Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Video - Lagos state government tightens grip on mile-to-mile system
Nigeria's Lagos state government has reiterated its commitment to regulate the mile-to-mile taxi system. This is in a bid to ensure safety and security for passengers. A franchise system has already been developed to ensure control and regulation within the sector. The terms of taxi operations are contained in the Road Traffic Law of 2012 and subsequent regulation approved and released in January 2016. But the new rules are facing resistance from some groups who want to pull out of the franchise. The Lagos state government insists that groups hold a franchise and by implication a licence.
Nigeria leading in Africa's medal wins at 2016 Paralympics
Team Nigeria yesterday toppled Tunisia on Africa’s medal haul at the ongoing Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil after Lauritta Onye and Ndidi Nwosu claimed gold medals.
Prior to Monday’s feat by Onye and Nwosu, Tunisia was leading the continent’s medal haul with four gold medals but Nigeria overtook the North Africa with Onye setting a new world record in the women’s shot put F40 of athletic event.
It was Onye fourth throw of 8.40 metre that set a new world record for her ahead of Tunisia’s Rima Abdelli (7.37m) and Netherlands’ Lara Baars (7.12m) that both claimed silver and bronze medals respectively. Onye first throw of 7.83m had erased her own world record of 7.72m set at the 2015 IPC world athletics championships in Doha but the Nigerian went further to set the best record in the history of the event.
Also, Nwosu claimed the fifth gold medal for Nigeria when she lifted 140kg in the women’s -73kg of the Powerlifting event.
The first bronze medal for Nigeria was won by Nnamdi Innocent in the men’s -72kg of Powerlifting.
Apart from the medal won in athletics by Onye, all the medals won by Team Nigeria came from Powerlifting with hope for more medals in the event.
So far, Team Nigeria is placing nine on the medal table with five gold, two silver and one bronze medals, while China is topping with 40gold, 31silver and 24 bronze medals.
Prior to Monday’s feat by Onye and Nwosu, Tunisia was leading the continent’s medal haul with four gold medals but Nigeria overtook the North Africa with Onye setting a new world record in the women’s shot put F40 of athletic event.
It was Onye fourth throw of 8.40 metre that set a new world record for her ahead of Tunisia’s Rima Abdelli (7.37m) and Netherlands’ Lara Baars (7.12m) that both claimed silver and bronze medals respectively. Onye first throw of 7.83m had erased her own world record of 7.72m set at the 2015 IPC world athletics championships in Doha but the Nigerian went further to set the best record in the history of the event.
Also, Nwosu claimed the fifth gold medal for Nigeria when she lifted 140kg in the women’s -73kg of the Powerlifting event.
The first bronze medal for Nigeria was won by Nnamdi Innocent in the men’s -72kg of Powerlifting.
Apart from the medal won in athletics by Onye, all the medals won by Team Nigeria came from Powerlifting with hope for more medals in the event.
So far, Team Nigeria is placing nine on the medal table with five gold, two silver and one bronze medals, while China is topping with 40gold, 31silver and 24 bronze medals.
Nokia Blocked From Doing Business In Nigeria
Nokia Corp. (NOK) may be committed to the Nigerian market, but its operations in the country have been blocked by the Nigerian Communications Commission. The commission in Nigeria said Nokia’s operations were halted, because the company doesn’t have a license to operate there.
“‘They need a sales and installations license,” Tony Ojobo, spokesman of the regulator, told Bloomberg News. “They had started the process about three weeks ago but stopped somewhere.” Ojobo did say Nokia and the commission are in talks about how to resolve the matter. Nokia is required to pay $6,354 for the license, according to the report. In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, Nokia said the administrative office in Lagos is temporarily closed and that Nokia is working to rectify the situation.
For years Nokia had been a big supplier of mobile phones in Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populated country. The company lost its prominence a few years ago as other smartphone makers, namely Apple and Samsung Electronics, rose in popularity. Now it is attempting to become a big player in Nigeria again. The country is an attractive market to telecom companies, because Nigerians are buying more smartphones than ever before, which is prompting a build out of mobile networks that are faster. According to Statista, in 2016 the number of smartphone users in Nigeria is expected to hit 15.5 million and grow to 23.3 million by 2019.
The situation in Nigeria is just the latest blow to Nokia in recent weeks as the once dominate mobile phone maker tries to regain some of its luster. Recently, the company has lost two top executives in its technology division, which is charged with bringing Nokia handsets into the market (See, also: Nokia’s Tech Unit Sees Another Top Executive Leave.); has made acquisitions to increase its presence in the Internet of Things market; it acquired Alcatel-Lucent, adopting a huge patent of different technologies and has inked partnerships to get back into the handset market. Its acquisition of Withings, which it announced in April, is also a play in the Internet of Things.
“‘They need a sales and installations license,” Tony Ojobo, spokesman of the regulator, told Bloomberg News. “They had started the process about three weeks ago but stopped somewhere.” Ojobo did say Nokia and the commission are in talks about how to resolve the matter. Nokia is required to pay $6,354 for the license, according to the report. In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, Nokia said the administrative office in Lagos is temporarily closed and that Nokia is working to rectify the situation.
For years Nokia had been a big supplier of mobile phones in Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populated country. The company lost its prominence a few years ago as other smartphone makers, namely Apple and Samsung Electronics, rose in popularity. Now it is attempting to become a big player in Nigeria again. The country is an attractive market to telecom companies, because Nigerians are buying more smartphones than ever before, which is prompting a build out of mobile networks that are faster. According to Statista, in 2016 the number of smartphone users in Nigeria is expected to hit 15.5 million and grow to 23.3 million by 2019.
The situation in Nigeria is just the latest blow to Nokia in recent weeks as the once dominate mobile phone maker tries to regain some of its luster. Recently, the company has lost two top executives in its technology division, which is charged with bringing Nokia handsets into the market (See, also: Nokia’s Tech Unit Sees Another Top Executive Leave.); has made acquisitions to increase its presence in the Internet of Things market; it acquired Alcatel-Lucent, adopting a huge patent of different technologies and has inked partnerships to get back into the handset market. Its acquisition of Withings, which it announced in April, is also a play in the Internet of Things.
Flights to Nigeria forced to refuel elsewhere
Foreign airlines flying to Nigeria have started to refuel abroad to bypass pricey, and increasingly scarce, jet fuel as the oil producer battles a hard currency shortage that has made fuel available only at a very high price.
It is the second blow for airlines operating in Africa's recession-hit biggest economy in a year that first saw the central bank make it almost impossible to repatriate profits from ticket sales as it tried to prevent a currency collapse.
The crash in the naira since a devaluation in June has led firms who market jet fuel locally, such as Total, Sahara and ConocoPhillips, to double the price to 220 naira a litre in August, and to as much as 400 naira this month, an airline executive said.
Even at the higher costs, marketers' lack of dollars has made fuel scarce. Some carriers have had aircraft stuck, or were forced to cancel planned journeys, after frantic last-minute calls from ground staff warned there was no fuel available.
"The economy is crying out for investment, and now it is going to be even harder for anyone to visit," said John Ashbourne, economist with Capital Economics. "Who is going to want to park a billion dollars in a country that you can't even easily fly to? It sends the worst possible signal."
A spokesman for state oil company NNPC did not answer calls for comment.
The central bank hoped floating the naira would attract dollar inflows, but the naira sunk by 50 percent, forcing oil firms to charge airlines, stuck with piles of naira, in dollars for jet fuel.
"It's an impossible situation. The oil marketers don't want to sign long-term agreements anymore so we have to accept whatever prices they demand," one airline executive said. "We sell tickets in naira and now they want us to come with dollars."
Spain's Iberia and United Airlines cancelled their Nigeria services earlier this year, and two local carriers also halted operations. Other international airlines responded by boosting ticket prices within Nigeria, charging its globe-trotting elite as much as $2,000 for an economy class ticket to Europe to cut losses - more than double the cost of a Lagos ticket bought abroad.
WELL-HEELED PASSENGERS
Dubai-based Emirates has started a detour to Accra, Ghana, to refuel its daily Abuja-bound flight, a spokesman said. The airline already cut its twice-daily flights to Lagos and Abuja to just one.
The move was aided by a substantial drop in Ghana's jet prices amid tax reform last month, according to the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors.
Air France-KLM said it had refueled abroad in "very exceptional cases" by juggling suppliers and stomaching extra costs.
Germany's Lufthansa is loading more fuel in Frankfurt for its Lagos flight, where the ground staff doubt their ability to refuel for the final destination of Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, an executive said. The airline did not respond to official requests for comment.
The scarcity has even pitted airlines against local consumers; a surge in demand for cooking and heating kerosene during the rainy season, when households cannot easily burn wood or charcoal, means if the airlines do not pay up, marketers will sell to locals.
Airlines met with transport ministry officials last week in Abuja to press for fuel at lower prices, industry sources said.
Nigeria used to be one of the most profitable markets for foreign airlines, landing planes with plenty of first and business class to cater to executives and officials jetting around under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
President Muhammadu Buhari cut air travel allowances for officials in a bid to tackle graft; others simply have less spending power with consumer inflation running at an 11-year high of 17 percent.
British Airways, a popular choice for well-heeled Nigerians, said it is using smaller aircraft on its Lagos-London route, as did Air France-KLM.
Turkish Airlines' use of smaller planes has added another inconvenience: passengers complained there is not always space for luggage on the smaller aircraft, delaying it for days. The airline did not respond to requests for comment.
It is the second blow for airlines operating in Africa's recession-hit biggest economy in a year that first saw the central bank make it almost impossible to repatriate profits from ticket sales as it tried to prevent a currency collapse.
The crash in the naira since a devaluation in June has led firms who market jet fuel locally, such as Total, Sahara and ConocoPhillips, to double the price to 220 naira a litre in August, and to as much as 400 naira this month, an airline executive said.
Even at the higher costs, marketers' lack of dollars has made fuel scarce. Some carriers have had aircraft stuck, or were forced to cancel planned journeys, after frantic last-minute calls from ground staff warned there was no fuel available.
"The economy is crying out for investment, and now it is going to be even harder for anyone to visit," said John Ashbourne, economist with Capital Economics. "Who is going to want to park a billion dollars in a country that you can't even easily fly to? It sends the worst possible signal."
A spokesman for state oil company NNPC did not answer calls for comment.
The central bank hoped floating the naira would attract dollar inflows, but the naira sunk by 50 percent, forcing oil firms to charge airlines, stuck with piles of naira, in dollars for jet fuel.
"It's an impossible situation. The oil marketers don't want to sign long-term agreements anymore so we have to accept whatever prices they demand," one airline executive said. "We sell tickets in naira and now they want us to come with dollars."
Spain's Iberia and United Airlines cancelled their Nigeria services earlier this year, and two local carriers also halted operations. Other international airlines responded by boosting ticket prices within Nigeria, charging its globe-trotting elite as much as $2,000 for an economy class ticket to Europe to cut losses - more than double the cost of a Lagos ticket bought abroad.
WELL-HEELED PASSENGERS
Dubai-based Emirates has started a detour to Accra, Ghana, to refuel its daily Abuja-bound flight, a spokesman said. The airline already cut its twice-daily flights to Lagos and Abuja to just one.
The move was aided by a substantial drop in Ghana's jet prices amid tax reform last month, according to the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors.
Air France-KLM said it had refueled abroad in "very exceptional cases" by juggling suppliers and stomaching extra costs.
Germany's Lufthansa is loading more fuel in Frankfurt for its Lagos flight, where the ground staff doubt their ability to refuel for the final destination of Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, an executive said. The airline did not respond to official requests for comment.
The scarcity has even pitted airlines against local consumers; a surge in demand for cooking and heating kerosene during the rainy season, when households cannot easily burn wood or charcoal, means if the airlines do not pay up, marketers will sell to locals.
Airlines met with transport ministry officials last week in Abuja to press for fuel at lower prices, industry sources said.
Nigeria used to be one of the most profitable markets for foreign airlines, landing planes with plenty of first and business class to cater to executives and officials jetting around under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
President Muhammadu Buhari cut air travel allowances for officials in a bid to tackle graft; others simply have less spending power with consumer inflation running at an 11-year high of 17 percent.
British Airways, a popular choice for well-heeled Nigerians, said it is using smaller aircraft on its Lagos-London route, as did Air France-KLM.
Turkish Airlines' use of smaller planes has added another inconvenience: passengers complained there is not always space for luggage on the smaller aircraft, delaying it for days. The airline did not respond to requests for comment.
Monday, September 12, 2016
Video - Nigerian refugees in Niger struggle amid scarce resources
People in parts of Nigeria are struggling to get help after being displaced by Boko Haram.
Two years of violence by the armed group has forced 2.5 million people from their homes.
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