Rice production: Farmers to earn $2bn by 2015 M ESHACK IOEItEN
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ment and distribution of fertiliser and seed are yielded great results, disclosing also that private sector firms are growing and foreign direct investment is increasing d ue to the moves embarked upon by the ministry Accoz-ding to him, there are further reasons to be optimis· tic. considering that Nigeria's banks are well-placed to support the expansion of the country's agricultural sector: He explained that the necessary key for a successful reform of the sector is to turn agriculture into a business that makes money. adding that with focus on investments as opposed to aid and development, the agriculture sector in general. and the country's farmers in partic-
he Minhter of Agrlcul·
ture anil Rural Devel-
opment, Or. Aklnwuml
Adesinn, has f aid the Federal Government is Jlrojocting that rice farmel's in the country would be able tt· earn about$2bn by year 2015. Adeslna said with steps belng taken to Improve rice produc· tion In the coW'Jry, the commod· Ity 910uId 3OO.J become more 8vallable, leadL."lg to self suD In a statement made available to National Mirror the weekend recenUy Ule minister saJd the projection was possible, as Nigeria was already rolling out an ambiU)us reform programme across its agricu1turdl sector that is acned at cutting the counll7's dependency on food imports, Clute jobs and generate sustainable economic growth.. The mlnistar said further that saine 'Of the measures that have been taken hy goverrunent to meet the pr.)ject1'On incl ude; boostiIlg Ilriv-J.t~ sector par· ticipatl'On and Improving com· petitiveness, 8·iding that those measures would illsoform a key
ular will become better off.
Adeslna saId the country needs to move towards focusing on particular value chains in which Nigeria has a traditional comparative advantage..
part 'O f Nigeria's plans to di· cassava flour". ready introduced are bringlng versify the economy away fro m The minster explained that in results, saying moves such some of the key ref'Orms' al· as the pcivatlsatlon of procure· cr ude 'Oil. He said, "Over the next five years, we plan to add 20m t'Onnes 'Of additional food t'O the domes- Bombar~ier tic food supply to create 3.5 mJI· by the MinIster, Princess Stella j Earlici Oduah said Nigeria is lion jobs in the sector and to reOWSEGUN Kallo Oduah at the company's facility ldeslroUS of baVinganMRQfacilplace up to 40 per cent 'Of wheat inC{lnadB, ~. . I )tYin the' countrY tocushion'the flour imports with hlgh-«luallty An online statement signed adverse,elfectof domestlcoperathe Canadianby the Speclal Assistant to the tors having to Oy thelrfieet ~ Mr. Joe Obi statQd seas always for maintenance. 8be said the absence of·BOm· world bas expressed its readi- that Gagrlon said Bombai'dler A OEOEJI A O£l"GBWI and June_" ness to partner with the Feder.ll is pleased with the visit or the bantler in Nigeria in s~ite.of its in Afrk:a means the He, however said that in the Mln1stry of Aviation in the as: deh!gaIion 8nd the willlngoess second half of the year, the tabllsbment 'Of a Maintenance of the N1gei'ian goverrune.nt to ~'oompany1sbaroesslngan'insig he natlol1's foreign re- reserve is likely to stabilise Repair and Overhaul (MRO) fa· worit with ~ cooipany in the ; nlHcant segment of its ~t dewlopmen1: of ~ aviation sec--. QIl the continent. and assured of' around Its present value, as cility in NIgeria. opportunities for further acThe company has equally tor' in NIgerIa. adding that estab- a good return on investment if to NJ7.02bn as a t August 16 up cretion are likely to be com· agreed to work out modalities, lishing an MRO faCility in Nlce- ' Nigeria is made a lpaintenariOe from N36.41bn a month ear- mitted into infrastructure re- Wlth the Nigerian aviation au- ria holds buge potential far the hub in Africa. , lier, due to s:nng all prices newal." thorities to facilitate the acquisi- ain::ndt manufacturer because ' The minister also -expressed fore:, inflows Irom n'On·CenThe Central Bank of NI· tion of new aircraft by d'Omestic of the ready market in Nigeria ber deslre t'O have domestic qp. tral Bank of Nigeria sources geri reduced the am'Ount of airline operators in the country: and the West African sub-region. crators acquire new alrcraft that On ~ acqulsttlon, she I are efficient. stressing that this The President, PubUc Affairs. to the official market: includ· foreign exchange banks can ing banks a nd 011 [lrms. hold as a percentage of their CoJruntmJcaUons and Corpo- said Bombardler is eqUally is the only way they can operate -I Analysts saM the reserves s hareholders' funds to one ratC Soc!al Resvonsibility of ready to play a major role In op~ gained as a rent!t for substan- per cent from three per cent the company, Helene Gagnon repienIshing a newer Deet far She called 'On the ~ tia! dollar saJcs on the officiaJ a nd increased their reserve made the pledge last weekend domestic airl1ne operators in manufacturer to lW1Der with market by bUlks seeking to requirements to 12 per cent in Montreal, Canada wben top Nlgeria, and expressed the hope her ministry to facilitate the accomply with tOI! CentraJ Bank of total assets [ram eight per management team of the com- that both parties would come to 1 quislUon or aircrafts by domesof Nigeria's d..ncUve to re- cent, hence giving the CON a pany received a delegation of a compromise on the modalities tic operators through access to duce their oct open position, breather [rom pulling fr'Om Its the Ministry of Aviation. led as soon as possible. cheap fi;mds.. NOP, ! from tlu'ee to 'O ne per foreign reserve to fund naira Aero bad departed from Lagos cent The naira bad gained the to Port-Harcourt for 10:30am, The Executive Secretary of strongest in mare than three l tiOD Terminal, Lagos were at· Lag'Os t'O Abuja for U::ooam FinaoFial Mar~.et Dealers As- months last week as lenders sold dollars to comply with most empty due to Jack of Oy- and Lagos to Uyo far ll:OOam socla~o n , Mr. Wale Abe, had OLUSEGUH Kono ing passengers. ' whUe passengers were boardpredicted thnt the reserves Central Bank oegulations 'On will increasE' on crude 'Oil f'Oreign-exchange h'Oldlrlgs be· When NattolUll Mirror vis- lng for the 1:45pm Lagos-Abuprices and WDAS funding . fare a currency auction. he two days public b'Oll- ited MMA2., .it observed that J8 Dight. . "Reserves recl)rded highest day declared by the Fed- most 'Of the remaining oper-I Besides, the situatl'On is not The c'OuntrY's currency value In Maj ($37 .5bn) a nd climbed 0.6 per cent to 157.65 erru Government for _ating airlines in ihe terminal, dilTerent on IRS as the airline its lowest va lue in January a dollar last Wednesday and Eld-el-rllTi celebration ls a toll Aero, and ms alrllnes 1nten. 1at the time of· compiling the re($34_S3bn). set fa r the highest close since 'On airlines in Nigeria as they tionally delayed their flights ' port had only three flights 'Out Act:()rdlng t'l him "Move- MayS. all fl ew virtually empty yester - to Abuja and other destina. • of the terminal . ments In reserve were influThe naira has r isen three day to vari'Ous destinati'Ons In t10ns as a result of lnadeQuate. Bes ides, at GAT, ~ Arik enced by crude 011 prices and per cent this year, the s tron· the country out of Lagos. passengers. Abuja flights ....-et"C. Air experienCed the same tnadWDAS fundiJlg . VoiatUlty in gest performance in Africa afThe terminals at the Mur- also combined by the <ilrlines. " equate paSsengers as the ·usucrude oil pcit e nattens re- ter Ghana's cedi, stated a data taln M'Obammed Airport Two, As at t he time 'O[ tilling thJS! ally fliled ·termInal was almost Lagos and the Genera1 Avla- l'1!port, only three rugbts on empty. serves values between May c'Omplled by Bloomberg.
ready to partner FG onMRO, aircraft a,cquisition -.
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Foreign reserve up 1.65 % to $37bn
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Passenger traffic drops at Lagos Airport
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