed for its onion-domed churches and imperial treasures has increased by three per cent in local currency over the past twelve months.

Nigeria's populous city of Lagos was found to be the second most expensive location, with an average room rate of £217.05.

This was thanks to the 'high volume of inbound business travel connected with the oil industry', the research noted.

'Travellers to Lagos are also conscious of the city’s well-documented security issues and are more inclined to stay in five-star accommodation,' it said.

Although Geneva took third place, with rooms priced at an average of £215.92, the survey said that hotel prices across the Eurozone had 'either fallen or remained flat'.

Stewart Harvey, Group Commercial Director at HRG, said 'uncertainty' was 'driving room rates down across mainland Europe'.

Barcelona saw prices fall by 22 per cent (in Euros), while Madrid and Dublin also reported drops.

Mr Harvey noted that, according to the research, the Latin American region had seen the strongest growth in the first six months of the year.

There were room rate increases of 23 per cent in Sao Paulo and 15 per cent in Rio de Janeiro, where rooms were priced at an average £204.65 and £170.95 respectively.

In terms of price increases, Mexico City was found to have experienced the highest, with rates soaring 30 per cent in local currency as demand rocketed. The average cost of a room was £105.65.

The survey also found that prices of hotel rooms had increased in both Tokyo and Dubai as they recovered from last year's earthquake, tsunami and Arab Spring.

The twice yearly research looks at hotel room prices for key business destinations.

Daily Mail

Major fuel scarcity in Abuja, Nigeria

There seems to be no hope in sight to the fuel scarcity currently ravaging the Federal Capital, Abuja. In all the filling stations across the town, there are long queues of vehicles waiting to buy fuel which is not readily available.

This started during the past week and is telling hard on the citizenry. There are no vehicles on the road and as it has always been the custom when this problem comes up, there will be increase in transport fares.

No one seems to know the reason why it's only Abuja that is faced with this issue but some individuals like Gabriel Emmanuel and Femi Adegbite said it's because this is the center of the economy and it will spread to other states soon if this issue is not nipped in the bud early.

On a fact finding mission as to what could be responsible for this scarcity peculiar alone to Abuja at the moment, Mr Oyinlola, the NNPC Afrigate manager in Gwarinpa said the scarcity is due to NUPENG indefinite strike action.

He further explained that they had exhausted their fuel and were waiting for more fuel from the appropriate quarters. On probing further to ascertain whether the threats from the marketers to shut down the economy are coming to reality, he opined that he is not aware about that.

The people at the filling stations have refused to leave the petrol stations on the 1st avenue road in Gwarinpa. In fact, the road was blocked totally and the security agents from the Gwarinpa police station led by Mr A.A Godwin were on ground to forestall any breakdown of law and order as well as ensure free flow of traffic.

On meeting the taxi drivers present to get their views on the situation on ground, it was a loud cry of lamentation from most of them. A particular one who refused to mention his name recounted his experiences and challenges he has faced since the scarcity began.

According to him and others present, he bought 25litres of fuel for N8000 from the black market. He even said the filling station in Area 11 sold fuel to them at black market prices Nigerians are used to suffering but will still smile over the issue and that has been keeping us going.

Some of them were proved that assertion right. They were eating and drinking while waiting for fuel.Lady Maria Ejielo who had been at the filling station since 3 am(just as so many others), when asked her opinion on whether we are at a brink of revolution in the country, she prayed against it but urged His Excellency, Goodluck Jonathan to use his presidential powers and arrest the situation before it goes bad.

Leadership

Dangote Group to create more employment opportunities in Nigeria

Dangote Group has unveiled plans to establish agro- sacks manufacturing company at Ibese, Ogun state to complement Dangote Cement plant in the community as part of the company's efforts to create employment.

The company is also planning to establish a tomato paste company as well as palm oil refinery in the community. President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote disclosed these investment plans during a meeting with Ibese community host members of Yewa North Local Government Council of Baales.

Dangote, who was represented by the Group General Manager Project of Dangote Group, Mr. Joseph Alaba, assured that eligible indigenes of the host communities would be given attention for employment.

He said the establishment of the these new companies in line with his desire to invest more in manufacturing concerns that complement his existing companies, so that the teeming unemployed youths would be gainfully engaged.

According to him, the construction of the lines three and four of the Ibese plant which will take the annual production to from the present six million to 12 million has started in earnest.

Dangote urged the community leaders to give maximum cooperation to the firm just as it has done in the past.

He explained that he was of the firm believe that production is what could lift the nation's economy from the woods and not importation.

He noted that the employment could only be generated through manufacturing and that all hands must be on deck to create jobs through manufacturing.

Dangote thanked his host communities for the tremendous support the company had gotten from them saying he was happy that the communities understood that it was only in the atmosphere of peace and tranquility that any meaningful development could take place.

"We have been enjoying peaceful, harmonious and conducive working environment since the time we started the construction works at Ibese here up till now that production has started. We appreciate the the efforts of our Baales and we pray for lasting cordial and mutually beneficial relationship," he said.

Dangote added that the support had motivated Dangote Cement to invest more in the execution of some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects.

He said to the delight of the Community leaders that the contract for the construction of a 25kilometre cement concrete road from the Ibese plant to Itori had been awarded while the ever busy Ibese and Ilaro road is being redesigned for rehabilitation.

This Day

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