The Nigerian government projection of $1.9trn to attain net zero by 2060 as part of its support to the global fight against climate change and meeting the country’s Energy Transition Plan is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Punch reports that the Federal Government has said that Nigeria will require $1.9trn or N834trn to attain net zero by 2060 as part of its support to the global fight against climate change and meeting the country’s Energy Transition Plan.
A document on the Energy Transition Plan obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday said Nigeria would require $1.9trn to get to net zero by 2060, including $410bn above projected usual spending, which translates to about $10bn or N4trn annually over the coming decades.
To kick start the implementation of the plan, the Federal Government said Nigeria would raise an initial $10bn support package ahead of the COP27 holding in Egypt, adding that a $23bn investment opportunity had also been identified based on current in-country programmes and projected that were directly related to just the energy transition.
According to the document, there would be incremental investments from 2021 through 2060 to attain the plan.
A breakdown of the required spending by sector shows that $135bn will be spent in the infrastructure sector, while $150bn is to be spent on the power sector. Also, $12bn will be expended on the oil and gas sector; $21bn on industry; $79bn on the cooking sector; and $12bn on the transport sector.
The newspaper says that stock market investors on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited lost N3.28tn of their investment between August 1 and October 31, 2022.
The trading activities, which began with a market capitalisation of N27.163tn in August to close at N23.88tn as of October 31, 2022, shed a 12.09 per cent or N3.28tn in the three months under review.
The breakdown revealed that the stock market in October depreciated by N2.57tn as investors’ aggressive profit-taking in Airtel Africa and Dangote Cement Plc impacted the overall market capitalisation and in September, the market depreciated by N430bn.
The market lost about N283bn in August.
Consequently, the NSE All Share Index, which tracks the general market movement of all listed stocks, shed 12.24 per cent to close on October 31, 2022 at 49,024.16 basis points from 49, 950.32 basis points on August 1, 2022.
Further findings revealed that the stock price of Airtel Africa in three months has depreciated by N630.40 or 33.08 per cent to N1,275.00 per share, from N1,905.40 per share in August, while Dangote Cement stock price dropped to N220.50 per share in October, representing a decline of 16.8 per cent or N44.5 from N265 per share in August.
A capital market analyst, who spoke with The Punch on the bearish performance within the period under review, stated that the capital market would not operate in isolation.
The Punch also reports that the Islamic State West Africa Province has carried out no fewer than 1,480 attacks in the country between July 2009 and August 2022.
Also, about 15,111 victims have died and over 3.2 million Nigerians displaced as a result of the attacks.
These were contained in the Agora Policy report, titled ‘’Understanding and tackling insecurity in Nigeria.”
The report read, “According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, between July 2009 and August 2022, BH/ISWAP carried out 1,480 attacks, resulting in the estimated deaths of 15,111 people and the displacement of over 3.2 million Nigerians (UNHCR Africa).
“At the peak of their activities, BH/ISWAP controlled 26 local government areas in three states in the Northeast: fourteen, seven, and five local government areas in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states, respectively.
“They later extended their activities to parts of Kogi, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Niger, and Sokoto states as well as the FCT where they attacked government installations, worship centres, recreation areas, motor parks and other densely populated areas. “
According to the report, the objective of BH/ISWAP was to topple the current system and establish their own territories governed according to their strict interpretation of Islamic laws.
The report also warned that the pace at which the terrorist group was establishing cells at various locations portends danger to the security architecture of the country.
“The rapid spread of ISWAP cells, if untamed, could give the Islamic State an opportunity to turn Nigeria into the new Syria”, the report stated.
It further said that an estimated 7,500 lives were lost between 2018 and 2021 to bandit attacks while about one million persons had been displaced.
The Guardian says that the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) has expressed optimism about Nigeria’s investment climate amid the harsh operating conditions for businesses in the country.
The Trade Commissioner and Managing Director, JETRO Lagos, Taninami Takuma, explained that Nigeria is a big market to ignore, maintaining that more Japanese companies are looking forward to investing in the country.
Takuma stated this on the sidelines of the Lagos International Trade Fair opening ceremony at the weekend.
He, however, tasked the federal government to urgently address the nation’s infrastructure challenges, while also calling on the need to make foreign exchange accessible for the business community.
He noted that Nigeria is not an easy market because of the lack of infrastructure and insecurity in the country which he said is increasing the cost of doing business in the country.
“The situation is getting better and we know Nigeria is not a market you can ignore. There are lots of market opportunities in the country because of its huge population. This is one of our missions to promote Japanese businesses in the country,” he said.
“JETRO is well known as the governing body of Japan to promote trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. JETRO Lagos was established in 1955 and for more than 6 decades, we are trying to support various kinds of business between Nigeria and Japan.
According to him, the business relationship between Nigeria and Japan in 2021 witnessed export from Nigeria to Japan hit 760 million dollars, while imports from Japan to Nigeria stood at 287million dollars.
He pointed out that the major commodity of export from Nigeria to Japan is Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which represents about 70 per cent of all exports.
He added that the number of Japanese companies in Nigeria is increasing, saying that the number of Japanese companies has increased from 21 to 45 businesses in 2022.
“It is notable that we recently have several VC funds and startups which are operated by Japanese persons in Nigeria. Nowadays arising innovative startups in Nigeria attract more Japanese business persons to invest and they are getting involved in this sector. Not only for VC funds, but trading houses and manufacturers are seeking opportunities to collaborate with Nigerian startups,” he stated.
GIK/APA