Nigeria Content Online

A female
entrepreneur in Akwa Ibom, Esther Eka, has said that economic
empowerment of women is indispensable to the country’s poverty
reduction efforts.

Mrs. Eka, who is a
member of the steering committee, International Cooperative Alliance
for Africa and Gender Equality, and president of the Nigeria
Cooperative Women Alliance, made the assertion in an interview with the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo.

She said that women
were mothers and care givers, hence their empowerment would ensure that
children were well brought up and given proper training, adding that
her organisation had assisted women in Akwa Ibom to form more than 400
producers and consumers cooperative groups.

The Rivers State
government said businessmen from Germany, Thailand, and South Africa
have indicated interest to invest in various sectors of the state’s
economy.

The commissioner
for commerce and industry, Ogbonna Nwuke, disclosed this in an
interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt.

He said that apart
from oil and gas, the investors showed interest in commerce, tourism,
and agriculture sectors, adding that investment opportunities also
abound in the Greater Port Harcourt City, currently under construction.

“The Greater Port
Harcourt City project is a masterful investment opportunity. In it, we
need to provide sewage, housing, roads, water, and electricity. These
are windows of opportunities for would-be investors, who want to invest
in an area where there can be return for their money,” he said.

The Peers Mentoring
Programme (PMP), Nigeria, and Peers Mentoring Programme International,
in collaboration with the NEPAD Business Group, have inaugurated a
development fund, the PMP Promotion and Business Development Fund, to
help informal sector businesses in Nigeria.

Robert Aniebo,
chief executive officer, NEPAD Business Group Nigeria, told the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday that the collaboration would
help to improve the economy.

“This fund will
help to employ and coach at least 1 million mentors to sensitise,
mobilise, and formalise at least 1,000,000 informal sector businesses
in Nigeria,” Mr. Aniebo said.

Egypt’s National
Railways Authority is considering issuing 10 billion Egyptian pounds in
bonds to finance projects over the next 10 years, a newspaper reported
on Sunday, citing unnamed authority sources.

The bonds, which
would fund projects worth 60 billion pounds, would be secured by the
assets of seven companies belonging to the state authority, Al-Mal
newspaper said.

The authority’s Chairman Mohamed Hegazy said by telephone he had no information to confirm or deny the newspaper report.

Egypt changed its laws in December to allow utilities and other
quasi-government organisations to issue bonds directly, a move designed
to expand the country’s debt market.

Morocco, which
plans to invest $9 billion to build five solar power stations, had
opted for solar thermal technology for the first unit, to be set up in
the southern Ourzazate area, its solar energy agency chief said.

The North African
country’s government had previously not revealed which solar technology
it would choose, with officials saying they were open to all types.

“The first stage of
the $9 billion solar project will be achieved to satisfy the needs of
the country’s electricity operator ONE, which required the storage of
power,” Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) chief executive
officer, Mustapha Bakoury, said on Friday.

Ivory Coast’s main
cocoa crop is likely to drop 11 percent to 800,000 tonnes in the new
2010/11 season due to black pod disease, the official marketing body of
the world’s top grower said on Friday.

“We expect there
will be a deficit in the main crop of at least 100,000 tonnes compared
with last year,” said Gilbert Ano, president of the country’s cocoa
sector management committee and head of the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse
(BCC), at the official opening of the new cocoa season.

“Last season, we
saw 900,000 tonnes. This year, we expect 800,000 tonnes as a result of
the rains, which provoked an outbreak of black pod disease,” he added.

Financial
experts are of the opinion that the recent tightening of the nation’s
monetary policy rates could worsen the already poor state of private
sector lending, given the persistent liquidity tightening that the
nation has been experiencing since banks started addressing their ‘red’
books last year.

They
said tightening liquidity through the monetary policy rates, in
anticipation of expected inflation due to election spending, is not
going to help private sector lending, which is already contracting due
to increase in government lending. This portends more difficult times
for manufacturers, the private sector, and the average person in the
near and long term.

“The
only component that has grown is credit to government, which has
affected credit to the private sector, because that has contracted over
the months. The way out is to hope that the confidence that seems to
have returned to the markets should stay. If it does, prices would rise
and then markets would rise,” Ayo Teriba, managing director, Economic
Associates, a finance firm, stated last week.

According
to him, the key demand side driver of the economy is interest rates,
especially interest rates on the treasury bills, and Nigeria remains
among the nations with lower interest rates, operating well above
average.

“However,
compared to where we were, liquidity has been tightening in Nigeria and
this could be felt even in the stock market. Even though the stock
market has been faring better, when compared to some other stock
markets, it has been worsening locally,” Mr. Teriba said.

“Figures
obtainable indicate that there is credit crunch, that credit is
tightening, and at the end, you say you want to tighten liquidity,
based on an expected inflation that would be as a result of anticipated
election spending. This is not really appropriate now,” he added.

Akinbamidele
Akintola, a finance analyst at the Renaissance Capital, an investment
bank, expressed hope that the Asset Management Company (AMCON) would
bring a turnaround in banks and help liquidity.

“By
and large, we expect a gradual turnaround in the bank, as the CBN
continues to make concerted efforts to stimulate the recovery of the
financial system by acquiring non-performing loans from the banks and
assisting them in improving their capital and liquidity. So, the AMCON
would definitely help speed up the process of rerating the banks going
forward,” Mr. Akintola said.

Caution in public sector lending

Credit
to the public sector has gradually been increasing, at the expense of
the private sector, experts say. Last year, the Central Bank warned
that commercial banks should follow laid down guidelines for lending to
all the three tiers of government and their agencies.

The
warning, which was contained in a circular by the CBN director of
banking supervision, advised commercial banks to be more cautious in
their lending to the public sector.

The
circular, which stated that “A maximum limit of 10 percent of the total
credit portfolio should be placed on public sector credits both
on-and-off balance sheet,” further reminded banks of the history of
non-performing public sector credits and, therefore, strongly advised
them to exercise caution and avoid the mistakes of the past.

“The
CBN will be constrained to reintroduce measures to curb public sector
loans if banks do not put in place appropriate measures to avoid the
excessive exposure to the sector,” it said.

Earlier
in the year, the Central Bank noted that financing conditions,
especially for businesses and firms, are likely to remain as they are
in the near term as financing institutions continue to maintain a
cautious approach to credit extension.

The
notice, which was drawn at the then special Monetary Policy Committee
(MPC) meeting, noted that the persisting tight credit conditions and
the continuing under-performance of key monetary aggregates, had
informed its earlier decision to embark on a quantitative easing policy
to be implemented through investment in debentures to be issued by the
Bank of Industry (BOI).

Bank
officials have stated that they are still trying to be careful in their
lending, given their recent experiences with margin loans, adding,
however, that while lending is challenging due to liquidity problems,
they are still doing some lending.

Experts
said the ability of the Nigerian banks to grow their loan portfolios
will be limited by their ability to grow their deposit base, which may
be undermined by deteriorating economic fundamentals.

The graduation ceremony had a touch of solemnity and nostalgia about it; the special day has come and gone. Your precious child has reached the milestone you set them so many years ago; they listened to you and stayed the course. Perhaps you preached that once they had that foundation of a solid education under their belt they could step out into the world and enter the career of their dreams and start to build their own future. That time has now come and they are set to go out on their own, but there is nowhere to go. Every day young, intelligent, articulate graduates, pound the pavements in search of work. This year’s graduates are probably the most unfortunate in decades in terms of finding work. For many of them and indeed their colleagues who graduated up to two to three years ago, having a degree has not translated, as expected into getting a job. With the increased competition for only a few jobs from last year’s graduates who are still unemployed, the job outlook looks grim for scores of graduates. Are you an unemployed graduate? Do you have a child that faces this predicament? Here are some suggestions that might be useful until things improve.

Network, network, network

Does everyone you know realise that you are looking for a job? Use all the contacts and connections that you have, including your parents, aunts and uncles, family friends and so on. Make sure they know what your skills and talents are, so that they keep you in mind when they hear of any openings. Stay in close touch with professional colleagues and actively seek to expand your network. Use the web to search for job opportunities; through company websites you will be able to send out several applications efficiently, but bear in mind that most great job opportunities are not advertised; they are often filled by personal contacts.

Don’t give up

Having your graduate child return home to unemployment is a depressing experience for any parent, but you must continue to motivate and encourage them to keep searching. Naturally it can be very tedious and disconcerting sending out several applications but don’t

focus solely on your area of study, be flexible and broaden your scope. Searching in related fields boosts your chances of finding something that is relevant and that will still utilise your training and abilities and may even give you new skills. Get tips on how to improve the presentation of your CV to make it flawless and perfectly tailored to the positions you are seeking. What qualities do you have that might make you stand out amongst literally thousands of applications and make you more appealing to a potential employer?

Be flexible

If you are broke and are not one of those that are lucky enough to be housed and fed by your parents or relatives for an indefinite period, you cannot afford to sit at home until you find your dream job. If you regard every other position as demeaning and ‘beneath you’ as you are in fact ‘a graduate,’ you could be in for a long wait. In this highly competitive world in recession, it is important that you are humble and accept the fact that you will have to start at the bottom and work your way up. There may be opportunities working at a restaurant, in a shop, baby sitting and lots of other temporary jobs that can keep you busy and give you some badly needed cash until something more in line with your expectations and credentials turns up. Try to avoid having significant gaps of unemployment in your CV to have to explain in interviews. A future employer will be impressed that you did not just sit at home doing nothing but you kept yourself occupied gaining experience and new skills.

Do you have a special skill or tal-ent?

Be creative and identify that special gift or talent that you might have ignored before now. Do people always comment on your painting, photography or writing skills? Are you good at public speaking or organising, web-design or programming? Can you design clothes or model them? If you can play musical instruments to a decent standard, there may be freelance work as a singer, pianist, organist or violinist in churches, clubs, music lounges or private receptions. There may be opportunities to offer tutorial services in a subject that you excelled in, to students in your area. There are endless options and not only will you be earning, but you will also open yourself to opportunities and contacts that may be of help in your job hunt.

Consider working for free

One good way to get your foot in the door with a company or organisation is to demonstrate to them what you can do. By working as an intern or volunteering, you have an opportunity to impress them by showcasing your skills, commitment, and professionalism. This might make them want to hire you. Do not assume that doing volunteer work will translate into a permanent position with an organisation or you might be disappointed. Even if it doesn’t you would have gained valuable experience. Of course if you have no assistance whatsoever from family or friends, it will be difficult to work for free.

Consider setting your business

What is it that you are passionate about and capable of doing relatively easily and well? When you are young and free of significant financial or personal commitments such as a family, a mortgage and other debt, you have a unique opportunity to take some risk and consider establishing your own business if you are so inclined. Do you have what you consider to be a great idea that you are passionate about and doesn’t have huge start up costs? You may be surprised at what you can accomplish.

Consider the fact that there may be comfort in numbers. Perhaps you could partner with a classmate or a friend whose skills complement your own and set up something together.

Improve yourself

Whilst no learning is wasted, avoid fleeing into an expensive and lengthy graduate programme that may not necessarily give you that added advantage, just to postpone the difficult period. As far as possible, seek continue training and experience
that can directly support your chosen career path. Professional qualifications or certifications, or shorter courses to improve your IT and other skills can sometimes be of greater value at this time. The hard reality is that being a graduate never guaranteed anyone immediate employment. As you await the ‘right’ job, open yourself to various opportunities and experiences. Above all, maintain a sense of optimism and keep your spirits and energy levels up through exercise. Despair
and depression will only make you less attractive to a potential employer. It is that strength of character and self-confidence that will make you stand out and help get you through an employer’s door or the door of your own
small enterprise.