Nigeria has the third fastest growing economy in the world

Despite security challenge posed by the Boko Haram sect and other issues, Nigeria's economy recorded an unprecedented growth as it is said to be the third fastest growing economy in the world.

Briefing State House correspondents after yesterday's Federal Executive Council Meeting, Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, who was joined by the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, said the growth in the economy was a clear indication that "there is a lot of confidence in the Nigerian economy."

Ngama, who presented a report on the country's presentation during the recently concluded Islamic Development Bank Congress in Khartoum, Sudan noted that the growth noticed in the non-oil sector was particularly impressive, adding that government would continue to work on improving the economy.

He stated: "Today in council, I presented a report on the presentation made at the 37th Annual General Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank, IDB. The bank has 56 member countries and at annual general meeting, each country is expected to present a report on the economic development in the country. The aim is to educate ourselves about what is happening in our countries.

In the case of Nigeria, our report was actually the best. For the year, for the quarter which ended on 31st December, 2011, only about 46 countries have actually submitted their data and Nigeria was third in terms of GDP growth. We recorded a GDP growth of 7.68 per cent in real terms and this is largely due to growth in the non-oil sector.

"The previous year, 2010, the GDP growth was 8.4 per cent but last year, it dropped to 7.68 per cent because we had a negative growth in the oil sector. So, it means that the non-oil sector is actually resilient and strong enough to carry the economy forward with or without the oil sector.

"This actually placed us as the third fastest growing economy in the world, the first being Mongolia with 14. 9 per cent real growth rate, then China with 8.4 per cent real GDP growth rate followed by Nigeria with 7.68 per cent.

"But the more important story out of it is that as a nation, we have our Vision 202020, we have the objective of having one of the world strongest economies by year 2020.

All the other countries, apart from China, that are ahead of Nigeria are growing at a slower rate than Nigeria. When those ahead of you are growing slower, it means that in the next eight years, we will achieve our objective of being one of the strongest economies in the world. As at last December, our total GDP was more that N10 trillion and that is a growth that is unprecedented despite our challenges."

Explaining how this growth has impacted on the lives of the ordinary Nigerian people, the minister said the "standard of living has improved in Nigeria as a result of this growth. As at December, 2011, our income per capita grew from $1200 to $1400 and this actually moved us from low income countries to middle lower income countries per World Bank classification."

Decisions taken

Other decisions taken by the council at its meeting, according to the Minister of Information, were the directive by President Goodluck Jonathan to all Ministries, Agencies and Departments to list items that they would be procuring this year and sort out those that should be sourced locally. Council also requested the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to begin the process of producing new voters' cards.

Maku said the "the President directed that all procurements must first focus on made in Nigeria goods, that all items that are produced locally must first be considered in the public procurement exercise at least at the federal level. This is to encourage local producers and to also encourage the creation of jobs within the economy for the unemployed and school leavers.

"The President noted in council today (yesterday) that in spite of this directive, MDAs were yet to fully implement it. So he asked all MDAs as we prepare for the 2012 budget year, to list in our procurement plans those things that should be procured locally. This is to ensure that we encourage local producers and also encourage domestic economic growth.

"He also directed the Minister of Trade and Investment to prepare a plan for those items, good and services, which we have the local capacity to produce but which we are lagging behind. This will enable the government, through the economic management team, to sort out those items that we must deliberately set out to encourage local producers to produce within the country."

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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala appointed by UN to address child malnutrion

Ahead of knowing whether she will head the World Bank, the coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was yesterday appointed by the UN Secretary-General, along with 26 other global leaders, to head a worldwide effort to address child malnutrition.

According to an announcement from the United Nation's Department of Public Information yesterday, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon appointed 27 individuals who included some heads of state and other reputable individuals to focus on improving nutrition as key to progress in health and development.

The group is to represent the many countries, organizations and sectors working to improve nutrition, and serve as strategic guides for the global movement, Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN), which is committed to advancing the strength and security of nations by improving maternal and child nutrition. SUN is a global push for action and investment to improve maternal and child nutrition.

"Never before have so many leaders, from so many countries and fields, agreed to work together to improve nutrition," said Secretary-General Ki-moon, as he explained that "the SUN movement gives all of us, including the UN, an opportunity to support countries in their efforts to end hunger and malnutrition."

Okonjo-Iweala will be joining the lead group which includes heads of state from countries that have prioritized efforts to scale up nutrition, as well as representatives of the donor, civil society, business and UN system organizations that are aligning resources to help SUN countries drive progress.

The group's role is to ensure that the countries at the heart of the movement are supported as they work to create tangible and sustainable improvements in nutrition. In addition to providing strategic oversight, the group will help to mobilize support and strengthen both coordination and accountability within the movement.

Twenty-seven countries have so far signed up to the SUN movement and, according to the UN, more countries are set to join in the coming months.

SUN helps governments, civil society, businesses, development agencies, international organizations and foundations to synergize their support to communities as they reduce malnutrition - and demonstrate their results.

"This is a historic moment for nutrition," said David Nabarro, Coordinator of the SUN Movement."Today a group of world leaders pledges to work together to improve the nutrition of the world's poorest and most vulnerable children. Their two-year commitment to SUN illustrates the urgency and priority that these leaders place on alleviating malnutrition, as well as a recognition of the incredible impact that improved nutrition could have on the future of both individuals and nations."

Others appointed alongside Okonjo-Iweala to head the SUN project include Armando Emílio Guebuza, President of Mozambique, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of Tanzania, Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh; Nahas Angula, Prime Minister of Namibia; Babu Ram Bhattarai, Prime Minister of Nepal; Nina Sardjunani, Deputy Minister of Development Planning of Indonesia; Nadine Heredia, First Lady of Per and Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of NEPAD Civil Society Organizations.

Daily Trust

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Violence spreads in Nigeria after deadly Easter Sunday car bomb explosion

Suspected members of Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram have killed four people and a large undetonated bomb was found in Kano on Monday, authorities said, a day after at least 36 people were killed in a car bomb near a church in northern Kaduna.

Police said they found a car filled with explosives near a military checkpoint in Kano, Nigeria's second largest city and the scene of Boko Haram's most deadly strike - a coordinated attack in January that killed 178 people.

On Easter Sunday a man attempted to force a car packed with explosives into a church compound during a service but after being stopped by security he turned back and the bomb exploded by a large group of motorbike taxi riders, the police and witnesses said.

Hospital staff and a Red Cross official confirmed the death toll and said 13 people were critically wounded.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the apparent targeting of a Christian place of worship will stir memories of a string of deadly assaults by Boko Haram on Christmas Day last year, including one at a church that killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 50.

The military in Maiduguri, capital of remote Borno state and the home base of Boko Haram, said the sect attacked several targets, including a bank and a police station on Monday.

"The former chairman of Dikwa, a police sergeant and a civilian were killed by BH... three BH were killed by (military) and many others escaped with bullet wounds," said Sagir Musa, military spokesman in Maiduguri.

Musa said the military found shotguns, AK47s, a bullet proof jacket and a van being used by Boko Haram members.

In neighboring Yobe state, suspected members of Boko Haram on Sunday stormed the home of local policeman Hassan Isa and shot dead his 6-year old daughter, injuring two of Isa's other children, a police spokesman there said.

Boko Haram, which wants sharia, Islamic law, more widely applied across Africa's most populous nation, has killed hundreds this year in gun and bomb attacks, the majority of which take place in its home base of Borno and neighboring states.

Reuters

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Nigeria has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world

The global average corporate tax shows that Nigeria still has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) Engineer Mustafa Bello has said.

The Executive Secretary made the remarks in Abuja while presenting a paper on "Sector-specific incentives policy for Nigeria: Manufacturing investments incentives," at the launching of investments profiles on automotive components by the National Automotive Council (NAC).

He said that the global average corporate tax rate is about 25.51 per cent while Nigeria's average rate is about 30 per cent.

He explained that global average indirect tax rate has moved very little in the past six years, remaining within 15.2 per cent to 15.85 per cent range, adding that the Asia Pacific operates the lowest Value Added Tax system of between 3 to 5 per cent.

The former Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Ifueko Omoigui Okauru has said that despite the reforms in the country's tax system, it's not yet "uhuru" as there is still much to be done.

"It takes time to achieve success. It is like building a foundation, we are still very far," she said.

The NIPC Executive Secretary said that the investment policy environment in Nigeria is characterized by multiplicity of taxes by different ties of government, unpredictability, high operational and entry cost, bureaucratic bottleneck among others.

He said that in ease of doing business, Nigeria was ranked 16 out of 183 countries in Africa in 2010, 15 in 2011 and also 15 in 2012. In the world, Nigeria was ranked 134 in 2010,133 in 2011 and 133 in 2012.

In global competitiveness index, Nigeria was ranked 127 out of 142 countries in 2011/2012, 127 out of 139 in 2010/2011, 99 out of 133 in 2009/2010 and 94 out of 134 in 2008/2009.

Engineer Bello said the objectives of the sector-specific incentives policy is to among other things institute a stable and conducive investment climate, simplify procedures and bring down transaction cost while instituting predictable policy environment by eliminating distortions.

Daily Trust

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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to face World Bank panel today

Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is in the race for the World Bank Presidency, will face the panel of interviewers at the bank’s headquarters in Washington DC Monday.

She is in the race with Colombian national and professor at Columbia University, Jose Antonio Ocampo, who will take his turn tomorrow and Dr. Jim Yong Kim - a Korean-American Physician, nominated by the United States - whose interview session has been scheduled for Wednesday.

A presidency source who disclosed this to THISDAY said given the torrent of support that had poured in for  Okonjo-Iweala, she had been encouraged to move on  and had vowed to fight to the end.

The source said: “This is a historic battle because this is the first time in over six decades, American domination is being challenged and the developing world is being considered and supported by the leading light of the western world.”

Okonjo-Iweala has been widely acclaimed to be the most qualified candidate for the multilateral development institution’s top position and has been endorsed by various globally respected newspapers.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Sunday charged Nigerian envoys in various countries across the world to build diplomatic support for Okonjo-Iweala.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Hon. Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, said that as representatives of the government and people of Nigeria abroad, the envoys have a duty to intensify the lobby for Okonjo-Iweala to get the highly rated job at the World Bank.

Elendu-Ukeje told journalists that part of the reason Nigeria established diplomatic missions in several countries was to use them to constructively engage them in furtherance of Nigeria's economic and political interests.

According to her, diplomatic postings were meant to select the best hands that could use the diplomatic platform to advance the aspirations of Nigeria on a number of issues including Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).

"One of our aspirations within Nigeria today is to see one of ours heading the World Bank and I believe that since it is something that goes with horse trading, with a lot of countries, we will need to get across to other countries and rally support for her.

“I know that Africa has already endorsed her but of course we only have 19 votes as a continent. I know that we have missions in many countries and I believe Nigerian missions abroad would do their best in this regard,” she said.

The three-way fight between Okonjo-Iweala, Ocampo and Kim, is attracting increasingly passionate comment from candidates' supporters.

It has also shone a light on the way the World Bank chooses its head.

The US, which is the bank's largest shareholder, has always picked the bank's president.

The country, Europe and Japan have 54 per cent of the votes.

Under an informal arrangement, in return, Europe appoints a European as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a sister Bretton Woods institution. It is currently run by Frenchwoman, Christine Lagarde.

Emerging economies have become increasingly unhappy with this system and are pushing for change.

The leaders of Russia, Brazil, China, India and South Africa recently called for a review of that weighted voting system.

The nations, sometimes referred to as the BRICS countries, are working to choose a joint candidate, according to the Brazilian Finance Minister, Guido Mantega.

This Day

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