NEWS/BUSINESS 15
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
business news
Jonathan Unveils New Railway Vehicles In Lagos BY Samson Echenim, Lagos
President Goodluck Jonathan has commissioned two Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) and six 68-seater passenger coaches, all air-conditioned, acquired by the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) from China, as part of infrastructure meant to further enhance the revitalisation of the
railway system. President Jonathan was represented at the event by Vice President, Namadi Sambo. “This is another rmanifestation of the current government’s sincere commitment to the development of railway in the country,” he said yesterday at the Iddo, Lagos Terminal. The president further stressed
that the railway remained top of his administration. According to the NRC managing director, Adeseyi Sijuwade, the new railway vehicles meant to be deployed formass transit train services, are expected to increase the number of passengers moved by railway in Lagos from the current 16,000 to 22,000 daily.
Global Cost Of Cybercrime Has Reached $1trn – FG BY Chima Akwaja, Lagos
The Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on cyber security, Prof. Cleopas Angaye, has said that the global cost of cybercrime has climbed to $1 trillion. Angaye, who quoted recent studies conducted by SymantecCorp and McAfee Inc., while delivering a keynote address at the opening day ofthe Nigerian Internet Governance Forum (NIGF) held in Lagos yesterday. He said that everybody is now a potential victim of the ill-use of the Internet particularlythe younger generation. As the number of Internet users continues togrow,
Angaye said, so also the threat to both adult and children. “These threats range from malicious users such as spam, cyber bullying, cyber stalking, pornography, etc. It alsoinvolves website and software malware, computer viruses and other types of obscene and offensive content.” The special adviser, whose paper focused on untapped benefitsof the internet for Nigerian youths, said it is providing people with untapped opportunity and additional skills that would allow them secure employment,adding that it is a good platform for e-government and e-commerce which are nowthe modern and acceptable ways of life across the globe.
Naira Firms Up On Speculations Of NNPC Dollar Sale By Bukola Idowu, Lagos with agency reports
The naira firmed marginally against the dollar on the interbank market on Monday on speculation that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will sell dollars to banks today (Tuesday) . The Nigerian currency closed stronger at N162.65 to the dollar, compared with N162.95 per dollar which it sold at the close of business last Friday. Traders said many banks sold down their dollar positions in anticipation of dollar inflows from NNPC, which is expected to hit the market today. NNPC, which usually sells dollars to some banks on a monthly basis, accounts for about 70 per cent of the volume of dollars traded on the interbank market. Dealers said the naira should strengthen further on Tuesday if the NNPC dollar sale materialises. “The market has also calmed since the new central bank governor made the clarification on his plan to gradually reduce interest rates, which was one of the reasons the market was jittery previously,” one dealer said. The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, had at the weekend, told Reuters that the bank had no immediate plans to cut interest rates and definitely would not consider doing so until after the presidential election in February 2015. Forex dealers said Emefiele’s comments were reassuring and had helped to reduce volatility in the market. They also helped the naira to recover some losses triggered after Emefiele had said at his inaugural press conference last Thursday that he would seek to gradually lower interest rates, which markets took as an indication that a rate cut could come soon. Rates have stayed at 12 percent since late 2011, helping to bring down inflation but businesses say they are punitive. Follow these reports on leadership.ng/business
L-R: Chief Operating Officer, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), Ms. Adebisi Awoniyi; group managing director of Interswitch Nigeria Limited and and project contractor, Mr. Mitchelle Elegbe; chief executive officer of BASL, operator of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos, Mr. Christophe Penninck, and chief financial officer of BASL, Mr. Olusola, cutting the tape to inaugurate the automation of the airport’s Multi-Storey Car Park, yesterday in Lagos. Photo By Benedict Uwalaka
SURE-P Spent N280bn On Projects In 2 Years – FG BY George Agba, Abuja
The federal government said yesterday that it has spent about N280billion under the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P between 21012 and 2014. Besides, it hinted that SURE-P has also rolled over about N88 billion to 2014 which it says it is committing into various intervention projects, under the 2014 fiscal year. Immediate past chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and member of the SURE-P Committee, Mazi Sam Ohuanbuwa, gave the hint while addressing journalists at the Presidential Villa, Abuja after meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan. “It is important to know that in two years of our existence, we have spent less than N300 billion. Out of the N360 billion that was allocated to us, we rolled over N80billion. So, we spent about N280billion,” he said. Ohuanbuwa, who is also the President
of Nigeria-American Chambers of Commerce, said that the SURE-P spent part of the money on the East/West Road as well as the Lagos/Kano rail road, amongst other projects in which the agency intervened, under the period in review. “That is what we used to get the East/West Road to where it is, the rail line running from Kano to Lagos, and all the works that have been done,” he added. Also, he called for the total withdrawal of petroleum subsidy by the federal government to give government adequate resources to execute its intervention programmes, particularly in the area of infrastructural development. “So you can imagine if the over N1trillion that was spent on subsidy is released for this kind of work. Nigeria will get the best of services” he said. On his part, Chairman of SURE-P, Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, said SUREP’s achievements are everywhere and verifiable by the public. He said, “We have sunk over 620
boreholes to give our mothers good health, good piped borne water and we are also providing health medications and Mama kits to expectant mothers. From the reports we have had on the contributions of SURE-P, child mortality has been reduced by almost 60 per cent. “Now we have over half a million women giving birth under professionally organized midwives which was not the case in the past. You just have to go out there and see the facts which are very closed to us including the Abuja/ Lokoja road. If you know how that road was before we came in, in 2012 and you know how it is now, we hope that by the end of this year, we will now know how much we have done. “If you go to the area of maternal health, we have been able to upgrade five hundred centers and we are working now on another 700 healthcenters” Speaking further on the amount spent by the agency in 2013, he noted that the agency rolled over N90billion in 2012 due to late commencement of the SURE-P programme in 2012”.
RMAFC Urges Multi-stakeholder Collaboration In Promoting Investment by NSE ANTHONY-UKO, Abuja
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has called for multi-stakeholder collaboration in promoting investment in all critical sectors of the Nigerian economy so as to fast track the attainment of national development objectives such as Vision 20-2020 and the Transformation Agenda of
the present administration. Chairman of the Commission, Elias Mbam, who made the call on Monday during an interactive session with a delegation from the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) in his Office in Abuja observed that at the moment, “Nigeria remains an investor’s haven with numerous opportunities in Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, Agriculture,
Telecommunications, Chemicals, Transportation and power sectors waiting to be tapped”. In order to harness these resources, the Chairman opines that it was necessary for concerted efforts to be made by all relevant stakeholders so as to attract foreign direct investment through the provision of critical infrastructure, legal and regulatory frameworks and tax incentives.