22 - VilngUilrd. MON.DA Y, MARCH 5 . 2012
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News
FinanciaiVanguard •• BRIEFS CBN to compel banks to open special branches for physically ch allenged perso ns ALAM Sanusl Laml M do San us!. the C entral Bank Governor (CBN), sa.,s the apex banlt planning to compel bani" to open speCial branches for persons with dlSab l htlt>s nationwide , Thf" CaN governor made this knowr on Thuu;darm AbuJa when thf" JOint National ASSOciation of Pf"r · sons Wit' DUabilitles (JANPWD) paid him a courlf"s., vult . 'We hav" a strong commltmenl to women and disabled w e have actually bef"n worllng on afhrmatlve a c tion policies for dis , abled While the pollcy IS being prepared , we have started Im,lementlllg 'For f"x'-lmple, we are building a new head ofhce III Lagos and we made sure that In the construction of the ofhcl' , we conuder wheelchair users IS
Niger t o sh ip crude througll Chad -Cameroon pipel ine ICF!R has reached all agref'ment With C had N to ship Clude 011 from Its Agadem field fo r export through t he Chad-Cameroon pipeline , Niger ' s Foreign MinISter said late on Wedn('sday . Mohamed Ba'Zoum told Niger 's na · tional television that the agreeme It was reached after he and oil Minister , Fouma k ',ye Gado , met with Chadian preSIdent. I driss Oeby on Sunday 'We a <l l.ed the Chadian Preslden ' 's permisSIon to consldf"f the project to exporl oil through a pipeltlll' that would connect us to the ChadCameroon oil pipeline to the pori III Knbl (In C am· eroon) '.)reSi dent Idrlss Oeby Ill.S Just given a posilive response , M Ba· zoum s<u d
Nigeria'S financial system not programmed to grow small scale business says MAN By JOII BOSCO AGDAKWURU
P
RES ID ENT of the Manu facturers Association of Nlgena, MAN, In-charge of Cross River and Akwll·lbolD states. Chief Imobong Jack· son, has said that the current financial system In the COUll· lry does not favour the growth of Small and MedIUm Enter· pnses The MAN president who disclosed trus dunng a one· day seminar on Standards of Governance. organised for BUSiness Membership Organintlon In Calabar. CrOlls- RIV'er-Stale, said the short-term loans currently preferred b~' banlts would continue to hamper the growth. Accordlllg to turn, the recipe for growth In the Orgarused Pnvate Sector was only through ISluance of long·term loans Jackson lao mented that Ihe ongolllg bank.lllg reforms imliated by the nation's apex bank, the C entral Ba~1t of Nigena CBN, did not consider fund · mg of SMEs through long term loaM Wlth Interest rate spread over long penods "The current loan condltJons are not favourable to the Or· gamsed Private Sector be· cause Ihey are short·term Unfortunately, the ongOing banking reforms did not consider how to fund SMEs . With this situation. you wtll dISCOVer that Ule financial sys. tern IS not programmed to make SMEs grow If you give long.tenn loans Wllh 1Ilierest rales spread over a long pen· od, It will give room for growth " lie suggested that BUSiness Mernbershlp Orgamsauon should malte It IInperative to fashion out ways to Improve on service delivery In order to advance their courses. Also spealung Oil the need
' ConOlJ has Jaulldled 0 speaal promo 10 reward U5enJ of its premium engine 011. QualTO VllTO In the scheme, for every can of /he oil bough!. you au,omaucally W1ll up NS,OOO free GLO recharge card From Icfl Glo Ambo.s.sador, Desmond Elliot, Mr Bobatullde AdewaJe, a medlatIJc. alld COIIOiJ dealer, Prlrlcess Chns'ie Suhmcr, 01 tile /oundl 0/ the promo, recenl1y, mLngos
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for SMEs to Improve on thelt busllless environment, the faailtatorof thesemmar, Mr. SOJi Apa.mpa. SaId the Ol'9au· "ed Pnvale Sector, which makes up over 90 per cenl of the business concerns 111 the country, could form vibrant advocacy platforms to project thea plights . Apampa, who IS
the EJtecuUve Ouector of Con· venUon on Busmess Integnty, saJd "Ba1Iouts happened in some advanced economies as a result olltrong advocaaes on behalf of affected groups. We have not had bailout 1Il Nigena because of laclt of advocacy. The essence of tlus semmar IS to bnng HMOs together so
8,420 farmers benefit from Nlbn agric loan in Katsina State - CBN o fewer than 8,420 fann · amu Hassan. disclosed this on Kalsina farmers recorded the N ers In KatSina Thursday III KatslIIlI at the tughest loan repayment m 2011 Bankers and Customers State benefitted from the NI billion Agncultural Credit Scheme (ACS) of the Central Bank of Nlgena fCBN) In 2011 The Katslna CBN Branch ConltoUer. Alhaji Ad ·
Fonun. Hassan silld that 1,933 ben· etioanes had 50 far repaid their loans, amountmg to N8SS mIllion, addtng that
Fashola hinges Nigeria's economic prosperity on vibrant agricultural sector ~ I.E
Lagos Stale Governor;
I. M t Babatunde Fasbola,
has said that the su rest way lor NIgeria to achiel,'e economic prosperitywasthrough ma5Sl\"e UlYestmenl in agncu1ture. fas1xt.. La. who ~ the opinion in Jkeia v.iille speaking dunng an interactive session with benefi·" dancs of the BRF Scholarship Scheme, sUI theiJn.'E!Slmenl In agriculture would drive Industrialisation.TIle scholar· ship is an initiative or the stale government auned at promot.
that they can speak on behalf of lheu meruben. They need 10 know what government IS offenng and know how to ben· efit from IL" He srud a smu.lar semtnlU was held 10 lagos and Kaduna, adding that ItS affihate. lnsUtute of Directors, was morutonng progress among the SMEs .
ing acaderruc exceUenceamong undergrad uates thro ugh the provision or financial.s upport. TIle govemor saJd lhatlnvest· ment ID agrlcultwe would ha~ a multipUer effect on Nl sectors of lhe economy, pointmg out that It would propel massive industnalisation and create more jobs, "Oureconomicpros· pentyas a nabon depends on a Itrong agricultural base. We must overcome our agricultural defiaency and invest massively In this key sector for growth.
" If we can p roduce abund antly the raw materinls to feed our industries such as textile. daines. leath· er and otben, these lndustnes willlhrive and the eUects on Ule economy will be m<Wive. " be said FasholacaIled lor the formulation or the nght polio cies to support the growth of agnculture. noung thai. nlO5t of the country's po1loes O\'et the years had not enoouraged development in the sector
the country III 2011 "I want to use ttus forum to congratulate Katsma State Government for produong the 2011 Best Nftltonal Farmer of lhe year In Arable Crop category • He urged Microhnan ce banks to lOtensify eHorts to· ward boosting smaU·scale businesses for enhanced soClo-economJc actJVllJes to the state. In Ius remarks, Gov Ibratum Shema said that the stale government had disbursed N860 milhon interest·free loaus to farmers and other cooperatlVe SOCieties across lhe 34 local government areas of the state Shema, represented by the CommlSslOner of Finance, AlhaJll.awaJ Jan, urged banks 10 prOVIde more Automated Teller Machmes (ATMs) in the state and 1m· prove on thelT setvlCH for easy lrausacllons