IMF: Nigeria’s economy to grow faster than South Africa in 2018

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that Nigeria’s economy will grow at a faster pace than the South Africa’s in the 2018 fiscal year. According to its World Economic Outlook (WEO) for July 2017, the IMF said Nigeria will grow at 1.9 percent in 2018, while South Africa will only climb by 1.2 percent.

The Bretton Woods institution, which held global growth projections at 3.5 percent in 2017 and 3.6 percent in 2018 — said growth was marked down in South Africa, due to elevated political uncertainty.

“In Sub-Saharan Africa, the outlook remains challenging. Growth is projected to rise in 2017 and 2018, but will barely return to positive territory in per capita terms this year for the region as a whole—and would remain negative for about a third of the countries in the region,” the IMF said via WEO.

“The slight upward revision to 2017 growth relative to the April 2017 WEO forecast reflects a modest upgrading of growth prospects for South Africa, which is experiencing a bumper crop due to better rainfall and an increase in mining output prompted by a moderate rebound in commodity prices.

“However, the outlook for South Africa remains difficult, with elevated political uncertainty and weak consumer and business confidence, and the country’s growth forecast was consequently marked down for 2018”, it noted.

IMF also added that global growth will be aided by growths in the US and the UK, who are projected to grow at 2.1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

“China’s growth projections have also been revised up (6.7%), reflecting a strong first quarter of 2017 and expectations of continued fiscal support.

“Inflation in advanced economies remains subdued and generally below targets; it has also been declining in several emerging economies, such as Brazil, India, and Russia.”

I will not contest, my son is already there- Pauline Tallen

A former deputy governor of Plateau state 2007-2011 Hon. Mrs. Pauline Tallen has made known her position for 2019, saying she will not contest the Governorship election because her son Mr. Simon Bako Lalong is there already. She made the statement when she was responding to View Point Nigeria correspondent at Sheraton Hotel Abuja during a 2-day National Unity And  Integration conference organized by the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development.

Excerpts

Viewpoint Nigeria: “Ma could you respond to some speculations that you rejected your appointment as an Ambassador by Mr. President because you’re nursing a governorship ambition”?

Hon. Tallen: “No o! My son is already there. I can’t contest against him. Thank you.”

When journalists sought to ask her further questions on national issues, she immediately entered her car and zoomed off to escort former president Olusegun Obasanjo who attended a different event at the Sheraton hotel to mark his 80th birthday.

Hon Robert Taple admonishes performance of institute of purchasing supply management

The Chairman Plateau State Local Government service Commission Hon. Robert Taple has expressed satisfaction with the performances of institute of purchasing ,supply and management in the state.

Spokesman of the institute of purchasing supply management Hon. AugustineDashe given out the pace of the enormous challenge facing in the ministry for local government and chieftancy affairs in the state,

He appreciated the tremendously support given the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Plateau state under Governor Simon Lalong led administration

Robert Taple assured the institute of purchasing and supply management that government will not allow their contributions to be in vein which he promise to tackle some of the challenges affecting them as government is working very close to bring about the needed improvements for the local government system.

Hon. Taple advised that the commission would follow up the result of this investigation and would rectify the issues they have raised before the commission as the rescue leader ambassador will do his best in revamping and developing Plateau state of our dream.

Meanwhile, the institute of purchasing and supply management appealed to the local government service commission to help set up of training centres for members.

Spokesman of the institute of purchasing supply management Hon. AugustineDashe pointed out some of the challenges facing them which include, logistics ,accommodation .

Dashe lamented that over Ten Years (10) the stock officers could not improve themselves with any training to enhance their performance .

According to him, productivity of the staff of institute of purchasing supply management was very low owning to the of lack of functional board , motivation and training equipment .

He expresses great concern how revenue receive have been put together by the ministry for local government and chieftaincy affairs which gave him a great concern .

POTATOES CULTIVATION: FG APPROVES 3.3 BILLION NAIRA LOAN FOR PLATEAU STATE

THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved N3.38 billion Africa Development Bank (ADB) loan for cultivation of potatoes in Plateau State.

Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun said this to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to her, the state government will also contribute N595 million counterpart funding.

Stressing that about 60,000 jobs will be created from the potatoes value chain, she said 17 local governments in the state will benefit from the project. A strong monitoring team, she said, will be in place to ensure the loan is judiciously used.

She said the loan has five years moratorium and 25 years repayment period.

She said: “My approval was on behalf of Plateau State to support the potato value chain. There is a loan that we had previously cancelled from ADB. So, it is not a new loan. We cancelled it and redirected the money to request on behalf of Plateau State Government to support the potato value chain.

“The rationale is that Plateau actually accounts for 95 per cent of Nigeria’s potato production and from Plateau, potatoes are actually exported to Ghana, Niger, Chad and other countries and despite that, there are huge profit losses because there is no enough storage and there is so much more we can do with Plateau’s potatoes.

“So, ADB has come up with a comprehensive programme that will affect over 100,000 families. It is expected to create 60,000 jobs in a potato value chain, from processing, storage, replacement of current inputs and indeed, export.”

Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola said FEC approved N1.58 billion for Abuja-Kaduna highway repairs to support the closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja.

He said N4.1 billion was approved for Apapa-Wharf road.

Fashola said: “The two memos were ratification of road works that had to be done under emergency circumstances. The first was the Abuja- Kaduna highway. Recall we had to immediately do palliative works to support the closure of the Abuja airport runway, which necessitated diversion of traffic to Kaduna.”

“At that time, we didn’t have FEC’s approval. We only had anticipatory Presidential approval as prescribed under the law for emergencies works.

Britain banning petrol, diesel cars in 2040

Britain will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 in an attempt to reduce air pollution, a move that will spell doom for oil producers, such as Nigeria.

The measure, 23 years away, could herald the end of over a century of popular use of the fossil fuel-guzzling internal combustion engine.

Britain’s step, which follows France, amounts to a victory for electric cars that could eventually transform the wealth of major oil producers, car industry employment and one of the icons of 20th Century capitalism: the automobile itself.

The mayors of Paris, Madrid, Mexico City and Athens have said they plan to ban diesel vehicles from city centers by 2025, while the French government also aims to end the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2040.

The British government has been under pressure to take steps to reduce air pollution after losing legal cases brought by campaign groups, and in May set out proposals for a scrappage scheme to get rid of the most polluting vehicles.

“Today we are confirming that that means there should be no new diesel or petrol vehicles by 2040,” environment minister Michael Gove told BBC Radio.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives had pledged to make “almost every car and van” zero-emission by 2050. The Times newspaper said the supply of hybrid vehicles which have both an electric and petrol or diesel engine would also end.

There is a mountain to climb, however.

Electric cars currently account for less than 5 percent of new car registrations in Britain, with drivers concerned about the cost and limited availability of charging points and manufacturers worried about making expensive investments before the demand is there.

“We could undermine the UK’s successful automotive sector if we don’t allow enough time for the industry to adjust,” warned Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The Future Is Electric?

While many automakers may find it hard to countenance the end of the combustion engine, some have embraced a future where electric vehicles, or perhaps even driverless vehicles, ultimately win the race.

Earlier this month, Volvo became the first major traditional automaker to set a date for phasing out vehicles powered solely by the internal combustion engine by saying all its car models launched after 2019 would be electric or hybrids.

Renault-Nissan in 2009 announced plans to spend 4 billion euros on electric car development.

But until Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to cheating on U.S. diesel emissions tests, most mainstream auto manufacturers had been slow to sink serious investment into battery cars.

The backlash against diesel, without which carmakers would struggle to meet CO2 targets, has since refocused minds and produced a flurry of new commitments.

Volkswagen (VW) itself unveiled ambitious plans last year to roll out 30 new battery-powered models that it expects to account for 2-3 million annual sales by 2025 – or as much as 25 percent of its vehicle production.

Toyota, which pioneered gasoline-electric hybrids but had long resisted battery-only cars, changed tack last year and has since unveiled plans for a new range of pure-electric models.

In Europe, so called ‘green cars’ benefit from subsidies, tax breaks and other perks, while combustion engines face mounting penalties including driving and parking restrictions.

China, struggling with catastrophic pollution levels in major cities, is pushing plug-in vehicles, though in the United States there is much less appetite so far.

Germany, the home of major carmakers such as VW, Daimler and BMW, should soon start phasing out petrol and diesel too, said Oliver Wittke, a transport expert in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).

But there is likely to be resistance in Europe’s biggest car market. More than 600,000 jobs could be at risk in Germany from a potential ban on combustion engine cars by 2030, the Ifo economic institute said earlier this month in a study commissioned by Germany’s VDA car industry lobby.

Germany’s three major carmakers have also invested heavily in diesel technology, which offers more efficient fuel burn and lower carbon dioxide emissions than gasoline-powered cars.

In response to the British decision, a German government spokeswoman said on Wednesday Merkel had repeatedly warned against “demonizing” diesel vehicles.

Yet Britain’s move will accelerate the decline of diesel cars, whose nitrogen oxide emissions have been blamed for causing respiratory diseases, in Europe’s second biggest market

Local Government Autonomy Remains Sacrosanct- Comrade Khaleel Ibrahim

The Plateau State chapter of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) on Thursday, April 20, 2017 staged a solidarity march to the offices of the Speaker of the House of Assembly and that of the Executive Governor of the Stat, Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong, during which they submitted a memorandum.

Speaking at the solidarity march, Comrade Ibrahim Abdulkadir, National President of NULGE, said: ”This is a nationwide advocacy campaign. The national leadership of NULGE decided to drive this process across the length and breadth of Nigeria to canvass for constitutional reforms that will strengthen the institutional framework of local government, considering the fact that the prevalent situation in local governments is such that entire system of government is missing in the political economy of our nation and even though the Constitution of Nigeria recognizes the entire system of government as the third tier government, with the democratic structure and at the same time, it is one of the tiers of government that attracts much revenue.  But the truth is that the entire system has been hijacked by the by the political elites in our society.

“So, considering the fact that local governments anywhere in the world are the nucleus of national political edifice, where it is now needs improvement.”

In his own submission, Comrade Samson Mafuyai, the President, Plateau State Chapter of National Union of Local Government Employee (NULGE) and also the Deputy President National Labour Congress Plateau state Chapter, said he was not comfortable as long as the local government staffs are receiving 55% salary scale of what their counterparts are receiving at the state level,

He noted that the discrepancy in the salary structure of the state was a flagrant abuse of office by the last administration. He said it is unacceptable and the discrimination must be stop.

He said: “This is one of the reasons that are driving us to seek for the autonomy. If we are in control of our funds and we are unable to pay salaries, we will understand because, if your local government becomes too broke that they don’t have enough money to pay staff salaries you cannot hold anybody responsible. We will manage our problems by ourselves,” he added

Mafuyai said “We had series of court cases with the last administration but, when his Excellency Governor Simon Bako Lalong came, he said, he prefers out of court settlement and we entered into an agreement with the government and he agreed to pay us our four months withheld salaries”.

He said, the governor equally promises that when revenue improves he would put local government on the same salary scale with the state.

Mafuyai thanks the National President of NULGE and all those who troop out to support the solidarity march.

Jos Carnival Marks Return of Peace to Plateau – Hon. Saleh Shehu Yitmong, Hon Jacob Kassam

Plateau people have expressed joy at the recently concluded Jos Carnival, saying it marked the return of peace on the hitherto troubled state. Our correspondent who covered the event, first of its kind in the state, reports that it drew a large number of people from all walks of life.

 

Hon. Saleh Shehu Yitmong, member representing Dengi Constituency and Deputy Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, said: “The carnival has gone a long way to show that the government is serious about peace and transformation of Plateau State.

“We strongly believe that over a long period of time such an activity has never taken place. You can see for yourself how people came out en-masse regardless of their social standing, their tribes or religious beliefs. This is symbolic. Whatever the governor has been preaching, he is now translating it into action. As you can see, people are trooping out. This has passed a message that people are now living harmoniously together and now it has cleared doubts in people’s minds that Plateau is now safe for people to come and invest. The Jos crises are now history.

“When we were inaugurated, the first thing we did was to put up a committee to promote peaceful atmosphere. And now we are happy we are seeing the end product. My message to Plateau people is that we should embrace each other. We must love one another; we should work hard and be self-reliant.

“The carnival symbolizes the return of the Home of Peace and Tourism. Plateau is back on track and it has regained its glory.”

On his part, the member of the House of Assembly representing Kanke Constituency, Hon. Jacob Kassam, had this to say: “The carnival wouldn’t have been completed without hooting the Zombi horn. The carnival has gone a long way to show that Plateau people are united. We must strive and live together.

“Kanke is richly endowed with culture and I believe this is the first time this carnival is being held in Plateau. I won’t be surprised if by this time next year this rich display of culture is not held again.”