If the proposal of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) passes through, unemployed Nigerians will earn N25, 000 monthly in a welfare scheme.

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Region Kwara Nigeria

Sector Agriculture & Agri-processing, Energy

Foreign and local investors have the opportunity to invest in the production of ethanol in Kwara State, situated in central Nigeria.

Investment Opportunity

Cassava, an edible starchy tuberous root, is grown in large quantities across Kwara State and well suited for the production of ethanol. Ethanol is generally produced by the fermentation of sugar, cellulose, or converted starch. Apart from food and pharmaceutical uses, ethanol is finding itself alternative use for biofuel in most of the developed world.

Investors looking to process cassava into ethanol can either cultivate their own crops or buy from local farmers. Many of the ‘new Nigerian farmers’ from Zimbabwe are currently involved in the commercial cultivation of cassava. Alternatively the oil from the seeds of the Jatropha plant can also be used for ethanol production. Kwara State’s climate and soil is conducive for the growing of Jatropha.

The federal government has introduced Nigeria’s Biofuel Production Programme to establish a thriving a fuel ethanol industry by utilising agricultural products. A number of incentives have been introduced to stimulate Nigeria’s biofuel industry. These include:
# Pioneer Status All registered businesses engaged in activities related to biofuels production and/or the production of feedstock for the purpose of biofuel production and co-generation within the country shall be accorded Pioneer Status within the provisions of the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act.
# Withholding tax on interest, dividends, etc.
# Waiver on import and customs duties
# Waiver on Value Added Tax Biofuel companies that are involved in the production of biofuels feedstock; or the production of biofuels and/or the generation of electricity from biomass shall be exempted from payment of Value Added Taxes on all products and services consumed by them.
# Long term preferential loans

Reasons to Invest in Kwara State

Incentives: The Kwara State Government is willing to extend a number of incentives to serious investors. These include the provision of land and infrastructure, tax holidays and assistance with obtaining financing.

Labour: Kwara State is home to the well-respected University of Ilorin and construction of the new Kwara State University will soon be completed. Kwara State therefore has a large number of graduates who can be employed by companies investing in the state.

Cargo terminal: A new cargo terminal at the Ilorin International Airport will soon be completed and will allow for goods to be transported via air, both locally and internationally.

Power supply: Due to the recent completion of the Ganmo sub-station, the state capital, Ilorin, currently enjoys very close to 24 hours a day of uninterrupted power supply. Many business owners are delighted by the fact that they have to make very little use of generators.

Political will: The government of Kwara State is devoted to creating an enabling environment for business and investment. The state is also committed to continuity of policies which will ensure that an investor friendly environment remains even after the end of the current administration’s tenure.

Investment insurance: Nigeria is a member of MIGA (Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency) and the ICSD (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes). Potential investors are therefore insured against a wide range of non-commercial risks.

Contact Details Investors interested in this project should contact Fela Ibidapo, Special Assistant to the Executive Governor, Kwara State (Investments) at felaibidapo@gmai

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Nigerian-owned Mainstreet Technologies’ Main One Cable will connect countries in Africa to those in Europe, becoming the second competitive cable (after the Glo-1 Cable) in West Africa by June 2010.

The Main One Cable Company has concluded the shore-end laying of its undersea fibre optic cables in Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana respectively.
The shore-end cable laying is a critical intermediary procedure to install the undersea cables on the shores of countries in which the cable system is expected to berth.
This in preparation for the end-to-end laying of the full stretch of the fibre optic cable from its origin in Portugal.

Funke Opeke CEO, Main One Cable

Funke Opeke CEO, Main One Cable; Main One Cable is the Second Competitive Cable Planned to Give Broadband Access to West Africa by 2010.

With the Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, in 1981, Opeke proceeded to Columbia University, New York, United States of America, where she obtained a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1984.
Funke has been described as an industry veteran of highly competitive environments with over 20 years experience as a telecommunications executive.

She is a highly accomplished and results-oriented engineer who has worked in several major telecommunications companies in the United States with her most recent appointment prior to her return to Nigeria being as the Executive Director, Performance Assurance, Verizon Communications, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world.

Opeke joined Verizon Communications as Executive Director in 2001. Between 2001 and 2005, she managed different portfolios including the Business Architecture and implementation of Verizon’s global backbone network; Global Managed Network Services, and Performance Assurance for the Wholesale Services Line of Business.

She had held senior positions at several other companies in the United States including Telcordia Technologies (Bellcore), Piscataway; AlliedSignal Corporation, Morristown; PA Consulting Group, Highstown; and RCA American Communications.

Following that she moved to MTN Nigeria where she was the company CTO, her responsibilities included the planning and management of the entire MTN Nigeria network.

At the time of her engagement, MTN Corporate Services was quoted as saying that Opeke’s appointment is evidence of MTN’s commitment to recruit the best Nigerian brains and to contribute to the development of Nigerian human capital.

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Article written by Leo Okoro

Background
PRESIDENT J. F. Kennedy of the United States of America (USA) at Nigeria’s independence in 1960, referring to Nigeria, said “a new nation is born in Africa that has the resources and power to rise to our USA level in 15 to 20 years.” He added: “Let’s give them a unique birthday gift.”

That Nigeria is the giant of Africa cannot be overemphasized. The country is making all preparations towards becoming one of the top twenty economies of the world by the year 2020. Africa has always looked on Nigeria to establish an industrial base founded on establishment of micro, small and medium scale enterprises of which sand paper-manufacturing industry is one.

The springing up of such industries will go a long way in eradicating poverty, unemployment, hunger, youth restiveness, terrorism and other social vices. Even development, peace and progress will be engendered in the country.

Sandpaper is a strong paper coated with sharp sand or similar substances used for rubbing rough surfaces smooth. Standard sandpaper has measurement of about 30cm x 21cm. Sandpaper is of different forms, the smooth and rough sandpaper. The rough sandpaper is used to smooth very rough surfaces while the smooth sandpaper is used on mildly rough surface to make it smooth. Sandpaper is an imported product in Nigeria. Statistics show that almost 100 per cent of sandpaper used in Nigeria is imported, as there are no well-known local manufacturers of the product in Nigeria.

The project
The project is setting up a production plant to manufacture sandpaper. The plant will be capable of producing 405,000 sheets of sandpaper per annum at production rate of 1,500 sheets per day, employing 8 members of staff at the on set working for 270 days per annum. The raw materials needed for this project are sharp sand, broken bottles, sharp stone, paper and gum. These raw materials are easily sourced locally in Nigeria.

Machinery
The machines required are Samola sandpaper machine and the drying oven system. The Samola machine comprises of 10HP electric motor, 3HP roller electric motor, dual pulley, hammer pulley, dead rolls spreader, twin roller system, paper roller desk, and adhesive molder. The oven system is for drying of the product and it is powered by gas. The machines can be locally fabricated. Imported (foreign) machines are also available at higher prices.

Production process
The production process is very simple. The sharp sand, stone and broken bottles chips are mixed up in the right proportion and fed into the hammer mill. The hammer mill reduces them to the required sizes and screens the materials into granules. The paper is passed through a gum bath and the gritty granules are made to come into contact with the gum surface of the paper using the spreader. The dead rolls spreader spreads and presses the granules unto the gummed paper. The paper with the gum and the granules is passed to the oven system for drying. After drying, the sandpaper so produced is packaged ready for sale.

Uses/market
Virtually, all sandpapers used in Nigeria are imported from China, Taiwan and Europe as there are no well-known local productions. The lack of local production has created a wide supply-demand gap, as demand far outstrips supply, and the available products sold at high prices. There is large market for the product in Nigeria as the demand for the product is ever on the increase in industries like building construction, metal/steel, furniture/woodworks, electrical/mechanical, shoe industries, etc.

Profitability
The plant producing at annual installed capacity of 405,000 sheets of sandpaper of 30cm x 21cm per sheet, selling at an average prices of N150 per sheet is capable of generating a net turnover of N60.8 million per annum. A net profit of N5.5 million in the first year of operation is realistic with an anticipated annual growth rate of 15 per cent. The pay-back period is about three years.

Funding
Finance for this project can be through equity contribution of the promoters, commercial and micro-finance banks. Other specialized banks like the Bank of Industry (BOI) are handy to augment financing of this project.

Implementation
Implementing this project begins with conducting a detailed feasibility study and producing a report that ascertains the actual cost/benefit scenario of the project.

Recommendation
The writer strongly recommends this project to all interested investors as the industry is very virgin, attractive, feasible and quite lucrative. All prospective investors can contact the writer for a bankable feasibility report and further assistance.

Investment requirement

Preliminary expenses                          100,000
Factory site                                              400,000
Plant and machinery                        1,500,000
Motor vehicles                                    1,500,000
Furniture/fitting and equipment    300,000
Working capital                                      300,000
Contingency                                             100,000
Total                                                   4,200,000

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Written by Henry Kester Ewruje

The world is going through a global economic crisis but African countries have remained relatively unaffected by the first round of the crises.
In a write-up for Gateway Nigeria, Naija4ever, started that “Nigeria’s economy grew by 5% last year despite the Niger Delta crisis and the epileptic power supply. Why am I not surprised?
With this kind of economic growth, I cannot but agree that the attainment of vision 2020 by the federal government is possible, when the country hopes to become one of 20 top economies in the world.
The Central Bank of Nigeria gave the nations economy a clean bill of health with the domestic macroeconomic environment remaining resilient in 2008 despite continuing global economic melt down.
Financial experts say the economy is likely to remain insulated from the adverse effects of global financial crises because of limited exposure of our financial institutions to the global financial markets and the underlying cause of the crises.
Many things have been said and written about the country’s hyra-headed multifariously stunted economy. The economy is no doubt in dire straights.
Some aspects of the economy need urgent attention such as electricity, high prices of petroleum products, health care, food crises, insecurity, education, infrastructure, agriculture, Niger-Delta and employment.
Competence and confidence are fast losing ground in the country and in our people.
Surprisingly, economic and financial experts say the nation is a safe haven for investment.
Since Obasanjo’s tenure as president the only areas where growth were recorded were in the banking and telecommunications sector, but there are reports of likely explosion in other areas of the economy.
As much as we want to before optimistic about Nigeria, we are struck in the face by some brazen realities that it will be foolish to live in a false sense of grandeur. What business can anyone do with less than one hour of electricity a day? Anyway, there are those who can afford diesel for their generators.
Life however, becomes meaningless when the people abandon hope. Only emergency actions can ameliorate the extensive damage done to the psyche of Nigerians and the structure of the economy. The country’s natural and human resources have not been properly husbanded and deployed since independence in 1960.
Nigeria has come out tops in global surveys carried out on every negative indicator-poverty, human rights violation, life expectancy, transparency, government, science and technology, HIV/AIDS. Literacy, health, unemployment, violence and corruption.
Many people are thinking that the country would soon collapse.
Surprisingly, the highly credible Merrill lynch came out in November last year, with an economic survey, and the result is that Nigeria is the world’s safest economy, meaning the least vulnerable economic environment.

By this pronouncement, Nigeria may attract huge attention and investments. This is at a time when the USA, leads other countries in the risk zone including the UK, Euro zone, Bulgaria, Sweden, Hungary, Romania, South Korea, Switzerland and Australia.
Merrill Lynch came out in the economic survey that Nigeria, including Mexico, Philippines, Columbia, Egypt, Oman, Indonesia, Peru, China and Russia.
Merrill Lynch and Co, Inc is global financial services firm. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the company provides capital market services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking, and related financial service worldwide.
Merrill Lynch has its headquarter in New York City, and occupies the 34 stories of the Four World Financial Centre building in Manhattan. It survives on future studies and forecasts, and does not joke about it.
Nigeria should attract huge attention and investments. It is time for Nigerians abroad to come back home, and invest in the economy.

Nigeria is ripe for investment.

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A friend of mine is still trying to recover from the shock of losing N50,000Naira to a group of scammers who promised him a lucrative job with a Multinational Oil company.

My friend who has been jobless for about 5 years was elated when he recieved an email from an online recruitment agency offering him a Job, as his CV matched all the requirements of the Oil company. He was asked to come down to their offices with original certificates and registration fees, He even saw a draft copy of his employment contract. He did what he thought was enough due diligence by calling up the actual company to find out if the vacancy was actually existing, Yes was the answer from their Human Resources.

My friend thought his prayers have finally been answered. After money had exchanged hands, they kept on postponing the start date, offering various excuses why he could not start yet, only to get to their office one day and be told they have moved with no forwarding address.

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