Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2011 - 21
Business Expand your inv.estments in Nigeria, Oniwon tells oil multinationals
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J!tsUJF S,UIE'iDlan (r) exchanging documents with the Spanish Transpori Minisler, Jose Blanco whl/e walching behind Ihem from Ihe righl are Nigerian Ambassador 10 Spain. Amb. Obed Wadzani; Managing Dlreclor Nigerian Railway Corporation. Engr. Adeseyl Sljuwade; Managing Dlreclor Nigerian Poris Aulhorily. Alhajl Omar Sulelmanand Ihe Managing Dlreclor Nigeria CHL S.L.. Mr. Ladlslao Vajda walched during Ihe signing ceremony for bl/aleral relations In rail and poris developmenlln Nigeria belween Ihe Nigerian and Spanish Governmenl allhe Mlnlslry of Transpori. Madrid. Spain ... over Ihe weekend. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida
IFAD develops $70m project for Nigeria
HE Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Austen Oniwon, has called on stakeholders in the oil and gas industry to work to expand the country's economy. He made the call in Abuja at the Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG-ll) Strategic Conference and Exhibition. Oniwon specifically asked the international partners to extend their investment frontiers to cover all aspects of the industry rather than focusing on the developed economies in the west or east for opportunities. His paper was entitled, "Integrating NNPC"s Commitment to Nigeria's Development with Its Commercial Objectives". The group managing director said that opportunities for massive investment eJtpansi on abound in the country, especially in the power sector. Oniwon also xrayed the trends in the international energy market. He said that with the recent technological breakthrough in the use of shale gas in the United States, which is the country"s major market, there could be a lull in the demand for Nigeria"s oil and gas. "With this development, we should be looking elsewhere for opportunities. We could look to Europe in the West or Asia in the East. But rather than look to the West or the East. I think we should look inwards; we should develop the local market by tapping into .the opportunities being provided by the Federal Government, he said. Oniwon said the Federal Government's plan to boost power generation from 4,OOOMW to 40,OOOMW presented an ample opportunity for oil and gas producers within the country to key in. He said that about 80 per cent of the projected 36,OOOMW increase would be produced from gas-fired thermal stations. Oniwon said that the NNPC, having met and surpassed the gas needs of existing therm'll power stations, was currently working toward building critical gas infrastructure. Some of the facilities included the Calabar-Ajaokuta Pipeline and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna- Kano Pipeline. The GMD explained that besides linking the power stations, the proposed gas pipelines would serve as backbone for gas supply to other gas-based industries like petrochemicals and fertiliser plants across the country. ani won said the NNPC had since outlined a growth trajectory to ensure that it achieved its quest to transform from a cost centre to a commerciajly viable entity. "We have put in place measures to ensure profitable .growth for NPDC, create a refining profit centre and build the leading Nigerian petroleum retail business." II
THE International Fund for .1 Agricultural Development (IFAD) is developing a $70 million value chain project for 16 states in Nigeria, its President, Dr Kanay., Nwanze, has said. Nwanze tolathe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Rome that the project is aimed at revolutionalising
AGRIC COMMODITIES
agriculture among peasants and other agriculturists and help to boost rural economy and reduce poverty. He said that the value chain project was the logical sequence tb all that had been done in the past as it would create opportunities for farmers to increase their income. He stressed that it would also benefit those who added value to farm produce from production, processing, marketing and to consumption. He said that IFAD had
CBN Exchange Rate as at 25/0212011
prepared comprehensively for the project which would serve as a litmus test of how successful the Fund had been. He added that Nigeria had the capacity to feed its people because of the diversity of its ecology, resources, good climatic conditions and endo'WDlent in agriculture input. He said that Nigeria needed to maximise its agriculture potential by installing the right policies and building on its human capital. "IFAD supported FADAMA I and it was so successful that the WorlC! Bank came in and supported FADAMA II and it received recognition by the World Bank . as one of the best coun try projects they had supported. FADAMA III, which is a much larger project was supported wholly by the World Bank and that is a success story. The other success story is the root and u b e
development project; the cassava programme in Nigeria and other West African countries has been the most successful projects to the extent that Nigeria becam~ the largest producer of cassava. "These are the opportunities for us to make good use of cassava, not only for food, but foduel, energy and bi-products of cassava. These opportunities already exist and with the new emphasis on agriculture as the foundation for economic growth and food security, there would be a transformation. Investigations by NAN showed that IFAD had financed eight projects and programmes in Nigeria since 1985 with a total commitment of 153.3 million dollars. Some of the ongoing projects are Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN), Community Based National Resources Management Programme in the Niger Delta and Community Based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme. Nwanze said that Nigeria was the largest recipient of IFAD support both in terms of loans and grants in West and Central Africa.