1HE GUARDIAN, 'fuesda}\ Man::h 8,20n
BUSINESS
119
Business Labour P61
Appointments P37
As state's judiciary workers insist on showdown
NLC's election: All about twists, power of incumbency
Oil prices, stocks rise as unrest in Libya intensifies N l prices rose to a 29-month \.Jhigh yesterday and gold jumped to a record as fighting in Libya intensified, while about $15 billion in potential takeovers boosted stocks. Greek default risk climbed after Moody's Investors Service cut the nation's credit rating by three steps. Oil for April delivery rose 19 per cent to $\06.42 a barrel in New York yesterday, the highest since September 26, 2008. That pushed the gain to 24 per cent since February 18, when crude began climbing as libya's dvil strife stoked concern that ener路 gy exports elsewhere in the region might also be at risk Brent crude, the London benchmark used to price many European and African oils, was up 16 percent at $117.81 The Standard & Poor's 500 Index increased 03 per cent, and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.5 per cent. Bulgari SpA soared 58 per cent after a takeover bid by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA ThecostofinsuringGreekgov. emment debt rose to the highest level in two-months and the nation's to-year bond yield climbed seven basis points to 1232 per cent The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.9 per cent Kajima Corp., a Japanese construction company, slid 23 per cent following a report that its highway project in Algeria mal' incur losses of more than 80 billion yen ($971 million). The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.5 percent,snapping the longest-winning streak in eight weeks. Air China limited and Korean Air Lines Co. lost more than three per cer1t.on speculation higher fuel costs will crimp earnings. India's Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index retreated 14 per cent as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party said March 5 it would end support for Singh's ~.....
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Dangote, BOI initiate N20b facility for MSMEs By Ade DgIdan, Business Editor
A NEW regime of low interest L'knay have been enthroned for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in the countty, courtesy of a N20 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed betweenBanko(lndustry(BOI) and Dangote Foundation, in Lagos yesterday. Already, the first tranche of N5 billion, to be disbursed to MSMEs at "not more than five percent interest rate", has been secured for the scheme, "to
Today is very important to us in 801 and I must express our sincere appreciation to A1haji A1iko Dangote, a shining light in Africa, who has positively responded to our calls by putting so much resource down for us to channel to the micro, small and medium scale enterprises, Incidentally, he was not the first person to be contacted by us, but he is the first to respond to us. impact directly on up to 13,000 registered grou~s spread across the country, according to the Chairman of the founda-
tion, Alhaji Aliko Dangote. Dangote Foundation, under the scheme, has released N2.5 billion, while BOI made up the
balance of same amount, to flag-off the commencement of the programme. The profile of the fund would grow to N20 billion, to provide direct job opportunities to over one million Nigerians. At the ceremony witnessed by Finance Minister, Olusegun Aganga; his Commerce and Industry counterpart, Jubril Martins-Kuye; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; industry captains and bank executives, Dangote said lending would be effected to identified groups in
the infonnal sector of the economy, as take-off or working capital to support their businesses. According to him, each of the 13,000 groups that had registered for the scheme shall have an average of 20 business operators, "thus impacting the lives of up to 250,000 micro-entre-preneurs, through job creation, spreading across all the six geo-political zones in Nigeria". He said: "The project being
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Chairman of Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote (left); Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Evelyn Oputu; Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga; and Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, ~nusr' . ~ ,.,Lamido Sanusi, at the signing of N20 billion Memorandum of Understanding between 901 and Dangote Foundation, in Lagos, yesterday.
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Nigeria may adopt nuclear tech to boost food production From Joke Akanroo, Abuja THE Federal Government 1 may adopt nuclear technology application in agriculture, to mitigate the effects of climate change and enhance food security. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Federal Agriculture and Rural DevelofJment, Mrs. Fatima Bamidele, made this known at a technical round table meeting on the application of nuclear technology in Nigerian agriculture, :., held in Abuja, yesterday. . The Permanent Secretary, who was represented by The Depury Director, Land
Management, Federal Department of Agriculture, Olabode Ojuola, said the meeting was at the Instance of the President Goodluck Jonathan, who directed that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NNRA), should study the technique used by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for food production. She explained that Nigeria was listed amongst the nations that are路 at the moment, technically unable to meet their food
needs from rain-fed production at a low level 0 inputs and may remain so, even at intermediate levels of inputs at some points up to 2025. She said that out of the 71.2 million hectares of cultivable land in the country, less than 50 per cent IS being put to use due to water constraints. Bamidele stressed that even with the establishment of 12 River basin development authorities in all parts of the country to provide irrigation infrastructure for dry season farming, Nigeria could only utilize 40,000 hectares of irrigat-
ed land out of the estimated potential of about 3.14 million hectares. She however stated that the Ministry has already commenced the implementation of the Third National Fadama Development Project (Fadama III), covering all the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, aimed at reversing the trend of heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture through the exploitation of irrigation potentials, with a view to increasing the incomes of rural land and water users and to also reduce land degradation. In his paper titled,
"Fertil;lation Technology in Nigena-Opli!0rtunities and Challenges, Dr. Ismail Abubakar of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, explained that the "fertigatlon" technology, which the application of fertillsers,soil amendments or other water soluble products through an irrigation system, is cost effective also eliminates the danger of burning crops, improves nutrients utilisation by plants and ensures uniform distribution of fertilizer, as well as reduces pollution of underground and surface water, which
may pose health hazards to humans and livestock. The agricultural expert identified small scale land holding, use of low sustainability chemical fertilizers, inadequate skills and technical linow-how and poorly blended fertilizers as some of the challenges that may hinder the effective application of the technology in Nigerian agriculture. However, despite of the aforementioned challenges, Abubakar disclosed that in Nigeria, the technology was practiced in few commercial farms such as Maizube Farms Nigeria Limited.