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Afreximbank, UBA sign $150m  trade facility agreement

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Abuja,  Nov. 14, 2023: The Afreximbank has signed a 150 million dollar trade finance facility agreement with United Bank for Africa (UBA) PLC, under the Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2023 in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.

 According to Afeximbank, the facility, strategically crafted to mitigate the adverse effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, aims to support UBA’s clients to increase their financing for businesses across various sectors in the Nigerian economy.

The agreement was signed by Denys Denya, Executive Vice-President, Finance, Administration Banking Services, Afreximbank, and Oliver Alawuba, Managing Director of UBA PLC.

According to Afreximbank , the facility is expected to enhance confidence in the settlement of international trade transactions for strategic imports.

“The funding is driven by an increased demand for trade finance support to UBA’s clients which will enhance confidence in the settlement of international trade transactions for strategic imports such as food, medications, and agro products.

“This is crucial to Afreximbank’s mandate as it supports small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly those in the manufacturing sector to increase production thereby supporting economic growth and development in Nigeria,” Afreximbank said.

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Nigeria not undermining agreement reached with NLC, TUC

Abuja, Oct. 21, 2023: The Federal Government says it is not undermining the agreement reached with organised Labour on Oct. 2.

It would be recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had alleged that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Simon Lalong, had undermined the recent  agreement reached with organised labour.

Mr Olajide Oshundun, Director of Information in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, said this in a statement he signed on Friday in Abuja.

According to Oshundun, the attention of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has been drawn to a press release issued by the NLC) on 18th October, 2023.

“It alleged that the Minister is moving to undermine the critical Labour-Federal Government Agreement of October 2, 2023.

“We wish to unequivocally refute the allegation and put it on record that it is unfounded.

“Let it be reiterated that since assuming office and upon the dispute between the various groups within the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) being brought to his attention, “the Honourable Minister has given consistent, adequate and fair attention to the matter with a view to resolving it.

“Several meetings have been held to resolve the issue with representatives of the disputing groups, and the efforts are still ongoing.

“Therefore, it is not correct to suggest that the minister is supporting any of the groups in the course of the negotiations,”he said.

Oshundun said that members of the NURTW, the NLC, and the entire Labour movement should be assured that the minister, as the Chief Conciliator, would continue to work with all parties.

He added that this is to ensure that there is reconciliation, harmony and industrial peace,” he said.

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Tension eases as Labour suspends strike, signs agreement with FG

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Abuja, Oct. 3, 2023: The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have agreed to suspend the industrial action planned for Oct. 3 for 30 days.

At the end of a five-hour closed door meeting, the Union leaders said that all the agreement have been given a time line for implementation.

The agreement was signed by representatives of government and the leaders of the joint union.

The highlights of the agreement is outlined this:

Arising from the withdrawal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by the Federal Government and the resultant increase in the price of the commodity, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) issued a strike notice which had elapsed and they were poised to embark on a strike billed to commence on Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.

Consequently, a meeting was called by the Federal Government to avert the strike and after much discussion, the following agreements were reached:

1. The Federal Government grants a wage award of N35,000 (thirty-five thousand Naira) only to all Federal Government workers beginning from the month of September pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.

2. A minimum wage committee shall be inaugurated within one month from the date of this agreement.

3. Federal Government suspends collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Diesel for six months beginning from October, 2023.

4. Federal Government accepts to vote N100 billion for the provision of high capacity CNG buses for mass transit in Nigeria. Provisions are also being made for initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an auto gas conversion programme, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide. The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide.

5. The Federal Government plans to implement various tax incentive measures for private sector and the general public.

6. On the leadership crises rocking the NURTW and the purported proscription of RTEAN, the Federal Government commits to handling Labour matters in line with relevant ILO Conventions and Nigerian Labour Acts. A resolution of the ongoing impasse is expected by or before October 13.

7. The issue of outstanding Salaries and Wages of Tertiary Education workers in Federal-owned educational institutions is being referred to Ministry of Labour and Employment for further engagement.

8. The Federal Government commits to pay N25,000 per month for three months starting from October, 2023 to 15 million households, including vulnerable pensioners.

9. The Federal Government will increase its initiatives on subsidized distribution of fertilizers to farmers across the country.

10. The Federal Government should urge State Government through the National Economic Council and Governors Forum to implement wage award for their workers. Similar consideration should also be given to local government and private sector workers.

11. The Federal Government commits to the provision of funds as announced by the President on the 1st of August broadcast to the Nation for Micro and Small Scale Enterprises. The MSMEs beneficiaries should commit to the principle of decent jobs.

12. A joint visitation will be made to the refineries to ascertain their rehabilitation status.

13. All parties commit to henceforth abide by the dictates of Social dialogue in all our future engagements.

14. The NLC and TUC accept to suspend for 30 days the planned Indefinite Nationwide strike scheduled to begin, Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.

15. This Memorandum shall be filed with the relevant Court of competent jurisdiction within one (1) week as consent judgment by the Federal Government.

The agreement was signed by Minister of Labour and Employment, Minister of Information and National Orientation and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment for the government side.

The president and Secretary General of NLC and TUC signed on behalf of the unions.

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Forum commits to Nigeria-Israel economic agreement

Nigeria Israel Business Forum (NIBF) has reaffirmed its commitment to sensitize Nigerians on proper ways to explore economic opportunities through Nigeria-Israel bilateral agreement, to promote more self-reliance.

The National President of NIBF, Mr Owusi Patgrace, made this known on Sunday in Abuja.

He said although Nigeria is endowed with human and natural resources, more needs to be done to attract sustainable foreign business investment into the country, to drive economic growth in 2022.

Patgrace said, “The plan, purpose and programme of NIBF is to ensure that the bilateral economic agreement between Nigeria and Israel is fully enforced, to the betterment of Nigerians and Israelis.

“One of the cardinal reasons that brought NIBF on board is that we saw the lopsidedness of the economy of Nigeria and Israel.

“Israel has upper hands in transacting business with Nigerians, than Nigerians cashing on an agreement signed in 2009 to do business with Israel; part of the reason is because they were not informed.

“They do not know and what you do not know you cannot do anything with it.

“So, one of the things we want to do is to carry out a campaign that will inform our people of the right we have economically with Israel, of which some of us do not know.”

He explained that Israelis desire some resources in Nigeria, but because Nigerians do not know the economic values of such needs, other countries come into Nigeria, re-enhance such and sell to Israel.

More so, he said that Israel imports such resources from nationals in other countries, instead of importing from Nigerians having the resources domiciled in the fatherland, due to lack of awareness.

He said, “So, some of the things that NIBF is going to do is to bring knowledge to our people; because knowledge is power.

“We want to send the knowledge to our people, so that they tap into the opportunity in the bilateral economic agreement and utilize it.

“Also, we are looking at 2022 to be a great year for Nigerian business men and women, who really want to synergize with Israel with their technologies and their technical know-how.

“To harness some of the things we have in Nigeria and put them into proper economic use. We saw it as an opportunity to inform our people, we are blessed by our population.

“We are blessed mentally and with earthling resources; what do we need to get earthling-wealth? We need technology, Israel has it, they do not have earthling resources but we have in Nigeria.”

The president of the forum disclosed that the organisation planned to establish NIBF branches in Lagos, Osun or Ekiti, Jos and Enugu, and embark on mass literacy to achieve targets.

Also, to bring Israeli technological experts to train Nigerians on agriculture and securities about ways to advance economically and as well, travel to Israel to gain requisite knowledge on moving Nigeria forward.

He, however, identified signing of the Nigeria-Israel bilateral economic agreement in 2009,  to be an achievement that enabled Nigerians to own shops, register their business in Israel without any harassment.

NIBF consists of 500 members across Nigeria aimed at bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and marketplace professionals to advance national growth.

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AfDB, Standard Chartered in $50m agreement

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The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $50 million Trade Finance Unfunded Risk Participation Agreement (RPA) facility with the Standard Chartered Bank.
A statement issued by the bank on Tuesday, said the agreement was signed on Sept. 8.
According to the bank, the agreement is expected to boost intra-African trade, promote regional integration, and contribute to the reduction of the trade finance gap in Africa.
This is in line with the implementation goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).
The statement said Stefan Nalletamby, AfDB’s Director for Financial Sector Development expressed delight, adding that the agreement would boost intra-African trade.
“We are excited about finalising this facility with Standard Chartered Bank as it offers us the flexibility to use our strong AAA-rated risk-bearing capacity to increase access to trade finance and boost intra/extra- African trade on the continent in support of the AfCFTA.
“This partnership is expected to catalyse more than 600 million dollars in value of trade finance transactions across multi-sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and energy over the next three years.”
Also, Leila Mokadem, the Director-General, AfDB Southern Africa region added: “the advent of COVID-19, coupled with stringent regulatory/capital requirements and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance enforcement, has seen many global banks reduce their correspondent banking relationships in Africa, while some are exiting the market altogether.
“There is therefore, an urgent need for financing to re-energise Africa’s trade, which requires more participation of institutions like the African Development Bank.”
The parties in the agreement are expected to share the default risk on a portfolio of eligible trade transactions originated by African Issuing Banks and indemnified by Standard Chartered Bank.
Beneficiaries of this facility are issuing banks in Africa with ability to grow their trade finance business has been constrained by inadequate trade confirmation lines from international banks.
Other beneficiaries are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and domestic firms which rely on these issuing banks to fulfill their trade finance commitments.
The RPA facility is aligned with the AfDB’s High 5 priority goals which are: light up and power Africa, feed Africa, industrialise Africa, integrate Africa, and improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.