Economy
NIWA MD orders contractor at Baro port back to site
…As Ambode calls for memoranda on comprehensive transport policy***
Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, the Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), has directed the contractor handling equipment installation at the Baro Port in Rivers to immediately move to site.
The order was conveyed on Wednesday in Lagos via a statement signed by NIWA’s General Manager of Corporate Affairs, Fadile Eyitayo.
The statement quoted Mamora as giving the directive during a recent visit to the port.
It said that Mamora assured the contractor that the Authority would reconstruct the bad portions of the road leading to Baro port within two weeks so as to facilitate the movement of equipment and personnel.
“The state of some of the facilities at the port is appalling and the facilities need urgent facelift to enable them to be at par with other works that will soon be put in place there.
“For instance, the administrative block, the water treatment plant, the generator house and the security post need urgent repairs; the contractor should move back to site to repair the structures,’’ he said.
Responding, Mr Opeyemi Olabanji of First Index Project Services Limited, the contractor handling the project, said that flood and the bad road in the area had contributed to the delay of the work.
He, however, assured Mamora of the firm’s readiness to start equipment installation at the port as soon as the road was repaired.
In the meantime, the Lagos State Government has called for memoranda from the public, in tandem with Government’s commitment towards re-energizing the various transportation modes and collating it into an effective comprehensive transport policy.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Dr Taiwo Salaam highlighted this in his office, while expressing the desire of the state government to create a robust transportation policy that encompasses every sector.
Salaam stated that the state which presently runs an inclusive administration needs the support of all stakeholders such as operators, academia, transport related unions, individuals and groups as well as non-governmental organizations, adding that their contributions are of utmost importance and would be considered in formulating the transport policy for the state
He hinted that a stakeholder/ public hearing will be conducted before the Lagos state transport policy is finalized
The Permanent Secretary affirmed that submissions of memoranda have since commenced through the ministry’s online platforms, phone line, email address, as well as hard copies received in his office at the Ministry of Transportation,
He therefore urged other interested members of the public to forward their contributions as soon as possible.
The equities market opened the week lower on Monday, as indices dipped by 0.25 per cent due to profit-taking in medium and large-capitalised stocks.
Market capitalisation fell by N246 billion, or 0.25 per cent, closing at N97.582 trillion, compared with Friday’s N97.828 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index lost 387.35 points, or 0.25 per cent, settling at 153,739.11.
Consequently, the year-to-date return declined to 49.37 per cent.
Market breadth closed negative, with 38 losers against 19 gainers.
Honeywell Flour Mill led the losers’ chart, dropping 10 per cent to N18 per share.
Northern Nigeria Flour Mills fell by 9.98 per cent, closing at N84.30, while Aradel Holdings declined 9.21 per cent to N710.
Ja Paul Gold dropped 7.95 per cent to N2.20, and Ikeja Hotel shed 7.71 per cent to close at N17.35.
Conversely, Union Dicon Salt topped the gainers’ table, rising 9.93 per cent to N7.75.
Omatek Ventures appreciated 9.92 per cent to N1.33, while NAHCO advanced 7.62 per cent to N113.
International Breweries gained 6.35 per cent to N13.40, and Champion Breweries rose 6.33 per cent to N15.95.
The market analysis showed increased deals, but lower value and volume, with 627.5 million shares worth N25 billion traded in 36,425 deals.
This contrasts with 5.2 billion shares valued at N45.2 billion exchanged in 30,598 deals on Friday.
United Bank for Africa recorded the highest volume and value, trading 136.84 million shares worth N5.54 billion.
Aso Savings and Loans followed with 108.94 million shares valued at N120.4 million, while Access Holdings traded 68.2 million shares worth N1.62 billion.
GTCO exchanged 49.8 million shares valued at N4.55 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 31.8 million shares worth N2 billion.
Sen. Francis Fadahunsi, Chairman, Senate Committee on Industry, has expressed dismay over the low patronage of made-in-Nigeria automobiles by the federal and state governments in the country.
Fadahunsi made the observation when the committee members visited Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANAMMCO) in Enugu on Friday.
The chairman said they found out from the visit that there was a lot of potential that was being wasted in Innoson Motors and ANAMMCO because of non-patronage of the federal and state governments.
According to him, if the federal and state governments are patronising our indigenous vehicle assemblers, manufacturers and CNG buses, Nigeria will be a better place instead of wasting our money and foreign resources to import vehicles.
“What we have seen in Enugu and Anambra is in line with the President’s New Hope Agenda. There are no types of buses that the government is looking for that these local assemblers and manufacturers cannot produce.”
“What they need is a legal backing and funds from the same federal government that established them to carry on.”
“Their foreign partners are physically present imparting technical knowledge on them, and before next year, you will see that Nigerian-manufactured vehicles are everywhere,” he said.
He called on Ministries, Departments and Agencies to patronise made in Nigeria vehicles, adding that in buying them, they would be reinvesting in the economy and creating jobs for unemployed youths.
Fadahunsi also said that the Senate Committee would convince their colleagues to start patronising vehicles produced in Nigeria and assist in enacting bills to make them thrive.
Mr Oluwemimo Osanipin, Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), commended the committee for the oversight function, adding that the automobile sector had the capacity to generate a lot of multiplier effects in the economy.
He tasked governments with policies that would encourage the buying of local manufactured goods and stimulate demand, which also allowed individuals to buy.
“That is why the government is pushing for a credit scheme through credit cards and legislation that will promote investment in the auto sector.”
“So the legislation has been looked into, and this will equip the legislators to know when to come in and appreciate the need for that bill to be passed faster,” he said.
Osanipin added that the committee’s visit would offer them the opportunity to identify the challenges of auto operators and areas needing support.
The Chief Operating Officer of ANAMMCO, Mr Bennett Ejindu, described the visit as a “positive development”, saying it underscored the importance the President Bola Tinubu administration and Senate attached to industrial development.
Ejindu recalled that ANAMMCO was set up in the 1970s, saying, “It gives me a kind of hope that the authorities within Nigeria, both those making laws and those executing them, are interested in reviving automotive manufacturing in Nigeria”.
He stated that the abandonment of the industry between 1970 and 1986 made the world think that Nigeria was not serious about developing the automotive industry.
The operating officer added that governments could also assist in resurrecting the industry through direct involvement and the creation of an enabling environment for the industry to thrive.
“But with the interest that we are seeing now from the government, it gives us a kind of hope that things will turn around. This firm has the potential to manufacture vehicles for Nigerians,” he said.
Listing infrastructure as the major challenge of automobile companies in Nigeria, Ejindu called for the passage of the National Automotive Industry Development Policy (NAIDP) bill to build investors’ confidence in the country’s automobile industry.
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) saw an increase in confidence among its CEO members in the third quarter of 2025, rising by 0.4 per cent to 50.7 from 50.3 in the previous quarter.
The President of MAN, Mr Francis Meshioye, revealed this on Tuesday in Lagos during a news conference detailing the MAN Chief Executive Officers’ Confidence Index (MCCI) and report from the 2025 MAN Think Tank Session.
The MCCI is a statistical indicator that measures the manufacturing sector’s pulse.
It does it by sampling the real-time perception of 500 CEOs of MAN member-companies across 10 sectoral groups and 16 industrial zones.
The index essentially gauges manufacturers’ perception using a set of diffusion factors, macroeconomic conditions and business operating environment indicators.
Meshioye said that over the years, manufacturing performance had been largely oscillatory due to some binding constraints.
“The association has also continually intensified advocacy for a friendlier operating environment.”
“While there is an uptick in CEOs’ confidence, real output growth dropped from 1.69 per cent to 1.6 per cent in Q2.”
“This contributes a modest 7.81 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), down from 9.62 per cent,” he said.
The MAN president said that, though the lower alternative energy cost of N676.6 billion and raw material import of N1.72 trillion in the first half of 2025 remained a heavy burden.
He added that high average lending rates of 36.6 per cent, a reduction in credit access to N7.72 trillion and rising unsold inventories of N1.04 trillion continued to limit the sector’s performance.
“Overall, the sector’s fragile recovery calls for urgent policy actions to cut energy costs, strengthen foreign exchange liquidity and expand affordable credit access to accelerate growth.”
“It is noteworthy to state that the manufacturing sector is gradually inching toward the path of full recovery.”
“However, government, as a matter of urgency, needs to review reforms implemented so far to ascertain lapses, internal bottlenecks and drawbacks and with a view to addressing them,” he said.
MAN Director-General, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the 0.4 per cent rise, though marginal, was significant, as it marked a second consecutive quarterly increase, reflecting improving manufacturer confidence.
He said the breakdown of the MCCI indices showed that both the current business condition and current employment condition recorded slight upticks of 0.6 and 0.3 per cent, respectively.
Ajayi-Kadri, however, noted that the current production condition declined marginally by 0.3 points.
This, he attributed, to the industrial disputes in the oil and gas sector, which disrupted gas supply, raised energy costs and constrained manufacturing output.
He said that the projected indices for the next quarter all remained above 50 per cent, showing sustained optimism among manufacturers.
“This optimism is buoyed, not only by recent policy adjustments, such as the 50-basis point cut in the benchmark interest rate.”
“Also, the suspension of the four per cent Free-on-Board levy and the approval of tax incentives for local sourcing of raw materials.”
“However, it is by strong expectations that the forthcoming National Industrial Policy will be highly private sector-driven.”
“Manufacturers are confident that a policy framework anchored on private sector participation will catalyse industrial competitiveness, stimulate productive investment and open new frontiers for growth,” he said.
The Director, Research and Economic Policy Division, MAN, Dr Oluwasegun Osidipe, outlined eight recommendations to put the sector back on the path of recovery.
He urged the Federal Government to appoint economic/commercial attachés in countries with significant Nigerian trade and investment interests to strengthen market intelligence and export promotion.
Osidipe also urged manufacturers to advocate for specialised financing mechanisms for manufacturing, including a manufacturer’s bank offering long-term concessionary credit.
He urged the Federal Executive Council to approve the implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Policy, while manufacturers utilise the MEAL dashboard, sector KPIs and structured feedback loops to track reform performance.
“MAN should be accorded a preeminent role in national power policy and granted membership of the Nigeria Electricity and Regulatory Commission.”
“The government should establish a dedicated joint security task force to safeguard industrial zones nationwide.”
“Government should also mainstream the reports of the MAN summit, blueprint 2.0, and 2025 Think Tank into the Nigeria Industrial Policy and adopt as working documents for the Industrial Revolution Work Group,” he said.
-
Latest News2 days agoCustoms intercepts 60,000 litres of diverted petrol in Katsina
-
Latest News2 days agoNigeria, Denmark Strengthen Maritime Partnership
-
Latest News2 days agoTrump: Tinubu Will Deal With Terrorists, Sponsors – Lawmaker
-
Latest News1 day agoCOWA Free Medical Outreach: Ogun I Command Treats Over 300 People, Distributes Drugs, Eye Glasses