Nigerian press spotlights 200% rise in price of local rice, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that rising insecurity in the country, import ban and others factors have caused the price of one kilogramme of local rice to rise by 201.52 per cent in seven years is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that rising insecurity in the country, import ban and others factors have caused the price of one kilogramme of local rice to rise by 201.52 per cent in seven years, according to findings by The PUNCH.
This happened despite a multibillion naira funding support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the nation’s rice value chain aimed at boosting production.
Data from the Selected Food Prices Watch Report of the National Bureau of Statistics analysed by The PUNCH showed that the average price of 1kg of local rice rose from N172.74 as of February 2016 to N520.84 as of February 2023.
In 2015, the CBN stopped the importers of rice and 41 other items from accessing foreign exchange at the official window in order to encourage local production.
The Federal Government also banned rice imports across land borders and kept 70 per cent tariffs on imports coming through ports.
In line with these interventions, there seemed to have been an increase in the local production of rice.
The CBN recently unveiled 13 mega rice pyramids in Abuja, purportedly containing over one million bags of rice paddy.
While unveiling the pyramids, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), disclosed that the bags of paddy, when processed and supplied to markets, would drive down the price of the rice.
The newspaper says that the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, on Wednesday, revealed that the country’s major gas exporter – NLNG, was currently not meeting its gas export obligations to customers, not to talk of signing new long-term gas export contracts.
It, however, pointed out that this was basically due to the grave level of insecurity around gas pipelines and wanton vandalism of gas infrastructure, which had crumbled the export of gas.
Nigeria LNG Limited is one of the world’s top 10 suppliers of LNG, and was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company on May 17, 1989, to harness Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources and produce Liquefied Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids for export.
The company is an independent Incorporated Joint Venture owned in the following proportions: Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, 49 per cent; Shell Gas B.V. 25.6 per cent; TotalEnegies Gaz & Electricité Holdings, 15 per cent; and Eni International N.A. N.V. S.àr.l, 10.4 per cent.
Speaking on gas exports, during the last panel session on Wednesday at the ongoing 6th Nigeria International Energy Summit in Abuja, the Managing Director, Nigeria LNG Limited, Dr Philip Mshelbila, explained that Nigeria’s gas supply decline grew worse in the last two years.
He stated that while competing nations such as the United States and Qatar were currently signing long-term contracts for gas exports, Nigeria was under force majeure, as it could not meet its obligations to customers, not to talk of signing new contracts.
“Let me get specific around exports. We started this decline in gas supply, it really got bad within the last two years in particular. During that time we had COVID and we then had Ukraine-Russia crisis.
“Demand has soured to levels we have never seen before. Prices last August were at record never seen before. This was the period we were having the lowest gas supply ever, so we could not be there to play in that market.
The Guardian reports that the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) said the implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) will contribute $4.2 billion to the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), create 600 million jobs and, grow air traffic by 51 per cent in three years with additional 16 million air travellers.
AFCAC further revealed that the implementation of SAATM in Nigeria will scale up the contribution of the aviation sector to GDP from the current 0.5 per cent to one per cent, and also increase air traffic by 54 per cent.
Secretary General of AFCAC, Funke Adeyemi, while speaking at the SAATM Pilot Implementation Project cluster one coalition roadshow, held in Abuja, said that the open market treaty will accelerate air connectivity across Africa.
She stated that the roadshow aimed to bring all stakeholders together in identifying challenges mitigating against air connectivity across the continent and come up with practical solutions to integrate and increase connectivity across Africa.
She mentioned that some of the challenges hindering the smooth take-off of SAATM by States include protectionism, and airline operators wherein the State and the operators unwillingto open up the market owing to competition, she added that competition and connectivity were necessary for the growth of the aviation industry.
Other challenges include restrictions by States, visa accessibility, and late approval for landing, among others.
Adeyemi disclosed that the commission would be going from country to country to address some of the challenges of SAATM, and see how to make a change.
She said the target was to increase fifth freedom penetration from the current 14.5 per cent to 30 per cent by 2025.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, while declaring the roadshow open, assured that the Federal Government would continue to support policies and programmes that would support and project the full implementation of SAATM in Nigeria, saying the air transport market in sub-Saharan Africa presents a strong dichotomy.
He noted that African carriers are dominating international and domestic markets, which are becoming increasingly concentrated.
Ahead of the June 2023 date for removal of fuel subsidy, indigenous technology-powered mobility company, NAIRAXI, has said Nigeria spends over N6 trillion yearly on the policy.
The Chief Executive Officer, Kingsley Eze, while stating its discontinuation is overdue, noted that a lot of benefits await Nigerian once done.
Interacting with the media, yesterday, in Abuja, Eze canvassed digitisation of the nation’s public transportation systems to lessen burdens of the citizens.
He said the country could not afford sustaining the fuel subsidy regime in view of the credit crunch across the globe.
His words: “Liquidity is hard to come by. So, there is no way to sustain the policy. Even if the government wants to fix the refineries with the best intention, they will still be unable to fund the budget. So, when you understand this, they have to treat the immediate cost of that bloated budget, which is the fuel subsidy, that swallows over N6 trillion every year.
“What it means is that if you can save N6 trillion, you can reinvest it to generate a greater good for the populace, because the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international organisations have advised Nigeria to get rid of the fuel subsidy regime.
“From government information, the refineries are being refurbished. Dangote Refinery will also come on stream later this year. But while we are waiting for that to materialise, we have to remove the fuel subsidy for us to move forward as a nation. And that is why I see personally that it can be a blessing if government manages the fuel subsidy removal properly.
“I’m sure we are going to transform developmentally because N6 trillion can build lot of hospitals, roads, revamp dilapidated infrastructure and boost industrialisation in the country.”
GIK/APA