By Lucy Ogalue

Dr Christopher Nwanoro, a disability rights activist, has lauded the Federal Government for its efforts to ensure inclusiveness for the Disability Community in Nigeria.

Nwanoro, also the President, National Disability Empowerment Forum (NADEF), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) stated this when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

He said that the federal government had taken concrete steps toward ensuring that the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) were carried along in its various programmes.

“I must commend the federal government for signing the Violence Against Persons Act and the Disability Commission Act.

“Some states have also signed the Disability Rights Act, which is a right step in the right direction,” he said.

Nwanoro, a candidate for the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), said that there were much still needed to be done to ensure inclusiveness for the Disability Community.

He said that the federal government had made some efforts to create the atmosphere for the PWDs to participate in the electoral processes.

“The government has made efforts to ensure that the PWDs can participate actively in the electoral processes but lack of funding and the the attitudes of some Nigerians have been the major challenge.

“Some Nigerians still don’t believe that the PWDs can participate actively in the electoral processes, win election and occupy political offices, this is a big challenge.

“Some times even women groups take advantage of the PWDs, when it comes to manipulation to achieve their aim.

“But the PWDs are more vulnerable than women and should not be categorised alongside the women,” he said.

Nwanoro added:“ In most cases, I have attended some international programmes where we meet with women and they use PWDs to get what they wanted.

“They will merge it up – affirmative action including women and people with disabilities but when the disabilities come, women take it all.

“So, when we are talking about vulnerability, we are more vulnerable than any other group.

“So we are fighting, trying, talking and reaching out to the government, parliarment and to individuals, organisations and the international community that persons with disabilities should be carried along because they have something to offer.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Ali Baba Inuwa

By Okeoghene Akubuike

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is projected to rise from 3.4 per cent in 2023 to 3.8 per cent in 2024.

Abebe Selassie, Director, African Department, IMF, said this at a news briefing on the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for SSA titled “A Tepid and Pricey Recovery” on Friday in Washington DC.

Selassie said economic recovery was expected to continue beyond 2024, with growth projections reaching 4.0 per cent in 2025.

“After four challenging years and multiple shocks, SSA’s economy appears to be on the mend.

“We expect growth to accelerate to 3.8 per cent from 3.4 per cent last year, after peaking at almost 10 per cent in late 2022.

“We are also seeing inflation having been halved in the early months of this year, thanks to decisive actions by central banks.

“This includes slower food price increases, a positive development in a region where the cost-of-living crisis has been acute in recent years.”

He further said fiscal consolidation efforts were starting to pay off, with the median public debt stabilising at around 60 per cent of Gross Domestic Product(GDP), halting a 10-year upward trend.

“ With global financial conditions easing, a few countries have been able to return to international markets, ending a two-year hiatus.”

The director said though the signs were encouraging, the region was not out of the woods.

Selassie said far too many countries still faced a funding squeeze, adding that their borrowing costs were high and funding sources curtailed.

“Government interest payments now account for about 12 per cent of revenues, more than double the level a decade ago, and official development assistance concessional financing has become much more scarce.

“What does this mean for countries? It means much-needed funds are being diverted from spending on investment development to interest payments, with consequences for the region’s growth potential and its ability to withstand future shocks.”

He said sustaining reforms would be important for macroeconomic conditions to continue to improve.

Selassie said this would ensure that countries in the region could build their resilience to shocks, generate jobs, diversify their economies, and improve living standards.

The director said three policy priorities could help countries in the region adapt to the challenges

“First, to continue to improve public finances, with an emphasis on domestic revenue mobilisation.

“This will help meet the region’s vast development spending needs in the context of scarce concessional financing and high borrowing costs.”

He said the second policy priority was to sustain the focus on reducing inflation wherever inflation remained well above target.

Selassie said the third policy was to implement reforms that enhance skills development, spur innovation, improve the business environment, and promote trade integration to secure more affordable and stable financing.

“But the burden should not just be on countries alone. Support from the international community will remain essential.

“The IMF stands ready to support, having already provided 58 billion dollars in financing to the region since the start of the pandemic.

“Let me conclude by stressing that the region is at a turning point. With the right policy choices, I am very confident that the region will ensure that this will be the African century.”(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

By Martha Agas

A mining engineer, Josiah Stephen, has appealed to the Federal Government to invest in training young professionals in the geosciences sector to become major players in Deep Sea Mining (DSM).

This is to enable them to become major players and contributors to the emerging industry of deep sea mining.

Stephen, who is also a lecturer at the Federal University of Allied Health Sciences (FUAHSE) in Enugu, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

According to him, DSM is the process of extracting mineral resources from the seabed in deep ocean waters.

He explained that DSM, an emerging industry offered many opportunities for economic gain.

He, therefore, urged the government to invest in research and building the technical expertise of geoscientists, particularly the young professionals.

“We can be involved in manpower development and research by trying to train and retrain young people that can be able to be industry players, academicians or technical people within the sector or the industry.

“I will indulge Nigerian government to train young people within that sector and even players that are already in the industry.

“Professionals can also get more professional training within the area of deep-sea mining and actualise our blue economy ambition as a country.

“The critical minerals such as cobalt, copper and lithium, which are essential for transitioning from fossil fuel-dependent energy to sustainable, renewable sources, are found not only on shore but also off shore.

“The critical minerals offshore are usually more concentrated and higher in quality, which is why some developed countries are already investing in them,”he said.

He also said it was a sector that nations such as Norway, India and China were capitalising on to boost their economies and support the energy transition.

Stephen stated that in every sector of the extractive industry, there was always concern for the environment, including compensation to local or host communities and taxes to the government, and the DSM sector was no exception.

He further explained that there would usually be an upheaval regarding legislation and rights to safe-guard, while also protecting the marine and aquatic communities.

The expert said that there have been several conferences and other events that brought together governments, multinationals, academia and other industry stakeholders to deliberate and legislate on the viability and sustainability of the area.

According to him, DSM is here to stay, as many countries and international mining companies have already obtained licenses and approval to begin DSM activities.

NAN reports that proponents of deep-sea mining argue that it can help meet the world`s pressing need for critical minerals, which is likely to continue growing as countries scale up their decarbonisation efforts. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

By Rukayat Moisemhe

Mr Hans Essaadi, Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, has said that the country’s market fundamentals in 2024 remained positive.

Essaadi said this at the Pre-Annual General Meeting news conference organised by the company on Wednesday in Lagos.

He noted that 2023 was characterised with economic volatilities such as Naira scarcity, fuel subsidy removal, foreign exchange crisis, food inflation, and triple beer excise rate announcement among other challenges.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigerian Breweries Plc, is a pioneer brewing company in Nigeria, and has remained in the forefront of brewing business in the country.

Essaadi added that in the year under review, input-costs driven by fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange, impacted consumer disposable income at an accelerated rate.

He, however, noted that the company, in spite of the rocky terrain, remained resilient by consumer driven innovations, reintroduction of affordable brands, efficient cost saving measures.

Essaadi added that the company deployed intentional stakeholder engagement, heightened consumer experiences, prioritised employee engagement and used pricing mechanisms to partly mitigate inflation and high input cost in 2023.

He further said that the company’s resilience was powered by its evergreen strategy for business growth, profitability and its goal to ultimately deliver shareholder value.

“The outlook for market fundamentals remains positive with positive long-term fundamentals such as rising and young population, urbanisation and the largest economy in Africa.

“However, short-term volatility to manage includes devaluation and high Inflation, insecurity, pressure on disposable consumer spending and the Japa syndrome.

“Our 2024 recipe for success is hinged on our strong business recovery plan to continued strong cost management and further optimisation of our operational footprint.

“We would continue to leverage our strong portfolio, exciting innovations, delight our customers with exciting new portfolios, while prioritising our employees, communities and stakeholders,” he said.

Mrs Sade Morgan, Corporate Affairs Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, affirmed the company’s commitment to raising the bar on sustainability and responsibility, with sustainability at the heart of the company’s business.

Morgan said Nigerian Breweries would continue to raise the bar on its “Brew a Better World” agenda, with focus on raising the bar on climate action, accelerating our social sustainability agenda through community impact and addressing harmful use of alcohol.

“We have an N3.6 billion investment in decarbonisation of our footprints and have planted 237,289 trees at Olokomeji forest reserve to restore healthy watersheds.

“Nigerian breweries spent N58 million on addressing harmful use of alcohol by commercial drivers and pregnant women and over 50,000 pregnant women were reached via campaign to discourage alcohol consumption in Abia, Rivers and Oyo States,” she said.

Mr Uaboi Agbebaku, Company Secretary, Nigerian Breweries, said a set of actions for operational efficiency and financial stability, such as the N600 million right issue and cost saving measures amongst others were underway for 2024.

Addressing the temporary suspension of operations in two breweries in Awo-Omamma, Imo State and Kakuri, Kaduna, Agbebaku stated the company’s commitment to robust support for affected employees.

He stated that though operations were suspended, the company would continue to leave a legacy that cared for the host communities.

He added that the company was committed to keeping the number of employees affected by the development to the lowest minimum possible with plans to redistribute many of them to the remaining operating breweries.

“It is a temporary suspension and when the economy recovers, we are willing to reopen operations in the affected areas,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Olawunmi Ashafa

By Rukayat Moisemhe

Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) has announced the 2024 edition of its annual business pitch competition for entrepreneurs, to support their growth and development.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ABH prize competition is a pan-Africa philanthropic initiative sponsored by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy.

Ms Anysie Ishimwe, Community Development and Management Consultant, ABH, at a roadshow in Lagos, said the initiative aim was to spotlight, train and celebrate Africa’s entrepreneurs.

Ishimwe stated that the Nigeria entrepreneurial market was very important to ABH as it strives to enable 100 African Business Heroes inspire millions more entrepreneurs.

She noted that since 2019, each year the ABH prize competition features 10 entrepreneur finalists as they pitch their business to win a share of US$1.5 million in grant money.

“ABH is looking for African entrepreneurial heroes creating an impact in their communities and building a more inclusive economy for the future.

“Africans from all 54 African countries are eligible to apply irrespective of age, industry sector or gender; though applicants have to meet a strict set of criteria,” she said.

Ishimwe stressed that the applicants must be of African origin, with a legally registered African based company, operational for at least three years and has at least three years of revenue history.

She noted that Nigeria stands out as the country with the highest number of entries & beneficiaries in the Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) programme, boasting 9 finalists among the top 10 winners for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023.

“Collectively, these exceptional individuals have secured an impressive sum of over US$1,345,000 (equivalent to over 2.1 billion Nigerian Naira) in grants through ABH, showcasing the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit of Nigeria’s business community.

“Each year, the winner receives $300,000, the 1st runner up gets $250,000, 2nd runner Up gets $150,000 and the 7 other Top 10 finalists each receives $100,000 and the remaining $100,000 is split among all 10 finalists for additional training programmes.

“Applications for the ABH 2024 edition are open since March 4, 2024, until May 19, 2024 and to apply and for more information about ABH 2024, please visit: africabusinessheroes.org/en/register.,” she said.

NAN also reports that some of the Nigerian entrepreneurs beneficiaries include ABH 2023 Winner – Dr Ikpeme Neto Founder & CEO Wellahealth and Dr Tosan Mogbeyiteren, Founder, Black Swan Inc.

Others are Dr Funmi Adewara, Founder, Mobihealth and Dr Chibuzo Opara, Founder, Drugstoc. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Vivian Ihechu