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UK Appoints Mark Smithson New Country Director to Lead UK-Nigeria Trade and Investment Relations
UK has appointed Mr. Mark Smithson the Country Director for the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) in Nigeria. He takes over from Chim Chalemera who recently concluded a 3-year posting in that role.
Mark Smithson, UK’s Country Director, Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
Mark is an experienced civil servant having undertaken a wide variety of roles both in the UK and overseas. In this new role, he will lead on the UK-Nigeria’s trade and investment relations to deliver an increased high value inward investment and greater exports into the UK and Nigeria as well as support market access and trade policy priorities.
To mark his arrival to Nigeria, Mark said: “Nigeria is a country of huge importance to the UK and the world. Our historical, cultural, people to people and business ties are deep and ever growing.
“I am delighted to take up this new role as the DBT’s country director and I look forward to forging partnerships with the Nigerian government, the private sector and the UK supply chain and to seize the opportunities this great country and our unique partnership offer to deliver a more prosperous future to both our countries.”
Prior to Mark’s arrival to Nigeria, he was based in London (2021-2024) where he led the DBT’s Capital Investment agenda first covering European and US large corporates and since September 2022 as His Majesties Government’s global account manager for large institutional investors from Southeast Asia with a focus on Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
Mark headed up the Consular Section at the British Consulate General in Barcelona, Spain, between 2007 and 2013. During his time in Spain, Mark dealt with many high-profile consular cases and sporting events.
In 2013 he transferred to the US to head up of Consular services covering Florida, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico from the British Consulate General in Miami where Mark oversaw an extensive outreach programme with US government agencies and dealt with several crisis including deployments as Rapid Deployment Team leader.
He transferred to Atlanta, USA in 2017, to lead on the UK’s Tech & creative Trade and Investment agenda covering the southeast of the USA before transferring to Bangkok in 2018 where he served till 2021 to lead the team in Thailand to drive forward an increase in exports and investment and lay the ground for the UK-Thailand Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).
Mark is married to Patima who is Thai, and they have a 3-year-old toddler.
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Bank of Industry (BOI) have initiated discussions on strategies for capacity building in the maritime industry.
Dr. Dayo Mobereola, Director General of NIMASA, represented by the Executive Director of Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Mr. Jibril Abba disclosed this during a visit by the management of the bank led by Executive Director of Large Enterprises, Mrs. Ifeoma Uz’Okpala.
Osagie Edward, the agency’s Head of Public Relations, said in a statement that in addition to safety, security and maritime labour, the agency’s mandate encompasses capacity development aimed at growing the sector.
Also, Mobereola explained that NIMASA’s commitment to collaboration was a vital tool for achieving its mandate.
He said: “The aim is to actualise the vision of the Federal Government to reposition the maritime sector, especially with the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.”
Also, Uz’Okpala affirmed the bank’s readiness to support NIMASA, emphasising the importance of collaboration in implementing a robust capacity-building initiative that would contribute to economic growth in Nigeria.
She noted: “Bank of Industry Limited is Nigeria’s oldest and largest Development Finance Institution (DFI) currently in operation. It is owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Nigeria (94.80 per cent), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (5.19 per cent) and private shareholders (0.01 per cent).
The federal government’s aggregate receipt of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in Q2 2024, stood at N1.56 trillion, indicating a growth rate of 9.11 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis from N1.43 trillion in Q1 2024.
The figure represents a 99.82 per cent increase compared to the N781.35 billion collected in the corresponding quarter of last year.
According to numbers released by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the Q2 VAT rose by 9.11 per cent from N1.43 trillion in Q1 2024.
The data showed that local VAT payments recorded were N792.58 billion, foreign VAT payments stood at N395.74 billion, while import VAT contributed N372.95 billion in Q2 2024.
Analysis of the NBS numbers showed that human health and social work activities recorded the highest growth rate with 98.44 per cent, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing with 70.26 per cent, and water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities with 59.75 per cent.
Contrarily, activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use had the lowest growth rate with –46.84 per cent, followed by real estate activities with –42.59 per cent.
In terms of sectoral contributions, the top three largest shares in Q2 2024 were manufacturing with 11.78 per cent; information and communication with 9.02 per cent; and mining and quarrying with 8.79 per cent.
“Nevertheless, activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use recorded the least share with 0.00 percent, followed by activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies with 0.01 per cent; and water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities with and Real Estate Services 0.04 per cent each.
“However, on a year-on-year basis, VAT collections in Q2 2024 increased by 99.82 per cent from Q2 2023,” NBS stated.
Partners for the eighth annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) have begun to emerge with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Emadeb Group and Dangote Group leading the train of partners for the event slated for Thursday, October 3, 2024 at the Reverton Hotel, GRA Lokoja, Kogi State.
The chairman of the 2024 Conference Planning Committee, Danlami Nmodu, mni, also listed other partners to include Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Setraco Nigeria Limited, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), according to a statement by
GOCOP Publicity Secretary, Sir Remmy Nweke.
Nmodu was also quoted as saying that the eighth conference would center on the theme: “Nigeria: Tackling Insecurity, Power Deficit, and Transitioning to Digital Economy” and will hold on Thursday, October 3, 2024 from 10am. The keynote will be delivered by former governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyle Imoke.
Read Also: Imoke, Buratai, Maida, others to headline GOCOP 2024 conference in Kogi
Additional partners for 2024, he said, comprised the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, Access Bank plc, Zenith Bank plc, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Fidelity Bank plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc (STI), Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).
A major highlight of this year’s conference, Nmodu said, is a business luncheon with GOCOP partners on Wednesday, 2 October, at the same venue, while the conference itself would hold on Thursday, October 3.
Nmodu noted that the 8th edition would be chaired by former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain, Alhaji Yusuf Mamman, with the former Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (Retd) and the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida as Guest Speakers, while a Professor of Political Science at the Federal University Lokoja, Prof. Rotimi Ajayi and an edutainment communicator and veteran broadcaster, Ms Debrah M. Ogazuma are panellists.
Nmodu recalled that GOCOP conference 2023 was chaired by the JAMB Registrar and Chief Executive, Prof Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyede, while the first Nigerian Professor of Capital Market, Prof. Uchenna Joseph Uwaleke was the keynote speaker.
Previous speakers at the annual conference consisted of Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto who delivered the 2019 lecture on “Economy, Security and National Development: The Way Forward.”
In 2021, Mr. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, keynoted the Conference in his capacity as Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19. He spoke on: “Post Covid-19 Pandemic: Recovery and Reconstruction in Nigeria.”
In 2022, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, delivered the keynote entitled “2023 Elections: Managing the Process for Credible Outcome.”
GOCOP was established to ensure that online publishers uphold the tenets of journalism.
Membership of the Guild is a constellation of editors and senior journalists who, having distinguished themselves in their various positions in the print and electronic media, ventured into online publishing which is both the present and future of journalism globally.
The Guild has over 104 corporate publishers as members.
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