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Tag: world bank

  • Nigeria, others for World Bank, WTO database

    The World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are to develop and maintain a database on trade in services for Nigeria and more than 100 other countries.

    A statement from the global lender said the joint database covers sectors, such as financial, transportation, tourism, retail, telecommunications, and business services, including law and accounting.

    It said the database is an area that is becoming increasingly important and yet for which little information is publicly available.

    It said the data will be presented in four modules covering: members’ commitments under the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); commitments on trade in services in regional trade agreements; members’ applied measures affecting trade in services; and services statistics.

    The first version of the database has just been launched, as part of the WTO’s Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal (I-TIP) Services portal.

    Policy makers, researchers, trade negotiators, and the general public can access the database for free. Policy transparency is a public good and a shared objective of both institutions. The World Bank makes trade data publicly available under the Open Data Initiative, as does the WTO with the I-TIP.

    Transparency is particularly important in the dynamic area of trade in services because the regulatory framework is complex and little information is publicly available. Cross-border trade in services makes up one-fifth of all world trade, even without considering international transactions through foreign affiliates and the temporary movement of people.

    This WTO-World Bank arrangement exploits synergies between both institutions.

    “Among other things, the joint database combines WTO data, including those on legal commitments trade policy reviews (TPRs) or trade monitoring reports with World Bank data on applied policies from the Services Trade Restrictions Database, which went public last year. Both institutions will work hard to make sure the joint database stays up to date and expands to cover more sectors and countries,” it said.

  • Ease of doing business: Nigeria ranks 147th

    Ease of doing business: Nigeria ranks 147th

    Nigeria now ranks 147th out of 189 countries in the world, based on a report focusing on initiated policies that make doing business easy in their countries.

    According to the report released by the World Bank, yesterday, “in the past year, Nigeria has had positive developments in such areas as trading across borders, where the time to export and import has been cut, thanks to continued impact this year from previously implemented reform efforts.”

    The report, known as the ‘Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises,’ noted that “Nigeria already implements some of the global good practices in the areas of Doing Business.”

    The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank report, found that from June 2012 to June 2013, “Nigeria moved closer to the global good practices in business regulations than any time since 2009.”

    It said, Nigeria allows a general description of collateral, which makes it easy for local entrepreneurs to get credit and since 2005, Nigeria had implemented 10 business regulatory reforms making it easier for local entrepreneurs to do business.

  • World Bank seeks growth for ecnomy

    World Bank seeks growth for ecnomy

    Nigeria’s short term macroeconomic outlook looks strong, with the likelihood of higher growth, lower inflation, and reserve accumulation, the World Bank has said.

    In a statement, the global lender said the development will present the government with an opportunity to make progress in key reforms and public investments associated with the Transformation Agenda for job creation, diversification, and more effective governance.

    The Nigeria Economic Report (NER) launched by the World Bank earlier in the year however sounded a cautionary note, indicating that the country’s economic growth has not automatically translated into better economic and social welfare for the citizens.

    NER notes: “Poverty reduction and job creation have not kept pace with population growth, implying social distress for an increasing number of Nigerians.”

    As part of its forecast for the country, NER also suggested that the nation will need to build up its fiscal reserve to protect the country from oil price volatility. It will also need to increase internally generated revenue to compensate for what will likely be declining oil revenues relative to the size of the economy, NER added.

    Given that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing much faster than oil output, and is experiencing significant inflation at a stable exchange rate, the size of g overnment oil revenues relative to GDP should increase.

  • Jonathan seeks Senate’s approval for Lagos developmental plans

    Jonathan seeks Senate’s approval for Lagos developmental plans

    President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the Senate to include the Lagos State Development Policy Operation 11(DPO) into the 2012-2014 Medium Term Borrowing Plan of the Federal Government.

    Specifically, Jonathan wants the Senate to include and approve the sum of $200 million for Lagos State as part of the state’s ongoing DPO being funded by the World Bank.

    The request dated October 22, 2013 was read by the Senate President, David Mark, on the floor of the Senate on Thursday.

    It was entitled: “Request for inclusion of Lagos State Development Policy Operation11 (DPO) into the 2012-2014 Medium Term Borrowing Plan of the Federal Government.”

    It reads in part: “I wish to refer to the above subject and to inform the Distinguished Senate President that the World Bank approved a Development Policy Operation (Budget Support) for a total credit amount of $600 million to the Lagos State Government in the 2010 to be implemented in three tranches of $200 million each.

    “The first tranche of $200 million was approved by the National Assembly in the 2010 Borrowing Plan. The DPO 1 was implemented in 2011.

    “Unfortunately, the second tranche of the DPO 11 was not captured in the 2012-2014 Medium Term Borrowing Plan. However, given the importance of the second tranche to the success and sustainability of the first tranche, I wish to submit it for your consideration for inclusion in the current borrowing plan but with no additional funding request.

    “The World Bank supported Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project which was approved by the National Assembly in the 2010 Borrowing Plan with a total credit amount of $315 million and disbursed $15 million to date, after about two years of project implementation.

    “The World Bank has therefore embarked on restructuring of the project in the face of current realities in a manner that would release $200 million for allocation to Lagos DPO 11.

    “This is an action that the World Bank with the support of its Board can undertake. They propose that the $200 million DPO would enable the state complete some critical infrastructure projects including:

    Ultra-Modern Burns Centre and Cardiac and Renal Centre at Gbagada General Hospital; 27km Light Rail along the Lagos Badagry Expressway Corridor to Marina; and completion of the 70 million gallon per day Adiyan Water facility among others.

    “In the light of the above therefore, I wish to seek for your understanding and to request you to admit the Lagos State Development Policy Operation 11 (Budget Support) into the 2012-2014 Medium Term Borrowing Plan to enable the state consolidate the gains of the first tranche of the operation with no cost implication to the Borrowing Plan since the $200 million had earlier been approved in 2010.”

     

     

     

  • World Bank forecasts Africa’s growth

    World Bank forecasts Africa’s growth

    The World Bank has forecast a 4.9 per cent economic growth for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

    According to the bank, almost a third of the countries in the region are growing at 6 per cent and more. It said African countries were now routinely among the fastest-growing countries in the world.

    This is contained in the bank’s new Africa’s Pulse, a twice-yearly analysis of the issues shaping Africa’s economic prospects.

    Sub-Saharan African growth, the report said, was buoyed by rising private investment in the region and remittances now worth US$33 billion a year.

    The report said: “Supporting household incomes gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Africa will continue to rise and pick up to 5.3 per cent in 2014 and 5.5 per cent in 2015.”

    Strong government investments and higher production in the mineral resources, agriculture and service sectors, the report said “are supporting the bulk of the economic growth.”

    As Africa’s growth rates continue to surge with the region increasingly a magnet for investment and tourism, the report said poverty and inequality remained “unacceptably high and the pace of reduction unacceptably slow.”

    Makhtar Diop, the World Bank Group’s Vice President for Africa, said “Sustaining Africa’s strong growth over the longer term while significantly reducing poverty and strengthening people’s resilience to adversity may prove difficult because of the many internal and external uncertainties African countries face.”

  • World Bank President expects China to hit GDP growth target

    China should hit its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth target of 7.5 per cent this year, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said on Sunday.

    But he warned that rising interest rates in emerging markets in response to reports that the U.S. is preparing to scale back its quantitative easing (QE) programme show that significant risk remains.

    “The rise in interest rates as a result of the announcement of the tapering of QE has exposed weaknesses in the economies of emerging markets,” he told reporters.

    “Our message is very strong to those emerging markets: think about those weaknesses and begin to move.”

    Several investment banks upgraded near-term forecasts for China’s growth after a run of strong data for August, including factory output and exports, and many now have full-year growth above the government’s official target of 7.5 per cent.

    UBS, Deutsche Bank, CICC and Nomura were among the banks to upgrade their growth forecasts for 2013 after the recent data, and now all have it 7.6 per cent or higher.

    Kim was in Shanghai as part of a four-day tour focusing on expanding collaboration with China on climate change.

    Power consumption in China, the world’s top energy user, is expected to grow more than nine percent this year, faster than the 5.5-per cent growth rate in 2012, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission said in January.

     

  • Govt gets $300m World Bank loan for youth employment

    Govt gets $300m World Bank loan for youth employment

    THE Federal Government has obtained a $300million loan from the World Bank to support the Youth Employment and Social Support Operations (YESSO).

    YESSO is meant to provide opportunities for employment and social service delivery and harmonise social protection interventions.

    The National Project Coordinator of the Graduate Internship Scheme of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Mr Peter Papka, spoke yesterday at the training for delegates of the seven states that have met the conditions stipulated for participation in Abuja.

    He said the objective of this support is to increase access of poor citizens to youth employment opportunities, social services, and strengthened safety net systems in participating states.

    At the federal level, a Federal Operation Coordinating Unit (FOCU) based at the Federal Ministry of Finance would coordinate YESSO with other agencies involved in implemention under the operations such as, the National Planning Commission (NPC), the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and the Millennium Development Goals Office (MDGs).

    The operation is to be managed at the state level by a designated State Operation Coordinating Unit (SOCU).

    The SOCU, Papka said, is responsible for the establishment of the central safety net coordination system including the targeting system and the unified registry of beneficiaries.

    SOCU, he said, “is accountable to the state government and FOCU while the project implementation units (PIUs) are responsible for implementing the three components of YESSO at the state level.”

    There are three components of the support operation. These include: The public workfare component which will enhance the capacity of participating unemployed young people, create and improve basic social and economic infrastructure in communities.

    It is expected to increase the income and consumption of young participants and their households, increase effective demand in local markets, and increase household asset ownership, savings, and investments.

  • Nigeria adopts World Bank’s strategy on money laundering, terrorism financing

    Nigeria adopts World Bank’s strategy on money laundering, terrorism financing

    Nigeria has adopted the World Bank’s methodology in fighting money laundering and terrorism financing, Stephen Oronsaye, Chairman, Presidential Committee, Financial Action Task Force, has said.

    Oronsaye, who spoke at the opening of the World Bank’s facilitated National Risk Assessment Workshop, in Abuja yesterday said, ”the Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force (FATF) adopted the methodology because it is simple to use.

    The World Bank’s National Money Laundering Risk Assessment Tool is a risk assessment methodology that has been developed to overcome the challenges of money laundering and terrorism financing, by identifying and assessing the real sources of Money Laundering/Terrorism Financing (ML/TF) risks in a jurisdiction with an analytic approach.

    The world bank’s national ML/TF Risk assessment tool is said to be a self-assessment tool, which has eight modules as building blocks.

    The World bank recommends establishment of a working group that consists of sub-groups corresponding to various modules, and undertaking of the national risk assessment in three phases.

    Oransanye said the purpose of the workshop is for Nigeria to get the methodology to know the risks in the different sectors, like, banking, the capital market, insurance and other sectors.

    He said Nigeria is among the first country to adopt the trend since the committee was created in 2012.

    He said: “Once you know the risk,you know the vulnerability you have, and you will be able to have effective methodology to fight against these risks, and therefore the resources which we have which are very limited, are then directed to areas of high risk, so that we can then concentrate on. The ones that are low risks, obviously you will deploy less resources.

    “In this assessment program, there is nothing like the public or private sector of assessment. Rather than dividing the risk into public and private sector, the NRA will take the different sectors and then identify and verify, to know the risk associated with those sectors. Once you copulate your template and you have now identified them, you can then put in place measures that will mitigate these risks.

    Oransanye said from experience, it takes between nine months to over a year to conduct the risk assessment, adding that data collecting will commence with the eight working groups that will be created in the course of the workshop.

  • World Bank offers to boost agriculture – Adesina

    World Bank offers to boost agriculture – Adesina

    The Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina, said on Friday the World Bank boosted agricultural development in Nigeria in the last two years by offering nearly N139.5 billion to the sector.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Adesina, said this while speaking at the ongoing All Nigerian Editors’ Conference in Asaba, Delta.

    He said that nearly N62 billion of the amount was specifically pumped into irrigation development.

    He also said the African Development Bank (ADB) had provided nearly N77.5 billion to support the development of infrastructure around the staple crop processing zones in the country.

    He said the International Fund for Agriculture Development had also provided additional N31 billion to support staple crop processing around the country.

    The minister added that the French Agency for Development for the construction of rural roads had provided another $200 million (about N31.2bn) to complement government’s market development efforts.

    He said since the advent of the reform programme in the agriculture sector, changes were recorded in commercial banks’ lending to farmers.

     

  • World Bank approves $200m for Fadama

    World Bank approves $200m for Fadama

    The World Bank has extended the execution of Fadama III programme in Nigeria from three to four years, with the approval of $200 million in June, the South -West Fadama Zonal Coordinator, Rasaq Salau, has said.

    Salau told the News Agency of Nigeria in Ile-Oluji Local Government Area of Ondo State, yesterday that although the approval was signed in June, its full implementation would begin in January, 2014.

    He said the states participating in the programme will concentrate on the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government, stating that the programme will involve people who are into production, as well as those adding value by way of branding and packaging of their crops.

    Salau said the Federal Government is determined to stop rice importation by 2015, adding that the Minister of Agriculture has been urged to ensure that only quality rice is produced.