The Nation Newspaper

Tag: world bank

  • Desertification: Fed Govt seeks support from AfDB, World Bank

    Desertification: Fed Govt seeks support from AfDB, World Bank

    As part of efforts to tackle desert encroachment, the Federal Government has disclosed plans to seek financial grants from the African Development Bank (AfDB), World Bank and Jaiz Bank.

    The Supervising Minister of Environment, Arc Darius Ishaku said the move became imperative in view of the need to improve the living condition of people in the northern part of the country, especially in the 11 frontline states where environmental challenge is immense.

    The concerned states include; Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina and Sokoto. Others are Kebbi, Yobe and Zamfara State.

    Ishaku, who was represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Taiye Haruna spoke during the inauguration of the Great Green Wall Programme Coordinating Unit (PIU) yesterday in Abuja.

    Ishaku said: “No amount of money can be sufficient for this project because it is cost effective and about human life. Today, we have approached the AfDB and World Bank for implementation of the project. The Jaiz Bank is also ready to support us on the project.”

    The minister said part of the project was to provide borehole facilities in about 200 communities in the affected states.

    He added that about 15 million people will also benefit from the programme.

    The environmental programme is an initiative of the African Union (AU) to address land degredation and desert encroachment.

    It is also aimed at promoting alternative source of livelihood in the 11 countries, including Nigeria and countries in the Sahel region of the continent.

    According to Ishaku, a number of youths and women in 92 affected communities in the region have been trained to raise seedlings for the plantation of trees along the frontline states.

    Other countries involved in the programme include Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eriteria, Ethiopia and Mali. Others are Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sudan and Chad.

    In his remarks, the Director, Department of Drought and Desertification Amelioration Control, Dr. Bukar Hassan said President Goodluck Jonathan had in 2013 approved the release of N10 billion for the programme.

    Hassan explained that the Presidential Council for the project implementation had only released about N3 billion while the leftover remained with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    According to him, the first phase of the project include sinking of boreholes in the selected areas.

    He however disclosed that the AU established a regional coordinating office in Mauritania to coordinate various programmes implemented by member countries.

  • World Bank gives $2.5m to small scale miners

    World Bank gives $2.5m to small scale miners

    •Report provides solutions to 70 per cent global food gap

    The World Bank has granted 2.5 million dollars (about N412.5 million) to 50 small scale mining co-operatives in Nigeria, an official said yesterday in Abuja.

    Mr Obiora Azubike, the Director, Artisanal and Small Scale Mining Department, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He said each of the 50 co-operatives got 50,000 US dollars (about N8,250,000) through its micro-credit scheme.

    The director said the miners and the host communities benefited from the grant.

    “The unit of disbursement was 50,000 dollars. But before you are given the money, you are expected to also bring in some of your own matching grant, but not necessarily in cash.

    “So, whatever you are able to produce on your own will depend on how much you will be given. But the highest is 50,000 US dollars.

    “The World Bank Micro-Credit Scheme has ended. So, right now there is no World Bank Micro-Credit Scheme for artisanal miners. The one we had before under the Sustainable Management of Mineral Resource Project has ended.’’

    Azubike added that the World Bank project closed in May 2013 and the last disbursement was before the closure.

    He said the next disbursement was expected as soon as the Solid Minerals Development Fund begins its full operations.

    The director stressed the need for the Federal Government to increase the funding of the sector through increased budgetary allocation.

    A new report has presented solutions to meet the world’s growing food needs put at 70 per cent, while advancing economic development and environmental sustainability, according to a statement.

    This is contained in a joint statement issued by the World Resources Institute (WRI), UNDP, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) online in Abuja yesterday.

    The statement said that the report found that the world would need 70 per cent more food supply in order to feed a global population of 9.6 billion people in 2050.

    It stated that it was possible to close the food gap, while creating a more productive and healthy environment through improvements in the way people produced and consumed food.

    The statement said the findings were being unveiled in the new interim report entitled: World Resources Report: Creating a sustainable Food Future at the ongoing 3rd Global Conference on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security and Climate Change, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    The statement quoted Dr Andrew Steer, the President of WRI as saying that over the next several decades, the world faced a grand challenge and opportunity at the intersection of food security, development and the environment.

    ‘’To meet human needs, we must close the 70 per cent gap between the food we will need and the food available today.

    ‘’But, we must do so in a way that creates opportunities for the rural poor, limits clearing of forests, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.’’

    According to the statement, the report established that boosting crop and livestock productivity on existing agricultural land is critical to saving forests and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    It noted that the world is unlikely to close the food gap through yield increases alone.

    The new report found that crop yields would need to increase by 32 per cent more over the next four decades than they did in the previous four decades, to avoid more land clearing.

    It also quoted Ms Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP, as saying: ‘’As agriculture is a major economic sector in many developing countries, supporting farmers to close the identified gap between existing and potential yields represented a huge opportunity to advance inclusive and sustainable development.

    ‘’A ‘leave no farmer behind’ approach is needed. As women produce between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of food crops in developing countries, such an approach should begin with efforts to close the gender gap in agriculture, which is perpetuating cycles of poverty and hunger.’’

    In addition, the statement said that the final version of the World Resources Report 2013-2014 : Creating a Sustainable Food Future would be released in the middle of 2014.

    It stated that the report would further quantify the contribution of each ‘’menu item’’ toward closing the food gap, while paying particular attention to the policies, practices, and incentives needed to effectively bring change to scale.

  • Tax: Nigeria ranked 170 out of 189 countries

    Nigeria has been ranked 170 out of 189 countries evaluated for their tax regime.

    The exercise which evaluated tax practices in the countries covered  was conducted by the World Bank and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

    Addressing journalists in Abuja during the presentation of the report on Tuesday, the Head, Tax and Corporate Advisory Service of PwC, Taiwo Oyedele, lamented that Nigeria is not doing well in that regard.

    He said, “The previous year’s report covered 185 countries and Nigeria was 155 so we’ve lost some places and moved down to 170. But we must bear in mind that last year only 185 economies were evaluated.

    “Nigeria got this latest ranking because the time it takes for small companies to comply with tax payment in the country is much compare to other nations. It takes a small company 956 hours a year to comply with tax payment procedures and the average for worldwide is 268 hours. The average for Africa is 230 hours and Nigeria is more than four times the average for Africa.

    Oyedele said they have seen a correlation between a good tax system compliance rate and growth in the Gross Domestic Product.

     

     

  • FG faults World Bank’s claim of 100m destitue in Nigeria

    The Presidency has  faulted World Bank’s  claim that 100 million destitute live in Nigeria.

    A statement by the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr. Nwanze Okidegbe, said that the claim contradicts earler report by the World Bank that poverty has reduced  in Nigeria.

    He said: “We have read with utter dismay the statement by World Bank Country Director, Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly that 100 Million Nigerians are living in destitution or extreme poverty. This spurious claim is astonishing on a number of levels.”

    “First, it clearly contradicts the position of the World Bank on the level of poverty in Nigeria. During the visit of the Bank’s Vice President for Africa, Makhtar Diop, in May 2013, he declared that poverty has fallen under this administration from 48 percent to 46 percent.”

    “Given our current population of about 170 million people, the Country Director’s imagery of 100 million Nigerian destitutes seems to be based on a much higher poverty rate than that of her boss. The question that arises from this absurdity therefore is: who is right?”

    “Second, according to the World Bank itself, to live in extreme poverty is to live on less than $1.25 per day, including the cost of accommodation, clothing, feeding, and other incidentals. $1.25 per day translates into N200 per day (or N6,000 per month).”

    He went on: “On feeding alone, a loaf of bread costs more than N200 in many parts of Nigeria while a plate of food, even from a roadside food vendor, costs about the same amount. More also, there are about 112 million active GSM lines in Nigeria. Even accounting for those who own more than one phone and netting out nearly 44 percent of Nigerians who are under 15 years (and mostly do not have phones), this is not a description of a country with 100 million destitutes living in extreme poverty.”

    According to him, the present administration is undertaking critical reforms in all key sectors of the economy in order to create jobs and reduce poverty.

    “For example, the reforms in the agricultural sector have increased production and created many job opportunities. In recognition of the fact that growth in the Agricultural Sector is pro-poor, we are confident that the consistent growth being recorded in agriculture is translating into further poverty reduction.” He said

    He also pointed out that Nigeria was recently honoured for meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing people living in absolute hunger by half, well ahead of the 2015 target set by the United Nations.

    He added: “On average, about 20 percent of the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) is allocated exclusively to protecting the poor through different types of social safety nets. One important area of success is the Conditional Grant Scheme with total conditional cash transfer to almost 40,000 households and recruitment of over 2,000 new health workers working on improving maternal and child health.”

    The Presidential Aide said that rather than engage in peddling easily disprovable and inaccurate poverty numbers, the World Bank should focus its attention on designing programmes and interventions to support the government’s efforts in accelerating poverty reduction in Nigeria.

  • FG faults World Bank’s claim of 100m destitutes in Nigeria

    The Presidency has  faulted World Bank’s  claim that 100 million destitute live in Nigeria.

    A statement by the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr. Nwanze Okidegbe, said that the claim contradicts earler report by the World Bank that poverty has reduced  in Nigeria.

    He said: “We have read with utter dismay the statement by World Bank Country Director, Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly that 100 Million Nigerians are living in destitution or extreme poverty. This spurious claim is astonishing on a number of levels.”

    “First, it clearly contradicts the position of the World Bank on the level of poverty in Nigeria. During the visit of the Bank’s Vice President for Africa, Makhtar Diop, in May 2013, he declared that poverty has fallen under this administration from 48 percent to 46 percent.”

    “Given our current population of about 170 million people, the Country Director’s imagery of 100 million Nigerian destitutes seems to be based on a much higher poverty rate than that of her boss. The question that arises from this absurdity therefore is: who is right?”

    “Second, according to the World Bank itself, to live in extreme poverty is to live on less than $1.25 per day, including the cost of accommodation, clothing, feeding, and other incidentals. $1.25 per day translates into N200 per day (or N6,000 per month).”

    He went on: “On feeding alone, a loaf of bread costs more than N200 in many parts of Nigeria while a plate of food, even from a roadside food vendor, costs about the same amount. More also, there are about 112 million active GSM lines in Nigeria. Even accounting for those who own more than one phone and netting out nearly 44 percent of Nigerians who are under 15 years (and mostly do not have phones), this is not a description of a country with 100 million destitutes living in extreme poverty.”

    According to him, the present administration is undertaking critical reforms in all key sectors of the economy in order to create jobs and reduce poverty.

    “For example, the reforms in the agricultural sector have increased production and created many job opportunities. In recognition of the fact that growth in the Agricultural Sector is pro-poor, we are confident that the consistent growth being recorded in agriculture is translating into further poverty reduction.” He said

    He also pointed out that Nigeria was recently honoured for meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing people living in absolute hunger by half, well ahead of the 2015 target set by the United Nations.

    He added: “On average, about 20 percent of the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) is allocated exclusively to protecting the poor through different types of social safety nets. One important area of success is the Conditional Grant Scheme with total conditional cash transfer to almost 40,000 households and recruitment of over 2,000 new health workers working on improving maternal and child health.”

    The Presidential Aide said that rather than engage in peddling easily disprovable and inaccurate poverty numbers, the World Bank should focus its attention on designing programmes and interventions to support the government’s efforts in accelerating poverty reduction in Nigeria.

  • World Bank tasks Nigeria on resource management

    World Bank tasks Nigeria on resource management

    The World Bank Nigeria Country Director, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, has warned beneficiaries of the bank’s financial interventions that there would be zero-tolerance for poor use of the resources.
    Speaking in Enugu at the Country Performance Portfolio Review (CPPR) meeting for South-south and South-east states, she also said the country needed to attain faster growth rate in order to curb extreme poverty.
    It also emerged that the total monthly internally-generated revenue (IGR) of Enugu State now stands at about N14 billion. The state government said through a representation from the state planning commission that it intended to realise 50 per cent of its total revenue from IGR while working towards managing public debt in a way that does not create problem for the state.
    In a presentation to participants, the Cross River State Planning representative said its commitment to implementing various capital projects that could be of immense benefit to its people had further been hampered by a CBN directive to banks to refrain from extending credit to the state.
    It added that the situation had dealt “a big blow and killer punch” on the capacity of the state to undertake crucial empowerment initiatives.
    Notwithstanding, it said the development had encouraged the state to step up efforts to boost its IGR and strengthen public-private partnerships (PPP).
    Meanwhile, the World Bank Country Director also called for enhanced management of resources by the Nigerian government in order to further improve the living condition of its people.
    She noted that the Breton Woods institution’s contribution to Nigeria was only two per cent of annual federal government budget, implying that if resources were well-managed, much could still be achieved even without the bank’s aid.
    Marie-Nelly said although more states were currently seeking partnership with the bank, there is the need to emphasise good practices in project implementation and install mechanisms to ensure that projects are embedded in state strategies, implementation and monitoring arrangements.

  • IMF, World Bank stall Nigeria’s development, says don

    IMF, World Bank stall Nigeria’s development, says don

    A political scientist at Lead City University, Prof Chibuzo Nwoke, has accused the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and other international communities of causing underdevelopment in Nigeria and Africa.

    He said they are culpable because of the influence they wield over Nigeria’s leadership by controlling and dictating for them.

    The scholar spoke at the third inaugural lecture of the university held in Ibadan.

    According to him, the international communities recommend policies that would aggravate the problem inherent in the specialisation in raw materials export and foreign control over the enemy.

    He said: “Nigeria and Africa’s underdevelopment is the result of its engagement predominantly in primary resource production, which is controlled by foreign transnational entities, merely for export to metropolitan countries. This contrived and structural development of underdevelopment is, therefore, largely externally-induced.

    “Nigeria’s stagnation in the role of raw material exporter is regularly reinforced by the neo-classical economics principle of comparative advantage. It is an accepted fact that the IMF and World Bank are now involved in the control and management of Nigeria’s economy.”

    For a country that seeks development, the political scientist urged the government to develop Nigeria’s mineral resources, adding that it will facilitate economic transformation and eradicate misery and poverty.

    “There should be an urgent policy, the systematic mobilisation of our huge endowments of minerals, not primarily for export but, in the indigenous industrialisation process to attain self-reliance and to eradicate poverty, ignorance and diseases,” he said.

    In his opening remarks, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Olufemi Onabajo, said the institution has decided to establish the lecture series to bring integrity to the university.

    He urged other lecturers to aspire to the peak of their careers, noting that it is the fulfilment for any academic.

     

  • World Bank to generate 7,000 jobs in Bayelsa

    World Bank has concluded arrangements to employ 7,000 youths in Bayelsa State, through its State Employment and Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR) project.

    World Bank’s Task Team Leader (TTL) for SEEFOR, Mr. Jens Kristensen, said in Yenagoa at the weekend that the initiative would generate the jobs in 2018.

    He spoke during the team’s visit to facilitate the effective implementation of the project in the state.

    Kristensen said SEEFOR would engage about 1,200 youths next year in social work, such as refuse evacuation, road management and maintenance.

    He said others would be trained in trading activities to make them self-reliant.

    Kristensen said: “The youths will be made self-relevant to enable them employ others. With the progress so far made, the state will have no excuse in the implementation.

    “A keen interest should be placed on the key component of the project, which is employment generation.

    “We urge our technical committees to work hard to improve the lives of youths in Bayelsa State.”

    Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Ambrose Alfred, said SEEFOR was in line with the restoration agenda of Governor Dickson.

    Ambrose, whose ministry oversees the initiative, said government had shown commitment for the project by releasing its counterpart funding.

    According to him, government paid N150 million counterpart fund last year to demonstrate its desire to eradicate unemployment and improve standard of living.

    “We enjoin youths to take advantage of the opportunities that the SEEFOR will offer”, the commissioner said.

  • World Bank seeks financial inclusion for 2.5b populace

    World Bank seeks financial inclusion for 2.5b populace

    The World Bank has reemphasised the need for policy makers world over to fast-track efforts towards expanding financial services to the growing unbanked 2.5billion adult population.

    This appeal is contained in a new World Bank report titled ‘The 2014 Global Financial Development Report: Financial Inclusion’, the most comprehensive report yet on the topic, in which the Bank observed that mobile banking and other technological innovations fuel the expansion of financial services in many developing countries and advised policy makers to focus on products that benefit the poor, women and other vulnerable groups the most.

    It comes as policy makers are pushing to reach the world’s unbanked – 2.5 billion people who make up about half of the world’s adult population.

    More than 50 countries recently set targets to improve financial inclusion.

    “When well designed, efforts to foster financial inclusion can be an effective way to empower people,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

    “Whether you are a public sector financial regulator or a private sector bank, it is in your interest to get everyone access to financial services. This is good for the world and will help us end poverty.”

    Last month, Kim announced a new initiative to provide universal financial access to all working-age adults by 2020 – with the help of technological innovations such as e-money accounts and e-mobile wallets.

  • World Bank hails leadership

    The World Bank has urged the managers of public universities to emulate the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) in the judicious use of funds.

    The bank’s Senior Education Specialist and Co-Task Leader of STEP-B Projects, Dr. Tunde Adekola, said this while inaugurating the N95 million campus-wide Fibre Optics Network sponsored by the bank under the Science and Technology Education Post-Basic (STEP-B) project.

    He expressed happiness that the university demonstrated transparency and diligence in all its activities, saying, “Such a university deserves to be assisted and supported in order to encourage her to do more.”

    He added: “Any institution that wants to benefit from World Bank-sponsored projects must be accountable. In Nigeria, we have a problem because those who are accountable are not responsible and those who are responsible are not accountable.”

    The World Bank representative said further that the UNILORIN was one of the few universities in Africa that has been able to achieve the objectives for which the STEP-B project was initiated.

     

     

    In his remarks, the UNILORIN Vice Chancellor, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, thanked the bank for the STEP-B project.