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  • Corruption, others stifle MSMEs’ growth, says World Bank

    Corruption, others stifle MSMEs’ growth, says World Bank

    The World Bank Country Programme Director, Nigeria, Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud yesterday said survey has ranked access to finance, power, infrastructure, taxes and corruption as major constraints to the growth of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.

    Benmessaoud spoke during the launch of Business Innovation and Growth (BIG) platform in partnership with Growth and Employment Project (GEM) World Bank Group in Abuja, stating that the 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 industrialisation, public works and agricultural expansion, 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, 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 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.”

    The County Director said, the online platform will be the main channel through which GEM assistance is made available to MSMEs, building the capacity of firms and helping them to organise, in order to facilitate better access to finance.

  • 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.”

     

  • World Bank lowers crude price forecast

    World Bank lowers crude price forecast

    The World Bank has lowered this year’s forecast for crude oil prices to $37 per barrel in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook report from $51 per barrel in its October projections.

    The lower forecast reflects a number of supply and demand factors. These include sooner-than-anticipated resumption of exports by the Islamic Republic of Iran, greater resilience in U.S. production due to cost cuts and efficiency gains, a mild winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and weak growth prospects in major emerging market economies, according to the World Bank’s latest quarterly report.

    Oil prices fell by 47 per cent last year and are expected to decline, on an annual average, by another 27 per cent this year. However, from current lows, a gradual recovery in oil prices is expected over the course of the year, for several reasons. First, the sharp oil price drop early this year does not appear fully warranted by fundamental drivers of oil demand and supply, and is likely to partly reverse. Second, high-cost oil producers are expected to sustain persistent losses and increasingly make production cuts that are likely to outweigh any additional capacity coming to the market. Third, demand is expected to strengthen somewhat with a modest pickup in global growth.

    The anticipated oil price recovery is forecast to be smaller than the rebounds that followed sharp drops in 2008, 1998, and 1986. The price outlook remains subject to considerable downside risks.

    “Low prices for oil and commodities are likely to be with us for some time. While we see some prospect for commodity prices to rise slightly over the next two years, significant downside risks remain,” said John Baffes, Senior Economist and lead author of the Commodities Markets Outlook.

  • World Bank, EU, FG pledge support for Edo post-Oshiomhole

    World Bank, EU, FG pledge support for Edo post-Oshiomhole

    There is a combination of multi-sectoral, multi-skill, and multi-competence team from the World Bank, European Union and the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning Commission in Edo State whose mission seems a good omen for the entire citizens, post Adams Oshiomhole’s tenure in November 12, 2016.

    This powerful team arrive the modern ancient city on Tuesday, with the intent to appreciate the State Government for the employment generated under State Employment and Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR) and to plead for continuity in poverty reduction policies and financial reforms.

    The team, among others, was in town to plan with Edo State Government officials on the midterm preview of the SEEFOR Project and providing the implementation support.

    Being a midterm review, the leader of the World Bank Representative, Mr. Ismaila Ceesay said, there was need to discuss and get the consensus of the State Government in areas that will require restructuring, if need be.

    Ceesay, who was briefing Governor Adams Oshiomhole during a courtesy call to Government House said, “We have started our mission and it is been a very productive mission so far. The Project Coordinator and his team have demonstrated to us that for all the three components of the projects, there is actually feasible progress in terms of implementation process.”

    Expatiating, he said, “We also look at the fact that since the EU money has not been forth coming but it is going to be available by next month, which is a grant to this government, that the project would require restructuring, not only restructuring for the purpose of accommodating the EU funds but also extending the life of the project by another two years.

    “With this, we are all of the opinion that the present development strides will be delivered in this state and other states that the project seeks to support. Our management is very keen to continue with this support and for us to work with you, not to supervise you but to work with you on implementation support arrangement where if there are weaknesses in any area, we stand by you and support you in resolving those issues.

    “We are not going to work with you as a policeman versus the citizens, we are actually partners in this and that is why we also with the clearance of the EU, we have to agree to put on the mission this time and this time, I am sure you will realise that we have multi-sectoral, multi-skill, multi-competence team that will plan with your various officials in supporting the implementation of this very complex project.

    “The state grant issue which was a critical area of the bank problem under this project has since been resolved and we also understand and have seen some evidence that the state is not only trying to ensure that such an issue does not arise but are also implementing sustainability measures that will allow these projects in terms of outcome of it to continue to realise even when the Bank and the EU are not partnering with you, that is, assuming the project closes in 2017 to be extended again to 2019.

    “We want to reconfirm to you that we the Bank and EU will stand by you in supporting your developmental strides. We have seen the progress that has been achieved in the past two years especially in the area of employment generation and financial management area,” the World Bank official explained.

    Ceesay was not alone; the EU representative, Mr. Yuan Hansla was also on hand to give Edo people some words of hope, courage and support.

    According to him, “We at the EU are very keen to see our additional finance that is going to be incorporated into the project to be finally approved and available by the end of this month to the beginning of next month.”

    Like the good host, Oshiomhole appreciated the team. “We feel quite honoured to have you in Edo State and to see for yourselves and to reconcile what is in the books to what is on ground and I think for me, that is the way it should be,” he said.

    But trust the comrade governor to also seize the opportunity of such occasion to share his ideals and ideas of how things work in Edo State.

    “For us, reforms have been the constant word. When I was in NLC, we talk about revolution but now, we realised that to make state viable and to deliver services more efficiently, we just must have unbending reforms if we like, what appears whether by reasons of changes in technology or the complexity of society and the ever mounting expectations of our people, we need to continue to improve on efficiency in service delivery at minimum cost and maximum output and so we are encouraged.

    “I do the same thing here. I deal with all kind of files and all sort of opinions formed on the basis of well articulated memos from various MDAs but for me, from time to time, and without notice, I like to go and see whether those files and memos elegantly written, well edited, whether what is on ground is just as attractive, because the entry point for the people is in terms of the deliverables which they can see.

    “In this state, and over the period, we have sustained our political conversations around what we termed ‘eye-mark’ and government shouldn’t just claim to have done but people should be witnesses to what government is doing and it must bring the people to bear testimony that those things are actually realised. Unless they can say so, our annual reports are meaningless,” Oshiomhole explained.

  • World Bank commends Lagos agric project

    World Bank commends Lagos agric project

    The World Bank has praised Lagos State government for the outstanding implementation of Fadama 3 agric project.

    Leader of the global bank’s team, Abimbola Adubi, gave the commendation yesterday during a courtesy visit to the Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon Toyin Suarau, in Alausa, Ikeja.

    The visit was part of the three-day 4th World Bank/FGN Implementation Support Mission to Lagos.

    Adubi said:  “Twice a year, the World Bank conducts implementation support mission to look at the action plan developed the previous year and to see how well the beneficiaries of the projects are doing.

    “I want to report that we are very pleased to report that we are very pleased with what we have seen so far in Lagos.

    “Though there are some challenges, which is normal in a project like this but we have seen genuine commitment in terms of implementation of the project by the state Fadama Coordinating Office.”

    Adubi, however, urged the state government to make available the counterpart fund for the sustenance of the project.

    The team had earlier visited a Fadama project in Itoikin market in Ikorodu.

    Suarau said the counterpart fund has been captured in the 2016 budget, adding the money would soon be paid.

    He said: “I want to apologise for non-payment of 2015 counterpart fund.

    “The Lagos State government is prepared to assist you in other areas but I can assure you that the counterpart fund is part of our budget this year and you can be rest assured that it would be paid soon.”

    The State Project Coordinator, Folu Ajijola, urged farmers to fulfill all necessary terms and conditions to benefit from the project.

     

  • AGF pledges reforms as Idris meets World Bank team

    AGF pledges reforms as Idris meets World Bank team

    The Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris has pledged to continue with  reforms to improve public financial management.

    Idris gave this assurance when he met with the Budget Support Mission from the World Bank at the Treasury House in Abuja, to discuss the implementation of the 2016 Budget.

    A statement by the Deputy Director (Press), Mrs. K.N. Offie, said Idris described the World Bank as a partner, whose role in promoting sound economic and fiscal policies was unparalleled.

    Idris said the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, being on the driver of reforms in public financial management, had made progress in implementation.

    He said the transition from IPSAS cash basis to IPSAS Accrual basis from January 2016, Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS),  including central personal cost monitoring, had led to reduced cost of personnel.

    The AGF also cited success in Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, (GIFMIS), which is a platform for e-payment and e-Collection as well as the Treasury Single Account Implementation.

    Idris  said  the reforms were necessary to bring the country at par with acceptable global best practices.

  • World Bank: govt to spend 25% of budget on subsidy

    World Bank: govt to spend 25% of budget on subsidy

    If the World Bank had its way, fuel subsidy will go now.

    The bank yesterday reported that 25 percent of the Federal Government’s budget for 2015 will be spent on funding subsidy.

    No thanks to this huge spending on subsidy, the World Bank stated, Nigeria is unable to accumulate enough in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) because of the $35 billion cost of fuel subsidy incurred between 2010 and 2014.

    The World Bank, in its economic report on Nigeria, said the cost of subsidy in 2015 is expected to be around “18 percent of all oil revenues to the country, equivalent to 25 percent of federal budget”.

    The World Bank also warned that reports of wide-spread fraud will be costly to the reputation of the government and attempts to crack down on fraud can reduce supply while price distortions encourage overconsumption of fuel.

    The report, which was presented by John Litwack, said: “The short run outlook remains difficult due to expected low oil prices. Even if oil prices recover, government oil revenues should continue to decline in the medium term relative to the size of the Nigerian economy.”

    To address this economic crisis, the World Bank noted that “fiscal adjustment will be of critical importance. Investors stand willing to bring considerable investment to Nigeria if they receive credible signals from the new government of commitments to policy directions and regulations consistent with strong private sector growth”.

    The report said: “The benefits of the fuel subsidy in Nigeria appear quite limited, while the costs are high. For given fixed domestic fuel prices, the burden of the fuel subsidy i.e. its share of government oil revenues, will likely increase over time, regardless of whether oil prices remain low or recover.”

    In 2014-2015, the report stated that “the FAAC distributions of oil revenues to budgets have been crowded out by the costs of the fuel subsidy and cash calls to NNPC”.

    The report added that “the value of the subsidy received by the wealthiest 10 per cent is 30 times the value received by the poorest 10 per cent. The vast majority of benefits to poorer Nigerians would have been from the kerosene subsidy if it was enforced. Without the kerosene subsidy, estimated per capita benefits to the poorest 10 percent of Nigerians is only N18 a month, most of which comes from transportation.”

    It was reported that the benefits of the petrol subsidy are even less now, given that the world price is lower and enforcement at the pump has weakened. “The share of the fuel subsidy in oil revenues to the Nigerian government is growing,” the World Bank warned.

    In his presentation, Masami Kojima lamented that Gas prices in Nigeria are not adjusted regularly while announced gas prices are not always implemented. He noted that the country’s Department of Gas was not operational until 2012, and under-resourced.

    Kojima added that “allocation of gas supply obligation are not announced at the beginning of each year but gas aggregator became operational since 2010, but the aggregation has not begun, and hence there is no aggregate price for gas in Nigeria.”

    On the way forward, Masami Kojima said it was time for the government to come up with new bold policy like “considering appointing champion and establishing a task  force; Consider dedicated gas bill for midstream and downstream; an Independent regulator; Separate regulatory and commercial roles; Unbundle The Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) – 1 of 20 fixes in NNPC change agenda; Officially publish tariffs and domestic supply obligations; Issue supplementary agreements; Renew licences promptly; Review regulated and pseudo-regulated prices; Make fiscal terms robust to be able to cope with large fluctuations in costs and prices by basing fiscal terms on profitability measure.

     

  • World Bank to assist Lagos to fund agric

    World Bank to assist Lagos to fund agric

    Senior Agricultural Economist, World Bank, Dr. Adetunji Adeleke Oredipe, said Lagos State may receive funding to repair farm infrastructure and expand the sector.

    He spoke during the bank’s  review mission in Lagos.

    Oredipe  said he was in town with other experts to review works accomplished under the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP).

    According to him, there is much need in Lagos, so the World Bank will support it financially for economic  diversification.

    Since the government is trying to diversify the economy, he said  building other sectors would strengthen the production system and facilitate access to markets for small and medium scale commercial farmers.

    Earlier, the  World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a $200 million credit for Lagos State to support some reforms, such as  budget planning and execution.

    This would help sustain the state’s recent economic growth and poverty reduction while continuing to deliver social services to the city’s expanding population, th ebank said.

    The credit from the International Development Association (IDA) supports the Third Lagos State Development Policy Operation. It is the last of the two development policy operations, aimed at improving public finances and the investment climate.

    Meanwhile, over 4000 farmers have benefited from Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) in Lagos. The beneficiaries received over N2.7 billion from the World Bank-assisted project, the State Project Coordinator, Kehinde Ogunyinka said.

    He spoke at the second CADP Post Restructured Implementation Support Mission in Lagos.

    He said the state CADP notable achievements, especially on productivity, value-addition and marketed surplus were made. The achievements, according to him, are attributable to increased adoption of improved technologies, increased access to improved infrastructure and enhanced capacity of the beneficiaries to effectively participate in project implementation.

    In rice production, he said CADP   made two million  metric tonnes for 2015/2016, an increase of 22.25  per cent. Fish production, juvenile production, smoked fish and fish feed increased by 59.51 per cent, 13.81 per cent, 35.44 per cent and over 100 per cent  during the period.

    According to him, the project implemented 25 demonstrations on improved technologies. On avian influenza, he said N7.4 million has   paid as compensation to affected farmers.

    Besides, he  said the  project has conducted awareness campaign on the outbreak.

    Since the restructuring of the CADP, he said the project has incorporated the development of women and youths in agriculture in line with both the state and federal government’s agriculture development plan.

    He  said  the project has  empowered  farmers through  input grants and service providers engaged to supply the inputs the beneficiaries need.

    He said  farm access roads have been constructed to open up inaccessible agrarian communities. A co- Task Team Leader Dr. Shehu Salau said  the World Bank is supporting Nigeria strategy options of diversifying into non-oil sources of growth  through CADP.

  • Obiano to World Bank: declare emergency on erosion

    Obiano to World Bank: declare emergency on erosion

    Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has urged the World Bank to declare a state of emergency on gully erosion in the state.

    He made the call when members of a World Bank-Food and Agricultural Organisation-Federal Government Supervision Mission paid him a courtesy visit at the Governor’s Lodge in Amawbia.

    Obiano informed the visitors led by Dr. Amos Abu that the state had a land mass of 2,855sq km out of which almost a quarter is terribly affected by gully erosion.

    He said there were about 950 active and rampaging sites, lamenting that it would be a disaster in the next five years in the state if nothing was urgently done to support the state in checking the menace.

    He called for a special United Nations’ intervention that would effectively bail the state out of the present predicament, which he described as another emerging disaster.

    But he commended the World Bank for its current level of intervention in the state through the Nigeria Erosion and Water Management Project (NEWMAP).

    He further appealed to the Bank to consider Anambra State as a special case by increasing the number of sites in its intervention priority list.

    Obiano promised that the state would continue to fulfil its counterpart funding obligations, despite the current economic situation.

    The World Bank Task Team Leader for the NEWMAP project, Dr. Amos Abu had informed the governor that the team was in the state to evaluate the progress of work at the gully erosion sites in the State.

    He expressed satisfaction with the progress observed in the Omagba, Abagana, Amachalla and St. Thomas Aquinas/Nero’s plaza erosion sites in the State.

    He assured Obiano of the Bank’s readiness to partner with the state in a swift and resounding way as it concerned erosion menace in the state.

  • Edo is Nigeria’s best – World Bank

    Edo is Nigeria’s best – World Bank

    The World Bank on Wednesday described Edo State as the best in the country in terms of transparency, openness, candour and value for money.

    The World Bank commended Governor Adams Oshiomhole for paying over N1billion counterpart fund, which it said qualified the state to enjoy its projects and other incentives.

    Task Team Leader of the World Bank, Dr. Amos Abu, stated this when he led other members of his team to pay a courtesy visit on Governor Oshiomhole.

    Dr. Abu, who said they were in the state to inspect ongoing erosion control projects in Auchi, Queen Ede and Ekenwa, described work progress on the site as outstanding.

    He disclosed that the bank has not receive any single complain of political interference from the state, saying that was very unique.

    The action, according to him, meant contractors and consultants were looking at the body language of the governor.

    “Our core engineers are already in Auchi to look at the work that is going on and to also provide guidance on how it can be quickly completed. We are also very happy with the new site that has been put forward for the bank funding. A close look at this site shows that they met the site selection criteria so we are very happy to consider and take them on board.

    “Particularly worth mentioning is the level of commitment by the state. This is demonstrated by the over N1 billion counterparts which you have paid and no other state has been able to match this.”

    “Since the governor is not intervening, is not interested in intervening, this ensures that the most responsive bidder wins at all time and at all cost. No other person dare try to interfere and this is really a source of comfort to us.”

    “It is not every state in the country that the world bank is present and for the bank to be willing as to work with Edo State, it means the very high standard of transparency, openness, candour and value for money is been upheld by the state,” he stated.