MTN Foundation unveils new initiative

MTN Foundation (MTNF) has launched a new initiative tagged “#WhatCanWeDoTogether? on its 10th anniversary celebration in an effort to help more Nigerians live a better life.

With the #WhatCanWeDoTogether? Initiative, the Foundation will implement 200 projects in 200 communities across 200 LGAs in Nigeria.

For a project to be done in a community, people in the community are expected to register the community name and their preferred project, guided by the prompts that follow after dialing the specified code.

The Executive Secretary, MTNF, Nonny Ugboma, at the launch of the initiative over the weekend in Lagos said:?”You can change your community for good with your phone  simply by dialing *123*14# or visit http://foundation.mtnonline.com/do-together.

“By partnering with the MTN Foundation, a community of your choice could be a beneficiary of any of 200 projects to be implemented in 200 communities across 200 LGAs in the country. These projects could be any of the following: provision of school furniture, boreholes, transformers or household items for orphanages.”

Ugboma said the initiative is a demonstration of the Foundation’s commitment to continue to compliment government’s efforts in ways that can improve project development in various communities across the country.

Commenting, the Corporate Services Executive of MTN Nigeria, Akinwale Goodluck, based the initiative on the relationship between the company and the country as  ‘relationship is a core value at MTN as a business’.

He said: “MTN and the MTN Foundation uphold the company’s core value of building and sustaining relationships. Looking at what the Foundation has achieved in a decade, relationship plays an integral part in the success story of impact on millions of Nigerians in the areas of Education, Health and Economic Empowerment.”

Goodluck said it is the value and the successes they have achieved so far that inspired them to partner with Nigerians by asking them to nominate any of these four projects: school furniture, boreholes, transformers or household items to orphanages, for their communities.

“Through this nomination a community of your choice could benefit from one of these projects and we are going to implement this in 200 communities,” he said.

Entries for this initiative will end on October 9, 2015.

MTNF has spent over N13 billion over the last decade on 344 project sites across the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

(The Nation)

Ensuring Better Yields Through Fertiliser Control By Ruth Tene Natsa

A major challenge to farmers and the development of agriculture in Nigeria has been the corruption in the seeds and fertiliser sector. But with new policies in place, corrupt dealers and marketers may no longer find it easy as government sets out policies to protect farmers, Ruth Tene Natsa, writes.

In 2013/2014, the former minister of agriculture and rural development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, had said that the massive corruption in the fertiliser and seed sectors was ended within 90 days of his administration.

He said that this was achieved through the elimination of direct procurement and distribution of the products, scrapping of all fertiliser contracts and inputs supply as the scrapping of government monopoly of foundation was seen.

Adesina, who stressed that most of the successes were achieved through direct dealing with farmers and scrapping of middlemen, was optimistic that the nation’s fertiliser system was facing its greatest reforms.

It was not strange to buy fertiliser and find the bag half filled with sand for the price of an original bag. This is in addition to getting soil-unfriendly fertilisers that are more harmful to crops, thereby causing farmers both financial and product losses. In a bid to ensure fertiliser quality control system in Nigeria, the Alliance For a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) to ensure better agricultural yields through quality control.

Speaking at the launch of the AGRA-supported project with the theme “Establishment and Implementation of Fertiliser Quality Control System in Nigeria,” the permanent secretary of the FMARD, Sonny Echono, represented by the director, Farm Input Support Service Department of the ministry, Mr Akinbolawa Osho, said, “Fertiliser is a crucial input in crop production, and its importance in crop productivity, and food security of the country cannot be over emphasised.”

He also disclosed that the legal and regulatory framework for fertiliser quality control would enable the federal government inspectors to undertake periodic quality control at fertiliser production plants, ports of discharge, and market outlets. He said that fertiliser samples would be drawn by inspection officials for laboratory analysis. He said that government has identified some violations in the sub-sector which include plant nutrient deficiencies, misbranding, adulteration, short weight of bags, bagging quality, operating without certificate of registration or with expired certificate of registration.

He, however, condemned the activities of some unscrupulous players who have been ripping farmers off the benefit accruable from their investment in fertiliser. He maintained that the obligation of the government under the policy statement is to ensure and enforce quality control of fertiliser through the establishment of a market-friendly, legal regulatory framework that is adopted and legislated by the ministry.

He said, “The legal and regulatory framework for fertiliser quality control will provide federal government inspectors the power to undertake periodic quality control at the fertiliser production plants, fertiliser samples to be drawn by inspection officials for laboratory analysis, payment of inspection fees, and guidelines for proper labelling,” among others.

Meanwhile, Echono assured that a draft Fertiliser Bill sent by the ministry to the National Assembly had passed the first reading and it’s expected to be passed into law soonest. He maintained that the present administration’s drive in the agriculture sector of the economy is geared towards employment generation, food security, and poverty reduction.

Earlier in her welcome address, the deputy director, Quality Control, FMARD, who is also the project manager, Mrs Chinyere Akudinobi, stated that the project was aimed at developing and implementing a functional fertiliser regulatory system in the country which she said would address the problems of fertiliser quality in Nigeria. Making a presentation on the project, Akudinobi noted that while fertiliser consumption was estimated at about 790,000 metric tonnes (mt) annually, 280,000mt was blended locally while the rest was imported.

“Unfortunately, the use of unwholesome fertilisers contributes to increased land degradation with the consequent widespread soil nutrient mining.

Source: http://leadership.ng/business/461660/ensuring-better-yields-through-fertiliser-control

Govt urged to build cocoa factories

• Deputy Director, Cassava: Adding Value for Africa Project, Dr Adebosola Oladeinde-Opeodu (right) distributing improved cassava cuttings to farmers after a training in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.

The Federal Government should build cocoa factories to address youth unemployment, the Operating Officer (COO), The Centre for Cocoa Development Initiative, Inc, Robo Adhuze, has said.

He said establishing new cocoa processing industries and revamping others would increase economic opportunities through sustainable and competitive cocoa production, marketing and agro-enterprise development.

He  lamented  that cocoa processing has declined substantially, appealing to the government to breathe a new life into the industry by making dedicated attempts to revitalise the processing segment through financial support to  ailing businesses.

He called on the government to create the foundation for a modern, viable cocoa industry that will flourish and attract new investors, enhance rural livelihoods and encourage self-employment, and maximise the country’s opportunity to receive a premium price for the product on the world market.

He urged the government to take steps to boost cocoa production by supporting farms to move from traditional crop growing agriculture to agro-processing.

He added that the level of public sector investment was  low, reflecting that the government is not committed to boosting cocoa production.

He urged the government to support farmers, by providing more access to extension services and training in best practices, adding that it would have an impact on the domestic cocoa industry.

He asked the government to treat cocoa production as national commodity and to develop it to increase the national economic growth.

Meanwhile, participants at the just-international cocoa conference  in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, agreed that if well developed cocoa can bolster the economy, or displace petroleum products as a primary foreign exchange earner.

The event was organised by the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) and World Cocoa Producers Organisation.

CAN President, Sayina Riman, explained that the conference was convened to help critical stakeholders in the industry discuss price risk management project, which had over the years critically impacted against smallholder farmers and other developing economies globally.

Executive Director, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Prof. Malachy Akoroda, said cocoa had great economic potential for the country given the high demand for it around the world.

“Cocoa is number one non-oil export earner for Nigeria even when it is not enjoying desired state support, push and encouragement for local farmers. The product has great hope. There are great demands for cocoa bye products in Western and Eastern countries but capacity to supply is limited,” he said.

Akoroda noted the quality of cocoa produced in Nigeria, saying it is the best globally because of the high-breed species.

He said it had impossible for farmers to plant, nurture and have a high-yield specie in six months, adding that even in 18 months, there could be unimaginable and bounty harvest compared to what can be obtainable with old species.

“Anyone can plan this specie and make real good profit, so that, say, in five years, it is possible for the farmer to make as much as N15 million in profit”, the expert said.

He, however, lamented that pricing had been the major challenge because of factors, such as fertiliser, transportation and politics, in the world market.

Riman said cocoa business could change the economic fortunes of Nigeria, adding that it is more sustainable than oil because there is possibility that oil can dry but cocoa will not.

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/govt-urged-to-build-cocoa-factories/

IFAD Commits $27 Million For Rural Agric Development in Nigeria

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) says it is implementing a seven-year Rural Agriculture Finance Support Programme aimed at reducing poverty in at least 345,000 rural poor households in Nigeria.

The programme focuses mainly on women and youth empowerment through job creation, cooperative lending and other sources that will make them financially stable and secure Nigeria’s future.

IFAD’s Country Programme Manager, Atsuko Toda, who disclosed this at a meeting with the management of Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Micro Finance Bank operators in Kaduna, North West Nigeria, said the programme aims to tackle unemployment and poverty in Nigeria as well as encourage economic growth and development.

She disclosed that IFAD had committed the sum of $27 Million into the project and urged BOA to ensure smooth and transparent implementation of the programme, which has to do with poverty eradication in rural communities.

The Managing Director of BOA, Prof. Danbala Danju, says accessing the loan will be collateral free and attracts only 2.5 percent interest rate. He explained that IFAD’s effort has stepped up advocacy to ensure that agriculture becomes central to the development of the Nigerian economy, adding that BOA has also deployed both funds and manpower to ensure full implementation of the programme.

Prof Danju, who was represented by the Executive Director Finance and Wholesale, Babatunde Igun, also gave reasons on why the programme targets mainly on women.

So far, the programme has commenced in 12 states namely; Adamawa, Benue, Abia, Anambra, Edo, Katsina, Zamfara, Lagos, Imo, Nasarawa, Akwa-Ibom, Bauchi and Oyo.

Source: http://www.channelstv.com/2015/09/19/ifad-commits-27-million-for-rural-agric-development-in-nigeria/

Wal-Mart In Nigeria: A Threat To Economy And Democracy By Alaji Friday

By letting multi brand retail giants like Wal-Mart to directly and indirectly penetrate into the Nigerian retail sector it violates the right of the State to ensure the welfare of the people and strive to minimize the inequalities in income.
Wal-Mart operates under 69 different banners in 27 countries. With 2012 fiscal year sales of approximately $444 billion. From $30,000 in 1962, Wal-Mart’s earnings have touched $ 15.8 billion in 2012. Wherever Wal-Mart enters, it destroys the local economy, ecology and democracy.

Protests had prevented Wal-Mart’s entry into the retail sector in different countries including India, but, in July 2015, it did get a front-door entry for both retail and whole sale through the Lagos state government into Nigeria. Their stores go by the names of Easyday and Best Price Modern Wholesale.
The stakes are high on both sides. For people and the world, it is vital to protect livelihoods and democracy. For Wal-Mart and the US government, Wal-Mart’s profits come before people and democracy.
It is clear that the government is trying to encourage FDI even in the faces of insurgency in the North-East and kidnapping in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country but, the “Walmartization” of the Nigerian economy will send us back to where we are coming from.

Wal-Mart has emerged as one of the largest corporations in the world, and definitely the largest in retail. It started only sixteen years ago. In 1990, Wal-Mart had only nine supercentres. By the end of 2000, it had 888 supercentres in USA, and had become the number one retailer in the country. Today it has become the biggest grocery seller in the world. In the U.S. it controls 16% of the grocery market. In some cities its share is 30%. Wal-Mart now has 3,811 stores in the USA. It has become the largest retailer in Mexico and Canada, the second largest grocery seller in U.K – all in a few years.
All the profits which Wal-Mart has made till now, has been by exploiting their suppliers, workers, communities and the country at large.

Workers in China’s Guangdong province work for 13 to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, with 20 hours shift in peak season. Even though the minimum wages in China is as low as 31 cents an hour, these production workers are paid 13 cents an hour. Workers are accommodated in horrible and unsuitable conditions, charges exorbitant rates for the food and are fired if they are too ill to work. There are no health and safety enforcements in the work units and the workers suffer from repetitive stress disorders. The factories mostly engage young employees and teenage girls. Many of the factories from where Wal-Mart gets its products including food has been declared by the Chinese Government as violating safety Specifications. Wal-Mart gets most of its products from factories in China, where 80% of the 6000 factories that supply to Wal-Mart are located

Nigeria’s retail sector with its overwhelming preponderance of small and self-employed retailers offers livelihood for over 100 million people. These are not just “ordinary” businesses or shops. For every one of them, there are dozens of handcart and table vendors with little more than a pile of vegetables or fruits or garri as their investment for survival.
Wal-Mart and its friends in the Nigerian government are spreading myths that the retail giant’s entry will create 2000 jobs in Lagos and benefit the Nigerian people. I don’t see how this will happen.
Myth 1: Nigeria’s small farmers will earn more?
The Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that the dominance of global supermarkets “has led to consolidated supply chains in which buyers for a handful of giant food processors and retails wield increasing power to set standards, prices and delivery schedules.”
Hyper markets displace diversity, quality and taste and replace it with uniformity, quantity and appearance. As Tobias Reichart reports, “to ensure timely delivery to numerous retail outlets, companies like Wal-Mart prefer to buy large amounts to products meeting uniform standards from a limited number of supplies. The contracts are often designed in a way that allows retailers to place orders on very short notice, refuse products for quality reasons and pay several months after delivery, thereby cap turning value while passing business risks to suppliers and farms”. Big retail goes hand in hand with big agriculture. There is no place for small farmers in a Wal-Mart world
Government Competition Commission Enquiry (India) identified 27 practices by supermarkets that were against the public interest. The Commission also uncovered regular selling by all major retailers below the cost of product, a practice retailers call price flexing. This led to negative margins for suppliers. Average operating margins were 2-4%. As a result of the Wal-Martisation of Indian agriculture more farmers will be driven off the land, or into debt and suicide.
Wal-Martisation of agriculture in Nigeria will create more poverty for our people. It will also impoverished the already poorer sections of the society make poverty a culture in which the real free trade takes place face-to-face on our streets and in our market squares. Box stores and hypermarkets will rob Nigeria of her diversity and decentralized economy, which is the source of our resilience and real wealth of the people at least.
Myth 2: “Localization?”
In an article Wal-Mart’s vision for mostly third world countries published in the Financial Express, 1st June 2007, Raj Jain, President, emerging markets, Wal-Mart has stated:
“One key reason for Wal-Mart’s success is localization. We carry local products from local suppliers that appeal to local tastes, needs and fashions.”
If Wal-Mart was our local neighbourhood store, carrying only locally produced items, it would be different in every region of every country and it would not be a super centre. It would be a separate shop for different things— cloth shop, garri shop, a shop for electrical goods, a shop for vegetables.
A typical Wal-Mart store sells 60,000 different items; a super centre sells 120,000 items. And 80% are sourced from China. Wal-Mart is one of the best beneficiaries of corporate led globalization, and has made communities dependent on supplies from thousands of miles away for everyday items – including the food we eat and the clothes we wear..
The Wal-Mart model is based on the opposite principles to localization. It is based on principles of globalization. The reality has been identified by Charles Fishman in “Wal-Mart Effect”.
“One key reason for Wal-Mart’s success is globalization. They carry global products from global supplies that create global tastes, needs and fashions.”
By being the biggest buyer in most commodities, Wal-Mart determines the fate of producers – whether they will continue to produce and what price they will sell their products at.
As Sherrie Ford, a factory owner and long-time manufacturing management expert has stated:
“Every time you see the Wal-Mart smiley face, whistling and knocking down the prices, somewhere there is a factory worker being kicked in the stomach.”
Myth 3: An ally of small retailers?
Wal-Mart is presenting itself as an ally of the small retailers it will destroy.
“The Joint Venture will sell quality merchandise directly to retailers – big and small stores. The purpose is to establish an efficient supply chain linking farmers and small manufacturers – who have limited infrastructure or distribution strength.”
One would imagine that there are no/few wholesale markets in Nigeria which get farmers produce to the retailers. Our trade network, if well restructured is more sophisticated – more complex, more multi-layered, more efficient than any system that Wal-Mart can introduce. This will destroy millions of livelihoods in wholesale markets. In the market, the retailer can choose to buy from hundreds of traders. With Wal-Mart farmers will have only one buyer and consumers will have only one seller. There is no reason to imagine that Wal-Mart will not destroy Nigeria’s small, independent retail sector as it has done in the USA. A study in the US shows that in the first year of a Wal-Mart store opening, 50 people who had a retail job in the county (locality) had lost their jobs. Three retailers closed within two years of Wal-Mart’s arrival, four closed within five years.. Another study found that Wal-Mart took away 15-30% sales from other supermarkets.
Wal-Mart has been prosecuted several times for predatory pricing behaviour, which is defined as the practise as temporarily lowering prices in order to drive competitors out of business so that prices may be raised afterwards in a competition free environment.
Kenneth E. Stone of Iowa State University has published several studies on Wal-Mart. In 1997, Stone found that small towns lose up to 47 percent of their retail trade after 10 years of Wal-Mart stores nearby. This happens in every country where Wal-Mart enters. Nigeria will be no different.
Let us not fall into the trap of Wal-Mart’s myths. Let us not create a monster for Nigeria’s small producers and retailers.
At a time when movements like “Slow/No Food” are growing worldwide to promote and protect local food cultures and economies, the Nigerian elite and small middle class, if any, are rushing, headlong into an industrial food culture. At a time when the West is recognizing that the Wal-Mart – TESCO model degrades food, culture and employment, and farmers markets are growing everywhere, Nigeria being a huge market on the continent and the world at large is being manipulated by corporations and their allies in the U.S. so that she should become part of the “clone” culture of supermarket chains that Andrew Simms describes so well in his “Tescopoly”. He has called supermarket chains an invasive species (like Lantana and Parthenium) which destroys local ecosystems and local cultures. The Kenyan president recently told his United States counterpart after he asked Kenya to legalize LGBT to give Kenya a hundred and fifty years more. The wisest way to say, leave us alone if you ask me!
Just as we need to protect ourselves from invasive species to protect our biological diversity, we need to protect our food cultures and livelihoods from the invasion of supermarket chains. “Free trade” for Wal-Mart and TESCO is the end of freedom for farmers, hawkers and vendors who constitute a population of more than 30 million in Nigeria. W.T.O. might be dying, but corporate hijack of our livelihoods in food and farming is more intensive than ever. And governments have become instruments and facilitators in the promotion of corporate farming and corporate retail.
Citizens must take the lead in shaping societies that protect the earth, give work to all hands and enrich our communities and societies. Our slogan “Our world is not for sale” must move to every farm and every street in every society. Our freedoms and our very lives are at stake.

Written by Alaji Friday; a graduate of the most famous university in India;
The University of Hyderabad (UoH) and can be reached on alajifriday@gmail.com

Adesina assumes office as 8th President of the African Development Bank Group

“We must light up and power Africa – as a Bank we will launch a new deal on energy for Africa”

Former Nigerian Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina formally assumed office as the 8th elected President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. At a ceremony in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, he took the oath of office administered by Zambia’s Finance Minister and Chair of the Board of Governors, Alexander Chikwanda.

“I, Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, solemnly declare and undertake … that I will abide by the provisions of … the … Bank, and discharge my duties … with loyalty, discretion and conscience.  So help me God,” he swore, to sustained applause by the large audience.

Adesina said that the AfDB had risen to its present level through the efforts of many great men and women, including members of the Board of Governors, the Board of Directors, the past Presidents of the Bank, and the dedication of its staff over 50 years.

“Future generations will look back on your work with respect and admiration. We have a sacred duty to honour your hard work by building upon the solid foundation that you have created.”

Under his presidency, he said, the Bank will expand opportunities and unlock potentials for countries, women, youth, the private sector – and the continent as a whole – with a view to ushering in a new wave of growth and development shared by all. Growth has to be shared, he said. “The sparkle in the eyes of the fortunate few is drowned by the sense of exclusion by the majority. Hundreds of millions of people are left behind. …. Africa can no longer be content with simply managing poverty. For our future and the future of our children, we must eliminate it.

“We must integrate Africa”, he said. “Grow together, develop together. Our collective destiny is tied to breaking down the barriers separating us.

“We will build stronger partnerships for impact – from the private sector, civil society and academic institutions, multilateral and bilateral development agencies. We will advance Africa’s priorities, as envisaged by the Founding Fathers of the Bank. We will be a strong voice for Africa, positioning and building support for Africa in the global environment,” he emphasised.

“We must light up and power Africa”, he said. “Energy is the engine that powers economies.” He promised that the Bank will launch a New Deal on Energy for Africa. “Africa is blessed with limitless potential for solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal energy resources. We must unlock Africa’s energy potential – both conventional and renewable.”

He also stressed the need to develop the private sector to drive the industrialization of the continent, create employment for the young, empower the rural population and women, and lift millions out of poverty.

Adesina made it clear that “Africa must feed itself,” stating that it was inconceivable that a continent with abundant arable land, water, diverse agro-ecological richness and sunshine should be a net food-importing region. Africa has 65% of all the arable land left in the world, which can help meet the food needs of 9 billion people on the planet by 2050. This is a huge untapped potential, “but Africa cannot eat potential”.

He laid down five priorities that will drive the Bank’s work as it implements its current 2013-2022 Strategy: “Light up and Power Africa. Feed Africa. Integrate Africa. Industrialize Africa. Improve quality of life for the people of Africa.”

“Our Bank staff processes and systems will be shaped to deliver on these critical imperatives. We will become sharply focused on measuring the results of our lending operations on the lives of people. No longer will we judge ourselves simply based on the size of our lending portfolio, but on the strength of Africa’s growth and development and the quality of improvements in the lives of the African people. We will be more than a lending institution. We will build a highly competitive, world-class, knowledge-driven Bank, to provide top-notch policy and advisory services to countries and the private sector. We will become a true development institution with measurable impacts on the lives of Africans,” he said

He ended with a call to action: “Let us rededicate ourselves to a greater Africa. An Africa with prosperous, sustainable and inclusive growth – one that is peaceful, secure and united, regionally integrated and globally competitive. A continent filled with hope, opportunities, liberties and freedom, with shared prosperity for all. An Africa that is open to the world, one that Africans are proud to call home.”

Nigeria’s Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, spoke on the need to consider other paradigms for Africa development, and to focus on good governance, climate change and the empowerment of women.

Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, reminded the audience that the African continent currently faces multiple challenges including security, market volatility, and youth unemployment. He said he was convinced that President Adesina would be able to tackle these challenges, given his experience and proven leadership.

Among those who attended the ceremony were Cape Verde’s former President Pedro Pires, Côte d’Ivoire’s Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan, former Nigerian Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as well as a large delegation of governors, legislators and business-people from Nigeria.

Minister Chikwanda had called the occasion “a historic changing of the guard for the African Development Bank, the pride of Africa.”

Adesina was elected as the 8th President of the AfDB on May 28, 2015. Seven other candidates had also applied for the job. His predecessors are: Donald Kaberuka (Rwanda), 2005-2015; Omar Kabbaj (Morocco), 1995-2005; Babacar N’diaye (Senegal), 1985-1995; Willa Mung’Omba (Zambia), 1980-1985; Kwame Donkor Fordwor (Ghana), 1976-1980; Abdelwahab Labidi (Tunisia, 1970-1976); Mamoun Beheiry (Sudan), 1964-1970.

Source: http://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/article/adesina-assumes-office-as-8th-president-of-the-african-development-bank-group-14632/