Category: Industry

A Chieftain of the ruling APC, Mr Austin Oleho, says the victory of Bola Tinubu and Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia will change the economic landscape of the country and promote rapid economic growth.

Oleho said this in his congratulatory message to the President-elect Bola Tinubu and Benue State Governor-elect, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia on their victory at the polls.

He also congratulated the Vice President-elect, Sen. Kashim Shettima, as well as the Benue State Deputy Governor-elect, Dr Sam Ode.

Oleho, who was a major contender in the race for the Benue South Senatorial race under the APC, expressed confidence that Tinubu would waste no time in uniting the nation while giving everyone a sense of belonging.

He described Bola Tinubu as a dogged fighter and democrat who left footprint on the sands of time owing to his antecedents.

The APC chieftain expressed hope that Nigeria would finally see the light at the end of the tunnel as the economic realities being faced by the citizens would become history.

He called on aggrieved parties to close ranks and work with the incoming administration so that the dividends of democracy would be evenly distributed.

Oleho, while extolling the virtues of the Benue State Governor-elect, Alia, noted that “when the righteous are on the throne, the people rejoice”.

He expressed confidence that Alia had the requisite capacity to lead the state out of the present quagmire into an era of rapid economic growth by harnessing the state’s enormous potentials for meaningful development.

He advised the party hierarchy to consolidate on the victory, by carrying everyone along while rewarding those who have contributed immensely to the growth success of the party.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The General-Secretary of the newly inaugurated Nigeria Netball Federation, Esther Aluko has said that the federation would unveil a five-year plan aimed at developing the sport at the grassroots.

Aluko told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, that their major target was to participate at the African Games scheduled for Ghana in 2024.

“The five-year plan will be unveiled in two week’s time and we want to leave a legacy that other federations will emulate,” she said.

Aluko said that the plan when in place would not be administered the way other federations did.

She said that the federation would be administered like a corporate entity because of the experience of the people on board.

The president said the postponement of the African Games by host Ghana, is a blessing in disguise, as it will afford the federation to plan better.

“Netball is an event that will feature at the African Games but the ministry needs to inform the Olympic Committee to register Nigeria for participation.

“Netball has been registered officially at the Corporate Affairs Commission by the Federal Government following the mandate given by the Federal Ministry of Sports.

“So, the Chairman is working on it presently and you know the games would have been held this year but was postponed,“ he said.

Aluko said that when the list of events Nigeria will participate in was submitted, their federation was not on board.

He said that the postponement of the games was an advantage for them as it had afforded them the opportunity to be included in the games.

“Will be granted access because apart from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, any country coming from West Africa will be gladly accepted to be part of it.

“Again, we have been working for years to be part of the Commonwealth Netball and we are hopeful that our country will be included,” Aluko said.

Aluko said: “Netball was in Nigeria in the 60s and 70s and I played the game but because there was no structure and federation to coordinate its activities, it collapsed.

NAN reports that Netball featured at the 21st National Sports Festival in December in Asaba, Delta as a demonstration sport which saw Team Okowa defeat Team Dare by 11-7 points.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The secretary of State for Agriculture and Livestock, João da Cunha, considered today, in Luanda, the need to carry out more detailed studies of the soil to guarantee the suitability of the land available for the National Plan for the Promotion of Grain Production (Planagrão).

Speaking about the land description in the provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul, for the production of maize, rice and soy and other products, he stressed that, of the visited lands, visible observation allowed him to have an idea and to affirm that they are lands with agricultural potential.

João da Cunha said that they are initiating contacts with Agricultural Research Institute, in order to be able to travel to the two provinces and start collecting soil samples from the spots “that have already been identified to carry out the analyses. It is an extremely important step, because human eye is not enough”.

He recalled that it is the responsibility of the governments of the selected provinces (Lundas Norte and Sul, Cuando Cubango and Moxico) to identify, in their respective territories, the land available to be valued and used within the scope of the Planagrão.

“These lands are in provinces where the population density is relatively low and most of all, according to what was confirmed to us by the governors, are free lands, where the State can perfectly use them for the purpose for which it proposes”, he emphasized.

On his turn, the secretary of State for Economy, Ivan dos Santos, reinforced that the spots were identified, with the help of provincial governments and local authorities, as a result of a history of using these lands for the cultivation of selected cereals.

In the Municipality of Lóvua, Province of Lunda Norte (north-east), its history is conducive to the cultivation of corn and soybeans, therefore, provincial governments and local authorities selected these spots.

Regarding conditions for the preparation of a study of the Planagrão’s value chain, he stressed that “there is a need to prepare a study, being a new and challenging plan, but with a lot of opportunity for the private sector”.

“We are on schedule, we believe that we will be able to meet the schedule to ensure that the implementation of the plan has the intended success. In the multisectoral commission, we decided to implement the study, because it is in the State’s interest that our private sector be successful in implementing projects”, he emphasized.

He said that, after identifying the 130,000 hectares available for starting Planagrão in Lunda Norte, and 56,000 hectares in Lunda Sul, the teams are processing all hectares, in terms of land extension, and the access roads to evaluate the effective cost, mainly of the infrastructures.

Approved by Presidential Decree 200/22, of July 22nd, the plan foresees an average annual investment of around US$670 million for the production of wheat, rice, soy and corn grains, among others.

The State will provide kz 2.852 billion (USD5.6 billion) for the programME, with kz 1.6 billion (USD2.9 Million)to finance the private sector, provided by Banco de Desenvolvimento de Angola (BDA) and the Fundo Activo de Capital de Risco, (FACRA) – Venture Capital Active Fund.

The remaining 1.17 billion kwanzas will be channelled towards infrastructure, which includes the demarcation of two million hectares, allotment and access roads to the production areas.

The Planagrão foresees an average annual investment of around US$670 million for the production of wheat, rice, soy and corn grains, among others, and around US$471 million/year for the construction and rehabilitation of support infrastructures to the productive and social sector.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

The improvement of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector in Angola requires an annual investment of about 10 percent of the General State Budget (OGE).

This estimate, which aims at equity and sustainability in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, is expressed in a UNICEF project to which ANGOP had access, whose public presentation is scheduled for March 28 in Luanda, as part of the celebration of the World Water Day.

The draft sets out this estimate based on the “Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), which states that African countries should allocate 3.5% of their Gross Domestic Product to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector to achieve equity and sustainability in these services.

Recommendations

For the efficiency of the ASH, UNICEF recommends that Angola develop and approve a National Strategic Plan for Water Supply and Sanitation, future-oriented financial instruments that ensure the alignment and involvement of stakeholders in decision-making.

To improve the sustainability of the sector, WASH also suggests creating additional sources of finance, including private sector investment, and increasing sanitation standards, coverage and budget.

To increase the effectiveness of public spending in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector, it further advises investing in administrative modernisation and operational digitisation, improved performance monitoring and results-based budgeting, as well as continued accountability and transparency of the national budget.

Obstacles

The project presents obstacles linked to regulation and strategy, precisely the “lack of connection between priorities and financial needs, even though national plans exist” and defined goals are not directed transparently at specific institutions”.

Still on the obstacles linked to regulation and strategy, the project indicates that “future funding is very unpredictable, with no long-term funds for the sector”.

It points to the existence of a clear delimitation of roles, responsibilities and relationships between institutions, as well as the need to create clear and transparent mechanisms for effective coordination and implementation of the sector.

On the other hand, the project, which resulted from an analysis, concluded that the budget for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Angola is mainly made up of “Water Supply”, which in 2022 consumed 73.8% of the total foreseen, and this year it is foreseen 74.1%.

Basic sanitation comes next with 26.2 percent in 2022 and forecasts 25.7 percent for 2023, a significant increase compared to 2021, which was 12 percent.

The budget includes “Water Supply”, “Sewerage”, “Waste Management”, and “Wastewater Management”, however, since 2020, these last two items have not been included in the State Budget.

The money for WASH is mostly administered by the ministerial departments of Environment and Energy and Water.

The annual growth of the Angolan population is estimated at 3% (34 million inhabitants), another detail highlighted in the analysis as a tremendous challenge for water supply, sanitation and hygiene infrastructures throughout the country.

Objectives

The UNICEF project consisted of conducting analysis of the challenges facing the water, sanitation and hygiene sector in Angola through a Public Finance perspective.

It aimed to understand how government funds have been allocated to the sector over the past 10 years to provide a tool to improve budget allocation and a mechanism through which stakeholders in the sector can better understand national spending.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) says it is working with stakeholders to restore power supply to Bwari and environs.

The Management of AEDC, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the power outage, currently being experienced in Bwari and environs, was due to technical fault on the feeder serving the area.

“The management of AEDC wishes to notify its esteemed customers in Abuja, Bwari Town, Ushafa Town, Dutse, Jigo, Kuduru, Kuchiko, Bmuko, Garam, Kogo., Veritas University and environs that the power outage they are currently experiencing is due to a technical fault on the feeder serving their areas.

“All responsible stakeholders are currently working hard to restore the power supply soonest,” it said.

The company said that it regret any inconveniences caused by the outrage.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria