Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Niyi Adebayo, was among stakeholders who called for the exploration of the leather industry’s economic potential at the just concluded Lagos leather fair.

To further drive growth of the Nigerian leather sector while also educating and creating maximum visibility for leading leather players across Africa, key stakeholders spread across Sub-Saharan Africa gathered at the just concluded Lagos Leather Fair (LLF) 5 to discuss roadmap to the future of the leather industry.

The two-day event, which sought to reiterate the potential economic impact of the leather sector on the Nigerian economy, had in attendance over 2000 key stakeholders, including the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo, Ex-Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, and members from several federal ministries, Bank of Industry, trade bodies, financial institutions, and other local and international investors.

Speaking at the fair, the Convener of the Lagos Leather Fair, Femi Olayebi, said the massive turnout as well as the depth of the conversations held at the fair would go a long way in redesigning the landscape of the leather industry.

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She said, “It has been a delight for us to, once again, hold a physical edition of Lagos Leather Fair, and we are extremely pleased with the success recorded. The crowds poured in across the two-day event in droves, and it is a testament to the value that the finished leather goods sector for the wider industry if properly harnessed.

“For five years now, we have constantly provided a platform for leather and lifestyle enthusiasts and industry players to come together, enhance visibility for the industry, whilst also championing conversations on how to move the industry forward. And this year, despite the impact of the pandemic, we have seen that industry players have continues to hone their craftsmanship, their skills, and their innovation, in order to drive the shift that we need to make the industry’s potential a reality.”

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adebayo said, “We are proud of the good works of Lagos Leather Fair over the past 5 years. They have created a solid platform where everyone within the leather ecosystem can meet up and hold conversations on how to move the industry forward. The result of this has become very visible with the growing attention gained by the industry and increased collaboration amongst players.” Punchng 

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq

The Federal Government says it has concluded plans to give interest-free loans to 98,000 beneficiaries of its Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme 2.0 nationwide.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, disclosed this in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Nneka Anibeze, in Abuja on Wednesday.

Umar-Farouq said that this decision was reached following the final verification of Phase 1 applicants, who qualified and were selected to benefit from small loans ranging from N50,000 to N300,000.

She further said that all the beneficiaries of GEEP 2.0 would receive congratulatory and sensitisation text messages in the coming days informing them of their qualification.

According to Umar-Farouq, the money given to the beneficiaries of the empowerment programme is a loan and not a grant and must be repaid within nine months.

“The GEEP 2.0 is a loan scheme designed by the Federal Government to provide financial inclusion and give credit access to the poor and vulnerable individuals including persons with disabilities.

“It also covers persons at the bottom of the economic pyramid, who are engaged in small scale commercial activities under its three flagship schemes.

“These three flagship schemes are MarketMoni, TraderMoni and FarmerMoni.

“Tradermoni targets uplifting under-privileged and marginalised youths aged between 18 and 40 years in Nigeria by providing them with loans of N50,000.

“MarketMoni targets underprivileged and marginalised women aged between 18 and 55 years like widows, divorcees among other vulnerable groups and they get interest-free loans of N50,000 payable within six to nine months.

“While FarmerMoni is for Nigerian farmers aged between 18 and 55 years in rural areas that operate in the agricultural space,’’ she explained.

The minister said that these farmers were provided with loans of N300,000 for farm inputs, adding that the scheme had 12 months including three months moratorium and nine months repayment period.

“All qualified beneficiaries will soon receive their disbursement alerts. We wish to remind all qualified beneficiaries that this is a loan payable without interest.

“It is not a grant or a government windfall. It is a soft interest-free loan that must be paid back within nine months,’’ she said.

Umar-Farouq said that the Ministry was planning a roll–out of the programme nationwide after which an enumeration exercise to capture beneficiaries’ bio-data would take place.

(NAN)

Nigeria may spend around $576 million to procure COVID-19 vaccine, it was gathered at the weekend.

The government plans to immunise 70 per cent of Nigerians who are at risk of the virus, Director of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA) Dr. Faisal Shuaib said.

According to him, free vaccine to immunise 20 per cent of those to be vaccinated, will be made available to the country and 91 other countries by the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation (GAVI).

The first batch of 100,000 Pfizer vaccine doses from the COVAX facility will arrive in the country at the end of this month or early next month. It will be used in two jabs each on 50,000 Nigerians.

To meet up with vaccination of 50 per cent of Nigerians, the government will need to pay $8 for two doses each.

According to the United Nations data and the data made available by the National Population Commission (NPC), Nigeria’s population is 206 million.

Nigeria’s target is to vaccinate 70 per cent (144.2 million) of its 206 million people.

At the rate of $8 for two doses per person, it will spend at least $576million to vaccinate 50 per cent (72.1million) of the 144.2million people.

Should the country choose to vaccinate half of its total population, which is about 103,000,000, it will spend about $824milion.

Dr. Shuaib said: “The country is expecting only one vaccine (i.e. Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine) in the first batch coming in by end of January/early February.

“The country is not buying any COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer or China. The country plans to get COVID-19 vaccines from two (2) sources: the GAVI and direct purchase from alternative sources (other manufacturers).

“From the COVAX Facility source, GAVI will be supporting 92 eligible countries with vaccines to immunise about 20 per cent of their population free in 2021.

“The government of the participating countries will pay for additional doses above the 20 per cent to be supplied by GAVI. Pfizer is one of the companies that GAVI will get limited quantity of the COVID-19 vaccines from to give to the 92 eligible countries (including Nigeria).

He added: “Since only about 20 per cent supplies is being expected from GAVI, the country’s team is working with Russian authorities on the possibility of getting additional COVID 19 vaccines from them.

“In 2021, about $4.0 /dose ($8.0 / person for two doses) is being budgeted for the additional vaccine that the country will require.

“The Federal Government will be responsible for the procurement of additional COVID-19 vaccines for 50 per cent of the population and all the operational costs for the targeted 70 per cent of the population.”

The NPHCDA boss said COVID-19 vaccination will not be compulsory, but will be made available to all those targeted.

“And we advise / appeal to all Nigerians at risk to avail themselves of vaccination willingly when the vaccines are available. Vaccines to be used in the country are safe with proven efficacy of above 90 per cent.

“All vaccines acquired by the government for vaccination of its citizen will pass through NAFDAC for analysis before use.”

Shuaib said the Federal Government has raised a Technical Working Group (TWG)  to plan a successful COVID-19 immunisation.

Dr Shuaib chairs the TWG whose members are stakeholders involved in COVID-19 response. These are: FMoH, NPHCDA, NCDC, NAFDAC, Federal Min of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Federal Ministry of Information, National Orientation Agency (NOA), NTA, CSOs, Professional bodies and Organised Private Sectors. Other members are development partners and donors.

The WHO and other International NGOs/Foundations will provide technical support to the team.

Speaking on the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines, Dr. Shuaib said: “COVID-19 vaccines that have been pre-qualified will protect against most strains and reduce morbidity and mortality from the disease. It will be better to reduce the risk than not want to take the vaccine.”

He added: “There are over 80 strains of Rotavirus, but only about 18 of the strains are of significance that can cause major diseases. Available Rotavirus vaccines can prevent against infection from the strains that cause the diseases.

“Coronavirus is linked to the SAR-2 Group of viruses; and there has been a lot of researches since the last Flu- pandemic that claimed several lives globally.” Thenationonlineng