Author: The Nation

The Co-founder, Shea Integrated Global Foundation (SIGF), Priscilla Nwosu, has said the shea market creates opportunities for  women to thrive.

Nwosu stated this at a briefing on the Conservation and Livelihood Improvement of Women Through Shea Tree Value-Chain Development Project.

Nwosu said the vision of the project is to support women who have no access to proper markets or knowledge on how to leverage the abundant natural resources available such as Shea.

According to her, the project aims to conserve at least 10 kilometres of wild parkland at Arikiya in Nasarawa State to create a sustainable model for environmental conservation.

While noting that the 12-month project which is expected to end in October 2023, she said the aim is to create sustainable communities by creating market access and linkages.

She said the project’s aim is not just to empower women in shea butter production to improve their livelihood, but also to conserve the environment where the trees are planted.

The goal, she added, is to create sustainable livelihood for 200 women within the project through sales of shea kernels and butter.

“The project will train women in 10 months on shea processing to global standards and establish parameters for carbon sequestration within 12 months of project commencement,” she said.

Also, the National Coordinator for the Global Environmental Facility Small Grant Programme (GEF/SGP), Ibironke Olubamise, noted that the project will ensure continual Shea production and engender investment.

Olubamise stated that the GEF/SGP, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is interested in the project because it will create a sustainable model for environmental conservation.

She added that the UNDP is interested because environmental issues are a global problem that need to be tackled.

Lowering passenger traffic occasioned by economic factors and increase in the number of carriers in the domestic air travel space is triggering significant reduction in airfares,  The Nation investigation has shown.

A dip in the number of passengers who patronise the air travel mode of transportation is forcing some  carriers to settle for drastic reduction in the fares of one-hour flights, bring it as low as N39, 000, N40, 000, N48,000, N50, 000 and N55, 000 for a rotation on the Lagos/Abuja sector.

A few months ago, airfares hovered around N70, 000 and N110, 000 on some routes for a one-way one- hour flights.

On Southeastern routes into Lagos and Abuja in December carriers flew passengers on a fare regime of between N100,000 and N120,000.

Experts, say the new development, is coming on the heels of new carriers, who have made foray into the scheduled flights model of aviation flight services.

The activities of the new carrier, according to investigation, is forcing operators to juggle their cost and settle for lower fares to remain sustainable.

A sample of airfares on major routes indicate that the carriers are neck-to-neck in fixing close fares so as not to lose passengers to their competitors.

Besides fixing fares in the close figures, investigations further show that airlines are exploring flight scheduling as a strategy to get passengers into their airplanes are peak flying periods in the early, mid and late hours of the day.

Experts say many carriers may be struggling to recover their costs giving the  airfare regime.

In the last two years  the price of aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1, has increased from N300 per litre to N800 per litre.

Operators, investigations further show, were worried over the rising cost of keeping the aircraft in the skies with the oscillating exchange rate and astronomical increase in the price of jet gas.

Besides increasing cost of aviation fuel, rising exchange rate and inability to access the official window of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for forex , local carriers grapple with multiple levies and other airport taxes that threaten the survival of the business.

Checks by The Nation on the website of some local carriers namely : Air Peace , United Nigeria Airlines, Green Africa Airways, Dana Air, AeroContractors, Arik Air, ValueJets Airlines and Ibom Air put the average fare on one- way sector between Lagos and Abuja for Thursday trip at N50,000 respectively.

Specifically, booking on Air Peace for Thursday’s flight ; less than 24 hours before the intended time of the trip, indicated a fare offering of between N50, 000, N55, 000, and N60,000 respectively.

Booking for a return trip between Abuja and Lagos for the next few days provides a fare window of N50,000 respectively.

Bookings on a premium carrier – ValueJets Airlines for Thursday , less than 24 hours before the intended journey is offered for about N38, 500.

The fare structure for the same date on United Nigeria Airlines stands in the neighbourhood of N40,000, N50,000 respectively for a one hour flight.

 For propeller aircraft operator – Green Africa Airways, bookings for a one hour flight on the Lagos / Abuja route for travel on Thursday stands between N42, 500 and N44, 500 respectively.

On Arik Air, booking for the same day of travel provides a fare offering of between N48, 000 and N52 , 000 respectively.

Confirming the development, Chief Operating Officer (COO) / Executive Director, United Nigeria Airlines, Mr Osita Okonkwo said many carriers were subsidizing their flight operations to avoid keeping the airplanes on the ground.

The unfolding scenario, he said , accounts for why local carriers are now resorting to the use of medium / fuel efficient airplanes to cut their losses.

He said the prevailing economic hardship in the country triggered by seeming uncertainty over the forthcoming general elections and the lingering currency swap , is taking a huge toll on the aviation sector.

Okonkwo said the twin factors  : astronomical increase in the price of aviation fuel and lack of access to foreign exchange at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), rate is pushing local carriers on the edge.

He said from N200 per litre for aviation fuel two years ago, the product price skyrocketed to N350 per litre around December 2022, to the prevailing rate of about N800 per litre.

The airline manager said market forces were driving down local fares , to the extent that many airline owners are now underwriting the cost of  flight operations.

He declared that many airline owners are struggling to maintain the margins.

He said : ” It takes between 1,300  and 1, 500 litres of aviation fuel to undertake a one – hour flight  on a medium aircraft like the Embraer / Bombardier jets . But, bigger aircraft such as Boeing 737s and the Airbus will consume between 3, 000 and 3, 200 litres of fuel for a one – hour flight. Airlines are not making enough profit as people may assume.”

To reduce operating costs, Okonkwo said airlines are now rethinking the terms of aircraft acquisition weighed in favour of the wet-lease option.

The wet – lease option, he said, comes under the arrangement of Aircraft Crew Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) package, which is not only cheaper and convenient for local carriers , but only puts the burden of fueling , airport / handling charges on them.

With the foreign exchange challenges, Okonkwo said , airlines are bleeding to pay for aircraft spares, heavy maintenance and crew re-currency training / recertification.

To get out of trouble, he said carriers now strategize on route / flight scheduling into and out of some airports , including aerodromes with limited hours of operations because of inadequate facilities so as not to incur too much costs on request for operating hours.

He said the recent Spring Alliance entered into by some local carriers has assisted to improve efficiency , improve equipment utilization as well as cut costs in some areas of operations.

Okonkwo said : ” The recent alliance entered into by local  carriers  is a network to enhance efficiency and provide a collaborative framework to drive service improvement. The alliance is helping airlines to manage costs. Airlines now need to be mindful of their operational set up . This is because the viability of the business is not achieved by competing on airfares. What  needs to be improved upon is flight services.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday said owing to increases in the cost of fuels, gas, passengers and air transportation, inflation rate rose from 21.34 per cent last December 2022 to 21.82 per cent last month.

According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report January 2023, it soared by 0.47 per cent points compared to that of last December.

NBS said: “In January 2023, the headline inflation rate rose to 21.82 per cent compared to December 2022 headline inflation rate which was 21.34 per cent.

“Looking at the trend, the January 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.47 percentage points when compared to December 2022 inflation rate.”

The report noted that the food inflation rate in January 2023 was 24.32 per cent on a year-on-year basis; which was 7.19 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2022 (17.13 per cent).

NBS attributed the  rise in food inflation to increases in prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, potatoes, yam and other tubers. Fsh, vegetable, fruits, meat, and food products were listed.

 Monthly, the report said, the food inflation rate in January 2023 was 2.08 per cent, this was 0.20 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded  last December (1.89 per cent).

The report, however, indicated that yearly basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.22 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2022, which was 15.60 per cent.

 This, said the data, shows that the headline inflation rate (yearly) increased in January 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., January 2022).

NBS noted that the ”All items less farm produce” or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 19.16 per cent in January 2023 on a year-on-year basis; up by 5.29 per cent when compared to the 13.87 per cent recorded in January 2022.

 Also, monthly, the core inflation rate was 1.82 per cent in January 2023, up by 0.49 per cent points from the 1.33 per cent recorded  the previous month.

“The highest increases were recorded in prices of gas, liquid fuel, passenger transport by air, vehicles spare parts, fuels, and lubricants for personal transport equipment, and solid Fuel.

“The average 12-months annual inflation rate was 16.52 per cent for the 12-months ending January 2023; this was 3.19 per cent points higher than the 13.33% recorded in January 2022.”

The report noted that in terms of all items inflation,  in January 2023, all items inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Bauchi  (24.79%), Ondo (24.54%), Anambra (24.51%), while Jigawa (19.09%), Borno (19.62%) and Sokoto (19.90%) recorded the slowest rise in headline year-on-year inflation. NBS said on a month-

on-month basis, however, January 2023 recorded the highest increases in Lagos (2.91%), Taraba (2.84%), Ondo (2.68%), while Yobe (0.54%), Jigawa (0.73%) and Oyo (0.87%) recorded the slowest rise on month-on-month inflation .

The report noted that in January 2023, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kwara (29.03%), Lagos (27.67%), and Ondo (27.38%), while Jigawa (19.22%), Sokoto (20.80%) and Yobe (21.32%) recorded the slowest rise in year-on-year food inflation.

It said on a month-on-month basis, however, January 2023 food inflation was highest in Lagos (3.67%), Ogun (3.54%), and Ekiti (3.32%), while Yobe (-0.50%), Jigawa (0.18%) and Kebbi (0.92%) recorded the slowest rise on month-on-month inflation.

NBS added that  inflation rate was 19.91% in January 2023.

According to the report, this  was 2.48% points higher compared to the to December 2022 (1.80%).

The NBS said the rural inflation rate in January 2023 was 21.13% on a year-on-year basis; this was 6.08% and on month- on -month basis, the rural inflation rate in January 2023 was 1.77%, up by 0.14% points compared to December 2022.

World Bank President David Malpass is stepping down in June.

Malpass, who has been in the eye of the storm over climate change issue, made the announcement yesterday.

Malpass said he would step down by June 30. This is about a year before his term would have ended.

He said: “It has been an enormous honor and privilege to serve as President of the world’s premier development institution alongside so many talented and exceptional people.

“With developing countries facing unprecedented crises, I’m proud that the Bank Group has responded with speed, scale, innovation, and impact. The last four years have been some of the most meaningful of my career. Having made much progress, and after a good deal of thought, I’ve decided to pursue new challenges. I want to thank our staff and Boards of Directors for the privilege of working with them every day to strengthen the effectiveness of our operations in the most challenging of times.”

The Bank Group, he said, is fundamentally strong, financially sustainable, and well positioned to increase its development impact in the face of urgent global crises.

Malpass said: “This is an opportunity for a smooth leadership transition as the Bank Group works to meet increasing global challenges, facilitate private investment, sharpen its focus on global public goods, and maintain strong momentum on operational delivery and portfolio performance for client countries.”

He was billed to be in Nigeria in June.

A statement by the bank said Malpass today informed the Board of Executive Directors of his intention to step down from his position.

“During Malpass’s tenure, he focused on seeking stronger policies to increase economic growth, alleviate poverty, improve living standards, and reduce government debt burdens. Over the last four years, the Bank Group’s five institutions (IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA, and ICSID) responded quickly to global crises, mobilising a record $440 billion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine, sharp global economic slowdown, unsustainable debt burdens, climate change, and food, fertiliser, and energy shortages.”

“With developing countries under severe financial pressure, Malpass met frequently with world leaders to discuss supportive policies, including debt reduction to break the cycles of unsustainable debt. Under his leadership, the Bank Group more than doubled its climate finance to developing countries, reaching a record $32 billion last year. Malpass led efforts to enable and increase private sector investment and trade and contributed thought leadership to the Bank Group’s analytical products on fiscal and monetary policy, currency systems, and governance reform. Malpass also strengthened the institution’s management and personnel and will leave the Bank Group with solidified finances and fundraising to support its AAA credit rating,” the bank said.