Lagos State Government has invited private investors to exploit the natural mineral deposits and other sectors of the economy, promising high returns on investments.

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, has said the country’s socio-economic woes are likely to continue unless the structural defects are addressed.

Sanusi said this in a lecture titled: “Challenges of unemployment and its implication for national development,” which he delivered at the 2012 annual dinner/lecture of the Ahmadu Bello University Alumni Association in Abuja on Sunday.

He explained that the nation had a major structural problem in the composition of the labour force, adding that Nigeria’s value chain had totally broken down. According to him, there is a serious problem when a country is growing at a rate of seven per cent annually but is not creating jobs.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) proposed cash-less policy will encourage more electronic-based transactions, the Branch Co-ordinator, Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS), Owoeye Oluwaseun, has said. He explained that cash-less policy will also not eliminate the use of cash or encourage the use of only cards and other instruments.

While Nigerians wait to see the 2012 budget and the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE) play out and bring improved living standard as promised by government, the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) has taken an objective look at the twin development indices as they relate to the construction sector and made recommendations.