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f the recently released world population figures are anything to go by, Nigeria has a lot to worry about. By all projections, the population of our country is estimated to hit 200 million in the next three years, from an estimated 178.5 million as at July last year. Currently, Nigeria ranks 7th in the list of countries by population with a density of 193 persons per kilometre while 51 per cent of that population is urban and the median age is 17.8 years. According to the United Nations in its new population prediction, by the year 2050, three of the 10 most populous countries in the world will be in Africa.



STILL ON THE UNCONTROLLED POPULATION GROWTH

More foreign investors are switching out of Nigerian bonds into forwards speculating on the naira’s future value, a report has stated.

For instance, Bloomberg cited the case of Bryan Carter, who oversees almost $500 million for Acadian Asset Management Incorporated who is also switching out of the Nigerian bonds into forwards speculating on the naira’s future value. Record-high yields on the derivatives imply a 25 per cent loss against the dollar over the next year. This Carter said is too much.

Investors Switching into Forward Speculation on Naira

Harvesting papayas is Lemeul Mantey’s livelihood. He’s determined to get the best out of his trees, which grow in the farming community of Nsawam, west of the Ghanaian capital of Accra.

Growing more than fruit: Turning Ghana’s farms into healthy businesses

Euro zone finance ministers have approved Greece’s reform plan, paving the way for a four-month extension of the country’s financial rescue program, a Greek finance ministry official said on Tuesday.

Euro zone finance ministers approve Greece’s reforms

Nigeria has lost a minimum of N8.04 billion since January, to the incessant vandalism of the country’s gas pipelines, according to the Nigerian Gas Company, NGC, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Speaking at a press briefing in Warri, Delta State, the Managing Director, NGC, Mr. Dafe Sejebor, disclosed that since the beginning of this year the country has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the spate of gas pipeline vandalism.

Nigeria loses N8bn to gas pipeline vandalism

This is a time bomb, unless policy makers design appropriate policies that will improve the productive capacities of our people.If the recently released world population figures are anything to go by, Nigeria has a lot to worry about. By all projections, the population of our country is estimated to hit 200 million in the next three years, from an estimated 178.5 million as at July last year. Currently, Nigeria ranks 7th in the list of countries by population with a density of 193 persons per kilometre while 51 per cent of that population is urban and the median age is 17.8 years. According to the United Nations in its new population prediction, by the year 2050, three of the 10 most populous countries in the world will be in Africa.Today, as our country’s population continues to bulge exponentially, Nigerians continue to be ranked among the poorest people in the world due to high incidence of unemployment, predominant production of primary goods over finished products, aging public infrastructure, the insurgency in a section of the country and opaque systems of governance. The high rate of out-of-school children and poor output in the education sector also contribute negatively to deepening this problem as the nation churns out a crop of uncompetitive youth in a new world driven by technology, skills and knowledge.As it would happen, Nigeria is today rated among the fastest growing countries of the world. Ordinarily this should be a plus for us, but it is not. Experts therefore warn of the dire consequences of this uncontrolled population growth. The prognosis is that there may come a time when it would be difficult for us to feed and make other necessary provisions for the ever increasing number of people, hence the need to avoid the type of crises witnessed over the years in some African countries.Against the background that uncontrolled population growth is already stretching to the limits the few infrastructural facilities in the country and contributing in large measure to the poor standards of living, there is indeed an urgent need to address the dire consequences of this uncontrolled population growth.Of course, we are not unmindful of the fact that some people may dismiss the latest projections as mere Western propaganda aimed at keeping developing countries from having large population. They could also point to China and India as countries with huge populations harvesting their “demographic dividends”. Yet the fact being ignored is that China controls its population with its one-child per couple policy while the Indian state encourages some form of family planning. In any case, an idle (and largely illiterate population) such as we breed in Nigeria today can only be a disaster waiting to happen.However, we are not oblivious of religious practices and beliefs that frown at any talk of over population and therefore regard any suggestion that hints at birth control as heresy. But it is a simple economic fact that population growth that is not matched with commensurate socio-economic development can only breed chaos. On a positive note, however, we also understand that at a time when the population of many countries in Europe and Asia is ageing, Nigeria’s young population could be a demographic advantage but only if the policy makers can design appropriate policies that will improve the productive capacities of our people and put our people to work. To the extent that there is no such thing, then there is the need to worry…..<a href="http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/still-on-the-uncontrolled-population-growth/219707/" target="_blank">Read more</a>&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/investors-switching-into-forward-speculation-on-naira/202637/" target="_blank">Obinna Chima with agency report</a>&nbsp;More foreign investors are switching out of Nigerian bonds into forwards speculating on the naira’s future value, a report has stated.For instance, Bloomberg cited the case of Bryan Carter, who oversees almost $500 million for Acadian Asset Management Incorporated who is also switching out of the Nigerian bonds into forwards speculating on the naira’s future value. Record-high yields on the derivatives imply a 25 per cent loss against the dollar over the next year. This Carter said is too much.“There’s no reason to believe it would be that bad,” he told Bloomberg, adding that “the perception of Nigeria in the markets has been really battered. But the currency depreciation is largely behind us. It’s a rare opportunity.”The naira is already the worst performer among 24 African currencies over the past three months and is trading near a record-low. The continent’s largest economy has been hit by the halving in Brent crude prices since the middle of last year and attacks in the north of the country by Boko Haram militants. The postponement of presidential elections scheduled for this month further dented investor confidence. The naira closed at N198 to a dollar on the interbank market on Tuesday.Nigeria’s currency touched an all-time low of N206.32 per dollar on February 12, 200.77 after tumbling 13 per cent in the past three months.The “worst-case scenario” is that it will fall “maybe another 10 percent,” said Carter, whose firm specialises in so-called frontier markets.The implied yield on naira 12-month non-deliverable forwards, which are more accessible to foreign investors because they’re traded offshore and exempt from local dealing restrictions, climbed to a record 39 percent the same day, before falling back to 32 percent. The contracts suggest the naira will weaken to N263 per dollar in a year’s time, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.Acadian, owned by Johannesburg-based Old Mutual Plc, isn’t the only money manager snapping up naira forwards. Landesbank Berlin Investment GmbH agrees markets are too bearish on Nigeria’s currency and started buying the derivatives early February.Read more:<a href="http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/investors-switching-into-forward-speculation-on-naira/202637/" target="_blank">http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/investors-switching-into-forward-speculation-on-naira/202637/</a>&nbsp;

<a href="#" target="_blank">First Published at cnn.com on 5th January, 2015</a> Harvesting papayas is Lemeul Mantey’s livelihood. He’s determined to get the best out of his trees, which grow in the farming community of Nsawam, west of the Ghanaian capital of Accra. To get the juiciest fruit, careful planning and preparation is vital.“If you want to kill the weeds, you put on your knapsack sprayer, put in water and chemicals, take your protective clothes and then spray,” Mantey explains. “You kill all the weeds, that’s the practice.”Ghana may not produce as many papayas (also known as pawpaw) as Nigeria, but the country was formerly a big exporter of the brightly colored commodity. These days, it is pineapple which is key for Ghanaian growers, who exported close to 46,000 tonnes in 2011.<blockquote>Most agribusiness decisions are taken in bedrooms and not boardrooms…that needs to be changed if we want this sector to grow. Malindube Kombase, regional director of the Mobile Business Clinic</blockquote><h3></h3><h3>Business survival</h3>With labor and input costs increasing for those in the agricultural sector, farmers in the country face enormous pressure to sustain their business. As over 53% of Ghana’s total workforce was employed in agriculture in 2013, surviving these harsh conditions is essential for the West African nation. And survival means thinking smart and being business savvy.“Agribusiness for me denotes the collective business activities that are performed from farm to the dining table,” explains Malindube Kombase, regional director of Mobile Business Clinic. “These involve input supply, the production of food and the actual delivery of food to the end user.”The group Kombase runs is devoted to helping farmers and other agricultural workers grow their operations by offering training in good business practices.“Most agribusiness entrepreneurs are not running their companies as businesses, but rather as lifestyle companies,” Kombase says. “Without much vision, without enough corporate governance structures, without proper record keeping systems.”<h3>Creative collaboration</h3>The biggest problem Kombase sees with agribusinesses is that key decisions are made by the owners without involving their workers. He considers this management structure as a threat to both the growth and the survival of some agribusinesses.Through its three-month training workshop, Mobile Business Clinic seeks to improve the skills of CEOs, who in turn will have “better access to appropriate resources for growth.” The benefits of working in a collaborative way are stressed to the participants who at the end of the program form clubs to share ideas and support each other.“Most [participants] are well experienced and have a lot of skills and experience that would be useful for their colleagues,” Kombase says. “These clubs form a repository of skills, knowledge and experience that young entrepreneurs, especially in the agribusiness sector, can rely on to start their businesses and turn it around.”Another potential benefit that could emerge from this collaborative approach is diversifying output.“Farmers are not looking for hand-outs,” says Michael Abu Sakara Foster, agribusiness executive for Sacco Farms.”[We can] really raise the contribution of agriculture to the GDP, and in fact, diversify the kind of crops that we depend on and also make the economy more robust.”<h3>Expanding operations</h3>As well as gaining knowledge from the workshop, some farmers also come away with increased confidence.“It’s very expensive raising chickens in Ghana,” explains Anthony Korkuvi, who runs an egg business with his wife in Nsawam. “Chicks are very expensive, then the feed is also very expensive, and then. at times, diseases also disturb us — especially if you don’t give them the right vaccinations.”Having recently completed the training, Korkuvi is now beginning to think big. His plans include expanding beyond Nsawam, and to possibly even Accra. Such a move would require external capital investment.“There is enough funding available for agribusiness entrepreneurs but most investors would want to see some structures in the businesses in order to have enough confidence to put their money in,” argues Kombase. “If there are no corporate governance structures, the investor would not be interested. “Read More………

Written by Hauwa Anaja AbuEuro zone finance ministers have approved Greece’s reform plan, paving the way for a four-month extension of the country’s financial rescue program, a Greek finance ministry official said on Tuesday.“The Eurogroup teleconference is over and the Greek reform plan was approved,” a Greek finance ministry official said after the ministers held a conference call to discuss the detailed list of measures submitted by Athens late on Monday.&nbsp;The six-page document from Athens rowed back on campaign promises to halt privatisation, boost welfare spending and raise the minimum wage.It also pledged to consult partners before key reforms are implemented, and keep them budget-neutral.

By Michael Eboh published March 10, 2014Nigeria has lost a minimum of N8.04 billion since January, to the incessant vandalism of the country’s gas pipelines, according to the Nigerian Gas Company, NGC, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Speaking at a press briefing in Warri, Delta State, the Managing Director, NGC, Mr. Dafe Sejebor, disclosed that since the beginning of this year the country has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the spate of gas pipeline vandalism.He added that within the last two months, it has recorded three major attacks on its pipeline network, mainly in the Niger Delta region. According to Sejebor, who was represented by Executive Director, Services, Mr. Joseph Olisa, “whenever these pipelines are sabotaged, we are forced to shut down the pipeline, and we defer a minimum of 200 million Standard Cubic Feet, SCF, of gas per day.” He put the average price of gas at $3 per unit of1,000 scf, adding that it takes an average of two weeks to repair the damage, and an average of one week to locate the damaged spot and mobilise personnel, equipment and materials to site.Also, the minimum cost for the repair of a damaged pipeline in the Niger Delta region, according to Sejebor, is about N160 million. To this end, at an average price of $3/1,000SCF, multiplied by 200 million SCF product loss plus repairs, Nigeria may have lost about N8.01 billion between January and now. This is put at 1,500 megawatts, as a number of power plants will be deprived of gas to generate electricity. The NGC boss decried that the recent increase in the spate of vandalism is negatively affecting the economy and the operations of the company.He said, “The spate of vandalism of our pipelines have been on the increase and this is alarming. We are hurting, especially as it has affected us negatively. It is a willful damage and not as a result of our inability to maintain our pipelines.” He further stated that the NGC is already holding talks with all its key stakeholders, such as its contractors, security agencies and leaders of communities in its areas of operations, on ways to ensure the safety of the pipelines.Also speaking, the Executive Director, Operations, NGC, Mr. Gabriel Aggrey, argued that the spate of pipeline vandalism in the last three weeks is alarming and queried the rationale for the act of sabotage. According to him, “we continue to wonder why anyone would want to vandalise a gas pipeline, especially as gas cannot be stolen with a basket. Describing vandalism as an act of sabotage , Aggrey condemned the colossal amount the company incurs on repairs whenever a pipeline is sabotaged.– See more at: <a href="https://www.3psmars.org/nigeria-loses-n8bn-to-gas-pipeline-vandalism/%20http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/nigeria-loses-n8bn-to-gas-pipeline-vandalism/#sthash.rHKJpbsU.dpuf" target="_blank">http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/nigeria-loses-n8bn-to-gas-pipeline-vandalism/#sthash.rHKJpbsU.dpuf</a>&nbsp;