State of the StatesState Of The States: Kano State

State Of The States: Kano State

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December 06, (THEWILL) – There are concerns that Nigeria’s worsening revenue challenge may escalate into a financial implosion, with the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (sub-nationals), being the worst hit. The situation is aggravated by the nation’s escalating public debt stock (now over N35 trillion). The debt stock comprises domestic and external loan obligations of the Federal Government and the sub-nationals.

With over 70 percent of the nation’s revenue committed to debt servicing annually, governments at all levels are struggling to survive. There is little left for capital budget, pay salaries and undertake other priorities to grow the economy. Moreover, there is a limit to which the people and corporates could be taxed. Yet, profligacy and waste take the centre of our governance space while frugality assumes the back seat.

As such, the sub-nationals are hemorrhaging huge resources in paying salaries and other emoluments of a bloated bureaucracy. To survive, they are urged to diversify their revenue base, embark on aggressive internally generated revenue (IGR) and depend less on the shrinking federal allocations.

The purpose of State of the States project, is to present evidence-based alternatives. These include avenues for the sub-nationals to become more viable and less dependent on the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) – referred to as Abuja handout.

State of the States, a bi-weekly publication, features two states per edition. It endeavours to unearth hidden treasures in each state and ascertain, through consultations and evidence-based survey, areas of comparative advantages and economies of scale. The publication will show-case, in no exaggerated terms, the socio-economic status of each state and highlight the opportunities and threats.

Furthermore, State of the States will examine existing realities that hinge on sector-specific areas of competitive advantage – Agriculture, Tourism, Transportation, Education and Skill Acquisition, Wellbeing and MSMEs. Ultimately, the project seeks to create the desired spotlight on the sub-nationals to motivate them to venture into something different for better results.

We have featured Lagos and Ogun, Kwara and Kogi, Anambra and Enugu, Benue and Taraba, Kebbi and Sokoto, Cross River and Akwa Ibom, Ekiti and Osun, Bauchi and Gombe, Rivers and Bayelsa.

This week periscopes Kano and Jigawa.

KANO STATE

Kano State was created in 1967. Its capital and commercial nerve centre is Kano. It is bordered by Jigawa State to the north and east, Bauchi to the southeast, Kaduna to the southwest and Katsina to the nortwest. Kano consists of wooded savanna in the south and scrub vegetation in the north and is drained by the Kano-Chalawa-Hadejia River system.

In Kano, the wet season is muggy and mostly cloudy, the dry season is partly cloudy, but hot in the course of the year.

Kano is the second most industrialised state in Nigeria (after Lagos). It is a trading house not only in Nigeria, but also in sub-Saharan Africa. All the commercial banks in Nigeria have a strong presence in Kano. Multinational and large indigenous business organisations are either headquartered or have branches in Kano. The agricultural sector (especially peanut and cotton production), manufacturing, services, trade and commerce are the main sources of state government revenue. It has one of the busiest railway stations and a major gateway to the south by rail.

The state is a major producer of hides and skins, cotton, peppers, garlic and gum arabic. It is also famous for the production and sale of handicrafts, gold, Arab jewellery, shoes, plastics, cosmetics, ceramics, dairy products, vegetable oils, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages.

Gold and jewelries

Kano is rich in agriculture. The state’s light sandy soil is fit for growing groundnut, a major commodity for export. Other cash crops include cotton, onions, indigo and tobacco. Wheat, gum, millet, sorghum, beans, cowpeas and corn (maize) are crops cultivated for subsistence. Cattle, horses, goats, and sheep are grazed in large and commercial quantities.

The state is popular for its traditional arts and crafts, including weaving and indigo cloth dyeing. It has long been known for its leatherwork.

Leatherworks and shoe making
Leatherworks and shoe making

Because of its strategic location, investors flood Kano in search of opportunities to exploit.

Natural Resources

Kano is rich in granite, copper, gemstone, glass-sand, lead/zinc, tantalum, tungsten, silica, kaolin and gold.

Tourist Sites

Kano has many attractive sites to boost tourism as an alternative revenue stream. These include the National Gallery of Art, Challawa Gorge Dam, Gidan Rumfa, Ado Bayero Mall, Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano City Wall, Kano Golf Club and Kano Film House Cinema. Others are Bashir Uthman Tofa Mosque, Kofar Mata Dyeing Pits, Kurmi Market, Tiga Dam, Tiga Dala Hill, Adu Bako Zoo, Roxy Amusement Park, Kano Porto Golf Resort, Hills and Valleys Amusement Park.

Ceramics production
Ceramics production

Agriculture And Rural Community Development

Kano keyed in to the community-based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme, which was launched in eight states in northern Nigeria where poverty is widespread. Its objective is to help the most vulnerable groups improve their incomes and living conditions.

The programme targets a large section of the rural population, especially women, landless people, nomadic pastoralists and small-scale farmers, as well as those with only marginal lands. It is designed to empower these groups to participate in development activities.

Tourism
Tourism

Specifically, the programme works to:

Promote awareness and build the capacity of public and private-sector service providers to respond to the needs of poor rural women and men

Empower poor communities to manage their own development and support vulnerable groups

Improve agricultural practices, resolve conflicts between farmers and pastoralists and intensify crop and livestock production

Develop or upgrade safe water supplies, environmental sanitation, irrigation, health and education facilities

This is facilitated by the state’s robust irrigation scheme, mainly the Kano River Irrigation Scheme (KRIS), which is one of the largest and most successful irrigation schemes in Nigeria. Its source of water is the Tiga Dam, which provides a perfect setting for gravity irrigation with a total irrigable area of 22,000 hectares.

FACT FILE:

LGAs: 44

Land Area: 8,150sq mi.

Population: 2.20 million (est) @ 2019

Registered businesses: 835

Public primary schools: 3,450 circa

Public secondary schools: 683 circa

University (4): Federal – 1, state – 2, private- 1

Polytechnic: State – 1

College of Education (5): Federal-2, state-2, private-1

College of Agriculture (2): Federal -1 state- 1

Nursing School/Health & Science (7): Federal -3, State – 4

Technical school (4): State – 4

Vocational school (3): State -1, private -2

Total revenue: N113.08bn @ 2020

Total tax: N24.76bn @ 2020

Total IGR: N31.82bn @ 2020 (22.14% of total revenue)

FAAC: N81.26bn @ 2020 (71.86% of total revenue)

Domestic debt: N16.93bn @ 2020

External debt: $68.40m @ 2020

Unemployment rate: 25.36% @ 2020

Airport: 1

The state has Police Academy, Inland Dry Port and Naval Base

Kano Partners BoI for Industrialisation, Job Creation

The Kano State Government has created avenues for industrialisation and job creation through partnership with the Bank of Industry (BoI). The bank provides financial assistance for the establishment of large, medium and small projects, as well as the expansion, diversification and modernisation of existing viable businesses.

Wholesale pharmaceuticals
Wholesale pharmaceuticals

They also key into the various Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention programmes to drive special development-oriented programmes. These include the Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project (KSADP) and the Kano Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA) created in 2020 for the implementation of agricultural interventions worth UIS$3.23 million.

Corporate cleaning outfit
Corporate
cleaning outfit

The fund will come from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), while the state government will release the sum of $1 million US dollars as counterpart contribution to the KNARDA for its value chain interventions.

The interventions target 100, 000 smallholder legumes farmers across the 44 local government areas of the state, over five years, beginning from the 2020/2021 planting season.

To ensure continued performance of the productive sector, BoI donated N20 million to support palliative arrangement for the downtrodden in Kano State at the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown in May 2020.

BoI disclosed in September 2017 that it had provided a total of N24 billion to industrialists in Kano State. The bank, through the disbursement of the funds, generated about 96,000 direct and indirect jobs in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

It said that the funds were disbursed through different funding windows such as the BoI/Kano State Government matching fund; the Bol-Dangote fund; and the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (Market Moni).

Fast food business
Fast food business

The sectors of the economy where the funds were invested include textiles and materials, manufacturing and production, agribusiness, petrochemical and gas, metal fabrication, infrastructure and solid mineral.

A N3 billion Federal Government facility for manpower development in transport and logistics is set to commence full operations in Kano.

The construction of the new institute, an annex office of Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria, is equipped with modern facilities, offices, hostel accommodation, and recreation solution. The NITT disclosed that the project sited on six hectares of land at Dawakin-Kudu local government area, about 15 kilometers from Kano, was strategically located to provide professional training to youths in Kano and Jigawa states.

Printing press
Printing press

Challenging Factors: Insecurity, poor electricity supply, multiple taxes, traditional/cultural extremism.

*** BY SAM DIALA & OLAYEMI SHABA

About the Author

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Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.

Sam Diala, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.

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