The Nation Newspaper

Category: Industry

  • 350 entrepreneurs get Fadama-supported starter packs

    THE Fadama III Additional Financing (AF) has empowered 350 entrepreneurs with starter packs in Niger State.

    The State Programme Coordinator (SPC), Dr Aliyu Kutuji, who made this known in Abuja,  said 350 beneficiaries were given starter packs worth N100,000 each, totalling N35 million.

    According to him, the programme  has achieved far more than its objectives, with the main objective being to increase the income of rural farmers, food and job creation.

    He revealed that the target was initially to empower about 300 youths and women, but was able to assist 350 entrepreneurs eventually.

    He said: “We gave them two-week training in some of the higher institutions in the state and we gave them starter pack of N100, 000 each, which is about N35 million.

    “The beneficiaries are doing well in their respective businesses and most of them will showcase their products in the forthcoming Niger Fadama Trade Fair. We are also inviting about 2, 000 farmers in the state to come with their products too.”

    On the essence of the trade fair, Kutuji said it was to showcase what Fadama has been doing in the state since the beginning of this administration. He said the governor and officials from the Fadama national will also be present.

    Kutuji added that Fadama’s target was to increase the income of 75 per cent beneficiaries by 40 per cent at end of the programme.

    “We still have a year plus for the programme, which means we will still achieve more before December 2019, he said, adding that in the area of food production, which is rice and sorghum, it hopes to increase farmers’ output by 40 per cent at end of the programme.’’

    At present, the programme has achieved more than 50 per cent, with Kutuji, noting that prior to the programme, farmers were realising 1.5 to 2 tonnes of rice/sorghum per hectare, but right now they are realising five to six tonnes per hectare.

    The coordinator further said Fadama had taken over about five out of 17 irrigation schemes in the state covering 600 hectares to enable farmers to produce all round the year.

    He also stated that they constructed almost 35 kilometres of surface roads and 500 kilometres of roads under common user facility.

    He said: “We have six aggregation centres for our farmers to store their farm output for off-takers to buy and three agricultural hiring equipment centres, one in each zone.

    “The programme also procured 10 tractors for Fadama Federation Association to assist our farmers to mechanise. We were able to assist our farmers with 150 power tillers in collaboration with the Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs).’’

    Kutuji commended the government for giving Fadama freehand to run the project with the outline of the World Bank.

    He also commended the government for its ability to pay counterpart fund to support the project.

    The state Ministry of Agriculture also assisted Fadama Federation Association with six tractors and three rice thrashers at subsidised rates.

    It would be recalled that Niger State is one of the six Fadama core states partaking in rice and sorghum value chain programme.

     

  • Weighing options in bridging electricity supply gap

    Five years after the privatisation of the power sector, Nigerians are still complaning about irregular supply. How can this be tackled? By investing in off-grid initiatives, including mini-grids and renewable energy, say experts. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

    With a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Rural Energy Development, Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund/Rural Electrification Agency (REF/REA), Dr. Sanusi Mohammed Ohiare, is the only Nigerian with that qualification. Added to this is a Master  of Science in Energy Studies, with specialisation in Energy Finance. Ohiare, no doubt, knows what troubles the  energy sector and what is required to put it on the recovery track.

    When at the 16th seminar series on “Renewable energy potential on Nigeria”, he said the greatest challenge facing the power sector was finance, he was speaking as an expert with a deep understanding of the dynamics of the energy sector.

    The seminar, organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Germany and the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce (AHK Nigeria), Ohiare brainstormed on how to adequately finance Nigeria’s power sector, as well as explore other innovative sources of power generation.

    In his presentation on “Off-grid investment and funding opportunities in Nigeria”, Ohiare he said: “Given the prevalent opportunities and challenges rocking the Nigerian energy sector, access to finance – either import or debt financing, or impact capital in the form of convertible loans and or equity-remains a crucial factor for enhancing energy access across the country.”

    The expert scored the bull’s eye by putting the problem of the energy sector on the doorstep of finance. This is so, considering that a huge investment of about $1 trillion is required to modernise Nigeria’s energy infrastructure in 29 years, from 2014 to 2043, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    Osinbajo made this known when he declared open a two-day National Energy and Climate Change Summit in Abuja. The event was organised by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), in collaboration with the International Energy Charter (IECh) and the European Union.

    Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said the summit provided a high-level forum to discuss energy and climate change in relation to economic development and environmental protection.

    Although the Vice President expressed optimism that the summit’s deliberations would provide solutions to improving sustainable energy supply and access in Nigeria, Ohiare and, indeed, other energy experts are pushing off-grid initiatives, including mini-grids and renewable energy as attractive investment options to make energy supply and access possible.

    Ohiare said from data available to REA, which is the implementing agency of the Federal Government tasked with electrification of rural and un-served communities, Nigerians and businesses spend a whopping $14 billion, about N5 trillion annually to power their generators. He described this as an inefficient power generation model that is also expensive and unclean.

    The energy expert, therefore, said the Federal Government, through REA, was implementing and supporting off-grid initiatives. Specifically, the agency, he said, was working to develop 10,000 mini-grids by 2023, which will provide electricity to 1.4 per cent of Nigeria’s populations. It was equally working to provide reliable energy for more than 250,000 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

    He added that REA was working to provide uninterrupted power supply to federal universities and hospitals in Nigeria. “We have a $350 million investment grant from the World Bank; the fund would go into off-grid and mini-grid electricity,” he explained, adding that REA has already allocated $150 million for mini-grids, $75 million for Solar Hands-on Systems (SHS), and $105 million for universities and hospitals power systems.

    According to the Nigerian Mini Grid Regulation, mini-grids are stand-alone power generation systems of up to one megawatt (mw) capacity that provide electricity to multiple consumers through a distribution network. They offer an innovative yet practical solution to rural electrification challenges.

    Mini-grids can circumvent many of the problems with electricity from the centralised grid, while providing cost-effective power. They are also viable options for the provision of reliable and affordable energy to help factories manufacture, students study, and the economy reach its full potential.

    Today, tens of thousands of communities in remote regions of Nigeria can be cost-effectively served by mini-grids while providing investors a good return on investment.

    To Ohiare and other energy experts, mini-grids, and renewable energy are viable options to salvage the energy sector.

    Already, the REA, according to Ohiare, has started marketing and encouraging investors to come into the renewable energy market. “Whatever support the investors need, we are ready to work with them to improve power supply in the country,” he assured, calling on the industry players to take advantage of the Energising Economies Initiative (EEI).

    The EEI is an initiative of the Federal Government being implemented by the REA. Its mandate is to support the rapid deployment of off-grid electricity solutions that will provide clean and consistent power to economic clusters.

    Interestingly, the push to turn to off-grid electricity solutions, including renewable energy to bridge the electricity supply gap, enjoys the support of the German Government and development partners, such as the African Development Bank (AfDB).

    At the afore-mentioned seminar, the leader of the delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, Duke Benjamin, said Germany was interested in developing renewable energy in Nigeria. He said there was an urgent need for capital and technical interventions to salvage the energy sector.

    His words: “German Government recognises the potential of renewable energy in Nigeria and is looking towards improving the business environment in the sector. We also encourage private investors to invest in the sector. We understand that the major problem in the sector is financing and that is why we are discussing the financial solutions in the sector.”

    Also, AfDB’s Energy Sector Policy and Regulations Specialist Mr. Dozie Okpalaobieri was emphatic that scaling up off-grid solutions and making them commercially viable will unlock a huge market opportunity not just for Nigeria, but in sub-Saharan Africa.

    In his presentation on “Off-grid renewable energy financing,” he said there is a framework to increase on-grid generation to add 160 gigawatts of new capacity by 2025 and increase off-grid generation to add 75 million connections by 2025, an increase that is twenty times more than what Africa generates today.

    Despite Federal Government’s investments in the power sector, more than 95 million Nigerians still live without electricity, according to Ohiare. Giving more details, he said of those living with electricity, 55 per cent are connected to the grid, while 45 per cent are off-grid. This makes mini-grid and off-grid energy solutions compelling investment propositions for investors.

     

    Nigeria’s $9.2b mini-grid

    market beckons

    The investment potential in mini-grid energy solution is huge. For instance, a report titled: “Mini-grids in Nigeria: A major investment opportunity,” said developing off-grid alternatives to complement the grid creates a $9.2 billion a year market opportunity for mini-grids and solar home systems that will save $4.4 billion yearly for Nigerian homes and businesses.

    The report, which was an independent assessment of the Nigerian mini-grid market, was the result of a partnership between REA, the World Bank (Energy Team), and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI).

    The report, which highlighted Nigeria’s potential as the biggest and most attractive off-grid opportunity in Africa, said installing several hundred mini-grids can reduce costs by around 60 per cent in 2020. It also said by reducing cost, mini-grids can save $4.4 billion yearly for homes and businesses.

    The report, which was made available to The Nation at this year’s edition of Power Nigeria exhibition and conference held Lagos, in September, said millions of commercially-viable businesses are powered with expensive and/or unreliable power, describing the power generation as “poor quality, noisy, and polluting”.

    It added that a significant amount of the economy is powered largely by small-scale generators (10–15 GW) and almost 50 per cent of the population has limited or no access to the grid. Consequently, there are high densities of power use, large latent demand, and a strong willingness to switch to more-effective alternatives.

    The 2018 edition of Power Nigeria exhibition and conference gathered more than 20 industry experts, 100 regional and international suppliers from 17 countries to address the ways to improve power coverage and funding of new off-grid strategies.

     

    Turning to renewable energy

    Globally, alternative power sources such as renewable energy, including coal, solar, wind, and biomass, among others, are gaining traction. Experts project that one-third of the world’s energy will need to come from solar, wind, and other renewable resources by 2050.

    According to them, climate change, population growth, and fossil fuel depletion mean that renewables will need to play a bigger role in the future than they do today. This holds true, particularly for Nigeria where getting gas to fire the power plants has become a Herculean task.

    Besides, unreliable supply infrastructure and pipeline vandals have continued to compromise the distribution of gas to various power plants, making alternative energy sources that are renewable and thought to be “free” energy sources more compelling. They also have lower carbon emissions, compared to conventional energy sources.

    The thinking is that diversifying sources of power supply, which the resort to renewable energy entails, will improve electricity supply, following the lack-lustre performance of the power sector, despite its privatisation five years ago.

    To infuse life into the moribund power sector, the Federal Government unbundled the assets of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and handed them over to private investors under a privatisation exercise. That was on November 1, 2013.

    The new core investors were, among others, expected to bring in the technical know-how and investment capital to reposition the sector for better performance and, ultimately, improve electricity supply to consumers. But, five years down the line, the anticipated improvement in electricity supply has yet to come the way of consumers.

    Nigeria’s electricity generation, which stood at a meagre 3,718 megawatts (Mw) when the sector was privatised, has been hovering between 4, 000 Mw and 3, 741. 30 mw in recent months. This is as the number of idle power plants rose from seven to 15, according to the latest data from the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

    The country generates most of its electricity from gas-fired power plants, while output from hydropower plants makes up about 30 per cent of the total. But experts are pushing for diversification of the energy sources.

    Nigeria already has a National Policy on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, which targets to achieve 8,188 Mw with Renewable Energy (RE) by 2020 on a medium term, while the long-term target was on the realisation of 23,134 MW by 2030.

  • Agri-business projected to reach $1tr by 2030

    •Sector tipped as Africa’s ‘new oil’

    With its vast agricultural potential, Africa’s agri-business sector is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030. This makes agri-business the continent’s ‘new oil,’ according to leaders of Africa’s top agri-business companies, who shared their thoughts on the future of the industry at the just-concluded Africa Investment Forum.

    The Africa Investment Forum took place from November 7 to 9, 2018 at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

    The game-changing event was aimed at attracting multi-billion-dollar deals across the continent, is set to usher in a new era for Africa’s investment landscape.

    It was an unprecedented gathering to mobilize and crowd in global investment ca    pital for the continent’s ambitious development agenda.

    Participants and experts in the agri-business session including President and CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed; and CEO of Grow Africa, William Asiko, discussed the industry’s entire value chain.

    Others including Chairman, Flour Mills of Nigeria, John George Coumantaros, CEO of Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa, TP Nchocho, also said there was the need to harness the power of agriculture and move up the value chain to create jobs and wealth.

    “We need to do the research to produce the right solutions to the issues we might face along the value chain. Youths are particularly involved in this aspect as they know how to develop tools addressing issues such as water management and release”, Dangote said.

    The participants said agri-business can also promote industrialisation and urban employment, break the ‘productivity gap’ of development, and improve the quality of life for all Africans.

    Attendees said Africa’s agricultural potential needs to be unlocked; that they want to bring African agriculture to the next level.

    For the small and medium scale farmers, the main challenge remains access to finance. And this was why Shamsuna urged investors and development partners to adapt their policies to accommodate more participants in the agriculture value chain. “I want us to eat what we grow and consume what we produce”, she said.

    Earlier in her opening remarks at the session titled, “Agribusiness: Investment Conversation with Industry Leaders,” AfDB Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Jennifer Blanke, said: ”Agriculture is a key priority for the African Development Bank, through our Feed Africa strategy.”

    She said there was the need to “Understand that by transforming Africa’s agriculture sector it will become the engine that drives Africa’s economic transformation through increased income, better jobs higher on the value chain, improved nutrition, and so on.”

    Some agri-business leaders said there was need to invest $45 billion per year to harness the power of agriculture and move up the value chain to create jobs and wealth.

    At present, only $7 billion is invested in the sector. Investments from the private sector, leaders said, will create the adequate environment and enhance the emergence of locally owned agro-processing industries capable of creating jobs and increasing incomes in rural Africa.

    The continent, according to the experts, could become a net exporter of agricultural commodities, replacing $110 billion worth of imports, as well as doubling its share of market value for select processed commodities.

    In closing the session, the Manager of Agri-business Development at the AfDB, Edward Mabaya, highlighted the vast investment opportunities in Africa’s agri-business including seed, fertilizer, mechanization, processing and storage.

     

  • Firm unveils platform to drive growth of real estate sector

    New market entrant ZAMA has unveiled a modern and innovative web and mobile platform for buyers, sellers and agents in the real estate sector.

    The one-stop platform, known as Proptech, provides data to aid decision making guide users with  insights on property and connect them to those who can help.

    ZAMA Founder/CEO, Abdulhakeem Sadiq, said the increasing role and use of Proptech was a boon for the regional real estate sector.

    “Proptech is slowly gaining momentum in developed markets, and we feel a developing market like Nigeria can learn and re-calibrate itself for seasoned investors,” he said.

    Having spent years in research and development to refine the residential and commercial focussed ZAMA platform, Sadiq believes that his firm’s multiphase tech solution has the potential to enhance and shape the Nigerian industry drastically.

    His words: “We have been working for about two years to research the local market in preparation to launch a modern and innovative web and mobile platform for buyers, sellers and agents in the Nigerian real estate space.”

    Sadiq said PropTech was designed as a one-stop platform to bring cohesion to the market. He described the product as an example of how tech-savvy African entrepreneurs and experts are harnessing global smarts, tech and efficiencies to create lucrative opportunities by solving historical economic challenges.

    He explained that his firm reached out to search engine giant Google to grant it access to a back-end API to edit their map and integrate to its platform to literally put properties on the map.

    He, however, said currently, the platform is focused only on Lagos with the goal to launch in other local markets in Nigeria and the rest of West Africa.

    Inspired by billion-dollar valuated international firms like Zillow, Zoopla and Rightmove, Sadiq and his team used their know-how and industry experience to suite the unique Nigerian real estate sector.

    As he explained, “Our market has its peculiar problems and introducing a process driven technology would greatly enhance the validity of property valuation for instance, or even in the process finding a reputable agent to work with to help sell and buy properties.”

     

    He further explained that the platform was a product of collaboration between his firm and its London design firm, which together came up with the name: Zama.

    Sadiq in Hausa, a local dialect, ZAMA means a “place to stay,” but it was also designed to spell NEMA – a local term meaning to search. The combination of ZAMA and NEMA means “searching for a place to stay.”

    The real estate expert expressed confidence that ZAMA will drive the real estate sector by providing more data, transparency and a powerful platform for industry players to come together.

    “Tech and data are fundamental to growing the sector and driving more investment and liquidity. The local and international market is hungry for data.

    “With our platform, we will provide relevant data to aid decision making and guide users with relevant insights to make informed decisions on property while also connecting them to professionals who can help,” he said.

    He spoke at this year’s West Africa Property Investment (WAPI) Summit, which ended on Friday, November 16, 2018.

    WAPI is an annual property conference, which is pivotal for the development of the real estate sector as it allows industry high profile networking. This year’s edition took place in Lagos, Nigeria, from November 15-16, 2018.

    Sadiq said a number of stakeholders were very interested in the ZAMA; that there were lots of discussions around his game changing platform at the Summit.

    Indeed, the deployment of technology to make Nigeria’s real estate sector more investable and increase liquidity to drive greater home ownership was a major talking point at the Summit.

    “I believe WAPI has done a good job at bringing together industry professionals to discuss challenges and opportunities in the industry. Platforms like WAPI also help build relationships and as far as I’m concerned, real estate is about relationships; the rest is just details,” Sadiq stated.

    And as WAPI provides the industry’s largest and concentrated location to meet; WAPI’s host Kfir Rusin is confident that ZAMA will be a force in the Nigerian market.

     

  • High, low points of Lagos trade fair

    This year’s edition of the Lagos International Trade Fair provided a forum for many businesses to evaluate trends in the economy and chart the way forward. Assistant Editor OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE, who monitored the 10-day event, examines its highlights from the perspective of key public and private sector operators.

    THE just-concluded Lagos International Trade Fair, provided opportunity for partcipants, especially local and international exhibitors, to advertise to target markets and create brand awareness.

    It also provided a veritable platform for manufacturers and service providers to promote their products and services to a broader group.

    But to stakeholders, including public and private sector operators, the 32nd edition of the fair, was more than product and services exhibition, it aimed at reaching prospective customers and increasing market share.

    The event, which was organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), presented another opportunity to examine the benefits and impacts of the trade fair on the economy, do a hard-nosed retrospection on the economy, examine the current challenges and recommend the way forward.

    Reviewing the event, LCCI Vice-President and Chairman, Trade Promotion Board, Mr. Gabriel Idahosa, said more than 500,000 visitors attended the 10-day fair, while an average of 40, 000 square metres space was utilised. Also, about 2, 000 exhibitors attended the fair.

    In what perhaps underscored the growing interest of foreign investors and businesses in the Nigerian market, Idahosa said more than 200 foreign exhibitors from 16 countries, including China, Japan, India, Indonesia, and Ghana, showed up at the fair.

    Other countries that could not resist trade and investment opportunities in Nigeria included Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey, Cameroun, Kenya, Singapore, Jamaica, Republic of Benin, South Africa, and the European Union (EU).

    The LCCI chief described this year’s event as “very exciting”.

    “Our brand promise, year after year, will continue to be connecting businesses and creating value as you must have noticed in our marketing campaign for the past few months,” he said.

    Idahosa said exhibitors took advantage of the chamber’s automated website to register, pay and book for the space of their choice, adding that the process was ab-initio, designed to be seamless and friendly, as almost all the available spaces were booked.

    He also said the chamber took time to educate exhibitors on how noise pollution is injurious to health, which was why public address systems and music gadgets were banned.

    “We have been enlightening our exhibitors on alternative ways of marketing, and they embraced it. We didn’t allow any exhibitor to bring musical instrument as we insisted that it would be confiscated if found. We also sent a special team to ensure compliance,” Idahosa added.

    Continuing, he said: “To bring life to the exhibition ground, our central public address system was made available to disseminate information and light music to make the environment welcoming.  We established a Lagos International Trade Fair (LITF) Radio for exhibitors, who want to place adverts, either by spot announcement or jingles, during the Fair.”

    For LCCI President Mr. Babatunde Paul Ruwase, this year’s fair with the theme: “Connecting Business, Creating Value”, underscored the importance of relationships and interactions among businesses for the purpose of wealth creation. He also said it underlined the value of interactions between producers and service providers; and the end users.

    While noting that the Chamber recognised the imperative of non-oil sector development and the need to add value to primary products in order to improve earnings for both the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy, Ruwase said the fair provided a platform to identify non-oil alternatives and highlighted the significance of value addition.

    The LCCI president added that despite the limitations of the business environment, infrastructure challenges and the state of the economy, the Chamber was able to hold a successful fair.

    According to him, the success of the fair was a testimony that the Nigerian business community and foreign investors demonstrated their confidence in the economy.

    Ruwase, however, called on governments at all levels to continue to address the issues of enabling environment in the country, especially in the area of infrastructure.

    “We need to do this in order to fully harness the huge enterprising resource of domestic and foreign investors for the diversification of our economy and the welfare of our people,” he stressed.

    He has an ally in the President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Iyalode Alaba Lawson. The NACCIMA president asked the government to expedite action on infrastructure development, particularly in the construction of access roads to the ports and the provbision of reliable electricity supply.

    She commended the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) clinics, which she said, made it possible for MSMEs to get loans and working capital. She also asked the government to work earnestly to seek business relationship with developed economies

    .

    In exhibitors, operators, words

    The Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Yutaka Kikuta, said Nigeria is blessed with abundant human and material resources. He, however, asked the nation to turn its potential to trade relations with foreign companies, which will serve as a catalyst for job creation and economic development.

    Similarly, Dr. John Eredo of Jonmaka Herbal Products/Cosmetic Ltd, from Zambia, commended the fair. He said although, he could do with more sales, the visits to his stand was commendable.

    The Nigerian representative of Debbies & Debbitone, hair, skin and home care manufacturers, Madam Uche, also said she had no regrets coming to the fair. While admitting that her sales increased during the 10-day fair, she said the organisers should step up in the area of publicity in the coming editions of the fair.

    Nkoyo Fresh Smothie Chief Executive Officer, who declined to have his name in print,  said although sales were low, the improved security and the elimination of excessive noise that used to characterise previous fairs were commendable. Like Uche, he urged the LCCI to embark on aggressive publicity to attract visitors to the fair.

     

    Govt to improve business

    environment

    To reassure existing and prospective investors, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the current administration was working on growing the economy by investing over N2.7 trillion in capital projects.

    Speaking at the Fair, Osinbajo said though the administration earned 60 per cent less from oil, it has done more by creating an environment that supports commerce, trade and foreign direct investment.

    The vice president specifically said the light rail between Lagos and Ogun and the port access road development were part of the enabling environment created by the current administration to create a competitive investment environment.

    He also said the government was working on building an effective rail line out of the ports and Lagos to ensure that port congestion was a thing of the past.

    On power generation, Osinbajo said the current administration was generating over 7, 000 megawatts as against the 3,000 megawatts it met on ground.

    He added that independent power producers are currently powering big markets such Ariara in Aba, Abia State, Sura in Lagos and markets in Edo and Ondo states.

     

    The low points

    But it wasn’t all good news for the fair and the exhibitors. For instance, some exhibitors raised the alarm over the LCCI’s alleged monetisation of the 2018 Lagos International Trade Fair, as well as poor publicity and public awareness.

    Checks by The Nation, however, revealed that the allegation was as a result of the denial of multiple access cards and serial gate passes for exhibitors’ cars and trucks unlike the previous fairs.

    Also, while some international exhibitors from Europe, Asia and Africa commended the LCCI for eliminating noise in the 2018 fair, some local manufacturers and retailers felt it was not good for their business.

    They claimed that the fair was too quiet unlike previous fairs when they used music, dancers and canvassers to attract visitors to their stand to make bulk sales.

    Some of them also said although security largely improved, a lot still needed to be done as some who do not have business at some hours of the day managed to find themselves inside the fair, which may have constituted a security breach.

    A fabric dealer from Ghana, Madam Celestina Oseibonsu, who made her 5th outing to the international trade fair this year, lamented that she did not make much sales, as many visitors complained of low purchasing power due to the poor economy.

    She also complained of poor publicity of the fair. She also regretted that Nigerians wanted to pay the same price they paid last year for fabrics, noting that it was impossible as a result of inflation.

     

    LCCI reacts

    LCCI Director-General Mr. Muda Yusuf debunked allegations of monetisation of the fair. He stated that the chamber gave every exhibitor the mandatory stickers and gate passes, noting that the exhibition ground had limited parking space.

    Yusuf said if all the requests for passes were acceded to, it would have created chaos. Besides, there were private parking spaces beside the fair ground, which exhibitors could have made use of.

    In line with the chamber’s commitment to encouraging trade and commerce, Ruwase reminded Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State of its request for a permanent trade fair facility in Lagos.

     

  • Nigeria is Africa’s best investment destination, says Osinbajo

    Nigeria still remains one of the best investment destinations in Africa, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

    Making this known at the just-concluded Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, Osinbajo said Nigeria’s ease of doing business had continued to improve.

    The forum which held at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, was organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

    It was aimed at attracting multi-billion-dollar global investment capital for Africa’s ambitious development agenda.

    Prof. Osinbajo, who spoke during the second Presidential Investment Chat panel, said all bottlenecks hindering businesses were being removed to allow business owners carry out their business with fewer hitches.

    The vice president also said certain incentives were being planned for new businesses in the country to encourage more investors.

    “We have established industrial council and this works on policy and our vision on industrialisation in the coming years,” he said.

    Osinbajo also said a number of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies were springing up across the country.

    According to him, tremendous improvement would be witnessed in the ICT sector in the next few years.

    Osinbajo noted that Financial Technology (Fintech) firms had given hope to the government and people of Nigeria that job creation would keep improving.

    The vice president, however, added that there was the need to allay the fears of banks. “…payment systems are happening much faster so, we have to change our systems’’.

    “We’re trying to work with the banking system. Major issue is that the technology is disrupting the financial space; so banks need to reform,” he said.

    Osinbajo said Nigeria was on track as far as investment drive was concerned. According to him, Nigeria’s huge spending on roads, continuous establishment of Independent Power Plants (IPPs) and spending improvement on transportation give hope that there would soon be huge improvement in the economy.

    The vice president was on the panel alongside President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, President Alpha Conte of Guinea, Prime Minister Philemon Yang  of Cameroon, and the Chairman of African Rainbow Limited, Patrice Motsepe.

     

  • British envoy: Brexit ’ll favour Nigeria, others

    Nigeria is United Kingdom’s (UK’s) major trading partner in Africa. She, therefore, stands to benefit tremendously from Brexit, Deputy High Commissioner, British High Commission, Ms Laure Beaufils, has said.

    Britain voted to exit the European Union (EU) in 2017, a decision famously termed “Brexit.” Beaufils said the possibility of Nigeria benefiting tremendously from Brexit was high, as it remains UK’s major trading partner in the continent.

    Speaking against the backdrop of the recent visits by British Prime Minster Theresa May and monarch Prince Charles, during the week, Beaufils said, for instance, Nigeria has a larger chunk of UK’s £400 million investment in Africa.

    The British envoy, however, said the only thing that may work against Nigeria with some British investors was the fact that sometimes investors are confused as to the risks inherent in investing in the country and how to mitigate them.

    She also criticized policy somersaults in the country, which, she said, are capable of discouraging investors.

    Beaufils cited the MTN’s recent spat with regulatory authorities in Nigeria, noting that such rash decisions were not good for the development and growth of the economy especially in job creation.

    The Chairman of Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), Lord Marland of Odstock, underscored Britain’s new interest in Nigeria and other Commonwealth countries.

    “There are one or two really encouraging, optimistic places on the horizon. You’ve got the big populations such as Nigeria, which is going to be 320 million people bigger than the United States in less than 10 years.

    “They love British products; it’s a huge consumer market. Fundamentally, there is a lot of disposable wealth,” he said, in an interview with the UK Telegraph.

    While noting that many Commonwealth countries including Nigeria offer new opportunities for Britain, the CWEIC Chairman said post-Brexit, the UK was looking to establish a trading zone with many of its former colonies.

    Trade between Commonwealth nations was worth $525 billion in 2015, and it is projected to more than double by 2020. Cumulative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of all these nations will also be worth $14 trillion by 2020, according to experts.

    The Commonwealth is a bloc of former British colonies with a population of about 2.4 billion people and includes countries such as Nigeria, Australia and Canada.

     

    influence has been especially felt in Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa, and 30 per cent of its exports go into the bloc’s market, while India accounts for 15 per cent of Nigeria’s exports.

  • Dangote unveils new products at exhibition, employs 500,000

    President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said the  group employs over 500,000 direct and 200,000 indirect employees, pledging to put Nigeria in the spotlight in the comity of nations. Dangote, whose cement business spans West, Central and Eastern Africa, said his company controls over 65 per cent of the cement industry in Nigeria.

    Speaking through his Sales Manager, Mr. Josiah Nweke, at the ongoing International Trade fair in Lagos, he said the group has recently introduced the block master cement that is best for block moulding and construction, beating competitors to it.

    About 20 new products of the group, including stew mix, curry and thyme were unveiled at the fair. He invited people to take up distributorship of the group’s products and grow their personal income and the economy.

    President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), Babatunde Paul Ruwase, while commending the efforts of the group, said the group’s investments cut across all sectors, noting that hardly will one find a house without any of their product. He added that the group has topped it with a world class oil refinery outfit.

    The LCCI, he said, is setting a platform for cross pollination of ideas among the private sector, the government and the public. He said: “Our aim is to encourage bilateral trade relations while creating value for exhibitors. This is a wake-up call for the government not to allow the gains of the International Trade Fair to be missed.” He urged the government to improve access to finance, build infrastructure and improve manufacturing activities.

     

  • MAN urges caution in ratifying free trade pact

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urged the Federal Government to be cautious in ratifying the proposed African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) agreement.

    MAN President Mansur Ahmed said the Federal Government should not only consult, but study and understand the implications of the free trade agreement before ratification.

    He made this known in Lagos  when he received the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Hassan Bello, who paid him a courtesy visit.

    AfCFTA was designed to create a continental trade bloc of 1.2 billion Africans, with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about $3 trillion.

    The agreement commits African countries to phasing out tariffs on 90 per cent of goods, with 10 per cent of “sensitive items” to be phased out incrementally. It will also liberalise trade in services, while also signaling a step towards building strong regional value chains.

    The agreement is seen as an important milestone in promoting Africa’s regional integration and helping to increase intra-African trade by more than 52 per cent, worth about $35 billion per year.

    But, Ahmed said with Nigeria’s experience in exporting goods to other West African countries, under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), the continental free trade agreement may not be any better.

    “The position of MAN on AFCFTA has been very clear from the beginning. Nigeria is the largest economy in West Africa and the largest population. The impact of any major agreement to do with trade clearly will have greater impact on Nigeria than any other country.

    “So, we owe it to ourselves and to our economy that we should be very conscious of the potentials of not only the opportunities, but also the risks to our economy.

    “We need to study this very carefully to anticipate where there is likely to be risk to the economy or to the welfare of the people and to make sure that we agree on mitigating actions that will minimize these risks,” he said.

    Ahmed noted that the ETLS has not been effective as it should be and up till today, exporters are having tremendous problem exporting even from Nigeria to Ghana.

    “If therefore, this is our experience within the West African sub region, we cannot take it for granted that the AFCFTA will be any better.

    “So, we want to make sure that we consult, study and understand how it is going to affect us and we take measures up front to make sure that we mitigate the risks and maximise the opportunities for our economy,” he stated.

    Ahmed said the economy is presently going through challenging times hence, there could be no better time than now to fully diversify the economy.

    MAN’s latest warning came on the heels of the recent constitution of a committee for Impact and Readiness Assessment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area by President Muhammadu Buhari to address risks associated with signing the AFCFTA agreement.

    Earlier, Bello said the NSC’s visit was to solicit the buy-in of MAN to jointly agree on framework for collaboration in addressing some of the challenges in the port sector.

    He said the council has been supporting programmes geared towards improving port efficiency and reducing cost as well as simplifying procedures and processes for the clearance of goods at the ports.

    Bello, who reiterated the need for diversification of the economy, also noted that exports procedures need to be streamlined.

    “For long, we have been talking about the fact that the economy needs to come out from being import dependent to an economy that can manufacture, export and process agricultural produce and make sure we earn the foreign exchange.

    “So, in line with the Federal Government’s effort, NSC has keyed into this project by ensuring that the export procedures are streamlined and reduced to the barest minimum,” he said.

    MAN and the NSC have agreed to set up a joint committee with focus on reducing cost to make the nation’s port more competitive, promote ease of doing business, review some trade policies at the port as well as improve port infrastructure.

     

  • Ebonyi lifts small business owners with N4m

    The Ebonyi State Government said it has changed the narrative of Micro Small &Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the state by distributing over N4billion to small business owners in the state. Commissioner for Commerce & Industry, Chief (Mrs) Ugo Nnachi said in addition, the state is supporting civil servants with additional N4 billion to invest in agro based sector, especially poultry and fish farming. She spoke exclusively to The Nation in Lagos.

    She said the state governor  David Nweze Umahi is committed to changing the narrative that Lagos State is filled with Ebonyi youths, who engage in street trading. To underscore  this, she said the governor has doled out N130 million to over 540 street traders to enable them engage in meaningful commercial activities as against petty and street trading.

    The Commissioner said the idea of attributing street trading to people from Ebonyi State in major cities across the nation has become a thing of the past as over 4,000 widows were empowered with N250, 000 each and tricycles distributed across the 13 local government areas of the state.

    She encouraged investors to take advantage of the rich resources in the state and invest for high returns. According to her, the state is blessed with abundant mineral resources in commercial quantities and scattered throughout the state, but are yet to be fully and industrially exploited, resulting in the low level of industrial development of the state.

    On what the state is doing to industrialise,  she said Governor Umahi has aggressively tackled the problem of poor road network within the state and pursued all round infrastructural development, including mechanised agriculture and agribusiness.

    She said: “In matching his words with action, the governor has recently established three factories such as the pencil, water, and women bag factories and created three industrial parks, each in the three senatorial districts of the state in Uburu in the south, Ezzamgbo in the north and Nkalagu in the central to aid industrialists in establishing micro, small and medium enterprises. In addition to the three industrial parks, government has, since 2017, taken preliminary steps towards the establishment of an ultra-modern regional market at Afikpo, known as Most Reverend Bishop Micheal Okoro regional market.”

    The state’s agricultural main crops, she said include, but not limited to rice, palm produce, cocoyam, maize, ground nut, yam, plantain, banana and cassava. Others are melon, sugarcane, local beans, fruit and vegetables.