Experts Caution States On Airport Projects

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

In recent times, airport projects have become a major aspect of government developmental plans. So far, more than five state governments have unveiled their plans to build airports. Most recent is that of the Benue State Government which got approval from the Federal Government last week.

In October 2022, the Lagos State Government had also obtained the Federal Government’s approval to build a passenger and cargo airport in the northeast of the city close to a major oil refinery and a new deep sea port.

The Federal Government recently granted approval to the Benue for the construction of a civil aviation

Continues on page 33 various intervention programmes and other domestic capacity enhancement initiatives, played a key role in boosting the nonoil export proceeds to $22.6 billion, compared to $12.5 billion (N3.35 trillion) in the previous four years (2015-2018).

The four-year periods correspond almost with the first and second tenures, respectively, of Godwin Emefiele as central bank of Nigeria governor. Emefiele was first appointed in June 2014 and re-appointed in June 2019. No available data was provided for non-oil exports for 2014.

The first four years of Emefiele’s tenure lagged behind his second tenure which kick-started with his 5-year strategic plan unveiled in Abuja on June 24 2019, tagged ‘5 year Policy Thrust of Central Bank of Nigeria 2019 – 2024’. The key components included 95 percent financial inclusion target and expanding the non-oil export ecosystem.

The apex bank has in this period intensified its various interventions aimed at stimulating production and productivity across the real sector. According to the communique on the March 2023 CBN Monetary Policy Meeting (MPC), the Bank disbursed N12.65 billion between January and February 2023, to three agricultural projects under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).

The pay-out brought the cumulative disbursement under the Programme to N1.09 trillion made to over 4.6 million smallholder farmers cultivating or rearing 21 agricultural commodities on an approved 6.02 million hectares of farmland across the country.

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FirstBank Announces Name Change of Subsidiaries – Reiterates Commitment to Boosting Cross-Border Business

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier financial services institution, has announced a phased corporate name change of its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Sub-Saharan Africa.

FBNBank UK, FBNBank Sierra Leone, FBNBank Gambia and FBNBank DRC are the first set of subsidiaries effecting the name alignment. They are now known and addressed as FirstBank UK, FirstBank Sierra Leone, FirstBank Gambia and FirstBank DRC. The Ghana, Senegal and Guinea

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