Top Five At Risk Countries of Crude Oil Price Crash, Nigeria Inclusive.

Since June 2014, global oil prices have dropped by more than 50%. The drop could strongly affect the economic and political stability of these five oil exporting countries.

Oil prices make winners and losers. In general, oil importers will gain from low prices, while most oil exporters will suffer. Still, there are differences. While the United States, Norway, and the Gulf States can protect themselves with diversified economies and high hard currency reserves, the oil shock could bring some countries to the verge of economic default and political crisis.

1. Venezuela
Venezuela entered the period of low oil prices with an already frail economy ruined by the more than a decade-long socialist regime of Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro. The oil price slump significantly worsened the country’s already failing economy.

More than 90 percent of Venezuela’s exports and hard currency reserves depend on oil, and with the price of oil 50 percent down, the country is close to a default.

Standard & Poor’s is the last in a line of rating agencies that downgraded Venezuela’s credit rating to junk status and the country’s currency is experiencing a constant devaluation trend. At the same time, inflation is expected to rise to 200 percent this year and the economy to shrink by 7 percent.

Consequently, the Maduro government is forced to cut subsidies introduced by the Chavez regime, and to liberalize the economy in accordance with the global realities in the oil markets, which could not only cause strong economic shocks and public outcry, but also trigger a swift regime change.

2. Nigeria
Africa’s largest economy is under increased pressure after the sudden drop in oil prices in the last eight months. This is the second blow for one of the continent’s largest oil exporter’s after the shale boom virtually brought to a halt its oil exports to the United States.

The country’s budget breakeven price of oil for 2015 is $122, according to Deutsche Bank estimates. Moreover, oil exports constitute more than 70 percent of Nigeria’s budget income and 90 percent of its foreign exchange.

As a result, the Nigerian naira has lost a fifth of its value against the US dollar since June 2014. In addition, security instability caused by the Boko Haram campaign in the predominantly Muslim-populated north of the country and the political turmoil ahead of the presidential elections expose bitter divisions along the ethnic and regional lines that could further destabilize the country.

3. Iraq
Iraq is particularly affected by the oil price slump, as the country is struggling to bring its oil production to pre-war levels, rebuild the war-torn country and wage a new war against the Islamic State.

The country’s finances depend exclusively on oil exports, and oil price volatility strongly affects its economy. At the moment, Iraq is effectively increasing its oil production in order to offset the slump in oil prices.

The country’s oil production currently stands at around 4 million barrels per day, and is expected to rise by additional 550,000 barrels.However, despite the recent budget revision tailored to a $56 per barrel price, the fiscal deficit for 2015 is still forecast at $22 billion.

Following the improvement in relations between Baghdad and the Kurdish autonomous region, along with the improved situation since the removal of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last August, the political and security situation has made a significant turn for the better in recent months.

Nonetheless, the fight against ISIS, which holds great swaths of Northern Iraq, and continuous friction between Iraq’s political factions is draining the country’s finances and threatening its political stability.

4. Russia
Russia is a politically stable country and the Putin regime enjoys unprecedented levels of public support. The country’s hard currency reserves are at high levels and the Russian oil industry is more resilient to oil prices volatility compared to its international peers. Thus, Russia will not see major political upheavals in the short term.

On the other hand, the oil shock and Western sanctions have hit the Russian economy and its consumers hard. The country’s economy has been under strong pressure since the introduction of sanctions almost a year ago, and the oil price drop only added to the pain, as the Russian 2015-2017 budget draft is based on the $100 per barrel price.

Inflation is currently at 17 percent, the ruble slumped by 44 percent in the past 12 months, and the economy is expected to shrink by 3 percent in 2015, according to an IMF forecast.

In the long run, with Russia expected to continue to wage war in Ukraine and consequently suffer from an additional set of Western sanctions, along with a prolonged period of low oil prices, both the economic and political situation in the country might deteriorate.

5. Iran
Iran has been a major victim of both the ban on oil exports imposed by the international community and falling oil prices.

Years of international isolation have taken a toll on Iran’s economy, but the sudden drop in oil prices is threatening to plunge the country into a full-blown recession. This will have a direct impact on the general population, already impoverished by the years of sanctions, as well as on investment into Iran’s tarnished infrastructure.

Although it is unlikely that low oil prices will affect the stability of the regime in Tehran, the current situation, in the midst of the nuclear program negotiations, might stir the debate between liberals and conservatives within Iran’s leadership over the future course of the country and its relations with the international community.

Frugal, scruffy man dies worth millions

Before Ronald Read died last summer, he was, on several occasions, the recipient of another person's generosity.

One woman, worried that the same tattered baseball cap he often wore wouldn't be enough to keep him warm in the Vermont winter, knitted him a hat, Read's attorney Laurie Rowell told CNN.

His khaki denim jacket was held together with a safety pin and his flannel shirt was so old, someone once paid for his breakfast at Friendly's.

"The man ahead of him had paid for him," Rowell said, "Based on what he looked like and how he dressed."

Perhaps that's why the man known for his extreme frugality and scruffy appearance decided in the years before his death that he'd do a little giving of his own.

"The estate of Robert Read made its first distributions to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and the Brooks Library in the amounts of $4.8 million and $1.2 million," Read's attorney said in a press release.

Read frequented the coffee shop at the hospital for breakfast, Gina Pattison, with Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, told CNN affiliate WCAX.

Pattison called Read "a very unassuming man."

"To find out that he had left this money to the hospital was a great surprise," Pattison said.

The president of the Board of Trustees for the Brooks Memorial Library said in a release he was delighted by the news and said Read's donation was the largest bequest since that of George J. Brooks in 1886.

Read was in the Army during World War II before working as a mechanic with his brother for many years. After the garage was sold, Read could have taken some time to relax, but "he didn't take to retirement very well," Rowell said.

Read eventually went to work as a part-time janitor at J.C. Penney. He finally retired in 1997.

Though his jobs never yielded large salaries, Read enjoyed investing in the stock market, always putting his money into "dividend producing stocks," Rowell said.

He lived modestly, hating to spend money or see anything go to waste, a release from Rowell's law firm said.

"He wouldn't even park close to my office because he didn't want to pay for parking," she said.

When her client died last June and she went to retrieve the appropriate estate documents from Read's safety deposit box, she realized just how frugal he was.

"The box was completely packed tight with stock certificates," she said.

When the banker hit the final total, they all stood in shock: Read was worth more than $8 million.

Besides his frugality, Rowell described Read as a quintessential "Vermonter." He was softspoken, but had a great sense of humor. He was also a very private man.

"He'd be shocked to have this much exposure," Rowell said.

In addition to his charitable donations, Read also gave a portion of his fortune to a couple of stepchildren and friends.

Culled from CNN.

Jordan launches airstrikes against ISIS in Syria

Jordanian fighter jets have returned home after carrying out missions, state-run TV reported Thursday.

There was no immediate word on what the missions were or where they took place, but a government spokesman said most targets would be in eastern Syria.

"The plan ... is to go after (ISIS) targets in order to degrade them and defeat them," spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said. "We want to make sure that they will pay for the crime they did and the atrocity they did to our pilot."

Al-Momani said the airstrikes were being coordinated with coalition allies.

Jordan is riding a wave of anger following the brutal killing of one of its pilots by ISIS. A video posted by the group showed Lt. Moath al-Kasasbeh being burned alive while confined in a cage.

The 27-year-old's family is calling for revenge.

The airstrikes came as mourners by the thousands poured into al-Kasasbeh's hometown, the village of Ay, to pay their respects to the family.

King Abdullah II led a delegation of high-level dignitaries and senior tribesman.

Thursday's military response comes a day after Jordan executed two prisoners -- Sajida al-Rishawi, a would-be suicide bomber whose release ISIS had previously demanded as part of a prisoner exchange, and Ziad Karbouli, a former top aide to the deceased leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

At the time, the pilot's father demanded that his country do more.

"These were criminals and there is no comparison between them and Moath. His blood is more valued than Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad Karbouli," al-Kasasbeh's father, Safi, said. "I demand that revenge should be bigger than executing prisoners."

His son's horrific death was recorded, and the video was posted online Tuesday.

CNN is not showing the images, which drew global condemnation and prompted protests and vows of retaliation in Jordan.

King Abdullah has promised a strong response, saying that ISIS isn't just fighting his nation, but warring against "noble Islam."

The country now wants to step up airstrikes against the terrorist organization, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

But the pilot's uncle, Yassin Al Rawashdeh, told CNN that he also wants to see ground troops involved in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Said the pilot's father: "I demand that this criminal organization (ISIS) ... should be annihilated

'An earthshaking retaliation'

Demonstrators took to the streets in Amman and the pilot's hometown immediately after the video was made public.

One protester held a poster that read: "They burned our hearts, so let's burn their dens, and their prisoners in our prisons."

Al-Momani, the government spokesman, vowed that Jordan would deliver "an earthshaking retaliation" and "a revenge that equals the tragedy that has befallen the Jordanians."

Exactly what that response will look like remains to be seen, although the outlines of it are starting to take shape.

Jordan's military is seeking to conduct more of the anti-ISIS airstrikes assigned by the coalition, a U.S. official told CNN. According to that official, the number of strikes Jordan can carry out will depend on the location of the targets, weather and other factors.

Killing on big screens?

ISIS apparently made a big show of the pilot's brutal execution in Raqqa, its stronghold in Syria.

An activist network, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, reported that the killing was being shown, repeatedly, on large screens across the city.

One of ISIS' propaganda production outlets posted a video online that appears to show a crowd cheering as flames around the pilot grow.

The video features a tight shot of a boy, looking up as if in awe and saying that he would "burn the pilot" himself if he had a chance and that "all Arab tyrants should also be burned." The boy can also be heard saying, "Obama the dog."

Because the video is carefully orchestrated propaganda, CNN has no way to know if people in Raqqa really feel this way, if other children were present or whether the video participants' responses were authentic or a result of intimidation.

There are anti-ISIS activists inside Raqqa who operate quietly. One of them, with Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, told CNN on Tuesday that on January 8, he was standing in the street when ISIS fighters approached, bragging that they had set the pilot on fire.

Jordan last week said it was willing to release al-Rishawi, the would-be suicide bomber, in exchange for al-Kasasbeh, but the swap never happened. The Jordanian government repeatedly asked ISIS to show proof that the pilot was still alive.

Shortly after the video of al-Kasasbeh's killing became public, Jordanian military spokesman Mamdouh Al Amri said that authorities believe the pilot had been killed as far back as January 3, before ISIS began making public demands for al-Rishawi's release.

Pilot 'gave his life defending his faith'

King Abdullah arrived back in Jordan on Wednesday after cutting short a visit to the United States, where he met with President Barack Obama.

"The brave pilot gave his life defending his faith, country and nation and joined other Jordanian martyrs who gave their lives for Jordan," Abdullah said in a televised statement Tuesday, describing ISIS as a cowardly and deviant group that has nothing to do with Islam.

ISIS captured al-Kasasbeh in December after his fighter jet crashed near Raqqa.

The pilot was one of eight children, according to the Jordan Times. He was from Karak governorate and graduated from King Hussein Air College, the newspaper said.

At the time of his capture, his father told the paper that his son was "a very modest and religious person" who memorized the Quran and "was never harmful to anyone."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described al-Kasasbeh as everything ISIS is not: "He was brave, compassionate and principled."

"That he was murdered after his father's plea for compassion reminds all the world that this foe has no agenda other than to kill and destroy, and places no value on life, including that of fellow Muslims," Kerry said.

ISIS is known to be holding at least two Western hostages still: John Cantlie, a British journalist who has appeared in a number of ISIS-produced videos, and an American woman who is a 26-year-old aid worker.

 Culled from CNN.

Lekki,The New Haven for Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

With a proposed $9 billion Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company, the Lekki-Epe International Airport, the Lekki Deep Seaport, and other mega infrastructure to be built in the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), the lekki corridor of Lagos State is an emerging investment haven in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Many multi-billion dollar projects have either taken off or are in the process of doing so within Lekki-Epe, some of the mega projects that have raised the adrenalin of the residents because of their job potential include the proposed $9 billion Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company, the proposed Lekki-Epe International Airport, the Lekki Deep Seaport in Akodo, Ibeju-Lekki Local Council of the state, and the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), in Ibeju Lekki, which is about 15 minutes from Epe.

Within the Lekki free trade zone, infrastructure, such as hotels, golf courses, resorts and business areas for local and international brands are expected to spring up. These are complemented by an aggressive development of the various tourism potential in the axis, as well as investments in real estate and road construction. The area boosts of excellent road networks, which together underscore the position of Epe as Nigeria’s emerging business and investment hub.

Already, the development of the Lekki Deep Seaport has begun. The shareholders’ agreement has been executed while preliminary works have started at the site for the Phase 1 of the project expected to cost $1.5 billion. This was after Tolaram group, a Singaporean firm and parent company of Lekki Port Lagos Free Trade Zone, LFTZ, Enterprise, completed its environmental impact assessment study of the project in line with the World Bank guidelines. When completed, the port would reduce the pressure on the Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports and also support business activities at the LFTZ.

The Lekki Port, spread across 90 hectares of land, is a Private Public Partnership, PPP, with the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), Lagos State Government and other non-government bodies, is expected to contribute over N32.2 trillion to the government treasury when completed by 2016. More than 10, 000 jobs are projected to be created directly and indirectly during the construction period while more than 169,000 jobs would be generated directly and indirectly when it becomes fully operational.

Managing Director of Lekki Port, Haresh Aswani, is optimistic that when completed, the port will spur economic development around the Lekki sub-region and the whole of Lagos State through rapid industrialization. He disclosed that to ensure smooth and efficient operations, the company engaged the services of global consultants in the mould of The Louis Berger group, a United States-based project management consultant; a coastal and maritime engineering firm; and TBA Netherlands, a maritime terminals and software consultant, among other firms.

“Lekki Port has been conceptualized on the basis of a significant gap in projected demand and capacity needed to be met in conveying goods to and from Nigeria. The demand is attractively high and the available capacity will not be sufficient to meet this demand. The economic viability of the port is founded on this unmet demand,” Aswani explained, adding that while Tolaram group holds about 45 per cent, the Federal Government through NPA and Lagos State government has about 20 per cent each.

Because the LFTZ was envisioned as an investment haven, its promoters thought it wise to build an ultra-modern international airport in the area to complement activities at the zone and also provide alternative air transport services in the state. The Lekki-Epe International Airport is designed to handle about five million passengers annually with provision for a modular terminal for future expansion. Preliminary works on the airport project have commenced with the clearing of 150 hectares (runway), 4.5km of the access road and 9km of perimeter road.

The Lands Bureau has since completed the crop enumeration on the designated site for the airport. This was to facilitate the payment of compensation to affected land owners and farmers. The proposed airport, like other projects, would be built and managed by private investors in line with the present administration’s policy on PPP.

At the inauguration of the LFTZ, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola declared: “The LFTZ is beginning to take shape. The master plan is being realised; investors are trooping in. Tank farms and major refineries are springing up to service the demands of the country and make room for export. The refineries create a major selling point and release of the opportunities that lie ahead in this zone, create opportunities for the local people and the potentials for Lagos and the Nigerian economy.”

The Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company for which Aliko Dangote, billionaire businessman and president, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) is committing $9 billion, no doubt represents that unique selling point and release of the investment opportunities in the Lekki/Epe Corridor. DIL has since signed a loan agreement valued at $3.3 billion with a consortium of 12 local and international banks to establish the biggest petroleum refinery and petrochemical/fertiliser plant.

The credit facility, jointly packaged by Standard Chartered Bank as the global coordinator, and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), as the local coordinator, represents the first tranche of financing for the project by the banks. Other participating banks are Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Ecobank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, First Bank Nigeria, Standard Bank of South Africa, United Bank for Africa, UBA, FirstRand Bank, First City Monument Bank, and Diamond Bank. Dangote will contribute $3 billion to the total cost of the project estimated to be $9 billion. The plant has a completion date of 2016.

Invest in Southern Palms Estate today; we are located in the heart of the Lekki Epe Region.

Visit: www.southernpalmsestate.com

Four Nigerian Banks Among Top 500 Global Banks

FirstBank of Nigeria Limited, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) and Access Bank Plc have been ranked number one banking brand in Nigeria among the ‘Top 500 Banking Brands’ by The Banker magazine of the Financial Times and Brand Finance, London, in 2015.

A report on Monday revealed that for the fourth consecutive year, FirstBank of Nigeria has been ranked number one banking brand in Nigeria.

Country Representative of The Banker magazine - Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Ogedengbe, explained that FirstBank moved from being number 382 in 2014 to 336 in the 2015 edition.

Other Nigerian banks that also made the ranking are Zenith Bank, which moved to number 388 from 453 in 2014, GTBank, which moved to 417 from 422, while Access Bank made first entry into the ranking.

It showed that the Brand value of FirstBank increased to $300 million in 2015 from $228 in 2014 and according to the Economics editor of the magazine, Silvia Pavoni, the brand value is “the licensing rate that a third-party would need to pay to use that company's brand.”

Commenting on the methodology of the ranking, Pavoni said Brand Finance obtained brand-specific financial and revenue data; modeled the market to identify market demand and the position of individual banks in the context of all other market competitors; established the royalty rate for each bank; calculated the discount rate specific to each bank, taking account of its size, geographical presence, reputation, gearing and brand rating and discounted future royalty stream (explicit forecast and perpetuity periods) to a net present value which is the brand value.

This approach, the Economics editor noted, “is used for two reasons: it is favoured by tax authorities and the courts because it calculates brand values by reference to documented third-party transactions and it can be done based on publicly available financial information.”

Globally, Wells Fargo of the United States of America retained the number one banking brand in the world for the third consecutive year and was followed by banks in China, United Kingdom and Spain in the first ten.

Wells Fargo’s brand value for 2015 is $34.9 billion as against $30.2 billion in 2014, an increase of $4.7 billion.

According to the report, the first 10 banks in the world are Well Fargo (USA); ICBC (China); HSBC (UK); China Construction Bank; Citibank, Bank of America, Chase (USA); Agricultural Bank of China; Bank of China; and Santander (Spain).

On the rise of Chinese banks, the chief operating officer of Brand Finance, Mr. Bryn Anderson noted that “the Chinese economy has been doing well for a number of years but I think this has been the first year, in terms of brand value, when Chinese banks have climbed up the tables and stood out.”

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/four-nigerian-banks-among-top-500-global-banks/200834/

Whitney Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown In Coma.

Whitney Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, is on a ventilator and in intensive care, after she was found facedown and unresponsive in a bathtub full of water, a source close to the family said.

Brown, 21, was placed in a medically induced coma and the status of her brain function won't be known until the sedatives are reduced, the source told CNN.

"It is going to be a waiting game," said the source.

Brown "was not breathing" when a man identified as her husband found her Saturday morning inside her townhouse in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Georgia.

He called 911 and performed CPR until public safety officers arrived and took over, said police spokeswoman Lisa Holland.

The spokeswoman said when Brown was found, she was "unresponsive, meaning not breathing, no heartbeat."

In scanner traffic, emergency services could be heard describing an "ECHO-level response" -- urgent and life threatening -- with "possible cardiac arrest."

"Twenty-one-year-old female in the bathtub, facedown. PD's (police department's) en route."

Brown was taken to a local hospital, where "she is still alive and breathing. Other than that, I don't know her condition," Holland said Saturday.

Nobody knows what caused Brown's unresponsiveness, Holland said, but police consider it a medical incident at this time. She said investigators had found nothing to indicate it was drug- or alcohol-related.

Police had been to the residence recently. Somebody reported a fight there January 23, but nobody answered the door and officers found no evidence of an altercation, Holland said.

The police spokeswoman noted one oddity in the case: "Her mother died in the very same manner."

Three years ago, Houston was found dead in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton on February 11, hours before she was to attend a pre-Grammys bash.

Bobbi Kristina Brown appears at a Grammy Awards event last year.

An autopsy later revealed that she'd drowned facedown in "extremely hot water" about 12 inches deep. The Los Angeles County coroner ruled it an accidental drowning with the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" as contributing factors.

Brown is her only child.

"She encourages me and inspires me," Houston once said of her daughter. "When I look at her eyes and I see myself, I go, 'OK. I can do this. I can do this.'"

Daughter of acclaimed singer, R&B standout

Brown was born in 1993 during Houston's marriage to R&B singer Bobby Brown, which ended in divorce in 2007.

The daughter of music royalty became a public figure during the mid-2000s reality show "Being Bobby Brown," in which she frequently appeared alongside her parents and often had a front-row seat to their marital fireworks.

Bobby Brown requested privacy in a statement issued Sunday by his lawyer, who said that Brown was at the hospital with his daughter.

"Please allow for my family to deal with this matter and give my daughter the love and support she needs at this time," Bobby Brown said.

Mother and daughter performed together on national TV in 2009, when the two sang "My Love Is Your Love" in Central Park on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Given the pair's close relationship, it's no surprise that Houston's death was a major blow.

Days after her mother's body was found, a grieving Bobbi Kristina -- then 18 -- was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center because she was "overwhelmed," family friend Kim Burrell said.

"She loves hard," Burrell said then of Bobbi Kristina. "She's going to be OK, and we're going to see to it."

Married a man who was taken in by Houston

Brown appeared on episodes of Lifetime's brief reality show "The Houstons: On Our Own," which followed her life after Houston's death.

One of that reality show's storylines revolved around Brown's relationship with Nick Gordon, who lived with Houston and her daughter from the age of 12.

Months later, Brown reportedly got engaged to Gordon.

And in January 2014, she tweeted out a picture of wedding rings, presumably belonging to her and Gordon, along with the words.

(Houston) made me promise several times to look after Krissy ... and, Mom, I will never ever, ever break that promise," Gordon told the entertainment show "Extra" afterward, saying Houston "just treated me like she gave birth to me."

Bobbi Kristina Brown is seen in a photo she posted to Instagram around 2 a.m. EST on Saturday, January 31.

It was unclear whether Gordon came home Saturday morning to find his wife in the bathtub or had been in another part of the house overnight, Holland said.

Police have obtained a search warrant to look through the house, but that's standard procedure, she said.

Concern for Brown surged again after news broke.

Music director Michael Bearden sent along "healing energy to the daughter of a late great friend." Songwriter Diane Warren tweeted, "I hope Bobbi Kristina gets the help she needs."

"Poor thing," Warren wrote. "Almost 3 yrs to the day her mom passed and the same thing almost happened to her.

Culled from CNN.