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T HE NATJO N rnURSDAY, AUGUSf 23, 2012
I N ~USTIRYj •
Irregular power supply raises operational cost say manufacturers L ACKol ehclricity,the most critical in :r ~,s tru cture con straint in Nigeria, is hav ing dev&Stating eflects on manuf'II:::turers' opu,'tin~ costs. Chainnan , Mrullifacturers Associatie n of Nigl.!rill (MAN) Oyol Osun/Ondo/8;iti sta tes branch. Mr Michae l Daramola. highlighted this at the association's 29"th Annu nl Cenual Meeling (AGr...I) at th e leg, 'r Event .Centre. Ibadan. He said in spi~ of the country's h uge o1nd diverse en erg)' r e source!- endowment, elect.ricity WIS ranked th( mos t cri ticolli infrastTu c tur ~ cnnstraint , whi ch negath">!ly hnpl.cts members' operationm CO! I, c",using production stoprapes. o utput losses, destruc· tion 01 macitinl'riC5 and raw materi,lIs. "A reoJiew of Ih ,· overall pe:rformanceof the ec(onomy in 20H was reason'J.b ly fair despi te the ple thou of challe nges that have continued t\, re:\d er the busine!;s environmU'. t ul1ITil!nd ly. Outlining UlC.In. 3.<:; usua l. is tantamount
Stories by Tobl Agbool. to reminding us of pitiable s tale of the manulacturing sector. "Notwithstanding, reasonable success and growth were achieved in some areas of the economy. mterestingly, we were ab le to weathe r the storm, despite the seemingly harsh operating environment. Cu.r efforts at keeping our businesses afloat in th e 'ace of mu ltifarious challenges deserve to b e commended.wlJa ramola said. He slated furlher: wWe cannot forget in a hurry. the devastation of some o f our m ember~ompa nies facilities, esrecia lly in the Olur.01e I.ndustria Estate du ring the as t year's flood disaster whic/\ occurred p recisely in the monlh of August. The disaster sadly claimed properties and p roducts worth billions of Naira. We since.relf hope tha t gove rnmen t will proffer a'ppropriale solulions espec:ially In the a rea of adequate infrastructure needed to attain $rl!atnes.s In the llldustnal sector
Dyo State Commissioner 'or Industry, Applied Science and Technology, Mr Adebayo O lagbenro, who represented Oyo State gover nment a t the event, d isclosed that the sta te govern m ent had partnered w ith the Bank of Industry (BOI) to p rovide N l bill io n loanable fund for SM£s operators
in the state. He urged manufacturers in the sta te to benefit from the schl!me. adding that talks we re also ongoing with the BOlon power supply generation to racilltate indusInal transformation or the state. Exec u tive Secret a r y of the branch, Mr O laleka n Ed u njobi,
listed some of the challenges facing members' operations to include: incons is tency in government policy, poor infrastructure, multir.le taxes, dearth of longterm unding / high cost of funa , smuggling and faking of Nigerian products, 101\' patronage of Icq.ify .made pro
N~geria, South Korea trade volume hits N310b
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LUME of trade between ~igen " lI'1d South Korea has 5h~ S2 billion (about N310 billlonl sino.> 1980 when the two count.rit!S utablished d lplomati< ti3. This ~,·as disclo:.ed by Nigeria's Amb(lSl<8doT to 50uth Korea Mr Desmm;-d AKa.wur at a symposium on New Rows of I oreign Dinxtn'e Investment (FOl t from ~public o f South Koru, organised in Lagos. ThcP'Jen t was Pl !t togelhert))' the Nigerian Institute of fntemahonal AJral"S,tin CI.Uato-abon with Random Dplilmic F.e-;ouct:t"5 Umiled, publis"er$ ('Of R~ ardl lrl ltlligtllct mag il7:ine. to Cliltmemorate the 67th Imlepe:ndellc ~ arutlver5llry uf the r..erub li' of Kurea. Deli\·t'rin.s, a sFoe\."Ch at the forum. AkawOl 5aJd thOu;;h the volwne of
trade between the two countries has hit 52 billion. it was far below expectation. noting that there are huge opportunities Nigeria can lap into to boost r'Oreign Direct In\'cslnlent from South Korea. He said: "The new major areas of FDI from Korea where we can Icve rage the opportunitics to buildins: o u r economy are in power, bwlrllng and construction. oil &: gas. agricultw'e. iron and steel develo~ menl, textile, security. reHnery and petro-<::hemical incfustry. among others." Akawor said Nigeria would gain a lot br ensuring anCl sustaining congenia working relations wilfl K0rea. He said a nwnber of measures shuuld be taken by Nigeria to unleash the huge potential in bilateral lies.
US, SMEDAN partner on MSME growth HE United States Departme nt o f Stl te thruugh its Embass y in Abuja and tht! Small and Metli ..lm Enterprises Develormellt Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) hll'\.! urged Nigeria's ),oung .e ntrepren ! urs to cllange their ttUnc(s('t 011 Identification of business opP"rtunities, tim e management ra lher tha n expecting onlv go, emnlent to provide the enioblirg enl' ironment fo r their busin ~se b) thrive. The tWo bod e i a dvised that rather than was le time on ex~· tations. th,1! m.,l' never be adequatd,Y me t, Nigerians should tum eYl!I}' rroble:n to a business opporrurutyand legard time as a valuab le m one y-s pinner which should ~ judiciously used. The)) no ted that entrepreneurship require! hare work. patien~ and de[eruunallon to bear lon8term benefits. These view3 wele exprnsed at d one-day fomm aimed a t building lhe rnp.'1Ci tiCi of I,articipants and broaden~ their lorizons so they can identify the limitless windows of opportunities i 1 thei r Cflvironmenl, in Ahuja. Delivering his }ceynote address, the Director-Gen!!ral, SMEDAN, Alhaji MuhanURe(1 Nadada Umar. 5Ilid SMEDAN "a:; boo5ted lhe development of MS~[Es toa large elltent. He urged er.h epreneurs 10 develop their uwn i,leas and follow them through to a successfuJ end.
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Founder and Chief Executh'e Officer of Thinklmpad, an international social enteTrrise which provide! educationa sef\'ices to entrepreneu rs. Mr Garlick said people needed to change their minCls from the w idely he ld notion that enterprises are built on money. " En terprises are built on people who forge trus ted relationships and .ne willing to take risks together. People who are not afraid to fail but learn from their mistakes, People who are determined to surmount challenges that may arise on the wa y lli rough hard work ~d sustained comm unication, " It is impossible to start a successful business right away, from the word go," he said. He notea that entrepreneurs as problem-solvers and goal-getters do not wait for the government to create a conducive business envi ronment fo r businesses to lhrive bu t tum those difficu lties posed by lhe failures of the govemment into business opportunities th rough which they can crea te something which wou ld add val ue to people's lives: and improve the world. " Those w h o a re courageous enough to take that risk, he said. " musl understand the different e lemen t s of establish ins en terprises, which can be qwte overwhelming." he said.
- From Idl: O d umodu.
Rog~11I
an4 Pl.... t
M~.ge r.
Ewekoro II. Mr u nle Op.. k un le d urinS the fOU rl HY
Sub-standard cement: Larfarge Wapco introduces new initiatives • Partners SON on quality assurance framework
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AFAKGE Wapco Cement Company 1)Ie's new subsid iary Read.,. Mix I~ set to Rh'e the con'pany 11 new leverag~ in business development. consolidatioo and profitability. Its Industria l Director, Mr Paul Rosters. stated this during the visit of the Oirector-General, Standllrds Organisation of Nigeria (SON). Dr. Joseph Odwnodu. to the 2.5 million memc-tONle l.akatabu PlanL Rogers said the decision to introduce the Ready Mix initiative was infonned by the company's wiU· ingness to contribu te to cHarts to firid solutions to building colla~ According to him. Ready Mix is mean t to get into the main stream of construction. He said it was designed to get in touch with customers and stakeholders in the construction business. He said Ready Mix is operated in
silos for mixing cement. sand and other materialS to achieve aggregate quality blocks, concrete and olher products in the right p roportion. The 'project is operated at two 10000tions m lagos. Rogers. however. said there were plans to build two more. with one outside Lagos. " ~ady t.iix is mainly for devel· opment pro;ects.1he project has ad· vantages, including avoidance of mateTiais wastage and stockpiling of materials. It could a1so be taken to distant areas, he said, Odumodu arutowx:ed plans to put in place new quality a55U1'il1ln! meilW
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He said lhe measures are aimed at ensuring compliance with global standards in b u ild mg mate r ials manufacturing. According toOdumodu, SON will begin the process with visits to the
three main cement sites in lhe coun· try. following which a stakeholders' forum will be held. He said lhe forum would be used as a platfonn for the development of a new framework for quality ass urance in cemll!flt manufacturing. sales and usage value chain. The new fr.lmework. according to him. will soon be de\'eloped and adopted by the agency and stakeholders 10 ensure that policy COIl~ among stakeholders in the cemll!flt value Chain are addressed. 1henexl phase islodefinea new framework to make s ure policy concerns among stakeholders are addressed lYith the quality of products produced and used assured." Odumodu said. Specifically. he said the nelY framework would focus on eliminating substandMd cement produru.
Govt votes N460m for cassava value chain
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the
IiE Federa l Government has set aside N460 million
nafr~~ec!~~~e.,m~!\~:i~Ca~
~rogramme
aimed at maximising the product's industrial potential~ t..-hnister for Agricultu re and Ru· ral Developmen t Or. Akinwuruni Adeshina disclosed this a t the nagoff of the programme in Lagos at the Lagos State Agricultural Train· ing Insti tute, Araga. Epc. The programme. which came under the National Agricultural T ra nsfo r ma lion Agenaa (ATA). saw lhe distribution of 25.000 cassava s ticks bund les to registered crop farmers. About 200 01 34.000 such farmers r~ived thein . The n ag-orf was the second in the series of the intervention un der the Grow th Enhancemen t Support Scheme. The Industria l uses on the value chain include the H ig ,! Qua li ty Cassava Flour (HQCF). which will replace 20 per
cent wheat nour in bread. Adeshina. who was represented by the Regional Director, Southwest. FedeTal Minlst~ of Agricultu re, Dr Odeyemi Julious, said lhe exercise, being done in coUabora· tion wilh other s tates, was aimed at enhancing the yield of various crops the nation flu comparative advantllge on and thei r produclion . MNoI60 m illion has been commi tted for the implementa tion of th l! p ro&ramme and attention Is being given to the whole value chain of the various enterprises with cassav"" as a major focal point,W he stated. Adeshina said various transformational plans a imed to stop imeortalion of ag r icultura l goods that could be produced locally. He disc losed tha t abou t N635 billion is spen t on the impo rtation of whea t yearly. "This present administration is
~ised to improved the efficiency o f willing farmers towards enhanCing food production as well as ensuring food security. Mlmportiltion is I chaflenge to the economy, food secur ity. job c reation and national secunt)' , Therefore, there is no goin~ back on ensuring food security In the country," The minister. however. praised the effort of Lagos State gover nment at imp roving its agricultu ral seelor. Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Lagos State, Mr Gbolahan lawa i, aescribed the Intervent ion as a welcome deve lopment coming at the right time. His words:wThis occasion is an other effort of the s tale to revamp the agricultural sector wi th the Strategic Programme for A c~ler ated AJricultura l Growth (S PAAG ).