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Tag: Okechukwu Enelamah

  • Govt begins 60-day action plan on ease of doing business

    Govt begins 60-day action plan on ease of doing business

    The Federal Government will on October 2 begin another 60 days action plan on the ease of doing business in the country.

    Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Okechukwu Enelamah, stated this at the end of an expanded Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The meeting was chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    Enelamah said: “We have had a very success enabling business environment council meeting. It was an expanded meeting where the Chief Justice of Nigeria was there, representative of senate president, Lagos and Kano governments and all the key ministers and heads of agencies were there.

    “It was a stock taking meeting. We have taken stock of what we have achieved already, the journey so far with a plan on the way forward, the idea being that we want to have a second round of the national action plan which is is even more ambitious than the first one. We really want to make it easy for people to do business in Nigeria.” he said

    Secretary of PEBEC Dr. Jumoke Oduwole said the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria is collaborating with the council on the subnational project.

    According to her, the council is working with all the states and the FCT in order to make sure that the states are involved.

    She said “We are taking ease of doing business state wise. And we are collaborating widely with the private sector, all state governments, the National Assembly.

    “We are going to have an omnibus bill that will wrap up all the irritant but most importantly, we are lunching a new 60-day action plan starting from 2nd of October running to the 30th of November and we are going to have the press pack that will contain all the reforms that all the MDAs are going to be working on.

    “It’s going to be a very exciting time and we are looking forward to tangible deliverables for the Nigerian people.

    “We are targeting SMEs. We want the business climate to be simpler, you don’t need to know anybody to do business effectively in Nigeria. Larger companies ally of the time have different kinds of problems, we want systemic change for small and medium size enterprises. We had the acting DG of NAFDAC, DEC, DG of SON, we had heads of police, immigration, customs, ports authority,  the airport, the judiciary.

    Senator Bala Ibin Na’allah, who represented the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the National Assembly would not fail to support moves to ease doing business in Nigeria.

     

  • FG to begin 60 days action plan on ease of doing business

    FG to begin 60 days action plan on ease of doing business

    The Federal Government will begin another 60 days action plan in the 2nd of October towards ease of doing business in the country.

    The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of AN expanded Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting was chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.  

    Enelamah said “We have had a very success enabling business environment council meeting. It was an expanded meeting where the Chief Justice of Nigeria was there, representative of senate president, Lagos and Kano government and all the key ministers and heads of agencies there.

    “The meeting was a stock taking meeting. We have taken stock what we have achieved already, the journey so far with a plan on the way forward the idea being that we want to have a second round of the national action plan which is is even more ambitious than the first one. We really want to make it easy for people to do business in Nigeria.” he said

    The Secretary of PEBEC, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole said that the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria is collaborating with the council on the subnational project.

    According to her, the council is working with all the states and the FCT in order to make sure that the states are involved.

    She said “We are taking ease of doing business state wise. And we are collaborating widely with the private sector, all state governments, the National Assembly.

    “Again of course. We are going to have an omnibus bill that will wrap up all the irritant but most importantly, we are launching a new 60 day action plan starting from 2nd of October running to the 30th of November and we are going to have the press pack that will contain all the reforms that all the MDAs are going to be working on.

    “It’s going to be a very exciting time and we are looking forward to tangible deliverables for the Nigerian people.

    “We are targeting SMEs. We want the business climate to be simpler; you don’t need to know anybody to do business effectively in Nigeria. Larger companies ally of the time have different kinds of problems, we want systemic change for small and medium size enterprises. We had the acting DG of NAfDEC, DG of SON, we had heads of police, immigration, customs, ports authority, the airport, the judiciary.

    “We had the Chief Justice of the federation attend the PEBEC meeting for the first time. These are all the ingredients plus a strong representation from the private sector that makes sure that the collaborative exercise works very powerfully to deliver impactful reforms for the Nigerian people.” she added

    Senator Bala Ibin Na’allah, who represented the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said that the National Assembly will not fail to support moves to ease doing business In Nigeria.

    He said ‘In interim report of PEBEC, the National Assembly got green for compliance with all the commitment we have made as our contribution on to the ease of doing business.

    ‘We the only arm of government that got full green for full implementation of whatever commitment we gave as a National Assembly facilitating the project for enabling business environment in Nigeria.” he added

    Chika Emodi, MD/CEO of National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria described the meeting as very productive.

    “A lot do work has been done and is beginning to show. There is no doubt that we have a commitment on the part of government and we are very optimistic about how this will translate to a better business environment for the country.”

  • 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

     

  • Only 3m Nigerians have insurance policies, says Adeosun

    Only 3m Nigerians have insurance policies, says Adeosun

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs kemi Adeosun, on Monday said that only three million out of 180 million Nigerians possessed insurance policies to protect themselves from uncertainties.

    Adeosun, who made the disclosure at the ongoing 2017 National Insurance Conference (NIC) in Abuja, noted that insurance was playing critical roles in the economy.

    The theme of the three-day conference is: “Nigeria Open for Business.’’

    Represented by Alhaji Mammud Dutse, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Adeosun said that insurance was facilitating investments by reducing the amount of capital and savings needed by individuals, corporations and agencies to fight unforeseen losses.

    She said that total insurance premiums grew from N75 billion in 2005 to over N300 billion in 2016 and contributed approximately 0.7 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product.

    She said that the figure was less than the African average of 3.3 per cent and the global average of seven per cent.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the 2017 event would be the third since the conception of the Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC) in 2015.

    IICC is an amalgamation of all the constituent arms of the insurance industry, which includes the Nigerian Insurers Association, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers and Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria.

    The minister lamented that the insurance industry was facing the challenge of low-level penetration.

    “This means insurance from writing more premiums from millions of Nigerians can provide finance for our long-term economic growth for the country’s recovery.’’

    She said that practitioners must be willing to do more to make insurance a giant industry to look up to, adding that distribution channels must be innovative and that new products should be developed to attract the populace.

    She argued that to achieve conclusive growth, insurance must be deployed to rural areas.

    “Deepening insurance penetration to the rural areas must include, improving technical capacity to meet the emerging market trends.

    “The best way to promote insurance is to incorporate both individuals and corporate entities into the insurance market,’’ Adeosun said.

    The minister said that the Federal Government would ensure that its economic reforms supported the growth of the insurance industry, adding that many foreign investors had indicated interest to invest in the sector.

    “There is also a high level of ownership of insurable assets in Nigeria, despite the economic situation.

    “We expect that industry reforms will continue to drive investments and new market entries.

    “Foreign investors have shown great interest in the Nigerian insurance sector by entering into the market and progress can be seen in the introduction of new insurance products in the growing mortgage and housing sector.

    “To concentrate on the progress being made so far, Federal Government will always play its part to ensure that government assets are properly insured,’’ she said.

    Also speaking, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, said the best way to move the industry forward was for the practitioners to accept responsibilities.

    “The practitioners need to work hard to ensure that many Nigerians are dragged into insurance net.

    “The practitioners cannot compare themselves to entertainers,’’ Enelamah said.

    Earlier, Alhaji Mohammed Kari, the Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), commended the Federal Government for its support for the industry.

    Kari described insurance as promoter and stabiliser of economic and commercial activities.

    He said the commission had commenced the review of processes which included timelines and deadlines.

    Kari said that the growth of the industry was hindered by unripe products, religious beliefs and wrong perception.

    NAN reports that over 400 participants are taking part in the NIC conference.

  • FG privatizes 142 enterprises – Osinbajo

    FG privatizes 142 enterprises – Osinbajo

    The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) has since inception successfully concluded the privatisation and reform of over 142 public enterprises, according to Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

    He made the disclosure during the inauguration of the Fifth Council of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) since the enactment of the Public Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act 1999.

    He pointed out that the inauguration of the NCP is a critical step in the process of putting in place part of the institutional framework necessary for the actualization of the socio-economic agenda of the administration.

    The Head Public Communications, Mr. Chukwuma Nwoko, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday quoted him as adding that: “It is also a demonstration of our administration’s commitment to public sector reform and the central role of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) in this process. Even though the public sector has been at the

    Even though the public sector has been at the centre stage in the provision of critical infrastructure and services cutting across the whole spectrum of the nation’s life since independence, the emerging importance and centrality of the private sector to the actualization of the economic agenda of the administration cannot be downplayed.”

    The Acting President stated that apart from playing a dominant role of generating employment opportunities, the intervention of the private sector enhances the process of industrialisation, delivers critical infrastructure and services the country.

    To him, the role can only be unleashed when government’s role of regulating and creating an enabling environment is robustly undertaken.  “This will, in turn, offer the private sector the required comfort and assurance to make investments and expect a reasonable return on thereon,” he said.

    He pledged the administration’s commitment to giving all the required support to the NCP in carrying out its statutory responsibilities.   “In return, the Government expects the NCP to come up with creative out-of-the-box solutions for addressing the numerous challenges facing the privatisation and commercialization programme such as non-performance by some privatised enterprises and post-privatisation challenges facing some of the privatised enterprises,” he added.

    “The Government also expects the NCP to make measurable progress in respect of the outstanding transactions affecting some of the areas critical to the economic recovery of the nation.  You must make deliberate and conscious efforts to learn from past experiences and guard against avoidable mistakes of the past.”

    The Acting President explained that over the years, the NCP had concluded significant transactions and carried out economic reform activities in key sectors of the economy such as telecommunications, pension management, ports, power, etc.   Said he: “A mega reform process in the power sector is ongoing with ambitious expectations. Although there are numerous challenges trailing the process, the NCP is expected to critically analyse these challenges and come up with sustainable solutions as part of government commitment to make power available at accelerated rates and to wide sections of the populace.”

    In his remarks, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex A. Okoh, noted that recently a trend has emerged where certain institutions engage in activities which are tending to compromise and conflict with the statutory functions of the Bureau.

    According to him, “we believe that regulatory agencies and commissions should manage regulatory compliance and not get involved in process as transactions managers or operators as this will clearly create confusion and possible conflict. The Bureau of Public Enterprises operates as transaction managers and we shall submit our processes to the supervision of the relevant regulatory agency responsible for the particular transaction track we pursue to execute our mandate of enterprise reformation, including the SEC and the ICRC.”

    Members of the NCP which is chaired by the acting President are Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance, as Vice Chairman; Mallam Abubakar Malami, SAN, the Attorney General of the Federation; Mr. Okechukwu Enelamah, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; and Senator Udo Udoma, Minister of National Planning.Others are Hajia Habibat Lawal, acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters; Mr. Ituah Ighodalo; Mr. Ghandi Olaoye; Senator A.A. Ibrahim; Dr. Bashir Gwandu; and Mr. Alex Okoh, Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (Member/Secretary.)

    Others are Hajia Habibat Lawal, acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters; Mr. Ituah Ighodalo; Mr. Ghandi Olaoye; Senator A.A. Ibrahim; Dr. Bashir Gwandu; and Mr. Alex Okoh, Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (Member/Secretary.)

  • Obasanjo, Adesina to speak on African trade at Afreximbank AGM

    Obasanjo, Adesina to speak on African trade at Afreximbank AGM

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says former President Olusegun Obasanjo will speak on African trade at the bank’s 24th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) scheduled for June 28 in Kigali.

    This was announced in a statement by the bank’s spokesman, Mr Obi Emekekwue, on Wednesday in Lagos.

    Emekekwue said the President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, and Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment of Nigeria would also speak at the event.

    He said Prof. Justin Lin, Director, Centre for New Structural Economics and Honorary Dean, National School of Development, Peking University, China and Ade Ayeyemi, Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Transnational, would speak on integration.

    He said that Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, Anastase Murekezi, the Prime Minister and Claver Gatete, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, among others, would address the four-day event.

    According to Emekekwue, the theme of this year’s meeting is: Boosting intra-African trade and integration.

    He said the event would feature a meeting of the Afreximbank Advisory Group on Trade Finance and Export Development in Africa, which would focus on Africa’s trade opportunities in a world of rising protectionism.

    “There will be an investment forum to be hosted by the Rwandan Government while a trade exhibition will also take place on June 30,” he said.

    Afreximbank is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade.

    The bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors.

    Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organisation, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations.

    Since 1994, it has approved more than 51 billion dollars in credit facilities for African businesses, including about 10.3 billion do0llars in 2016.

    Afreximbank has total assets of 9.4 billion dollars as at April 30, 2016 and is rated BBB+ (GCR), Baa1 (Moody’s), and BBB- (Fitch). The bank is based in Cairo.

     

  • 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.

     

  • FG okays advisory council on industrialisation

    FG okays advisory council on industrialisation

    …Approves draft bill for C‎DC

     

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the establishment of the Nigeria Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council towards boosting industrialization in the country.

    This was disclosed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He was accompanied by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and the Minister of Health Isaac Adewole.

    According to him, the new council will engage the private sector to develop a viable policy for the nation’s industrial sector.

    He said that the industrial council‎ will be chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and will have two vice presidents from both the government and the private sector, while membership will be drawn from private sector and relevant ministries.

    The Health Minister disclosed that the Council approved Draft Bill for National Centre for Disease Control.

    Adewole said that Council approved draft bill to give legal backing for the establishment of the National Centre for Disease Control.

    He said that a legal backing will now be given to the agency to have its own board, recruit it’s personnel and a CEO appointed.

    He said there is a budget line for National Center for Disease Control already, adding that the federal government is not going to incur any additional expenses.

    Apart from being operational since 2012, he said that it has been instrumental in combating the deadly Ebola virus and Lassa fever.

    The agenda, he said, is to strengthen the public health intervention to ensure proactiveness against future epidemic.

    He said, “To move the agenda of public health intervention forward, what is known internationally is that they will always be another epidemic‎ or another disease outbreak but what we do not know is when and where it will happen. What we need to do is to get ourselves prepared for the next epidemic.

    “The National Council of Health in its meeting in Lagos in 2007‎, took a decision to establish a Nigerian center for disease control. The center became operational in 2012 and actually constituted a major force in combating Ebola ‎and has been very operational in handling lessa fever in different parts of the country. So what we have done today is to provide legal framework for this agency so that it can validly perform the role that is expected of such role that is expected of such frontline agency. It is patterned after the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention which was established in 1946. The whole concept is not new what is new is that we decided to move ahead with it in Nigeria.

    “There is also a European ‎Centre for Disease Control established in 2004 and in 2013 following a resolution in Abuja, African Union also decided to establish a center for disease control.

    “Our center for disease control is a frontline agency that has been recognised internationally, it has been designated as the regional center for disease control in West Africa, it has also been designated as the regional center for the African center for disease and prevention.

    “So with this approval we can then move on working with National Assembly to put in place the necessary legislative action so that it can formally become an Act of Parliament.” he said

    Stressing that the agency has not been operating illegally, he said: “It can be liken to a baby you have been carrying on your back ‎and after sometimes you say this baby is big enough to walk and you say walk I will hold you by the hand. So, under the new dispensation we will give a legal framework to the establishment of the board for the agency, defined recruitment, how the director or the CEO of the agency will be appointed.

    “These are things that have now been formalized. It has a budget line and so it’s actually not going incur any additional expenses. There is a budget line for National Center for Disease Control already,” he said.