FirstBank has reiterated its support for the 35th edition of Lagos International Trade Fair.
During the 10-day fair, the bank’s broad clientele and prospective customers will benefit from its expert financial advisory services, on-line-real-time banking, internet and mobile banking, Automated Teller Machine (ATM), card products, mobile payment platforms and money transfer services.
The trade fair which kicked off last Friday will also have participants from Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, India, Egypt, Chad and Niger Republic in attendance.
This year’s edition themed: “Enhancing Value Addition in the Non-Oil Economy” was formally declared open over the weekend at the trade fair ground – Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos. Over the years, the fair has attracted both local and foreign exhibitors and has continued to provide avenue for various trade groups and professionals to present new products and ideas as well as tap into business opportunities that exist in the country.
Its GMD/CEO, Bisi Onasanya, said the bank is proud to be a sponsor of the Lagos International Trade Fair, as this demonstrates our commitment to promoting trade and development in the nation.
‘We would continue to promote the industrialisation of the Nigerian economy and the global economy at large through valuable partnerships’, Onasanya added. FirstBank has been a consistent sponsor of the annual trade fair since its inception 35 years ago.
Business activities at the headquarters of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) were on Thursday paralyzed as three communities protested epileptic power supply.
Workers of BEDC were denied access into the building premises as the protesters blocked the two entrance gates.
The protesters who were from Ogbenogbo, Ogbegbuya and Goodwill/Trade Fair communities in Oredo local government area of the state slaughtered two goats with which they prepared yam porridge and jollof rice in front of BEDC office.
Two large pots were used for the cooking, while the protesters danced round the BEDC office.
Spokesman for the community, Aduku Monday, said they were annoyed because they have not enjoyed electricity supply since the BEDC took over from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
He said, “We have not enjoyed power supply ever since BEDC took over from PHCN. The best we have is very epileptic. All forms of business activities in the two communities that depend on electricity have all been paralysed.
“Formally, we were supplied electricity from the feeder pillar in the GRA. But when BEDC took over, they transferred us to Evbuotubu, because, as we heard, an Indian company gave them money to retain the transformers. Secondly, Evbotubu is already overloaded,” he said.
The Nation gathered that there are 2,688 houses in the three communities.
A resident – Curtis Obaghiagbon – said he has been using generator since he returned from Austria last month.
“Ever since I arrived, I’ve been buying petrol to run my generator every day. If I can afford it, not everybody can afford it. This is not sustainable. It has to stop,” Mr. Obaghiagbon said.
“We will come here tomorrow, all of us in black dresses to complete the burial ceremony of BEDC and Osibodu.”
The General Manager, Public Affairs Division in BEDC, Curtis Nwadei, said the communities are indebted to the company to the tune of N28, 140, 962.26k.
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has said the Lagos International Trade Fair (LITF) is aimed at accommodating all sectors of the economy and showcase the potential of the economy beyond oil.
In a parley with reporters on the preparations of the fair tagged, “Enhancing value addition in the non-oil economy”, scheduled to hold between November 6 and 15, the Chairman, Trade Promotion Board of the LCCI, Dr. Olawale Cole, said the LCCI is breaking new grounds in response to the yearnings of the business world as the fair will hold simultaneously in three various venues.
“The Tafawa Balewa Square, Onikan will host the business-to-customer general fair, the MUSON Centre, Onikan, will host the business-to-business and corporate exhibition and the Freedom Park, Broad street will host the creative industry fair, tagged Eko Akete.
“In hosting this fair in these venues, the LCCI aims to hold an all-inclusive fair, which will accommodate all sectors of the economy and expose the potentials of the Nigerian economy beyond oil,” he said.
He noted that the fair has attracted numerous local and international companies and already, they have confirmed bookings from China, Egypt, Japan, Ghana, India, European Union, Indonesia and Pakistan for participation in the fair.
“The need to support the development of the non-oil sector in Nigeria especially now that the country urgently needs to diversify the economy cannot be over-emphasised. Nigeria is a mono-economy country; and it has become clear to every Nigerian that things must change fast. In line with this, especially in today’s business world, developmental initiatives such as investment conference and entrepreneurship development programmes with special focus on the non-oil sector is a means of getting the country out of the present precarious situation,” Cole said.
According to him, another major innovation in the LITF is the Lagos International Trade Fair Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Fora, which will be held for five days during the fair.
Stakeholders have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to revoke the concession agreement entered between the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex (LITFC) and Aulic Nigeria Limited.
They said the concession was done in bad faith as all efforts to correct anomalies identified in the agreement were turned down by Aulic because of its closeness to the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
This call was made at the end of the two-day Stakeholders Forum, held jointly by Lagos International Trade Fair Complex Management Board, Federal Ministry of Industry and Investment and CHOSOVAN-M (Nigeria) Enterprises, inside Rockview Hotel, Festac Town, Lagos. It was all in a bid to reposition the trade fair complex for transparency and business administration.
Speaking on behalf of the stakeholders through a paper titled: “Doing business: How to improve business In Lagos Trade Fair Complex,” , a representative of the traders, Mr. Bede Elo, blamed policy inconsistency for the concession of the complex. He said handing the complex to people with no business acumen to manage the place destroyed the government’s investment in the complex.
The Kaduna Trade Fair which started as a cherished meeting point for international exhibitors has faded into a local market patronised by even fewer and fewer home traders. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE tells why
The glory days seem over. Once, a resident held up an article to friends and announced with every sense of accomplishment that he bought it at the prestigious Kaduna International Trade Fair. In those days, top-of-the-line exhibitors from across the world converged on the city, displayed their articles and left with lots of cash in their pockets, leaving behind their equally satisfied hosts.
Not anymore. The fair has shrunk to an afterthought, patrons dwindling faster than watchers can keep track of. Even local exhibitors seem to have other things on their minds than the 35-year-old fair.
For several years, the fair was held at the Murtala Square in the heart of the city. In time the complex became smaller and smaller as more countries and firms participated. This created the need to move to another site.
The Nation gathered that the Kaduna International Trade Fair was solely financed at inception by a famous business tycoon, Alhaji Bawa Garba, popularly known as ABG. To make it a success, the tycoon reportedly invited over 95 German, British and American companies to participate.
Dr. Garba’s pioneering efforts and the fair’s huge success attracted more companies and state governments across the country annually.
To facilitate the hosting of the All African Trade Fair, the Federal Government invested over US $30m to build the permanent site for the fair.
So much has changed over time, and all for the wrong reasons. The state-of-the-art facilities at the fair site located along the Kaduna/Zaria expressway are now underutilised as many of the pavilions have become the habitat of reptiles. Even during the regular fair over the years, many of the pavilions are no longer put to use, leading to decay of many of them.
The handover of the complex to the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce was aimed at putting it to maximum use, but this has yet to be the case. Apart from regular political rallies and conferences which take place at the ultra-modern conference centre inside the trade fair ground, over 75 per cent of the pavilions are unused all year round.
•Fulani fresh milk sellers at the fair
The fair also has stopped attracting many foreign participants. Since the All African Trade fair, America and British companies have not participated in the fair while majority of those who now take part are drawn from the local markets within Kaduna and to some extent, Kano State.
A veteran journalist, Alhaji Tajudeen Tijjani Ajibade, who covered the Kaduna fair for several years for the Kaduna-based New Nigerian newspaper told The Nation that the fair at 36 has moved from being an international meeting point to a mere local market. He said, for a very long time, the fair had participants coming from not less than 23 foreign countries, including their embassies. This, he said, was the case until the late 1990s when Nigeria started experiencing economic challenges.
“Throughout that time,” he said, “foreign countries used to bring in equipment that could be used for industrialisation and development of Nigeria and African continent as a whole. For those seven days, the whole Kaduna would be shut down for the trade fair, but suddenly things started going down, due to economic problem that Nigeria was facing.”
The major turning point in fortunes of the fair began in 2000 with the sharia crisis which which occurred barely a few weeks to the commencement of the fair that year. The crisis reduced the number of participants at the fair drastically and the number kept decreasing over the years. However, The Nation observed that, despite the reduction in the number of foreign participants, the fair was not doing badly until the current security challenges occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgents began.
When The Nation visited the Trade Fair ground along Kaduna-Zaria Express Way, during the just concluded 36th edition of the fair, it was observed that apart from the absence of foreign exhibitors, some prominent local companies were equally absent. This was why some keen observers described the 36th fair as a mere Kaduna Central Market relocated to Rigachikun.
•An exhibition stand at the fair
A regular visitor to the fair told The Nation that “The last time I came to Kaduna International Trade Fair was seven years ago and so I was completely unprepared for the transformation I am seen today, First there is hardly anything international about it now. Except if I am supposed to consider the shed I saw, that was owned by some tired looking foreigners who seemed to be wondering what on earth they were doing at such a sleepy fair as “international” participation.
“Secondly, this place is more than seventy percent empty especially when one compares it with the mammoth crowds we used to see in those pre-boko haram days. Thirdly, even state governments which have permanent stands at the fair ground don’t bother to show up anymore. There were several state government pavilions that seemed as though they hadn’t been opened in a year. I remember when people would travel all the way from Yola, Gusau, Maiduguri, just so they could shop at the fair. Now many people who live right next door to the Trade Fair complex won’t bother to walk in unless you are going to pay them. This decline in fortunes of Nigeria’s oldest and once biggest trade fair is the starkest depiction of the current state of the economy of Northern Nigeria. The sad thing is the security situation that may have caused this decline hasn’t changed much.”
Senator Walid Jibrin, one of the leaders of the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce attributed the low turnout of participants at the 36th edition of the fair to political tension in the country, saying political gladiators as well as the electorate envisaged election crises which eventually turned out to be a victory for all as elections were believed to be generally peaceful.
However, in his goodwill message, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, said government through his ministry was putting in efforts, aimed at reforming the Nigerian investment climate and improving the country’s doing-business ranking, adding that the ministry has also embarked on a multi-focus trade strategy to tackle various challenges to domestic, regional and international trade in line with their peculiarities. He added that government has been in touch with the Kaduna Chamber’s programmes and other initiatives because of its embrace of the nation’s transformation agenda, promising that government would always prepared to welcome constructive proposals submitted by the chamber especially is such proposals were based on experience and expert knowledge of commercial and industrial practice.
President of the Chambers Dr. Abdul Alimi Bello told our correspondent that the fair would not have been held due to the tension before the general elections, but the chamber decided to hold it in April to send a signal to the international participants that all is well with Nigeria.
He said he was glad that elections which Nigerians and the world at large were apprehensive on has come and gone peacefully. He however called on incoming administration at all levels of governance, to invest heavily in macro-economy, quickly added that they should take as a priority how to make the business environment conducive. Alimi argued that, the turnout of the fair is a reflection of the nation’s economy, saying if the new government is able to get things right in terms of economy, it will affect every sector of the economy, including participation in the Kaduna International Trade Fair.
As the fair ended last Sunday, participants were hopeful that the General Muhammadu Buhari-led government would revive the comatose industries for a better fair next year.
Enugu State, especially its business community, is looking forward to the 26th edition of the International Trade Fair.
The state’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA) is finalising parrangements for the event scheduled to start on March 27 and end April 6.
The theme of the fair is “Engendering the Nation’s Business Climate for Enhanced Industrialisation, Investment Inflow and Employment Generation.”
This date was fixed before the postponement of the general elections. The Chamber expressed awareness of the current focus on political campaigns and scheduled elections, saying, “We have strategically designed our action plan for the Fair so that the current campaign and upcoming elections would not affect it in any negative way.”
“Of course, you know we are concerned on the issue of deepening our democracy as we are also aware that it is only with a thriving economy and free enterprise that our democracy would be well sustained.
“26th Enugu International Trade Fair by the grace of God is going to be an exciting and result-oriented 10 days beneficial business concourse. We thank you sincerely for being here as we seriously count on you as partners in progress as we share in the vision of the common good.”
ECCIMA President, Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye while unveiling the plans for the fair, said: “This Fair has been packaged to have meaningful and positive effects and outcome for all stakeholders, particularly for exhibitors and participants.
“Part of the value addition to this Fair is the erection and availability of over l000sqm marquee air-conditioned dome for corporate and international exhibitors. This is in addition to other existing facilities that will enable enhanced environment for the successful hosting of the Fair.
“We are partnering with a marketing communications firm based in Lagos to enhance and boost the level of participation and visitors to the Fair through a unique introduction of gift presentations to lucky visitors to the Fair with the support of partnering exhibitors and participants of which the promotional activities is commencing.”
Okoye said the Enugu Chamber would be work-related, working with the company for improved management of gate ticketing through advance sale of passes and car entry tickets.
He said the idea was to enable people have early access to entry pass instrument for visiting the Fair and to a great extent decongest as much as possible the usual rush and crowd that besiege the entry point for access to the Fair ground when the Fair commences.
Okoye said: “We shall be consolidating efforts towards enhancing the special designated area in the Fair complex for the exhibition of new products, prototypes, innovations and research findings for commercialization. Recall, that the idea is to boost technological advancement by bringing researchers, business people and industrialists together. This remains one of the core focal points and cutting edge of the Enugu International Trade Fair.
“We are hopeful that we are going to receive the support of the Enugu State government towards the rehabilitation of internal roads within the Fair complex for a more amenable atmosphere/environment for vehicular and human traffic. We are happy that efforts in this direction commenced last year including the rehabilitation of access road to ease vehicular movement around the Trade Fair vicinity, and we hope that this would be completed before the Fair commences in March, 2015.”
Okoye disclosed that the Agriculture Sector would continue to be a major fulcrum in specially designated areas during the Fair towards boosting indulgence in agricultural production and commercial farming.
“As part of our strategic efforts to boost the success of the Fair, we shall by next week be commencing the sensitization tours and consolidating our marketing with visits to stakeholders both in public and private sector in Lagos, Abuja and across the South East and South/South States.
“We have equally put in place measures to ensure stable and quality supply of electricity and water. Being conscious of the state of power supply from the Enugu Electricity Power Distribution Company and without prejudice to the genuine efforts to improve supply we have commenced the repairs and maintenance of the two stand-by generator sets in the Fair complex in event of public power failure,” hinted the ECCIMA president.
According to him, the chamber has commissioned the reinforcement of the distribution network of electricity lines inside the Fair complex including the changing of a good number of wooden electric poles to concrete poles. “This has become necessary as the weak wooden electric poles used in the initial networking had during the last Fair led to the sagging of electric wires which caused power interruptions. We shall continue to gradually replace the wooden poles with concrete poles, particularly those that are weak.”
Okoye assured that that security during the fair would be tight adding, “we are pleased to note, that we have not had any security breach/problem since we started hosting our Fairs in the Trade Fair complex within the Golf Estate area about five years ago,” and expressed that we shall deepen our human efforts in this direction trusting that God will continue to keep watch over us.”
He also added that the Enugu chamber was pleased to note that Enugu remains one of the most peaceful state in Nigeria and prayed that this would be sustained.
He announced that the Fair would be chaired by oil magnate, Chief Arthur Eze. “May I also inform you that in our efforts as it is incumbent on us to accelerate private sector development, we have strategically designed to have a leading private sector personality who have distinguished himself/herself, chair the opening ceremony of the Enugu International Trade Fair.
“Interestingly, we shall during this 26th Enugu International Trade Fair have as the maiden private sector Chairman during the Opening Ceremony of the Fair in the person of Engr. Prince Dr. Arthur Eze, Chairman, Oranto Petroleum and Atlas Petroleum International Ltd. “We shall continue to count on the support of the public in the effort to improve the standard in our Fair hosting. It is therefore with singular honour and pleasure that I formally on behalf of the Council of the Chamber present the 26th Enugu International Trade Fair Brochure to the public.
Global Appliances Nigeria Limited, the sole distributor of Binatone products in Nigeria, says it will unveil end of the year package for its customers.
In a statement signed by the its Managing Director, Mr Gurumoothi Sridhar, Specially branded gifts, such as T-shirts, caps, irons, hot plates and rice cookers will be available for its teeming customers during the fair upon the purchase of any of the full range of Binatone products during the Trade Fair which will hold at the Tafawa Balewa Square complex, Onikan Lagos.
The full range of Binatone products that will be on display during the fair include inverters, fans, irons, blenders, rice cookers, pressure cookers, electric hot plates, oven toasters, kettles, stabilizers and UPS, sandwich makers, water dispensers, generators and vacuum cleaners.
“Another opportunity awaits members of the public to buy Binatone’s top of the range products at the Lagos International Trade Fair. GANL is geared up to exhibit the wide range of cooling, power and appliances products in the fair,” it said.
This apart, he said also disclosed that customers will have the rare opportunity of buying products at special discounted prices just as they will win several free gifts at the trade fair ground.
“Binatone is the leader in the electronics market offering value for money. All Binatone products come with warranty and effective after sales service. Binatone wants to use the opportunity of the Trade Fair for our teeming customers to shop for the Christmas and New Year celebrations,” he stated.
The yearly Lagos International trade fair begins today. The venue is the Main Arena, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos. With a total exhibition space of over 40,000m2, the fair will end on Sunday,November 16. It is organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry, with over 100,000 business visitors over a 10-day period.
The Federal Government has concluded plans to partner Odua Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ODUACCIMA), for a regional international trade fair, which will attract over 5,000 exhibitors and participants.
The Chairman, 2014 Odua International Trade Fair Planning Committee, Asiwaju Olaitan Alabi, spoke at a news conference at the MKO Trade Fair Complex, Abeokuta, to herald the trade fair slated for November 21.
Accompanied by the National President of Oduaccima, Iyalode Alaba Lawson and other Southwest executives, the chairman said the fair would hold at the Trans-Amusement Park, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He said: “Oduaccima is an association of the chambers of commerce and industry in the Southwest, comprising Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti states. It will organise this trade fair in collaboration with the Federal Government and the Southwest governments,”
Alabi said the theme of the fair is ‘Promoting Mass Agricultural Production and Agro Processing as Panacea to Unemployment and Poverty in Nigeria’.
He explained that the association’s mission is to complement the efforts of the state governments to revitalise and bring back the lost glory of agriculture through annual international trade fairs.
Iyalode Lawson urged Southwest governors to forget their political differences and face the reality of the permanent economic ties, which bind them.
She said: “Development Agenda of Western Nigeria (DAWN) is an incredible initiative that should not be politicised. Agriculture, being the mainstay of our economy in those days, was the unifying factor that bound us from Lagos to the River Niger. This same agriculture can still bind us in the present Southwest.”
An Islamic organization, Sofasal-El-Asal Society of Nigeria (Sofasal) has completed arrangement to hold a ten-day pre-Ramadan Trade Fair and Business Conference, to herald the 2014 Ramadan season.
The programme, which will hold at the National Stadium from Friday 13th to Sunday 22nd June is designed as a platform for all Nigerians, particularly the Muslims to source for items that are frequently in high demand during the Ramadan fasting period at affordable cost.
A statement by the group said it becomes imperative to reduce the increased level of spending during Ramadan period as Muslims will always ensure that they have adequate stock of food for early morning and the evening meals as well as those they will share with friends, family and the needy.
According to the organizers, the fair which is the first of its kind in Nigeria and indeed Africa, would create opportunities for organisations (manufacturers, distributors, dealers and retailers) to develop a unique and enduring relationship with a key segment of the Nigerian consumers’ population.
More importantly, it is a forum for examining the meeting point between religion and commerce in line with the dictates of God and his provisions.
The exercise will involve government agencies, foreign missions, market men and women, multinationals, service providers food/beverages (Non-Alcoholic), financial institutions, healthcare, textiles/fashion, fast moving consumer goods, household/kitchen appliances, travel and tourism (particularly operators who provide Hajj Services) etc.
