Business
Ayade Charges Advertising Practitioners On Investment
In a maiden edition of Out
door Investment Forum organized by the Cross River State Signage and Advertising Agency (CRISSAA), the Cross River State Governor, Senator Prof. Ben Ayade, advised Advertising Practitioners to invest in the state now that there is still space for investment, adding that enormous potentials abound in the state.
Ayade noted that, the growth rate of 4.03 per cent with an annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 6.33 per cent which the state has currently recorded, assures that the business environment guarantees maximum profit on investment.
According to him, the new Management of CRISSAA is poised to redefine the agency taking it away from being just a revenue collection agency that creates jobs, transfer skills, fabricating industry that can carter for the South- South, South East, and the entire country.
The governor, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Ivara Esu, explained that, the present administration seeks to build cottage industries across various sectors with CRISSAA as the major player, and also build an outdoor advertising industry, adding that, the state is politically stable with a strong support for the growth of private sector organisations.
Also speaking, the Director General CRISSAA, Stanley Nsemo, said he and his team are poised to create something new and different, noting that customer care lines are open 24 hours to receive text messages and calls for complaints, for solutions to be offered before dusk.
He said the purpose of the forum was to bring both government and other stakeholders of outdoor adverting to see each other as partners so that the government would know their flaws and where to make amends while describing the state as being discovered even though Africa is yet to be discovered.
Also, the Commissioner for Information, Mrs RoseMary Archibong, corroborated the DG CRISSAA, saying, the discoveries in the state were many and more were to be made noting that, the principal they were working with was engaged in total re-engineering of the state and that the advertisement industry was the window of selling the state to the world, and assured outdoor practitioners of reaping the dividends of their investment.
Mrs. Achibong said, the Super Highway is real and that the Deep seaport was also real, explaining that, these are the evacuation route of the products and that the garment factory is also an area where advertisement industry could thrive, the Rice city, where investors from Thailand were opening a school which would Certify graduates, and others from Mexico are also coming to invest in banana.
In terms of security, she said, the state has good protection pointing to the largest street party in Africa hosted annually which has attracted people from embassies, Nollywood and around the world, stressing that, the annual carnival has not limited itself to merriment alone but has a mandate to plant five million trees annually to support the rain forest the state is still maintaining.
Presenting his paper, the Chairman/CEO, Investment Promotion, (Arc) John Etim Bassey, said the indices for determining investment are here in Cross River State and noted that, security is well organized, the location of the State is the fastest evacuation corridor, and that the infrastructure is being provided in terms of the super highway and the deep seaport for convenience, both inland and off shore.
Friday Nwagbara, Calabar
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters.
This is the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs introduction on goods entering the United States, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty.
The USTR highlighted the impact of Nigeria’s import ban on various sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
The restrictions affect items such as beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and alcoholic beverages, which the United States sees as significant barriers to trade.
The agency argues that these limitations reduce export opportunities for United States businesses and lead to lost revenue.
“Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different product categories impacts United States exporters, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
“Restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit United States market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for United States businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market”, the agency said .
In 2016, Nigeria implemented the ban on these 25 items as part of efforts to control imports and stimulate local production.
Some of the banned items include poultry, pork, refined vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa products, spaghetti, beer, and certain medicines.
On March 26, 2025, the Federal Government also announced plans to halt solar panel imports to encourage local manufacturing as part of its push for clean energy.
A leading agribusiness strategist and digital agriculture expert, Ayo Oluwa Okediji, has sought cooperative-driven investments in sustaining growth of poultry industry in Nigeria.
He said the poultry industry was at a defining moment and requires urgent structural reforms to secure its future and ensure long-term sustainability.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Poultry Farming Through Cooperative Synergy and Strategic Investments”, at the recently concluded Oyo Mega Poultry Workshop 2025 in Ibadan, Okediji called on poultry farmers, cooperative leaders, financial institutions and policy makers to rethink the existing structure of the poultry sector.
He stressed the need to transition from fragmented, individually-driven operations to well-structured, cooperative-led enterprises capable of attracting sustainable financing and securing long-term viability.
He said, “Our poultry sector cannot thrive on individual effort alone. We need to organise ourselves into cooperative clusters, build strong governance systems and position ourselves to attract the level of investment needed to sustain this industry beyond this generation.”
Drawing on lessons from successful global cooperative models such as Rabobank in the Netherlands and Landus Cooperative in the United States, Okediji introduced the FarmClusters Poultry Model, a locally adapted solution developed by Agribusiness Dynamics Technology Limited (AgDyna), a subsidiary of AgroInfoTech Africa.
According to him, the model is currently being piloted in Oyo State in partnership with PANOY Agribusiness Limited and local poultry cooperatives.
The Rivers State Representative of the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Erasmus Chukwundah, has urged palm oil farmers to consider hybrid seedlings for planting, if they must break even in palm oil business.
Chukwundah said this recently at the Free Oil Palm Business Climate Smart Best Management Practice/Assistance Training organized by Partnership Initiative In Niger Delta (PIND) for Palm Oil Farmers in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Rivers representative said until palm oil farmers begin to consider such hybrid oil palm seedlings, they may not meet up with the daily increasing demand of palm oil in the market.
According to him, the seedlings produce up to 30 bunches at once that ripen same time.
He said PIND decided to partner with Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) to ensure that the message was received by the targeted audience.
According to him, palm oil remained a popular choice of industry operators as it could be converted to many other products such as vegetable cooking oil.
He also noted that products such as motor tyers, marine ropes and others are now gotten from the palm tree.
Chukwundah, who is the immediate past Director-General of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries, and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), further warned against use of unrecommended fertilisers in growing oil palms.
He noted that such practices could limit its export value or chances as the foreign marketers have a way of detecting such .
He reiterated the need for organic fertilizers, including poultry droppings, to enable them have a natural palm oil.
“People must reduce physical contact with palm oil production. That is why we are campaigning for hydrolic oil mills. The foreign markets are no longer interested in crude method of palm oil production”, he said.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers, Sonny Didia, who appreciated Chukwundah’s commitment towards the concern of farmers, appealed for an urgent need for loan opportunity with low interest rate in order to enable them beat the target.
King Onunwor