Rwanda: AfDB awards $1.1 million grant to expand meat production

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Rwanda: AfDB awards $1.1 million grant to expand meat production

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank have approved a grant of $1.1 million to Rwanda for the implementation of the country’s Meat Value Chain Trade Competitiveness Project.

The approval for the grant, made on 5 June 2020, will help to expand the east African nation’s meat production value chain, enhance market access and cross border trade, and increase the contribution of the sector to the Rwandan economy. The grant is awarded from the resources of the African Trade Fund (AfTRA).

Photo by Armando Ascorve Morales

The project, to be implemented between September 2020 and August 2022, targets provinces such as Rubavu, Nyagatare, Bugesera (Gako) and Rusizi districts. It will directly benefit more than 650 producers, processors and merchants, 74% of whom are women working in informal cross-border trade.

During its operational phase, the project will focus on the training of trainers. It will indirectly impact 1,950 producers, processors, merchants, and customs agents, as well as 1,560 community animal health agents, 416 area veterinarians, 30 district veterinary agents and 20 veterinary agents from the Rwandan Office of Agricultural Development. Abattoirs in Koadu, Camr, Rugano, Rugari, Santra and Saban will also be supported.

The project covers two of Rwanda’s busiest cross-border trade frontiers where large trucks haul goods between Gisenyi and Goma in the Rubavu district, and “Rusizi I,” connecting Kamembe to Bukavu in the Rusizi district.

The value chain trade competitiveness project will complement the “Gako Beef” initiative, flagship livestock and meat production scheme started by the Rwandan government in 2015 to increase meat production for local markets and for export.

As of the end of February 2020, the African Development Bank’s active portfolio in Rwanda involved 25 operations, amounting to a total commitment of $1.8 billion, with infrastructure development (energy, water and sanitation, and transport) accounting for 79.15% of the projects. The other sectors are skills improvement and social development (2.48%), and the private sector (9.99%).

AfTra is a technical assistance fund with the primary goal of improving trade performance in African countries. Specific goals are to modernise customs systems, develop competitive projects, enter new markets, and build institutional capacity for supporting trade.

Atlas Petroleum Resumes Development of OML109 in Nigeria

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Atlas Petroleum Resumes Development of OML109 in Nigeria

Over the weekend, Atlas Petroleum International has resumed work over activities and well interventions on OML 109 in Nigeria in order to enhance production from the Ejulebe marginal field. Awarded to Atlas Petroleum International in 1991, the block entered into production through the development of the Ejubele discovery in September 1998.

OML 109 comprises 14 identified and mapped prospects and leads, and un-risked resource potential in excess of 500 million barrels of oil equivalent. Its low-cost operating environment in shallow water and proximity to existing oil and gas infrastructure such as the Escravos Terminal makes it one of the most attractive assets in the Niger Delta, with significant untapped and under-explored hydrocarbons potential.

“The renewed development of OML109 will bring a boost to local content development in Nigeria, and support the industry’s recovery following the Covid-19 crisis. As Nigeria multiplies efforts to build domestic capacity and develop the Nigerian content, we intend to live up to expectations as one of the country’s major indigenous player”, declared Prince Arthur Eze, Executive Chairman of Atlas Oranto. “We expect the ongoing wells interventions on OML 109 to deliver quick wins on the recovery and enhancement of production from the field, and express our thanks to the Department of Petroleum Resources for facilitating all permits,” he concluded.

Atlas Petroleum International and Oranto Petroleum represent one of Africa’s largest Nigerian and privately-held exploration and production group. The companies currently have an extensive footprint across the African continent, holding 22 oil and gas licenses in 12 jurisdictions.

Tate & Lyle and Solevo announce new distribution partnership for West Africa

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Tate & Lyle and Solevo announce new distribution partnership for West Africa

Tate & Lyle PLC (Tate & Lyle), a leading global provider of food and beverage ingredients, and Solevo, a leading distributor of chemicals and inputs for specific industrial and agricultural segments in Africa, today announced a new distribution partnership. Solevo has become the exclusive distributor of Tate & Lyle’s ingredients in West African countries including Ivory Coast, Senegal and Cameroon.

This agreement comes from the companies’ shared ambition to offer innovative solutions in the African continent and provide local consumers with access to high-quality food and beverage ingredients, including low-calorie sweeteners, health and wellness ingredients such as soluble fibre, texturants, stabilisers, and acidulants.

“We are proud to have Tate & Lyle as a partner,” said Matthieu Van Bree, Head of Industrial Chemicals, Solevo. “With this partnership, we are expanding our position in the market of speciality food ingredients and solutions we offer to our customers in the food and beverage industry.”

Dominique Floch, Regional Sales & Technical Director, Turkey, Middle East and Africa, Tate & Lyle, said: “It’s very exciting to have Solevo as our distribution partner for West Africa. The long history and experience of Solevo in Africa will be very useful to increase our market presence. The African food industry is growing fast and producers are looking for ingredients and solutions that help them meet growing consumer demand for great-tasting, shelf-stable food and beverages that support healthier diets. With a partner like Solevo, we are ready to support these trends.”

FoodCo joins the online supermarket rush

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FoodCo joins the online supermarket rush
Nigerian supermarket chain FoodCo has joined the COVID-19-inspired rush into sub-Saharan e-commerce.
Rather than using a third-party, the chain has also launched its own delivery service, promising delivery in Ibadan and the Lagos suburb of Lekki within two hours.
The e-Commerce platform integrates both shopping and payment portal, as well as an extensive variety of stock, taking the in-store experience online for customers who prefer to shop from the safety and convenience of their homes.
Founded in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in the southwest of the country, during the 1980s, FoodCo now operates almost a dozen supermarkets in its home town and opened its first outlet in Lagos last year.
Most of these have a sales area of between 1,000m2 and 2,000m2. Some of its larger stores operate quick-service restaurants and entertainment centres under the Foodco Fast Food banner. It also manufactures packaged food (bakery products and ice cream) under the Sunfresh brand.

Guinness Nigeria PLC warns investors of 2020 financial results

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Guinness Nigeria PLC warns investors of 2020 financial results

Guinness Nigeria Plc has informed the public about the material circumstances that will impact its full-year financial results for 2020. This is Following the adverse impact of the sharp contraction in economic activities and the knock-on effect of the national lockdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been taking a toll on the on-trade segment of its business across all its markets.

In a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Guinness Nigeria Plc said that its production and revenues had been negatively affected. Guinness’ financing cost rose by 97 % to N3.582 billion compared to N1.817 billion recorded in 2019.

The statement reads:

The adverse impact of the sharp contraction in economic activities and the knock-on effect of the COVID-19 lockdown took a toll on the on-trade segment of the business across all our markets. Production and revenues have thus been negatively affected.

Guinness Nigeria carried out a comprehensive review of its asset base and made a strategic decision to impair a certain category of assets, which were generating suboptimal returns. This is in line with the company’s long-term strategy of delivering value to shareholders.

Due to a combination of the impact of COVID-19 and the asset impairment, we expect the profitability of the Company for the Financial Year to 30th June 2020 to be impacted. The Company’s balance sheet, however, remains strong, and this gives the Board the confidence that the Company has the right resources to continue to deliver the strategy.

The brewing giant reported a revenue decline of 5.3% for the nine months that ended March 31, 2020, representing N96.08 billion fall compared with N101.40 billion recorded in the corresponding year of 2019.

Furthermore, financing cost rose by 97% to N3.582 billion compared to N1.817 billion recorded in 2019. Guinness Nigeria PLC ended the period with a profit after tax of N1.672 billion, plunging by 60% from N4.252 billion recorded in 2019.

The brewing giant, however, carried out a comprehensive review of its asset base and made a strategic decision to impair a certain category of assets, which were generating suboptimal returns, explaining that it was in line with the company’s long-term strategy of delivering value to shareholders.

The audited financial results for the year as approved by the Board will be published
in accordance with extant rules and guidelines after the completion of the year-end
audit in the month of August 2020.

Tourism Ministry set to Hold First Digital Party with DJ Jimmy Jatt

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Tourism Ministry set to Hold First Digital Party with DJ Jimmy Jatt

…To Offer Free Data Subscription for Participants

Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture have concluded plans to hold its first entertainment show since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the State as part of creative innovations being considered by the Ministry in the face of the pandemic.

The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat AkinbiIe-Yusuf, who made the disclosure, said the virtual event will hold on Friday, 10th July 2020, between 7 pm and 11 pm.

She stated that the ‘Digital Lagos Party’ has been designed to thrill Lagosians with quality musical vibes from popular Nigeria Deejay, Jimmy Jatt alongside Deejay CONEL, stressing that free data would also be provided for participants to live-stream the event on Lagos State Government Facebook Page.

While urging Lagosians and none Lagosians alike to join the live stream of the evening party, the Commissioner informed that the free data subscription would only be made available during the event for those that join the party.

She also implored interested participants to follow the social media handles of the Ministry on Facebook and Instagram @lagostourism, Twitter @lagostourismO and subscribe to the Ministry’s YouTube Channel on Lagos Tourism, adding that these are some of the conditions for winning the free data package for the event.

The digital party, AkinbiIe-Yusuf assured, promises to be very interactive and fun-filled, stressing that participants would also be engaged in brief questions and answers session about Lagos under an atmosphere of fun and relaxation.

LASG Produces Eco-Friendly Solar-Powered Kiosks for Farmers (Photos)

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LASG Produces Eco-Friendly Solar-Powered Kiosks for Farmers (Photos)

Lagos State Government has produced solar-powered kiosks that would ensure easy and effective market access for farmers, agripreneurs and stakeholders in an eco-friendly manner.

The State Acting Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, who made this known over the weekend while on an inspection tour of the Ministry’s facilities at Oko-Oba, Agege, noted that the kiosks would be distributed at next Value Chain Empowerment Programme of the State Government later this month.

She explained that the solar-powered kiosk is a self-functioning system which not only produces its own energy but also, additional energy to charge other products, making it essentially environmental friendly.

According to her, the solar-powered kiosk was the brainchild of the World Bank Assisted Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project whose core interventions are food security, agro-export potentials and livelihood improvement.

In her words: “The APPEALS Project, which is being spearheaded by our Programmes Coordinator under the World Bank Assisted Programme, has continued to put Lagos State on the map. They have made some kiosks, solar-powered which we have come to see and inspect. The kiosks are supposed to aid our value chain empowered programme, which is taking place this July, to see how that can also help our stakeholders in the value chains”.

Olusanya asserted that the kiosks are potential revenue earners and savers for small businesses, especially farmers with perishable food, as the kiosks would help them keep their businesses open for a longer period than they would have if there was no means of electricity.

She disclosed further that the kiosks, in addition to producing renewable energy, would also dispense clean energy while excess power is distributed through the main grids, thus allowing for charging of other devices such as refrigerators and other gadgets.

The Acting Commissioner also visited the LASCODA coconut seedlings production project site at Oko-Oba, Agege to assess the progress made so far in the production of urban-friendly coconut seedlings for distribution to the 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas for the Year 2020 Tree Planting Day.

She said, “At the Farm Service Centre, we went to see the activities of the Coconut Development Authority, with the initiative of the tree planting exercise which is to commence on July 14th. The idea at the beginning of the year was to plant over 114,000 coconut trees”.

“For that to happen, seed nuts were procured, planted and in a space of six to nine months, we should have seedlings that we would be able to distribute to our 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas across the State. The essence of this exercise is first and foremost to see how far we have gone in that direction and then to see what else needs to be done to ensure that the initiative is brought to fruition,” Olusanya averred.

COVID-19: LASG Seals 10 Private Schools for Flouting Closure Directive

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COVID-19: LASG Seals 10 Private Schools for Flouting Closure Directive

The Lagos State Government has sealed 10 private schools that flouted the closure directives of the Federal and State governments, in an effort to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as ensure the safety of students.

The Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs. Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, disclosed this during a monitoring exercise to determine the level of compliance among private schools across the Lagos metropolis.

She said a large number of private schools visited were found to have complied, while schools who failed to comply with the directives have been sealed, adding that the exercise will be continuous and encompassing, cutting across all the Education Districts in order to discourage the nonchalant attitude of some school owners and administrators to the directive.

Seriki-Ayeni, who led the enforcement team during the exercise, maintained that the aim of the exercise was to ensure full compliance with the directive, guarantee the safety of all learners and guide against the spread of the scourge.

She said, “No doubt, COVID-19 has had negative effects on our schools but we want students to come out stronger and better. We want to make sure schools are closed in compliance with the government directives since the number of COVID-19 cases have increased dramatically in recent times. This is a dangerous disease and it is vital that we abide by all safety directives as issued by the government for our protection”.

The Director-General warned of the danger inherent in the exposure and clustering of students in a class in the name of education, reiterating that any school in Lagos that failed to fully comply with the closure directives, without concern for the health and safety of learners, will be sealed.

While admonishing parents and school owners, Seriki-Ayeni encouraged them to abide by the directive of the Lagos State Government to stay safe and healthy by embracing frequent hand-washing with soap, wearing of a facemask in public places and using alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

She implored parents and guardians to embrace virtual schooling for their wards, advising them not to be found guilty of exposing the lives of their children to danger, just as school owners were encouraged to begin the process of thinking through the opportunities that exist at this time to up-skill their staff through online training and webinars.

“This is the time to think and plan strategically to form good partnerships with government in order to get resources for your schools”, she asserted.

Pictures as Lagos EFAG Intervenes, Defloods Mile 2 Expressway

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Pictures as Lagos EFAG Intervenes, Defloods Mile 2 Expressway

Images below show the Flood Intervention Abatement Gang of the Office of Drainage Services (EFAG) working and clearing the outflow from Signal Barracks Collector, Mile 2 and Festac Channel that have resulted in the flooding of Mile 2 Bus stop on the Lagos Badagry Expressway on Sunday.

Further pictures show operatives of the Emergency Flood Abatement Gang (EFAG) deploying a backhoe to excavate refuse from a collector drain blocked with refuse in Mile 2 area as part of efforts to ease flooding of Mile 2 Bus stop on the Lagos Badagry Expressway on Sunday.

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UnionBank, PH Central Bank Governor and MAS Fintech Chief Talk Transformative Regulation in Fireside Chat

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SINGAPORE – Media
OutReach – 6 July 2020 – Union
Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) recently hosted a digital fireside
chat on “Transformational Regulatory Change to Accelerate Innovation”
with the Philippine Central Bank Governor Dr. Benjamin Diokno and Monetary
Authority of Singapore (MAS) Chief FinTech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty, moderated
by UnionBank Vice-Chairman Dr. Justo A. Ortiz.

 

The special hour-long discussion touched on various topics
including open banking, the National ID system, blockchain and central bank
digital currency among others. Governor Diokno and Mr. Mohanty also discussed
the regulatory frameworks in the Philippines and Singapore respectively,
highlighting the need for a sandbox approach when dealing with emerging
technologies.

 

“Regulation and innovation – they sound like an
oxymoron. For a long time it may have been the case but it is no longer,”
said UnionBank Vice Chairman Justo Ortiz.

 

Ortiz opened the session by recalling how compliance with
regulatory requirements paved the path for UnionBank’s transformation journey,
showing how regulators can often be catalysts for innovation. “The only
way to handle the compliance requirements in a sustainable, effective and
timely way was to digitize our processes so that we could acquire, store,
access and report the data in the various cuts the regulators want to see, and
that went into our strategic planning exercise,” Ortiz shared.

 

Central Bank Governor Benjamin Diokno recognized the crucial
role of technology in revitalizing the economy amidst the ongoing COVID-19
crisis. He emphasized that the Central Bank’s prioritizes support for banks and
financial institutions so that these can deliver financial services to the
public using innovative technology.

 

With this, the Governor shared three principles to foster an
environment conducive to innovation. First, regulations have to risk-based,
proportionate and fair. Second, there has to be active multi-stakeholder
collaboration. Lastly, innovations should benefit consumers, especially the
most vulnerable and those availing of financial services for the first time.

 

Governor Diokno shared an overview of the Philippine Central
Bank‘s
Fintech Roadmap which focuses on proportionality of regulation based on risk
profile and systemic importance. He also discussed improving Central Bank’s
capabilities through regulatory and supervisory technology such as AI and
predictive analytics. Finally, Governor Diokno highlighted the importance of
open collaboration between financial regulators and fintech players and
providing a flexible “test and learn” environment to engage and
oversee fintech innovators. UnionBank‘s i2i, which connects rural banks through a
blockchain-based network, was cited as one of the successful initiatives born
out of the Central Bank‘s test and learn approach.

 

MAS Fintech Chief Sopnendu Mohanty shared his view on what a
post-COVID19 economy will be like and gave insights on what regulators should
look into to respond and adapt to this new normal.

 

He mentioned that the pandemic has affected businesses in
two ways: first, it shifted the focus of digitalization from efficiency and
productivity to resiliency and sustainability, and second, it accelerated the
digitalization of all processes. According to Mohanty, this new digital normal
will make economies more open, connected and interoperable. However, regulators
must embrace progressive policies for this to happen.

 

Mohanty emphasized the need for National Digital
Infrastructure which lays the foundation for fintech capabilities such as the
National ID, eKYC and seamless payment facilities. He also noted the need for
trusted data exchange at the national level.

 

Another key component of a connected financial services
ecosystem is open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) which can be
accessed and consumed by financial institutions and fintechs. According to
Mohanty, this is the first step to open banking and allows more seamless data
accessibility among institutions, thus leading to better financial products and
services as well as inclusive prosperity.

 

Lastly, Mohanty echoed the principles raised by Governor
Diokno such as the need for a collaborative mindset and implementation of
balanced and agile regulations. He also noted that an environment conducive to
experimentation and collaboration, matched with regulation that adapts to
ever-changing scenarios, can bring forth transformative innovations that
benefit economies.

 

The fireside chat was part of UnionBank’s Tech Up 0-1-2-3
webinar series, co-organized with the Fintech Philippines Association, the
Distributed Ledger Technology of the Philippines (DLTAP), Tech Up Pilipinas,
Philippine Fintech Festival, UnionBank GlobalLinker and UBX.

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