Youngzedd: Which side in Calabar, I need to see this awesome development with my two eyes

INVESTMENTS requiring huge capital often elude Nigerian businesses due mainly to the unfriendly banking environment that promotes high lending rates. It is believed that this is why many big businesses, especially in oil and gas, are partly owned by foreigners, a situation, which, however, encourages capital flight.

But in 2010, the National Assembly passed the Nigerian Content Act, which gives Nigerians the sole right to participate in specified aspects of oil and gas business, thereby encouraging growth of entrepreneurship in that sector.

‘Exploiting’ the provisions of this Act, some young entrepreneurs under the aegis of TECHNOVA, a 100 per cent Africa-owned Energy Company in offshore, onshore and subsea engineering, in 2013 initiated the construction of line pipe mill and coating facility in Ologbo in Edo State. According to them, the park was a vehicle for actualising government-mandated Nigerian content requirements.

Last week, the leadership of the National Assembly and other stakeholders had an official tour of the facility to inspect the extent of work done and what needed to be improved.

Leading the delegation was the House of Representatives’ chairman of the Commmittee on Nigerian Content, Asita Honourable, who tasked the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to ensure the implementation of the Act which guarantees support for wholly indigenous companies ready to invest in ancillary services to the oil and gas industry in the country.

Rather than continue to award contracts to foreigners, Honourable urged the board to support companies run by Nigerians, adding that the Board, since its inception in 2010, has saved over $450 million deductions from exploration/exploitation activities of oil companies in Nigeria.

He said the board could use such funds to support companies that brave odds to go into building industrial parks without loans from banks. “The executive secretary and I conducted the ground-breaking ceremony in this place; so, I want a situation between now and the end of this year, your next proposal to the parliament should include what interventions we can give to TECHNOVA. If it means taking off some shares of TECHNOVA until they refund the money, we will force them to sign such document. But government must intervene; otherwise there is no need for the Fund. We intervene, put money here and use this place as training ground for young people so that, with the funds that will be put in, TECHOVA can build this place. We have just put money in banks where friends manage the fund using it to make profits and giving loans to people, even as the businesses for which the fund is created is suffer.”

He said one of the objectives of the Nigerian Content Act was to encourage businesses like TECNOVA. “I understand that through the one per cent deduction made to the fund from all upstream contracts, the Fund has been able to generate well over $450 million. I understand that part of the intervention that board makes is to encourage training of Nigerians in different aspects of Industry practice. I would, therefore, be happy if the Board will initiate partnerships with entities like TECHNOVA to fund certain aspects of this project that will enable the board use this facility to train young Nigerians.”

The lawmaker disclosed that the last discussion he had with the Board ended in TECHNOVA getting a partial guarantee to secure a facility. “No bank will give you loan to do a thing like this when you don’t have a purchase order. So, that partial guarantee has ended up like a mere piece of paper. I want to challenge the Board because we created that Board for things like this and I am happy that a very high officer of the board is here. One of the reasons why we created that Fund is to encourage businesses like this.’



The honourable also called on oil companies, many of which were represented at the event, to give contracts to the company to enable it make enough profit could be ploughed back into the facility. “They are building this company because we have oil and gas companies in Nigerian that require pipes. If you don’t encourage them, it will mean this is a wrong decision, and I am sure this is the right decision. But it shouldn’t end at clapping for them; they don’t desire our clapping, they desire our action.”

The oversight visit involved the inspection of the construction phase of the line pipe mill and coating facility, residential, recreational and medical facilities. Also inspected were the new 15-metre wide access road and the perimeter fencing.

The 200,000 MTPA Pipe Mill and Coating Facility being constructed by the company is expected to create over 3,500 direct and indirect employment, with about 30 spin-off businesses.

The project on completion is expected to create over 18,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Park is strategically situated within a gas-producing hub in Ologbo and covers approximately 200 acres of land, with more than 100 metres of waterfront for a privately owned captive Jetty to support activities at the Park.



The Industrial Park, to be developed in phases, will be powered by a 10-Megawatts (MW) Power Plant the output of which would subsequently be ramped up to 20MW as demand grows. TECHNOVA says the initial phases of the park construction would be built around provision of services to major oil and gas projects from Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and all other international Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Nobert Oleah, told The Guardian that he and other promoters of the company were inspired after attending a conference in the United Kingdom. “They mentioned a few things about possibilities and incentives created by the new Nigerian Content Act. We then asked ourselves questions: ‘If this is possible (and we are an engineering company), why are our people not there’? We even had doubts, but, when we ventured in there, we found out that nobody was in that space.

n the whole project.”

Hinting that the company bought 150 hectres of land, Oleah said: “We are going to launch our Benin Steel City in a few months.”

We are going to warehouse the different levels of steel, from raw material to production. We are going to integrate the production of raw materials here. When we start, we shall be importing raw materials, but we are surely going to integrate, because we have iron ore and steel here. We are going to have spoon factory, fabrication yard, and we are going to have other steels, like flat sheet and coils for Automobile and shipping industries. Nigerians need to understand what all of these mean for us.”

Oleah stressed that his company’s relationship with the host community had been very cordial, adding that the indigenes and their leaders had been very supportive of its operations.

“…In fact, in some places, when you want to construct something like this, you are asked to pay, but we have not paid a dime. They (the indigenes) are building hotels and restaurants around here, and that tells you the kind of welcome we have received. Their heart goes out to us; so, we are making progress.”

On expected quality of products from the facility when it becomes operational, he said “we are partnering with shell officially; the whole IOCs as you can see are all our partners. What that means is that they are stakeholders; they must ensure, through their technical departments, that what we produce is API standard. They are going to be part of the process and we are insisting on their involvement to ensure off-take.”

Toosure70: source

SantaMafia: poverty-stricken, ebola ravaged, stvpidity endemic polio and bird flu infected sh1thole hahahahah una don baff salt water, magg0ts?

Tough Times: Nigerians Flee To Ghana , Vietnam

Even before its completion deadline and official commissioning, the Calabar International Convention Centre [CICC] has received its first confirmed booking for 2015.

In doing so, it has commenced its journey towards establishing itself as one of the prime convention centres in Africa.

Alvasta Travel & Leisure, in conjunction with its foreign partners, will be hosting the Nigeria Tourism Conference at CICC from 19-20 March 2015. The event which will be the first of its kind will bring together key players in the Nigerian tourism industry as well as showcase all that the destination has to offer to the leisure seekers and MICE sectors.

Meanwhile, the roofing of the CICC has since begun. Making the disclosure in a release, Special Adviser, Governor’s Office, Mr. Nzan Ogbe said: “We are very excited to announce that the roofing of CICC has begun. At the moment, roof trusses are all on site and are being erected.
Roofing of all blocks is expected to be completed by September 2014, while the March Commissioning date remains unchanged.”

Eldavido1:

Even if another government comes in Ghana, it will be difficult to reverse the EPA. The will more or less have to live with it. ECOWAS is divided already, Ghana would have leverage on the support of Nigeria to reject it. But I guess it's kind of too late now.

BedLam: A dollar earned is worth more than 5 dollars given....Abraham Lincoln.

Orjioorji: thank God we have a president with vision

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), yesterday, hailed the Federal Government's decision not to join other West African States to endorse the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between West Africa and the European Union, as this action would prevent the country from losing N208 trillion ($1.3 trillion) revenue.

The Economic Partnership Agreement is a reciprocal preferential trade Agreement being promoted by the European Union to create a Free Trade Area (FTA) between the EU and the African, Caribbean and pacific Group of States [ACP] through six regional economic communities into which the ACP is divided'

Signing the EPA in its present form, would cost Nigeria alone $1.3 trillion revenue losses from finished goods coming from the European Union while the negative effects EPA would have on local manufacturing range from shutdown of local industries and job losses due to unfair competition.

MAN, in a statement signed by its director general Remi Ogunmefun, said Our commendation is sequel to the briefing to stakeholders by the Honorable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, July 24, 201'4, where he reiterated the determination of Nigeria to continue to pursue the implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NlRP), local content policies, and transformation in Agriculture sector amongst others.

The Minister was categorical that based on the mission of Government in these areas, it is inconceivable that the Federal Government will ignore national interest, particularly genuine concerns expressed by stakeholders in the country and go ahead to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement.

It will be recalled that the Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government at their meeting in Accra, Ghana on July I0, 2014 approved the EPA and instructed the regional chief Negotiators to take steps to start the process of signing and implementing the agreement.

Nigeria, at various stages in the EPA negotiation process, had voiced strong opposition to the agreement and raised concerns that the Agreement could only lead to deindustrialisation in West Africa, with serious economic and employment consequences for Nigeria because of her 60 percent share of the regional market and Gross Domestic Product (77 per cent).

MAN opposition is also premised on the fact that from all parameters, West African States, including Nigeria are not at the same level of economic development with any European country to warrant the conclusion of a reciprocal trade relationship espoused in the trade agreement with EU.

MAN is therefore advising that notwithstanding the status of EPA and ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET), Nigeria should continue to insist on the incorporation of the 196 tariff lines which the country had earlier recommended for reclassification in the CET regime in addition to the urgent need to design appropriate instruments that will take care of the 241tariff lines that currently enjoy various levels of levies as protective measures in Nigeria'

Earlier, Chief Kola Jamodu, President of MAN, noted "no country can develop without protecting its industries; he added that Nigeria stands the risk of having its market flooded by European goods with resultant negative effect on our industries and economy" if the EPA is approved in its present form.

The leadership of the Nigerian military has concluded arrangement to deploy 600 specially trained commandos in the troubled area of Damboa, Borno State.
A security source said on Tuesday that the military personnel were specially trained within the country for the purpose of strengthening the security presence in Damboa, which is considered as one of the most volatile areas in the North-East.
It was gathered that the military and the soldiers deployed in that part of Borno State had become very skeptical about the sincerity of the people following the ambushing and killing of an army officer, who was commanding the troop.
It was said that the leadership of the military was shocked that the lieutenant-colonel, a Muslim, who was on mission to convince the people to prevail on the insurgents to embrace peace could be killed in an ambush by the same people he was protecting.
The source said that the military leadership had to take the step to send the specially trained forces to the area to replace some of the soldiers with affected morale in the area.
[b]The source said, “The Army is skeptical about the sincerity of the Damboa people. The situation is such that it has become difficult to separate the people of the area from Boko Haram elements in the area. The place is completely infested.
“And that was responsible for the ambushing and killing of the officer, who was in charge of the troops in the area.
“The morale of the troops is seriously affected, with the killing of their commander and there is the need to prevent them from acting irrationally, to boost their morale.
“The officer, who was killed went there to protect the integrity of the nation. Being a Muslim, he had to tell them they were damaging the image of the North.
“He led that soft approach, to plead with the leaders to talk to them about the importance of peace, and to warn anybody who refused would be dealt with.
“A specialised team has been trained to take over from some of the guys on the ground. Six hundred of them are ready for deployment now. It is a strong force that would boost the morale of those in the area.”
Investigations revealed that the Federal Government had embarked on massive procurement of military hardware from the United States and Russia to address the incessant Boko Haram attacks in the North-East.
It was learnt that the government had imported 40 helicopter gunships from the US and Russia. They are expected to arrive the country first week of August.
The government was also said to have imported mine-resistant tanks required for some planned operations in areas taken over by the insurgents.
The source added that the military had also embarked on massive recruitment of troops in the bid to strengthen the nation’s security forces against the threat of terrorism.
“The Federal Government has purchased some fighter helicopters for this operation; about 40 helicopter gunships have been imported out of which over 30 are from the US while the rest are from Russia.
“They are scheduled to arrive the country in August;[/b] the government is embarking on a massive purchase of equipment and recruitment of troops in preparation for the threat. They are doing a lot of recruitment this year,” the source added.

The conclusion of the agreement follows nearly a decade of sometimes tense negotiation between the EU and ECOWAS – and between ECOWAS members themselves. At stake was the unity of the African grouping, torn between members like Ghana and Ivory Coast and Nigeria. The former two had made securing their tariff reductions inherited from the previous Lomé conventions a priority, while Nigeria was wary of singing unto an agreement it saw as constraining its policy space and endangering its industrial base.

The approval is a good sign for regional integration in West Africa in so far as fragmentation has been averted. The Nigerian government seems to have made the decision that sticking to its regional neighbours, which had by now all agreed on the compromise text, was more important than rejecting an agreement it had deep reservations about.

EPA negotiations will nevertheless leave a mark on EU West Africa relations. The agreement is, to this day, deeply unpopular in most countries in the region.

The approval is a good sign for regional integration in West Africa in so far as fragmentation has been averted. The Nigerian government seems to have made the decision that sticking to its regional neighbours, which had by now all agreed on the compromise text, was more important than rejecting an agreement it had deep reservations about.

Safari29: There has been an improvement no doubt. The major problems they face there is the track. We only have one track from lagos to kano. This is not efficient and not flexible as two trains coming opposite each other might take long time to pass as one of them will have to pack to allow the other to pass. During the process of packing, track would have to be changed several times and this task is not easy and can take up to 1 hr if not more.
But all in all there is an improvement. I ll rate it from 20% before to like 50% now. If only we could get one more track so that the two train would move swiftly without worrying about oncoming train which will also enhance the flexibility and ofc increase commuters turnout then I ll rate it 70%

‘Macroeconomic risks persist due to fundamental uncertainties’

NIGERIA'S short term macroeconomic outlook improved in the first half of 2014 relative to 2013, according to the World Bank in its new Nigeria Economic Report (NER) launched Tuesday in Abuja.

The report indicated that revenues to the federation have increased, foreign reserves have stabilised, the Excess Crude Account (ECA) has been augmented, and prospects for growth are stronger than last year.

The bank pointed out that the re-based GDP estimates has revealed a larger, more dynamic and complex economy than the previous statistics should. The report however stressed that macroeconomic risks remain due to uncertainty about future oil output, oil prices, and short term capital flows.

The NER analyses new data from household surveys in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 to reassess poverty and living standards in Nigeria and concludes that poverty rates in Nigeria are likely significantly lower than previously believed, and progress toward poverty reduction may be stronger.

According to the report, poverty reduction in Nigeria appears to be primarily an urban phenomenon, with poverty rates in rural areas higher, and poverty reduction slower.

While recent panel surveys indicate that the per capita national poverty rate based on the official poverty line may now be as low as 33.1 per cent, a large share of the Nigerian population is still not far above the poverty line, indicating vulnerability.

“The combination of the new GDP and poverty estimates is valuable in giving us what we believe to be a clearer picture of development and poverty reduction in Nigeria,” said John Litwack, Lead Economist and Acting Country Manager of the World Bank.“ Both sets of numbers indicate the prime importance of urban areas for growth and poverty reduction.”

The NER also highlighted continuing differences between Nigeria’s regions in poverty reduction. For instance, the South and North Central regions showed progress in poverty reduction between 2010 and 2013, while the North West witnessed little change, and the North East experienced an increase in the poverty rate along with a general decline in living standards.

“Improvements in public services, key infrastructure to better connect markets, and measures to increase productivity in agriculture could help put Northern regions on a strong path toward poverty reduction”, said Litwack, lead author of the report, whilst also noting the critical role of security.

‘Macroeconomic risks persist due to fundamental uncertainties’

NIGERIA'S short term macroeconomic outlook improved in the first half of 2014 relative to 2013, according to the World Bank in its new Nigeria Economic Report (NER) launched Tuesday in Abuja.

The report indicated that revenues to the federation have increased, foreign reserves have stabilised, the Excess Crude Account (ECA) has been augmented, and prospects for growth are stronger than last year.

The bank pointed out that the re-based GDP estimates has revealed a larger, more dynamic and complex economy than the previous statistics should. The report however stressed that macroeconomic risks remain due to uncertainty about future oil output, oil prices, and short term capital flows.

The NER analyses new data from household surveys in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 to reassess poverty and living standards in Nigeria and concludes that poverty rates in Nigeria are likely significantly lower than previously believed, and progress toward poverty reduction may be stronger.

According to the report, poverty reduction in Nigeria appears to be primarily an urban phenomenon, with poverty rates in rural areas higher, and poverty reduction slower.

While recent panel surveys indicate that the per capita national poverty rate based on the official poverty line may now be as low as 33.1 per cent, a large share of the Nigerian population is still not far above the poverty line, indicating vulnerability.

“The combination of the new GDP and poverty estimates is valuable in giving us what we believe to be a clearer picture of development and poverty reduction in Nigeria,” said John Litwack, Lead Economist and Acting Country Manager of the World Bank.“ Both sets of numbers indicate the prime importance of urban areas for growth and poverty reduction.”

The NER also highlighted continuing differences between Nigeria’s regions in poverty reduction. For instance, the South and North Central regions showed progress in poverty reduction between 2010 and 2013, while the North West witnessed little change, and the North East experienced an increase in the poverty rate along with a general decline in living standards.

“Improvements in public services, key infrastructure to better connect markets, and measures to increase productivity in agriculture could help put Northern regions on a strong path toward poverty reduction”, said Litwack, lead author of the report, whilst also noting the critical role of security.

Chinese commercial vehicles manufacturer, Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile Import & Export Co. Ltd, and its partner in Nigeria, Transit Support Services Limited, have signed an agreement to commence the assembly of various models of Shacman commercial vehicles in Nigeria, starting with heavy duty trucks and tractors.
The partners announced after the agreement signing ceremony in Enugu recently that the CKD production of the vehicles would in three months begin to make use of a section of ANAMMCO assembly facilities in Emene Industrial Estate, Enugu. No fewer than 3, 000 units of Shacman trucks will be produced annually at the plant on contract basis, with the likelihood of raising the output to 4, 000 or even higher, with time.
Commenting on the investment, the Chairman of Transit Support Services, Mr. Frank Nneji, and the Shacman Manager in charge of Africa, Mr Zhong Yi, applauded the Federal Government’s new development policy for the auto sector, stressing that the partnership was fostered to provide for the Nigerian market top quality commercial vehicles that have been accepted in over 80 countries across the world.
Yi stated that Shacman first made a mark as a manufacturer of military off-road vehicles supplied to many countries, including those in Africa, before expanding to heavy duty commercial vehicles which earned it the credit of being China’s bestselling truck brand.
“It is the same technology, the same top quality vehicles that we plan to bring to Nigeria with our partner, TSS,” Yi remarked, stating that about 1, 000 units of Shac-man trucks are already on Nigerian roads and have impressively surpassed their users’ expectations in terms of performance and return on investment.
“So, what we want to do is to localise the production of subsequent units to build on this initial success.” He assured that in committing itself to the production of high standard vehicles, the auto maker would not de-emphasise affordability.
The team from Shacman also included Tracy; the Sales Manager (Nigerian Market), Vincent Jin Xiang Jun; Chief Engineer, Qiang Jian Peng; and Sales Manager, Charles Zhang.

ogbronx: Bloody stupid Russians looking to speed up anarchy in Nigeria only to engage in multi-billion dollars arm deals. Useless pple. Russia has never had any positive contribution to this world.
Their major bizz is arms dealing.

Even before Nigeria rebased its 2013 GDP up 85 percent to $503 billion, we were forewarned that Nigeria’s GDP growth rates would be revised down. The higher base has resulted in lower growth rates, as noted in Yvonne Mhango’s released piece “Nigeria – Growth rates revised lower.

Nigeria has not been growing at around 7 percent and nearly as fast as China – as previous growth data suggested. Instead Nigeria has been growing at very similar rates to those seen in Kenya. This is encouraging for anyone who has been long Safaricom, Equity Bank and KCB – in preference to taking a long position in Nigeria ahead of the presidential elections likely in early 2015.

But what does this do to our Fastest Billion thesis as laid out in 2012? The key point in our thesis was that countries development paths tend to echo what we have seen before. So we assumed that India’s recent growth dip which echoed the slowdown seen in Developing Asia in the 1990s would be reversed.

Fortunately for our thesis – Modi’s election victory in 2014 was indeed the pro-reform response that India needs to get its growth trajectory back on track. On the confusing chart below, that India growth dip of 2012-13 coincides with what might see in SSA around 2032.

We also argued that as SSA was 20 years behind India, so then its growth rate would not equal India’s today – but would equal India’s trajectory 20 years ago. This implied that SSA would grow at 5-6 percent a year through 2010-19. It would rise above 7 percent a year only in the 2020s. Nigeria’s growth revision – now showing growth of around 5-5.5 percent then fits much better within our thesis, than it did previously.

The last point we need to reiterate is that Nigeria is an oil poor country. This is much more evident now that the GDP growth rates have been revised. Its net oil exports per capita are less than Colombia or Ecuador.

Nigeria’s growth is more about manufacturing, cement, construction, retail and banks – and less about oil even though exports and the budget are highly dependent on oil revenues.

Refer to Mhango’s piece:

Last Friday’s first release of Nigeria’s growth rates under the rebased GDP reveal that growth is 2 percentage points (ppts) lower.

An analysis of the growth drivers shows that telecoms is a maturing and slower-growing sector. The growth sectors are manufacturing –particularly food, cement and textile producers – and real estate.

Telecoms maturing; Manufacturing growing strongly, despite power deficit; a country under construction – positive for cement; and upside for finance given lower penetration, lower rates outlook.

Conclusion: The Nigeria growth revision fits with what we think SSA should be recording at this point on the growth trajectory. The big acceleration in growth to 7 percent+ should come in the 2020s across SSA. Note that we do expect Nigeria to out-pace Kenya’s growth in 2014 and 2015, and our bank analysts still favour Nigerian banks today.

Charlie Robertson is the global chief economist, Renaissance Capital