News Summary; Monday, 24th Nov, 2014 1. NPC: SEEFOR Employs 7,004 in Niger Delta - ThisDay The Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, has disclosed that the State Employment and Expenditure For Results (SEEFOR) project has created employment for 7,004 youths in the Niger Delta region. Dr. Sulaiman made this known during a retreat organised by the National Planning Commission( NPC) in collaboration with the World Bank, European Union Delegation, and the four participating states; Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Rivers. The theme of the retreat was: Improving Governance For Inclusive Growth in the Niger Delta region: Opportunities For the SEEFOR project. Represented by Prof. Femi Taiwo , Sulaimam said the retreat was organised to provide opportunity for stock taking of activities executed since the inception of SEEFOR. The minister said the retreat would also deliberate on the opportunities and successes recorded and the challenges faced. He said: A total of 7,004 youths have been employed in the four participating states as at the end of third quarter of 2014 with additional persons to be recruited by the end of December 2014 in the participating states. The SEEFOR project was initiated by the World Bank two years ago, in a bid to improve the living conditions of the people of the Niger Delta, as part of its contribution to the amnesty programme. thisdaylive/articles/npc-seefor-employs-7-004-in-niger-delta/194891/ 2. Oil Slump: Nigeria’s Crude Refining To Drop Further - Punch The country’s four refineries are currently operating far below optimal capacity owing to their prolonged state of disrepair. Falling oil prices and pipeline vandalism are further threatening their output, STANLEY OPARA writes Nigeria is currently under fresh pressure to reduce the quantity of crude oil being refined in its four refineries. This, according to sources in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, is due to the rising cost of refining the oil locally. The cost of refining domestic oil has increased by $7.52 per barrel after government’s decision to transport crude to three state-run refineries by ship in a bid to bypass damaged pipelines, a report from the ministry has stated. Rather than spending the nation’s scarce resources on refining oil, government is said to prefer importing the refined products. Nigeria is planning to cut subsidies on petroleum products by half next year after the sharp fall in global crude prices, which has spurred the government to revise its 2015 budget downwards, data from the revised budget have shown. punchng/business/financial-punch/oil-slump-nigerias-crude-refining-to-drop-further/ 3. Govt Urges Private Sector Involvement In Infrastructural Master Plan - Guardian Amid the growing relevance of planning in economic development, the Federal Government has urged the private sector to key into the National Integrated Infrastructural Master plan to enhance its implementation and optimal benefits. Minister and Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman who made the plea at the first annual planners conference organized by the Institute of Planning (IPN) in Lagos, noted that the initiation and implementation of the plan and other sectoral plans such as Agricultural Transformation agenda have reached advanced stage at the Federal, State and Local Government Area levels. He said that the federal government has institutionalised the performance contract and strategic planning system in the federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), which is being cascaded to the subnational level. ngrguardiannews/property/property/187704-govt-urges-private-sector-involvement-in-infrastructural-master-plan 4. NPC To Embark On Advocay Visit To Projects - Blueprint Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, the World Bank country Director, Mary Francoise Mary-Nelly, and other team members will embark on an advocacy visits to the four State Employment and Expenditure For Results (SEEFOR) participating states. Dr. Sulaiman, who disclosed this in his keynote address at the high level retreat of the SEEFOR project in Calabar, said the move would further encourage effective implementation of the project and boost its employment drive 5. How To Transform The Economy, By MAN - The Nation The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has challenged the federal and state governments to pay greater attention to promoting scientific and technical education in order to lay a solid foundation for the nation’s economic transformation. Speaking with The Nation, its President, Dr Frank Jacobs, said government at all levels must, as a matter of urgency, prioritise science-based education to key into the 21st century global economy which is knowledge-based. According to him, knowledge as a factor of production made a paradigm shift from reliance on primary products possible. This he said had little or no value addition and limited employment capacity to modern industrial production, which in turn will expand job creation and employment opportunities. Jacobs said the nation presently needs a strong technical education system that would produce graduates with requisite skills required by manufacturing industries. He regretted that the scientific knowledge at the upper end is still limited following the disconnect between products of the nation’s universities and manpower needs of the industries. thenationonlineng.net/new/how-to-transform-the-economy-by-man/ 6. Oil Price Fall: Nigerians To Pay More For Petrol In 2015 - Dailytrust We’ll resist any price hike – NLC The pump price of premium motor spirit otherwise known as petrol will rise from 2015 as the Federal Government has proposed a reduction in monies budgeted for subsidy payment in the coming year, according to Daily Trust findings. The government’s proposal is contained in the revised 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper submitted to the National Assembly by President Jonathan last week. Earlier in October, the president had forwarded the MTEF document to the legislature pegging the pump price of fuel at N97 per litre with the expected total subsidy payment of N971 billion in 2015, same amount that was expended in 2014. The crude oil benchmark price of $78 per barrel in 2014 was also retained for 2015. dailytrust.ng/daily/top-stories/40263-oil-price-fall-nigerians-to-pay-more-for-petrol-in-2015 7. Nigeria Must Adjust To “Permanent” Oil Price Shock – Finance Minister Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said that Nigeria will have to adjust to oil prices heading lower for sometime to come. In an interview, she also cut the outlook for economic growth next year. According to the report, Africa’s largest economy relies on oil exports for 70% of government revenues and has been hit hard as crude prices have fallen to four-year lows below $80 a barrel after trading above $115 as recently as June. Asked if she thought the 30% drop in crude prices since June might prove temporary, the Minister said Nigeria needed to adjust to lower levels for good. 8. FG Urged To Diversify Economy - Dailytrust Following the falling price of crude oil and its effect on revenue generation by the federal government, an economist and leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in Nigeria, Dr. Mashud Fashola, has advised government to diversify the nation’s economy to prevent further depreciation of the naira. Fashola warned that if the government fails to start laying the foundation for the diversification of the nation’s economy and reform its economic policies, there would be inflationary consequences. He gave the warning at the weekend in Lagos at a press briefing to mark the body’s 2014 convention slated for next month in Ilaro, Ogun State. “There are dire consequences of the falling prices of crude oil, the sole source of revenue to the Nigerian government. One of the consequences is that the naira will be depreciating against foreign currencies. With the depreciation of the naira, we should expect inflationary consequences. Rapid inflation will erode the purchasing power of workers and increase the level of poverty which can trigger general workers’ strikes for better pay. A government that depends on dwindling oil revenues will not be in a position to sustain its current expenditure, talk less of increasing its commitment to pay higher salaries,” he said. dailytrust.ng/daily/news/40247-fg-urged-to-diversify-economy NPC Information Unit Room 415, 4th Floor Plot 421, Constitution Avenue, Central Business District, E-mail: [email protected]
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 17:29:33 +0000
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