Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012 — 21
Sovereign Wealth Fund ’ll strenghten Nigeria economy —Expert N economist, Mr David Cowan, has said the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) would strengthen the Nigerian economy. Cowan, Managing Director, Citigroup, said this at the Eminent Speakers Series III, organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Abuja. The SWF is supposed to replace the Excess Crude Account (ECA).. The SWF account, opposed by the state governors, is meant to finance infrastructure and provide a stabilisation fund in case oil prices fall. Cowan recalled that the ECA savings grew robustly between 2004 and 2007 and cautioned against depleting the account in the face of global economic uncertainties. “The pressing need is really to get the SWF, that gives you the greater ability, to cushion shocks in case the price of oil declines in the global market,’’ the economist said. He urged economic managers to be conscious of what was happening in the global market, particularly the Euro Zone Debt crisis. Cowan said that the government should ensure strong fiscal policy, fight inflation and ensure enhanced infrastructure in the country. He said that this would bring about more investments and rapid economic growth and development. Commenting on the oil sector as the engine of the economy, he said that the government must ensure the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). He said that the PIB would enhance government revenue and help improve the quantity of exports on daily basis. “The greatest challenge for government, and we hope it is something that it wants to hold high, is to make sure that the PIB is up and running. Nigeria needs to move from being a 2.2 million barrel per day oil
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155.20
-1.45
2,205.00
-21.00
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99.76
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84.35
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CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING CFA KRONER EURO POUNDS RIYAL SDR FRANC DOLLAR WAUA YEN RENMINBI
0.2782 25.9668 192.9771 239.011 41.2852 233.9323 160.6224 154.84 234.1015 1.9506 24.303
0.2882 26.0507 193.6003 239.7828 41.4185 234.6877 161.1411 155.34 234.8575 1.9569 24.3819
0.2982 26.1345 194.2234 240.5546 41.5518 235.4431 161.6598 155.84 235.6134 1.9632 24.4608
CBN Exchange rate as at 12/06/2012 C M Y K
producer to four or three and half million barrels per day oil producer and has to move fast. The challenge really is to get the PIB passed because there is no reason why Nigeria should not produce three and half or four million barrels of oil per day,’’ Cowan said. Dr Kingsley Obiora, Special Assistant to the Economic Adviser to the President, said that SEC had four roles to play for the capital market to boost the economy. He said that the
roles include producing information and allocation of capital; monitoring investments and exerting corporate governance; and mobilising and pooling savings. Earlier, Ms Arumah Oteh, Director General of SEC, said that it was important for the commission to keep tab on developments in the global economy to help it in regulating the capital market. She said that the aim of the series was also to help educate the staff of the commission on
developments in the global economy. “I am really delighted that we can start our SEC learning series. For the work that we do, it is important that we keep in touch with what is happening globally. Everyday, there is news on Europe. I think hearing their experience and how they are tackling their crisis is good for us to learn,” Oteh said. The theme of the Series was “Global Economic Trends and the Impact on Nigerian Capital market.”
From left: Mahmoud Mustafa, Director Finance; Ernest Nwapa, Executive Secretary, both of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB); Omamofe Boyo, Deputy Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc; Patrick Oba, Director Planning Research and Statistics, NCDMB and Bandele Badejo, Chief Executive Officer, Oando Energy Services Limited, during Oando’s courtesy visit to the NCDMB Office, Revenue House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
ILO urges world leaders to eliminate child labour by 2016 HE International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Monday in Geneva called on world leaders to redouble their efforts in eliminating the worst form of child labour by 2016 as endorsed in Hague in 2010. The Director General of ILO, Juan Somavia made this call at the ongoing International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland with the theme “Human Rights and Social Justice: Let’s end child labour ’’. Speaking on the activities of this year ’s Child Labour Day, Somavia said that the decent work for parents and education for children are strategies for eliminating child labour globally. “We call on world leaders to redouble their efforts and move forward with the Roadmap adopted in The Hague in 2010 to eliminate the worst forms of child labour by 2016. Decent work for parents and education for children are indispensable elements of strategies for the elimination of child labour. A large
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gap remains between the ratification of Conventions on child labour and the actions countries take to deal with the problem,’’ he said. The ILO Director General pointed out that about five million children were caught in forced labour, commercial sexual exploitation and debt bondage. “There is no room for complacency when 215 million children are still labouring to survive and more than half of these are exposed to the worst forms of child labour, including slavery and involvement in armed conflict,’’ the director general said. He said the world would not allow the eradication of child labour to slip down the development agenda, adding that all countries should strived to achieve this target, individually and collectively. “The ILO’s child labour Conventions 138 concerning the minimum age for admission to employment and 182 on the worst forms of Child Labour are
among the most widely ratified of all the ILO Conventions. Of the ILO’s 185 member States, 88 per cent have ratified the first and 95.1 per cent the latter. The goal is universal ratification by 2015.’’ He said that the largest gap between commitment and action was in the informal economy where the majority of violations of fundamental labour rights occur. Somavia noted that children in rural areas as well as children of migrant workers and indigenous peoples are most vulnerable to being caught in child labour. He, however, said “The ILO had on record relatively few cases against child labour had reached national courts of law. Sanctions for violations are often too weak to be effective deterrents against the exploitation of children. “This means that the national judicial and law enforcement institutions along with victim protection programmes needed to be strengthened’’.