BUSINESS 115
1HEGUARDIAN.Monda~August22,2011
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Insurance P.22
Business Interview P.56
Still on agenda setting for industry's growth
Nigeria's aviation: Rising above avoidable challenges
Oil p rices sustain four-week slide on demand speculations UDE oil prices fell on Friday, heading for a fourth weekly drop. as Investors bC'[ fuel d ema nd will falter amid signs of weak· er growth in the world's biggest crude consumers. Brent tr-aded at a record premium to U.s. prices. Crude for September deliv· ery droppro as mud1 as $210 $8038 a baml in electronic trading on the New York MerGlnnle E.'O:cilange ilnd was at $81.24 at 8:24 a.m. London time. Prices art' dO\\71 4.8 per cent for the week. The mort' actively traded October (on· traer fell 90 cents tf) $8t6L Brent oil for Oc\C'ber settle· ment declined 62 cC'nts, or 0.6 per (ellt, to SIQ6.J1 OJ wr· rei on the London·based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices arC' 1.5 per cent lower this week and 16 per cent below this year's hlgl1. Futures slipped as much as 2.4 percenton Frlday,leadlng 01 decline in .slobal commo(H· ly prict'S, after slumping 5.9 per cent on Thursday. Supply disruptions in the North Sea and Africa have boosted Brent to SlS-95 a bar·
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Nigeria vulnerable to food • CnSlS, says IFAD's boss aSS~SSl!!d
IGERIA's food· N import depend profile may havl! placl!d It among the countries tha t are most vulnUJble to food crisis, the Presldl!nI of lntern.1tionJI Fund for Agricultural Devdopment (IFAD), an agem:y of the! United Nations Kanayo Nwanze has warned. Nwanze, gave the warning yesterday, in Abuja, when hC' fC'atured at an Intervie!w session of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN ). MNlgnla Is onl! ur the nve countries that is vulnerilble to food crisis like .my other country in the \\Jer1 d. "The reason for this Is very simple. If you e!nd up Importing over 5') per cent of what you consumed to a country. then yOLl are subto Internarlonal Ject vagaries of prlcC's. wC'.lthC'r and what have you OIod with climate change. ~You see, if a coun try is highly dependant on food Imports, there Is no way [t can OISSUfe the means of feeding Its people. MBe<:aU51!, even Ir you have the money and there Is severe crlsls like drought, they will want to feed the pooulatitm fi rst: hC' sa id.
Nigeria could avoid such crisis if th e government built on the resilience of its people, es pecially the poor rural farmers by investin g in agricultural systems. The IFAD president upta[ned that the drought that ravaged some partS of RllssiOl last year made the government to ban wheat t:l:ports. He also reca lled that the nood that submer~ed large areas o f PaklslJ.n last year, affected rice production In that country. ~NolV. If a country like Nigeria Is dependent on food Import. then certainly. It risks being a victim of any food cr[sls," he stressed. Nwanle said, however, that Nigeria cou ld avoid such crisis If the govern· ment built on the reslllC'nce of Irs peoplC', especially the poor rU1Ol1 farmers by Investing In agricultural systems. He also underscored [he need fo r Investmen[ that catered to the needs of the rural people. noting that they were always worst·hlt In dmes of food crisi~. · We ca n build resilience of
out people by Investing in our agricultural systems but particularly the poor ruraf people: they are the ones that are most hit when you have food crisis and food price cr[sis. ~When yo u have vagaries or weather, due to cl1mate. change, lhey are the ones lhat are affecled. MSO what we shou ld be doing Is basica lly what IFAD does; Is [0 bund com· munlty resilience; the ablll· ty to produce CfOpS. to produce livestock, to have bet· ler stor.Jge fo1cl1itl es so that when the rains fall, the.y are able [0 sustain their IIvell· hoods. MThe rains will fall:cllmate change Is going to contln· ue to worsen; the weather conditio~ ilre going to get WaUL Mrhereare going to be mo re floods; there are going to be more droughts. and so there Is going to be more. shorto1ges of food, but If we prepare ourselve.s we can
certainly avoid a food cri· SIS.M Nwanloe noted lhat Nigeria, particularly need· ed to build the resilience of the rural polwlatlon, who the milior food producers In the country. He s~id that such app roach to agricultural development would enable the rural populace to sus· taln themselve.s and go beyond subsistence .. nd make farming a profitable business. Meanwhile. Nwanze has commC'ndC'd Nlger[a for tripling its contribution ("0 the organisation for [he seventh and eighth replen. Ishment of Its resources from S5 million (ilbout N760 million ) to SI5 mil· lion (N2..J billion). Nwanze gavelhe comme!n· dOltlon in AbuJa on when he fC'atured iI[ an Interview forum of the News Agency ofin AbuJa, on Sunday. Nwanze described Nigeria as a key membe r of the UN agency being t.he largest economy In Africa and also a meml)er of OrganisatIon of Petroleum Exporting Countries. cormNUED ON PAGE16
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