Torpell

World Bank Group says it has an investment portfolio of about 8.5 billion dollars scattered across states and regions in Nigeria to support inclusive economic development and youth empowerment.
Mrs Olufunke Olufon, the Senior Communications Officer, World Bank Nigeria, made this known
in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

She stated that the investments were to assist the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory to reduce poverty and foster prosperity for all Nigerians.

She noted that the explanation followed concerns raised by Nigerians over the comment by World Bank President, Mr Jim Yong Kim that President Muhammadu Buhari asked the bank to shift its intervention focus to North Eastern states.

She said that the bank was also working with federal and state governments, as well as
development partners on speedy delivery of critical interventions to people of the North East who urgently needed assistance.

She added that “in 2015, the Government of Nigeria requested World Bank support to respond to the humanitarian and development crisis in the North East of Nigeria."

“To assess the needs of the nearly 15 million people in the region impacted by the crisis, the World Bank Group, the UN and European Union carried out a Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA)."

“And based on the findings of the assessment, World Bank’s 775 million dollars support to the North East focuses on restoring basic education, health services, agricultural production, and livelihood improvement opportunities.”

Olufon noted that the World Bank Group was doubling its resources to address fragility, conflict and violence at the subnational and national levels and help to stabilise places that were affected by high poverty and influx of people.

The senate has approved $350 million World Bank loan for Ogun State Development Policy Operation (DPO).

The approval followed the presentation of a report on the loan by Shehu Sani, chairman, senate committee on local and foreign debts.

During the plenary session on Thursday, Sani said the committee detected that Ogun state DPO loan budget had been approved by World Bank in 2016.

He added that the loan was also captured in the 2016-2018 borrowing plan, with approvals by the national assembly.

According to him, the committee also observed that the terms of the loan facility were acceptable with low financing interest rate of 125 percent, a five-year moratorium period and a five-year maturity term.

“The facility has already been captured in the 2016-2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework,” he said.

“It also has low and acceptable loan sustainability level, therefore it is eligible to borrow.”

He explained that the projects to be funded by the facility would facilitate economic growth, increase revenue generation and create employment opportunities in the state.

“The DPO loan will further help to enhance the capacity of the state government,” he said.

“The state has met the various conditions laid by World Bank and as such qualified for the loan.

“It has also put in place institutional framework for transparent and accountable budgetary and financial purpose.”

The question I get most times when I discuss on this topic would be but I’m already above 30, and my response is always then this is 20 things you are long overdue to have done before you become 30.

We would test our financial intelligence with the twenty questions below, and you score yourself a point for every affirmative answer you give, at the​ end you total the numbers of affirmative answers and we can discuss about the results.

Have you discovered your natural abilities?

The first thing you must do before you become 30 is to discover your natural abilities/talents, the discovery on how to contribute to life is what sets you apart.

Have you learnt how to use your gifting to solve problem definitely?

The second thing you must do before turning 30 is to learn how your natural abilities can solve problems definitely, the present of the gifting is not as important as to how the gifting works.

Have you caught an idea of how to make money?

know how people need you, You must Master certain things you can do so very well that it can solve problem for people to the point where they will be willing to pay for it.

Do you have a library?

Before turning 30 years you should have a library; you should owe a minimum of 30 books, read good books.

Are you known for something?

You should be known for a specific thing, write it down, what would you be known for, great men are known for specific thing, have you began working on it, have you started doing something about it.

Do you have a mentor?

A  Japanese adage says: “Better than a thousand days of a diligent search is a day with a great teacher”. You need a mentor over your life. Mentors are people who are already where we hope to be.

Do you have enough savings to last you for 6 months if you lost your job?

Your ability to save enough money to last you for 6 months will give you the leverage to start pursuing your passion.

Do you save money on a regular basis?

Wealth can only increase by your ability to retain it; so you must save on a regular basis, you must make it a habit to always​ pay yourself first.

Do you document your financial goals?

Failure to plan is planning to fail, you can never get to your financial future without a well written plan on how to get there, the more specific your goals are the better, your financial goal should be specific, measurable, achievable and a deadline attached to it.

Do you keep record of your expenses?

Tracking your expenses is one of the key factors in making your budget work for you. If you don’t know how much you spend every month, you can’t plan your financial future properly.

Do you know your present financial net worth?

Until you are aware of your present financial net worth, there is relatively nothing anyone can do to help you.

Are you satisfied with your present state?

The next question after determining your financial net worth would be are you satisfied with it, if you are not, then you should start taking definite steps on how to improve on it.

You should invest money in obtaining financial education?

The best investment anyone can give to himself is self development, until you start investing in financial education, you will always remain at the same level of your present financial state.

Are you building your brand?

If you aren’t working on becoming the top google result when people search for something in relation to your brand, then you are doing something very wrong for your business.

Are you learning how to build a network?

Have you noticed all major businesses in the world have one thing in common- people. You will always need people; you need them to help you produce.

Do you have a small business or website?

With so many resources available on how to turn your passion into a paycheck, you could discover a truly awesome opportunity by putting your interests to work for you.

Have you started doing your dream job (in any way you can)?

A lot of times our 9- to -5 doesn’t quite match up with our dream job situation in our head. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it in some capacity. If you want to be a fashion designer, then become a contributor to your favourite fashion site. Just because you are not getting paid for it yet doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue it.

Do you have a plan for your children’s school?

A major part of our income would go into educating our children, and as the family increases so also the pressure on your income, the ability to save for them will help you handle their education with ease when they start coming.

Do you have a plan to retire in comfort?

Most people would be surprise that one should be planning for his retirement at just 30 years of age, my answer will be yes, start very early to plan your retirement.

Do you have a land in your state of residence or origin?

Another major source where our income goes into would be housing (rent) and if we can solve the challenge of housing/rent, it will go a long way in improving our financial status.

We are not poor because we do not have money; we are poor because we lack financial intelligence.

The Senate has blamed the Central Bank of Nigeria in its investigation of the alleged illegal repatriation of $13.9bn by the telecommunication giant, MTN.

Adopting the report by the Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions on the probe at the plenary on Wednesday, the Senate accused the CBN of laxity, leading to sharp practices by commercial banks.

The chamber had, in October 2016, begun a probe into the allegation that MTN illegally transferred a total sum of $13.9bn from Nigeria to other countries between 2006 and 2016.

The Senate panel had summoned the CBN, MTN management, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, three commercial banks and some businessmen over alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous) Act to a public hearing where they made counter-claims.

The recommendations by the panel were unanimously approved by the lawmakers.

They include, to “condemn the Central Bank of Nigeria for failing in its duty to bring forth those observed deficiencies of FEMMA for amendment rather than granting extensions and exemptions, which became prone to abuses.
“Mandate the CBN to sanction Stanbic IBTC for improper documentations in respect of capital repatriation and loan repayments amounting to $388,195,183 and $199,440,952:07, respectively.

“Mandate the CBN to sanction the activities of Stanbic IBTC Nominees in the matter of shares transfer and splitting for the purpose of dividend repatriation.

“Mandate the CBN to come up with a proposal for the amendment of FEMMA, with a view to ensuring the growth of the economy through massive foreign capital inflow and greater retention of foreign exchange. The amendment is still ongoing in the Senate.

“Direct the CBN to forthwith render periodic status reports to Senate on the performance of foreign investments inflows and outflows.”

In his comment, Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi-West) said the findings by the panel had vindicated the Senate.

US auto stalwart Ford announced on Wednesday a $756 million investment with its Chinese joint venture to produce electric cars, just as US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing for thorny trade talks.

Ford’s investment with Zotye comes as China has signalled it plans to force gas-guzzling vehicles off the road, though the country has yet to lay out a formal timeline for the new regulations.

China will also impose in 2019 a quota requiring automakers to produce a minimum number of new-energy vehicles.

The two firms confirmed the establishment of the Zotye Ford Automobile Company joint venture, which will will design, build and distribute all-electric passenger vehicles for China, Ford said in a statement.

Ford said Zotye is the market leader in China’s all-electric small vehicle segment, noting that the company has sold 22,500 electric vehicles so far this year. Ford sold more than six million worldwide last year.

Trump, who has pressured US company to repatriate jobs to the United States, will address the US trade deficit with China during talks with President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

Trump and Xi are also expected to oversee the signing of a slew of business deals, a day after $9 billion in agreements were struck between Chinese and US companies.

Peter Fleet, Ford’s Asia-Pacific president, told Bloomberg Television that he will meet Xi and Trump and confirm around $10 billion in exports from the United States to China.

Trump may also address US complaints about intellectual property thefts during his talks with Xi.