The report that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has attributed the high cost of foodstuff in the country to the war-risk insurance premium on Nigerian-bound vessels and cargoes is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has attributed the high cost of foodstuff in the country to the war-risk insurance premium on Nigerian-bound vessels and cargoes.
The Director General, NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, who said this recently in Port-Harcourt, pleaded with major insurance companies around the world to stop the collection of the premium on Nigerian bound vessels and cargoes.
He said that the imposition of the war-risk insurance on all Nigerian-bound cargoes was a deadly blow to the economy as its negative impact on the cost of goods is felt by every Nigerian.
Jamoh said Nigeria has done so much to stamp out piracy on its territorial waters and the Gulf of Guinea, adding that the country deserved the international insurance companies’ consideration on the removal of the war risk insurance from vessels and goods destined for Nigeria.
He further disclosed that since the inception of the deep blue project, Nigeria has maintained a zero pirate attack, noting that the two recent pirate incidents on the country’s waters were unsuccessful.
“Nigeria is an import-dependent country. It is either what we consume is imported or the materials for making them are imported. Therefore, such insurance premium which is a penalty for the insecurity we had then on our waters translated into the high cost of goods in the market. I believe that once it is removed, though it is most difficult for anything that goes up to come down in Nigeria, in this case, competition will definitely force the price of goods down. So, the international community will be reciprocating the achievement Nigeria has recorded in the fight against piracy using the innovative deep blue project. That is the message I am taking to the world,” Jamoh said.
Earlier, the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, affirmed the satisfaction of the Federal Government with the highly improved state of security in the Nigerian territorial waters since the commencement of the deep blue project.
The newspaper says that terminal operators operating in the nation’s maritime sector under the aegis of Seaports Terminal Operators of Nigeria have said that the 2006 port concession has saved Nigeria $16bn in 16 years.
The Chairman of the STOAN, Vicky Haastrup, said this recently while speaking at an event in Lagos.
Haastrup, who was represented at the event by the spokesperson of STOAN, Mr Bolaji Akiola, said that the amount translates to $100m annually.
The Federal Government had embarked on a port reform in 2006, which led to the concession of cargo handling operations at the port to private terminal operators.
According to Haastrup, the exercise has been a huge success and brought tremendous improvements to the country’s port system.
She said, “The port concession programme has reduced the time waited by vessels coming into our ports from an average of 45 days before 2006 to less than three days currently. It has helped in eliminating the notorious congestion surcharge hitherto imposed on the ports by major shipping lines under the aegis of the Europe-West Africa Trade Agreement. The elimination of the port congestion surcharge resulted in saving Nigeria’s trading community about $100m per annum. If you multiply that by the 16 years of port concession that amounts to a savings of more than $1.6bn to date.”
She said that other benefits include the injection of private capital into port development; freeing up government resources for other developmental purposes; elimination of port congestion; modernisation of the ports; improved availability of cargo handling equipment; competition among terminal operators; improved welfare and training of port workers and the institution of a condition of service for dockworkers.
The Guardian reports the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank), yesterday, announced plans to invest up to $100 million for the establishment of quality assurance centres in Nigeria.
Already, the bank has deployed $11 million for the completion of the first African Quality Assurance Centre in Ogun State. President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, who spoke at the unveiling of the facility, yesterday, said the state-of-the-art facility would offer testing, certification, inspection and training services covering agricultural products.
According to Oramah, the project will also support the transformation of the structure of Nigeria and African businesses, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting the nation’ s competitiveness and economic expansion in global market.
He said that the project is the first in a series of quality assurance centres that Afreximbank intends to establish across Africa to support industrialisation by ensuring that African products are manufactured to international standards and enabling them to participate in intra-African and global trade.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, who lauded the Afreximbank for the initiative, said that the project would go a long way at improving quality assurance for domestic consumption.
Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, said the Centre would encourage such policy and give confidence to manufacturers that raw materials from Nigeria are of the highest acceptable quality.
He noted that the Centre would help in job creation, address unemployment challenges and put industrialisation in sound footing.
In his remarks, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, said the opening of the Centre was a significant representation of government’s commitment to diversify the nation’s economy from over-reliance on crude oil.
The governor, while lamenting that intra-Africa trade currently stands at around 14 per cent compared to approximately 60 per cent, 40 per cent and 30 per cent intra-state-regional trade that has been achieved by Europe, North America and ASEAN respectively, said that the commissioning of the Centre was another symbolic representation of the commitment of Afreximbank as a partner in the development agenda in Ogun State.
He said his administration, since inception, had focused on creating an enabling environment through the implementation of various business-friendly reforms like the establishment of the Ogun State Investment Promotion Agency, enactment of the Public Private Partnership Law and the establishment of the Public Private Partnership Office, to provide a robust regulatory framework for private sector engagement.
The newspaper says that African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank), yesterday, announced plans to invest up to $100 million for the establishment of quality assurance centres in Nigeria.
Already, the bank has deployed $11 million for the completion of the first African Quality Assurance Centre in Ogun State. President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, who spoke at the unveiling of the facility, yesterday, said the state-of-the-art facility would offer testing, certification, inspection and training services covering agricultural products.
According to Oramah, the project will also support the transformation of the structure of Nigeria and African businesses, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting the nation’ s competitiveness and economic expansion in global market.
He said that the project is the first in a series of quality assurance centres that Afreximbank intends to establish across Africa to support industrialisation by ensuring that African products are manufactured to international standards and enabling them to participate in intra-African and global trade.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, who lauded the Afreximbank for the initiative, said that the project would go a long way at improving quality assurance for domestic consumption.
Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, said the Centre would encourage such policy and give confidence to manufacturers that raw materials from Nigeria are of the highest acceptable quality.
He noted that the Centre would help in job creation, address unemployment challenges and put industrialisation in sound footing.
In his remarks, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, said the opening of the Centre was a significant representation of government’s commitment to diversify the nation’s economy from over-reliance on crude oil.
The governor, while lamenting that intra-Africa trade currently stands at around 14 per cent compared to approximately 60 per cent, 40 per cent and 30 per cent intra-state-regional trade that has been achieved by Europe, North America and ASEAN respectively, said that the commissioning of the Centre was another symbolic representation of the commitment of Afreximbank as a partner in the development agenda in Ogun State.
GIK/APA