FC Barcelona opens academy in Nigeria

FC Barcelona has concluded plans to establish its football academy in Lagos, making it first Barcelona Academy in Africa.

Director of Social Area, Pau Vilanova, said yesterday during a courtesy visit to the Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode at the State House, Alausa.

Leader of the delegation, Vilanova explained that the club had special interest in the city considering its population and other laudable achievement recorded by the State.

Head of the Barcelona Academy, Oscar Grao, said they wanted to be in the city because of its status as the fastest growing megacity, saying "We have 17 football Academies across the world. We have in America, China Canada and others. But there was none in Africa."

"For us, it is an honour to be here. The establishment of such school in this part of Africa is very important. I think we have a special philosophy about the game that is how we defend and attack.

Guardian

Brexit impact on Nigeria

Brexit will be positive for Nigeria, according to Peter Kohli, the CEO of DMS Funds. In an article published in NASDAQ online, he explains that Britain, without Brussels will be able to make lucrative trade deals with the world and especially commonwealth countries, including Nigeria.

“In my humble opinion, Britain extricating itself from that pompous union will be a net positive for Nigeria,” he writes. “So whether or not Nigeria makes it economically is totally up to them. Recently, the Nigerian Central Bank abandoned the currency peg and allowed the Naira to sink or swim. There was initial optimism that the move would draw in foreign investors, but that optimism was short-lived. The spectre of a recession is beginning to loom larger, mainly, in my opinion, because the economy is not well diversified.”

According to Kohli, Nigeria’s GDP in the first quarter of 2016 came in at a negative 0.4% year-over-year. However, it actually contracted 13.7% quarter-over-quarter. Exports (mainly of oil and gas) were down 65% year-over-year from March 2016, and that of course robs the treasury of much needed revenue.

As for the current cost of producing a barrel of oil in Nigeria, it’s $31.60. But the breakeven price for that country is $141.70! “So something has to give. And don’t blame it on Brexit because that will have no adverse effect on the Nigerian economy,” writes Kohli.

NewEurope

Sierra Leone diplomat kidnapped in Nigeria freed

The former head of Sierra Leone's army who was kidnapped in Nigeria last week has been freed, officials say.

They say Maj Gen Nelson Williams, who is now Sierra Leone's Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, is back at his base in the capital Abuja.

It was not immediately clear whether any ransom was paid for his release.

He was seized on Friday as he was travelling to the northern state of Kaduna for a military ceremony.

"He is in sound health," Nigerian police spokesman Don Awunah was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Maj Gen Williams is believed to be the first Sierra Leone diplomat to be abducted anywhere in the world since the country became independent in 1961.

His seizure was hugely embarrassing for the Nigerian government, correspondent say.

Kidnapping for ransom is common in some parts of Nigeria.

BBC

Video - Nigeria's Skye Bank sacks top executives

Nigerian Central Bank has sacked top executives of Skye Bank over capital adequacy issues. Chief Executive Timothy Oguntayo -- who led Skye to acquire nationalised lender Mainstreet in 2014 -- resigned before the announcement on Monday. Last year, the central bank gave three commercial lenders until June 2016 to recapitalise after they failed to hit a minimum capital adequacy rate of 10 percent. Local media are reporting that Skye Bank has a non-performing loan portfolio of just under 2-point-5 billion dollars.

Nigeria's oil minister Kachikwu replaced as state oil boss

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as group managing director of state oil company NNPC as part of a wider board overhaul.

Oil accounts for about 70 percent of Nigeria' revenue, but the OPEC member has been hit hard by a prolonged drop in crude prices that has caused the deepest crisis in Africa's biggest economy for more than a decade.

Dr Maikanti Kacalla Baru, previously group executive director for exploration and production, will take the reins from Kachikwu, who will remain on the board as chairman, the president's spokesman said on Monday.

Buhari, elected last year, has accused the previous administration of failing to save when crude oil cost more than $100 a barrel. In 2013 the central bank governor said that tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue had failed to make it into state coffers, which the company denied.

Kachikwu was appointed minister of state for oil last year, making him a junior minister, while Buhari kept the petroleum minister portfolio for himself in order to oversee energy sector reforms.

Baru's previous roles at the state oil company included a six year stint, from 1993 to 1999, as an executive at the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), an NNPC subsidiary, where he worked on gas-related projects.

"President Buhari urges the new board to ensure the successful delivery of the mandate of NNPC and serve the nation by upholding the public trust placed on them in managing this critical national asset," said Buhari's spokesman Femi Adesina.

The president's chief of staff, Abba Kyari, joins the new board, which replaces the one dissolved by Buhari in June last year.

"Reconstituting the board appears to be an attempt to adopt a different approach with a sense of proper oversight and accountability," said Antony Goldman, head of Nigeria-focused PM Consulting.

"The issue in the past has been that NNPC has been involved in deals that benefited certain individuals but not Nigeria as a whole," he added.

Kachikwu, a former Exxon Mobil executive, was brought in by Buhari as head of NNPC last August and was named as minister of state for oil when his cabinet was appointed a few months later.

Rolake Akinkugbe, head of energy and natural resources at FBN Capital, said there was "always a question around how you could have the head of the national oil company who was also the oil minister".

"Being moved to chairman, where he will not be involved in day-to-day operations but retains strategic input, helps to resolve that issue," she said.

Reuters