The Nation Newspaper

Tag: hamper

  • ‘Late budget passage may hamper OPS’

    Except the government reviews some of the policies contained in the 2017 budget, particularly the monetary policy that would encourage investment, the private sector may still find it a difficult year to operate.

    Managing Director, Cowry Asset Limited, Johnson Chukwu who stated this said there was no emphasis on stimulating the private sector in the 2017 budget as it is.

    Speaking with The Nation in a telephone interview at the weekend, Chukwu observed the  budget was public sector oriented adding if it is passed as it is would have ignored to a large extent the private sector. He said the policies including the borrowing of about N1.25 billion locally would unlikely lead to further crowding out of the private sector.

    “The emphasis placed on the budget suggested the government has the capacity to drive the economy out of recession. But it is misleading because for the economy to really begin to grow there is need for the private sector,” Chukwu noted, adding that the policies contained in the budget did not seem to highlight the importance of the sector.

    “A lot of emphases are on the public sector expenditure even as government expansionary fiscal measures will be sufficient to reverse the contraction in the economy but the reality is expenditure in the private sector is actually more effective in triggering economic growth than public sector expenditure,” he explained.

    He however expressed confidence that there would be a reversal in the contraction of the nation’s economy meaning that an imaginary growth is possible. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had predicted the Nigerian economy would grow by one per cent.

  • Extension of visitors’ stay’ll hamper terrorism war, expert tells FG

    The Federal Government has been urged to cancel the recently introduced fee for extension of visitors’ stay in the country in order to curb terrorism.

    In a notice published in major Nigerian dailies on September 14, 2015, the Federal Ministry of Interior had directed that “non-ECOWAS visitors who intend to stay in Nigeria or who have stayed for a period exceeding 90 days aggregate shall pay an extension fee of $200 or the naira equivalent and $1000; $ 2000 on non-ECOWAS visitor who want intends to stay for a period of 180 days and 365 days respectively.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, a border security expert, Mrs Funmilayo Odubela-Aduroja, said the policy would hamper the current battle against insurgency in the country.

    Odubela-Aduroja, who is a retired Assistant Comptroller General of Immigration, explained that insurgency thrives in Nigeria because of the influx of queer foreign nationals into the country.

    She said: “The decision by the Federal Government to permit extension of stay for visitors to Nigeria by asking them to pay some fee would further aggravate the activities of  foreign nationals who are supporting insurgents in Nigeria.

    “The fallout of this new policy would be that unscrupulous persons can legally continue to live in Nigeria as long as they can afford to pay the required fee. Then, how do you know the intention of a visitor who is overstaying his time in the country? A visitor can then leave Lagos and join insurgents in their madness in the Northeast to launch deadly attack on innocent Nigerians  since he is legally permitted to live in the country after paying extension fee. This fee for extension policy is not good for the internal security of our country and should be immediately discontinued by Nigerian authorities.”

    “The terrorists are getting more and more aggressive. They are recruiting more young ones via the Internet and Boko Haram recently declared its allegiance to IS terrorists, an organisation that has a lot of money to fund terrorism across the globe. If extremists who disguise as ‘innocent’ visitors come into the country with a lot of money and extend their stay, then the battle against terrorism in Nigeria would be difficult to defeat and government must not allow this to happen.”

  • Inadequate funds hamper Technova’s $200m pipe mill

    Funding has stalled the implementation of a $200-million Technova pipe mill project in Ologun, Edo State, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Ernest Nwapa, has said.

    The mill is a 200,000-metric tonne per year capacity pipe mill and coating facility being constructed by Technova Africa Group (TAG) Limited. It is designed to produce cheaper wielded steel pipes for the oil and gas sector.

    TAG, an indigenous company, signed a multilevel Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and service Agreement with PSL, the largest Helical Submerged Arc Welded Pipe manufacturer in India, for a fully integrated  pipe mill and coating plant in Nigeria.

    Nwapa told The Nation that though the mill was opened last year, it is yet to start operations because of finance.

    He said: “In Edo State,  a pipe mill known as Technova is in the making. It has gone beyond construction of infrastructural facilities. They are only waiting for some funding support so that they can start putting equipment and people in place.  The NCDMB wants to ensure that pipe mill is established to produce for the oil and gas industry.

    “Besides, the Board is putting in place modalities for the establishment of a brand new 250,000 metric tonnes pipe mill. These are being done to improve infrastructure, quicken operations of companies and improve the economy.”

    He said the pipe mill, which is in Abuja, has moved from one to two lines, adding that efforts are being intensified to make pipe mills effective.

    He explained that the Board was encouraging the resuscitation of old pipe mills and expansion of new ones in line with the government’s decision to develop local initiatives.

    “The country needs to progress from a level where it cannot produce some products for local needs, to a level where it can maximise its potentials for economic growth.” he said.

  • Violence may hamper foreign investments, says Guinness MD

    Violence may hamper foreign investments, says Guinness MD

    Managing director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Seni Adetu, has expressed fears that a recent wave of deadly bomb attacks and kidnappings by militants may deter foreign investment in Nigeria.

    The fear is the impact on “potential foreign investors currently sitting on the fence and waiting for the right time to come to Nigeria,” Adetu said in an interview with Bloomberg in Abuja the capital, in advance of the World Economic Forum in Africa. “Its massively of concern to me, first as a Nigerian and secondly as a Nigerian businessman.”

    Executives from around the world are arriving at the forum as Africa’s biggest oil producer faces one of the worst rounds of violence in the capital in recent history. More than 90 people have been killed in separate bomb attacks in the past month just miles from where the conference is taking place, while U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged help to find more than 200 students who were abducted following a raid on an all-girls secondary school by gunmen on April 14.

    The spread of violence carried out by the militant group Boko Haram from its base in the northeast of Nigeria has raised the level of concern for local companies as well as foreign investors, according to Adetu.

    “Up until now you always thought that it was restricted to the northeastern part of the country,” he said. “From a business standpoint, you just thought you could deal with that, but I think coming closer to Abuja, as we have seen in the last two weeks, has sort of changed the perspective around the insurgency.”

    Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with about 170 million people, has enough economic potential to continue to attract some level of foreign investment, Adetu said. Lagos-based Guinness Nigeria, a unit of London-based Diageo Plc (DGE), remains committed to the market, he said.

    “I still believe that in totality, on account of the economic opportunity in Nigeria, it’s still the right place to come and invest,” he said.

  • ‘Weak enforcement, culture hamper insurance penetration’

    Weak enforcement of policies and poor insurance culture among Nigerians have been identified as some of the factors inhibiting insurance penetration in the country.

    The Assistant General Manager, Corporate Communication and Brand Management, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Mr Segun Bankole, lamented that had the compulsory insurance policy of the Federal Government been implemented, it would have gone a long way at chnaging the fortune of the industry for the better.

    Bankole, who spoke with The Nation in Lagos, added that poor insurance culture also formed a major stumbling block against the success of the Market Development and Restructuring Initiatives (MDRI) otherwise referred to as Compulsory insurance. He said under the circumstance, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has done well but observed that there has not been proper monitoring to ensure its success.

    The programme, which started two years ago, had Group life Insurance in line with the Pencom Act 2004, Employers liability in line with the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1987, Buildings under construction-section 64 of the Insurance Act 2003,Occupiers liability insurance –section 65 of the Insurance Act 2003, Motor Third party Insurance –section 68 of the Insurance Act 2003 and Health care Professional indemnity insurance-under section 45 of the NHIS Act 1999.

    Bankole said these policies are by law compulsory and they come with sanctions. He said if those charged with enforcement in the insurance industry are empowered as their counterparts charged with monitoring money laundering or those charged with tax collection, the situation will not be what it is today. He said it is not proper to blame NAICOM as the regulator is doing all within its power to ensure the success of the industry.

    Insurance is primarily for the good of the insured, he said, wondering why people should be forced to do what is good for them.

    Still speaking on enforcement, he said if sanctions are implemented the way it is done abroad, it will go a long way in instilling the discipline of voluntary obedience.

    He said the premium required is usually very small compared to the benefits when due. He said if people know that that if they flout the insurance law, they will be heavily sanctioned as it is done abroad, they will do what they are supposed to do for their own good.

    On poor insurance culture, Bankole said it is sad to observe that a Nigerian can load up to N3,000 on his phone and waste it in a matter of minutes, but cannot invest that amount in a year in an insurance policy that can fetch him up N1 million if the policy materialises.

    He said there are policies Nigerians can invest with as little as N1,500 premium in a year and can have a benefit of over N600,000 if it falls due.

    He said for a third party motor insurance where the law demands just N5,000 premium for a year, if the sanction is as much as N100,000 on violators and are implemented, people will sit up.