:00:00. > :00:00.President Assad. Those are the latest headlines from
:00:00. > :00:17.BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news
:00:18. > :00:20.with World Business Report. The rich and powerful of the business world
:00:21. > :00:25.gather in Nigeria but will terror fears derail Africa's Davos?
:00:26. > :00:29.Plus, rocketing real`estate ` the Bank of England meets amid growing
:00:30. > :00:37.warnings of a housing bubble. Can it do anything about it?
:00:38. > :00:43.Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock.
:00:44. > :00:49.Also in the programme: A surprise rise in Chinese trade figures boosts
:00:50. > :00:52.Asian markets. We begin in the Nigerian capital Abuja, where
:00:53. > :00:59.business leaders from around the world are gathered for the World
:01:00. > :01:02.Economic Forum on Africa. In a few hours' time, they will be hearing
:01:03. > :01:09.the keynote speech from China's Premier Li Keqiang. Threatening to
:01:10. > :01:11.overshadow the event, of course, are the growing concerns over the
:01:12. > :01:14.security and stability of the country after deadly bombings in the
:01:15. > :01:17.capital and the kidnapping of 200 schoolgirls by Islamist militants,
:01:18. > :01:19.as well as these latest attacks you have been hearing about in the last
:01:20. > :01:22.few hours. However, Nigeria wants the African
:01:23. > :01:29.Davos to be a showcase for its huge business potential.
:01:30. > :01:35.Nigeria is now Africa's biggest economy, with GDP last year
:01:36. > :01:40.estimated at $500 billion. That has tripled in just over a decade. In
:01:41. > :01:45.fact, it's predicted to have the world's fastest`growing economy by
:01:46. > :01:58.2050. Our Africa business correspondent Lerato Mbele is in
:01:59. > :02:01.Abuja talking to business leaders. This year 's World Economic Forum is
:02:02. > :02:06.being hosted by Afrika 's number one economy, Nigeria. A large contingent
:02:07. > :02:09.of business leaders and as many as 30 heads of state are in Nigeria to
:02:10. > :02:15.lend their support and also scout for investment opportunities that
:02:16. > :02:20.are said to exist here. But it is the militancy of Boko Haram, the
:02:21. > :02:25.recent bombings and the kidnapping of 200 schoolgirls in northern
:02:26. > :02:30.Nigeria that has cast a dark shadow over this World Economic Forum. We
:02:31. > :02:42.ask why business leaders believe Nigeria still holds promise in a
:02:43. > :02:45.situation of insecurity. There is a lot of negativity about Nigeria but
:02:46. > :02:47.if you look at the actual facts, there has been a lot of raw growth
:02:48. > :02:54.over the last 15 years. It is the largest country from GDP
:02:55. > :03:02.perspective. It is the most populous country. In Africa. Many challenges,
:03:03. > :03:05.let us be clear, but if you want to make money as an investor, you have
:03:06. > :03:13.to be in Nigeria. There is no question about it. We believe that
:03:14. > :03:20.there will be 160 million consumers in the middle`class by 2030. The
:03:21. > :03:24.consumer facing sectors are large. Manufacturing is starting to get
:03:25. > :03:29.bigger. We will see manufacturing take`off. Across a variety of
:03:30. > :03:35.sectors, we believe there is huge opportunity. We also spoke with the
:03:36. > :03:38.global vice president of General Electric about the opportunities
:03:39. > :03:45.that exist for international companies in Nigeria. Nigeria can
:03:46. > :03:50.play an important role in setting an example for our countries can
:03:51. > :03:55.facilitate the process by which public and private capital come
:03:56. > :04:01.together to solve problems associated with lack of electricity,
:04:02. > :04:05.water that is not clean, unavailability of basic forms of
:04:06. > :04:11.healthcare. A country like Nigeria should play a leadership role. While
:04:12. > :04:14.Nigeria is said to offer huge returns, fresh opportunities in the
:04:15. > :04:20.oil and gas, energy, real estate and banking sector, nobody can deny how
:04:21. > :04:25.tense the situation is in Abuja right now, with the activities of
:04:26. > :04:31.the Koran. But for now, investors are willing to overlook some of
:04:32. > :04:34.those issues, focusing on the returns, the growth, the large
:04:35. > :04:40.consumer market and the prospects that Nigeria has to offer. `` nobody
:04:41. > :04:46.can deny how tense the situation is in Abuja right now with the
:04:47. > :04:48.activities of Boko Haram. To the Bank of England now, where
:04:49. > :04:51.policy`makers are meeting amid increasing nerves over rising UK
:04:52. > :04:53.house prices, particularly in the capital.
:04:54. > :04:56.Last week the bank's deputy governor warned the surging property market
:04:57. > :04:58.could pose the biggest danger to the country's financial stability.
:04:59. > :05:01.Earlier this week a report by the OECD warned the bank to act to
:05:02. > :05:04.contain the housing bubble. House prices are currently rising at more
:05:05. > :05:07.than 10% a year and some economists fear some buyers are being forced to
:05:08. > :05:13.take on unsustainable levels of debt. So what is the Bank of England
:05:14. > :05:23.likely to do? Rob Wood worked there for 12 years. He is now with
:05:24. > :05:28.Berenberg Bank here in London. Interest rates today. I can only
:05:29. > :05:34.assume there will be no change today. No change today. They will go
:05:35. > :05:39.up later this year or early next year. The economy is growing quickly
:05:40. > :05:44.and interest rates don't need to be at these levels for much longer.
:05:45. > :05:47.Some would argue that interest rates going up could be something that
:05:48. > :05:53.could tame the housing, but it's a very blunt tool, isn't it? Yes, it
:05:54. > :05:57.is, but it also gets into the cracks. The Bank of England has
:05:58. > :06:01.other tools that it could use to deal with the housing market. It
:06:02. > :06:08.could mandate maximum loan to value ratios. It could mandate that
:06:09. > :06:11.affordability should be tested against a difficult benchmark for
:06:12. > :06:15.interest rates to make it harder for them to get a mortgage. But those
:06:16. > :06:21.things are quite specific and there are ways around them. Rising
:06:22. > :06:26.interest rates would be one way of getting into all the cracks and make
:06:27. > :06:30.sure in that you really do slow down house price inflation. Do you agree
:06:31. > :06:36.that there is a bubble waiting to burst and that it could be very
:06:37. > :06:40.damaging? I don't think we are in a bubble quite yet. London is a
:06:41. > :06:43.separate situation. But the main problem is that we don't build
:06:44. > :06:48.enough houses. That is driving up prices. A will always be expensive
:06:49. > :06:54.as long as we don't build enough. If we let this run for much longer, the
:06:55. > :06:57.chances of a bubble developing will increase. And the Bank of England
:06:58. > :07:00.has to act to prevent this from happening, which is why I think they
:07:01. > :07:09.have to take action on this very soon. Will Mark Carney take action?
:07:10. > :07:14.He started his time with the Bank of England being quite dismissive of
:07:15. > :07:18.housing... It has become more obvious that house price inflation
:07:19. > :07:22.is spreading out across the country and that it's not just the London
:07:23. > :07:26.only phenomenon. It is now quite likely that they will take action
:07:27. > :07:30.over the next few months or so, increasingly tightening the noose
:07:31. > :07:36.around the housing to slow down price increases. Thank you. And we
:07:37. > :07:42.will be keeping you up`to`date as and when we get the news on the
:07:43. > :07:44.rates decision today in the UK and anything else they say. Asian
:07:45. > :07:47.markets are getting a boost from some positive news from China. Let's
:07:48. > :07:58.speak to Rico Hizon in our Singapore bureau. Good news about China at
:07:59. > :08:02.last! That is right. Many investors were waiting for the numbers from
:08:03. > :08:08.the mainland and when you take a look at the data, export recovery
:08:09. > :08:15.was driven from demands from developing countries. The US and EU
:08:16. > :08:18.countries have been buying Chinese made goods with outgoing shipments
:08:19. > :08:24.rising by almost 1%, recovering from a decline in March. Imports gained
:08:25. > :08:29.0.8%, leaving the mainland with a trade surplus of $18.5 billion. This
:08:30. > :08:37.momentum going forward? Analysts say yes. But they do say not to expect a
:08:38. > :08:42.steep recovery, rather a slow and mild comeback. When China sneezes
:08:43. > :08:46.the whole world catches a cold. At least for today, nobody is sneezing.
:08:47. > :08:52.The reaction has been switched from investors. The decay widened its
:08:53. > :09:06.game and the Australian dollar hit a fresh two week high. `` the Nikkei
:09:07. > :09:14.widened its gains. Overall, good news for the markets. We are all
:09:15. > :09:23.struggling with hayfever in the UK, so no sneezing from China is very
:09:24. > :09:26.good news or us. `` for us. In other news: Barclays is expected to
:09:27. > :09:29.announce 15,000 job losses as part of a strategy review. Up to 70% of
:09:30. > :09:32.the cuts could be in Britain. According to media reports, around
:09:33. > :09:35.25% of investment banking staff could lose their jobs as the bank
:09:36. > :09:37.tries to retreat from more risky areas.
:09:38. > :09:40.The European Central Bank is expected to keep borrowing costs at
:09:41. > :09:50.their record low of 0.25%, despite calls for additional stimulus for
:09:51. > :09:59.the region's economy. Let's take a look at those markets. Janet Yellen
:10:00. > :10:04.was talking about... And of course, the trade news from China. Most of
:10:05. > :10:10.the markets headed higher, apart from the NASDAQ index, which was
:10:11. > :10:21.down by 0.3%. Thank you for joining us. We will be back for a look at
:10:22. > :10:25.the papers in a few minutes. Police in London have begun what is
:10:26. > :10:29.believed to be the world's largest trial of body`worn cameras, as they
:10:30. > :10:32.try to restore public trust. The pilot will assess whether the
:10:33. > :10:34.cameras are effective in cutting crime and reducing complaints
:10:35. > :10:36.against officers. Our home affairs correspondent Matt Prodger