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FG empowers Smart farmers in Katsina, aims to create 5m job opportunities
The Federal Government of Nigeria, through National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), distributed smart agriculture materials to beneficiaries of the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) 5-Day Empowerment Programme which took place ar Al-Qalam University, Katsina, Katsina State.
NAVSA Programme is designed to accelerate massive job creation, economic diversification and growth, facilitate the integration of digital technologies and innovations in the agriculture processes and practices in order to significantly increase productivity, improve food security, ensure an eco-friendly agricultural practice, attract potential talents and youths into agriculture professions to maximise outcomes.
In this edition, the Federal Government has improved green energy-powered smart brooding to enhance the survival rate of broilers, a smart irrigation system to support a year-long production, and a soil nutrient monitoring system to support information-driven farming on a demo land.
This is in addition to other benefits such as: Smart Device, 100,000 Naira seed fund, AgTech training/capacity Building, Connectivity (Internet and CUG), NAVSA Platform, Financial inclusion through digital wallets, e-Extension and insurance services, Continuous reinvestment model opportunities and Unmanned Area Vehicle (UAV)/Drone for smart farm.
Speaking during the closing ceremony on Friday, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa who was represented by Ag. Director, Digital Economy Development of the Agency, Engr. Salisu Kaka, stated that, “Agriculture remains one of the critical sectors of Nigeria’s economy. This is evident in the policies of the current administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR. Every economic, developmental and social policy gives agriculture priority.”
Inuwa said the NAVSA Empowerment will enhance agriculture value chain, create new value and opportunities through new business models and services, and ultimately enable the creation of millions of jobs while taking the people out of poverty and enabling economic growth and diversification.
“With our potential in arable land size and youthful population, modernizing the agricultural sector can change the narrative and multiply the contribution of the sector to the national GDP in many folds. Unfortunately, the sector is the least digitised in the country. It has been proved that any digitised business has the potential to grow exponentially.
“We hold a social contract to ensure IT drives every aspect of life and contributes to every community and national development as a whole. In line with our mandates, we carry out digital technology-driven interventions in any industry and sector of the economy across the country.
“This is evident in all digitised economic sectors of the world such as the Bank, financial services, media and entertainment among others. Undoubtedly, digitisation of the economic sectors has proved to be the game changer for economic transformation across the globe.
“It is believed that if the agriculture sector is properly managed and enhanced, it would be a genuine means of eradicating poverty, improving people’s standard of living, diversifying the economy and creating prosperity for Nigerians,” Inuwa noted.
He further said, “We all have it as a duty to ensure agriculture is practised as a business and not a way of life as usual. There is a need to modernise agricultural practices in the country. In view of this conviction and in line with its mandates of universal IT access and integration into every sector of the economy, NITDA has designed a digital technology and ecosystem-driven innovation to address most of our challenges in the agriculture sector.
“The narrative is being changed through NAVSA and other digital agricultural initiatives. This is to support the digitisation of the agricultural sector to address our challenges, exploit the opportunities and accelerate economic growth, in line with the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) and the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.”
He added that NESP takes agriculture as a mainstay for economic recovery, diversification, and job creation. The plan proposed a mass agriculture programme to bring 20,000 to 100,000 hectares of new farmland under cultivation in every State of the Federation.
According to Inuwa, the aim is to create 5 million job opportunities, directly and indirectly spanning the entire agricultural value chain, from ‘farm to table.’ This can only be achieved by incentivising and engaging millions of Nigerians in farming and agro-processing.
“We have chosen to work with AUK in this edition of NAVSA because we are convinced that being a community-owned institutions, it possesses a unique advantage of a having a highly sustainable business model that can support the sustainability framework of NAVSA. We will be at advantage of having the opportunity to prove that community-based innovations are better ways of proffering solutions to our socio-economic challenges.
“With the NAVSA, we also believe that unemployment, insecurity and the underdeveloped economy challenges we are facing today in Nigeria can be addressed through agriculture,” he concluded.
News
CIBN backs bank recapitalisation for enhanced economic growth
The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has expressed support for the planned recapitalisation exercise for banks in the country.
Ken Opara, President/Chairman of Council, CIBN, expressed this during the 2024 annual lecture of the institute on Tuesday in Lagos.
Opara said adequate liquidity within the banking system was fundamental to fostering sustainable economic growth and development.
He said that the recapitalisation would further help banks to deepen liquidity and guarantee access to credit needed for economic growth and prosperity.
He said that CIBN and the Nigeria Exchange Group (NGX) had formed collaborations toward building capacity for the recapitalisation of banks.
Opara added that the institute was also collaborating with Africa Guarantee Fund (AGF) for capacity building for SMEs, preparing them and building their capacity to access finance.
He called for more allocation of credit to the real sector, which was the foundation of the nation’s economic activities for increased liquidity.
Opara stressed the need for addressing challenges faced by the sector to enhance its competitiveness against foreign counterparts.
To resolve the challenges, he urged the government to improve further the ease of doing business and infrastructural development, such as power, roads, and rail networks.
The CIBN president also called for industrial centres where companies could co-habit and share common infrastructure,
harmonise and reduce the various taxes and levies, including locating them in a single hub.
He said the theme, “Improving Availability of Credit in the Nigerian Real Economy: The Critical Importance of Liquidity”, was timely to address current challenges in the nation.
“As we navigate the complexities of our current economic landscape, it has become increasingly evident that ensuring adequate liquidity within the banking system is fundamental to fostering sustainable economic growth and development.
“The real economy comprises the agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and services sectors and serves as the tangible foundation of the nation’s economic activity.
“These sectors collectively represent the intricate web of goods and services that drive economic growth, create employment opportunities, and enhance the overall standard of living.
“Despite the significant relevance of the real sector, access to credit for such key sectors compared to other climes is relatively low,” he said.
He said a survey conducted in more than 40 economies and released by Statista in 2024 revealed that nearly 141 trillion dollars worth of credit was lent to the real sector in advanced economies in the second quarter of 2022.
He added that the figures were twice as high as the volume of credit to the same sector in emerging markets.
He commended improvements in liquidity within Nigeria’s real sector but called for increased credit to sector, particularly agriculture.
“According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Net Domestic Credit stood at 66.4 trillion Naira as of December 2022, showcasing the substantial credit extended by financial institutions to the real sector of the economy.
“This figure experienced a significant surge to 96.1 trillion Naira by December 2023, highlighting the tremendous potential for growth and development in the real sector,” he said.
He listed credit volume allocated to the key sectors, saying the Agricultural sector had N5.8 trillion representing about six per cent of the total credit.
He said the manufacturing sector had N19.7 trillion, representing approximately 21 per cent of the total credit, while the services sector had N36 trillion, representing 37.4 per cent of the total credit.
“I humbly propose that we consider offering more credit to these key sectors and particularly the agriculture sector.
“It is for this reason, ladies and gentlemen, that the recapitalisation exercise is a welcome development.
“The recently announced upward review of the Minimum Capital Requirements of Nigeria by the Central Bank of Nigeria would further empower banks to extend more credit to the economy’s productive sectors,” he said.
The Guest Speaker, Prof. Graham Penn, speaking on the theme, explained how other developed countries were leveraging on credit and the need for Nigeria to increase liquidity for economic prosperity.
Penn, a professor of International Finance Law at University College London, listed challenges and measures Nigerian banks, regulators and businesses could adopt to implement laws and regulations to facilitate true sale securitisation.
News
NERC transfers regulatory oversight of electricity market in Ekiti to state govt
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), says it has transfered regulatory oversight of electricity market in Ekiti State to the state Electricity Regulatory Bureau (EERB).
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