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Group Harps On Africa Investment Promotion, Industrialisation
The United States Latino American Chamber of Commerce (USLACC) Africa, has advocated making Nigeria and Africa one of the industrialised hubs of the world through investment promotion.
The President of the group, Dr Manolo Cevallos, said this yesterday in Abuja at a one-day African and Foreign Investors Trade Summit (AFRIFITS) for business people and entrepreneurs.
The summit had the theme: “Promotion of African Businesses, Synergy and Match Making Foreign Investors”.
Cevallos, who was represented by Amb. Ifeoma Ejiogu, USLAAC Africa Representative, said AFRIFITS was a creation of USLACC to catalyse Africa’s economic growth.
He said that the central goal was to make Africa one of the world’s hubs of industrialisation.
He said this would be achieved by bringing together foreign investors, Africans in Diaspora, African Business luminaries and friends of Africa to invest in the ‘immeasurable rich resources and opportunities’ that abound in the continent.
“AFRIFITS aims at reforming all sectors of the African economy and accelerating continental and international trade and investment.
“This would be achieved by building durable bridges between foreign business persons and potential business owners in Africa.
“This will solve the decades and centuries long myths that inhibit foreign investment in Africa,” he said.
Cevallos said USLACC, a public investment institute with headquarters in Los Angeles, California U.S., has been promoting bilateral foreign direct investments, infrastructural development and international trade between U.S. and other parts of the world.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geofrey Onyeama, said that Nigeria would continue to play its role as an investment destination in Africa.
Represented by Amb. Bolaji Akimremi, Director, Trade and Economy in the ministry, Onyeama commended USLACC for its efforts at giving industrialisation a new face in Africa.
He pledged, on behalf of the ministry, to continue to ensure that Africa and other countries of the world collaborated in area of investment.
The Vice- Chancellor, University of Abuja, Prof. Abdul Na’Allah, in his remarks promised that the university, as one of the modern universities, was ready to work with foreign investors to turn the university into a tourist centre in Nigeria.
He urged the organisation to carry the university along in its scheme of things.
Na’Allah expressed dissatisfaction at the ongoing strike in the nation’s universities saying it was sad and unpatriotic for Nigerians to allow the universities to be closed.
Sir Mike Okiro, former Inspector General of Police and the Chief Award Presenter, said security situation in any country could discourage investment.
“People invest where there is security of lives; people fear to invest because of insecurity.
“Insecurity has become a global phenomenum, so the issue is how to manage it,” he said.
Okiro called on Nigerians to work together with government and security agencies to fight insecurity in the nation.
The former Governor of old Anambra, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, in his keynote address expressed concern at the level of corruption in the country and called for a change of attitude.
He said that Nigeria was destined for greatness and called for a collective effort to make it great as other nations of the world.
Mr Uche Egenti, Chairman Governing Board, Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), and Chairman of the Occasion, said the programme was targeted at investment and industrialisation of Africa.
He called on business men and women and entrepreneurs in Nigeria to rise up and contribute toward the socio-economic status of Nigeria and by extension Africa.
“It is time for Africa to be industrialised. Government alone cannot do everything.
“It is time to reason together and develop concepts that would catapult Africa to the world,” Egenti said.
Speaking, Mr Bethran Uzodimma, Chief Executive Officer, Fratello Properties Ltd., and one of award recipients at the programme, expressed gratitude to God for the award.
Uzodimma, on behalf of other recipients, encouraged investors not to lose faith in Nigeria and other African countries with a lot of resources to harvest from and areas to invest in.
“There are great potential in Africa; there is the confidence that Africa would develop as other continents because she has what it takes to be great,” he said.
Presenting the award to Uzodimma, USLACC said Uzodimma was given the award for his philanthropic gestures.
Some of the gestures were building houses for the downtrodden and financing the education of children in his community and beyond.
“Earlier, Mr Daniel Ibrahim, ICT Lead, USLACC Africa, in his review of AFRIFITS said that Africa was on the road to a better tomorrow.
He said the programme was to deliberate on how to improve on the economy of Africa.
According to Ibrahim, the organisation is also in Kenya, Uganda, Togo and Ghana to forge relationships with small and medium enterprises and connect them to the rest of the world.
He said the objectives were for wealth and value creation and business development opportunities enhancement.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.