The Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) has blamed the regulatory authorities for the slow pace of recovery of the Nigerian capital Market.

The group said that the regulators had not provided clear direction to guide the recovery of the market. The National Coordinator of the group, Mr Sunny Nwosu, expressed the sentiments in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

Nwosu alleged that at the moment, there was no clear cut signal on the relationship between the bailed-out banks, their prospective buyers and the fate of their shareholders. He said that although the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) had taken off, much still needed to be done to boost activities in the capital market.

“We believe that AMCON will have significant impact on the banking industry but shareholders don’t have so much hope in AMCON. As of now, there is no clear cut signal as to how the new core investors would come in and take up the banks,” he said.

According to him, the whole issue of what should be the relationship between the prospective core investors and existing shareholders of troubled banks had not been resolved. Nwosu urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to carry shareholders along in its efforts to recapitalise the banks.

“The shareholders do not know their fate. They are not aware of who the supposed bidders of the banks are,” he said. The coordinator of the group, however, expressed optimism that the CBN would direct the affected banks to hold extra-ordinary general meetings to discuss the fate of the minority shareholders. It is as if CBN has a game plan, it has kept everything to its chest. There is a lot of secrecy about the whole issue.

“The market will continue to react poorly because investors do not have a clear cut direction about the market. Shareholders are not aware of developments in the troubled banks. There is a lot of confusion. The CBN is not coming out with decisions that would add value to the market,” he said.

NAN reports that shareholders of four of the troubled banks in August, 2010 sued CBN and its Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, over purported plans to sell the banks to new investors. In the suit before a Federal High Court, Abuja, the shareholders are asking for an order of interlocutory injunction stopping the apex bank from carrying out the plan. The affected banks are Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Oceanic Bank International, Intercontinental Bank Plc and AfriBank Plc.

SMEDAN, BoI disburse N50m micro credit in Osun East

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the Bank of Industry (BoI) have disbursed the first tranche of N50 million National Assembly micro credit in Osun East Senatorial District.

A statement signed on Tuesday in Abuja by the Assistant Director (Corporate Affairs) of SMEDAN, Mr Levi Anyikwa, said the credit scheme was facilitated by Sen. Iyiola Omisore, who represents Ife/Ijesa Senatorial District of Osun. The statement explained that the credit was a pilot scheme designed as a constituency project by members of the National Assembly.

It said the cheques covering the amount were issued to five cooperative societies and four fabricating machine suppliers from the state. SMEDAN said each cooperative society got a revolving loan of N1.9 million, while each fabricating machine supplier got N1.050 million. It stated that more cheques would be released soon to the beneficiaries who had earlier gone through the agency’s entrepreneurship training.

The statement quoted the Director-General of SMEDAN, Alhaji Muhammad Umar, as commending Omisore for collaborating with the agency to facilitate the funding of the scheme from the budget of the Federal Government. He noted that the initiative would help to empower the numerous unemployed youngsters, create wealth, reduce poverty and make them future employers of labour. Umar, represented by Mr Gbenga Ogundeji, an Assistant Director, urged Omisore to liaise with other members of the National Assembly from other parts of the country.

The liaison, he said, would ensure that the scheme was extended to other senatorial districts and federal constituencies across the country. Represented by Prof. Yemisi Akinyemiju of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Omisore expressed his desire to wipe out poverty in the senatorial district.

“We are doing this by facilitating the implementation of several projects and access to business finance by entrepreneurs to help close the gap of unemployment and poverty,” he said.  Omisore said he would do more after seeing the progress made by the recipients of the first phase of the micro credit scheme.

SON plans to overhaul laboratory to global standard – DG
Dr Ikemefuna Odumodu, the new Director General of Standards Oganisation of Nigeria (SON), says the organisation will soon overhaul its laboratory to global standard. Odumodu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday that the overhaul was necessary if Nigeria must meet the objectives of its vision 20:20:20. “ If we must rub shoulders with the leading economies of the world and meet the set targets, the organisation”s laboratory has to be overhauled,” he said.