Business
Use local materials for Kano-Kaduna rail project, Amaechi tells CCECC
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked the contractor handling the Kano-Kaduna rail project to source locally a significant amount of construction materials.
The minister stated this on Friday while inspecting construction work on the new rail corridor being handled by the China Civil Construction Engineering Company (CCECC).
He said it was unacceptable for the bulk of money Nigeria borrowed from China to return to the Asian country.
He also said utilisation of local manpower would create opportunities for transfer of technology.
“The government is encouraging the use of local materials and passing down the jobs to Nigerians so that we are part of the process. Financially, we will also benefit.
“It is not good for the Chinese to come here; we will borrow $2 billion and they will go to their homes with it. We should also spend part of it in the country,” he said.
The scope of the railway project involves a 203 kilometer double track standard gauge railway from Kano to Kaduna.
The project is expected to gulp $1.2bn, without variations on the scope of work agreed.
Already, the Federal Government had last year released over $220 million to CCECC commence work.
Our correspondent reports that whilst work has commenced on the facility, a section of the rail route has been excavated and smaller bridges being done.
The Federal Government has given the contractor a deadline of May 2023 for commissioning but subject to availability of funds.
The government had earlier announced that the planned loan to fund the project was being delayed.
“So, we are funding this project from the budget, that was why I was skeptical on the completion date and I said, if we fund them, I used that word if, because of the situation of things,” he stated.
“However, we are putting pressure on the necessary institutions that need to give us loan, hopefully before May, we should be able to get enough money to complete this project. But currently, we are funding it through the budget. We will approach the minister of finance again to fund us between now and May; hoping that by May, we should be able to get the loan.
On equipment and manpower, he said, “That has to do with funding, we want about 742 equipment and 200 are at the seaport. What we agreed is that they must bring in 2000 equipment to avoid what we suffered in Ibadan-Lagos.
“The equipment were either breaking down or were not enough; we had to place order for new ones because they were not off the shelf thing. So for this one, we have asked that they buy all the equipment they need do that; as they breakdown, they replace and in one year plus,, they should be able to complete the job.”
Business
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.
A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.
Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.
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Reacting, Dare said, “200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery, Renewing the Hopes of Nigeria.”
He added that “the Port Harcourt refinery has two wings.
“The Old Refinery comes on stream today with an installed production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day of crude oil.”
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
Business
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.
This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.
He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.
The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.
Business
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.
The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.
The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.
“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.
“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.
“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”
Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.
Employment rate – 76%
The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.
“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.
Self-employment – 85.6%
The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.
It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”
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