VenturesNow

Nigeria Airways’ resurrects as ‘Nigeria Air.’ What lessons 15 years after?

Emerging reports say that the Nigerian government on Wednesday in London unveiled a new national airline to be known as Nigeria Air

Published

5 years ago

July 18, 2018

Africa News Watch

Emerging reports say that the Nigerian government on Wednesday in London unveiled a new national airline to be known as Nigeria Air.

The ceremony comes 15 years after the former Nigeria Airways went moribund and literally got buried. The official unveiling of name and logo of the country’s new flag carrier, came in the absence of any fleet for the airline.

Named Nigeria Air, Presidency officials say that the new enterprise “will bring Nigeria closer to the world.”

The Wednesday ceremony held at the Farnborough International Public Airshow in London. Speaking at the event, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, said the federal government would not interfere in the management of the business.

“It is a business, not a social service. Government will not be involved in running it or deciding who runs it. The investors will have full responsibility for this,” he said.

Sirika, in a tweet via his official Twitter handle, Tuesday, said he had negotiated Aircraft orders with Airbus of Farnborough and planned to meet with Boeing and other suppliers.

“We intend to get a 30 aircraft market in five years. But we will begin with five aircraft on the day of launch,” he said.

The Nigerian government appears eager to learn from the mistakes of the past. Alluding to government plans to stay away from directly managing the business, the Director General of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Chidi Izuwah, said:

“Though, you need that initial government financial to make it take off, but what is important is that the national carrier will be entirely private sector controlled.

“There will be zero government interference. But if that happens, it invalidates the certificate (Outline Business Case Certificate of Compliance for the establishment of the airline) and the entire process.”

Attempts to resuscitate Nigeria Airways led to a joint venture between Nigerian investors and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group but this crashed in 2012 due largely to what was considered undue government interference and refusal to stay within the letters and spirit of the contract.

Click to comment

VenturesNow

Nigeria’s central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele suspended by President Tinubu

Published

14 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu has suspended the country’s central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation announced the suspension of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) head on Friday evening.

The director of information at the SGF office, Willie Bassey, in a statement, said the suspension was with immediate effect.

The CBN under Emefiele announced new designs of the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes in December. The implementation of the policy was however controversial as it launched an era of cash scarcity which some observers say was targeted at then ruling party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu, and some believe limited his chances.

Tinubu has signalled going in a different direction. During his inauguration speech, he pledged to pursue unification of the exchange rate windows and backed ease of repatriation of funds for foreign investors, policies that have not been favoured by the CBN under Emefiele.

Former president Muhammadu Buhari reappointed Emiefele for a second and final term of five years in 2019. He was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in February 2014, hours after he announced the suspension of his predecessor, Sanusi Lamido.

He was the managing director of top Nigerian bank, Zenith Bank before his appointment .

VenturesNow

Ghana records 32% increase in gold production in 2022

Published

16 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

West African country, Ghana has returned to top of gold production on the continent after displacing South Africa following a 32% increase in 2022.

According to the president of the mines chamber, gold output rose to 3.7 million ounces in 2022 from 2.8 million ounces the previous year, as a result of growth in the output of both large and small-scale sectors.

Joshua Mortoti, while addressing members of the Ghana Chamber of Mines at an annual general meeting revealed that “The large-scale gold sub-sector recorded its highest output in the country’s history in 2022.”

He further revealed that the expansion of production at existing mines facilitated the large-scale sector’s gold output up by 13% to 3.1 million ounces last year from 2.7 million ounces in 2021.

Over 77,620 ounces of gold were sold in 2022 under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, a scheme launched by the Bank of Ghana to boost reserves.

Mining is a major economic activity in Ghana and a key contributor to the Ghanaian economy. Gold mining accounted for 48.4% of gross merchandise exports in 2020.