By Favour Nnabugwu

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate re-opening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with neighbouring Niger Republic.

According to a statement issued by his special adviser on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu also directed the immediate lifting of other sanctions against the country.

The statement further explained that the President’s directives were in compliance with the resolution of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government during its last extraordinary meeting in Abuja.

He said: “President Bola Tinubu has directed the opening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with the Republic of Niger and the lifting of other sanctions against the country with immediate effect.

“This directive is in compliance with the decisions of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at its extraordinary summit on February 24, 2024, in Abuja.

“ECOWAS leaders had agreed to lift economic sanctions against the Republic of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.

“The President has directed that the following sanctions imposed on the Republic of Niger be lifted immediately: Closure of land and air borders between Nigeria and Niger Republic, as well as ECOWAS no-fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger Republic.

“Suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between Nigeria and Niger, as well as a freeze of all service transactions, including utility services and electricity to Niger Republic.

“Freeze of assets of the Republic of Niger in ECOWAS Central Banks and freeze of assets of the Republic of Niger, state enterprises, and parastatals in commercial banks.

“Suspension of Niger from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly EBID and BOAD. Travel bans on government officials and their family members.”

President Tinubu has also approved the lifting of financial and economic sanctions against the Republic of Guinea

By Favour Nnabugwu

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) the continent’s leading instrumental infrastructure solutions provider, today announces the appointment of Mr. Emeka Emuwa as Chairman of its Board of Directors.

Mr. Emuwa brings a wealth of experience spread over three decades leading and transforming banking institutions across Africa. After completing a sterling 25-year career with Citibank where he left as the Country Officer and Managing Director of Citibank in Nigeria, he went on to serve as the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank of Nigeria. In this role, he led the bank’s transformation and worked successfully with the new shareholders to transform and restore one of Nigeria’s oldest institutions back to its rightful position as a credible and strong provider of financial services.

Mr. Emuwa’s extensive experience and unwavering dedication to the advancement of Africa make him a valuable asset to AFC at a time when the Corporation is rapidly expanding its operations across the continent and building partnerships through international collaborations.

He has been a part of AFC’s Board since 2015, previously serving as the Chairman of the Board Risk and Investment Committee, and as a member of the Board Nominations and Governance Committee. He is also the Chairman of Tangerine Financial (U.K.), the holding company for a financial services group providing insurance and pensions solutions across the continent. Mr Emuwa is thus well positioned to oversee and guide AFC on its future strategy and growth aspirations.

The Corporation’s mission to accelerate development impact, foster industrialisation, and enhance value capture and retention across the continent through the provision of critical infrastructure, is crucial for African development and prosperity.

Speaking on the appointment, Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of AFC, said: “Mr. Emuwa’s considerable experience, insightful perspectives and immense dedication to Africa’s development seamlessly align with our mission.

We are confident that under his continued guidance, AFC will continue to make significant strides in transforming the continent. He brings a deep understanding of Africa’s financial landscape within a global context, and has a clear vision for enabling AFC to further amplify its impact.”

Mr. Emuwa commented on his appointment, saying: “I am deeply honoured to be appointed Chairman of AFC, an institution that has, over the past 16 years, evolved into the leading infrastructure investor in Africa, delivering transformational projects across pivotal sectors of the economy. I look forward to continuing to work closely with the board, management, and all stakeholders to advance AFC’s mission and strengthen its role as a driving force for economic growth and infrastructure development on the African continent.”

AFC with its partners is the biggest investor in renewable energy in Africa following its recent acquisition of Lekela Power, and leadership of major wind power projects including in Djibouti. The Corporation’s development of special economic zones through its investee company ARISE IIP is helping to diversify the economies of nine countries, building a global manufacturing powerhouse.

AFC was appointed lead developer of the Lobito Corridor and Zambia-Lobito Rail Line, bringing together partners including the US government, the European Union, the African Development Bank and the governments of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.

AFC enjoys an A3 rating (Moody’s) and has successfully raised and mobilised significant amounts of capital from global markets and investors to work alongside African domestic capital to develop the African industrial and infrastructure base.

By Favour Nnabugwu

The federal government has set a target of $33, 000 per capita income by year 2050, from the current level of $3, 500.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, made this known at the opening of the on-going Nigerian Economic Summit today

Ahmed said, “I am pleased to inform you that the draft Nigeria Agenda 2050 is being finalised and will be launched soon.

“The Plan seeks to increase the country’s per capita income to $33,000 by 2050 and place Nigeria amongst the rank of Upper Middle Income Countries.

“The Plan will be implemented by successive governments through Six, 5-Year Medium-Term National Development Plans and Annual Budgets.

“The Nigeria Agenda 2050 has a moral imperative to lower the poverty and unemployment rate significantly as this is the only way we can ensure sustainable broad-based growth”

According to Mrs. Ahmed, the government would renew the social contract with Nigerians and encourage the citizens to pay their taxes to enable government fund Programmes and projects.

She said that the federal government would consciously design Programmes and projects that would attract Diaspora Nigerians to invest at home.

Mrs. Ahmed added that the administration was focused on unlocking the economic potential of the non-oil and high employment generating sectors to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth and development.

Earlier in his address, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, said that the administration was review 18 laws and 10 policies considered as o stacked to the private sector businesses.

The minister said that the National Development Plan 2017-2025 paid particular attention to the diversification of the economy, amongst others.

His words, “The NDP 2021 – 2025 has a unique objective of establishing a strong foundation for a concentric economic diversification, implying that the economy had already been diversified but the focus of the Plan is to deepen the diversification effort within the sectors such that each sector could substantially increase its contribution to GDP and create more jobs.

“The Volume III deals with the legislative imperatives identified as binding constraints to Plan implementation and has identified 18 laws and 10 policies that constrained Plan implementation over the years.

” A Technical Working Team (TWT) comprising the Office of the President on Ease of Doing Business, relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and a renowned legal firm has been set-up to review these laws and policies with a view to enriching Plan implementation.”

In his Keynote address, one of the founding fathers of the NESG, Mr. Paschal Dozie, said that “the Nigeria we need” must be “truly federal”, not just in name but in reality.

He said that there the Exclusive and the Concurrent Lists should be reviewed to enable decentralization of government, with a real federal system, as obtained in other federal governments.

He added that the federal government should de-personalise institutions to make Nigeria more attractive to domestic and international investors.

In his contribution as a panelist, economist and banker, Mr. Atedo Peterside, noted that the nation was being held hostage by what he described as “rigged-properity” by a few elite.

According to him those in that class were less than 1 million people but they have improverished the multitudes of ordinary Nigerians.

Mr. Peterside regretted that based on data released by the National Bureau of statistics (NBS), at the end of 2015, 68 million Nigerians were in full employment but that as at end of 2020 the figure of Nigerians in full employment has fallen to a mere 31 million.

He lamented that very few Nigerians had access to the exchange rate at the official rate and those with such access did not represent the generality of Nigerians.

Mr. Peterside also condemned the fuel subsidy which has continued to put pressure on the nation’s fiscal position.

According to him, those who were involved in the massive oil theft were those in government or their cronies.

He wondered how many Nigerians had.the capacity to bring in ships into the country and load crude oil and take it away from the country, without the government stopping them.