Featured
IFFs: Joint resistance ‘ll enhance SDG-2030, AU-Agenda 2063 actualisation- Princess Akobundu AUDA-NEPAD
Joel Ajayi
Illicit Financial Flows have significant negative impact towards realizing the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and African Union Agenda 2063 ‘Africa We Want’, hence the need for collective efforts of all stakeholders in fighting the menace says Princess Gloria Akobundu fsi,National Coordinator/ Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency- new Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) Nigeria.
Akobundu said this at just concluded High-level Side event on the Margin of the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, U.S.A, organised by AUDA-NEPAD in collaboration with Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Nigeria.
The event themed ‘Food Security Response: Combatting Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and Securing Asset.Returns for Sustainable Development was attended by President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), his counterparts from the continent, as well as strategic stakeholders in Socio-economic development.
According to the AUDA-NEPAD Boss, even with abundant human and mineral resources, Africa’s large infrastrural gaps are yet to be covered due to annual loss of billions of dollars to IFFs.
“Africa loses about US$88.6billion , annually in Illicit Financial Flows, which cripples Infrastructural development, especially in agriculture and food security.
“Recognizing that combating IFFs is an essential development challenge, the United Nations passed a Resolution adopted by the 75th UNGA on Promotion of international cooperation to combat the menace and strengthen good practices on asset returns to foster sustainable development,” she said.
Akobundu gave some backgrounds to the theme of the 77th UNGAs special side event.
“”About 500 million Smallholder Farmers produce more than 80% of the food consumed in large parts of the developing world thereby contributing to food security and poverty reduction.
“Recently, the global food systems have been affected by population growth, unavailability and inaccessibility of arable land, poor water resources management, climate change, loss of biodiversity, conflicts, and above all Covid-19 pandemic, these factors trigger food insecurity, which calls for urgent attention.
“If Africa’s population and land space are productively harnessed, it’s challenges will not only be addressed but turned around for world economic boost and sustainable development,” she said.
She lauded African Leaders for declaring 2022 as the Year of Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the Continent. Saying “it was in recognition of the need to address these challenges, which cannot be achieved without adequate financing”.
Akobundu also shared Nigeria’s experience and efforts in ensuring food security and eliminating IFFs.
“The aggressive Revolutional Agricultural Policy of President Muhammadu Buhari- led government has yielded great results in Nigeria’s Food Systems through various interventions and reforms which help in strengthening Smallholder Farmers among others.
The Government of Nigeria is doing its best to reduce poverty in the country, but with a population of more than 200 million people and over 60% of this falls within the youth bracket.
“There are tendencies for communities to be exposed to insecurity, restiveness, trafficking, migration, malnutrition among others, hence the need to put deliberate measures in place to forestall their occurrences.
“Under his government, Nigeria committed 4 million Hectares towards the restoration of degraded lands on the AFR100 initiative.
“The ongoing Smallholder Farmers Project is poised to restoring 1 million Hectares of land because smallholder farmers significantly contribute to global food,” she said.
The Agency’s Boss also extended appreciation to members of Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council for supporting AUDA-NEPAD programmes in the country, while also lauded EFCC and other Departments and Agencies for consistent partnership on its anti-corruption campaigns and other flagship programmes.
“The call for global financing and returns of Illicit funds to strengthen the food responses align with African Union- Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP),” she noted.
Addressing the gathering, President Buhari said his government financed 2.5million smallholder farmers cultivating about 3.2million hectares of farmland across the country while also created 10million direct and indirect jobs.
He said the efforts resulted in a significant decline in the country’s large food import bill, from $2.2billion Dollars in 2014 to $5.9million Dollars at the end of 2018,” he said.
President Buhari is actively participating at the 77th UNGA, his last before handing over in 2023 as the President of Nigeria,the most populous black nation in the world and a leading African state.
It will be recalled that AUDA-NEPAD Nigeria and EFCC have been organising the Special since the 73rd UNGA.Also, Akobundu-led AUDA-NEPAD Nigeria launched Initiative Strengthening of Smallholder Farmers Capabilities for Productive Land Restoration amid COVID -19 pandemic.
The event was attended by Nigerian State Governors , Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Nigerian Ministers, heads of parastatals, funding and strategic partners, representatives of heads of nations,media and other stakeholders.
Featured
Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.
The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.
Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.
According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.
“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.
“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”
The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.
Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.
“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.
Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.
Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.
He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.
Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.
He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.
To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.
In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization
Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.
Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.
“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.
In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee
is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.
The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
-
Featured7 years agoLampard Names New Chelsea Manager
-
Featured7 years agoFG To Extends Lockdown In FCT, Lagos Ogun states For 7days
-
Featured7 years agoChildren Custody: Court Adjourns Mike Ezuruonye, Wife’s Case To April 7
-
Featured7 years agoNYSC Dismisses Report Of DG’s Plan To Islamize Benue Orientation Camp
-
Featured5 years agoTransfer Saga: How Mikel Obi Refused to compensate me After I Linked Him Worth $4m Deal In Kuwait SC – Okafor
-
Featured7 years ago
Board urges FG to establish one-stop rehabilitation centres in 6 geopolitical zones
-
Sports4 years ago
TINUBU LAMBAST DELE MOMODU
-
News2 years agoZulu to Super Eagles B team, President Tinubu is happy with you
