Business
‘Nigeria’s Diaspora, Asset To Trade, Investments’
The Nigeria’s Diaspora in the United Kingdom, the second largest in the world, is an asset to the UK’s trade and investment activity, UK Trade Envoy to Nigeria, John Howell, says.
Howell stated this in his speech to the first Nigeria Trade and Investment Road Show in London holding from July 11 to 15.
“In 2013, UK was home to 184,000 of the 1.1 million officially registered first generation Nigerian Diaspora, second only to the U.S.
“Around 18,000 Nigerian students come to the UK, which is around 10 per cent of total foreign students to the UK, the third largest after India and China.
“Nigeria’s Diaspora is an asset that can support the UK’s export and investment activity,” he said.
According to him, new areas of opportunity are emerging across a variety of sectors as Nigeria develops and grows.
“Opportunities exist across sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, technology, solid minerals, education and training, among others,” he said.
Howell said the successful 2015 presidential election had helped to solidify Nigeria’s democratic credentials, adding with just over a year in government, the administration had made meaningful strides.
“The extent of success for trade and investment will of course also depend on the success of President Muhammadu Buhari’s reforms.
“We welcome the Central Bank of Nigeria’s announcement that Nigeria will move to a more flexible foreign exchange rate policy.
“This is positive news that international business have been waiting for to encourage greater investment in Nigeria,” he said.
Howell said the UK, with its strong historic links to Africa, had so much to offer and pledging to build the business links between the two countries for economic growth.
“Nigeria remains an attractive export and investment destination for the UK because of its scale, resource wealth and location potential.
“In 2015, Nigeria was named the third fastest growing economy in the world. Nigeria’s economy is expected to grow between five per cent and seven per cent per year by 2030.
“UK businesses are well placed to succeed in Nigeria. Nigeria is only six hours away from UK, which is a relatively short flight.”
According to him, Nigeria has a familiar legal system adding, the Nigerian judiciary and legal system are based on the UK’s.
“This simplifies business set up processes and provides guidance in potential disputes. Nigeria is also a member of The Commonwealth, which means we share a lot of similarities.”
The UK envoy welcomed Buhari’s commitment to tackling corruption in Nigeria, saying it is critical to the country’s economic prosperity and security, and to reducing poverty and inequality.
According to him, corruption creates barriers to doing business and the threat from money laundering and fraud directly impacts the UK.
He commended the UK Trade and Investment, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission and PricewaterhouseCoopers teams for organising the road show.
“I’ve only recently been appointed as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Nigeria and I’m very excited to be taking on this new role.
“This is because, the bilateral relationship between the UK and Nigeria is of great importance to our country,” he said.
The Tide reports that Nigerian Ministers – Okechukwu Enelamah (Trade and Investment); Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation); Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture and Rural Development), and Hadi Sirika (Aviation) are attending the road show.
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
-
Environment4 days ago
World Water Day And Provision Of Clean Water
-
Rivers3 days ago
Abua/Odual Is Simplified -Board Member
-
Niger Delta2 days ago
C’River, Ebonyi Govts Resolve Boundary Dispute
-
Opinion1 day ago
Leveraging On ICT For Timely Retirees’ Payment
-
Politics4 days ago
Gov Mutfwang Harps On Tolerance Among Nigerians
-
Nation3 days ago
WTD: Banigo Advocates Good Hygiene
-
News2 days ago
Nigeria’s 149 Private Varsities Undersubscribed -NUC
-
News1 day ago
Police Neutralise Notorious Cult Leader In Owube Kingdom