The Nation Newspaper

Category: Industry

  • ‘Fertiliser blending plants’ll save $200m in forex, N60b in subsidy’

    The revival of abandoned  fertiliser blending plants will save Nigeria about $200 million in Foreign Exchange (forex) and over N60 billion in subsidy. It will also create thousands of jobs.

    President Muhammadu Buhari, who made this known during the 2017 budget presentation at the National Assembly, said that these will come on the strength of an ambitious agreement Nigeria signed with Morocco on December 2, 2016 to revive the plants.

    He said that the agreement focuses on optimising local materials while only importing items that are not available locally.

    “This programme has already commenced and we expect that in the first quarter of 2017, it will create thousands of jobs and save Nigeria US$200 million of foreign exchange and over N60 billion in subsidy,” Buhari said.

    Nigeria has great potentials in chemical and organic fertiliser consumption and usage, using 20 kilogrammes per hectare (kg/ha) of fertiliser on the average. This lags behind in some countries in Africa, such as South Africa and Egypt where average fertiliser usage is 100kg/ha.

    As a result of low production in Nigeria, most fertiliser is imported. Thus overdependence on imported fertiliser results in drain on foreign reserve. It also leads to more demands on fertiliser importation and high prices.

    However, efforts to cut imports through local production of fertiliser have so far failed. And all attempts to turn around Nigeria’s two big fertiliser production manufacturers-the Federal Super Phosphate Fertiliser Company (FSFC) set up in 1976 and the National Fertiliser Company of Nigeria (NAFCON) established in 1988 for the production of urea failed.

    Finally, the Federal Government sold them to private entrepreneurs. Since then, more than 30 fertiliser companies are said to have been established with different production capacity in different states in Nigeria, including the abandoned Fertiliser Blending Plant in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State.

    The Bokkos Fertilizer Blending Plant was constructed by the Joshua Dariye administration, but was abandoned by the immediate past administration of Jonah David Jang. Incumbent Governor Lalong has, however, pledged his commitment to complete all abandoned projects including the fertiliser blending plant as resources available to him permit.

    However, with the Nigeria-Morocco fertiliser deal, a new dawn may be in the offing for Nigeria’s abandoned fertiliser plans. And Buhari’s commitment to economic diversification, underscored by Federal Government’s decision to vote N92 billion as budgetary allocation to the agric sector for the year 2017 underscored this fact.

    “Agriculture remains at the heart of our efforts to diversify the economy and the proposed allocation to the sector this year is at a historic high of N92 billion,” the President said, adding that the budget was primed to focus on economic recovery and growth strategy.

    Buhari also said N92 billion will complement the existing efforts by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to boost agricultural productivity through increased intervention funding at single digit interest rate under the Anchor Borrowers Programme, commercial agricultural credit scheme and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending.

    The President indicated that provision of and access to inputs, pursuing a conducive commodity market to ease exchanges and plugging waste through proper storage would be key areas.

    “Accordingly, our agricultural policy will focus on the integrated development of the agricultural sector by facilitating access to inputs, improving market access, providing equipment and storage as well as supporting the development of commodity exchanges,” he stated.

  • LCCI to Fed Govt: stimulate investment to overcome economic challenges

    LCCI to Fed Govt: stimulate investment to overcome economic challenges

    The Federal Government has been advised to stimulate investment to overcome the country’s economic challenges.

    Speaking at Ota in Ogun State,  Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Director-General Mr. Muda Yusuf said stimulating investment will help in bringing the nation out of economic recession.

    “The recession experienced in 2016 was the consequence of internal and external factors. The attack on oil installations by militants in the Niger Delta is the internal factor. The external factors are, principally, the slump in oil price and other adverse developments in the global economy,’’ he said.

    Yusuf urged the Federal Government to urgently devise a framework that would ensure liquidity of the foreign exchange market to accelerate the economic recovery process in 2017.

    “Forex liquidity was a major problem for investors in 2016 because many of them could not access it to procure raw materials and other inputs as and when needed,’’ he said.

    The LCCI chief said remittances had been very difficult, especially from the foreign airlines, adding that foreign exchange inflows from autonomous sources were also impeded because of the dysfunctional ties in the foreign exchange market.

    According to Yusuf, this impacted negatively on the forex supply, resulting in decline in Diaspora remittances, capital importation and export proceeds. He said a credible forex regime was critical to the restoration of investors’ confidence.

  • Federal Govt to resuscitate Ajaokuta Steel Company

    With the allocation of over N4 billion for the resuscitation of Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State, hope has risen for the completion of the moribund integrated steel plant tagged the “bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisation.”

    The allocation was contained in the 2017 budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    According to the breakdown, a total sum of N4,272,797,371 was appropriated, which is higher than the N3.9 billion budgeted for 2016.

    The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Fayemi Kayode, had reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to settle all litigations between it and Global Infra­structure Nigeria Ltd (GNIL), an Indian firm.

    A concession agreement between the Federal Government and GNIL for the management of the steel plant was terminated in 2008.

    Although, the Federal Government had accused the Indian firm of breaching the provisions of the concession agreement and asset stripping, the company had gone to the International Court of Arbitration in London, challenging the revocation of the agreement.

    The Federal Government’s commitment to settling all the litigations was because of expectations that the steel plant company would be the leading supplier of quality steel products in all the major economic sectors including construction, packaging and wire drawing/nail making industry.

    Apart from employment and technology transfer opportunities, a functional steel company was also expected to earn the country huge foreign exchange, provide the needed steel for the automotive industry, as well as aid government’s economic diversification efforts.

    Rather than do so, Nigeria has continued to spend an estimated $3.3 billion on steel importation annually, despite parading the record of having the second largest iron ore deposit in Africa. The project became a huge drain pipe and a campaign tool for successive administrations.

    A combina­tion of massive corruption and lack of necessary political will have continued to impede progress on the steel project since its inauguration in 1983.

    But according to the ministry’s budget, the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) got N3.8 billion, mainly for the generation of geological data, which hadn’t been updated recently.

    The National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos got N821 million, the Metallurgical Training Institute, Onitsha got N722 million, while the Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences was allocated N472 million.

    About N99 million was earmarked for Artisanal Mines and Registration Mineral Buying Centres.

  • Agency empowers 85 orphans with skills

    Eighty-five orphans and vulnerable children are being trained in various skills for sustainable living, the Akwa Ibom State Agency for the Control of AIDS (AK-SACA), has said.

    Its Programme Manager, Dr. Nkereuwem Etuk, made this known in Uyo, the state capital at the meeting of the state working technical group on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and AIDS (PMTCT).

    At the meeting, during the week, Etuk said the training was in collaboration with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, adding that the beneficiaries were trained on skills such as hairdressing, fashion design and catering.

    He said that the training was supported by the World Bank and the trainees would be equipped with starter packs at the end of the exercise in February.

    Etuk said that AK-SACA had formed eight youth-friendly clubs in collaboration with the state Ministry of Youth and Sport on how to stay safe from HIV and AIDS infection.

    He explained that the collaboration with the ministry was targeted at out-of-school-youths, while a similar partnership with the state Ministry of Education was directed at youths and young people in schools.

    The programme manager added that the agency was also  collaborating with some civil society organisations on the uptake of ante natal services by pregnant women in some local government areas.

    The HIV and AIDS Programme Manager, state Ministry of Health, Dr. Ibia Ibia, called for effective engagement of clergymen and opinion leaders in the prevention of HIV and AIDS infection in the state.

    He noted that clergymen, especially in the rural areas have great influence on their members and could help  their behaviour.

    Ibia stated that the 2014 national survey on HIV and AIDS prevalence in Nigeria had placed the state at 10.8 per cent.

    He said the state would conduct its own AIDS indicator survey soon, pleading with all stakeholders to collaborate to scale down the prevalence rate of the scourge.

  • ILO: Global youth unemployment rose by 13.1% in 2016

    ILO: Global youth unemployment rose by 13.1% in 2016

    Global youth unemployment last year rose by 13.1 per cent, an increase from 12.9 per cent recorded at the end of 2015, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.

    This was contained in ILO’s latest research report titled: “World Employment and Social Outlook for Youth 2016: Trends for Youths.”

    The report  quoted ILO Deputy Director-General for Policy, Ms Deborah Greenfield, as saying that global number of unemployed youths would rise by half a million to reach 71 million in the first such increase in three years.

    According to Greenfield, “Of greater concern is the share and number of young people, often in emerging and developing countries, who live in extreme or moderate poverty in spite of having a job.

    “In fact, 156 million or 37.7 per cent of working youths are in extreme or moderate poverty as compared with 26 per cent of working adults.”

    She said the alarming rise in youth unemployment and the equally disturbing high levels of youths, who still live in poverty, show how difficult it will be to end poverty globally by 2030.

    Greenfield said in the report that there was need for countries to redouble efforts at achieving sustainable economic growth and decent work.

    She noted that the report also highlighted wide disparities between young women and men in the labour market, adding that there was need for ILO member-states and social partners to be addressed urgently.

    The disturbing research also quoted ILO Senior Economist Mr. Steven Tobin as saying that the labour force participation rate for young men stood at 53.9 per cent, compared with 37.3 per cent for young women.

    Tobin, who is the lead author of the report, said that the disparity between young men and young women represented a gap of 16.6 per cent.

    “The challenge is particularly acute in Southern Asia, Arab States and Northern Africa, where female youth participation rates are respectively, 32.9, 32.3 and 30.2 per cent lower than those of male youth in 2016,’’ Tobin said.

    He, however, said that unemployment increases were driven by the slowdown in emerging economies.

    Tobin said that global economic growth in 2016 was estimated at 3.2 per cent, 0.4 per cent lower than the figure predicted in late 2015.

    He added that this was driven by a deeper than expected recession in some key emerging commodity exporting countries and stagnating growth in some developed countries.

  • High dairy import worries dangote

    High dairy import worries dangote

    About 98 per cent of dairy products consumed in Nigeria are imported, the Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said.

    The industrialist warned that the nation was at risk of hunger in the next few years if food importation is not checked.

    Addressing some students of the executive Masters in Business Administration (MBA) class of the Lagos Business School who visited the Dangote Petrochemical Refinery in Lagos, Dangote said his company would develop dairy plants and develop homegrown milk production to reduce importation.

    “By 2020, it is estimated that the Nigerian population would have risen to between 207 million and 210 million. If we do not make efforts to grow and process our own foods, God forbid, we will go hungry,” Dangote said.

    He stated that his company has been in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on ways it could add value to local production, and that the company has marked massive dairy production for the next three years.

    “We cannot solve all Nigeria’s problems, but at least we can embrace and add value to areas where we have comparative advantage,” Dangote said.

    He added that Dangote Group was the most capitalised company on the stock exchange, with investments, which include six ongoing projects that would create not less than 250,000 jobs across the nation.

    He said that the refinery, which primarily majored in gas plants, petrochemicals and fertilizer production, could generate an annual foreign exchange savings and earnings of $15 billion.

    The industrialist also said it would generate up to 1500 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs in support services and logistics, which would also include up to 22,000 housing facilities.

    Dangote also said that the East West Onshore Gas Gathering Section (EWOGGS) pipeline of the refinery was a $3b investment specifically dedicated to generate 12,000 mega watts of power for industries.

  • Imported 10kg gas cylinders harmful, says SON

    Imported 10kg gas cylinders harmful, says SON

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has described as dangerous the imported 10 kilogrammes (kg) gas cylinders. It said the cylinders were carrying values meant for 3kg and 6kg cylinders.

    The agency made this known during the inspection of two 40-foot container loads of substandard gas cylinders worth about N50 million.

    SON Director-General, Osita Aboloma, who was represented by the Director of Compliance, Mr. Bede Obayi, said using a 6kg approval to bring in 10kg cylinders  subverted the regulatory standards and constituted economic sabotage.

    “The importer got approval to bring in 6kg, but went and imported 10kg camping gas, a different size, which is not in line with the standard. It is a typical negligence of the laws of the land,” Aboloma said.

    He urged the public not to patronise the 10kg cylinders because they are dangerous. SON, he said, has alerted its state offices to rid the market of the consignment.

    Aboloma said the only the 3kg and 6kg cylinders were approved for importation as camping gas, explaining that some unscrupulous importers were hiding under that to bring in 10 kg cylinders as camping gas.

    “The importation of 10kg cylinders as camping  gas is automatically out of the specification” Aboloma said.

    SON, he said, would prosecute importers of  the substandard gas cylinders and associated products.

    Importers would be made to follow regulatory guidelines as a way to avert danger, he said.

  • Global manufacturing growth ‘sluggish’

    Global manufacturing growth remained low in the third quarter of 2016, reflecting a prolonged yet fragile recovery  in industrialised economies and weakened growth prospects in developing and emerging industrial economies, a report by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), has said.

    The report said that world manufacturing output rose by 2.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2016, compared to the same period of the previous year. It predicted that uncertainty accompanying political developments in the United States (US) and Europe with potential impact on global trade arrangements will likely create further risks to global industrial growth.

    The report accessed by The Nation stated that major industrialised economies with significant contribution to global manufacturing output – the US, Japan and Germany- remained affected by low-growth. It said that in China, the world’s largest manufacturer, comparably lower growth has now become systematic, pushing the average industrial growth of emerging industrial economies downward.

    According to the report, the manufacturing output of industrialised economies increased marginally by 0.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2016, whereas the growth in developing and emerging industrial economies dropped below 5.0 per cent. China’s manufacturing output growth reduced to 6.9 per cent in the third quarter, compared to 7.2 per cent in the second quarter.

    The lower growth rate of developing and emerging industrial economies also reflected a continuing decline of manufacturing in Latin American countries. Manufacturing output dropped in Argentina by 6.4 per cent, in Brazil by 4.8 per cent and in Chile by 0.3 per cent.

    Some Asian economies maintained higher manufacturing growth performance in the third quarter of 2016. Vietnam maintained its position as one of the fastest growing Asian economies with the double-digit growth for an eighth consecutive quarter.

    The country’s manufacturing output rose by 11.2 per cent in the third quarter.Similarly, Indonesia’s manufacturing growth rose by 5.5 per cent and Malaysia’s by 3.9 per cent. However, the growth pace of manufacturing output in India dropped in the third quarter below 1.0 per cent.

    Estimates from the limited available data showed that manufacturing output growth decelerated in Africa, with a marginal rise of 0.5 per cent. While South Africa, the continent’s largest manufacturer, had positive growth, the manufacturing output of Egypt, another large economy in Africa, dropped by 2.1 per cent in the third quarter. Higher growth rates of 8.3 per cent and 7.6 per cent were achieved in Cameroon and Senegal.

    The UNIDO report also presented growth estimates by manufacturing sectors. Production of motor vehicles rose by 6.4 per cent worldwide, thanks to higher growth of this sector in developing economies.

    Similarly, production of pharmaceutical products rose by 3.4 per cent, and computer, electronic and optical products by 4.6 per cent. The production of tobacco fell for the third consecutive quarter, declining by 8.0 per cent in the third quarter 2016.

  • Simba Group unveils solar home inverters

    The Simba Group has launched the Luminous Solar Home Inverters to combat the fluctuating power supply and the rising cost of electricity.

    Head of Operations, Simba Group, Mr. Rajneesh Gupta said: “This is a revolutionary product that uses Intelligent Solar Optimisation Technology (i-SOT) and i-Charging to ensure efficient solar utilisation, whilst also drawing on electricity or generator supply if available.”

    He explained that the product’s proprietary intelligent algorithm cuts electricity supply where available, if solar power is sufficient. It does this, all the while, ensuring that battery backup is not compromised in the event of power failure.

    Gupta said unlike other solar home kits, which are power direct current-powered equipment, and require external charge controllers, the Luminous Solar Home Inverter powers AC appliances which features are built into a unit.

    He said the products are available in 850VA and 1.5KVAs, to address household power needs. “Luminous customers have seen the remarkable benefits of this product in action, the unique product has helped its users save significant amounts on diesel bills by reducing the generator running times to very few hours,” Gupta added.

    Similarly, those who get electricity from the grid, Gupta said, will save about 30 per cent on their monthly bills.

    The company announced that the new solar inverters would not be sold at a higher price than their non-solar counterparts for three months.

  • FrieslandCampina WAMCO donates to IDPs

    FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria has donated 5,000 cartons of Peak Milk to children in  Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.

    The diary giant routed the items through the “Get  Involved” campaign of the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Mrs. Aisha Buhari.

    After the presentation, Mrs. Buhari posted a picture on Instagram as aishambuhari and captioned it as follows: “After a meeting with FrieslandCampina WAMCO Corporate Affairs Director, Mrs. Ore Famurewa and Public Affairs Manager, Mrs. Temitope Adeola – Special thanks to FrieslandCampina WAMCO  for supporting the Northeast project through my #GetInvolved campaign with 5,000 cartons of Peak Milk sachets.”

    Mrs. Famurewa explained that the donation was aimed at improving the nutritional status of vulnerable children living in IDP camps in the northeast.

    “In a recent report by UNICEF, an estimated 400,000 children under age five will suffer from severe acute malnutrition across the northeast of Nigeria this year alone. Our contribution is, therefore, aimed at scaling up and reaching all children in dire need of good nutrition,” Mrs Famurewa said.

    The donation came barely a year after the company donated cartons of milk worth over N100 million to support IDPs in Adamawa State.

    Mrs Famurewa added: “Being a corporate citizen and a partner in progress for sustainable development, FrieslandCampina WAMCO lauds the efforts of the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, in the advocacy for health and nutrition for women, children and vulnerable persons in Nigeria.

    “We stand with the First Lady’s Get Involved Initiative today in calling on government at all levels to prioritise issues regarding nutrition in their development agenda.”

    FrieslandCampina WAMCO has been in the forefront of reducing malnutrition in Nigeria. In August, the Chief Executive Officer, Royal FrieslandCampina, The Netherlands, presented dairy products and education materials to children of an IDP camp in Kuchingoro, Abuja.