The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Rachid Benmessaoud

  • Nigerians everywhere deserve healthy, productive lives — Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, says Nigerians everywhere deserve to live healthy, educated and productive lives regardless of where in Nigeria they reside, what God they worship or language they speak.

    Osinbajo said this on Friday in Abuja while addressing the extended National Economic Council (NEC) meeting with focus on Human Capital Development (HCD) held at the State House Banquet Hall.

    The theme of meeting was “Achieving Nigeria’s Visions for Human Capital Development.’’

    The vice president said that the Federal Government was fully committed to ensuring that it positively transformed the Nigerian experience as it related to the quality of life and well-being of its people.

    He said that Nigeria had struggled with high  levels of poverty for several decades in spite of its potential, as the last poverty study done by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2012 showed that 112 million Nigerians were living in extreme poverty.

    Osinbajo said that when the present government came into office in 2015, three things were very clear, one that it needed to move quickly and ambitiously in its response to the issues of poverty and malnutrition and disease and illiteracy.

    “Two, there would be no quick fixes or miracles cures as it would be a long and painful journey out of the status quo which required patience and consistence in the implementation of our interventions.

    “Three, just as we are reaping the consequences of the poor decisions we have taken in the past, we can change the consequences that await us in the future by changing the decisions we take in the present.

    “These realizations have guided us over the last three years, even as we have developed a vision for a Nigeria that is healthy, educated and positioned to fully unleash its development potential.

    “This is what informed the creation and implementation of our Social Investment Programme, which is now the largest in Africa.

    “A multi-faceted intervention simultaneously targeting poverty, hunger, unemployment, financial exclusion, and the absence of skills needed for our large youth population to thrive in the 21st century.

    “Nigerians everywhere deserve to live healthy, educated and productive lives, regardless of where in Nigeria they live or what God they worship or what language they speak.’’

    He said that the N-Power, Jobs Scheme for unemployed graduates had more than doubled since then to cater to 500,000 beneficiaries; while Trader-Moni Microcredit scheme for petty traders excluded from formal lending opportunities had benefited well over a million people.

    Read Also: Osinbajo to unveil Igbo Ancestry Museum in Anambra

    The vice president said there was also Market-Moni, designed to provide loans to market women and traders, artisans, enterprising youths and small scale farmers and agric workers nationwide.

    “In terms of healthcare, we have recorded a landmark accomplishment, the setting up of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, with seed funding of one per cent of our Consolidated Revenue Fund as outlined in the National Health Act.

    “I am pleased to say that Nigeria is for the first time complying with these stipulations since the Act was signed into law in 2014,’’ he said.

    In a presentation, Mr Yosola Akinbi, HCD Core Working Group (CWG) Coordinator, said that the HCD initiative was a response to Nigeria’s ranking as a country with low HCD.

    She said that the CWG selected six outcomes and several proxy measures to access and track progress across HCD thematic areas.

    Akinbi listed the areas as under-five mortality rate, malnutrition, adult mortality, expected years of school completion, quality of learning and labour force participation.

    She said that Nigeria’s vision to accelerate HCD by 2030 was in three strategic themes, health and nutrition, education and labour force.

    “Provide equitable access to affordable and quality healthcare for every Nigerian, promote a quality, inclusive and functional educational system and empower youth to have the capacity and skills to create or seek employment,’’ she said.

    In his remarks, Chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, said that the governors had been working hard to ensure economic growth and promote transparency in governance.

    He said that finance was critical in addressing all the issues bordering on HCD.

    According to him, more efforts should be channeled toward revenue generation in order to achieve the vision of HCD.

    In goodwill message, Mr Rachid Benmessaoud, Country Director, World Bank Nigeria, said that for the world to do well, Nigeria had to do well.

    He said that the Federal Government’s Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (ERGP) was yielding results.

    Mrs Debbie Palmer, DFID Country Representative, in a goodwill message, said that given that Nigeria would be the third largest nation in the world by 2050, it needed well-nourished, healthy, educated and skilled people.

    Also speaking, Sen. Lanre Tejuosho, the chairman, Senate Committee on Health, urged the executive to ensure timely release of money appropriated by the National Assembly for HCD.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that there were also goodwill messages from representatives of UNICEF,  Dangote Group, Belinda and Gates Foundation,and U.S. Mission among others.

    The extended NEC had in attendance state governors, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, private sector representatives and development partners.

    The highlight of the event was unveiling of the Vision to Accelerate Human Capital Development by 2030 by the vice president.

    NAN

  • World Bank backs Obaseki’s devt drive

    …Urges other states to replicate Edo blueprint

     

    The World Bank has thrown its weight behind the ongoing developmental drive of the Godwin Obaseki-led administration in Edo State, urging other states in the country to replicate the Edo model.

    Country Director of World Bank, Nigeria and Co-ordinating Director for Regional Integration Programme in West Africa, Rachid Benmessaoud, who led the bank’s delegation on a visit to the governor at the Government House, Edo State, on Thursday, said: “Obaseki has established a flagship effort that has resulted in the Edo Azura Power Plant where he brought the World Bank Group together and we are ready to replicate the model and build more Azura projects in Nigeria and West Africa.”

    He was accompanied on the visit by the Country Manager, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Nigeria Office, Eme Essien; Programme  Leader, Muna Salih Meky; Programme Leader, Kofi Nouve; Lead Procurement Specialist, Bayo Awosemusi; Senior Private Sector Specialist, Feyi Boroffice; Senior Agriculture Economist, Adetunji A. Oredipe; and Senior Operations Officer, John Paul Ngebeh, amongst others.

    Benmessaoud explained that the strong partnership between Edo State Government and the World Bank is highly cherished by his institution, and commended the  insistence of the Obaseki administration on transparency and accountability.

    Read Also: Obaseki rolls out investment windows for agribusiness investors

    “I want to assure the governor that the World Bank will help in addressing the human capital needs by pulling her resources together to support the Edo State government,” he pledged.

    In his response, Obaseki expressed the gratitude of the Edo State government to the World Bank for finding the state a worthy partner in their commitment to bring development to all Edo people and residents.

    He showcased the achievements of the government in agriculture to his guests and said that one of his goals is to replace crude oil with oil palm, as aggressive effort is being made to make Edo State the oil palm hub in the country and beyond.

    He highlighted some of the challenges faced by his government, including illegal migration and human trafficking, explaining that 60 per cent of returnees to Nigeria are from Edo State.

    According to him, “Trafficking is high because the people are very aspirational and are prepared to take the risk of embarking on the dangerous journey. If they can turn such zeal to learning a skill and contribute their quota to development, the nation will be a better place for us all”.

    Obaseki further said that in the state alone, about 3,300 people have returned home after a painful experience in Libya and elsewhere and added that his administration has been reintegrating them  into the society through a bouquet of initiatives including creating jobs, mentoring, technical and vocational education; skill development programme, amongst others.

    Benmassoud’s visit follows the visit of 11 Executive Directors of the Bretton Woods institution, who were in the state for on-the-spot assessment of the bank-sponsored developmental projects in the state, recently.

     

  • World Bank support for Nigeria, others hit $14b

    World Bank support for Nigeria, others hit $14b

    The World Bank Nigeria Country Director, Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud, said on Tuesday that the World Bank Group’s support to fragile states, including Nigeria through its International Development Association (IDA) has doubled to more than $14 billion.

    Benmessaoud said this in Abuja at a conference with the theme: “Ideas forAction Africa” hosted by the bank, in conjunction with the African University of Science and Technology and the University of Lagos.

    He said the focus of the programme was to provide opportunities for the youths to contribute to the narrative shaping Africa’s 2030 agenda and also the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    According to him, the Ideas forAction Africa is a powerful platform that gives young people the means to have a say in the international development debate and provide practical solutions to the world’s most complex problems.

    He said to advance sustainable development and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the bank’s strategy was to invest more in people and pursue private sector solutions to maximise finance for development.

    Benmessaoud also said that the World Bank’s strategy also includes accelerating inclusive and sustainable economic growth through distribution of diversified economic opportunities across sectors and finally, fostering resilience to global shocks and threats.

    The World Bank official said: “The underlying challenge remains the need for countries to mobilise domestic revenues, for development to be sustainable. This is because ultimately the ability to implement and sustain these programmes depends on political will of the government.

    “Development has to be led by each country with a focus on protecting its most vulnerable and benefitting its poor.

    “It is a moral responsibility on the part of everyone to do more to help people lift themselves out of both fragility and extreme poverty, to help stabilise the countries they live in, and to give them hope for the future.

    “Against this backdrop, allocation for fragile states under the International Development Association (IDA) has doubled to more than $14 billion.

    “With this, we continue to find new and innovative ways to reach the poor and boost shared prosperity.”

    Benmessaoud urged young Nigerians to put forth their best ideas and be a part of the innovation that is Ideas for Action.

    Also speaking, the President, African University of Science and Technology, Prof. Kingston Nyamapfene described African youths as the engine of growth and positive change in the continent.

     

     

  • World Bank to support improved childhood development

    World Bank to support improved childhood development

    The World Bank has pledged its sustained support to the Nigerian Government to ensure quality health and development of children.

    Mr Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank Country Director, Nigeria, made the promise at the on-going National Early Childhood Development conference on Wednesday in Abuja with the theme “Investing early in every Nigerian child”.

    Benmessaoud who noted that investing in policies and programme of childhood development as critical toward the actualisation of SDGs however said that it required collective or concerted efforts of all and sundry.

    “The World Bank is committed to supporting the effort of the government of Nigeria in ensuring that every Nigerian child reaches his or her potential.

    “This potential can be achieved by addressing the problem of inequality at birth and responding to the welfare rights of every child to access adequate nutrition, live in safe and secure environments and access to stimulation and learning opportunities.

    “Investing in children is morally right and economically safe, so we need to ensure that every child is loved, care for in terms of adequate nutrition and education.

    “The issue of early childhood development is central to national development and it is the basis for future learning and enhance the child’s ability to be patience and leads to large term gain,” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference was aimed at creating awareness on the meaning and importance of the early years of a child from conception to five years in early childhood nutrition, education and development.

    Similarly, Mrs Barbara Ayisi, Deputy Minister Basic Education, Ghana described early childhood development as the foundation of other levels of development.

    Ayisi emphasised that investing in them early would enhance school readiness, among others.

    “Life is not about us but about our children so if we start raw we get raw and if we start right we get it right in every facet of the society.

    “Ghana has free education for its high school children Nigeria should emulate this as it will in a long way boost the nation’s development ,” she said.

  • North-East at risk of famine – World Bank

    North-East at risk of famine – World Bank

    • Presidency spends over N1bn on reconstruction project

    The World Bank has warned of imminent famine and food shortage in the north-eastern part of Nigeria.

    World Bank Country Director, Rachid Benmessaoud gave the warning at the dashboard launch of Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative (PCNI), held on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Benmessaoud disclosed that as a result, it will focus its $775-million financial intervention to solve problems relating to health, education, social protection as well as livelihood deficits.

    His words: “North East Nigeria is currently faced with a confluence of humanitarian development and security- related crisis, a situation which calls for strengthened humanitarian development and security collaboration to deliver a comprehensive and strategic response across the short-medium and long term.

    “The World Bank’s $775-million financial support to the North East Nigeria focuses on addressing service delivery gaps in health, education, social protection as well as livelihood deficit, youth, unemployment and social cohesion issues created by the protracted crisis. The North East is also facing a credible risk of famine and food scarcity which is amplified by the conflict.”

    The bank further restated its commitment to support humanitarian organisations to achieving the goal of addressing immediate needs of the people and providing long-term socio-economic solutions.

    In his remarks, PCNI Chairman, Mohammed Danjuma disclosed that the initiative has so far spent about N1 billion for the north east reconstruction project.

    He added that about N7 billion was still needed for the entire rehabilitation project.

    The platform according to him was setup to coordinate interventions from all stakeholders and integrate all partners to realising the reconstruction process.

    “There are multiple actors in the region – international development partners, international non-governmental organisations, state governments, local non-governmental organisations, individuals, faith-based organisations – and bringing everyone aboard would help us identify gaps.

    “So far, the Federal Government has expended over N1bn on the region and by way of assessment, we need N7bn to rebuild the region. We are not trying to hijack efforts already in play; we are just trying to know who is doing what, where and how, while putting the welfare and protection of the IDPs uppermost on the agenda of this government, via the Buhari Economic Plan,” Danjuma said.

    He added that about 21, 000 projects have been listed for execution and such projects will be implemented by relevant Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as soon as the 2017 budget proposal is passed into law.

    Explaining the significance of the dashboard, he explained that it would enable real-time monitoring on activities of relevant stakeholders, such as international donors, faith based organisations, non-governmental organisations among others.

    “So far, over 21,000 projects have been planned for the North-east by the Buahri administration and, as soon as the budget is passed, we’ll be seeing projects championed by a number of MDAs in the region,” he added.

  • North East on the brink of famine – World Bank

    The World Bank on Tuesday warned of imminent famine and food shortage in the North East.

    The World Bank Country Director, Rachid Benmessaoud, gave the warning at the dashboard launch of Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative (PCNI) in Abuja.

    Benmessaoud said the bank will focus its $775 million intervention on problems relating to health, education, social protection and livelihood deficits.

    He said, “North East Nigeria is currently faced with a confluence of humanitarian development and security related crisis, a situation which calls for strengthened humanitarian development and security collaboration to deliver a comprehensive and strategic response across the short-medium and long term.

    “The World Bank’s $775-million financial support to the North East Nigeria focuses on addressing service delivery gaps in health, education, social protection, livelihood deficit, youth unemployment and social cohesion issues created by the protracted crisis.  The North East is also facing a credible risk of famine and food scarcity which is amplified by the conflict.”

    The bank restated its commitment to support humanitarian organisations to achieving the goal of addressing immediate needs of the people and providing long-term socio-economic solutions.

    The PCNI Chairman, Mohammed Danjuma, said about N1 billion has been spent on the north east reconstruction project.

    He added that about N7 billion was still needed for the entire rehabilitation project.

  • World Bank approves $200m agric-credit to Nigeria

    The World Bank has approved a $200 million credit facility to further support Nigeria, in its efforts to enhance agricultural productivity of small and medium scale farmers.

    In a statement on Friday in Abuja, The Word Bank Country Director, Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud, said the loan was in recognition of agriculture as the key to long-term economic growth and diversification.

    He said the credit was being financed from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s grant and low-interest arm.

    He said it will be on standard IDA terms, with a maturity of 25 years, including a grace period of five years.

    Benmessaoud said the project will tackle the key constraints of the Nigeria agriculture sector, such as low productivity, lack of seed funds for establishing agro-processing plants and lack of access to supportive infrastructure.

    The World Bank official said it will also solve the problems of low level technology and limited access to markets.

    “The project supports the country policy thrusts on food security, local production, job creation and economic diversification,” Benmessaoud said.

    “It also responds to the recurring issues of low productivity, limited farmers’ participation to agribusiness supply chains, and institutional realignment in the agricultural sector.

    “The project will help increase agricultural productivity and production, improve processing and marketing, foster job creation, and increase household income and livelihood in participating states.”

    NAN

     

  • Dwindling income: States seek World Bank grants

    Dwindling income: States seek World Bank grants

    With the dwindling prices of oil in the international market and reducing income to the Federation Account, states are seeking ways to access World Bank grants.

    To this end, the governors under the platform of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Wednesday night received presentation on how to access the grants from the Country Director of World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud.

    Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, NGF Chairman, Abdulaziz Yari said: “We the Nigerian Governors Forum had a meeting today in the banquet hall, we invited the country director of World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud who briefed the forum on the money lying down in the world bank which largely belongs to state governments but has not been accessed.

    “Because of the cumbersome procedure in accessing these funds, most of the governors did not even know they had such funds there, it was the initiative of the Governor of Kaduna state that they should come and make this presentation so that they can educate the governors to know that these monies are there especially in the kind of situation we are the difficulties so that the state can move forward in terms of infrastructure development and other matters in our respective states.

    “We have a presentation from the World Bank officials and we agreed on terms, the governors contributed that so many things should be involved, most especially the issue of counterpart funding which the World Bank accepted they are going to look into.

    “Also they agreed that they will give us the details of state by state how much is lying down for each state and how we are going to access it.

    He said that in the meanwhile the World Bank has agreed to facilitate a workshop for the state governors, commissioner of finances and other staff.

    The workshop, he said, is to show how best to access the funds.

    He added: “We discussed sincerely on the issue of counterpart funding. It is more difficult for us to fulfill our own part because we are struggling to see how we can pay salaries that is the most difficult aspect of it and they promised that they will look into it and immediately that is done, the states will move fast to ensure we access it.”

    On his part, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai said that the World Bank portfolio for the states for 2016 is $4.25 billion and $3.25 billion out of it is lying undisbursed.

    According to him, the states are either not meeting their conditions or not moving fast enough to draw the $3.25 billion.

    He said: “You know $3.25 billion can do a lot to improve the lives and livelihood of our citizens in the states and the world bank has expressed its flexibility to look into the challenges we are facing as well as the procedure or bottleneck to ease the access of these monies because the World Bank wants us to withdraw these money as quickly as possible so that our citizens will get the benefits from health to education and the rural access, agriculture and the revival of livestock and water supply.

    “These are the areas that most of these funds are dedicated and we all need the money because we are all broke, so we are going to work very hard to try to get these monies in trust.” He stated

    On the increase in pump price of fuel, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun said that it is a sacrifice that must be paid by all.

    He said that the President and the government mean well for the country.

    He said: “All of us means well and if truly we are caring for the masses we believe that subsidy only serve the rich, those that are getting us the fuel, not the masses.

    “We believe that such money that have been saved from the subsidy would be used for infrastructural development particularly for social services for all of the down- trodden masses.

    “We are putting our weight behind it, while urging the federal government and indeed the state governments to see how we can ameliorate all the problems the masses would probably go through in the short run because in the long run they would be the better for it.

    “We supported it because we believe that it is in the interest of the masses,” he stated.

  • Taxes, corruption major constraint to MSMEs growth – World Bank

    The World Bank Country Programme Director, Nigeria, Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud, disclosed on Tuesday that survey has ranked access to finance, power, infrastructure, taxes and corruption as major constrain to the growth of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria.

    Benmessaoud, who stated this during the launch of Business Innovation and Growth Big platform in partnership with Growth and Employment Project GEM, World Bank Group in Abuja, insisted that this project is aimed at stimulating job creation.

    He said, “The government of Nigeria has identified security, job creation and governance as three key priorities. For job creation, its focus is on the need to create two million new jobs each year and it aims to do this through industrialization, public works and agricultural expansion and diversifying the economy away from reliance on oil revenues.

    “GEM project is a major initiative aimed at stimulating job creation through the growth of specific high potential, non- oil sectors, ICT construction, entertainment and light manufacturing including agro processing, hospitality and tourism.

    “It will also make resources available to help address some key constraints identified by business, with a particular emphasis on MSMEs, which are widely regarded as a vital engine for growth and job creation.”

    “When focus is more on access to finance as constraint, the poor quality of business plan, financial planning and managerial capacity are often diagnosed as being significant factors behind the inability to attract or unlock finance.”