.Fin.-------~~~~~~~~~----News anciaIVa.gll;;n(
36 - Vangua rd, MONDAY. NOVEMBER 14. 2011
BRIEFS Maize shortage looms in South Africa: paper
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outh Africa will run out of maize as early as next montb after tbe country committed most of its barvest for exports, the 8usines.s Day newspaper reported on Thursday, ~oting Janrue de Villiers, chief executive oUicer of farmers' group, Grain SA. De Vllliers was reiterating wbat he told Reulers in June that Africa's biggest maize producer would have to im,Port maize by the end of thiS year because export orders were more than tbe surplus available. "They (other countries) ha\'e also bought an unknown quantity that is in our silos and is still to be exported. This u~nown quanuty is now causmg paRle among local buyers," De Vllliers was quoted as saying. He added : "If we k.new how mucb was left &nd how OIuch had been sold, we would not be s itting with a Shortage." According to data on the South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS) website, South Africa has already sta.rted importing maize from Zambia.
IMF approves $134.8 min loan tranche to Angola e Internatiooal Monetary Fu n d bas ap proved a loan disbursement of $134 .8 million to Angola undera 27 -montb standby arrangement agreed In Novembe r 2009 . The IMF said II was satisfied with corrective actions taken by An gola to strengthen its oil 'revenue data and step up scrutiny of oil reve nue transfers to the budget. Angola's ruHng MPLA government has long been accused of mismanagIng oil reve n es and doiog little to righ t Cllrfuption.
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FAOAMA c<H>rdinat or urges FCAs to be fi nancially disciplined, hardworking r. Chudi Mojekwu, thf' Fadama II I co-ordinator in Anamhra. bas urged the state c h apter of lhe Fed e rated Fadama Community Associations (FCAsI to enlighten its members on how to be 6nanciaUy prudent and hardworking . Mojekwu made the call at Nkpor near Onitsba, while inaugur.lling the newly e lected state executive of tbe FCAs . He said tbat the Inauguration of the
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new executive would he lp in the implementation oftbe programme .
Nigeria's trade export to UK doubles -Official r Mike Purves, the Director. li"ade and Investment. UK in Nigeria, said that the Nigerian export trade volume to the UK has doubled. Purves said this at the Nigerian-British Cbamber of Commerce (NBCC) Day, at the ongoing 2011 Lagos Trade Fair in lagos . According to him, there is a proof that the trading baJances between Nigeria and the UK have changed over tbe years. He said that the UK wanted to see Nigeria as a partner in their trading relationsbip, adding that its ministeriaJ visits to Nigeria this year aJone attest to that. "We bave had eight mjn.isterial visit!ii including the Prime Minister when he came in JuJy. And that is four times tbe level of visits we have had over the last four years. So, it is a very pleasing trend and one we want to develop very mucb . '~d we see the relationsbip not as tbe UK selling goods to Nigeria. We see tbe relationship very much as lbe UK being a pa.rtner of Nigeria in their trading relationship . The most recent trade we gazelled reflect that because the common perception that the trading balances is always in favour of the UK but ac-
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tually that balance shilted over the last figure . It 15 Interesting to know that Nigeria'S trade withIn the year doubled with the last estimate. UK exporll! to Nigeria went up by 25 per cenL So it is a very healthy relationship between the two and one we are very very keen to continue ." Mr Emeka Awagu. the PresideD! of NBCC • • aid Its exhibition of Made-in-Nigeria goods in Lon-
don. Birmingham and Coventry in 2010 showed that Nigerian products were lacking In product packaging. He .aid that Ni· gerian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) need to improve on their product packaging and presentation. "Most of the Nigerian products on dis play in those areas were poorly packaged and con· sequently not ready for the com-
petltive g lobal ma rket. Our SMEs entrepreneurs thus need to be guJded on improving their packaging sta.ndards . The NBCC will commence $pedally designed workshops on packaging for SMEs among other capacity-building programmes for businesses for members and non-members a..Iike in 201 2. ~
'L-ItFimt Deputy President., Business RecovclYand Insolvency Pmctilionem Assodolion of Nigeria (8RlPAN), Mr. Dele Odunowo, Geneml-SecrelalY, M.s. FunJolo Osisonyo and the President.. Chief Anthony Idlgbe (SAN), 01 Uifl lOth Annuol GeneruI Meeling of /Ile Associotion in Logos.
Minister urges lawmakers to advance legislation on leT development BY EM EKAAGIN AM
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increase the s prea.d of ICT networks and devices in Nigeria , tbe Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson has sa.id that lawmakers bave critical role to play in the development of the nation's iDfonnation, communication technology (lCT) sector througb advancing legislation . Tbe Minister who made this call when she made a p resentation o f the roadmap of the ministry to the House of Representatives' Committee on lCT in Ahuja. urged the lawma.kers to aid tbe deve lopment of ICT to Nigeria via p rovision of lega.! in s truments tha t will deliver tbe necessary i.nputs fo r a profitable and sustainable fer industry. According to her, tb ere was need for lawmakers to enact relevant cybercrime and cyber security laws that will not just protect Nigerians. but the interest of the nation . Sbe said that lawmakers should raise awareness and strengthe n the implementation of intellectual property laws as an incentive
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{or growtb in tbe content indudry. The Minister also urged the lawmakers 10 protect the vulnerability of ICT infrastructure in Nigeria by enacting laws that will make it a crime punishable by law for ,lOyone to tamper with lCT infrastructure in any part of the nation. Sbe emphasised that ICT infrastructure is critical intTastructure that must be protected by law for security and busineS$ continuity reasons . She informed members of tbe committee that the ministry has set ambitious tngels for itseU and will intervene care--
fu ll y and app ropriately to grow tbe ICT industry and ensure thai Nigeria leverages ICTs for national, .odal a.nd economic development. Sbe said that despite the perceived growth of the telecoms $ector, Nigeria is at tbe bottom of tbe African Broadband download performance table with download speeds of 1.38Mbps compared to Ghana's whicb is at the top of the table with 1O.lMPbs . Tbe Minuter empbasised that the availability of broadband (fast internet) at cost effective prices is key to devl!.!opment and reiterated tbat
the ministry will locus on deploying a nationwide broadband inlrastructure that will enable Nigeria expand universal access beyond b,uic voice to provision of b igh speed broadband access. She also added that the development of the local software industry is a key mandate that the ministry is focusing on and stressed that the software industry bas tbe potential to create t h ousands of jobs if appropriate policy interventions are made and funds are made available.
IFe to spend up to $400m on Africa telecoms next financial year be fnternational Fi nance Corporatio n plans to s pend up to 5300 million In tbe financia l yellJ' ending June and anoth· er 5400 million in the fo Uowlog year on new African tele coms 'projects that are not commetclaUy attractive to traditional financiers . "We would very much be looking to do 5200· $400 milLion a year for our own acrount
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in Africa and ideally helping mobilise funding from other sources - commercial banks, other development institutions - to double or triple tbat." said Kent Lupberger. IFC's global head for Technology. Media and Telecom. The rrivate sector financin,9' arm 0 the World Bank preVlously did a lot of financing of celJulllJ' companies but is doing less of that now because
the firms are now established and have easier access to financing . Instead. it is focusing on newer business opportunities such as data centres, 50called last mile broadband connectivity, tower sharing, IT services among others, Lupberger told Reulers at an industry conference late on Wednesday.