In a statement released on the Nigerian Stock Exchange website and signed by Company Secretary, Bili A. Odum, the lender said Tony O. Elumelu, the chairman of Heirs Holdings, the United Bank for Africa, Transcorp and founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, purchased 62,643,500 shares at N6.20 per share and another.
Aggregate information revealed the CEO bought 62,643,500 ordinary shares valued at N 388,389,700.00 on Monday, July 20, 2020, from the Nigerian Stock Exchange in Lagos.
Heritage Bank plc, Nigeria’s most innovative banking service provider, has upgraded its HB ‘Padie’ mobile application to HB ‘Padie’ 2.0, which comes with new improved features for a convenient, quick, secure and affordable way for seamless 24/7 banking transaction.
The HB ‘Padie’ 2.0 app has been redesigned and relaunched with new improved multi-functional feature and game-changing innovation that leverages customers to ease accessibility to funds and improve the standard of living. This is poised to enable customers’ card management in connecting all bank accounts with their Debit Card details or account holder information.
The banking app which is squarely targeted at customers across board and embedded with improved security and self-service features allow the customers to open accounts from the comfort of their zones.
HB ‘Padie’ 2.0 combines digital transactions and community lifestyle payments that empower customers with the power to build their world and perform digital transactions how they want.
The platform possesses other numerous benefits, as one of these is an enabler for foreign exchange transfer with speed and convenience you need all in one.
The platform enables customers and small business account holders key into electronic payment system easily, efficient collections, bills payment, mobile virtual top-up, funds transfer, balance enquiry and many more.
Other added features include frequent transaction; dashboard flexibility and personalization, which involve profile management-the HB ‘Padie’ 2.0 can be customized by the user by adding any profile picture of choice, whilst the customers can retain and delete beneficiaries without having to repeatedly enter the recipients’ account details.
The HB ‘Padie’ 2.0 platform also allows customers to monitor their spending patterns, as it shows the inflow and outflow of funds on their account.
To further improve banking experience and make access to funds easier, Heritage Bank launched its USSD code *745#.
According to the bank, it does not require a smartphone or data and would induce an improved banking experience.
To register for the service, the bank said customers should dial, *745# account number* last 6 digits on the customer’s debit card# and follow the voice prompt.
To ensure seamless banking transactions, the bank explained that customers are constantly communicated to, to also adopt its available 24/7 alternate electronic channel.
“We have encouraged our customers to adopt the self-service platforms like *745*0# for balance enquiry, Funds Transfer (Within Heritage Bank): *745*1*Amount*Account Number#, self-airtime recharge: *745*Amount#, third party airtime recharge: *745*Amount*Mobile Number# and change pin: *745*00#.”
Ten of Africa’s biggest musical artists are uniting to record “Stand Together”, a rallying call to all Africans to unite against COVID-19. With artists from seven African countries, the song is a powerful reminder that no one is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is protected from the disease.
The biggest crisis facing Africa today is the COVID-19 pandemic, which comes on top of already high unemployment and poverty levels and is placing an increased strain on struggling healthcare systems. The good news, however, is that we are seeing an unprecedented mobilization of resources and collaboration across the continent in response to the virus.
Building on this collective unity and resolve, the artists are collaborating with the ONE Campaign to launch an anthem to call for solidarity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, while calling on African leaders to keep standing alongside African citizens in fighting this pandemic.
Participating artists include TuBaba (Nigeria), Ben Pol (Tanzania), Teni (Nigeria), Yemi Alade (Nigeria), Amanda Black (South Africa), Stanley Enow (Cameroon), Gigi la Mayne (South Africa), Prodigio (Angola), Betty G (Ethiopia) and Ahmed Soultan (Morocco). Stand Together was produced by Cobhams Asuquo.
The song is being launched in partnership with ONE, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and MTV Base on Mandela Day, an annual celebration of the life of Nelson Mandela. Stand Together will debut during the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture on Saturday 18 July 3 PM SAST/9 AM EST.
Edwin Ikhuoria, ONE’s Africa Executive Director stated:“ONE is delighted to collaborate with these 10 fantastic artists, MTV Base and the Nelson Mandela Foundation to release ‘Stand Together’, a beautiful and powerful message to all Africans that we will overcome COVID-19 with a spirit of unity, resolve and shared responsibility.
We call on Africa leaders to follow the lead of these artists who are uniting the continent in line with the legacy of Nelson Mandela.”
This year’s keynote address will be delivered by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres under the theme: Tackling the Inequality Pandemic: A New Social Contract for a New Era. Other notable speakers include South African and African Union chair President Ramaphosa and Dr Graça Machel.
“We have been encouraged by solidarity at so many levels as the world has responded to the challenge of the pandemic. But much more needs to be done. We hope that the coming together of artists in the ONE Campaign will signal a call to such action,”said Nelson Mandela Foundation Chief Executive, Sello Hatang.
Speaking on the collaboration, Monde Twala, Senior Vice President and General Manager for ViacomCBS Networks Africa commented“We are extremely proud and excited to partner with the ONE “Stand Together” campaign uniting all Africans in the fight against Covid-19. As a youth culture platform, it is important to ensure that we reach out and inspire young Africans with a positive message of hope and resilience to help overcome the challenges we all face. We are not alone and stand together, unified, through music and culture.”
First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s leading financial inclusion services provider is set to reward customers for Verve Card usage in its Free Fuel Promotion.
The Free Fuel promo which is activated by First Bank in collaboration with Verve International and Oando Plc. kicked off on Monday, 6 July 2020 to Friday, 24 July 2020 between 6 am and 6 pm.
In the promo, for a minimum of N3,000 fuel purchase, FirstBank Verve Cardholders will receive 5 extra litres of fuel for FREE instantly at selected Oando Fuel Stations across Lagos every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
The Oando fuel stations where the promo will run are Abijo (Lekki Stillwaters), Fola-Agoro, Maryland, Agege-Bypass, Lakowe, Lawanson, Ojodu- Berger, Alapere, Shiro Road (Fadeyi Ikorodu Rd.), Awolowo Rd (by Fire Service), Marina, and Tradefair stations.
Verve card is a secure debit card that allows the cardholder to conveniently meet day to day financial needs such as payment for goods and services, airtime recharge, bill payments, funds transfer, etc. It is accepted across all ATMs, POS, Web and Mobile Platforms in Nigeria.
Pick up your FirstBank Verve card today at any of our branches and start getting rewarded!
Understand how six distinct consumer tribes can help marketers to reshape their messaging, consumer experiences and even their innovation plans to drive recovery.
Chaos and order
Governments around the world are slowly reopening societies and economies. However, people are reluctant to quickly return to their former engagement in activities. Almost half (46%) say they will delay their return to normal consumer habits because of concerns about their safety or the safety of their loved ones.
Despite the best-laid plans, it seems global citizens are taking an alternate route, with many preferring to forego the liveliness of restaurants and gyms and stick to the safety of homemade meals and living room workouts for the moment.
Wave 6 of Kantar’s COVID-19 Barometer, which has interviewed more than 100,000 consumers in over 60 markets worldwide, finds that 60% of people say they are staying put for at least another month.
Another 30-50% are vowing to wait at least 2-3 months or longer before returning to economic activities, such as (non-food) shopping, visiting restaurants or bars, travelling more widely, or visiting gyms or cinemas.
Maslowian needs around safety and security remain unmet. Until people are ready to climb the pyramid to the next level, economic recovery may stagnate. But brands can play a positive role with the right knowledge — to nudge people up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Pandemic tribal affiliations
People are tribal. Different things bring people together: kinship, ethnicity, politics or ideology. The British Isles is home to the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society, for those who see no greater cause than beautifying the rotisseries of the roads.
It is also home to the Ejection Tie Club, for fighter pilots who have looked death in the face at 30 Gs. While these two groups probably represent opposite ends of the human spectrum, the tribally affiliated individuals within them are apt to share common beliefs and behaviour – and this is key.
To help brands better navigate COVID-19 complexity, Kantar research has identified six distinct Coronavirus Tribes – defined by the levels of worry that they are experiencing, their information consumption, how conscientiously they adhere to rules, and their trust in government.
Our segmentation can help brands better plan, communicate, engage and innovate in ways that will encourage people with empathic understanding, and entice them to interact with brands in ways that will shorten the path to economic recovery. The Tribes segmentation informs a perspective of how each Tribe responds differently to stress and adversity, empowering businesses to better navigate consumer environment in the near and longer-term.
The six Kantar Coronavirus Consumer Tribes are:
The Ostriches (12% of consumers): I just don’t see what the fuss is about, and I don’t really care either.
The Que Seras (Whatever will be, will be) (22%): I think all the rules are a bit excessive.
The Hibernators (12%): I accept the situation, and don’t need to be updated constantly.
The Good Citizens (22%): I want to be informed and think we should all adhere to the rules.
The Distressed Dreamers (18%): I am really concerned about my health and financial situation but do believe things will get better.
The Precarious Worriers (13%): This is scary for me, and I wish the government would do more.
The Coronavirus Tribes in action
Businesses can use the Tribes segments to inform brand strategy, communications, customer experience and innovation. Marketers can first familiarise themselves with the Tribes landscape of different emotional and practical needs to inform overall brand strategy.
They must then appreciate each Tribe’s relationship with the category and their specific brand. This determines the overall role the brand can play in peoples’ lives and the primary benefit it will deliver, whether that is guidance for Precarious Worriers or inspiration for Que Seras.
Next, clarifying each Tribe’s unique behavioural dynamics within the category and brand will help focus investment around the strategic initiatives most likely to deliver value to the customer and the business.
For example, Distressed Dreamers, who generally need support, are likely to respond well to practical interventions that reassure them at key steps along the path-to-purchase, whereas Ostriches who are eager to escape will be well-served by a brand that reduces friction caused by the pandemic and lets them forget it’s happening. Finally, the Tribes segments can be overlaid or combined with client brand segments to further propel learnings.
Tribes are transitional to growth
As lockdowns loosen globally, it is important that marketers meet people ‘where they’re at’, along their personal journeys towards resuming life. Like roundabout fans and fearless fighter pilots, our research mirrors the polarising differences observed in modern societies in the somewhat opposing sentiments of the two largest tribes – the Que Seras and the Good Citizens. But taking the middle road for marketing won’t work to bridge the divide between these two groups.
Rather, acknowledging and working with people’s differences in beliefs, attitudes and behaviour is essential to effective marketing, particularly when many are feeling stressed and disconnected and others are not. With this understanding, businesses can work to effectively encourage re-engagement and foster the return to economic growth.
The pace of decline in personal care occasions in the United States has continued to accelerate.
Lockdowns and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic are impacting consumers’ health and beauty practices according to Kantar findings, signalling a significant impact on the beauty industry.
Kantar data from the first month of the pandemic (from mid-March) showed that personal care occasions in the US had decreased by an average of once per week. However, these were early days, when many states were not yet locked down and masks were not yet the norm. An early look at month two in the US (from mid-April) shows that the loss of occasions has, in fact, be more substantial, dropping to an average of 4 fewer occasions per week.
And the potential for steeper losses is even greater. Pre-COVID data showed that people who worked from home at least once a week had up to 11 fewer personal care occasions in the average week than those who didn’t.
Further, in Spain, where complete lockdowns occurred swiftly, personal care occasions fell by an average of 13 per week in the first month.
Applying this data in the midst of the pandemic, with many Americans now working at home full-time—and planning to do so for as long as possible—the impact to occasions has the potential to be staggering.
Among the occasions lost or shifted, Kantar data shows that the categories most impacted are those where usage is most tightly tied to seeing others (cosmetics, hair styling and fragrance) while those least impacted are tied to personal hygiene (oral care, body cleansing and face moisturizers).
However, even one lost occasion per week is significant, especially for highly impacted categories, which are potentially seeing weekly occasion reductions in the tens to hundreds of millions.
What beauty brands can—and need—to do
Consumers are caring for themselves differently than they did before the pandemic, and the resulting challenges for the health and beauty industry are not going to go away anytime soon; regardless of whether stay-at-home orders are lifted, Kantar finds nearly a quarter of all consumers say they plan to continue working from home even after lockdowns end.
Beauty brands will need to adjust now to meet consumers where they are and guide them forward, grabbing opportunities for growth along the way:
Educate consumers on how to address skincare/face protection needs for those who wear a mask.
Innovate around evolving makeup needs, including new focal points (eyes vs. lips) as well as products that feel good and hold up behind a mask. Adjust the creative strategy/content to reflect evolution.
As consumers remain more conscientious about their health and well-being, translate demand to health and beauty ingredient/product benefits that help buyers feel good about their choices (sunscreen, vitamins, nutrients, natural ingredients).
Offer new and innovative DIY luxuries or treats for at-home service replacements such as hair masks and skin treatments, perhaps coupled with usage instructions, meditation apps and other pampering guidance to meet the needs of the nearly three-quarters of consumers who indicate they aren’t comfortable returning immediately to the salon, according to Kantar data.
Social media disruptor and Gen Z favourite TikTok is the highest new entrant in the 2020 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Ranking, with a brand value of $16.9bn.
Brand to watch TikTok is the highest new entry in the 2020 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking. Disrupting the status quo and threatening other video and social media platforms, the short video-sharing app entered the Top 100 at no.79 this year with a brand value of $16.9bn.
It also made it into the Top 10 media and entertainment brands ranking, a category worth a total $542.6bn.
The total brand value of the BrandZ Top 100 global brands reached US$5 trillion, an increase of 5.9%, despite the economic, social and personal impacts of COVID-19. Prior to the global pandemic, the total brand value of the Top 100 brands was set to increase by 9%.
With more people spending time online during COVID-19 looking for user-generated engaging, entertaining and participatory content, TikTok has helped fill the void with short-form video content and sharing – and has become one of the coolest brands loved by Gen Z.
Owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, it became the most downloaded mobile non-game app earlier this year (over 1.5 billion times via the App Store and Google Play) and currently has over 800m active users worldwide.
Among media and entertainment brands, Instagram had the highest growth in brand value, up 47% to $41.5bn, ahead of Netflix ($45.9bn, no.26) up 34% this year. Instagram was also among the highest risers in the BrandZ Top 100, up 15 places to no.29, ahead of LinkedIn (+31%, $29.9bn, no.43,) up 15 places and Xbox (+18%, $19.6bn, no.65) up 22 places.
The leading media and entertainment brand, Chinese internet services company Tencent (+15%, $151bn), is ranked at no.7 in the global Top 100, while Facebook ($147.2bn, no.8) is the second most valuable brand in the media and entertainment category.
Innovation and creativity were key drivers of growth across all categories this year, but particularly so in media and entertainment. Disney, which is ranked no.22 in the Top 100, recorded an impressive $48.8bn in brand value and is also third in the media and entertainment ranking.
Netflix maintained its dominance among streaming services and saw strong growth in brand value, despite facing fresh competition in the ‘streaming wars’ from new subscription services Disney+ and Apple TV+.
TikTok is one of the most exciting and creative brands we have seen for a while entering the Top 100 and has been a game-changer during the pandemic as people take to the app to share their short videos of precious life moments (and funny dancing).
While Instagram was the highest mover among media and entertainment brands and has set the benchmark for TikTok to aim for in future years, it’s interesting to see that in terms of brand value TikTok is already ahead of where Instagram was when it first entered our ranking. It’s certainly the brand to watch over the next year.
A new analysis out today by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) identifies 27 countries that are on the frontline of impending COVID-19-driven food crises, as the pandemic’s knock-on effects aggravate pre-existing drivers of hunger.
No world region is immune, from Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Asia, to Haiti, Venezuela and Central America, to Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria in the Middle East to Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Liberia Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe in Africa.
Bari Payam, South Sudan where FAO has distributed seeds and essential farming tools to hundreds of households. In South Sudan as in other “hotspot” countries farming families and other vulnerable communities could face food crises that are aggravated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The joint analysis by FAO and WFP warns these “hotspot countries” are at high risk of – and in some cases are already seeing – significant food security deteriorations in the coming months, including rising numbers of people pushed into acute hunger.
These countries were already grappling with high levels of food insecurity and acute hunger even before COVID-19, due to pre-existing shocks and stressors such as economic crises, instability and insecurity, climate extremes, and, plant pests and animal diseases, noted FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.
“Now they are on the frontline and bearing the brunt of COVID-19’s disruptive effects on food systems, which are fuelling a hunger crisis within a health crisis,” he said, adding:“We must not think of this as a risk that will emerge sometime down the line. We cannot treat this as tomorrow’s problem. We need to do more to safeguard both food systems and our most vulnerable populations – right now.”
Four ways COVID-19 is pushing up acute food insecurity
FAO and WFP say that there are four main ways that COVID-19 is pushing people into deeper hunger:
Dropping employment and wages means that people have less money to spend on household food and that overseas workers send to relatives in food insecure countries as remittances. At the same time, food prices are up in many hotspot countries, posing a barrier to food access.
A range of disruptions associated with necessary pandemic and health countermeasures are also having significant – and increasing – impacts on food production and supply.
Plummeting government revenues mean that critical safety nets such as social protection and school feeding programs are underfunded and unable to respond to growing needs.
Finally, the pandemic may contribute to political instability as well as fuelling conflict, for example between communities over natural resources like water or grazing land or migration routes, which further disrupts agricultural production and markets.
Emerging evidence from ongoing FAO surveys in countries with food crises contexts back up today’s joint analysis, indicating that food production is emerging as a serious challenge.
Surveyed farmers are reporting numerous challenges in accessing seeds, resulting in reduced planting. In Haiti, 90 per cent of interviewees expect to see a significant decrease in cereal production.
In Colombia, over half of livestock keepers questioned report difficulties in accessing feed, while in South Sudan, two-thirds of respondents say they are struggling to access animal health support.
This dynamic is likely to lead to a vicious cycle of declining production, reduced agricultural labour opportunities and increasing food prices, resulting in negative coping strategies and a further deterioration of food and nutrition security.
Anticipate, rather than react
In a bid to counter these trends, FAO today released a revised appeal for $428.5 million under the UN system’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19 that addresses the mounting needs in the food and agriculture sector, focusing on urgent livelihoods assistance to safeguard livelihoods, maintaining food chains and ensuring the most vulnerable people can access and produce vital, nutritious food, as also on data collection and analysis that can inform interventions.
Responding to the challenges requires scaled-up urgent action, according to FAO. Critical agricultural seasons, livestock movements for pasture and water, food harvesting, processing and storage are not activities that can be put on hold.
“If we act now and at scale, we can keep as many people as possible producing food, safeguard their livelihoods and reduce their need for humanitarian food assistance, while laying the foundations for a resilient recovery,”said FAO’s Qu, adding:“It is not too late to prevent the worst hunger crisis in generations.”
Also in response to growing humanitarian needs in the food and agriculture sector, last week FAO’s governing council approved the Director-General’s proposal to establish a new Office on Resilience and Emergencies that aims to significantly expand the Organization’s capacity to rapidly respond to humanitarian crises and save livelihoods to save lives.
The asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +200/-500bps;
Cash Reserves Ratio (CRR) at 27.5%; and
Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30.0%
The committee considered developments in the global and domestic economy since its last meeting including; the mounting pressure of the second wave of the virus in some of the largest economies in the world, the continued commitment of global central banks to a dovish monetary stance and the rebounding prices of crude oil.
In Nigeria, the committee noted in the meeting; rebounding crude oil earnings, fast-paced sustained inflationary pressures and the surge in the volatility of the FX market amid declining external reserves.
From the meeting, we deduced the committee has lost its fate in the effectiveness of rate cut as a means of tackling economic growth-related problems.
Rather, it expressed its confidence in utilizing other expansionary toolkits to limit the impact of COVID-19 on economic activities.
For the second time since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the State, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, has sealed Farms City, Quilox Pool and Bar, as well as two other facilities in the Ajah area of the State for contravening different sections of the State Environmental Law and the directives of the State Government.
Speaking on the enforcement exercise, the General Manager, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe disclosed that the action by the Agency was in line with the Environmental Management and Protection Law of 2017, which mandated the Agency to address environmental violations that could pose a threat to the wellbeing of Lagosians and affect the environmental sustainability drive of the State government.
She explained that during the exercise, which was carried out in the late hours of Saturday and early hours of Sunday along the Lekki-Ajah axis of the State, two other entertainment and restaurant outlets, namely Page One in Ajah and Bien Mange in Abraham Adesanya Estate were also sealed.
According to her,“Page One was sealed for operating a Beer Parlour and encouraging large gathering, while Bien Mange located at 9B, Dan Suleiman Crescent, Abraham Adesanya Estate was shut for illegally converting a residential building into commercial premises and operating in an unfriendly environment thereby constituting environmental nuisance to other residents of the area”.
On Farms City and Quilox, she said: “The agency acted on a tip from a concerned resident who alleged that the activities at the two facilities have resulted in traffic congestion, flagrant disobedience of the environmental laws as well as non-compliance with the COVID -19 safety protocols”.
The General Manager averred that the operation was aimed at identifying environmental violations across the various facilities visited, but could not afford to ignore the level of non-compliance to COVID-19 protocols in all the sealed facilities.
“Apart from the environmental contravention observed in some of the facilities visited, we saw clearly that there were other violations that needed to be handled by other relevant MDAs such as the Lagos State Safety Commission (LSSC), the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), and the Lagos State Task Force in ensuring that the position of the government in flattening the COVID-19 curve is sustained”,she asserted.
Citing the instance of the Bien Mange Restaurant and Bar located in a residential area in Abraham Adesanya Estate, she observed that such development would be a sort of nuisance to other residents within the Estate through noise pollution and discharge of waste materials into drainages.
She, however, informed all residents of the State that the relaxation of the lockdown does not authorise anyone to engage in activities that would accelerate the spread of COVID-19, stressing that the Agency is committed to enforcing the highest levels of compliance with physical distancing laws and all directives of the State Governor.
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