Omotola, Genevieve, Asa Lead Future Africa Awards, Campaign Against Ebola

November 14, 2014

The Future Africa Awards has announced its ambassadors for a global campaign against Ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The TFAA young person of the year 2013, Ashish Thakkar, actresses, Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde as well as singer, Asa, would lead the campaign.

Their aim is to gather youths all over the world to act against the virus and support the World Health Organisation, WHO, by donating a minimum of $25 and providing updates on social media.

The campaign will hold through the portal stopebola.com from Tuesday, November 11 to December 7, when the day the Future Africa Awards will hold.
Ms. Nnaji said the virus has been curtailed in Nigeria, which meant it could be defeated in other countries.

“We need to get involved beyond talk and beyond sympathy,” she said. “As long as it remains anywhere in Africa, we are all at risk, and we can come together to stop this from happening. Join me, and join all of us now on www.stopebola.com.”

Ms. Jalade-Ekeinde said: “Just when the world has begun to pay attention to Africa as a destination for rapid growth and investment, we cannot allow Ebola define the narrative. We need to put a stop to this immediately, and young people need to take the lead.”

The other influencers include the CEO of Paga, Tayo Oviosu, Deputy Director of the British Council, Ojoma Ochai, Tu Face Idibia, Van Vicker, Joselyn Dumas, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi, Dayo Israel, Denrele, Dakore Akande, Juliet Ibrahim, Funke Akindele, Omoni Oboli, Ohimai Atafo, Joseph Benjamin, Ice Prince, MI Abaga, Omawumi, Waje, Lynxx, Yemi Adamolekun, Gbenga Sesan, Kunle, Afolayan, Osas Ighodaro, Yegwa Ukpo and Kathleen Ndongmo.

To be part of the campaign, go to www.stopebola.com, click on the sharebutton and sign up to the Thunderclap campaign. Thunderclap ensures everyone will tweet the same #StopEbola message on November 29 at the same time, then click on the donate button to donate directly to the UN’s Ebola Response Fund.

Theatre Arts Movie Practitioners To Celebrate Veteran Actor, Adebayo Salami

Hamilton Nwosa

November 14, 2014

The Theatre Arts Movie Practitioners of Nigeria, TAMPAN, will celebrate veteran, Adebayo Salami’s 50 years as an actor with a stage play titled, Oloko Oba.

The one-day event, which will hold on December 10 at the Muson Centre by 4p.m. will see TAMPAN’s national chairman, Yemi Solade, Madam Saje, Ebun Oloyede aka Olaiya, Yinka Quadri, Muyiwa Ademola and Femi Adebayo as cast of the play.

TAMPAN made this known at a press conference on Wednesday in Lagos. It said the golden jubilee of the actor popularly known as Oga Bello from his stints on popular TV sitcom, Ojo Ladipo Theatre, would be different from the regular razzmattazz.

Speaking on his 50 years as a theatre art practitioner, Oga Bello, attributed his success to God for his grace and mercies.

“I feel so elated to have come this far,” he said. “I thank God almighty for his love and kindness. My maximum appreciation also goes to the media who have been supporting me as Adebayo Salami and also pushing the ‘Oga Bello’ brand all along.”

When asked if he had any regret as an actor, he said: “I can tell you that I have no regret though it is normal to have challenges because that’s what makes a man.

“Challenges makes champions. I remember vividly some years ago when I was shooting a movie titled Eri Okan, the bus conveying all the equipment got burnt on the express and we lost all. People attached it to some spiritual attacks but I concluded it was just the will of God. Challenges make one get stronger.”

Oga Bello also revealed a documentary about him would also be unveiled and there would be a drama performance by his threatre group, UB Group, and that of his son Femi Adebayo, J-15.

There will also be a compilation of 12 of Oga Bello’s great movies of all time.

Oga Bello, who is the current national leader of TAMPAN, also took time out to speak on crisis rocking the Association of Nigeria Theatre Practitioners, ANTP, and the emergence of TAMPAN.

He said TAMPAN was born out of neccessity because “we realized that ANTP is retrogressive. Imagine when as ANTP you’re pushing a proposal to a brand or government agency and one of your supposed members or exco writes a petition to always counter your moves. ANTP is full of crisis; no agreement or cordiality.”

Mr. Solade said TAMPAN would give a new face and meaning to the Yoruba theatre art practitioners.

He gave kudos to Mr. Salami for his exemplary leadership qualities and discipline.

‎He said, ‘Many people don’t know that Oga Bello is not only my senior colleague but my uncle. That’s a fact you must know today; we’re blood related.”

Mr. Salami’s son, Sadiq Adebayo, a graduate of Geology turned production manager, also showered praises on his father for his unbiased love towards all and sundry.

Mr. Adebayo commended him for being a worthy father. He said Mr. Salami was a father who loved his children and would also spoke the truth.

Egypt To Repay Debts To Foreign Oil Companies Within Six Months

Hamilton Nwosa

November 14, 2014

Egypt plans to repay all of the $4.9 billion debt owed to foreign oil and gas companies within six months, the oil ministry said on Thursday, a move it hopes will prompt them to step up exploration and ease the worst energy crunch in decades.

Egypt has delayed payments to oil and gas firms as its economy has been hammered by almost three years of instability since a popular uprising ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Arrears had begun to accumulate before the revolt, but worsening state finances saw the debts mount to billions of dollars while the government diverted gas that had been earmarked for export, to meet domestic demand.

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Gas production has steadily declined in Egypt while consumption keeps rising, but firms have been reluctant to increase investment in exploration and production, particularly in costly offshore areas, until the government pays them back.

The oil ministry said in a statement that Egypt planned to borrow $2 billion to help it finance the repayments, seeking to pay back 60 percent of the arrears by year-end. Egypt said in October it had repaid $1.5 billion of the money owed, leaving $4.9 billion outstanding.

“This offering, comes as one of the short-term measures taken by the government to pay the IOCs’ (international oil companies) arrears,” Oil Minister Sherif Ismail said in the statement.

He said that state oil and gas boards EGPC and EGAS were holding another round of talks with the oil companies, in parallel with the repayments, to “manage their expectations”.

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The gas shortage has left the Arab world’s most populous country struggling with its worst energy crisis in years. Blackouts became an almost daily occurrence over the summer months and the government has also diverted gas away from heavy industries, doing substantial damage to the bottom lines of some companies.

Egypt began cutting subsidies on fuel and electricity in July as part of economic reforms aimed at curtailing its budget deficit and curbing growth in domestic energy consumption.

Lagos okays repatriation of South Africans killed in Synagogue building collapse

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

The Lagos State government has given green light to the South African government to repatriate 54 bodies of its nationals who were victims of the September 12 building collapse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations so far identified through DNA test.

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, agreed to the return of the bodies during a meeting with the South African Special Envoy, Jeff Radebe, at the Lagos House, Marina on Wednesday.

Following agitation by South Africans for the bodies of those who died in the building collapse to be returned, the South African government appointed Mr Radebe to help in expediting the repatriation of the bodies.

On September12, a building being used as a guesthouse within the premises collapsed killing 116 people including 81 South Africans. The tragedy has been described as the worst in South African’s history since the end of apartheid and the highest number of South African deaths outside the country ever.

The collapsed building, originally a two-storey structure, was being refurbished with four additional floors at the time it crumbled. The Lagos State government said the church did not have the statutory permit to add additional floors to the building.

Mr. Fashola said while it understand the concern of South Africans to quickly get to closure over the tragedy, his government is also handling the process with caution to avoid mistakes in the identification of the bodies.

“I understand the call by South Africans to get the bodies of their relatives but we cannot at this time get the process wrong because if we release a body, we want to ensure that each family takes the body of their relative. It will be unpardonable for us to make mistakes,” he said.

He added that the South Africa could decide to repatriate the bodies in batches or wait until all the bodies are identified.

“We have no reason to deny you the right to take those 54 bodies, you have my word, you can take them whenever you are ready to do so. It is left for you to decide whether to take them in batches or wait until we conclude the exercise. But if you are ready, my team will ensure that you take them without any delay,” Mr. Fashola said.

He said the DNA was conducted in a South African laboratory to make the process less cumbersome for South Africans who are bearing the bigger brunt of the tragedy.

During the meeting the State Chief Examiner, John Babafunwa, said the bodies recovered were subjected to post mortem examination of fingerprints, photography and the collections of other samples.

“We had to collect additional DNA samples to assist the laboratory. We’ve been working together and talking to the lab. It is expected that more results will come in more than the 70 we have identified,” Obafunwa said.

Of the 116 persons who died, 70 have been identified so far among them 54 South Africans. Other nationals identified are Nigerians, Togolese and Béninoise.

Mr. Radebe said his team came to Lagos to speed up the process of repatriation of the bodies as under South African culture, the dead must be laid to rest within a weeks of dying.

“But today makes it two months since the incident. I have also paid a condolence visit to President Goodluck Jonathan two days ago to convey the message of our President and find ways of speeding up the processes and repatriation of the mortal remains of those 85 (81 South Africans) including those four who carry South African passports even though they are not nationals of our country,” he said.

“The whole nation of South Africa is in mourning, especially the families that have to endure these two months of waiting in order to bring closure to this whole incident. We are ready to repatriate them as soon as we get the green light from the State Government.

“We appreciate your government for the cooperation and our team has been briefing us on the challenges of identifying the bodies. But the bereavement was very tragic indeed and we have to get the bodies back to South Africa so it doesn’t get into more difficulties,” he added.

Odinkalu, Others Sue CBN for N65 ATM Charge

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

CBN Retains MPR At 11.5%, Other Parameters Remain Constant

Three Nigerians have filed a suit against the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for its recent decision to reintroduce charges on cash withdrawals from a different bank’s automated teller machine, ATM, after the third use in a month.

The applicants – Seember Nyager, Chukwuma Chinaka and Chidi Odinkalu of A&E Law Partnership, Abuja, want the court to determine whether the CBN’s directive contained in an August 13 circular for the reintroduction of N65 charge was in the national interest.

The trio, who filed the application Number FHC/ABJ/CS/817/2014 dated November 4 before the Federal High Court, Abuja, also joined the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, and Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, as defendants.

In the statement of claim accompanying their application, the applicants said they were seeking a declaration of the court to determine whether the CBN and Mr. Emefiele’s directive of August 13 did not amount to unlawful expropriation of private property without compensation in contravention of Section 44 of the 1999 Constitution.

The applicants also asked the court to determine whether the procedure of issuing the directive by the CBN and Mr. Emefiele was not incompatible with their role as regulators of the financial services and banking system in Nigeria under the provisions of the CBN Act 2007.

They also want the court to determine whether the Central Bank and Mr. Emefiele had the right, power and privilege to issue such a directive.

Based on the answers to the above questions, the three applicants said they were seeking a declaration of the court that such a directive by CBN and Mr. Emefiele without their consent was unconstitutional, null and void, and in violation of Section 44(1) of the 1999 Constitution.

They also asked the court to declare that the directive by the CBN and Mr. Emefiele that ATM cash withdrawals accessed at the cost N65 per withdrawal from the 4th remote-on-us transactions by them and other bank customers in a month was null, void and of no effect.

Consequently, the plaintiffs demanded an order of the court setting aside the directive as well as directing the CBN and Mr. Emefiele to forthwith direct all banks and other institutions to stop collecting the charge immediately.

In the affidavit sworn on behalf of the plaintiffs, Ms. Nyager said she had a savings Account with Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB, and was issued a MasterCard ATM Debit Card. She said she was also aware that Mr. Chinaka has a savings account with Diamond Bank and was issued a VISA ATM Debit Card while Mr. Odinkalu has an account with Standard Chartered Bank and was also issued an ATM Debit Card.

According to Ms. Nyager, as a result of the ATMs of their banks being “very limited and most times out of service for undisclosed reasons,” they often were forced to patronize other banks’ ATMs for cash withdrawals.

She noted that being charged each month for no fault of theirs was unjust, adding that the directive by the Central Bank and Mr. Emefiele to banks to charge them for such service each month amounted to punishing them for the inefficiency and limitation of their banks.

Ms. Nyager also said the CBN directive was “too onerous” for them, as they did not have the economic capacity to bear the cost of their banks’ inefficiency and limitations.

She said the charges amount to the CBN and Mr. Emefiele rewarding the banks for their limitations and inefficiencies to customers’ detriment.

The Central Bank in its circular of August 13 to all banks signed announced the “re-introduction of ‘Remote-on-Us’ ATM cash withdrawal transaction fee. With the announcement, the CBN said the transaction fee for cash withdrawal on remote-on-us would be N65 per transaction to cover the remuneration of switches, ATM monitoring and fit-notes processing by acquiring banks.

It explained that “the new charge shall apply as from the 4th‘Remote-on-Us’ withdrawal (in a month) by a card holder, thereby making the first three ‘Remote-on-Us’ transactions free for the card holder, but to be paid by the issuing bank.”

Tambuwal Picks APC Presidential Nomination Form

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, has picked the notice of intent and nomination forms to run for the office of president of Nigeria on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, ‎APC.

Mr. Tambuwal recently defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In response, the federal government withdrew his security detail.

Mr. Tambuwal was earlier tipped to run as governor in his home state, Sokoto.

But the speaker received the presidential nomination forms Thursday, his spokesperson, Imam Imam, told PREMIUM TIMES.

“Earlier today, some friends and political associates of the Speaker notified him that they have bought the forms for him,” Mr. Imam said.

PREMIUM TIMES understands that several APC members in the House of Representatives trooped to the party’s Abuja office to purchase the forms on Mr. Tambuwal’s behalf.

Sources in the APC say Mr. Tambuwal is in the presidential race at the prompting of one of the leaders of the party, Bola Tinubu, who is a former governor of Lagos State.

Mr. Tambuwal’s indication of interest brings to five the number of persons who vying for the nation’s top job on the platform of the party.

Others who had earlier picked the forms are former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano state, and newspaper publisher, Sam Nda-Isiah.

The APC has said it will conduct a modified primary election in which delegates will vote for their candidate of choice from their home state, after which a national convention will simply collate and ratify the votes from across the country.

Tanzania Says LNG Project Could Cost Up To $30 bln

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

A planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant to develop Tanzania’s vast gas reserves could cost up to $30 billion, the energy minister said, but declined to reveal the proposed site for the liquefaction facility.

East Africa has become one of the world’s hottest new oil and gas areas after a string of discoveries, which producers hope to exploit to feed energy-hungry Asia. Many top companies such as BG Group, Exxon Mobil and Statoil are at work in Tanzania to tap its gas reserves.

Tanzania and its southern neighbour, Mozambique, are locked in a race to be first to export gas from Africa’s eastern seaboard after huge discoveries offshore recently that could transform their struggling economies.

“The investment in this LNG plant is between $20 billion and $30 billion,” the Energy and Minerals Minister Sospeter Muhongo told a news conference on Thursday.

“Preparations are underway… we will make formal announcements when everything is ready.”

Muhongo declined to give details on how the cost of the LNG project would be met, or say if the government had given final approval for the location of the LNG terminal.

He said the LNG terminal would be the “biggest investment in the history of the country” and that the government was in talks with the energy majors over the launch of the project.

Tanzania is estimated to have 53.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, which it said could rise four-fold over the next five years, putting it on par with some Middle East producers.

Britain’s BG Group and its partners, Ophir Energy, Exxon Mobil and Statoil plan to invest in a two-train LNG plant in Tanzania’s southern Lindi region, according to energy sources.

Muhongo said the government was in the final stages of drafting a long-delayed new gas legislation, but declined to reveal when it would be sent to parliament for approval.

“The gas legislation is about 75 percent complete. We will make sure the legislation is in place before major investments are made,” he said.

Analysts warned that recent demands by a parliamentary committee for all oil and gas contracts in Tanzania to be made public could further delay progress in the sector. Muhongo said the government would not make the contracts public without the consent of investors due to confidentiality clauses.

Strikes Cast Shadow over Ford’s South African Investment Prospects

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

U.S. carmaker Ford is hesitant about investing further in its South African operation because of repeated production stoppages caused by strikes, its regional chief said on Thursday.

The South African auto industry, which accounts for about 6 percent of the continent’s most developed economy, has been hit directly and indirectly by four strikes in the past year.

“A challenge for us here in South Africa is convincing our board to continue to invest in a country where the stability of output is a little less certain than in other countries,” Jeff Nemeth, president of Ford’s South African business, told reporters.

Carmakers resumed production in September after a four-week strike by 220,000 metalworkers. Last year a strike by auto workers cost the industry $2 billion in lost output, followed by a strike in the auto parts sector and another by truck drivers who haul vehicles to ports and dealerships.

“Year after year after year, having that much of your output constrained by labour actions, you don’t have a clear view of what your output might be,” Nemeth said. “That will have an impact in our investment decisions.”

Ford sells about 6,000 vehicles a month in South Africa, making it the third-largest supplier behind Toyota and Volkswagen. It also exports vehicles.

Nigerian Troops ‘Chase Boko Haram Out of Mubi’

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

The Nigerian army (troops) has recaptured the north-eastern town of Mubi from militant Islamist group Boko Haram, the state governor has said.

A resident of the town confirmed this to the BBC, saying he had seen the bodies of many Boko Haram fighters.

Mubi was the biggest town under the group’s control and is the first it has lost since August, when it declared a caliphate in areas it had seized.
Boko Haram still controls several towns and villages in north-eastern Nigeria.
Thousands have been killed since it launched its insurgency in 2009.

Boko Haram last month dismissed the government’s claims to have agreed a ceasefire.
The militants seized Mubi, the second largest town in the north-eastern Adamawa state, in October, renaming it Madinatul Islam – City of Islam.
Residents there said militants imposed Islamic Sharia law and carried out executions and amputations.

Adamawa state governor Bala Ngilari said government forces had recaptured the town, in alliance with local vigilante groups and traditional hunters.
He said it was “time to rejoice” and the insurgents were “on the run”.
The resident, who is not being named for his own safety, told the BBC Hausa service that civilians had not yet returned to the town, as they feared Boko Haram might try to attack again.

He said there were still not very many soldiers there, and most of the fighting had been done by vigilante groups and hunters.
He also said that he had seen the local leader of Boko Haram in handcuffs after being captured.

The authorities have not commented on this.
The BBC’s Muhammad Kabir Muhammad in Abuja says that if Nigerian troops have recaptured the town, it will be a rare piece of good news from the region for the army.
Many Nigerians, though, may not be quick to celebrate this success, he says, given that many other towns and villages are still under the group’s control.
Boko Haram has changed tactics in recent months by holding on to territory rather than launching hit-and-run attacks.

In April, the militants captured more than 200 girls from a boarding school in the town of Chibok, in Borno state. Countries such as China, France, the UK and US have sent military assistance to help find the girls but they have not yet been rescued.
BBC.

Africa Turns To Sunshine To Meet Surging Power Demand

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

Scouts participate in a Greenpeace workshop in Durban, October 4, 2011. C). REUTERS/Rogan Ward

Cut in half by the equator, sunshine is one thing that Africa has in abundance.

Now a growing number of African enterprises are tapping this under-utilised source to keep their businesses running.

One of Kenya’s largest tea producers, Williamson Tea, has installed a 1 megawatt (MW) plant at an estate in the Rift Valley, slashing grid reliance by nearly a third and reducing the need for back-up diesel generators.

To put this in perspective, a single MW can generally power several hundred middle-class households.

SolarCentury, the company behind Williamson Tea’s installation, has also been contracted to build an 858 kilowatt plant on the parking lot of a Nairobi mall, and says there is a potential 40 MW pipeline across four east African countries.

“One thing many countries in Africa have is plenty of sunshine and now we are at a stage where the cost of solar technology can enable them to use that sunshine to get low cost power,” said SolarCentury’s regional director Dan Davies.

The British-based firm targets intensive energy users such as flower farms that need to keep cut roses refrigerated well in advance of Valentine’s or Mothers’ Day.

Over-stretched African national grids often lapse into darkness as rapid economic growth piles pressure on electricity networks already lagging demand.

The 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, with a combined population of 800 million, produce roughly the same amount of power as Spain, a country of just 46 million people.

To keep machines running, companies have had to invest in diesel generators, one of the more expensive sources of power. Governments too are contracting independent producers to run expensive heavy-oil-fired generators to plug network shortfalls.

Most sub-Saharan countries do not have much solar energy and depend on hydro-power, coal or natural gas to turn turbines.

Generators using gasoline or diesel cost at least $300 per megawatt hour (MWh), estimates the International Energy Agency (IEA), while solar power is nearly as expensive at $200 per MWh.

With hydropower typically much cheaper, at less than $75, and coal generation as little as $50 per MWh, it will take decades for solar to reach cost parity.

“If it is replacing or displacing oil-fired power, then it would make sense,” IEA analyst Brent Wanner said, adding that solar will remain most suitable as an option in remote areas.

South Africa this week added 96MW to its grid with the launch of the largest solar park on the continent in the remote and sparsely-populated Northern Cape province.

Africa’s most advanced economy is a solar power outlier, with over 500MW installed.

RWANDA NOW 7 PERCENT SOLAR

There is also a movement on the world’s poorest continent towards green alternatives such as geothermal, solar and wind, with some countries using incentives such as decades-long power purchase agreements to entice independent producers.

Some are also working on legislation to govern purchases of solar power from small producers. Kenya is piloting a metering project with privately run Strathmore University to import surplus electricity from a 600kW roof-top plant.

In Rwanda, U.S.-based Gigawatt Global connected an 8.5 MW farm on rolling green hills east of Kigali to the grid earlier this year. The $24 million farm now accounts for 7 percent of Rwanda’s power supply.

Gigawatt Global’s Sarah Halevi said the company was seeing strong demand in both west and east Africa. The company plans to build 200MW within the next 18 months in Nigeria and is targeting a 1000MW pipeline by 2020.

Scottish Year of Food and Drink launched

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

More than 200 businesses are attending the launch of a new drive to promote Scottish produce across the tourism sector.

Food Secretary Richard Lochhead is launching the Year of Food and Drink in Edinburgh.

It is being supported by VisitScotland and will include a new TV advert which will be shown across the UK.

Scotland’s food and drink tourism industry is estimated to be worth £2.5m a day to the economy.

The TV advert will feature iconic images of Scotland such as the Isle of Rum, Eilean Donan Castle and the Ring of Brodgar, as well as berry-picking in Perthshire, seafood from North Berwick and entertainment from the Speyside Whisky Festival.

The Year of Food and Drink is aimed at raising awareness of Scotland’s restaurants, hotels, food and drink producers, B&Bs, cafes and visitor attractions.

‘Exceptional quality’

Mr Lochhead said: “Scotland’s food and drink is world-renowned for its exceptional quality and unrivalled provenance, and so it comes as no surprise that it is already a big draw for visitors.

“My ambition for Scotland as a good food nation is for us all to make the most of our outstanding natural larder, which has a turnover of almost £14bn.

“The Year of Food and Drink is a fantastic opportunity to show off at home and abroad the delicious local produce we have right on our doorstep and to build on the already phenomenal success of our food and drink sector.”

VisitScotland chairman Mike Cantlay said: “The Year of Food and Drink will see visitors far and wide come and sample our enticing natural larder and Scots enjoying the delicious cuisine that is right on their doorstep.

“Visitors spend a fifth of their holiday budget on eating and drinking so promoting our natural larder is a recipe for success.”

The launch of the year-long event came as a leading law firm warned that food and drink success in overseas markets must be achieved “without compromising the Scottish brand”.

‘Real renaissance’

Brodies, which is hosting a food and drink conference in Perth next week, said the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup had put the sector in prime position to achieve its global export targets.

But it added that future growth could not be at the expense of Scotland’s reputation as an exporter of produce of the very highest quality.

Corporate partner Eric Galbraith said: “Scotland’s food and drink sector is widely regarded as enjoying a real renaissance.

“We share the sector’s concern that such growth should not be at the expense of the high standards of quality associated with the national brand.

“The real test is to maintain our momentum, grow the sector and for that growth to be achieved without compromising Scottish quality and the integrity of Scotland’s brand.

“The Scottish food and drink industry’s reputation is not only based on the quality of its produce, but also on innovation, traceability and safety.”

Earlier this year a new scheme was launched in an effort to make Scottish food and drink as well known internationally as Scottish whisky.

The Scotland Food and Drink Export Plan aims to capitalise on the industry’s success by focusing on 15 key export markets.

US and China Leaders In ‘Historic’ Greenhouse Gas Emissions Pledge

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

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China and the US have unveiled new pledges on greenhouse gas emissions, as the leaders of the two countries met for talks in Beijing.

US President Barack Obama said the move was “historic”, as he set a new goal of reducing US levels between 26%-28% by 2025, compared with 2005 levels China did not set a specific target, but said emissions would peak by 2030.

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The two countries also agreed to reduce the possibility of military accidents in the air and sea.

The news came during a state visit by Mr Obama to Beijing, which followed a major Asian regional summit.

It is the first time China, the world’s biggest polluter, has set an approximate date for emissions to peak.

The two countries together produce about 45% of the world’s carbon dioxide.

The unexpected announcement is a bid to boost efforts to secure a global deal on reducing emissions after 2020, to be finalised next year in Paris.

“We agreed to make sure that international climate change negotiations will reach an agreement in Paris,” said Mr Xi, speaking to reporters after the announcement.

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Amazon Seeks UK Drone Experts For Delivery Service

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

UK drone experts are being sought by Amazon to help with its fledgling drone-based delivery service.

Amazon’s Prime Air will use small drones to deliver packages up to 2.3kg (5lb) in weight to customers within 30 minutes of an order being placed.

Drone testing will take place in Cambridge at a site Amazon acquired when it bought Evi Technologies.

Prime Air-related ads for engineers, software developers and scientists have now appeared on Amazon’s jobs site.

The ads come as Imperial College unveils plans to create the UK’s most advanced drone research lab.

Video capture

Amazon announced its plans to create Prime Air in December 2013 and said it might take five years for the service to actually start. Early work suggests it will use small octocopters to deliver packages.

Research on Prime Air was known to be under way in Seattle and the ads suggest this has now been expanded to include Cambridge, UK. The job adverts seek people with expertise in flying drones, a strong aeronautical engineering background or project management.

In a statement issued when it was quizzed about the ads, Amazon said: “We have multiple Prime Air development centres, including R&D labs in Seattle and Cambridge.

“We’re always looking to add great talent to the team; the Cambridge-based Prime Air positions we have open are a reflection of that.”

Other companies known to be developing drone-based delivery services include Google and DHL. During the summer, Google demonstrated its service using a fixed-wing craft and in September DHL started a regular drone-delivery service to an island in the North Sea.

Also this week Imperial College announced it was spending £1.25m to create a research lab and test arena to boost UK expertise in unmanned aerial vehicles.

Funded by cash from an Imperial alumnus, the two-storey lab will house a workshop fitted with 3D printers and micromachining equipment so researchers can quickly make and modify drones.

In addition, the lab will have a large enclosed arena where the devices can be tested by being flown or piloted through a pool.

High-speed cameras will film drones as they fly or swim to help engineers and scientists refine their creations.

“Ultimately, we are aiming to develop flying robots that could improve the way companies do business, save lives and help to protect our environment,” said Dr Mirko Kovac, director of the new lab.

Air safety watchdogs in the UK and US limit where drones and other unmanned craft can be used.

In the UK, drone pilots must have a permit to operate one and the devices are prohibited from flying over crowds of 1,000 or more people or within 50m of a building.

Similarly, in the US commercial drone operators must get permission to fly their craft. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently relaxed its rules to allow six TV and film companies to use them after they filed detailed flight plans covering how and where they would be flown.

Despite the FAA rules, many photography, surveying and video firms are known to flout them and use the craft widely in their work.

Rosetta: Concerns For Comet Lander After Uneven Landing

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

After a historic but awkward comet landing, the robot probe Philae is now stable and sending pictures – but there are concerns about its battery life.

After two bounces, the first one about 1km back out into space, the lander settled in the shadow of a cliff, 1km from its target site.

It may be problematic to get enough sunlight to charge its batteries.

Launched in 2004, the European Space Agency (Esa) mission hopes to learn about the origins of our Solar System.

It has already sent back the first images ever taken on the surface of a comet.

Esa’s Rosetta satellite carried Philae on a 10-year, 6.4 billion-km (4bn-mile) journey to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which reached its climax on Wednesday.

After showing an image that indicates Philae’s location – on the far side of a large crater that was considered but rejected as a landing site – the head of the lander team Dr Stephan Ulamec said: “We could be somewhere in the rim of this crater, which could explain this bizarre… orientation that you have seen.”

Figuring out the orientation and location is a difficult task, Dr Ulamec said.

“I can’t really give you much more than you interpret yourself from looking at these beautiful images.”

But the team is continuing to receive “great data” from several different instruments on board Philae.

It may be possible to reconfigure Philae’s landing gear and “hop” to a new location, but Dr Ulamec said there may not be enough time to do the analysis required for such a risky strategy.

“There is a limited amount of battery power there and the solar panels are not really illuminated, so we don’t know precisely how long it’s going to last,” said Rosetta mission manager Dr Fred Jansen.

The robot probe, the size of a washing machine, was dropped from the Rosetta satellite on Wednesday and spent seven hours travelling down to the icy body.

News of the “first” landing was confirmed at about 16:05 GMT

This is the team’s current best guess at how events unfolded

.Ebullient mood

Controllers re-established radio communication with the probe on cue on Thursday after a scheduled break, and began pulling of the new pictures.

These show the feet of the lander and the wider cometscape. One of the three feet is not in contact with the ground.

Philae is stable now, but there is still concern about the longer-term situation because the probe is not properly anchored – the harpoons that should have hooked it into the surface did not fire on contact. Neither did its feet screws get any purchase.

Several images have been taken on different sides of the lander, illustrated here with the pictures arrayed around it

Lander project manager Stephan Ulamec told the BBC that he was very wary of now commanding the harpoons to fire, as this could throw Philae back off into space.

He also has worries about drilling into the comet to get samples for analysis because this too could affect the overall stability of the lander.

“We are still not anchored,” he said. “We are sitting with the weight of the lander somehow on the comet. We are pretty sure where we landed the first time, and then we made quite a leap. Some people say it is in the order of 1 km high.

“And then we had another small leap, and now we are sitting there, and transmitting, and everything else is something we have to start understanding and keep interpreting.”

Where did Philae actually touch down? Images taken by the OSIRIS camera on Rosetta show the area surrounding original target site (highlighted in red)

Philae’s ROLIS camera sent this image of the comet during the descent…

..and then this one when the lander was just 40m from its bumpy touchdown

Another very important concern is the amount of sunlight available to Philae.

The probe set off from Rosetta with 60-plus hours of battery life, and will need at some point to recharge using its solar panels.

But early reports indicate that in its present position, the robot is receiving only one-and-a-half hours of sunlight during every 12-hour rotation of the comet.

This will not be enough to sustain operations.

As a consequence, controllers here are discussing using one of Philae’s deployable instruments to try to launch the probe upwards and away to a better location. But this would be a last-resort option.

The Royal Mail is commemorating the landing with a special postmark, which will be applied to all mail delivered across the UK from Friday to Saturday

First, the team really needs to fully understand where Philae is on the surface and what lies around it.

Holger Sierks, the principal investigator of the science cameras on Philae’s mothership, Rosetta, which is circling the comet overhead, said his team was now trying to take pictures of the robot on the surface.

These pictures will show very little detail because Rosetta is many tens of kilometres away, but they will help pinpoint the place the little probe came to rest after its bouncing.

Even if Philae does not live beyond its initial battery life, scientists will be delighted with the data they have already got.

This information will transform what we know about these objects, and enable researchers to test several hypotheses about the formation of the Solar System and the origins of life.

One theory holds that comets were responsible for delivering water to the planets. Another idea is that they could have “seeded” the Earth with the chemistry needed to help kick-start biology.

Mission facts:

Philae lander

Travelled 6.4 billion km (four billion miles) to reach the comet
Journey took 10 years
Planning for the journey began 25 years ago

Comet 67P

More than four billion years old
Mass of 10 billion tonnes
Hurtling through space at 18km/s (40,000mph)
Shaped like a rubber duck

Can you land on a comet?

‘More black swan than yellow duck’

Brief encounters with comets

FIFA’s Ethics Judge Gives All-clear To 2018/2022 Bids

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

The soccer World Cups of 2018 and 2022 are set go ahead in Russia and Qatar as planned after FIFA’s ethics committee said on Thursday it could find no grounds for reopening the controversial bidding process.

In a long-awaited report, the committee said that “the various incidents which might have occurred are not suited to compromise the integrity of the FIFA World Cup 2018/2022 bidding process as a whole.”

The report criticised England’s bid for the 2018 tournament for “inappropriate requests” from former CONCACAF president Jack Warner, a FIFA powerbroker at the time, in what it said was “an apparent violation of bidding rules”.

It also said that in Australia’s bid for 2022 “there are certain indications of potentially problematic conduct of specific individuals in the light of relevant FIFA Ethics rules.

“The occurrences at issue were…only of very limited scope,” it added.

“In particular, the effects of these occurrences on the bidding process as a whole were far from reaching any threshold that would require returning to the bidding process, let alone reopening it — a decision which anyway would not fall under the FIFA Ethics Committee’s competence.

“The assessment of the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups bidding process is therefore closed for the FIFA Ethics Committee.”

However, the report said ethics investigator Michael Garcia intended to open formal investigations against individuals, who were not named.

FIFA and Qatar World Cup organisers have been fending off allegations of corruption ever since the Gulf state was awarded the 2022 tournament.

Qatar, which has repeatedly denied the allegations, has also been criticised over its treatment of migrant workers in the construction industry.

The 2018 tournament was awarded to Russia as part of the same bidding process which culminated in December 2010.

NOT CLEAR

In the case of Qatar, the report said “there are certain indications of potentially problematic conduct of specific individuals in the light of relevant FIFA Ethics rules” which did not compromise the bidding process.

It said that the relationship between former Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam, banned for life by FIFA in 2011, and the Qatar bidding team was a “distant relative to the relationships of other FIFA Executive Committee members from bid nations”.

The report said that it could not find any evidence of misconduct connected to the Russian bid, although it added that not all records had been available to the investigation.

“The Russia 2018 Bid Committee made only a limited amount of documents available for review, which was explained by the fact that the computers used at the time by the Russia Bid Committee had been leased and then returned to their owner after the Bidding Process. The owner has confirmed that the computers were destroyed in the meantime.”

Much of the report was procedural and devoted to explaining the background to World Cup bidding processes and FIFA ethics guidelines.

Although it avoided naming individuals it said that two veteran FIFA executive committee members had resisted efforts to “hold them to the same rules as bid teams”.

It also said that “two of the executive committee’s most senior members challenged the Ethics Committee’s independence and authority.”

The report concluded that “the line between a bid team’s conduct…and improper conduct is a very fine one. From which point on lobbyism must be considered as improper conduct is, for example, not always clear.”

“The perception for example, according to which a FIFA World Cup vote must have been “bought” if the host selected is not the one that has been generally considered a favourite (a position that is quite common in the media), is mere speculation and far from anything a judicial body like the FIFA Ethics Committee is allowed to accept as proof.

“By contrast, the…Ethics Committee is under the obligation to collect real facts, i.e. proof, which have then to be assessed by both Chambers of the Committee. In this regard, it shall be pointed out that such proof must be substantive, with (official) documents, money and paper trails, e-mail and other correspondence and witness statements still being the most sound kinds of proof.”

The report added that “it must be made clear that (FIFA) President Blatter did not violate the FCE. The one concrete allegation against the President, concerning an account purportedly held in his name at a U.S. bank, was demonstrably false.

“Mr. Blatter has implemented a number of critical reforms, including those that made this inquiry possible.

“The bidding process established by FIFA was for the most part fair and thorough, although the Executive Committee’s obligations in that process — including its members’ obligations to abide the same reporting requirements placed on the bid teams — should have been made more explicit.”

Fifa Report ‘Erroneous’, Says Lawyer Who Investigated Corruption Claims

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

Fifa’s report into allegations of corruption during the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has been questioned – by the man who investigated claims of wrongdoing.

Michael Garcia, who conducted a two-year inquiry, said the report “contains numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations”.

Simon Johnson, who led England’s 2018 bid team, described the twist in the saga as “farcical”.

Speaking to BBC sports editor Dan Roan, he added: “Before that statement by Mr Garcia, I was saying that it’s very difficult to have confidence in the conclusions of Mr Eckert’s report and that it looked like a politically motivated whitewash.

“Now that I have seen Mr Garcia’s statement, I am absolutely convinced that the report is a politically motivated whitewash.”

Garcia’s statement will embarrass Fifa and raise concerns about the work of Hans-Joachim Eckert.

Fifa’s independent ethics adjudicator was responsible for drawing up the report that was published by Fifa at 0900 GMT on Thursday.

Eckert based his findings on the work of Garcia, who had been appointed by Fifa to conduct an independent investigation into claims of corruption.

The report cleared World Cup hosts Russia and Qatar of wrongdoing.

It also accused the English Football Association of flouting bid rules.

But Garcia’s statement, issued less than four hours after the report was published, has reopened the debate about the validity of the bidding process for both the 2018 and 2022 competitions.

But Garcia, a former United States federal prosecutor, says Eckert, a German judge, has erred and plans to appeal, a move that Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke described as “sad”.

Fifa had hoped Eckert’s report would bring closure to what has been a damaging episode, but there are now calls for Garcia’s own report, which runs into hundreds of pages, to be published in full.

“Fifa has no choice but to publish Michael Garcia’s report in full if it expects anyone to believe their claims that there has been no cover-up over allegations of corruption in the World Cup bidding process,” said British MP Clive Efford, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Sport.

Another British MP, Damien Collins, had already labelled Eckert’s report “a whitewash” before Garcia’s statement was issued.

Collins has campaigned for Fifa reform and in 2011 used Parliamentary privilege to allege that bribes helped secure Qatar the 2022 tournament.

He said those allegations remained unanswered.

“It is a whitewash as it is an attempt to con people that there has been a full and independent investigation when there has not been,” he said.

“The result is that allegations of bribery and serious wrongdoing remain unanswered and they are still suppressing the full report.”

Following the publication of Eckert’s report, Britain’s Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce said it was now time to move on.

However, his stance changed after Garcia’s statement.

“In view of the fact Michael Garcia has now stated he is not happy with the findings and is to appeal, I await with interest to see what further disclosures will be made,” said Boyce.

“I have always said as much of the report as it is legally possible to publish should be made public.”

Qatar’s bid team has always denied allegations of corruption.

The decision to award the 2022 World Cup to the Gulf state was a big surprise, given Fifa’s own technical team warned that summer temperatures were too high for players.

As for Russia, Alexey Sorokin, the chief of its 2018 World Cup organising committee, said the country had nothing to hide.

“We were always confident that there could be nothing which would come out from this investigation,” Sorokin told Sky Sports News.

“It’s something Fifa deemed important to do. It was done, we participated, we complied. What more can we do?”

Following the publication of the report, the English FA rejected the criticism levelled at it, insisting it had “conducted a transparent bid”.

It was accused of trying to “curry favour” with former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, who quit his role in 2011 amid bribery allegations, and of damaging Fifa’s image.

An FA statement read: “We do not accept any criticism regarding the integrity of England’s bid or any of the individuals involved.”

Lord Triesman, a former FA chairman, was also criticised by Eckert’s report for failing to co-operate with the inquiry.

However, Triesman claimed he was advised not to by his own legal team and also hit back at the report’s findings, although he said the criticism of the FA bid was both “legitimate” and “embarrassing”.

“I think that the report is extraordinary,” he told BBC Sport. “It reflects the fact that, in Fifa, there is a great dislike of England.

“But the crucial thing here is that the evidence is never really going to be produced in a way it would be in a proper court of law.

“For those reasons, who did what and how badly they behaved is never going to be that clear.”

Current FA chairman Greg Dyke also registered his unhappiness with Fifa’s report, claiming it left unanswered questions.

“If you read that report, it says all the bids were assessed,” said Dyke. “The one that was the highest risk was Qatar and they won.”

Asked if the FA had damaged the image of football’s world governing body, Dyke said: “I think it’s quite hard to damage the image of Fifa.”

Andy Warhol’s Elvis Triptych Sells For $81.9m

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

Andy Warhol's Elvis Triptych Sells For $81.9m

Andy Warhol’s Triple Elvis has sold for $81.9m (£51.9m) at an auction of post-war and contemporary art in New York.

The 1963 work, which used ink and silver paint to depict the music icon as a gun-toting cowboy, was sold to an anonymous European telephone bidder.

The pop artist’s quadruple portrayal of actor Marlon Brando was also auctioned for almost $70m (£44.3m).

Christie’s said the auction commanded a total of $852.9m (£540m), breaking its record for an sale of art of its kind.

Two iconic works by Andy Warhol fetched the highest prices

Warhol’s two large portraits had been acquired by a German casino house in the 1970s.

The Presley image was one of 22 versions made by Warhol, while the Brando artwork – which repeats the same image four times – was one of only two, which were made in 1967.

Meanwhile, lots by Cy Twombly and Willem de Kooning reached world record prices for those artists.

Jeff Koons’ giant Balloon Monkey (Orange) was on display outside Christie’s New York headquarters

De Kooning’s life-size Clamdigger from 1972 stood at the entrance to his Long Island studio for four decades and sold for $29.2m (£18.5m).

An untitled 1970 painting from Cy Twombly’s Blackboard series fetched $69.9m (£44.3m), more than tripling his previous record.

An outsized sculpture of a monkey by Jeff Koons was another auction highlight, being snapped up for $25.9m (£16.4m).

But Balloon Monkey (Orange) failed to match the $58.4m (£37m) price paid for Balloon Dog (Orange) last year, which earned Koons the title of the most expensive living artist.

Christie’s chief executive officer Stephen Murphy said the auction was “a moment in art history”.

He added that its success proved that “enjoying works of art has become a universal pursuit in our time”.

Taylor Swift’s Record Label Rejects Spotify Figures

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

Taylor Swift’s record label has denied Spotify’s claims that the singer was “on track” to make $6m (£3.8m) a year from the music streaming service.

In fact, Swift earned $496,044 (£317,000) in the past 12 months for streams of her songs in the US, Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta said.

Borchetta told Time magazine his label had made more from video streaming site Vevo than from Spotify.

Spotify hit back, saying Swift’s global earnings were closer to $2m (£1.2m).

“The more we grow, the more we pay artists, and we’re growing like crazy,” Spotify’s global head of communications Jonathan Prince said.

The argument between Swift and Spotify has escalated since she pulled her back catalogue from the service, just as her new album 1989 hit the charts.

“I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music,” she told Yahoo Music.

“I just don’t agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free.”

Daniel Ek pitches Spotify as a more lucrative alternative to piracy

On Tuesday, Spotify’s chief executive defended its business model, saying it had paid $2bn (£1.2bn) to the music industry to date.

“Taylor Swift is absolutely right: music is art, art has real value, and artists deserve to be paid for it,” Ek wrote in a blog.

He argued that Spotify protected artists against illegal downloading, writing: “Piracy doesn’t pay artists a penny – nothing, zilch, zero.

“And sure enough, if you looked at the top spot on the Pirate Bay last week, there was 1989.”

He added: “At our current size, payouts for a top artist like Taylor Swift (before she pulled her catalogue) are on track to exceed $6m a year, and that’s only growing – we expect that number to double again in a year.”

But Borchetta refuted those figures, saying the decision to remove Swift’s music from the service was making a larger point.

“The facts show that the music industry was much better off before Spotify hit these shores,” he told Time.

“Don’t forget this is for the most successful artist in music today. What about the rest of the artists out there struggling to make a career? Over the last year, what Spotify has paid is the equivalent of less than 50,000 albums sold.”

Swift’s decision may be partly responsible for her stellar record sales in the US, where 1989 has been number one for the last two weeks, shifting 1.68 million copies.

The record’s first-week sales of 1.28 million were the highest for a single week since 2002, when Eminem’s The Eminem Show sold 1.32 million.

Swift also became the only act to have three albums to have sold more than a million copies in a single week, after Red in 2012 (1.21 million) and Speak Now in 2010 (1.05 million).

The album also went to number one in the UK, selling 90,000 copies.

The pop star is not the first artist to tussle with Spotify. Last year, Thom Yorke removed his solo recordings from the service in protest at its payouts.

But the altercation with Swift comes at a sensitive time for the Swedish company, with Google having just unveiled a rival YouTube subscription service that allows users to stream ad-free music videos and download them for offline use.

Mali steps up border controls after Ebola case arrives from Guinea

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

Mali said it was reinforcing health controls at border posts but has no plans to close its frontiers after a man with Ebola arrived from Guinea and infected others including a nurse who has died of the virus.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta also urged the World Health Organisation (WHO) and health services in Mali and neighbouring states to set up a permanent information exchange to disseminate information about public health and hygiene.

The worst outbreak of the virus on record has claimed at least 5,160 lives in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and has led to a global watch for cases outside the region. Mali shares an 800 km (500 mile) border with Guinea.

“The president of the republic has asked the prime minister to urgently look at the entire system put in place to fight Ebola and to strengthen health controls at the different frontier posts,” a government statement said late on Wednesday.

The nurse’s death on Tuesday prompted the quarantine of more than 90 people including U.N. peacekeepers. In its first case, a two-old-girl infected with Ebola in Guinea arrived in Mali and died last month.

Mali must now trace others who had contact with the nurse and three others infected, just as an initial group of people linked to the girl completed their 21-day quarantine on Tuesday. Ebola’s maximum incubation period is 21 days.

Senior health ministry official Ousmane Doumbia told journalists the government was keeping borders open in line with WHO guidelines.

The man, a Muslim imam from the border town of Kouremale, was never tested for Ebola. In a series of rites that may have exposed many mourners to the deadly virus, his highly contagious body was washed in a Bamako mosque and returned to Guinea for burial without precautions against Ebola.

The WHO said there were now four confirmed and probable Ebola deaths in Mali, adding that one was a person who visited the imam in hospital. A doctor at the Pasteur Clinic where the nurse worked is also suspected of having contracted Ebola.

Oil Below $80 Hits Rouble, Naira; Politics Weighs on Ukraine

Hamilton Nwosa

November 13, 2014

Peak Oil Demand Forecasts Turn Sour As Demand Keeps Growing

A renewed downward lurch in oil prices put emerging market commodity currencies under more pressure on Thursday, with Russia’s rouble facing additional headwinds from a flare-up in tensions with Ukraine. As Brent crude dropped through $80 and Ukraine deployed troops amid fears of a new separatist offensive in the country’s east, the rouble sank more than 1.5 percent against the dollar. “There is a risk of oil prices dropping further and the geopolitical risk is making the market demand a premium (on Russian assets),” said Tatiana Orlova, senior Russia economist at RBS. Ukraine’s hryvnia is also near record lows, with the central bank raising interest rates by 150 basis points to 14 percent on Wednesday in defence of the currency. The hryvnia rose marginally at the central bank’s auction on Thursday to 15.54 per dollar.

Ukrainian debt insurance costs are just off five-year highs hit on Wednesday, with five-year credit-default-swaps at 1,470 basis points, according to financial data provider Markit. “The central bank is trying to use all possible tools to stem the hryvnia depreciation but… at the end of the day it’s down to the lack of hard currency receipts. (Investment) has dropped and regions affected by hostilities are not exporting in the same volume,” Orlova said. One Kiev-based trader said there was no hard currency on the market at all and bank clients were clamouring for dollars. “You can’t really call this a market.

There is at best 1-2 banks that are able to sell dollars,” he said. Among commodity currencies, South Africa’s rand weakened against the dollar as investors braced for data expected to show falling output in the mining sector. Nigeria’s naira fell hard for a fourth consecutive day, down 1.7 percent, as central bank interventions this week failed to distract investors from plunging oil prices, violence and messy pre-election politics. Oil’s fall also hit Gulf markets, with Saudi shares down 0.5 percent, while the petrochemical index fell 0.7 percent. In contrast, weaker oil prices benefit Turkey, which posted narrower-than-expected current account deficit figures, pushing the lira a quarter percent higher Broader emerging shares held their ground to trade near flat despite weak Chinese data, as a planned linkup between the Shanghai and Hong Kong markets kept Chinese markets firm.

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