The Nation Newspaper

Tag: chinese

  • Chinese firm backs Cross River’s signature projects

    Chinese conglomerate, China Railway Engineering Group, has promised to invest in the signature projects embarked upon by Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade.

    Representatives of both the Chinese firm and the government met in Calabar, yesterday.

    Leader of the group and International Business Manager, China Railway Engineering, Mr. Chao Yang, said the group has a pool of multi-billion dollar funds that is readily available to be drawn to fund any economically- viable investment anywhere in the world.

    Yang said they were in Calabar “to undertake an on-the-spot assessment of the projects initiated by the state government as well as explore other possible areas we can collaborate and invest in, given the enabling environment. We are looking forward to having a productive and a reciprocal cooperation with Cross River State to achieve a win-win goal in our brighter future.”

    Cross River State Commissioner for Finance Mr. Asuquo Ekpenyong (Jnr) told the investors that the state was willing to partner any reputable organisation to actualise its lofty dreams because the state was in a hurry to be transformed socio-economically.

    He added  Ayade is committed to developing the state.

  • Nigeria woos Chinese, Belarus IT investors

    Minister of Communications Technology, Adebayo Shittu said his trip to China and the Republic of Belarus was to woo investors to the nation’s information communication technology (ICT) sector.

    According to him, the trip would afford him the opportunity to attend an international conference on space technology in Belarus, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with a view to improving the nation’s cyber space and the telecoms sector.

    A statement endorsed by his Special Assistant on Media, Victor Oluwadamilare, explained that the trip also coincided with the award of a Carrier Spectrum Management (CSM) contract to NigComSat by the Republic of Belarus.

    Aside from attending the conference, Shittu would also pay a working visit to the town of Fxichang, where he is expected to meet with leading telecommunications’ players in China.

    He said: “The minister will also attend the launch of Belitersat1 satellite in the country which would afford him the opportunity to sell Nigeria’s vast potentials in the sector to investors all over the world. “

  • Chinese firm to set up auto assembly plant in Calabar

    Chinese firm to set up auto assembly plant in Calabar

    A Chinese truck manufacturing company, SINO Truck of China, has completed arrangements to establish an assembly plant in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

    This was announced when the company’s Head of African Division, Mr. John Wang, visited Governor Ben Ayade.

    Wang noted that the assembly plant would be preceded by the establishment of service centres across the state for the company’s trucks in Nigeria.

    He said the assembly plant would reflect the company’s first-class infrastructure and the people’s life style.

    The company chief said the peaceful investment climate in the state was one of the motivating factors, adding: “Cross River is the most peaceful in the Southsouth with an enduring weather that has a huge potential for the development of trucks and it is good for industrial establishment.”

    Giving a profile of his company, Wang said: “Sino Truck is a state-owned company and the number one heavy duty truck manufacturing company in China with over 56 years experience, a good track record in truck manufacturing and assemblying.”

    Ayade urged the company to speed up the preparations for the auto plant to take off.

    He said: “With our aggressive climate change campaign, the World Bank is setting up $16 billion for Africa and the United Nations (UN) is setting aside $100 billion annually for developing countries. You can see that transportation of young seedlings for planting, vegetation and forest cover becomes a key issue.”

    He added: “We are far more prepared and more geared towards the utilisation of the product more than you can imagine.”

  • Onu seeks Chinese support to create jobs

    The Minister of  Science and Technology, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu yesterday solicited the support of Chinese government to boost job creation in Nigeria.

    Onu who spoke while receiving a business  delegtion led by the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie  in his office in Abuja, said unemployment could lead to an epidemic.

    He said it is important for Nigeria to collaborate with the Chinese government to tap from its experience and technology as well as boost trade cooperation among African countries.

    Onu said the ministry will build on the existing excellent working relationship with China to harness the growth potential of the country.

    The minister said creating employment was imperative to address the challenges facing the country.

    “The Science and Technology sector will assume its rightful place in national development so as to make Nigeria self-sufficient in meeting the challenges of daily living.

    “The sector will be fully involved in creating employment and empowering the country’s teeming youths to make meaningful contributions to national development,” he said.

  • Chinese restaurant for Ikorodu residents

    Chinese restaurant for Ikorodu residents

    A new African and continental cuisine restaurant  has opened in Ikorodu, Lagos. It  offers exclusive services ranging from Chinese, African, intercontinental dishes and assorted snacks. And for residents desirous of Chinese meals, the outlet, Emperor, offers Asian dishes.

    “Who says Chinese meals is for the rich alone, at Emperor; we have decided to bring the “rich man’s meals” to everybody’s table and that is what we stand for- affordability, quality and availability,” said the chairman and owner of the restaurant, Mr. Abiodun Akinyele- Peters.

    The opening began with a prayer by the provincial pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church, Pastor Godwin Obadan.

    Akinyele-Peters said the vision and mission of the establishment are to redefine fast food business in Nigeria and reduce unemployment in Ikorodu.

    The Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi, Ilufemiloba, Adegorushen IV,   the father of the day, prayed that the owner of Emperor would get value for money. He thanked him for being part of the development of Ikorodu.

    The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in-charge of Ijede, Mrs. Abaniwonda Tokunbo, who was at the event, spoke on security measures. She assured that customers would be safe because the edifice is close to Area N Police Station in Ijede, Ikorodu, in addition to two other stations around.  “Based on the agenda of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Oluseun,  if there is a place like this, there should be 24-hour patrol. We have about two to three police stations that are responsible for this place, so, put your mind at rest because we are 100 per cent sure that there cannot be any crime around here. The bad boys cannot take advantage of this place; they know that we have more personnel and this place would be secured 24 hours. I have made arrangement with the owner on documenting the number of patrol teams,“she assured.

    Akinyele-Peters said: “I am more than happy to see dignitaries honour me today. I saw the need for an exquisite place like this where people would come and enjoy. Seeing this kind of dream come through in Ikorodu, it is a wonderful experience for me and I am indeed, blessed.”

    Opened to meet the needs of Ikorodu residents and others, Akinyele- Peters spoke on what led to his opening a restaurant in Ikorodu. He said: “I was around this place sometime in October, 2012 and I needed a place to eat good food, but there was no single place that people could sit and eat good food. I, therefore, decided to meet that need, thus, the siting of Emperor Meal Limited in Ikorodu.

    To push sales, Emperor Meals Ltd. would engage experienced personnel to handle the marketing of the business. The restaurant also has a strong social media presence with its facebook and twitter handles always busy with encouraging comments from customers, who have patronised the place. Beyond its strong social media presence, the restaurant offers office and home delivery to customers, who cannot find their way to Ikorodu and would like to have a taste of its cuisines.

    On how the restaurant will stand out, Peters said: “We will retain our quality services; our meals will be consistent in taste. We are here to do business, leave a legacy and create reputations like that of international brand. We are not going to drop out.

    He went on: “A few years from now, we would have expanded to other parts of the country. We intend to have an offshore location through well organised, structured and managed franchise. The people of Ikorodu will enjoy affordable prices and loyalty promos to reward and compensate them from time to time.

    “Subsequently, as we grow, we hope to expand not only into other parts of Lagos such as Ikeja, Victoria Island and Ikoyi, we intend to extend beyond Lagos,” Peters said.

  • NIBSS battles Chinese, Indian Customs over BVN tools at ports

    NIBSS battles Chinese, Indian Customs over BVN tools at ports

    •Partners telcos on BVN confirmation alerts

    The Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) said its plans to extend the Bank Verification Number (BVN) project to China and India is hampered by delays in clearing project kits from their ports.

    Speaking yesterday during the announcement of partnership between NIBSS and some telecom operators in Lagos, its Managing Director, Ade Shonubi, said some of the devices needed to commence Diaspora BVN registration in both countries are stuck in their ports.

    He said: “We have been unable to get the devices out of the ports. The Customs in those countries are not co-operating with us”.

    Shonubi said NIBSS is working in partnership with telcos to ensure that every one that has been enrolled on the BVN network gets his number through his phone by dialing specified code.

    He said the USSD-BVN Notification Service, will assist the banking sector achieve seamless Know-Your -Customer (KYC) documentation process, and will boost customers’ access to credit.

    The NIBSS boss also said the BVN will enable banks blacklist fraudulent customers and ensure they do not return back to the system.

    Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat, Francesco Anjelone, said the firm is fully in support of the USSD-BVN Notification Service, describing it as an innovation. He said Etisalat keyed into the project because there will be a creation of value for both industries. “The collaboration will strengthen the BVN project,” he said.

    Senior Manager, Airtel, Adefolake Ogunbayo, said Airtel customers will start checking for their BVN from Wednesday next week. She described the partnership with NIBSS as a perpetual relationship that will lead to other services.

    Aside China and India, the NIBSS also is working on extending the BVN project to Washington DC, Johannesburg, and Atlanta. Other cities participating in the scheme are Guangzhou, London, Leicester, Houston and New York City.

    The OIS Services, handling the Diaspora project, is expected to capture necessary data for online transmission to NIBSS, which would thereafter generate the BVN and communicate same to the customer. The Diaspora customer are expected to forward their BVN to their local banks for linkage with their accounts.

    The CBN has also reiterated its support for the BVN project. The regulator said the new guidelines on the BVN enrolment has authorised bank customers in Diaspora to present themselves for enrolment by using foreign based Nigerian banks.

    “The first option is the customers of Nigerian banks to present themselves to the offshore branches or subsidiaries of any Nigerian banks for the BVN enrollment. The deployment of scanners and other devices to these locations have started in earnest,” it said.

  • Navy bids 19-man Chinese trainers farewell

    Navy bids 19-man Chinese trainers farewell

    After four months of tutoring Navy personnel on the operation and maintenance of a man-of-war, NNS SAGBAMA  donated by China, a 19-man Chinese team at the weekend returned to their country.

    They arrived in Nigeria in May when one of the two Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) (NNS CENTENARY and NNS PROSPERITY) purchased from China was delivered .

    The team brought NNS SAGBAMA, which was built for the Navy as China’s complimentary effort towards the Navy’s fleet renewal.

    Praising them for a job well done, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command (WNC), Rear Admiral Jonathan Ango said the boat would assist in the fight against maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea.

    He lauded them for their patience and commitment in putting the Nigerian crew through the rigours and mastery of the boat’s functions, noting that NNS SAGBAMA was a new class of vessel.

    He saidaside teaching the boat’s crew how to use it, the Navy also learnt how to effectively carry out maintenance of the vessel, as at when due.

    China’s Consul General  Li Young expressed hope that there would be more military exchanges between both countries.

    He praised the team for overcoming home sickness in order to contribute their quota to the strategic Nigeria-China relations, noting that most of them were in Africa for the first time.

    “For the Chinese training team, you have overcome all kinds of difficulties, especially homesickness, and successfully your mission.

    “All of you have stamped your own footprints in the history of China-Nigeria military cooperation.

    “With steady and rapid development of China-Nigeria strategic partnership, I am fully convinced that more frequent military exchanges and closer cooperation between our two countries would be expected,” he said.

  • Dangote, Chinese firm sign $4.34b deal for cement plants in 13 countries

    Dangote, Chinese firm sign $4.34b deal for cement plants in 13 countries

    Dangote Cement yesterday signed contracts with Chinese firm, Sinoma International to build cement factories in 13 countries – 12 in Africa and Nepal, an Asian country.

    On completion, 25 million tonnes of cement will be generated annually in what is a revolution the cement sub sector. This will bring the capacity of Dangote cement to 70 million tonnes per annum.

    The $4.34bilion deal was sealed in the presence of ambassadors of some of the beneficiary countries.

    President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, signed for his group while the Chief Executive Officer, Sinoma, Mr. Shen Jun, signed for his company.

    The Chinese firm will execute the construction projects with equipment sourced from Germany.

    Aside Nigeria, whose two new plants at Itori, Ogun State with a combined capacity for six million tonnes are already under construction, a three million tonnes factory will be built in Nepal.

    The African countries that will have the integrated plants are: Ethiopia with 2.50m tonnes, Kenya with two plants and a combined capacity of three million tonnes, Zambia 1.5om tones, Senegal with 1.50m tonnes and Niger with 1.50mtonnes.

    The 1.50m tonne plants to be built in Mali, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana are grinding units.

    Dangote said the a 1.5m tonnes plant in Douala, Cameroon will be inaugurated today.

    Some of the countries to host the new plants already have Dangote plants.

    All the new plants are to be completed within the next 30 months, Mr. Dangote promised, adding that on completion, the capacity of the combined factories will move up to 70 milion tonnes per annum.

    “But our goal is to attain 100million tonnes by 2020,” Dangote declared yesterday.

    According to him, the plants are being built because of the need requirement of the countries.

    He gave an example of Niger Republic which currently imports all its cement requirements despite having in abundance all the raw materials needed to manufacture the product.

    Dangote said: “We want to make Africa self-sufficient in cement production and not to become a dumping ground. We are very focused on what we are doing.”

    Dangote hailed the Nigerian government for providing the enabling environment for the business to thrive, adding that his company and Sinoma had been together for eight years “in spite of the economic recession in the world at this time.”

    He said Nigeria currently has the capacity to export 10m tonnes of cement, adding that this will go higher when the new plants go on stream.

    Jun promised that his company will provide excellent technology in the construction adding that it had completed 16 projects with Dangote.

    He vowed that the high standard which his company is known for will be kept in the execution of the projects being “a leading company in cement production worldwide.”

    With the Dangote CEO at the ceremony are Group Executive Director of Dangote Group, Mr. Devakumar Edwin and the Chief Operating Officer, Mr Olakunle Alake. Three other officials accompanied Mr Jun on behalf of Sinoma.

  • Okonjo-Iweala denies diversion of rail loan

    Okonjo-Iweala denies diversion of rail loan

    Former Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has denied recent allegations that a $1 billion China-EximBank loan for the Lagos-Kano rail project was diverted under her watch.

    In a statement made available to the media on Sunday, Okonjo-Iweala noted that, “the alleged project was on the list of China-EximBank funded projects, diversion of any Chinese funds would have been extremely difficult because the terms of the contract and the processes would simply not have permitted such action.”

    The former finance minister noted that the existing procedure for accessing China-Exim Bank loan “is that funds for approved loans remain in the China-EximBank and are released directly to the Chinese firm executing the contract only after the presentation of duly certified proof of work by the responsible Ministry, in this case it would have been the Federal Ministry of Transport, based on the agreed milestones.”

    The China-EximBank she said “does not disburse money directly to government and therefore the issue of diversion does not arise.”

    To corroborate her defence, Okonjo-Iweala called on interested parties and individuals to “cross-check with the China-EximBank or the Chinese Embassy” because according to her, “the alleged diversion has no substance for the simple reason that the Kano-Lagos project was not even among the projects presented for funding by the China Exim Bank for several strategic infrastructural projects across the country.”

    ” It was the Lagos–Ibadan rail project, not Lagos-Kano rail project that was proposed in the original application to the China-EximBank she said ” but in the end, no funds were assigned for the Lagos-Ibadan rail project by the China-EximBank.”

    The projects being funded from facilities obtained from the China-EximBank and which are at various stages of progress and can be confirmed Okonjo-Iwela pointed out are:

    · $500m for the expansion of four International Airport Terminals in Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
    · $500m for the Abuja Light Rail project
    · $984m for the Zungeru Hydro-electric power project
    · $100m for the Galaxy Backbone project

  • Chinese investors to stake $54m in Kwara

    Agroup of Chinese businessmen have planned to invest about $54m in the Kwara State industrial sector.

    The team led by Shi Zengchao, made this known  yesterday at a meetingt with Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in Ilorin, the state capital.

    In a statement, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, quoted Zengchao as saying that about $15 million would be invested in the next one year in order to ensure commencement of operations as early as possible.

    Zengcha said the group found Kwara state investment friendly due to the prevalence of peace in the state, as well as the investment drive of the state government.

    He added that when the efforts of the group finally take off, more Chinese investors will set up factories and other investments in all the sectors of the state’s economy.

    Responding, Ahmed said the policies of his administration were premised on human capital development and industrial growth in a peaceful environment across the state.

    Ahmed said the state’s International Vocational Centre in Ajasse-Ipo in Irepodun local government area of the state is designed to train qualified machinists who will fit perfectly into the developing industrial sector of the State.

    “We have a large army of employable youths; school leavers that require very little training and they will fit into the industry you are investing in.

    Your proposed investment is very attractive. There are a lot of idle hands that can be employed; indeed, if you want 50,000 people we can get you 50,000 people to work”, the governor said.