The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ariaria market

  • Ecobank takes e-payment to Ariaria market

    The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan has assured businesses in Ariaria Market, Aba of better ease in receiving their payments.

    The Ecobank Managing Director who launched the Ecobankpay zone at the market said it will facilitate easy, secure and convenient transactions for merchants within Ariaria and other surrounding markets.

    The EcobankPay Zone is a digital payment hub enabling businesses within a location adopt Ecobank’s wide range of digital products for ease of payments for goods and services.

    “It is our determination to create ease of payment and boost economic activities most especially in a town like Aba, renowned for indigenous production of shoes and textiles. Our digital offering will be an opportunity for both buyers and sellers to increase their sales in an enhanced and secured way and without fear. The EcobankPay digital hub makes it easy for the seller to be paid instantly and buyers pay with ease and also have rest of mind associated with doing business without carrying cash around. Our Xpress point is also around for you to transact with ease, in as much as you have your phone you can bank with Ecobank”.

    “The initiative of the Ecobankpay zone is to deepen financial inclusion in the communities and specifically aid business transactions between merchants and clients. EcobankPay’s unique offering is that anyone from any bank in Nigeria can pay with MasterPass, mVISA and mCASH with any phone by scanning QR code or using USSD”. “if the person that wishes to buy goods from you is coming from a bank that has mVisa and wishes to pay, the same QRcode would accept an mVisa payment and vice versa. That creates synergy between us and the other banks and convenience for the merchants. And as you know, the QRcode is much cheaper than having a point of sale (PoS)”.

     

  • Fed Govt to install 150, 100KVA transformers in Ariaria market

    Minister of Works, Housing and Power Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has said the Ariaria Market rural electrification power project will include 150 and 100KVA transformers.

    The minister said the project, which will provide electricity to 37,000 shops in the first phase and 50,000 shops in the second phase, will directly impact the lives of about 100,000 people in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State.

    Fashola spoke yesterday in Aba while inspecting projects in the Southeast.

    The minister said Ariaria Market was spending over N7 million daily on generators, adding that investors said they could do same for less.

    He said: “The first point I want to emphasise is that as it has been said in some places that it is difficult to provide service because the concentration creates a problem or because the Federal Government has control, but Ariaria is an example of what true public service commitment can deliver. President Muhammadu Buhari recognises the need to recognise made-in-Nigeria projects.

    “You will see the installation of a distribution line that was not there before, the installation of transformation that was not there before because those two officers who exercise authority at state and national levels can work together. Investors have taken a position. So, there is not a kobo of government money in this undertaking to provide electricity in the first phase for 37,000 shops and in the second phase for 50,000 shops.

    “You will see the design is to install 150, 100KVA transformers. It will provide an example for the distribution companies (DISCOS) about the kind of installations that meet the national standard.

    “You can see from some traders who said they now enjoy more electricity than before: small installations, like these, can impact many more people. If you look at 37,000 shops, where each shop has about three to four people and multiply the impact, we are talking about over 100,000 people who are impacted because there is partnership between the state and the Federal Government. There is a policy that seeks to decentralise access to power and allow investors to come in.

    “The final leg now is for the regulator to issue the licence for these investors so that their bankers will feel confident that their investment is in the right place. This market is spending over N7 million daily, paying for generators and the investors are saying we can do the same thing for less.

    “This is where we think the power of small businesses, the capacity of made-in-Nigeria can be unleashed.”

  • Commuters, others groan as Ariaria market road worsens

    Commuters, others groan as Ariaria market road worsens

    Commercial drivers, residents and shop owners, including those on Faulks Road, a major street leading to the popular Ariaria International Market in Aba, Abia State, have been complaining about the deteriorating condition of the road.

    They urged the Transition Committee Chairmen of Aba North and Osisioma local government areas as well as Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to repair the road.

    The governor recently kick-started the repair of Faulks Road, which stretches from Brass Junction to Ariaria Junction, off Port Harcourt-Aba-Enugu Expressway, cutting across the international market.

    The traders said the dilapidated road had affected their businesses.

    They pleaded with the governor to order the construction firm, Setraco Construction, to repair the road because its current condition had worsened their plight.

    They feared that if no palliative measures were done on the road, Aba North and Osisioma local government authorities, under whose jurisdictions Ariaria Market and Faulks Road fell, the situation would worsen.

    Some road users, shop owners and commercial drivers told our reporter that the road was important to visitors and the business community.

    According to Mr. Ifeanyi Ndimele, who said he came the city from Calabar, the Cross River State capital, on a business trip, Aba is gradually going “down the drain” because federal and state roads, including Faulks Road, have become impassable.

    Some commuters told our reporter that going to Ariaria during the rainy season cost much as N200 from Ngwa Road, instead of the former N60 and N100.

    Those who wanted to save cost, stopped at what they called “Isi mmiri” (watershed) to board another one to Ariaria.

    When our reporter visited the road, commercial drivers were loading at the “Isi mmiri” in front of the popular “Ama Ikonne” bus stop.

    Some youths were on hand to push the cars that were trapped in the stagnant water to safety.

    Some of them said they charged between N200 and N1,000 or more, depending on the type of vehicle that was trapped in the flood.

     

  • Goods destroyed as flood submerges Ariaria market shops

    Goods destroyed as flood submerges Ariaria market shops

    •Traders count losses

    Traders at the Ariaria International Market, Aba, Abia State are counting their losses following Sunday night’s torrential rain that left many shops submerged and goods worth millions of naira destroyed in the resultant flooding.

    Sources within the market put the damage at above two million naira.

    Some of the affected traders said they arrived at the market as early as 8am to meet their shops filled with water, causing some to use water pumping machine to pump out the excess water.

    Others who were lucky to have their goods in bottles and other containers were seen scooping out water, while others spread their goods to dry in the sun.

    They described their loss as colossal, fearing that they could lose more in the event of another heavy rainfall.

    A trader, who simply gave his name as Tochi said he lost over N500, 000 worth of goods in the flood.

    Tochi, who feared that it could take the water long to dry, said: “Flooding in A line and neighbouring lines is a yearly incident, but we never anticipated that it will be this disastrous. Most of us have raised the entrance to our shops with blocks that it now looks like one is coming into an underground to buy goods. “

    On Saturday, a customer called me to prepare a waybill for her but it was late before I finished, so I waited till Monday to send the goods to her at Akwa Ibom before this happened.

    “The goods I have in those cartons are worth more than N500,000. My house is far from the market and because they have banned the use of ‘keke’ after 7pm, I could not even go out. Even if I had managed to come out, will the security men at the gate allow me in? Your guess is as good as mine. It is a huge loss on my part,” he lamented.

    Patent drug dealers refused to make comments, but a source at the WWLS line, who pleaded for anonymity corroborated Tochi’s account, adding that the inaccessibility of their lines have set their businesses back.

    “Our customers are no longer coming here; they prefer buying elsewhere. Some very strong customers, those whom we have built strong relationship with over the years have resorted to way-billing than coming to the market, especially during the rainy season.

    “There is no shop in the market that doesn’t have rainboot(s); that is the only way one moves around in the market. Because of this flooding, traders that have money have acquired the shops upstairs where they use as stores in order to prevent this kind of damage,” he said.

    He estimated the loss to over N200,000 worth of drugs and appealed to the government to come to their rescue.

  • Firm earmarks $1b to develop Ariaria market city

    A CRODEATION International Limited yesterday, announced the availability of about $1billion for the development of Abia International Industrial City (ABIIC). The project, according to the head of the ABIIC Project Management Team, Mr. Seyi Olufade, is to address the need for upgrading the economy and transit Abia State and Nigeria from being dependent entirely on the oil sector and unlock other economic opportunities. The Ariaria market is located in Osisioma Local Government Area, Abia State. About 200,000 jobs are to be created by the project, Mr.Olufade told reporters in Abuja. He said: “this industrial hub certainly complements MDG efforts to reduce unemployment and the underutilization of the Nigerian market capacity in the informal sector.” The project, which is being financed through Public Private Partnership, is in collaboration with the state government. Olufade explained that foreign partners such as the Chinese and European companies are partnering to provide technical support for the project. Its ground breaking is scheduled for next month. The project is planned to occupy a landmass of 300 hectares at about a kilometer from Aba, consisting 68,692 units of industrial workshops and warehouses.