26 -Vanguard, THURSL>AY, AUGUST9, 2012
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FTZ targets 500 million consumers in West Africa
EKKT Free Tra de L Zo:te has said it's targeting over (LFT Z)
500 rnilliOIL ("onsumers in West AfriC<l as the primary consumels of its products and s'.!rJices. This is even a:; tbe Minister of Trade dnc Investment, Olusegun Aganga. says the ZO~ llU!is intrastructutes to sur::(eed. The Dep Jty Managing Director of Lekki Free "llade Zon. ~ Development Company, f!.1r. Adeyemo Thompsor, .Mlid that the wile aims to provide the largest COI!S.lJDet market in Ahica -,y;th over 500 million potentialconswners in hotit Nigeria and the n!:!ighhc uring countries. Of tl us tg ure, Nigeria would ac·:ount fo r 150 million CO·15umers while the res t ((·unbies in the region al>! expected to acount fo r 350 million consumen. "The zc n'! provides a favourablt geological 10cation frolOwhere to export pradllc:s to the rest of Africa the Middle East, Eurcp'!andAmerica, " Thomp! on said. H oweve~ :he Minister who spot.e during the lFTZ lnv£slment Forum and Uus year's edition of Eko Expo held at the Zone, cha U'!nges lagos
Stategovemment and Ule consortium of Chinese investors to connect a direct gas pipe line into the ume Cor the generation of power. noting that this was a major requirement fo r the sustainabiUty of the zone. H e commended the management for having attracted a total of $ 1.1 billion (N170.5 billion) investment commitment from 48 investors into the
zone; the technology it had brought and the jobs that had been created tilldates. H e ass u.red that the Federal Government would support (Uuough sound and viable trade and investment policies) the joint venture stakeholders iri ensuring that the project is developed and attain its run potential ~ In
today's world, busi·
ness relations hips a re sy mb iotic in nature . While we are expected to provide a friendly envirorunent fo r investors, we also expect that investments coming to the zones will create jobs for Nigerians . And to enhance the contribution of Frls to the growth of the Nigerian economy, my ministry will work with the Alrican Free Trade Z one Association,
IVE new cement plants will soon commence F production in Ogun State. 11lis is in addition to WAPCO, Dangote and Purechem cement facto ·
ries already producing cement in the s tate. A statement from the State's Ministry of Commerce a nd Industry. said based on data collected by the Geological Services Department on the occurrence and level of utilisation of limestone (8 major raw material for cement production) , mQre than five new investors have expressed intereSt to come and commence production of cement.
RMRDC decries 0.34%mining sector's contribution to GOP DAW Mate rial Research and Development Coun
.AciI (RMRDC) has decried the low contribution
From l eft: Air. Klt'aku Boateng,Customer Diredor; AIr Thilbo /&fabe,/&fD bolb of UnlJever Nigeria PIe, Mrs. Ablose Taiwo,repf'F!sentalive 01 Commissioner f or Cormerre" Industry lngos state and Air. David Ukeme, Marketing Dj· redor UniJever during /be Mun ch of SunlIght2 in 1 D etergent hy UniJever Niger/a P1c , recently irJ Lagos_ Pix: Blodun Ogun/ eye
initiative
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~~: ~'tltn~ ~'~~~a:sn~~: Ministry hr Agriculture/ [ITAinvot·.,r(':d in Cassava FlourProjro, though they have been p resent at sta keh old~; meeting as crop prod'J(ers and crop resean:hej"S. " It is no~ right for an Institution will L no history of conducting research on the topic 10 spring a surprise on lhl~ nation and lays cl~ to an innovation whic~llnother lnsti· tulion h~ elevoted considerable t ime a nd resources to vrork on, s he told Comm ~ce and Into
ditional jobs a re created through a multiplier process." The Managing Oirec· tor of the zone , M r. Chen Xiaoxi ng, noted that the LFT7. had all the fea tures to make it one of the most success ful Free 'TI-ade Zones in AIrica.
5 new cement plants to berth In Ogun State
FIiRtCI refutes IITA's claim on cassava bread EDERA L Institute of Induslrial Researc h, Oshod i(FIIRO) has flayed. IDte rr:ationallnstitute of Th;'p tcal Agricultwe (~I ever its claim to han~ imti )ted cassava bread production. Reactino I;) recent media rep0rls on Cllssava/ wheat lloVr by rITA. the Directo r (A·neral of FIIRO, Dr. 1:iJ0ria Elemo,
throug h NEPZA, to provide the necessary fa dlilies to s upport the op· erational efliciency of fTZs in the N igeria . "Globally. FTZs are known to have one of the largest job creation capacities . Record h 8s shown that for every job created in FTZs, two ad-
dustry journalists in la-
g"'. "AIRO has b een in the forefront of the use of Cassava for various food prod ucts s uc h as gari, tutu. la{un, chips, pellets s ta rch and composite flout as (ar back as the 60's.
" It Is AIRO's consid· ered opinion that before
going public: The technology needs to be demonstrated to stakeholdcn: like Master Bakers, Aour Millers e tc and subjected to tests by NAFDAC and SON, economic fea sibility of the innovation need to be done to ensure
adoption. It is hoped that this information will assist the Honoutable Minister to address the current claim by the Minister of Agriculture that ITIi\has pro· duced 40 percent CassavalWheat Bread. FORO made Cassava the Gold· en crop it is today, she said. to
Pfizer settles foreign bribery case with U.S. government f i ZER In c has agreed to pay $60.2 million to setUe a u .s . governme nt probe of the drug maker's use of illegal payments to win business overseas, gov· emment officials said on Thesday. The se ttlement is part of a broad crackdown on bribery by multinational companies in fore ign countries that has hit several o ( the world 's biggest pharmaceutical companies.
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Pfizer in 2004 became the first pharmaceutical company to volunteer inIotmlltion about past wrongdoing to the J ustice Department, but the case has ta ken years to be resolved. Last year, Johnson & J ohnson .agreed to pay $70 million tosett1e U.S. charg es that it paid bribes and kickbacks to win business in Greece, lraq, Poland and Romania. the first such setUement bya big drug com-
pany. The 1977 Foreign Cor· rupt Practices Act makes it illegal for U.S. compa· rues and foreign firms whose stock is traded in the Unit ed States to bribe government officials in foreign countries_ Eight ofth eworld's top 10 drug m a ke rs have warned of potential costs related to charges of cor· rupliOD in overseas markels.
of the Solid minerals sector to the the countrY's G ross Domestic Product (GOP). According to the National Bureau of Statistics 2012 figure s howed that the solidminerals sector currently. contributes 0.34 pe rcent to the GOP compared Wlth telecom/postal scrvice5.6 percent, manufacturing 7.07 percent, building and construction, 1.99 percent; crude petroleum and natural gas [3.5 4 percent, real esta te 1.64 percent, finan ce and insurance 2.92 percent while agricutlture contributes the lion's share of 39.49 percent to the G OP. Prof. Peter Onwuaiu, the Director General ot RMRDC. said that economic potentials of the-seclor is great but the resources re main largely un tapped.
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Coca-Cola starts a horse race for next CEO OCA.C01Ais greaUy expanding lj:l.e respon ibilities of Steve Cahillane and Ahmel Bozer, C turning the two senior executives into early fron trunners to succeed Muhtar Kent at the helm of the world's l ~est beverage company. Kent has been Coke's chalrma n since April 2009. The Atlanta-based company said Monday it will streamline its management structure by making the 47·year·old Mr. Cahillane responsible [or Coke's operations in the Americas and putting the 52-year. old Mr. Bozer in charge of ope rations in all other parts of the world:
Banks gear up for Agrikexpo ANKS in the countlj' have started warming up to showcase their products for agric financing in the forthcoming Agric ultural exhibitio{l. tagged :.\.g rikexpo' . The expo is being organisd by the Federal Ministry of agriculture, Federal Ministry of Water resources, and the National Agency for Food Drugs and Control {NAFDAq , Uzo Nwankwo. CEO, AiO, Capital limited, said the expo will attract the best of stakeholders in agric businesses, and urged participating banks to rise to the chaUenge of harnessing window of opportunities that have been created by the Central Bank of Ni~ eria , CBN. Accordmg to him, the desire of the CBN to see to a deepening of the agric finance value chain must be complime nted by banks as they seek business relationships with farmers .
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