Daily Watch – Core inflation hits 40 month low, DisCos owe TCN ₦231b

President Buhari has decided to consult with leaders of the APC across the 36 states in constituting his next cabinet, according to The Nation. The paper, which has strong links to the leadership of the ruling party, said the party’s leadership is expecting to hear from Buhari on how it can contribute to the cabinet nomination process, which shall involve the party’s national and state levels. A state chairman of the APC also confirmed that the party is expecting to play a significant role in the selection and emergence of officers to represent states in the Federal Executive Council of the Buhari’s second term. So far however, no one has asked for any nomination from the state. Many of the president’s ex-ministers have been lobbying party officials and leaders to be re-nominated into the cabinet, and there is speculation that the President intends to work with the party, and not state governors, as is normally the case, in the selection process.

Nigeria’s inflation rate rose 0.03 percent to 11.40 percent in May 2019 from 11.37 percent recorded in April, according to the NBS. The bureau also said food price index was at 13.79 percent in May, compared with 13.70 percent in the previous month as increases were recorded in all consumption that yielded the headline index. Core inflation eased from 9.3% y/y to a forty-month low of 9% y/y. The breakdown of the NBS’ CPI and Inflation Report showed that on a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.11 percent in May 2019, indicating a 0.17 percent rate higher than the rate of 0.94 percent recorded in April 2019. The urban inflation rate increased by 11.76 percent year-on-year in May 2019 from 11.70 percent recorded in April 2019, while the rural inflation rate increased by 11.07 percent in May 2019 from 11.08 percent in April 2019. On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.15 percent in May 2019, up by 0.15 points from 1.00 percent recorded in April 2019, while the rural index also rose by 1.07 percent in May 2019, up by 0.17 from the rate recorded in April 2019 (0.90 percent). The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, commenting on the post-election outlook, said the country’s inflation may rise to 12 percent this year before moderating.

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority has grown its assets under management to $1.9 billion (₦617.69 billion) as at the end of 2018, Uche Orji, the NSIA’s CEO has said. This is compared to the figures recorded in the previous years; ₦533.88 billion in 2017, ₦420.93 billion in 2016, ₦213.67 billion in 2015 and ₦177 billion in 2014. The NSIA, Orji said, also managed third-party funds, including the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, in addition to its core funds. The investment authority reported six straight years; 2012 to 2018, of profitability in all its funds with core profits of ₦28.45 billion ($87.5 million) for 2018. This is excluding foreign exchange translation gains, Orji said. The profit of the authority as of the end of 2018 was put at ₦46.50 billion as against the ₦22.55 billion recorded in 2017. The breakdown of returns in 2018 by funds showed Stabilisation Fund, 11.50 percent; Future Generations Fund, 30 percent; Nigeria Infrastructure Fund 13.80 percent. These are NSIA’s benchmark of two percent; 6 percent and 3-5 percent respectively. The federal, state and local governments own 45.8 percent, 36.2 percent and 17.8 percent of the agency created by an Act of the National Assembly on May 26, 2011, while the FCT owns 0.16 percent.

Power distribution companies owed the Transmission Company of Nigeria the sum of ₦231 billion as of March 2019. The 11 DisCos in the country distribute electricity generated by power generation companies and transmitted by the TCN, to final consumers as they also collect funds from the consumers on behalf of other operators in the sector. The non-remittance of the funds, according to the CEO of TCN, Usman Mohammed, led to the indebtedness. Mohammed, however, called for the resetting of the DisCos on the path of sustainability to avoid continuous funding of a company that doesn’t deliver as expected. He also said that the FG recently supported the Gencos with the sum of ₦701 billion for the payment of gas, due to the fact that DisCos were not remitting the required funds to the sector to pay power generators. On the way forward, the TCN boss said that there had been a push for the recapitalisation of the DisCos, and noted that the over $1 billion investments in transmission had not been adequately felt by power users because of the poor networks in the country’s electricity distribution arm.