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.

Investopedia

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.

Reuters

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.

Video - Nigeria government accuses NGOs of using rescued Chibok girls to get donations

Only 5 out of 15 Chibok girls who escaped from captivity last year are currently being sponsored in school in the US. The Nigerian Government and parents of the children are accusing NGOs of using the girls to get donations there.

Nigeria Ebola movie gets resounding applause at TIFF

Apart from telling a global story from a Nigerian perspective, many were enthralled that 93 Days, the Ebola virus drama by Steve Gukas, was as gripping as the true account of the happenstances that held Lagos and other Nigerian cities by the jugular in 2014.

Incidentally, it is one of the films that celebrate Lagos State for its conquest of the virus within 93 days, despite a precarious compact population.

During the curtain call, Gukas shed more light on the essence of the film, which he said is a celebration of Lagos for its proactiveness in containing the virus as well as to immortalize the legendary doctors and nurses who put their lives in the line.

He said: “In this film, we did two things: challenging the perception about Nigeria and presenting it to outsiders to see. The other one is to ask very challenging questions about government. Because the truth of the matter is that government did a lot at that time but the health defense infrastructure in Nigeria is still very weak, to the extent that if this were to happen again, we would be struggling again. We have six different regions in Nigeria that are the key to how Nigeria is structured, and Lagos was the most prepared to be able to take care of this, so we were lucky it happened in Lagos. Had it happed somewhere in the North, somewhere in the East, or somewhere farther in the North East, the story we would be telling will be different. So the question we are asking our government is how prepared are we for next time?”

Responding, Lagos State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde noted that the state was indeed prepared for Ebola having invested hugely in health services and infrastructure. He said there was the need to archive reality; hence he was glad a film like ’93 Days’ was produced to tell the story. What is government doing? He asked rhetorically. “There are quite a lot. Lagos is a state of 21 million people, and that calls for pro-activeness. Our government in particular is investing in emergency health services and all I can say is that we deal with issues as they come and Lagos is ever prepared for any emergencies.”

After its successful screening at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the world premiere of 93 Days took place on Friday, 9th September 2016 at the Isabel Bader Theatre.

The event which started with the arrival of the cast, producers and director had the movie introduced by Cameron Bailey, Creative Director of TIFF.

The premiere was attended by some members of the cast, including Danny Glover, Bimbo Akinkola, Keppy Ekpenyong, Somkele Iyamah-Idlahama, Sola Oyebode, Associate Producer of 93 Days, Kemi DaSilva-Ibru as well as the Producers/Executive Producers; Bolanle Austen-Peters, Dotun Olakunri and Steve Gukas.

Also speaking during the Q&A, Glover emphasized how he was so proud to be a part of the film.

“It was important for me to be in this film because of the message. Nigeria is a dynamic great country; it’s a country where the people are challenging themselves. This is an example of how they challenged themselves and succeeded. I’m so proud to be a part of it.”

Scheduled for another premiere in Lagos on September 13 at The Rock Cathedral, Lekki, the movie will be showing in cinemas nationwide from September 16.

The Nation