Bernard Madoff has been jailed for the rest of his life...

International fraudster Bernard Madoff has been jailed for the rest of his life for swindling investors out of billions of dollars.

The 71-year-old was sentenced to 150 years after he, 10 of his victims and lawyers on both sides had addressed the court.

Dozens of those who lost fortunes in his pyramid-based Ponzi investment fraud that lasted decades filled the New York courthouse having spent hours queueing to get seats.

Madoff, a former Nasdaq chairman, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and other charges in March and has since been held in jail.

Victims who lost millions of dollars had described their ruined lives to judge Denny Chin.

Madoff, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a tie, sat and listened as they described how he wrecked their financial security, and urged he be sent to prison for life.

"Life has been a living hell. It feels like the nightmare we can't wake from," said Carla Hirshhorn.

"He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in between. He had no values," said Tom Fitzmaurice. "He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife Ruth could live a life of luxury beyond belief."

Dominic Ambrosino called it an "indescribably heinous crime" and urged a long prison sentence so "will know he is imprisoned in much the same way he imprisoned us and others." He added: "In a sense, I would like somebody in the court today to tell me how long is my sentence."

Madoff's lawyer had asked a judge to give his client 12 years behind bars. Prosecutors sought the maximum 150-year term.

Merger and Acquisition Interest on Nigerian Banks by Foreign Banks Likely to Happen

Plans by Nigeria’s central bank to lift the cap on foreign ownership of banks and to encourage mergers and acquisitions will spur interest in the banking system, UBA Capital Research said.

“Speculating on which individual banks could be targets for foreign banks is of limited value, but we do believe that it is likely that banks in the mid-tier segment will attract attention,” said UBA Capital, the brokerage unit of Lagos-based United Bank for Africa Plc. It reiterated its buy recommendations on Access Bank Nigeria Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc and GTBank.

Central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi, in his first interview since his appointment on June 3, told the Financial Times of London that he expected a further consolidation in the Nigerian banking industry to bring down the number of banks to about 15 from 24.

The Private equity face of infrastructure

Adebayo Ogunlesi is the Chairman and Managing Director of Global Infrastructure Partners and is based in New York City.

Bayo previously served as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer of Credit Suisse’s Investment Banking Division with senior responsibility for Credit Suisse’s corporate and sovereign investment banking clients. From 2002 to 2004, he was Head of Credit Suisse’s Global Investment Banking Department, responsible for worldwide capital markets (debt and equity), mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and advisory, industry, country and regional banking businesses.

Bayo was previously Head of Global Power, Utilities and Project Finance in 1994, and from 1997-2002, served as Head of the Global Energy Group (power, utilities, oil and gas, chemicals, mining and project finance).
Prior to becoming an investment banker, he was an attorney with the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. From 1980 to 1981, he served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Thurgood Marshall, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Ogunlesi, more commonly known as Bayo, holds a record that many in the private equity world would envy: the largest first-time fundraise for an independent fund manager. Even more impressive is the fact that he raised GIP's $5.64 billion war chest with a focus on an emerging asset class that was just beginning to be understood by investors. People familar with the native Nigerian credit the suscess to his laser-eyed focus on bringing operational efficiences to infrastructure assets. He is by far the loudest propenent of his strategy - a mainstay of the private equity sphere that is fast becoming mainstream in the infrastructure asset class, thanks in large part to his advocacy. His lean mean management of London's City airport, which GIP bought in concert with AIG affiliate in 2006 for £770 million, is the textbook example of this growing trend.

Five ways to grow the market and create value

After years of restructuring, reengineering, and downsizing many companies are now emphasizing growth. They are under pressure to do so from three directions: shareholders, competitors, and employees.

Shareholders have become more active and demanding in the US, but increasingly so in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Consider the number of companies that have fired or gently pushed out their CEOs in recent years. Shareholders demand value creation. This is closely linked to corporate growth. The obvious limits of value creation through cost cutting now make revenue growth essential.

Then there is heat from competitors, particularly in industries such as banking, pharmaceuticals, automotive, defense, airlines, and personal computers, which are undergoing consolidation. Here growth is essential if economies of scale in technology development, operations, capacity utilization, marketing, distribution, and network externalities are to be captures. Those companies that fail to expand as fast as competitors will lose competitive and enter a downward spiral. The only options then are expansion or a vicious cycle leading to oblivion.

Finally, employees are an important influence. Employees in an expanding company have greater opportunities for career advancement, financial rewards, job security, and job satisfaction. It is more fun to go work every day and the collective mood is more upbeat in growing company.

While growth is important, it is ot easy. Asked about their target growth, companies in the US and Europe will respond that on average it is between 10 and 15 percent. As the overall economic growth rate of the countries in which they trade is about 2 to 3 percent, there is no way all of them can achieve their targets.

Put differently: add up the five-year projected market shares of all the competitors in an industry and you get a figure well over 100 percent. For every company that achieves its growth target, another will be well short. To count among the successful, a company needs a wise growth strategy. Developing this involves two major decisions: the direction and the mode of growth.

There are five possible growth directions:
- from current business by gaining market share and increasing market penetration;
- in the same business, but in a different geographic location;
- by vertical integration, either backward or forward;
- in another related business;
- in a different, unrelated business.

A company does not have to pick only one such direction. However, it is unlikely that simultaneous pursuit in all directions is wise. Instead, given limited resources, a company should determine the relative emphasis to place on each chosen growth direction.

The most promising growth directions in today's environment are: market penetration, globalization (particularly where emerging country markets are concerned), and forward integration.

Zain Africa Mobile Networks up for sale...

Vivendi Universal has emerged as one of the suitors for Zain’s operations in Africa. The deal would be worth an estimated Sh936 billion ($12 billion).

If Vivendi succeeds, it would mark an ironical return of the company to the Kenyan market, after selling its 60 per cent stake in KenCell — the predecessor of Zain Kenya — to Celtel in 2005, for $230 million. Celtel in turn sold the business to the Kuwait-based company, Zain, in August last year, as part of the larger Celtel Africa, which spans 12 African countries, for $3.4 billion.

South Africa’s MTN is said to be another contender.

Vivendi is one of the largest European entertainment companies. It has a 56 per cent stake in a French mobile network — SFR — that offers mobile services in Re-Union Islands and Morocco, and it is likely that this is the brand the African operation will don.

MTN has operations in much of the region, but Kenya has remained elusive for it. It unsuccessfully attempted to buy KenCell in 2004.

Zain has grown the Kenyan operation.

It has, for instance, built the 13 per cent market share it had at the time of the takeover, to over 20 per cent currently.

However, it sill remains a distant second to Safaricom with a market share of about 70 per cent.

For Sh930 billion, Zain could make a handsome profit for the company it bought for $3.4 billon.

Zain Group has posted record results for the financial year ended December 31, last year, with revenues increasing by 26 per cent to reach $7.441 billion, although fourth quarter results were hit by currency fluctuations, according to an unnamed company official.

Zain, which has operations in 22 countries across the Middle East and Africa, increased its customer base by 50 per cent to reach 63.5 million subscribers, while net profit increased by 6 per cent compared with 2007 to reach $1.2 billion.