United Nations calls for more youth participation in attainment of SDGs by 2030

The  Information Centre (UNIC) in collaboration
with the Youth Wing of the United Nations Association of Nigeria(UNAN) has
called for more youth participation to achieve sustainable development goals
(SDGs) by 2030.

Olamide Olatunbosun, Project Coordinator, Youth SDG Café, one of
the UN organs for the achievement of the goals, gave the advice at a Youth SDG
Café’s monthly dialogue on Thursday in Lagos.

The  Youth SDGs Cafe is a
monthly meet up for sustainability enthusiasts to learn about the latest trends
in the development world.

It is to network with people who are working towards
implementing the United Nations SDGs and also build on their skills to empower
their immediate communities to action.

The theme of the meeting is: Monitoring, Evaluation and
Learning.

Olatunbosun said that more youth participation was not just
towards achieving the 2030 sustainable development goals, but towards policy
change in the nation.

“We cannot continue to sit pretty as we are the next generation
expected to sort things out and expect everything to go well.

“We must continue to strive to be part of policy institution and
changes to ensure the progress we want as a nation,” she said.

She urged youths to be active members of the UNAN to become
beneficiaries of its many provisions to ensure the success of their projects.

Mrs Bolanle Olumekor, a Representative of UNIC, said that the
priority of the United Nations lied with supporting more youth participation at
the forefront of the SDGs.

Olumekor said that a human rights pledge signing ceremony where
people signed to render help and services with issues pertaining to human right
would take place at the Information Centre on July 27

Mr Femi Boboye, the Guest Speaker and Director of Programmes,
Youth Be Inspired Initiative, urged the youth to assess every stage of any
project.

Boboye said youths must learn to develop indicators to show
progress and measure changes that had occurred in an activity, project or
programme.

“Until you are satisfied with the success of a project after
monitoring and evaluation, you are not permitted to move to the next stage,” he
said. 

Britain’s banks and insurers must plan for a “hard” Brexit in
case a transition period is not in place next March, a senior British regulator
said on Thursday in a warning echoed by Brussels.

Nausicaa Delfas, Head of International Strategy at the Financial Conduct
Authority (FCA) gave the warning at an event held by The City UK in London on
Thursday.

“With eight months until we exit the European Union in March, it is important
we all-regulators and industry-continue to plan for a range of scenarios.

“Across the FCA, together with colleagues from the Bank of England I and the
government, we have been working to develop a number of safeguards and
contingencies, in the event of a hard Brexit, to ensure that ‘day 1’ works
smoothly,” Delfas said.

Britain and the EU have agreed on a transition deal bridging Brexit in March
next year and the end of 2020, but it has yet to be ratified, meaning financial
firms based in Britain could face an abrupt end to EU market access.

EU banking, insurance and markets watchdogs have already warned their respective
sectors to be ready for a hard Brexit.

The bloc’s executive European Commission told EU states on Thursday to
“intensify preparedness” for a potentially disruptive Brexit.

Britain has said the EU should act to ensure that cross-border financial contracts
like derivatives and insurance policies can still be serviced after March, but
the EU reiterated on Thursday that it won’t legislate for now.

“In relation to contracts, at this juncture, there does not appear to be an
issue of a general nature linked to contract continuity as in principle, even
after withdrawal, the performance of existing obligations can continue,” the
European Commission said.

It is unclear what sort of EU market access financial firms in Britain will
have after the transition period ends.

This has prompted many banks and insurers to have new hubs up and running in
the bloc by next March to avoid potential disruption. 

 Ethiopian Airlines is in
talks to take a stake in Eritrean Airlines and a study will be conducted to
determine the size of the acquisition, the Ethiopian carrier’s chief executive
said on Thursday.

Tewolde GebreMariam told newsmen  during
a visit to the Eritrean capital Asmara that he spoke with Eritrean Airlines’
chief executive officer on the issue on Wednesday.

“We are assessing the situation of Eritrean Airlines right now,” GebreMariam
said.

“I spoke with the CEO yesterday (Wednesday). They have one leased airplane – a
(Boeing) 737. We have started discussions.”

GebreMariam travelled to Asmara on Wednesday with an Ethiopian delegation on
the first commercial flight from Ethiopia to Eritrea in 20 years – cementing a
stunning rapprochement that has ended a generation of hostility between the
neighbouring Horn of Africa countries in a matter of days.

The two 90-minute flights put the icing on the cake of a peace push by new
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

His first three months in office have turned politics in his country – Africa’s
most populous after Nigeria – and the wider East African region on its head.

“It is beyond opening routes. This one is different because politically,
economically and socially, the flight we flew yesterday is going to make
radical changes between the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is a game
changer,” he said.

He said that based on the demand and bookings he had seen, starting in a couple
of weeks Ethiopian Airlines would fly twice daily to Asmara.

“We plan (also) to fly to Massawa and Assab. We have not assessed the market
(in the two towns), so we will send market research people,” he said.

“The demand is heavy not only because of Eritrea and Ethiopia but also demand
from Eritreans living in Europe, America and so on who are eager to visit
friends and relatives in Asmara..

“Connections were (previously) not smooth for them to come back home. They have
(had) to go through Dubai or Istanbul and it is not convenient. Now they will
have direct flights from the U.S., Canada and Europe.” (Reuters/NAN)

Namibian Finance Ministry says it has secured a $218 million
loan from the African Development Bank to help the country finance its budget
deficit.

The ministry said on Thursday in Windhoek that the $218 million
loan was the second tranche of a quarter billion dollar facility from the
development lender.

The southern African nation’s mining-fueled economy contracted
in the final two quarters of 2017, and by 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of
2018.

Its credit rating was cut to sub-investment late last year by
Fitch over concerns of a deteriorating fiscal position.

The construction sector contracted partly because of a drop in
investment in mining, while hotels and restaurants also performed weakly.

The ministry, however, said on Monday that the economy would
expand by at least 1 per cent this year and by double that by 2020 as the
mining sector emerged from years of contraction and as the impact of recent
severe drought eased.

Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein said that the growth would be
driven by rising commodity prices. (Reuters/NAN)

The American Business Council (ABC) has disclosed that Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) of about 1.3 billion dollars flowed into the Nigerian
economy from the US in 2017.

This was revealed during the Launch of the 2018 US Economic
Impact Survey on Wednesday in Lagos.

Darrel McGraw, Vice President of ABC, said the survey carried
out in collaboration with Accenture, KPMG, PwC and the US Embassy, assessed the
overall economic impact of US companies in Nigeria.

He said the survey reflected the contribution of 74 US companies
operating in Nigeria and their responses reinforced the role the US played in
the economic wellbeing of Nigeria.

McGraw said the roles were in the areas of job creation,
investments in training and development, tax contribution, and corporate social
responsibility.

According to him, the surveyed companies generated a revenue of
over N2.6 trillion in 2017, from N1 trillion in 2016.

He said they contributed N111 billion in tax to both the Federal
and State Governments, created approximately 11,200 indirect jobs and over 9000
full time jobs in the year under review.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the surveyed
companies spent over N1.6 billion on training and development in 2017 from N340
million in 2016.

“This shows US companies’ commitment in capacity building in
order to correct the deficit in labour skills.

“N1.5 billion was spent by the companies on Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR), from N217 million spent in 2016.

“The focus areas are Education, Health, Infrastructure and
Social intervention, which are key area of focus for US companies in Nigeria,”
he said.

McGraw disclosed that about 52 per cent of these companies
identified Nigeria as a regional hub for their operations in West Africa.

He said findings showed that 64 per cent of US companies had a
local content target reflecting an inclination towards localisation in areas
such as products, people and supply chain.

According to him, critical issues that impact the business
operations of surveyed US companies in Nigeria includes labour, specific
industry regulations, local content and crime and security.

“Security of lives as well as Intellectual Property has been a
crucial issue for US companies as this impacts investment and derails trust,”
he said.

McGraw added that, though Nigeria had improved its performance
on the Ease of doing business, businesses continued to face dire challenges in
the country.

“In spite of the challenges, this survey shows renewed focus of
US companies operating in Nigeria committing in human capacity as well as
financial investment.

“This is a clear indication that US businesses are committed to
contributing to the Nigerian economy by uplifting its people, increasing
investment in Nigeria and facilitating trade,” he said.

On his part, Mr Lazarus Angbazo, President of ABC, said US was a
natural business partner of Nigeria and one with a long-standing commitment to
the country.

He noted that some American firms had been in existence,
partnered and invested in Nigeria since Independence, and there were over 100
US companies operating in Nigeria.

According to him, ABC is an integral stakeholder in the
Commercial Investment Dialogue which is intended to deepen trade investment
ties between the U.S. and Nigeria.

It is also designed to foster sustained engagement between
governments on concrete issues of importance to the private sector.

NAN reports that ABC is an affiliate of the US Chamber of
Commerce and was incorporated in 2007 to promote the development of commerce
and investments between the US and Nigeria.

The council is a voice for all US companies operating in Nigeria
and the first point of call for American investors to Nigeria.