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  • Lagos, World Bank spend N1b on agric

    Lagos, World Bank spend N1b on agric

    Lagos State and  the World Bank  have  spent  more than  N1 billion  on  the  Commercial  Agriculture Development Programme (CADP) to build farmers capacity across three agricultural sub-sectors.

    The subdivision includes aquaculture, rice production and poultry production.

    The Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal  made this known after addressing the Ninth bi-monthly meeting  in Lagos yesterday.

    CADP is a five-year project set up in 2009 by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources in collaboration with the World Bank and other stakeholders to enable participating small and medium scale commercial farmers gain to access to improved technology, infrastructure, and finance, information and output markets.

    Within the last three years, the commissioner said   some positive results have been realised, such as a 37 per cent reduction in the price of floating fish feed through the support given to farmers to produce the feed locally.

    He explained that over 80,000 Nigerians have benefitted directly and indirectly from the impact created  across  the   value chains.

    He said  the  project has improved road access, boosted agricultural trade opportunities, and enabled access to social services benefiting rural communities.

    The $150million CADP is being implemented in Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Cross River and Enugu states.

  • N33.6b remitted to Nigeria in 2012, says World Bank

    N33.6b remitted to Nigeria in 2012, says World Bank

    • Global payments hit $514b

    Nigerians and other residents in the country received a total of N33.6billion or $21billion last year in remittances from their relatives, friends and business associates, the World Bank has said.

    According to the latest edition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief, issued at the weekend, Nigeria accounted for 67 per cent of the $31billion total inflows to sub-Saharan Africa last year, followed by Senegal and Kenya.

    Noting that remittance flows to sub-Saharan Africa have been recovering from the contraction associated with the global financial crisis, the report said growth has been modest.

    The World Bank said: “In 2012, the region is estimated to have received about $31 billion in remittances, only about a one per cent increase over 2011. Nigeria is by far the largest recipient of remittances in the region, accounting for about 67 per cent of the inflows to the region in 2012, followed by Senegal and Kenya. Zero growth in flows to Nigeria in 2012 is partly attributable to the feeble labour market recovery of its major remittance source countries in Europe, the UK in particular. Remittance flows to Nigeria and the rest of the region are expected to grow significantly in the coming years to reach about $39 billion in 2015.”

    The report stated that officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries grew by 5.3 per cent to reach an estimated $401 billion in 2012. It added that remittances to developing countries are expected to grow by an annual average of 8.8 per cent for the next three years and are forecast to reach $515 billion in 2015.

    It, however, observed that given that many migrants send money and goods through people or informal channels, the true size of remittances are much larger than these official figures.

    The top recipients of officially recorded remittances for 2012, according to the report, are India ($69 billion), China ($60 billion), the Philippines ($24 billion), Mexico ($23 billion) and Nigeria and Egypt ($21 billion each).

    Other large recipients include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Lebanon.

    “As a percentage of GDP, the top recipients of remittances, in 2011, were Tajikistan (47 per cent), Liberia (31 per cent), Kyrgyz Republic (29 per cent), Lesotho (27 per cent), Moldova (23 per cent), Nepal (22 per cent), and Samoa (21 per cent),” the report added.

    Besides, the World Bank said remittance flows to developing countries have more than quadrupled since 2000, stressing that global remittances, including those to high-income countries, are estimated to have reached $514 billion in 2012, compared to $132 billion in 2000.

    Further breakdown of global remittances showed that The East Asia and Pacific region received an estimated $109 billion in remittances in 2012, about $5 billion lower than the estimate we made at the end of 2012, due mainly to a downward revision of inflows to China by the same amount. Remittance inflows to the region were an increase of 2.5 per cent over the 2011 value of $106 billion.

    Remittances to Eastern Europe and Central Asia are estimated to have declined by 3.9 per cent to about $40 billion in 2012, partly due to the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar (lowering remittances in dollar terms). Officially recorded remittances to the region are expected to rebound in 2013-2015, exceeding the pre-crisis peak in 2014 and reaching US$52 billion in 2015 according to the report.

     

    The Latin America and Caribbean region saw a slight increase in remittances in 2012 to $62 billion, still more than $2.5 billion below the peak reached in 2008. Mexico, which received $23 billion in 2012, accounts for 56 per cent of total remittances to the region, followed by Brazil ($4.9 billion). The US is the largest source of remittances to the region, accounting for 73 per cent of the total inflows in 2012.

    With remittance inflows of an estimated $49 billion in 2012 (an upward revision of about US$2 billion from previous estimates), the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region experienced the fastest expansion of remittances in 2012, growing by 14.3 percent over 2011. Egypt, which accounted for over 40 per cent of total remittance inflows to the region, has seen a six-fold increase in remittances over the last eight years, making it the largest recipient in the region, ahead of Lebanon, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia.

    Officially recorded remittance flows to South Asia according to the report, are estimated to have increased sharply by 12.8 percent to $109 billion in 2012. This follows growth averaging 13.8 percent in each of the previous two years. India remains the largest recipient country in the world, receiving $69 billion in 2012. In addition to large numbers of unskilled migrants working mainly in the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, India also has a large skilled diaspora the US and other high-income countries. Flows to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal have also been robust, helped by strong economic growth in the GCC and India. Remittances to the region are projected to remain buoyant in the coming years, reaching $140 billion in 2015.

    Nonetheless, the report stated that the high cost of sending money through official channels is an obstacle to the utilization of remittances for development purposes, as people seek out informal channels as their preferred means for sending money home. The global average cost for sending remittances it added, was 9 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, broadly unchanged from 2012.

    “Migration and remittances offer a vital lifeline for millions of people and can play a major role in an economy’s take-off. They enable people to partake in the global labor market and create resources that can be leveraged for development and growth. But they are also a source of political contention, and for that very reason deserving of dispassionate analysis,” said Kaushik Basu, the World Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, as he participated in an event to mark the launch of KNOMAD. “The World Bank has played a critical role in migration and remittance research and KNOMAD will be critical in taking this agenda forward.”

    “The role of remittances in helping lift people out of poverty has always been known, but there is also abundant evidence that migration and remittances are helping countries achieve progress towards other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), such as access to education, safe water, sanitation and healthcare,” said Hans Timmer, Director of the Bank’s Development Prospects Group.

     

  • World Bank’s N77m loan for farmers

    The World Bank has given N77million credit facilities to some commercial farmers in Cross River to boost rice, cocoa and oil palm production.

    Mr Owali Ilem of the Commercial Agriculture Development Association (CADA), made the fact known to journalists in Calabar.

    Ilem said that loans were given to the farmers early in the year to enable them prepare well for the new planting season.

    The loans, which were routed through CADA, went to members of nine multi-purpose cooperative societies in the state.

    He said that one of the conditions to qualify for the loan was payment of “small’’ counterpart funds by each group or community.

    Ilem said that the World Bank-sponsored agriculture development programme had been on in the state for about five years but that so far, the state government had contributed N168 million as counterpart funds.

    “The state government’s contribution is a big boost to the programme but I am appealing to it to do more.

    “The programme, which would be rounded off soon has impacted positively on many farmers in the state,’’ he said.

    He added that the project could be extended if its performance in the state was assessed to be good.

     

    Ilem named some of the beneficiaries as Itune farms, Abini (oil palm processing), Rosem group, Odot (oil palm processing) and Fonnes farms, Akamkpa (cocoa processing) .

  • World Bank supports education with $450 m

    The World Bank will support Youth Empowerment, Social Support Operation (YESSO) and education in Nigeria with $450 million, the Country Director, Ms Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly, has said. She said the amount would bring the aid of the bank to Nigeria to the tune of $1.452 billion.

    She said: “We already have $1.2 billion in aid to Nigeria. We have $750 million in health, $275 million in education and $200 million in social protection. In health, we have eradication programmes for diseases such as polio, malaria and HIV/AIDs and we are trying out new project on health in Ondo, Adamawa, and Nassarawa states on result based financing for health services.”

    She added: “In education, we have two projects in Lagos where we are strengthening secondary schools and improving the quality of education. The third category is the social protection where we look at the social infrastructure in communities.”

    Also, Mrs Ritva Reinikka, Director, Human Development Group of Africa Region of World Bank, said many projects needed to be done in Nigeria in terms of human development. She said the bank needed to support the government to maintain growth and equitable distribution of resources to achieve progress in areas such as child mortality, maternal death and education.

    Reinika called on the education stakeholders, ministers and commissioners to fashion out ways to handle the issues.

     

  • World Bank project lifts communities

    The World Bank in partnership with the Imo State Agency for Community Development Project (ISA-CSDP) has spent about N450 million in rural development projects, with about 71 rural communities benefiting from the programme.

    The General Manager of the agency, Mr. Augustine Amah,disclosed that in the last four years, rural communities have benefitted in the areas of infrastructure and other social amenities.

    Briefing journalists on the activities of the agency in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Amah said that Imo State is among the 26 participating states in the programme that will wind up by the end of this year.

    According to him, the World Bank contributed $5 million to Imo State (N750 million), while the state government was expected to provide a counterpart fund of N100 million annually, regretting that only N100 million was contributed by the Imo State Government in 2009, leaving a backlog of about N400 million.

    He listed projects executed in the communities to include building and renovation of primary and secondary schools, health centres, rural electricity projects, markets, skills acquisition centres, town halls, access roads drainage and erosion control, public toilets, water boreholes, culverts and construction of lock-up shops, among others.

    “At the last count, we have pushed into 71 communities about N450 million in micro projects. Our targeted communities in the state are 111. About 25 communities have successfully completed their micro projects. We are adding value to life. The needs of the communities were considered. We allowed them to choose their most needed projects; there is no political consideration to it.

    “One of our challenges, is funding, we have only received N100 million from the Imo State Government as counter part fund instead of N400 million and that was in 2009 that the state government paid. We are using this medium to appeal to them to pay because this touches on the lives of the poor”, he explained.

  • World Bank chief to manage $27b

    World Bank chief to manage $27b

    World Bank’s Vice-President for Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships (CFP) Joachim von Amsberg has been authorised to oversee a trust fund portfolio of about $27 billion and implementation of the $49.3 billion International Development Association (IDA) replenishment.

    The IDA is the World Bank’s fund for the poorest. Mr. von Amsberg brings to the post extensive global and country development experience. As the bank’s head of Operational Policy and Country Services (OPCS) for the past two and half years, he drove a series of institutional innovations, including the introduction of the bank’s first new lending instrument in 30 years.

    He also oversaw a major reform programme focused on improving the flexibility of investment lending and strengthening the institution’s support to fragile and conflict-affected states.

    “I am pleased to be joining the concessional finance vice presidency, a unit that plays an important connector role in helping the bank secure and leverage the resources needed to provide support to the world’s poorest countries and in areas of global public concern, such as conflict and other crises,” he said.

    “The current replenishments of IDA and the Global Environment Facility, as well as efforts to continue improving our trust fund operations and mobilise financing for other development needs, are hugely important to the well-being of billions of people around the world,” he added.

     

  • World Bank, Lagos plan multimillion fish market

    World Bank and the Lagos State government are planning a state wide multimillion fish market projects as part of its efforts to ensure food security and boost development.

    Though no figure was given for the project, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolohan Lawal,who announced this while speaking with reporters in Lagos at the seventh Joint FGN /World bank said the fish mart projects is part of its multi-million fisheries transformation programme to rejuvenate the economy and provide fishing jobs for people.

    Like the Eko farmers mart initiative, he said the facilities which will be located in major areas of the state will include a fish grading area, a cold store and display areas for fish mongers and additional new jobs in the long term.

    He said the project will use the value-chain model, an approach to economic development to connect and strengthen all levels of an industry supply chain.

    According to him, the supply chain for fish and fishery products can involve a large number of stakeholders. These comprise stakeholders such as producer, wholesaler, dealers, middlemen, retailer, processor and consumer.

    He said there is effort to improve value addition and bring the different forms of fish products to the market place.

    To keep increasing fish supply, Lawal said aquaculture is becoming an important occupation while bridging the gap between demand and supply.

  • World Bank, Lagos plan multimillion fish market

    THE World Bank and the Lagos State government are planning multimillion some fish market projects to ensure food security, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, has said in Lagos.

    He spoke with reporters at the Seventh Joint FGN /World Bank.

    He said the fish mart projects are part of its multi-million fisheries aimed at providing jobs for people.

    Like the Eko farmers mart initiative, he said the facilities which will be located in some major areas of the state would include a fish grading area, a cold store and display areas for fish mongers and additional new jobs in the long term.

    He said there is effort to improve value addition and bring the different forms of fish products to the market place.

    To keep increase fish supply, Lawal said aquaculture was becoming an important occupation while bridging the gap between demand and supply.

  • World Bank promises aide to Burma

    World Bank promises aide to Burma

    The World Bank has approved an $80m (£50m) grant and pledged lending for Burma, the second poorest country in Asia, for the first time in 25 years.

    The money will go to rural communities to build roads, bridges, schools and health clinics, the World Bank said.

    It comes after the current government began implementing economic, political and other reforms, BBC reports.

    Last month, the United States lifted sanctions and restrictions on financial institutions lending to Burma.

    “I am heartened by the reforms that have been taking place in Myanmar [Burma] and encourage the government to continue to push forward with their efforts,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in a statement.

    Another $165m will be made available to Burma once the country has cleared its overdue debt to the bank, said Pamela Cox, World Bank vice-president for East Asia and the Pacific, in a conference call to reporters.

    Discussion will continue in coming months on how to allocate those funds.

    “We want to target to creating opportunities for all the people of Myanmar, especially the poor and vulnerable,” she added.

    Reforms have been taking place in Burma since elections in November 2010 saw military rule replaced with a military-backed nominally civilian government led by President Thein Sein.

    Under his administration, many political prisoners have been freed and some censorship lifted.

    The party of freed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has rejoined the political process – after boycotting the 2010 polls – and now has a small presence in parliament.

     

  • Oxfam urges World Bank to freeze land investments

    Oxfam urges World Bank to freeze land investments

    Global development group Oxfam on Wednesday called on the World Bank to suspend financing for large-scale land acquisitions to ensure that its practices do not encourage foreign land grabs in developing countries.

    Oxfam urged Jim Yong Kim, the lender’s new president, to announce a six-month moratorium on land investments by the bank at meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Tokyo next week.

    But senior bank officials said it would be a mistake to suspend the World Bank’s involvement at a time when global food prices are rising and there is growing interest by foreign investors in buying farmland in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

    Reuters says the 2008-2009 global food price crisis prompted a scramble for land in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and widespread fears of land grabbing.

    Madagascar’s president was toppled in 2009 after he negotiated a deal with South Korea’s Daewoo Logistics to lease half the island’s arable land to grow food and ship it to Asia.

    The World Bank has long argued that Africa needs more investments in agriculture that would not only help modernize farming practices but also create jobs and new markets for local farmers.

    The lender has boosted its investment in agriculture to $9.5 billion a year from $2.5 billion annually in 2008.

    Oxfam said the World Bank was in a unique position as both a financier, through its private-sector lending arm the International Finance Corp, and adviser to developing countries to ensure land deals are transparent and not forcing local communities off land they have farmed for generations.

    According to Oxfam more than 60 percent of investments in agricultural land by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010 were in developing countries with serious hunger problems.