Business
Abuja Attracts $4.6bn Investments
The Minister of FCT, Alhaji Bala Mohammed, has stated that the Federal Capital Administration has attracted 4.6 billion dollar (about N690 billion) worth of investments since its inception.
He disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Abuja on activities of the Federal Capital Administration (FCA).
According to him, the investments attracted are private sector driven and cut across world class malls, industrial parks, new districts development and outdoor advertising projects.
He said “we have access to private sector investments to the tune of 4.6 billion dollars since we came on board, stressing that “some of them are visible, we can see them like the World Trade Centre that is almost 75 per cent completed at the Central Business District, you can see it is being done by Churchgate.
The minister said “we have the Dallas Kara Way District, the Abuja Industrial Park, the outdoor advertising that we are doing and the company with the private sector’’.
Mohammed said “we have eight districts for the land swap at phase four of the city where we are going to develop estate that will be given to private sector and using the land as a resource to pay them off’’.
“There, we have about N350 billion money which we would have otherwise spent through the normal budgetary allocation.’’
The minister also disclosed that in the last 20 years, the FCTA had a debt profile of more than N420 billion.
Mohammed said that the administration would leverage on the private sector and source alternative funding through multi-lateral and bi-lateral areas to bridge the financial gap, stressing that “we have a lot of gaps in terms of indebtedness over the years, not just now with over 20 years. We have a debt of over N420 billion and we have craved the indulgence of the Coordinating Minister. “She has agreed and Council has noted our own recommendation to float an FCT Development Bond.
He said “we can float the bond after we must have established a sound legal frame work for the establishment of FCT Revenue Board that can be tasked to float that bond so that we can pay all our indebtedness and do new projects and programmes’’.
Mohammed said that FCTA made progress in the development of existing districts like Kado, Mabutshi, Durumi and Gwarimpa which were already occupied without primary infrastructure.
According to him, the FCTA will take over waste management from the area councils to rid the city and the satellite towns of refuse.
To this end, he said that the FCTA would start a waste to power and waste recycling programme in 2013.
Mohammed identified over-population and inadequate resources, among others, as part of the challenges facing the FCTA.
According to him, the territory which by planning and arrangement ought to have less than a million people, now has about five million population.
He said the security situation in the crisis states and the tendency for everybody to relocate to the FCT was responsible for the population .
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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