NEWS
Tinubu woos investment at Nigeria-U. S. business roundtable
President Bola Tinubu has assured prospective investors of his administration’s determination to adopt necessary fiscal and regulatory measures toward the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
At the Nigeria-U.S. Executive Business Roundtable, the President said he recognised that investment capital is cowardly in nature.
He said that was the reason behind his bringing successful Nigerian industrialists and public officials to share their experiences and operational plans, respectively.
Tinubu said this was in addition to all he had done to boost the confidence of the global investment community in Nigeria, by reforming the fiscal, monetary, regulatory and tax policy environment.
“Nigeria is an opportunity that is impossible to replicate or find elsewhere in any part of the world. We have brilliant young people who both innovate and consume at a large scale.
‘’Our entrepreneurial spirit is a major part of what makes our market totally unique, aside from demography.
‘’Nigerians build businesses and Nigerian businesses partner with other businesses to conduct larger business.
‘’There is enough value to spread around. Be careful of what you hear about Nigeria. You may be dissuaded out of a major opportunity that others will take up.
‘’We are here for you. We will give you all the support you need to succeed and succeed abundantly,” the President said.
On behalf of the U.S. Government, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, told U.S. business leaders he came back from Nigeria on an official visit that later became a fact-finding mission.
“In Lagos, I saw, first-hand, some of the major reforms you implemented as the Governor of Lagos and the transformative effect on Nigeria’s commercial capital.
‘’People have attested to the fact that the reforms you have put in place as President are quickly enhancing confidence.
‘’American business is paying attention to that and from what we have seen for ourselves, Nigeria is proving to be a new frontier for investment.
‘’We will encourage our companies from our end as those reforms continue to deepen,” Adeyemo said.
The American Business Council President, Mr Sops Ideriah, said that the extensive turnouts at the roundtable by American business chief executives was impressive.
According to him, the turnouts served as a testament to the degree to which confidence is rising in response to the actions and words of the President.
He said that this was with respect to ease of doing business, investment promotion, and his willingness to intervene to clear the historical concerns of American business people about doing business in Nigeria.
“Having all the stakeholders in the room, His Excellency, the President of Nigeria being here, from government actors at the federal and state level to ministers and tax authorities present, as well as private sector industrialists in Nigeria.
‘’We are very positive about the potential of Nigeria and we are just reinforcing to our colleagues the message about the economic opportunities that exist there,” Ideriah said.
Acting Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, assured the American captains of industry that the nation’s apex tax authority would not focus on taxing the seed.
He said it would focus only on the proportionate taxation of the fruit of fully formed industry, through efficient policy synergy with Nigeria’s sub-national authorities.
“The President is a business enabler, not a handicapper. Everything we do will be geared toward making your tax assessment and payment processes as digitally efficient and transparent as possible.
‘’We are not after the seed, but the fruit and we will keep to this commitment,” Adedeji said.
Borno Government says it has realized over N12b cash and material donations for victims of Alau Dam flood disaster in Maiduguri.
Abdurrahman Bundi, the Senior Special Adviser on New Media to Borno Governor, gave the update on the donations for the Maiduguri Relief Fund on Thursday in Maiduguri.
Bundi said the donations came from corporate entities, state governments, State and National Assembly members, individuals, and Non-Governmental Organisations.
List of donors showed that the North East Development Commission (NEDC) donated N3b and food stuff, Aliko Dangote N2b, Aminu Dantata N1.5b, and Mohammed Indimi N1b.
Other donors were Borno LGAs; N1.
2b, Oluremi Tinubu; N500m, Bauchi and Niger states; N250m each while the people of Southern Borno donated N200m.Dahiru Mangal, Atiku Abubakar, Rep. Mukhtar Betara, Ali Modu Sheriff, House of Representatives, Abdulsalam Kachala, and JAIZ Bank states comprising Kebbi, Yobe, Kano, Taraba, katsina, Kaduna and Zamfara gave N100 each.
The Director General of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), Buba Marwa and Matrix Energy donated 10 trucks of fertiliser and foodstuff worth over N120m each.
Those who gave N50m include Adamawa state, Mr Peter Obi, Rabiu kwakwanso, Ahmed Lawan, Mohammad Maifata, Ibrahim Umar, Mohammad Imam, Ali Dalori, Bauchi APC chapter, Sen. Tahir Monguno, and Sen. Kaka Kaka Shehu and I8th Engineering Company, while the State Assembly donated N60m.
The Nasarawa Government also presented six trucks of rice, spaghetti and sugar.
Many other people donated between N1m and N30m respectively. (NAN)
The Performance Delivery and Coordination Unit (PDCU), says it has concluded mid-year performance review of Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs), to enhance good governance in the state.
The PDCU being supervised by the office of Gov. Umar Namadi, conducted a three-day retreat on the review mid-year performance of the MDAs.
This is contained in a statement by Hashim Hashim, the unit’s Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Facilitator, in Dutse on Thursday.
He said the unit interfaced with representatives of the MDAs to verify submitted data on the progress recorded against set targets in the performance bond earlier signed in January.
According to him, the workshop is pivotal in streamlining government achievements into one single scorecard and finalising the mid-year performance reports for the attention of the governor.
The statement quoted the PDCU Coordinator, Adamu Muhammad, who doubles as Public Private Secretary to the governor, as stressing the importance of the exercise in driving the manifested 12-Point Agenda of the governor.
Muhammad was quoted as emphasising the need for the members of the unit to scrutinise and fine tune all the submitted evidence for accuracy, relevance and completeness.
The coordinator lauded the FCDO-PERL programme for the support to the state government in actualising the PDCU and supporting the review process.
“The PDCU comprises of professional technocrats selected based on merit and specialisation to support the delivery of the Governor’s 12-Point Agenda”. (NAN)
Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, Governor of Benue, announced on Thursday that his state is experiencing relative peace, enabling farmers to return to previously abandoned farms due to farmers/herders clashes.
He made this statement while briefing State House correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
Alia visited the President to update him on Benue’s state of affairs, highlighting the high levels of peace during the current farming season.
“Since 1999, our people have paid less attention to farming, but since last year, and particularly this season, they have returned to the farms.
“We need to produce more and fill our basket to capacity.
”He said that Benue had made significant security strides, with minor skirmishes persisting in two to three local governments.
Alia emphasised the need for attention in these areas to eradicate all skirmishes.
Regarding the federal government’s flood warning, Alia said his administration had implemented measures to prevent flooding.
“We are prepared to tackle flooding, having carried out adequate sensitisation for riverbank residents.
“We seek the Federal Government’s assistance to dredge the River Benue.
According to the governor, the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) is equipped to handle flood-related challenges.
“We are prepared, not just waiting. We have SEMA, an emergency management team, and they are armed to respond.”
The governor noted that in spite of warnings, some residents refused to evacuate flood-prone areas.
“However, the government will persist in appealing to them, simultaneously highlighting the risks associated with staying in these vulnerable locations,” he said. (NAN)
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