Anyone that is remotely serious about self-care will understand the extensive advantages of having Shea butter laying somewhere around the house.
That is why the new Shea Butter Processing Facility that has just been launched in Tede community, Oyo State, is a huge win for both the manufacturers, retailers, consumers and the community at large.
Oyo state is known all over Nigeria as a major Shea butter producing state, and its processors are mainly women — middle-aged, married, and with no formal education. A project like the Climate Smart Shea Processing facility funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation and implemented by the Initiative for Gender Empowerment and Creativity (IGEC) will go a long way to ensure financial inclusion, employment opportunities within the production ecosystem and also the smooth production of a natural hair/skincare product that is native to Nigerians, thus boosting economic growth.
What Oyo State’s New Shea Butter Processing Facility Will Mean For Women Empowerment In Nigeria-Brand Spur Nigeria
The Climate Smart Shea Processing project is one of the eight initiatives approved for grants by the Coca-Cola Foundation in March 2021. The grant is one of the ways through which the Coca-Cola System is staying committed to its promise of enhancing communities and improving economic opportunities for Nigerian communities especially rural women and youths.
With a focus on poverty alleviation through economic empowerment in less privileged communities, the Initiative for Gender Empowerment and Creativity (IGEC) is committed to a vision of equal opportunities and empowerment for Nigerian women and youths.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, which was well attended by Government Officials and dignitaries from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, and other regulatory agencies, the visibly elated Program Director and Visioner of the Climate Smart Shea Processing Project, Mrs. Olasumbo Adeleke said, “The dream to provide support to women all over Nigeria, who make a living through trading in the Shea butter value chain, has been a long time coming.
After series of applications to various potential partners, we finally found a believing partner in the Coca-Cola Foundation, through whose support, we are able, finally to make a difference in the lives of our women. This is just the beginning!”
Coca-Cola Foundation, in partnership with Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative (AREAi) recently announced the launch of its Recycle and Win Promo, a three-month campaign with a goal to increase the overall recycling awareness, collection rate of PET bottles, cans, and other plastics across six states in Nigeria.
This campaign will reward consumers and households who bring in their PET bottles for recycling with exciting gifts and vouchers.
To participate in the Recycle and Win campaign, residents of Kwara, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Oyo and Ondo states who are subscribers under the Recycle and Win Promo will be expected to exchange their recyclable items which are counted at the point of collection/drop-off, for redeemable points which can then be used to buy valuable goods, such as airtime, basic food items and other household needs.
The Recycle and Win campaign is aimed at reducing the amount of recyclable waste that ends up in landfills and neighborhood drainage systems, while also reducing the increasing risks of infectious diseases, flood, and psychological stress that results from mismanaged waste heaps.
This is in line with AREAi’s Mission Zero Plastic objective, a program funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation which aims to recover, recycle and repurpose 600 tons of plastic over the next 12 months across six states.
Speaking on the campaign, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, Director, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability, Coca-Cola Nigeria, stated that, “The recent flood situation globally is an indication of how much attention we all should be paying to recyclable waste.
Coca-Cola Foundation, AREAi’s Recycle And Win Promo Promises To Reward Sustainability Effort-Brand Spur Nigeria
“It’s why the Recycle and Win campaign presents a chance to reinforce a more environmentally conscious world and an improved attitude towards waste management. This is in line with Coca-Cola Foundation’s vision for enhancing communities, protecting the environment, and driving behavioral-change initiatives.”
Founder, AREAi, Gideon Olanrewaju added that “The Recycle and Win promo comes at a time when Nigerians are experiencing very high levels of inflation.
“Rewarding individuals who have made environmentally responsible decisions during this time with valuable household needs will go a long way to reinforce a sustainability mindset and develop a better environment for us all to live in.”
The Federal Government has unveiled plans to unbundle the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) into a courier service, microfinance bank among others.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, disclosed this on Tuesday during the unveiling of NIPOST’s N50 revenue stamp for denoting transactions in the country.
He listed other aspects of NIPOST unbundling which would take place before the end of the year to include NIPOST transport and logistics, courier services, and microfinance bank.
“We have many policies for transforming NIPOST in the pipeline. Part of the policy is the plan to unbundle NIPOST.
“We have in the pipeline, Transport and Logistics Company, a Courier Service and a Microfinance Bank. We will do the best we can before the year ends to ensure that the slot are achieved,” the Minister said.
FG To Unbundle NIPOST Into Courier Services, Microfinance Bank
According to him, these are part of efforts to boost Nigeria’s revenue generation which will be invested into education, security, agriculture, among other sectors in the country.
Pantami expressed optimism that NIPOST would be transformed into a world-class outfit.
“The unveiling of the N50 revenue stamp is the beginning of the transformation of NIPOST. We have recorded modest achievements in NIPOST that will increase its revenue and raise monies for other sectors of the Nigerian economy.
FG To Unbundle NIPOST Into Courier Services, Microfinance Bank-Brand Spur Nigeria
“Part of the transformation is to unbundle NIPOST. This includes NIPOST Property development Company; this is a company that will bring all the NIPOST Properties together and develop them and generate revenue from them,” he said.
Pantami tasked the staff of NIPOST to double efforts aimed at increasing revenue generation for the country, as that would be the only justification for the increased welfare package.
In June 2021, the Senate passed the NIPOST repeal and re-enactment bill 2021, which had restricted the agency to only postal operations in the country.
The bill which was passed also seeks to unbundle NIPOST for efficient service delivery by creating a commission to regulate its affairs.
It was passed by the Senate following the consideration of the report of the Committee on Communications, which is Chaired by Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
The newly elected Executive Council of the National Institute of Public Relations(NIPR), Lagos chapter, has announced that it would host its next town hall meeting on August, 5, 2021.
Similarly, the body also disclosed that it would resume its physical meetings with strict observance of covid-19 protocols. It would be recalled that the body adopted virtual meetings following the outbreak of covid-19.
In a statement by the regulatory body, NIPR noted that the town hall meeting will help the body set agenda for the new executive committee. It equally explained that the meeting will afford members to discuss issues on how to move the body forward.
“We have hit the ground running by laying the foundation for the next level of our chapter. Therefore, as part of the foundation laying process, we are excited to inform you that the August meeting will take a different shape, as we are having a Town hall style physical meeting”.
The town hall meeting will be held at Eko FM Multipurpose Hall, Agindingbi, Ikeja, Lagos.
ipNX, Nigeria’s leading Information and Communications Technology company announced the launch of FOS Xtreme1000, a new broadband service offering 1 Gigabit Per Second (1Gbps) speed to residential users, becoming the first player in the Nigerian market to offer such high speeds.
The Xtreme1000 service features symmetrical speeds of 1000Mbps making it 50 times faster than the average broadband connection speed in Nigeria (20Mbps in June 2021). It is unlimited and does not include data caps, meaning customers will never experience data slowdowns or cutoffs.
At the launch event, ipNX also announced speed upgrades for its full range of Residential Unlimited Broadband packages, offering customers more at the same price.
Residential Unlimited customers would now enjoy speeds ranging from 10Mbps to 150Mbps while FOS Xtreme customers will also enjoy speed upgrades from 200Mbps to 400Mbps.
The SME series was also not left out as ipNX announced speed upgrades for all current packages with new speeds ranging from 30Mbps to 500Mbps.
Speaking on the milestone achievement, Kene Eneh, divisional CEO, ipNX Retail, said, “Launching our 1Gbps Fibre Optic broadband service is a real landmark for us at ipNX and also for Nigeria as a whole. Nigerians deserve to have the fastest Internet possible to fully benefit from all that the Internet has to offer. Making Gigabit speeds available to our customers is indeed a fulfilment of our strategy to provide services with boundless possibilities”.
ipNX Launches Nigeria’s First 1 Gigabit Per Second Internet Service
She continued further “We are proud to be the broadband leader in the markets we serve. We have a deep sense of duty as a major enabler for Nigeria’s Digital Economy Strategy particularly in the provision of solid future-ready infrastructure and services. For our customers, we are certain that our 1Gbps plan will provide them with a boost in productivity, global competitiveness and also enable new digital experiences for them”.
ipNX is the most experienced FTTH Operator in Nigeria and has delivered Fibre to The Home (FTTH) services since 2012.
ipNX Launches Nigeria’s First 1 Gigabit Per Second Internet Service-Brand Spur Nigeria
The company has been awarded prestigious national and global recognitions including the Beacon of ICT 2021 award for Fibre Optic Broadband Service of the Year.
ipNX also gained global recognition from Ookla SpeedTest as the fastest and most consistent fixed broadband provider in Nigeria for Q1 and Q2 2021.
ipNX is a pioneering and leading information, communications and technology (ICT) company with two decades of experience in the Nigerian ICT market, with fixed-wired (fibre) and fixed-wireless operations in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Ibadan.
Spotify has introduced Sylvia Saru, popularly known as Ssaru, as the latest artist to join its EQUAL Music Program.
EQUAL is Spotify’s global initiative to cultivate gender equality in music and support female artists and podcast creators both locally and internationally.
At just 19 years old, the Kenyan-born rapper and singer-songwriter is the youngest artist to join the program. Ssaru first made her mark in the industry after her rap freestyles went viral. Following that,she released her first video ‘Nyama’and has since worked with the likes of Benzema of the Ochungulo Family, one of the music crews instrumental in pioneering the Gengetone genre in Kenya.
The rapper originally worked on several dancehall projects that she has put on hold to cut her teethin what is currently one of Africa’s most popular genres – Gengetone, making her one of the first women to venture into the genre. Ssaru also currently features on Spotify’s flagship playlist Gengetone Fire that highlights the hottest artists and tracks of the genre coming out of Kenya.
EQUAL Music Program: Spotify Announces Another Female Rapper, Ssaru-Brand Spur Nigeria
“Ssaru is breaking barriers and owning her voice in a space that is predominantly male dominated. She is a young, independent female artist who has fast become one of the female faces of a genre that is gaining massive international appeal. We launched EQUAL with the aim to upend the disparities faced by female creators and Ssaru is a primary example of an artist who is doing just that, it only makes sense that we have her on board,” says Phiona Okumu, Head of Music, Sub Saharan Africa.
Ssaru adds, “Being an EQUAL artist grants me tools to project positive vibrations to the entire human race the best way I know how, which is limitless.”
Ssaru joins the program’s stellar roster of local and international creators who will be spotlighted through global partnerships, activations, new content experiences, and on and off platform support.
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “realme is the fastest brand ever to ship 100 million smartphones cumulatively worldwide. It has taken just 37 months for realme to grow from zero to 100 million smartphone shipments. That is faster than Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Huawei, Xiaomi or any other major smartphone brand of the past quarter-century.”
Realme’s global smartphone growth has been driven strongly by China and India.
realme grew an impressive +175% HoH in China during the first half of 2021. realme today is the fastest growing smartphone brand in China.
realme has jumped from zero shipments in India during Q2 2018 to 4th place and a record 14% market share by Q2 2021.
Realme The Fastest Brand Ever To Ship 100 Million Smartphones
Linda Sui, Senior Director, added, “Only 16 brands have ever shipped more than 100 million units cumulatively worldwide in the twenty-seven years up to H1 2021. It is an elite club.”
Yiwen Wu, Senior Analyst, added, “realme’s smartphone growth is driven by a deep range of Android models, competitive pricing, striking online marketing campaigns, and extensive retail presence. realme has scaled up its smartphone business in record time.”
For over 30 years, Strategy Analytics has provided access to data and insights on vendor share in 88 countries and 6 regions for volume, value, price tiers, technologies as well as deep customized insights into consumer behavior, brand perceptions and replacement drivers.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 123.0 points in July 2021, 1.2 percent lower than the previous month although still 31.0 percent higher than its level in the same period of 2020. The index tracks changes in the international prices of the most globally traded food commodities. The July drop reflected declines in the quotations for most cereals and vegetable oils as well as dairy products.
Barley growing in France | Brand Spur Nigeria
The FAO Cereal Price Index was 3.0 percent lower in July than in June, pushed down by a 6.0 percent month-on-month drop in international maize prices associated with better-than-earlier projected yields in Argentina and improved production prospects in the United States of America, even as crop conditions in Brazil remained a concern.
Prices of other coarse grains such as barley and sorghum also dropped significantly, reflecting weaker import demand. However, wheat quotations edged 1.8 percent higher in July – reaching their highest level since mid-2014 – in part due to concerns over dry weather and crop conditions in North America.
At the same time, international rice prices hit two-year lows, impacted by currency movements and a slow pace of sales caused by high freight costs and logistical hurdles.
The FAO Dairy Price Index declined 2.8 percent from June, impacted by slower market activity in the Northern hemisphere due to ongoing summer holidays, with skim milk powder registering the largest drop, followed by butter, whole milk powder and cheese.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index reached a five-month low, declining 1.4 percent from June, as lower prices for soy, rape and sunflower seed oils more than offset rising palm oil values. A lower biodiesel blending mandate in Argentina pressured soy oil prices lower, while those for rape and sunflower oils were influenced by prospective record supplies for the 2021/22 season.
In contrast, the FAO Sugar Price Index increased by 1.7 percent in July, its fourth monthly increase. The rise was mostly related to firmer crude oil prices as well as uncertainties over the impact of recent frosts on yields in Brazil, the worlds largest sugar exporter, while good production prospects in India prevented a larger jump.
The FAO Meat Price Index rose marginally from June, with quotations for poultry meat rising the most due to increased imports by East Asia and limited production expansions in some regions. Bovine meat prices also strengthened, buoyed by high imports from China and lower supplies from major producing regions. Meanwhile, pig meat prices fell, following a decline in imports by China.
The apex regulator of banking activities in Nigeria has released new guidelines to further regulate the services provided by mobile money operators (MMOs) in Nigeria (the new guidelines). Since 2015, when the last regulatory changes were made using the old guidelines, mobile money operators have evolved to some extent with the surge in financial solutions driven by technology.
The new guidelines released on 9 July 2021 have made some additions to the 2015 framework which are highlighted below:
Scope
The new guidelines provide robust coverage of the MMO value chain from service providers to subscribers and agents. Two major types of operations governed by these guidelines include:
The Bank Led Model: These are deposit money banks offering MMO services alone or with other banks, essentially commercial banks operating disruptively in the MMO space.
The Non-Bank Led Models: These are non-banking organisations that have obtained a license from the CBN to carry on MMO services. Note that they also use deposit money banks and settlement banks.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Issues New Guidelines for Mobile Money Operators in Nigeria (By Ibrahim Moshood)
Permissible and Non-Permissible Activities
The new Guidelines have made additions to the permissible activities that were listed out under the old guidelines. The additions include MMOs being operational, wallet creation, e-money issuance, agent recruitment and management, pool account management, non-bank acquiring services and card-acquiring services.
However, even with the additions made, MMOs are still prohibited from carrying on the following types of businesses; direct or indirect loans or guarantees, insurance underwriting, subsidiaries’ establishment, foreign currency deposit services and other forex activities that save the facilitation of cross-border remittances to personal accounts subject to the applicable regulatory framework.
Savings Wallets
The new guidelines allow MMOs to offer savings wallets to be operated with settlement banks and the funds held in these wallets are insured with the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) using a pass-through insurance arrangement subject to specific requirements in relation to investment operations and interest distribution.
The savings wallets funds are subject to a maximum management rate of 10% but must also ensure that the principal sum is not affected by charges and fees. The wallets are also insulated from offsets by the settlement banks with whom the MMOs operate the accounts. Note that customers can use the funds in these wallets to invest ONLY in government treasury bills.
Consumer Protection and Sanctions
MMOs are now required to resolve customer complaints within 48 hours. In addition, they must ensure that customers understand the transactions being concluded, provide robust frameworks against loss of service, proper communication channels and offer adequate disclosures to customers.
Where for instance, there is a new capitalisation requirement by the CBN and a settlement bank is unable to meet up, such could have its license withdrawn. In such an event, the NDIC’s maximum deposit coverage level kicks in at N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) for each subscriber.
Where an MMO has its license withdrawn or activities banned, the CBN ensures that the deposit liabilities of the subscribers are assumed by another MMO, or some other financial institution as defined under the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act (“the BOFIA”). The CBN also reserves the right to take sanctions against an MMO, its board of directors, officers or agents, withhold corporate approvals as well as suspend or revoke licenses.
Limits for Transactions
The balance limits for wallet holders have been increased from N50,000.00 (Fifty Thousand Naira Only) to N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira Only) for daily activities. For cumulative balance, the N300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira Only) cap has been removed and is now unlimited, depending on the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) tier.
Reporting and Compliance
The new guidelines also stipulate that all risk mitigation techniques adopted by the MMOs must be within the scope of the relevant code of corporate governance, for example, the Code of Corporate Governance for Finance Companies 2018 (the Code). While MMOs have not been listed as financial institutions as such in the Code, it appears that the CBN has expanded the definition in the Code to cover MMOs by virtue of the fact that MMOs are listed as “other financial institutions” in the BOFIA.
Furthermore, all MMOs are to file annual audited reports and mandatory continuity business plans to the CBN within the first three months of the following year or no later than 31 March of the following year.
Conclusion
MMOs have definitely simplified financial transactions and services in Nigeria by increasing the number of banked individuals. Banks no longer need to have physical presence to provide financial services to residents of rural areas. This further promotes the CBN’s “cash-lite” agenda and has also made commercial transactions easier.
While the guidelines are a commendable development, we hope that in the editions to come, the CBN can involve Telco-Led models as they appear to be more common and easily accessible to the average Nigerian.
The Centurion Law Group provides unsurpassed legal services to its local and international clients. With offices in Nigeria as well as a dedicated team on the ground, reach out to us today.
Author: Ibrahim Moshood, Associate, Centurion Law Group
The agriculture sector remains a key interest sector in Nigeria’s plans to diversify its economy. Despite increased interventions from policymakers, the sector’s output has remained largely underwhelming over the last three years, with an average growth rate of 2.2%, owing largely to low mechanization levels, high insecurity in key food-producing states and perennial supply chain bottlenecks.
In Q1-2021, theagriculture sector grew by 2.3% y/y, a 7bps rise from Q1-2020 and a 1.1% fall from Q4-2020, largely supported by commendable policy support and financial intervention.
Some of the interesting policy interventions include approval of the $1.2bn financings for the Green Imperative Programme (a partnership with the Government of Brazil), sustained implementation of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) which has resulted in 44 blending facilities as of Q1-2021 (compared with 4 as of 2016) and extension of the phosphate supply deal between Morocco and Nigeria in Mar-2021.
Other existing schemes to provide funding for farmers were sustained such as Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), CBN’s Agribusiness Small & Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) and the Anchor Borrowers Program (ABP).
Looking ahead, given the positive recovery prospects of the broader economy in 2021, we expect the agriculture sector to expand. However, the structural problems that continue to stymie the sector’s growth must be addressed.
Aggressive investment in farmer education and R&D, as well as storage and transportation infrastructure, will go in a long way in boosting industry yield and easing route-to-market bottlenecks. That said, we expect the persistent insecurity challenges in food-producing states will continue to weigh on the sector’s growth.
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