PenCom explains difficulties in widening pension funds investment limits OMOeOLA T OLU-KuSI MO
ack or clarity on mvest· men! opportunities, non;walJabUity or lnwstment InstnIments and negative per' ception or risks in infrastructure investments forms major harri· ers to pension fund Investment In infrastructure, the Director· General of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Mr: Muhammed Ahmad has said, Ahmad disclosed this al a stakeholders Forum on Nigeria's Pension System with theme. ~Investtng Pension Funds for Economic Development" held in
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He statee other problems 10 in\'CStment or the fund as Jack of expertise in Ole infrastructure sector, short termlsm of InvestDtS; lack of clear valuation of infrastructure projects and lack 0( dear benchmarks. Ahmad who made It clear Umt pension fund Is not a dC"o"f!;loj)" ment fund stated that the com mission Is not agaInst lnvest· menl In government bond but is concerned aboul fair returns and security of the funds. SllCaking on the way forward for the In\'esunent of pension funds and long term fin.ancing for Ule economic development in Nigeria. Ahmad noted that the regulatory and supervisory framev.-ork has to be enhanced. He said there is also need to,
"Simplify and streamline processes for corporate debt issu· ance and approval , fast track lhe enactment or the law to back securitization of assets. provide sustainable and reasom~blc concessions 0 11 a holistic basis ror
Infrastructure projects and In vestment funds and for there to be general awareness campaigns partkularly for the business
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TN FoundatIon
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cornmWlity Managing Director d Financlal Derivatives Lbnlted. Mr Blsmarck Rewane 5<1id develolll"Cnt
plans in Nigeria h~ faced a number of chalJen~ which include corruption. Improper plannlng,carelesscxecution of pl.-ms., lack of coordination between various levels or govt>.rnment, flUldlng and maturity mismatch - short tenn fund for long term llrojecl
He pointed out that critical area in need of long-term fund· Ing in Nigeria are housing, IlOWer and infrastructure noting that infrastructure gap in roads. bridges. aviation and ports Is estimated a t over $100bn. On the way forward he 8.1Id, moving from the current mindset to a !ongcT·term investment environment requires a new "In· \'t!SUllenl culture" -rhe marltel, by its n.1tUre, is unlikely to deliwr such a change and there is a need for major polIcy Initiatives in a variety of areassuch as reforming the regu]a-
tory fTamework fOi Institutional Investors -rhere is need to encouraging institutional inV1!Stors to be ac· tlve shareholder.\, design policy frameworks that are supportive of long·term Investing. address knowledge gaps and behavioral biases while retail inves1~ need support to help them meet their long·term Investment goals", he said. Total value of pension assets hit N2..94trn as at end of Septem· ber representing a 21.4 percent increase from end of 2011.
1.rR: EJ:eeuthre Secretary,MTM Foundiltlotl. Ms. Normy Ugboma: MiI$tllt' Ariyo Adewumml and Artyo'.lathef, AbayomI Adewunml. during the presentation of iI triIYeI documents kllndlil tor iI eorrecttv. helW1 iltll'gfly lor Ariyo In liIqos. yalerdily,
States establish One Stop Investment centres -Aganga O LUFEMI A OEOSUN ABUJA
he Minister of Trade and Inveslment.Mr.Oluscgun Aganga has announced the Nigerian Investment Pr0motion Commission (NIPC) is ....-orklng with the states across the federation with a view to establishing their own One-5top In1fCstmenl centres, N1PC isan agency or the Min
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Travelex to increase presence at airports OlUSEGUN Kouu
n a bid to make the Nigerian aviation industry more com· fortable to users. Travelex. the world leader and largest provider of airport and passen· ger terminal Bureau De Change Services has indicated lnterest to set up offices and Install its equipment at major airports in the countn;. The company said that it was ready to expand Its business reach in Nlgerio by llrovldtng aIr travellers and airport us-
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crs seamless retail foreign exchange services comp.'lnI.ble to what obtains in ollter internal and domestic airports around the ",'Odd. An online statement signed by the Special Assistant, Medin to the Mlnister of Aviation. Princess Stella Oduah, Mr: ,Joe Obi stated that the coming in of Ute company Into the sectOr Indicated that the efforts of the government to v.'OO roreign in· vestors was already the desired results. According 10 him, Ulc Chair· man (Non. Executive) and
Founder or Travelex, Lloyd Dorfman dlsc::losed the interesl of the company to invest in the sector during a courtesy visit on the Oduah in her office in Ahuja. He stated that WIUI Its lead· Ing edge technology In Ule provision of foreign Exchange Automated Teller Machine (ATM), Tra\"clcx's entry into Ole nalion's aviation sector would help to boost the cash-lite policy of the fedcrnl government while also providing air travcllers the convenience of lIS services at the airports.
Farmers to get free cocoa pods M ESHACK I OEHEN
the wake m the Good crisis Umt ranners In the country re currently grappling with, the Federal Ministry of Agrlcullure and Rural Devel· opment have said farmers In the country will continue to receive improve seedling and ror cocoa farmers. rree cocoa
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1\10reso. the ministry said the move Is a strategic consid· eration in the transrormatlon or the cocoa sector involving the use of improved genetic stocks which was only newly released, and also Include thl' phased replacemen t of old unproductive stocks with new high yielding slocks Speaking on Wedncsony dur' ing the official nag off or the free distribution or ImlJroved
hybrid varieties or cocoa pods to rarmers In the south west to plant and increase their rarm sizes, Minister of Agrlrulture ami Rural Develol}menl. Dr, Akinwunmt Adeslna,said the Initiative will stOll further use or pooryieldinJ: and old varlet · les and systell1allcnlly replace the tree stocks in Nig£'ria Represented by the South West Regional OIrector in ministry. Dr_ Julius Odeyemi,
Stale go\'l'rnmcnl~ 111 the arm of investmenlinCCnlh'et He added Om! Ule Federal anri ing ceremony d the 8U, National Coofcrence on Investment. in state ~rnll1ents were work ing I~ether 10 rle\'elop a sectnr Abuj.",. on Thurr.dall The NCI was lnitlated in 2001 specific lnvt'!Stment policy docu to. among other things. provide nlent as pan of efforts to provirk' an avenue ror S(>nsltislng the in· a level playing neld ror genuinl' vesting public on the In,,estment lnvesto~ '" am ll3rtirlllarly ple:tSf'd ollportunities and incentives :waUable In the various states to be nssorialcd with Utis noblE' and a1so serve as a platform for inltlati\'e for very clear reac:on!I stakeholders to interact and Prior 10 2(X)1 when the NCI wru; evolve strategIes thai will make initiated. there was little synel'1t)" and coll~borntion in the in~t N~ Ole preferred lnvestment destination among the emerging ment promotion c;lrale~ of tllf' Federal GovernTTK'nl and the :W; marKets. J\!l:311l!a said, ''There Is ongo- stat~ "This .....as not in the mle.,...t ing ooUahoralion bet.....een the Nigerian Investment Promotion of the entin' Nh;erian economy Commission, ami c;ome St.1tes as all ]t'wis of go\'('rnment wert' of Ute federation. 10 establish working at rross IIUrposes with One-sIOI) Invec;Unent Centre; and l.'onf1ictinf'! ~Ignalc; belnp: S('nt to investment llromotion outfits Investo....,; ~boUI NI£erl;l'~ roanl in the different staies. Tills is 10 nese; to aUrnt'1 invesunent. "For in.c;lanrt'. while the Fed ensure that OSIC facilities are avallable al the grass roots." the eral Gm-crnnlt'nt 011 the one hand was ready to wui\'f' Ihe mrporate minister saio The minister also noted Olal tax for induslrirs with pionel'r the NCI. since Inception. had c;tatus. <;(Jill!' slates still inlmmade remarkable progress. espe- dUl.:ed myriads of taxes. thf'l"Clry cially by ensuring that harmony nllllifyin~ the ixonelile; of pionct'r existed between tht> Federal and status incent h~ 10 in\"C!!tors !slry of Trade and Invcsbnent Aganga said this at Ihe clos-
the minister c;aid governmenl$ have engaged specialised seed production units at Cocoa Re-sean"h Institute of Nll';eria and Tree Crops Unltsor Ondo,{)sun and Ekill States to product' 3.6 million hybrid pod!'; that will be ~i\'fm to cocoa farmers . He explained rurther that the new cocoa pod~ hllve the po lentinls of r~isll1g the rurrent IJroduct Ion on rArms from 350 kg/ha to 1.000 kg, ha, and also reducln~ lime to m~turlty from nve years to 24 30 months of
field estahli~hlTlf'n'- ~ AttOrdlnJ! Ade~lna . gf)v('rnl1lent pres_e;lm~ thf' hOIW thaI
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is ex the n<le off of th£' fTl't' dlc;tributlon or th!' <;('1f'Cted hybrid pod!!' today will bt> tlsI'rul in re positloninli! cocoa ae; a veritable ann sull-~Ianllal roreiRn ('xdtan~e earn inl! commodity, l'rf'3linJ! Johs, wealth and 11rosl)('rlly for farm ere;, trad('r!!. warl!hl}ue;1! mer chants, llrOl'€'C;so~ and eXllOrt ers, stat(' jitov('rnments and thr nation as ~ wholl'.'