The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) has called on the Federal Government to discountenance the call by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) for a reconsideration of the new excise duty on tobacco products. Minister of Finance, Dr. Kemi Adeosun, had last month announced that, under the new excise regime, in addition to an existing 20 per cent ad-valorem rate, ...

The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) and the National Council of Leaders of the KATRIBU, a national alliance of Indigenous organisations which includes the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), have filed a joint Urgent Action Submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The submission requests urgent intervention by the CERD’s Urgent Action/Early Warning Procedure in ...

To reduce wealth inequality without diminishing the economic performance of a country, a policy package of bequest taxes and land value taxes could be the optimal solution. Such a policy package would, in fact, have a strong advantage over corporate taxation, a new study published in the journal International Tax and Public Finance finds. It is the first analysis to ...

Benin and Samoa have become the latest Parties to endorse the Kigali Amendment, bringing the total number of nations who have ratified the alteration to the Montreal Protocol to 30. The 30 parties, listed alphabetically, are: Australia, Benin, Canada, Chile, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Finland, Gabon, Germany, Ireland, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Luxembourg, Malawi, Maldives, ...

Through the support of the Government of Japan, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has launched the project “Support to Hosting Communities Affected by South Sudanese Refugees in White Nile State”. The project aims to deliver safe, clean and accessible market places as centres for the hosting communities and South Sudanese refugees in Aljabalain Locality, White Nile State that ...

The Government of the United Kingdom on Friday, March 23, 2018 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 91st Party to the Minamata Convention. Dominican Republic had the same week on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 deposited its instrument of ratification. The Caribbean nation thus became the 90th Party to the Minamata Convention. Belgium had several weeks before that on Monday, ...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 launch 12 new projects funded by the Agriculture Fast Track Fund (AFT) on to support agribusiness small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria and five other countries – Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Ghana. The launch period ends on Thursday, March 29. The Agriculture Fast Track Fund is managed by the ...

The year 2018 is poised to be a year full of important milestones where more detailed policy is to be put in place that can unleash higher ambition and stronger action now and in the future. These milestones relate to catalysing increased climate action before 2020, coordinating an important international conversation to check progress and negotiations to unlock the full ...

Some rural communities in Benue State are being economically empowered and provided employment opportunities, thanks to an initiative by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) that is aimed at utilising renewable resources to meet their energy demands, especially for agro-processing. Via the establishment and operation of a “green” cottage industry, agricultural produce are ...

On Thursday, March 22, 2018, the international community celebrated World Water Day on the theme “Nature and Water.” The event was used to raise global awareness of how nature can be explored to address water challenges including pollution, threats of new and reemerging diseases, threats to livelihoods, access to sufficient safe water, sustainability of the water resource, and climate change ...