THE GUARDIAN, Wednesday, May 29, 2013
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Business IndustryWatch P50
Energy P55
Tourism as trade driver: A future threatened by low convergence
Govt shuns distribution of abandoned transformers
Again, World Bank tasks Nigeria on human index, economy By Bankole Shakirudeen Adeshina IGERIA’S harsh business N environment and its negative impacts on the socio-economic wellbeing of Nigerians were once again brought to the limelight. But this time around, by a global institution – the World Bank, which lent its voice, admonishing the Federal Government and stakeholders to adopt a more result-driven approach to tackling the challenge. At the inaugural Corporate Leaders breakfast meeting organised by the Nigerian Institute of Management
(NIM) yesterday in Lagos, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of World Bank Group, said the financial institution’s contributions to Nigeria and African countries would have made more impacts, especially on poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and education, had the governments paid better attention on key infrastructures to compliment them. Speaking at the parley, with the theme: the Impact of World Bank/ IFC Initiatives on the Nigerian Business Environment, the Senior Investment Officer,
IFC issued its first local currency bond in Nigeria to enhance financing flexibility and develop the local capital market to enable it efficiently channel long-term funding to the private sector; IFC’s issuance (N8bn) was the first by a non-resident issuer and was 100 per cent oversubscribed, pricing 61bps below comparable NGN treasury. Manufacturing and Services, Africa Department, IFCWorld Bank, Ms. Gravette Brown, lamented that insecurity, epileptic power supply and the deplorable state of the nation’s road networks among others, are,
for instance, deepening the woes and driving businesses in Nigeria elsewhere. These, including the abandonment or marginalisation of the agric sector, difficult or no accessibility to soft loans by entrepreneurs
for SMEs facilitation, according to her, have made Nigeria’s business climate very hostile for investors and subjects millions of Nigerian consumers to over exploitation, due to expensive price of products, a consequence of high cost of production. While stressing that government have demonstrated practical approach and willingness to improve the fortunes of the country, Brown insisted that statistics have shown that there is still a long walk ahead to eradicate poverty, unemployment and illiteracy facing Nigerian citizens. To justify Brown’s submis-
Managing Director Lafarge Cement Wapco Nig Plc, Joseph Hudson(left); Chairman, Olusegun Osunkeye; and Company Secretary, Uzoma Uja, during the yearly general meeting of the company in Lagos yesterday. PHOTO; SUNDAY AKINLOLU
sion, the 2010 report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), released in 2012 showed that 69 percent ( 112.519 million Nigerians) of the country’s total population (163 million) are living in relative poverty conditions The StatisticianGeneral of NBS, Dr. Yemi Kale, had noted that the figure might increase to 71.5 per cent when the 2011 figure is computed, especially if the potential impacts of several anti-poverty and employment generation intervention programmes are factored in. In its 2013 report on countries where businesses do better, Brown said Nigeria’s low ranking was the justification of the challenging business environment that needs urgent attention to fulfil Nigeria’s economic aspirations. In the report, among the ranked 185 countries, Nigeria was rated 119 position. For instance however, Brown said in the last few years, World Bank has invested 4.66billion dollars in key sectors of Nigeria’s economy, saying this including IFC’s 1.4billion dollars comprehensive packages for Power, Transport, SMEs and Agribusiness for the country. The world bank official said her institution’s investment in the country include ‘’seven years US$70 m Convertible Subordinated Loan (IFC- US$47.2m & AMC US$22.8m) issued for business expansion for Diamond Bank in Nigeria ; Equity investment of US$13.3m to strengthen and expand the operational capacity of Leadway Assurance Limited; US$12.5m of convertible debt in Custodian Insurance Company; Equity investment by IFC African, Latin American and
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‘Africa can overcome her infrastructural challenges’ By Adeyemi Adepetun ITH an expectation of about 1.2 billion urban residents by 2050 in Nigeria, South Africa and other parts of the African continent, the need to intensify the continent’s megacities by making infrastructure one of the key strategic priorities has been stressed. According to experts at the Episode 9 of KPMG’s Africa
W
Conversation Series in South Africa, who took a closer look at Prioritising Africa’s Megacities, focusing on the challenges surrounding development of Africa’s next major megacities, identified the importance of addressing these challenges and how to prioritise development to ensure maximum benefits for business and Africa’s growing urban population. Partner at City Insight, Sue
Bannister emphasised the importance of cities, “The world today is about cities. Cities are where it is happening these days. Research show that cities make people smarter and more creative.” A megacity, by definition, houses more than 10 million people a factor that has raised questions in several quarters. “There’s a debate around what constitutes a megacity. Cities are becom-
ing much more complex to manage and they are becoming as prominent and even superseding countries,” said, KPMG Associate Director for Government Advisory Services, Andile Skosana. Bannister believes that we cannot simply look at the numbers to determine whether a city is a megacity. “We have to consider the tone of a city. In many cities, we are not sure how many
people live there.... Although the administrative boundaries may say we have a certain number of people, there are usually many more.” KPMG Africa Head of Infrastructure, DeBuys Scott explained that cities contribute significantly to the economic development of countries. While Africa has massive potential for economic growth, infrastructure chal-
lenges remain a reality. “The gap between where Africa is and where we could be is huge.... Businesses cite road and transport infrastructure challenges as obstacles to functioning properly. Overcoming this will enhance the working environment for business,” Bannister added. Skosana noted that this is
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