The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

  • Nigerians both home and abroad could positively impact the nation’s economy to bring about peaceful coexistence – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

     

     

    The Director General (DG) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said the contributions of Nigerians at home and abroad could positively impact the nation’s economy to bring about peaceful coexistence, and that remittances from those in Diaspora have brought about development of rural areas and sustenance of the economy.

     

    The DG said this at a webinar to celebrate the National Diaspora Day on Sunday, in Abuja, organised by the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) to commemorate its establishment and its achievements so far.

    The event was themed: ” Diaspora Integration for National Peace and Development”, which NiDCOM described as being anchored on the levers of peace that would accelerate Diaspora engagement for national growth and development.

     

    The commission observed that no nation could succeed in an atmosphere anchored on insecurity, hatred and divisive tendencies.

     

    In her contribution, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala applauded the Diaspora for their huge contributions to the nation’s economy, citing in particular how their remittances had brought about development of the rural areas and the sustenance of the economy.

     

    ”Let me applaud fellow Nigerians in the Diaspora because they are contributing so much, in many ways; the remittance that the Diaspora send home is in millions of dollars which has contributed in sustaining our economy.

     

     

     

    “It helps people living in the rural areas to get resources to send their children to school, take care of their health, build and run businesses, but we can do more wherever we are in the Diaspora, for there’s no place like home.

     

    “So, what we should be thinking of is how we can help to make things better wherever we are, be it in the village or the town to make things better at home, either through creating employment, business, a civil society organisation, or helping to support what the local government is trying to do.

     

    “This is what helps to create peace and I am not saying that is all of it, but the fact remains that there are so many young people who do not have jobs and the COVID-19 situation had made that worse with the lockdown.

     

    “I think we should be thinking of what we can do to help improve the economic situation of people at home because that’s what helps to bring peace.

     

    “If we did not have so many disoriented and disorganised unemployed youths , some of the activities that we see at home that are detrimental towards peace and security might not happen,” she said.

     

    Speaking earlier, Zubairu Dada, the minister for State for Foreign Affairs, stated that the Federal Government was willing to create an enabling environment that would encourage direct investment by the diaspora.

     

    Mr Dada added that Nigerians in the Diaspora had continuously shown great dedication, with their time, skills, talents, resources and global exposure, to the development of the country.

     

    “The theme of this year’s event encapsulates the intention of Nigeria in high engagement with her diaspora, especially in these times when we badly need peace, if any development is ever to take place.

     

    “This celebration is also a networking event intended to showcase the achievements of Nigerians in the Diaspora, particularly our internationally acknowledged surgeons, educationists, world class athletes, engineers, lawyers and scientists, among others.

     

    “Men and women who have distinguished themselves in their chosen careers for their huge contribution to the peace and progress of their host countries and humanity in general.

     

    “I wish to assure you that the federal government of Nigeria will provide an enabling environment, through policies and programmes tailored to support you and your wellbeing, and in turn encourage you to give back for the upliftment of your country,” he said.

     

     

    He added that the government had taken a further step by approving and adopting the National Diaspora Policy 2021 and its Action Plan, for a more holistic approach to the nation’s engagement with the diaspora.

     

     

    Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the chairman/ceo of NIDCOM, noted that development could only thrive in a peaceful environment, hence the need for maximum cooperation to collaborate.

     

    She urged the diaspora to collaborate with Nigeria, their country of origin, in sharing ideas , technology and others skills, that would promote her development.

     

    NAN reports that the National Diaspora Policy 2021 was unveiled by the NiDCOM Boss, Franz Celestin, chief of mission, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Chibuzor Ugochi of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, (NIDO UK-SOUTH).

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.premuimtimesng.com

  • Okonjo-Iweala has promised to reduce export restrictions, on health and medical supplies

     

    Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has promised that the body will work to reduce export restrictions among member states, especially with regards to medical supplies in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

     

    She gave the assurance when she met with members of the Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Abuja.

    The WTO DG, who said she was on a thank you visit to Nigeria and the ECOWAS for the support she received in the run up to her elections into the trade body, stressed that in a pandemic, an economy cannot be advanced until the health sector is taken care of.

     

    She said: “The main reason we are here is really to see how the WTO can support Nigeria, in improving its economy. And part of doing that is the health. We are in a pandemic and of course, you cannot advance the economy until you take care of the health aspects. And so what the Secretary to the Government office is doing along with the presidential Task Force is laudable, and we wanted to just discuss with them, one, what is happening, the arrival of the COVID vaccines, how that is being distributed, the challenges, opportunities on the way of that and that the WTO can do.

     

    “Interestingly, trade is very instrumental in access to medical supplies and equipment, because how do they get from one place to the other? It is through trade. And part of the challenges we’ve had in this pandemic is the fact that some of our member countries put export restrictions on the movement of medical supplies, equipment, and even supplies to make vaccines.

     

     

     

    “So one of the things that WTO can do is to work with members to reduce these export restrictions. If you take vaccines, for instance, I’ll just give you one number from the manufacturer of Pfizer, the Pfizer BioTech vaccine. We had a meeting with the manufacturers a couple of days ago in Geneva and their representative said that it takes 280 components to manufacture their vaccine. And it’s in a supply chain that involves 19 countries. So in the supply chains, so many of our products, medical products are global. And so when a country puts export restrictions on one, it means that you slow the production everywhere, that’s where the WTO comes in. Because, we have certain rules that members should abide by, with respect to these restrictions. And we play a fundamental role in making sure that medical supplies and equipment and vaccines circulate.

     

    “And you remember at the beginning of the pandemic, there are many countries, you know that blocked export. So we’ve managed to get that reduced. There were 91 countries at the beginning, who, had restrictions and prohibitions on on export of medical supplies and equipment. We are now down to 59. So we’ve reduced considerably but still too many my view. And so that’s one of the things we’re trying to get right.

     

    “So we are here to see what we can do to support Nigeria. I have to personally say, I was chair of GAVI, the vaccine alliance for five years, one of those who designed the COVAX facility, and have been very proud of the ability to make available to poorer countries and to emerging markets like Nigeria, access to vaccines at affordable prices. So we will continue to push that. And we want to see what the challenges and opportunities are and how it’s going.

     

    “Let me say I’m proud to now of what the progress that has been made. It sounds good. And I hope we can continue in that way.”

     

    In his remarks, the SGF and Chairman of PTF, said the pandemic came with a lot of effects and impacts on the nation’s economy but provided an opportunity for the country to really go back and look at her systems.

     

    He said: “The good thing about COVID-19 is that it has exposed the weaknesses of all systems. Even the most established democracies and economies have been brought to their knees by the adverse effects of COVID-19. But I think the developing economies stand to benefit if they learn from the lessons of this adverse impacts and look at their systems, their governance system, their economic foundations, and the need to heighten inclusion in the way we develop our agendas and our programmes.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com