Business

Buhari Urges World Bank and AfDB to Activate $19bn Fund for Climate Investment

Published

3 years ago

May 10, 2022

By Derrick Bangura

President Muhammadu Buhari has charged the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) to activate the $19 billion pledge, meant for land restoration, tree planting, development of climate resilience infrastructure and investments in small- and medium-sized farms.

The president, while calling on development partners to support the One Planet Summit initiative, also underscored the importance of recharging Lake Chad, now down to 10 per cent of its water volume, as 11 Sahel nations discussed ways and means of accessing the $19 billion pledged by donors for the activities of the Pan African Great Green Wall Agency (PAGGW).
Speaking on Monday in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, at a side event he convened at the ongoing UN Conference of Parties, COP15, in his capacity as the president of the Conference of Heads of State and Governments of the member states of the PAGGW, Buhari said the fund would also support smallholder farmers, create an institutional framework to enhance security, stability and governance, and capacity building.

“All of you may wish to know that, in December 2021, I was elected to lead and drive the Agenda of the PAGGW bloc for the next two years. This bloc, which includes Nigeria, Senegal, Niger, Sudan, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Mali, Eritrea, Djibouti, Burkina Faso and Chad, is facing dire and present danger due to the devastating effect of desertification and drought, which is impacting negatively on the security of our communities and the livelihood of our people,” said Buhari.

“There is, therefore, an urgent need to confront these challenges associated with desert encroachment and drought,” he added.

The president explained that the inter-basin transfer of water from Central Africa to the Lake Chad should be taken seriously, asking the secretariat of the agency, funders and the soon-to-be appointed consultant to carry out the measure as a way of restoring the socio-economy of the more than 30 million people of the Lake Chad basin area.

The president canvassed more support for The One Planet Summit initiative and the political will to actualise the mandate.

“It is on this note that, on behalf of member states, I welcome The One Planet Summit Initiative that pledges $19 billion to support the activities of the PAGGW, which necessitated this very important engagement with you this morning,” stressed Buhari.

“I, therefore, call on you, especially the World Bank, African Development Bank and the One Planet Summit Initiative, to support this drive.”

The president also called on the multilateral institutions to set up a task team to work with PAGGW.

Also speaking, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed described the meeting as, “a new era in the Great Green Wall programme” and demanded from the agency, the 11 African nations, and the group of donors under the One Planet Summit to be proactive.

“I believe that the capacity and commitment of the secretariat of the PGGWA, working together with UNCCD, and your team will be in the best place to engage with partners to develop the pipeline that will ensure that across the countries we are speaking to today these efforts are made to come to realisation sooner than later,’’ she added.

On his part, the Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, Ibrahim Thiaw, described the coming together of Nigeria, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti as “a great inspiration,” hoping the $19 billion pledged in Paris in 2021 would “turn the dollars into hectares.”

Food Crisis: Buhari, Adesina Task Africa on Food Production, Reduced Dependency on Foreign Countries

Meanwhile, Buhari and the President of AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina have called on African leaders to decouple the continent from food import dependency and avert looming food crisis by encouraging local production of food.

The duo made the call, while delivering their separate addresses in Abuja, at the opening ceremony of the first Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments (COSAP), with the theme: ‘Strengthening Legislative Leadership for Africa’s Development,’ organised to deliberate on socio-political and economic progress in Africa and build a fairer world for all mankind.

Delivering his opening address, Buhari who was represented by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo lamented that the COVID-19 induced serious challenge of food security and food inflation.

This he said calls for the need for the continent to free itself from all external mechanism, dependency and guarantee its own system by reducing food import dependency and ensuring increased productivity in agricultural sector of every African country.

Buhari said, “Over 30 million jobs lost since the pandemic with about 26 to 40 million people going into extreme poverty. Various African countries put in place extreme measures to curtail to effect of the virus and limit the socio-economic impact such as lockdowns and stimulus package.

“In Nigeria, our stimulus program was to the tune of about N2.3 trillion. The post economic stimulus package for Africa must go beyond individual efforts that we have made in our countries. There is the need for increased collaboration and integration of efforts to drive sustainable economic growth and recovery across the African continent, our parliaments have a particular role to play aside from the fact that they have been charged to make laws to oversee government budgeting and international borrowing.

“The pandemic induced serious challenge of food security and food inflation is now expected to rise above 12 percent this year. The pandemic also exposes the need for collaboration and networking. So, Africa must sustain cross border supply network that will connect global and domestic markets.

“The agricultural sector is key towards ensuring productivity to improve our GDP. So, we must improve our agricultural production. we must produce our own food and reduce import dependency. The conflict in Ukraine has shown us clearly that we don’t have to be dependent on other countries.

“Africa parliamentary leadership must partner with the Executive, the rivals sector and all other stakeholders to design and implement framework that will support the agricultural sector in tackling food insecurity on the continent. The journey to a sustainable post COVID economic recovery is riddled with so much responsibilities for our government.”

On debt cancellation, which was one of the key issues why the conference was being held, Buhari affirmed that the campaign for debt cancellation for African countries was already gaining traction.

He said, “One key issue during early discussions before this meeting is the issue of debt cancellation for African countries and this initiative is already gaining traction. One of those things that was discussed was the special drawing rights (SDR) of about $650 billion. Of course, there is the argument of how much African continent got. I think it is important to recognise that.

“The Economic Commission for Africa recently proposed that our countries can help their financing needs by leveraging SDR through unbending vehicles such as liquidity sustainability facilities and multilateral and regional programs as well as the poverty reduction and growth plans.”

Similarly, the AfDB President, Adesina in his goodwill message said Africa should be decoupled from food import dependency as must feed itself and do so with pride.

Adesina said, “This conference of speakers must be direct towards tackling the challenges facing our continent. Talking about the challenges it’s not enough, there must be solutions. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the growth and develop Africa as well the rest of the world. The trajectory of economic recovery from the pandemic is shaped by access to vaccines, and on this the divergence between a developed economies and developing economies is stuck.

“We must not be complacent, next pandemic is just around the corner, God help us. Africa must build what I call Healthcare Defense System. This must include development of local vaccines and building quality healthcare infrastructure.

“The Russian war in Ukraine has added another challenge to what we are facing in Africa. the dependency of African countries on Russia and Ukraine, the war disruption has added to looming food crisis in Africa. The African Development Bank has designed a $1.5 billion emergency food production plan to support African countries to avert the looming food crisis.”

On their part, Speakers and heads of African parliaments called on the global community to blacklist countries on the continent where undemocratic governments are in control.

They said the new trend of military coups could set the continent on a reverse gear of many years and erode the developmental gains achieved through constitutional democracy.

South African Speaker, Hon. Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, raised the issue, expressing surprise that undemocratic governments were gradually returning to Africa.

She noted that this was against the African Union’s position, which strongly opposed the undemocratic takeover of power.

Corroborating her position, the Speaker of Zimbabwe, Hon. Jacob Matunda, stated that lack of growth in Africa was not due to a lack of ideas but the deliberate plot by the West to keep the continent in stagnation.

According to him, an African leader elected into office by popular will or who comes up with innovative ideas is soon “punished”, through any available method.

The Speakers therefore appealed to the global community not to recognise any African country where a coup brought in the government.

Earlier in his remarks, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila said Africa’s democracy was under threat, adding that the present insecurity and rampaging uncertainty across the continent represented the single biggest threat to the well-being of our children.

He lamented that despite Africa coming of age, the continent was far from achieving the highest potential.

He said leaders must invest in Africa’s young people, protecting them, ensuring their health and well-being and providing them with a solid education upon which to build their future.

To deliver on this obligation, the Speaker said they must first ensure that the nations are at peace.

Gbajabiamila therefore, advised his African colleagues to wage the battle for peace with a warrior’s resolve, adding that everything depends on victory over the forces that threaten African children’s future.

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Businesses count losses amid power outage in Bauchi, Gombe, and Jigawa

Published

2 months ago

October 28, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

Business owners in Bauchi, Gombe and Jigawa are recording losses due to week-long blackout ocassioned by vandalism of the power transmission line in parts of northern Nigeria.

The sudden disruption in electricity supply in the past days, also affected essential services such as water, sanitation, street lighting and healthcare delivery as most hospitals have been operating without light.

Some of the affected businesses including shop keepers, millers and artisans, who spoke while reacting to a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), described the situation as “pathetic”.

The survey examined the perennial collapse of national grid and the need for alternative power supply in the country.

Rice millers in Gombe had decried the impact of the erratic power supply on their businesses.

A Miller, Musa Arab, at Nassarawo Industrial Layout in Gombe, said the trend was crippling their operations as they relied on electricity supply from the grid to process paddy.

He said the mills were not operational power outage as they could not afford exorbitant pump prices of petrol or diesel to run their machines.

This, he said, reduced the volume of rice supply to the market and posed serious challenge to food security.

“We must invest in power because it is the biggest determining factor for industries to thrive.

“I have over 20 workers in my mill, and we have 100 mini rice mills here, so you can imagine those who have no jobs for the past 10 days.

“Government must go tough on those responsible for the perennial grid collapse because some persons may be benefitting from it,” he said.

Also, Yusuf Ibrahim said the situation might trigger the already fragile inflation, as prices of local varieties would shot up ocassioned by the diminish supply.

He said that some had jerked up their charges to cover the expenses on diesel thereby affecting rice prices.

A check by NAN at the Gombe Main market showed that a 100 kilogramme of rice was sold for between N120,000 and N160,000, as against N110,000 and N150,000, before the blackout.

Mr Usman Sani, a rice dealer, attributed the hike in price to low supply of the produce to the market in spite of the number harvest recorded this cropping season.

He said the prices had decreased slightly at the onset of the harvest, however, it showed sprawling increase due to power outage.

“The price of rice is already dropping as a result of harvest but the trend reverse since the blackout in the past days “ he said.

Ugochukwu Daniel, a bartender in Bauchi, decried the epileptic power supply in the country, adding that lack of durable energy supply would retard Nigeria’s quest to attain social and economic greatness.

Daniel said that she spent much on fuel to run power generator for refrigrator and lightening the beer parlour, to enable her to keep the business running.

He said that businesses could only thrive in an enabling environment with stable electricity supply, to enhance wealth creation and reduce poverty among Nigerians.

“My trade is about chill drinks and it survives on electricity to operate otherwise you will out of bussiness.

“Without electricity there is nothing you can do, and not only business but about everything. We depend on it,” he said.

Similarly, Samuel Adamu, said the persistent power outage had forced him to patronised charcoal for ironing clothes in spite of its high cost and cumbersome processes.

He said that most cleaners in the area had resorted to fabricated iron charcoal in spite of hike in its prices which suddenly jumped from N5,000 to N15,000.

Adamu said the situation also encouraged division of labour in laundry to cut cost and make some gains.

“Presently, I do wash the cloth, and engage someone for ironing. The charge is N300 per set as against N150”.

While advocated development of renewable energies to enhance power supply in the country, Adamu urged security agencies to entensify efforts towards electrical installations in the country.

In the same vein; Mr Muhammad Adamu, Chairman, Jigawa State House Assembly Commitee on Power and Energy, said the Jigawa Electricity Law 2024, made sound provisions to improve power generation and distribution in the state.

This, he said, was an offshoot of the devaluation brought about by the 5th alteration of the constitution, where removed power from the executive legislative list and to the concurrent list.

“It empowered the state houses of assembly to enact laws on power.

“The committee has also carefully pursued the bill and reviewed its structure and the promise it holds for the state power sector, infrastructure and the overall economy of the state.

“The new law will pave way for the establishment of Jigawa Electricity Commission, to regulate the state’s electricity market,” he said.

According to Adamu, the law will protect residents and investors in the energy sector through ensuring prepaid meter installation and possibility of recouping investor’s funds as well as address vandalism.

“The law will lead to provision of reliable, affordable and sustainable power, essential for development of all sectors of the economy, particularly in rural areas,” Adamu said.

“Vandalism will be over because we pay Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) money for powered supplies, but whenever there is problem of damages or broken down transformers, it is either the communities or individuals that pay for the repairs”.

Business

Mercedes urges delay of EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

Published

2 months ago

October 21, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

Mercedes urges delay of EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

The head of German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz, has called for the European Union to de-escalate the dispute with China over tariffs on electric cars.

“We need more free trade instead of new trade barriers.

“That is why it is important to find a solution that suits both the EU and China,” chief executive Ola Källenius told the Monday edition of Bild newspaper.

“The negotiations for this take time. In order not to jeopardise them, the EU should postpone the enforcement of the planned tariffs,’’ he said.

At the start of the month, a majority of EU countries paved the way for additional tariffs of up to 35.3 per cent on battery-powered electric vehicles imported from China.

Germany, however, voted against the measure amid concerns over retaliatory actions which could hurt the country’s giant car industry.

The European Commission had pressed for extra tariffs after an investigation accused Beijing of subsidising domestic electric car manufacturers, and thus distorting the market in the EU.

But whether the import tariffs would actually come into force at the beginning of November is still up to the commission.

The plans can still be dismissed if Brussels reaches a solution with China at the negotiating table.

Business

ACCI moves to promote business connections, balance work-life

Published

2 months ago

October 16, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

ACCI moves to promote business connections, balance work-life

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), is taking innovative steps to enhance professional relationships and promote a healthy work-life balance.

The President of ACCI, Dr Emeka Obegolu, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Obegolu said ACCI was committed to creating environments where professionals could connect beyond the confines of traditional boardrooms.

He said the upcoming “Business Meets Golf’’ Tournament epitomises this vision.

“Scheduled for Oct. 18 to Oct 19 at the IBB Golf Club, the tournament will gather industry leaders, top executives, and key decision-makers for a unique networking experience.

“This two-day event aims not only to strengthen business ties but also to foster partnerships that can drive economic growth.

“The ACCI’s initiative reistates the importance of maintaining a balance between professional achievement and personal well-being.

“By encouraging corporate cultures that prioritise relaxation and self-care, the Chamber acknowledges that such balance is vital for productivity and overall success,” he said.

According to Obegolu, the event will feature a range of activities designed to facilitate both business engagement and relaxation.

“Highlights include a Business-to-Business (B2B) cocktail on the first day, followed by the golf tournament and additional networking opportunities on the second day.

“The tournament will culminate in an awards ceremony recognising outstanding golfers among the participants.

“‘Business Meets Golf’ exemplifies our dedication to fostering innovative networking opportunities.

“We aim to create spaces for meaningful discussions that can lead to impactful collaborations,” Obegolu said.

The ACCI boss said in addition to promoting business connectivity, the council aimed to restate the importance of relaxation and a balanced lifestyle.

Obegolu said through events like this, the Chamber continued to play a pivotal role in supporting trade and industry in Nigeria while driving sustainable growth within the private sector.

He said to raise awareness about this landmark event, ACCI was partnering with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and Media Trust Limited, to ensure broad visibility and engagement from leading brands.