Following a crash in freight rates, three major shipping lines have withdrawn their vessels and diverted same to other routes in the past four months.
Due to crashing freight rates, it has become unprofitable for shipping lines to operate along the Asia-West Africa routes.
The shipping firms, Nippon Yusen Kasha popularly known as NYK Lines (operated by Japanese), Taiwan’s Evergreen Line, and Messina Line, were forced to withdraw from the West Africa route due to growing losses as a result of the twin jeopardy of low freight rates and declining volumes.
The top Japanese shipping line had operated the Asia-West Africa service, which it dubbed WAX, alongside Hapag-Lloyd and Gold Star Line (GSL).
The service featured two calls in Nigeria, Lagos-Apapa and Lagos-Tincan. Evergreen Line has also announced the withdrawal of its vessels from the Asia-West Africa route, which had regular calls at the Lagos Port Complex Apapa.
Hull Blyth Nigeria Limited, which acts as shipping agent to Evergreen Line confirmed the withdrawal of the service to the media.
Managing Director, Hull Blyth, Christian Holm, said: “After three years of serving the market, Evergreen decided to discontinue their service due to losses sustained due to widening disparity between rate levels and costs.
“Rate levels, especially from Asia, have fallen over 50 per cent in the period with the cost levels remaining disproportionate.”
Speaking in similar vein, Chairman, Shipping Association of Nigeria, (SAN) Mr. Val Usifo, described the development as a dire situation.
He said: “The withdrawal of shipping services by these firms does not affect Nigeria alone but the entire region.
“It is a serious situation; it is not only that the traffic is down, the freight rates have virtually collapsed. Importers are finding it difficult to pay for their imports because of the restriction in dollar.”
Vanguard
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Monday, February 22, 2016
Video - Febrile outbreak kills 25 children in Lagos, Nigeria
Experts are baffled over a killer disease - that has yet to be identified. It's killed at least 25 children in Lagos so far. Health authorities have taken samples and are analysing them.
Highest rate of Nigerians defecating in public is in Ekiti State
Ekiti State has the highest number of residents, among Nigerian states, who defecate openly, two agencies have said.
The United Nations Children’s Fund and the European Union state that two in three Ekiti residents engage in open defecation.
This is contained in a report jointly presented by the organizations at a two-day media networking and alliance building workshop on Water Sanitation and Hygiene held at Ijero Ekiti.
The programme, which ended on Saturday, was sponsored by both foreign organisations; and also featured Open Defecation Free, ODF, campaign.
The report stated that of the state’s 2.7million population, 1.8million engage in the unhygienic practice. It said the Ekiti figure represents 60.8% of Nigerians who defecate openly.
The organisations said over 2.5 billion people lacked access to improved sanitation globally, out of which one billion were engaging in open defecation.
The UNICEF/EU delegation, led by Mohsena Islam, a Water Sanitation and Hygiene specialist from UNICEF, had earlier embarked on a field trip with Ekiti Media WASH group to Asasa and Temidire Olojofi farm settlements in Aramoko Ekiti, to assess compliance with the campaign against open defecation.
Mr. Mohsena disclosed that several achievements had been recorded through UNICEF/EU WASH programme in Ekiti, using Gbonyin and Ekiti West as pilot councils in advocacy for open defecation Free and WASH.
“In Ekiti , an estimated number of 180,000 people are gaining access to good source of water through provision of hand pump boreholes,” he said.
” In the same way, 29,582 people in Ekiti have gained access to safe water through rehabilitation of 65 hand pumps in Gbonyin. 965 pupils from four schools now have access to child and gender friendly water supply.
“We have also brought improvement to 250 towns and communities in ODF by providing ten toilets per public. We have also provided technical supports in 313 communities, for them to know various ways to build and take ownership of low cost latrines and how to repair them in case of damage.
“Stakeholders would continue to step up sensitization and advocacy in rural areas on the need to key into the total eradication of open defecation , to forestall breakout of diseases.”
The Coordinator of Community Led Total Sanitation, CLTS, in Gbonyin, Kayode Eleso, said many residents were arrested and prosecuted for engaging in open defecation, particularly in Ado Ekiti metropolis; while efforts, were also on to compel every household to have toilets.
He regretted that low manpower in the sector was responsible for the noticeable inefficiency of his officers , saying records show that no staff had been recruited since Ekiti was created on October 1, 1996.
Lanre Ayeni, a CLTS facilitator and staff of Rural Water Sanitation Agency in Ekiti ,said in her presentation that 748 million of the global population, lack access to hygienic water supply .
She said it was so regrettable that 1.8 billion people still use contaminated sources of water, which she said has caused a lot of damage to their health and body systems.
“Advocacy for open defecation free in Ekiti and good water sanitation is yielding results. Enforcement in the past by CLTS coordinators had failed .
“What we now use is persuasion and people are gradually changing their perception about this concept.”
Premium Times
The United Nations Children’s Fund and the European Union state that two in three Ekiti residents engage in open defecation.
This is contained in a report jointly presented by the organizations at a two-day media networking and alliance building workshop on Water Sanitation and Hygiene held at Ijero Ekiti.
The programme, which ended on Saturday, was sponsored by both foreign organisations; and also featured Open Defecation Free, ODF, campaign.
The report stated that of the state’s 2.7million population, 1.8million engage in the unhygienic practice. It said the Ekiti figure represents 60.8% of Nigerians who defecate openly.
The organisations said over 2.5 billion people lacked access to improved sanitation globally, out of which one billion were engaging in open defecation.
The UNICEF/EU delegation, led by Mohsena Islam, a Water Sanitation and Hygiene specialist from UNICEF, had earlier embarked on a field trip with Ekiti Media WASH group to Asasa and Temidire Olojofi farm settlements in Aramoko Ekiti, to assess compliance with the campaign against open defecation.
Mr. Mohsena disclosed that several achievements had been recorded through UNICEF/EU WASH programme in Ekiti, using Gbonyin and Ekiti West as pilot councils in advocacy for open defecation Free and WASH.
“In Ekiti , an estimated number of 180,000 people are gaining access to good source of water through provision of hand pump boreholes,” he said.
” In the same way, 29,582 people in Ekiti have gained access to safe water through rehabilitation of 65 hand pumps in Gbonyin. 965 pupils from four schools now have access to child and gender friendly water supply.
“We have also brought improvement to 250 towns and communities in ODF by providing ten toilets per public. We have also provided technical supports in 313 communities, for them to know various ways to build and take ownership of low cost latrines and how to repair them in case of damage.
“Stakeholders would continue to step up sensitization and advocacy in rural areas on the need to key into the total eradication of open defecation , to forestall breakout of diseases.”
The Coordinator of Community Led Total Sanitation, CLTS, in Gbonyin, Kayode Eleso, said many residents were arrested and prosecuted for engaging in open defecation, particularly in Ado Ekiti metropolis; while efforts, were also on to compel every household to have toilets.
He regretted that low manpower in the sector was responsible for the noticeable inefficiency of his officers , saying records show that no staff had been recruited since Ekiti was created on October 1, 1996.
Lanre Ayeni, a CLTS facilitator and staff of Rural Water Sanitation Agency in Ekiti ,said in her presentation that 748 million of the global population, lack access to hygienic water supply .
She said it was so regrettable that 1.8 billion people still use contaminated sources of water, which she said has caused a lot of damage to their health and body systems.
“Advocacy for open defecation free in Ekiti and good water sanitation is yielding results. Enforcement in the past by CLTS coordinators had failed .
“What we now use is persuasion and people are gradually changing their perception about this concept.”
Premium Times
Friday, February 19, 2016
Trueworths closes shop in Nigeria
Truworths International Ltd. closed its two remaining Nigerian stores last month as stringent regulation of stock imports, foreign exchange controls and rising costs made it too difficult for the South African retailer to operate in Africa’s biggest economy.
The clothing company struggled to get stock into Nigeria and cash out of the country, Chief Executive Officer Michael Mark said in a phone interview on Friday. Truworths’ dollar rental bill also soared as the rand weakened against the U.S. currency, he said.
“The regulations were making it extraordinarily difficult to get stock into the stores, we couldn’t get money out, so there was no point any longer,” Mark said. “Obviously everyone gets exited about Nigeria because of it’s size, but I think they’ve taken an incredible strain with internal problems in the country politically and then there are the issues with their oil.”
The Nigerian central bank has effectively pegged the naira at 197 to 199 per dollar since March by restricting imports of products from glass to wheelbarrows, halting supply of foreign currency to exchange bureaus and all but shutting down the interbank market with trading limits. The country, Africa’s biggest crude producer, has suffered a slump in government revenue as oil prices plunged.
South African companies to have struggled in Nigeria include food and clothing retailer Woolworths Holdings Ltd., which announced the closure of its three stores in the country in 2013 because of high rental costs, duties and difficulties getting stock into stores. MTN Group Ltd., the continent’s largest wireless operator, said Thursday that 2015 earnings fell at least 20 percent after Nigerian regulators withdrew services and ordered the company to disconnect 5.1 million customers.
“It’s a tough market, with high rental expenses and I felt you needed to get big or get out,” Ian Moir, the chief executive officer of retailer Woolworths, told reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday. “We made the right call, we didn’t see things really changing there for the next 10 years.”
International Expansion
Truworths is expanding in countries outside South Africa as economic growth and consumer spending remain under pressure in its domestic market. The Cape Town-based company bought a majority stake in U.K. shoe chain Office Retail Group Ltd. last year, and also has stores in sub-Saharan African countries including Kenya and Botswana.
“The stores in countries bordering South Africa are doing well and in Ghana it’s O.K.,” Mark said. “It’s just Nigeria that’s not and we would go back there if everything changes. This is not a permanent thing, we will see what happens.”
Truworths said Thursday first-half profit climbed 21 percent even as consumer spending in South Africa remained sluggish. The shares fell 4.7 percent to 91.21 rand at the close in Johannesburg, having gained 2 percent the previous day.
Office Retail is also looking to expand in Europe. As many as 30 store locations have been identified in the U.K. and up to 15 stores may be opened in Germany in the next two to three years, Mark said.
Bloomberg
The clothing company struggled to get stock into Nigeria and cash out of the country, Chief Executive Officer Michael Mark said in a phone interview on Friday. Truworths’ dollar rental bill also soared as the rand weakened against the U.S. currency, he said.
“The regulations were making it extraordinarily difficult to get stock into the stores, we couldn’t get money out, so there was no point any longer,” Mark said. “Obviously everyone gets exited about Nigeria because of it’s size, but I think they’ve taken an incredible strain with internal problems in the country politically and then there are the issues with their oil.”
The Nigerian central bank has effectively pegged the naira at 197 to 199 per dollar since March by restricting imports of products from glass to wheelbarrows, halting supply of foreign currency to exchange bureaus and all but shutting down the interbank market with trading limits. The country, Africa’s biggest crude producer, has suffered a slump in government revenue as oil prices plunged.
South African companies to have struggled in Nigeria include food and clothing retailer Woolworths Holdings Ltd., which announced the closure of its three stores in the country in 2013 because of high rental costs, duties and difficulties getting stock into stores. MTN Group Ltd., the continent’s largest wireless operator, said Thursday that 2015 earnings fell at least 20 percent after Nigerian regulators withdrew services and ordered the company to disconnect 5.1 million customers.
“It’s a tough market, with high rental expenses and I felt you needed to get big or get out,” Ian Moir, the chief executive officer of retailer Woolworths, told reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday. “We made the right call, we didn’t see things really changing there for the next 10 years.”
International Expansion
Truworths is expanding in countries outside South Africa as economic growth and consumer spending remain under pressure in its domestic market. The Cape Town-based company bought a majority stake in U.K. shoe chain Office Retail Group Ltd. last year, and also has stores in sub-Saharan African countries including Kenya and Botswana.
“The stores in countries bordering South Africa are doing well and in Ghana it’s O.K.,” Mark said. “It’s just Nigeria that’s not and we would go back there if everything changes. This is not a permanent thing, we will see what happens.”
Truworths said Thursday first-half profit climbed 21 percent even as consumer spending in South Africa remained sluggish. The shares fell 4.7 percent to 91.21 rand at the close in Johannesburg, having gained 2 percent the previous day.
Office Retail is also looking to expand in Europe. As many as 30 store locations have been identified in the U.K. and up to 15 stores may be opened in Germany in the next two to three years, Mark said.
Bloomberg
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Nigeria football coach Sunday Oliseh gets warning but no fine yet
The NFF Executive Committee: "rebuked Oliseh for his unwarranted statements unbecoming of a National Team Coach in both regular and social media."
While his apology was acknowledged he was warned over future behaviour.
However the statement did not elaborate whether the possibility of a fine had been removed.
The NFF's disciplinary committee may still want to sanction him for his outburst aimed at the local media as well as his vociferous former international teammates.
Oliseh, 41, apologised to his employers after he caused controversy by posting an extraordinary eight-minute video rant on his own website to hit back at what he called the "insanity" of his critics.
In a statement the NFF added: "In line with global best practices, the Committee decided that coach Oliseh MUST henceforth report to the NFF General Secretary and the Technical and Development Committee, and should be ready to defend his entire program before the Committee, including invitation of players and training programs."
Oliseh, unpaid for five months, had initially gone public with the money problems affecting his team during the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament - where Nigeria failed to get past the group stages - to the embarrassment of his employers.
Nigeria face seven-time African champions Egypt in back-to-back 2017 African Cup of Nations fixtures next month.
They are two points behind group leaders Egypt after two rounds of matches with only group winners guaranteed automatic qualification to the tournament in Gabon.
Super Falcons
Meanwhile, Nigeria have begun their search for a competent high-profile expatriate coach for the women's national team after the Super Falcons failed to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics women's football event.
Former captain Florence Omagbemi, who is expected to assist the incoming expatriate, has been named as acting manager as the NFF hopes to name a substantive manager "within the shortest possible time".
Omagbemi will be assisted by former international teammates Perpetua Nkwocha and Ann Chiejine, with Bala Mohammed as goalkeeper trainer.
Promotion
Emmanuel Amuneke, who led the country to a fifth Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Chile last year, has been promoted to the head coach of the under-20 side.
BBC
Related stories: Nigeria Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh goes on youtube rant
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