By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian equities on Monday reeled under sustained losses as it opened the week on a bearish note, closing 0.34 percent lower on investment declines.

At the close of the day’s session, the all share index (ASI) closed at 24,765.10 points, while market capitalisation dropped by N29.24 billion to N8.52 trillion.

“Today’s loss further increased the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses to 2.14 percent and 13.54 percent respectively,” Cordros daily market update affirmed.

According to the report, sell-offs in the shares of oil marketing firms, Forte Oil Plc and Oando Plc led to declines by 9.13 percent and 1.13 percent, causing the Oil & Gas index to loss 4.19 percent.

In the same vein, declines recorded in the shares of insurer, AIICO Insurance Plc and reinsurer, Continental Reinsurance Plc by 2.56 percent and 1.96 percent apiece led to the Insurance sector closing in red by 1.54 percent.

On the contrary, the Banking, Consumer and Industrial Goods indices gained 0.25 percent, 0.15 percent and 0.04 percent respectively, following price appreciations in the shares of Nigeria’s top tier lender, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc by 1.13 percent, beermaker, Nigerian Breweries Plc 0.37 percent and cement producer, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc gaining 4.93 percent each.

The Cordros update reports that at the close of the session on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), market breadth posted a negative outlook with 15 gainers and 25 losers, according to the NSE’s daily market statistics. Educational publishing firm, Learn Africa Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of 0.04 kobo per share; while Forte Oil topped the losers table with a loss of N25.12 per share.

In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian Bourse dipped by 23.34 percent to 144.68 million shares, worth N766.02 million, and traded in 2,729 deals.

“We expect the bulls to resurface in tomorrow’s session, as we await the release of additional Q1-2016 earnings results,” the Cordros report added.

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13/4/2016/World Bank

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today announced that the World Bank Group would invest $2.5 billion over 5 years in education projects that directly benefit adolescent girls, whose empowerment is central to the Bank Group’s development efforts. The announcement, made at the Let Girls Learn event during the World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings, was followed by a call to action from the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, urging key policymakers and influencers from around the world to commit to urgent action in support of adolescent girls.

“I’m very excited to join the First Lady in announcing this major boost in funding for adolescent girls’ education,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “Empowering and educating adolescent girls is one of the best ways to stop poverty from being passed from generation to generation, and can be transformational for entire societies. This increased funding will help provide countries, especially in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with the tools to expand access to quality education so that all adolescent girls can go to school and reach their full potential.”

First Lady Michelle Obama highlighted the power of this investment in adolescent girls, as well as the transformative impact that adolescent girls’ education has on girls, their families and their countries.

“This isn’t just a breathtaking investment of resources, it’s also a powerful statement of mission – it’s an expression of our belief in the power of education to transform the lives and prospects of millions of girls worldwide – as well as the prospects of their families, communities and countries,” said First Lady Michelle Obama.  “The evidence is very clear: when we invest in girls’ education, and we embrace women in our workforce, that doesn’t just benefit them, it benefits all of us.”

By 2020 the Bank Group expects to invest at least $2.5 billion in education projects targeting adolescent girls (ages 12-17). About 75 percent of these investments are expected to be from IDA, the Bank Group’s fund for the poorest countries, and largely in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, which have the highest number of out-of-school girls.

Programs to be supported will include a range of efforts to provide adolescent girls with access to quality education at the secondary level, ensure they are enrolled in and stay in school, and provision of scholarships, conditional cash transfers, and schools with basic facilities like clean drinking water and toilets that promote enrollment.

Today, 62 million girls around the world are not in school, and half of them are adolescents. A World Bank study found that every year of secondary school education is correlated with an 18 percent increase in a girl’s future earning power. Research shows that educating girls has a multiplier effect: better educated women tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labor market, earn more income, give birth to fewer children, marry at a later age, and provide better health care and education to their children.

Educating adolescent girls and promoting gender equality is part of a broader, holistic effort by the Bank Group. This includes financing and analytical work in support of removing financial barriers that keep girls out of school, delaying child marriage, improving access to reproductive health services, and strengthening skills and job opportunities for adolescent girls and young women.

This multidimensional approach is outlined in the Bank Group’s new global strategy for gender equality. Today’s commitment represents a major step toward implementing the goals of this strategy as well as helping achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 4, which calls for access to quality education and lifelong learning for all, and Goal 5 to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.

As always, Bank Group financing depends on country demand, the state of the global economy, and a strong replenishment this December of IDA, the Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries.

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By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Tony Elumelu, chairman of Africa’s global Bank, the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) on Thursday advocated for a sub-regional approach to investment and economic development; while pledging to invest more in Eastern Nigeria.

Elumelu who gave the keynote address at the 1^st annual Enugu Investment Summit, called on the five (5) South Eastern states governors to harmonise economic policies in order to spur economic development and provide an enabling business environment.

“The truth is that the public and private sectors must collaborate strategically to orchestrate the region’s development. We need the combined effort of regional leaders to create Eastern Industrial hubs; the existing state-by-state fragmentation won’t work in today’s economic reality,” he said.

At the summit organised by the Enugu State Government, themed “Beyond Oil: Fostering Inclusive Economic Growth and Sustainable Development” Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, governor of the State affirmed Elumelu’s strategic steer, noting his mission of transforming the state into an economic powerhouse, and a preferred destination for investment.

This first edition of the summit is aimed at showcasing Enugu’s enormous economic potential. The summit will ultimately develop an economic agenda for the five South Eastern states, and promote integration and shared prosperity for South East Nigeria.

Governor Ugwuuanyi while urging Eastern governors to offer regional incentives, also highlighted the responsibility of private sector individuals.

“For so long, we have condemned our government for their inability to meet our developmental goals. We have shied away from playing our own role in making things work,” he said. “But wealthy Africans should realise that in the 21st Century, wealth is no longer measured by the amount in your bank accounts. You should invest in industries and infrastructure.”

Elumelu who is also the chairman of Heirs Holdings through the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) is currently investing in Enugu State.

These investments, drawing on the success of the programme – in which 31 youths from Enugu State are among the 2,000 beneficiaries of the $10,000 seed capital provided through TEEP, while calling on successful people in the eastern region of Nigeria to invest in the youths as a sustainable means of developing the African continent.

 The summit attracted foreign and local investors including;  the Consul General of the Embassy of France in Nigeria, Laurent Polonceaux; the Nigerian Director of a French Group known as Proparco, Olivier Follin; the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Sean Hoy, as well as director of an Irish organisation, Sustainable Food Systems Ireland.

 Others were members of a conglomerate made up of Chinese, Singaporeans and Nigerians known as Fit Consult/Yuanda Group, including Mr. Wang Yijun of Yuanda Group, Chief Loretta Aniagolu; Mr. Wang Xingjun, Mr. Jiang Xin, Mr. Ronnie Tan all of the Yuanda, Mr. Paschal Dozie of MTN, Samuel Onyeishi of Peace Mass Transit, Ugochukwu Chime of ECCIMA, among others.

Shares of UBA at the close of Thursday’s trading on the Nigerian bourse appreciated 2.86 percent to N3.24 from N3.15 kobo traded the previous session; gaining 0.09 kobo per share.

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