38th Kaduna Intnl trade fair holds early 2017 – KADCCIMA
(Cross section of members KADCCIMA at a press briefing in Kaduna on Monday)
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President, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) Alhaji Suleiman Aliyu has said that, the chamber is preparing for the 38th Edition of Kaduna International Trade Fair which is scheduled to hold from 24th February to 6th March, 2017 themed; “Promoting Public Private Partnership as Panacea for Accelerated Economic Growth and Development.”
He said the theme was deliberately chosen to reckon with current realities on ground, noting It intends to appreciate and complement government efforts towards restructuring of the Nigerian economy that has been facing serious challenges due to dwindling revenues.
Alhaji Aliyu who stated this while beieding newsmen on the chamber’s preparedness for the fair said, “it is our belief that the promotion of Public Private Partnership as a development strategy will go a long way in reducing the over reliance on oil and gas by the Federal Government as the only source of revenue for development programmes in Nigeria.
“It has become evident that the government alone cannot mobilize the volume of resources (finance and expertise) to meet this need. It therefore becomes imperative to get the private sector’s involvement in this regard. This paradigm shift is steadily becoming the norm as majority of infrastructural projects of note currently underway at both state and federal levels are funded under PPP arrangements.
“Touted as Africa’s most famous trade fair, we have concluded arrangements and as usual, are expecting both local and international participants from neighbouring countries, ECOWAS sub-region and beyond. To this end, contacts and discussion with investors, Manufacturers, Marketers and distributors within and outside the country have since commenced. We have already visited some of our major stakeholders and partners all in an effort to have a smooth, highly patronized and successful Fair,” he said.
He also identified the incessant attacks on oil pipelines, oil companies and kidnapping of expatriates by the Niger-Delta militants as the key factor that is responsible for the economic recession facing the country.
According to him, because of this Nigeria’s economy since the beginning of the year faced a number of serious challenges resulting in dwindling of revenue, fluctuating exchange rate due to scarcity of foreign exchange, crawling devaluation of Naira, high inflation rate and closure of businesses leading to increase in unemployment.