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Nigeria, The Netherlands' trade volume hits N13.5 trillion St ories by ATom.ide
Communities of West
Owoa lbl ....01
AJl1caStateafECOWASI. 8ert Ronhaar. Ihe bilateral trade between Nigeria and his country has hit - 67 billion fN13.5 trillion I. Ronhaar stated thai
G
OIN( by the fI!un a reeled out h ' resp«1 of Imports an:t exports between Nlg!! 18 and The Nclherlands. Ihe trade rei allons bet ween the two counll h: 5 have soared In the flral quarter or th 5 year Accordln!: t o The
Netherl_lId' Ambas· Sidor to Nigeria and Permancllt Reprc -
Nigeria remained The Netherlands ' mosl Important trading partner within the
European Union flc said that the. Dutch government was rlnanclng some prog.-ammca In Nigeria
scntallve to IE~o~o~n~o~m:.':'o:"-~"~~"~h~'~"!.:~I""'!'..'.ij~~
ollhe overall Investment InlUative for the natlon's agricultural sec tor.
Acrordlng to him . the trade volume between Nigeria and The Nether·
lands had shown a steady growth and was now even greater than
the trade vo lu m e belween South Arrle a and The. Netherl a nds.
IFDC t o partner Nigeria on cocoa initiative
T
HE Nigerian agricultural sector 15 sel to receive: a boost on the ongOing drive of tli'e federal governmenl 10 give more attenUon to the sector ba5ed on the seJection of Nigma and thr« other African countries for the African Cocoa Initiative which will lead to the establ15hment or 100.000
cocoa farms In the selected countrlea at the CO!'It of 813 million. Attardlng 10 Counlry Representa live of International Centre for Soli Fertility and Agrk:ultural Development (IFDC) In Nigeria . the organisation bankrolling the project . the other JHrlcan countries are Ghana . Cameroon and
Cote d 'ivoire. He said that other agenclea that ...ould Join the Initiative were the Internallonal Inslltute for Tropical Agriculture (IITAI , tbadan, which would provide expertlae In genetl c a , and the Alliance or C ocoa ProdUCing Countrlea. Walla c e said the AC I's nve - year programmf!. tlUf!d Global Development Alliance. which began In January, would help to develop the cocoa sector In the four countries In four crlttcal areas. "The programme will rosier public - private coopc.raUve Invf!5tments In cocoa a nd agriculture. It will also Improve the genetic qua Illy and produc llvlty of cocoa vartetles under c ultivation and expand fa rmers' education and training programmes. Th e c ountry represen-tallve s aid the
program · me would also Improve agro -I npul supply chalnstha! s erve farmers I-Ie explained that AC I was a publlc' prtvate partnership Initia tive that would bring together the Wo rld Coeoa foundall o n , cocoa Industry members. Ihe Dutc h Sustaln.ble Trade Initiative and United States Ageney (or Inlernallonal Develo p mf!nt under the prognm-
mo. Wallac e said IFOC . whic h is an Implemen · ling agency or ACI. would provtde experti s e to Improve partl clpallng rarmers ' a c ces s 10 ferUII Sf!r a nd wo uld recommend Its a ppro-prlate usc. Be.tween 2007 and 2009. IFOC was Involved In I1In :u soc latlo n building proje ct to Increase the Income a nd Improve livelihood s o r re sourc e - poo r cocoa ranners In G hana
LCCI to sanction
erring companies
s a deterrent to erring companies. he Lagos Chamber of Commerc e -and Indu s try (I. C C l lhas warnf!d Ihal II will s an c tio n memberIndustries that contravene Ita code o r buslnesa ethics. The c hamber saki thai II would not hesitate to withdraw the e erUreate of any member whosf! operations compromised lis Integrity and reputa' tlon. Speaking at a reception organised for new members over thC'weekend , the President , LCC!. Mr Goodie tbru. said the c hamber was committed to Us cherlshf!d Iradillon or high ethical s tandards. Inte· grtty and responsibility In bU!'llneM prac tice. -1.$ businessmen and women, we: have: obllga · tlons which transcend profit making We ahould pay adequllte attention to the Integrtty or our business lransactlons and prac tlcea. I, therefore, enjoin you to be committed to the Ideals of business ethIcs and responsible corporate dUze.nshlp.
A FirstB,ank offers single digit lending rate to SMEs ESPfTE I! In s ight for Nlg"' rhn small u .. lne s .es following the rrsolve of FIBt Bank of ,"gerta Plc to extend . 1' l:le dlgll loans to enlref' reneurs In partnenl hll' with Ule Nigeria A:l 50::l :111011 of Small Scale Industrlall!l l!! l'IA55I1. TIle Bank h as since Signed. Mt·m .. re. ndum or Understand i ng IMoUI with NASS I 0 ensure hltch - fre r IMlll e men latlon of t h e In itiative thai Is gea rf!. 1 lowards promoting Ule growth Rnd develo pment of the bank. The bank 1'1 Group Managing 1)Jn"ctor /CEO, Mr Bisl OUM' m ya, said the InlUaU.. e was In Une with the ba nk'., ~ trateglc focus o n finan Cial Ineluslon a l! I wo uld addrC5s the (hallenges of credit d r-Ih·er y. to the
R:
unbanked markil 's segment through moblllSf!d funds that \1,111 avail credit facilities to regLstered NASSI memb r: rs at concessionary rate. -n'e loan& are only a vailable to members of NASSI nationwide to ra c lillate the SUCCC5S of their bUSinesses and e ventual growth Into large corporate organlY · lio ns: he said Onasanya said In addition 10 warehousing and dtsburslng mobWscd deposits. Ule bank woukl Support Ulegroup througtl business advisory 5eI'VIce5. capacity bullding and development of rdevanl IT InfT8Structure, as wen as the Issuance d bto-metrlc Idcnuty card to all members IdenUfylng access to nuance as the biggest c.hallenge racing SMEs,
the FlralBank chid urged operators or small busln~ under the aegis or NASSI to take ad"an · tagf! of the racillties and ensure compliance with repaymenl terms 10 ensure the succeu of the Initiative and eollaborallon between the bank and NASSI. ~Every ddault In repayment 15 a disincentive 10 lendtng to another peuon , thaI's why all borrowers must ensure that they repay the 'oans promptly,· he added. Minister or Trade and Investment , Or Oluse gun Aganga. commended the bank fo r the In Illative. adding that the df!velopment resonated with the commitment or the Federal Govemmenl to bolster e conomi c growOI and dr:velopment thro ugh support ror
small bUSinesses . ·FlratBank ' s partnership with HASSI represents a solid foundation ror supporting thf! lIuee C:5S of SMEs In Nigeria. The NASSI Prf!sldent , Chuku Wachukwu , said the organlsallon was gratdullo FlnIIlBank for providing a platform for Its members to access loans at a Single digit ratf!. IhlS indicates the bank's commitment to the natlon 's economic developmenl And I want to assure all IIJIlake holden that HASSI members will take rull advantage or lbls platform while the organisation 's leadership will ensure that there wl1l be no defaulters In the scheme.· he said
- Ind eed , we h ave a code or bus lnc" ethlc.a to _h lch a ll nlem b ers are to s u bscribe. I woUld like to ca uti o n t hat a breac h of this tradilio n o r Integrtty and hono ur by any member w ill be viewed seriou s ly and be vlsiled with appr o priate s anctio n s According to him , II hos become Impenllve for members to s u s tain the good legsc les of the c hmaber . -The Lagos Chamber o f Commerc e and Industry has gonf! a long way to build I ~ present Image a nd credibility through vis ion, selfless servlcea and Integrity or illustriOUS founding fa t hers and their worthy s ucces· s ors . It , therf! fore . behoves us as tnherllOnll or that glorious and enduring legacy to keep Ihe nag nylng al all tlmes.He also told new and old members that as buslllC:5!'lmen and women, It wall lhetr duty to project • pos lUve Image fo r Nigeria by con due ling their bUSinesses rt:!'Iponsl~y and wtth Ule highest ethbl standards