APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the Nigerian Government may save about N35tn in fiscal expenditure within the next five years with the commencement of operations at the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals plant dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Punch reports that the Federal Government may save about N35tn in fiscal expenditure within the next five years with the commencement of operations at the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this on Monday during the ceremony to inaugurate the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical facility in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who inaugurated the refinery, which is currently the world’s largest single-train petroleum refiner, said his regime had been deliberate about ensuring public-private partnerships.
He described the refinery as a milestone for the Nigerian economy and a game-changer for the downstream petroleum market in the African continent.
Buhari said, “I recall that just about a year ago, I was here to commission your fertiliser (plant) and had the opportunity to briefly inspect this refinery complex which was under construction. The Group Chairman, Aliko Dangote, assured me that the refinery will be ready for commissioning before the end of my tenure.
“I’m aware that this is not the first time that the Dangote Group under Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s leadership is putting Nigeria on the global map through his bold investments in key industries. This has helped to transform our economy from heavy import dependence to a net exporter in some critical industries including cement and fertiliser.”
At the inauguration, which had in attendance senior government officials from Nigeria and other African countries, Buhari described the refinery as a game-changer, just as the Founder/Chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, declared that the facility would put an end to the inflow of toxic substandard petroleum products into Nigeria.
The newspaper says that the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, has said that almost 30 per cent of Africa’s Foreign Direct Investment ends in Nigeria.
According to him, the Nigeria tech ecosystem has attracted about $4.4bn investment in 2015, 2019 and 2020 commutatively, and ICT contributed about 18.5 per cent to country’s Gross Domestic Product.
Inuwa said this at the Leaders Without Borders Annual Business Summit and International Honours 2023 in London with the theme: “Business Beyond Borders, Global Partnerships and Sustainable Investments”, a global event that brings together business leaders, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders from around the world to promote collaboration and innovation in the business world.
The DG recalled that NITDA as a government agency established in 2001 to help Nigerians in the use of information technology had supported about 753 startups in different ways through training, seed funding and grants.
He added that through the agency’s efforts, 120 million Nigerians currently have access to the internet not just computer.
He noted that the digital economy had created a pathway for emerging technologies, providing opportunities for talented youths in Africa to emerge as global leaders, through harnessing their potential.
According to the NITDA boss, fintech companies in the country are almost twice bigger than its biggest bank.
He claimed that the biggest bank in the country was valued at about $1.6bn, while Flutterwave was almost $3.6bn.
The Guardian reports that the United States President Joe Biden has sent a delegation to attend the swearing in of Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s president.
Tinubu will be sworn in on Monday, May 29, 2023 at Eagle Square in Abuja to succeed outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari.
Biden in a statement by the White House said the US nine-person delegation would be led by Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Marcia L. Fudge.
The US delegation, includes David Greene, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., U.S. Embassy Abuja; Honorable Sydney Kamlager-Dove, United States Representative (D), California; Honorable Marisa Lago, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce; General Michael E. Langley, Commander of U.S. Africa Command; Honorable Enoh T. Ebong, Director, U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
Others are Honorable Mary Catherine Phee, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Honorable Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council and Honorable Monde Muyangwa, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development.
Other world leaders including heads of state, past presidents, diplomats and heads of international organisations are expected to be part of the inauguration.
Former Kenya President, Uhuru Kenyatta, will deliver a lecture titled, ‘Deepening Democracy for Integration and Development’ on Saturday, May 27 before the inauguration on Monday.
The newspaper says that the African Development Bank (AfDB), yesterday, lamented the devastating effects of climate change in several poor African countries, saying the continent would require $2.7 trillion in interventions by 2030 to adapt.
The development bank, which took a swipe at Western countries’ empty promises on climate change financing, said several African countries, for no fault of theirs, would continue to be in dire straits without urgent interventions.
AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, at a media briefing to herald the 2023 yearly general meeting of the bank, in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, said Africa is in a dire situation and choking badly, hence it needs more investments from the public and private sectors.
Adesina noted that Africa, which accounts for just three per cent of the global emission, feels the pinch more in losses of $7 to $15 billion yearly due to climate change, with spiral effects that would swell losses to $50 billion by 2040, at the current trend.
He said: “Africa is being shortchanged by the rest of the world. Africa will need $2.7 trillion by 2030 to finance climate change needs, but it gets a paltry $30 billion in climate financing. Africa needs better support to be able to adapt to climate change that it did not cause.
“For adaptation, it will cost anything between $250 billion to $407 billion in terms of the needs of Africa to be able to adapt to climate change.”
The president, however, regretted that the West’s promises to give another $100 billion are easily made, but routinely not kept.
GIK/APA
Nigerian press zooms in on inauguration of Dangote Refinery, N35tn savings by govt, others
