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Nigeria’s Ginger Export Hits N10bn In Q2

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Nigeria’s revenue from ginger exports increased by 17 per cent to hit N10 billion in the second quarter of 2023 compared to N4.6 billion in the same period of 2022.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that the country’s export value of the crop has been increasing steadily. Ginger exports increased from N1.13 billion in Q2 2018 to N1.24 billion in the same period of 2019.
It increased in Q2 2020 from N1.57 billion to N3.75 billion in 2021. The growth was maintained in 2022 as export earnings from the crop grew to N4.6 billion. In Q2 2023, it doubled to N10 billion.
According to the Deputy President of the National Ginger Association of Nigeria (NGAN), Mikah Adamu Sule, “Some of the improvements realised in foreign exchange earnings owe to the improvements made by ginger farmers to make the crop cleaner and more attractive for exports”.
However, Nigeria, the largest producer of ginger in Africa, and the second largest in the world after India, is reaping only a modest fragment of the $3 billion global ginger market, despite its record N10 billion export value in Q2, its highest in six years.
A ginger farmer, Ugochukwu Ideato,  said, “It would make sense if more ginger are grown and facilities are set up locally to process some percentage of the harvest while the excess is exported. This will not only improve revenue, it’ll also provide jobs and create wealth”.
Speaking on the need for value addition to boost export potential, a Twitter user, Bayode Tegbe, said, “I think we need processing plants to extract ginger oil. I was doing research last week and found out that the value for one tonne of ginger oil is 35 times more than one tonne of ginger itself”.
Dairy Hills CEO, Kelvin Emmanuel, said Nigeria exports highly valuable agricultural commodities such as ginger and cocoa at a giveaway and then spends billions in importing back their refined products into the country.
He said the Europeans buy ginger from Nigeria at $2,000 per tonne and get 35 times the value processing it into ginger oil.

 

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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