The Federal Government, on Monday, in Abuja, unveiled a plan for reconstruction of Nigeria’s insurgency ravaged North East, beginning with Borno, which was at the heart of the unrest, which also affected neighbouring states of Adamawa and Yobe, where the trouble has since ceased considerably.
The reconstruction activities, expected to begin from Bama Local Government, following which the project has been code-named “BAMA INITIATIVE,” would see the Federal Government contributing 67% of cost, while Borno State Government, bears the remaining 33%.
Ahead of the project kick-off, however, international donors coordinated by the World Food Programme have continued contributions to critical intervention funds that would help tackle hunger amongst residents of the troubled region so as to ensure return of normalcy to the people.
The reconstruction plan is expected to boost business activities in the region significantly, just as manufacturers of cement and associated building materials across the country are likely to benefit from the project expected to drive that revenue and profit. Already, capital expenditure component of the 2017 budget reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to infrastructure development to drive economy recovery and growth. The continued expansion of the real sector has started to reflect on the numbers of the listed companies, going by the first quarter and half-year corporate earnings released so far which are looking up.
The technical position of companies whose shares are listed in the building materials and construction sectors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) shows the direction they are headed, even before the take-off of the reconstruction work.