BUSINESS
Imo Govt to revive moribund industries for indigenes to co-own coys
The Imo Government is to revive moribund industries to empower indigenes to co-own company cited in their locality. This is contained in a statement by Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo’s Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachuku in Owerri on Friday. Uzodimma made this known while inaugurating board members of the Adapalm Limited, a state-owned Oil Palm Company.
“To achieve this, indigenes shall no longer be spectators in the running of companies located in their area but co-owners as this will make them accountable for the successful operations of such companies in their homeland,” he said.The governor explained that in line with the Three-R mantra of his government, he deemed it fit to “explore ways to bring Adapalm back to life with the overall objective to stimulate the economy, generate employment and add value to the lives of Imo people.
” The government, he said, will resuscitate all former industries built by our late former governor, Sam Mbakwe including the Imo Modern Poultry in Avutu for which we have already initiated talks with the Israeli company that built it. He expressed joy that efforts made so far in the revival of Adapalm yielded the expected results, hence the inauguration of the Board.Making reference to the old thinking that Government cannot successfully run companies of Adapalm magnitude for obvious reasons, the governor said the state government decided to enter into a tripartite agreement involving the Government, core investors and the host Community. He said under the Public–Private Partnership (PPP),Roche West Africa Limited, an Irish Company and Advanced Palmoil Limited are partnering the State Government and Ohaji Community for the smooth and profitable running of the Company. Uzodimma emphasised that “unlike before when the company concentrated solely on the production of Palm oil, the current agreement will involve the production of other ancilliary products such as margarine, processed wood, palm kernels and many more products that result from palm trees. In other words, there will be value chain activities in the company.”
Again, the governor informed that to assist the company in its operations, Government has already procured and planted 140, 000 seedlings across 4,000 hectares of land to feed the mill. “In return it is expected that more than 30,000 jobs will be created when the Company reaches optimal productivity.” This year alone, 2,500 direct jobs will be generated. This is why the host Community which is the ultimate beneficiaries of the turnaround of Adapalm Ltd should do everything humanly possible to safeguard and protect the company and ensure it flourishes,” the Governor explained.
He told the board members that they were selected based on their track record of excellence in service delivery, please do not let us down”, he said. Speaking on behalf of the newly appointed members, the Chairman of the Board, Mr Mustapha Chike-Obi promised to put in their best. Chike-Obi, who is also the chairman of the board of Fidelity Bank Plc, pledged to actualise three-R mantra of the state government. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the the three-R is Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Recovery which was the cardinal points on which Uzodinma campaigned for votes in the next three days.(NAN)
The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) continued its bullish trend on Wednesday, gaining N183 billion.
Accordingly, the market capitalisation, which opened at N59.532 trillion, gained N184 billion or 0.31 per cent to close at N59.715 trillion.
The All-Share Index also added 0.31 per cent or 303 points, to settle at 98,509.
68, against 98,206. 97 recorded on Tuesday.Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return increased to 31.
74 per cent.Gains in Aradel Holdings, Zenith Bank, United Bank For Africa(UBA), Oando Plc, Nigerian Breweries among other advanced equities drove the market performance up.
Market breadth closed positive with 34 gainers and 17 losers.
On the gainers’ chart, Africa Prudential, Conoil and RT Briscoe led by 10 per cent each to close at N14.30, N352 and N2.42 per share, respectively.
Golden Guinea Breweries followed by 9.95 per cent to close at N7.18, while NEM Insurance rose by 9.74 per cent to close at N10.70 per share.
On the other hand, Julius Berger led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N155.25, Secure Electronic Technology Plc trailed by 9.52 per cent to close at 57k per share.
Multiverse lost 7.63 per cent to close at N5.45, Haldane McCall dropped 6.07 per cent to close at N4.95 and Honeywell Flour shed 5.62 per cent to close at N4.70 per share.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 49.44 per cent.
A total of 320.10 million shares valued at N6.48 billion were exchanged in 7,943 deals, compared with 939.41 million shares valued at N12.81billion traded in 9,098 deals posted in the previous session.
Meanwhile, ETranzact led the activity chart in volume with 70.27 million shares, while Aradel led in value of deals worth N1.22 billion.(NAN)
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the Yuan, weakened 22 pips to 7.1870 against the dollar on Monday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreign exchange market, the Yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the Yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)
Arewa Youths Initiative for Energy Reforms (AYIFER), has urged Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to do everything possible to bring Kaduna Refinery back into operation.
National Coordinator of the group, Mr Bashir Al’Amin, stated this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja.
Al’Amin specifically called on the Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari, to do all within his powers to rejuvenate the refinery and bring it up to global standard.
He said that having delivered the Port Harcourt refinery, coupled with the establishment of Dangote Refinery in Lagos, attention should be shifted to Kaduna refinery for easy spread of petroleum products.
“We are calling on Malam Mele Kyari to expedite action on Kaduna refinery so we can be at par with other regions in the country.
“We equally beg the NNPCL to do professional work in rehabilitating the old refinery and deliver a standard and functional petrochemical refinery and not a blending plant.
“Kyari should resist any temptation that could make him do something that can jeopardise his good image,” he said.
Al’Amin said that since the extinction of groundnut pyramid and textiles in Kano State as well as PAN in Kaduna State and with the Kaduna refinery getting moribund, a lot of youths had lost their jobs.
According to him, all their hopes in the north are tied to the legacy refinery, expressing the hope that God would use Kyari to deliver it well and on time.
He said that the group was solidly behind NNPCL in prayer and would be ready to celebrate the company if its expectations were met. (NAN)
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