The federal government has asserted that Nigeria remains a safe haven for foreign businesses to make profitable investments.
Hajia Zainab Ahmed, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, gave the assurance on Thursday when a delegation of foreign investors led by Dr Shamsuddeen Usman, a former minister of national planning, paid her a visit.
The delegation of foreign investors are from the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, China, France and South Africa, etc, under the auspices of Renaissance Capital Investments. They held discussions on business prospects in Nigeria.
Explaining Nigeria’s present favourable business environment, Hajia Ahmed said: “Our N6.08 trillion budget is designed to stimulate and reflate our economy. We are making conscious efforts at reducing barriers to doing business in Nigeria. Our government is heavily fighting corruption, and the insecurity challenge is almost successfully tackled.’’
She also stated that the zero-based 2016 budget is designed to reflate the economy for the creation of jobs, and to boost its productive sectors.
Responding to the observation raised on the unrealistic non-oil revenue projections for 2016, she said: “The bulk of revenue we require to run the budget will be from non-oil sector. We have gaps in the area of tax collection, but our revenue collecting agencies have a revenue target.”
In his remarks on behalf of the group, Dr Usman commended the close link between planning and budget which is now the case in the ministry, just as he praised the ministry’s effort at updating the Vision 20:2020 development plan.
Agric Ministry’ll raise N904.7bn to fund 2016 budget – Ogbeh
Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, hinted Thursday that his ministry was projecting an internally generated revenue (IGR) of N904,739, 098. 69 for the 2016 fiscal year.
He said out of the projected amount, N664,998,568 would be drawn from taxes, while N239,740,528. 81 would come from independent revenue.
Ogbeh, who disclosed this when he presented the 2016 budget proposal at a joint budget defence of the Senate and House Committees on Agricultural and Rural Development, warned, however, that Nigerians projected to number 500 million population would starve to death in 2050 if nothing is done to ensure all-year-round farming.
The minister emphasized the desire of the present government to diversify from the oil sector to the non-oil sector in funding the 2016 budget, saying the policy would create jobs, expand the agricultural commodity value chain, establish staple crop processing zones and promote agricultural investments in order to attract more direct foreign investments.
According to him, the ministry’s total 2016 budget proposal of N40,918,856,927 is made up of N34,501,127,211 or 84% for capital projects, N235,259,192, representing 0.6%, for overhead costs and N6,182,470,524, representing 15% for personnel costs.
He said, “The overall objectives, targets and deliverables of the 2016 capital projects and programmes are to stimulate agricultural growth to diversify the economy and increase income of farmers.
“The key initiatives for the fiscal year in the agricultural sub-sector are to increase the national food supply and to address national food security, to add 20 million metric tonnes of food annually and to create three million sustainable jobs annually.”
The minister also stated that the ministry will use the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) programme “as a platform to deliver inputs like fertilisers, seeds and agro-chemicals to small-holder farmers, stressing that the ministry would concentrate on critical projects and programmes such as import substitution commodity value chains, export substitution commodity value chains, labour intensive family enterprise (LIFE) programmes, agriculture mechanisation and grazing reserves/stock routes development.
“We also intend to increase and improve livestock especially cattle by establishing through the private sector, a large number of cattle breeds improvement centres nationwide. It will no longer be exclusive business for the Fulani to kill cattle, any farmer who has interest can participate but it would be private sector driven programme supported by the treasury.”
The minister explained that the major challenges of the sector include inadequate funding to attain the desired Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); non-synchronisation of budgetary releases with the desired roll-out of agricultural inputs to farmers; insecurity and climate change resulting in flooding and desertification.
Warning that Nigerians could starve to death by 2050 if nothing was done to ensure an all-year-round farming, Ogbeh stressed the need for all major stakeholders to work towards improving mechanised farming and irrigation, to ensure an all-year round farming and avert the danger.
He said, “We have written to state governments to encourage them to develop dams and canals so that agriculture becomes an all-year-round activity, and it is not confined to the rainy season alone. Four or five months of farm activity cannot sustain the country for 12 months.
“Besides, by 2050 Nigeria’s population will be very close to 500 million going by the current rate of growth. That is just 34 years from now. If we carry on at the current rate of one crop per year and very low mechanization, Nigeria runs a risk of starving to death.”
The minister further lamented that the current crisis between herdsmen and rural farmers was a major setback for the agricultural sector in the country, and revealed that as part of its effort to tackle the problem, the ministry would develop paddock to grow grasses, and sink boreholes and dams for cattle rearing across the hinterlands.
He added that the project would enable herdsmen to have a more organised life, where their children would have access to education and other basic needs.
Ogbeh stated: “We are facing a major national problem between herdsmen and rural farmers and we have to bring the crises to an end. There is too much death, violence and too much destruction.
“So, we will go for massive nutritive grasses across the hinterland because what the cattle want is grass and water and we have the capacity to grow the grasses they want. If it can be done in Kenya and Saudi Arabia, there is no reason why we cannot do it here. So, there is a sizeable provision in the budget to grass up the hinterland.”
AfDB President Adesina urges leaders to urgently manage migration crises
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has called on African leaders to take a proactive stance towards managing the current migration crisis in the region.
Making this plea when he spoke on the issues of youth employment and migration in a speech at the 34th session of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee meeting, at the Africa Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Adesina urged the continent’s leaders to also ensure that they prevent any future migration crisis.
In the speech, the AfDB president said that Africa must invest in building a future for Africa’s youth in which they can participate with pride and prosper. He added that stable, high quality employment for Africa’s youth is the answer.
Adesina said that Africa’s pervasive lack of economic opportunity for the youth also fuels migration.
“Sometimes it is internal migration, where the youth leave rural areas for urban centres, putting a strain on our cities and still not finding opportunity. Sometimes it is external migration to Europe and beyond,” he stressed.
“I am proud to announce that the African Development Bank, in collaboration with the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa, is currently developing a Jobs for Africa’s Youth Initiative as the centrepiece of our effort to improve the quality of life for all Africans. Our goal is to equip Africa’s youth to realize their economic potential and drive inclusive growth across the continent.
“The Jobs for Africa’s Youth Initiative will focus on creating jobs for rural youths via agriculture, develop a new generation of young graduates for commercial agriculture and agribusiness (Agripreneurs), develop Skills Enhancement Zones which will link industrial clusters with young graduates for skills development for the labour market and develop a new generation of young ICT entrepreneurs for Africa.
“They will be supported with business incubation and financing facilities to grow their businesses.
“We expect that the Jobs for Africa’s Youth Initiative – which will work across all African countries – will reach over 50 million youths over a 10-year period and stimulate the creation of 25 million jobs. It will add $30 billion to African economies. More importantly, it will help us to stem the tide of migration within Africa and into Europe. We will keep Africa’s youth in Africa by expanding economic opportunities. This will help Africa to turn its demographic asset into an economic dividend.”
Adesina also positioned the bank as a key player by leveraging resources to support the African countries in implementation of Agenda 2063 and broadened the dialogue with African Heads of State and development partners on “the High Fives” and the New Deal on Energy for Africa.
“The African Development Bank stands fully ready to work with African leaders to achieve these development goals. We need your leadership. We need you as advocates. We need you as drivers for change. Together we will Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the Quality of life for Africans. We will jointly achieve the High 5s for Africa,” he said.
The AU Chairperson and Co-chairman of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee Robert Mugabe, observed that the migration of African youths was a serious concern that has to be addressed urgently.
“Not only does it dent our image as Africa, but also stymies our economic development endeavours,” he said.
“We cannot continue to allow a situation where our able-bodied men and women embark on risky and perilous journeys across the oceans in search of a supposedly ‘better world,’” he said.
Mugabe urged the NEPAD agency to assist member states in creating facilities to equip African youths with the necessary skills to guarantee them employment opportunities.
Buhari seeks support for Nigeria, other nations facing terrorism
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in London called on the global community to give greater support to countries whose populace is suffering from humanitarian crises caused by terrorism and civil strife.
Speaking at the Supporting Syria and the Region conference, President Buhari said that without collective support and assistance from all well-meaning countries, companies and organisations, the humanitarian catastrophe affecting millions of people in countries like Nigeria and Syria cannot be successfully addressed.
According to a statement by Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President noted that the increasingly complex and inter-connected security challenges faced by the global community necessitated increased international cooperation in pursuit of effective solutions.
President Buhari strongly condemned the continuing violence by terrorists against innocent civilians, abuse of human rights and destruction of public and private assets and cultural heritages in Nigeria, Syria and other countries of the world.
He told the gathering that, having experienced civil war and terrorist insurgency, Nigeria understood the pains inflicted on the people of Syria and the hardship that innocent civilians suffer in the hands of misguided elements.
The president also called on all parties involved in the Syrian conflict to seek a peaceful resolution, saying that only a political solution could bring the ongoing tragedy in the country to an end.
Concluding his address, President Buhari expressed Nigeria’s immense sympathy for the people of Syria.
“We all stand in solidarity with them. Despite the magnitude of our own challenges and the increasing stress on our economy, I reaffirm our government’s commitment to support and assist the war-affected people of Syria,” he said.
Participants in the conference included the British Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki Moon, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway and the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Others were the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr Peter Maurer; the President of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim; the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme Helen Clark, and the High Representative of the European Union Federica Mogherini.
-Leadership