llIE GUARDIAN, Monda)\ June 20. 2011
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Business Moneyline P27
Business Interview P60
Lafferty partners FITe
Unemployment as obstacle to economic development
AfDB proposes special fund to taclde energy crisis in Nigeria, others
ECOWAS
initiates food security scheme "'(1iE
Commissioner
for
~AR:nrulture, Environment aod\-Votttt~n::1!5, Economic
Community' of West African Statts (ECO\"'AS~ Oussdnl 5.111fou, has Solid tlU! a dran pilot project on food security \\Ilthln mtm~r counOies would be rond_'~zol].
BOI, UNDP collaborate on $4.8m Rower project &tlbmle(l(m
A FRICAN
Development l'"18ank (AfoB) has proposed the (Teatlon of a speci;)1 fund, from the Africa Green Fund. as .a nnilnclng mechanism to address the needs of low<ubon growth
SaUfou dlsdosed rhison Friday In
.'In
intn\1ew "itll the Neil'S NigerfJ (NAN) in
~cy
in~lgeriaant!olherpartsof
Afn(a. A}so,the8dnkorJndiOl(BOI) OInd the United N;)tions Devel0rment ProgrOimme (UNoP have (onciuded plans to spent! S4 . 8 mJltlon (N750 million) to nnance renewable energy project in the country..
or
Already, The Bureau of Public Ente.rprises (BPE) has stepped up drorts to (Om .. plete the sale of sil: power p lants and II distribution firms by the nrst quaner of next yea r. as part of its muhl ..bHUon dollar privOIti .. s.1tlon pian. La(k of
dOli fund would be mainly nn;)nced from resour ces alloc:aled tOArriCili under t he Copenha~en agreement, Whl(h IS expected to strengthen the appropri .... {ion of resour(es by AfrlGID (ountries and Afrfcan par..
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The commissioner, who SPOke through an interprett'f.said the projca\~aimedatfindingoul
IheCilusrof food shon.age: in ~ sub-region and worle out modal. itiestoaddn:ss It SaUfou Il!ttd Nig~ Benin • Republk. 8urkll\.l Faso, Niger ,md"'laliascounmesthatwould beim'Oh'ed In Ihedraft projen Hesaid lheoutcomeof thedraft , projm would be p~ted to ECOWAS Heads of Stale for dpprtl\'il.l "If thty ;)pPfO\~ it. we will go aheoMJ omd implement il XI'CQ thet5-memWstltl!5,~ htsaid. TIue(ommissioner said !.he OIl!' rome of the prefect v.uuld help suppan the ECOWAS AgriaJItur.'l1 floIi<y as ",~n as the imp!emenroldon of e.xh [mID-ber counuy's nadon;)1 Invest· ment progr,lmme on agriru l· ,u~
He said the commission w.u \\Iorklng on tile pro;ea. In alll" junction With the Immtate Committt't' lOr Drougtll Control In the Sahel and Water Resources: Coonlination Cenrn: b.lsed in Ou.lg;tdougoo, Rur1dn.1
,-
.
NAN m:all! that the r£rNoIAS Commission ;)nd lhe french ~Iopmem Agency recently signed a fl234 million 8!'Int agrmnent (0 help boost rood security .mel w~ter resources ~\;thln the sub-region. S,lUfou said !.he gr.Int \\uuld help !.he commission In the J>l:anning and Implementation Oftltedl'ilft pilot proj«t..
Manacinl Director. United Bank lor Alrica (USA) Kenya, Muytwa Akinym\l (Ielt); QllelOpmtin,Officer, Ktnya AIrways. Bram Srtllrr; and Commerclll Director, Kenya Airways, Motl.n Chandr.; . durin&: rha ilJlllns 01 p.artnrrs.hlp deal be~n thl alrllne and UBA Group in Nairobi, Kenya, reeentty.
BPP saves N216.7 billion in 2010 appropriation, says DG 'THE 8ureau of Publi( ~ I'rocurement 18rr~ about N216.69 bi lion for the Federal Go~ernment while reviewing pro}ect proposals from Minlstries. [)epartmenu dnd Agencies (MDAs) In the 2010 appropt1atlon . The flgu~ represents the tot.1l differen(e lx!tween tht' enfl~ project: (O!it as I'e(luested by the federal procunng entldes and as eventuolUy (er" tined bvthe I1Prin !.heapital allocat(on of the 2010 Budget, whl(h ran ben\lt'l!'n January I, 2010 to Man::h 31, 2011.. DirtCtor-General of t he Bureau, Eme.ka Ezeh. who (onfinned the flgu~ said the rt~iews. which led to the
savro
reductions weR nOl net:ess.ar.. lIy Glrgetrd at accusing olnyone of (Omtption or of undu . ly Innallng contlllct sums, but ;II delIberate effon at Improving on the procurement proau to tnilble gove.mment get value fo r money olS enshrined In !.he enabling l.t\\t
·We have been painstaking In thevertlng process to make project proposals better in the interest of lranspilRncy and quality", he noted, StnSSIng thaI the c.1kulations nme from proposals from a to[ol] of thlrty-Sil: entities.. Tht' Director-Gcneral (Omln .. ued; Ihrough the judicious use of scarce resources. It Is
t'Xpected that Infr.lStTUctun:s and utilities whl(h h;)\'e been lacking In Ihe n;)tlon's socia l life would be provided.. nle 8I'P is now happy to report that substantlar p~ 15 being made In nddlng thl! nation or avoidotble excesst'S in Publl( Procurement". The Iet:hnocrat re.tsoned that through the rubll( Procurement Ac:t, 2007, the bases of panicipation In quests for Publl( (ontract have been t'Xpanded . The con· s(iousnc:ss, knowledge and awareness of the Act have gllldually dis(ouraged the earlier p~alent sore sourcing for (ompetitl~~ bidding In the awa rd of public (on ..
Uilcu, which Is why some of !.hose who have lost out h. . ve remained crltlc:al of the Act ~A SE'.1l5t' of participation ;)nd possible victory (rom bidding has been engendered by !.he Act.. This f;)ct. which relales with the participatory tenets of demouolCY highlighu Nigeria as a (ounuy Which is moving with the times. The Act hilS also brough t about a higher level of responsiveness on !.he pan of contrac.. tors ~nd consulrolnLS. which raises !.he Slakes for qwllty and productivity in thee.:crcu .. tion of public projtcU', he stated. M:cording [0 him, cost of (Ontra(ts ~re no longer
unreasonably expensive .tS lheyarevetted ~vith due rigor. lit! denied lingering illlega .. tions lholt the Bureau del.1ys projects, asking.. 'What is the percent~ge that comes to lhe Bure;)u? Do you not know lhat it is only projet:U that are more that Nlbillion that (orne to the Bureau? Wh;)1 pen::l!nrage of the Budget Is lhatr He stated specifically that -out of 952 requestS for Due I'rocess Ceninate received, 843 representing about HI) per cent wen: (enifled while only 9 wen: denit'tl. certlficadon . 100 projects are aw~lling fur.. ther darlfkations by MOAs-.. Continuing.. he e.:cplained
that ~ lot ofthtse projects are still in Ihe hands of the MoA!;, but because cynics ~re reluc· tant 10 accept the (hange being introducl!d . they \\'Ould (ontTnu~lIy remain uncon .. structl\'eiy Oitic.al. He ildded: !he Act is a (l.1 fi.. on call to probity. accounla .. bility, adherence to ml!l.hods In the dlsbursementof a rom . mon we .... lth and !.he produc" tion of evldell(e in the ;)ppli.. cation of the wealth . Tht: IV:t tells us !.hat It is no iongl!r buslnl!5S as usual in the use of people's monty; rnany bid .. ders who hitheno have lost confidence In publi( adVt!r. lisemenLS fo r (ontr.Kt.s. have lots of success Slory to tell on !.he strength of tlteAd'.