Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Lagos dog day afternoon
Good old Lagos Cathedral..
A 12 year old "okada","alalo" rider in Lagos..Maybe he should be in school..
Some agreed we don't need more Prof .Soyinka's .maybe more of ..this fare monger..
Friday, April 03, 2009
Democracy in trouble...Guinea Bisau,Guinea ,Mauritania,Madagascar...........
A Cönakry street after Dadis Camara's coup d'etat pic by Leonard Lawal
"Man is capable of justice, hence democracy is possible; but man is inclined to injustice, therefore democracy is necessary". - Reinhold Niebuhr
or maybe we just want food on our table first or the Chinese way or whatever.......
..........Do you think the guy in the picture is a hero or he didnt pay for a risk assessment consulting.........or just a fool.......
Alexis de Tocqueville ,Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President Obama
::::::::::::::::::remember the passage from Alexis de Tocqueville that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev cited in his Monday oped in The Post, written in anticipation of today’s meeting with President Obama. Now a friend has helpfully sent me the passage — which both confirms Medvedev’s account and explains why he may not have wanted to quote it in full.
Here’s what Medvedev said:
“Long ago, Alexis de Tocqueville predicted a great future for our two nations. So far, each country has tried to prove the truth of those words to itself and the world by acting on its own. I firmly believe that at this turn of history, we should work together.”
In “Democracy in America,” de Tocqueville did, indeed, single out America and Russia as “marked out by the will of heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.” But he also saw them rising in very different ways, with this being the starkest distinction: “The principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter, servitude.”
I do not believe any nation’s future is absolutely determined by its past, nor by its culture. I think Russia will be a democracy someday. But with today’s presidential meeting in London coming just hours after the brutal beating in Moscow of yet another human rights activist, the courageous Lev Ponomaryov, 67, it is hard not to think that de Tocqueville was on to something 170 years ago. And despite Obama’s hope that today’s meeting represented “the beginning of new progress” in US-Russia relations, there’s no question that the potential for progress is inhibited by Russia’s steady regression from its democratic reforms of the 1990s.
Here, for you de Tocqueville buffs, is his passage on the United States and Russia:
“There are at the present time two great nations in the world, which started from different points, but seem to tend towards the same end. I allude to the Russians and the Americans. Both of them have grown up unnoticed; and while the attention of mankind was directed elsewhere, they have suddenly placed themselves in the front rank among the nations, and the world learned their existence and their greatness at almost the same time.
“All other nations seem to have nearly reached their natural limits, and they have only to maintain their power; but these are still in the act of growth. All the others have stopped, or continue to advance with extreme difficulty; these alone are proceeding with ease and celerity along a path to which no limit can be perceived. The American struggles against the obstacles that nature opposes to him; the adversaries of the Russian are men. The former combats the wilderness and savage life; the latter, civilization with all its arms. The conquests of the American are therefore gained by the plowshare; those of the Russian by the sword. The Anglo-American relies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends and gives free scope to the unguided strength and common sense of the people; the Russian centers all the authority of society in a single arm. The principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter, servitude. Their starting point is different and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems marked out by the will of heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.”
Here’s what Medvedev said:
“Long ago, Alexis de Tocqueville predicted a great future for our two nations. So far, each country has tried to prove the truth of those words to itself and the world by acting on its own. I firmly believe that at this turn of history, we should work together.”
In “Democracy in America,” de Tocqueville did, indeed, single out America and Russia as “marked out by the will of heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.” But he also saw them rising in very different ways, with this being the starkest distinction: “The principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter, servitude.”
I do not believe any nation’s future is absolutely determined by its past, nor by its culture. I think Russia will be a democracy someday. But with today’s presidential meeting in London coming just hours after the brutal beating in Moscow of yet another human rights activist, the courageous Lev Ponomaryov, 67, it is hard not to think that de Tocqueville was on to something 170 years ago. And despite Obama’s hope that today’s meeting represented “the beginning of new progress” in US-Russia relations, there’s no question that the potential for progress is inhibited by Russia’s steady regression from its democratic reforms of the 1990s.
Here, for you de Tocqueville buffs, is his passage on the United States and Russia:
“There are at the present time two great nations in the world, which started from different points, but seem to tend towards the same end. I allude to the Russians and the Americans. Both of them have grown up unnoticed; and while the attention of mankind was directed elsewhere, they have suddenly placed themselves in the front rank among the nations, and the world learned their existence and their greatness at almost the same time.
“All other nations seem to have nearly reached their natural limits, and they have only to maintain their power; but these are still in the act of growth. All the others have stopped, or continue to advance with extreme difficulty; these alone are proceeding with ease and celerity along a path to which no limit can be perceived. The American struggles against the obstacles that nature opposes to him; the adversaries of the Russian are men. The former combats the wilderness and savage life; the latter, civilization with all its arms. The conquests of the American are therefore gained by the plowshare; those of the Russian by the sword. The Anglo-American relies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends and gives free scope to the unguided strength and common sense of the people; the Russian centers all the authority of society in a single arm. The principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter, servitude. Their starting point is different and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems marked out by the will of heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.”
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Nigerian banks have gone global, now what?
Nigerian banks have gone global, now what?
By Leonard Lawal
Published in PUNCH : Friday, 8 Aug 2008
It was just four years ago this June, when banking in Nigeria was still basically a mom and pop boutique operation, with a maximum “big man” who had leveraged on his close contacts in the corridors of power to secure himself a position as the chairman of the bank’s board. He probably never run a business before; he might as well be a brain surgeon, but he got himself a license to run a bank all the same.
Then we had 89 banks whose combined total assets base were less than the total asset base of South Africa’s Amalgamated Bank of South Africa; but after recapitalisation which saw the 89 banks morphing into 24 through mergers, acquisitions and outright liquidation, Nigerian banks have suddenly gone global. And investors, as usual, are following the money. Many foreign banking behemoths are already circling a couple of Nigerian banks for dinner.
The banking consolidation, one of the 13-point agenda for change in the Nigerian banking policies enunciated by Chukwuma Soludo, a university don and the Central Bank Governor, was brought forth to redress the challenges of low capital base, to solve the recurring problems of distresses, failures and to prep up the banks for global challenges in a post new economy world.
Soludo saw Malaysia and South African central banking as role models, and the last regime bought into this vision.
Largely, it seems to have been successful, if you can cash money from the nearest ATM on a Friday night; its genuine progress, if you still remember where we were prior to this.
Further to the post- consolidation gold rush, Nigerian banks had done more deals than the man on the moon, with BNP Pari bas, Morgan Stanley, Fortis Investment, Bank of China, one of the largest banks in the world and with the healthy ratings by Fitch. But then can she fly?
Their total assets base had gone up by over 1000%; our banks had taken over the West Coast of Africa, from Ghana to Gambia, and some are listed on London Stock Exchange, though some Pollyanna analysts had opined that banking ethics are not one of their strongest points.
I asked Bayode Adeogun, a banker with one of the big five banks (regarding the size of our banks, the numbers keep changing as audits reports of these banks change faster than we can keep up with).
“Nigerian banks have come of age; even those of us who can be considered industry insiders never believed the consolidation can be this successful. We are awash with funds to do mega deals and big ticket transactions, though that in itself had posed bigger challenges,” he said.
To understand the scale of this particular transaction and the new mindset in the Nigerian banking sector which has become extremely bullish and proactive, Nigeria’s population of 140 million people can count on only 15 million people with a bank account, which is just a little over 10 percent of the population. Most of the savings are still being stuffed in old pillow cases. Therefore there is great potential for tremendous growth in the sector.
Nigerian banks growth is also being fueled by runaway oil prices as the Nigerian government oil receipts grow. Hitherto, foreign investment banks had managed our foreign reserves, but Nigerian home-grown banks are doing that now. Our 24 banks are among the highest performing stocks in the world last year.
Early this year in February, Afribank Nigeria Plc, one of the leading financial institutions, earned N11.04bn profit before tax in its third quarter ending December 2007. That’s some 207 per cent increase in profit from the N3.59bn posted the year before. She also earned significant increases in other parameters. She grew by 82 percent from N122.72bn to N223.10bn.
Each and every one of the banks are recording and posting amazing profits, but analysts said that “these figures are intriguing,” as the real sector such as the manufacturing sector and every sector of the economy are posting record losses.
Though the West also had tightened their anti-money laundering operations so that thieving politicians are forced to keep their loot at home under various aliases, the recent sanctions of three of our top banks in the United Kingdom for money laundering related crimes confirmed that old habits do really die hard.
Pre-consolidation Nigerian banks cut their teeth on round tripping (buying up foreign exchange at discounted official prices and selling at premium in black market) during the military era. They have also employed and poached slew of top talents from western financial institutions to executive positions. A leading Nigerian bank recently advertised for Chinese speaking Nigerians as they forged eastward. Analysts who are paid to worry about these things are doing just that. “Can the momentum be sustained?” they asked.
One of the major concerns in the West is that our banks may rush into complex retail banking deals without adequately understanding the fundamentals. Even some analysts question the jumbo profits of the banks against the prevailing Nigerian economic fundamentals. Soludo thinks it’s no big deal. He said, “returns on investment in the banking industry were relatively small, compared to the funds invested in the industry.”
For its size, Nigeria is still largely underbanked; even the symbol of Nigerian banking emergence on global scale like the ATM is still only deployed in Lagos and a few cities. It’s still a novelty.
Other schools of thought claimed that the performances are “a bubble,” especially in more bearish circles; and there are unsubstantiated reports of our banks’ involvement in high-risk margin lending–– meaning lending money to other institutions or individuals for stock market speculations; while they are thought not to be strong enough to withstand external unpredictables like a sharp drop in oil prices or serious political instability.
Whatever, may be you should buy (into) Nigerian banks now; this may be a long rally.
Lawal, an analyst, lives in Lagos.
By Leonard Lawal
Published in PUNCH : Friday, 8 Aug 2008
It was just four years ago this June, when banking in Nigeria was still basically a mom and pop boutique operation, with a maximum “big man” who had leveraged on his close contacts in the corridors of power to secure himself a position as the chairman of the bank’s board. He probably never run a business before; he might as well be a brain surgeon, but he got himself a license to run a bank all the same.
Then we had 89 banks whose combined total assets base were less than the total asset base of South Africa’s Amalgamated Bank of South Africa; but after recapitalisation which saw the 89 banks morphing into 24 through mergers, acquisitions and outright liquidation, Nigerian banks have suddenly gone global. And investors, as usual, are following the money. Many foreign banking behemoths are already circling a couple of Nigerian banks for dinner.
The banking consolidation, one of the 13-point agenda for change in the Nigerian banking policies enunciated by Chukwuma Soludo, a university don and the Central Bank Governor, was brought forth to redress the challenges of low capital base, to solve the recurring problems of distresses, failures and to prep up the banks for global challenges in a post new economy world.
Soludo saw Malaysia and South African central banking as role models, and the last regime bought into this vision.
Largely, it seems to have been successful, if you can cash money from the nearest ATM on a Friday night; its genuine progress, if you still remember where we were prior to this.
Further to the post- consolidation gold rush, Nigerian banks had done more deals than the man on the moon, with BNP Pari bas, Morgan Stanley, Fortis Investment, Bank of China, one of the largest banks in the world and with the healthy ratings by Fitch. But then can she fly?
Their total assets base had gone up by over 1000%; our banks had taken over the West Coast of Africa, from Ghana to Gambia, and some are listed on London Stock Exchange, though some Pollyanna analysts had opined that banking ethics are not one of their strongest points.
I asked Bayode Adeogun, a banker with one of the big five banks (regarding the size of our banks, the numbers keep changing as audits reports of these banks change faster than we can keep up with).
“Nigerian banks have come of age; even those of us who can be considered industry insiders never believed the consolidation can be this successful. We are awash with funds to do mega deals and big ticket transactions, though that in itself had posed bigger challenges,” he said.
To understand the scale of this particular transaction and the new mindset in the Nigerian banking sector which has become extremely bullish and proactive, Nigeria’s population of 140 million people can count on only 15 million people with a bank account, which is just a little over 10 percent of the population. Most of the savings are still being stuffed in old pillow cases. Therefore there is great potential for tremendous growth in the sector.
Nigerian banks growth is also being fueled by runaway oil prices as the Nigerian government oil receipts grow. Hitherto, foreign investment banks had managed our foreign reserves, but Nigerian home-grown banks are doing that now. Our 24 banks are among the highest performing stocks in the world last year.
Early this year in February, Afribank Nigeria Plc, one of the leading financial institutions, earned N11.04bn profit before tax in its third quarter ending December 2007. That’s some 207 per cent increase in profit from the N3.59bn posted the year before. She also earned significant increases in other parameters. She grew by 82 percent from N122.72bn to N223.10bn.
Each and every one of the banks are recording and posting amazing profits, but analysts said that “these figures are intriguing,” as the real sector such as the manufacturing sector and every sector of the economy are posting record losses.
Though the West also had tightened their anti-money laundering operations so that thieving politicians are forced to keep their loot at home under various aliases, the recent sanctions of three of our top banks in the United Kingdom for money laundering related crimes confirmed that old habits do really die hard.
Pre-consolidation Nigerian banks cut their teeth on round tripping (buying up foreign exchange at discounted official prices and selling at premium in black market) during the military era. They have also employed and poached slew of top talents from western financial institutions to executive positions. A leading Nigerian bank recently advertised for Chinese speaking Nigerians as they forged eastward. Analysts who are paid to worry about these things are doing just that. “Can the momentum be sustained?” they asked.
One of the major concerns in the West is that our banks may rush into complex retail banking deals without adequately understanding the fundamentals. Even some analysts question the jumbo profits of the banks against the prevailing Nigerian economic fundamentals. Soludo thinks it’s no big deal. He said, “returns on investment in the banking industry were relatively small, compared to the funds invested in the industry.”
For its size, Nigeria is still largely underbanked; even the symbol of Nigerian banking emergence on global scale like the ATM is still only deployed in Lagos and a few cities. It’s still a novelty.
Other schools of thought claimed that the performances are “a bubble,” especially in more bearish circles; and there are unsubstantiated reports of our banks’ involvement in high-risk margin lending–– meaning lending money to other institutions or individuals for stock market speculations; while they are thought not to be strong enough to withstand external unpredictables like a sharp drop in oil prices or serious political instability.
Whatever, may be you should buy (into) Nigerian banks now; this may be a long rally.
Lawal, an analyst, lives in Lagos.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Guinean diaspora to meet junta in Conakry
Paris, France - The Coordination of the Guinean Associations of France (CAGF) will February, send a delegation to Conakry to meet the military junta which took over 23 December after the death of President Lansana Conté, a representative of the Guineans living in France, Cissé Campell told PANA Monday."We've just decided to send, around 15 February, a seven-people delegation to Conakry, to meet Head of State Moussa Dadis Camara and Prime Minister Kabinet Komara. Because this time, we wish to bring our contribution to the process in our country," said Campell, president of CAGF, a grouping of about 150 Guinean associations.
Over 100 Guineans last weekend met in Paris to appraise the political situation created by the take over of the National Council of Democracy and Development (CNDD)."The participants globally welcomed the army's takeover. We must even recognise that this coup did not come as a surprise. No organised force could aspire to power after the death of Lansana Conté," said the president of CAGF.The head of the military junta has invited the political parties and the civil society to support the transition which will end by the holding of general free and democratic elections."As it's our country, we want to participate actively in its future. We put our expertise at the disposal of the junta. We'll go and meet the soldiers with a memorandum that will specify the position of the diaspora about each of the issues to be discussed," Campell said.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
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