News
BINL Plans $172bn investment in Nigeria’s Infrastructure, Energy, Real Estate, Mining
BINL Plans $172bn investment in Nigeria’s Infrastructure, Energy, Real Estate, Mining
By: Michael Mike
Backbone Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, has announced its intention to invest $172 billion in Nigeria to develop various infrastructure sectors in the country.
According to a statement by the multi-national company on Saturday, this investment, utilising alternative financing options, will be allocated to mineral resources, energy, agriculture, housing, and transportation sectors for the next 22 years.
The administration of President Bola Tinubu has openly reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing foreign direct investment inflows into the country, while also promoting alternative financing for the construction of essential infrastructure projects.
Last year, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Aniete, said the government has secured $30bn in commitments from foreign investors.
Despite this amount, Nigeria still requires investments to reduce its infrastructural gap in the region of $3 trillion over a period of 30 years according to the implementation of the National Integrated Master Plan.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, Henry Owonka, said the company with foreign partners is seeking approval for a joint venture model to facilitate its planned investment in the country.
Owonka emphasised that the company intends to align with the current administration’s infrastructure plan, highlighting that a consistent influx of investment, as proposed by the company, is preferable to isolated investments by other investors especially in the mining sector.
He said: “What we are looking for is for us to structure our program of investment, we are not looking for a sovereign guarantee which will deplete the foreign reserves but innovative ways to collateralize those natural resources that the country has in abundance. The president has verbally approved our request.
“The company expressed its interest in investing in the range of commodities. We are seeking approval for a joint venture model because in that way we can draw more investors not only in the country but also outside the country. Because when you have a joint venture with the government, it’s better and that’s what we are seeking rather than for them to just issue land to us.”
The CEO stating plans for the mining sector, noted that the company is ready to invest $4bn, “to explore mineral resources but we need data and that is also one of the offers we proposed so that we can bring in our expertise and help the government obtain accurate data and then we can explore those minerals. This partnership will help the government plan to reduce dependence on crude oil. We also doing this across all the ministries because it’s a $172bn investment drive.”
In a presentation at the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, the Chief Operations Officer, Clement Kwegyir-Afful, explained that the investment drive is to reduce the huge infrastructural gap in the country.
He noted that: “The current administration is looking for several investments to come in through the private sector to reduce the infrastructure gap. The NBIL have come together as a team to support the government achieve this mandate without any sovereign guarantee.
“We want to help address the energy gap through the use of renewables, so one of our subsidiaries focuses on renewable and how we can address that. We are going to bring in innovative ways of funding through financier engineering to raise funds that would address the infrastructure gap.”
The statement also read: “Minerals exploration is one area the government want to use to create another source of revenue shifting from oil and that is one strong area that we want to focus on. It will raise a different form of revenue.
“To do this will require a significant amount of money, so over the next 22 to 23 years, we are looking to invest $172bn dollars. If you break this down yearly, that works to $6bn every year in investment out of the numerous numbers the president is looking for.
“We have grouped our project into phases; the first one will be the ones that have the most impact on Nigeria’s landscape, so we are looking at hospitals, renewable energies, mineral exploration and exportation because that is where we have huge concerns and also some of the deep sea ports,” he added.
BINL Plans $172bn investment in Nigeria’s Infrastructure, Energy, Real Estate, Mining
NBMA Debunks Allegations of Negligence, Compromise Against It
By: Michael Mike
The Director General and Chief Executive Officer (DG/CEO) of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Yemisi Asagbra debunked some allegations level against the agency by some non governmental organisations (NGOs) concerning negligence and compromise.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, Asagbra said: “The negative statements circulating are misleading and lack credible scientific backing. The agency asks these organisations to present verifiable scientific evidence for their claims and we relies on sound scientific research and internationally recognized protocols to make informed decisions. It is part of the Cartagena Protocol with over 180 parties, our mandate is to protect the health of Nigerians and the environment. It will not compromise on this as it is an agency of integrity.
She added that: “The agency is transparent and accountable in its operations. It invites review of its processes and rigorous evaluations of GMO products. We are confident in our procedures that it’s meet global standards and it is a leader in effective regulation in Africa”.
On the source of the allegations, she said “over the years they have been advocating to have their presence in the board where all these products coming will be thoroughly Investigated, but it hasn’t been given. Most times we rely on the information given by Nigeria Custom Service to furnish them with needed information, which most time is not always easy if they have other things doing.
The Head planning, research and statistics National Biosafety Management Agency Mrs. Bello Scholastica said the agency is concerned with safety to our health and safety to our environment.
She further reiterated that what NBMA stands for is to establish first regulation from identification of the gene of interest, “of what you are interested in, from then till commercialization, and even after commercialization, they still follow suit to make sure that the approvals they gave hasn’t caused any harm, or those that were given approval to that they stay put to what they were asked to do”.
She further explained that the agency has put in effort to promote environmental conservation and biosafety in Nigeria.
NBMA Debunks Allegations of Negligence, Compromise Against It
House of Reps Assures on Passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill
By: Michael Mike
The House of Representatives has revealed that it is interested in the passage of the Human Rights Defenders Bill into law, saying that the bill has already passed the first reading and will soon be subjected to second reading.
The House also promised to take the necessary steps to ensure an improvement in the 2025 budget of the NHRC, pointing out that the N5 billion approved for it in the 2024 budget is inadequate considering the myriad of human rights violations in the country.
The Chairman House Committee on Human Rights, Hon. Abiola Makinde made this disclosure during the oversight visit of Committee to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The Chairman, who was represented at the occasion by his Deputy, Hon. Mudashiru Lukeman assured the NHRC that the Committee would continue to advance the course of human rights in Nigeria by ensuring that the House of Representatives passes critical bills on human rights issues as well as makes adequate budgetary provisions to ease the work of the Commission.
Makinde also stated that in a bid to improve some aspects of Civil and Political Rights, the House of Representatives had ensured the establishment of human rights desks in all police formations and Headquarters across the 36 States of the Federation.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr. Tony Ojukwu who received the lawmakers with his management staff told the Human Rights Committee that the Commission relies heavily on them for the enactment of human rights friendly laws and enhanced budgetary provisions to discharge it broad mandate of promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights in the country.
He used the opportunity to commend the legislators for their role in the amendment of the NHRC Act 2010 as well as the support of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in the payment of compensation to victims of human rights violations by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
He equally informed the legislators who were on oversight visit about the recent report released by the Commission following the findings of the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency Operations in the North East Nigeria , which he noted has saved the country from possible invitation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He noted that the aforementioned wide spread allegations of human rights infractions against some government institutions could result in the ICC extending invitations to some of the leaders to respond to the allegations, but the Commission has done the needful in compliance with the international principles of omplementarity.
He thanked the Committee for promising to improve the budgetary allocation of the Commission in the 2025 fiscal year.
House of Reps Assures on Passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill
FG Confirms Arrest of Simon Ekpa
By: Michael Mike
The arrest of Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa in Finland has been confirmed by the federal government.
A statement on Friday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Nigerian-Finnish citizen and prominent leader of the proscribed Indigenous People
of Biafra (IPOB), was arrested by Finnish authorities on Thursday.
According to the statement, Ekpa was
charged with inciting terrorism and promoting violence.
The Finnish District Court of
Päijät-Häme ruled to detain him on probable cause for publicly inciting crimes with terrorist intent.
The Finnish authorities alleged that Mr. Ekpa used social media platforms to spread
separatist propaganda, incite violence and encourage illegal actions, which had caused
significant disruptions in the South-East of Nigeria. Finnish investigators had also linked
him to incidents of violence in Nigeria, which were believed to had been fueled by his
online activities.
The statement said “the arrest of Mr. Simon Njoku Ekpa follows sustained diplomatic
pressure by the Nigerian government on Finland, to take action against his activities,
which were linked to violence and instability in the South-East of Nigeria. The request
for action featured during high level engagements between countries.”
The Ministry stated that the arrest of Ekpa, is a significant development in addressing the activities of IPOB, and also neutralizing the influence of transnational actors and “their impact on our national security.”
The Ministry promised to continue to monitor the legal proceedings and provide further updates as the case progresses.
FG Confirms Arrest of Simon Ekpa
NBMA Debunks Allegations of Negligence, Compromise Against It
Nigerian lawyers Ask to Collaborate with Chinese Colleagues in Law Relating to Investment and Dispute Resolution
House of Reps Assures on Passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill
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