Wema Bank Launches ALAT, Nigeria’s First Fully Digital Bank

Brand Spur
-
0
Wema Bank Launches ALAT, Nigeria’s First Fully Digital Bank

ALAT Digital Bank delivers simple, easy and convenient services

Wema Bank Plc, a leading bank in Nigeria has announced the launch of ALAT, the first fully Digital Bank in Nigeria. This announcement was made by the Managing Director, Mr. Segun Oloketuyi, in a launch event at the Eko Hotel and Suite, Lagos on Tuesday 2 May, 2017.

Segun Oloketuyi said Wema Bank is happy to power ALAT as the first Digital Bank in Nigeria, adding that the bank is committed to satisfying its present and prospective customers by offering them an optimal banking experience through innovative digital technology. “ALAT is the bank for the future and it redefines the seamless relationship we have with our customers. This is an offering to the young professionals, entrepreneurs and students who are tech savvy and always on the move. It is an opportunity to integrate banking into their lifestyle without hassles, by offering them real value, as they desire,” he said.

ALAT will be accessed via app and web, which is targeting all existing and prospective customers who are tech-savvy and upwardly mobile and it is an app-only, no-physical-contact bank, which will be available to customers from today. ALAT offers customers many benefits that includes a generous interest on their savings account, seamless and fully automated processes, and dedicated 24/7 support channels. This initiative accentuates Wema Bank as an innovative market leader that listens to its customers and meets their lifestyle and technology needs.

According to Segun Oloketuyi, ALAT is the solution to the present lifestyle of the customer especially the digital natives who are upwardly mobile as banking is no longer just about transactions but also greatly about lifestyle. “This is why it is essential to enunciate that this is not a digital product or just a mobile app, it is a complete bank. We have placed the bank in the palm of the customer and it is convenient, safe, reliable and personalised. We are indeed proud to be presenting Nigeria’s first fully digital bank to Nigerians and offering our customers ease in their daily lives with financial services that meet their way of life,” he reiterated.

Segun Oloketuyi, Managing Director, Wema Bank
Segun Oloketuyi, Managing Director, Wema Bank

Commenting further, Segun Oloketuyi said that Wema Bank cannot deny the fact that it knows what it has launched into the Nigerian market and the bank is a game changer and it will redefine banking and adapt to the unique needs of today’s mobile economy that desires speed, reliability and convenience. “It would be of great value to undergraduates, young professionals, young entrepreneurs, and busy executives, enabling them to expand their potentials across the globe.  You can carry out all of your transactions and not step into a bank, and this includes requesting, receiving and activating your debit card.”

The ALAT app redefines the banking experience for customers, helping them to manage their finances better and even offering an incentive on its savings platform. It is simple, convenient and reliable. Customers can open their account by downloading the app which is available on Google Play Store (for Android users), Apple’s App Store (for Apple Users) and available on the web for Blackberry and Window’s phone users. ALAT offers a simple on boarding process without the hassles of filling forms, huge interest on savings, in-app card services (card request, activation and control) ability to schedule recurring transfers and bill payments as well as seamless profile settings. All these made possible by an automated Back-office processes including a 24-hour state-of-the-art Contact Centre, automated Know Your Customer (KYC) process, automated card production and delivery as well as automated Settlement and Reconciliation processes.

How Piggybank & ALAT are banking on Nigerian technology

Brand Spur
-
0
How Piggybank & ALAT are banking on Nigerian technology

Piggybank.ng is a Nigerian Financial Technology (Fintech) startup and they run a simple online savings scheme where they make periodic deductions for customers to save towards targets.

Their clients also earn interest income on the savings made. All that is required is to link a debit card to their platform online only. I was at first intrigued by the name. It is catchy and straight to the point. It is a savings product and nothing more.

As a Financial Technology company, I wondered if they had approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria to use the term “bank.” I later found out that they had all bases covered and were powered by a Microfinance bank. “Piggy bank” itself is a generic English term used to denote the earliest means of storage of money, using a hollow ceramic statue of a pig.

With hindsight, the idea behind PiggyBank.Ng seems so straightforward and convenient, you’d wonder why the banks had not thought of doing this themselves all this while. At a time when most of the other payments and Fintech startups were looking for how to make money from facilitating transactions, this startup decided to help the subscriber save money and earn interest income instead. A winning value proposition any time.

To me, the most intriguing part of the startup was their decision to partner with a Microfinance bank rather than a traditional commercial bank. I believe it was a very smart move.  Until very recently, local technology companies had struggled to partner with commercial banks on products. Decision making by commercial banks was typically slow, and trust was also a problem on both sides. Commercial banks were also very careful to avoid regulatory sanctions and were averse to drastic change. Bank and telco partnerships did not fare better.

Wema bank changed all of this when they launched their digital bank called ALAT recently. ALAT also incorporates the savings feature of Piggybank while providing a full bank account complete with debit cards. It seems the Nigerian commercial banks have finally woken up to the new age of Fintech products. I expect more commercial banks to launch theirs shortly.

Banking and Tech Synergy
It is no longer a secret that the largest Microfinance Bank in Nigeria is probably as big as one of the smaller banks. This layer of banking rarely gets attention from the media or public because of the perception of lack of sophistication. They typically don’t focus resources on building their brands and image the way other commercial banks do. They just get things done in the market and are probably the financial institutions who lend the most to the average Nigerian entrepreneur.

Another reason why microfinance institutions have not been very visible is that they are typically not present in urban areas and they use minimal technology. That is now changing rapidly as a lot of them are discovering the advantages of tech.

Tech adoption by microfinance institutions in the last couple of years has been at a frenzied pace as it has become a competitive differentiator. Companies like Oradian and AppZone are also competing to bring technology to these institutions quickly, and they are achieving great success. Oradian which was co-founded by a Nigerian has been so successful that it has expanded to the Philippines. They are offering them the same technology they developed for Nigerian microfinance firms.

Using technology to take microfinance mainstream in Nigeria is following several approaches. While a lot of Microfinance institutions are adopting technology driven processes, some new Fintech players (especially those in the personal lending space) have also decided to give themselves room to operate freely by licensing as Micro Finance Banks. While Fintech companies like Piggybank have found microfinance institutions to be the perfect partners when it comes to getting their products to the market rapidly, I believe they are also perfect partners for most consumer technology businesses targeting the mass market.

The potential scope for partnership between Nigerian Technology companies and Microfinance banks is almost limitless. They are a great avenue to reach small business customers who would not ordinarily have considered technology for their day to day operations. Microfinance banks need their clients to adopt technology as well so that their services can become much more efficient. For instance, MFIs also stand to benefit more from a robust mobile financial services infrastructure than most other institutions. Cash disbursement of loans and cash collections by loan officers is a significant burden. I believe that the CBN’s cashless initiative should have started from Microfinance banks and not commercial banks.

Microfinance institutions typically lack resources, so they are therefore much more open to partnerships. Technology companies can also take advantage of this to have a head start in defining standards for this layer of banking far ahead of others. Oradian, for instance, was the first to connect all the institutions using their platform together using the Stellar.Org Blockchain-based infrastructure platform. Microfinance banks are also far ahead of commercial banks on agency banking initiatives. It is an imperative for them and not just a “nice to have” regulatory requirement.

With commercial and microfinance institutions now adopting technology driven products as differentiators, PiggyBank and ALAT are the first of a massive wave of Fintech which will possibly bring transcendence to Nigerian banking. Nigerian technology is back once again to playing a strategic role in Nigerian Financial Services.

About FinTech:

FinTech is an industry composed of companies that use new technology and innovation with available resources to compete in the marketplace of traditional financial institutions and intermediaries in the delivery of financial services.

(GuardianNg)

‘The Wedding Party’ stars announce sequel as shooting begins (Photos)

Brand Spur
-
0
‘The Wedding Party’ stars announce sequel as shooting begins (Photos)

After a successful first installment, ‘The Wedding Party’, a 2016 romantic comedy, will have a sequel.

The Wedding Party II returns with sequel | TheCable.ng

Most of the familiar faces who made the first part a success are also returning for the second installment.

The movie enjoyed unrivaled commercial success at the box office and also became the highest grossing Nollywood movie.

A picture from behind the scene
Behind the scene of ‘The Wedding Party II’

“The Wedding Party II now loading,” singer/actor, Banky W, wrote on Instagram while his on-screen wife, Adesua Etomi, wrote: “Dunni, Dozie And Some Biscuits In The Oven.”

Rapper/actor, Ikechukwu, shared a video from the set, saying, “It’s a set life y’all. You gotta really live it. This is how we get down”.

Ace actor, Richard Mofe Damijo shared a picture of himself, Banky W and Enyinna Nwigwe.

“The Onwuka boiz #TWP2” was his caption.

Frank Donga, comic-actor, also got in on the act by sharing a fun video from the movie set.

The Wedding Party I, which was directed by Kemi Adetiba, broke A Trip to Jamaica‘s record of grossing N35 million in its opening weekend.

The movie grossed over N120 million in its first twelve days in cinemas.

Ali Baba, Iretiola Doyle, Sola Sobowale, Beverly Naya were some of the other prominent stars in the first installment.

 

 

 

 

(Thecable.ng)

Nigeria Loses N380bn Annually From Cashew Export

Brand Spur
-
0
Nigeria Loses N380bn Annually From Cashew Export

Nigeria has been losing $5 billion (N380bn) annually from Cashew nut tree by not given deserving attention to it despite having capacity to create enormous wealth for farmers across the country and generate huge foreign exchange for the government.

According to data from the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), due to lack of value addition and Nigeria’s inability to process cashew nuts in significant quantities for export, the country lost $1.4 billion in 2016.

According to the information, Nigeria exported a total of 160,000 metric tonnes of cashew valued at $300 million in 2016. This was far behind what farmers and exporters could have earned assuming there were processing factories that could process cashew nuts for export standard.
The cash crop (cashew), which is an important industrial and export crop whose potential is yet to be fully exploited in Nigeria, is said to provide livelihood for over 300,000 families and has created 600, 0000 jobs.

Historically, in the 1980s, Vietnam’s cashew production was in the same level with Nigeria’s production. In the early 1990s, Vietnam began processing its cashew and 16 years later, the country had become the largest processor and exporter of cashew kernels in the world and by 2013, Vietnam already earned $1.8 billion from cashew kernel export to over 80 countries. Currently, India’s cashew exports amount to over $2.5 billion and Vietnam generates as much as $3 billion each year, mainly from processed kernel.

However, the Nigerian cashew industry is suffering from declining productivity and dwindling export earnings, thus making the commodity less competitive in the international market, compared with other African countries like Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin Republic and Ghana.
Recently, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, said Nigeria would start exporting processed cashew nuts by 2019, adding that currently a tonne of processed cashew nuts, when exported, is sold for $10,000 while the raw cashew nuts are sold at $1,200.
He explained: “It would be beneficial to process the nuts and export rather than exporting the nuts raw. So in the next two years, we will no longer export raw cashew nuts, but roast the cashew nuts for export.”

But industry watchers countered the claims made by the Minister, saying that government talks too much but does little in terms of action. They said the Minister should put in place a master plan that will ensure that exporting processed cashew nuts by 2019 is feasible.
EYES OF LAGOS gathered that in Nigeria, cashew grows successfully in virtually all agro-ecological zones including the semi-arid areas but with high concentration in the middle belt areas in smallholder farms and plantations. Cashew production comes from over 28 states including Kogi, Kwara, Oyo, Edo, Ondo, Benue, Cross River, among others.

A cashew exports expert/Managing Director of Universal Quest Limited, Sotonye Anga, said for the industry to be galvanised, strengthened, restructured and better positioned, it requires at least a N100 billion intervention fund to put the industry in top shape. He said a minimum of N20 billion will help.

Anga said the industry needs to be intensified to drive growth of industry, which will attract investors, saying priority must be given to cashew processing to ensure that Nigeria’s cashew processing capacity becomes competitive.

He added that “When you are processing cashew, you know that you are processing a global product that will be consumed globally. So issues of quality become very critical, which means that there is need to deploy the right kind of technology to deliver high quality value added cashew. The equipment for processing will cost money because they are not produced locally; they have to be imported. We need to ensure we have right machinery to process cashew and build the right infrastructure.

 

 

 

 

(Eyesoflagos)

Entertainment marketing: the value of business meeting pleasure

Brand Spur
-
0
Entertainment marketing: the value of business meeting pleasure
One of the most mainstream modern-day marketing mantras goes like this: Let us entertain you!
Entertainment marketing: the value of business meeting pleasure
Entertainment marketing (also known as branded entertainment) entails the promotion of your business by means of amusement. This could be done, for example, through producing entertaining content (such as videos, blogs, memes, etc.) or by hosting entertainment events (such as concerts or sport days). And let’s not forget the very current trend of ‘’sadvertising’’ (those tear-jerker advertising campaigns that leave you thinking about the meaning of life, your purpose and where to sign up for the next cause, all while marketing something mundane like mints or face cream).

There is a good reason why this is a popular form of marketing. Any powerful promotional tool takes advantage of some primitive trait of human nature. (Yes, that is right: we are all quite simple and easily exploited – that is why marketing works.) In the case of entertainment marketing, we are being led by the nose through our desire to experience enjoyment (or emotion).

In today’s world, we are constantly being entertained. We have plenty of options to find amusement everywhere we go, yet we do not even have to leave the house (or office) – we could merely switch on a TV, computer, phone or device. It is even commonplace to find entertainment during a short loo break! We have grown so dependent on these frequent escapes from the stress and triviality of everyday life that it has become a very real addiction in our everyday lives (see Simon Sinek’s take on this in his now infamous Millennial interview – check it out from minute 3.15 onwards in the video). We crave these diversions and few people can still tolerate living through the “ordeal” of having a dull moment. Thus, we are very susceptible to fall for any offer of entertainment that comes our way. And clever marketers know how to step up into fulfilling this gap.

So, how exactly does amusement and marketing line up?

Amusement attracts attention

People will offer their concentration to something that offers a return on their investment (like their time and money often their time and money) in the form of enjoyment (i.e. entertainment), instant gratification (‘’I want it and I want it now’’ – just take online shopping, checking social media for likes, reaction and follows on a post or message, etc.) . And is that not the point of any marketing campaign – to draw attention to your brand? Thus, free entertainment is the bait that traps people to give your business at least a couple of seconds of their mind space.

Promote your popularity

People love stuff that makes them feel good. Therefore, if you can get people to experience pleasure, you forge a positive connection to your business. Entertainment is a great vehicle to accomplish this, as the very purpose thereof is to make people happy.

The perfect marriage between entertainment and marketing thus actually relies on a mechanism that shows how childlike the human psyche operates: Who would a kid like more – somebody who gives him candy or asparagus?

So, give your crowd candy…

Spawn social media shares

People of all ages like to show and tell. If you have given the people something they like, they are bound to tell their friends about it. By producing quality, amusing content that is shareable on social media platforms, you actually get the masses to do marketing on your behalf. This is a fun and cost-effective way to spread the word about your business (without necessarily even mentioning your product) and it is proven to deliver results.

Build brand awareness

People thrive on familiarity. Your creative content not only gives you the opportunity to amuse people, but also to tell them something about your brand; show them a bit of your personality.

Through your entertainment campaign, you will hopefully succeed to get people to pay attention to you, like you and share you – but on top of that, they might also feel like they know you. Almost like the time you shared a drink and a laugh with somebody and afterwards felt a bond of familiarity.

So, “hang out” with potential clients by entertaining them. When somebody is on friendly terms with you, they are more likely to buy your products or make use of your services.

Gawk is a visual solution-based company with the ability to holistically execute the marketing campaign requirements of any company, across most platforms. Our versatile product range, coupled with our in-house design, development and production capability as well as a solid research and development process that results in new and regular innovation make us a sought-after supplier in the industry.

(Bizcommunity)

CBN sanctions 12 banks for frustrating small businesses

Brand Spur
-
0
CBN sanctions 12 banks for frustrating small businesses

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has barred at least 12 deposit money banks (DMB) from the SME window of the foreign exchange market for flouting regulations, as it relates to small businesses.

A senior official of the CBN said that the financial regulator took the decision to bar the erring banks based on field reports, which revealed that only eight banks had sold forex to the SMEs.

Isaac Okorafor, the CBN spokesman confirmed the development, stating that the banks were barred for refusing to sell Forex to the SME actors after accessing over $300 million offered to them via the SMEs wholesale forex window since its creation in April.

He said only Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank, Heritage Bank, Jaiz Bank, Sterling Bank, Unity Bank and Zenith Bank, sold forex to SMEs.

He warned that the CBN would not sit back and allow any form of instability in the interbank forex market through the actions of institutions or individuals.

He therefore urged all stakeholders to play by the rules for the benefit of the entire country and its economy.

Meanwhile, the CBN continued its massive intervention in the foreign exchange segment of the financial market by injecting a total of $196.2 million into the various segments of the forex market on Tuesday.

According to Okorafor, the apex bank offered the sum of the $100 million to authorized dealers at Tuesday’s forex wholesale auction, and $52 million at the SME segment, while invisibles such travel allowances, medicals and tuition received $44.2 million.

 

 

 

 

 

(CableNg)

Bonitaz, Twinkas comeback Ponzi scheme review

Brand Spur
-
0
Bonitaz, Twinkas comeback Ponzi scheme review

Folks behind Twinkas have allegedly launched Bonitaz, another usual high return Ponzi scheme.

They will be perpetrating this ‘travesty’ after bailing with billion of Naira (NGN) of investors money and leaving behind a huge pile of RoI liabilities for their victims.

Well, they were all warned. In the playbook of Ponzi scheme entreprenuers, there is always a comeback period. It is always after a hiatus, but they normally stage a comeback.

Bonitaz is said to be their return into the scheme of things. Should their plans go as planned, many Nigerians will go ahead to invest in this scheme, only to be scammed. I will close this article with wailing tales of Twinkas victims, but first, let us see what Bonitaz is all about.

In their usual pompous style, they claimed that “BONITAZ is pioneered by philanthropic and optimistic investors who wish to offer a lasting solution to the financial instability in our society today. This community promotes mutual financial donation among members. By making voluntary financial donation to a fellow member, a returnable value is added to your initial donation. We operate a mutual-donor mechanics where giving value to your investment is the supreme priority”.

To wrap it up, they boasted that “Bonitaz has come to stay!”. Has anybody reminded them that their Twinkas scam only lasted for two months?

Would be investors are promised to earn up to 100% return on their capital with additional 5% referral bonus to be paid to the ‘kind’ investors wo bring more people into the system.

To justify how it makes the returns, they claimed hinged it on a ‘Mass/Crowd Contribution’. They even went ahead to compare themselves to the banking system:

Have you ever wondered how much the banks make from deducting relatively insignificant duty charges from each of their hundreds, thousands and millions of customers?

Have you, also, ever wondered how much the Mobile Network Providers make from a few minutes calls each of their millions of subscribers make in a day?

Have you, as well, ever wondered how much is generated as tax for the State by the populace monthly and yearly?

That is the Power of Mass/Crowd Contribution!

Nevertheless, Mass/Crowd Contribution alone cannot keep Bonitaz continuously alive.

This is the same gimmick used by such Ponzi schemes. They use fallacious statements and simplistic assertions to justify their scam.

They will not tell anyone that their activities are not registered by any financial services regulator. Deposits are also not insured. All deposits are not invested into any profit yielding investment vehicle.

There are no names to the site and no information on who owns the system. Many red flags are flying over this scheme that it does not require any financial knowledge to see it for what it is- scam.

After collecting huge amounts from their victims in Twinkas, they have not up till this moment communicated to them as to what has happened to their funds. Many Twinkas investors have commented on several articles on PageOne.ng to complain bitterly.

PS. Do not be surprsed to see positive comments for Twinkas in the trail, as we found out, owners of Twinkas have infiltrated the comment section with sponsored comments to attack PageOne.ng and aggrieved investors.

See below some of their comments:

Chimoke said “This is wickedness and fraud in the highest order. Some will claim they are paying while other people’s money are stocked there.. If they are paying then tell your Twinkas to pay me. I have been activated since 7th Feb. Till now I have not been paid, is it not more than 2months? God will judge you. If is not scam then proof me wrong.”

Samuel said: “i have three account of 50k packages, 20k and 10k respectively and it is more than 2months now ,i don’t know why any of the account has not been paid, then the later part of it was that i started seeing something like TKS 150, 000, TKS40,000 and so on , i don’t even know the meaning and purpose of the TKS. can anyone help me out with the TKS issue appearing on it”.

Chidinma said: “Its a wrong ideal to entrust your money to twinKas.com. Please be wise and don’t get deceived by people asking you to invest inthe platform. You wont get your monies back, talk more of the additional percentage guaranteed by the scheme.

They are bunch of liars and thieves.”

Emeka said:”From Jan 30th til April 2017 twinkas are paying to brother’s and sistet in crimes ,members please send the name account number or you can post on websites.let’s see how can’t get the criminal on web.Mmm have open door to criminals on web to operate. Don’t fool by them saying don’t worry keep can open up will discourage new investors lies is 419 that can tell you not open up because when open up No way to get more money. Post you’re payment and names were the tracking web”.

The list goes on and on, Bonitaz will not be any different.

 

 

PageOneNg

Google and Facebook now control 20% of global adspend

Brand Spur
-
0
Google and Facebook now control 20% of global adspend

According to Zenith’s Top Thirty Global Media Owners, published today, the two internet giants captured  64% of all the growth in global adspend between 2012 and 2016.

The report is Zenith’s ranking of the world’s largest media companies, and has been published since 2007. This edition focuses purely on media owners’ revenues from advertising, excluding revenues from all other activities.

Google (under its holding company Alphabet) is, by far, the largest media owner in the world. In 2016, the company earned $79.4bn (£61.52bn) in advertising revenue. This was three times more than the second-largest media owner, Facebook, which reported ad revenues of $26.9bn.

More recently, Alphabet posted ad revenues of $21.4bn in the first three months of 2017, a growth of 18% despite an ongoing boycott of ads on YouTube.

As well as Alphabet and Facebook, there are five other pure-internet media companies in the top 30: Baidu, Microsoft, Yahoo, Verizon and Twitter.

These seven digital platforms generated $132.8bn in internet ad revenue last year, which makes up 73% of all internet adspend and 24% of global adspend across all media.

Verizon entered the rankings in 2015 when it bought AOL. It currently takes 21st place in Zenith’s ranking but after it acquired Yahoo, it could climb to sixth place.

According to Zenith, the fastest growing media owner is Twitter which increased its ad revenues by 734% between 2012 and 2016.

This growth appears to be slowing down. On Wednesday Twitter reported further declines in its ad revenue which fell 8% in the first quarter of 2017 from the same period a year earlier.

Tencent is the second-fastest growing, having surged 697% during this period. Facebook comes in third with 528% growth while two other media owners have more than doubled in size during that time period: Baidu, which grew 190%, and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which grew 171%.

Most of the media owners in our ranking – 20 out of 30 – are based in the US. China and Germany each have three media owners in the ranking. Baidu, Tencent and CCTV for China; and Bertelsmann, ProSiebenSat.1 and Axel Springer for Germany.

There are four countries with one media owner each: France (JCDecaux), Brazil (Grupo Globo), Italy (Mediaset) and the UK (ITV).

“Zenith’s new ranking demonstrates just how much the internet advertising platforms are setting the pace for global adspend growth,” Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting at Zenith, said. “Google and Facebook alone have accounted for almost two-thirds of global adspend growth since 2012.”

Ranking of Top 30 Global Media Owners 2017


Rank


Media owner


Rank


Media owner

1

 Alphabet

16

 Advance Publications

2

 Facebook

17

 JCDecaux

3

 Comcast

18

 News Corporation

4

 Baidu

19

 Grupo Globo

5

 The Walt Disney Company

20

 CCTV

6

 21st Century Fox

21

 Verizon

7

 CBS Corporation

22

 Mediaset

8

 iHeartMedia Inc.

23

 Discovery Communications

9

 Microsoft

24

 TEGNA

10

 Bertelsmann

25

 ITV

11

 Viacom

26

 ProSiebenSat.1 Group

12

 Time Warner

27

 Sinclair Broadcasting Group

13

 Yahoo

28

 Axel Springer

14

 Tencent

29

 Scripps Networks Interactive

15

 Hearst

30

 Twitter

 

Coca-Cola emerges Nigeria’s Most Innovative Multinational

Brand Spur
-
1
Coca-Cola emerges Nigeria’s Most Innovative Multinational

Coca-Cola Nigeria has emerged the Most Innovative Multinational Company in Nigeria at the BusinessDay Top 25 Most Innovative Companies & Institutions Awards 2017. Organized by

BusinessDay Media, the awards event held at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos on Friday 28 April 2017.

Coca-Cola clinched the Most Innovative Multinational category on account of its pioneering the bottles-to-fibre recycling operation in the country. Under the unique initiative which was launched in 2005 in partnership with Alkem Nigeria Limited, a PET bottles collection and buyback system was developed and expanded to several cities across the country and the recovered bottles are recycled into synthetic fibre which serves as valuable raw materials for many industries, including textile, furniture and bedding industries.

The company’s entry also featured other innovative initiatives including the 5Alive Pulpy Orange, which is not just the first and only Nigerian made juice with pulp but also produced in Nigeria’s first hot-fill line that was inaugurated in 2015. Other initiatives were Coca-Cola’s inimitable Share-a-Coke marketing campaign and the more recent spectacular launch of Coca-Cola’s Taste the Feeling campaign in 2016 on a unique made-for-purpose ‘Coke Island’ that was created on the Lagos lagoon.

Receiving the award on behalf of Coca-Cola, the company’s Public Affairs and Communications Director for West Africa, Clem Ugorji, thanked Business Day for the recognition and acknowledged the recycling programme partners, Alkem Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC). He said Coca-Cola has leveraged the success of the recycling programme to lead the establishment of the Food & Beverage Recycling Alliance – a platform it is steering along with Nestle Waters, Nigerian Breweries and Seven-Up Bottling Company to promote industry collaboration and scale up the programme for national coverage. Noting that PET bottles, in themselves, do not harm the environment but poor disposal habit does, Ugorji called on Nigerians to support the recycling programme by sorting and selling their used PET bottles to the many entrepreneurs who are playing a vital role as PET bottle buyback agents in various communities.

In his welcome address at the award ceremony, the Publisher/CEO of BusinessDay Newspaper, Mr. Frank Aigbogun remarked that it is important to note that despite the economic challenges that have shaken Nigeria in recent times, some notable companies have continued to weather the storm in their quest to sustain operations and at the same time add value to their immediate society in particular and the Nigeria society in general. He said the awards team at BusinessDay Media had taken pains to ensure that the companies that emerged winners in various categories were selected through merit expressed by the observation of due care in all qualifying criteria.

Other companies nominated alongside Coca-Cola Nigeria for the Most Innovative Multinational Company Award are Guinness Nigeria, LafargeHolcim and AJEAST. The event was attended by top organisations in Corporate Nigeria as well as top government dignitaries, amongst whom are Mr. Emmanuel Ukeje, Special Adviser to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment.

MTN Nigeria dismisses 280 staff

Brand Spur
-
0
MTN Nigeria dismisses 280 staff

Telecommunication giant, MTN Nigeria has laid off about 280 of its workers in a major job cut that affected about 15% of the company’s entire Nigerian workforce.

The sack affected both permanent and contract staff as well as long serving workers of the company.

According to reports, some 200 permanent employees were dismissed while another 80 contract staff were also sacked.

Those laid off were from various cadres, ranging from new graduates to senior managers, some of who had served the company for as long as 15 years.

According to a source familiar with the company who pleaded to be anonymous, the sackings were as a result of “the changing dynamics of the telecoms industry in recent times”.

MTN Nigeria recorded nearly $1 billion in profit in 2016. However, the telecoms firm was heavily fined by the Nigerian government for failing to disconnect 5.2 million unregistered subscribers.

 

 

 

(Tv360nigeria)

1...3,9043,9053,906...3,964Page 3,905 of 3,964