BUSINESS
NIMASA, NRC, Bayelsa to Begin Wreck Removal, Recycling
From Anthony Nwachukwu, Lagos
In partnership with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), which already has a foundry in Lagos, and the Bayelsa State Government, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said it has concluded arrangements for the recycling of wrecks and derelicts recovered from the Nigerian waters.
The NIMASA Director-General, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, who disclosed this in Lagos during a ministerial retreat held over the weekend by the Federal Ministry of Transportation to assess the performance of its agencies in order to improve service delivery, noted that the ultimate aim was wealth creation from waste, while providing jobs for Nigerians.
Jamoh commended the minister for approving the creation of Maritime Intelligence Unit and the NIMASA Maritime Stakeholders Experience Contact Centre (MSECC), both intended to improve intelligence gathering and enhance stakeholder-communication for sustainable growth of the industry.
He disclosed that the agency’s automation drive has led to the integrated use of technology in the Certificate of Competency (CoC) verification process, and consequently a drop in manual verification practice. According to him, “in 2020, the number of manual verification of CoCs dropped from 4,112 in 2019 to 2,750, representing 33 per cent drop. There was a total online verification of 9,723 in 2020.” Meanwhile, he explained that NIMASA was working with the ministry to resolve all grey areas hindering the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) to ensure seamless distribution. “The CVFF is in the Treasury Single Account and there are guidelines for the disbursement, one of which is the use of Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs),” Jamoh stated. “We have advertised for Expression of Interest from interested PLIs and are following due process to ensure disbursement according to the guidelines.” Jamoh explained that 11 banks made the shortlist, which has been forwarded to the supervising Ministry of Transportation for further actions, just as “the ministry has identified some grey areas, which are being addressed to ensure prompt disbursement of the CVFF.” He further disclosed that 446 beneficiaries of the NSDP programme were currently undergoing sea-time training, while 351 have been assigned to maritime training institutes and were in the process of boarding for sea-time. Also, 93 beneficiaries were currently undergoing CoC, 360 had completed sea-time training and were awaiting CoC issuance, while 368 were already fully employed.
Similarly, he said the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) equipment at Tarkwa Bay and Kirikiri for vessel monitoring and response to distress calls in the sub-region were already fully installed, with the capacity to cover nine countries in the West and Central African Region.
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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