6 NEWS BUSINESSOAY: wwwbuslneudlyonll
Farmers decry slide in price of cotton, plan to opt for other cash crops llowing the: dwin · dIIng price of COlton. farmers In Zamra.ra are bIamins the SO"'" ertUnl!'nt for failing 10 SOl.m:e Inu:matlonal nwkru for the!
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1,1 00 ouths emerge in FG job creation scheme CHYM'ENWAGU:WUAbf,l he! Fl"dl fld Gov. ernrnen has an -. noun~ II e erner gence If 1.200 Nlgt"rlan youth ns nllil ""inner, In II e Ttl balch of lu Youth EllII!tl)flW with Innovadon ('ou Vin) pro gramme whl .. h al ge!.§ 10 encoUiase Inn'" Jt on and Job creadon 101 ,h. young ones. Among o lhel b l"lIenu, lhe wtnnen '''{)U d gel Iw tween Nt millio n and 10 million gnnl c,leh frOIll the Fed~1 ('om t nrnellllO liar! • business. depend Ing on the OIlIOIl!' and pro poW lubmlned a nd would be honourffi by Plesldelll Goodluc.k lonalh:," cen'mony to be l'U1ounccd
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""ROunring Ihe com pletion of Ihe nrn cycle and emergenc e of t he 1,200 winners oul of 2",000 yo uths that cOIlIft"ted for the affilrds, Ngozi Olollio. _weal.. coordlna"lflg min· I.!!ter for Ihl!' ['coromy and mlni$l«,r or Finan. I!'. uld thl!' selection roll ,)wl!'d a IRn~!"and p.~lS(aking
prOCHS tha i laSll!'d K\"e~1 month .... She confirmed that thl!'Y are you ths rrom diffe rent paris o( the counfry whose lubmlulo n. a nd Plesenla· lions were Ildluil;l!'d Ihe
M:'I"I in lerms of In no\'ill Ion. lob oeallon potential and relrovllncl!' to Ihe na tion 's f'C(lnO llllrn~s.
It would be rt'CAIled that the YouWln scht' nu' wa'l" Illundit'd by Prr<iidt'f11 lona than In Oclobft 20 II with II focus on creating an 1"11 ' abllng ell\'irollll1t'tll ror job CU" lion and Innovadon Thl!' 1II1n l.!!tl!'l l!'J:plainl!'<i dial the idea which IssilnlHe bul compelling alms 10 1!'11 ' co unlSI!' entl!'rprlslng and lalt'nled \'oulhs willi grants. technical Il.ssislance and I111!'ntorin8 10 become lob crealOrs 1101 IU.!!1 for ,hem · 5I!'.1~s 001 Olhel YOUdlS M well. The Idea had been uSI!!'d and proved In India and other places. Foreachwinner,~·
l1lelll IIIo-ou ld provideflnancIng in the fonn of a gl1llll lhat would range belween N 1 million and NIO million. depending on the buslnes5 conce pt. and be dbbursed In tra nchl!'l over 12 to 18 months and faalita te bus!ne<s rl!'gi." 'Jllllon or In colpor:atlon with theCorpolllte Affairs Commission (CAC). Eac h entreplenl!'ur would also be p rovided robust mellloringand monItoring support Ihrough Ihe period whl:!n h l:!/ Ihe Is enlollC!d In thl:! progra m me and would be hC!Ipc!d dC!Vl:!l· op a sta tl:!-of· the-arl website for the buslnes5.
to N90,OOO in March; M said. ShchuGarba15llfe, anoth· er COIIOII farmet; said that fol -
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'owingthepoor~thisyear most rarmen would abandorl cOllon for I-Oy.II beans and maluo n~ farming Klson in 0I'dI!'r 10 ..'(lid 1051.I1Ig thdr capilaL -I am sure CO IIOII pro ducllon will be dTOll.JliclUy reduced ir nOl 100ally aba.n dOlled becau.!!1:! o r the di.!! co\. ragem~1II fAnners suffered last ytlar because of poor Imang." he said A procu rl:!menl offi cer with the \,'nt Mrlcan Cot· 100 Compa!ry(\VATTOT), an agro-aillI!'d company, lA\o.-aJ 't'aha)-a. said dIM cotton pritts refused 10 stablIlsI!' this year. III:! artribuled !hi!' sfmadon 10 dteslobal cmnomkdown lum and congestion In inlernational rn2fka. Yah,,,,),,, said, -No one can guamn:ce dM: price ol couon dlls ~ar benu~ the! Inter nadonal mar~ Is salUnucd:
rarrllers are not "-ppy about. Lawall Magaru, It largl:!scali!' cotton farmel, said in Gusau on Monday that die Feduftl Govl:!rnmenl had faikd to source international rna.rkl!'t Ihat could guarrull~ opons of COlton produced by fanJll!'Q In Iht' counoy IlesaidlhalCOllon falmers prndtteallK loss dlis )"HrbetalI5e ol poor Il13Jtrt v.tl~ of theCOInmot.iity, a situation M said woWd Iion::e !hi!' 10 Ihift rrom mtlon produc. tion 10 other mVl oops dlat coukI bring profit. "You can Imagl n l:! that • Ion o r cOllon so ld ror N24<1,OOO tim time. last year, bul dlat saliM: quamlty sold lOr NOO,OOO al the beginnill8
rarmers
R-L Wale Ra). ~etmanenl sec:ret1WY. lagos State ministry of c:ommeroe and Indusl1y, Sola Oworu. commt55ionef fOf commerce and II' IUStty, l,leoma Ude, assistant <K1Vef1 managet' . BuslnessDay. and $hey! OIaoe;o. spedal9CMser to the governor of La!; I Stale, during BlIsinessOay's recent courtesy vlsiI to !he ministry
-1t~'1ndatedtoNI(JJ,(O)
in r'f!bruary, on)ylo slide bad;
The pricl!' of conon fell rrom NIOO,OOO per ton In February 10 aboul N90,OOO ~lonnuw,au~u~lthe
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ECOHOMY
Lagos says 100 resolutions of past economic summits implemented ... set for 6th edition JOSHUA BASSEY & HOPE MOS£S-ASHlkE
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Implcmcntl!d 100 flhl:! I I~resolu lions rl:!achl:!d In thl:! plC\ious editloru of die Lagos Economic Summit., also known as Ehlngbeli. just H It Is ICC for thl:! 6th l!ditioJl of lhl:! summit from April 22 - 25,2012. Thl:! 2012 !!dldo n or the summit is focusing 011 p<M' tt. fllVlculturl:!. ltan.!!porta· don and housing. thl:! four keyseaOI"!i ~11ich theorpn Isers h ave coined Into lhl:! acronym I)ATII . I(q IpeakerJ a t thl:! SUIllm il willindudl!' Ram Khan, vice p resldl:"Ot , Slandard ChaJll:!r!!'d, African ne8ion, who Is globally acknowl · I!dgw as thl:! Il:!adlng ana 1)'11 on Mrkan eoonomlC!S; BUi Rir;hardfOll, fonner US secrelary for Energy and IWO lC!fm governor or New Mexico. USA; Bisf'bnasanya. ma n aging director o f First Ba n k of Nigeri a pic; Pl:! ll:!r Steven son, investment ad · vise:rand~~UI(
Trade IlIve:.<lIneru DepalllIW"nl, Nigcria.amongothen. RC!n Akaoone. the! $lOtI!' commisJioner for econolllk pl.'llIlng and budget. w ho III also the: chairman of Ihe l.agos Economic Summit Grou l), 1I1Jeftking during It 5I!'S$k)n wilh the media In l..a· 8M. noted that willll:! thl:! first tluer:! !:!dltlons of thl:! su m · mit ~I:! 1.. ~ly diagnostic In approach, dedlcatl!d to analysing l.he problems, un· derstand thl:! chaIItngeS and what nl:!l:!ded to be done, government s h l(t!!'d :uten · lioll rrom the fou rth C!didon lowards imllleml!'l1tatJon. "Today. I ca n sta nd be· fore you lind tdl you wl lh a ll Sl:!l1se of rl:!s llonslbilit y that WI!' have Im IJl,"nU!l1Ied In~r 100 of the 119 ruolu lions so far rl:!achC!d al pa.!il editions of Ehlngbetl SUmmil.!!. Thosl:! thai havl:! not bel:!n Impll:!mentl:!d o r are on-golll8 are diose that rl:!q uire oml:!r partJll!'rS Hke the Fe:deraJ Government. This Il! why we feel confldem 10 Invite NI8C!rlans and Ind eed th e Intl:!rm llJo nal Investm ent com muni ty 10 yet a no th er Ehlnpd where your tl m l:!
and rl:!sourcel would be worth your whitl!' going by dll:! IeIIOIISlleM we allachl!d to the IImmlt: lie: lisled the Bu.!! Rapid TnnSI)o" S)'Stl:!m ( BRT), Akule Indl:!JlI!'-ndl:!11I Power l'lant (IP"). J...aso!I lsiand IPI~ on-going ugos Ught nail Syslem and thl:! p"lelll of road dC5lgn~ ~ith pC!dC!SUiar1 walk wa),s a~ examples ofke)' dI!'cbioclS reac:hl!d in past 1!'dItkms of the! summits which hnve bC!cn Impkmftltt:d.. AkaIJtIel.e. who un\'eilal the theme of the 2012 all · lion or die summit holding In April a 'from BIU CS to BRINCS: i..agos 1I0ids the I(q: aplainl!'<i that In Ihe aspirati~l of Nigma 10 join the league of tiM: [a.!il.growtng IIRICS I:!co n omll:!S ( Bran l. RUll51n, tlldlll, C h ln ll and SOll lh Africa), which will now changl!' Ihe acronym 10 BRINCS (Including Mgma). Lagos IS the nation 's economk: capllal widl vast potentialJ and invehnenl opponunldl!'SwiU playa oentral. role. II is IIIo1thin thls conlext and the plftCe of LagolI as Nigeria's C!COnomk:capital that Ihl. !!'dIl lon o f the s umm ll will examin e the econolll k: potentlal~ of lAgos. 1M: SAId. lie noted thallafros being
lhl:! C!Conornlc ner'Vie celltre of the cou ntry, -co nsumes aboul4-1 peKl!'.l'lI ofdlCpt'UO ieum produru: in ti)!!'COW1IJ)" Ontlle~40pen:ento(
bank brandW"s lie In Lag05 bl!'cauJ«' of II)!!' high ~ or business activities ht'rt!. Over ",0 I)c:JCI!'.nt of the Ici!:!Coms
5ubsaiber base Is here In Lagos. Two 5eftIJOn$ In La gos IICQlUnllli (or 70 1JC:fCC1lI Ka trade lnthe country 1he two I:!ltttridlY dlSlrlbut10n companln Elco and U.l:!la Districts account for 50 perCIt'Ilt olPIIQr. trnmmls5ion power. Aboul 110 ~rcent o( iIllematJonal ail tnIYt'I anivC! in and depart &om 1.380& All the51!' polnl 10 Lagos I.!i Ihe economic nl:!rVC! centre of the country. So. if Nigeria b beingrall!d tUoneoftltell1a· for jJl lt~rs In Ihe emerging mar~Ui, tJ ll!'I1 you will agree with Ull thai Lasos holds tlte kr::y; Akabueze said lIt' runhft"~lained thai In spite or all Ihat lagos contributC!l 10 dll:! Ni~an economy. then! ls stili a lot 10 be broustll OUI III terms of the economic polendals or th e stale. -Bu t It would lake Id eas, rl:! la llonlhlps lind Invest m en t 10 unl ock these polentlals,- Akabueze
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