In an advertisement, the Central Bank of Nigeria said Abubakar, who was deputy to former president Olusegun Obasanjo, owed Spring Bank 111.15-million naira ($731490).

It also listed billionaire tycoon Aliko Dangote, rated by the US's Forbes magazine as one of the richest Africans with a net worth of around $3.3-billion, among the debtors.

Dangote, 52, had previously appeared in a similar list released by the bank in August when it sacked the management of five ailing banks for bad debts. Also listed is Mohammed Buba Marwa, Nigeria's ambassador to South Africa.

Zimbabwe prices down

Zimbabwe's consumer prices fell 0.5% month on month in September, Central Statistical Office (CSO) data showed on Friday. The main factor was a decline in food prices.

The International Monetary Fund estimated that Zimbabwe's inflation peaked at 500 billion percent in December, before a unity government set up by bitter rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in February adopted the use of multiple foreign currencies. The move has helped eliminate shortages of basic goods and stabilised prices.

The CSO resumed calculating inflation data in US dollar terms in December after the use of the local currency was abandoned due to hyperinflation. Its data showed inflation at -0.5% in September, from 0.4% in August.

Zimbabwe still suffers from low productivity levels due to a lack of capital to restart production in key sectors of the economy. - Reuters

Loan losses drain bank

BANK of America said on Friday that it lost more than $2-billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising - providing further evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay bills.

The second-largest US bank, which lost $2.24-billion after accounting for preferred dividends, said its losses for failed loans were $10-billion in the July-September period, up $1-billion from the second quarter. The bank also added $11.7-billion to its reserves to cover bad loans.

Bank of America's results were aided by profit from investment bank Merrill Lynch, including income from bond, stock and currency trading.

"Obviously, credit costs remain high, and that is our major financial challenge," said CEO Ken Lewis. - AP

Nokia rings the changes

Nokia announced changes to management yesterday, a day after posting its worst quarterly results.

The cellphone maker said Rick Simonson, the company's chief financial officer since 2004, would head its new mobile phones unit, which would focus on cheaper models from November, and global head of sales Timo Ihamuotila would take over as CFO.

Jo Harlow will move from global marketing to run the company's Smartphone business - its other new phone entity in the devices and services group - and John Martin from rival Apple will step in as head of Nokia's mobile computers business, starting in November.

Nokia reported its worst quarterly result, with a net loss of à913-million, compared with a à1.06-billion profit the previous year.

It lost share in the high end of the cellphone market to rivals Apple and RIM and was hurt by a large write-down in its struggling networks unit. - Reuters