Exploring Palacio De Los López In Paraguay

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September 23, 2023

Palacio de los López is a palace and the official workplace of the President of Paraguay, located in the capital city of the Republic of Paraguay, Asunción.

Also, Palacio de los López is the official seat of the national government and one of the treasures of the Asunción’s cultural heritage.

The Palace is located, more precisely, in the center of the capital city, overlooking the Bay of Asunción, and got its name from the General Francisco Solano López.

He is the son of Carlos Antonio López who was the leader of Paraguay from 1841 to 1862, and has ordered for the palace to be built as a residence for his son.

The architect responsible for the construction is Alonso Taylor, an English architect whose work began in 1857.

All of the materials used for the Palace to be built are from several places in Paraguay; stones from the quarries of Emboscada and Altos, woods and odrajes of Ñeembucú and Yaguarón, bricks of Tacumbú, iron pieces molten in Ybycuí, etc.

The Palace has a shape of the letter U, counting two floors, with a tower that has four floors on which stands the flag of the Republic.

There are unique ornaments all around the building and small garden in front of the entrance which is welcoming the foreign delegations visiting this majestic architectural masterpiece.

Even though there were several various European artists who came to Paraguay to handle the decoration of the building, the López Palace was almost finished in 1867.

That was the year when the War of the Triple Alliance broke out and the palace was bombed and looted by the Brazilian-Argentinean coalition.

Francisco Solano López had to go to the battlefield and never got the chance to live inside this amazing piece of architecture.

Yet, the successors tried to restore the building, but the coups d’etats prevented them from living there, which made it suspicious that it must have been cursed.

Nowadays, it is in perfect shape as it is the governing place for the nation, and the spectacular lightning at night is well worth visiting the capital of this small South American nation.

Infrastructure Bank Commits N13b to Cushion Subsidy Removal

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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September 23, 2023

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The Infrastructure Bank will be providing finance to help alleviate the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.

The bank has earmarked N13 billion for this purpose and will be using the funds to develop transportation systems and road infrastructure.

A statement issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance said the Acting Managing Director Nkiru Chime and an Executive Director Andrew Nweke made this disclosure in Abuja when they visited the ministry.

Additionally, the bank has concessions with eight states and has previously provided interventions in the provision of mass transit, road and rail construction in some parts of the country.

Nkiru Chime stated that since inception “Infrastructure Bank had intervened in the provision of mass transit, road and rail construction in some parts of the country and the bank had concessions with Government particularly with eight states”.

Niger State To Invest N1tr In Infrastructure

Chime added that The Infrastructure Bank has put in place funds to convert cars using petrol to “Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal”.

On his part, Andrew Nweke spoke about an intervention that will impact urban development. He said that the “Infrastructure Bank would engage in road infrastructure development in collaboration with the Federal Government to alleviate the impacts of fuel subsidy removal.

Responding, the Permanent Secretary Special Duties of the ministry Okokon Udo assured the bankers that “the Federal Government would create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the nation’s economy in order to reduce the adverse effects of subsidy removal”.

The Permanent Secretary stressed that the ministry was determined to work in partnership with the bank towards uplifting the living standards of Nigerians.

Fitch Ratings Confirms AA+ Rating for IFAD

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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September 23, 2023

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Fitch Ratings confirmed the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘AA+’ with a Stable Outlook.

According to Fitch’s Rating Action Commentary, “IFAD’s AA+ Long-Term IDR continues to be anchored on its Standalone Credit Profile (SCP). IFAD’s SCP assessment is driven by its solvency (aa+) and liquidity (aa+) profiles, which are unchanged from last year.”

In addition, Fitch expects IFAD’s equity/assets ratio and the fund’s usable capital/risk-weighted assets ratio “to remain well above the ‘excellent’ thresholds in the medium term, despite the fund gradually increasing its leverage.”

Fitch Predicts Slow Economic Growth for Nigeria in 2023

This news comes as IFAD, a UN specialised agency and international financial institution, embarks on an ambitious replenishment of its funds for the period 2025-2027, with goals to deepen its impact and help millions more people move out of poverty and hunger – now more important than ever as the number of hungry rises, poverty remains intractable and climate change intensifies in many parts of the world.

“The affirmation of our strong rating reflects the solid financial capacity of the institution to continue servicing our recipient countries within a very uncertain economic outlook. This is a testament to IFAD’s financial evolution and shall constitute an additional incentive to the continuing supportive response we are seeing from our Members during the ongoing replenishment consultations,” said Hernán Danery Alvarado, IFAD’s Associate Vice-President of IFAD’s Financial Operations Department and Chief Financial Officer and Controller.

Minister Applauds African Development Bank’s Support For Nigeria

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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September 23, 2023

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Minister for Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, has commended the African Development Bank, AFDB, for being magnanimous to the Nation.

He appreciated the bank for considering Nigeria for intervention programs despite the high demand on the institution from many other countries.

Senator Bagudu made this commendation in Abuja when the African Development Bank’s Chief Country Economist, Jacob Oduor, led the Bank’s team on a visit to his office.

The Minister disclosed that Nigeria was currently going through a task reform process, which had an ambitious target of 18% to GDP ratio by 2026, which was higher than what was previously in the National Development Plan.

Budget Minister Promises Strict Project Monitoring

He explained that the National Development Plan was a reflection of Nigeria’s vision of where the country wanted to be by 2050.

“we have a long term perspective plan against 2050 but for 5 years duration, we have a national development plan”.

Bagudu continued: “We are currently in the midst of the review because the renewed agenda under which the manifesto of the president Bola Ahmed Tinubu and vice President Kashim Shettina contested and where given the mandate by Nigerians envisaged higher growth”

“The President has left investment drive and is interacting with the private sector both domestic and international “ . The Minister said.

Senator Bagudu listed some of the roles of the Ministry in improving the nation’s economy to include as follows: ‘the Macro Economic department’s assisted by some development partners to work on how to put in place those special things needed for higher growth; the ministry also served as a secretariat of the National Economic Council which was the meeting point between the Federal and State governments; we are also responsible for joint planning between Sub-national and the Federal, as well as, sectors specific issues, like social protection policy”.

Moreso, the Minister mentioned that the Ministry had a nutrition policy which would play prominent roles in the 2024 appropriation, both at the Federal and sub National levels.

Earlier, Oduor stated that the purpose of their visit to the Ministry was to view the perspective from Budget and Economic Planning in terms of recent economic development.

He noted that the discussion would be based on Maintaining Fiscal Sustainability through Revenue Mobilization, Recent economic development and economic policy challenges in 2022/2023, outlook for medium term policy plans and priorities of the government, spending and investment plans, Fiscal MTEF; Developments and budget implementation.

Oduor explained further that: Fiscal framework: Managing fiscal Risk, Economic Policy: Revenue mobilization: Contingency plan: possible fiscal costs, and strategies, Budget financing plans: current and medium term, 2023 Budget and policy directions were fiscal implications of the recent removal of subsidies and exchange rate unification {impact on fiscal space and deficit} , Trends in expenditure arrears and plans for settlement.

He also mentioned that the AFDB had structured an economic reform support program as a two year programmatic policy based operation from 2023 – 2024 to assist the Federal Government of Nigeria “to provide a base for holistic implementation of macroeconomic policy and structural reforms, to safeguard the gains from reform effort”.

Govt. Caused N285bn Decline in Raw Material Exports – MAN

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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September 23, 2023

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The decline in Nigeria’s raw material exports by N285 billion on a year-on-year basis can be attributed to the government’s neglect of the productive sector, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has declared.

An analysis of Foreign Trade Statistics published by the National Bureau of Statistics showed raw materials exports fell to N345.5bn in the first half of 2023, compared to N630.5bn in the same period in the prior year.

A breakdown of the H1 2023 figure indicated that the country shipped out N200bn worth of raw materials in Q1 and N145bn in Q2, instead of N259.4bn in Q1 and N371.10bn in Q2 2022.

Unilorin Set To Export Shea Butter- VC

During this period, urea whether or not the aqueous solution was exported to the United States as well as nonmonetary gold (including gold-plated with platinum) in powder form exported to Switzerland.

Other items that dominated the export list were cocoa shells, husks, skins and other cocoa waste to Indonesia and gold unwrought or in semi-mfr. forms, or in powder form exported to Switzerland.

In a recent interview, the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Francis Meshioye, blamed high production costs as being responsible for the country’s declining exports.

According to him, local manufacturers cannot be competitive in terms of price with manufacturers from other countries who produce at lower costs.

Meshioye said, “We will tell our members to do more, but all these things are based on competitive advantages. If you want to export a product, it is fine, but at what cost are you going to export it?

“What will be your price? If the cost is astronomically high, it will be difficult to export. It is a circle. Of course, the export base should be good enough to support the floated exchange rate, but we need to have a good economic base to do that.”

World Bank Approves Fresh $700m Loan for Nigeria

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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September 23, 2023

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The World Bank has approved a fresh $700m loan for Nigeria to enhance adolescent girls’ learning and empowerment.

It disclosed this in a statement published on its website on Friday.

The new loan is to provide additional funds for an ongoing project known as the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment.

The statement read, “The World Bank approved additional financing of $700m for Nigeria to scale up the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment programme whose goal is to improve secondary education opportunities among girls in targeted states.

“The additional financing will scale up project activities from the current seven states to eleven additional states and increase the targeted beneficiaries to include out-of-school girls, those who are married, and those who have disabilities.”

It was noted that Nigeria had over 12 million to 15 million out of school children in the school- age group, with many of them in Northern Nigeria.

It was also noted that an estimated one million children were affected by increased insecurity around schools in 2020-2021.

The statement added, “In the seven AGILE programme implementing states – Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau – the number of girls in secondary schools has increased from about 900,000 to over 1.6 million.

“Under the programme, over 5,000 classrooms have been renovated and over 250,000 eligible girls have received scholarships.

“The AGILE programme has supported construction and rehabilitation of WASH facilities in secondary schools and the installation of computers and solar panels which make attending school more convenient and conducive for both girls and boys. Life skills, systems strengthening, and advocacy are other key aspects of the program which address social norms impeding girls’ education.”

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, stated that, “Closing the gender gaps in economic empowerment by ensuring girls have access to education and skills is key for Nigeria’s development and economic prosperity.

“Nigeria’s working population will soon be one of the youngest and largest around the world, which means that investing in adolescent girls is imperative when addressing overall economic prospects and growth.”

World Bank Pledges Support For President Tinubu’s Policies, Reforms

The statement noted that aside from the girls that would benefit from the financing, others included over 15 million students and beneficiaries, such as teachers, administrators, families, communities, and staff in existing and newly constructed schools.

It added that the new fund would push the project to 18 states and help Nigeria to achieve better education and health outcomes for girls.

Parents and caregivers of about 300,000 poor female students earlier got N10,000 per term in six states as incentives for schooling.

The six states were Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Plateau, and the funding was provided through the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment Programme.

The World Bank noted that the N10,000 per term was provided to the parents of poor female students for school attendance and re-enrollment.

It was also disclosed that N5,000 was given to each girl’s parent upon registration in the program.

You will recall that this is the third loan facility approved under the administration of Bola Tinubu.

The first was approved on June 9, 2023, with a loan of $750m to boost Nigeria’s power sector.

The second was a loan of $500m to help Nigeria drive women’s empowerment, and was approved on June 22, 2023.

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation To Deliver Abuja Light Rail In 8 Months

By

Angel Gimalo

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September 23, 2023

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The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd, on Wednesday, pledged to complete the Abuja light rail project in 8 months.

The Senior Special Assistant to the VP on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed on Wednesday, in a statement titled, ‘CCECC commits to delivering Abuja Light Rail project in 8 months.’

Nkwocha said, “Vice President Kashim Shettima extracted this commitment from the management of CCECC when its Chairman, Mr Jason Zhang, led some members of his management team on a courtesy call at the Presidential Villa.”

Shettima described CCECC as part of Nigeria’s history, saying the Chinese construction giant has played a pivotal role in developing Nigeria’s landmark projects, adding that their commitment to the development of Nigeria and Africa is commendable.

He said, “You have been in this country for 42 years. We have to commend you for all the beautiful initiatives and support over the years.

“We share a lot in common with the people of China, just as you have been with us through thick and thin.

“You have the financial firepower and the willingness to support Nigeria and other African countries without interfering in our local politics. This we appreciate a lot.”

He assured the corporation that Tinubu’s administration will sustain the existing relationship with the company and the people of China, saying the Abuja rail project, like others, remains dear to the President and Nigerians.

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of CCECC, David Waig, reiterated the company’s commitment towards delivering the project within the stipulated period, saying CCECC will go above board and leave no stone unturned in ensuring the delivery of the Abuja light rail line come May 2024.

However, he called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration to engage an operational company that would quickly see the smooth takeoff of the rail project.

Present at the meeting were the Deputy Managing Directors of the company, Mr Jaques Liao and Mr Inain Guo and Mr Eric Yu, who is the General Manager (Business).

UNDP Urges Tinubu To Transmit LG Autonomy Bill To NASS

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Mana Balagbogbo

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September 23, 2023

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The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in collaboration with Social Development Integrated Centre have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to transmit the Local Government Autonomy Bill to the National Assembly for speedy passage to allow them to function as third tier of government.

The Senior Programmes Officer and Project Manager of Social Action, Dr Prince Ekpere, made the call during a one-day citizen and government consultative dialogue on inclusive budgeting for effective service delivery in Maiduguri.

He said the autonomy of the local government will guarantee development in rural communities, reduce rural urban migration and create more jobs and businesses.

According to him, between 2001 and 2018, N14.7 trillion was disbursed to the 774 local governments in Nigeria, but much of these funds were mismanaged by state governments, while communities wallow in total lack of infrastructure and human capital development.

Tinubu moves to stop Chicago University from releasing school records to Atiku

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Mana Balagbogbo

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September 23, 2023

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President Bola Tinubu has filed an application with the District Court to stop the Chicago State University from releasing his academic records to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

A United States Magistrate Court had made an order directing the Chicago State University to within 48 hours release Tinubu’s academic records to the presidential candidate of the PDP.

However, in a fresh motion, Tinubu alleged that the Magistrate breached the constitution by acting as a final court in such matters of discovery.

The president contended that a Magistrate should only report and recommend to the district judge in such matters.

Tinubu further argued that the Magistrate court had issued what seemed to be a final order on September 19, demanding immediate compliance starting on September 21.

“Intervenor asks this court to enter an immediate order delaying the effect of the Magistrate’s order, at least until Monday, September 25, 2023, so the court may fully consider both the scope of the Magistrate’s authority to issue the order without review and the issue of whether the Magistrate’s order was a correct application of the law to the facts presented.”

He requested the court to delay the effect of the Magistrate’s order until September 25, 2023, to fully consider the order’s scope and its application of the law to the facts presented.

In the motion filed by his lawyer, Mr. Carmichael, Tinubu emphasised that other courts, considering the authority of Magistrate to rule on Section 1782 applications opted for issuing reports and recommendations.

“Intervenor raises a substantial question about the Magistrate’s authority to resolve the Section 1782 petition and order immediate compliance by Chicago State University.

“‘If Chicago State University complies with the Magistrate’s order prior to this Court having an opportunity to review the order, Intervenor will suffer prejudice because the information will have been disclosed and effective relief will be impossible.

“The order requires the documents to be produced today. (Dkt. 40, pg. 31.)

“By contrast, Tinubu maintained that he has at least until September 27 to submit material, if not longer, and, as the Magistrate commented, the “tight timeframe” was created “in no small part” by applicant. (Dt. 40, pg. 28.) “That leaves enough time for the Court to review the ruling and, if discovery were permitted to proceed, for the applicant to still obtain the information sought,” the documents read.

Consumers Allege Sabotage as Grid Collapses Worsen Outage

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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September 23, 2023

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The Nigerian Power Consumers Forum (NPCF) has condemned the spate of disturbances on the national electricity grid and the recent fire incidents around power transmission infrastructure.

NPCF’s Convener, Michael Okoh, raised the concern in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday.

This was coming few days after the Transmission Company of Nigeria stated that for over 400 days, the grid had been relatively stable.

“From independent assessment which started last year and up to this year, the forum was able to confirm the various initiatives TCN deployed to stabilise the grid including the use of Internet of Things and the deployment of the stop gap system as a placeholder for a smart grid system,” Okoh stated.

“But unfortunately, just after the pronouncement on the efforts of TCN on grid stability, the power sector has recorded at least two system collapses in succession, all caused by a fire incident in the Birnin Kebbi transmission substation and line snap along the 330kV Jebba – Kainji transmission line”.

National Grid Collapse: Nigerian Government Continues Restoration

“These have caused nationwide outages which the NPCF believes is to bring the management of TCN into disrepute.”

He said the forum confirmed that TCN had been maintaining its grid efficiently for 421 days and the grid was looped in some places.

“This rules out the lack of capacity on the part of the company. We are therefore pointing to cases of sabotage by hoodlums who may not mean well for the country,” Okoh stated.

He said this was not the first time critical national infrastructures had been sabotaged as cases abound everyday of oil theft, rupturing of pipelines or hacking of power transmission towers, of which more than 20 of such cases were reported by TCN in the last 12 months.

Okoh stated, “The fire incident at the Birnin Kebbi transmission substation switchyard is more of a sabotage on the national grid systems.

“According to power engineers who have over three decades of experience, they believe that technically, there is no way two power transformers separated by a reasonable distance from each other will be engulfed by fire simultaneously.”