Press focuses on report that only 5% of private sector employees invest in childcare, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that improving access to childcare for working parents will lead to the generation of more revenue by companies and the rise in the percentage of diasporan Nigerians with National Identification Numbers to 25.17 per cent in May 2023.are some of the tending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that a report by the International Finance Company and the Nigerian Exchange Limited has revealed that improving access to childcare for working parents will lead to the generation of more revenue by companies.
The report released on Wednesday said the scope of the study covered six Nigerian states (FCT-Abuja, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Ogun, and Rivers states) across the macro, market, and firm levels including nearly 7,000 stakeholders—6,000 employees, 380 employers, and 350 childcare providers.
The study found large gaps in workplace policies and practices that concern parental leave, workplace flexibility, and access to good quality childcare that is affordable and convenient.
Part of the report said, “Childcare that is affordable, of good quality, and convenient is a game changer for working parents of both genders, but especially for women who are more likely to be limited in their careers if their childcare is inadequate. Childcare can bring peace of mind, and it enables women to enhance productivity. If Nigeria can maximise the achievements of women—both as workers and as leaders—companies will generate more revenue, and the nation will follow. A key part of the solution is tackling Nigeria’s childcare deficit and providing the necessary affordable financing.”
It was revealed that closing these gaps requires the intervention of multiple stakeholders—employers, childcare providers, governments, industry associations, and investors who can tap into a N15tn ($35 billion) market opportunity based on UN Women 2021 data.
The new report, titled ‘Investing in Childcare: A Game Changer for Businesses and the Nigerian Economy, found that only five per cent of Nigeria’s private sector employers invest in childcare despite 67 per cent of working parents reporting that they were more productive at work when they had easier access to childcare.
According to the study, investing in childcare by offering on-site or near-site childcare services, or the financial support to access childcare, presents an opportunity for employers to improve employees’ productivity, reap efficiency improvements, and boost business outcomes.
The newspaper says that the percentage of diasporan Nigerians with National Identification Numbers rose to 25.17 per cent in May 2023.
The National Identity Management Commission has registered 427,962 diasporan Nigerians since it launched its diaspora enrolment exercise in 2019.
There were at least 1.7 million Nigerians living in the diaspora according to the World Bank. The global bank disclosed this in its ‘The World Development Report 2023: Migrants, refugees, and societies’, report.
It said, “At a lower level of income, Nigeria is home to almost 1.3 million immigrants and is the origin for 1.7 million emigrants.”
In its May 27, 2023, update, NIMC revealed that the number of diasporan Nigerians in its database hit 427,962, with 178,799 females and 249,163 males.
When NIMC launched the service, it said the exercise was aimed at capturing Nigerians living outside the country into the National Identity Database, ensuring they benefitted from the owning NINs. Without NINs, diasporan Nigerians could not renew their passports, and enrolment was not free.
The commission said, “Nigerians abroad, however, also have the choice of enrolling for free whenever they travel back to Nigeria, provided they have valid passports.
“Where, however, their passports have expired, they must obtain their NINs as a prerequisite for renewal of their Nigerian international passports or in order to acquire new passports.”
The service is available in 77 foreign countries according to a list on NIMC’s website. 40 of these countries are African, nine are in Asia/Middle East, 23 are in Europe/Oceania, and five are in the American region.
The Guardian reports that the Nigerian Government has approved the ratification of six maritime conventions and protocols that aim to promote a cleaner marine environment, ship-breaking criteria, global standards for fishing crew and response to oil pollution casualties.
The conventions are the Hong Kong International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships 2009, International Convention on Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel (STCW-F) 1995, Protocol Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties (intervention protocol) 1973 and the Protocol on Limitation of Liabilities for Maritime Claims 1996.
Others are the Protocol to the 1974 Athens Convention Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea 2002 as well as the 2005 to the 1988 Protocol to the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf (SUA PROT 2005).
The approval conveyed through the Federal Ministry of Transportation to Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), kick-started Nigeria’s preparation to align with the global maritime community in respect to the protocols and conventions.
Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, commended the Federal Government for the approval and reassured industry players of the agency’s unflinching effort as a designated authority(DA) to draw the gains of the various instruments closer to indigenous investors, professionals and all stakeholders in Nigeria.
Jamoh said the Hong Kong Convention is aimed at ensuring that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their lives, do not pose a risk to human health, safety or the environment.
The newspaper says that the Director-General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said yesterday the international community has a collective responsibility to help members harness the full potential of the digital economy for economic growth, job creation and trade diversification.
She said this at a workshop held under the Work Programme on e-Commerce as a follow-up to the 12th Ministerial Conference’s decision to reinvigorate the programme, particularly regarding its development dimension.
The workshop provided an opportunity for WTO members, including Nigeria, to exchange views with international organisations on cross cutting issues under the work programme identified by members in the past few months.
In particular, the workshop looked at work carried out at the international level on consumer protection, the digital divide, the moratorium on imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions and legal/regulatory frameworks on e-commerce.
Okonjo-Iweala said members were engaging substantively on broad e-commerce-related issues with a development focus and are important to better understand the challenges and opportunities of digital trade.
Noting the dramatic growth in services delivered across borders via digital networks, she estimates that global exports of digitally delivered services grew by 8.1 per cent per year between 2005 and 2022, much higher than the 5.6 per cent growth registered for goods exports.
Highlighting the role of e-commerce in driving growth and trade as well as in creating jobs for women and youths, she stressed that development-related challenges are preventing members from fully maximising the benefits of digital trade.
“Many countries are still lagging due to poor connectivity, outdated physical and digital infrastructure, inadequate digital financial services, deficiencies in digital literacy and skills, weak legal and regulatory frameworks, or any combination of these factors,” she revealed.
GIK/APA