• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

Global palm oil demand rises to 73.3MT – Awolowo

Nigeria’s hope is non-oil and $1trn services export market – Awolowo

Olusegun Awolowo, the executive director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said that global demand for palm oil has been accelerating at a fast pace reaching 73.3 million metric tons (MMT) from 1.2MMT in 2018.

Awolowo stated that Indonesia and Malaysia are two leading giants in the sector, growing over 60percent of the global oil palm.

According to him, regrettably, Nigeria that used to be a leading producing country in early 1960 is presently ranked 5th in global production due to neglect.

Awolowo disclosed this at an export workshop for stakeholders across the oil palm value chain for enhanced yield, which held in Calabar, Cross River State, on Wednesday.

According to him, the fundamental challenges confronting the sector include the subsistence nature of cultivation, high cost of production; low yields sharp practices, poor access to finance among others.

He further disclosed that the government of President Mohammadu Buhari through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released funds for the expansion of the oil palm value chain which would ultimately export.

Read Also: ‘Nigeria needs to establish an Oil Palm Council to manage the industry’

“Let me further assure the people of Cross River State that the NEPC will continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to develop the non-oil export in the state”

Sylvia Onono Adeneye, chief promotion officer of NEPC, said the workshop was a demonstration of the council’s effort to facilitate the diversification of the Nigerian economy.

“Remarkably, Cross River State has huge oil palm product potentials across the 18 local government areas. In particular, she said palm oil is one of category A strategic export products in the zero oil.” lead to increased

The Anambra State government on Wednesday inaugurated its Smart City programme with the unveiling of street and house numbering project in Awka, the state capital.

Victor Oye, national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), who inaugurated the project, said the initiative was a testimony to Governor Willie Obiano’s determination to give the best to the state.

Praising Obiano on his seventh year in office, Oye said the governor has performed well in every facet of governance and that the street and house numbering project would boost the security environment of the state.

He commended those who conceived and were executing the project for their initiative, saying that good and clear directions were the hallmark of modern-day cities and that Anambra could not afford to lag behind.

Emeka Okwosa, managing director of Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA), said the target was to upload every street and house within the territory to the Google map.

He said the project would provide an informed guide to visitors and make responses to emergency and security situations more effective.

“We are calling on every resident of Anambra to key into this project. We want to have every house and street on Google map within the shortest possible time and we want to have Uber and Taxify services in Awka,” Okwosa said.

Jude Emecheta, managing director of Anambra Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA), the agency in charge of the numbering, said the project would move to other cities of the state after Awka had been covered. He assured that the quality of materials for the numbering and signposts were durable, adding that the agency would need the cooperation of the people of the state to implement the laudable programme of the governor.

“Now that we have an airport coming up when somebody lands in the state, he does not need to start asking for locations, all he needs to do is to key in the place on Google and a taxi will take you there,” Emecheta said.

“We don’t want people to be prone to insecurity by asking people of streets and houses; the aim is to make Awka smart and easily traversable,” he said.

The inauguration of the street and house numbering project coincided with the seventh anniversary of the administration of Obiano who was first sworn in on March 17, 2014.