Nigeria: Press spotlights 31% jump in food prices, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that Ebonyi and Abia states led as food prices jumped by 31 per cent within in 12 months from July 2022 to July 2023 is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that Ebonyi and Abia states led as food prices jumped by 31 per cent within in 12 months from July 2022 to July 2023.
This is according to an analysis of the ‘Selected Food Price Watch,’ a report published on a monthly basis by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The selected food items include staples such as rice(1kg), beans(1kg), bread (500g), tomatoes, beef, wheat (2kg), garri(1kg) and palm oil (1 bottle).
According to the reports, the highest food price increase was recorded in the price of yam, which jumped by 42 per cent, from N389.75 in July 2022 20 N539.41 in 2023.
This was closely followed by the price of one kilogram of rice, which increased from N467.80 to N653.49 within 12 months.
In the same vein, the price of palm oil went up by 35 per cent, from N890.67 to N1208.62 during the period in review.
Other staple foods which contributed to the food price hike included Garri (1kg), which increased by 33 per cent, from N323.17 to N429.89. 500g of sliced bread also increased from N486.27 to N651.78 (+34 per cent).
The newspaper says that the Nigerian Economic Summit Group has stressed the need for public and private sector stakeholders to promote and ensure human capital development.
According to a statement from the group, doing so was crucial in addressing the challenges of brain drain and unemployment in Nigeria.
In the statement, the Chairperson, NES 29 Central Organising Committee, Amina Maina, stressed the need for the country to find a way to retain its best brains.
She stated that, “Wherever you go around the world, you hear that the best people – whether in education, healthcare, the financial industry or even in infrastructure, are Nigerians. We must find a way to keep and retain our best brains in-country.
“We hope that at NES 29, the private sector community will be able to give us bold ideas, which will be a way of turning things around. From the public sector side, we hope to find a synergy that brings the public and private sectors together to help us reduce our unemployment rate, ensure our youths are gainfully employed and have something to look forward to.
“We desire to use the human capital we are blessed with to put Nigeria back on the trajectory where it should be. We should be able to take our place among the comity of nations because we do have the best and brightest, and with the right system, we can retain them back home.”
The statement added that its upcoming summit would include discussions on the emigration of highly skilled professionals and high levels of youth unemployment.
The Guardian reports that the former President of the All Nigerian-American Congress (ANAC), Amina Temitope Ajayi, has through her firm, Silicon Valley Nigerian Economic Development Inc. (SVNED), attracted over $19.4 billion pledged investment to Nigeria on the sideline of the United National General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
In a joint statement from the partners released yesterday after the signing of the memorandum of understanding, three investors, namely CITCO Global Holdings, Global Expansion AXIATel, and Allen Le & Partners International Vietnam all pledged to invest $5 billion, $3.2 billion, and $11.2 billion respectively in the development of various sectors of Nigeria’s economy.
The sectors include tourism, aviation, technology, telecommunications, agriculture, entertainment, sports and energy industries.
The partnership is projected to also improve the country’s strained economy while creating employment opportunities for the youth.
Speaking about the partnership, Ajayi who is the Chief Executive Officer of SVNED, said the economic summit in New York provided an opportunity to amplify the need for additional support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She said SDG Eight prioritises sustained inclusive and sustainable economic growth as well as productive employment and decent work for all.
“It also speaks to goal nine, which supports the need to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation,” she said.
According to her, the investment also promotes SDG 17, which talks about strengthening the means of implementation and revitalising the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.
Speaking on the investment, the representative of Global Expansion AXIATel, Morgan Martinez, said the firm would be bringing a $3.2 billion investment to Nigeria, while at the same time developing the tourism, aviation, technology, telecommunications, agriculture, entertainment, sports and energy industries.
Also speaking, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Allen Le & Partners International Vietnam, Kingsley Onyeocha, pledged to invest up to $11.2 billion in the areas of eco-friendly transportation including electric vehicle assembly plant and batteries plant, 2:1 solar megawatt agric project, mining and affordable housing projects.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian Government has approved AIM Logistics Limited to operate as an Export Processing Terminal (EPT) to facilitate seamless cargo and logistics trade in the country.
The EPT, which is located on Lagos/Sagamu expressway, received the approval letter signed by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) after an inspection of the facility.
The Managing Director, NPA, Mohammed Bello Koko, said the approval of the terminal is to further support the implementation of the Federal Government’s economic diversification programme aimed at addressing the logistics identified challenges that are inherent in the export supply chain in collaboration with Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and other relevant agencies.
Bello-Koko disclosed that export-processing terminals would serve as pre-gates, especially for agro exports where pre-shipment sorting, stuffing, processing, sealing and certification will be done.
He said the EPTs will reduce the cost to exporters and the time it takes to export these goods out of the country, while also making the process faster and seamless.
The Terminal Manager, AIM Logistics Limited, Jide Adeleye, said the facility boasts of incomparable infrastructure essential in the cargo and logistics enterprise anywhere in the world.
He said the facility, which also compares with the best cargo terminals in Africa, has a plethora of functional trucks to assist its increasing clientele and ensure Nigeria becomes a great nation.
Adeleye thanked NPA for the approval and promised that the terminal would efficiently serve all stakeholders in cargo and logistics trade.
GIK/APA