FRJDAY, MAY 25. 2012
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in(Justrx: UI( firms eye Lagos Free Trade Zone Rasheed 8isiri IU
A 80lIT
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IJlllted 011 and gas companies 1l8\'e up~ tlleir de"u"(' to lap into Nlgf'ri.'s local f:OntfOnl Imllatl~ by in\'esl.inr; in t~ 1..1g0, ~ Offshorr ~Iics. ';n.,...."'11 .as LAOOL. und~ the l..l&05 Ffff Tra~ Zone" The Depul) Oi ~"tor, Unltt'd Kingoon Tl~ and In vestm~t, Mr Joh n Crawford. ~a\'e tht hinl on Wf'dnl!'Si.ay ..... h 'II he Jed representati\ es )( lhe f:Ompanies 011 a fneili y lour ortbe LFZ. lifO said, ~What W' ha\"e S«n herr sllOVt"S th ,I you ha\'e really dc'le ~me home work and rea J) for bUSIlles5, and Wf' :oba!! nol hesitate tn tal e the message bOlne te' U < that your of!.ilnwttoll ha I what it lakes 10 1IlO\'!! ligena forwant as a maYJr I il and ps ba5t'd country.He, lIo\."(!\."'er. aJ,,-..ed U\OOL mana!enlent to rn.:llntllO bl5lOl!'SS continuity 10 ont!l' to sustain tlle re IUu-ed inten:sl offot'eip! in\ estors wbo were wary of bl 51nes5 deals with short hres.n.
~ngdoll'-be...od
are·WeoftheUKcompenif's willing and desil~ of partnership by kj')'it g Into your klcal content dr!8.ls. Nigeria is lOlOg deep<!J' and
def'per IOtO the offshore busi~ and It is also ao 10 the UK. hence we ha\'e a lot III common-, he said. A female member of the tt'8lll, Ms Sue Whltbread, ~ressed deli&ht at what she called. -the fiwbility of your business focus that allows the )oeation of other of!.ilntsahons within your -zone We will do our best tu take the news of LADOL back to the UK tbat a lot IS happemng here that is
SUitable for Investment The Man_png Lr\DOL, Dr. Director, Amy Jadeslmi. .....ho conducted r-epft'Sentatives the compames round the ~L Free Zone on Wednesday, saId th.,t the zone's market co~red beyond Nigen. In include the entil'1! West Africa and Europe" JadCSlml .dded thai the scope of the zone", operations with lis
or
appropnate location at lhe LagO!l West guanlllteed easy atte55 to the ba.R, lie said the wne's readiness 10 partner relevant Inlemalional organisatioDS ....115 informed by its expansion. whICh is beinr; encouraged by the Loc:aI Contenl regune I'1!a!!ntly embarked upon by the Federal Go\.-emmenl Jadesimi said that LAOOL had commenced the deve10pmenl of Its
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phase two investmt':nl wilh 8 partnership deal with Samsung of Kore. in building a statN:lf-tlle-art FPSO thai would be second 10 none in the sub-rqion. She said. -A1thOll&h LADOL commenced rull operations a few years ago, Ils O\~r $t.SOm investment had a"'eady soared with r;roundbreakinr; jobs such as Ihe famous A&bami Floating Production Storage and Offloadinr;
ilE Ni,f'TlBn /o.s.<K :intion of Otaml"ll!'r of ComnYn:r" Indust.J)', t. 1Dt'S and AgJculture has so: Ii that inadequate innast:lll1ure and inconsi5aml r-dit e; are tlle map Cl:U!eS of failure of lUallV Mtne!1<e5 III the count!) 111e National Pr sdmt of (1)l' ~llOn Dr Adelnub An~"1. dmUlr; a press briefinr. in Lag.! i.. said tlwefl,.lUonaln~ llI,mlC perfnnl1llDCl' sUire the
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-II creal~ pastilV!' Impression of Nir;eria as Ihe world has now realisl!'d that there 15 a high 1(!\-eJ of sophislation here in Ni&eria such that will encourar;e direct forei&n 1D\"'tSlmenl,-
Environment: Kanoseeks partnership with polythene producers Must.ph. S.lihu, Kano
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begullllng of 2012 confinued Ihat the nahon"!! challenges as at the end of December 2011 had advrer.leIy affected lhrrenlsectorofthee:onomy and Ihe citurnry He- gid, "Due largely to the delayed slmn& of the 2012 Federal Budg.ct and tilt' tempo of IIIsecuntv III tilt': counUy" the busmess commumty has continued to 1tll tlle usual
gra,,.. . .
~ofwlfilendtyopem.lIn&
enVironment. IIlCOI\SISlency inpolioesandinfrastructurnl coostr.unts, parhCUlarly the
peminial ~ and enerzy aisiswithnoendinsir,hL -locWd to build the dI!'sIm:I bUSlDes5 c:onfidencr, we as a natiun need 10 oonstan~Khlhestrengths and~inouruJUqUf':
«OOOllUCm\mmmenl.sou 10 minlllllse the heartache thi:rse macro~erooormc fundamentals JlIl!'iI!' for business/stakeholders planning ID our great rollnuy· lie said to reair;e tht! progranunes contained III the TnmsfonnaUon
Agenda 0( the Federal Govmunmt IlS planned. the relationship between chambers 0( rot1lJIleI'Ce and the government must be strengthened and made more cordial. lie said, -Modem dumber! 0( commenr., espeaally '" !lome p.,ru oJ Afnca need IlIOtI!' rlft' in the beUy in their relationships ....ith the ga'o'et1lmenl We ha\"e ohger.ul that the mst of portnen"l has tempered charnber.J of comrnerc:e unpoct In taking a more
A FRJCAN l>e\doplnent nBank Pr-esidenl. II()Rald Kabemka,JOlned l~Group of Ei&ht ind;utrllLi.sed toontries'Ie.<krs.iIK':u:linr; lhI!'UniledSl..,les'Pre idenl, Bamck Ot-ma, 'In Fllday for Ihe mauluratiol of a ~ Inltiall\~ thai 8J1I~ 10 n!d11Cf' povl'm and stimulate economic f rt wth A statement by I.fOB on Tuesday said Ih. I.fOB boss. Obama and e-eral African heads of stille and leaders from tlle public
a nd Imnle sectors had galhemi in Washington for the inlluluJtltion. ThfO launch of the scheme, taMed, Ibf': NN' A..Il.J.anee for Food 5f':cunly and Nutrition-, the s\atel1lfOnt said. coincided wilhthfOG8Swnmll,which was hosted at Camp David, the US Presidential Retreat near Wasbington, The G8 oonsis19 of the world's b('!e5t economies The n4!W alliance alO\5 10 strengthen food security and nutrition by bolsterinr; agncultural 1O\'l!Slment. ~purnng inDO\lltiOIl and
engaglDg more partners from the pri\"8te seclor 'Mle G8 member nations are expected 10 support these efforts and ensure accoumability. AI Ille ~nt, Kal>eruka was said to ha\'e spoken about the sleps that musl be taken to impl'O\'e food RCUnly and stimulate f':CXmontic growth, Dunng a pan~ discu5Sion, President Kabemka said thltt IInprOVlnr; Africa's infrastmcluf'!', transportation, acce'i! to .....aler and tntdc.: will dri\'e t'COnomic g1)¥o1h in the
same ....'3y that 11 had in counlries like India lifO added that il would not only take money but 1In1&mation as .....ell According 10 the AIDB, the panel was Immedllliely fonowed by a keynole addft'SS from Obama, who stressed the Impomnce of food and nutrition securit)' not ani), for deveklpmg nationsbutalsoforthegood of the globaleoonomy He loki the audience Ihat IInplU\~menl!'l in llus al'ea wt're -not only a moral lmperatl\'e.bulaneoonomlc impe.rati\~aswt'lI ~
ilE Kano State Gow:mment has asked manufaCluren. particularly pcN)'t'th"tene producers, 10 partner gO\~rnmenl'S culTt'nt ca mpair;n looon\'ert waste to wealth. Govunor RablU Kwankwll.'lO made the appeal in a speech read 00 his behalf by his deputy. Dr Abdullahi GandujC; al the openinK t'f'f'mIOny of a waste-to-WfIlith woricshop, tagged, leda Jan and Youth Eml'O""ermeotlOltiatM, thf' se:1f.tM!:lp grouP' aitemali\'e. hddal Mamban1!l1iouseon TheoIoy. Kwnnkwaso said thai hiS administration alone could nol shoulder the responsibility of con'"erti ng waSlfO to wealth. stressin& that the three-day workshop was 10 tratO Ihe youth on how 10 turn w",sle to wealth He .said. the ..... urkshop was .Ilsoaimtd at improvinr; the soc:io-«onomic 1ivt'S of the people. especiall" youths acr055 t.he state. ~ Ileexplatned Ihat wasteto-wealth programmes would help the r;ovemment in addressinr; man)" environmental problems facing Kano urban cit)", p,1rtK:itlarly polythene. The governor also said thai r'eC)'Cling had become • global practice. addins that it was time for !.hI!' people 1('1 jom thr leagur of nallons that .... ere exploring the gains of rt!CyCling.
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• L-R' Company .5«rft:ary, DongOle Cement Pic, MOllogmg DUTCtor, /tIr DYC Edwin, at the:lOJJ Annual General /tIeetmg o/the company Phoro" Sodiq Adelolrun
AIDB, G8 caders forge alliance on food security, nutrition Layi Adc.loye w Ul ageney rq..,r t
IS well as a pant Noble Drilling Rip maintenance recently undertaken II the base, amongst others." The UOOL boss described the move as -very important to us as Nigerians. considerins thlt it lKCOrds the country intl!'malional recognition not just as a pl~)'er in the oil and gas industry, bUl as one that has the fltCililil!S to provide the needed lor,istlCS R<Vices
In
LtJgos ... on Thursday
NACCIMA blames firms' collapse on infrastructllral constraint, others Sodiq Oyelek '
platIonn whose installation was completed al the base,
proacth'e po6tOOn "'illl the governlllCllts. .. To f!llSUre the KJ1)"th of businesses and the eronomy, chamber! of rommerl'e need 10 partnrr \'tith the \'3rious hen of go'>'et1IJOent on a number of initiatives., such u urban rqenerntioo. appmltmtllp8. ad\U 10 small firms 1100 export promotion •
lie said the gO\'ernment had failed to ensure the bud~et Impacts positively on the business community, the citizenry and the t'COnomy, adding that t~ i~nt ritual of imbalance between recurTent.nd capita] ~nditureexistedbecause
the gO\'emment had not gh'en priority attention to the allocatiOns earmarked for infrnstruetural de\~opment and creation
of jobs. He sax!, -II is worrisome thai the ~ 0( rectlf1'eI11 ~ndilure 0( 71-5 per cent (1l1OUgh lower than the 74-4 per ernl 10 2011) ~ still as high as t'\"e' b an tronOmy hutl)ing up to de\'eIop ~ infrastructure and
eoonomic:~1.h.
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