NDLEA joins ‘Enhanced FOI Hall of Shame’ - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has inducted the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) into its “Enhanced Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame”, saying its attitude towards the FOI Act smacked of arrogance and lawlessness as it has consistently refused to comply with the Act, reports NaijaAgroNet.

MRA told NaijaAgroNet through the Programme Director, Mr. Ayode Longe, that it would take legal action against the agency to compel it to comply with its obligations under the Act.

“It is really quite surprising that the NDLEA, an agency established by Law and given specific responsibilities and powers by the same Act of Parliament, would deliberately decide to disregard another Law validly made by the National Assembly, without recognizing that in so doing, it is in fact depriving itself of the moral right and authority to enforce its own enabling law,” he said.

The NDLEAis tasked with coordinating all drug laws and enforcement functions conferred on any person or authority, including Ministers in the Government of the Federation; enhancing the effectiveness of law enforcement to suppress illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; strengthening and enhancing effective legal means for international cooperation in criminal matters for suppressing the international activities of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; and strengthening co-operation with the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the police force, customs agencies, immigration agencies, welfare officials, health officials and other law enforcement agencies in the eradication of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

Noting that these are enormous responsibilities placed on the agency by the same type of instrument that is the foundation of the FOI Act, Mr. Longe contended that by treating the Act with disdain and refusing to implement it, the NDLEA was in effect contesting the authority of the Federal Government, including the National Assembly and the President, to make such a Law in total ignorance of the fact that is own existence and legitimacy is dependent on upholding and vindicating the authority of the Government.

He outlined the failings of the agency regarding the implementation of the FOI Act, observing that in total disregard of the mandatory provisions of section 29 of the Act, the agency had neglected to submit to the Attorney-General of the Federation, seven annual reports on its implementation of the Act and make the reports available to the public by different means, as required by the Act.

According to Mr. Longe, between 2011 and 2019, the NDLEA has submitted only one report to the Attorney-General of the Federation for the year 2012, out of the eight reports that it ought to have submitted as at February 1, 2019.

Besides, he said, although Section 13 of the Act requires every public institution to which it applies to ensure the provision of appropriate training for its officials on the public’s right of access to information and records held by it for the effective implementation of the Act, the NDLEA has, for all the eight years that the Act has been in existence failed to comply with this provision.

Mr. Longe noted that that there is no information on the NDLEA’s website or anywhere else about whom has designated as its FOI Desk Officer, as required by the FOI Act while the list of FOI Desk Officers and their contact details for various federal public institutions, compiled by the Attorney General of the Federation, also does not include any official from the NDLEA.

He said the NDLEA had failed to designate such an FOI Desk Officer despite repeated requests and reminders from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to all public institutions for them to appoint such officials and send their names and contact details to the office.

Mr. Longe explained that there are 16 types of information that section 2(3)(a-f) and (4) of the FOI Act requires every public institution to publish proactively and disseminate widely even without anyone applying for such information. But he said the NDLEA has only published one of these categories of information on its website, leaving 15 others unpublished.

According to him, the only class of records that the NDLEA has proactively published is the descriptions of the agency and its responsibilities, including details of the programmes and functions of each of its directorates as well as the addresses of its commands in the 36 states of the federation.

Mr. Longe stressed that the NDLEA had failed to publish a list of all classes of records under its control;a list of manuals used by its employees; documents containing its substantive rules;a list of materials containing information relating to any grant or contract made by or between the NDLEA and any other public institution or private organization; documents containing information relating to its receipt or expenditure of funds, which are among the categories of information that the FOI requires all public institutions, including the NDLEA, to proactively publish and disseminate widely.

He recalled that on October 2, 2018, the same NDLEA was inducted into MRA’s FOI Hall of Shame for these acts of non-compliance with the FOI Act, noting that the agency had nonetheless made no effort to correct these lapses or take necessary steps to enable it comply with its obligations under the Law.

Isaac Oyimah/editor

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NLNG revolution: Train 7 is real, Train 7 is here says Attah - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) Mr. Tony Attah, has declared that the company's Train 7 is real and is here to behold, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State at the opening ceremony of the 9th Practical Nigerian Content Conference, Tuesday, he said that Train 7, no doubt, will increase NLNG’s production capacity by 35 per cent, generate huge value for the company, shareholders and the country.

Attah also said the project is coming into reality, declared that “Train 7 is real; Train 7 is here. If you come to Bonny Island today, you will see that early site work has commenced and we are 97 per cent prepared, just waiting to take that Final Investment Decision (FID). “

He remarked that the relationship between NLNG and Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on the Train 7 project was that of a partnership for progress.

“We co-created the Nigerian Content Plan, working in harmony with the agency just to understand the interpretation of the law and then co-creating how we comply. Overall, it’s all about consolidation and co-creating the future. I am proud to say in March 2019, we signed off the Nigerian Content Plan for Train 7 project, delivering 100% Nigerian content in construction, production of cables, welding, valves, scaffolding, furniture, painting and medical. It is going to be 55% of in-country engineering and procurement man-hours.”

Attah equally said that the project will generate over 12, 000 direct jobs during construction phase and in the upstream industry, with multiple spin-off effects in other sectors of the economy, increasing the number of jobs that will be generated over a six-year project window. He stated further that the project will help reduce restiveness in the Niger-Delta region by providing jobs, calling for more projects in Nigeria to change the socio-economic narrative in the country.

Making a case for gas development in Nigeria, Attah said “we believe the future is gas; we believe the future is bright for Nigeria. We are a gas country with some oil because in reality, we have more gas. With the energy transition, gas will play more actively and that is why we say let’s focus on gas. But the question is how focused is Nigeria on gas?

“Let’s put this in perspective. Today, Australia has a gas reserve of 125 Trillion cubic feet (Tcf) but has 88 MTPA LNG capacity. Malaysia has 97 Tcf with over 29 MTPA capacity while Indonesia has 103 Tcf with an LNG capacity of 26 MTPA. Nigeria has a gas reserve of 200 Tcf with just 22 MTPA capacity. We have an unproven reserve of 600 Tcf, and if you add that to the proven reserves of 20 Tcf, we have the opportunity to be the fourth in the ranks of gas producing countries.

“In our positioning in the ranks of LNG producing countries, we moved down to 5th position once Australia and the United States of America came online. If we do nothing, we will continue to slide down. We have to focus on development of gas especially in the upstream sector. Nigeria has ridden on the back of oil for over 50 years. We believe it is time to fly on the wings of gas,” he said.

Attah stated that the partnership with NCDMB has produced the very first business to business service level agreement (SLA) to operationalise the Nigerian Content law, adding that other collaborative efforts with NCDMB have led to huge gains for Nigerian Content especially in his Company’s BGT plus project in six of its vessels were replaced in 2017.

He further said that NLNG in this year celebrated 30 years of incorporation and 20 years of reliable and safe production, adding that the history of the company can be told in blocks of 30 which includes 30 years of the company’s founding fathers trying to make the LNG vision come into reality, 30 years of safe operations and the next 30 years which concerns the future of NLNG.

He stated that within those years of operations, NLNG has been able to help reduce gas flaring from 60% to less than 20% moving the country’s ranking in the league of gas flaring countries from second to seventh position. He pointed out that with Train 7, Nigeria’s gas flaring status will be further improved.

The event was attended by executives in the public and the oil and gas sectors, including the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva; NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Wabote; Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Faruk Sa’id; Shell Companies in Nigeria Country Chair and SPDC MD, Osagie Okunbor; Chairman and Managing Director of Mobil Producing Nigeria, Paul McGrath; Managing Director, Eni, Lorenzo Fiorillo; and Deputy Managing Director, Total, Guillaume Dulout, among others.

NLNG is owned by four Shareholders, namely, the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49%), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6%), Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France (15%), and Eni International N.A. N. V. S.àr. l (10.4%).

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Pix: (L-R) GMD, Aiteo Eastern Exploration & Production Co. Ltd., Victor Okoronkwo; Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva; NLNG MD, Tony Attah; Emmanuel Uleh, Head, NC Compliance Assurance & Monitoring, NLNG.

Energy Chambers demands better fiscal terms, incentives to encourage exploration - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The African Energy Chamber has called for sustained fiscal reforms to attract capital and technology into exploration in the continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The chambers in its African Energy Outlook 2020 available to NaijaAgroNet, showed that hundreds of blocks and acreages will be up for grab across Africa, from Senegal to Nigeria to Somalia. Competition will be fierce to attract capital from a diversifying basket of explorers now coming from North America, Europe, Russia, China, India, South East Asia and the Middle East.

In 2019, several African countries revised their legal and fiscal framework to incentivize exploration, as new world-class discoveries were yet again made on the continent. With the signing of no less than 9 PSCs in 2019 following the passing of its brand new Hydrocarbons Code, Gabon has shown that investors are ready to keep betting on Africa providing that the right legislation and framework are put in place.

In its Energy Outlook 2020, the Chamber notably stresses investors’ concerns over uncertain fiscal terms in sub-Saharan Africa, and calls on governments to find better ways to reconcile their expectations of short-term tax gains with the need for sustainable and long-term investment in exploration.

The importance of increasing exploration efforts cannot be under-estimated in Africa. The continent is the world’s hottest exploration frontier, with several discoveries made over the past few years. The world’s largest discovery this year was made off the coast of Mauritania by Kosmos Energy. It adds up to other large discoveries made this year by Noble Energy in Equatorial Guinea, or the Springfield Group in Ghana for instance.

“2020 needs to be a drilling year,” declared Nj Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber and CEO of the Centurion Law Group. “Africa has the highest exploration success rates in the world. In basins like the MSGBC, international explorers like Kosmos Energy have even had a 100 percent success rate from all their exploratory drilling,” he added. “It is up to African governments and legislators to provide the right framework to keep attracting these kind of players ready to take risks and bet on our continent’s potential.”

Promoting and supporting exploration efforts across the continent is a key goal of the Chamber in 2020, as stated in its latest outlook for the sector.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Women, excellent investment as finance leaders urge increased support - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

Leaders from multilateral development banks, financial institutions and the private sector called on peers to dispel myths about women being too “high risk” for financing and offer more financial services for women in business to close the gender finance gap, reports NaijaAgroNet.

“We know that women are a good bet. We know they pay back. We know they run excellent businesses – and yet they are not getting financed,” said Dr Jennifer Blanke, African Development Bank Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development.

An important step is for multilateral development banks to offer credit guarantees to commercial banks to invest in women entrepreneurs, Blanke said.

“We know that if we provide those guarantees, then the banks are going to be lending to a lot more women, and they are going to discover that women are an excellent bet – and are an excellent investment.”

Blanke and other leaders were speaking at the “Using Innovative Financing Mechanisms to Accelerate Finance for Women in Business” plenary panel session at the Global Gender Summit on Tuesday.

The international gathering of gender champions from government, finance institutions, multilateral development banks, civil society and private industry, runs from 25 - 27 November in Kigali, Rwanda.

Panelists acknowledged that strides have been taken to bring gender equity to financing. However, according to World Economic Forum data, at current rates of progress it will take at least 200 years to close the global pay gap between men and women.

Asian Development Bank’s Gender Lead, Sakiko Tanaka, noted this 2019 Global Gender Summit has seen increased awareness of the need for women’s financial inclusion to achieve gender equality.

“There’s more money coming in for gender equality. However, there are still major gaps globally and as well as in each region,” said Tanaka, who also serves as chairperson of the multilateral development bank working group on gender.

Women face unique constraints such as poorer access to collateral and land, running smaller business compared to male entrepreneurs and blurred lines between women’s personal and professional finance spend.

Wendy Teleki, Head of the We-Fi (Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative) Secretariat and the panel moderator, led the six panelists in exploring how financial institutions and multilateral development banks are innovating to expand women’s access to finance. Aside from risk-sharing interventions like credit guarantees to lenders, panelists said increasing women’s financial literacy was also key to closing the gender gap.

“It’s not about corporate social responsibility or charity,” said panelist Barbara Rambousek, Director for Gender and Economic Inclusion at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. “It is about developing that business case and developing a proper set of financial and non-financial services.”

In Africa, 70% of women are excluded financially and there is a $42 billion financing gap between men and women. Yet panelist Solomon Lartey, Managing Director and CEO of Activa International Insurance Ghana sees opportunity, particularly in West Africa, home to what he says is the world’s highest rate of women entrepreneurs.

“To get women where they want to be, we had to walk with them. The first thing is training them [about financial services], then granting them access to legal assistance and to financial education – we have to do all those things,” Lartey said.

The panel also discussed innovations related to financial technology, alternative credit information, and online tools for financial services as a way to grow businesses.

In some developing regions of the world, women face challenges getting basic documents like a birth certificate, required by commercial bank applications.

Tesi Rusagara, the head of Kigali Innovation City, said the more services for documentation and financing tools are brought online, the more value will be created for women.

John Wilson, CEO of Equity Bank, added that it is important to not only use data and technology in financial services, but to also have a physical presence where clients are, to make a human connection.

Uj. N. Dominic/Editor

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Total builds on Brulpadda success, heralds new era for South Africa - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

One of the most important discoveries of the year took place 175km off the southern coast of South Africa where Total has made a gas condensate discovery on the Brulpadda prospects, located on Block 11B/12B in the Outeniqua Basin, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The exploration well encountered 57 metres of net gas condensate play in Lower Cretaceous reservoirs. Following the success of the main objective, the well was deepened to a final depth of 3,633 metres and has also been successful in the Brulpadda-deep prospect.

Speaking at Africa Oil Week last week (Africa-OilWeek.com), Dr Enzo Insalaco, Vice President Exploration Africa at Total explained that South Africa has become an interesting area for exploration. “When you look at the fundamentals, you can see a scenario where there are a number of significant, relatively underexplored basins and many of the play fundamentals are present in these places,” he said. “We see that there's a lot of scope for exploration and significant potential.”

That interest has been illustrated by the recent activity by the industry, which has seen a significant amount of seismic capture and blocks being taken in Namibia and South Africa. “Much of that activity is early-stage, so 2D or 3D,” Insalaco added. “What we will see in the next few years is an uptick in reservoir drilling and exploration. We have a strong position in the oil basin, so we have a couple of blocks in the Orange Basin and in South Africa the 11B/12B block where this discovery was made.”

Opening a new petroleum basin:

For Total, Brulpadda was certainly a high impact well for opening up what they believe is a significant petroleum basin. “It was a very bold technical well,” Insalaco continued. “Many people may not realise that the well was actually drilled on 2D. It is a deep offshore well, so drilling on 2D was a very bold move. But given our understanding of the basin and the innovations we did on the operations, this well could be drilled safely and successfully on 2D.”

“As we know, it was an operational success just as much as a technical success; we drilled the well within budget, within time and in terms of NPT we have about 3% of NPT and 3% waiting on weather. If you consider the conditions, that is fantastic operational performance. We drilled the well to the main reservoir log and then we went down to a deeper reservoir.”

“We did extensive logging records, took samples of fluid, reservoir and source rock. It was a fantastic result in terms of operational performance and data acquisition. It is a gas and condensate and oil discovery, both traces were found. The reservoirs were well-developed with good fluid and reservoir properties. You could not really wish for more information from an exploration well. That data acquisition has really put us in a great position going forward to be able to accelerate the next level and the evaluation.”

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NMA honours Imo Deputy Governor, Irona - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

The Deputy Governor of Imo State, Engr. Gerald Irona has been honoured by the Imo State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) with a meritorious service award, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Deputy Governor gave the charge while speaking at the grand finale of the Association’s 2019 Physician’s Week celebration held in Owerri on Sunday.

Irona, who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant, Media and Communications, Dr. Walter Duru, the Deputy Governor also called on stakeholders to continue to support the administration of Chief Emeka Ihedioha to move the state forward.

He further urged them to take steps to rid the medical profession of quacks.

Earlier in his speech, Imo State Chairman of NMA, Dr. Kyrian Duruewuru commended the Governor Emeka Ihedioha-led administration for his timely resolution of the industrial disagreement between resident Doctors in the state and the state Government, a challenge inherited from the last administration.

He pledged the commitment of the Association to continue to live up to expectations in the discharge of their duties.

Duruewuru also used the occasion to pour encomiums on the Deputy Governor on the leadership role he played in resolving the industrial dispute between resident Doctors and the state government, describing him as a good friend of the Association.

Other beneficiaries of the NMA Meritorious and Distinguished Medical Practitioners Award are: former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission-INEC, Professor Maurice Iwu, Dr. Barthy Okorochukwu, Emeh Chukwuemeka, Dr. Josephat Nnebo and Chief Richards Abarakwe.

The 2019 Physicians’ Week, with the theme “Care of the Unknown Patient: an Overview”, had “curbing the increasing trend of suicide in Nigeria: the role of NMA” and “the Doctor as an Entrepreneur” as sub themes.

High points of the event were presentation of the NMA Meritorious and Distinguished Medical Practitioners Award, special cultural presentations, among others.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Lagos hosts first-ever Trauma confab - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

The first-ever trauma care conference in Nigeria holds in Lagos, Tuesday 19th of November 2019 with the theme "Trauma Care: The Way Forward" reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Director of the convening NGO, Trauma Care International Foundation (TCIF), Dr Deola Philips, said it has become imperative to begin to find ways to address the menace of trauma which has become a public health burden in Nigeria.

Dr Philips said the objective of the conference is to provide a platform for debate and stimulation of inter-disciplinary discussions in the fields of trauma care and emergency response management.

The conference, she said, would provide a platform for policy makers, senior government officials, the academia, media practitioners, corporate organizations, professional associations, scholars and volunteers from various health and trauma-related disciplines to come together and discuss how their various disciplines can collectively contribute towards the development of workable ways to address trauma as an emerging public health challenge in our society.

Also, she said the conference offers a platform for a formal introduction of TCIF to all key stakeholders in Trauma Management in Nigeria and a launch of the TCIF Trauma Stakeholders' Forum.

The main focus of discussion at the conference will include: the National Health Act and its provisions for Emergency Care; Improvements in Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Systems; Delivering Advanced Trauma & Emergency Care in Low-Income Settings; Transforming Health Care in Nigeria through Trauma Network; Building Sustainable Trauma Care Systems in Nigeria and in West Africa; Securing Health Care Financing For Trauma And Emergency Services: National Basic Health Care Provision Fund; and Voluntary Blood Donation as a worthy cause.

She disclosed that the Special Guest of Honour is Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Honourable Minister of Health, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The conference has as its Keynote Speaker, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Chairman Senate Committee on Health under the Distinguished Chairmanship of Prince Julius Adewale Adelusi-Adeluyi, Chairman Juli PLC and former Health Minister.

On-site participation, she said, is strictly by invitation and urged potential participants to register online.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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CS-SUNN decorates Lagos first lady as 'Nutrition Champion' - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

The Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) has decorated the Lagos First Lady and Wife of Executive Governor of the State, Dr. Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu with recognition as the state’s ‘Nutrition Champion,’ reports NaijaAgroNet.

Leading the CS-SUNN’s delegate on the advocacy visit, the Executive Secretary, Mrs. Beatrice Eluaka said the recognition is evidenced on the Lagos First Lady’s firm commitment to the wellbeing of women and children, displayed in several capacities, even as a medical practitioner.

Eluaka urged Mrs. Sanwo-Olu to support the full implementation of the State Multi-sectoral Plan of Action for Nutrition (2019-2023) designed to reduce malnutrition.

According to her, the plan covers six core areas namely, “Food and Nutrition Security, Enhancing Caregiving Capacity, Enhancing the Provision of Quality Health Services, Improving Capacity to Address Food and Nutrition Insecurity, Raising Awareness and Understanding of the Problem of Malnutrition in Nigeria and Resource Allocation for Food and Nutrition Security at all levels.”

The CS-SUNN Executive Secretary tasked Mrs Sanwo-Olu to push for improved supply and demand for Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition interventions/services in the state by facilitating the approval and funding of the Lagos State Multi-sectoral Plan of Action for Nutrition (2019 -2023) by the State Executive Council. She also urged the Lagos First Lady to contribute towards ensuring adequate budgetary allocation and timely release of funds for maternal nutrition and Infant & Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices and interventions, at the state and local government levels.

In her response, the Lagos First Lady, Dr. Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu commended CS-SUNN for making lots of progress in ensuring that the state government develops her state-specific plan and pledged her support for its funding and implementation. “There will be some cash-backings. I will tell the Governor about this plan to be approved as it will help the nutritional status of the people because the governor is concerned. There are also other people in the Council who are interested in the nutritional status of the people especially women even during pregnancy. They will also play a role,” she said.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Solar capacity soars @LAC

NaijaAgroNet: 

The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, could grow their installed solar capacity by a factor of 40 by 2050, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows, reports NaijaAgroNet. 

Annual investments exceeding seven billion would see the region's solar PV capacity rise from 7 gigawatts (GW) today, to more than 280 GW by mid-century. While solar energy remains the highest in Asia, North America and Europe, market growth is set to shift to other regions in the world.

By that time, solar PV would represent the second-largest power source behind wind, generating a quarter of the world’s power, “Future of Solar Photovoltaic” launched today at “Sun World 2019” in Lima finds. In total, global solar power capacity would rise from 480 GW in 2018 to over 8000 GW by 2050, growing by nearly 9 per cent every year.

“Solar PV and other renewables sources represent the most effective and ready solution for addressing growing energy demand and limiting carbon emission at the same time,” said IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera. “Renewables are practical, affordable and climate-safe. They are key to sustainable development, enabling energy access, spurring economic growth, creating employment and improving health. Particularly solar energy is set to become one of the most prominent power sources in 2050. Projected growth rates in markets like Latin America showcase that we can extend the energy transition to all countries. It’s possible.”

If accompanied by sound policies, the transformation driven by renewables such as solar can bring substantial socioeconomic benefits, IRENA’s new report finds. The global solar industry has the potential to employ over 18 million people by 2050, four times more than the 4.4 million jobs today.

Over the last decade, installed capacity of off-grid solar PV has grown more than tenfold, from roughly 0.25 GW in 2008 to almost 3 GW in 2018 around the world. With its modular and flexible nature, solar PV technology can be adapted to a wide range of off-grid applications and to local conditions. Indeed, off-grid solar PV is a key technology for achieving universal electricity access, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Similarly, the deployment of rooftop solar PV systems has increased extensively, which today makes solar PV in some markets more attractive than buying electricity from the grid. The competitiveness of distributed solar power is clearly raising deployment in large markets, including Brazil, China, Germany and Mexico.

Isaac, Oyimah/Editor

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Ghana plans ban on rice importation by 2022 - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

The Republic of Ghana has set a three-year target for the country to put a stop to rice importation, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This was disclosed by the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Kennedy Nyarko Osei.

Osei said Ghana was working round the clock to stop the importation of rice into the county based on recent projections.

The Deputy Minister revealed this in an interview with Kwame Tutu on “Anopa Nkomo” on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7.

Osei, whose position was published on the website of Kingdom FM 107.7, said: “We import billion dollars of rice into the country, but the Agric Ministry, led by Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, is determined that by the end of 2022 we will stop importing rice from other countries based on our projections.

“The two crops we are focusing on are rice and soya; soya because of the poultry industry and rice because of import substitution.”

It will be recalled that Ghana recently put pressure on Nigeria to open its borders for goods from other countries.

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria had ordered the closure of Nigeria’s borders to stem the importation of goods with local substitutes, especially rice.

Reports had it that the Republic of Benin, which does not consume parboiled rice, is the perhaps the largest importer of the rice type through its ports.

The border closure came after years of ban by the Central Bank of Nigeria of access to foreign exchange by importers of 43 prohibited products.

The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, retired Colonel Hameed Ali, said within one week of the closure of Nigeria’s borders, over 500,000 bags of locally manufactured rice that had been lying in warehouses of the producers were sold.

According to available information, rice constitutes 82 per cent Ghana’s import, accounting for $1 billion.

The amount was at almost 2 per cent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product, according to Ghana’s Deputy Trades Minister, Robert Ahomka Lindsay.

Osei told Kingdom FM 107.7 further: “Changing the structure of our economy through diversification and value addition will not happen overnight.

“It remains a major pre-occupation of the government because it is our pathway to reduce dependency, expand the economy, create jobs, increase exports, reduce imports and support the value of our currency.”

It would be recalled that Afriyie-Akoto had told the West African nation of plans to cut food importation through a flagship programme: Planting for Food and Jobs.

The programme is expected to provide farmers fertilizers at low rates to help boost local yield.

The subsidised rate, which is 50 per cent, is catered for by the Government as an incentive to smallholder farmers.

So far, farmers who used to produce three bags of rice per acre in the past, now produce 10 bags.

The ripple effect has led to the creation of more jobs as the need for hired hands in the harvesting and processing of farm produce has spiked.

Jobs created as at 2017 stood at 745,000, which is now improving to 900,000, according to the Minister of Agriculture.

In addition to this, a spinoff of the programme, tagged: “Rearing for food and jobs,” is set to begin.

Isaac John/Editor

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