The report that Nigeria and Ethiopia have concluded arrangements to hold a Joint Ministerial Commission meeting in Addis Ababa, next month, where various areas of bilateral relationship and exchange perspectives on a range of international issues of mutual interest will form the crux of discussion is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Guardian reports that Nigeria and Ethiopia have concluded arrangements to hold a Joint Ministerial Commission meeting in Addis Ababa, next month, where various areas of bilateral relationship and exchange perspectives on a range of international issues of mutual interest will form the crux of discussion.
This followed President Muhammadu Buhari’s meeting, yesterday, with Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, who was hosted to a state visit and presidential lunch attended by First Lady of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari and Ethiopian First Lady, Zinash Tayachew, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
During the meeting, the leaders of both countries agreed to take concrete steps to expand bilateral relations in key areas, including economy, trade, science and technology, solid minerals, among others.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Victor Adeleke, spoke to newsmen, explaining the essence of the visit and the burgeoning state of relations between both countries.
He said: ‘’The Ethiopian Prime Minister has always taken Nigeria as one of the pillars in Africa and a strong country in stabilising democracy in Africa.
‘’In the spirit of African brotherhood and seeking African solutions to African problems, President Buhari and the Prime Minister consult from time to time, and this visit is an icing on the cake.
The newspaper says that African Economic Outlook 2022, released by the African Development Bank (AfDB), has projected the average growth rate of Nigeria’s economy this year through to 2023 at 3.2 per cent.
The report, which was released yesterday at the ongoing Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Bank in Accra, Ghana, focuses on the growth prospect of the continent in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change adaptation, energy transition and other structural challenges.
The report unveiled by the President of the Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, his team and Board of Governors, examines the economic outlook at regional level and country-by-country basis.
AfDB’s projection is slightly higher than the 3.11 per cent growth rate of Q1 as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
The report also estimates the inflation rate to remain elevated at 16.9 per cent in the year and stay above the pre-COVID era until next year. Last month, the inflation rate jumped to 16.82 per cent, forcing the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to leave the sidelines and raise the policy rate by 150 basis points on Tuesday.
The report warns that the marginal current account surplus of 0.1 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) could turn to a deficit of 0.2 per cent next year, highlighting insecurity and infrastructure deficiency as major blights on the economy.
The Punch reports that the importation of durum or pasta wheat into Nigeria has continued to skyrocket, rising from N730.9 billion in 2020 to N1.295 trillion in 2021.
The Punch’s calculations from the National Bureau of Statistics Foreign Trade Statistics showed that wheat importation into Africa’s most populous nation rose 77.23 per cent from 2020 to 2021.
Wheat is an important commodity which serves as flour in the production of pasta, bread, noodles, among others.
Economists said the difference in the two years could be attributed to the devaluation of the nation’s currency and insecurity that led to little or no production in the northern Nigeria for a number of years.
Naira devalued by over 15 per cent in the official market and over 20 per cent in the parallel market in the two years, but insurgents and bandits in the north have also sacked farmers of wheat and other crops, leading to supply chain disruptions.
“If you imported with $1m in 2020 and you imported with $1m in 2021, the amount of money would not be the same in naira in the two years due to naira devaluation,” said the Chief Executive Officer of Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf.
He said apart from currency depreciation, the country had not succeeded in growing wheat, noting that the Central Bank of Nigeria was making efforts to bolster the growth of the crop by asking flour millers to invest in backward integration.
“But we have not made much success. Some players acquired massive plots of plans to embark on backward integration but while they were trying to do that, insecurity and community issues started,” Yusuf said.
The Sun says that the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), is optimistic that there are great investment opportunities in Nigeria.
Its Chief Executive, Mrs. Rosie Glazebrook, who is in Nigeria to mobilise the Nigerian business community to attend the forthcoming Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF 2022) talked about energy transition, which is a key area of opportunity for the council to do more work with Nigeria.
Glazebrook, who met with some partners of the council in Nigeria, disclosed that there is a desire to expand their connections in an international context with the help of the council.
“We are an industry body that exists to connect businesses and governments across the 54 Commonwealth countries. We reach out to a huge population across the world. We see a great advantage, we call the Commonwealth advantage through our shared language, legal system, history and longstanding links together. In total, we have about 100 strategic partners of which we have many of them in Nigeria, which is one of the purposes of my visit here. This time we have 15 in Nigeria.
Also, we have 10 hubs around the world, including here in Nigeria where we have representatives and across the world from United Kingdom, Australia, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Malta, Gibraltar, Ghana, etc. So, we have a wide network of hubs that is available for our partners to work with.
Expectations
The purpose of my visit this time is to meet the strategic partners we have in Nigeria. They include Zenith Bank, Dangote Group, African Law Practice NG & Company and the Custodian Investment Plc. Others are Afreximbank, Cititrust Holdings, Lagos Free Zone, LandAfrique Nigeria Limited, Next International Limited, Prime Atlantic, L.A.T Clevenson Group, YOA Insurance Brokers, Leadway Assurance and Novare Equity Partners.
I am pleased to be meeting many of our partners and potential partners. There are a number of businesses being invited to join our network in the meetings I have had since arriving Nigeria to understand our priorities.
The other activities that are helping to achieve these are to raise awareness of CBF 2022 and also to bring some of my understanding to the Nigerian market by listening to some of the needs of our partners who are here. We also have a Nigerian International Advisory Council which constitutes all our partners in Nigeria and I will also be co-chairing the council meeting with our Nigerian Chair, Mr. Olasupo Shasore SAN, Partner, African Law Practice NG & Company.
GIK/APA