15 I NDUSTRY
Nigeria, others top tobacco exports tobacco wonh USS7oS million &om 7..irnbalJoM! at an ~
SIOOUM COlER ricm CQunlries ha\'" talten up • combined 43 ~.
N
centoftooaccoex-
n. with Nigeria IDpping the lisl. with 5mlllioll nletricl(me!;pe! iIImumwhIle
SouthAliicafoll Mingbehind. the Tobacco Industry and to tartftin8 Soan Ihassaid. 1hb
price orU$$3.16 per kg fol lowed byOtma whk:h boughl 2.3m1J1lon kg II USSUS$6,35 per kB and BeIgiwn 1.6million kg at USS 1,43 per kg.
HongKongwasofkringdle hislM'St price buying 415800kg of tob.1CCO 31 USS6.70 per kg. CounU1e5aboolIcringluSh
prices were Poland USSG,62 whkh boughl19 lIOOkgat USS6 per
.... k& "'" _ k&
21mbabM!ezpon:stobaa:o
African countries which tndudeMozamblque.AngoIn. Kmya,Congo.Malawi. TiIlWIIlia and Lesotho. 1bbaccostocboohandare ~ed togoupasaresullor 10
Inaeased stocks from the current crop. Flue cured IOb.m Imporu remained sragnant at SIS 1S2l:g at an CI\"eJage price ofUSS2. 70 ~ kg. I ~ seasonal Import penult! Issued Increased lO
almost 12 m1lIlon k8S as a resuh of authoriso1Iion granted 10 Import II million kgs of
""""'"
Tobaa:o production has been on the Increase due 10 the
favourab~
prices being
offered on the market.. The land reform programme has also comrilxJled lowanis the Increase In pmduction with more than BO percent ohobocco prodUceB comlngfrom the AI andsmaUSCIIJe 5t'CIOl'L
\$ an Increase [om the same
period Iasr year when African countries cnn511med onty 18 pen-.e11 of!he I[ tal BpOrts..
Belgian Gro up to invest in Nigeria's free zones
-
lgian group. Bud: CoosuItants Jnterna-
jlJ""""' ....
- willir~1eS5IOirM!St in Ihet'Ollf1ll)"sfreetr.ldemnes which acaxdlng 10 the gmup
""".,,,,,,,,,,,Karel VlIronye. the group
direaor made the remark In Ahuja rea!ntly when he led a delegation for 8 business forum wllh Ihe Minister of Stale for TOide and Inveslmen!, Samuel Ortom. stating
!hat their InMon w.lS not onJy 10 ~ In Nigeria but lO help bener d'le Irwestment dimate
liI~ Slali5La £rom 11MB show that om ent seasonal lobacco expollS 10 the Far EasI: I'()I5e by" pemmt from last
in d'le rounuy_~'IJe OR here 10 stimuL'lte diYeI:se irM!sUnents imod'leoountJy,~ac.Mn
l¥ of the huge potentials II'
~-sl'reetrademnes.Many
season's26 pert"enl lhe Incn>ast! in exporu has been attrlbtne!: 10 ImpnM:d expora in awn -Ihe JIo1lddle East. which use.11O take more than 15 pen:2IIl oftolaltobac·
0( our d\ellts wortdwide I~ !hown bllerest hl N"~ and that Is why WI! are seeking the suppm of the goo.oenunent \0 Sl3I1IXl';inesse'l Iw!re;" he said. adding that !he oondidons ci the freezonesart' I'aYourabIe 10 multiple for~~ts
m~miJdI · am.s/ump
102 perm1I in ~.arch this yea According 10 TlMB, this
""" """"""
is a resuh or an 81 percenl
,
Varonye nolt!d Iilal though the IIa!nses in !he Z3 free rrade zones Ilnd die indusnial pi1d::l5 are untapped and ~ unused, his group was going 10 explore avenues to mnldng them receptiIIe 10 enterprises, thm bringing deYdopmenl 10 thecounuy_ Samuel Onom, Minister of State g 1'rnde and 1rn'eSt-
in exports to the repin. Um!ed Anb Emir-ues Is the majorpl~ · bt the region ~ith cutTeIll Illtnthly Import! ~
pegged at 1331l~ The ~ QJLSUI1lCS ClItJ38 '\as rIDDed up both In.."aume md price OYU dle past ~ yea($, E.J:ports to (he European Unton hm~ deereased from 36 pen::em 10 18 percenL As al April 13, South Africa had hnponed 2.4 million k& or
tobacco. "ilicb
ment,urgcdall~IDWz ~oftheopenbusines!5
oppcxtunlties ht the counuy, indudiJl8glM!ffifT1Cn'1-slncenti\~ U1a1 are rmdIy IMIiIabIe.
Transformation agenda in Agric sector would create 3.5 million jobs Adesina HONSO NOUHAHYA
cocoa and couon value chains
with many mon: Jobs to mnr
from other-value chains under
T
le onsLIng transfOfmatJon In "'"
agrIC~~SeClor
t;;;
would ~ 3.5 mllliOI'l jobs for dIe teeming unempfoyed I).-'gerlans berween2012and .!DIS, the FedernIGovemmenthasdedared. AkinwunJ AdesIna.. MInis-
16ol~disdosedthis In AWja n!Cendy. whHe featuring .. the minbIedal platfonn Iix the 2012 NaDonaIIJemoc.racy Day and. tiE fiJ5l anniYerIIIry of ~nt GoodIudc Jonathan's administration.
Aa:ordIogIO him. thetr.lnSIOrmation ~da sets out 10 aeate over l.5 million jobs from rice. cassava. 5Of'!hwn.
"""""""'~~Ve would have enabled
Nigeria 10 be food secure by Increasing production of key food staples by2:0 million 1005 - rice, 2 mllUon meulc tons. cassav-d, 17 o:tilOOn mettk: IOnS and SOtBhwn.1 million rnetrk: I{XIS; he said..
The minister eJ:pJalned thai the action plan focuses on some priority agricu.InuaI commoditIesnamely, sava. JOf&hum. cocoa. cotton. maize, palm oll dlary, beet lea..... pouJ", "'" _ noting Ihal the operations 0( the agricultural uans:fonnadon agenda ill based on prlortdsadonoicommxUtyvalue
rn.cas--
chains along !he comparn.m ab gm-poUdcaJ mnes. Adesina said the reronn In the input supply sector Is to Rop direa gomnmenl InvoI\enentlnd1epnxuremcnl, supply and distribution of fcrtiIi:zer and seeds to fanners. saying this ~ pnMsIon ci ~ suppon for seeds and feniIizen for fanners. -Empowerment oClhe pd_ vale sedor to seD their blpulS dlRctIy to fanners and buikI their IRIPply chaIns to get 10 run! arus. PnMsIon of risk sharing guarantee to)eo,aage loans from banks ix $et!d and fmIIIm" axnpanJes and agro dealers. - hesald. -We are emblJshlng prlvate sector led Commodily lfiIde and Mar_kel Dew!lop-
ment Corporndons b-thevad0U5 commodity value chains which will co-ordinate the entire value chains in NIguia, and enharla! Nigl~ria'5 CUlnpetitlYene5ls, while expandlng and Slabllisinglncome for our
fnrmers.lite minister reYeaIed that the minlstty was worldngwith the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the htlIOducrion of f\.'igeria Incentive-Based Risk
~sysaemrorAgJiaJ/tur.ll L.endlns (NIRSAL) 10 de-rist agricultu~1 nnandng and mhlgate II¢nst the impact of narural dlsasl:en as losses of agrlculturallnve5tmenlS by
facWUJdng low-bllere5t C1!dit 10 fanners through COI1IJI1efdaI banks and the 1iberalIza-
don of the insurance $eClor to Increase flmnets aa:ess 10 cost effecttve and agricWturaI insurance schemes in N"JgeIlil.
On
~I
recorded
so far by lhe mlnNry.l\desina said, -the IPM"UI1CI1tis utiJb-. In8 the N I 0 blIlion lIldustriai creelil fadlity by the Bank. of
Induslry 10 nnance Ihe eslablishmenl of 17 rke rniUs of which one planl had been commissioned ht Ebony! Stale. Two rb mil pntec:ts are 0ngoing. whlJe ImoestmenllnlO Ihe rem.lnlng 14 rice mill projects with additional 480, 000 mIfiIng capacity wnuJd be promoted through the PubDc =L~e Partnft'5hlp anange-Adesinasakt, -Nigeria's rice
has good quality and UlSIe 10 compcle ....ilh imponed rice.
ImponsubstilUlion 10 save$2.5 bmjoflperyt'iU"'Otherach~
menlS aca>n.ling 10 IUIn, was the scaJrinA or~1essr.I DonulIion.thc L1fgest me producer in Kenya 10 Invesc "'0 mIllion in rn pnxIuction in Thraha State with a view 10 focililaring large cultlvalion of rice InYOMng ~ sm.-dl scaJe farmer-i to supply r.tw maleriah: to pm-
"""""pion...
He further statftl thaI goyemmenl has fadlilaled Ihe acquisition of machines and equlpmentsfromOUnaforsetling up 100m mills 10 process 2..1 Mf of partJoOedrla:. noting thal rony of these wUI be mJdy In !he ne:n1O months.