The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Minister of Trade and Investment

  • Stakeholders again oppose signing ACFTA

    …It’s time to act now – Osinbajo

     

    Some business stakeholders on Monday insisted that it was still too early for Nigeria to sign the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA).

    They bared their minds during the 8th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum held at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had last week disclosed that he will soon sign the agreement on behalf of Nigeria.

    While accepting that the agreement will be good for Nigeria in the long run, the stakeholders maintained that many things still need to be put in place in the country before Nigeria can sign the agreement.

    Read Also:Nigeria to sign ACFTA agreement in Rwanda

    Among the infrastructures they want in place, include good interstate roads, power, access to ports, efficient rail transportation in the country.

    If care is not taken, they warned that Nigeria will eventually become a dumping ground.

    Speaking at the interactive session, the Chairman of NEPAD Business Group and former President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chief Mrs. Nike Akande said Nigeria is not ready for the agreement until Nigeria’s goods and services are competitive enough.

    She pointed out that the government cannot do it alone, otherwise the country will become a dumping ground.

    According to her, good infrastructure is key to promoting trade and investment.

    Also speaking, the Vice President of the North-West Zone of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Engineer Ibrahim Usman, said “We are not against signing the agreement, but if we don’t get this right, we will be in trouble.

    “We agree that the agreement is for services and not goods. If things are still work in progress, why the hurry?” he queried

    He also urged the government to urgently conduct three studies including export market survey, study on national economic industrial product survey and study of liberalization on manufacturing in the country as a whole.

    The Director-General of the National Office of Trade Negotiations, Chiedu Osakwe also noted that there are longstanding issues in the Nigerian economy that must be addressed first.

    Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, pointed out that this is the time for Nigeria to act on the agreement.

    According to him, Nigeria cannot afford to take the back seat on the issue.

    Stressing that some of the fears expressed are not out of place, he said “While the engine is running, we are not going to wait. I think this is the time to go ahead and do something about it.”

    The Vice President said that the current administration has invested massively on infrastructures in the country.

    The Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, said that the agreement is a ticket to play.

    He also disclosed that there would be more engagements on the agreement with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and other stakeholders.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who noted that the government started at the point of recession, said that the government is focused and has momentum.

    The government, he said, is supporting business in Nigeria to do what it does best.

    Whether the agreement is signed or not, he pointed out that Nigeria is already doing international trade with so much goods and services already leaving the shores of Nigeria on a daily basis.

    Stressing that if other smaller countries with less infrastructures and resources are ready and have signed the agreement, he raised a poser if Nigeria wants to play in the Olympics or Paralympics.

    According to him, the present administration is making headway in critical infrastructural developments in the country.

    Stressing that power in the country has been improved, he said that the conversation has changed from lack of power to how to distribute the excess generation.

    According to him, only 14 private sectors in Nigeria have indicated interest to take advantage of getting their power directly from the Gencos.

    On road projects, he said “There is no state in Nigeria where the government is not building at least one major road or the other.”

    The roads, he said are leading to international borders around the country.

     

  • FEC okays N185 billion for 14 roads 

    …2018 Budget to be signed next week

     

     

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N185 billion for the rehabilitation, construction and repairs of 14 roads across the country.

    The Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He also said that arrangement has been finalized to sign the 2018 Appropriation Bill into law by President Buhari next week.

    Read Also:FEC okays N1.6b for 68 anti-smuggling vehicles

    According to the Attorney General of the Federation, Malami Abubakar, Nigeria will soon get another repatriation of $500 million.

    He said that FEC also approved N500 million for lawyers who represented the Federal Government and succeeded in recovering N330 billion from MTN.

    The Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, said that FEC approved construction of phase 2 of the industrial training fund centre in Abuja at a cost N6.5 billion.

    Details Later…

  • FEC okays N20.6 billion for road contracts

    FEC okays N20.6 billion for road contracts

    …Approves policy for technology acquisition

     

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N20.6 billion for road contracts in Plateau and Kwara states.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He was with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah and the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu.

    The two roads, he said, are N10.4 billion for the reconstruction of Pankshin-Balank-Yalen-Salak-Gindiri road in Plateau state and N10.2 billion for reconstruction of Sharre-Patigi road in Kwara state.

    He said “The ministry presented two memoranda to the council. The first was to with respect for approval to construct the Pankshin-Balank-Yalen-Salak-Gindiri road in Plateau state for N10.46billion.

    “The second one is the Sharre-Patigi road in Kwara for N10.2 billion; both prayers were approved by the council.

    “The other memorandum was in respect to inherited liabilities from the old power ministry where a judgment of N119 billion had been signed against the Federal Government as a result of acts of officials of government who varied the presidential approval without seeking further directive from him and then awarded the contract on that basis.

    “So the party who was the beneficiary of that contract which they subsequently sought to withdraw went to court and got a judgment,” he said.

    Onu said that the Council approved a policy to encourage technological advancement in Nigeria.

    The initiative, he said, will help Nigerian firms to produce what the country needs as it will boost foreign investment in Science, Technology and Engineering from where local content could be developed.

    Through the policy, he said that technology transfer will be facilitated with more taxes to be paid to government, and wealth creation for the country and people.

    “The Federal Executive Council in its deliberations approved a policy that will help us to change the direction that we have been taking as a nation, a direction that will be very useful in helping us to start looking inwards to produce the things that we need as against depending on other outside people to import our requirements.

    “Some of the highlights will involve for example where we have bulk purchases of major items that we are bringing into the country that those who normally would have supplied from outside the country will now come to Nigeria to establish their factories to produce in Nigeria.

    “By doing so they will offer job opportunities to our people, tax will be paid to government so wealth will be created but most importantly Nigeria will now acquire the necessary technology that will help us to build capacity.’’

    Onu said that FEC agreed that henceforth whoever wanted to practice any profession, in Engineering, Science and Technology, Medicine, Accountancy, Quantity Surveyors and others must be certified by appropriate professional bodies in Nigeria.

    He said the measure was very important in building the nation’s local capacity adding that there were so many areas that the fiscal policy had covered.

    According to him the aim is that in the next 10 years Nigerian firms shall be in a position to carry out very complex jobs, especially the ones that they do not currently have the expertise to do.

    He said the country would for now rely on foreign companies for such jobs but when they arrive they have to work with Nigerian firms who would understudy them from project conception to inauguration.

    The minister stated that it was the only way that the country could acquire the necessary technology to build our local capacity hoping that in 20 years Nigerian firms should be competing with the best in the world.

    He said FEC has accepted to declare a state of emergency on Science and Technology because the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017 to 2020 recognised the cardinal place of science and technology in driving the recovery and growth plan.

    “We are not looking for transfer of technology because we know it would not happen; what we are looking for is acquisition of technology and we are interested in building our own capacity.

    “We are convinced that we can do this and we believe that with the new policy we will be in a position to acquire technology,’’ he stated.

    Onu noted that the country could train professionals using the foreign professionals adding that the Ministry of Interior would be involved to ensure creation of a new classification in the immigration policy in that regard.

    He also said that the ministry of foreign affairs would help the country to improve its free visa status ranking from the present 92 position.

    He described the position as very low as it allowed Nigerians to enter only 45 countries on free visa.

    He said this was a difficult journey but would take Nigeria to where it should be in the committee of nations.

    Onu added that the approval had not been done since the country became independent and added that in project design the country would insist that all the language would be in English rather than any other foreign language.

    He noted that with the movement of other nations toward solar and other means of technology outside oil the country should be preparing for a post-crude oil era.

    Enelamah said that FEC approved a memorandum that was presented to amend the list of pioneer industries and products that will enjoy pioneer status going
    forward.

    This, according to him, is line with the ease of doing business policy of government.

    He said “As many of you know the pioneer incentive scheme is governed by ye Industrial Development Income Tax Relief Act and the whole purpose is to give tax holidays to industries we consider pioneer. Pioneer doesn’t mean that they are new it only means that they are not yet mature, we want those industries to grow.

    “We want to attract investment in them and you will find that this covers a wide range of industries and those tax holidays ranges from 3-5years. The pioneer list was last reviewed by the Federal Executive Council in 2006, so you could see that this was long overdue.

    “On doing the review, special attention was paid to the ERGP to capture the current realities that will help to implement the plan to make sure we attract the kind of investment, industries and players that will help to implement and realize our objectives in the ERGP.

    “I should also point out that there was multi stakeholder engagement, private and public sector in arriving at the industries that will be included in the pioneer incentive scheme.

    “In terms of the recommendations approved by FEC today: we have tried to remove all ambiguities in the definition of industries by reclassifying industries according to the international standard in industrial classification which is the global standard which is also the standard that is used by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics.

    “The other thing we also did is to agree that the pioneer list will be reviewed regularly every two years, biannually so that just that if things come up, we live in a fast changing world and we are being responsive to our world. In the case of additions to the list they will be effected immediately, for deletion of industries that we consider mature there will be a three year window that will be allowed for those that are already investing in that industry that were enjoying pioneer status to carry on till the end of that three year period.

    “Against this backdrop, we then approved 27 industries that were recommended for addition to the pioneer list today. We also recommended and it was accepted by the Council that mineral oil prospecting which is governed by the Petroleum Profit Tax should not be part of the pioneer industries list which is really industries governed by the Companies Income Tax Act.

    “It was also accepted that given the success we have achieved in cement which are now net exporters, maybe that is an industry which we could say that we are now where we want to be in terms of maturity even though there is still a lot of scope for the application and the use of cement and you know that will continue. We already have critical mass in cement.

    “The scheme will ensure that will not deprive us of revenue. It is an incentive to make people enter your market, new enter industries, invest more for people who are already here. It will increase our tax base over time,” he stated.

     

  • NEC approves telecommunication right of way charges’ harmonization 

    NEC approves telecommunication right of way charges’ harmonization 

    The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday approved a policy to harmonize right of way charges payable by the telecommunications companies and related public utility infrastructure on Local Governments, States and Federal Highways.

    The Minister of Communication Adebayo Shittu briefed State House correspondents at the end of the NEC chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He was with Abia State Governor Okieza Ikpeazu, Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, and Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

    Shittu said that the new policy will encourage co-location of the companies’ fibre optic cables.

    Just like the telecommunication masts which were harmonised after long years of defacing the environment, he said, that the government wants to do the same for the laying of fibre optic cables which is becoming a burden on the Nigerian roads.

    According to him, the trend is causing high cost tariffs due to multiple taxes charged telecommunication companies by the Federal, States and local governments.

    The new policy, he said, will minimise the spaces occupied, burden on the roads and reduce taxes payable by the telecommunication firms.

    He said “The memo spelt out roles/responsibilities of LGCs, States and telecommunication operators in the management of Right of Way (ROW) issues.

    “Most States are still charging different and higher rates, despite NEC’s resolution that mandate States to adopt and implement Federal Ministry of Works guidelines for grant of Right of Way to ICT service on Highways.

    “Current practice in Nigeria where various telecommunication operators design, survey, dig, deploy and manage their individual fibers networks amounts to duplication of efforts, multiple earthworks and treaches as well as increased administrative and licensing costs.

    “The Memo invited all stakeholders to consider, adopt and approve the use of shared duct strategy, managed by a designated Agency in all tiers of government for the deployment of public utility infrastructure for effective and efficient service delivery and accelerated socio economic development of the country, particularly the transformation of our various cities, towns and villages to a smart status.

    “Council asked the Ministry of Communication to liaise with the States and relevant stakeholders for the smooth implementation of the Right of Way project.” he said

    Enelamah said that he made a presentation to Council on reforming Nigeria at the Subnational level, emphasizing the need to bring Enabling Business Environment Reforms to all tiers of Government and all Nigeria.

    He informed the Council that there is a strong correlation between Ease of Doing Businesses Ranking and Economic prosperity.

    According to him, the Businesses Enabling Environment Agenda being coordinated by the Presidential Enabling Businesses Council is at the heart of Government Agenda, and has the following mandate:

    “Removed critical bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints to doing businesses in Nigeria, aimed at moving the country upwards in global businesses ranking.

    “Areas of focus in removing the bottlenecks include; starting a business, entry and exit of people, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, paying taxes, trading across borders and the ease of getting construction permits.”

    The Minister also informed the Council that the 4th subnational Doing Business rankings for Nigeria is scheduled for 2018, with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd having taken place in 2008, 2010 and 2014 respectively.

    He said that appropriate templates are already being drawn up to prepare States for the exercise.

    He said that the Council was also informed that a National Steering Committee has already been constituted to ensure synergy across all stakeholders to ensure the coordinated delivery of the reform objectives.

    The Council, he said, urged his Ministry to work with an already existing Committee being chaired by the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning in this regard.

    From the presentation by the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning on NEC Resolution Implementation Monitoring 2016/2017 Report, Ahmed said that the Council urged the States to liaise strongly with the Federal Government in the task of National Planning and Development.

    Abia State Governor said that the
    Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, briefed Council on the balances in the following accounts as at 19th July, 2017:

    “Excess Crude Account (ECA) $2.303 billion, Ecological Fund Account – N27.466 billion, Stabilization Account – N2.553 billion, and Development of Natural Resources Account – N77.922 billion.

    Talking points released by the NEC Secretariat also revealed that Gombe State Governor presented a report to the Council on Forensic Audit of Revenue Accrued from Revenue Generating Agencies (RGAs) into Federation Account (FA), Excess Crude Account (ECA) and Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF)

    “The Acting President welcomed the Interim Report and noted that Council will await the outcome of the final report and then discuss the Report.”

    “The EL-Rufai led AD-Hoc committee of the Council on Ecological fund set up by the NEC April, 2017 today submitted its report to Council, recommending among other things a robust governance structure and a stringent disbursement criteria to sanitize the management of the fund.

    “The committee made the following recommendations: That disbursement of the fund should be based on the following criteria;

    “Physical visitation by the Ecological office team and on the spot assessment and verification of the ecological disaster.

    “Technical evaluation of the disaster by experts, Community involvement, Prior to the disaster, there must be evidence of Advocacy, Evidence of existing prompt, Emergency response mechanism in place before the disaster, Monitoring and Evaluation framework must be built into the application of Ecological fund as a road map for measuring performance of the fund.

    “A feedback team that will review the reports of the disbursement must be in place, Adequate publicity of Ecological disaster to create awareness and consciousness in the citizenry to avoid future occurrence is necessary, Evidence of cost estimate must be attached to application, Adequate justification for the project must be given.

    “Due process in vendor engagement must be followed, At all times 50% of the FG share or N20 billion must be reserved for emergencies at the discretion of Mr President.

    “Council commended the El-Rufal Committee for the painstaking job and noted that the Federal Government will consider the recommendations.”

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, informed the Council of the overriding need to return the budget cycle to the January – December calendar year.

    “That the 2018 – 2020 MTEF is anchored on the ERGP. The current Global Economic outlook posited that the country is expecting growth, though there are still some challenges that may impact negatively on growth from now till 2020.

    “He listed policy changes in the US and Britain’s exit from EU, the climate change issue, oil price fluctuations as some of the uncertainties. Assured that the country is already getting out of recession even as oil prices are still sliding. The non-oil sector is growing.

    “Recoveries being recorded in Manufacturing, Agriculture and Services. Efforts aimed at achieving peace in Niger Delta yielding fruits.

    ERGP key objectives and the execution priorities will get country back to growth.” it stated

     

  • Osinbajo inaugurates MSMEs Council

    Osinbajo inaugurates MSMEs Council

    Vice President Yemi Osinabjo on Wednesday inaugurated a streamlined and refocused National Council on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

    The Council, which is chaired by the Vice President and assisted by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, has been reduced from an initial membership of 43 to 21.

    Osinbajo attributed the reduction to taking into consideration effectiveness in delivery.

    He said that the Council is expected to effectively coordinate the enterprise development efforts made by the various tiers of Government, International Development Partners (IDP) and the private sector towards job creation, wealth creation and poverty alleviation in Nigeria.

    Stressing that it was important to inaugurate the council even in the absence of some of its members, he said “There is much work to be done.”

    The council, which is the coordinating platform for the implementation of all development programmes within the sub-sector especially the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP), a repackaged and strategic platform to deliver growth and sustainability within Nigeria’s micro, small, and medium enterprises sub-sector, was first launched in 2014 by the past administration.

    Osinbajo said that the MSME is the bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialization and inclusive economic development and the most important component of the industrialization drive in the country’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), being the primary drivers of employment, wealth creation, and poverty alleviation.

    The Council, he said shall be the apex body on MSMEs development in the country, providing guidance and coordination on the establishment of strategies and policies for the wholesome support of MSME development in Nigeria.

    “It shall also engineer the institution of effective monitoring and evaluation strategies to ensure that MSMEs’ development targets are achieved.” he added

    The Council has membership drawn from the public and private sector institutions, and will have the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) as its secretariat.

    Osinbajo said “It is important to re-emphasize the point that this Council will have the same success delivery platform as the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Committee (PEBEC).

    “The membership of the Council has been streamlined for the purpose of achieving results without undue bureaucracy.  For instance, the existing membership has been reduced from 43 to 21 for effectiveness and purposefulness” he said.

    Terms of reference for the council include coordinating the activities of all stakeholders in both the  private and public sectors to ensure that all efforts and activities  are geared towards the priority sectors of the economy: Guiding the Federal Government on the formulation of broad policies and strategies to drive the wholesome development of the MSMEs sub-sector in Nigeria: Coordinating the roles and responsibilities of  Government  Ministries,  Departments and Agencies  (MDAs), State and Local  Governments and other  stakeholders responsible for MSME development:

    Promoting inter-agency synergy and cooperation in MSME development:

    Encouraging and strengthening Public-Private- Partnership and Public-Public-Partnership in MSME development:

    Ensuring the creation of an enabling environment to facilitate the development of MSME clusters, infrastructure upgrade, access to finance, MSME capacity building, etc:

    Fostering increased awareness and ensuring stakeholders’ buy-in on MSME development programmes, initiatives and projects:

    Ensuring the institution of an effective framework for monitoring and evaluating the impact of MSME policies, programmes, projects and initiatives:

    And ensuring that the principles of the National Policy on MSMEs are achieved and reviewed as the need arises.

    Members of the council include: The minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Minister of state, Industry, Trade and Investment, Ministers of Finance, Mines and Steel Development, Agriculture, Communications, Budget and National Planning, Water Resources, Power,
    Works and Housing, Science and Technology, Women Affairs, Minister of state for Budget and National Planning, Central Bank Governor,  Chairman Nigeria Governors Forum, Economic Adviser to the President, Special Assistant to Vice President on MSMEs, President Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), President National Association of Small and Medium Enterprise, Director General SMEDAN and the Minister of Information.