Business
Cote d’Ivoire: Quattara Seeks Help To Rebuild Economy
President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’ Ivoire recently appealed for massive international aid to save his country, whose economy, he said was facing a seven per cent slump.
The UN correspondent reports that Ouattara made the appeal at a news conference after meeting UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon.
Ouattara said his country, the world’s biggest producer of cocoa, would need a lot of money to rebuild its economy.
Months of conflict over disputed presidential elections left thousands of people dead between November 2010 and April 2011.
Ouattara said that in the past 10 years, there had been no investment, except in the purchase of arms and ammunitions.
“This year, because of the post-election crisis, our economy will drop by seven per cent. So, we need massive support,” he said.
According to some reports, the Ivorian Government has estimated that it will need more than $25 billion of investment to rebuild the economy.
Ouattara told reporters that national reconciliation remained his priority and pledged that alleged massacres and rights abuses by all sides would be investigated.
He said the main task after reconciliation was reconstruction “because the country has been destroyed.”
Responding to questions on allegations of rights abuses by his loyalists, Ouattara stressed that he wanted reconciliation and that the country had embarked on a new beginning.
“We want rule of law, we want to protect our citizens and all the people; we want to abide by human rights, this is very important for us; we don’t want discrimination.
“We have reconciliation under one track but the judicial system will also do its work and justice will be for everyone; there will be no distinction.”
The Ivorian leader said he had met with the Presidents of Ghana, and Liberia in recent weeks to discuss security cooperation.
He said he had secured an agreement with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to boost border security and to exchange information on mercenaries crossing their borders.
Ouattara warned that mercenaries would pose a greater threat to Liberia and Cote d’ Ivoire, because of the upcoming elections in Liberia.
He added that an agreement was also secured with Ghana, where thousands of Ivorians had sought refuge, for the repatriation of any Ivorians found to have committed crimes to face charges in their country.
Ouattara said former President Laurent Gbagbo and wife his, Simone, remained under detention at a presidential residence in the north of the country.
He said no decision had been taken as to whether Gbagbo would face trial in the country or before the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.
“Even if they were to be found guilty, dignity and consideration should be given to them because of their rank.”
Ouattara is to meet U.S. President Barack Obama and the head of the World Bank, and International Monetary Fund in Washington on Friday, to discuss ways to revamp the Ivorian economy.
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
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