By Yakubu Uba

Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno on Monday signed the state N248 billion 2021 budget into law.

Speaking at the ceremony in Government House, Maiduguri, Zulum charged all government ministries, departments and agencies to comply strictly with the provisions of the budget.

The governor expressed appreciation to the state House of Assembly for the speedy passage of the budget.

Zulum said that his administration would continue to place priority on security, education, healthcare, agriculture and the provision of portable water to the people.

Earlier, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Alhaji Abdulkarim Lawan said that the budget was  raised from N208billion to N248billion to lay foundation for industrial growth in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Zulum had on Dec. 9, presented a budget of N208 billion to the House for approval.

But the lawmakers raised the amount to N248 billion. (NAN)

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sees plenty of downside risks for oil markets in the first half of 2021, Mohammad Barkindo, its Secretary-General said on Sunday.

Barkindo’s remark is coming a day before meeting allies, led by Russia, to discuss output levels for February.

“Amid the hopeful signs, the outlook for the first half of 2021 is very mixed and there are still many downside risks to juggle,’’ he said.

He was speaking at a meeting of experts of OPEC and allies, a group known as OPEC+, according to remarks published by OPEC.

OPEC+ will meet on Monday.

In December, OPEC+ decided to increase production by 0.5 million bpd from January as part of the two million bpd gradual rise this year but some members have questioned the need for a further boost due to spreading coronavirus infections.

“Given fundamentals are weakening, it would be prudent for OPEC+ to hold output steady and there is a preference among some of the biggest producers to hold production flat,’’ said Amrita Sen, co-founder of Energy Aspects think-tank.

OPEC’s leader, Saudi Arabia, has suggested a more cautious approach during previous meetings while OPEC member the United Arab Emirates and non-OPEC Russia have said they prefer a speedier increase.

“Curbs on social and economic activity remain in place in a number of countries, and there is concern about the emergence of a pernicious new strain of the virus,’’ Barkindo remarked.

He said the global economy could strongly rebound in the second half of 2021 but sectors such as travel, tourism, leisure and hospitality could take years to reach pre-virus levels.

OPEC+ was forced to cut production by a record amount in 2020 as global lockdown measures hammered fuel demand.

OPEC+ first cut output by 9.7 million bpd, then eased cuts to 7.7 million and ultimately to 7.2 million from January.

Barkindo said OPEC now expected global oil demand to be led by developing countries and to rise to 95.9 million bpd in 2021, or by 5.9 million bpd from 2020.

This is as the global economy is forecast to grow by 4.4 per cent.

Even though the development of coronavirus vaccines have sparked market optimism, the rise in demand would still fail to bring consumption to pre-pandemic levels of around 100 million bpd.

OPEC’s latest December forecast was lower than the previous forecast of a 6.25 million bpd rise in 2021 because of the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brent oil prices ended 2020 above $50 per barrel – more than a fifth down year-on-year but more than doubling from April’s lows as producers cut output and as the U.S. and the European Union approved trillions in stimulus packages. (Reuters/NAN)

African Union (AU) Chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have congratulated Africans for starting trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Abiy tweeted: “Congratulations to our continent for the beginning of trading under AfCTA. The new frontier for Africa is indeed regional integration, where minds are open to ideas and markets are to trade. Trade defuses the most fraught relations and integrated markets generate prosperity.”

South African President Ramaphosa said: “I wish to congratulate AU member states and state parties to the African Continental Free Trade Area on the historic commencement of trading. The vision of founders of the OAU has come to fruition. The dreams of an economically integrated Africa have finally been realized.”

He stated that the AfCFTA will fundamentally change the economic fortunes of the continent.

Continental trading under the AfCFTA started on 1 January 2021 and this is a historic milestone for Africa to start commercial business within the continent.

Under AfCFTA trading, tariffs on various commodities where rules of origin have been agreed will be drastically reduced and traders of all sizes will have access to a much bigger market than they used to before.

The Agreement establishing the AfCFTA was signed in March 2018 in Kigali Rwanda, following conclusion of the main legal texts.

The AU’s 54 Member States have signed, and 30 countries have deposited their instruments of ratification of the pact with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa.

The main objectives of the AfCFTA are to create a single market for goods and services, facilitate the movement of persons, promote industrial development and sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic growth, and resolve the issue of multiple membership, in accordance with agenda 2063.

It also lays a foundation for the establishment, in future, of a Continental Common Market.

Ramaphosa, in his capacity as outgoing Chairperson of the AU, on Friday addressed a virtual ceremony to mark the official launch of the African free trade area.

He said said the governments of all Member States must promote the inclusion of women and the youth within the African Continental Free Trade Area.

“I appeal to all Member States to spare no effort in creating conducive environments for our youth and women to benefit in the opportunities presented by the ACFTA. Indeed, the focus of our trade agreement should be directed to a larger extent on development and sustaining small and medium enterprises and not only on well established big companies.”

President Ramaphosa called on African countries to prioritise silencing the guns, saying the AfCTA will not succeed amid conflict.

Meanwhile, the South African Trade and Indesidentustry Department has urged the country’s manufacturers and farmers to gear up for new export opportunities.

The Department said South Africa has put in place the legal and administrative processes for preferential trade under the AfCFTA.

The AfCFTA aims to bring together 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc Africa a new opportunity to develop its own value chains. According to the World Bank , it could lift millions of African people out of povery by 2035.

By Kadiri Abdulrahman

An economist, Mr Tope Fasua, has advised the Federal Government to improve on the budgeting system to check deficit financing and make the annual budgets more impactful.

Fasua, who is the founder of Global Analytics Consulting Ltd, a consulting firm gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.

He was speaking against the backdrop of the recently passed 2021 budget.

He suggested that if capital budgets were done on a rolling basis, instead of having them annually, infrastructural development would be sustainable.

He advised the government to cut down on running cost in the bureaucracy to enable the 2021 budget to have optimum impact on the mass of the Nigerian populace.

“Capital budgets should be done on a more sustainable basis instead of annually.

“This way, most of the projects would be completed on schedule.

“Each budgetary allocation should be tied to specific projects before funds are released.

“This would be more impactful than the envelope system whereby ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) gets budgetary to be utilised as they dim fit,’’ he said.

He, however, called for improved funding of the budget to check deficit.

“Funding remains a problem and that is what leads to deficit financing.

“Unfortunately, we have found ourselves in a difficult scenario due to the COVID-19 pandemic and falling crude oil prices and we just have to go borrowing like most other countries in the world.

“Government should ensure that our borrowings are effectively utilised for optimum impact.

“We must continue to remind ourselves that we have a development challenge to defeat.’’

NAN reports that President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2021 budget into law on Dec. 31, 2020.

The National Assembly had earlier passed the budget on Dec. 21, 2020. (NAN)

By Emmanuella Anokam

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) says the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is marking a new dawn in Africa’s drive towards economic integration as it takes off Friday.

Alhaji Al-Mujtaba Abubakar, President, ACCI who made this known on Friday in Abuja, said it would ensure that various recommendations for its implementation would be acted upon.

AfCFTA agreement comes into effect on Friday, Jan. 1, 2021.

According to Abubakar, today marks the realisation of a dream conceived in 1963 during the establishment of Organisation of African Unity, now African Union.

Across African capitals, from East to West and from North to South, the celebration is feverish as Africans today break decades of economic isolation by embracing unhindered trade access and interaction.

The continental trade is targeted at creating collective wealth and listing Africans out of the poverty bracket.

“As a leading Chamber in Nigeria, ACCI is elated to be part of this historic occasion, a process in which we actively participated from the beginning to fruition.

“We want to note that Nigeria has been fervently preparing for this day, especially through the mobilisation and strategic activities of the National Action Committee on readiness for the AfCFTA,’’ he said.

The ACCI president noted that various sub-sectoral groups have worked for months collating, designing and launching various sectoral action plans to put Nigeria’s private sector on a strong footing for the continental programme.

Abubakar affirmed that ACCI was a strong partner all through and set to ensure that various recommendations for accelerated readiness were acted upon.

According to him, Nigeria as the leading economy on the continent has a historic opportunity to deepen her economic reach and depth across Africa, leveraging on her affirmed strengths in services and manufacturing sector.

The president further said that Nigerian firms were already strongly rooted in many African countries.

He added that the new dawn would only enhance rather than diminish Nigeria’s economic influence on the continent.

Abubakar expressed ACCI’s commitment toward continuous mobilisation of her members to tap into the various sectoral action plans to enhance their capacities to trade within the context of the AfCFTA.

He said that ACCI would launch a Monthly AfCFTA Monitoring Review Roundtable to assess development within the free trade process, assess issues of interest and address disputation in the trading process.

The ACCI boss congratulated the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment and the leadership of the Nigerian private sector and identified with fellow Africans on the development.

The AfCFTA was officially launched on March 21, 2018, in Kigali, Rwanda and as of December 2020, 54 AU Member States had signed the AfCFTA agreement.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Muhammadu Buhari signed the agreement establishing the AfCFTA on July 7, 2019.

Buhari, thereafter, immediately directed the constitution of a National Action Committee (NAC) which had coordinated its implementation readiness. (NAN)