Health

Canada, others seek more bi-lateral trade with Nigerians

Published

1 year ago

October 9, 2024

Canada, Europe and some Caribbean countries hjklare seeking more bi-lateral trade with Nigerians to boost mobility and migration.

They disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at “The Investment Migration West Africa Roadshow 2024” organised by Henley and Partners, a global leader in residence and citizenship by investment.

Mr Ryan Guy, the Regional Director and Programme Managaer, Canadian Startup Visa Services, said that Nigeria was doing well business-wise and its economy growing rapidly which was an incentive for its citizens to expand into the Americas via Canada.

“We bring high net worth business people and their whole entire families to Canada to set up businesses to do bilateral trade with Nigeria and Canada.

“We actually accept more people from Nigeria into Canada than any other country and it is the third largest country that we bring into Canada.

“So for a lot of people, it’s access to capital and to education and the great thing about this is that when they get educated, they come back.

“So it’s a great way to do bilateral trade by education, by funding, and by opportunities. There’s a lot of things that Canada wants from Nigeria and West Africa”, Guy said.

The Managing Partner, Henley and Partners, UK, Stuart Wakeling, urged Nigerian investors to take advantage of investment opportunities abroad.
According to him, the company is giving opportunities to people who are open to change and who want to explore new opportunities, without forgetting their original heritage.

“Nigeria is a country rich with culture, opportunity and it’s own its fair share of uncertainty and limitations.

“If you are interested in exploring what we do, you are indeed in good company. We are growing steadily, because having a ‘plan b’ residence, or having greater global mobility via an alternative citizenship, or even increased business and lifestyle opportunity, is now paramount in an increasingly fractured and volatile world.

“It is a very simple fact that nobody can choose where they are born, it is indeed your own individual passport lottery.”

Wakeling said that along with the company’s partner firms, Henley and Partners offer additional or alternative citizenship and residence in the world’s leading jurisdictions.

“We are in fact the global leaders in investment migration and have over 25 years experience in revolutionising the industry and providing unparalleled levels of options and client satisfaction.”

The Executive Vice President, Mecan, Mehdi Kadri, said that the world of investment migration was increasingly dynamic and changing.

“Just this year, we have witnessed a large increase in costs for the Caribbean. Lately Portugal has removed its real estate entry point, Ireland has closed down, Montenegro closed down, Malta increase its prices along with Greece and Turkey and others.

“This means that now is the time to move forward because, as we have heard, demand for alternative or additional residence or citizenship is increasing dramatically and with that the prices and difficulties will follow”, he said.

On her part, the Founder of Bridge and Partners, Fatma Cayir, said her firm gives advice on full relocation, assisting investors and families relocating to the UK and setting up their businesses.

“As a firm, we handle all the legal work when it comes to UK immigration, we work with partners, businesses, entrepreneurs globally.”

She also advised that when considering expanding to the UK, what was important was understanding the UK market, understanding the legal system and working with professionals in specialised fields like immigration, tax, accountancy, real estate.

“So it’s really important to first know what the objectives are and what the requirements are before taking that first step.”

The Legal Consultant, Range Developments, Siobham Lloyed said the roadshow was a great opportunity for Nigerian investors who were interested in obtaining a second citizenship or passport to get first hand information about what obtains in the Caribbean.

The roadshow is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to present investment migration opportunities to wealthy individuals and business owners across the region.

NAN

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Health

Stakeholders Applaud A360 Impact On Adolescent Health

Published

3 days ago

November 28, 2025

The Gleamer

Stakeholders in Nigeria’s health and development sector say the institutionalisation and scale-up of the Adolescent 360 (A360) Amplify project have greatly improved adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes in participating states.

They made this known at a dissemination meeting on the project on Thursday in Abuja.

It was implemented by the Society for Family Health (SFH) and partners, and later adopted into government systems following documented successes.

Launched in 2020, the A360 project was designed to provide adolescent girls with access to sexual and reproductive health information, youth-friendly services and economic empowerment opportunities.

The programme was implemented in Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna and Nasarawa States using a human-centred design approach that engaged governments, communities and young people to improve uptake of family planning and maternal health services.

Dr Aisha Sadiq, Permanent Secretary, Kaduna State Ministry of Health, said institutionalising A360 had delivered measurable improvements in adolescent health indicators and community wellbeing.

She said Kaduna currently provides A360 youth-friendly services in 623 Primary Health Care (PHC) centres.

The Matasan Mata Arewa (MMA) initiative, she added, had reached 75 communities and empowered more than 15,000 girls with entrepreneurship skills and seed capital.

According to her, more than 60,000 girls have accessed contraceptives through the programme, with a reduction in discontinuation rates as more young women sustain use and transition to maternal and child health services.

“These changes have shown a marked reduction in maternal mortality among those communities. It has also reduced negative neonatal outcomes,” she said.

Sadiq recounted an elderly woman’s remarks from a programme community, calling them a strong reflection of the project’s success.

“These girls have spent their whole lives believing they will remain tolerable liabilities to the husbands they marry, but now they are realising the value of becoming appreciated assets,” she quoted.

Sadiq added that Kaduna’s 16 per cent health budget allocation and the integration of A360 activities into the state’s 2025 Annual Operational Plan demonstrated sustained political commitment.

Also speaking, Dr Omokhudu Idogho, Managing Director, SFH, said the four implementing states had successfully embedded A360 approaches into government systems, community structures and routine health practices.

He was represented by Dr Kenechukwu Erichalo, Deputy Managing Director, Project Delivery.

Idogho said the project had reached more than one million adolescent girls with family planning services and engaged over 500,000 others with comprehensive sexuality education messaging.

“We recorded more than 50,000 antenatal care visits, ensuring that girls received skilled care that saved lives, and supported over half a million girls to learn income-generating skills,” he said.

He said A360 pioneered the MMA and Niger Girls models, demonstrating that culturally sensitive, human-centred programmes can succeed even in conservative communities.

“Our most significant achievement is institutionalisation. Today, all 1,750 A360-supported facilities are fully government-led,” he added.

Mrs Roselyn Odeh, A360 Project Lead, said the initiative was developed in response to poor adolescent health indices in the country.

She said the programme ensured respectful, youth-friendly services at PHCs and supported school reintegration and entrepreneurship for girls.

She said the decision to scale the programme in northern states was based on data.

“When you look at maternal mortality among young people, you know the section of the country it is coming from. Data drove our decisions in alignment with government priorities,” she said.

Odeh identified challenges including weak PHC infrastructure, funding gaps, commodity shortages and the need to engage husbands in conservative communities.

“But creatively, we worked with governments to mobilise domestic funding through health revolving funds and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund,” she said.

Mr Sagir Musa, Commissioner for Youth, Jigawa State, assured of continued commitment from implementing states to sustain and expand the project’s gains.

“This project may be nearing closure, but for us, it has just begun. We have gone beyond its life cycle to embed its approaches in the things we do,” he said.

The dissemination meeting brought together policymakers, community leaders, development partners and beneficiaries to review lessons learned and outline future priorities for scaling adolescent health interventions nationwide.

(NAN)

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