The Nation Newspaper

Category: Industry

  • Review education policy to accommodate research, RMRDC urges

    The Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has advocated for a review of Nigeria’s education policy to accommodate research and development.

    The Director, Chemicals and Materials Department, RMRDC, Dr Moses Omojola, made the on the sideline of a stakeholders’ interactive meeting on research and development held in Abuja, Tuesday this week.

    The theme of the meeting was ‘’Institutionalisation of Research and Development in Tertiary Institutions as a Launch Pad for Nigeria’s Technological Advancement.’’Omojola said researchers need a guideline on national focus instead of embarking on individualistic research. “We cannot continue doing what we have been doing 20 years ago; if there is a review, it should accommodate Research and Development (R&D),” he saidAccording to Omojola, focused R&D is critical to tackling societal challenges and bringing the much needed economic and industrial development. He said education policies should survive beyond government and that national interests should be paramount.

  • NEPC boss sees enormous potential in Nigeria’s services sub-sector

    Nigeria has substantial potential in non-oil export, especially in the services sub-sector, the Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, has said.

    Awolowo made the statement in Abuja on Tuesday during an interactive meeting on the review of the implementation of the National Strategy for the export of professional services in Nigeria.

    He said the service sector was the second largest contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “Nigeria has huge potential in export of services, such as in the creative industry (Nollywood and music), financial services, and Information Communication Technology (ICT) among others,” he said

    According to the NEPC boss, Nigeria is a leading exporter of banking services in West Africa with a strong financial services sector. He said, for instance, that 11 Nigerian banks have established subsidiaries abroad in over 20 sub-Saharan countries; nine out of 11 also have branches in four continents outside of Africa.

    Awolowo however, said one of the major challenges for companies in the services sector was access to information about opportunities in and requirements of foreign markets. He said to overcome the challenges, the council would collaborate with the International Trade Centre (ITC) under the Trade in Services Programme (TSP).

    He noted that this would enable Nigerian companies take advantage of ITC’s interventions in the Business Process Outsourcing and Information Technology sub-sectors..

    “As you are all aware, in 2009, the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council formulated a strategy to develop the export of professional services in Nigeria.

    “The overreaching goal of the strategy was to contribute to the country’s long- term objective to create wealth, generate employment and reduce poverty as enshrined in Nigeria’s National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy.’’ he said.

  • Expert decries penchant for imported products

    The penchant of Nigerians to patronise imported products at the detriment of locally manufactured products fuels an insidious and relegating effect on local produce and the economy, Director, Foraminifera Market Research, Mr. Nnamdi Anakuwe, has said.

    Speaking with The Nation, Anakuwe said the importation of all kinds of commodities from simple domestic tools as toothpick and match stick to complex equipment amounts to a disservice to local manufacturers and the economy generally.

    “Even when some manufacturers manage to channel efforts and resources into making quality goods and services, the usual penchant of Nigerians for foreign made products rub off negatively on the competitiveness of locally made products,” he said.

    The expert said despite research, which found that there is no much local production for toothpick because of the attitude of Nigerians, for instance, a lot of toothpicks in the market are imported.

    “Though there are one or two companies that do local manufacturing but again the quantity and quality they produce is quite small. In fact, most toothpicks don’t come with manufacturer’s details except you buy them in cartons,” he said.

    Anakuwe pointed out that Nigerians’ preference for foreign goods could be viewed from two perspectives. The first, he said, is that the growth and development of the manufacturing sector is not enjoying a healthy level of support and encouragement from the government and banks.

    He noted that although, some investors have indicated interest in local production, existing policies are not encouraging enough to propel substantial investment in manufacturing.

    The other factor, especially in the area of manufacturing simple domestic products such as toothpick, is the unavailability of consistent farming of bamboo and wood, which are essential raw materials for toothpick processing. He noted that those who manage to produce toothpicks and matches are in stiff competition with the construction industries who are major users of bamboo.

    “The challenges are too numerous as you are in competition with those who are doing wood export, wood furniture product etc. So if you look at the raw material from wood, it’s already too difficult for someone who just wants to do a project of toothpick production.

  • Youths urged to take advantage of programmes

    Unemployed youths in Delta State, south-south Nigeria, have been called upon to take advantage of the State Government’s empowerment programmes.

    The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Delta State Governor, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, made the call while addressing newly recruited but disengaged protesters from the State Civil Service by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration.

    Some persons were recruited into the state civil service in April 2014 by the former Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan.

    The CPS said the Okowa’s administration meant well for the people of Delta and for those disengaged, adding that the state government’s decision to disengage those recruited one month before his inauguration was in good faith.

  • Regional trade key to food security, says World Bank

    The World Bank has  fore, called for a new commitment to regional trade in the West African Sub-region to accelerate agricultural production, boost growth and ensure food security.

    World Bank in a recent report, ‘Connecting Food Staples and Inputs in West Africa: A Regional Trade Agenda for ECOWAS Countries’ called on Nigeria and other governments in West Africa to move beyond nationally-focused food policies and address regional trade within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to link farmers with consumers in the region’s booming urban areas.

    “Food staples belong at the heart of the ECOWAS agenda on agriculture,” said World Bank senior economist and lead author of the report Jean-Christophe Maur. He said the importance of cross-border cooperation to secure food supply, as well as manage common natural resources, regional diseases and security challenges, has been made painfully clear in recent years.

    According to Maur, now is the time to act and embrace regional trade for what it is—the opportunity to feed populations, reduce poverty, generate jobs and promote shared prosperity.

    The report obtained by The Nation builds on the lessons of the World Bank report, “Africa can help feed Africa,” and examines the specific circumstances in West Africa, which is home to one-third of the continent’s population, and bringing new analysis to the food staples trade and policies in the region.

    The report regretted that though Africa has tremendous agriculture potential with more than half of the world’s fertile yet unused land, countries on the continent are increasingly dependent on food imports from the rest of the world.

    It stressed that regional trade in West Africa is key to food security and agricultural development, and can play an important role if supported by policies and commitments from neighboring countries.

    “Trade across borders will create economies of scale in food production, expand opportunities for producers, and sharply reduce the vulnerability of families, especially the poor, to price volatilities, drought and other shocks,” the report added.

    An active regional agenda exists in West Africa, and regional institutions such as ECOWAS have shown initiative with the recent adoption of harmonized trade and quality control rules for seed and fertilizer markets. Yet despite commitments to integration, many of the 15 ECOWAS member states are pursuing policies to support national self-sufficiency, including import bans on food staples from neighboring countries.

    The report stated that because of lack of adequate regional policies on trade across borders, food producers in West Africa suffer from poorly managed transport and warehousing, a lack of financing, and fragmented supply chains such as refrigeration for perishables, all of which hamper the sale of food staples.

    Responding to the report, the Director-General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Emmanuel Cobham, said local industries need protection against the influx of foreign products in the wake of the implementation of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET).

    NACCIMA‘s position on the policy is that manufacturing companies need some level of protection against the influx of foreign products that the tariff favours. Cobham said since the CET regime has commenced, government may need to consider ways by which the hardship on importers and manufacturers alike could be alleviated.

    Under the new policy, goods are grouped into five categories of tariff rates: zero, five, 10, 20 and 50 per cent. Goods dutiable under the zero per cent category are special drugs as well as industrial machinery and equipment.

    Under the five per cent category, goods dutiable include raw materials and other capital goods.

    Those dutiable under the 10 per cent category are intermediate goods while finished goods attract 20 per cent import tariff.

    Finished goods that can be manufactured locally, however, attract 35 per cent import tariff. But the World Bank seems unimpressed by the success so far recorded by the policy in the region.

  • How Nigeria can leverage on AGOA to boost non-oil export

    How Nigeria can leverage on AGOA to boost non-oil export

    The United States has reauthorised the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) for another 10 years. This may have opened a fresh window of opportunity for Nigeria to drive her non-oil export business. But there are fears that unless poor infrastructure, lack of adherence to standards, value addition, and product packaging are resolved, Nigeria may yet again fail to benefit optimally from the trade policy, which allows exportation of products to the US market, tariff and quota-free. Asst. Editor  CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

     

    The’s a trade policy bodes well for Nigeria’s plan to diversify her economy by promoting the non-oil export business, especially agriculture. But Nigeria failed to maximise opportunities under the US trade policy, known as the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) within the last 15 years. The Act initially covered eight years (October 2000 to September 2008), but with amendments signed by former US President George Bush in July 2004 AGOA was extended to September 2015. Yet, Nigeria still could not ride on the back of the programme to boost non-oil export.

    AGOA, seen as the cornerstone of US trade and investment in Africa, was aimed at giving Nigeria and other eligible African countries opportunity to build capacity in global markets. It offers tangible incentives for African countries to continue their efforts to open their economies and build free markets. Essentially, the trade policy sought to increase market access to Nigeria and 38 other eligible Sub-Saharan African countries to export about 7, 000 product lines tariff and quota-free to the US market.

    However, issues around Nigeria’s mono-product economy centered on oil, and perceived lack of adherence to standards and product packaging methods as well as weak manufacturing base and infrastructural challenges, among others, are said to have conspired to rob Africa’s largest economy the opportunity of riding on the crest of AGOA to become globally competitive.

    But a second chance came the way of Nigeria to exploit the opportunities in AGOA when the US Congress on Thursday, June 11, renewed the Act for another 10 years. The Nation learnt that the renewal of the trade agreement enjoyed the overwhelming support of members of the US Congress, with 392 members against 32, voting for the endorsement of AGOA. The programme, which was to expire on September 30, 2015, now ends in 2025. It has since been signed by US President Barack Obama.

    Expectedly, the 10-year extension of the programme is music in the ears of President Muhammadu Buhari including stakeholders and operators in the private sector. Governments of other eligible African countries are no less excited. Already, because of the passage of US legislation reauthorising AGOA for an additional 10 years, a ‘2015 AGOA Forum’ is scheduled to take place from August 24 to 27 in Libreville, the capital of Gabon. The Forum will be an opportunity to celebrate AGOA’s success over the last 15 years, and explore strategies to maximise impact over the next decade. It also hopes to launch a dialogue on Africa’s shared vision for the post-AGOA future of US-Africa trade.  

    At a ‘Live At State’ online video press conference held at the Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate General, Lagos, on Tuesday, August 18,  Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Assistant United States Trade Representative for Africa Florizelle Liser, both expressed hope that the reauthorisation of AGOA would allow African countries including Nigeria to improve their trade and investment environments to take advantage of AGOA to boost non-oil export. According to Liser, this is particularly so considering the fact that oil export from Africa to the US is declining.

    For Thomas-Greenfield, African countries must work on their safety and other industrial standards and tackle constraints to meet US specifications. She said the forum would seek how Africans can work together to utilise and maximise the benefits of AGOA in the next 10 years. According to her, the implementation of the trade policy in the last 15 years has created several jobs not only in Africa, but also in the US.

    For Nigeria, the 10-year extension of AGOA and the upcoming AGOA Forum could not have come at a better time. This is so considering the current emphasis on growing the non-oil sector. This was sequel to the economic downturn caused by the plunge in oil prices, which put the nation’s finances under severe pressure. Even before the crisis in the international oil market, which forced Nigeria to look towards the non-oil sector for succour, experts had acknowledged the non-oil sector as being more inclusive and sustainable, growth-oriented and also characterised by high economic linkages.

    However, despite the strategic focus on the non-oil sector and the expectation that the sector would receive a major boost on the strength of the renewal of AGOA, there are fears that the same issues that stood in the way of maximising the full benefits of the Act before the 10-year extension might yet again conspire to throw spanner in the works unless they are resolved. “Quality is number one. It is the first thing that ought to be considered as the nation focuses on building a robust export-based economy,” the National President, Association of Systems Management Consultants, Mazi Coleman Obasi, said.

    Obasi told The Nation that at present, locally manufactured products and services lack global quality certification hence, they are denied access to markets in developed economies. The situation, he said, explains why the productivity and competitiveness of manufacturers suffer. He said Nigeria is not making progress under AGOA because of poor standards arising from poor packaging, which makes it difficult for manufacturers especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to penetrate the US markets.

    The Director General, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Sir Emeka Okereke, could not agree less. While describing AGOA as ‘a right and brilliant policy,’ he said: “The challenge has to do with standardisation. America being a developed nation will not take the second best in terms of quality products.” He told The Nation that Nigeria failed to take advantage of the policy to boost her export drive to the US market due partly to her failure to improve on products standardisation especially in the area of packaging.

    The ECCIMA DG added that although many local businesses tried to export products under the scheme, most of them met with stringent US import measures. He, therefore, said there is need to critically look at the Act again to smoothen the grey areas in its implementation. Sir Okereke, who estimated Nigeria’s export drive to the US at about 30 per cent, while putting Ghana’s at about 60 per cent, noted that it was possible that the US had more confidence in Ghana’s method of processing products for export than Nigeria’s.

    “I think there is a systemic lack of confidence on Nigeria by the US. Ghana may be having a cutting edge because she has the ears of the US. The image of Nigeria before the US is different from Ghana,” he said, recommending that “We need to work on our trade diplomacy with the US; we need to work on changing that negative perception if we must benefit from the extension of AGOA this time.”

    Similarly, former Director-General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. John Isemede, said although, he is not condemning AGOA, there is need for Nigeria to assess how she started and where she is today to see whether to go ahead with the old system or there will be some adjustments. He noted that the programme has not contributed in any way to the development of Nigeria’s economy, neither has it raised the business potential of any Nigerian entrepreneur.

    The NACCIMA chief decried a situation whereby America dictates the price of what they buy from the exporting countries under AGOA. He said: “If you are taking produce from Nigeria and we can’t meet your standard, you had better come and invest in Nigeria or bring your own experts to come and teach us the standard. You asked for ABCD products and you have every right to determine the quality and quantity, but you don’t have every right to determine the price for what you don’t produce. What is the essence of determining quality when you have not even worked with our people?”

    The Nation learnt that under AGOA, there are three sectors, namely ‘energy-related products,’ ‘textiles, apparel’ and ‘transportation equipment.’ These account for over 90 per cent of exports currently qualifying for AGOA benefits. However, in the last 15 years of the implementation of the policy, Nigeria was only able to feature prominently in the energy-related products sector. The country performed woefully in the textiles and apparel, agricultural products and mineral and metals sectors. Unfortunately, these are areas Nigeria has huge potential.

    The crux of the matter, according to experts, is that Nigeria shot herself in the foot by refusing to diversify her economy away from its over-dependence on oil. The oil & gas sector, which provides the bulk of Nigeria revenue, contributing as much as 95 per cent of foreign exchange earnings and about 80 per cent of its budgetary revenues, made it difficult for agric exports to play an important role in Nigeria-US trade under AGOA.

    According to experts, agriculture provides 70 per cent of employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and 30 per cent of the region’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Yet agric products constitute less than one per cent of AGOA exports. As if that is not enough, the few agric products Nigeria would have exported were faced with the challenge of quality and standard. Because of the country’s poor infrastructure and lack of laboratories to ensure that exportable agric products and other goods meet required international standards, as well as lack of value addition, among others, Nigeria failed to maximise opportunities under the scheme.

    Poor infrastructure particularly power supply, which has continued to push up cost of production is also believed to be partly responsible for the lack of competitiveness of the manufacturing sector especially SMEs. For instance, at a recent Bank of Industry (BoI- AGOA training programme in Lagos, high cost of production, lack of adherence to contractual terms, and ignorance of local and U.S. customs regulations were identified as some of the hindrances to the export capacities of most Nigerian SMEs.

    With the 10-year extension of AGOA presenting a new window of opportunity for Nigeria to give her non-oil export business another push, stakeholders and real sector operators insist that the time has come for government to improve the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.

  • Sokoto Cement spends N260m on communities’ resettlement

    Sokoto Cement spends N260m on communities’ resettlement

    Over N260 million has been spent in resettling 183 families from three communities affected by the expansion embarked upon by Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), its Managing Director, Mr. Alf Karlsen has said.

    The beneficiary communities are Dan Atu, Sabon-Gida and Gidan- Mubaga in Sokoto State. They have been resettled at Sabongari Alu in Wamakko Local Government.

    Karlsen, who spoke while handing over some of the structures to the caretaker chairman of the council, Alhaji Ahmed Kalambaina,  said the amount was the compensation paid on houses and farmlands and the acquisition of the quarry in the area.

    Represented by the Executive Director, Finance, Mr. Ibrahim Aminu, Karlsen said the company had donated 200 plots to the 186 families where they built their new homes, linked the community with electricity and provided them with potable water.

    He also said the company, locally known as Sokoto Cement, had built an Islamic and modern primary school, clinic, mosque and access roads, among others. He expressed happiness on the existing cordial relationship between the firm and its host communities.

    “CCNN appreciates this cordial relationship, which is key to our sustained successful operations and that is why we even expanded the over 50-year-old company. We will continue to diligently discharge our corporate social responsibilities to further improve the living standard of the members of our host communities,’” he said.

    Alhaji Kalambaina commended the firm for assisting the communities, and pledged to deploy competent teachers to schools and post medical staff to the clinic.

    In their separate remarks, District Heads of Gumbi and Kalambaina, Alhaji Sama’ila Mujelli and Alhaji Abubakar Ahmed appealed to the company to float a scholarship scheme for youths in the area.

  • LCCI decries govt’s inability to meet financial obligations

    LCCI decries govt’s inability to meet financial obligations

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has frowned at the inability of governments at all levels to meet their financial obligations, noting that the situation underscored the imperative of economic diversification and prudent management of state resources and efforts at blocking all fiscal leakages as well as the recovery of looted funds.

    While commending the Federal Government’s intervention in mitigating the conditions of the states and local governments, and efforts at blocking all fiscal leakages and recovery of looted funds, the LCCI proposed that appropriate systems, structures and institutions should be put in place at all levels of government to sustain the integrity and transparency of public sector transactions.

    In a communiqué issued after its meeting in Lagos on Wednesday by LCCI Director-General, Mr. Muda Yusuf, the Chamber urged the Federal Government to unveil its economic blueprints in order to stem the tide of declining investors’ confidence in the economy.

    “Council notes that there is yet no clarity in the policy direction of the government and this is a major factor in investors’ confidence. The uncertainty that began in January this year seems to have lingered. Council urged the Buhari administration to make clear pronouncements with respect to its fiscal policy, foreign exchange policy, and tax policy,” Yusuf said, in the document made available to The Nation.

    He listed other areas where such pronouncement would address to include subsidy policy, trade policy, reform of oil and gas sector (upstream and downstream), power sector, 2015 Budget, auto policy, and other sectoral policies. “All these are necessary for the investors to have a clear insight into the policy direction of the government and take strategic investment decisions,” Yusuf said.

    LCCI also noted the current macro-economic challenges facing the nation, especially the decline in foreign exchange inflow, saying that Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) numerous efforts to protect the foreign reserves and stabilise the exchange rate were acknowledged.

    However, the Council expressed concern over the current methodology of the CBN in achieving these objectives. “The current model of foreign exchange management by the CBN has profound negative consequences for investors’ confidence and the stability of the foreign exchange market. Council, therefore, calls for a more strategic framework for the management of the foreign exchange market,” the document said.

    The Chamber also urged the President to quickly set up an economic team that will interface with the CBN, the organised private sector and key economic ministries to come up with a sustainable model for the management of the foreign exchange market.

  • Hope for all as BoI, UNDP partner on renewable energy

    Hope for all as BoI, UNDP partner on renewable energy

    Despite its huge energy needs, Nigeria has not made much progress in diversifying sources of power supply through renewable energy. However, the ongoing collaboration between the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to invest in and utilise renewable energy resources may renew the hopes of electricity consumers, particularly the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

    Succour may soon come the way of industrialists, particularly operators of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The operators, most of who are weighed down by the rising cost of operation due the perennial unreliable electricity supply from the national grid, may soon heave a sigh of relief, courtesy of the ongoing partnership between the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

    The partnership is on providing alternative source of power supply through renewable energy.

    Specifically, the collaboration is focused on increasing the national capacity to invest in and utilise renewable energy resources to improve access to modern energy services for MSMEs and households. This is in the hope of catalysing, promoting and supporting an expansion of off-the-grid renewable energy services for MSMEs to support private sector-led economic development.

    To achieve this, BoI as implementation agency for the project tagged: “BOI/UNDP Access to Renewable Energy Programme”, has already disbursed about N75.8 million to two alternative power firms. They are GVE Projects Ltd and Arnergy Solar Ltd. The firms would provide solar home systems to off-grid communities in six states, which come under the pilot phase for the take off of the project. The states include Anambra, Delta, Niger, Osun, Kaduna and Gombe.

    The intervention, according to BoI Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, would involve the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and local meter manufacturers. Olaoluwa, who spoke recently in Lagos while presenting cheques to the indigenous alternative power firms, explained that UNDP, which has 50 per cent stake in the project, contributed $1.6 billion. He said the project was divided into the Stand alone, which costs N31.6 million, and the Micro-Grid, which costs N44.2 million, making it a total of N75.8 million.

    The medium term vision is to have 100, 000 homes installed with solar systems in the next five years through a combination of micro-grid and stand-alone solar home systems. The overall objective of the project, The Nation learnt, was to build the capacity of MSMEs to incorporate renewable energy options either as a business in, itself, or as service for business development and encourage financial institutions to increase investment in renewable energy through better understanding and assessing of credit and financing risks of renewable energy investments and services.

    BoI and UNDP also hoped to encourage government to develop and implement renewable energy policies and regulatory frameworks that will facilitate renewable energy options for MSME development in Nigeria. This would ultimately open up the nation’s industrial space for more entrepreneurs most of who have, for long, been hard hit by poor supply of electricity from the national grid.

    Indeed, as Olaoluwa observed, the less than 4,000 Megawatts (MW) electricity supply from the national grid relative to the conservatively estimated 40, 000MW electricity demand for a leading African economy such as Nigeria, with a population of 170 million people, is grossly inadequate. He noted that most of the country’s old central power plants had lost their economies of scale and could no longer deliver competitive, cheap and reliable electricity to more remote customers through the national grid.

    The BoI boss pointed out that renewable energy sources such as hydro (16 per cent), wind (three per cent) and solar (one per cent) are growing in relevance and commercial adoption on a global scale and that the recent Group of Seven (G7) meeting in June had agreed to de-carbonise the global economy by phasing out the use of fossil fuel by the end of this century, over the next 85 years, hence the need to embrace other source of energy.

    In opting for renewable energy, BoI also believes that the absence of reliable power and energy supply is an established challenge for MSME operations in Nigeria. The development financing institution observed that most private sector institutions rely on backup generators with high environmental and economic cost hence, improving MSME and household access to hydro, wind, solar power, biomass and geothermal energy supply to power enterprise operations is critical.

    If BoI succeeds in its latest move to provide succour to MSMEs through renewable energy, it would break Nigeria’s inertia in joining the league of other countries that have made significant progress in diversifying their energy sources. A number of African countries have embraced renewable energy, leaving Nigeria, which ironically has more energy needs given her population and economy size.

    For instance, about five per cent of South Africa’s energy supply is said to come from renewable energy. The Rainbow nation in April named preferred bidders for the fourth round of a series of renewable energy projects that will add about 1,000 MW to its power grid. Similarly, Kenya plans to triple its electricity generation by about 6,000 MW in the next five years, with more than 90 per cent of the planned output coming from renewable sources. Ghana is also said to be exploring renewable energy options including solar, wind, hydro and geothermal.

     

    Why BoI’s intervention is timely

    The rethink in favour of diversifying sources of power supply to guarantee improved electricity supply to Nigerians and operators in the industrial sector, especially MSMEs, is coming at an auspicious time. For one, the intervention is coming at a time the excitement and optimism that greeted the unbundling of the sector appears to have given way to frustration.

    The handover of the power assets to private investors has brought agony and frustration to consumers as there has not been any visible improvement in electricity supply almost two years after privatisation. Rather than improve, electricity supply has worsened and tariff gone up as high as 100 per cent in some parts of the country.

    However, BoI’s latest intervention appears to have renewed the hopes of electricity consumers, particularly MSMEs. As Divisional Head, Large Enterprises, BOI, Mr. Joseph Babatunde pointed out, there is a golden opportunity for rural communities to be empowered with affordable off-grid solar home systems that are operated on a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) basis rather than wait in vain for the national electricity grid.

    Head of Arnergy Solar limited, one of the partners, Mr. Femi Adeyemo, said the project would run for 25 years and would be effectively done so that Nigerians can benefit from it. His optimism stems from the involvement of several stakeholders in the project including renewable energy service providers, financial institutions, MSMEs, government and policy makers, multilateral donor agencies, investors (including venture capitals and private equity firms), and relevant professional associations.

     

    Govt’s efforts in renewable energy 

    The need to explore renewable energy is not lost on the Federal Government considering the fact that getting gas to fire the power plants has been a Herculean task. Unreliable supply infrastructure and pipeline vandals have continued to compromise its distribution to various plants. “Vandalism is taking a toll on us,” former Minister of Power Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said.

    Prof. Nebo, who spoke to journalists in Lagos, added that: “A situation where our own compatriots vandalise the oil and gas pipelines, especially the gas pipelines that supply gas to the power stations, since 70 per cent of our power generation is from gas-fired turbines and 30 per cent is from hydro is regrettable. We have not been doing coal, we have not been doing renewable; we have not been doing biomass, so we really are hamstrung. So, the government is now working on diversifying to ensure that we have a good and robust fuel mix.”

    He said Nigeria now boasts a draft National Policy on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, At the presentation of the draft policy at a stakeholders’ workshop in Abuja, Director of the Electrical Inspectorate Services (EIS) in the Federal Ministry of Power, Abayomi Adebisi, said under the policy, 8,188MW will be achieved with renewable energy by 2020 on a medium term, while the long-term target is on the realisation of 23,134 MW by year 2030.

    Adebisi said renewable energy would contribute 1.3 per cent this year to the national grid with a corresponding increase of 8 per cent and 16 per cent, between 2020 and 2030. “While large and small hydropower would contribute 2,121 MW and 140 MW to the renewable energy generation this year. It is also expected that solar accounts for 117 MW, with biomass electricity at 12.3 per cent,” he said.

    Adebisi added that the policy development was being facilitated by some partners with a grant from GIZ, a German agency. “We sourced for grants from GIZ, then we pooled over 30 documents from people who had once done something on renewable energy. We got a committee of experts to develop the policy, and the draft was approved by the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREE) in May 2013,” Adebisi explained.

    The power sector regulator, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has also come out with a number of incentives aimed at promoting investments in renewable energy such as a guaranteed market for renewables, simplified licensing process, land access and a feed-in- tariff.

     

  • ECOWAS reaffirms commitment to ICT

    ECOWAS reaffirms commitment to ICT

    The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is review its Information Communications Technology (ICT) strategy to ensure the continuous development and integration of its member states.

    ECOWAS Commissioner for ICT Mr. Isaias Barreto da Rosa said on Tuesday in Abuja that the review was also aimed at creating an open and competitive common market for ICT in the region.

    He said the Commission was committed to the development of ICT services to boost social and economic activities in member states.

    “ICT is fundamental to any region in search of innovation and productivity. It is a critical enabler to the growth and development required in the region. It can drive competitiveness and provide opportunities,’’ he said.

    Barreto da Rosa said in reviewing and adopting the ICT strategy, the Commission was conscious of the need to improve on telecommunications infrastructure in the region.

    “It is also important to make telecommunication services affordable in West Africa and create an environment capable of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship,’’ he said.