The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Funding

  • ‘Cashew industry needs more funding to boost foreign exchange’

    ‘Cashew industry needs more funding to boost foreign exchange’

    The cashew industry requires N100 billion to fund production and boost foreign earning, the Natinal President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Pastor Babatola Faseru, ha said.

    He spoke at the just-concluded National Cashew Festival Awards in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State.

    He said Nigeria needed to increase its cashew production, provide high-yielding seedlings to farmers and offer mechanisation support.

    Right now, he said, cashew provides livelihood for over 300,000 families with 175,00 tonnes as estimated production for the year.

    Referring to the export performance of the industry, he pointed out that the foreign exchange earned by the country through cashew kernels, cashew nut shell liquid and allied products last year was put at $253 million.

    According to him, Nigeria remains the sixth largest cashew producer after Cote d’Ivoire, India, Vietnam, Tanzania and Guinea Bissau.

    He said, however, that the cashew industry has many challenges, which are threatening its development. These include shrinking of cultivation area and unstable output.

    He said ageing trees and abnormal weather patterns have decreased yields, and many growers prefer other crops for higher profits, which has reduced the area under the nut.

    This requires a strategy to enable the industry to develop in a sustainable manner in the coming years.

    He urged the government to support farmers in planting cashew trees to replace old ones, adopt policies to encourage firms investing in deep processing, and strengthen inspection of exports. Modern technologies and equipment, he advocated, should be used.

    The industry, according to him, plans to increase the rate of fully processed nuts to satisfy the requirements of customers, add more value, and boost domestic consumption.

    He underscored the association’s cashew value programme that targets raising the value of exports, promoting consumption both in the domestic and foreign markets and build brands for the country’s cashew products.

    For the programme to be implemented from this year to 2020, to achieve the target of 500,000 tonnes, he urged the government to support cashew industry to boost its economic growth.

    He urged the government to create the enabling environment, to attract investments that will allow the sector to take advantage of  the opportunities created by rising global and domestic demand.

    He urged the government to allocate sufficient funds and put forward necessary schemes to increase production of cashew nut.

    Considering Nigeria’s stake in global cashew trade, he requested the government to do more in ensuring the country’s leadership in the world market.

    He called on domestic cashew businesses to ensure quality control and sticking to delivery dates, and for producers to use sound cultivation techniques to improve quality of nuts.

  • Ambode and pilgrimage funding

    SIR: The fosterage of pilgrimage funding was congruously put in abeyance by Governor Akinwumi Ambode. The governor’s decision, an expedient reflection of the austere demands of governance is a bold prospectus on democratic deliverables.

    This sequestration is gratifying not only for its approbation of the secular nomenclature of Lagos, but also serves as a signature initiative in the change expediency.

    This hopefully is expected to compel a reversionary denouement in other states that are still funding this unenviable overhead.

    Even though Lagos revenue profile makes it buoyant enough to finance pilgrimage and other flights of fancy, the high-priority developmental need of Lagos and the need to cater for a burgeoning population aggravated by leadership failure in other states and the realities of a non oil macroeconomics make prudent use of resources a sine qua non.

     

    • Bukola Ajisola,

    Victoria Island, Lagos.

  • Rosabon Financial Services deepens SMEs’ funding

    Rosabon Financial Services has reiterated its commitment to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) financing. The firm has also clinched the ‘Best SME Financial Advisory Nigeria 2015 Awards given it by UK based Capital Finance International, CFI.co, an international print journal and an online resource reporting business and finance trends across the world.

    The annual award, CFI.co said, seeks out individuals and organisations that contribute significantly to the convergence of economies and truly add value for all stakeholders.

    To win the award, Rosabon Financial Services, along with two other Nigerian companies, was nominated by CFI.co audiences, and then shortlisted for further consideration by a panel. The CFI.co’s research team gathered additional information to help reach a final decision. The senior members of nominee management team provided the judges with a personal view on what sets their companies and institutions apart from the competition.

    Rosabon was declared winner in this category based on its outstanding records on financial performance, risk management, corporate governance, customer services, innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility policies, market leadership, transparency, response to market demands and strength of nominations.

    With the award, Rosabon has joined the league of top players in Nigerian corporate world such as Zenith Bank, Schlumberger Nigeria, CRC Credit Bureau, ARM Investment Managers and PricewaterhouseCoopers Nigeria which won different categories of the award.

    Speaking on the award, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, Rosabon Financial Services, Chukwuma Ochonogor, said: “The CFI.Co award is a great recognition that reiterates Rosabon’s commitment to economic growth and development by providing fast, easy and reliable funding and advisory services to small and medium sized enterprises, to enable them run effectively as well as expand their businesses whilst creating jobs for the good of the economy”.

    He said SMEs remains major economic drivers but there has been a huge gap in performing this role largely due to financing risks adding that his firm is committed to bridging the funding gap for SMEs.

    “Rosabon Financial Services maintains one of the industry’s most successful client development strategies which have seen it multiply its revenue stream. The firm offers a full suite of products carefully crafted to fill the diverse needs of businesses across all sectors of the economy,” he said.

    Rosabon’s Head of Strategy & Marketing, Chidimma Onyeokoro said: “We are grateful to CFI for recognizing our intent funding of SMEs.

  • Opa William’s  Three Wise Men gets BoI’s funding

    Opa William’s  Three Wise Men gets BoI’s funding

    As film festivals and award ceremonies warm up for their 2016 edition, there are indications that most of the Nigerian films that will top the list are the big-budget productions coming from the Bank of Industry (BoI)’s Nollyfund, the latest  being The Three Wise Men, produced by popular comedy entrepreneur, Opa Williams.

    Just like some of the previous films which benefitted from the bank’s first scheme of N1.0billion in easy-access interest loan, tagged BOI Nollyfund (BNF), The Three Wise Men is an ensemble caste of top-rated actors such as Richard MofeDamijo (RMD), Zack Orji, Victor Olaotan, Tina Mba, and Ebele Okaro.

    Directed by Patience Oghre Imobhio, The Three Wise Men makes the fourth, in the series of more than a dozen film projects which have already received a nod from the development bank, the others being Kunle Afolayan’sThe CEO, Okey Ogunjiofor’s Queen Amina and Emem Isong’s Anyama.

    During a visit of the film’s location in Parafa, Ikorodu on January 20, 2016, BOI’s officials led by Mrs. Uche Nwuka C. Nwuka, Group Head, Creative Industry met the major cast on set, and observed the shooting of two scenes, involving RMD, Zack Orji, Victor Olaotan and GennfieKanu, a relatively new actress, while Tina Mba and Ebele Okaro amongst others were seen rehearsing their lines.

    Nwuka was accompanied by other officials of the bank, including Okechukwu Madu, Assistant Manager (CI); Stanley Onugu , Assistant Manager (LE Credits); Tejumade Talabi, BO(CI) and Toyin Oyekanmi, BO(CCD).

    Williams informed the BOI team that 30 members of the crew are involved in the production of the film, adding that the project has also employed about 100 individuals, including new set of actors that are being groomed for various roles.

    The group which has been monitoring the production and post-production of the BNF projects, observed that the cast and crew list submitted to the bank are the same individuals engaged in the production. Just as it found that the film is being shot on Red Epic, and Red Scarlet cameras provided by the accredited studio.

    Nwuka, who also interacted with the actors on location, expressed satisfaction at the level of work done so far. She said her bank is encouraged by the efforts of filmmakers who have benefitted from the scheme so far, to produce highly commercial and international standard movies; hence the bank is expanding its chain of exhibition outlets around the country.

    She reiterated that BOI has already accredited some reputable distributors such as G-Media, Filmone Distribution Company, Silverbird Distribution Company, and Genesis Deluxe Distribution Company, as well as  Studio Operators such as Fans Connect Online Nigeria Limited (i.e. Afrinolly), Kingsley Ogoro Productions Limited, and 4Screams International Nigeria Limited) to support this initiative.

    It would be recalled that the Bank of Industry had in the recent past, financed creative-industry projects such as Half of A Yellow Sun, Flower Girl, Digitization of Silverbird Cinemas, G-media and establishing of Filmhouse Cinemas, Viva Cinemas and Ozone Cinemas among others.

    The Three Wise Men is a fate-based story that satirizes the actions and intents of the elderly trio in their mid/late 60’s as they struggle to re-live their lost youth.

    After many years of service in different Government Parastatals the three men are retired and thus settled in a suburb to enjoy their retirement benefits. How they decide to spend this retirement money becomes an intrinsic sub-plot of the highly humorous drama.

    The pack is led by Irikefe (Richard MofeDamijo) 64, a divorcee with three failed marriages after five children and refuses to re-marry. Irikefe decides to live alone as his covetous children are now grown and also live on their own but patiently wait for him to die so they can swoop on whatever he leaves behind.  Irikefe is aware of his children’s intentions and wants to make sure he exhausts all his savings before death. Upon his retirement he refurbishes his flat, buys a laptop, a nice sports car supposedly meant for a young-man, and goes shopping for jeans, T-shirt, Papa’s Cap, sneakers and everything a young-man could dream of.

    The three men become an item, as Irikefe introduces them to his world of fun; from tracking girls on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, joy riding, and picking the finest of young girls home for a nice time, to clubbing. Irikefe is the happy-go-lucky hippie old man, who sags and wears tattoos. He loves snapping selfies and posting them on his social media pages.

  • Capital market stakeholders seek N200b intervention funding

    •Want govt to buy shares

    Capital market operators yesterday called on the Federal Government to stem the gruelling decline that has seen the market losing about N4 trillion in  25 months. The Nigerian equities market has lost nearly one-fifth of its  capitalisation so far this year.

    At a media briefing on the state of the capital market in Lagos, stakeholders under the auspices of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) and Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN) said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should create a N200 billion intervention fund for market makers as a short-term measure to stave off the downward trend orchestrated  by divesting foreign portfolio investors.

    They also called on the government to step in to support the market at any time of steep decline by buying and warehousing shares as this is a common practice in advanced markets where government takes active interest in the performance of the capital market.

    Market operators said government should use the platform of the Nigerian capital market for funding of its 2016 budget as well as continuing privatization of government agencies and corporations.

    Stakeholders also called on Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to structure unclaimed dividends in a way that they could be reinvested in the capital market.

    Market operators said government should take a bold long-term move of instituting a zero interest policy for banks in order to discourage recourse to short-term money market instruments and to encourage long-term savings and investments.

    Acting president, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Oluwaseyi Abe, noted that the Nigerian capital market has been going through challenges that are not uncommon with other markets especially the automated markets which operate in a crest and trough pattern in response to variables in the macro economy and within the market itself.

    He pointed out that the current steep decline at the stock market is due to three main factors including adverse macro-economic environment largely due to the drastic drop in the price of crude oil, negative public sentiment which is related to the state of the macro-economy and the retreat of foreign portfolio investors which is related to CBN’s policy on foreign exchange.

    President, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Mr Emeka Madubuike, explained that the N200 billion intervention fund would provide liquidity to the market makers such that each market maker should be able to access between N1 billion and N10 billion in concessionary funding.

  • Campaign Slush Funding

    If anything is established beyond doubt in the festering $2.1billion armsgate scandal, it is that there is a close link between questionable disbursement of the public treasury and slush funding of election campaigns. I advisedly used the words ‘questionable disbursement of the public treasury,’ and not embezzlement of public funds that it really seems to be, because not much is incontrovertibly established yet about the sundry allegations, the bulk of which pends in the realm of partisan altercation. The judiciary will have to pronounce soonest on what is fact and what is hype, and I won’t jump on the mob-jury train ahead of what is proven in court. But it is eminently clear, as it were, that nearly all of the funds involved in the present scandal were disbursed in connection with electioneering campaign for the re-election bid of former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 poll. And it is hard to find a sector of the Nigerian society that is spared some indictment in the booty sharing: the political class, naturally – across party lines, traditional rulers and religious leaders, community leaders and elders, the armed forces and, indeed, the media industry. It was an all-embracing sleaze of slush money fest.

    I stand with the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abdulahi Jalo, who has called on former President Jonathan to speak up on the scandal. Jalo was apparently indignant at the class accusation of PDP members in the scandal, and had wanted the former President to clarify his own role as well as the involvement of the party. It is a shame that the party saw differently and distanced itself from this sensible call. In what betrayed gross moral deficit on the part of the former ruling party, its Acting National Chairman Uche Secondus was reported as saying Jalo spoke for no one but himself. Well, I think that only makes proving the scandal in court all the more imperative for the present government, so that the world could see whether the party was hand in gloves with the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, who is accused of being the paymaster, or whether he acted as alleged outside the purview of the party, as Jalo was keen to establish. But that is really not my point of interest here.

    Earlier on, Senate President Bukola Saraki was reported as saying the funds diversion scandal exposed the failure of the National Assembly to effectively perform its oversight function. That is largely true, but I think there is more to it. The issue is that there are fundamental weaknesses in the legal regime for campaign financing that most politicians exploit. And unless relevant stakeholders, especially the National Assembly (NASS), work at correcting the existing weaknesses in the laws, the hysteria over armsgate would be tantamount to attacking a skin rash symptom while ignoring leprosy that is its root cause. Also, since there is some connection between misuse of the public treasury and slush funding of election campaigns, as armsgate suggests, the extent to which an incumbent could misapply public funds for campaign purposes under the present legal framework depends heavily on the personal morality of that incumbent. And that is not very helpful in this clime where strong morality is not a common trait of the political class.

    It isn’t that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is itself doing enough under existing provisions to regulate political party and campaign financing. The Commission, as I recall, never denied that it needed to do much more to live up to billing under the current provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act in monitoring political party finances and accounts; and I’ll be shocked if it makes any pretension to the contrary even now. But I was once on the inside in that Commission and I know from experience that its task is not made any easier by effete and nebulous provisions of the laws.

    We can’t contemplate highlighting all issues with the laws within the space that we have here, but we will illustrate. Take the provision in both the 1999 Constitution, as Amended (e.g., Section 225) and the Electoral Act 2010, as Amended (Section 89) requiring political parties to file their audited statement of finances with INEC, for instance. The much that INEC is required to do with those statements is to publish them for public information, and also submit a report on same to the NASS. The NASS is, of course, empowered by the Constitution (Section 228) to hold any political party that infringes some of the provisions liable through enactment of relevant laws, or by conferring on the Commission powers to enforce compliance. Another point here is: audited accounts, by their very nature, are after the fact of financial transactions by the political parties; and it is in the course of those transactions that ethical issues arise.

    Section 91 of the Electoral Act stipulates caps on election expenses that can be incurred by candidates seeking different political offices. Many analysts have questioned the logic and empirical basis of the expenditure caps, but that is not our interest here. Section 92 of the Act defines election expenses as “expenses incurred by a political party within the period from the date notice is given by the Commission to conduct an election, up to and including the polling day in respect of a particular election.” Also, by Section 30 of the same Act, notice of election must be issued by INEC not later than 90 days before the day of a particular election. Some implications of the foregoing framework are:

    (i)            The prescribed ceiling exempts expenditure that is incurred by a politician aspiring for elective office before INEC issues the notice of election, and could therefore encourage aspirants to ‘frontload’ their expenses; and

    (ii)          The expenditure limit seems to exclude expenses incurred by the political party on the candidate, and encourages the transfer of accounted expenses from the candidate to the party so as to beat the stipulated caps.

    Sub-section 10 of Section 91 of the Act further outlines penalties for breaches of the expenditure caps that no Nigerian politician, as far as I know, would consider a serious deterrent.

    The point being made is that there is much that needs to be done to the legal framework on elections to curtail slush funding of electioneering campaigns, which could encourage abuses of the common treasury by political incumbents at all levels. Armsgate should be an eye-opener to this reality. I also think it is not coincidental that the present scandal, which some have described as unprecedented in Nigerian financials, centres on security funds. The biggest fraud in the Nigerian public finance system is the so-called security vote. Put bluntly, security vote is a cesspit of filthy financing with the public treasury. Yet, nearly all political office holders at different levels have the vote. It will not do to just get outraged over what Dasuki may have done or didn’t do with armsgate; we need to have specific provisions in our laws for due process application of security votes if the fund must exist at all.

  • ‘Govt’s funding of teaching hospitals inadequate’

    An ophthalmologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof Folasade Ogunsola, has urged philanthropists and corporate organisations to support the government in funding eye care.

    Speaking at the 25th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), she said the government was finding it difficult  funding teaching hospitals.

    She said: “It will be appreciated if non-governmental organisations and philanthropists support the government by investing in eye health care. We should use those who have to treat the less privilege.”

    Besides, she said the universal health coverage should be funded by the rich and those who have the  means.

    Her vision, she said, is for everybody to have good and comprehensive eye care so that each person can contribute his quota to the economy.

    Ogunsola said: “It is almost impossible for someone that is blind to contribute to the economy effectively. When you can see, then you can contribute to the economy and Nigeria can be a better country.”

    She enjoined people to seek treatment when they are plagued with eye problems at the right place, which is with an ophthalmologist.

    “When people go to wrong places, they get the wrong treatment,” she said.

    The don said an eye clinic and primary health care (PHC) centre that has a primary eye care unit are some of the places to go when an individual has an eye problem, adding: “If you go to the chemist, you will be given the wrong thing to treat your eyes but if it is a PHC centre then the individual will be treated right.”

    On poor cornea donation, she said culture is a major factor, adding: ‘’People want to go back to their maker the way they were created. So, whenever they are implored to donate their eye they find it very unusual.”

    The expert said: “It is doable. Cornea can be donated to another person because when people die, only their soul goes to God, their remains are buried. Education and awareness can make people give in to the idea of donating their cornea.”

    She advised people against using harmful traditional medication because the eyes are very precious and should be well taken care of.

    People, according to her, should treat their eyes the way they treat the mouth, stressing: “If you would not put poison in your mouth why should you engage in harmful traditional medication for your eyes.”

    She urged people to always rinse their eyes with clean water when they wake in the morning because there are times that they used their hands to rub the eyes. “Hygiene is very crucial in the maintenance of one’s eyes,” Ogunsola added.

  • Expert seeks funding to reduce livestock, crop diseases

    Deputy Director-General, General Management, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State, Dr Ademola Adeyemo, has urged the government to increase funding of beneficial management practices (BMPs) in the agric industry to help reduce the risk of spreading crop and livestock diseases between  farms.

    The spread of livestock diseases such as avian flu has caused millions of naira of losses to farmers and economies in years.

    According to him, stronger measures are needed to monitor, prevent, and control disease to boost food security, and make it safer to trade livestock and livestock products.

    Livestock accounts for a significant portion of the nation’s agricultural gross domestic product.

    However, animal diseases have been spreading quickly in recent years within the country.

    Concerns are also rising about the spread of infectious diseases from animals to humans.

    He urged for a better surveillance information system to issue regular animal health reports and for support for public and private sector agencies to expand their expertise in disease diagnosis, surveillance, reporting and investigation of disease outbreaks.

    According to him, farmers need to be empowered to continually improving their operations and putting best management practices into place.

    This, he maintained, would ensure the long-term health and economic strength of the industry. After the bird flu attacks, he stressed the need to strengthen the surveillance and monitoring mechanism to reduce the spread of diseases between farms.

    Improved funding, according to him, will help farmers and agribusinesses better protect the businesses and ensure strong measures are in place to for the entire industry.

  • Stop funding BDCs, MAN urges Fed Govt

    Stop funding BDCs, MAN urges Fed Govt

    •Manufacturers seek guided deregulation

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urg  ed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop funding Bureau de Change (BDC) operators.

    Its President, Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, wondered why BDCs should depend on official allocation of foreign exchange (forex) from the CBN, instead of exploring alternative funding windows.

    Jacobs also questioned the real functions of BDCs with the kind of arrangement the nation is running. “They act as mere distributive conduit pipes by simply getting forex allocation from the CBN and selling to every Nigerian out of the multitude that need forex thereby making their profits without making value addition,” he said.

    In a statement, the MAN chief said forex allocated to the BDCs should rather be channelled to the productive sectors of the economy, especially manufacturers for the importation of essential inputs and machinery that are not locally available, as well as to the social welfare segment of the society, such as hospitals and schools, among others.

    Dr. Jacobs, who commended the Federal Government for combating the challenges faced by the country as a result of falling oil prices, also advocated the use of guided deregulation of the economy such that the naira would be left to flow freely within a bracket determied by the CBN.

    He said the nation cannot afford to allow the naira to fall freely without any check. “MAN believes that this arrangement will allow the exchange rate to be determined by the market but with some moderation and also leave room for investors to be attracted to invest in the country.

    “This will also assist in checking the ugly situation that took place during the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) era where, as a result of devaluation, over 60 per cent of small and medium scale industries closed down because of inability to sustain their operations,” he said.

    He said restriction on dollar inflow should be lifted but this should not preclude CBN’s duty of investigating sources of such incomes.

    The MAN chief said to avoid perceived abuse of forex allocation and save the naira, the management of forex, which is vested on a Committee chaired by the Governor of the CBN should monitor the utilisation of forex by recipients by remitting funds directly to the beneficiary company overseas.

    On how to grow the economy, he said emphasis should be placed on the productive sector in order to raise and sustain the tempo of industrialisation. He said export of manufactured products and indeed, other finished products should be encouraged in order to make up for the deficit the nation is currently witnessing in the forex market, while exporters should be encouraged to repatriate accrued funds home.

    While urging government to explore other avenues of forex inflow other than oil revenue by giving incentives to exporters, Dr. Jacobs stresed the need to encourage the manufacturing sector to grow in view of the critical role it plays in job and wealth creation as well as technology for skill acquisition.

    He argued that except all these are adhered to, Nigeria’s quest to increase her forex reserve and strengthen the naira may remain a pipe dream.

    While speaking against the subsidy regime, Jacobs observed that a major source of forex wastage in Nigeria is through the on-going subsidy on importation of petroleum products.

    He said the country has no business relying on fuel importation to meet local needs, given the number of refineries in the country, which are currently lying idle.

  • NACA calls for increased funding of HIV/AIDS treatment 

    National Agency for the Control of AIDS Director-General Prof. John Idoko has called for increased funding and support to combat HIV transmission.

    Three million Nigerians are estimated to be living with HIV; with  750,000 on treatment.

    He said in line with new World Health Organisation (WHO)’s guidelines, which recommend test and treatment, about 2.25 million will be placed on treatment.

    To meet this, Idoko said the country would need about $2.9 million for 2016.

    The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September had set 2030 target to eliminate HIV/AIDS globally, while Nigeria has set 2020 target to eliminate Mother- to-Child transmission of the virus.

    Idoko, who briefed the media on the occasion, said: “Nigeria’s AIDS response has gained a steady momentum in the past four years. We have managed to turn the tide. New infections have reduced by 35 per cent and we now need new commitment to ending AIDS by 2030″.

    This new commitment, he explained, demands that Nigeria take over the funding for AIDS treatment, especially now that funding from international partners are dwindling.

    Prof. Idoko did not, however, rule out private sector funding for the scourge as it’s been done in some countries.

    He said: “Actually that is where we will want to go and those of you, who are conversant with PCSR, which was launched about two year ago, we emphasised that mobilisation must happened at every level-from the federal government, to state government, to local government and to the private sector.”

    He also said national health insurance could be another way, to ensure that funding was made available for the treatment of AIDS in the country.

    Speaking on the UN AIDS elimination 2030 target, Idoko said the there was still much to be done.

    He, however, explained that the 2030 date “does not mean that there will be no HIV/AIDS, it means that HIV will no longer be an epidemic.”

    NACA boss further revealed that what the set date meant to achieve was to ensure that treatment of the virus will be like treating malaria.

    Also, National Secretary, Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said lives, hope of survival and treatment access should not be determined by foreign aid, which is already reducing.

    Adding: “Government needs to own up the interventions, put money on treatment, prevention, care and support to ensure access to HIV/AIDS,” malaria etc.

    He, therefore, appealed to government at all levels to increase funding and budgetary provision for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, which are some of the major factors responsible for the country high maternal and child death.