Business
Globalise Nigeria’s Economy To Attract Foreign Investors – Minister
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has called for the globalisation of the nation’s economy to attract more foreign investors in the country.
The minister made the call in Abuja Wednesday while addressing the sixth Sustainability in the Extractive Industries Conference, organised by the CSR-in-Action in Abuja for stakeholders in the extractive industry.
Kachikwu said since 2012 when the conference started, a lot had been achieved and called for the development of the nation’s local economy for global participation.
He called for”the strengthening of our local economy in such a way that it can take advantage of extra border foray and invest in other countries’’.
He said that unless the local economy was robust and strengthened, it could not play an international role and would not attract foreign investors.
According to Kachikwu, to attract investors, the nation needs to build a sufficient and robust infrastructure to enable cost of production to be at lowest level to do business in Nigeria.
He said the infrastructure in the nation’s oil sector for 30 to 40 years had not been sufficiently developed and everything seemed to be in a state of decay.
“So we have a real major challenge in the oil sector for the next five years; so we need to create a five-year Marshal Plan to replace decayed infrastructure in the sector.
“And nowhere is more apparent than like in the refinery sector where we are one of the major OPEC producers and we are still importing bulk of our petroleum products.
“This is because our refinery infrastructure has not been maintained at the same level with other countries such as Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire where 90 per cent of their refineries capacity are working,’’ he said.
He reiterated the need to upgrade the nation’s oil infrastructure, adding that this was not easy now because Nigeria did not save enough during the oil boom and could not do this now because oil price had fallen.
Kachikwu urged the government to provide tax holidays and good enabling environment to encourage local producers, noting that instead of vilifying local producers, Nigerians should commend them to do more.
He added that the key to doing business was finance and there was need to assist our local producers through development finance and by creating necessary financial incentives to help them do their business.
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
