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Buhari calls for increased Korean investment in Nigeria

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President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in Seoul, invited top Korean business executives to increase their investments in Nigeria, while his Administration would continue to make determined efforts to improve the enabling domestic environment for businesses to flourish.

Speaking during an audience he granted representatives of strategic Korean companies and industries on the sidelines of the World Bio Summit 2022 in the Republic of Korea capital, the President declared that “Nigeria remains committed to creating a stable and enabling business environment for foreign investors through the formulation of sound economic policies and improved governance,” adding that “the security forces have been working assiduously with local communities to ensure the security of lives and properties of Nigerians and foreign investors.”

According to him, “Our administration, has prioritized Power infrastructure under the Presidential Power Initiative. In this regard, Nigeria has procured modern power equipment which was inaugurated in September 2022 as part of the phased project to generate 25,000 megawatts of electricity by 2025.

Furthermore, to ensure ease in clearing of cargo, giant strides have been digitalised of the processes in our Sea-Parts as well as airports.”

Making a case for the country as investment friendly and choice destination, President Buhari further highlighted that, “With a nominal GDP of 431.97 billion USD, Nigeria’s economy remains the largest in Africa with vast human capital and natural resources.

“The steady improvement from the global economic downturn of 2020 indicates that the Nigerian economy is on firm path of recovery. I implore you therefore, to take advantage of the many investment opportunities in Nigeria, especially in the areas of Oil and Gas, Trade, Manufacturing, ICT, Creative Industry and Culture exchange. It is worthy of emphasis to underscore that the business environment in Nigeria offers low corporate tax regime/ VAT rates, flexible labour market conditions and simple procedures for establishing businesses.”

Credit: channelstv.com

Nigeria’s voting population now 93.5m -says INEC

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INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has delisted 2,780,756 registrants from the millions of new voters who registered during the just concluded Continuous Voters Registration (CVR).

This was disclosed by the commission’s chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, on Wednesday, at a quarterly meeting with leaders of political parties in Abuja.

A total of 12,298,944 registrants were initially declared to have successfully completed the exercise which lasted between June 2021 and July 2022.

However, Mr Yakubu, at the meeting, confirmed that a total of 2,780,756 (22.6%) of the 12 million registrants have been declared invalid due to infractions such as double registration, and underage registrants, among others.

“At the end of the exercise, 12,298,944 Nigerians successfully completed the registration as new voters. All along, we have repeatedly assured Nigerians that our process of cleaning up the register is robust.

“After a rigorous cleaning-up of the data using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), a total of 2,780,756 (22.6%) were identified as ineligible registrants and invalidated from the record, among them double/multiple registrants, underaged persons and outrightly fake registrations that fail to meet our business rules. Consequently, the number of valid registrations (post-ABIS) is 9,518,188,” the INEC boss said.

Mr Yakubu said the noticeable infractions were “carried out by some of our Registration Officers involved in the field exercise and could easily be traced.”

He added: “Each registration machine is operated using an access code tied to a dedicated email assigned to a staff member. There is therefore an audit trail that gives the total number of persons registered by each official involved in the registration exercise.

“In some cases, some of them made as many as 40 attempts or more to register one fake voter. As a result, the Commission has so far identified 23 Registration Officers involved in this unethical conduct and disciplinary action has commenced.”

Credit: premiumtimesng.com

GPHA wants gov’t increase taxes on sugary beverages

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Health Awareness Association

The Ghana Public Health Association (GPHA) is advocating for at least 20 per cent increase in taxes on sugar sweetened beverages as part of measures to reduce their effects on public health. They contend that such a move would increase savings on healthcare for the individual and promote the health of Ghanaians, especially children.

Dr. Abena Akyeamah Bimpeh, a Member of the Association who made the call, said there was the need for a comprehensive action plan on sugary drinks to restrict the marketing of such products in the interest of public health. She was speaking during a float on the principal streets of Kumasi to create public awareness on the increasing negative effects on the consumption of sugary drinks.

She said taxing sugary drinks could lower consumption and reduce obesity, type two diabetes and tooth decay. “Fiscal policies that lead to at least a 20 per cent increase in the retail price of sugary drinks would result in proportional reductions in consumption of such products,” she noted.  She explained that people who regularly consume one to two cans of sugary drinks a day had a 26 per cent risk of developing Type Two Diabetes than people who rarely consume such drinks.

Dr. Bimpeh emphasised that sweetened beverages like soft drinks, fruit juices with added sugar increased insulin resistance leading to increased heart rate and high blood pressure (hypertension).

Mr. James McKeown Amoah, the Project Lead, indicated that obesity was a major factor for heart diseases, cancers and other Non-Communicable Diseases and stressed the need to reduce the consumption of sugary products.  He said sugary products had no nutrients except calories which was inimical to the health of consumers.  Mrs. Cynthia Asante, a Dietician at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital also advised the public to eat a well balance diet to enhance good health.

Source: GNA

Export Promotion policy to promote an export driven economy 

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Economics Policy Economy

The introduction and successful implementation of the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) will transform Ghana’s economy from import dependency to export-driven and contribute to resolving trade imbalances.

It will build, strengthen, and create an enabling environment for local industries to increase production and add value to their products to significantly contribute to the country’s industrialization agenda to generate income.

Dr. Martin Akogti, the Zonal Director of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) in charge of Upper East and Upper West Regions, said this at Navrongo as part of the nationwide district level sensitisation workshop on the implementation of NEDS and AfCFTA.

He said it would also help to reposition Ghana’s economy and local businesses to take full advantage of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and increase foreign exchange earnings to address the economic challenges.

NEDS is a 10-year policy document, designed by GEPA and other relevant institutions is meant to empower businesses in Ghana especially those in Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs) sector to diversify production and contribute to the country’s industrialisation agenda.

It seeks to build the capacities of exporters and businesses to increase production and non-traditional exports to significantly contribute to achieving the revenue target of at least US$25.3 billion (about $78 per person in the US) by 2029.

Dr. Akogti said it was about time stakeholders paid attention to promoting the consumption of locally produced products and adding value to the products for export, to help address challenges facing the country.

He said the NEDS would not only open opportunities for the export value chain actors but would help producers expand the supply base and add value to local products, create enabling business environment and build capacity of human capital.

The Regional Director urged the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to identify at least one exportable product and invest in it to ensure that actors in the value chain increased production to enhance exportation.

“Currently, the cedi is suffering a lot because we import virtually everything and that is why the programme is about making sure that the economy is stable and  we are calling on everybody to stimulate the interest of people to begin thinking about export,” he added.

Alhaji Yakubu Yussif, the Representative, National Coordination Office, AfCFTA Ghana, explained that the implementation of AfCFTA was creating a convenient and borderless market opportunities for African countries to increase trade and generate revenue.

He said the government was committed to facilitating trade of Ghanaians businesses with other African countries through the roll out of the National Policy Framework for Action Plan and urged Ghanaian exporters and stakeholders in the export value change to add value to their products and take advantage of the market.

“We are looking at increasing African export by 81 per cent and increasing export within Africa by 29 per cent, so it is our responsibility to work with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that the tariffs and non-tariffs barriers are worked on so that our exporters in Ghana will have access in moving their goods across African continent to access the market,” he added.

Mr. Joseph Adongo, the Kassena-Nankana Municipal Chief Executive, noted that shea butter, groundnut and rice were the major products in the Municipality and noted that NEDS would build the capacity of producers and exporters to add value to their products and access quality market.

The engagement was on the theme, “Driving export through the National Export Development Strategy” and brought together stakeholders in the value chain of groundnut and shea butter production and processing.

By Anthony Adongo Apubeo

Source: GNA

KiDi’s ‘Blessed’ and ‘Touch It’ make top Billboard Top Triller Global Chart

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NANA KWESI COOMSON
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Kidi

Ghanaian artist, KiDi has once again lifted the flag of Ghana high.

The internationally recognized artist had two of his songs occupy spots on the Top 10 of the Billboard Top Triller Global Chart.

In the week of October 25, ‘Blessed’ which featured Jamaican dancehall artist Mavado peaked at number two in its third week on the chart. The song previously occupied the seventh spot and moved up by five spots.

On the other hand, his 2021 hit single, Touch It, which became a global anthem made a re-entry into the prestigious chart at number six.

With its highest peak at number 2, the song off his Golden Boy album had previously spent 15 weeks on the chart.

In a post shared on Instagram, Kidi highlighted his achievements and also expressed his appreciation to Billboard.

KiDi is noticeably the only African artiste in the midst of Sam Smith, Cardi B, and Sona Mohapatra among others in the Top 6.

The Top Triller Global chart highlights the biggest songs on Triller by combining the views, engagement and raw total of videos uploaded featuring a particular song.

The ranking is done based on a formula which blends the number of views and engagement videos containing a particular song accrue and also the actual total of videos uploaded featuring each song this formula highlights.

The VGMAs Artiste of the Year, recently released his second extended play (EP) this year, titled ‘4Play’ which is currently performing great on streaming platforms.

Credit: pulse.com.gh

Gov’t to build 5 amphitheatres for the creative arts industry

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Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Mohammed Awal

The Ghanaian government through the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Mohammed Awal, has promised to build five multipurpose domes or amphitheatres this year.

The Minister announced this whilst addressing the media. “We are going to build 5 amphitheatres, and domes. One area that we lack in this industry is that we don’t have multipurpose venues for activities,” he said.

Speaking at the press briefing, he continued that “we’re going to 5 this year. In fact, the process has already begun to procure supplies“.

“This year, we do 5 amphitheatres, then we do another 5 next year. So by 2024, we would have all 16 regions to give our artistes venues to perform,” he added.

According to the minister, this will help create jobs and opportunities for Ghanaians. Calls for new theatres or performance centres has been of prime concern to creatives in the country.

During the 2016 electioneering period, the ruling New Patriotic Party promised to build 9 ultra-modern theatres across the former 10 regions in the country.

Meanwhile after an auditorium at the Centre for National Culture in Koforidua got renovated, former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Dr ZiblimIddi said, the renovation of the performance auditorium was what they meant by saying they were going to build theatres across the region.

The revelation has disappointed some persons in the creative arts industry. This new announcement, therefore, comes as new hope for the industry.

Credit: pulse.com.gh

Mercedes-Benz pulls out of Russia

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Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes has become the latest Western company to pull out of Russia, following the invasion of Ukraine in February. The German-based firm stopped manufacturing in and exporting to the country in early March. But now it says it will withdraw from the Russian market and sell shares in its subsidiaries to a local investor.

Japan’s Nissan left Russia earlier this month, following the same move from Toyota and Renault.

Nissan took a $700m (£600m) loss in handing over its business to a state-owned entity for a nominal fee, reportedly less than £1.

But Harald Wilhelm, chief financial officer of Mercedes, said its move out of Russia was not expected to have any serious new effect on the company’s profits.

The decision comes after many Western companies pulled out of Russia earlier in the year, including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola.

Other car firms, including Jaguar Land Rover, General Motors, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce, all halted deliveries to the country in the early months of the war.

Credit: bbc.com

Myanmar crisis deepens, UN envoy warns of ‘catastrophic toll’

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Kachin refugee woman with children stands outside huts at the Hpun Lum Yang camp

United Nations special envoy Noeleen Heyzer has condemned an air raid by Myanmar’s military in northern Kachin state that killed as many as 80 people, as she warned that a human rights and humanitarian crisis in the military-ruled country is exacting “a catastrophic toll on the people”.

Heyzer told the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee on Tuesday that more than 13.2 million people do not have enough to eat in Myanmar, 1.3 million are displaced, and the military continues to bomb indiscriminately, burn homes and buildings, and kill civilians.

Making her first briefing at the UN in New York since she visited Myanmar in August and met the head of the military government, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Heyzer said resistance to military rule was continuing in the country.

“There is a new political reality in Myanmar: a people demanding change, no longer willing to accept military rule,” she said.

Heyzer said she had made several requests during her meeting with Myanmar’s commander-in-chief, including ending aerial bombardments and the burning of civilian infrastructure.

Credit: Aljazeera.com

China accused of illegal police stations abroad

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China

The Chinese government has been accused of establishing at least two undeclared “police stations” in the Netherlands.

Dutch media found evidence that the “overseas service stations”, which promise to provide diplomatic services, are being used to try to silence Chinese dissidents in Europe.

A spokeswoman for the Dutch foreign ministry said the existence of the unofficial police outposts was illegal.

The Chinese foreign ministry has rejected the Dutch allegations.

The investigation was sparked by a report entitled Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild, by the Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders.

According to the organisation, the public security bureaus from two Chinese provinces had established 54 “overseas police service centres” across five continents and 21 countries. Most of them are in Europe, including nine in Spain and four in Italy. In the UK, it found two in London and one in Glasgow. The units were ostensibly created to tackle transnational crime and conduct administrative duties, such as the renewal of Chinese drivers’ licences.

Credit: bbc.com

Putin oversees nuclear response drills

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Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday surveyed drills carried out by his nuclear-capable forces as Moscow pressed unfounded claims to India and China that Ukraine was developing a “dirty bomb.”

The drills are the latest in a series of escalatory comments from Moscow and Putin — who observed the drills from a control room — that the eight-month conflict in Ukraine could turn nuclear.

“Under the leadership of… Vladimir Putin, a training session was held with ground, sea and air strategic deterrence forces, during which practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles took place,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Russian state-run media ran footage of a submarine crew preparing the launch of a Sineva ballistic missile from the Barents Sea in the Arctic.

Credit: rfi

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